Psalm 117 - Tract for the Nations

Psalm 117 is often regarded as a preface to Psalm 118 and it is possible that they were sung together at Passover time since they are the two final songs of the group of Hallel psalms. 

Although it is a short psalm, it contains a very large vision that includes the whole world. As Geoffrey Grogan wrote, ‘No psalm is shorter in length or larger in its theme.’ It anticipates the incoming of the Gentiles into the church.

It might initially seem a surprising song to sing at Passover since the feast recalled God’s judgement on a nation that had persecuted his people. Yet the judgement on Egypt was sent because they had refused to let Israel leave and go to their own country where they could be a light to the rest of the world by showing to them who the true God is.

The history of Israel served to reveal the grace of God. He had fulfilled promises he made to them, he had restored them on numerous occasions after they had departed from him, he had enabled them to have great victories over powerful enemies, and he had provided them with a system of worship that highlighted both his holiness and his mercy.

The Gentiles are assured in this psalm that if they join the people of God they will experience his love and faithfulness. We could say that this psalm is like an Old Testament tract for distribution among the peoples of the world.

Paul quotes this psalm in Romans 15:11 among a cluster of verses taken from the Old Testament that describes what Jesus is doing today among the Gentiles. It is a psalm that is based on the covenant made with Abraham that through his seed the nations would be blest. And we can remind ourselves as well that Paul tells us in Romans 11 that there will yet be a great global blessing to the Gentiles through the conversion of the Jews.

Psalm 116 - Resolve to Worship

The fourth of the Hallel psalms describe the personal experiences of the author. He had been in very difficult circumstances, and he had called earnestly on the Lord. God had listened intently to him (inclined his ear) and granted his request. Therefore he would pray throughout life. His prayer, as we can see from verse 4, was short, straightforward, and energetic (saying ‘O Lord’ tells us that). Providence, especially in answered prayer, had increased his love for the Lord (vv. 1-4).

Why did the Lord help him? It was not because the psalmist deserved it. Instead, the reason is found in the character of God – he is gracious, righteous and merciful. We may find it surprising that the psalmist should mention God’s righteousness because as a sinner he would have known that he should have been punished by God. But he also knew that the Lord’s anger at sin had been met by an atoning sacrifice, and that the Lord would therefore be faithful to his many promises. When he describes himself as simple, he does not mean that he is stupid. Basically, to be simple means to take God at his word (vv. 5-6).

Since God had been so gracious to him, he had discovered spiritual rest and comfort. He had been prevented from falling into sin with its dire sorrowful effects. Now he could move around, conscious that he was always in the Lord’s presence, aware that his God was favourable to him (vv. 7-9). In verses 10-11, he describes what his problem had been. Other people had proved unreliable. But he had discovered that God was faithful.

What could the psalmist do in response to the Lord’s faithfulness and kindness to him? He would participate in public worship at the temple and renew his commitment to God in a manner that others would see. Of course, he would not be the only person doing so, which means that he would not be drawing attention to himself. In fact, the way to draw attention to himself would be by not participating (vv. 12-14).

It is not clear why he refers to the death of believers in verse 15. Perhaps he had been thinking of his mother because he mentions her in verse 16. Whatever the reason, he knew that the Lord valued highly their deaths as they went into his presence.

In verses 17-19, he restates his determination to participate in acts of public worship. And at Passover time, there would be hundreds of thousands of others doing the same, and even singing his words.

Psalm 115 - Prayer for Divine Blessing

The psalm is the third of the Hallel psalms that were sung at the Passover, and it begins with a reminder that God alone should be praised. The psalmist, on behalf of other worshippers, asks God to continue to act in ways that would bring glory to himself. The worshippers knew that he had done so in the past when he delivered the Israelites from Egypt and brought them to the promised land. At Passover time, it was, or should have been, straightforward to think about God’s steadfast love and faithfulness!

A visitor to Jerusalem at Passover time might wonder why all the crowds had gathered there. He would be informed that they had gathered to meet with their God. ‘But where is he?’ the visitor might ask. ‘You don’t seem to be worshipping anything.’ The reply that would have been given is stated in verse 3: ‘Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.’ That statement is a reminder of his supremacy and his sovereignty.

In contrast to the supreme and sovereign God the vanity of idols is described in verses 4-8. They cannot speak or move because, being made by humans, they have no life. Yet they have an effect on those who use them and depend on them. Such are unable to praise God in any way or live for his glory.

In verses 9-11, the author calls on different groups in Israel to worship the Lord because he has helped them and protected them in the past. Groups mentioned include the nation as a whole, the priests and those who fear God. Those who fear God could be Gentiles who had become proselytes and there would have been many of them attending the Passover.

It looks as if there is an arrangement of choral responses here. The call issued in verses 9-11 is answered by another section of the worshippers who affirm that the Lord in the past has blessed the three identified groups of the nation, the priests and those who fear God and will continue to do so (vv. 12-13).

Then another response is given in verse 14 that asks God to bless those who previously called for divine blessings, and for him to extend his blessing to their descendants.

Further calls for blessing are made in verses 15 and 16. It is easy to wish for a person to be blessed by God, but what is the evidence that he can do it. One obvious evidence is his ability to make the universe (v. 15). Connected to that is his sovereignty revealed in deciding who goes where (v. 16). But alongside his sovereignty is his kindness in giving such a world to humans. In addition, there is also his expectation that humans will praise him. 

In verse 17, the dead are described as being unable to participate in the praise of God. Who are the dead here? Perhaps the author has in mind those who worship idols in this life. The author may even be commenting on the fact that death is a divine judgment on the idolaters because in verse 18 he indicates, in contrast to those described as dead, that those who bless God, who worship him, will do so forever. 

The psalm closes with an expression of determined dedication to the God who blesses his people.

Psalm 113 - Call to Praise

This psalm is the first of the six Hallel psalms that were sung by the Jews at the time of Passover. Apparently, two were sung before the Passover meal and four after it. So Jesus and his disciples would have sung those psalms when they met for the Passover.

The psalm begins with a call to praise the Lord given to those serving him in the temple (v. 1). The focus is to be on his name, as we can see from the last line of verse 1, the first line of verse 2, and the last line of verse 3. His name is Yahweh, the eternal, self-existing God who is the covenant God of his people. His name is connected to his character as faithful and true, as dependable and consistent.

His praise is to be constant with regard to the future (v. 2) and global regarding its extent (v. 3). Perhaps this was an aspiration or maybe it was an anticipation of the extending of his kingdom in gospel times, or even into the eternal state where all of life will be praise of God.

The Lord should be praised because of his position as sovereign God. His dwelling place is unapproachable, beyond our reach, above the heavens. No one can see God and come into his presence in a physical sense while they are in this life. We can see nothing of him, but he sees everything about the universe, even although all of it is far below him (vv. 4-6).

Yet when he looks down, he does so full of mercy and compassion. He does not merely look for information or for discovery of what is going on. Rather he looks with intent, to fulfil his own purpose of blessing. The psalmist highlights two areas of life – the political and the domestic.

Because of his involvement, those at the bottom of society can ascend to the top (vv. 7-8). It is possible for the needy to ascend to the height of human greatness, but even when that happens, they are still far below the Most High. Because of his involvement, he can ensure that the family line will be continued, which was very important as far as Israelites were concerned because that is how the inheritance was preserved (v. 9).

The Lord is the God of providence. There seems to be an allusion in the psalm to the experience of Hannah when she came to the temple to worship. Perhaps there is a reminder here to those working in the temple to remind themselves that the God they profess to serve can do great things for anyone he chooses to help. Praise of the great God should never be a formality.

Psalm 112 – Living for God

This psalm celebrates the difference that God can make in a person’s life. The basis of that individual’s life is God’s commands, but his attention to them is marked by great delight. So he has a heart affection for them. Clearly, they are the priority in his life. He focuses on his sanctification, on pleasing his God (v. 1).

We need to bear in mind that in Old Testament times, divine blessing was often given in earthly benefits. So in verses 2 and 3, some of those benefits are mentioned: powerful descendants, prosperity, and a prominent name. Such features are not always a sign of divine blessing in New Testament times, nor is their absence a sign that God is not blessing his people.

The man’s character is mentioned in verse 4. He is like the sun shining on others, no matter the problem or how dark and complex it seems, and that benefit happens because he is a gracious, merciful and righteous person. His presence and his actions change situations because God uses him to bring benefits to others.

His consistency is described in verses 5 and 6. He maintains his devoted lifestyle throughout his life. Nothing can make him change his determination to follow God’s instructions. This consistency is marked by his confidence which is illustrated in verses 7 and 8. News of trouble will not move him away from serving God, no matter how threatening it might seem. Indeed, his strong devotion to God and trust in him will be revealed in his determination to see any source of trouble thoroughly dealt with.

His character, consistency and confidence will be revealed in his conduct, as described in verse 9. As is often the case in the Old Testament, the value of a person is estimated by his concern for the poor, an outlook that was stressed and continued at the Council of Jerusalem in the Book of Acts. Such a lifestyle is lifelong, and it will be rewarded at the Day of Judgement with divine commendation when he will be ‘exalted in honour’.

There is such a contrast between that devout man and a wicked man. Righteous behaviour makes the wicked angry, but his anger is futile, and his plans will perish eventually. God, the judge, will see to that.

The obvious deduction from the first verse of the psalm is that we should praise God for every person who delights in his commandments.

Psalm 111 - The God of Providence

This song of praise to God focuses on his providence, particularly in how he has blest his people Israel. The strong feeling that the psalmist has is one of wholehearted gratitude, and he senses this so strongly that he desires to express it publicly at the temple when God’s people gather to worship him (v. 1).

Yet his gratitude is informed gratitude – he knows why he is grateful because he has thought about what the Lord has done. The research, if we want to describe his consideration by that word, was a delightful process, and the deeper the probing the more incredible the discoveries of God’s abilities and actions. His works are what is expected from a powerful King, but they are also in line with his righteous character. The Lord is a consistent sovereign, and his consistency is at the highest of levels (vv. 2-3). The only proper response to his works is enthusiastic worship.

His activities for Israel are the outworking of his covenant agreement regarding his people. Those actions are easily remembered, and they reveal his constant commitment to that covenant, even to ensuring that they have sufficient provisions, a sign of his grace and compassion. Moreover, he had revealed somewhat of his power when he gave to them the promised land, an inheritance that they did not deserve before they received it and after they received it (vv. 4-6).

In addition to meeting their daily needs and providing them with a rich inheritance, the Lord had also given his law to Israel. This was a unique privilege in his providence regarding Israel. Other nations received food and territory through his providence, but the possession of his law was a sign that he had redeemed the Israelites to be his permanent possession. As his redeemed, the Israelites were under obligation to live according to his terms, expressed to them in his precepts, with faithful adherence to them being the evidence that the Israelites desired to keep their side of the covenant (vv. 7-9).

What can one say about such a great God? The psalmist confesses that the Lord is holy and awesome. Holy is a forgotten word today and awesome falls into the category of the most ill-used of words today. Both are proper words to use of the Lord. He is different from all his creatures, infinitely above them in perfection, and that height is what is meant by his holiness. Because he is ‘holy, holy, holy,’ he is truly awesome (v. 9).

The appropriate response to his greatness is to fear him. There are degrees of fearing God, but if it is absent in any way, it is impossible to be truly wise. Angels fear him for their reasons, and the redeemed fear him for their reasons, including the fact that he has redeemed them. He did not redeem them merely to be delivered from something; he also delivered them to be devout worshippers who live according to his commandments (v. 10).

Psalm 110 - Jesus the Priest-King

This psalm is entirely Messianic, focusing only on what Jesus will experience and do after his ascension. In verses 1-4, David describes the Father’s exaltation of Jesus and in verses 5-7 he speaks to the Father about the exaltation of Jesus and how he will fulfil his role.

In verse 1, the Father invites David’s Lord (Jesus) to sit at his right hand, the place of power on the divine throne. The invitation includes the length of the period of this aspect of his reign, which will last until the Day of Judgement. The location of the throne is Zion (heaven) and from there Jesus rules among his enemies, a description that points to their inability to prevent him doing as he wills (v. 2).

Throughout this period, called ‘the day of his power’, he will lead a volunteer army composed of priests, an indication that they will be devoted to him and will express their devotion through constant praise (v. 3). From the onset of this day (the dew of the morning), Jesus himself will have vigour and strength to accomplish his plans (v. 3).

Moreover, Jesus is from a different line of priesthood; he is not of the line of Aaron but of the line of Melchizedek, a priest of whom nothing his known concerning his ancestry and his future, which enables him to picture Jesus as having no beginning and no end (v. 4).

In verses 5-6, David describes the Day of Judgement which occurs at the close of this stage of the mediatorial kingdom of Jesus. It will be an occasion of complete triumph for Jesus over all kingdoms that oppose him, both the rulers and their subjects who resist his reign. 

What is meant by verse 7: ‘He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.’ Does it describe what happens throughout his long campaign? It is a picture of refreshment, but where is the brook? Is John Gill correct to say that it refers to when Jesus ‘drank to his refreshment of the river of divine pleasure, when God showed him the path of life, and raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, and introduced him into his presence; where are fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore?’

 

Psalm 109 - Prayer for divine vengeance

This psalm is a prayer for judgement on a particular individual who has betrayed David. Verse 8 was cited by Peter in Acts 1 as a reason for replacing Judas with another apostle. At the least, Peter regarded the words of this psalm as containing a guiding principle for action regarding the position that Judas had relinquished by his actions.

Some may wonder whether the sentiments of the psalm are appropriate in light of New Testament statements in which we are to forgive those who oppose us and not take vengeance on those who attack us. David does not personally take vengeance – he asks God to act, and Paul confirms the correctness of this response when he reminded the Romans not to take vengeance because that response belongs only to God (Rom. 12:19).

There is a difference between responding to individual wrongs and wrongs done to the state. A Christian tax collector may tell a person who owes him money to forget about it, but he cannot behave in that way when working for the Inland Revenue.

The situation in the psalm describes treason against the government. Given that it was God’s choice of government, it was a great sin to work against it. The sin was made worse by the fact that the man had rebelled against a righteous king (vv. 1-5), a ruler who was marked by love and prayer, and who had not done anything to justify the plottings against him.

David wanted justice to take place (vv. 6-7) and for the punishment to reflect the crime, which was death for the man and trouble for his family (vv. 8-13). At that time, there was the practice of corporate responsibility in which if the head was guilty of a crime the clan was also punished, as was seen in the earlier case of Achan when he disobeyed God’s command (Judg. 7:19-24). Indeed, there is a hint in verse 14 that family background was at least partly to blame for the man’s actions. The family line should come to an end (v. 15).

The wicked man’s character is described in verses 16-17, and a link is made between his sinful attitudes and his sins of omission concerning the needy (vv. 18-20). Those sins would reap what they had sowed, and David knew about that connection, so he used it in his prayer concerning the man.

In contrast to that man, David was different. He depended on the Lord and had no confidence in himself. Indeed, circumstances had made him a broken man internally and physically (vv. 21-24). His physical state drew scorn from his opponents (v. 25). Therefore he turned for help to his faithful God, the One with whom he was in covenant. By the Lord giving him blessing, the opponents would know that God was on his side. He was God’s special servant and when he was blest they would be dishonoured for their false accusations (vv. 26-29).

David knew that the Lord would hear his prayer. Therefore he anticipated once again taking part in the temple services along with the multitudes who would gather there. He knew that he could depend on God for deliverance and restoration (vv. 30-31).

David had a role in God’s kingdom that others opposed. At this time, he was deprived of human help, but even then he was not alone because God was with him. He knew that his God would yet work everything for his good.

Benefits of sailing (Psalm 107:23-32)

We tend not to think of the Israelites and the sea, probably because most details in their biblical history occur on land. The country had a lengthy shore on the Mediterranean and no doubt the towns and cities on the coast would be fishing communities as well as having other maritime interests (v. 23). Solomon had a navy based near modern-day Eilat and ships sailed from there to the far east trading in various commodities. Inevitably, they would have good journeys and hazardous ones. The psalmist describes one of the latter kind here (vv. 24-25).

It would not be surprising for anyone in a storm to start praying. That was the case when a storm rose when Jonah was trying to escape from doing the Lord’s will and took a boat from Joppa to Tarshish. The pagan sailors prayed to their gods and maybe eventually turned to pray to the true God after listening to what Jonah had to say.

The obvious point of the psalmist is that God arranged the storm. It was all under his control, and a recognition of his sovereignty is essential when it comes to meaningful prayer, whatever the crisis. It seems that in the psalm another point is also being made, which is that often prayer is a last resort (v. 28).

Despite crying for help coming late, the Lord showed his grace by listening to their requests and brought the storm to an end. So they observed, often perhaps, the wonder of him controlling the rising, the continuation and the cessation of the storm, each of which expresses his amazing power.

The author also stresses that God was in control after the storm was over. Even when the waters were calm, they needed the Lord to bring them to their destination. This is still the case even although we have greater navigational aids that they had.

No doubt, the sailors were glad to get to land and may even have expressed their gratitude then to the Lord. But more was required of them. Given the scale of the deliverance, it was appropriate for them to make public acknowledgement of his goodness by going to the temple and offering suitable sacrifices.

Such a method encouraged others about the ways God answers prayer. After all, if those who experience them don’t share what happened, how will others be encouraged to pray in similar situations?

Psalm 107:10-16 - From a cell to celebration

The second picture of spiritual experience in this psalm is that of deliverance from imprisonment because of rebellion against the Lord and his word. Those who were delivered found themselves in a very dark dungeon, with the shadow of death hanging over them, and no prospect of escaping. Indeed, their confinement only became worse as they realised that their imprisonment included the prospect of ongoing hard labour, without anyone coming to their aid after they collapsed from the unending demands made on them. Or so it seemed.

Why were they in prison? Because they had rebelled against God. Why did they suffer hard labour? Because the One who had imprisoned them wanted them to cry to him for help. What is meant by the dark dungeon and the hard labour? The dungeon pictures the enslavement of sin that people find themselves in, and the hard labour describes the pointless, monotonous experiences that sinners engage in day after day, all of which don’t bring them an inch closer to deliverance from their chains.

What was the remedy? The remedy was for them to cry to the One who imprisoned them and to ask him for mercy. They could, as it were, sing the sad song:

I tried the broken cisterns, Lord,                                                                                            But, ah, the waters failed!                                                                                                    E’en as I stooped to drink they fled,                                                                                     And mocked me as I wailed.

What happened when they did? He set them free and brought them into the bright liberty of salvation. They tasted that the Lord was gracious and experience his power in his deliverance of their souls from spiritual bondage. The freedom that they received was not a kind of half-deliverance. Rather they were taken out of the cell, and its doors and bars were shattered by him so that they could never be used again against the prisoner that he had set free.

What should they do? They are to engage in praise of the Lord, especially for the way that he revealed his love to them. Moreover they can rejoice in realising that the deliverance that they had known was also being experienced by others. After all, the Lord’s prisoners are eventually set free by him when they are led by him to confess their sins to him.

Psalm 107:1-9 - Taken to a city

In this psalm, we have several pictures of the spiritual life. The theme of the psalm is in verse 1 where God’s people are called to give thanks to the Lord for his display of divine goodness in revealing the steadfastness of his love and mercy.

Those addressed in the psalm are those rescued by the Lord from trouble. They were in trouble perhaps because of their sins, or perhaps they had become poor because of circumstances, or maybe they were enslaved by oppression. Only the Lord could come to their rescue.

The author identifies some who wandered in a desert, without provision, and unable to find a city where their needs could be met. In their desperation, they cried to the Lord. No one else could respond to such a cry of desperation but the Lord. In a sense, he as the sovereign Lord had arranged their dire circumstances so that they would call on him. When they did, he answered their requests and led them as a guide to a city.

God is described here as a shepherd who is willing to guide them from the place of abject poverty to the city that is full of supplies to meet their needs. In the city, there are no negative consequences of longing and hunger because God meets their needs and satisfies their longings. The outcome is that they are exhorted to praise the Lord for his steadfast love, for the expressions of his covenant commitment to them.

We, as God’s people, were rescued by him from the consequences of sin and guided by him to Mount Zion, the city full of divine provisions through the means of grace, provisions that meet the longings and hunger of our souls. 

Psalm 105 - God and his promise

This psalm is a call to give thanks to God, to pray to him and to witness about him (v.1). They are to sing to him and speak to one another about his amazing activities on behalf of his people (v. 2). Their boast is only to be in the Lord, and it must come from their hearts. The seeking here is not the seeking of lost sinners for a Saviour, but the seeking of saints for his favour, his strengthening and his presence; and they are to seek for this continually because it is always available (vv. 3-4).

What are the wonderful things he has done for them? He chose them and made a covenant with their ancestor Abraham which would last for ever (a thousand generations), a covenant that he does not forget, and he revealed his commitment to it by renewing it with Isaac and Jacob. In that covenant he promised them a special land, even although they were only powerless nomads at the time. Because he protected them, not even powerful rulers could harm them (vv. 5-11).

God continued to keep his covenant by raising up Joseph and did so at an unlikely time – a time of global famine. His way to a position of authority was the opposite of how a promotion is usually achieved, but we are told elsewhere that our ways are not God’s ways. During the imprisonment of Joseph, he was tested by God until what had been revealed to him by the Lord through dreams took place (vv. 12-22).

After their ancestors went to live in Egypt, they increased greatly in number by God’s blessing and became powerful. But it was not God’s intention for them to remain indefinitely in that land. So he worked to bring them to his land; yet it would not be accomplished by their power, but by his. First, he turned the Egyptians against them. Second, he raised up Moses and Aaron and through them performed his campaign against Egypt as expressed in the ten plagues. Third, despite what had been done against the Israelites in Egypt, he arranged for them to leave with a great amount of wealth (vv. 23-38).

On their journey from there to the promised land, he provided them with supernatural signs of his presence and with miraculous provisions to meet their needs because he remembered his covenant promise for them to have the special land. Eventually, they reached the land and obtained it by his help against powerful tribes. He had kept his promise to give it to the seed of Abraham and they knew that they were given it in order to serve him by obeying his requirements (vv. 39-45).

It is obvious that the author does not refer to the failures of Israel during the period covered by his song. The point of the song is not to give a detailed history lesson but to show that God kept his promise to Abraham about the promised land, and to remind the Israelites how God had worked in his providence to get them there. The writer also indicated to them why they had been given the land. It was to be their place of service, where they would be a witness to other peoples about the true God and what he had done for them. Their worship would be about him and others should see that was the case. Did they do so? Sometimes, but often they forgot.

Psalm 104 - God and Creation

In this psalm, the author focusses on the greatness of God as revealed in his creation. He imagines the sky has a big tent and the light of the sun as God’s clothes – as Calvin observed, ‘although God is invisible, yet his glory is conspicuous enough.’ The seas are the foundation of this building, and the clouds are the chariots that convey him throughout it as they are blown along by the wind. The psalmist uses those illustrations to highlight the bigness of God, that he can do what humans cannot do. Even the angels are his servants. The planet is like a large temple in which God reveals himself so that he can be worshipped and served (vv. 1-4).

In verses 5-9, the psalmist considers what happened when God made all things at the beginning. It is interesting to compare these verses with what Genesis 1 says. Initially it was all water (v. 6), but God used his power to change things so that valleys and mountains appeared. The waters are now prevented from moving from their place. (It is possible that the author has the flood of Noah in mind here.)

In verses 10-12, the author notices how God gives water to animals and birds; in verses 13-15, he mentions how God sends water (rain) so that grass and other vegetation and trees will grow for the blessing of humans and provide for their needs; in verses 16-17, he waters the trees so that birds build their nests on them; the mountains and rocks on which the rains fell are the place where wild animals can live (v. 18).

In verses 19-23, he considers how the sun and the moon control life, whether animal or human. The darkness is when wild animals roam and hunt and are provided for by God. Daylight is when humans work and then return home for the evening. His conclusion about what happens on land is that the Lord has wisely ordered how his creatures will live, even although there are great differences between the various kinds (v. 24)

What about the sea? It is full of small and great creatures, and the psalmist notices that some of them frolic (maybe he has whales in mind). Nevertheless, ships can sail. Both humans on the ships and creatures of the sea need God to provide for them, and he does so abundantly by opening his hand (vv. 25-28).

Nevertheless, over it all is the dark shadow of death on all his creatures, even although the Lord is the source of life in all generations, whether that life is human, animal or vegetable (vv. 29-30). This is a reminder that the earth is under God’s curse as well as God’s care.

The psalmist praises God for his works in creation. He desires that the Lord would have pleasure in his creation through all the activities in which he engages. But he knows that before there can be true harmony in creation, a great change must take place. Therefore he prays for the time when sinners will be no more. He does not pray like this because he desires divine judgement on them. Rather he prays for a world in which all things, including humans, will live in harmony forever, and his longing will be fulfilled in the new heavens and new earth yet to come.

As Spurgeon said about this psalm, ‘It is every way our sweetest consolation that the personal God is still at work in the world — leviathan in the ocean and the sparrow on the bough may be, alike, glad of this, and we, the children of the great Father, much more!

Psalm 103 - Blessing the Lord

The psalm begins with what can be called a self-exhortation by the psalmist to worship the Lord in as full a way as he can. Such a worship style would involve his mind, his affections, and his energy. It includes his speech. The idea of blessing here is to speak well about the person, and here that person is the One who is holy, infinitely superior to and separate from all his creatures (v. 1).

David mentions some of the ways that he has personally experienced the blessings of God (vv. 2-5). He lists them because he knows he might forget them. They include pardon of his sins, healing from illnesses, protection from death, abundant provision for his needs, inner satisfaction and ongoing renewal that kept him young and fresh in heart. He may have been young when he wrote the psalm (although a person of forty could be called young at that time).

In verses 6-14, David thinks of some ways God has helped his people as a nation. He defends those who need justice, he revealed his will to Moses, he showed kindness and patience and covenant commitment to them, he did not persist in expressions of anger, and he did not deal with them according to what their sins deserved. Instead his displays of grace were incredible, greater than the distance between heaven and earth. The distance between a forgiven people and their sins is immeasurable, like the east from the west. He treats his people, those who fear him, with the compassion of a father. His provision is not haphazard, or merely hoping for the best. Rather since he knew them, he provides for them according to what they need.

In contrast to God, all men are frail and short-lived (vv. 15-16). The best of them cannot do very much for others, especially regarding the future. But God can because of his faithfulness to those who keep the covenant and express loyalty to him in their lives (vv. 17-18).

David then looks at what happens in heaven. There he knows that the angels serve the Lord and praise him. He would like everywhere in creation to bless the Lord by acknowledging his sovereignty, including himself (vv. 19-22).

Psalm 101 - Resolutions

​Jonathan Edwards is well-known for many things, but one of them is a set of resolutions that he composed about how he should live day by day. In this psalm, David does something similar when he lists several intentions that he wants to fulfil. Some of them are connected to his role as a king about how he intends to govern. Others are personal characteristics that he intends to develop.

David begins by stating his estimation of covenant love and justice (v. 1), two matters that are revealed primarily and perfectly in God himself. Any desires that David has for such are because of the way God has worked in his life. He is working out what the Lord has worked in him. Therefore he acknowledges by his song that all such personal progress is a result of divine grace, and he praises the Lord for bringing it about.

In verse 2, David mentions what he will think about, which is how to live a blameless life. He does not mean a perfect life because such a standard is impossible for a sinner. But it is useful to reflect on how we live in order to attain to a level that no-one can find fault with. An example of such a person can be seen in Psalm 15, and the way to become such a person is found in Psalm 1. David knows that he will need divine help in order for his desires to happen. In particular, David intends to be upright in his home life, and it is often the case that we can let our guard down there. We don’t know when David wrote this psalm, but we know that some of his biggest problems came from what went on within his house.

In verse 3, David probably has idolatry in mind – idols were worthless things. We know that Solomon was led astray by accepting idols, but here we see that his father resolved not to get involved with such practices. In fact, David hated any activity connected to such practices. Idolatry has many shapes, but David determined that he would have nothing to do with such practices. As the king, he would have wanted to be a good example in this regard.

Verses 4 and 5 point to the kind of counsellors or local leaders that David would appoint. He would not promote those who advocated evil schemes or promoted themselves at the expense of others. Instead, he would employ those he describes as the faithful in the land, those with godly hearts and aims (v. 6). Obviously, there is also an application in these verses about the kind of friends we should have.

In verses 7 and 8, he describes how he will rule. Truth will be paramount, and he will protect God’s city from evildoers. Here we have a description of David as the man after God’s own heart and the aspirations he had regarding his personal walk with God and his determination to fulfil his special calling as best he could with the Lord’s help.

One lesson for us from the psalm is to pray for righteous rulers. Another lesson is to note that it might be a useful practice for us to write out our intentions and then use them as a guide regarding how we are getting on in the spiritual life.