God of My Praise

“O God of my praise, Do not be silent!” (Psalm 109:1 LSB)

Psalm 109 is written by David, so we are not surprised when he begins the psalm with the simple words: O God of my praise. After all this man was known as the psalmist of Israel and by himself was responsible for almost half of all the psalms. We certainly have good examples of David working out praise to God in the psalms.

Indeed, Isaiah the prophet will write later: “I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Isa. 42:8). David and Isaiah are in agreement, there is only one place and one place alone that our praise should go, and to one person: God. To give our praise to anyone or anything else is idolatry.

Our praise is to go where David’s praise went, to the God who watched over him and cared for him, who brought him through every difficulty and set him up as king over Israel. May we say with David: “O God of my praise.”

Speaking Redemption

“Let the redeemed of Yahweh say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary” (Psalm 107:2 LSB)

Psalm 107 is untitled, so we do not know who the author is, but we can be sure from the context that he is referring to Israel—God’s people—and apparently the saving work that God did bringing them into and then out of the wilderness in the exodus from Egypt. So God’s people, whom God has redeemed with his great hesed (lovingkindness) and wondrous deeds are to say so.

The author doesn’t explain how the redeemed of the Lord are to say so, but does he need to? They (we!) are to say it in any and every way possible: In their devotion to him, in their waking up and lying down to sleep, in the every day course of their lives, and when they have a chance to explain their redemption to someone who hasn’t experienced the redemption of God. In hundreds and thousands of ways, they (we!) are to proclaim our redemption from our God who is marked by his hesed (covenant love, lovingkindness).

Here is how Philip Bliss spoke of the Lord’s redemption:

I will sing of my Redeemer
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.
Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

A New Song

“Sing to Yahweh a new song, For He has done wondrous deeds, His right hand and His holy arm have worked out His salvation.” (Psalm 98:1 LSB)

The psalmist calls for God’s people to sing a new song in our passage. Why a new song? Weren’t the old songs sufficient? The subject of the new song is the character of Yahweh and that is old, Yahweh’s character has remained the same from the moment of creation to the present and into the eternal future. Why then a new song?

The psalmist doesn’t tell us, perhaps because he doesn’t feel the need to. We are called to sing a new song to keep our appreciation of and admiration for God’s character fresh and new. As humans our natural inclination is to lose our appreciation for the familiar. That beautiful sunset that sparked awe in us, after one hundred of them we hardly notice them anymore. The amazing diversity of God’s creation and his wisdom demonstrated therein? We forget it after awhile.

New songs keep our imagination vivid and well, new. When we sing new songs we appreciate God and his character in ways we hadn’t done before. New makes us stop and ponder afresh God’s character.

God of Vengeance

“O Yahweh, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth!”(Psalm 94:1 LSB)

When we come across verses like this—and we come across them regularly in the psalms—on first reading it offends our “modern” sensibilities. Why is the psalmist so intent on vengeance? What is that about? Isn’t the psalmist embarrassed about calling God to rain down vengeance?

Part of the reason this offends our modern sensibilities is that we rarely if ever experience the kind of evil that this psalmist has experienced. We are generally unfamiliar with deep and strong evil, except perhaps reading about it in the newspaper and not experiencing it personally, we have no emotional connection to it.

I recall listening to Mary Poplin, who was a radical professor, into the occult, who over the course of some years came to faith in Christ. She said before she came to faith she loved Proverbs, but she hated Psalms because it regularly uses verbiage like our verse above. After she came to faith she was reading the book of Psalms and one day it occurred to her, evil is a real, dark, ugly thing that ought to be stopped.

We should pray to God that he would stop evil, or in the psalmist’s words: “How long shall the wicked, O Yahweh, How long shall the wicked exult?”(Psalm 94:3 LSB)

I am quite confident that if we experienced rampant evil and opposition like this psalmist did, we too would be crying out for God to bring vengeance on evil. Charles Spurgeon wisely comments here: “A very natural prayer when innocence is trampled down, and wickedness exalted on high. If the execution of justice be a right thing,—and who can deny the fact?—then it must be a very proper thing to desire it; not out of private revenge, in which case a man would hardly dare to appeal to God, but out of sympathy with right, and pity for those who are made wrongfully to suffer.”

“To Give Thanks”

“It is good to give thanks to Yahweh And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night,”(Psalm 92:1-2 LSB)

I often find it profitable when reading the Scriptures to strip down some comments into just the verbs to quickly grasp the central point of the passage. I especially like that process in our passage this morning.

The unnamed psalmist gets to the heart of worship when he says that it is good:

• To give thanks
• To sing praises
• To declare

All of these verbs have an object of course and in this case the object is God Most High. We might think of the process of worship as personal—to give thanks; collective—to sing praises; and focused outwards towards those who need to hear of God’s love and character—to declare.

What does the psalmist draw out in regards to the character of God? His lovingkindness (hesed, or covenant love) and his faithfulness, which if you are familiar with the psalms you know are often sandwiched together in a declaration of God’s character.

It’s a remarkable thing that we worship a God who highlights his personal side in regards to his own people, his covenant love and his eternal faithfulness. It’s a remarkable thing that this is the character of our God.

Wrath That Leads to Praise

“For the wrath of man shall praise You; With a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself.”(Psalm 76:10 LSB)

Here is an unexpected comment on God’s nature. The wrath of man shall praise You, writes the psalmist, without bothering to explain how the wrath of man will praise God. It’s weird and unexpected and makes the reader slow down and think.

While the psalmist doesn’t explain how the wrath of man praises God, we can know some things for certain about this truth. It is quite clear that the wrath of man is under the sovereign control of God, else how could it lead to praising him because, let’s face it, rarely if ever is the wrath of man righteous wrath as God’s wrath always is. So something fundamentally unrighteous here will serve, in the end when everything is summed up, only to lead to the praise of God.

How does unrighteous wrath lead to good and right praise of God? Let’s take a biblical example. Pharaoh was enraged again and again at the people of Israel when the ten plagues fell on Egypt. But what did his unrighteous rage lead to? It led to God’s people being freed of slavery and freed out of Egypt to go to the land of promise. Indeed, God’s actions set against Pharoah’s ungodly wrath were still being talked about 40 years later when the people entered the land and took Jericho!

To put it clearly, Pharoah’s unrighteous wrath led to God’s power and sovereignty over all mankind being set on display and his promises to his people being fulfilled, and so the wrath of man praised God.

The Guardian of the Defenceless

“A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5 LSB)

I had never noticed before (even though I’ve read through it umpteen number of times) how opaque portions of Psalm 68 are. For example this passage:

“The Lord gives the word; The women who proclaim the good news are a great host:“Kings of armies retreat, they retreat, And she who remains at home will divide the spoil!”If you men lie down among the sheepfolds, You all would be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, And its pinions with glistening gold. When the Almighty dispersed the kings there, It was snowing in Zalmon.”(Psalm 68:11-14 LSB)

Indeed if you omit the words in bold which aren’t in the original text, the passage becomes even more opaque. What can the psalmist possibly mean here?

I write that to point out that, unlike vv. 11-14, our verse is simple and easy to understand and we are grateful for that. Sure we struggle to understand why it was snowing in Zalmon and what the significance of that comment is, but we really do not need to struggle to understand that God is a father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows.

The orphan and widow were the least powerful members of this (or any other) society and so most likely to be taken advantage of and oppressed. As we know from the fact that this truth is repeated over and over again throughout the Scriptures, God’s special attention and care is on the weakest members of society.

One of the things that I’m most proud of about the church universal is how, while she does it imperfectly, her attention is on the weakest and most vulnerable members of society in the form of rescue missions for the homeless, crisis pregnancy centers, hospitals, and rapid responders to disasters.

There is a lot about the Christian faith that isn’t always clear, one thing that is clear is how carefully God looks after the weakest and most vulnerable members of society and how we as followers of Christ must do the same.

Spurgeon comments here: “To this day and for ever, God is, and will be, the peculiar guardian of the defenceless.” 

You Hand, Your Arm, Your Presence

“For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them.”(Psalm 44:3 LSB)

”כִּ֤י לֹ֪א בְחַרְבָּ֡ם יָ֥רְשׁוּ אָ֗רֶץ וּזְרוֹעָם֮ לֹא־הוֹשִׁ֪יעָ֫ה לָּ֥מוֹ כִּֽי־יְמִֽינְךָ֣ וּ֭זְרוֹעֲךָ וְא֥וֹר פָּנֶ֗יךָ כִּ֣י רְצִיתָֽם׃“(Psalm 44:4 HMT-W4)

“οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ αὐτῶν ἐκληρονόμησαν γῆν, καὶ ὁ βραχίων αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔσωσεν αὐτούς· ἀλλ’ ἡ δεξιά σου καὶ ὁ βραχίων σου καὶ ὁ φωτισμὸς τοῦ προσώπου σου, ὅτι εὐδόκησας ἐν αὐτοῖς.”(Psalm 43:4 LXX-GNT)

“nec enim in gladio suo possederunt terram et brachium eorum non salvavit eos sed dextera tua et brachium tuum et inluminatio faciei tuae quoniam conplacuisti in eis”(Psalm 43:4 VULG2-T)

“En effet, ce n’est pas par leur épée qu’ils se sont emparés du pays, ce n’est pas leur bras qui les a sauvés, mais c’est ta main droite, c’est ton bras, c’est la lumière de ton visage, parce que tu les aimais.”(Psalm 44:4 SEG21)

“pues no se apoderaron de la tierra por su espada, ni su brazo los libró; sino tu diestra, tu brazo, y la luz de tu rostro, porque te complaciste en ellos.”(Psalm 44:3 RVR95)

A remarkable truth here. The psalmist is proclaiming the fact of Israel’s entrance into the land of promise and the mechanism for that entrance. It was not the might of Israel’s sword that allowed them to enter the land, though to all outward appearances, this was the defining factor. Israel was not saved by their own actions.

Israel was saved by God’s right hand, by his strong arm, and by the light of your presence. Remarkable words these. They imply that underneath outward appearances and more important than them, is God’s might, power, and will, and that this is decisive in events. We see this again and again in the Scriptures and we believe that this truth applies to all human events. Underneath and more important than every human action is God’s will that is decisive in the outcome of the course of history.

Spurgeon comments here: “The warriors of Israel were not inactive, but their valour was secondary to that mysterious, divine working by which Jericho’s walls fell down, and the hearts of the heathen failed them for fear.”

See, Fear, Trust

“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in Yahweh.” (Psalm 40:3 LSB)

“Puso luego en mi boca cántico nuevo, alabanza a nuestro Dios. Verán esto muchos y temerán, y confiarán en Jehová.” (Psalm 40:3 RVR95)

”וַיִּתֵּ֬ן בְּפִ֨י ׀ שִׁ֥יר חָדָשׁ֮ תְּהִלָּ֪ה לֵֽאלֹ֫הֵ֥ינוּ יִרְא֣וּ רַבִּ֣ים וְיִירָ֑אוּ וְ֝יִבְטְח֗וּ בַּיהוָֽה׃“ (Psalm 40:4 HMT-W4)

“et inmisit in os meum canticum novum carmen Deo nostro videbunt multi et timebunt et sperabunt in Domino”(Psalm 39:4 VULG2-T)

“καὶ ἐνέβαλεν εἰς τὸ στόμα μου ᾆσμα καινόν, ὕμνον τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν· ὄψονται πολλοὶ καὶ φοβηθήσονται καὶ ἐλπιοῦσιν ἐπὶ κύριον.”(Psalm 39:4 LXX1)

“Il a mis dans ma bouche un cantique nouveau, une louange à notre Dieu. Beaucoup l’ont vu; ils ont eu de la crainte et se sont confiés en l’Eternel.” (Psalm 40:4 SEG21)

I’m not sure if David is saying that because God put a new song in his heart many will see and fear and trust in Yahweh, or if he meant that the new song that God put in his heart was this song: many will see and fear and will trust in Yahweh. I suppose it doesn’t really matter does it.

What I’m focused on is more the end result or the actual song of David. Many will see, fear, and trust, and this seems to be a good summation of the Christian life to me. We see God in his beauty and we see Jesus as the ultimate and only mediator between God and man and of course we fear/respect/reference/are in awe of God’s work that only God can do or even dream of really. Seeing and fearing lead to trusting.

Spurgeon comments here: “Trusting in the Lord is the evidence, nay, the essence of salvation.” Indeed it is, and we have the entire Bible that reminds us of this and demonstrates it to us through the lives of saints. As someone I know put it: We must just trust.

All My Bones

“All my bones will say, “Yahweh, who is like You, Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”” (Psalm 35:10 LSB)

“omnia ossa mea dicent Domine quis similis tui eruens inopem a validiore et pauperem et mendicum a violento” (Psalm 34:10 VULG-T)

“πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐροῦσιν Κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; ῥυόμενος πτωχὸν ἐκ χειρὸς στερεωτέρων αὐτοῦ καὶ πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα ἀπὸ τῶν διαρπαζόντων αὐτόν.”(Psalm 34:10 LXX1)

”כָּ֥ל עַצְמוֹתַ֨י ׀ תֹּאמַרְנָה֮ יְהוָ֗ה מִ֥י כָ֫מ֥וֹךָ מַצִּ֣יל עָ֭נִי מֵחָזָ֣ק מִמֶּ֑נּוּ וְעָנִ֥י וְ֝אֶבְי֗וֹן מִגֹּזְלֽוֹ׃“ (Psalm 35:10 HMT-W4)

“Todos mis huesos dirán: «Jehová, ¿quién como tú, que libras al afligido del más fuerte que él, y al pobre y menesteroso del que lo despoja?”(Psalm 35:10 RVR95)

“Tout mon être dira: «Eternel, qui peut, comme toi, délivrer le malheureux d’un plus fort que lui, le malheureux et le pauvre de celui qui les dépouille?»”(Psalm 35:10 SEG21)

I love the way that the psalmist puts the start of this verse: “All my bones will say.” This is David’s way of saying, “My whole being,” or “all my soul,” indeed the French version of this verse can be translated “All my being.” Everything David is and believes is poured into this truth: Yahweh is the one who can (and will) deliver the afflicted from the one who is too strong for him. This in the context, not of physical strength, but of evil which seems to be so great that surely the follower of Yahweh will be overwhelmed and destroyed by it.

Not at all. As we know and believe, the God of the poor and needy is in control and the ultimate outcome belongs to him and him alone. We need to absorb this down into the very marrow of our bones and go out and live in the freedom of the God who delivers his people, no matter how poor and afflicted they may be.