Oxygen from Psalm 35 (Imprecation)

1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of shield and buckler
and rise for my help!
3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers!
"I am your salvation!"
4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be turned back and disappointed
who devise evil against me!
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
6  Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7  For without cause they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit for my life.
8  Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!
9  Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
exulting in his salvation.
10  All my bones shall say,
"O Lord, who is like you,
delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
the poor and needy from him who robs him?"
11  Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
12  They repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft.
13  But I, when they were sick—I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.
14  I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.
15  But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
they gathered together against me;
wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;
16  like profane mockers at a feast,
they gnash at me with their teeth.
17  How long, O Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!
18  I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19  Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes,
and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.
but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit.
21  They open wide their mouths against me; they say, "Aha, Aha!
Our eyes have seen it!"
22  You have seen, O Lord; be not silent!
O Lord, be not far from me!
23  Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24  Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and let them not rejoice over me!
25  Let them not say in their hearts, "Aha, our heart's desire!"
Let them not say, "We have swallowed him up."
26  Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
who magnify themselves against me!
27  Let those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and be glad and say evermore,
"Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!"
28  Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.
(Psalm 35) 



Commentary:

Chances are you've never heard a sermon preached on Psalm 35. It's the second of the four imprecatory Psalms (7, 35, 69, 109). Imprecatory means to call down harm upon someone, especially to curse another. Jesus specifically outlawed his followers from making such prayers. He said, "Love your enemies. Pray for them who persecute you" (Mt. 5:44).  Even when he suffered on the cross Jesus did not voice this Psalm as well he might, but prayed for forgiveness for those who tortured him.  So what do we do with Psalm 35?

Let's look at it historically rather than devotionally. This song is made up of the kind of curses we often see in suzerainty treaties of the ancient world.  A treaty was made up of four parts: first, it identified the parties; second, it specified the agreement of what each party would and would not do; third, it listed blessings for those who kept the covenant; and finally, called down curses on those who would break the agreement.

 Remember, the primary purpose of religion in ancient society was to enforce compliance to the social order. There was no criminal justice system; no police forces. Armies were too unwieldy for keeping individuals in line. So religion functioned in ancient culture as a deterrence to law-breakers and a rewarder of promise keepers.

The fact that Psalm 35 is addressed to the Choir Master means this was a public Psalm.  It's part of a liturgy.  There are two major sections introduced in verse 1.  "Contend" is a legal term and in verses 11-28 the scene appears to be a court with angry and false witnesses. "Fight" is a military word and is appropriate for verses 2-10.

This is a Psalm of King David, but not as some commentators contend, from the time he was running from King Saul.  It's too public, too legal.  David never wanted to curse God’s anointed King, even if it was Saul.  I think Psalm 35 made its way into the Hebrew hymnbook because it was part of a ceremony associated with someone who has violated a treaty with the King who is proclaimed innocent of wrongdoing toward the other party. This Psalm may have been sung with Psalm 20 on the eve of a battle into which the King would ride to punish a foreign enemy who had broken a treaty. Psalm 35 gives the people a way to declare their support for the King and to hear the King recite his innocence. I think it's also possible that psalm 35 could have been used in the trials of domestic enemies, traitors among the nobility who sought to take advantage of the King's weakness and who are now to be judged in the high court of Israel with David as the Judge.  Verse 27 may have been a kind of voice vote by the people: "Shout all you who favor my vindication!"

So I think it is best to interpret Psalm 35 as a royal Psalm which may guide our prayers for our political leaders.  The New Testament says we are to submit to our leaders for they all serve at God’s pleasure (Romans 13:1-6). We pray that our nation's enemies will be confounded (v.1-8). It may have been that the King himself sang verses 9-10, affirming that we should pray that our leaders trust in God and seek God's will in dealing with these threats.  We should pray for justice in our courts, that lying witnesses would be found out, that God would intercede for the weak and needy, and that we as a people will trust God's providence for our prosperity (v. 27-28).

Great God,

I would not want to be one of your enemies,

one whom You would break under these curses,

one who would pervert your justice and oppress your people.

Guide our leaders to do the right,

yo seek Your truth,

and never pray that You be on our side,

but that our side be always aligned

with your Word and the will of Earth's true King,

even Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 34:12-22 (How to Live Long and Prosper)

12 Does anyone want to live long and prosper?

13 Then keep your tongue from speaking evil      and your lips from telling lies! 

14 Turn away from evil and do good.     Search for peace, and work to maintain it

15 The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right;     his ears are open to their cries for help.

16 But the LORD turns his face against those who do evil;     he will erase their memory from the earth.

17 The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help.
     He rescues them from all their troubles.

18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;

     he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

19 The righteous person faces many troubles,

    but the LORD comes to the rescue each time.

20 For the LORD protects the bones of the Righteous One;

    not one of them is broken!
21 Calamity will surely overtake the wicked,

     and those who hate the Righteous One will be punished.
22 But the LORD will redeem those who serve him.

    No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

(Psalm 34:12-22)

I must admit that I've read this passage and others like it wrong for most of my life.  On the surface it appears to be a bouncy little proverb about the power of positive communication (Lord, forgive me for that sermon).  Control what you say and you will live a long and prosperous life; don't do bad things and God will protect you.  Just the stuff for another moralistic sermon like so many others: do more, try harder, be nice.

This is how the rabbinic Jews in Jesus' time interpreted passages like this.

" You see that wealthy, prosperous person over there?" asked the rabbi, dressed in his rich clothing. " Do you want to know how he got that way? Turn to Psalm 34. He kept his tongue in check and he surely must have done good else God would not reward him."

 This was not only the hermeneutic of rabbinic Judaism, but the confession of much of modern evangelical Christianity as it chases after success and ignores the small and powerless.  Jesus turned this health and wealth ethic upside down when He said the poor were blessed. The meek inherit the earth. Losers are close to God's heart (Mt. 5). Post-Biblical liberal Protestantism gets it all wrong, too.  Jesus isn't advocating "social justice," but the necessity of Gospel grace to fulfill the demands of a righteous God.

So, let's interpret this passage as Christians, from the Reformed perspective of law and gospel. First comes God's holy demand, a clear statement of a godly law: Control your tongue. Don't gossip. Don't tell lies. No false witness. Don't speak any untruth (v.13). Additionally, don't participate in anything evil but always do good. Don't think bad thoughts. Don't miss every opportunity to do good for someone else .  Don't cause trouble. Then, having found this perfect balance of self-control and social justice, what the Jews called shalom, maintain it for the rest of your life (v.14) .

As in all covenant ceremonies, there are blessings: long life, prosperity (v.12), summed up as God watching  over you (v.15).  Next are the curses for those who break these holy laws: God will ignore you and erase your memory from all your posterity (v.16).

God's law is perfect and demands perfection. If we're being honest, the problem soon becomes apparent: I'm nowhere near perfect.  And every time I try to be perfect, I make matters worse.  I lie to myself, I become hypocritical with others, trying to maintain a show of something I'm not.  I stop reading certain parts of the Bible.  I look for churches that assuage my guilt with easy-to-do rituals by which some holy man in funny clothes declares me holy and forgiven. Yikes --  I'm  deeply flawed. I can't even read God's righteous demand without knowing I'm... dead ... meat.  So I look for a preacher or a best-seller that tells me God doesn't mean I have to live this law perfectly, just the best I can. But then I read the Bible and discover the truth: break one part of the law, and I'm guilty of breaking it all. (James 2:10, Mt. 5:18).  Jesus did say, "You must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect."

How's that good moral life working out for you? Those who try to live moralistically are doomed to frustration and despair (Gal. 3:10). But God never lays down law that He doesn't also provide grace. Do you see it in Psalm 34? "His ears are open to those who confess they need help" (v.15).  The law isn't there for us to ignore or for us to dumb down into moralistic claptrap.  The law exists  to drive us to our knees and call to God for help, for a Rescuer (v.17). Nothing crushes the spirit like the law. God's holy demands short-circuit the human control center of the heart ("the heart" in Jewish culture is not about emotions, but about will). I can decide to invite Jesus into my heart, I can make firm resolution, I can commit, I can dedicate and re-dedicate myself, I can promise and vow, but inevitably and always I … fail. And If tell myself that I haven't failed, the truth is not in me (I John 1:8-9).

It is at that moment when we experience the crushing power of God's law that grace shines through. God will hear and rescue (v.19). God will help and heal. God will forgive. God will do it himself. He doesn't ignore his righteous demands. He doesn't set aside his Word to help us feel better, for that would make God a liar. But he points us to Christ, the one who hung on the cross but none of whose bones were broken (v.20).  

There are two religious systems: one of self-reliant, moralistic striving, self-delusion, and ignoring the  Righteous Rescuer (v.21); the other for honest huddlers under the only refuge God provides, under the blood of the Lamb, under the cross of Jesus, our only confession: Justified by grace!

Righteous God:

Save me from my pitiable attempts

To justify myself 

     by myself 

     for myself.

Rescue me in Jesus blood

And for His sake.

Restore me to my rightful mind and destiny.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 34:9-11 (Fear)

Fear the LORD, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing. Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the LORD.
(Psalm 34:9-11)

Merciful God:

How can I learn to fear
The One I hold so dear,
The One who banished fright,
gave me songs in the night,
and bid me come in simple trust?

How can I learn to fear
The One whose presence cheers,
The One who suffered terror
for my unrighteous errors,
for all my brazenness?

Our culture sings sex ditties
while epics sung in ancient cities
chronicled the fights of heroes,
into fear and tempest thrown,
against the terrors of the gods.

Safety in our stronghold
gives rise to softer songs,
softer people, softer minds,
unaware of the true time,
seldom overcome with awe.

May Thy transcendent threat
make every evil-doer fret;
restrain my self-centered spike
when I would compromise the right,
that I not Thee disappoint.

David, teach me, inspired bard,
how to rightly fear the Lord,
how to rightly hear His call,
how to live in abject awe
of my Redeemer's love.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 34:2-9 (Force-praise)

American Christianity is about a happy, clappy religion in praise of a diety more like Santa Claus than the God of the Bible. The Bible, written for us but not to us, takes place in a world that was violent and ruthless. David has been anointed King under God's authority, but he's hunted like a criminal. Here's what happened when he had lost everything.

My soul force-praises Yahweh;
those with nothing left, rejoice.
Make Yahweh bigger than your need
Do so and we shall praise him together.
I pleaded with Yahweh, "What are you doing?"
He answered and delivered me.
How? He made all my fears slink away.


How many times have I seen it -
those who force-praise light up;
their faces free of shame or care.
So myself, when I lost everything,
force-praised Yahweh,
and He heard and acted,
overcoming my distress.


Yahweh's messenger surrounds 
those who force-praise him,
He delivers them.
Taste! See that Yahweh is good.
Oh the joy of those who trust him
when they lose everything.
Force-praise Yahweh, you his chosen,
When everything is gone, 
You have everything you need.


(Psalm 34:2-9, DKB Interplation)


Ever-present God:

How blessed I am to live free
in a prosperous and safe country,
with enough to eat and shelter fine,
where I have control over my time.
But how rare historically
is this blest stability.
Most of the human story tells
of war and famine and awful smells,
of raiders coming to my village
to rape and kidnap and to pillage.
In spite of our unsolved problems
These are the best of times.

So David while a refugee
under Saul's death penalty,
flees to enemy territory;
with nothing but his cloak and story.
There he's captured, loses hope,
destitute, in slavery's yoke,
has nothing left, not one ally,
prays "Why me? Why am I
hunted like the jackal, hated?
Is this how you treat your Anointed?"
Then comes into his prison cave
The One who will one day save
all the saints from Barabbas' cross.

Did he break David's chains?
Did he take away the pains?
There was no magic, no miracle,
No evidence of any oracle,
circumstance did not re-arrange
but something inside David changed.
Faith welled up like a spring
and caused his aching heart to sing,
not yet free, not yet King,
but praise in spite of everything.
And what looked to Acish like insanity
was a soul in faithful rapture.

Force-praise is the covenant faith,
that trusts in God though all forsake,
Force-praise exalts God's ability
when we have lost all stability.
Perhaps we can only know
the power of faith when we must go
and force-praise God against
all odds, against all sense,
against the doctor's diagnosis
force-praise Him who truly knows us.
Still I can taste and know His goodness
who is my full Deliverance..

O may I know my deep need of Thee,
admit my true need and poverty;
may I with patience wait to see
how force-praising will set me free.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 34:1 (The Great Pretender)

Don't dismiss the setting given in the Hebrew Bible for Psalm 34.  I think it may shed light on what David is trying to communicate.

When David pretended to be something he's not before before Abimelek, who drove him away, and David left.  


I will extol Yahweh at all times; 
I will constantly speak his praises.
(Psalm 34:1)


Changeless God:

The hummingbird at my feeder
cannot betray its nature;
cannot become more or less
than you, Creator, planned.
My sweet Corgi cannot feign
a quiet, passive disposition,
nor wish she was a Great Dane,
embarrased at her shortness.

Only humans give pretense,
become something we are not,
lie to ourselves without sense,
sin and call it virtuous.
Only people practice dissipation,
hold others up to ridicule;
our species unique in all creation:
pretenders, prevaricators, cruel.

This flaw infects us all,
no one is immune from falsity.
Since Adam and the fall,
all Utopias crumble on this fault.
And never are we more at risk
than to deny our duplicity,
betray the Truth with a kiss,
release our inner Iscariot.

David pretends to madness
to save himself from Abimelech;
acts the fool, cursed by badness,
just to get out of a mess.
Yet even as he pretends,
he extols your holy name,
by which he knows the Covenant extends
to cover every hypocrisy.

So may we whose unholy habit
is to be something we are not,
know your nearness while we're sinning,
extol your grace in which we're caught.
Abandon us -- you shall never do,
but make our pilgrimage of faith
the struggle to subdue
lesser passions to the upward call of Christ.

Amen

Oxygen from Psalm 33:10-22

The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations
and thwarts all their schemes.
But the LORD’s plans stand firm forever;
his intentions can never be shaken.
What joy for the nation whose God is the LORD,
whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.
The LORD looks down from heaven
and sees the whole human race.
From his throne he observes
all who live on the earth.
He made their hearts,
so he understands everything they do.
The best-equipped army cannot save a king,
nor is great strength enough to save a warrior.
Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory—
for all its strength, it cannot save you.
But the LORD watches over those who fear him,
those who rely on his unfailing love.
He rescues them from death
and keeps them alive in times of famine.
We put our hope in the LORD.
He is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
Let your covenant love surround us, LORD,
for our hope is in you alone.
Psalm 33:10-22

Sovereign God:
The nations are frustrated,
mired in debt, poor job creation;
just when we need the voice of reason
campaign rhetoric is now in season.
Save us from tribal divisions
that blame each other for omissions,
that test your sovereign grace
with lying lips, arrogant face,
as though a single man
or political party plan
could bring us back from the precipise.

You set the times and boundaries
for every nation's ascendency
and decline as fits your plan;
the heavenly purpose for every land:
to reveal your justice, truth, (Acts 17:26-27)
to punish the vile and uncouth,
and reward the good, provide relief,
regardless of their belief,
Providential care out-poured
from Earth's true King and Lord,
who waits not for us to choose,
for if he did, we would lose
every chance of peace and solace.

He understands the way we are
for he made us, knows our hearts.
Does that mean God made me queer?
Not at all, be drawn near
and find the answers of confused identity,
peace from one you thought Enemy,
who offered up the sacrifice
of the Perfect Lamb, the price of freedom paid.

So let me sing and raise my voice
not of my country or my choice,
but let my song forever be
of my sovereign's choice of me,
not for anything I have done
but for the pleasure of His Son,
who's covenant love and faithfulness
is stronger than any warrior's horse,
greater than any army horde,
who dares stand against the Lord,
whose Anointed lives and reigns,
our only hope, His unfailing love.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 33:1-9: Worship for a New Creation

You righteous in Christ, sing for joy!
His upright love to praise him.
Praise the LORD with strings,
make music for him on the ten-string.
Sing a new song of praise to him;
play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.
For the Word of the LORD holds true,
and we can trust everything he does.
He loves whatever is just and good;
Christ's covenant love fills the earth.
Yahweh merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
He gathered the seas to their boundaries
and filled the deep mines with treasures.
Let the whole world fear the LORD,
and let everyone stand in awe of him.
When he spoke, the world began.
It appeared at his command.
Psalm  33:1-9

Gracious, Ever-Faithful God:

What has happened to our worship praise?
Read from books and slides and overlays?
Please don't wake the snoring!
Who made worship boring?
Why veneration of human tradition
as if God's new creation
could be confined to pew-sitting watchers
of some Chrysostomic cleric,
protected by ancient liturgy
from rebutal or from question?

Rock 'n roll worship is far worse,
shunning truth for sing-song verse,
appealing to the rock concert crowd,
entertainment played quite loud,
Bible as self-help advice,
"Do more, try harder, be nice,"
the weekly message from the pulpit,
bootstraps R us -- how to stop it.
How to cease the rot of culture
transforming church into transgendered bride?

Where is skill?  Where the excellence?
Where the new song played with brilliance?
Where the overwhelming awe,
and Gospel truth about our flaws;
my quaking hand laid on my prize lamb,
knife to neck, it's life for mine?
No hocus pocus; but laser focus
on the blood that was shed for me.

Holy Spirit, infuse my worship,
with joy and song, here I belong!
Gather those made righteous by Christ's decree
like You gathered primordal seas,
and set the boundaries of our love
to the expanse of your good and justice.

Give us new songs for new creation,
hover, Holy Spirit, end lamentation;
Take us as far as we may go
in our temples here below.
Meet us in the courtyards of holiness,
near enough for You to bless us,
not holed up in sanctuaries,
but exposed to light and air and world,
exposed to Gospel grace, Your Word proclaim,
recreating all the fallen,
known to You by name,
inheritors of redemption's age.

Amen

Oxygen from Psalm 32:8-9

Yahweh says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”



Gracious God,

I am not a thoroughbred, sleek and fast;
no war horse me, built to last,
or ignore the battle's blast,
but stubborn mule, made to pull,
biggie ears, braying fool,
prone to wander off alone.

Yet You harness my potential,
fit me with Your bit and bridle,
by Your Word you take control.
lead me to your healing streams,
bathe my wounds and wash my dreams,
restore my strength and vision.

When first you gave to me Your bit
I did not like it's taste or fit.
Unfair, I grumbled, spit it out.
But you persisted my refusal,
comforted, soothed, made me useful;
freedom now a run in harnass.

Guide me on Your chosen path,
Pioneer and Faith Perfector,
past the ambush of defectors
to wide prairies of endless vistas,
and with faithful brothers, sisters,
ride into a sunrise of delight.

Amen.

Psalm 16 Bible Study

     To ancient Hebrews, the words of our Scriptures were the pop songs everyone knew, the history that defined their identity, even the after-dinner entertainment of the day.  In Bronze Age society stories and songs were the mass media of a pre-literate culture. If I wrote a song that you had never heard before, but used these three words, “Dandy,” “Doodle,” “Yankee,” you would immediately recognize a historical connection, even if what I was writing on the surface had nothing to do with history.

     This is the case with Psalm 16, I think. The three words that would have rung familiar to the ancient Hebrew listener are “portion,” “cup,” and “boundary.” Now, many modern translations may not even have these key words. The problem with many modern translations is they must make sense to people who may be Biblically illiterate. So publishers eliminate the very key words necessary to hear how the song would have been heard in the 10^th century BC and in later epochs. We know this happened to a huge extent during the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews in the 5^th and 6^th centuries BC.  The old language became less and less used and many people forgot the meaning of words. In fact, in Psalm 16 verse 6 there is a word with Babylonian roots, the word for “delightful” or “wonderful.” So, we know that the form in which we now read Psalm 16 comes from after the 5th Century, not from the pen of David.

     Is it possible for us three thousand years removed to know how Psalm 16 might have sounded in the ears of David’s contemporaries? The only way to even begin to accomplish this is to use the older texts of Scripture to interpret the newer ones. Four hundred years before David, in the earliest days of the Israeli national identity, portion, cup, and boundary would have triggered two thoughts: a covenant meal and land distribution. There’s no one verse in the Old Testament that mentions all three of these concepts. So we have to do a bit of detective work to see what two stories David may be linking up, either in his own inspired imagination or from something well-known in his time but lost to us.

     Portion and cup are words associated with a meal.  A servant received his or her portion of food and drink from the master. David sings this song to his God and Master, Yahweh. There’s only one sacred meal in which the worshipper of Yahweh had a “portion” and a “cup;” the peace offering detailed in Leviticus 3, 7:15-16, and 22:29-30.  The peace offering was how reconciliation occurred after two parties had a falling out. The peace offering initiated a covenant meal between God and sinners. 

     What about the concept of boundary lines changing or being assigned as an inheritance? This recalled two events that were inseparably linked in the Hebrew mind: first, the covenant ceremony led by Joshua at Shechem (Joshua 24); and second, the Jubilee legislation that provided for an a complete economic reset of all debts and deals as a reminder that the land belonged to Yahweh (Leviticus 25).  In Deuteronomy 15, there is some evidence that this reset may have occurred every seven years  in the earliest days of the theocracy. I think it entirely possible that David composed Psalm 16, out of the remnants of an ancient liturgy of covenant renewal, a shared meal, and the redistribution or reaffirmation of holy boundaries. Psalm 16:1 is pure covenantal language. “I will be your God and you will be my people.” Preserve me, O God, I refuge in you. I will do my part and you will do your part. It was the way every treaty was worded in the Bronze Age.

     When that ancient covenant liturgy was first made, Israel was not in the Promised Land of Canaan. They were on the other side of the Jordan, preparing to go in and take the land that belonged to other peoples, specifically, the Canaanites, a fierce and militarily superior nation. Why would David think about that portion, cup, and boundary? It may have been the time of the Feast of Covenant Renewal (later called Tabernacles or Booths) that David saw in the situation of those ancient Hebrews awaiting the conquest of Canaan, a picture of his own plight. Many of David's Psalms carry inscriptions of the historical context which occasioned the song. Many are from the time David is on the run from Saul. Psalm 16 carries no such historical reference, but it does picture a man on the run in verse 1, like an unintended criminal fleeing to the cities of Refuge (Deuteronomy 4:41ff.), needing safe sanctuary. This fits perfectly the time that Saul, King of the Jews, is pursuing David with the intent to kill the son of Jesse. But only David knows from the great prophet and priest, Samuel himself, that the Kingship has been withdrawn from Saul and given to David. So, here’s David, the rightful king, with no portion or cup from his Master, no inheritance at all, an outlaw with only God’s big idea and God’s Word and Presence to sustain him.

     David sings about the covenant blessings of belonging body and soul to Yahweh. The LORD himself instructs David (Psalm 16:7) with the counsel of His Word. David knows the presence of God surrounding him; God makes himself real to David (v.8). While Saul threatens him with murder, David has an abiding joy and certain promise that the Holy One of his family will not be abandoned in the grave to rot (v.10). He has everything he needs while outwardly having nothing.

     How similar to Jesus a thousand years after David. He, too, was announced to be God’s King of the Jews, but he had nothing, no power, no title, and no prospects but death and suffering. Pilate asks, "You are a King then?" Jesus answers, "Are you saying this of your own accord or did you hear this from others?" Jesus is checking to see if the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in Pilate. But alas, no. So Jesus answers, "My kingdom is not from the world." Jesus' kingship is a different kind of King than Pilate could ever conceive. But look at the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, stricken, bloodied. What a King! Every one of his followers would desert him in his hour of need. But like David was preserved, so Jesus was preserved by God's covenant faithfulness.

     Between the resurrection and his ascension, Jesus spent hours in Bible study with his disciples, showing them how the Old Testament was really all about him. He must have pointed out Psalm 16 specifically, since Peter refers to it in his Pentecost sermon as prophesying the resurrection of David’s Holy Son (Acts 2:25-28). It's not hard to imagine our Savior praying the words of Psalm 16 in Gethsemane’s Garden and with Psalm 22 while hanging on the cross, a great song of abiding trust and confidence in the promises of God when it seems that all is lost.

     Jesus, on the eve of his great Exodus, transformed the Passover into the covenant-renewing peace offering meal of reconciliation in his body and blood. He knew the struggles of the flesh, being tempted in every way we are, yet without sin. When Jesus said, "As often as you do this you remember me," he's not talking about religious reminiscing.  We are actually participating in the same Kingdom building God was doing in ancient Israel, rehearsing the covenant faithfulness of God this side of Jordan's stormy banks. We are like David, awaiting an unseen inheritance that is ours by faith in the victory of Jesus over death and the grave. When it seems darkest, God is preserving us through the counsel of His Word, through the love of His saints, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, showing us the path of life, the fullness of joy, and wonder of permanence forever more.

Oxygen from Psalm 32 (Messiah's Confession)

Psalm 32 is a penitential song.  Twice we are told that David was deathly ill; once, after bringing the Ark into Jerusalem early in his reign and later after his adultery with Uriah's wife and conspiracy to murder Uriah.  David interpreted his sickness as a judgement against his cover-up of his sin.

Scholars say these texts are not Messianic because Christ' was sinless.  He didn't need to pray these confessions.  But I wonder if Jesus didn't learn to pray these prayers of repentance.  Why would he skip over these?  Why else did he submit to the baptism of John.  His sinlessness was not something he inherited from his virgin mother, but something He, like you and me, won by grace.

1 Oh, what joy for those
    whose disobedience is forgiven,
    whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
    whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
    whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
    my body wasted away,
    and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
    My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
    and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
    And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude
6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
    that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
    you protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude
8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
    but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
    Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!


Living Christ,

We confess Thy sinless life,
But how came you to this bless'd condition?
Was your moral clarity
from your mother's virginity
as say the Popes and all their clergy?

Or was your moral victory
helped by Thy unique divinity?
Was your flesh not quite like mine,
but virgin born and all divine,
Thy sinlessness mere shadowboxing?

Confessing Psalms cannot be
Messianic, scholars say.
"His sinlessness was existential,
not God-conferred, not penitential."
But what precludes Thy true confessing,
of temptation's downward pull?

Did You get sick and groan in pain,
wonder like all other Jews
who walked the Roman Galilee
if Father God might be displeased,
about some rancor in the heart,
an errant dream, a horrid thought,
some alm omitted, like the man
You passed each day at Beauty Gate?

Or was Thy sinless life apace
won as mine -- by Father's grace;
not the lopsided victory
of One possessed of purer flesh,
but by confession, if not of sin,
of human need to come clean within;
if not of pride, of drives inside
the mind of our true Emmanuel?

How else comes our sanctification
from sin's awful domination
if not that we confess
the allure of sin to flesh
but sin not, beat temptation,
yield, obey Thy Spirit's pull
into Thy praise-filled hiding place?

So may I pray as perhaps with Thee,
"God be my guide, my bit and bridle."
Let me follow Thee Whose title
to the Baptist was declared,
rising from repentance water,
Beloved Son, well-pleased Confessor!
Be my health and heavenly treasure.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 31 (Besieged)

Psalm 31 is a powerful song which, like Psalm 22,  was most likely on the Savior's lips as he endured the rejection of the chief priests and the pain of Golgotha Hill.  Indeed, the last words of Jesus upon the cross are found in verse 5.  David probably wrote the words in thanksgiving for his having survived the siege of his city by enemies.  But the words clearly describe the faith of the Righteous One (v.18).


1 Yahweh, I have come to you for protection;
    don’t let me be disgraced.
    Save me, on account of your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to listen to me;
    rescue me quickly.
  Be my rock of protection,
    save me to the mountain fortress.
3 You are my rock and my fortress.
    For the honor of your name, lead me, guide me.
4 Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
    for I find protection in you alone.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit.
    Rescue me, Yahweh, faithful God.
6 I hate those who worship worthless idols.
    I trust in Yahweh.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your covenant love,
    for you have seen my troubles,
    and you know the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to my enemies
    but have set me in a wide open place.
9 Be gracious to me, Yahweh, for I am in trouble.
    Tears blur my eyes.
    My body and soul are withering away.
10 My life finishes with grief;
    my years in sadness.
   My punishment has drained my strength;
    I am wasting away from within.
11 I am scorned by all my enemies
    and despised by my neighbors—
    even my friends are afraid to come near me.
   When they see me on the street,
    they run the other way.
12 I am shunned as if I were dead,
    a broken pot.
13 I hear the many rumors about me,
    and I am surrounded by terror.
   My enemies conspire against me,
    plotting to take my life.
14 But I am trusting you, Yahweh,
    saying, “You are my God!”
15 My destiny is in your hands.
    Rescue me from those who persecute me.
16 Shine on your servant.
    In your covenant love, rescue me.
17 Don’t let me be disgraced, Yahweh,
    for I call out to you for help.
   Let the wicked be disgraced;
    let them lie silent in the grave.
18 Silence their lying lips—
    those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the Righteous One.
19 How great is the goodness
    you have stored up for those who fear you.
   You lavish it on those who come to you for protection,
    blessing them before the watching world.
20 You hide them in the shelter of your presence,
    seclude them in your tabernacle
   away from contentious conspirators.
21 Praise Yahweh,
    for he has shown me his covenant love
    in the city under siege.
22 In panic I cried out,
    “I am cut off from all help!”
   But you heard my cry for mercy
    and answered my call for help.
23 Love Yahweh, all you his covenant people!
    For Yahweh preserved the faithful,
    but he repays the prideful with interest.
24 So be strong and he will strengthen your heart, 
    all you who put your hope in Yahweh.


Psalm 31 -- DKB Interplation


God our Father:

What terrors did Your Christ confront
to set his people free
from the besieged citadel
of hell masquerading as Your church.

Dying on Skull Hill that Friday
Which pain the more excruciating?
Rome's cursed crucifixion
or priestly rejection and denunciating?

Rome did not betray our Christ.
Romans did not shout "Crucify!"
Pilate offered Him release,
the Mrs. warned in sleepless dreams.

It was His friends who rejected Him,
scribes and elders on the church board,
those who felt their power threatened,
they betrayed and killed their Lord.

Religion's full of worthless idols
before whom the pious pray,
laying siege to God's elect
with rituals as strong as chains.

As though by these religious acts
we might earn some extra merit.
Christ's work is never finished     (John 19:30)
according to Constantinian clerics.

None but self-righteous can devise
such tortures of the soul,
to deprive of hope and wealth,
even those who've lost their health.

What then these mumbling priests?
What good these religious yokes?
The institution's only purpose --
preserve the stories of faithful folk.

And when these tax-free shelters run
a muck of truth and lose their passions,
let them be anathema!
Pronounce Ichabod o'er their ashes.

Let me find Your holy comfort
in this sweet sustaining song,
when disgraced and when rejected,
when persecuted for no wrong.

Comfort me with strength sublime
Shelter me within your grace,
and when the siege of life is done
set me on Your wide open place.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 30 (Morning Dance)

Although this Psalm probably was composed for the dedication of David's palace (not the Temple), it also speaks wonderfully to Messiah's resurrection.  What David may have meant metaphorically, Jesus experienced on that first Easter.

1 I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me.
    You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
    and you restored my health.
3 You brought me up from the grave, O Lord.
    You kept me from falling into the pit of death.
4 Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones!
    Praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.
6 When I was prosperous, I said,
    “Nothing can stop me now!”
7 Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.
    Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.
8 I cried out to you, O Lord.
    I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,
9 “What will you gain if I die,
    if I sink into the grave?
   Can my dust praise you?
    Can it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me.
    Help me, O Lord.”
11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
    You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!


Psalm 30 (NLT)

Risen Christ:

I would lose all thought of self,
dance and sing, cavort with joy,
see the morning eclipse mourning,
stand in solidarity with saints,
know forgiveness reaches me,
prompts repentance, grace unleashed;
practice for the new Earth morning
when I see you face to face.

Amen.

Oxygen from Psalm 27&28 (Time-stream)

27:14 Wait expectantly for the Lord.  
    Be brave and courageous.
    Yes, wait expectantly for the Lord.


28:1  I cry to You, Yahweh, my Rock.
    Do not be silent to me,
    for if You are silent, I might as well be dead.


28:2  Hear the voice of my supplications.
    I lift my hands toward your holy throne (lit. oracle).


28:6  Blessed be Yahweh because he has heard 
    the voice of my supplications.


28:7  Yahweh, my Strength, my Shield,
    My heart trusted in him and I was helped.
    My heart rejoices. I praise him in song.


28:8   Yahweh is the fortress of his people.
    the saving strength of his Anointed.


28:9   Save your people.
    Bless your inheritance.
    Shepherd them and lift them up forever.




Holy and Awesome God:


When we pray and intercede
for ourselves and those in need
we, in this created time-stream,
speak to You who dwell outside of time,
lift our hands toward Your Throne;
we, carried along as day to day,
the time-stream makes its inexorable way
to where You dwell and wait for us
at the confluence of our ever-rolling tide
and your eternal Now.


Down the time-stream we all float,
some on rafts and some in boats,
all adrift in one single current;
somewhere ahead the waterfall
will capsize and sink us all.
But You, like the eagle, fly above
this river's frenzied fate
and cast Your light through the blue gloom,
translucent spears of infinity.


You know how time will end, indeed
it has already ended as You decreed.
We live in Your past tense (as it were),
this world and all therein,
rush toward your uniting
of all things under Your Christ.      (Eph. 1:10)
This is revealed: we have already died,
our lives hid with Christ in Heaven. (Col.3:3)


So, if our prayers are already answered,
we need not wait for the flow we measure
in months and years to reveal your will.
You are not slow nor need cajoled
by years of fruitless prayer.
Teach us how to pray the prayers
You have already answered,
and, like David, realize mid-song
that You were working all along
to bring glory to Your Christ.


What then are our supplications?
Why should we pray for daily bread,
for Kingdom come when Your outcome is assured,
You having fixed the day and hour
this river flows no more to sea
but flows to Thee at Earth's Renaissance?
Prayers are bubbles in the time-stream,
made of spirit, they ascend
to surface where You reign
and mingle with the praise of saints
in Heavens' rarefied atmosphere.


Answered prayers reveal your presence,
objectify a more dimensioned place
than we could e'er conceive;
bequeath to us a higher aspiration,
stream-bound mimes could ne'er deduce,
a destiny greater than the final plunge,
a Rescue at our final moment,
and buoyant rise in Heaven's skies.


Amen.

Reflections on Psalm 7

¹ I come to you for protection, O Lord my God.
    Save me from my persecutors—rescue me!
² If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion,
    tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
³ O Lord my God, if I have done wrong
    or am guilty of injustice,
⁴ if I have betrayed a friend
    or plundered my enemy without cause,
⁵ then let my enemies capture me.
    Let them trample me into the ground
    and drag my honor in the dust. Interlude

⁶ Arise, O Lord, in anger!
    Stand up against the fury of my enemies!
    Rouse yourself for me in your instructed justice!
⁷ The congregation of the people surround you.
    Rule over them from on high.
⁸     The Lord judges the nations.
Declare me righteous, O Lord,
    for I am innocent, O Most High!
⁹ End the evil of those who are wicked,
    and defend the righteous.
For you look deep within the mind and heart,
    O righteous God.

¹⁰ God is my shield,
    saving those whose hearts are true and right.
¹¹ God is an honest judge.
    He is angry with the wicked every day.

¹² If a person does not repent,
    God will sharpen his sword;
    he will bend and string his bow.
¹³ He will prepare his deadly weapons
    and shoot his flaming arrows.

¹⁴ The wicked conceive evil;
    they are pregnant with trouble
    and give birth to lies.
¹⁵ They dig a deep pit to trap others,
    then fall into it themselves.
¹⁶ The trouble they make for others backfires on them.
    The violence they plan falls on their own heads.

¹⁷ I will thank the Lord because he is just;
    I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

One of the great deficiencies of the Constantinian Church is its complete failure to help heal the wounds it so often helps create.  Check the churches with buildings and budgets and inevitably you find a history of conflicts, splits, name-calling, even lawsuits among members and other churches.  The New Testament house church had many of these same problems, but the apostles stepped in and put an end to lawsuits and factionalism.  Today with churches on nearly every corner of the typical American town, conflicts are typically solved by the loser slinking away to unite with another fellowship.  He or she rarely gains closure on the conflict that drove them out of the last church and consequently the believer becomes less open and more cynical of Churchianity. 

Psalm 7 seems to be part of a liturgy for re-establishing the reputation of an individual who has been falsely accused and found innocent.  The first two verses introduce the theme that someone is tearing his life apart, threatening his reputation and no one has stepped forward to clear his name.  So, he calls upon Yahweh.  In verses 3-4 he swears to his innocence and allows that if he is at fault in any way, he will bear the penalty.  He calls for Yahweh to arise and be his judge before the assembly of his people.  In verses 8-11 he prays for his persecutors (that their wickedness would end) and affirms the power of Yahweh to deal with the mischief-maker.  The song ends with thanksgiving and praise for the righteous justice of Yahweh Most High.

I think this liturgy may have formed the basis of the prayers of the New Testament Church in Acts 5 and 12.  The Church prays for Peter and the Apostles immediately after they are unjustly thrown into prison.  They take to heart the powerful truths of Psalm 7.  Their reaction is not to complain or file a lawsuit or quit the congregation.  They pray, recognizing that God is the only solution to the problem.  There was probably intense soul-searching as they studied their Scriptures. In Psalm 7:6 the literal Hebrew says:

“Arise, Yahweh, in your anger,

Rise up! My enemy rages.

Raise yourself for me in your instructed justice.”

Where does Yahweh instruct but in His Word?  The New Testament church made the Scriptures the basis of their prayers, not their wounded pride or off-balance emotions.  Verse 7 says, “The congregation of the people surrounds you.”  There is a coming together around the Word to discern God’s will.

This is why Paul can write, “In all things, give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:18, Ephesians 5:20); in good times and bad, because God is sovereign and working all things together for good to them elect in God's grace (Romans 8:28).  

How I wish I had discovered these truths six months ago when I became the personal target of a bishop and his confused priest.  Instead of taking things into my own hands, Psalm 7 instructs us to turn to Christ who, if I am innocent, will be more out-raged at the church’s compromised witness than I could ever be, and at the same time, work healing for all parties.  Eventually the Holy Spirit pulled me back from the edge of wanting revenge by speaking clearly to me in a dream (well, he spoke to me in Greek and I had to translate it the next day).  But Christ was true to His Word.  He warned me back, confirmed He would handle this in His way, and showed me cause for intercession, praise and thanksgiving rather than bitterness, revenge, and hostility.   

If you have been falsely accused, here are the steps Psalm 7 suggests for handling your response.

1.  Recognize the situation for what it is (vs.1-2).  The first stage of grief at a broken relationship is denial (“This isn’t really happening.”)  When someone attacks your reputation falsely, it can rip your life to pieces, like a lion tears a piece of meat.

2.   Examine your part and accept what you probably had coming (vs. 2-5, 8).  Confess where you are at fault and ask God to do whatever spiritual surgery is required in your own heart.

3.  Go to the Word of God (v.6).  Read Psalm 7 again and again.  Let it guide your confessions and prayers for one whole week.  Do this before you react to the persecutor.

4.  It may sound like a cliche, but let go and let God (v.8-16).  You can’t change other people in any effective or authentic way, but God can.  Realize that God is your Judge.  This doesn't necessarily mean God finds you innocent or guilty in this situation.  Old Testament judges were warriors who delivered God’s people from enemies.  Let God do the fighting while you do the praying.

5.   Do not gloat when the liar falls into his own trap (v.15-16).   Boasting is never allowed in our faith, except to boast in Christ (1 Cor. 1:31).  Be ready to forgive, not because you want to put the relationship back together necessarily (sometimes that’s not wise), but because you want to be found in the righteousness of Christ and not in your own.

6.  Be thankful that you have learned a lesson in faith (v.17).  God is true to His Word always.  Anyone who wants to live a Christian life will be persecuted (see 2 Timothy 3:12).  Jesus promised that we will get into trouble, but in the midst of it, we will find wonderful joy and radical happiness.