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Psalms 6, 143, 38, 102, 130

Psalms
PsalmsSteve Gregg

In this discussion, Steve Gregg explores the issues surrounding the penitential Psalms, specifically Psalms 6, 143, 38, 102, and 130. Gregg provides historical context, noting that these Psalms were likely written during a period when David was fleeing King Saul, and therefore they reflect the physical and emotional difficulties he faced during this time. Gregg highlights significant verses from each of the Psalms, noting the recurring themes of repentance and seeking forgiveness from God. Ultimately, he argues that these Psalms offer timeless insights into the human experience of sin and the need for reconciliation with God.

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Transcript

We're going to continue and complete our study of the penitential Psalms, again, Psalms that are an expression of repentance over some sin. The Psalms that we've considered so far are Psalm 51 and Psalm 32, both of which were apparently written with connection to the sin that David committed with Bathsheba and against her husband. We saw that there are certain elements, I mentioned this already, that are fairly common to most of the penitential Psalms, if not all of them.
One is there's always a cry for mercy, or almost always. Also a remorse or confession of sin. There's frequently a reference to physical symptoms of weakness or sickness.
There is frequently an expression of some resolve to do something as a result of having received forgiveness. And finally, there's almost always a note of confidence at the end and some assurance that forgiveness, having been sought, has now been received. The historical setting of these penitential Psalms is not given to us in the Scripture, with the exception of Psalm 51, where we're specifically told by the writer of the inscription that that Psalm belongs to the time when Nathan the prophet brought the conviction of sin upon David over his sin with Bathsheba.
The rest of them do not give us titles or any other way to be quite certain of their historical setting, but there is information within them which, as I was studying them this morning, I felt like I saw clues within them that would give us some idea of what event in David's life they are associated with. There are five more penitential Psalms that we want to cover in this class. Four of those five have to do with what were written by David when he was afflicted by enemies.
Four out of the remaining five have to do with enemies afflicting David.
And they seem particularly suited to one of two events in David's life. It cannot be stated with certainty which of these two events each of them belong to, but I believe we can pretty much narrow it down.
One of those historical settings of David's life was when he was fleeing from King Saul, which was early in his life. David, as a young boy, you remember, had killed Goliath, and even before that he'd been playing the harp for King Saul because Saul was possessed by an evil spirit. And when he would go into his fits, David would play the harp and the spirit would leave Saul.
And so David was ministering to Saul as a court musician. And then when the challenge with Goliath came, David slew Goliath and also was active in the battle against the Philistines thereafter.
And people used to praise David above King Saul after that, and Saul got very jealous.
Saul was the king. And Saul didn't realize it, but Samuel the prophet had already anointed David to be the king to replace Saul.
But Saul began to sense this, and he was jealous of David, and therefore began to pursue David, though David had done nothing wrong, had only been a loyal citizen and a great hero of the Jews in battle, fighting Saul's battles for him.
It's interesting that David would later play a role similar to Saul's when he killed Uriah, who was a loyal soldier of his.
But Saul pursued David, and this was before David ever took the throne. Saul was still the king unchallenged.
And Saul and his armies pursued David through the wilderness. We're told that 400 men initially went with David and became his core of followers. Later the group increased to 600.
But for some period of time, the number of years is not evident, David and his band were pursued by the armies of Saul through the wilderness, living for the most part in caves and dens of the earth and in the wilderness, sometimes going into cities to get provisions, but largely refugees from King Saul. And some of the Psalms, two of them I think, seem to have reference to that period of time. That was one of the two times that they could refer to.
And those two that I believe refer to that time are Psalm 6 and Psalm 143.
Now there's a reason why I say that. These penitential Psalms do involve a cry for mercy from God, but there's no specific reference to any sin.
That is, in these two Psalms there's no specific reference to having committed any sin that has brought his trials on him, but just a general cry for mercy and an acknowledgement that he needs the mercy of God.
Now, usually when bad things are happening to us and we haven't done anything wrong, we begin to ask what we have done wrong and we begin to reflect on the fact that we've failed God in many ways throughout our lives. And we have only a general sense of guilt.
That is, we don't know of any particular sin we've committed to bring this on, yet we can realize that there have been many things we've done wrong and failed God in many ways in our lives, and we could see or at least wonder whether our present trials are God's way of chasing for any of those things.
So I believe there's a whole flavor of these two Psalms that points to a situation where the psalmist doesn't know exactly what sin is involved, but feels just vaguely that it's because of some faults on his part that these things are happening and he cries out for mercy from God. And in this respect, these two Psalms differ from the other two that we're going to study that talk about his enemies, which I would place at the time when he fled from Absalom, his son, because they do make reference to specific sin.
And while the Bible doesn't tell us of a specific sin that caused Absalom to raise up against David, we know that that was a fulfillment of a prophecy that was made because of a sin with Bathsheba. That when David sinned with Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet said, the sword will never depart from your house because of this. And Absalom's uprising against David was just part of a fulfillment of that prophecy.
So when it happened, I'm sure that David's mind went back to that prophecy and realized this is part of the punishment for that sin. Even though God had forgiven him, he was reaping the consequences of that sin. And so the two Psalms that we'll talk about, which seem to be about that period of time, which are Psalm 38 and Psalm 102, I believe they belong to a later period when David was fleeing from Absalom because they do make reference specifically to sin.
Yet they don't seem to have been written at the same time as, say, Psalm 51 and Psalm 32, which we've already studied, because in Psalm 51 and Psalm 32, there was no reference to the enemies being his main problem. When David repented of that sin with Bathsheba, he was not beset with enemies. They were not a problem.
But later on, when Absalom chased him off, his enemies were his major problem. And that he mentions that this is because of some sin, he specifically refers to having sinned in those cases. I believe that we would be fairly safe in assuming that he's referring to this uprising against him being a fulfillment of the prophecy and the curse that was put upon him because of his sin with Bathsheba.
Whereas, in contrast to that, Psalm 6 and Psalm 143 don't make reference to any sin, which may suggest that it was the time when he was fleeing from Saul. There's another thing that makes me think that these two, Psalm 6 and Psalm 143, have to do with Saul and not Absalom. And that is that both of them pronounce an imprecation upon their enemies, their unnamed enemies.
Now, an imprecation, of course, you've heard me talk about the imprecatory psalms. These are not what you'd call imprecatory psalms because they are not largely made up of imprecations, but they contain one verse each, which basically calls down curses on their enemies. It calls for the destruction of their enemies.
On a later occasion, we will talk about the imprecatory psalms as a group, but imprecations are basically curses, calling down curses from God upon evil men. And in Psalm 6 and verse 10, we have such an imprecation. Psalm 6, 10 says, Let all my enemies be ashamed and sore-vexed, let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
This is an imprecation called on his enemies. And in Psalm 143, we also have an imprecation in verse 12. Psalm 143 and verse 12 says, And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul, for I am thy servant.
Now, these imprecations would be much more suitable to the time of Saul than Absalom because David did not wish evil on his son Absalom. Even though Absalom was showing himself to be a total traitor to the family and to David, David wished well for Absalom. You remember that he told Joab specifically, Do not kill the young man Absalom.
Go easy on Absalom because he loved him. He was his son. And he would never have made these imprecations against his own son when he expressed such a different attitude to his own soldiers.
He would not have said, May God destroy these people. He really didn't have that kind of an attitude when he was being pursued by Absalom. But he did probably have that attitude when pursued by Saul.
Now, it's true that David spared Saul's life on two occasions. When Saul actually was delivered into David's hands. Once when Saul went into a cave to relieve himself and didn't know that David and his men were right there in the cave and could have killed him right on that occasion.
Another time when Saul and his camp were asleep and David and a friend walked right into the camp and stood over Saul and were in the position where they could have just thrust a spear through him. In fact, I think they picked up Saul's spear and his water jug and took them with him. And in both cases, David was in the position to kill Saul.
And when it was suggested to him to do so by his servants, he said, God forbid that I should touch the Lord's anointed. He realized that Saul was a wicked man, but nonetheless, it didn't change the fact that God had put Saul on the throne. And it was not David's place, but God's to take Saul off the throne.
David knew that he himself was to be the new king. That he himself was the one that God had anointed most recently by Samuel to be the new king. But David also knew it was not his position to remove Saul and to destroy him.
Certainly, David must have wished for Saul to be destroyed and to be replaced. But he knew he was not the man to do it and that God was the one who would have to do it. And I believe that these inforcations in these psalms indicate that David is calling upon God to bring judgment upon Saul.
Because David himself doesn't feel at liberty to do so. Even though he had opportunity to do so, he wouldn't. But that doesn't mean he didn't want justice to be done to Saul.
And so, for those reasons, both, one is that neither of these two psalms make reference to any particular sin that David had committed that were causing his problems. And also, because both of them contain imprecations or curses, asking God to show his wrath upon his enemies. I believe that those cannot refer to the flight from Absalom, but must refer to the flight from Saul.
That's my own conclusions. I've come from reading them. And we'll just go on that assumption as we cover them.
Let's read Psalm 6. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed.
My soul is also sore vexed. But thou, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul. O save me for thy mercy's sake.
For in death there is no remembrance of thee. In the grave, who shall give thee thanks? I am weary with my groaning. All the night make I my bed to swim.
I water my couch with tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief. It waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. For the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication.
The Lord will receive my prayer. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed. Let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
Okay. Now we do have him here more or less calling out for mercy. That's what I said is one of the common features of these psalms is that they do have a cry for mercy.
In verses 1 and 2. Rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Suggesting that there's a sense, maybe a very vague sense, but just some sense that all these problems are happening to him largely because of something he's done wrong and that maybe God's chastening him. And he's saying, God, please don't chasten me in your hot displeasure.
I have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. And then down in verse 4 he says, Return, O Lord, and deliver my soul. So he's calling out for mercy from God.
We also have the reference to the physical symptoms that's characteristic of so many of these psalms. In verse 2, Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed.
Again, the bones are the expression of his sickness. Heal me, for my bones are vexed. In this case, his bones may be sore from running through the wilderness more than sick from any particular guilt of sin.
There is reference to being weary with groanings in verse 6. And all night making his bed to swim. In other words, he cries so much that his bed is saturated with water. And so much so that his eye is consumed.
He's saying essentially that his eye is crying out so much water it's almost as though it's going to exhaust itself. But that doesn't mean that he's repenting for anything. In fact, he specifically says the reason he's crying is not because of grief over his sins, but grief caused by his enemies.
Just because his circumstances are so bad. In verse 7, My eye is consumed because of grief. It waxes old because of all my enemies.
So, what he's crying about is not a sense of specific guilt for any particular sin. But he's crying because things are going so badly for him. When he says in verse 4, Oh, save me for thy mercy's sake.
Or earlier in verse 3, it says, My soul also is sore vexed, but thou, O Lord, how long? This might again point to the fact that he's running from Saul. Because how long would mean how long before you fulfill your promise. God had promised that David would be king.
And yet for months and possibly years on end, David was nothing like the king. In fact, it looked like if he didn't keep running, he was going to be killed before he ever had a chance to be the king. And the man that David was supposed to replace was still in power.
This must have been the cry of David's heart many times as he fled from Saul. How long, Lord? You said something was going to happen, but when is that? When am I going to be the king? How long am I going to have to run like this? However, there is in general a note of confidence at the end, as usual. In verses 8 and 9, he says, Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity, for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.
So he says, God has heard me. The Lord has heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer.
This confidence he shows because he knows that God has heard and will come to his aid. In verse 5, where he says, In death there is no remembrance of thee, in the grave who shall give thee thanks? This does not necessarily mean that there is no such thing as life after death. But David was not reflecting on life after death, and most people in the Old Testament didn't.
There was not much understanding of what takes place after the grave in most Jews' minds. It's true that there were implications, especially in the prophets and in some of the Psalms, that there would be a resurrection. That God would raise the bodies of the righteous at least someday.
But there was no clear word from God in the Old Testament about eternal life, or the spirit living on after the body has died. As we now know from the New Testament, that when we die our spirit lives on in the presence of the Lord. And that was, of course, the experience of Old Testament saints when they died, but they didn't know in advance that it would be necessarily.
So David wasn't thinking in terms of life after death so much. He was saying, essentially, as long as I'm alive, I can remember you and I can praise you and so forth. But if I die, then how can I? I mean, is there any remembrance of you in death? That is, when a person dies, do they remember you? In the grave, who shall give thee thanks? Meaning, God, what would be the good of letting me die when if I'm alive I can at least thank you and praise you? But if you let me die, my lips will be silenced.
And knowing, of course, that praise and thanksgiving is of value to God, David considered this to be a strong arguing point. And then he gives that imprecation and curse in the last verse. Now, if we turn to Psalm 143, which is the other one like it, we find that it's not exactly like it, but seems to have, at least there's reason to believe it could have been written on the same occasion.
In this one also, we find no reference to any particular sin, though there is an implication of guilt of sin in verse 2, where it says, And enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. That is, please don't judge me, sensing that if he did stand judgment from God, that he wouldn't come out smelling like a rose. No man would, because every man is a sinner.
But this is a far cry from confessing some actual individual sin as the source of his woes. But he does enter into a cry for mercy and all, which is what makes this a penitential psalm. Let's read it first.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear unto my supplications. In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
For the enemy hath persecuted my soul. He hath smitten my life down to the ground. He hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old.
I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee.
My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land. Selah Hear me speedily, O Lord, my spirit faileth. Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down to the pit.
Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies.
I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy spirit is good.
Lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake. For thy righteousness' sake, bring my soul out of trouble.
And of thy mercy, cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul. For I am thy servant. Okay, we can see there the imprecation in verse 12.
Hardly the kind of thing David would say about Absalom. But what he might well say to God about Saul. Of thy mercy, cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul.
For I am thy servant. This helps me to locate the psalm and the setting of the psalm at David's flight from Saul. It's very clear that he's writing at a time where he's being persecuted by some enemy.
And there were not that many times in David's life where that would apply. The flight from Saul and the flight from Absalom would be the two choices. I believe because of certain considerations I've mentioned it can't be at the time of his flight from Absalom.
But the fact that there are enemies after him is mentioned in verse 3. For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has smitten my life down to the ground. He has made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead.
That is, he had to live in caves and live in darkness. Because people who are dead are buried in caves. David was living in caves.
So he said, my enemy has sort of made me live in darkness like people who are dead. Which could be a reference to the fact that he was living in caves. In verse 7 where he says, Hear me speedily, O Lord.
My spirit faileth. Remember the word spirit can mean breath. And he could be saying, I'm out of breath.
I never get any rest. I'm always on the run from my enemy. He's chasing me from one point to the next and I just never have time to catch my breath.
And again, in verse 7, Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. In other words, lest I die like others who have gone into the pit before me. Now, again you notice there's not a particular mention of any one sin.
It's only implied or suggested indirectly in verse 2. Which again means that he was not apparently conscious of any particular sin that was causing his problems. This problem didn't bring conviction of any particular act of his, but did make him wonder whether this was a judgment upon him for something. Maybe just for unnamed sins of his past.
There is also in this one no reference to physical symptoms. This is perhaps the only one of the Penitential Psalms that doesn't have any reference to physical sickness or weakness. So, we can see then that this one has some things that make it stand out.
Apart from those observations, I don't really have very much to say except it does present a general appeal to God to teach him the right way to go. To deliver him from his enemies and hide him. And in verse 10, to teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.
Thy spirit is good. Lead me to the land of uprightness. The land of uprightness.
You know, David when he was fleeing from Saul was driven from the land of Israel. And from the land of his fathers. And at times he even went into the Philistine cities to take refuge and all.
And there were times when it was probably his desire to pray, God, restore me to the land of Israel. To my homeland. The land of my family.
Help me to see my home again. But his real desire, even more than that, was to be led into the land of uprightness. Which must be figurative, of course.
Mainly, let me live in the sphere of righteousness. Let me live in the environment of righteousness. Let me live a righteous life within your boundaries.
In other words, instead of within the boundaries of the land of Israel, let me live within the boundaries of right living. Uprightness. If I were to speak of.
Okay, so these two Psalms, I believe, were written as sort of a vague, well, you know, traditionally they've been called Penitential Psalms. We don't find any exact reference to repenting of any particular sin, but just their cry for mercy in general for some vague, unspecified sense of guilt and a desire to do better. A desire to be led in the ways of righteousness and to be delivered out of present problems.
The other two Psalms that make reference to the enemies, the other two Penitential Psalms, are Psalm 38 and 102. And as I said, one of the main differences between these two and the two we've just looked at are in one case, the absence of imprecations. That is, we know that David was generously disposed toward his son Absalom.
Even though Absalom wanted to kill David, David did not want to kill Absalom. And when David learned that Joab had killed Absalom, David was greatly grieved. And he loved his son and he bemoaned his son.
So, it's evident that he would not speak any kind of imprecations. And these two Psalms do not have any imprecations. Now, another difference between these two and the two we've just studied is that both of them do mention specific sin and imply that there is an awareness that it's because he has sinned that this particular problem has come upon him.
That could not be during the time of Saul's persecuting him because he had not done anything specifically to cause Saul to do that. But, when Absalom persecuted him, again, he could have been very conscious of the fact that this was a fulfilling of a curse that had been put upon him because of his sin with Bathsheba. You know, there's a lot of times when we will repent of a sin right after we've done it and receive forgiveness and know we're forgiven.
But, later on, when we reap consequences which we can directly trace to that sin, we feel the guilt of that sin again. Even though God doesn't want us to feel the guilt of it again, God is not asking us to repent again. He's already put it behind His back.
But, it's still definitely our nature and probably the devil has a lot to do with it too since he is the accuser of the brethren and likes to bring us under condemnation. That whenever a mishap comes in our life and we can directly see that it is a result of some sin in the past, even if it's a sin we've formerly repented of, there's still a tendency to start feeling the weight of that sin again thinking, well, maybe God hasn't forgiven me. Maybe that's why that's happening.
But, we know that God did forgive David of his sin with Bathsheba, but it's simply there was a certain amount of negative consequences he had to reap. Namely, that the sword would not depart from him. And this promise, or this curse, was stated in 2 Samuel 12.
And I'll read it to you, just what Nathan the prophet said to him. 2 Samuel 12, verses 10-11. Nathan the prophet said to him, in verse 10, Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house because thou hast despised me and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house and I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor and he shall lie with thy wives in the side of the sun. Now, it's interesting, this prophecy, how it was fulfilled because Absalom, of course, was within David's own house. He said, I'll raise up trouble, evil against thee out of your own house.
Absalom was his own son. Furthermore, there's reference to the wives and concubines of David that they would be, his neighbor would actually take them and lie with them in the open air before the sun. That was literally fulfilled in the same book, 2 Samuel, chapter 16.
2 Samuel, chapter 16, in verse 22. It says, So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. So, Absalom actually, in order to show that he had so conquered his father that he had no fear of any retaliation from his father, demonstrated it by actually taking the concubines and wives of David and sleeping with them publicly, which was a real slap in David's face, of course.
But notice, it was the exact fulfillment of the prophecy of Nathan. That trouble would arise upon David because he had sinned with Uriah the Hittite. This would happen to him.
He had taken another man's wife, so what's going to happen to him? Someone else is going to take his wives. Remember, Job had said something like that. He said, If I have lain with my neighbor's wife, then let my wife grind into another man or something.
It's exact poetic justice. If I've committed adultery, it's only fair that someone should commit adultery with my wife. That's what Job recognized and that's what David experienced.
He committed adultery with another man's wife. He reaped exactly the same thing. So, we can see why David, if he were fleeing from Absalom at this time, would be very aware of his sin.
He realized, Wow, that's just exactly what Nathan said would happen because of my sin. So, we find a very strong consciousness of sin in these two Psalms. I feel like we have strong grounds for locating their background at the flight of David from his son, Absalom.
Turning to Psalm 38, the first of these two, we come to one of the very few Psalms that do not end in an optimistic note. Now, there is an expression of confidence in this Psalm, in verse 15, but it does not end with the same kind of confident note that usually the Psalms end with. Have you ever noticed, studying the Psalms, that a whole lot of them start out with a real grief, a real crying out to God and saying, Why is everything going wrong and so forth? I mean, I'm talking about most of the Psalms, probably, are of this type.
But by the end, they've turned around and they're praising God for something or another. It's like, through praying, the writer has gotten the victory. It's like, he's in a time of real trouble, he prays, the Psalm represents his prayer.
By the time he gets to the end of his prayer, he's got the victory. He's got faith that God's taking care of things. And you'll find this to be the case as a rule in the Psalms, that many of them start out as a cry for deliverance or a cry for mercy in some way or another.
But they end with a very positive, optimistic expression of faith in God's having taken care of the matter. That's almost always the case with the Psalm. There are three exceptions.
There are three Psalms that do not end with a positive note. One is this one, Psalm 38. Another one is the next one, Psalm 39.
And the only remaining one is Psalm 88, which is all complaints all the way through. It doesn't have a positive ending. But out of so many Psalms, that only three of them would end this way is a remarkable feature.
And even though this one does not end on a note of optimism, as I said, it does contain a statement of confidence in verse 15, where he says, For in thee, O Lord, do I hope thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. So, he's sure that God will hear him. And that implies, of course, that God will respond to his request.
Let's read this Psalm. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.
There is no soundness in my flesh, or in my body, because of thine anger. Neither is there any rest in my bones, because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over my head, as in heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
My wounds stink, and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long.
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken. I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me. As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me. And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
But I as a deaf man heard not, and I as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus, I was as a man that heareth not, in whose mouth are no reproofs.
For in thee, O Lord, do I hope thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me. When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong.
And they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries, because I follow the thing that is good. Forsake me not, O Lord, O my God.
Be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. There is an interesting clue or two within this psalm that point me in the direction of believing this was when he fled from Absalom.
Besides the two that I mentioned, the presence of a very strong awareness of sin is one of those two I've already mentioned. For instance, at the end of verse three it says that this is all because of his sin. And in verse four it says his iniquities are gone over his head, they're too heavy for him.
In the end of verse five he mentions that his wounds stink because of his foolishness. He saw his former relationship with Bathsheba as foolishness, and of course it had repercussions in his present crisis. That's one of the reasons we already mentioned.
The other is the absence of any kind of imprecation against his enemies. He doesn't call out for any judgment to fall upon them. But there are two other things within this psalm that seem to locate it at this period.
One is verses 12 through 14. But before we read those verses again, I'd like to read to you a passage from 2 Samuel 16, which gives us, I think, the clue to identifying this time period. 2 Samuel 16, verses 5 through 12, really.
This is when David was fleeing from Jerusalem so that he wouldn't be killed by Absalom. 2 Samuel 16, verse 5. And thou man of Belial, the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned. And the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son.
And behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man. Then said Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray, and take off his head. But king David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David.
Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my own bowels, seeketh my life. How much more now may this Benjamite do it? Let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him. It may be that the Lord will look upon my affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.
In other words, this man Shimei came out and was cursing David as he fled from Absalom and saying, You got what you deserve, you rascal. You see, this man was related to Saul, and David had replaced Saul and had pretty much, you know, taken out the family of Saul. And therefore, this man was angry at David and said, You're getting exactly what you deserve because you did these things to the house of Saul.
Well, Abishai was ready to go and take the guy's head off for cursing David like that, but David said, Listen, probably God told him to do that. Why should we hold it against him? My own son wants to kill me. Why shouldn't this other man who has no relationship to me wish evil on me also? But he did say, Maybe God will requite me good.
That is, maybe because I'm taking this cursing without lashing back, God will stand to my defense. Well, now back at Psalm 38, we see this interesting statement, which appears to make reference to this, to my mind. Verses 12 through 14.
It says, They also that seek after my life lay snares for me, and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not, and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, in whose mouth are no reproofs.
In other words, he's saying that his enemies spoke mischievous things against him, but he didn't answer back. Very, very obviously to me, a reference to this case where Shimei let him out. So here he's writing this psalm as he's fled from Jerusalem.
He's remembering that even as he fled, there were people who uttered perverse things against him, but he just held his peace. He acted like he was deaf to their insults. He didn't speak back.
He was like a dumb man. He didn't answer back. He just took it.
Now, it's interesting how much that resembles Christ also. In a sense, this could be seen as a messianic passage, because the Bible says in Isaiah 53 about Jesus, that as a lamb before his shearers is dumb, so Jesus opened not his mouth. When he stood before Herod, he didn't open his mouth at all.
And when he stood before Pilate, though Jesus did open his mouth, he did not open his mouth to defend himself at all. So, I believe that these verses imply to us that this is related to that flight from Absalom. Another thing that clues me in is verse 19, which says, But mine enemies are lively, they are strong, and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
Now, this isn't a strong argument, but if you turn back to Psalm 3, verse 1, we see a very similar verse to the one I just read you in Psalm 38. Psalm 3, verse 1 says, Lord, how are they increased that trouble me, or multiplied? Many are they that rise up against me. Sounds like the same thought expression, but look at Psalm 3. At the title in Psalm 3. Psalm 3, the title says, A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
So, Psalm 3, which was clearly written, when he fled from Absalom, expresses in its opening statement the same thought that was going through his head here in Psalm 38, verse 19, just reflecting on how many and how multiplied his enemies were, who had no reason to be angry at him, but were. And so, it would seem like this thought was on his heart at that particular time, and it's expressed in both Psalms, one of which is specifically said to be written when he fled from Absalom. So, I'd say the case is pretty strong for this being written at that time.
Now, in it we see the regular features of a penitential psalm. We have a cry for mercy right at the beginning. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
We see also the references to physical sickness, referred to largely in terms of the bones. Verses 3 and 5 and 7 particularly. In verse 3, there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
In verse 5, my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. Verse 7, for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh. Now, this may not refer to disease that's caused by the sense of guilt on his conscience.
It may, of course, be disease that's caused or wounds that he's received through traveling over the rugged terrain and has not been able to treat his wounds. At any rate, there is this reference which we find in so many of the penitential psalms to these physical judgments that he senses from God, actually. The reference to remorse and confession of sin, there's quite a few of them.
In verse 7, verse 6, I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly, I go mourning all the day long because of his sins. In verse 8, I am feeble and sore broken, I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. The great remorse he feels over his sins.
Verses 17 and 18 also carry it. I am ready to halt, my sorrow is continually before me, for I will declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin. So we have here, again, as in most of them, a reference to his remorse and confession of his sin.
And finally, what we have in almost all of them, an expression of confidence, which is in verse 15, which I've already made reference to. Apart from these features, there's not too much that I want to make a comment about. We've actually covered almost every verse just in this itemizing them.
He does mention one thing that we didn't comment on in verse 11. It says, my lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off. This would especially be applicable to David when he fled from Absalom.
His lovers would be his concubines, and they aren't going with him, they stayed behind. They didn't have enough loyalty to him to even go with him. In fact, they ended up sleeping with his son.
His friends, there were a number of his friends who defected and went on to Absalom. Ahithophel, the counselor, was one of them. And so there's friends standing aloof, and lovers, and then of course his kinsmen, which Absalom was the one that was particularly on his mind, I believe, his own son.
All of them are standing afar off. They all see him as a loser. They all see that his reputation and his career is wounded.
They believe unto death. Therefore, they dissociate with him and will not support him anymore because they're, well, because they're very enterprising people. They see that he's on the way down.
They figure he's gone. They're going to side with the new guy so that they can have their privileges and honors and so forth. But they made the wrong choice in this case because Absalom was killed, and David came back to the throne again, in which case some of these people had to face some rather bitter music because of it.
At any rate, that's a fairly thorough coverage of that psalm, as near as we can give it. Then the other one like it, that I believe belongs to the same period, is Psalm 102. And this one has much more confidence expressed at the end than the one we just covered.
In fact, it has many verses, including a messianic portion that is quoted in the New Testament as being about Christ. So we find that just as in Psalm 32, David got the victory, then he also uttered a prophecy, the part about, I will guide thee by mine eye and so forth. In this one also he gets the victory.
He starts out with a cry for mercy as usual, but by the time he gets halfway through the psalm, or not even quite halfway through, by verse 12, he's speaking very confidently about God's victory, and actually gets into, in verse 23 and following, a prophecy about the Messiah himself. And so this is a very powerful psalm in many respects. We find that the historical setting, I believe, is suggested in verse 10.
He says, Because of thine indignation and thy wrath, for thou hast lifted me up and hast cast me down. Now he makes reference to the fact that God had once lifted him up, but now had cast him down. If he were fleeing from Saul on this occasion, he could hardly say that he had been lifted up, because God had never yet put him on the throne.
He was not being cast down from an elevated position. However, if this is a reference to his flight from Absalom, that would make very good sense. He had been lifted up, he had been made king by God, but now it appeared God was putting him down again.
So, verse 10 seems to locate the situation for us. Also, the fact that there is specific reference to his sin in this, and also no imprecations against his enemies, all this points to the flight from Absalom to my way of thinking. Let's read the psalm first.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto Thee. Hide not Thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble. Incline Thine ear unto me in the day when I call.
Answer me speedily, for my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an heart. My heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groanings, my bones cleave to my skin.
I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I am like an owl of the desert. I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop.
Mine enemies reproach me all the day, and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping. Because of Thine indignation and Thy wrath, for Thou hast lifted me up and hast cast me down.
My days are like a shadow that declineth, and I am withered like the grass. But Thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever, and Thy remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Zion, for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come.
For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth shall thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory.
He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary.
From the heaven did the Lord behold the earth, to hear the groanings of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death, to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem. When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord, He weakeneth my strength in the way, He shorteneth my days. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days.
Thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth, and of heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure.
Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end. The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before Thee.
Now, several observations. We'll talk first about the first 11 verses, because it is the first 11 verses particularly that seem to be penitential, and have all the other features of the penitential psalms. The last verses from 12 to 28 are all very confident, which again is one of the features of the penitential psalms, that they end in confidence, but this is the only one that has the majority of the psalms, well, I take that back, 32 is pretty confident all the way through also.
But this one gives the bigger portion to expression of the confidence of God's righteous victory. Let's talk about the first 11 verses first. First of all, we see that as usual there is a cry for mercy.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto Thee. Hide not Thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble. Incline Thine ear unto me in the day when I call.
Answer me speedily. Then we have the typical reference to physical problems, again emphasizing the condition of the bones. Verses 3 through 5, For my days are consumed like smoke.
My bones are burned as in hearth. My heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.
Now the reference there of his bones burning, or they're like burned in the hearth, could mean that they seem brittle like bones that have actually been burned, like I just feel so weak and so brittle. And especially when he says, My heart is smitten and withered like the grass, in verse 4, probably he's meaning his courage. He has no heart left.
He has no spirit left.
He's just kind of given up. And because of that, he has no appetite.
He's lost his courage. He's lost his will to live. Therefore, he forgets to eat his bread.
He says, And by reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin. Which probably means they protrude from his skin, like a man who hasn't eaten for some time. His skin gets tighter on him and his ribs show and all.
So this is very probably what he's referring to here. He's lost his appetite. He's lost his will to live.
And therefore, it's caused physical weakness. And the evidence is mentioned there. After that, he talks about his enemies.
Before that, in verses 6 and 7, he talks about his loneliness. He says, He's like a pelican in the wilderness, like an owl in the desert. In other words, a solitary animal that lives alone out in the wilderness, not a sociable animal.
And that the meaning is implied there. It's also stated in verse 7, I watch and I'm like a sparrow alone upon a housetop. I'm abandoned by all.
Just like he said in that previous Psalm 38, All my friends and my lovers and my kinsmen stand afar off from me. So he's expressing the same thought here. When he says in verse 9, he says, For I've eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping.
He's speaking poetically, not literally. He hasn't eaten ashes. It means that, see, when a person was repenting, they would usually don sackcloth.
They'd put on sackcloth and they'd sit in ashes, as frequently as done in the Old Testament times. And he's saying essentially, I haven't only sat in ashes, I've eaten them practically. I mean, it's like I've had more contact with ashes than with food to keep me alive.
I've been so repentant. In other words, I've mingled my drink with weeping. So he's talking about his remorse for his sin here, which is found in the other penitential Psalms also.
But then he gets, after a few more words, down to verse 12, which expresses tremendous confidence and includes a messianic passage. In verse 12 he says, But thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever. Now he's just said in verse 11, My days are like a shadow that declines.
In other words, they're on their way out. Like the shadow at late day, when the sun's going down, the shadow kind of stretches out into the distance and declines. But of course that means it's about to disappear because when the sun goes over the horizon, you're not going to see the shadow at all anymore.
It says, My days are like that. I'm not going to live long. I'm mortal.
I'm withered like the grass. But by contrast, God lives forever. And what he seems to be saying in verses 12 and following, as he stresses, especially in verses 25 through 27, how God is eternal and doesn't change, was that even though he wasn't sure whether he was going to come out of this alive, he knew that God was going to outlast him and his enemies, and finally God would have the last word.
Basically that God would do good to Zion after all, Jerusalem. He was quite sure that Zion was in better hands if he had it than if Absalom had it. But he didn't know at this point whether he was going to lose it and Absalom gain it for a while.
At any rate, he knew that because God outlasts everybody, finally God would have his way in Zion, in Jerusalem. Things would be as they should. So I believe that's what he's expressing here.
He says, But thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever in thy remembrance to all generations. Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Zion, or on Jerusalem. For the time to favor her, yea, the set time has come.
For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favor the dust thereof. That is, it's a sacred city, and so those who love God love that city too. It's like they honor even the dust of the city and the stones that's built from there are special to them.
Especially when the Jews were taken into Babylon, they longed to see those stones and that dust again. And he says, So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord and all the kings of the earth by glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
Now, it's not clear what David implied, but it seems clear what the Holy Spirit is saying here is that the appearing of God in his glory is at the second coming of Christ. It would seem that there's no other event in history or in the future that quite could be described as God appearing in his glory so much as the second coming of Christ. Now, the second coming of Christ is located at the time when God builds up Zion.
There are many who feel that there is here a prophecy about the restoration of the nation Israel, the literal, physical Zion. That as the nation has been coming back to its... you know, people are coming back to Israel and repopulating it and building it up again and becoming an industrial nation and an agricultural nation and all, that God is building up Zion and that this is a sign that he soon will come in his glory because when the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. But my personal belief is that Zion here does not refer to natural Israel.
In David's mind, it may have, but David didn't know that there would come a time when Jesus would come and say to the Jews, the kingdom of God is taken from you and given to a nation that will bring forth the fruits of it and that the benefits of Israel would be passed on to a spiritual community, the spiritual Israel, made up of the remnant of believing Jews as well as Gentiles that come in on the same terms of faith and become part of that community. So that in the New Testament, as I've mentioned previously, Zion is used in Hebrews 12, 22. Hebrews 12, 22, Zion is used as a term for the church.
And furthermore, in Galatians chapter 4, we have the allegory of the Jerusalem which now is and the Jerusalem which is above. And the Jerusalem which is above, Paul says, is the mother of us all. That is the church, the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem which is permanent.
Whereas the Jerusalem which now is, which Paul says is in bondage with her children, is the Jerusalem that was destroyed in 70 A.D. by Titus and the Roman armies. So the permanent Jerusalem is the church. The Zion of which the prophecies are to be fulfilled, I believe, is the church.
Now some won't agree, and that's all right. But the point is that I feel we are led by the New Testament to see this as a prophecy about the church being built up. Not when God builds up the nation of Israel again, but when He builds up His church.
Paul said very similar things, that the second coming of Christ would be preceded by the building up of the body of Christ, didn't he, in Ephesians 4. When he said that God gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, he said, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the up-building, the building up, the edification of the body of Christ, until we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a mature man to the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ. That is, God is actively at work in the church until the church is built up to the place of being the fullness of the stature of the measure of Christ, or whatever, I got those words wrong, order. The nouns.
But the point is, that it's the church that God is building up. It's the building up and the unifying of the body of Christ that is the sign that God is about to appear in His glory. It's not the building up of the nation Israel, at least as far as I understand the Scripture.
All right, so he says, when the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer. He thinks this is a general rule that God will listen to the poor, the destitute, when they pray.
But no doubt in his mind, he's thinking particularly of his case. He's poor now. He was a king, but he's now got nothing.
And yet he's praying, and he's quite confident that God will hear him, even in his destitute state. It says, this shall be written for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. Now this again confirms to me that Zion in verse 16 refers to the church and not to Israel.
Because this is written not for the present nation of Israel. This is written for that nation, that generation that will come in the future. The people, quote-unquote, who will be created, which is the church.
The church is what? A chosen generation. A royal priesthood. A holy nation.
A peculiar people that we should show forth the praises of Him. According to 1 Peter 2, 9-10. 1 Peter 2, 9-10 tell us that we are a chosen generation.
That is, the church is. A holy nation, a royal priesthood, and a peculiar people. Here in verse 18 it says, this is written for that generation which is to come, and for the people that shall be created.
And that people was the church. That generation is the church. It can't be a reference to the natural Jews, because they already were a people.
They did not look forward to being created. This is a people that will in the future be created, David says. A new entity, a new people.
And that could only refer to the church, as I understand the Scriptures. So, this whole passage has to do more with the church than with natural Israel. Then it says, He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary, from the heaven did the Lord behold the earth, to hear the groanings of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death, to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and to praise in Jerusalem, when the people are gathered together into the kingdoms, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
Now, this passage, verse 23 through 27, is messianic. Now, verses 23 and 24 are not so clearly so. But verses 25 and 26 and 27 are quoted in Hebrews chapter 1, verses 10 through 12.
And it says that those are speaking to the Messiah. Now, the way it reads in our King James Version, it doesn't sound like this is God speaking to the Messiah. It looks like it's David speaking to God.
Because David seems to be saying, He weakeneth my strength in the way, He shorteneth my days. In other words, God is cutting my life short. I said, Oh my God, take me not away in the midst of my days.
Thy years are throughout all generations. Now, it sounds like David is speaking to God here. Saying, Don't let me die in the middle of my life.
Let me live out a whole long life. Because you are throughout all generations. Then it goes on to say, Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth.
And so forth. And yet, verses 25 and 27, as they are quoted in the New Testament, are quoted from the Septuagint. Now, our King James Version here is quoted not from the Septuagint.
It's translated from the Masoretic text, or the Hebrew text. And there is a difference in the Hebrew and the Septuagint. The old Greek translation.
And it's the Greek that the New Testament writers used and quoted. And let me show you how verses 23 and 24 read in the Greek text, in the Septuagint. It's very different.
And not all that easy to understand. But one point that will be brought out from the Septuagint, is that this is not David speaking to God. This is God speaking to the Messiah.
That's the only point that's easy to tell in the Septuagint rendering here. Verses 23 and 24. It reads like this.
He answered him in the way of his strength. Declare to me the fewness of my days. Do not bring me up in the middle of my days.
Your years are for generations on end. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth. And so forth.
Now, the thing about this, it's difficult to know what that passage means exactly in the Septuagint. It's a lot easier to understand in the Hebrew. If we saw it as David speaking to God, it makes a lot more sense, frankly.
But since the New Testament writers quoted the Septuagint, they were seeking to make a point from the Septuagint. And the Septuagint actually starts that passage by saying this. I'll read it again.
He answered him. That is, God answered the psalmist or the Messiah, one or the other. He answered him in the way of his strength and said, declare unto me the fewness of my days.
And so forth. And then part of what he answered him was your years are for generations on end. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth.
And so forth. Now, in other words, confusing as those two verses are in the Septuagint, they make one point very clear. That that whole passage from verse 23 on is not David speaking to God, but it's God answering the psalmist or answering the Messiah.
If the psalmist is in the place of the Messiah in this place, which he apparently is according to Hebrews 1, 10 through 12. But we then have from Hebrews the quotation of verses 25 through 27 which attribute to Jesus the creation of the world and eternal, unchanging existence. We read those verses already.
I won't read them again. But basically it's saying that all the created things which Jesus has made will perish, but he will never change. He says in verse 27, but thou art the same.
And probably this gives rise to the other statement in the book of Hebrews which is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever in Hebrews 13, 8. He doesn't change. He's the same. Hebrews 13, 8. Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today, and forever.
No doubt comes from this same passage. Then the final word is thy children, the children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before me. Again, a reference I believe to the church, those related to the Messiah.
That they're related to the Messiah is stated by the fact that he's speaking to the Messiah and says your children, or the children of your servants, shall continue and their seed shall be established before me. So, speaking to the Messiah, to Jesus, says the children of your servants. That's the church.
We certainly couldn't see that as Israel because Israel is not Christ's servants today. They're not following Christ. They don't even want to acknowledge him at all.
So we can see in this final passage from verses 12 to the end an interesting prophecy about the church and about the Messiah himself. Which is very, to me, has some very interesting features. Now the final penitential psalm we can cover rather quickly.
It's very short. It doesn't have very many unique features that will require special comment. It's Psalm 130.
Psalm 130, there are only eight verses. It does stand out from the others in that I believe it is a reference to national repentance where all the ones we've said so far are David repenting or calling out for mercy for one thing or another. Either because he's sinned with Bathsheba or because he's in flight from Saul and wants to make sure his conscience is clear so that he can trust God to save him.
Or when he was running from Absalom and was impressed with the guilt of his earlier sin with Bathsheba. Those were the settings, I believe, of the previous penitential psalms. And here we have a very different one.
According to some manuscripts, this also is a psalm of David, though not in our King James. Mine doesn't say it anyway. But Psalm 130 is one of the 15 songs of degrees.
And again, we'll talk some other time about what those are. Let me read the psalm and make a few comments. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.
I wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait. And in His word do I hope.
My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy. And with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all His iniquities.
So we can see this has a national mercy that's being sought. Mercy for Israel, not mercy for David personally. But let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy. The Lord shall redeem Israel from all His iniquities. So it's sort of a national repentance hymn.
Some of the features, again, we have the typical cry for mercy in the first two verses. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice.
Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. This usual beginning for the penitential psalms. We have a confession by inference.
There's not a direct confession of sin. Not a specific case saying, I will confess my sin or I have sinned or anything like that. But verses 3 and 4 infer that sin is in view because He says, Lord, if you would mark iniquities, who would stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.
That is to say, Lord, we anticipate your forgiveness because after all, we could never stand if you don't forgive us. If you mark iniquities, if you deal with us after our sins and reward us according to our iniquities, as Psalm 103 talks about, then we would not stand. But we look for forgiveness and therefore we fear your name.
So that's sort of a confession by inference that they have sinned. Then there's this unique feature in verses 5 and 6. The others don't have it. He says, I wait on God.
Verses 5 and 6 are talking about waiting on the Lord. That is waiting to see God's deliverance. Patiently.
I wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait for His word, do I hope. Doth wait and in His word do I hope.
So we've got hope, confidence. My soul waits for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than they that watch for the morning.
Watching for the morning, of course, refers to those who have the fourth shift at night as watchmen. The Jewish night was broken up into four shifts of three hours each. And of course, the fourth shift was probably the hardest one to stay awake during.
From 3 in the morning to 6 in the morning. And they would be the ones who would watch for the morning. And they would, of course, be eager to see the morning come so they could go home and go to bed.
They longingly watch for the morning. He says, I wait for the Lord that way. Even more than that.
More than those who are watching for the morning do I watch for the Lord. In other words, I'm looking for God to show up, to deliver, to do what I'm asking Him to do. And I'm more eager to see it than those who are eager to see the morning come.
But he says, I'm waiting and hoping in His word. And then, of course, the final word is very confident and very corporate. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
I hope for the Lord, it says. My soul hopes for the Lord, but I now want Israel to hope in the Lord also. For with the Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel from His iniquities. So, like the other penitential psalms, we have a cry for mercy, we have confession, we have confidence. But we also have the statement about waiting on the Lord, waiting for the Lord.
And we also have the difference in that it is a national lament or a national penitential psalm as opposed to a personal one, as the others were. Well, we've used our time completely. And I believe we've covered the material as well as we could hope to in the time allotted.
I feel like the Lord's helped me get through it quickly and briefly. I'm not usually very brief. But we will take our break here for lunch.

Series by Steve Gregg

Torah Observance
Torah Observance
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Gospel of Matthew
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Job
Job
In this 11-part series, Steve Gregg teaches verse by verse through the book of Job, discussing topics such as suffering, wisdom, and God's role in hum
Isaiah
Isaiah
A thorough analysis of the book of Isaiah by Steve Gregg, covering various themes like prophecy, eschatology, and the servant songs, providing insight
Nehemiah
Nehemiah
A comprehensive analysis by Steve Gregg on the book of Nehemiah, exploring the story of an ordinary man's determination and resilience in rebuilding t
Foundations of the Christian Faith
Foundations of the Christian Faith
This series by Steve Gregg delves into the foundational beliefs of Christianity, including topics such as baptism, faith, repentance, resurrection, an
1 Peter
1 Peter
Steve Gregg teaches verse by verse through the book of 1 Peter, delving into themes of salvation, regeneration, Christian motivation, and the role of
Cultivating Christian Character
Cultivating Christian Character
Steve Gregg's lecture series focuses on cultivating holiness and Christian character, emphasizing the need to have God's character and to walk in the
Revelation
Revelation
In this 19-part series, Steve Gregg offers a verse-by-verse analysis of the book of Revelation, discussing topics such as heavenly worship, the renewa
Toward a Radically Christian Counterculture
Toward a Radically Christian Counterculture
Steve Gregg presents a vision for building a distinctive and holy Christian culture that stands in opposition to the values of the surrounding secular
More Series by Steve Gregg

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