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Psalms, chapter 6, comments
Psalm 6:1 ¶ «To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.» O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? 4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? 6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
We know from David’s life that he has committed the very grievous
sins of adultery and murder in the affair of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite.
We also know he has suffered a rebellion by his beloved son, Absalom. In verse
1 here David pleads with God for mercy from God’s fury.
David’s condition is such that he is already in a weakened state
referring to his flesh (bones) and his soul. He pleads with the Lord to deliver
his soul, to save him for the sake of God’s mercy, clearly not for any value
that David has even though in other Psalms he has declared his own
righteousness. David here is acknowledging that the things that have come upon
him are from God.
In verse 5 he makes a curious statement considering other
statements about the time after physical death in the Bible. Many commentators
insist that this means that man’s ability to obey God, to be saved by God, to
enter into fellowship with God all end upon a person’s death. We have until
then to receive God’s eternal mercy through Jesus Christ. David pleads that the
service he renders to God, as he knows it now, will end at death. This is an
incomplete statement about death and dying and must be considered in the
context of David’s lamentation just as Job’s must be considered contextually.
Job 7:21 And why dost thou
not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep
in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
Compare this with what Solomon says;
Ecclesiastes
9:4 ¶ For to him that is joined to all
the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die: but
the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the
memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also
their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have
they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
David then concludes with a statement of his grief and sorrow over
the enemies that plague him.
Prophetically, just in general terms and falling apart on close
examination, we have the typology with Christ as He suffers in His trials and
on the Cross at Calvary. We see how Christ’s enemies assail Him and we see His
heartfelt sorrow in the garden.
Luke 22:44 And being in an
agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling down to the ground.
In His humanity, as He was fully human and fully God, He suffered
our fear at the act of dying to which He would submit Himself.
Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days
of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard
in that he feared;
For us, though, this is the lamentation of all who suffer
persecution for their faith. This is an appeal to God that all persecuted
Christians can make. We might even make it in the day to day troubles we face
as a human being that seem insurmountable; problems with our family, at work,
and in social settings.
Psalm 6:8 ¶ Depart from me,
all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD
will receive my prayer. 10 Let all mine
enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed
suddenly.
David continues his lamentation by demanding that all of those who
work evil iniquity leave him. That would mean false counselors and those with
an agenda. He claims that God has heard his cry and will answer his prayer. He
has confidence in that. He then curses his enemies praying that they will given
lots of problems. They took delight in his misfortunes. He wants it all turned
back on them to their disgrace and failure.
I think from a prophetic standpoint we can see the events of the
end of human history in Revelation. The victory of Christ over all of the
oppressors and the Beast is important to consider and discuss. In a shorter
time you can see how Jeremiah’s detractors are destroyed but it is my opinion
that this can more easily be referred to as an end times prophecy. So, in the
last passage you have a prophecy of Christ at the Cross and then His ultimate
victory here.
For us this lamentation follows with the previous passage as we
stand helpless asking for God’s assistance and mercy.
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
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Psalms, chapter 5 comments
Psalm 5:1 ¶ «To the chief
Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David.» Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my meditation. 2 Hearken unto
the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. 3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O
LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look
up. 4 For thou art not a God that
hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. 5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight:
thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the
bloody and deceitful man.
King David is pleading with God to hear and consider his prayers.
This is evidence of David’s commitment to God in spite of David’s sin nature.
Researching any prophetic import of this passage made me think of
the prayers of Daniel and those struggling through the Tribulation to come.
But personally this is a great prayer for us all. In time of
trouble or in time of needing understanding and grappling with a problem in our
minds. We can claim this easily.
Psalm 5:7 ¶ But as for me,
I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in
thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because
of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. 9 For there is no faithfulness in their
mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an
open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue. 10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by
their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for
they have rebelled against thee. 11 But
let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for
joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in
thee. 12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the
righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
Now, understand that David has not built the temple
yet. That will be reserved for Solomon, his son. This is a metaphorical
reference to the tabernacle, which David, as a layman, would not be permitted
to serve in. So, he worships in the direction of the tabernacle at Shiloh or the
temple which will be in Jerusalem.
Joshua 18:1 And the whole congregation of the children of
Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the
congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.
1Samuel 1:24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up
with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine,
and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young.
A statement like verse 8, asking to be led
in righteousness so that his enemies will have nothing bad to say about him and
to make the Lord’s way clear for him seems to be obvious here. He laments the
wickedness of his enemies.
We can see what happened in the civil war
against him in verse 10. Read 2Samuel 15:12 through 2Samuel 17:23 to see how
the counsel of Ahithophel against David was defeated.
Prophetically speaking, verse 8 has a
similar but not the same statement of prophecy about John the Baptist in;
Isaiah 40:3 ¶ The voice of him that crieth in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a
highway for our God.
Matthew 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the
prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Psalm 5:9 is alluded to by Paul in a
different context, pointing out how both Jew and Gentile are guilty of sin.
Romans 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their
tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Psalm 5:11 is a conditional statement that states that
putting one’s trust in God is a condition for His deliverance. This is not to
say that God can’t deliver you regardless of your trust or in spite of your
lack of faith. But, it clearly suggests that trusting in God is important to
being delivered by Him from some evil.
Verse 12 shows David’s assurance that the righteous
will be protected placing him squarely in his dispensation of the Law and the
material, temporal blessings promised to the Israelites if they obeyed and
trusted in God.
Now, prophetically we should move forward in time to
see Christ entering the temple at Jerusalem as a twelve year old and engaging
with the doctors of the Law.
Luke 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days
they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing
them, and asking them questions.
And with verse 8 we can go back to the
earlier references to Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:3.
Verse 9 is an apt depiction of the way the
political/religious parties talked to Christ.
Matthew 22:16 And they sent
out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that
thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for
any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it
lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?18
But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye
hypocrites?19 Shew me the tribute money.
And they brought unto him a penny.
In chapter 22 of Matthew the Pharisees and the Sadducees also try
to manipulate Jesus with their questions as you can see by reading the entire
chapter.
Verse 10 reminds me of the meetings of the council regarding
Christ and later regarding His apostles.
Matthew 26:3 Then assembled
together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto
the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by
subtilty, and kill him.
Also read Acts, chapter 4 regarding the questioning of Peter and
John.
For verse 11 and 12 I think of the joy and rejoicing at the
marriage supper of the Lamb when those who belong to Christ are in heaven with
Him.
Revelation 19:7 Let us be
glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready.
In our personal lives, today, right now, we can see that while we
may have many who speak against us as
Christians we believe we can rely on the Lord and trust in Him and that
by doing the right thing we can lay claim to the promises of God for temporal
salvation as God does honor the just and righteous as a matter of course
although we know that being righteous and just does not guarantee that we will
be free from suffering.