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Introduction

We don’t know the author of every single psalm or even how many authors may have been involved, but we do know that the book of Psalms is King David’s book. It sprang from his heart and he himself is the designated author of half of them. He is called “the sweet psalmist of Israel” for good reason.

2 Sam 23:1 Now these are the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse declares,
The man who was raised on high declares,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel,

The historical books of the Old Testament – primarily 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles give us the words and deeds of David, but Psalms tell us a lot about what he was thinking during that time. That is, Psalm reveals David’s interior life.

David lived about a thousand years before his illustrious descendant – the one called Messiah. If David was a man after God’s own heart, and he was, how much more was his illustrious descendant! Not only do we see Jesus quoting from the Psalms in the Gospels, we also see others quoting the Psalms about Him there and throughout the New Testament. Therefore, as the Psalms tell us about David’s interior life, they tell us about Jesus’ interior life as well. It is at least partially for this reason Paul could say that we have the mind of Christ.

1 Cor 2:16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

Jesus Himself said that we could learn about Him through the Psalms.

Luke 24:44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Therefore, the Psalms are #FJOT territory for sure. In fact, there are so many references to Messiah in the Psalms that I only use this hashtag occasionally. Otherwise, it would show up on almost every line.

If genealogies and instructions for animal sacrifices are some of the hardest parts of the Old Testament to understand, the Psalms are some of the easiest. Even those people who are least familiar with the Bible can have their hearts warmed by hearing the 23rd psalm read aloud. When Jesus spoke the following words, He was telling us that Psalm 23 wwas about Him.

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
John 10:12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
John 10:13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,

A psalm is a song or poem. Like a song or poem, a psalm can express great joy or intense grief. They run the gamut of human thought and emotions. They can be appreciated with or without musical accompaniment, but it is clear David favored the use of music and it was an important aspect of temple worship. The book of Psalms can therefore be rightly considered a sort of hymnbook or hymnal. It is sometimes called “The Psalter.”

Knowing their relevance to Jesus and seeing the aesthetic value of these kinds of expressions, the apostles encouraged the use of psalms in the New Testament churches.

1 Cor 14:26 What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

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Eph 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

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Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

As the psalms were useful to churches in the New Testament age, so they are useful to families today. Mark in your Bible the ones you find useful to your family so that you can return to them again and again.

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Psalm 1

The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted

Psalm 1 shows us Jesus as a man; Psalm 2 shows us Jesus as God. These two psalms are perfect choices to begin the book of Psalms.

This psalm contrasts the life of the righteous with that of the unrighteous.

Ps 1:1-3 – The Righteous –

Picture a tree standing quietly and firm.
The righteous listens to the Lord for counsel.

Ps 1:4-6 – The Wicked –

Picture chaff flying away in the wind.
The wicked listen to each other for counsel.

You hold in your hand the difference-maker: the Bible (“the law of the Lord”). Jesus grew up going to the synagogue with His parents to hear the scrolls read aloud; you and your family do not even have to leave your house. If you would be like Jesus, do with His word what He did with the word of God.

John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Don’t let the simplicity of Psalm 1 cause you to think of it lightly. On the contrary, it is worthy to be pondered deeply. Many truths will come to light.

Psalm 1 portrays a righteous man as a fruitful tree. Jesus was the ultimate righteous man – so full of life that He gives life. And thus He is the tree of life that bookends the Bible.

Gen 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

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Rev 2:7 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

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Rev 22:1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Rev 22:2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

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Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

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Rev 22:18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;
Rev 22:19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

Ps 1:2 – Correlate with Luke 11:27-28.

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Psalm 2

The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed

The righteous man portrayed in Psalm 1 is followed by the righteous king in Psalm 2. “The Lord’s Anointed” is another way of saying “the Messiah,” which is Israel’s King.

This psalm surely flowed from the Lord’s revelation to David through the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 7; 1 Chr 17). It was in that prophecy that David’s promised descendant was referred to as the son of God (2 Sam 7:14; 1 Chr 17:13).

Ps 2:1-2 – In Acts 4:24-28, Jesus’ apostles said these two verses from Ps 2 were fulfilled when King Herod and Pontius Pilate colluded to crucify Jesus.

Acts 4:24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,
Acts 4:25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,
‘WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE,
AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS?
4:26 ‘THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND,
AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER
AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.’
Acts 4:27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
Acts 4:28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.

See a fuller explanation of this point in the BSN notes on Luke 23:6-17.

Ps 2:3 – This verse identifies the driving motive of the sexual revolution that began in the 1960’s and is still metastasizing today. People don’t want God to have any say so in the matter of sex. How’s that working out for them? No better than it worked out for Sodom.

Ps 2:4-6 – David ruled as king from the Zion that was on earth; Messiah rules from the Zion in heaven. As the New Testament says:

Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,
Heb 12:23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
Heb 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

Ps 2:7 – In the New Testament, Paul says that this verse was fulfilled when Jesus rose from the dead. In other words, God birthed Jesus from the dead.

Acts 13:32 “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,
Acts 13:33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’

This is why the apostle John called Jesus “the only begotten God.”

John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

This is also why the New Testament refers Jesus as the first person to ever be born from the dead.

Col 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

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Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood–

Ps 2:8 – This verse identifies Jesus as the “heir” of God. This is why the apostle Paul could write of Jesus in the following way:

Heb 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
Heb 1:2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

It’s also why Jesus told this parable:

Mark 12:1 And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT, AND DUG A VAT UNDER THE WINE PRESS AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.
Mark 12:2 “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.
Mark 12:3 “They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Mark 12:4 “Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.
Mark 12:5 “And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.
Mark 12:6 “He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
Mark 12:7 “But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’
Mark 12:8 “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
Mark 12:9 “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.

Note what the vine-growers said to each other. This is why people want secularism. It’s “killing” Christ – the heir of God’s creation.

Ps 2:9 – Because Jesus is the heir of God, the apostle John used Ps 2:9 language in the book of Revelation when speaking of Jesus.

Rev 12:5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

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Rev 19:15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
Rev 19:16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Ps 2:10-12 – In our thoroughly secular society, people seldom speak of Jesus. And even more seldom do they speak of Him positively. And even when they are positive, they seem to view Him as a glad-handing hippy who has not problem with human sin. They need to see Him the way this psalm portrays Him. In other words, they need to see Jesus as John the Baptist saw Him – as the One who inflicts on us the wrath of God when we deserve it.

John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Yes, everyone is going to heaven, but that doesn’t mean that there is no such thing as the wrath of God. There is such a thing, and it’s why repentance is required if we are to avoid it.

Psalm 2 is more than majestic in its scope. If the apostles meditated on it – and they did – how much more should we!

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Psalm 3

Morning Prayer of Trust in God

The first psalm was a description; the second was a declaration. This one is a prayer – the first of many. David shows us the way to reach God. Having a heart after God’s own heart, he knew the way.

The preface to this psalm says that it arose from the time that David fled from his son Absalom. The story of Absalom’s rebellion is told 2 Samuel 15-18. This psalm reflects David’s state of mind during that period of time.

Jesus used this psalm (and many others) for prayer during His time on earth. Like His ancestor David, He had many enemies – even among those who should have been His supporters. Think through how Jesus would have used these words to cry to His Father in heaven.

As David and Jesus prayed this prayer to the God of the Old Testament, we can pray it to Jesus and have a much clearer conception of how we are being heard – because Jesus has walked more than a mile in our shoes.

Heb 2:17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

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Heb 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Ps 3:1 – When it becomes known that we are seekers of the Lord, we find ourselves with an increased number of enemies in life. Notice the connection between the following two verses. The first describes what happens; the second explains why.

2 Tim 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

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Ps 69:9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

That is, when we start walking in God’s ways, those who hate God’s ways hate us.

Ps 3:4 – The “holy mountain” from which the Lord, who is Jesus, now answers us is heaven – the Jerusalem (Zion) above.

Ps 3:7 – Who is the Lord? Jesus. Did He arise? Yes, on the third day after being crucified.

Ps 3:8 – The name “Jesus” means “the Lord saves” or “the Lord is salvation.”

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The better you grasp the first three psalms, the more you’ll get out of the other 147. Keep coming back to these three as your foundation for the rest.

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Psalm 4

Evening Prayer of Trust in God

Ps 4:4 – The apostle Paul quotes from this verse in his letter to the believers in Ephesus.

Eph 4:26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Ps 4:6 – If the Lord “lifts up His countenance upon us,” then His face becomes like the sun shining in its strength.

Rev 1:16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

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Psalm 5

Prayer for Protection from the Wicked

Ps 5:2 – Jesus is our King and God. He is, of course, “King of the Jews.” Also, the name or title “Christ” is the equivalent of “king” in ancient Jewish parlance.

Ps 5:3 – Jesus, too, spoke of “watching” in the context of prayer.

Mark 14:38 “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Ps 5:4 – Jesus made the same point with different words.

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Ps 5:5 – God does not love everything; He hates evil.

Ps 45:7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness…

Ps 5:8 – “Lead me in your righteousness” sounds like…

Ps 23:3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

And “Make Your way straight before me” sounds like…

Prov 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.

Ps 5:9 – The apostle Paul quotes from this verse in his letter to the believers in Rome.

Rom 3:13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,
WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,”…

Ps 5:11 – The phrase “take refuge in You” sounds like abiding in Him.

John 15:4 “Abide in Me…

Ps 5:12 – David experienced this favor. So did Jesus. And, because of Jesus, so should we.

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Psalm 6

Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble

Ps 6:1 – A word to the wise is sufficient. If we accept the chastisement of His words, we will not have to be disciplined by His wrath. That is, we can learn the easy way or the hard way. As it is with earthly fathers and their children, so it is with our Heavenly Father and His children.

Ps 6:2 – “Be gracious to me” is a call for grace.

Heb 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

And “Heal me” is a call for a physician.

Luke 5:31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

It is our hearts that are sick.

Jer 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?

And it is His word that can heal us.

Ps 107:20 He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.

Ps 6:5 – How things have changed since the coming of the Lord! Everyone used to go below to Sheol (Hades) at death; since the second coming of Christ, everyone goes to heaven.

Ps 6:6-7 – Jesus could pray with emotions this strong.

Heb 5:7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.

Ps 6:8 – Jesus quotes this verse a couple of times in the New Testament.

Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Matt 7:22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
Matt 7:23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

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Luke 13:26 “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’;
Luke 13:27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’

What a wonder to consider that Jesus read or heard the same words from the Old Testament that we do – and sought to remember and rely on them for truth as we do!

Ps 6:9 – It is a good sign if we can say He “has heard my supplication” and “receives my prayer.”

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
1 John 5:15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

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Psalm 7

The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked

Ps 7:3-5 – We should not expect deliverance if we have brought evil on ourselves by doing evil.

Ps 7:6 – This is just what the Lord did when He arose from the dead. It was part of His taking vengeance on our greatest enemy which was death itself.

1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

Ps 7:16 – The word “pate” in the last half of the verse is synonymous with “head” in the first part.

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Psalm 8

The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity

Ps 8:2 – Jesus quoted this verse on Psalm Sunday in Jerusalem.

Matt 21:14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.
Matt 21:15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant
Matt 21:16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?”

Ps 8:4-6 – The apostle Paul quotes this passage in his letter to the Hebrews.

Heb 2:5 For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking.
Heb 2:6 But one has testified somewhere, saying,
“WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM?
OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM?
Heb 2:7 “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS;
YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR,
AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;
Heb 2:8 YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
Heb 2:9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Jesus didn’t come down from heaven to stay; He came down in order to rise again. So He could take us with Him.

Ps 8:6 – This verse is quoted in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth.

1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Cor 15:27 For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
1 Cor 15:28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

The New Testament not only tells us about Jesus, it tells how the Old Testament is about Him, too.

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Psalm 9

A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice

Ps 9:8 – The statement “He will judge the world in righteousness” appears also in Ps 96:13, and, even more interestingly, in Acts 17:31 where Paul is quoting it in light of the day of the Lord that was coming in the New Testament age.

Ps 96:13 Before the LORD, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.

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Acts 17:30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
Acts 17:31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

Although God’s judgment upon Israel including the destruction of Jerusalem was prophesied in the New Testament, the fulfillment of that prophecy is not reported there – possibly because all the texts were written before that event. In any case, other history makes clear that the burning of Jerusalem occurred in 70 AD. Thus the prophecy of Act 17:31 was fulfilled. Jesus Christ has been judging the world ever since. It is He who makes the nations to rise and fall.

Ps 9:11 – For David, the Lord dwelt in the Zion on earth; for us, He dwells in the Zion above. Earth is just the footstool of His feet. As Isaiah would write:

Is 66:1 Thus says the LORD,
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
Is 66:2 “For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD.
“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Ps 9:17 – In the time of David, Sheol (Hades) was the place of the dead. That changed at the second coming.

Ps 9:19 – For us, the Lord did indeed “Arise.” And that changed everything!

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Psalm 10

A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked

Ps 10:1 – This sounds like the beginning of Psalm 22.

Ps 22:1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.

David will at times express his feelings in a psalm without insisting that his feelings accurately reflect reality or that they are righteous. He starts with where he is…and then moves himself to where he needs to be. Let us be honest about our feelings, but not enslaved to them. Feelings can be a starting point for a conversation with God; not an end point.

Ps 10:7 – Paul quotes this verse in his letter to the Romans.

Rom 3:14 “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;

Ps 10:12 – Sprinkled throughout the Psalms there are the petitions of the Lord that He “arise” – like this one. Of course, they meant one thing when written, but have come to have even greater significance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Ps 10:16 -Jesus was made Lord and King when He was made Lord and Christ…because Christ means King.

Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.”

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Psalm 11

The Lord a Refuge and Defense

Ps 11:1 – “In the Lord I take refuge” = our response to this command from Jesus:

John 15:4 “Abide in Me…

Ps 11:3 – Western Civilization is being attacked at its very foundations: Jesus Christ and the Bible.

Eph 2:20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

The Bible = The Old Testament (the “prophets”) + the New Testament (“the apostles”)
Jesus Christ = The One about whom the “prophets” and “the apostles” testify

Therefore, guard the foundations! This is why we read and remember the Bible: to protect and strengthen what the devil is trying so hard to destroy.

Ps 11:4 – The Lord’s throne is indeed in heaven. The earth is just His footstool.

And from His eyes patrol the earth…even to the depths of our souls.

2 Chr 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…

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Heb 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Ps 11:5 – Because God is love, He hates sin. What parents love the cancer that is consuming their child?

Ps 11:7 – “The upright will behold His face” =

2 Cor 4:6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

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Matt 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

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John 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

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Psalm 12

God, a Helper against the Treacherous

Ps 12:1 – Who can deny that the ranks of righteous American men have been depleted in the last 70 years? This is a verse to which we can strongly relate.

Ps 12:2 – Those who most decry misinformation are foremost in spreading it.

Ps 12:3 – We lack the power to cut off lying tongues – but the Lord does not.

Ps 12:4 – “Who is lord over us?” Jesus is His name! Sooner or later, every tongue will declare it. Sooner is more blessed.

Phil 2:9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
Phil 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Phil 2:11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Ps 12:7 – If you feel lonely walking the path of righteousness – which is the path of faith – in this world, do not for a second think He has lost sight of you. He is proud of those who are proud of Him and not theirselves.

Heb 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

The word “saint” means “holy one.” The word “holy” means set apart for God. When you minister to your wife and children day after day by keeping them with you in your journey with God you are “ministering to the saints” entrusted to your care. By keeping them in the Bible you are keeping them in His name. You are doing with yours what Jesus did with His.

John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

You are following your Leader, walking in His steps.

Matt 23:10 “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.

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Mic 2:13 “The breaker goes up before them;
They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it.
So their king goes on before them,
And the LORD at their head.”

Do not capitulate to this generation. Like lemmings, they follow each other until they walk off the cliff – taking their wives and children with them. You and your seed are going a different direction.

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Psalm 13

Prayer for Help in Trouble

Ps 13:1-2 – Job kept crying this way until he got his answer.

James 5:11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

David was always candid with the Lord. (See Ps 10:1 and accompanying notes above.)

Ps 13:3 – Jesus is both our Lord and our God. He can’t be one without being the other – at least not since the second coming.

Ps 13:5 – David was not his own man; he was the Lord’s man. David never sought to save himself; he was always looking to the Lord for rescue from his enemies. His psalms never sound like Frank Sinatra singing “My Way.”

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Psalm 14

Folly and Wickedness of Men

Ps 14:1-3 – The apostle Paul quotes this passage in his letter to the churches in Rome.

Paul saw in David’s words an indictment of the entire human race – not a Jew looking down on Gentiles. Even David, whose devotion to God was legendary, knew that he himself was a sinner. He especially knew it in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Sam 11-12). Therefore, Paul quotes these words from Psalm 14 to reinforce his point to the Romans: that every human being has a sin problem. Every human being except for One.

***** Ps 53 begins the same way as this psalm does.

Ps 53:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.
Ps 53:2 God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is anyone who understands,
Who seeks after God.
Ps 53:3 Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

We even saw a thought like this in Ps 10.

Ps 10:4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.
All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Yes, there is a lot of repetition in the book of Psalms. We can safely assume that David’s response to any complaints about this would be like Paul’s:

Phil 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

There is repetition throughout the Bible, beginning with the books of Moses. The word “Deuteronomy” means “second law” and, indeed, it consists primarily of things Moses said in his previous books. Every parent knows that repetition is the only way possible to teach children, but it is also a way to make sure that the meaning of ancient texts comes through to modern generations. That is, by writing the same things in different ways, and even the same things in the same way, you reduce the chance that smudged ink deprives us of something God wanted us to hear.

Ps 14:7 – When God’s people were captive in Egypt, He saved them. And then when they were captive in Babylon, He saved them. And then when they were captive in Europe, He saved them by bringing them to America. And now that they are captive in America, He will save them once again. Though we do not yet see how, we know He is able and willing. And therefore we keep watching and waiting…which is to say, praying.

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Psalm 15

Description of a Citizen of Zion

This psalm holds up well, doesn’t it? It can serve us in this century as it did David thirty centuries ago and as it did Jesus twenty centuries ago – and without much explaining.

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Psalm 16

The Lord Is the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death

According to Luke’s report (Acts 2), Peter made this psalm a prominent feature of the first message he – or any of the other apostles – preached about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Below is some context for Ps 16:8-11 being quoted in Acts 2:25-28, and for Ps 16:10 being quoted again in Acts 2:31. (Paul also quotes Ps 16:10; it appears in Acts 13:25 where Paul makes the same point Peter makes here, which is that David “underwent decay” but Jesus did not.)

Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know–
Acts 2:23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
Acts 2:24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
Acts 2:25 “For David says of Him,
‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE;
FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.
Acts 2:26 ‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED;
MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE;
Acts 2:27 BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES,
NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.
Acts 2:28 ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE;
YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’
Acts 2:29 “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Acts 2:30 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,
Acts 2:31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.
Acts 2:32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
Acts 2:33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
Acts 2:34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:
‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD,
“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
Acts 2:35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘
Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.”

(The words in bold above are those which come from Psalm 16.)

Recall that Peter became so perplexed and upset the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, that he denied even knowing Him. He was confused because he did not understand the messianic plan. Between Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven, there came The 40-Day Bible Study of Jesus the Messiah, in which Jesus explained the messianic plan to His apostles from the Scriptures. What we see Peter doing in this message he preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) is declare things from the Scriptures that Jesus had taught them during those 40 days. One of those passages was this one from Ps 16.

From the very beginning of the book of Acts, the apostles display an understanding of the Old Testament that they did not display in the Gospels. What made the difference was Jesus’ resurrection and His explanation of it during those 40 days between His resurrection and ascension. He had been telling them many of these things before His crucifixion, but the crucifixion had been a stumbling block for them. They just couldn’t wrap their heads about the idea of Israel’s long-awaited Messiah getting killed before he ever took the throne. But sight of Jesus resurrected and walking through walls spoke more than a thousand words. And then there were all those Old Testament passages that began opening up – like Psalm 16, Psalm 110, and many, many more.

In his preaching, Peter is telling the people that King David, who was also a prophet, wrote Psalm 16 ostensibly about himself but, more importantly, with the Messiah in mind. Recall that Messiah was to be David’s descendant according to the prophet Nathan in 2 Sam 7 (specifically in verses 12-16). In response to Nathan’s prophecy, David said he knew that this descendant would be a long time coming (2 Sam 7:19). This meant that Solomon would not be fulfillment of this promise; rather, Solomon would merely be a down payment on the promise, a foreshadowing of the ultimate fulfillment. This is why Jesus would say of Himself, “Something greater than Solomon is here” (Mt 12:42; Lk 11:31).

The “distant future” that David acknowledged Messiah would occupy (2 Sam 7:19) turned out to be a thousand years. That is, a thousand years elapsed between David and Jesus. This is why Peter said David “looked ahead” (Acts 2:31) when speaking of Messiah not being “ABANDONED TO HADES,” “NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY” (Acts 2:31 and Ps 16:10). David knew the he himself was going to be abandoned to Hades (not indefinitely, but until “the distant future” when Messiah could redeem him), but Messiah was only going there for a very brief period of time (three days).

Another indicator that David was writing of Messiah and not himself was his use of “Holy One” in the phrase “Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay” (Ps 16:10). David was not the holy one, but his descendant would be – the one who was also called “God’s Son” (2 Sam 7:14). David knew it would take someone much greater than himself to overcome death.

Remember that there was no New Testament, nor even any individual New Testament writings, at the time Peter was preaching what we read in Acts 2. He is announcing to his fellow Jews, gathered in Jerusalem from all over the world for the feast of Pentecost, that the Scriptures they have – what we call the Old Testament – documented the plan for Messiah. That plan included His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension – none of it was an accident, natural, or a Plan B. It had all been “predetermined” (Acts 2:23). And not just predetermined, but throughly documented. Psalm 16 was just one example of that documentation. Peter’s message also included quotations from the prophet Joel, Psalm 110, and 2 Samuel 7. The rest of the New Testament is filled with references to many, many other Old Testament passages about Messiah.

Rom 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

And, more specifically, Jesus said these things:

John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;

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Luke 24:25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Luke 24:26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

***

Luke 24:44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Luke 24:45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

Psalm 16 is but one example of what can be found throughout the Old Testament: #FJOT

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Psalm 17

Prayer for Protection against Oppressors

Ps 17:1-3 – When we are willing to be judged by the only One who can see every single thought and motive we have, we are in a good place. I’m not just talking about the final judgment of our lives, but also of every single matter that comes up in our lives. There is something very liberating about putting everything on the line and letting the result hang on the judgment of a all-righteous God who sees everything.

Ps 17:13 – Jesus is indeed the Lord who “arose.”

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Psalm 18

The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance

This content of this psalm also appears in the Bible as 2 Sam 22. Rather than make comments in both places, I’m just making them here.

This is a soldier’s psalm. Paul, in effect, encapsulated the psalm in the following statement which came near the end of what may have been the last letter he wrote on earth.

2 Tim 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
2 Tim 4:8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

May you be able to speak at the end of your life the way David and Paul spoke at the end of theirs. David’s warfare was in the flesh; Paul’s and yours is in the spirit.

Ps 18:29 – Again, Paul thinks like David.

Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Ps 18:31 – Who is the Lord? Jesus. Then who is God? Must be Jesus.

Ps 18:35 – David saying “Your gentleness makes me great” sounds like Jesus saying:

Matt 5:5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Ps 18:43 – This verse was fulfilled when Jesus was raised from the dead and seated in heaven…and especially at the second coming when He inherited all the nations, even those they didn’t want Him to rule over Him.

Ps 18:46 – Jesus is indeed the living One.

Luke 24:4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;
Luke 24:5 and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?

***

Rev 1:17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,
Rev 1:18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Ps 18:49 – Paul quotes this verse in Romans.

Rom 15:8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers,
Rom 15:9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written,
“THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES,
AND I WILL SING TO YOUR NAME.”

Note that the expressions “nations” (Ps 18:49) and “Gentiles” (Rom 15:9) are synonymous (Gentiles).

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Psalm 19

The Works and the Word…of God

The first half of this psalm (Ps 19:1-6) glorifies the work of God, and the second half (Ps 19:7-14) glorifies the word of God. The coda (Ps 19:12-14) is our appropriate response to a God so wondrous.

Ps 19:1 – This is certainly true of the physical heavens, and it is accentuated with every sunrise and sunset. But it is even more true of the spiritual heavens since they have been cleansed of Satan and his host and are now occupied by redeemed humanity – all of it! That makes for quite some expanse! (Everyone Is Going to Heaven)

Ps 19:4 – Paul quotes this verse in Romans.

Rom 10:18 But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have;
“THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH,
AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.”

Ps 19:5-6 – Whose light is as bright as the sun…and completes His course? #FJOT

Ps 19:7-9 – These six things of the Lord have become the things of the Lord Jesus through the new covenant He made with His blood. It is in that very personal perspective we should always now think of those six things. Whatever they meant to David and his fellow ancient Jews, they should mean even more to us. The ancient Jews would be the first to agree with this.

Heb 11:39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
Heb 11:40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

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Psalm 20

Prayer for Victory over Enemies

There is a sense of urgency to this psalm. It is explicit in the first and last verses: “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!” (Ps 20:1) and “May the King answer us in the day we call” (Ps 20:9). This is similar to the sense of urgency we find in Psalm 118 and ultimately ends up as a cry of “Hosanna!” in the New Testament. (See “hosanna” in list of Aramaic words in the New Testament.)

Ps 118:25 O LORD, do save, we beseech You;
O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity!
Ps 118:26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD;
We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.

***

John 12:12 On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
John 12:13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.”

The point of all this was that God was not only able to help us with the future; He can help with the present as well. As the Psalms put the same point in other words:

Ps 46:1 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.

As for the future, the name of the God of Jacob is Jesus Christ and it is this name that sets us in heaven…which is pretty “high”!

Ps 20:6 – You are surely “anointed” because you believe in Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.

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1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

Ps 20:7 – A more modern rendition of this thought that I have heard set to song is “Some trust in Cadillacs and some in Porsches…” You get the idea: We trust in God because His power transcends any and all human power.

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Psalm 21

Praise for Deliverance

There are three ways to read this psalm:

Look for what it meant to David in the 10th century BC.
Look for what it meant to Jesus in the 1st century AD.
Look for what it means to you in the 21st century AD.

All three ways to read the psalm are valid and all three should be considered. Moreover, these three ways should be considered in sequence because you need to have a sense of the first way in order to properly appreciate the second, and you need to have a sense of the second way in order to properly appreciate the third.

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Psalm 22

A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise

Ps 22:1 – Jesus cried out these words as He was hanging from the cross.

Matt 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

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Mark 15:34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

If someone considers the phrase “My God, my God, why have you forsake me?” in the context of Jesus’ crucifixion and nothing else, it may sound as if Jesus was despairing and hopeless – at least in the moment He spoke it. However, we should remember that this phrase began the 22nd psalm and Jesus was a pious Jew with great knowledge of the Scriptures. Therefore, He could not have been uttering these words in isolation from their biblical context; that is, He had to have been intentionally quoting this psalm. It’s even possible He quoted more from it than just this verse – maybe even the entire psalm. But even if He was only quoting this single verse, He surely had its context in mind. This is important to realize because this psalm does not end as it begins. On the contrary, though the psalm begins with this dark and somber expression, it ends with a bright and triumphant expression. And the tone doesn’t turn positive at the last minute; on the contrary, hope begins sounding well before the end. In fact, hope is the central theme of the psalm, even if that’s not apparent in the first verse.

As the notes on Ps 10:1 above point out, David tends to be candid with God about his feelings but he does not do as modern people often do – which is to treat his feelings as always being an accurate reflection of reality. One of the lies modern people often tell themselves is that “Perception is reality.” Perception may feel like reality, but that there can be a difference between perception and reality is one of the first things any wise parent seeks to teach a child. We tell them, and we tell them frequently:

“Just because a stranger smiles and gives you candy doesn’t mean you can trust him.”
“Just because the street seems to be a safe place for you and your friends to play doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous.”
“Just because the world looks flat doesn’t mean it is flat.”

Feeling forsaken by God is something every human eventually experiences. We have to acknowledge such emotions, but we do not have to surrender to them. That, in fact, is the main point of Psalm 22 and why it is animated with hope.

Ps 22:3-5 – The note of hope begins to be sounded. David knows that history is proof that trust in God at times like this is rewarded. That history includes all that God did for Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and others. In other words, there’s plenty of precedent for trusting God even when one feels godforsaken.

Ps 22:6 – Jesus surely felt like “a worm and not a man” while He was hanging from the cross – a “reproach of men” and “despised by the people.”

Ps 22:7 – Luke reports on those who “sneered” at Jesus while He was on the cross.

Luke 23:35 And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”

There were also those in the crowd who would “wag the head.”

Matt 27:39 And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads
Matt 27:40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

***

Mark 15:29 Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
Mark 15:30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

Ps 22:18 – The apostle John reports that this verse – like many others in this psalm – was fulfilled while Jesus was being crucified.

John 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.
John 19:24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”

Ps 22:22 – The apostle Paul quotes this verse in his letter to the Hebrews.

Heb 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Heb 2:12 saying,
“I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN,
IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.”

And, indeed, Jesus was “in the midst of the congregation” in the time of Paul because Jesus had promised such.

Matt 18:20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

See also that while Jesus was hanging on the cross, He was trusting that what He was feeling in Ps 22:1 was in no way going to stop Ps 22:22 from happening. Therefore, Jesus knew He was going to be raised from the dead even though He probably didn’t feel like it at this moment.

Ps 22:24 – Jesus had “cried” for help the night before in the garden of Gethsemane.

Heb 5:7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.

The confidence Jesus had on the cross Friday was a result praying with the following understanding the previous night.

In other words, when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, He believed “He was heard” (Heb 5:7). That belief is what got Him through the next day when everything was going against Him. Recall also that Jesus was praying that He be kept from dying, but rather that He not be kept in death. He now that the promises of the Scriptures was that He would be raised on the third day. He was praying that He would die consistent with the Scriptures so that He might be raised according to the Scriptures.

Ps 22:25-31 – This triumphant conclusion makes clear that Ps 22 is as much about the resurrection as about the crucifixion.

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Psalm 23

The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd

It’s common for us modern folks that the mention of a shepherd causes us to picture a bucolic scene, but ancient minds were quicker to think of a king or other leader. This is because the ancients were so familiar with the sight of a shepherd and flock; modern folks, by contrast, have to labor to form a meaningful mental picture of how shepherds and sheep operate before being able to use the metaphor. In other words, shepherds in the field were a starting point for the ancients, while they are an ending point for us.

David, for example, knew well what a shepherd did and it was commonplace for he and his contemporaries to use it as a metaphor for leadership. Since David had grown up as a shepherd, he could easily apply his knowledge to the task of managing a company of soldiers or even of ruling a nation as its king. Unfortunately, David did not successfully apply this knowledge to managing his family; his main obstacles to success in that realm, of course, being the multiple wives he chose. (To be sure, it was the quantity of wives, not the quality that was the problem; polygamy is not God’s way.)

All that said, the fundamental point of this psalm, originally, was David’s relationship with the Lord. Jesus read the psalm as applying to His relationship with God. We see it as applying to our relationship with Jesus…because He is to us the Lord. The New Testament emphatically and incessantly calls Him Lord, and, as regards Ps 23 and the rest of the Old Testament, He said this:

Matt 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

Thus Jesus came to be “the Lord” of Psalm 23 for us. This He confirmed in the Gospel of John.

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
John 10:12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
John 10:13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
John 10:15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
John 10:17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
John 10:18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Jesus is the shepherd of our families and we are His helpers as well as part of the flock.

Ps 23:1 – Jesus is “my shepherd.” Was Jesus not claiming to be found in this Old Testament verse when He said in the New Testament, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14)? #FJOT

Ps 23:3 – Let us connect “restores my soul” in this psalm with a similar thought in Ps 19.

Ps 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul…

Putting the two verses together, we can see that the Lord restores our souls by means of His law (teaching, training, word). And this restoration (rest) is exactly what He promised us elsewhere:

Matt 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Matt 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.

***** “He guides me in the paths of righteousness” fits perfectly with Jesus’ focus on that same subject (righteousness):

Matt 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Ps 23:4 – The “valley of the shadow of death” is where all humanity lived until Jesus came to give us “a future and a hope.” The Old Testament verse gives the prophecy (promise made) and the New Testament verse declares the prophecy’s fulfillment (promise kept).

OT: Jer 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

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NT: Heb 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
Heb 2:15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

At this end of this life, David went down to Sheol, but we go up to heaven. This is the difference that Jesus Christ makes. (Everyone Is Going to Heaven)

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Psalm 24

The King of Glory Entering Zion

Ps 24:1 – The apostle Paul quotes this verse to the Corinthians.

1 Cor 10:25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake;
1 Cor 10:26 FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS.

Paul’s point is that the Corinthians should not worry themselves about how the meat got to market – that is, whether any of it had been sacrificed to idols. Instead, Paul wants the Corinthians to focus on the fact that everything belongs to God and therefore comes from God.

Ps 24:3 – This verse sounds like the one that begins Psalm 15.

Ps 15:1 O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

The answer to the question in Psalm 15 is longer than the one given here in Psalm 24, but two answers are consistent because the two questions are similar.

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Psalm 25

Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon

Ps 25:1-2 – Throughout the psalms we see “God” and “Lord” used interchangeably. “God” is His title; “Lord” is His name. “God” is what He is; “Lord” is who He is. (For more on hwere the small/all caps “LORD” come from, see LORD/YHWH/I AM.

Ps 25:8 – This verse goes well with the following statement from Jesus:

Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Ps 25:9 – We have to give up pride and embrace humility in order to learn from Jesus.

Ps 25:10 – The word “lovingkindness“ refers to God’s unique kind of love. ***** “His covenant” is for us the new covenant in Jesus’ blood, not the old covenant which was in animal blood.

Luke 22:20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

Ps 25:13 – Prosperity of soul is the central blessing of the new covenant. From that flows every other benefit of the new covenant.

3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

And without that blessing, hardly any other earthly blessing matters:

Mark 8:36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?

Ps 25:22 – The Lord’s promise is not to redeem us from some of our troubles. It’s better than that!

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Psalm 26

Protestation of Integrity and Prayer for Protection

The word “integrity” shows up in verses 1 and 11 of this psalm.

Ps 26:2 – Because David desires to be a man of integrity, he invites scrutiny from God. See the similarity between his request in this verse and the one he made at the end of Psalm 19.

Ps 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

David didn’t have the new covenant, but he was ready for the new covenant because the new covenant is all about purity of heart before God.

Mark 7:14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:
Mark 7:15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.
Mark 7:16 [“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]
Mark 7:17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.
Mark 7:18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,
Mark 7:19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)
Mark 7:20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
Mark 7:21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
Mark 7:22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
Mark 7:23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

The psalms are helpful for cleansing the heart because they are so much about the thoughts and intentions of the heart. That David was called a man after God’s own heart says a lot about David, but it also says a lot specifically about his heart.

Acts 13:21 “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
Acts 13:22 “After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.’

The psalms reveal David’s heart…which was the best part of him.

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Psalm 27

A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God

Ps 27:1 – Jesus Christ “is my light and my salvation.” The name “Jesus” even means “the Lord saves.” (Jesus/Joshua) Was Jesus not claiming to be found in this Old Testament verse when He said in the New Testament, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5)? #FJOT

Ps 27:3 – David lived this verse out:

1 Sam 30:6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

Ps 27:10 – Jesus prayed for God to “take Him up” and so it came to be! #FJOT

Ps 27:13 – It’s not just in heaven that we are to find the goodness of the Lord – it’s down here, too! In fact, it’s much more important to find His goodness down here because up there it won’t be hard to find. Down here, it’s not always immediately apparent.

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Psalm 28

A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer

Ps 28:1 – The “pit” was Sheol.

Ps 28:3 – It’s like David knew the Pharisees a thousand years before they taunted Jesus.

Matt 23:25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
Matt 23:26 “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
Matt 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
Matt 23:28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

How helpful David’s words must have been to Jesus as He prayed and thought about how to deal with the Pharisees!

Ps 28:8 – David was the Lord’s anointed – God’s choice to be king after Saul. Jesus was the Lord’s anointed – that’s what the word “Christ” means. We are the Lord’s anointed because we have His Holy Spirit in order that we might live holy lives.

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1 Pet 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
1 Pet 1:15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
1 Pet 1:16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Ps 28:9 – This thought links naturally to Psalm 23. The Bible is full of such linking words and phrases that pull all the Bible’s truths together. Written through the varied personalities of many different men, all the truths came from one true God. That’s why the various parts of the Bible cling tightly to each other in order to present one picture like a jigsaw puzzle.

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Psalm 29

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm

All this glory that went to the Old Testament God now goes to His Son Jesus Christ our Lord because of the new covenant.

Ps 29:10-11 – The flood was disastrous for the world but salvation for Noah and his family. In similar fashion, the judgments that come on the world in our time can be salvation for us even if they are disastrous for the ungodly. Such times will be inconvenient for us, but catastrophic for those who have not feared the Lord.

1 Pet 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1 Pet 4:18 AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?

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1 Thess 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thess 5:10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.

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Phil 1:27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Phil 1:28 in no way alarmed by your opponents–which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

Remember also the Red Sea crossing which provided escape for the Israelites but doom for Pharaoh’s army.

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Psalm 30

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death

Ps 30:1 – Jesus could sing the words of this verse from heaven once He was seated at the right hand of God after His ascension into heaven (according to the prophecy of Psalm 110:1).

Ps 30:2 – Healed Him from death! (See note immediately above.)

Ps 30:3 – This is the kind of language David used in Psalm 16. In both this psalm and that one, David’s rescue from a brush with death became a foreshadowing of Jesus’ rescue from death itself. (See Ps 16:10 and Acts 2:27, 31 along with BSN notes above on Ps 16:8-11.)

Ps 30:5 – Meditate on this verse and get it so deep down inside of you that the devil could not blast it out of you no matter what he did. Satan’s torments are brief; God’s comforts are eternal.

Ps 30:9 – The Lord wants to advertise Himself to others through the blessings He brings on our lives. He can’t very well do that if we’re not living up to His righteous standards. Live up to His expectations for you so that He has reason to keep blessing you and yours.

Ps 30:10 – We don’t have to convince the Lord to be our helper – we just have to let Him.

Heb 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”
Heb 13:6 so that we confidently say,
“THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID.
WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”

Ps 30:11 – He is the God of the turnaround!

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Psalm 31

A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise

Ps 31:1 – “In You” (Ps 31:1) = “in Him” (Acts 17:28):

Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist…

Acts 17:28 KJV For in him we live, and move, and have our being

The “Him” in Act 17:28 was originally understood to be “God”, but since we know that Jesus Christ was revealed as God in the second coming, it now refers to “Jesus Christ” as well. The same applies to the “You” in Ps 31:1. (Jesus Christ Is God)

Further to this point, consider what was written a few verses earlier in Acts 17.

Acts 17:18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”–because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

Indeed, a man becoming God is a strange thing, but that’s just what the Bible says happened: He was the only begotten God, begotten at His resurrection.

John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

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Acts 13:33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’

Of course, the only way a man could become God would be if He had already been God in the first place – that is, before He became a man.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Ps 31:3 – Jesus came to lead and guide us. The Old Testament speaks of Him in so many ways! #FJOT

Is 49:10 “They will not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them
And will guide them to springs of water.

Ps 31:5 – Jesus walked in the steps that David and all the other prophets left for Him.

Luke 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.

And now we walk in His steps, speaking His words.

1 Pet 2:21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,

Jesus left His footsteps in the book of Psalms and the rest of the Bible. More precisely, the prophets left their steps for Jesus to follow in and Jesus marked those steps for us. “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT,” was one of those steps.

Do we think that this is the only time Jesus ever quoted Ps 31:5 in speaking to God? Maybe it was. But maybe it wasn’t. I can easily imagine Jesus saying this every night before He closed His eyes to sleep – from the time He was a young boy all the way through His manhood to the last breath he took as we read in Luke 23:46. I can even imagine Him saying those words in the spirit of…

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I ‘wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
The new england primer

Irrespective of any imaginings we might have, we know that Jesus spoke the words of Ps 31:5 right before He closed His eyes to die, and that His Father took His soul from death on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Amen.

Ps 31:6 – Jesus put a finer point on this, teaching us to hate the sins and love the sinners.

Ps 31:7 – The fullness of God’s lovingkindness was revealed – and is still being revealed – in Jesus Christ. Let us “rejoice and be glad in” it!

Ps 31:17 – Sheol

Ps 31:19-20 – We wake up to have a feast in our daily Bible reading – a feast that much of the world knows nothing about. They are “distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.” Some have even become worse – so terrified that they have a wild look in their eyes. We must pray that the Lord would send laborers to tell them the good news that has been told to us. May that good news turn their sorrow into joy as it has turned our sorrow into joy.

Matt 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Matt 9:37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Matt 9:38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Ps 31:21 – Indeed this world is a besieged city, but the city above is forever free.

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Psalm 32

Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God

Ps 32:1-2 – When the apostle Paul taught that we were justified before God by our faith and not by the good works that we do, he was accused by many of his fellow Jews of departing from the Bible. But Paul shows them – by this example of quoting the opening lines of Psalm 32 – that he was not contradicting the Scriptures but rather basing his teaching in them. Paul is in essence saying, “Guys, I’m only teaching what David believed!”

Rom 4:4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
Rom 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
Rom 4:6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
Rom 4:7 “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN,
AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.
Rom 4:8 “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”

We know from the Scriptures that David was not a sinless man and that he did not pretend to be a sinless man. What he did was confess his sins and receive forgiveness. And he believed in that forgiveness – that is, he trusted that he had received it. That’s what faith is – believing we have been forgiven of our sins.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus and all His apostles – including Paul – were accused of teaching the Old Testament incorrectly. But their accusers were projecting, for it was the accusers who were preaching error.

Ps 32:6 – The time to pray is before the flood waters start rising…when there’s still time to build an ark.

Ps 32:7 – When we’re reading from the Psalms are we not surrounded with songs of deliverance?

Ps 32:8-9 – This is why we do not use Old Testament methods of discerning the will of God – like Urim and Thummim (such as in Neh 7:65) or casting lots (such as in Prov 16:33) or putting out a fleece (such as in Judg 6:36-37). Jesus came that we might know and understand God so that we can think like Him and make decisions as He does. David knew that this was the correct aspiration, but only with Jesus Christ did that day fully come. It took people a while to fully realize it, but they did eventually catch on. For example, at the beginning of the book of Acts, the apostles cast lots for Judas Iscariot’s replacement, but we never see them returning to the practice or speaking of it again throughout the rest of the New Testament.

Ps 32:10 – lovingkindness

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Psalm 33

Praise to the Creator and Preserver

Ps 33:1 – The 150 psalms run the gamut from sorrowful to joyful. When they are sorrowful, they can be very sorrowful; and when they are joyful, they can be very joyful. God would not have us be emotionally flat. Sin should bring sorrow; righteousness should bring joy.

Rev 3:15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

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Eccl 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…

David was no stoic. He fully experienced the joys and sorrows of life. God understands this. He lived a human life, feeling the highs and lows personally. The psalms help us express to God the variety of feelings we have.

Ps 33:4 -Everything God does flows from commitments He has made. So it should be with us as well. A man makes a commitment when he marries. Everything he does in life from that point forward should be a fulfillment of that commitment.

Ps 33:6-9 – David obviously believed the Genesis account of creation. It’s what Moses taught. Jesus believed it, too. Do evolutionists think they know more about creation than these people? The creationist view carries through from one end of the Bible to the other.

Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Ps 33:10-11 – The Lord is not frustrated; it is the world that is frustrated. The Lord has His way. The world only thinks it’s going to have its way. It is only going to end up even more frustrated. Remember how the second psalm begins.

Ps 2:1 Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?
Ps 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
Ps 2:3 “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”
Ps 2:4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.

This is why the apostle Paul could say:

Gal 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Paul went on to encourage us about this, saying…

Gal 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Gal 6:9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
Gal 6:10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Ps 33:12 – This is why America used to be blessed and is currently cursed. (See related BSN note on Jer 2:11.)

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Psalm 34

The Lord, a Provider and Deliverer

Ps 34:1-3 – Members of a family ought to be able to regularly speak to each other in this way. It’s encouraging, even though the world doesn’t like it.

Ps 34:11 – The fear of the Lord must be taught. It does not come naturally. This is why there is less fear of God in America today than there was two or three generations ago. Parents have been teaching their children about Jesus and the Bible less with each succeeding generation. Recent Jeopardy contestants could not even identify the missing word in this sentence: “Matthew 6:9 says “Our Father which art in heaven, _______ be Thy name.”

Ps 34:12-16 – Peter relies on this passage to convince the mixed congregation of Jews and Gentiles to which he is writing that looking to God in prayer is a more productive response to mistreatment than payback.

1 Pet 3:8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;
1 Pet 3:9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
1 Pet 3:10 For,
“THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS,
MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.
1 Pet 3:11 “HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD;
HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.
1 Pet 3:12 “FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS,
AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER,
BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”

Ps 34:17-18 – This certainly turned out to be Jesus’ experience on earth. If we follow in His steps, it’ll be ours, too.

Ps 34:19 – Some people erroneously think that submitting to the authority of Jesus is supposed to end all trouble in one’s life. That is not the case. Sometimes the troubles will increase.

2 Tim 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Therefore, the promise is not that we won’t have “afflictions,” but that we will be “delivered out of them all.”

Ps 32:20 – #FJOT This verse was fulfilled in John 19:32-36.

John 19:32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him;
John 19:33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
John 19:35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
John 19:36 For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.”

Breaking the legs of a victim was a way to hasten the death caused by crucifixion. Probably because of the extensive and severe beatings and scourging Jesus took before He was nailed on the cross, He did not need His legs to be broken in order to die – thus fulfilling Ps 34:20.

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Psalm 35

Prayer for Rescue from Enemies

It is not hard to read this psalm and picture Jesus’ dealings with the priests, scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees – and further, how God raised Jesus from the dead as permanent deliverance from those critics and vindication from all their accusations. That’s what “eternal” is: truly permanent.

Ps 35:7 – As for “without cause,” see verse 19 below.

Ps 35:11 – We certainly see evidence of “malicious witnesses” in the trial of Messiah.

Mark 14:57 Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying,
Mark 14:58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”
Mark 14:59 Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.

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Matt 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death.
Matt 26:60 They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward,
Matt 26:61 and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’”
Matt 26:62 The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”

Ps 35:19 – If anyone was ever hated without cause, it was Jesus.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
John 15:25 “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

Of course, by enduring this hatred that had no justifiable cause, Jesus was only revealing the hatred God had been enduring for thousands of years before. It took the life of Jesus to demonstrate to us the shabby way we the human race have been treating God.

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Psalm 36

Wickedness of Men and Lovingkindness of God

Ps 36:1 – Paul uses this verse, and many others, to construct his indictment of human beings – both Jewish and Gentile – as sinners in the sight of God.

Rom 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
Rom 3:10 as it is written,
“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
Rom 3:11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
Rom 3:12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
Rom 3:13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,
WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,”
“THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;
Rom 3:14 “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;
Rom 3:15 “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
Rom 3:16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
Rom 3:17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.”
Rom 3:18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

Indeed, the entire psalm indicts humanity, but also declares that God was willing and able to redeem humanity from this state. David was able to say these things just based on the revelation that had come through Moses and the prophets who had lived until that point in time. David did not get to hear what the prophets after him would say – men that included Isaiah and Jeremiah. Neither did David get to hear what John the Baptist would say. Most of all, David did not get to read the Gospels and learn about how Jesus would live – what He would say and what He would do. If David could write this psalm based on the revelation he had, how much more we ought to be able to see God’s willingness and ability to redeem humanity with all the revelation we have at our fingertips!

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Psalm 37

Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked

When someone’s out to get us, we tend to worry. Psalm 37 is an antidote to that worry. In this psalm, David teaches us that the righteous man – which is the man of faith – can trust that God’s got his back. We cannot keep watch on everything our enemies are doing…but God can. Therefore, we keep our eyes on the Lord and He keeps His eye on anyone who seeks to do us harm. And the Lord doesn’t just promise to watch your enemies, He promises to deliver you from their traps – as He did when He delivered Mordecai and the Jews from the wicked Haman (the book of Esther).

(Psalm 73 has a similar theme. While Psalm 37 talks about the enemy who is against you, Psalm 73 is about the wicked more generally. To help you remember the similarity between the two psalms, notice that they have the same two numbers, just reversed in order.)

Ps 37:3 – “Trust in the Lord”

Acts 16:31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

***** “do good”

Titus 3:14 Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

Ps 37:7 – “Rest in the Lord”

Matt 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Matt 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Matt 11:30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Ps 37:31 – David was a man ahead of his time. He knew the importance of having the law of the Lord in his heart – not just in a big book that sits on his coffee table.

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Psalm 38

Prayer of a Suffering Penitent

In the previous psalm, the main problem was the other guy; in this psalm, it’s the guy himself.

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Psalm 39

The Vanity of Life

Ps 39:1-6 – This psalm, especially the first six verses, are an open gateway into the book of Ecclesiastes.

Ps 39:7-11 – This passage is the cry of a sinner seeking repentance. This is just the kind of person Jesus is seeking.

Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

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Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Ps 39:12-13 – Like the first six verses, this passage matches the tone of Ecclesiastes.

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Psalm 40

God Sustains His Servant

Some psalms are said to be “messianic psalms.” In a sense, however, all the psalms are messianic – just some more obviously than others. Similarly, the entire Bible is messianic – just some parts more than others. After all, Jesus said:

John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;

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Luke 24:44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Luke 24:45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

In all three of the passages above, Jesus was speaking of the Old Testament. This is only because, of course, the New Testament was not yet written. If the Old Testament was messianic, how much more the New Testament!

Back to Psalm 40, it is one of those psalms that is more obviously messianic than the others. And even within this psalm, some passages are more obviously messianic than others.

Ps 40:1-3 – A neat encapsulation of Messiah’s reaction to His resurrection from the dead.

Ps 40:4-5 – This sounds appropriate as Jesus’ heart cry for His three years of ministry on earth.

Ps 40:6-8 – In his letter to the Hebrews, the apostle Paul is implying that this passage was written on behalf of the Messiah.

Heb 10:4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Heb 10:5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
“SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED,
BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;
Heb 10:6 IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE.
Heb 10:7 “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME
(IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME)
TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”

Ps 40:9-10 – Further to the point of Ps 40:6-8, Jesus was able to read the Old Testament and realize that the God behind it wanted something more than the animal sacrifices described at length in the Law of Moses. That insight alone would make Jesus one of the most amazing human beings who ever lived. That He was able to share this revelation with His generation to such a degree that it remains with us still today makes Him clearly the single most amazing human being who ever lived. His miracles, His compassion, His resurrection from the dead only heap glory upon glory. Jesus heard something no else was hearing – He shared is freely, was killed for sharing it, and rose from the dead three days later. On that pivot turns all of human history.

Ps 40:11-12 – This is the hardest passage in the psalm to read as messianic. This is, of course, because Messiah had no sin – until we remember that sins He bore were ours, not His own. That’s why they were “more numerous than the hairs of his head.”

Ps 40:13-17 – The God of the New Testament planned all along to be succeeded by His Son – the God of the New Testament. That God of the New Testament honored His Father – the God of the Old Testament – at every turn. The only way the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament could co-exist was if they were the same God. (Jesus Christ Is God)

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Psalm 41

The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends

Ps 41:1 – A man who “helps the helpless” is a “man after God’s heart” (and therefore like David) because that’s what God spends so much time doing: helping the helpless.

Acts 13:22 “After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.’

Ps 41:2 – Did God not “keep alive” Jesus?!

Ps 41:3 – God sustained Jesus upon His deathbed; in death, God restored Jesus to life.

Ps 41:4 – This is not Jesus sinning; it’s Jesus declaring solidarity with us. Everything He did down here was for our sakes.

Ps 41:5 – Even in our time, His enemies vainly hope that His name will perish – that we will stop speaking it. Yet there are at this time sectors of society where His name has already perished – where His enemies have succeeded in censoring all speech about Him. These are the lines of battle in the spiritual warfare that permeates the world.

Ps 41:8 – Ah, but He did rise up again!

Ps 41:9 – David knew betrayal (e.g. Ahithophel his counselor, and Absalom his son); therefore, He wrote these lines to help his descendant (the Messiah) cope with it (Judas Iscariot). #FJOT

John 13:18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’

Ps 41:10 – “raise me up” #FJOT

Ps 41:12 – The Psalms teach that the righteous get to enjoy God’s presence, but the unrighteous are sent away from it.

Ps 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

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Ps 21:6 For You make him most blessed forever;
You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.

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Ps 140:13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name;
The upright will dwell in Your presence.

By contrast, the wicked hide from God’s presence.

Gen 3:8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Therefore, when we sin, we must seek His forgiveness so that we can be restored to His presence.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Psalm 42

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile

Ps 42:1-4 – Shouldn’t we seek the kingdom of God at least as energetically as a deer seeks water?

Matt 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

If we seek it, we shall surely find it!

Matt 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matt 7:8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Ps 42:5 – Secularism is the enemy of faith because its central feature is to eliminate “the help of His presence.”

Ps 42:9-11 – When we were children, we had parents to shake us when we capitulated to a spirit of fear or despair. Now that we are adults, we must shake ourselves when necessary. In fact, how can we effectively exhort our children to do right if we do not know how to exhort ourselves to do right? The human heart is not naturally inclined to righteousness; on the contrary, it must be disciplined to righteousness.

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Psalm 43

Prayer for Deliverance

Ps 43:1 – David was the king of a nation and sometimes the whole nation was off track and he had to stand firm in the will of God until he could bring the nation around. The Messiah, too, had to stand firm when the whole nation turned against Him at His trial and crucifixion. If David and Jesus could stand firm in the face of a non-compliant nation surely you and I can stand firm against a non-compliant family until we can bring them around.

Ps 43:2-4 – When we grieve because we find ourselves unable to regain a sense of the Lord’s presence, we should pray for His light to guide us back. That is, we should pray and patiently wait for His Spirit to shed light on where sin has gotten us off track. When that light comes, we should be quick to repent…and return to walking in His ways. If we walk on His paths, we will surely bump into Him along the way.

Ps 43:5 – We saw this same refrain in the fifth and eleventh verses of the previous psalm (Ps 42:5, 11). The answer to it here is the same as the answer to it there: shake yourself, so that the Lord doesn’t have to be the one to shake you.

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Psalm 44

Former Deliverances and Present Troubles

Ps 44:1-3 – God has always sought to root our faith not in philosophy or even theology, but rather in history. Thus the Israelites in David’s time could root their faith what God had done in Moses’ time. Likewise, the Israelites in Moses’ time could root their faith in what God had done in Joseph’s time. Joseph could root his faith in what God had done for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The patriarchs could root their faith in what God had done for Adam and Eve. This is one of the reasons God waited 4,000 years after Adam’s and Eve’s sin before walking the earth and delivering us from death: to build up an overwhelming record of faithfulness to His promises.

The Bible is like a filing cabinet bulging with receipts documenting His actions on behalf of humanity. And it’s not as if the Bible is the sole source of such documentation. Many of the historical facts recorded in the Bible are confirmed by secular history as well. And your own family either has accumulated, or will accumulate, its own set of experiences with God to strengthen your own faith. Whenever your faith grows weak, go back to what has happened with God in the past because what has happened can never be changed; it can only be forgotten or lied about. As long as you don’t forget God’s doings or lie about them, you’ll always have them to strengthen your faith – just as the psalmist does here.

Ps 44:4 – The use of the word “command” in this verse is similar to the way Peter effectively used it.

Matt 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
Matt 14:26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.
Matt 14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Matt 14:28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

Whether it was Peter’s own thought or the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to use the word “command” instead of the word “let” or “allow,” I cannot say. What I can say is that the word “command” made it easier for Peter to step out of the boat in faith than if the Lord had left it to Peter’s choice. For the same reason, it was wise for the psalmist here to ask the Lord to “command” victories for Israel. Similarly, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sought final clarity about God’s will before submitting to arrest. He wasn’t going to the cross if it was optional. He pointedly requested that if at all possible, He be allowed to avoid the crucifixion.

Luke 22:41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,
Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

When there are hard things to do, it helps to be commanded. God did not design us to be masochists or gluttons for punishment. When God commands something, there’s no need to waste time thinking about whether we do or don’t want to do it.

Ps 44:9-16 – When it is clear that the Lord is not with us, we need to go to Him so that we might re-connect, and renew “the help of His presence.”

Ps 42:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.

Ps 44:22 – Even when it seems God is against us, He is not. He is always working for our good. When Israel was obedient, God worked for their victories. When Israel was disobedient, God, while He could not work for their victory, did continue looking out for their ultimate well-being through the resurrection of the dead. Thus Paul could see Ps 44:22 as a reminder that even when it seemed like God’s people were sitting ducks in a shooting gallery, God was still working for their good and ultimate redemption.

Rom 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
Rom 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
Rom 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Psalm 45

A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage

There is no official list of messianic psalms, but most anyone’s list will include Psalm 45. There, it’s #FJOT, for sure.

Ps 45:1 – The word “Messiah” meant “king” to ancient Jews, and this psalm is addressed “to the King” – therefore to the Messiah.

Ps 45:2 – “Grace is poured upon Your lips” – Notice how Luke seems to be alluding to these words in his Gospel.

Luke 4:22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

***** “Therefore God has blessed you forever.”

Rev 1:17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,
Rev 1:18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Ps 45:4 – Did any man ever do more “For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness” than Jesus Christ?

Ps 45:6-7 – The apostle Paul quotes this passage in his letter to the Hebrews. Paul’s point is that Jesus is not just more than a man, He’s more than an angel, too.

Heb 1:7 And of the angels He says,
“WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS,
AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.”
Heb 1:8 But of the Son He says,
“YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER,
AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
Heb 1:9 “YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS;
THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU
WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”

Note that both God and this king (Messiah) are being called God. This is the same way the apostle John did it.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.

***** The anointing spoken of in this passage refers, of course, to the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Ps 45:10-12 – This psalm with its references to the marriage of the king give a context for New Testament references to wedding feasts, brides preparing themselves for the bridegroom, and such. The Second Coming involved both a king taking the throne and becoming married.

Ps 45:16 – The purpose of a son is to take the place of his father. That is, the fully matured son is expected to be able to do all the things that the father does. The son is not to forever be a child – that is, he is not to be infantilized or become a victim of arrested development. Thus the Son is to take over for the Father. As they say, “The king is dead; long live the king!” This is why it is right that we treat Messiah as God. For He is God. The Father became the Son that He might become the Father once again. Why? Because His children were kidnapped, and becoming Christ is how He got them back. #FJOT ***** A similar foreshadowing is identified by a BSN on 1 Chronicles 29:23.

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Psalm 46

God the Refuge of His People

Ps 46:1-3 – The opening verses of this psalm give a context for the following story from the Gospels.

Luke 8:22 Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out.
Luke 8:23 But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.
Luke 8:24 They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.
Luke 8:25 And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

Since Jesus and all the apostles were Jews, they would have heard the Scriptures read in their synagogues weekly their whole lives. Surely they were familiar with the words of Psalm 46. Therefore, instead of asking, “Where is your faith?” Jesus could have asked them, “Did you think the first words of Psalm 46 were meaningless?” or “What were you thinking when Psalm 46 was being read?”

Ps 46:4 – The old covenant involved physical rivers; the new covenant involves spiritual ones.

John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
John 7:38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
John 7:39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Ps 46:10 – This is the still, small voice of Jesus speaking in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Ps 46:10 “Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Ps 46:10 KJV Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

People expect God to shout, but He’s more of a whisperer at heart.

1 Kin 19:11 So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
1 Kin 19:12 After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.

1 Kin 19:12 KJV And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

We should not be surprised, for the preacher in Ecclesiastes says:

Eccl 9:17 The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

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Psalm 47

God the King of the Earth

Ps 47:2 – The statement “A great King over all the earth” certainly told the truth about the God of the Old Testament, but the purpose of this statement, and the entire Old Testament, was to point to Messiah who would fulfill all its hopes.

Matt 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

Ps 47:5 – “God has ascended with a shout” – That’s Jesus!

Ps 47:8 – As for “the nations,” Jesus wants them trained to be like Him.

Matt 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Matt 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Matt 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

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Psalm 48

The Beauty and Glory of Zion

Under the old covenant, Zion (Jerusalem) was on earth; under the new, it is above in heaven.

Heb 12:18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,
Heb 12:19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.
Heb 12:20 For they could not bear the command, “IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.”
Heb 12:21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.”
Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,
Heb 12:23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
Heb 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
Heb 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.
Heb 12:26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.”
Heb 12:27 This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
Heb 12:29 for our God is a consuming fire.

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Gal 4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law?
Gal 4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman.
Gal 4:23 But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.
Gal 4:24 This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.
Gal 4:25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
Gal 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.
Gal 4:27 For it is written,
“REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR;
BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR;
FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE
THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.”
Gal 4:28 And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.
Gal 4:30 But what does the Scripture say?
“CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON,
FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.”
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.

The city we seek is spiritual and sits above in heaven…where we are going. We do not seek an earthly kingdom. This shift from an earthly kingdom to a heavenly is what John the Baptist, and then Jesus, came to announce.

Matt 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
Matt 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

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Matt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

When reading the Old Testament, it’s easy to fall back – or stay back – in an old covenant attitude. This is a worldview according to the flesh. We need to make the transition to a spiritual orientation. The kingdom of God is the kingdom of heaven. And it is heaven that rules.

Dan 4:26 ‘And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.

Let us be sure to read the Psalms – and all the Old Testament – from the perspective of Christ. This means walking in the spirit and not in the flesh.

Ps 48:2 – “the joy of the whole earth” is quoted in Lam 2:15.

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Psalm 49

The Folly of Trusting in Riches

Jesus taught many things about earthly riches, all of them consistent with this psalm. Here’s one of those teachings.

Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
Luke 12:14 But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
Luke 12:15 Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
Luke 12:16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.
Luke 12:17 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’
Luke 12:18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
Luke 12:19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘
Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’
Luke 12:21 “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Ps 49:4 – There are “proverbs” sprinkled throughout the Bible – not just in the book of proverbs. And there are “riddles” sprinkled through the Bible – not just in the story of Samson and the lion.

Ps 49:7-9 – Indeed, no man could do this; that’s why God had to do it. And He did it through Jesus Christ.

Ps 49:12 – This thought is repeated in the last verse of this psalm (Ps 49:20). It deserves special consideration. Men behave like animals all too frequently, but it often takes spiritual insight to detect it because beastly behavior is not always brutish. Sometimes it seems refined – like, for instance, a cat.

Ps 49:14-15 – During biblical times, Sheol was where everyone went at death. But since the resurrection from the dead occurred with the second coming, everyone goes to heaven now. Still, “those who trust in their wealth” on earth will regret that they did.

Ps 49:17 – Membership in an earthly hall of fame – any of them – will be meaningless in heaven. All people’s striving to enter them will be energy completely wasted on vanity.

Ps 49:20 – See note on verse 12.

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Psalm 50

God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked

Ps 50:2 – “the perfection of beauty” is quoted in Lam 2:15

Ps 50:12 – This thought is consistent with Ps 24:1, and therefore may also have been in Paul’s mind when he wrote 1 Cor 10:26.

Ps 24:1 The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it.

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1 Cor 10:25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake;
1 Cor 10:26 FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS.

Ps 50:16-21 – The priests, scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees used passages like this to justify their condemnation of Jesus.

As a sabbath breaker in their eyes, Jesus was considered “wicked.” (verse 16)
As the son of a carpenter, He had no standing in their eyes – a pretender who had no “right to tell of God’s statutes.” (verse 16)
Jesus was neither a priest nor a Levite nor a Pharisees nor a Sadducee. He was from a dirt water town (Nazareth) in flyover country (the region of Galilee). On top of all this, there were questions and rumors about whether his father really was the carpenter named Joseph.
Since Jesus didn’t receive rabbinical training from any of His critics, they considered Him to be without “discipline.” (verse 17)
When Jesus approved of Zaccheus (Luke 19), they probably saw Him as being “pleased with a thief.” (verse 18)
When Jesus forgave adultery, they saw Him as “associating with adulterers.” (verse 18)

Of course, the reality was that Jesus was in the right, and it was His critics that deserved the condemnation of a passage like this. But that’s the way it is with spiritual blindness: you can’t see the other person so you just project your sins onto them.

Ps 50:22 – Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn gave a speech in London in 1983 in which he stated that the reason for Russia’s disastrous 75-year embrace of communism that cost 60 million lives was something the old folks used to say when he was a child: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.”

The only amendment I’d make to this wise verdict rendered the elderly Russians is for it to say, “Men have forgotten Christ; that’s why all this has happened.” For it is only by remembering Christ that we can remember God as He truly is. Let us therefore never underestimate how much can go wrong when we become those “who forget Christ.”

Ps 50:23 – The Lord loves – and rewards – righteousness, which is “ordering your way aright.”

Matt 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

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Rom 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

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Heb 1:8 But of the Son He says,
“YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER,
AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
Heb 1:9 “YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS;
THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU
WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”

Thus salvation is not found in the middle of nowhere – it’s found on the path of righteousness.

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