Tag Archives: Psalms

Commentary on Psalms 51 and 139 (Psalms of David)

Psalm 51 is traditionally thought to be David’s lamentations for his sins against Bathsheba and Uriah. As the psalm begins, David asks for God’s forgiveness. Why God? Because even though David sinned against Bathsheba, Uriah, and others, it is God whom he has grieved the most. When we sin, we sin first and foremost against God.

David acknowledges that God is a righteous judge and he also affirms that he has inherited a sinful nature. From his very conception he was sinful, thus affirming the doctrine of original sin, where the sinful nature of Adam and Eve has been passed down to all of their descendants.

David continues, in the psalm, to plead for God to purify him. This purification is not trivial, as Donald Williams and Lloyd Ogilvie, in Psalms 1–72, The Preacher’s Commentary Series explain.

The verb for ‘purge’ is intensive here, meaning ‘un-sin’ me, purify me from uncleanness. The word is commonly used in describing the cleansing of a leper’s house. Hyssop is also used to sprinkle blood in the rite of purification (Lev. 14:52). Similarly, hyssop was the agent used in spreading the blood of the Passover lamb on the lintels and doorposts of the Hebrew households in Egypt before the plague of death (Ex. 12:22). Underlying the purging of verse 7, then, is the concept of sacrificial blood. As we pray for purification, the leprosy of sin is removed.

David begs God to take away his guilt and to turn His face from David’s sins. David is concerned that God will take away His Spirit from David, just as He did with Saul. If only God will renew David in His eyes, David promises to evangelize and teach non-believers the ways of God.

David knows that his crimes merit the death penalty, according to the Law. If God will show him mercy, David will sing of His righteousness and publicly praise Him. David also knows that God wants a truly repentant and broken heart from David. David’s sacrifices mean nothing to God otherwise. Once David is restored, he asks that the nation of Israel also be restored so that she can once again give God the sacrifices He deserves. Allen Ross, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Old Testament:), summarizes Psalm 51:

The message of this psalm is that the vilest offender among God’s people can appeal to God for forgiveness, for moral restoration, and for the resumption of a joyful life of fellowship and service, if he comes with a broken spirit and bases his appeal on God’s compassion and grace.

Psalm 139 is a psalm of personal thanksgiving by David. In particular, David meditates on God’s omniscience and omnipresence. These two divine attributes lead David to understand God’s intimacy with His creation.

In verses 1-6, David affirms that God knows his every thought and his every action. In fact, God knows what David will say even before he says it. There is nothing about David that God does not know.

Is there anywhere David can go to avoid the all-seeing gaze of God? Is there any place he can travel to avoid intimacy with God? The answer given in verses 7-12 is “no.” Whether David is in heaven (the world above the surface of the earth) or hell (the world below the surface of the earth), God is there. Even if David flees to ends of the earth, God is there. Whether David is in darkness or light, God is with him. There is literally no place David can be where God is not holding David in His hand.

How does God know so much about David? Not only is He omniscient, but He created David in the womb. The embryonic David, in his mother’s womb, was skillfully woven together by God’s hand. He was involved with every detail of David’s growth in his mother’s womb. Going beyond the womb, every one of David’s days on earth were written ahead of time by God. There is nothing in David’s life that catches God by surprise.

In verses 17-18, David expresses wonder at God’s thoughts, and then abruptly, in verses 19-22, spells out his hatred for those opposing God. All those who speak against God, who take His name in vain, David hates with a “perfect hatred.” Donald Williams and Lloyd Ogilvie describe David’s hatred:

David’s strong reaction is not against ‘sinners.’ He is not a self-righteous judge who will not stain himself with this world. His reaction is against those who revile God’s name, who are His enemies (v. 20). It is those who hate God and rise up against Him that incur his wrath. And why is this so? Because the God who is so exquisitely described in verses 1–18 deserves our praise and worship. To withhold this is to deserve both human and divine wrath.

Finally, David invites God to test his own heart and mind to see if David is wicked in any way. He is willing to submit himself to God’s scrutiny. Williams and Ogilvie beautifully summarize the intimacy with each of us that God desires:

He formed us in the womb. He knows our frame. He sees our embryo. He fashions our days. He knows our thoughts. He hears our words. He knows when we sit down and when we stand up. He protects us. His hand is upon us. He who inhabits all things is near to us. We cannot escape His presence. In the light He sees us. In the dark He sees us. We are the continual object of His thoughts. He searches us. He changes us. Here is true intimacy, and if we can allow God to become intimate with us, we can establish a growing intimacy with each other. Secure in His presence and His love, we can risk opening up. We can even risk rejection, because we are held in His hand (v. 10).

Commentary on Psalms 23, 27 (Psalms of David)

The Book of Psalms is a collection of five sets of books that were combined into a single biblical book. The psalms are primarily praises and prayers for temple worship or personal devotion.

The 150 psalms were composed over a period of about 1000 years, starting in the time of Moses (1400 BC) and stretching all the way to the Babylonian exile (586 BC). It seems that the Israelites were collecting and organizing individual psalms from the beginning of their organization as a nation.

Many of the psalms are anonymous, although all but 34 have superscripts that indicate authorship.  Of all the Psalms, at least 73 are attributed to David. Other authors are Asaph (Ps 50; 73– 83), the sons of Korah (42– 49; 84– 85; 87– 88), Moses (90), Solomon (127), Heman (88) and Ethan (89).

Psalm 23 may be the most famous of all the psalms, given that it is regularly quoted by non-Christians and non-Jews alike. Although it is brief, it has comforted millions of people for thousands of years.

Psalm 23 can be broken into two parts: God’s provision (verses 1-3) and God’s protection (verses 4-6). In verse 1, David compares God to a shepherd, a very common metaphor for God used both in the Old and New Testaments. Donald Williams and Lloyd Ogilvie explain, in Psalms 1–72, The Preacher’s Commentary Series:

In Psalm 80:1 God is addressed: ‘Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock’ (see Gen. 49:24; Ezek. 34:11ff.). Israel’s kings are also called shepherds. After denouncing the unfaithful shepherds of His people, God promises, ‘I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking’ (Jer. 23:4; cf. Ezek. 34:2). And Jesus identifies Himself as the ‘good shepherd,’ the Messianic King (John 10:11). His goodness is in His giving His life for the sheep.

A shepherd provides everything a sheep needs, and that is exactly how David sees God. A sheep needs rest, as do human beings, and God provides that rest when He makes us “lie down in green pastures.”

Sheep, like humans, also need food and drink, and God provides that as well when He leads us “beside quiet waters.” Our souls likewise need restoration, not just our bodies, and God provides that restoration. Once our souls are restored and transformed, God “guides [us] in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Our restored souls do the work of God’s kingdom as representatives of the King of kings. Every good and loving deed we do is for God, our loving shepherd.

Williams and Ogilvie expand on Jesus’ role as our shepherd:

As our good shepherd, Jesus provides us with rest, food, and water. When we come to Him we enter His ‘Sabbath rest’ or salvation (Heb. 4:1–11). He feeds us with Himself because He is the bread which has come down from heaven. As Jesus tells the multitudes, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst’ (John 6:35). Then Jesus gives us His Spirit to quench our thirst. Again He promises, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:37–38). John comments, ‘But this He spoke concerning the Spirit’ (John 7:39).

David also recognizes that God protects. In verse 4 we see that even though we are threatened with pain, suffering, and even death in this world, God is always with us. The destiny of a child of God is sealed, so there is no reason to fear. The rod and staff of a shepherd are used to protect a sheep from danger, and God will likewise protect His sheep.

Verse 5 then shifts the metaphor from shepherd to host. God celebrates David’s life with a banquet of food and drink, and in front of David’s very enemies. David is also anointed with oil, a sign of God’s blessing.

In verse 6, David affirms that God’s love and blessing on his life will continue throughout his life. Not only that, but David will live in God’s presence (His house) forever.

We now move to Psalm 27, another psalm of David. Verses 1-3 describe why David has no fear when his enemies attack him. David, during his life, was faced with attacks from King Saul, the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Amalekites, and even his own son. Each time, his life was in peril, so how could he possibly survive the repeated stress? Verse 1 answers the question.

God is David’s light, salvation, and stronghold. Salvation, in this sense, denotes being saved from physical death, although Christians may rightly apply the term to eternal salvation. Light refers to God’s holiness, but also to His bestowal of understanding on David. David is able to see his circumstances through God’s eyes, and not merely his own.

Williams and Ogilvie remind us of the importance of our reliance on God:

Faith or fear—these are our ultimate options. Either we can know the living God as our ‘light,’ ‘salvation,’ and ‘strength,’ or we are condemned to anguish as we move toward our final hour. The atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell put it, ‘The older I get, the more nervous I become.’ In contrast, two weeks before his death, Pope John XXIII said, ‘My bags are packed. I’m ready to go.’

In verses 4-6, David reveals what is most important to him: 1) to dwell in the house of the LORD, 2) to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD, and 3) to seek him in his temple. At the time David likely wrote this psalm, there was a tabernacle set up in Jerusalem which housed the Ark of the Covenant, the place where God promised to meet Israel on earth. Of course, the tabernacle was only meant to be a representation of God’s real home in heaven. In either case, David’s single biggest desire is to be where God is. David knows that if he is where God is, then David will be kept safe and will triumph over his enemies.

In verses 7-12, David shifts to a direct conversation with God. He is obviously in trouble and he is frustrated that God is not immediately saving him from his trouble. David wonders why it seems like God is not answering him, why it seems like God is hiding his face from David, why it seems like God is angry with Him, why it seems like God is rejecting him.

David reminds God that he desires to be led by God and that he desires to know the ways of God. It would not be right for God to turn David over to his enemies, when they are unjustly attacking David. David deserves God’s provision because he loves God, whereas his enemies are false witnesses.

In verses 13-14, though, David reminds himself and his readers that even though God does not appear to be helping him right at that moment, he is confident that He will. He will see God’s blessings while he is still alive, but he must wait for God.