Category: Psalms

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Exhortation: Living Psalmically

Psalm 4:8: I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.

Christian Counselor David Powlison recently said that the great men of God were men who lived Psalmically. I have never heard that expression before: To live Psalmically. What does that look like? When the Psalmist was distressed, He trusted in God. When he was persecuted, He put judgment in the Hands of God. In our reading of Psalm 4 this morning, the Psalmist declares that Yahweh alone makes us dwell in safety. He alone causes us to lie down and sleep in peace. But how can we sleep in peace? Life is so tumultuous and chaotic! How can we sleep in peace when tomorrow there is so much to do? How can we sleep in peace when my friend or family member is ill? We sleep in peace because the mercies of God are new every morning. We sleep in peace, because if we never awake in this world, we will be awaken to the smile of our Resurrected Lord.  We sleep in peace because Yahweh is our great rest. As the hymn writer says: We rest on thee, our Shield and our Defender.

Prayer:  Be merciful to us, O Lord. Hear our prayer and may we live Psalmically all the days of our lives.

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Psalm Singing

At Providence Church we have been singing the Psalms before I assumed the pastorate. We are not exclusive psalm singers, but we make the Psalms a significant part of our liturgy both in singing and responsive reading. We are very privileged to have Jim Jordan as our pianist. His addition has been very fruitful in developing our music. We are currently singing through Psalm 8 in the Genevan Psalter. Jim Jordan writes in his latest Rite Reasons that the Genevan tunes “take a bit longer to learn because they are more involved than what Americans are used to, but the reward is significant: almost every psalm has its own tune, so that one gets them locked into the mind.” (Rite Reasons No.99)

Here is our Psalm of the month  from the excellent Genevan Psalter website. This is a great way to introduce the psalms in your family worship.

Psalm 8
W. W. J. VanOene, 1972 & William Helder, 1980

1. O LORD, our Lord, Thou God of our salvation,
How glorious is Thy Name in all creation!
Thou who hast set Thy majesty on high
Beyond the skies for man to glorify.
2. Out of the mouth of infants praise is sounded,
And so a mighty bulwark Thou hast founded.
Thus breakest Thou the adversary’s force
And thwartest Thou the evildoer’s course.
3. When I behold the skies Thou hast created,
The moon and stars which Thou hast generated,
O what is man that Thou wilt think of him,
The son of man that Thou dost care for him?
4. Yet, little less than God – so hast Thou made him,
And Thou with glorious honor hast arrayed him,
That over Thy creation he might reign;
Thou hast assigned all things as man’s domain.
5. Thou hast appointed him as lord and master
Of bird and beast in forest, field, and pasture;
He also rules the creatures of the sea.

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The Omnipotence of God in Psalm 139, part 2; Final

At this point let me go back to our working definition of omnipotence. God’s omnipotence means that a) He can do anything He pleases and that b) nothing is too hard for Him. But we have seen that in some cases He is not pleased to use His power because they are contrary to His nature. So God can do anything that is compatible with his attributes.

The great Puritan Stephen Charnock says the following:

“The power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatsoever He pleases, whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct, and whatsoever the infinite purity of His will may resolve. . . As holiness is the beauty of all God’s attributes, so power is that which gives life and action to all the perfections of the Divine nature. How vain would be the eternal counsels, if power did not step in to execute them. Without power His mercy would be but feeble pity, His promises an empty sound, His threatenings a mere scarecrow. God’s power is like Himself: infinite, eternal, incomprehensible; it can neither be checked, restrained, nor frustrated by the creature.” (S. Charnock).[1]

Let’s consider the implications of God’s power to our lives.

We have often picked up a systematic discussion like the omnipotence of God and we are prone to say: “What does this have to do with me?” In similar words: “How does this apply?” Theology tends to sound very intimidating. When you think of words like omnipotence, if you are not particularly engaged in these types of discussions day-to-day, you might think that theology is reserved for the theologian or the pastor or the bright layman or laywoman. In fact, if you trace the history of the definition of theology in the last 400 years, you will notice that some have defined theology as an art like biology or physics or mathematics. It becomes fragmented or compartmentalized. That is, if you like physics, you study physics; if you like math, then you study math; if you like theology, then you study theology. If you take this definition, then theology is only reserved for the armchair theologian; the guy who sits in his chair with a pipe and a book and who can’t carry a conversation about anything else, but the intricacies of theological discourse. Some seminary professors fit this profile very well. Continue reading “The Omnipotence of God in Psalm 139, part 2; Final”

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The Omnipotence of God in Psalm 139, Part 1

Providence Church (CREC)

Sunday School

Second Sunday of Epiphany, January 18th, 2009.

The Omnipotence of God in Psalm 139

I would like to continue thinking through Psalm 139 this morning. And I am going to focus on a particular dimension of Psalm 139. I learned this in seminary, that when you try to cover too much material, which my professors were experts in doing, you end up not covering much at all. With that in mind, let me narrow our attention to one particular aspect of Psalm 139, and that is the omnipotence of God.

This morning we worked through the four stanzas of Psalm 139. If we were to give systematic categories to the four stanzas, here is what we have:

a)      Psalm 139:1-6 – God is all-knowing, Omniscient

b)      Psalm 139:7-12 God is all-Present, Omnipresent

c)      Psalm 139:13-18 God is all-Powerful, Omnipotent (Remember Handel’s Messiah based on Revelation 19, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth – He reigns with all power.

d)      Psalm 139:19-24, The Holiness of God.

Our focus will be on the systematic discussion of the omnipotence of God. Let me begin by giving you a working definition of this term. God’s omnipotence means that a) He can do anything He pleases and that nothing is too hard for Him.[1]

Our Westminster Shorter Catechism question four asks the question: What is God? Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.

There is a sense in which all these attributes are found in Psalm 139. And there is another sense in which all the attributes of God are inter-related. For instance, God’s power is eternal, unchangeable, good, true, and so on and so forth.

In simple terms, God’s omnipotence means that God can do whatever He pleases and whatever he pleases to do is not hard for Him to accomplish. Continue reading “The Omnipotence of God in Psalm 139, Part 1”

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Psalm 139 and Richard Dawkins

On this second Sunday after the Epiphany (January 18th), I will be preaching on Psalm 139. Psalm 139 is an exposition of the attributes of God. His omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence are clearly revealed in this glorious chapter. Particularly, Psalm 139 is an exposition of life; the human life in and out of the womb. It necessarily entails how we are to view the human life in the womb and how we are to view it outside the womb.  It is the outside of the womb part that atheists are so concerned about. They know that in a sense, they have gained a strong victory concerning a human being in the womb. That is, if it/he/she (however they define it) will be an unnecessary burden, then a mother has the right to destroy that life. This is in itself a tragedy. A tragedy that has been brought about the failure of the church.

But the area where atheists seek to impose their ideology is in the education of children. Since they have control of the womb, they are also seeking dominion outside of it. This is most clearly taught by atheist Professor Richard Dawkins. Dawkins believes that children who are taught what they ought to believe are being abused. He has said in a forum that it is wicked to tell a child that he/she is a Christian. His point is that chldren are to think for themselves and parents should not exert their influence in framing the thought process of their own offspring. Dawkins would be shocked to know that not only are we to teach that they are Christians from their earliest days, but that we purposefully indoctrinate them with a theocratic agenda; an agenda that will produce more parents with the same agenda.

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Give thanks…

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever! –Psalm 118:28-29

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The Fruitful Vine and the Tasteless Fruit

I am always perplexed at how evangelical ministers minimize the fruitful vines in their midst. Parents who out of conviction believe that children are blessings from the Lord find themselves uncomfortable in most evangelical churches. They are looked upon as “rural,” “naive,” “primitive;” to name only a few of the expressions I have heard over the years. Evangelicals (many in the Reformed community) who adore the devotional nature of the Psalms, and who believe wholeheartedly in the authority of the Psalms, ignorantly overlook how Psalm 128 ties the fear of the Lord with the blessings of child-bearing. In fact, the blessing that accompany reverence of God is that your wife will be a “fruitful vine.” Unfortunately, even that expression loses its meaning in our modern culture. Christians do not drink wine…or they do not drink enough wine to appreciate its goodness. But wine represents all that is good in the life of the faithful Old Covenant saint. If wine is properly understood, yea, properly appreciated (tasted), then we can begin to restore the blessing of the olive shoots. When the wife is addressed as the fruitful vine, she is associated with what God calls a delight and that which gladdens the heart (Psalm 104:15). The godly fruitful vine puts to shame the wisdom of this world. The wisdom of this world–that is those who despise the message of blessing in Psalm 128– is as a tasteless fruit. It is compared to what Eve tasted when she ate of the fruit. It is dry; there is no sweetness therein. The tasteless fruit (the wisdom of this world) despises the fruitful vine because her fruit will never gladden the heart, but the fruitful vine will see and rejoice over her offspring. Indeed, she will see her children’s children and she will be at peace (Psalm 128:6).

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A Literary and Exegetical Study of Psalm 42 & 43, Conclusion

WORD FILE:  judges-to-poets-uris-paper.doc

In verses 8-11, the psalmist continues with a litany of laments: my enemies oppress me (vs. 9), my bones suffer mortal agony (vs.10), my foes taunt me (vs. 10b), and my soul is disturbed and downcast (vs. 11). Despite this language, the psalmist still proclaims confidence in his God. He refers to the LORD as the one who directs his love (vs. 8a), the one whose song is always with him (vs. 8b), and finally, the One who is his rock (vs. 9). This latter metaphor speaks to the firmness and faithfulness of the monotheistic God of the Hebrews (Deut. 6:4). This section serves as an encouragement to persevere in the faith. As Calvin adequately notes:

By this example, therefore, we are admonished, that although Satan, by his assaults, often subjects us to a renewal of the same trouble, we ought not to lose our courage, or allow ourselves to be cast down.[1]

The final stanza encompasses chapter 43. The setting of this final section establishes a judicial context. The psalmist prays that God would vindicate him. In the same manner Job argues his ways before God (Job 13:15), the psalmist pleads that God would declare him “not guilty” and rescue him from deceitful and wicked men (vs.1). The author is confident that the great Judge will judge righteously.

Verse two is another view into the heart of the psalmist. His heart is confident that God is the one who strengthens. God is the stronghold of the writer. He is a shield against the evil one and his enemies will not touch him unless God so permits.

God defends the righteous, but the righteous must live by the proper standard. The standard given in this psalm is the word of God. The same standard which is a lamp unto the feet and a light unto the path (Psalm 119:105) is the standard of the psalmist. The light of special revelation is what reminds the psalmist that his heart belongs in the congregation of the assembly (vs.3). Biblical revelation leads God’s elect people to worship and adoration. The holy mountain used in verse three is to be contrasted with the turbulent waters of chaos (42:7).[2] God is the stronghold and He abides in the Holy Mountain. The psalmist longs for such re-union. The music of the temple (vs. 4) rings in his ears. The fact that the psalmist longs for the joyful and triumphant celebration of the people of Israel reflects a committed life. His catechetical instruction nurtured him in godliness and perseverance. To the psalmist, God is not an abstract being. He calls on God, his God (vs.4) to rescue him. There is a strong covenant bond and relationship expressed in the text. The familiar refrain (vs. 5) echoes the ambivalent nature of this song. His heart is downcast presently, but his hope is in God eternally.

Conclusion

The Psalms is the heart of Biblical Christianity. In the psalms God is honored in all circumstances. Both the sorrow of the psalmist and his unending hope, describes a life of faith; a life to be followed. Further, the psalm teaches God’s people that the corporate worship of the Savior is the everlasting desire of the nations. May wicked and deceitful men repent and join the congregation of the righteous.

[1] Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. 5 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003), 143.

[2] Pratt 848.