Psalm 42- As the Deer

 Psalm 42- As the Deer

Psalms 42:1-2 (NET) 

1 As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God!

2 Ithirst for God, for the living God. I say, "When will I be able to go and appear in God's presence?"

This is an appropriate psalm for this season in Texas. It’s been a very hot and dry summer and the streams have all dried up. We put out water for the deer and they eagerly come up for a drink even though it is close to the house. Their desperate thirst overcomes their fear of humans.

Are we that desperate in our seeking the living God? Do we cry out to the Lord in our troubles like the psalmist does?

Psalms 42:3-11 (NET) 

3I cannot eat, I weep day and night; all day long they say to me, "Where is your God?" 4 I will remember and weep! For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God, shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival. 

5Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention. 6 I am depressed, so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, from Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 

7One deep stream calls out to another at the sound of your waterfalls; all your billows and waves overwhelm me. 8 By day the LORD decrees his loyal love, and by night he gives me a song, a prayer to the living God. 9 I will pray to God, my high ridge: "Why do you ignore me? Why must I walk around mourning because my enemies oppress me?" 10 My enemies' taunts cut into me to the bone, as they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 

11Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention.

None of us like trouble, but sometimes the only thing that convinces us to call out to the Lord is a time of difficulty. The important thing to remember is to call out to the Lord and not get bitter. The danger is our tendency to turn inward and blame the Lord for our problems instead of waiting for Him to deliver us. We need to be like the deer and seek out the stream of water and wait in the Lord for His refreshing. 

Psalms 42:11 (NKJV) 

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of mycountenance and my God.

Hope in God distinguishes us from the unbelievers around us. Everyone has their own trials but only those who have hope in God are able to overcome them with a good attitude. Praising the Lord in the midst of difficulties marks us as “a peculiar people” who don’t give in to the spirit of the age but instead rely on the Spirit of God to sustain us and empower us to love out neighbors, even when we ourselves have circumstances that could cause us to worry, so don’t be downcast but hope in the Lord and praise God no matter what is happening in your life.

Psalm 40- A New Song

 Psalm 40- A New Song

Psalms 40:3, 16 (NKJV) 

3He has put a new song in my mouth--Praise to our God; Many will see [it] and fear, And will trust in the LORD.

16Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!”

What does it mean to sing a new song? This psalm has been sung by thousands of congregations for over 2000 years, so how can it be new? Now there are portions of this psalm that have been set to modern melodies, but I imagine that the way that the cantors sing it in the Jewish temple service hasn’t changed in hundreds of of years. So what is new about this song?

In my previous piece, I talked about the change in nature when you are saved from the pit of miry clay. So considering this change, it is not the song that is new but the heart of the singer. Part of this new song is described as a new proclamation of the good news of the Lord’s lovingkindness.

Psalms 40:9-10 (NKJV)

 9 Ihave proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. 10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly.

I have also previously written about the Lord’s lovingkindness or mercy. And we also sing a chorus by Edith McNeill about His steadfast love and mercy:

Thesteadfast love

Of the Lord never ceases

His mercies never come to an end

They are new every morning

New every morning

Great is Thy faithfulness O Lord

Great is Thy faithfulness

Thus there is something about the Lord’s lovingkindness that makes our heart like new every morning and causes us to sing a new song. Some morning my heart doesn’t feel new. In fact I may wake with a heavy heart. So how do we activate this new song? How do we realize the Lord’s lovingkindness every morning in a practical way? Lord, help me. Put a new song in my heart. Your faithfulness is great. I’m also reminded of another song that my fried Steve Israel used to sing.

Psalms 27:13-14 (NASB95) 

13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; Bestrong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of believing and waiting on the Lord. For me, sometimes I need to sing and pray until my heart wakes up and realizes that the goodness of the Lord is all around and there is a new song in my heart. So don’t give up. Don’t despair, but seek the Lord and wait on Him. He will put a new song in your heart and then many will see and hear.

Psalm 40- Out of the Pit

 Psalm 40- Out of the Pit

Psalms 40:1-17 (NKJV) 

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out ofa horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, [And] established my steps. 

3He has put a new song in my mouth--Praise to our God; Many will see [it] and fear, And will trust in the LORD. 4 Blessed [is] that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. 5 Many, O LORD my God, [are] Your wonderful works [Which] You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; [If] I would declare and speak [of them,] They are more than can be numbered. 

6Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book [it is] written of me. 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law [is] within my heart.” 9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. 10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly. 

11Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. 12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me! 14 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion Who seek to destroy my life; Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor Who wish me evil. 15 Let them be confounded because of their shame, Who say to me, “Aha, aha!” 

16 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!” 17 But I [am] poor and needy; [Yet] the LORD thinks upon me. You [are] my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

Psalm 40 is one of my favorites since it tells my story. I can identify with being in the pit, bogged down by miry clay. As a young man growing up in the farm in Illinois, I was very familiar with miry clay. We raised hogs, and if you know anything about swine, they love to root in the dirt and wallow in the mud puddles. It is their nature to dig a pit and lie in it. If your fence isn’t  strong enough they will even dig under that and escape from the pig pen. 

This reminds me of the story of the prodigal son. (Luke 15:11-32) the son that left home was reveling in the worldly life until he wasted all of his money and literally ended up in the pig pen. He was mired in the mud with the hogs and no longer enjoyed the filth, but was so hungry that he longed to eat the inedible hog food. What a pit to be caught in! Pigs will eat most anything, so I can’t imagine how bad their food was that he couldn’t eat it.

When the prodigal son repented and returned to the father, he was reborn, in a sense, and was welcomed back into his father’s house. That was like being set on a rock, as the psalmist writes. Looking back to my experiences in the pig pen, there were few rocks in Illinois and thus no firm place to stand. You could put out some straw and corn cobs for bedding which would give you a little footing but it still didn’t make your footsteps firm. It takes the Lord’s rescuing you to firmly establish you on the rock and establish your steps.

Once you are rescued from the pit of miry clay you want to sing a new song. This implies a new nature. Have you ever heard a pig sing? (Or fly for that matter!) No, it is birds that sing, and birds don’t  like to wallow in the mud. They will wash them selves in a puddle if it is clean enough but they would prefer a bird bath with clean water. The difference; pigs and birds have a different nature.

This brings up the whole issuer of repentance, rebirth and baptism. An interesting fact about the Greek word for baptism is it was used in secular society to describe the method to dye cloth and make pickles. It means “to dip” or “to immerse”, but it implies that the subject of the baptism is immersed in the baptismal substance until its nature is irreversibly changed. It was no longer white cloth or a cucumber, but it is scarlet cloth or a pickle and can never return to its previous nature. That is what baptism is for us. We are immersed in water and in the Holy Spirit until out very nature is changed; we are reborn into the Kingdom. 

Back to psalm 40. We sing a new song because it is our new nature to sing. Many will hear and put their trust in the Lord because it is our new nature to worship and preach the gospel. Blessed is such a man who no longer wallows in the mud with the swine, but sings a new song of praise to the Lord. When thus reborn and transformed, why would you want to return to the pit? The prodigal son tried that and found our how disastrous that could be!

Instead, we should be like the psalmist who goes on to write “I delight to do thy will”.  Jesus said it like this:

John 4:34

Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.

And also:

John 5:30

“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

It was not only Jesus’ delight to do the Father’s will, it was his very food and the only thing that he would do. 

We need to be like Jesus, doing the Lord’s Will with a song in our heart. We need to be like the psalmist and proclaim with him:

Psalm40:16 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!” 17 But I [am] poor and needy; [Yet] the LORD thinks upon me. You [are] my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

Psalm 37- Do Not Fret

 Psalm 37- Do Not Fret

Psalms 37:1-40 (NKJV) 

1 [A Psalm] of David. Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like thegrass, And wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring [it] to pass. 6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. 7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret--[it] only [causes] harm. 9 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while and the wicked [shall be] no [more;] Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it [shall be] no [more.] 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 

12 The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth. 13 The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming. 14 Thewicked have drawn the sword And have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay those who are of upright conduct. 15 Their sword shall enter their own heart, And their bows shall be broken. 

16 A little that a righteous man has [Is] better than the riches of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But the LORD upholdsthe righteous. 18 The LORD knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever. 19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 20 But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the LORD, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away. 21 The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives. 22 For [those] blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, But [those] cursed by Him shall be cut off. 23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds [him with] His hand. 

25 I have been young, and [now] am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. 26 [He is] ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants [are] blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell forevermore. 28 For the LORD loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell in it forever. 30 The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, And his tongue talks of justice. 31 The law of his God [is] in his heart; None of his steps shall slide. 32 The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to slay him. 33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand, Nor condemn him when he is judged. 34 Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see [it.] 35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree. 36 Yet he passed away, and behold, he [was] no [more;] Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the blameless [man,] and observe the upright; For the future of [that] man [is] peace. 38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous [is] from the LORD; [He is] their strength in the time of trouble. 40 And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.

Psalm 37 is a treasure trove of encouragement and advice for righteous living. It sounds very much like Jesus’ sermon on the mount.

Psalm 37

11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 

29 The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell in it forever.

Matthew 5:5

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

Psalm 37

1 Do not fret because of evildoers, …

7 Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, …

8 Do not fret--[it] only [causes] harm…

Matthew 6:25

Do Not Worry

(Luke 12:22–31)

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:31

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

Matthew 6:34

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

This psalm is a good example of the Hebrew method of discourse that is always making comparisons. One the one hand… but on the other hand… If you remember the movie Fidler on the Roof, Tevye argued with the Lord about his situation in this same way. My Jewish friends say that it is a good thing that there are no three handed rabbis as then they would have three opinions to consider! Anyway, back to the psalm. What does the psalmist compare here?

Do not fret … but trust in the Lord

Do not be envious … but delight yourself in the Lord

Do not get angry … but wait patiently for the Lord

The wicked will be cut off … but the righteous will inherit the earth.

The psalm is full of promises. Verse 4 contains one of the most beautiful promises in the Word:

Psalms 37:4-6

4 Delightyourself also in the LORD,

AndHe shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD,

Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass.

6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your justice as the noonday.

Jesus taught the same thing in the sermon on the mount as seeking the kingdom and not worrying.

Matthew 6:33-34

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Following the advice of the psalmist and of Jesus leads to a blessed life. Not everything will be easy, but when you trust in the Lord you can rest in His lovingkindness and know that He will provide for you. As I have gotten older, I often quote verse 25 because it is my testimony as well.

Psalms 37:25-26

25 I have been young, and now am old;

Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,

Nor his descendants begging bread.

26 He is ever merciful, and lends;

And his descendants are blessed.

In all my years, I have found this to be true. When you put the Lord first and serve Him, and give your firstfruits to the kingdom, He will provide for you. So it is my testimony that the Word is true and the Lord is righteous and just. Therefore, do not fret. Do not worry.  The Lord has this!

Psalm 36- Lovingkindness

 Psalm 36- Lovingkindness

In Psalm 36 we have an ode to the great lovingkindness of the Lord. This word (Hebrew chesed) is also translated as mercy or loyal love.

Psalms 36:5 NKJV

Your  ^amercy^h2617, O LORD, is in the heavens;

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Psalms 36:5 NET

O LORD, your  ^aloyal love^h2617, reaches to the sky;

your faithfulness to the clouds.

Psalms 36:5-12 NASB

5 Your ^alovingkindness^h2617, O LORD, extends to the heavens,

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

Your judgments are like a great deep.

O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;

And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.

9 For with You is the fountain of life;

In Your light we see light.

10 O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,

And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.

11 Let not the foot of pride come upon me,

And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.

12 There the doers of iniquity have fallen;

They have been thrust down and cannot rise.

 ^a h2617a. חֶסֶד chesed; from 2616a; goodness, kindness:--

deeds of devotion(2), devotion(1), devout(1), faithfulness(1), favor(2), good(1), kindly(7), kindness(32), kindnesses(1), loveliness(1), lovingkindness(176), lovingkindnesses(7), loyal deeds(1), loyalty(6), mercies(1), merciful(2), mercy(1), righteousness(1), unchanging love(2).

See also Ps 57:10; 103:11; 108:4

The lovingkindness of the Lord is found throughout the Psalms, like a similar verse in Psalm 57.

Psalms 57:10 NASB

10 For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens

And Your truth to the clouds.

11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

A similar thought to Psalm 36 is found in Romans 11 where Paul expounds on the depth of wisdom and knowledge of God.

Romans 11:33-36 NASB

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

34 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 35 Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

The Apostle Paul says that the Lord’s wisdom and knowledge (and thus also mercy) are unsearchable and unfathomable. So how to we search out and fathom the mercy or lovingkindness of the Lord? Let us look at some other New Testament verses that talk about mercy and love.

The equivalent word in the Greek Septuagint  for merciful is eleeō which is used in the New Testament in Matthew 5 and Hebrews 2.

Matthew 5:7

“Blessed are the merciful^g1655, for they shall receive mercy^g1653.

Hebrews 2:17

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful^g1655 and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

The related Greek word eleos, (mercy) is used in Ephesians 2 and is compared to God’s great love (agape) which He showed in our salvation by grace.

 

Ephesians 2:4-5

But God, being rich in mercy^g1656, because of His great love^g0026 with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

g1653. ἐλεέω eleeō ; from 1656; to have pity or mercy on, to show mercy:—

g1655. ἐλεήμων eleēmōn ; from 1653; merciful:—

g1656. ἔλεος eleos ; a prim. word; mercy, pity, compassion:--

compassion(2), mercy(25).

g0026. ἀγάπη agapē ; from 25; love, goodwill:--

beloved(1), love(1), love(112), love feasts(1), love's(1).

Of course agape (love)  is used 110 times throughout the New Testament, most notably in John 3 and John 15:

John 3:16

“For God so loved^g0026 the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 15:9

Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

It is clear from these two verses in John, as well as many more in the New Testament, that the New Testament concept of the agape of God is greater and more encompassing that the Old Testament chesed. In the old covenant, the Lord had mercy on us and provided much, but in the new covenant, Jesus actually came to live, die and raise from the dead for us. Not only that, but he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with us to lead and guide us daily. How can we comprehend that? We see His mercy and love demonstrated in the very act of sending Jesus to suffer and die for our sins. Such love is unfathomable!

.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. How do we comprehending the mercy of God as described in the Psalms? I don’t know about you, but I struggle with the whole concept of the love of God. I accept by faith that he loves us enough to send Jesus as the propitiation for our sins, but how do I know in my heart that he loves me? 

The psalmist looks to the heavens and considers the sky. He looks at the height of the mountains and the depth of the sea in order to try to comprehend the lovingkindness of the Lord. Studying the vastness of the universe can give us a feeling of being insignificant; lost in the vastness of space and dwarfed by the greatness of the mountains and lost in the depths of the sea. Many in the scientific and intellectual worlds consider this as an excuse to not believe in God. They say that in such vastness there is now way that we can matter to God, if He even exists.

Interestingly, sometimes the more scientist explore, the more they learn what they don’t know. For example, previous theories of the Big Bang creation of the universe dated the universe a 13.7 billion years. However, recent discoveries by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have found stars and galaxies that appear to be older than that, so their latest estimate of the age of the universe has doubled to 26.7 billion years. And that is assuming that the Big Bang theory still holds. Some scientists are starting to doubt that theory and are working to come up with a new cosmological theory based on new data from the JWST. So by their reconning, man is even more insignificant than they first thought, representing only about 6,000 years of recoded history out of 30 billion years!

5 Your ^alovingkindness^h2617, O LORD, extends to the heavens,

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

Your judgments are like a great deep.

But we know that as great as all these things are, the Lord is greater. How do we comprehend his mercy? So then the psalmist looks inward and remembers the times he was sheltered and protected by the Lord. Even the children take shelter in His wings. He also remembers how many times the Lord provided for him.

7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;

And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.

9 For with You is the fountain of life;

In Your light we see light.

10 O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,

If I were to summarize the psalmist’s thoughts, I would say it like this:

Lord you are too huge to comprehend. Even your creation makes me feel small and insignificant, and yet you are bigger than all creation. But yet, you take care of the least of the children and provide for all of our needs. I don’t understand, but know that in you is the fountain of life and appeal to you to continue your lovingkindness towards us. 

And let us not forget how the New Testament expands our knowledge of the love of God. Agape is so much greater than chesed. even though the psalmist was mightily impressed by the lovingkindness and mercy of the Lord. How much more should we appreciate the love of God, knowing what we now know and having daily contact with the Holy Spirit. His mercy and love are still unfathomable, but should be grateful and appreciative of the creat love that the Lord has for us.

Help me to fathom the unfathomable and search the unsearchable and come to know in my knower that you love me.