Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 144

War and armies are a theme that runs throughout scripture. One of the names God is given in the Bible is Lord of Hosts, which occurs some 237 times. The literal word used for hosts is army, thus it means God is Lord of an army. David, who wrote Psalm 144, was a man of war. David was a warrior. So are we. However, unlike David, our battleground and our war is fought on a spiritual battlefield.

Psalm 144:1-2

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

Life is hard and it is clearly a battle, but God has not left us to fend for ourselves. Ephesians, chapter six, is our guide for how to stand against our enemy.

Psalm 144:3-4
O LORD, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?  Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

As great of a warrior as David was, He knew his strength was found in the Lord. He knew that as a man, he was simply nothing without God.

Psalm 144:5-8
 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!  Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them!  Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

David called out to God with humility, praying for God to be his salvation.

Psalm 144:9-11
I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.  Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

David knew that in His appeals to God, he must come with praise and worship.

Psalm 144:12-14
May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; may our cattle be heavy with young, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing; may there be no cry of distress in our streets!

David knew that all good things come from God. David was a man who believed in the sovereignty of God, so it was from that perspective, David prayed.

Psalm 144:15
Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

Amen.

Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 140

We live in a violent world. Man likes to think he has progressed through the ages, but in terms of how we treat each other, nothing has changed. War continues to thrive across the earth, our cities continue to have high murder rates, and there is still physical abuse within the family. David wrote Psalm 140 under the shadow of attack by King Saul, a terribly violent king. This psalm has its historical context, it has a present-day context for us, and it has a future context in the allusion to the evil and violent anti-Christ of Revelation. I believe Bible study needs to have at its core objective, application to present day life, because as disciples of Jesus, we are students seeking to become like our Master. David gives us a prayer which we need to be praying.

Psalm 140:1-5

 Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men  Who devise evil things in their hearts; They continually stir up wars.  They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.  Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men Who have purposed to trip up my feet.  The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set snares for me. Selah.

At the top of the list of enemies we find the devil. We know from Ephesians 6:12, our real battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil. Thus, we must wear the spiritual armor. And prayer is a vital part of our warfare against evil.

Psalm 140:6-11
I said to the LORD, "You are my God; Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.  "O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.

"Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; Do not promote his evil device, that they not be exalted. Selah.  "As for the head of those who surround me, May the mischief of their lips cover them.  "May burning coals fall upon them; May they be cast into the fire, Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.  "May a slanderer not be established in the earth; May evil hunt the violent man speedily."

This is a prayer for evil to be held accountable to God. And God will recompense. But that is God’s work to do, not ours. Jesus also instructs us to pray for our enemies. He told us to love them, and to love them means we pray for their salvation.

Psalm 140:12-13
I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted And justice for the poor.  Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence.

Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 120

Psalm 120 is the first of fifteen psalms that are called songs of degrees or songs of ascents. These are psalms that those on a pilgrimage would sing as they made their journey. Probably they were sung by those who were making their way to the annual feasts in Jerusalem. It is suggested that Joseph and Mary would have sang them as they made their journeys to the city with their young boy, Jesus, just as Jesus and the disciples would have sang them as well.

We Christians are also on a journey. Our walk is spiritual. Our lives are a journey to the Promised Land and our journeys are fraught with dangers. We can relate to the cries of the psalmist as we see in this beautiful psalm.

Psalm 120:1-2

In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me.  Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, From a deceitful tongue.

Yes, we have enemies who lie about us. But the saddest part of the Christian journey, is that along the way we often mistreat each other. While it hurts when the enemy shoots an arrow at us, the pain goes even deeper when that arrow comes from a brother.

Psalm 120:3-4
What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, You deceitful tongue?  Sharp arrows of the warrior, With the burning coals of the broom tree.

We know from scripture the truth about the tongue. We are given a warning in James 1:26, that “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.” We must be careful that it is not our tongue that is firing off arrows at our brothers and sisters.

Psalm 120:5-7
Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech, For I dwell among the tents of Kedar!  Too long has my soul had its dwelling With those who hate peace.  I am for peace, but when I speak, They are for war.

Christians are not permanent residents of any place on this earth; we were made for more. Our journey here will find us dwelling in tents.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.  For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.

And the world we live in is not a place of peace but of war. Not only is the world at war with itself, it is at war with God. Thus, we also say what the psalmist says, “Too long has my soul had its dwelling With those who hate peace.  I am for peace, but when I speak, They are for war.”

How do we go on in this journey? How do we find peace in a place of war? We do as the psalmist did. “In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me.  Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, From a deceitful tongue.”

We cry to the Lord. We pray. We pray in the name of Jesus. We pray that our enemies not have victory over us and that the arrows of their tongues not pierce our souls. We put on the spiritual armor. “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)

 But we also pray that we don’t become the enemy. We pray that our tongues not be sharp arrows that pierce the heart of those we dwell with, of those we journey alongside of.

We can know peace as we make our journey towards the Promised Land. But how?

Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We can know peace. But first we must have peace with God, because without the cloak of Christ’s righteousness, we are at war with God. We are the walking dead who rebel against Him. The answer is found in Romans. Paul explains.

Romans 4:24-25
 It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This morning is another day of our long journey. There will be danger. There will be an enemy who fires arrows at us. But we can walk in peace. We can walk in Christ.

In your trouble, cry to the Lord.