WISDOM FROM THE PSALMS

2. WISDOM FROM THE PSALMS • The book of Psalms is: • “the religion of Israel at its greatest depth, and most passionate intensity.”

3. It represents one thousand years of Israel’s history and • “takes them from unspeakable joy to inexpressible anguish.” • It is the “mirror of the soul of humanity,” and is the “noblest book of devotion possessed by man.”

4. The book is a “limpid lake” for the benefit of all men and a “poetic Pentateuch” • This book is a book of “Jewish Hymns and Prayers.”

5. Martin Luther referred to them as “a little Bible,” while “W. O. E. Oesterly describes Psalms as ‘the grandest symphony of praise to God ever composed on earth’.”

6. Psalms is “the heart of Israel laid bare,” with every type of religious experience known to mankind, and its timelessness is most remarkable.

7. The key to understanding the book is to look upon it “as a living, open book, growing and being collected during the whole Old Testament period”

8. There are five dominant themes: • (1) realization of God’s presence, • (2) recognition of the need for thanksgiving, • (3) personal communion with God,

9. (4) remembrance of God’s part in history, and • (5) a keen sense of deliverance from enemies.

10. The book is divided obviously into five sections, a counterpoint of the Pentateuch most Jewish scholars believe, with each section ending with a doxology, Psalm 150 being a doxology of the entire book.

11. Book I is composed of Psalms 1-41, • Book II is Psalms 42-72, • Book III is Psalms 73-89, • Book IV is Psalms 90-106, and • Book V is Psalms 107-150.

12. The book is of obvious abiding value to all generations. Though penned within a timeframe covering 1000 years of the life within Israel, it is indispensable to all lovers of the inspired word of God.

13. It is a living testimony of Israel’s faith, it composes an important background for the ministry of the Messiah, it is the deepest source of devotional material for all spiritual persons, and it is the “Hymnbook of the ages.”

14. “O, how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). • Why should I love the Psalms; why should I love the law?

15. It is God’s message of love; it is Divine instruction; it is a message of warnings, and it is a message of hope. All men everywhere should rejoice at hearing and understanding that message, for it is a light to our feet, a chart of the traveler,

16. a compass for the sailor, food for the soul, balm for the aching heart, medicine for the sick, a sword for the soldier, seed for the sower, girdle for the weary,

17. comfort for the sorrowful, encouragement for the faint, hope for the discouraged, rebuke to the ungodly, reproof to the negligent, and correction to the wanderer.

18. It is to be studied and digested deeply in life, it will be cherished for the faithful in death, and it will be answered to in judgment.

19. So then, let us rejoice at very opportunity we have to imbibe in it, appreciate every diligent study offered, and practice all of it we can understand.

20. To obey His Word is to build on the Rock eternal, to disobey it is to build on the sand, and to neglect is to stand self-condemned.

21. The psalms to be discussed deal with four major thoughts: (1) the happy man versus the unhappy man, (2) the worshiper God will accept, (3) God or gold, and (4) the home life of the righteous.

22. Psalm 1 • Two Ways of Life • or • An Invitation to Righteous Living

23. Psalm 1 is a noble and popular psalm of “blessedness and unblessedness.” • The two ways of life obviously are the righteous and the unrighteous. There is no title to this first psalm and most consider it to be an introductory psalm for the entire collection.

24. The occasion of the writing is unknown and it is generally attributed to David. • The righteous man is described in character and prosperity, while the unrighteous is portrayed in three forms.

25. The character of the righteous man is described both negatively and positively, but the unrighteous person is described as worthless chaff that cannot be acquitted among the righteous or approved among those who do not perish.

26. A fitting description might also be “The happy man” and the man “destitute of all happiness.”

27. v. 1 – “Blessed” is plural with a more literal meaning of “Blessednesses” The man thus walking is emphatic: “that man,” whom God made for happiness.

28. Three negative actions in spiritual descent are mentioned that blessed men will not do: • walking with the ungodly (indicating association perhaps casual, perhaps just secular-minded, but becoming habitual),

29. standing in the way of sinners (a more deliberate choice of transgression into vices), and • sitting with the scornful (the most deliberate choice showing constancy with all moral feeling brought to an end).

30. Three associations the blessed man must not have are: • the ungodly, • sinners, • and the scornful.

31. Ungodly refers to the unjust, those who would withhold from God the respect and worship due Him. • Sinners are those who “miss the mark,” going into actual transgressions.

32. Scornful are those who mock, deride, ridicule, and show an open breach with the Creator. • Casual association at first soon learns to enjoy the pleasures of sin and degenerates into deliberate choices.

33. v. 2 – The delight of the godly man refers to one’s will, desire, affection, and motive. His target for his interest is the law of the Lord. The use of small caps (KJV) shows this Hebrew word is “Yahweh,” and is corroborated by the use of “Jehovah” in other versions (ASV).

34. v. 3 – The righteous man is like a planted and cultivated tree. It is not a wild tree left to its own chances in arid Palestine, but it is one carefully cultivated. It is by the rivers of waters, an obvious reference to the methods of irrigation employed by the Palestinians.

35. They cut ditches so that a mere replacement with the foot of a piece of sod could change from one rivulet to another (“waterest with thy foot” – Deut.11:10 ASV). The leaf will not wither due to the regular care shown to keep its vegetation luxuriant.

36. This tree will prosper with blossoms, fruit, and harvest for regular and expected seasons. New Testament truth portrays this prosperity since “godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Tim. 4:8).

37. Such prosperity is not necessarily always financial, but refers to a general condition of the spiritual man, a true prospering of the health of the soul with eternal consequences.

38. v. 4 – “The wicked are not so,” that is, they do walk, stand, and sit with the ungodly, the sinners, and the scornful. They do not delight in God’s law, and they are not like a tree planted by the rivers of waters.

39. The ungodly are simply worthless chaff to be driven about by the wind. They are subject to all types of winnowing, change, and societal whims. They can never be steady; they are easily carried away with the baser desires of the natural man.

40. As in the early Jewish harvests, scoops full of wheat would be tossed into the air and the wind would carry away the chaff, so in the tossing of life’s struggles, the wicked will be blown away.

41. v. 5 – Thus the wicked cannot stand approved in judgment and will not share the lot of the righteous.

42. v. 6 – The Lord fully understands the facts of each person’s life and the ungodly must accept their final condemnation: perishing. • Righteous persons write their names on the rock, wicked persons write their names on the sand.

43. Righteous persons plow the moist good earth while wicked persons plow the sea, leaving only a wake of foam soon to be dissolved by the waves of time.

44. In the final analysis, which would be the better choice: the light, empty chaff, which the wind will scatter, or the solid tree that continues its steady harvest?

45. Those who choose to live by their own rules must suffer the consequences. • Those who live by God’s rules will be blessed. • In Psalm 1 “David’s harp is strung and tuned.”

46. Psalm 15 • The Guest of God

47. A question and answer provide the form of Psalm15: “Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in they holy hill?” (v. 1 - ASV). • Who is permitted to enjoy the presence and worship of the Lord?

48. What if an angel were guarding the door of the building where authentic worship of Jehovah was to take place? Who would be allowed to enter? (Cloer, p. 33).

49. Or, what is real and true religion? • Who will be rewarded eternally by being in the abiding presence of the Lord?

50. The rest of the psalm is devoted to answering this question. It is styled as the “Temple Decalogue,” or the 10 Commandments necessary to be in God’s presence eternally (Leslie, p. 521).