Biblical Reflections

Psalm 79 is a community lament because of a great disaster had befallen Jerusalem, likely the Babylonia destruction.  Psalm 79 is similar to Psalm 74.  Disaster came to Jerusalem because Israel did not keep the covenant in faith.  This is also a psalm of confession, that seeks forgiveness and promises to be faithful in the future.   1-4 – Gentile nations have defiled the Temple and slain the peopl...

Psalm 78 is a historical psalm recounting historical events when God preserved his people, even in their disbelief, and purged them of unbelievers along the way.  The point is so that future generations will take these lessons to heart and that they will faithfully embrace the covenant.   1-8 – We must recount past deeds so that our children do not forget and fail to keep covenant commandments.   ...

Psalm 77 is a community lament, perhaps because the people were suffering under God’s anger for some unfaithfulness.  Each person singing acknowledges that they are part of the congregation and that their individual well-being is bound up with the well-being of the whole congregation.   1-3 – I cry aloud to God in the day of my trouble.  I cry, moan, meditate, and faint, with my hand outstretched....

Psalm 76 is a hymn celebrating Zion as the place God has chosen for his people and his Temple. The people sing at the privilege of going to Zion and there worshipping God. 1-2 – God has made his abode in Zion. 3-9 – No one can stand against God on Zion. God rebukes the Gentile invaders. 10-12 – All the people should praise God and bring him gifts for his saving power to protect, Zion, the city, th...

Psalm 75 is a hymn of praise.  The psalm thanks God for the wonderful things he has done for Israel and celebrates that God is judge of all the earth and will one day put down the wicked and lift up the faithful.   1 – We give thanks to God and recount his wonderous deeds.   2-5 – God declares that at the set time he will judge the earth, rebuking the boastful and the wicked.   6-8 – It is God who...

Psalm 74 is a community lament, a cry of anguish over a disaster that has fallen on the people and destroyed the Temple of God. There is the plea that even though this may come from God in punishment, yet do not let the Gentiles scorn God for this tragedy. 1-3 – Why God did you let this tragedy happen to us? 4-8 – A description is presented of how the Temple of God, the dwelling place of god’s nam...

Psalm 73 is a psalm of wisdom and the first psalm in Book 3.  Asaph struggles with the question of why do the wicked prosper.  Spoiler alert, ultimately the faithful and the wicked have different destinations.   1-3 – The wicked prospered and Asaph envied them.   4-12 – The wicked are free from the troubles that the faithful face on a daily basis.   13-15 – Asaph had bitter feelings and felt that...

Psalm 72 is last psalm of Book 2.  It is a royal psalm praying for the heirs of David to have success in their assigned tasks as king, such tasks include:  ruling God’s people well, protecting the poor and needy, and bringing blessing to all the nations of the world.  This psalm anticipates the Messiah and his worldwide rule of all peoples.   1-4 – Let the king rule/judge the people justly.  The a...

Psalm 71 is an individual lament in which a faithful person is in danger from enemies who would hurt him by taking advantage of a weakness or distress.  It appears to be taken from parts of Psalms 31 and other Davidic psalms.   1-3 – The singer opens with a profession of faith by being assured of God’s covenant promises.  God is righteous, that is he is faithful to keep his promises, and this is t...

Psalm 70 is an individual lament to be rescued from gloating enemies. 1-3 – Deliver me from those who seek my life, those who say, aha, aha. 4-5 – Now a call for the faithful, those who seek God, to rejoice when God’s delivers the singer. Such a rescue would be evidence and assurance to the poor and needy that God keeps his promises.

Psalm 69   Psalm 69 is an individual lament in which a faithful person is suffering for the wrongs that he is done, but that the wicked are taking advantage of the suffering and making it worse.  But if this is from David, he represents the whole nation.  The New Testament cites several verses from this Psalm and applies them to the life of Christ.   1-4 – The singer describes great danger from tr...

Psalm 68 is a hymn of celebration for God’s continued care and protection for Israel.  The celebration includes recognizing the defeat of Israel’s enemies is also to benefit the gentile nations, who are constantly at war.  Many scholars believe that David composed this psalm for when the ark was returned to tabernacle in Jerusalem.     1-3 – There is gladness among the faithful when God arises to...

Psalm 67 is a thanksgiving hymn for a fruitful harvest.  God blesses his people Israel so the rest of the world may come to know the true God.    1-3 – May God bless us, the people sing, so that all the nations may know him.   4-5 – May the all the nations be glad in the rule of the true God, who rules justly.    6-7 – God will bless us, his people, so that all the nations of the world will fear h...

Psalm 66 is a hymn of thanksgiving for God’s answer to a personal request.  Yet, it is written to highlight that God’s answers to one person are in context of his answering the prayers of the nation and of all the earth.   1-4 – Let all the earth worship the God of Israel based upon his awesome deeds.   5-7 – The singer describes the miracles of the Exodus as evidence of God’s awesome deeds, which...

Psalm 65 is a hymn of thanksgiving for a fruitful harvest.  The fruitful harvest is the result of God’s covenant promises.     1-4 – The singer begins with praise for God in Zion.  Blessed are those who are part of the covenant people; they are called to worship God.    5-8 – God is praised for his awesome deeds of creation.  The hope of all the ends of the earth are in this awesome creator.   9-1...

Psalm 64 shares the theme with Psalm 63 of confidence in God’s victory over the wicked who pursue David.  Yet, Psalm 64 is an individual lament or request for God’s help against deadly enemies and with confident expectation that God will fight for him.  Psalm 64 presents God’s purpose for his victory as instruction for the faithful and as a way of bringing joy to the godly.   1-6 – David asks that...

Psalm 63 is a lament offered with confident expectation.  The idea is to develop confidence in God during times of trouble.  David probably wrote this Psalm as he was fleeing from Absalom.     1-2 – David is apparently inflight and unable to worship at the sanctuary, so he remembers past worship at the sanctuary.  His soul thirsts and his flesh faints for God.   3-4 – David is confident of future...

Psalm 62 is a call for confidence in God as his people are faced with the wicked who use power and wealth to oppress them.  The temptation in this case is to lose hope and to despair or seek security in power and wealth rather than in God.   1-2 – The singer begins by stating that on God alone and in silence will his salvation come.   3-4 – Next the singer addresses the wicked who attack him with...

Psalm 61 is a lament.  In many ways it is both an individual lament and a community lament, yet it also prays for the well-being of the Davidic King.  The idea here is that the well-being of the people is tied to the well-being of the king, the descendant of David.   1-3 – In poetic form, the congregation imagines themselves at the end of earth as they call upon God who is their refuge and their s...

Psalm 60 is a lament for the whole community at a time when Israel’s existence on the land is threatened by gentile nations.  Stated differently, this Psalm informs us how to pray when your soldiers must fight in order to survive as a nation.  We are not sure which of the events in 2 Samuel 8 are the background for this Psalm.    1-5 – The nation has lost its initials battles with the enemy and no...

Psalm 59 is another individual lament as the faithful person seeks protection from enemies who threaten his life.  The background for this Psalm is 1 Samuel 19:11 where King Saul sends men to watch and to wait for David at his house.  David escapes through a window.  The point of the Psalm is that David claims this pursuit is not his fault.  David uses the words: God – Elohim, O LORD – YHWH, and L...

The first episode on the Commands of Jesus from 'The Bible in 3D Podcast' from Cogworks Media

Psalm 58 is a community lament, wherein God’s faithful people sing about injustice by their own rulers.     1-2 – The Psalm begins by directly addressing the wicked rulers over them, who allow injustice, wrongs, and violence to the people.  Calling the wicked rulers gods is not to say that the wicked rulers are somehow the Nephilim, but rather to mock them because they act like they are gods.  Alt...

Psalm 57 is a lament as David is once again being pursued by King Saul, who wants to kill David.  Each of the two stanzas mention God’s steadfast love and faithfulness .   1-5 – David begins with a confident request for mercy.  David uses the titles of deity to include the Most High - El Elyon and God - Elohim .  David displays cheerful confidence amid danger because he knows that God fulfills his...