The Belt of Truth

As we begin Book III of the Psalms (73-89) we turn from how the monarchy was established and the rise of the Davidic King to how it will now collapse and die. Book IV (90-106) will tell us of God’s action to resurrect it and Book V will cause a Halleujah chorus over God’s eternal promises kept.  Psalm 73 is the prayer noting the righteous being tempted to be like the world. Verse one tells us of w...

Psalm 72, a Messianic Coronation Psalm sees David writing a psalm for his son Solomon. He sees Solomon as the beginning of the promises made to his house being fulfilled. But as the Psalm goes on, David sees someone greater than Solomon.  David sees Jesus Christ. Indeed, through Jesus wisdom and righteousness would abound, Jesus would have compassion, and all the ends of the earth could come to se...

David, in his old age, turns to God as he approaches his end. Picking lines from key psalms like Psalm 22, 31, 35, and 70, David pulls together strands of his life where God came through in the hardest moments.  Now he knows that God will do it again and so praises God for his steadfast love. He even goes to say that he knows that God will revive him and bring him up from the grave.  With this he...

In Psalm 71, David is beginning to fade from the scene. His age makes him the target for those who would seek to destroy him, seeing his weaknesses as an opportunity to take advantage of and his faith being in vain.  But David knows that God is a greater refuge for him and reflects on other times that he was helpless like when he was an infant and baby and God provided for him then before he was e...

Psalm 70 is nearly word for word from Psalm 40:13-17. The reason being perhaps that David had multiple prayers or that those who collected them drew from a very loved and memorable psalm. Whatever the reason, this psalm is designated for worship during the memorial offering. An offering that was burnt to God and which Leviticus tells us that God would remember the worshipper as this was offered, t...

Psalm 69 continues the cry of Jesus Christ on the cross. As he bears our sin and agony, he asks for God’s steadfast love to be shown to him.  Moments of Christ’s passion of being forsaken by his disciples, being offered sour wine are all mentioned in this psalm. Even of Judas’ betrayal that is referenced in Acts 1 is quoted here showing that Psalm 69 spoke well in the Christian Church in the days...

Psalm 69 shows us how much our Lord Jesus has suffered for us. Picture in this psalm Jesus dying on the cross but also all the images of passion week.  The person speaking in this psalm is Jesus himself. He speaks as carrying the judgment of God. That the judgment is described like the flood, and that he is paying not for his own, but for the foolishness of us all.  Echoes of Jonah, Romans, John 2...

Psalm 68, which began as a procession psalm of God to his throne which is typified in the ark as a sign pointing to Christ now turns into the consequences of that seating on his throne.  First all of God’s enemies will be defeated. Soundly. Even a way out of death is granted by the King. God’s salvation is granted daily and repeatedly.  Next Israel worships God in the security of this reign of God...

Psalm 68 is a victory psalm that details God’s journey with his people.  David perhaps crafted this psalm for the occasion of 2 Samuel 6 when the ark comes to its final spot at Jerusalem. A journey that began in Numbers 10 when the ark first left Sinai.  Psalm 68 uses a lot of imagery found in Numbers 10 and in the wilderness wandering and also from the book of Judges, especially the song of Debor...

Psalm 66 echoes the Aaronic Benediction from Numbers 6. It could be that Psalm 67 was sung at the end of the worship service as the people were prepared to go out.  A key word in this psalm also fits into the key themes of the Bible: blessing. It was blessing that God gave to his creation in Genesis 1-2. It was the blessing that mankind lost in Genesis 3 when the curse came.  It is also the blessi...

Psalm 66 is a psalm that fits into psalms 67-68 as well. These form a unit and the church has always associated and connected them to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. With many Greek and Latin manuscripts of Psalm 66 stating that this is a psalm of the resurrection. And this psalm is quoted and alluded to during the Great Vigil of Easter/Pascha So with the resurrection of Christ in mind, we see t...

Psalm 65, along with Psalms 66-68 form a unit of worship/harvest psalms. Each will praise God for his gifts and goodness, especially to his people.  Psalm 65 begins with the temple, the people of God, in view. In the temple flows God’s salvation. He atones for people’s sins and all people will draw near to him. This psalm forms a thought when Jesus says that God’s house is a house of prayer for al...

David notes that his enemies are plotting against him in Psalm 64.  More than half of this psalm is devoted to the schemes of the enemies. They are plotting and conceiving evil. Their weapons are being sharpened and readied which are their tongues and words.  They lie in ambush and think their plan is all set and undetected, which is comical knowing that David is aware. And he is aware because God...

David has a desire for God as he staggers in the wilderness from his son, Absalom, who has conducted a coup.  David realizes that at all times of the day and night and in all his longings, that they are a need from God for all times of the day.  David says that God’s steadfast love is better than life itself. And therefore David knows that he will be satisfied by God because God has a stake in Dav...

Psalm 62 finds David anchored in place while the world is moving fast paced around him.  What keeps him anchored is God. He has his hopes and future set on him.  Throughout the psalm all other methods and helps are the pushed aside because salvation belongs solely with God. So David implores us to keep our eyes focused on the cross, the grave and the resurrection. For in the work of Jesus we have...

Psalm 61 is the prayer of David being far from God and asking to be brought near.  He uses many images to convey being brought near. To a rock that is higher than him. A place of refuge and a strong tower.  Then he moves the image to a fragile tent but the tent that brings to mind the tabernacle, the place where God dwells. A tent which has become flesh in Jesus and was torn in death for us and sh...

Psalm 60 is David’s psalm to teach us how to deal with defeat and adversity and even when God himself is the one causing it!  David teaches us that we do not have to be pious but can tell God that he is the one causing the grief. But this teaches us not to flee from God but rather to God. For that is the attitude of belief. When God is the enemy it is to God that we should flee to refuge.  God the...

Psalm 59 puts us on a night of watchfulness and dread. Saul has sent men to watch the house that David is in and kill him if the opportunity affords it. David describes them like wolves circling about waiting to destroy him.  But David has his eyes on God. He knows that God will deliver him and show his steadfast love to him. And certainly God comes through.  The Psalm ends with the night ending a...

Psalm 58 is a psalm of righteous judgment against all that is evil and wicked.  Using some of the most shocking language in the Psalter, David leaves no space or room for evil to be given any quarter or place.  Evil is described in the psalm as the devil is described in the Bible, as a serpent and a lion.  The Psalm describes evil in the 3rd person perspective, but we can see how this evil also in...

David while in the cave in 1 Samuel 22, prayed this Psalm of refuge to God.  In it he prays that God be merciful to him and be the refuge that he knows that God is. He notes the trap and power of the enemy and yet he knows that God will send out his steadfast love and faithfulness to him.  David also notes that his heart is ready, even saying that his singing in the night will be the cause of the...

Psalm 56 is a psalm for when you are beat down and suffering the terrors of sin and death.  When we are afraid, we will put our trust in the Lord. David prays this prayer confident in the Lord’s answer and even talks about the future resurrection as a present done deal with how confident he is of God’s care.  St. Paul will use many ideas in this psalm as he writes the letter to the Romans. Especia...

David’s enemy and adversary is his own friend in Psalm 55. If it were an enemy, he could handle that, but a betrayer is something that creates such distraught for him.  This betrayal turns him to God, and throughout the day David calls to him and puts the matter into God’s hands.  Psalm 55 is but the voice of Jesus crying out that he has been betrayed by one of his own and how the betrayal hurts....

Psalm 55 paints David’s heart in a state of anxiety and worry. He is faint and at a loss.  Why is David in such a state of mind when he faced so many threats and problems? Because this problem is not a threat on the outside, the threat he faces is a betrayal on the inside. Better to face the onslaught of an enemy then the knife in the back from a friend.  With these words, we see the pain that Jes...

David has been betrayed by members of his own people into the hand of Saul. Psalm 54, is a good foreshadow to the prayer that Christ would pray as he was betrayed into the hands of sinners. This psalm calls upon God and notes the betrayal, it seeks then God’s sure and certain promises and calls us to remember the promises that Christ has made to us. Then the prayer ends with the certainty that God...

Almost word for word from Psalm 14, Psalm 53 puts us back with David as we trace through the prayers of his life.  We are reminded that no one seeks after God, not you or me or anyone. That our faith is not a self help where you do as well as you can.  Our faith is something that God makes known to us. This revelation is centered and made known to us through Jesus Christ and through his Word.  We...