Reading the Psalms from the Middle to the Beginning

 

I always found the Psalms a problem for me, simply because the beginning is used too often (my fault) - and the great Psalms are likely to be overlooked.

As I wrote earlier, Psalm 36 is a masterpiece in showing us how to handle our emotions and act according to God's wisdom and outcome. 

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 

9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

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Constant blessings are wonderful for all.

Psalm 34

34 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

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Psalm 24

24 The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah. 

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Psalm 8

8 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Tom Fisher's lambs.

More Delight in the Psalms

 

People are tempted to start at Psalm 1 - and then - debate how to question the earliest orders of those songs. Readers can quickly find the favorites and choose their favorites. They can also favor the shorter ones.

Like any ancient works, there are examples of all types and often puzzlement as well. Like a musical instrument or singing, good results follow over time.

I may have overdone known songs like Psalm 91. But they are highly regarded for good reason.

Psalm 37 is powerful in lifting up sadness, opposition, difficulties, and sorrow. Try this - read all of Psalm 37 while considering the problem. See if the Holy Spirit follows suit, as they say.

Psalm 37:1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

"Fret not!? That's just plain hill-billy! Stop fretting about that aching head and sour look!"

Open up a comfortable KJV reading of Psalm 37 and notice what the healing song comes from the page. Yes, it is longer than Psalm 91, much shorter than television or games. I suggest that Psalm 37 will always lift one up, listen to God's advice, and stop fretting!

When looking for Psalm advice, look for new ones and pursue the Psalm favorites of all time. They are like Handel's Messiah because Handel has hymnified the Scriptures.

From the Bible Book: The KJV Reborn for Those Who Love the Word of God. Jesus in the Psalms

 

The Writings

The Psalms – All Things Must Be Fulfilled Concerning Me

 

In Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms

KJV Luke 24: 44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.

 

People usually see Jesus Christ in the Torah, the Books of Moses, though many of my graduate students in Old Testament are surprised at how much Gospel is there, how many ways the Son of God is revealed before His Incarnation. One senior pastor said he never realized this, and he preached on the Old Testament all the time. The Gospel revelations come from God’s intent and Luther’s unified teaching of the Bible as the Book of the Holy Spirit, all parts in complete harmony.

The prophets are filled with many Gospel Promises, but some readers become obsessed with Law and condemnation without giving a place for God’s mercy and grace. Unfortunately, the Psalms are another battle ground for the unbelieving scholars, who ply their trade as if it is their duty to teach the threadbare rationalistic theme of the Old Testament being on its own and not relating to the New Testament – except as the New Testament writers chose to quote it. One “conservative” denied Jesus in the Messianic Psalms, in a one-volume NIV commentary from Concordia Publishing House, so it is important to deal with them. Nothing is clearer than Psalm 22 beginning with the cry of Jesus from the cross, which was mocked by the crowd.

Concordia Publishing House also featured Reading the Psalms with Luther, 1993. Luther wrote, p. 56:

The 22^nd psalm is a prophecy of the suffering and resurrection of Christ and a prophecy of the Gospel, which the entire world shall hear and receive. Beyond all other texts, it clearly shows Christ’s torment on the cross, that He was pieced hand and foot and His limbs stretched out so that His bones could have been counted. Nowhere in the other prophets can one find so clear a description. It is indeed one of the chief psalms.

KJV Psalm 22

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

23 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

           

27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

28 For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations.29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

            Psalm 2 is another one of many Messianic psalms. Luther wrote about its prediction that the Savior would suffer:

Psalm 2 is a prophecy of Christ, that He would suffer, and through His suffering become King and Lord of the whole world. Within this psalm stands a warning against the kings and lords of this world: If, instead of honoring and serving this King, they seek to persecute and blot Him out, they shall perish. This psalm also contains the promise that those who believe in the true King will be blessed.[1]

Those Jewish believers who have been converted by the Gospel to the Christian Faith recognize that many passages that seemed obscure and strange were the Scriptures preparing them for the New Testament. What else could “Kiss the Son” mean in verse 12, but to stop raging against the Truth and follow Him?

Psalm 2

1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

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[1] Reading the Psalms with Luther, p. 17.

Plant Them And It Will Rain

 

Time after time, I have planted in the hopes of rain coming. Or, to be frank, as the synod politicians say, I hoped for some back-up showers after planting. This morning I woke up to a Florida style cloudburst. 

Sassy knew it was going to rain for a long time, before we went to bed, because she went out in heavy rain for her post-prandial. Something told her it be would an all-night rain. She is seldom wrong. She will not leave the front porch for a walk, if she knows it will rain, but she gladly follows me when it looks like rain, but her senses say "Fake report."

Knowing the fickleness of weather reports, I hoped for some rain. Some very small Clethra shrubs just came, and I wanted to give them a sunny home with access to water. I ordered them when everything was different, only a few months ago.

Yesterday, step one was watering the old blackberry patch because the soil was more like an earthen parking lot than a place to dig.

The shrubs were soaking in chlorine free water while the old bramble patch was being watered. I filled one dry rain-barrel with Springdale dam water to let the chlorine evaporate out. When I planted them, they were hydrated and ready more growth. The holes were easy to dig. The shrubs were surrounded with newsprint to keep weeds away and soil moist, then water with more of the chlorine free water. 

Knowing the stealth and hunger of rabbits and squirrels, I surrounded each shrub with a plastic collar and doubled-down with wire fencing to confuse or amuse, baffle and frustrate the freeloaders. I have seen new plants pulled out of the ground the day after I dug them in. The last victim was a colorful basil plant, one out of four. 

This morning, when I looked out at the rain, a possum was slowly moving near the door. He noticed the change in light and slowly headed away. He is another likely garden thief, but he is good at collecting what the squirrels and rabbits miss.

Ranger Bob  looked the Rose Garden and asked, "Why did you cut down all the Joe Pye and leave that one up?"

I said, "I was waiting for you to ask that question." He laughed. The last tall stand and the butterfly garden were the last areas to be trimmed. Across the Rose Garden the newly scalped Pyes were sending up fresh leaves. They no longer crowd the eight-foot-tall Clethras in the roses, and now the roses will bloom more with rain and sun.

Psalm 126

When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.

3 The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

4 Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.

5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

When I look over the garden spaces, I do not think of all the losses from drought, cold,

predation, and my own mistakes, I see what remains.