Seeing Jesus in the Psalms

  Psalm 61 For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by stringed instruments. 1 O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! 2 From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, 3 for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. 4 Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! Interlude 5 For you have heard my vows, O God. You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name. 6 Add many years to the life of the king! May his years span the generations! 7 May he reign under God’s protection forever. May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him. 8 Then I will sing praises to your name forever as I fulfill my vows each day. (NLT) Reading Psalm 61 made me immediately think about Jesus saying something similar. I did a little search to see how often David (or the psalmist) said “hear me, hear my prayer, listen to my cry” ...

  Psalm 60 “A psalm of David useful for teaching ” -- even before I explore the content of this Psalm I must stop and consider this “teaching” phrase. I have read the Psalm and copied the words and wonder, am I seeing this phrase for the first time? Once again I have compared several versions (translations) of the Bible. I’ve also read the various commentators looking for insights I missed.  I don’t feel that Calvin, Wesley, Henry, Barnes, Barnes, Kinder, Cambridge and others have added a tremendous amount to my search for understanding. Father God, please reveal to me what your word means here. Why is it particularly good for teaching? Father God, what do you want me to learn?  Father, how are you revealing your King Jesus and what are you telling me about your character? I ask for wisdom and insight, in the name of Jesus, Amen. I see a contrast in the Psalm from beginning to end.  David tells us God rejected His people , broke His people and was angry with His peo...

  Psalm 59  Did you read Psalm 59 ? Come on, Please DON’T read my words before you read God’s words.!!!! David is acting like a king by being concerned about the people and what they will learn from a situation and how God handles it, even before he is the king. David is not just concerned for his own safety and the personal justice of a situation, but he wants to teach an important theological lesson. David wants God’s actions and way of handling this situation to reveal something lasting of God’s power and character to His people. As a Christian you are an ambassador of the King. So in every situation where we call out to God for rescue, our goal should be to bring lasting glory to the character of God. We should desire that the people remember who God is and how God works. Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield. Psalm 59:11 What would I conclude from the terrorist that prowls in...

  Psalm 58 I’m starting this morning by comparing many many translations because the language and figures of speech are so interesting. I recommend you do that too. There are many ways to compare translations. You can have the books (Bibles) and open them and look at them, you can use the YouVersion Bible App on your phone and use the compare function in the app where you can add many versions from many languages and see verses in a scrollable list. Or you can use the website I’m using today to click through the versions, https://biblehub.com/esv/psalms/58.htm . I’ve dipped into the commentaries out of curiosity. As I suspected, the Hebrew here is very hard to translate and understand. Barnes Notes are particularly helpful (I'm not consulting that one alone, but don’t feel it is needed to mention every version or commentary that I am consulting) in pointing out the difficulties. I am not looking for answers, I’m looking for the agreed ideas that across the board are translated wit...