A Year Through God's Eyes
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Psalm 9
Two things struck me as I started to work on this psalm. The first is how our natural human response seems to be a crying out to God when our life goes south in a hurry. The promises we make during those times seem to come from a genuine heart, and God is faithful to save us from those situations, but once things get better again, how often do we leave those promises unfulfilled? The second thing that seemed interesting to me, and I couldn't find any information about it, leading me to think that most scholars can't agree on what it means, is this: the instructions for the director say the psalm should be sung to the tune "Death of the Son." When I first read that, I thought that it was probably just a song David had written when he lost his son (either in 2 Sam. 12 or 18), but upon closer inspection, I noticed that every translation of the Bible I came across had the word "son" capitalized. Generally speaking, whenever that word is capitalized in the Bible, it is referring to God's only Son, Jesus Christ. So, I thought it was interesting that this psalm might have been sung after Jesus died on the cross.
Having thought about that, I started to place myself in that part of the story: Jesus had just been crucified on the cross. This man who the disciples knew to be God's only Son and the savior of the world; also their leader and friend was now dead. They haven't picked up on the resurrection part of it, even though Jesus told them it was going to go down like this, they are also dismayed because they had been betrayed by one of their very own. A man who had been in their inmost circle. Their brash "leader" among themselves, the one who seemed to have such passion in following their Master that he had actually walked on water, had denied even knowing Jesus on three separate occasions, and PS- the Jewish leaders were probably looking for them to make sure the threat that they saw in Jesus and His followers was truly snuffed out.
Out of all that despair what if, when they met again as a group, they sang this psalm and began to grasp its understanding when out of their grief, their Messiah was standing among them (John 20:19)?
As I work through this psalm with those thoughts in mind, it does seem to make sense: v. 1-2: in spite of my mind-numbing sadness, I will still praise Your name because all things work to glorify You. Verses. 3-6: let me take hope in knowing that while I think my attackers are great and have more resources than I could possibly conceive, You are still God, and You will make sure that they do not have the final victory. Verses 7-10: As we sit together and try to find how You are working in our midst, we remember that you are a "shelter for the oppressed", and a "refuge in the time of trouble" which we certainly find ourselves in. We know that while it feels like You have left us, You haven't really abandoned us. Verses 11-12(This is probably the crux of the entire psalm from this perspective) We have seen Your Son murdered, , we cry out to You in our suffering, and we know we haven't been ignored because we cry out to You from Your holy city. Verses 13-14: Show us Your mercy, so we can proclaim publicly once again how You rescued us. Verses 15-16: We know that our enemies will be trapped by their own deeds, because You are a just God. Verses 17-18: We know the leaders who put Your Son to death have ignored You, but we also know our hopes will not always be crushed. Verses 19-20: "Arise, O Lord! Do not let mere mortals defy You! Judge [our oppressors]! Make them tremble in fear, O Lord. Let [them] know they are merely human."
Wouldn't it have been a wonderful thought to imagine that when they got to the phrase "Arise, O Lord!" that Jesus kind of sneaks up behind them and is suddenly standing in their midst, but no one notices until their done?
When I continue to put these psalms in the context of the entire gospel, they take on a life they probably didn't have when they were first written. I am so thankful to God for allowing us to see the whole story!
PRAYERS:
***Same as above.
***Praise that I was unable to sleep soundly, because I hadn't done this blog yet. Prayer that I would be able to return to sleep soon with a clear conscience.
***Family time is about to become a premium commodity around our household. Pray that I would be able to cherish every moment I get.
Having thought about that, I started to place myself in that part of the story: Jesus had just been crucified on the cross. This man who the disciples knew to be God's only Son and the savior of the world; also their leader and friend was now dead. They haven't picked up on the resurrection part of it, even though Jesus told them it was going to go down like this, they are also dismayed because they had been betrayed by one of their very own. A man who had been in their inmost circle. Their brash "leader" among themselves, the one who seemed to have such passion in following their Master that he had actually walked on water, had denied even knowing Jesus on three separate occasions, and PS- the Jewish leaders were probably looking for them to make sure the threat that they saw in Jesus and His followers was truly snuffed out.
Out of all that despair what if, when they met again as a group, they sang this psalm and began to grasp its understanding when out of their grief, their Messiah was standing among them (John 20:19)?
As I work through this psalm with those thoughts in mind, it does seem to make sense: v. 1-2: in spite of my mind-numbing sadness, I will still praise Your name because all things work to glorify You. Verses. 3-6: let me take hope in knowing that while I think my attackers are great and have more resources than I could possibly conceive, You are still God, and You will make sure that they do not have the final victory. Verses 7-10: As we sit together and try to find how You are working in our midst, we remember that you are a "shelter for the oppressed", and a "refuge in the time of trouble" which we certainly find ourselves in. We know that while it feels like You have left us, You haven't really abandoned us. Verses 11-12(This is probably the crux of the entire psalm from this perspective) We have seen Your Son murdered, , we cry out to You in our suffering, and we know we haven't been ignored because we cry out to You from Your holy city. Verses 13-14: Show us Your mercy, so we can proclaim publicly once again how You rescued us. Verses 15-16: We know that our enemies will be trapped by their own deeds, because You are a just God. Verses 17-18: We know the leaders who put Your Son to death have ignored You, but we also know our hopes will not always be crushed. Verses 19-20: "Arise, O Lord! Do not let mere mortals defy You! Judge [our oppressors]! Make them tremble in fear, O Lord. Let [them] know they are merely human."
Wouldn't it have been a wonderful thought to imagine that when they got to the phrase "Arise, O Lord!" that Jesus kind of sneaks up behind them and is suddenly standing in their midst, but no one notices until their done?
When I continue to put these psalms in the context of the entire gospel, they take on a life they probably didn't have when they were first written. I am so thankful to God for allowing us to see the whole story!
PRAYERS:
***Same as above.
***Praise that I was unable to sleep soundly, because I hadn't done this blog yet. Prayer that I would be able to return to sleep soon with a clear conscience.
***Family time is about to become a premium commodity around our household. Pray that I would be able to cherish every moment I get.
posted by Nathan at 3:56 AM
1 Comments:
Jews traditionally thought this was written right after David defeated Goliath, and put it together with Psalm 10 because the 2 together make an acrostic in Hebrew. "Death of the Son" was just a song everyone knew the tune to, but no one knows the story of now. David didn't write "Death of the Son" but probably it was one he had played to his sheep on a regular basis to calm them. Al that to say, Jesus probably felt this Psalm, especially in the garden. I think in some sense we've all felt this Psalm...good thoughts Jones.
Post a Comment
<< Home