In this lesson, David Capoccia introduces the Book of Psalms and surveys its background information, interpretive considerations, and types. David Capoccia breaks the Psalms down into six types.
- Thanksgiving (e.g Ps. 150)
- Wisdom (e.g. Ps. 1)
- Royal (e.g. Ps. 110)
- Lamentation (e.g. Ps. 43)
- Penitential (e.g. Ps. 38)
- Imprecatory (e.g. Ps. 58)
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
alright we’re going to get started good morning and welcome to Sunday school we’re moving on from the life of David this morning as we continue in our theme of wisdom from God before we talk about today’s material though let’s briefly review what we did talk about David last week last week we talked about David’s great sin with Bathsheba what does the account given to us in second samuel 11 and 12 teach us about sin teaches a lot about saying but what’s one thing yeah Craig yeah God takes in very seriously you judge david for it what else Danny yeah sin has its consequences on their media and they are devastating if there’s any one truth I hope that we appreciate from the account of David Bathsheba it’s just that sin is so horrible sin is so devastating it is so destructive to other people and to oneself it’s horrifying and so you can understand and you can appreciate that when God hates sin that is a very good thing he hates in he must judge sin because sin is awful and when sin is when we fall into sin it has such horrible effects and other things that we saw soon is deceptive soon progresses it’s never content to stay small it’s no respecter of persons or previous righteousness if you’ve been a righteous person that doesn’t mean you’re immune to sin you can still be tempted sin does not stay secret and sin will be judged but that account is not simply about sin or shocking sin it’s also about God’s mercy what does the account of Dayton Bathsheba teach us about God’s mercy what’s one thing yeah god definitely showed mercy to David so what does that show us about God if Davidson were so horrible yeah yeah I think we definitely see that with david gahan had that covenant of love with David and so even though Davidson god Honda hated back to repentance God chasin David like a father and remember God swore to do this to David seed he’s doing it with David as well when you or your seed go astray I will bring you back like a good father and of course that’s true for all believers as well you really belong to god you’ll chasin you he’ll bring you back what else do we see about God’s mercy right so you were you mentioned that God was still working on his plan despite David’s in God God is sovereign he is going to keep his promises regardless of man’s actions David definitely suffered because of the sin and yet God was sovereign over the whole thing and was going to actually redeem this situation He healed and restored David and Bathsheba even after they had sinned and he included them as part of the Messianic line he was going to keep his promises and fulfill his purposes even despite or through sin God was going to accomplish his purposes but certainly we can under we can appreciate that God is able to pardon even the worst of sins and how is he able to do that it doesn’t simply just say alright whatever I’m not going to pay attention to it why is he able to pardon sin because of Christ someone has to pay for it you can’t just simply absolve it someone has to pay but he provided a payment the only one who could pay in his own son Jesus Christ so he’s able to pardon even the worst sinner the worst sins doesn’t matter he can pardon and he does pardon those who are repentant and contrite God is faithful to be compassionate so we saw those beautiful things about God so when we look at David and Bathsheba and all that sin that played out in that that instance on the one hand we instructed to be vigilant and proactive in our fight against sin sin is too deadly destructive and deceptive not to take seriously you have to take it seriously we have to take it seriously but on the other hand we are instructed from this account that confession and repentance are always better than staying in secret sin God is able to pardon and restore sin gives false promises sin is unkind but god but God gives true promises and God is kind so we are encouraged we are instructed to come out from sin and into God’s light any questions about last week’s lesson well now we move on to praises to God that’s the subject of today’s lesson we’re really talking about the Psalms how did the Psalms related to David he was one of the main contributors he’s even called in one of the history books the sweet psalmist of Israel he was known for writing songs so it’s appropriate that we transition now to talk about the song so David is not the only song writers we unfortunately can only devote one lesson to the songs so we’re gonna do all 150 chapters today haha that should be easy well obviously we’re gonna have to do this an overview and sample fashion here’s our outline for today’s class we’re going to get some general introductory information about the Psalms we’ll discuss a few special interpretive considerations we want to have when looking at the Psalms and then we’ll look at the different types of Psalms at the end of today’s class let’s pray before we go on father we thank you for the Psalms they are meant to be instructive they’re meant to be assistance to worship Lord because you are worthy of all worship as we’re going to see today father I pray that you’d give me the ability to explain clearly and that you would work in our hearts work in the hearts of your people build up your church by your spirit in Jesus name Amen let’s start by talking about the Psalms in general to help us I’m actually drawing on a number of pieces of information especially the MacArthur Study Bible and its introductory notes on the Psalms first of all what is a song it’s a song or poem I try and define it or I try to give my own definition to it is it a prayer song is that a worship song is it a worship home I kind of went with all those things I prayer and a worship song or poem the as Dwayne mentioned last week the Hebrew name for this book is simply praises the the term Psalms comes from the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament remember that’s into Greek and the the term Greek or the term Psalm in Greek means instrumental music so music very much attached to the songs the Psalms are a God inspired collections of poems our collection of poems meant to be sung or recited by the Israelites on various occasions often with musical accompaniment some have called the Psalms the Hebrew hymn book you notice that many of the songs have introductory notes they will describe the author the occasion of writing the type of Psalm or if it’s meant to be sung how the song was supposed to be sung in with what musical accompaniment sometimes get any one of those pieces of information at 150 chapters Psalms is the largest look of the Bible and it is itself divided into five books Psalms 1 241 form book one psalm 42 272 for booktube psalm 73 289 form book 3 psalms 90210 64 book for and psalms 107 and 150 form book 5 each of these books ends with a doc’s illogical phrase same phrase appears at the end of each of these books now many have suggested that the division of the Psalms into these five books was a conscience effort to mimic the five books of Moses the Pentateuch and that this collection of Psalms was going to be like a new Pentateuch that was going to do the same thing as the first is going to instruct God’s people but other than this fivefold division and a few sets of Psalms that are grouped together by author or by a specific purpose the organization of the Psalms is unclear some have said no no either here’s the organization here’s how it works but no one has really argued convincingly of a particular organization some dest say there’s a discernible progression in the Psalms but it’s a rather unclear as to why each song was arranged as it is as individual poems it’s important for us when we’re interpreting the Psalms to realize that each psalm is a largely self-contained work you’re not going to have to be looking at what does psalm 3 you know the context of psalm 2 and so on for it’s not going to have as much of a difference for these individual chapters these individual songs as they are individual works yeah Rob full division part of the original inspired text or was it like tradition that’s a good question wrong because the fivefold position division was it part of the original document or was it added later well I want to talk a moment just a little bit about when it was written and how it was written but the five full division appears to be original to the actual collection of the songs it wasn’t added later oh yeah let me come back to that question actually and I’ll explain a little bit better I’ll answer your question but let’s first ask who wrote the songs well as a collection of Israel’s songs and poems we should not be surprised that it has multiple authors we know that David is one the skillful musician he wrote at least 73 of the 150 Psalms he’s the biggest contributor but who else wrote one or more of the songs SF SF wrote 12 Psalms Moses wrote one the sons of Korah wrote 10 we also have a couple individual ones he man wrote one Ethan wrote one Solomon wrote two and then we have 50 anonymous song could have been written by these same authors or other authors we don’t know some think Ezra wrote some of the Psalms certainly some of the songs come from Ezra’s time all of these authors however we’re writing by the Spirit of God as the Jews and Jesus himself later confirmed so individual human authors but ultimately God is the author when were these written while these authors are the various times that means that the Psalms creation covers a vast time period most the Psalms are written during the time of David and Solomon that be around thousand 50 BC 29 31 BC but the Psalms comprised writings from 14 10 BC about 14 10 BC with Moses and to about 450 BC when many of the Israelites were returning to Israel from exile so that’s about 950 years where you have various songs being written now when this book of Psalms was compiled to get back to your question Rob when this was compiled is not exactly it may be that there was a collection of Psalms that just had more added to it over time or it may be that there were various Psalms and it was only after the Israelites came back from exile that someone decided to put them all together and that’s when we get the 150 Psalms put together and the division of the five books certainly by the time of the Israelites returning from exile we have the Psalms in their final form maybe that was the time they were first created or that this book was first created but certainly by that time we have that we have all the Psalms and we have the five but have we have it divided into the five books claimed did you want to say something okay so that’s that’s when they were written what are the songs about well just about everything all parts of life are brought before God in for the purpose of prayer and praise in the Psalms if you’ve ever read through the Psalms you probably notice just how relatable these songs and poems are sometimes things are going wonderfully for the psalmist sometimes things are going terribly whatever the occasion though the psalmist goes to God the emotions with the psalmist are quite varied and very true to life there’s joy sorrow confusion angry zeal confidence desperation contrition wonder and other emotions people categorize the Psalms in various ways I’m going to break them down into six different themes six main themes though even these overlap is that different types of Psalms we see receive first songs of Thanksgiving songs of gratitude for who God is what God has done or what God will do and we have wisdom songs songs expressing wonder at God’s Word and exhorting listeners to wise living we have royal songs songs describing God’s rule the king of Israel’s rule or ultimately the Messiah’s rule and then we have lamentations songs expressing pain at life circumstances and asking God for help similarly we have penitential songs rather than the circumstances that are causing sorrow to the psalmist it is his own sin penitential songs expressed sorrow over sin and ask God for cleansing and restoration then finally we have the imprecatory songs songs asking for God to destroy God’s enemies at the end of today’s class we’re actually going to look at an example of each one of these songs I’m going on the note the Psalms are the most frequently quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament now let’s talk about how to interpret the songs we’ve seen what the Psalms are generally let’s talk about some unique interpretative considerations some of you may remember what I’m about to say from our Sunday School class on hermeneutics first of all the Psalms like any other part of Scripture they need to be interpreted according to the inductive study method observe interpret apply no scripture is exempt from this whether it’s poetry whether its narrative whether whatever kind you’re still going to be observing interpreting and applying that’s just what you do with literature but the Psalms are poetry unlike the historical narrative and law that we’ve mostly been looking at up to this point what are the things that make poetry different from prose or narrative yes eat yes definitely much more emphasis on figurative language things like metaphor simile hyperbole personification etc so when david says i can count all my bones doesn’t necessarily mean that literally that’s a figurative expression what else about the what else about poetry makes it different from pros yes Mack well certainly in modern poetry rhyme is a something that is a a part of many poems because poems pay more attention to structure and style sound rhythm so things like line breaks internal antenna rhyme and meter they’re all important in poetry at least English poetry and poetry also tends to be much more emotionally expressive we’re not going to get as many emotional statements from the history writers in the Bible but certainly the psalmist’s are going to express a lot of emotion so we want to keep these aspects in mind as we make our observations and interpretations hang on one thing about we should note however also some differences between Hebrew poetry and English poetry English poetry does emphasize rhyme and meter that is the sound and rhythm of the words while I’m sure the psalmist’s paid some attention to the sound and rhythm of the words they use which we’re not able to fully appreciate because we’re reading it in english not in Hebrew the main emphasis in Hebrew poetry is parallel ISM you may remember this what is parallel ism yes right there’s a correspondence in parallel ISM there’s a correspondence between lime lines of verse often by saying the same thing but we’ll see there’s actually a couple different ways that they’ll correspond in parallelism parallel ISM the lines correspond and structure and or meaning let me give you an example actually open your Bibles please to Psalm 2 we’re just going to look at a couple of examples then moving around the Psalms today look at Psalm 2 verse 44 an example of parallel ism just looking at this one verse Psalm 2 verse for this is page 552 in the few Bible Psalm 2 verse 4 here the psalmist is talking about the kings of the earth trying to rebel against God and then we have this in verse 4 he who sits in the heavens laughs the Lord scoffs at then how are these two statements parallel yeah Duane right so we certainly see that in verse 4 we have the same thing happening Hugh sits in the heavens who’s that it’s the Lord which not call the Lord in verse 4 it’s he who sits in the heavens and what does he do he laughs the second part of verse 4 it identifies the subject as the Lord and then it gives the type of laughter eat scoffs at that it’s essentially saying the same thing though with a little bit of variation with a little bit of nuance between the two words this is parallel ism this is one type of parallelism actually what is called repetition with variation there are basically three kinds of parallel parallel ilysm three main kinds and this is one you can see this all over the Psalms and all over he poetry the author says the same idea in a slightly different way not the exact same way but slightly different but still the same idea well consider another type of parallel ISM and we’re going to look at this example from proverbs so just turn over one book go to proverbs chapter 10 I look at verse 17 the Proverbs is also written in Hebrew poetry it will service as another good example proverbs 1017 this is page six 49 in the few Bible proverbs 1017 says this he is on the path of life who heeds instruction but he who ignores reproof goes astray okay how did these lines correspond that’s right there’s a contrast presented it’s really the same idea but presented in opposite terms and the first one that says the one who he’s instruction stays on the path of life but the one who ignores instruction called her proof from the second line he goes astray from the path of life so same idea but presented as a contrast this is another form of parallel ISM called contrast or negation the author says the same idea but using an opposite description one more kind of parallel ism and we can go back to the songs for this turn to Psalm for page 5 53 in the few Bible some 4 verse 8 last verse of this song Psalm 4 verse 8 it says in peace I will both lie down and sleep for you alone or Lord make me to dwell in safety ok a little bit different than the two we’ve just looked at how did the two lines of Hebrew poetry correspond here exactly right the second line gives more information about the idea in the first the idea in the first line is that i will have security but the second line tells us who is going to provide that security or what’s that security going to be in it’s going to be in God it’s God who allows the psalmist to enjoy secure in heart so this third type of parallel ism is called continuation now some people use different terms but I think you get the idea continuation that is the idea in the first line is expanded or given more information in the second line so these are three main types of parallel ism though they too can overlap sometimes you have continuations also presents a contrast something like that and you may say okay so the Hebrews use parallel ISM but what’s the point why do it why is it such a good or poetic thing or what do you think what’s the benefit of using parallel ISM or what might be one of the benefits emphasis right because parallel ISM is essentially a form of repetition and you’re going to find that when you look at the songs if you want to know what the main ideas of the psalm or the things he really wants you to understand he’s going to say the multiple times he’s going to use a lot of parallel ism so emphasis is one one reason use parallel ism what’s another yes Craig clarification I think that yeah I think we can say that will come back to the idea a little bit more in just a second what else yeah Roy ah ma’am memory right it’s memorable parallel ISM helps things to be more memorable and dramatic i mean think about the phrases that we often quote things like be killing should be killing sin or be sure it will be what killing you right john owen and mortification of sin that’s a parallel phrase hbu killing soon or it will be killing you almost same structure very similar meaning presenting and contrast and many political speeches make use of parallel ISM because it’s dramatic because it’s memorable why else yeah joe that’s an interview your comment some aspects of God are hard to capture in a single statement and I think that getting back to a little bit of what Craig was saying parallel ISM helps you look at something from a more complete view it creates a more vivid picture it’s kind of like look at three these things it’s kind of like looking at an object from one angle and then looking at it in a slightly different angle we’re taking a number of snapshots of an object or from our scene or a person from different angles by putting them all together you almost get like a 360 view you get a very complete picture of the scene or a much more vivid picture of the scene and as greg was mentioning that helps to clarify a little bit what you’re talking about it also makes it much more vivid to the mind it’s almost like you can see you can build out a picture in your mind when you listen to the poetry hmm that’s not only instructive but it’s enjoyable building imagery is part of what makes poetry pleasant and one other aspect of parallel ISM at least that I’d like to point out and that it draws connection between things that might at first seem unrelated because really parallel ISM is just a form of juxtaposition what’s juxtaposition that’s right it’s just placing two objects next to each other especially to highlight a similarity or contrast here’s a visual example of juxtaposition right you probably seen something like this before a sign about childhood obesity appearing right above a sign for McDonald’s right you suddenly see a connection you see the connection because of how they’re juxtaposed well parallel ISM does the same thing with things that might not seem like they’re related let’s look at an example of this by going back to proverbs go to proverbs 13 verse 5 this is page 6 51 in the few Bible proverbs 13 verse 5 here’s what it says a righteous man hates falsehood but a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully okay what kind of parallel ISM of those three kinds we talked about what kind do we have here yeah contrast right and that’s easily indicated for us with the word but right but indicates contrast but the ideas don’t seem to line up perfectly the first line talks about falsehood while the second line talks about shameful and disgusting acts those don’t seem like they’re parallel but the poet has put these two ideas in parallel on purpose to highlight the relationship between these two concepts he’s insisting that there is a parallel between these two ideas so how are they parallel yeah yeah it is to fall so it is shameful and disgusting before God and also if you live in falsehood what will you be trying to cover shameful and disgusting acts falsehood and shamefulness or disgusting acts go together well those who don’t participate in falsehood are also not doing these shameful and disgusting things so it’s like we can read the information from one line of something that’s presented in parallel ilysm into this other line you can fill out the ideas based on what two things are juxtaposed we can say that shameful and disgusting hack acts are associated with falsehood and falsehood is associated with shameful and disgusting ass yeah and so contrasting the righteous man in the wicked man the righteous man stays away from falsehood and therefore he keeps himself away from that or keeps himself away from Shane and things that are disgusting so parallel ism is useful for a number of things it is both artistic and didactic that is its educational there are good reasons to use parallel ISM in poetry one last thought on parallel ISM before we actually take a look at some more Psalms parallel ilysm can extend beyond just two lines sometimes three lines are together as a parallel ISM as a unit of parallel ISM sometimes couplets that are parallel are parallel to one another so you have like a parallel ISM that builds on itself even whole sections can be built as essentially units of parallel ISM and we don’t have time to explore that today but there there are layers of parallelism parallel ISM that we can explore and enjoy in the Psalms questions so far Rob but I get to your question that you had before okay all right well now let’s take a look at each of the six types of Psalms that I mentioned we can analyze these in-depth but i think is useful for us to be exposed to the different types and to also notice a few things so the first song that we’re going to look at is an example of thanksgiving and it’s found in Psalm 150 so it turns the end of the songs i mostly chosen short psalms for obvious time considerations but i think they’re all going to be useful so psalm 150 we’re going to read this almond and ask a few questions so this is page 6 40 in your few bottles psalm 150 praise the lord praise God in his sanctuary praise him in his mighty expanse praise him for his mighty deeds praise him according to his excellent greatness praise him with trumpet sound praise him with harp and lyre praise him with timbrel and dancing praise him with stringed instruments and pipe praise him with loud symbols praise him with the resounding symbols let everything that has breath praise the Lord praise the Lord I’m pretty obvious parallel ISM right what’s the author’s main emphasis here do you think the need to praise the Lord right every single line is a command to praise the Lord who should praise the Lord everything that has breath not just people but all living things everything should be praising the Lord and how should they praise there with all their might where should they praise him in this sanctuary but also in the mighty expanse right where’s that that would be in the heavens you have to be outside to look at the heaven so indoors and outdoors praise the Lord and with what assistance should you praise the Lord all kinds of musical instruments right I mean just look at how many are listed their trumpets harps and Liars timbrels stringed instruments and pipe loud symbols and resounding symbols and even dancing should be involved in praising the Lord and why why praising he’s worthy to be praised he points that the psalmist points us to to to ideas that causes praise the Lord yeah Kevin that’s right what he’s done and who he is back to verse to praise him for his mighty deeds praise him according to his excellent greatness so this is what we’re looking at would I mean though all psalms our praises this is particularly the Thanksgiving type of song it’s all about praising God for who he is and what he’s done giving thanks to God for who he is and what he’s done and this is necessary that the writers insistent you need to be doing this God needs to be praised he deserves it so that’s the first time let’s look at a second time where I’m moving quickly look at this Psalm one where we look at an example of a wisdom song you may remember we read this in church last week someone back on page 552 in your few Bibles Psalm 1 says this how blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and then whatever he does he prospers the wicked are not so they are like chaff which the wind drives away therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the Assembly of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish okay you can definitely pick out different instances of parallel ISM and this one as well notice the parallelism between verses 1 and 2 rather than walking in the counsel of the wicked we’re standing in path of sinners or sitting in the seat of scoffers what does the blessed man do yeah he met it tastes a little walk and the long Lord or to put it in parallel to the first verse he doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked he walks in the counsel of God right people are gonna look for Counsell somewhere he says the blessed man looks for God’s counsel not the counsel of the wicked it doesn’t walk with a wicked he walks with god and really these things are not possible to do at the same time you’re going to do either one or the other so if you want to be wise and blessed you’ve got to seek God’s wisdom and where are you going to find that in this scriptures in his law would have said specifically here so you can understand why this is a wisdom song it’s appreciating the wisdom of God and directing us towards the wisdom of God that is found in his word we need just like we need to praise the Lord we have to seek his counsel we need to seek it daily I mean the blessed man says he meditates day and night it doesn’t mean that literally but that’s a phrase it says all the time he’s thinking about in reading the law of God so we see a second type of song but wisdom now let’s look at a third time the Royal song look at Psalm 110 Psalm 110 page 6 20 in a few vials Psalm 110 this one we get a little introductory note this is a psalm of David now those notes by the way they were part of the original manuscript so those were not later editions either are the original construction of the songs ok first one the Lord said to my lord or it says to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet the Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion saying rule in the midst of your enemies your people will volunteer freely in a day of your power and holy array from the womb of the dawn your youth are to you as the dew the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek the Lord is at your right hand he will shatter kings in the day of his wrath he will judge among the nations he will fill them with corpses he will shatter the chief men over a broad country he will drink from the brook by the wayside therefore he will lift up his head this is a one of the more famous Psalms quoted in the New Testament in what ways could the words of this Psalm apply to David his son Solomon or his seed and generally are in general can any of this apply to him member David had received a covenant from God and part of this covenant involved what yes well it does say you are priest forever God did not say anything to David about being a priest in the Davidic covenant so we’re gonna have to deal with that specific statement in a moment because it’s a little bit problematic for understanding it in terms of David and his immediate descendants but there was an aspect of the Covenant given to David and even to Solomon and the later Kings that is reflected here on what’s the aspect of the Covenant yeah Danny exactly remember God said I’m going to establish your kingdom your descendants will not lack the throne i will establish their kingdom forever i will establish the kingdom of your seat back so those who are looking at the song up to the time of Jesus may say oh yeah you know this some of these things apply to David but certainly some of these things do not and cannot apply to David or too solemn in his son or to any of the later Kings like well as Joe just mentioned this whole thing about being a priest you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek what first of all David’s line were not priests they were not part of the Levitical line and second of all there’s a new line being inaugurated here in Des Melchizedek interpreters of this song must have been scratching their heads what does this refer to it can’t African trudeau Solomon but what else in this song makes it that you can’t say this is really about David or song yeah Duane he says the Lord says to my lord so David the king who sign from God himself that he’s the highest okay but he’s saying that’s right that’s a great explanation Twain i’ll try and summer sum it up you remember that Jesus dumbfound the Pharisees by quoting verse 1 and asking the question about it he says if David wrote this song how can he call the second person his Lord if it’s about Solomon which some people were interpreting it as being about Solomon how can he call him Lord because Solomon is his son if anyone’s the Lord between those two it be David but david says I’m hearing this conversation Yahweh says to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet that can’t apply to Solomon that can’t apply to David can’t apply to any of his descendants it has to be someone greater than David just as you were saying Lee this is about a messiah this is a prophecy this whole psalm is a prophecy given by God’s Spirit through David it’s royal because it’s about a king that’s not about David or Solomon it’s about the Messiah and he would have all these things happen to him perfectly David and Solomon they might have had some of these things in the limited extent the Messiah will have all of these things and he will be a priest as well as king so we see an example of a royal song let’s look at a fourth type of Psalm and that’s the lamentation and for this one let’s go to psalm 43 psalm 43 this is on page 576 in your few miles so you’ll recognize this one because this psalm has been made into a modern song psalm 43 page 576 starting verse 1 vindicate me O God and plead my case against an ungodly nation who deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man for you are the God of my strength why have you rejected me why do I go morning because of the oppression of the enemy oh send out your life and your truth let them lead me let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling places then I will go to the altar of God to God my exceeding joy and upon the liar I shall praise you O God my God why are you in despair o my soul and why are you disturbed within me hope in god 4i shall again praising the help of my countenance and my god ok what emotions are communicated in the song they’re a bunch of them yeah he’s distressed he’s in pain he’s suffering what else what other emotions yes manka then he feels rejection even rejection from God and he asks why there’s some confusion here why is this happening why are you doing this but there’s also some other motions yeah Judy he longs for God yeah there’s he says I want to go to your altar you’re my exceeding joy he once got to do certain things and there’s even an expectation in a confidence in God he says verse at the end of verse 5 hoping God for I shall again praise Him I know that these things are going to happen god is my help so a number of emotions being captured here and of course he’s a very human right we’ve experienced all of these what is it that is so disconcerted the psalmist he feels rejected by God because what has happened here ya see yeah he’s being oppressed by enemies he says plead my case against the ungodly nation and deliver me from the deceitful and the unjust man and he says I’m going morning because the oppression of the enemy i’m suffering due to evil men they were pressing me what question has got this the psalmist asked God you know why why is this happening why have you rejected me why am I in this situation but what does the psalmist main request to God yeah deliver me God vindicate me vindicate my trust in you because the psalmist ultimate expectation is that God will do this and that the psalmist will be joyful again now this song is helpful for helping us to understand the difference between righteous and unrighteous complaining to God between righteous and unrighteous questioning of God looking at the song and what we’ve just said what is the difference because it is an unrighteous way to complain before God what’s the difference ok I think I was part of it he his uh this is about God’s glory and his purpose is actually to praise the Lord what else is difference between unrighteous on and righteous complaining or questioning God yeah this is showing is what okay he’s showing his relationship to the Lord and what is that relationship belonging okay yeah I’m belonging even though he expressed his pain and even confusion ultimately the psalmist still trusts God he still trusts God and he does not find fault with God because that’s the difference that’s there’s between righteous and unrighteous complaining or questioning one maintains trust in God while the other does not one calls on God to fulfill his promises while the other condemns God for not keeping his promises so I’m going to paraphrase them a little bit after this statement it is right and righteous for us to express pain and confusion to God if we nonetheless maintain our trust in God so we say something like god this really hurts I don’t quite understand what you’re doing I know who you are you’re a God of love and a God of justice you swear to maintain the cause of your children you do keep your promises but I don’t see that happening right now so come and keep your promise oh god help me during this time of oppression deliver me like you say you will I know that you will vindicate my trusty so enough the righteous complaint it says there are certain things that you promised God I don’t see coming to pass right now so bring them to pass I still trust that you’ll do this but the unrighteous complaint says God I don’t see these things coming to pass and therefore you failed you haven’t kept your promises to me you’ve done evil god that’s unrighteous so let us let us understand that if we get angry at God if we question whether God is trustworthy because of our circumstances or if we accuse God of doing some kind of evil to us the Psalms do not justify us lamentations do not justify it because that’s not what the righteous complainer does that’s sin that’s pride and it requires repentance even in our pain even in the confusion and pain we express to God we must nonetheless trust him or else it is same so here we have a lamentation song how similar type of Psalm is the penitential song let’s look at that one now in Psalm 38 this one’s going to be a little bit longer you can find a short penitential song psalm thirty eight page 573 in your Pew Bibles some really cool parallel ISM in this one we also get another introductory note here psalm 38 a psalm of david for a memorial verse 10 Lord rebuke me not in your wrath and chasing me not in your burning anger or your arrows have sunk deep into me and your hand has pressed down on me there is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation there was no health in my bones because of my sin from my iniquities are gone over my head as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me my wounds broke foul and fester because of my folly I am bent over and greatly bowed down I go morning all day long from my loins are filled with burning and there is no soundness in my flesh I amba numbed and badly crushed I grown because of the agitation of my heart Lord all my desires for you and my sighing is not hidden from you my heart throbs my strength fails me and the light of my eyes even that has gone from me my loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague my kinsmen stand afar off those who seek my life like snares for me and those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction and they devise treachery all day long but I like a deaf man do not here and I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth yes I’m like a man who does not here and in whose mouth are no arguments or I hope in you O Lord you will answer o Lord my God for I said they not rejoice over me who when my foot slips would magnify themselves against me for I am ready to fall my sorrow was continually before me for I confess my iniquity I am full of anxiety because of my sin but my enemies are vigorous and strong and many are those who hate me wrongfully and those who repay evil for good they oppose me because I follow what is good do not forsake me oh lord oh my god do not be far from me make haste to help me o Lord my salvation hmm you’re like heart really connects with the psalmist here I think we can understand exactly what he feels and verses 225 what does David compare the pain of his sin and its consequences yeah what does he compare that as being like yeah being shot by the arrows of God and what has happened to the wounds from these arrows verse 5 tells us they festered they’ve become infected he’s now sick God has wounded him we’re God’s chase inning and as a result of the consequences of a sin in God’s chasing he feels like he’s sick he’s become infected from his wounds and this image and various variations of this image proceed in the next 14 verses he’s describing what it was like to feel the consequences of sin a parallel ISM is very poignant lots of pain shame debilitation how have others reacted to Davidson they stay away from him right his friends and his family they stay away from him as if he had the plague right and that continues the image this sin is made me sick and now everybody all my friends they’re taking the opportunity to move away from me they don’t want to be near me but one of his enemies done in this instance his friends stay away from him and his enemies their vigor some mighty they are they’re strong but what are they doing there now I’m going to take the opportunity like haha David slipped up now we’re going to get them David realizes this they’re taking the opportunity to move against David David confesses and repent the sin and what is he asked God for he’s looking at a situation my friends have left me my enemies are plotting against me now that my foot has slipped I need you to do something God what does it mean yeah he needs help he needs God to stop chasing him no longer chasing me don’t rebuke me anymore god I repent but now deliver me I recognize what I did was wrong and you’re chasing had its effect but I now I need you to restore me and help me because my enemies have taken the opportunity to try and ruin me I need you to come rescue me I notice what he calls gone in verse 22 the last one says o Lord my salvation so just like the lamentation here again we see that even in the state of pain his sorrow David trusts in God he believes in the character and the promises of God it is on the basis of God’s character that David makes a request to God he says God I know that you are the savior you’re the rescuer you’re the deliverer and when I repent I know that you will deliver so I ask you for it I asked you to no longer chasing me but deliver me from my enemies so like we saw a little bit with David and Bathsheba we ought to do the same thing in our prayers and all the things we pray it’s based on the character and promises of God even when it comes to our sin we ought not to say oh god I repent of this sin but I don’t know if you’re going to forgive me I don’t know if you’re going to restore me because God promises to do that God doesn’t turn this character is to be merciful so it is on the basis of that that we even asked for forgiveness that we even asked for restoration we pray to God according to his promises even when it comes to our sin and God will hear and be faithful isn’t that what first John says right if we confess our sins he is righteous and faithful to forgive he keeps his promises he’s faithful to his character and that’s the way that David appeals to him yeah that’s a good question what is the occasion of Davidson here we don’t know oh like I don’t know if it’s also related Bathsheba or some other sin not identified in the scripture but David thought it was appropriate for a memorial that’s a good question one more type of Psalm to look at and it’s the imprecatory song let’s look at Psalm 58 in some ways imprecatory psalms are similar to royal songs but I put it into its own category some 58 this is page 584 that’s another introductory note for this song it says for the choir director set to alt a chef a mikta mcdavid so this was actually meant to be sung by the temple choir or by the i guess the tabernacle o temples fire first one do you indeed speak righteousness oh gods do you judge uprightly o sons and Men no in heart you work unrighteousness on earth you weigh out the violence of your hands the wicked are estranged from the womb these who speak lies go astray from birth they have venom like the venom of a serpent like a deaf cobra that stops up at the year so that it does not hear the voices charmers or a skilful caster of spells Oh God shatter their teeth in their mouths break out the fangs of the Young Lions o Lord let them flow away like water that runs off when he aims as arrows let them be as headless shafts let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along like the miscarriages of a woman which ever see the Sun before your pots can feel the fire of thorns he will sweep them away with a whirlwind the green and the burning alike the righteous will rejoice when he sees the Vengeance he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked and men will say surely there is a reward for the righteous surely there is a God who judges on earth very different kind of long right notice verses 1 and 2 David identifies people that he calls gods but also sons and men and he says these people claim to speak righteousness and claim to judge uprightly but they actually work unrighteousness and way out violence which kind of people would be declaring righteousness or should be declaring righteousness judging uprightly and weighing things out these are leaders these are judges these are people with some kind of authority but he says David says these are wicked judges what image does David presented these people in verses for 25 you mentioned snakes and charmers he says they’re like venomous cobras but they are also what kind of Cobras their depth they can’t hear they’re charmers now why do you think the description of death is important not only these deadly hurtful men but they’re deaf meaning that’s right they’re not listening to any kind of instruction of reproof it refused to be controlled they press on in their wickedness so what’s david’s prayer about such man yeah he asked God to break their power break out their fangs and later on destroy them let the righteous wash their feet in the blood of the wicked now what does David say the reaction the righteous will be when God does this they’re going to rejoice they’re going to be encouraged they’ll say surely there is a God who rewards the righteous and who judges on earth now you’re probably wondering whoa how can David say that how could the choir sing that are we supposed to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us isn’t that what Jesus said how can David pray for the destruction of his enemies and teach others this thing about it this is a difficult question they’ve been multiple attempts to explain how we are to understand the impecca tori songs it’s worth noting that david’s position is different from ours he was the king he was the king of Israel it was his job to make war against God’s enemies and to literally destroy evil he was not a part in iniquity but he was to expose and eliminate injustice wherever it appears this was the role of God’s King and it will be what Jesus does when he comes back a second time so we’re not on the exact same position is David maybe we don’t have the right to pray the imprecatory psalms however others have argued that imp rekha tori prayers are valid when it’s not personal that is when you’re only talking about evil men in general and it’s for God’s sake not your own for example sorry running short on time so I’ll have to get your comment afterwards Roy for example some say you can pray that God destroys Isis and that he rescue innocents from them and that god’s name would no longer be blasting by them that’s right for you to pray but if you meet an isis fighter you want to love and you to pray for salvation so in general you can pray for their destruction but when it comes to the personal you ought to love them and pray for their salvation even David who prays such an Pekka Tori prayers he never desired the death of his son Absalom remember Absalom rebelled against him did some terrible things to David but David didn’t pray for his death he actually wept uncontrollably when Absalom died maybe there’s something to this argument others maintained that it’s not really the difference between national and personal it’s it’s actually something that’s always going to be intention for believers because of our zeal for God and our love for others we’re going to feel two different feelings we want others to be safe we want to see them repent we want to see them rescued from their own evil but we also want to see God’s kingdom come we also want to see God’s name honor and we want to see evil justly punished this is probably the tension that you feel about false teachers when you encounter a false teacher here about a false teacher on the one hand you hate them for what they do how dare they blaspheme God mutilate his word and lead minions are hurt and damnation John the other hand you pity them you see that they’re blind themselves you want them to understand God’s truth you want them to be saved in one hand you want to pray God confound them destroy them and the other hand God show them the error of their ways they might repent so perhaps that is the explanation that both of these impulses are righteous and that they’re going to be in tension for all believers or over time I apologize but we see the six main types of songs Thanksgiving wisdom laments penitential royal and imprecatory hopefully as you as we read through the Psalms in our main service now you can appreciate them a little bit more and get a little bit more out of it have some application questions you don’t really have time to talk about them but it’s think about the Psalms that we discuss today and talk about whether we’re doing what the psalmist himself does on what he calls this to do next week we talked about Solomon other questions or comments come see me afterwards right father we thank the Psalms we are to be instructed to find them just like the five books of Moses father I pray that you would be giving yourself glory and the rest of the service today and Jesus name Amen