CURRENT KYB STUDY

INTRODUCTION to Psalms of Mercy & Hope

Recently I was visiting my frail and elderly mother in her nursing home where she has spent the past three years. My daughter was with me. Mum has had dementia for the past twenty years and really doesn’t recognize me any more. Most of the day she just sleeps. But there are a few occasions when she registers understanding. One of those is when she sees her grand daughter and a beautiful smile lights up her face.   

 But I have noticed another occasion in particular, when not only Mum’s face, but her whole body comes to life. The day we were visiting, a Salvation Army chaplain was leading worship in the day room, as he does every week, and we pushed Mum’s chair in that direction. As we drew near we could hear the recorded music – good old choruses she knew so well. Now, there is really very little left that Mum can do for herself, but there is nothing wrong with her hearing! “Shine, Jesus, shine! Fill this land with the Father’s glory …” rang down the corridor. She opened her eyes wide and started to wriggle. Her whole body moved as if willing us to hurry. By the time we arrived her whole face was glowing. It is the same response every time she attends that service.

 As you can imagine, her response moves me deeply but also fills me with great joy. It is evidence that while she is imprisoned in this body which is wasting away, her spirit is alive in Christ and always will be. That is how praise always works. It always has.

 We are coming together now to study another part of the Book of Psalms. This book is different to any other in the Bible. It has been called “the heart of the Old Testament” because here the faithful people of God respond to relationship with him through Spirit-inspired praise. Here is found the evidence of living faith expressed throughout the whole length of Israel’s history. Collections of psalms were made from at least the time of King David until return from exile when this book was put into its present form for use in the rebuilt Jerusalem temple.

 Some of these psalms are very ancient, going back to Moses, and their praise takes many forms. There are psalms that affirm the eternal wisdom of God’s instruction, psalms of remembrance, hymns, thanksgiving, confidence, laments which express deep sorrow and suffering. All are praise because they believe God’s word and respond in faith to living in covenant relationship with him. The central theme of the psalms, expressed in royal or kingship psalms, is the eternal truth on which the whole universe and everything in it is sustained: our God reigns!

 We should be deeply moved as we come to this study because this book is a meeting place where we share in worship with those who have loved and served the Lord faithfully throughout history. This was the hymnbook Jesus used and even though the original music is lost to us, we are singing the songs he sang. We know Jesus loved the psalms because he quoted from them often. Many of them foreshadow his coming.       

 This term we will study psalms 90 – 106, the fourth section in Israel’s hymnbook. Many have tried to find a reason for the way the psalms are placed in the hymnbook. They don’t occur in the order they were written. Some have concluded they are placed according to their use in temple worship. But there is good reason to think that the five books were arranged so that their themes relate to successive periods of Israel’s history. Book 4 then relates to the time of exile in Babylon. Long before, the LORD had promised Abraham that his descendants would be a great nation, that he would give them the land of Canaan and that through him all nations on earth would be blessed (see Genesis 12, 15,17). Now Israel was imprisoned among the nations, the throne of David and the temple destroyed. Now the nation seemed lost to the world and God’s promises seemed lost to Israel. There was absolutely nothing they could do for themselves.

 “Lord, you have been our dwelling place

       throughout all generations.

 Before the mountains were born

       or you brought forth the earth and the world,

       from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” 

 

Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?

       Have compassion on your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

       That we may sing for joy and

       be glad all our days.”                                              (Psalm 90:1,13-14)

 Israel’s exile was the promised consequence of persistent rebellion against the LORD. He had rescued them from Egypt and entered into covenant relationship with them at Mount Sinai. He promised that they would be his people and he would be their God.

 The response required of them as a nation to that covenant agreement was to be exclusively loyal to the LORD, to obey him and worship only him. The LORD gave them his law so that they would know how to honour him. But as they settled into the land he had promised them, they descended into stubborn disobedience. They didn’t actually stop worshipping the LORD. They just took on the practices of other religions as well. The sin of compromise was their undoing. They tolerated the disgusting gods of Canaan and over time even worshipped them, adopting some of their appalling practices.  

“They did not destroy the peoples

      as the LORD had commanded them,

but they mingled with the nations

      and adopted their customs.

They worshipped their idols,

      which became a snare to them.

They sacrificed their sons

      and their daughters to demons.

They shed innocent blood,

      the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the

      idols of Canaan,

and the land was desecrated by their blood.           (Psalm 106:34-38)

 In the face of such blatant rebellion, God warned and rebuked them. They experienced the consequences for disobedience promised in the covenant. But even as he punished the nation the LORD was merciful. Over many years he sent his prophets to rebuke, discipline and call them to repentance. But in 722BC Assyria invaded the northern kingdom of Israel and scattered them among the nations, just as the LORD had graciously warned them through his prophets.

 In 586BC the power of Babylon fell on the remaining southern kingdom of Judah. They were taken into exile. Just as God had promised, because of their disobedience their enemies triumphed over them and for a time they lost their inheritance – the land of promise.

 “Therefore the LORD was angry with his people

     and abhorred his inheritance.

He handed them over to the nations,

     and their foes ruled over them.

Many times he delivered them,

     but they were bent on rebellion

     and they wasted away in their sin.”      (Psalm 106:40-43)

 

What do the faithful do when they suffer? They praise God. What do they hold onto? The promises of God! Through the prophet Ezekiel the LORD had comforted his people by assuring them he was going ahead of them into Babylon and would be with them there. Through the prophet Jeremiah he told them to settle down and actively wait, because in 70 years they would return to their land. In some of these Psalms it is as if we see the whole disabled body of the nation leaning forward, longing for the LORD to hurry.

 “Save us, O LORD our God,

     and gather us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

     and glory in your praise.”                             (Psalm 106:47)

  There is no question in the themes of these psalms about whether or not God is still in control. Many of these psalms present the glorious rule of God over the whole earth and all nations. The hope of living in God’s personal presence, in his house, is still alive, but the LORD rules the nations. He alone is God. The faithful are never lost to him nor he to them. The psalmist’s recognize that this disaster is deserved. God is holy. He has justly condemned Israel. God is faithful. He will keep his promises. God is sovereign. At his appointed time Israel will return home. There was no doubt about that.

 “But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;

        your renown endures endures

                 through all generations.

  You will arise and have compassion on Zion,

        for it is time to show favor to her;

        the appointed time has come.”      (Psalm 102:12-13)

 What do the faithful people of God do when everything seems lost and God’s promises seem to lie dead in the dust? They believe his word, remember his past faithfulness and trust his promises. This is timeless faith that weathers all storms.

 Book 4 begins with a psalm of Moses (Psalm 90) reminding the people of the LORD’s past faithfulness. They are sensible to trust him.

Psalm 91 rehearses his promises to rescue, protect, answer and always be with those who trust in him.

Psalm 92 affirms that trusting this God is the only wise thing to do.

Psalms 93 – 100 affirm eternal truth about God no matter what is happening on earth, no matter what is happening in our lives.

The LORD reigns (Psalm 93).

The LORD is Creator of the earth, the nations and his own people. He will never forsake his own (Psalm 94).

He is their Rock of salvation (Psalm 95).

Therefore he is worthy of the worship of all nations (Psalm 96).

Psalm 97 calls Israel to repentance and obedience.

And so the psalms continue, each one encouraging the faithful to walkhumbly and obediently with God, always trusting his promises even before they have become a reality.

Psalms 104-106 rehearse God’s faithfulness in the past towards creation, the forefathers of Israel and past deliverance. Their present defeat by enemies was a crippling blow to the nation, but even then:

 “He is the LORD our God;

     his judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever,

     the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham,

     the oath he swore to Isaac.”                                             (Psalm 105:7-9)

 Book 4 ends on a note of praise, as all five books do, and rightly so. We look  back and know their faith was justified. God did show mercy. From imprisonment in Babylon the exiles did return home. But we share in a much greater hope that is also found in these psalms. Even on return to Israel the throne of David was never re-established. Yet the LORD had promised King David that his house and kingdom would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13; 16) and that promise is confirmed in these psalms:

 

“Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness –

       and I will not lie to David –

that his line will continue forever

       and his throne endure before me like the sun;

it will be established forever like the moon,

       the faithful witness in the sky.”                                         (Psalm 89:35-37)  

 The LORD had bigger plans for Israel and the world. The psalmist’s were right to lift their eyes and see the majesty of God that cannot be restricted to time and place or limited by circumstances, no matter how desperate. Rescue was coming but of a nature so profound and so powerful it would embrace all nations, not just Israel. The LORD would send his Son, Jesus, David’s descendant, to rescue the world from a far greater and more tragic disaster than exile, whose impact had ravaged the whole earth not just Israel. Nothing is more damaging: no climate change, no tsunami, no wars. This great human tragedy is sin and death that separates us from God.

 Jesus would take our sin upon himself. He freely offers us forgiveness and restored relationship with God. Through faith in him all nations on earth would be blessed and receive an eternal inheritance that can never be destroyed. Through him God’s kingdom has come and his rule will be established forever.