Sunday, 07 August 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Psalm 7

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

¹ O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
² lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

³ O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
⁴ if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
⁵ let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

⁶ Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
⁷ Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.

⁸ The LORD judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
⁹ Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous–
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
¹⁰ My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.

¹² If a man[d] does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
¹³ he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
¹⁴ Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
¹⁵ He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
¹⁶ His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.

¹⁷ I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

We don’t know all the circumstances surrounding David’s composing this psalm. We don’t know what Cush said about David, but it was obviously some slander that hurt David greatly, so that David protests his innocence to God in verses 3 and 4. David isn’t claiming that he has never sinned. His claim is simply that he is innocent of this specific accusation from Cush.

David goes on to call for God to judge, for he knows that God has “appointed a judgment” (v6). There is a day of judgment coming, and David warns the ungodly of what God will do if they do not repent.

What do we learn from this?

David has been slandered by Cush. How does he handle it? David comes to God in prayer and protests his innocence. David prays for God to make things right in His day of judgment.

We do have to be very careful here. As we see David praying for God’s judgment, we must be call down God’s wrath upon everyone who happens to irritate us. It is easy to personalize this and pray a selfish, sinful prayer of our own misguided vengeance. That is not how we are to use this psalm.

We can pray against the forces of evil, and we should pray for the end of wickedness (v9). We should warn people, like we see in David’s psalm, of the coming judgment that will come upon those who do not repent (v12-13). And if we are praying this way, we will be able to praise God for His righteousness as David does in verse 17.

Where is Christ in this passage?

“⁶ …[Y]ou have appointed a judgment. ⁷ Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high.”

The Father has appointed the Son to judge the nations. David acknowledges this Day of Judgment, and interestingly, David says that the Judge will “return on high”. The idea is of taking the seat of judgment. As Jesus told His disciples at His ascension: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me….” (Matthew 28:18)

Philippians 2:8-10.

⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth….

Thursday, 04 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Psalm 2

¹ Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
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 burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
⁵ Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶ “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

⁷ I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
⁸ Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You shall break[b] them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
¹² Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

In following the Robert Murry M’Cheyne’s Daily Bible Reading Calendar, today we begin our second time through the book of Psalms this year. Psalm 1 is such a wonderful introduction to the book of Psalms as it contrasts the way of the righteous versus the way of the ungodly. But our meditation for this day will be Psalm 2, where we meet the nations plotting to go to war against God and His “anointed one” (literally, Messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek).

The Psalmist asks why people rebel against God? Why do they do such a futile thing? The question isn’t answered in the Psalm, but this points us to the doctrine of Original Sin and the fallen nature of man. It is obvious that rebellion against the omnipotent Creator of all is a vain thing. Yet everyone does it naturally, because we are born with a fallen nature, rejecting God and obeying our own warped desires.

But regardless of how many people or how many kings and rulers might join together, God is not impressed or frightened. In fact, we are told that He finds our opposition laughable and worthy of derision. Ultimately, it will lead to God’s outpoured wrath as He will smash the opposition, as easily as you or I smash a clay pot with a rod of iron.

And so the Psalmist counsels us to submit to God and instead of receiving His outpoured wrath we will receive His blessing.

What do we learn from this?

We need to listen to the Psalmist. We naturally are in rebellion against God and against His Christ, and the result of this rebellion will be our own destruction. But rather than face this awful judgement, we are told to end our rebellion and submit to God. We can avoid perishing by coming to Him in faith, and we will be blessed.

We also learn of how God the Father has appointed His Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, as King over all kings. Kings are rulers are to be in submission to Jesus Christ, and they will be held accountable. The nations are the inheritance of Jesus Christ, given to Him by the Father. They belong to Jesus.

Where is Christ in this passage?

This passage is very clearly Messianic. It clearly portrays Jesus Christ. The New Testament writers quote Psalm 2 frequently, clearly telling us that this passage is about Jesus.

Acts 4:25-27

²⁵ … “‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
²⁶ The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’–

²⁷ for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel….

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Acts 13:33

“[T]his he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’”

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Hebrews 1:1-5

¹ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. ³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

⁵ For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?….