In today’s section, we read Psalms 46-69
There are a more names given to God in these psalms:
Our refuge (46:1; 59:16, 17; 61:3, 62:7)
Our strength (46:1; 59:17)
A fortress (46:7,11; 61:3; 62:2,6)
The King (47:2,6,7)
My helper (54:4; 63:7)
A place of safety (59:16)
The rock (61:2; 62:2,6,7)
My salvation (62:2,6)
The hope (65:5)
Our saviour (65:5; 68:19)
Father to the fatherless (68:5)
Defender of widows (68:5)
The source of life (68:26)
· Ps 46 (praise for the mighty God who rules over all) – This is probably best known for v 10 “Be still and know that I am God!”, which can give the wrong impression. This is not a pastoral calm scene, but a picture of battle and war, with mighty armies ranged against each other, into the midst of which one word from God is enough to bring calm and order, and an acknowledgement that this is the God who rules. v10 “Be still, and know that I am God! / I will be honoured by every nation. / I will be honoured throughout the world.”
· Ps 47 (praise the God, the King who rules) – v2 “For the Lord Most High is awesome. / He is the great King of all the earth.”
· Ps 48 (praise the Lord who dwells among us) – v14 “For that is what God is like. / He is our God forever and ever, / and he will guide us until we die.”
· Ps 49 (praise for the only God redeems) – v6-7 “they trust in their wealth / and boast of great riches. / Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death / by paying God a ransom”; v20 “people who boast of their wealth don’t understand.” v15 “But as for me, God will redeem my life. / He will snatch me from the power of the grave.”
· Ps 50 (everything is God’s, who wants our thankfulness and forgiveness). This has become one of my favourite psalms, which shows so crushingly that God doesn’t need us and our service – v9-11 “I do not need the bulls from your barns / or the goats from your pens. / For all the animals are mine, / and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. / I know every bird on the mountains, / and all the animals in the field are mine.” To emphasise God’s all-sufficiency, we get v11 “if I were hungry, I would not tell you”. Let us not get above ourselves. Yet there is good news of what God would like from us – v14 “make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, / and keep the vows you have made to the Most High.” Then “call on me when you are in trouble, / and I will rescue you, / and you will give me glory.” Then the psalms carries on by telling us to get real and stop pretending and putting on a show, and finishes with the magnificent v22-23 “repent, all of you who forget me, / … giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honours me. / If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.” Remember the healing of the 10 lepers in Lk 17:17-18. Pete Craig says “all 10 of them were equally healed, yet only one truly worshipped. The only nine considered their answered prayer to be more thrilling than the presence of the Answerer. They took their healing gladly, but missed the greatest miracle of all: The presence of God!” (Pete Craig, God on Mute, p294).
· Ps 51 (a prayer for forgiveness and restoration (2 Sam 12:1)) - another really well-known psalm, that cries out from the very depths of David's being. v4 is interesting, in that David says "Against you, and you alone, have I sinned", yet what about Uriah? Yet, I think it is because he recognises the gravity of his sin towards God that he is perpetually haunted by it (v3,9). v11 is a plea for David not to suffer the same fate as Saul in 1Sam 15:26. v16-17 is David at the end of his tether - he has nothing left to give, except the only thing that God really wants in the first place, "You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. / You do not want a burnt offering. / The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. / You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God."
· Ps 52 (prayer to put your trust in God (1Sam 22:9)) - v1 "Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior? / Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?"
· Ps 53 (God will restore us from the godless) - v1 cf Ps 14:1; v3 cf Rom 3:23. v2 "God looks down from heaven / on the entire human race; / he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, / if anyone seeks God."
· Ps 54 (Praise God the helper (1Sam 26:1)) - v4 "But God is my helper. / The Lord keeps me alive!"
· Ps 55 (a prayer for deliverance and vindication) - I wonder who this close companion is who betrayed David. v16-18 "But I will call on God, / and the Lord will rescue me. / Morning, noon, and night / I cry out in my distress, / and the Lord hears my voice. / He ransoms me and keeps me safe." v22 "Give your burdens to the Lord, / and he will take care of you. / He will not permit the godly to slip and fall."
· Ps 56 (praise for the God who cares and saves (1Sam 21:14-15)) - v8 "You keep track of all my sorrows. / You have collected all my tears in your bottle. / You have recorded each one in your book." What an image, that God has collected all our tears and put them in a bottle, because he loves us so much and cares about our sorrows. v13 "For you have rescued me from death; / you have kept my feet from slipping. / So now I can walk in your presence, O God, / in your life-giving light."
· Ps 57 (praise God exalted on high (1Sam 24:2)) - v5 (and 11) "Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens! / May your glory shine over all the earth."
· Ps 58 (praise the God of justice) - v11 "Then at last everyone will say, / “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; / surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”"
· Ps 59 (prayer for deliverance to the God who has delivered before (1Sam 1:19)) - v16-17 "But as for me, I will sing about your power. / Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. / For you have been my refuge, / a place of safety when I am in distress. / O my Strength, to you I sing praises, / for you, O God, are my refuge, / the God who shows me unfailing love."
· Ps 60 (a prayer for the restoration of God's favour (2 Sam 8:13?)) - v7 Messianic prophecy "Gilead is mine, / and Manasseh, too. / Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors, / and Judah, my sceptre, will produce my kings."
· Ps 61 (a prayer for restoration) - v5 "For you have heard my vows, O God. / You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name."
· Ps 62 (praise God, the one who protects) - v2 (and 6) "He alone is my rock and my salvation, / my fortress where I will not be shaken." v10 "if your wealth increases, / don’t make it the centre of your life." v11-12 "God has spoken plainly, / and I have heard it many times: / Power, O God, belongs to you; / unfailing love, O Lord, is yours."
· Ps 63 (praise the God of unfailing love) - v3-5 "Your unfailing love is better than life itself; / how I praise you! / I will praise you as long as I live, / lifting up my hands to you in prayer. / You satisfy me more than the richest feast." v7 "Because you are my helper, / I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings."
· Ps 64 (a prayer for vindication) - v6 "Yes, the human heart and mind are cunning." v9-10 "Then everyone will be afraid; / they will proclaim the mighty acts of God / and realize all the amazing things he does. / The godly will rejoice in the Lord / and find shelter in him. / And those who do what is right / will praise him."
· Ps 65 (praise the splendour and might of God) - v8 "Those who live at the ends of the earth / stand in awe of your wonders. / From where the sun rises to where it sets, / you inspire shouts of joy."
· Ps 66 (praise the God who has done wonderful things) - v16-20 "Come and listen, all you who fear God, / and I will tell you what he did for me. / For I cried out to him for help, / praising him as I spoke. / If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, / the Lord would not have listened. / But God did listen! / He paid attention to my prayer. / Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer / or withdraw his unfailing love from me."
· Ps 67 (a prayer for God's glory to be known everywhere) - v4 "Let the whole world sing for joy, / because you govern the nations with justice / and guide the people of the whole world."
· Ps 68 (praise the mighty God of victory) - v11 is a foretelling of 2Ki 19:9 when Sennacherib withdraws from the siege of Jerusalem leaving the loot behind. v5-6 "Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— / this is God, whose dwelling is holy. / God places the lonely in families; / he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy." v19-20 "Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! / For each day he carries us in his arms. / Our God is a God who saves! / The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death."
· Ps 69 (a prayer for help and trust in future deliverance) - v21 cf Jn 19:29-30. v32 "The humble will see their God at work and be glad. / Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged."
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