Categoria: Psalms

This psalm by David was written when the evil man Doeg the Edomite slaughtered dozens of priests in 1 Samuel. David asks Doeg why he boasted of his evil telling him he is a disgrace in the eyes of God. David says Doeg’s tongue is like a sharp razor and that he loves evil and falsehood rather than good and truth. David says that God will bring him everlasting ruin as he did not make God his stronghold but grew strong by destroying others. David says that he himself is like a flourishing Olive tree trusting in God’s unfailing love and praising him forever.

This Davidic psalm was written when the prophet Nathan confronted David about his adultery with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband Uriah. It is a psalm of profound repentance. It starts with David imploring God’s mercy and asking to be cleansed from his sin. David above all recognizes that his sin had been against God. He asked to be cleansed and made whiter than snow creating in him a pure heart. He asked to be restored with the joy of salvation and not to have taken the Holy Spirit away from him. David recognizes that God doesn’t want sacrifices but rather a broken and contrite heart. This psalm is a perfect example of repentance from the heart.

This psalm is by Asaph and starts by presenting God as judge who summons heavens and earth to be the witnesses of his judgement. God declares that he doesn’t need sacrifices of bulls or sheep because “the cattle on a thousand hills” belongs to God. God instead wants devotion and sincerity from his people. God then goes on to reprimand those who externally exhibit obedience to God but who are far from the Lord in their hearts. For “what right have you to recite my laws”? – God asks. The psalm ends assuring salvation to those who sincerely honour the Lord. 

This wisdom psalm by the Sons of Korah points out that death is inevitable for both rich and poor. It says than no ransom is ever enough for a man’s life. The wise, foolish and senseless all die just the same. For man, come what may, is mortal like animals. But despite the grave being unavoidable for all the author expresses his hope in the redemption of God. For God “will surely take me to himself”, he says. For accumulation of wealth is pointless as you take nothing with you to the grave.

 Psalm 48 is a song of praise by the sons of Korah celebrating the mighty, beautiful, lofty Mount Zion with the city of Jerusalem – the city of the great Lord! God, it says, is Zion’s fortress causing enemy kings to flee in terror and shattering them with the wind. Mount Zion, it says, rejoices because of God’s judgements. God is our God for ever and ever to the end.

Psalm 47 is another psalm of the sons of Korah written for the director of music. It is a joyful positive psalm extoling God’s sovereignty who is “the great king over all the earth”. Much praise ascends to God who is the one who “reigns over the nations”. It says that “the kings of the earth belong to God” who is highly exalted.

 Psalm 46 is a glorious expression of confidence in the sovereign Lord. God, say the sons of Korah, is refuge and strength always present in times of trouble. No matter what happens we will not fear it says. It says that God is within Jerusalem and therefore she will not fall. Nations maybe in uproar, kingdoms may fall but when God speaks the earth melts. “The Lord Almighty is with us”! He is above all and ceases wars and ends violence. “Be still and know that I am God” exalted among the nations. The psalm ends saying that “the God of Jacob is our fortress”!

Psalm 45 is another psalm by the Sons of Korah. Only this time it is a royal wedding song probably written to honour one of King David’s many weddings. The psalm extols the most excellent king whom God has blessed forever. The king is clothed with splendour and majesty, he loves righteousness and hates wickedness, his robes are fragrant and his palaces are adorned with ivory. Then the bride is addressed telling her to forget her father’s house as she is all glorious in her chamber and led to the king as a virgin in embroidered garments and she is led to the king with joy. This psalm has strong messianic tones and is partially quoted in Hebrews 1:8-9. 

This psalm is a lament written by the Sons of Korah. It first of all recalls the good old days when God gave victory upon victory to his people. It is stressed that these victories were exclusively possible thanks to the arm of the Lord and not by their own swords. However now God’s people feel abandoned. The authors cry to God to wake up and stop rejecting them. For they feel forgotten. God’s people feel they are enduring undeserved suffering and disgrace and cry to God to rise up and help them!

 Someone summed up Psalm 43 in 4 words: From depression to praise! The psalm cries to God for vindication asking God to rescue the author from deceitful and wicked men. The psalmist says he is mourning and feels oppressed. So he prays for God’s light and truth to guide him so that he can go to God’s altar where he will praise him with the harp. The psalm ends with the psalmist reflecting on his unnecessary low mood and he encourages himself to put his hope in God and praise him.

This psalm of the sons of Korah apparently expresses people’s longing for God when they were far away from Jerusalem (“the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar – verse 6) maybe in exile. The writers say their soul thirsts for God, and critics ask where is your God? The writers remember nostalgically about the “festive throng” at Jerusalem. People are downcast and feel forgotten by God. The psalm ends proposing hope in God as the solution for all their woes.

This Davidic psalm for the director of music is a lament related to ill health and abandonment by a close friend. David says happy is he who cares for the weak because the Lord will deliver him, preserve him and sustain him when sick. David then cries to God to have mercy on him and forgive his sin. David says that all his enemies conspire against him and even his close friend has abandoned him. He cries to God for mercy and rests assured that he will be in God’s presence for ever. He ends with praise to the Lord. Amen.

This psalm ended book 1 of psalms.

David in Psalm 40 starts thanking God for past deliverance but ends up asking for further help. He starts praising God for him having heard him and having lifted him out of a slimy pit and having put a new song in his mouth. Happy is the person who trusts God, says David, because the resultant blessings are too many to tell. David says his desire is to do God’s will and speak about God’s salvation and faithfulness. He asks the Lord not to withhold his mercy from him, save him and help him. For God is his help and deliverer!

This another psalm of David for the director of music and for Jeduthun expresses his decision to control his speech so as to avoid sinful utterances as he went through a period of God’s discipline or of illness. He starts saying he will put a muzzle on his mouth. He realizes that his life is very short and that “each man’s life is but a breath”, as he bustles about in vain. David then expresses that his hope is in God and asks for him to remove his scourge from him. He concludes asking the Lord to hear his cry for help!

Psalm 38 is a penitential prayer by David in which he recognizes that his ill-health, his low mood and his abandonment of friends are all a result of his unconfessed sin. “Because of your wrath there is no health in my body”. “I am bowed down and brought very low”. David says that his friends avoid him and stay away from him. He says that he feels like a deaf man and he confesses his iniquity. Oh Lord, he cries, do not forsake me. Come quickly to help me.

David here tells people not to worry about evil people who prosper because it won’t last. David encourages people to trust in the Lord and wait for him to give their hearts’ desires. The wicked will soon be gone, he says, but the meek will inherit the land, as God laughs at the false hope of the wicked. In fact the wicked’s bows will backfire because better is a little with God than lots with wickedness. When things go wrong God is with the blameless and they will not wither, however the wicked will perish like plants in the fields. The wicked borrow and don’t repay, but the righteous are generous. God’s people may stumble but they won’t fall because God supports them. I am old but I have never seen the righteous forsaken, David says. Turn from evil and do good, he proposes. For the offspring of the wicked will be cut off. Wait for the Lord, David says, and he will exalt you. There is always a future for a man of peace, but the wicked will be cut off. The salvation of the righteous come from the Lord.

David decries the sinfulness of the wicked who have no fear of God, whose words are deceitful and who plot evil. God, to the contrary, sustains love and faithfulness to the skies, his righteousness is like the mighty mountains and he gives refuge under the shadow of his wings. Those who fear God drink from God’s river of delights, enjoy the fountain of life, and see light.

This is an imprecatory psalm of David. That is it invokes God’s judgement on David’s enemies. David starts calling on the Lord to come to his aid and put to shame those who want to kill him. He prays that ruin should overcome his enemies by surprise because then he will rejoice in the Lord. David continues to point out his enemies’ persecution who slander him without ceasing, maliciously mock him and seek his life like lions! David continues to invoke God’s action against those that devise false accusations against him. He calls on God to awake and rise in his defence. “May all who gloat over his distress be put to shame”, and may all his supporters shout for joy seeing his vindication.

Psalm 34 is when David praises the Lord following his escape from King Achish is 1 Samuel 21, by feigning insanity. David glorifies the Lord for his deliverance as when he called upon the Lord he heard him and saved him encamping angels around him. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” – David exclaims! For those who fear God lack nothing. David continues rejoicing because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and he hears them too. In fact the Lord delivers them from all their troubles.

This psalm is not attributed to David and is particularly jubilant and joyful. It starts calling the righteous to sing joyfully to the Lord because this is fitting. He exhorts people to praise the Lord with musical instruments playing skillfully and shouting for joy. God is praised for his faithfulness and unfailing love. The psalmist then extols the God of creation maker of heavens and seas who made the earth by the power of his word. He also says that God is sovereign over the nations and that God’s plans “stand firm forever”. The psalmist yet says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”. He goes on to say that dependance on man’s own strength or on that of a horse is vain, but those who fear the Lord will be delivered from death. We wait in hope for the Lord, says the psalmist, for he is our help and our shield!

 David writes this ‘maskil‘ (musical or literary term) and extols the joy and relief that one feels for confessing sin and having it forgiven. He speaks about how much he suffered whilst hiding his sin and the relief there is in forgiveness. David exhorts all who are godly to pray so as to receive the protection of God. He exhorts people to act wisely and not behave like a mule which has no understanding. Many, says David, are the woes of the wicked but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. 

This further Davidic psalm for the director of music expresses that God is his refuge, his rock and fortress. David commits his spirit into God’s hands and says how much he hates the idolatrous, saying he will always rejoice in God’s love. He then expresses his extreme anguish as he suffers weakness with some sort of illness. He goes on to say that he trusts in the Lord despite his enemies and slanderers, and that his times are in God’s hands. David asks God to silence the proud and arrogant and to shelter him in his presence. He closes praising the Lord for his love and encouraging all to be strong and take heart in the Lord!

This Davidic psalm was a song written for the dedication of the temple. It depicts God rescuing him from severe illness which left him on the precipice of death. David rejoices at his deliverance saying that “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”. David then says that God “turned my mourning into dancing for me, removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy”, and he adds that he will give thanks to God forever.

Psalm 29 is a majestic anthem to the Lord of all creation. David says that we must ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name and worship him in the splendour of his holiness. Thunder is the voice of the Lord and lightning is the striking of God’s voice. Thus such natural forces are attributed to the Lord and not to Baal as paganism would have it. Thus the storms, with thunder and lightning from God, break the cedars of Lebanon, twist the oaks and shake the desert. For it is the Lord who sits enthroned over the flood as King for ever, but in the end he blesses his people with peace. This psalm is a fantastic poetic hymn of praise to God.

In this psalm David cries out to God for help imploring that God should not turn a deaf ear to him. He asks that the wicked be repaid for their evil work since they show no regard for the works of the Lord. David ends the psalm on a much more positive triumphant note saying that God had heard his cry, and that God is his strength and shield and a fortress of salvation.

This psalm is an outspoken declaration of trust in God. “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear”? David goes on to stress that when evil men advance, enemies attack and armies besiege “even then will I be confident”. David jubilantly affirms that he will sing and make music to the Lord and seek his face. He says that even if his parents forsake him the Lord will not. He asks God to teach him his way as he is confident in his goodness despite all the oppressors and foes he faces.

This another prayer of David asks for God’s vindication. He asks God to test and try him examining his heart and mind as he doesn’t sit with deceitful men, hypocrites or the wicked. David goes on to say that he praises God out loud and that he loves God’s house. He insists that he leads a blameless life and therefore counts on God’s mercy.

This Davidic prayer forms an acrostic psalm. David seeks the Lord’s guidance and forgiveness amidst troubles and difficulties. David asks for victory over his enemies and asks God to teach him his paths of truth. He asks forgiveness for the sins of his youth according to God’s mercy and love. He declares that his “eyes are ever on the Lord”, and asks for God’s help amidst his anguish and loneliness. David concludes saying that his refuge and hope are in God.

This Davidic psalm is majestic. It affirms God’s sovereignty as creation Lord, asks who can go into his presence in Jerusalem, showing that this demands holiness, and ends with a rousing declaration of God’s glory as the King. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” – declares David. Who then can go into his presence? “He that has clean hands and a pure heart”. The psalm ends crying for the ancient gates of Jerusalem to open to receive the King of glory!

This gentle caring psalm of David portrays the Lord as David’s shepherd which was a role with which he was well acquainted. God provides everything he needs including restoration. God, says David, guides his life and is with him even in the most difficult and darkest times. God blesses him, even faced with enemies, anoints his head with blessing and assures him for all the days of his life.

This is another Davidic psalm written for the director of music to go with the music ‘The Doe of the Morning’! It is a messianic psalm opening with the words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” uttered by Christ on the cross. Verse 8 sticks in my mind from Handel’s Messiah. Christian theology sees this psalm as a prophecy of Jesus’ suffering and eventual victory. In the central verses of the psalm David describes himself as a worm scorned and despised. He says he feels encircled by bulls, as being torn apart by lions and surrounded by dogs. He says that “they have pierced my hand and my feet”, and “cast lots for my clothing”. The latter part of the psalm trusts God for victory and rejoices because God has listened to his cry for help. All the earth will turn to the Lord, he says, and all the nations will bow down before the “afflicted one”. Thus this messianic psalm ends on a positive victorious note.

This another Davidic psalm for the director of music is a kingly royal psalm which celebrates God granting victories to the king, as well as rich blessing and long life. Thanks to God’s goodness David’s glory is great with splendour and majesty. The king, says the psalm, trusts in the “unfailing love of the Most High”. The victory over his enemies is sure, says the psalm, as the wrath of the Lord will swallow up the enemies and even destroy their descendants. Thus the psalm ends on a jubilant note of praise and exaltation of the Lord.   

This another psalm of David for the director of music is a prayer for the King maybe as he prepares to go into battle. The prayer seeks God’s answer in days of distress and seeks his protection. The prayer then seeks “support from Zion” and asks that David’s heart’s desire be granted and all his plans succeed. Then they will shout for joy for the victory and lift up the name of the Lord. Some trust in horses and chariots, says the psalm, but we trust in the name of the Lord! The enemy falls “but we rise up and stand”! The prayer ends saying, “O Lord, save the king”!

This Davidic psalm addressed to the director of music is a declaration of God’s revelation through creation and his word. First of all David focuses on creation saying that the heavens declare God’s glory. God speaks to us, argues David, through the skies and the sun. The second revelatory means of God is through his word which is perfect in reviving the soul. God’s word is trustworthy, David says, and gives wisdom, joy, and light which lasts forever. The word of God is more precious than gold and sweeter than honey. Then David concludes praying that his words and meditation might be pleasing to God

This psalm is a jubilant song of praise and thanks to God for having delivered David from his enemies including Saul. David commences expressing his love for God who is his rock and fortress and worthy of praise. He says he was near to death so he called to the Lord for help. God answered with earthquakes and smoke came from his nostrils like a dragon. The ensuing storm brought hailstones, thunder and lightening and through it God rescued David from his powerful enemy. David goes on to say that God was his support who brought him to a spacious place rewarding his righteousness. The Lord, says David, keeps his lamp burning and lightens his darkness. He says that with God’s help he can overcome barricades and walls. God is perfect and his word is flawless. God gives me his shield of victory, David says, and his right hand sustains him. With God’s help David says he destroyed his enemies and crushed them. “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Saviour!” – is exclaimed by David… I will sing praise to your name!

This further Davidic psalm asks for God’s protection and vindication from enemies. David invites God to probe his heart and test him because he has nothing to hide. He says he has walked carefully in God’s ways. David asks God to hear his prayer and keep him as the apple of his eye hiding him under his wings so as to protect from his mortal enemies. David’s enemies are callous and arrogant like a hungry lion for prey. He cries for God to rescue him from the wicked and rests assured that one day he will see God’s face.

This is another of the 73 psalms attributed to David in the title. David starts calling on God to keep him safe as his only source of refuge. Apart from in God he has no good thing, but those that chase other gods will suffer an increase of sorrows. David praises the Lord for his wise counsel in the night and that in God he will not be shaken. He says his heart is glad and rejoices because God will not abandon him in the grave or let his holy faithful one see decay. For God has made known to him the path of life and he will bless him with eternal pleasures at his right hand.

 Psalm 15 is a wisdom psalm of David which defines how a person may live on God’s holy hill which is God’s presence. To do this one must live blamelessly, act righteously, speak truthfully and do one’s neighbour no wrong. One must also despise a vile man, keep one’s oath “even when it hurts”, never accept bribes, and lend money without interest. “He who does these things will never be shaken”.

This further psalm of David for the director of music (there are 55 such psalms) starts saying atheists are fools, corrupt and even vile. David goes on to say that nobody seeks God or does good. All have turned away from God in corruption. He asks if evildoers will never learn to call on the name of the Lord? And that the Lord is the refuge of the poor!

This psalm is another Davidic lament written for the director of music. 4 times David asks “how long”? How long will you forget me? How long will you hide from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts? And how long will my enemy triumph? David clearly feels desperate, abandoned and lost. David begs an answer from God with light for his eyes to prevent death. And he ends reaffirming his trust in God’s love as he rejoices in salvation.

This psalm is a further lament by David for the director of music in which he laments the disappearance of the faithful of God. He says that everyone is speaking with flattering lips and a boastful tongue. Then God says that he will arise in response to the oppression of the weak and combat it with flawless truth. God will keep his people safe despite the dominance of corruption in society. 

Psalm 11 was written by David for the director of music and David refuses to flee from the difficult situation he faces because the Lord is his refuge. The psalmist says that God is on his heavenly throne hating the wicked who aim arrows at the righteous, and examining the righteous. The Lord is righteous, says David, and he love justice, meaning that upright men will see his face. But God will judge the wicked with fiery coals and burning sulphur.

Psalm 10 is a lament which asks why God remains at a distance in times of trouble whilst the wicked arrogantly prosper? The wicked, says the psalmist, are greedy, proud, haughty, foul mouthed, murderers, exploit the vulnerable and they think they evade God’s vigilance. The psalmist then cries for God’s intervention breaking the arm of the wicked and meeting the need of the helpless. The psalm ends exalting the Lord as King who hears the cry of the afflicted bringing justice to the oppressed. 

Psalm 9 is another Davidic psalm for the director of music to be sung to the tune of ‘The Death of the Son’. It starts with full-blooded praise to God for victory over his enemies, for judging righteously the wicked and for rebuking the nations. David says that God’s reign is permanent and eternal. God is a refuge for the oppressed who never forsakes those who seek him. He says sing praises to the Lord enthroned in Zion who does not ignore the cry of the afflicted. He says his enemies persecute him almost to death so he cries to God for mercy. David cries to God also for him to judge the fallen nations and the wicked who are ensnared by the work of their own hands. “Strike them with terror, O Lord; let the nations know that they are but men”!

Psalm 8 is another Davidic psalm for the director of music according to gittith, which is probably a musical term. It is a jubilant song of praise to the Lord which starts and ends saying, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth”! David says that God’s glory is not limited to creation, yet he has given man an important position of leadership within the created order. He observes with awe how God cares for man and says that God has crowned man with glory and honour.

Psalm 7 is a lament attributed to David which he sang to the Lord concerning a Benjamite called Cush. The psalms style is a shiggaron which is probably a musical term.

This another Davidic psalm for the director of music was to be performed with stringed instruments according to shemenith which was probably a musical term. This is the first of 7 penitential psalms with prayer by David who deeply troubled and distressed. The psalmist cries out for mercy expressing profound anguish and asking how much longer he must wait for deliverance. David says he is worn out with groaning and of soaking his bed with tears. At the end David defiantly asserts victory because God has heard his cry and accepted his prayer so that his enemies will be shamed.

Psalm 5 is another Davidic psalm for the director of music which this time is to be accompanied by flutes. It clearly is a morning prayer: “Morning by morning, O Lord you hear my voice; morning by morning I lay my requests before you”. The psalm decries the wicked for being arrogant, bloodthirsty and deceitful, contrasting such people with David’s personal pleasure in being in God’s house paying reverent homage. God is depicted as holy detesting wickedness and falsehood. However those who take refuge in God are glad living under divine protection like with a shield.

Psalm 4 was a prayer written by David for the director of music and to be presented with stringed instruments. The prayer may well have been written within the Absalom context. David cries for relief and asks for mercy. David asks how long will people seek false gods? The Lord will hear him, says David, because he has set apart the godly for himself. Then David recommends quiet reflection on the bed and trusting in the Lord. For David asks for God’s light to shine upon him and rejoices in his heart. He closes thanking God for his peace and safety.

This psalm is again in a totally different category to the previous 2. It is a lament by King David as he fled from his son Absalom who wanted to kill him and usurp the throne, as we read in 2 Samuel chapters 15 to 18. David cries out to God bemoaning the popular uprising against him led by his son which some said was God having abandoned him. However David recognizes God as his shield, despite the adverse circumstances, and he knows God hears his cry. David says he knows that he sleeps and awakens because God sustains him, and for that reason he won’t fear the tens of thousands against him led by his son. David then cries to God for deliverance because he knows that in God alone is true deliverance and blessing.