Biblical Reflections

Psalm 79 is a community lament because of a great disaster had befallen Jerusalem, likely the Babylonia destruction.  Psalm 79 is similar to Psalm 74.  Disaster came to Jerusalem because Israel did not keep the covenant in faith.  This is also a psalm of confession, that seeks forgiveness and promises to be faithful in the future.

1-4 – Gentile nations have defiled the Temple and slain the people. 

5-7 – Query, how long of God will you let this destruction go on?

8-10 – Forgive us, help us, let the nations know that God has allow...

Psalm 78 is a historical psalm recounting historical events when God preserved his people, even in their disbelief, and purged them of unbelievers along the way.  The point is so that future generations will take these lessons to heart and that they will faithfully embrace the covenant.

1-8 – We must recount past deeds so that our children do not forget and fail to keep covenant commandments. 

9-16 – The Ephraimites forgot God’s great deeds of the past and turned back on the day of battle.

17-31 – The people sinned agains...

Psalm 77 is a community lament, perhaps because the people were suffering under God’s anger for some unfaithfulness.  Each person singing acknowledges that they are part of the congregation and that their individual well-being is bound up with the well-being of the whole congregation.

1-3 – I cry aloud to God in the day of my trouble.  I cry, moan, meditate, and faint, with my hand outstretched.

4-9 – Has God forgotten to be gracious?  I consider the days of old when God was gracious. 

10-20 – Now an appeal to what God has...

Psalm 76 is a hymn celebrating Zion as the place God has chosen for his people and his Temple. The people sing at the privilege of going to Zion and there worshipping God.

1-2 – God has made his abode in Zion.

3-9 – No one can stand against God on Zion. God rebukes the Gentile invaders.

10-12 – All the people should praise God and bring him gifts for his saving power to protect, Zion, the city, the people and the Temple.

Psalm 75 is a hymn of praise.  The psalm thanks God for the wonderful things he has done for Israel and celebrates that God is judge of all the earth and will one day put down the wicked and lift up the faithful.

1 – We give thanks to God and recount his wonderous deeds.

2-5 – God declares that at the set time he will judge the earth, rebuking the boastful and the wicked.

6-8 – It is God who executes judgment, lifting up the faithful and putting down the wicked.  All the wic...

Psalm 74 is a community lament, a cry of anguish over a disaster that has fallen on the people and destroyed the Temple of God. There is the plea that even though this may come from God in punishment, yet do not let the Gentiles scorn God for this tragedy.

1-3 – Why God did you let this tragedy happen to us?

4-8 – A description is presented of how the Temple of God, the dwelling place of god’s name, was destroyed.

9-11 – Puzzlement over why God is silent during this destruction.

12-17 – Recalling...

Psalm 73 is a psalm of wisdom and the first psalm in Book 3.  Asaph struggles with the question of why do the wicked prosper.  Spoiler alert, ultimately the faithful and the wicked have different destinations.

1-3 – The wicked prospered and Asaph envied them.

4-12 – The wicked are free from the troubles that the faithful face on a daily basis.

13-15 – Asaph had bitter feelings and felt that he had lived a faithful life in vain.

16-17 – Asaph found the answer to his anguish in the sanctuary...

Psalm 72 is last psalm of Book 2.  It is a royal psalm praying for the heirs of David to have success in their assigned tasks as king, such tasks include:  ruling God’s people well, protecting the poor and needy, and bringing blessing to all the nations of the world.  This psalm anticipates the Messiah and his worldwide rule of all peoples.  

1-4 – Let the king rule/judge the people justly.  The attributes of the king should be righteousness and justice.  

5-7 – May they fear you means may they honor and obey you.  Metaphors are used like while th...

Psalm 71 is an individual lament in which a faithful person is in danger from enemies who would hurt him by taking advantage of a weakness or distress.  It appears to be taken from parts of Psalms 31 and other Davidic psalms.

1-3 – The singer opens with a profession of faith by being assured of God’s covenant promises.  God is righteous, that is he is faithful to keep his promises, and this is the basis of the prayer.

4-11 – Rescue me from those who want to hurt me.  They are wicked and cruel men...

Psalm 70 is an individual lament to be rescued from gloating enemies.

1-3 – Deliver me from those who seek my life, those who say, aha, aha.

4-5 – Now a call for the faithful, those who seek God, to rejoice when God’s delivers the singer. Such a rescue would be evidence and assurance to the poor and needy that God keeps his promises.

Psalm 69

Psalm 69 is an individual lament in which a faithful person is suffering for the wrongs that he is done, but that the wicked are taking advantage of the suffering and making it worse.  But if this is from David, he represents the whole nation.  The New Testament cites several verses from this Psalm and applies them to the life of Christ.

1-4 – The singer describes great danger from treacherous enemies who hate him without cause.  Much of the attacks come as lies.

5-8 – The singer admits his own fo...

Psalm 68 is a hymn of celebration for God’s continued care and protection for Israel.  The celebration includes recognizing the defeat of Israel’s enemies is also to benefit the gentile nations, who are constantly at war.  Many scholars believe that David composed this psalm for when the ark was returned to tabernacle in Jerusalem.  

1-3 – There is gladness among the faithful when God arises to act.  The righteous are happy because now the wicked will perish.   

4-6 – This is a call to praise God with singing, as God especially takes care of the fath...

Psalm 67 is a thanksgiving hymn for a fruitful harvest.  God blesses his people Israel so the rest of the world may come to know the true God. 

1-3 – May God bless us, the people sing, so that all the nations may know him.

4-5 – May the all the nations be glad in the rule of the true God, who rules justly. 

6-7 – God will bless us, his people, so that all the nations of the world will fear him and turn to him.

Psalm 66 is a hymn of thanksgiving for God’s answer to a personal request.  Yet, it is written to highlight that God’s answers to one person are in context of his answering the prayers of the nation and of all the earth.

1-4 – Let all the earth worship the God of Israel based upon his awesome deeds.

5-7 – The singer describes the miracles of the Exodus as evidence of God’s awesome deeds, which result in the basis of all people worshipping God.

8-12 – The singer now recounts how...

Psalm 65 is a hymn of thanksgiving for a fruitful harvest.  The fruitful harvest is the result of God’s covenant promises.  

1-4 – The singer begins with praise for God in Zion.  Blessed are those who are part of the covenant people; they are called to worship God. 

5-8 – God is praised for his awesome deeds of creation.  The hope of all the ends of the earth are in this awesome creator.

9-13 – Now the people delight in the abundant harvest that God provided through the showers of rain.  

Psalm 64 shares the theme with Psalm 63 of confidence in God’s victory over the wicked who pursue David.  Yet, Psalm 64 is an individual lament or request for God’s help against deadly enemies and with confident expectation that God will fight for him.  Psalm 64 presents God’s purpose for his victory as instruction for the faithful and as a way of bringing joy to the godly.

1-6 – David asks that God would hide him from the secret plans of the wicked.  The tools of the wicked in this case are bitter words, lies.

7-10 – B...

Psalm 63 is a lament offered with confident expectation.  The idea is to develop confidence in God during times of trouble.  David probably wrote this Psalm as he was fleeing from Absalom.  

1-2 – David is apparently inflight and unable to worship at the sanctuary, so he remembers past worship at the sanctuary.  His soul thirsts and his flesh faints for God.

3-4 – David is confident of future worship in the sanctuary.  David anticipates singing, lifting his hands, and praising God.

5-8 – Yet, David states he clings to God wherever he is...

Psalm 62 is a call for confidence in God as his people are faced with the wicked who use power and wealth to oppress them.  The temptation in this case is to lose hope and to despair or seek security in power and wealth rather than in God.

1-2 – The singer begins by stating that on God alone and in silence will his salvation come.

3-4 – Next the singer addresses the wicked who attack him with lies and injustice.  

5-7 – Verses 5-7 repeat verses 1-2, although the description of “wait in...

Psalm 61 is a lament.  In many ways it is both an individual lament and a community lament, yet it also prays for the well-being of the Davidic King.  The idea here is that the well-being of the people is tied to the well-being of the king, the descendant of David.

1-3 – In poetic form, the congregation imagines themselves at the end of earth as they call upon God who is their refuge and their strong tower against the enemy.

4-5 – Although offered in first person, the Psalm is sung by the entire c...

Psalm 60 is a lament for the whole community at a time when Israel’s existence on the land is threatened by gentile nations.  Stated differently, this Psalm informs us how to pray when your soldiers must fight in order to survive as a nation.  We are not sure which of the events in 2 Samuel 8 are the background for this Psalm. 

1-5 – The nation has lost its initials battles with the enemy and now their very existence is at risk.  The singer recognizes that these initial defeats are from God.

6-8 – The singer ackno...

Psalm 59 is another individual lament as the faithful person seeks protection from enemies who threaten his life.  The background for this Psalm is 1 Samuel 19:11 where King Saul sends men to watch and to wait for David at his house.  David escapes through a window.  The point of the Psalm is that David claims this pursuit is not his fault.  David uses the words: God – Elohim, O LORD – YHWH, and LORD of Hosts, YHWH Sabaoth for deity. 

1-10 – This is a cry for help in the face of fierce and bloodthirsty enemies.  Verses 1-2 are plea to be deliver...

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Psalm 58 is a community lament, wherein God’s faithful people sing about injustice by their own rulers.  

1-2 – The Psalm begins by directly addressing the wicked rulers over them, who allow injustice, wrongs, and violence to the people.  Calling the wicked rulers gods is not to say that the wicked rulers are somehow the Nephilim, but rather to mock them because they act like they are gods.  Alternatively, some scholars believe that the meaning of the word in Hebrew is not gods but mighty lords.  

3-5 – David now brings the charge against thes...

Psalm 57 is a lament as David is once again being pursued by King Saul, who wants to kill David.  Each of the two stanzas mention God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.

1-5 – David begins with a confident request for mercy.  David uses the titles of deity to include the Most High - El Elyon and God - Elohim.  David displays cheerful confidence amid danger because he knows that God fulfills his purpose for David.  Again, we see the poetic terms.  Enemies are described as lions, fiery beasts, men with teeth as sharps as spears, swords, and arrows...

Psalm 56 is part individual lament and part a Psalm of anticipated thanksgiving.  A prayer of gratitude that God has heard the cry for help and will act.  The events behind this Psalm are the same as Psalm 34, and they are discussed in 1 Samuel 21:10-15, when the Philistines seized David in the City of Gath.

1-4 – David reviews his difficult circumstances and sets his mind to trust in God for help and rescue.  Notice the words attacker, oppress, and enemies are followed by the word trust.  In this way, with the proper response of trust in God, Da...

Psalm 55 is an individual lament only this time the danger comes from the betrayal of a close friend.  This likely based upon the betrayal of David by his closest friend and counselor, Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 15:12, 16:15-23.

1-3 – Here is a plea for mercy.  Danger comes from an enemy that bears a grudge against David in anger.

4-8 – David describes his desperation with words like anguish, terrors of death, fear, trembling, and horror.  He wishes he could be a dove and fly away to the desert for safety.

9-11 – Davi...

Psalm 54 is an individual lament asking for God’s help against those who threaten the lives of the faithful.  This Psalm is based upon 1 Samuel 23:19 when the Ziphites, Hebrews, inform King Saul that David is hiding among them.  

1-3 – David calls to God to save him from ruthless men who seek his life.  Although the Ziphites are covenant people of Israel, they do not set God before themselves.

4-5 – David calls God his helper, the one who upholds the life of the faithful and who will return the evil back on his enemies...

Psalm 53 is almost identical to Psalm 14.  They were likely alternate versions of the same Psalm before they were included in the Psalter.  The theme is to mourn that mankind does not seek after God, and they thus treat God’s people cruelly.  Psalm 14 uses the word LORD for Deity, whereas Psalm 53 uses the word God for Deity.  Psalm 53 describes in greater detail the terror that will befall the wicked, while Psalm 14 emphasizes the God’s care of the poor.

1-6 – The fool says in his heart that there is no God.  All people are corrupt.  No one is goo...

Psalm 52 is a Psalm that gives the faithful confidence that God will deliver them when they are confronted with ruthless enemies.  This Psalm is based upon the murder of the priests of Nob, who had helped David, when he was being pursued by King Saul.  The chief evil doer is a man named Doeg.  Who reports the priests of Nob to King Saul, and at King Saul’s command Doeg slaughters all but one of high priests.  See 1 Samuel 21:1-7 and 1 Samuel 22:9-19.

1-4 – The main attack of Doeg against David is his lying tongue and boast...

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Psalm 51 is one of the seven penitential Psalms, and it is probably the best known of the penitential psalms because it is David’s confession and repentance when he is confronted by the Prophet Nathan after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, Uriah the Hittite.  David appeals to God’s grace as the grounds for forgiveness.  Note that sacrifices in and of themselves do not provide forgiveness, but they are only of benefit to the sinner who is humble and repents in faith. 

1-2 – David begins by asking God to have mercy upon...

Psalm 50 is a hymn an oracle, where the worshippers sing God’s instruction for how they should live holy lives.  Yes, the sacrificial system was given to the people as part of their covenant worship, yet sacrifice does not buy any favor or reward from God.  God wants faithfulness, thanksgiving, and obedience.  Of note there are seven different names of God in this Psalm.  This seems to be intentional as to say to the worshipper, no matter what your conception of God may be, God does not want you to think that your sacrifices can buy favor with him or bri...

Psalm 49 is a wisdom psalm.  It explains why the pious often deal with trouble, while in contrast, the unfaithful seem to get along so well in life.  The short answer is that God will distinguish between the faithful and the unfaithful after their death.  

1-4 – Here is a call to pay attention to attain wisdom and understanding, which is often used in Wisdom Literature to mean spiritual perception, the ability to approach life from God’s perspective.  The singer states that he will do this by solving a riddle.

5-12 – The riddle is presented, w...

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Psalm 48 is a hymn celebrating Zion as God’s special city, which God defends for the sake of the world. It commemorates an event where gentile nations threatened Zion, and God protected the city and the people within.  We can identify with this psalm as it is God himself who is our defense.

1-3 – The LORD is King, and he resides in Zion, Jerusalem. The reference to the holy mountain could be to the Temple in Jerusalem, but because of the reference of the holy mountain to be in the north, it is probably...

Psalm 47 is a hymn praising God for his kingship, that is his rule over all the earth.  We praise God because of God’s promises to Abraham that all peoples will be blessed though him, Genesis 12:3.  

1-4 – The LORD loved Israel and gave them the covenant blessings, but this was done so that all peoples of the world might come to fear and to love the God of Israel.  The term clap your hands, all people is a poetic expression of exultation.  Again, verse 2 uses the term the LORD, the Most High, El Elyon, the highest Go...

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Psalm 46 is a hymn praise celebrating Zion, Jerusalem, as the city, to which God has pledged himself and through which he will bless the world.

1-7 – Here is the scripture which inspired Martin Luther’s hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  The people of God are secure within Zion, even in times of tumult, for God is their strength and refuge.  Here the psalmist uses poetic forms, such a raging sea, great earthquakes and warring nations, to state that God will protect the people of Zion, no matter what.  Notice verse 4, the title Most High is E...

Psalm 45 is a hymn celebrating a royal wedding.  It is a love song.

1 – The singer addresses the king, a descendant of David, directly.

2-9 – The king is described as handsome, majestic, and just.  In verse 6 the singer addresses God, who sits above the throne of the Davidic King.  Then the singer describes the divine ideals of how the earthly king should reign, which includes righteousness and which hates wickedness.  These are an admonition to the young king about to be married. These verses also have double meaning as they are cited in Hebrews...