I suppose
I landed on the Psalm this week by way of encouragement from the Monday morning
Bible Study group. At different times
over the last couple weeks, I have been reminded that I do not do enough
commercials for that group. So, in the
interest of promotion, we have a group on Monday morning that is working its
way through the Psalter. We talk of
poetry and the human condition and of David and Jesus and how the Psalter still
sings to us today. Absolutely no
familiarity with the Psalter is required.
All that is required is a genuine hunger and thirst for God, and perhaps
a bit of artistic bent does not hurt!
And, if you want to know more about that study, or even about this psalm
in particular after today, I encourage you to ask those who come!
A long
time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I had a professor who nagged us students
that we ignored the psalms to the detriment of our congregations and to our own
spiritual life. He was a professor of
the Old Testament, so it makes sense that he loved the Psalter. He also was not Episcopalian or Anglican, but
he appreciated the fact that the Psalms figured prominently in our Eucharists
and Daily Offices. His love of the
Psalms was far more than academic familiarity.
We speak often about the psalms being written for those who process or
see the world differently. If you are
very much a cause and effect, actions have consequences, just give me the facts
kind of individual, linear processor, the psalms may well drive you nuts. By contrast, if you find yourself enraptured
by poetry, enjoying a painting, fed in ways by great music that you cannot
explain to your rationalistic friends, then the psalms may have been inspired
by God for you!
The
Psalms are, in a real sense, a retelling of the Old Testament. Their relationship to the Old Testament is
made obvious by their division that is reminiscent of the Pentateuch, the first
five books attributed to Moses. Their
ties to the prophets and historians of the Old Testament are made even clearer
by specific word choices. In some case,
the psalmist chooses a word that is well developed over the breadth of the Old
Testament. Hesed comes to mind, God’s covenant love of His people; as does asre, blessed, which we will pick up in
a moment. Sometimes a location or word
is mentioned which is meant to point us to a much bigger story. If we are unfamiliar with the bigger story,
we might miss the significance of the Psalm or at least the deeper meaning
intended by a word or phrase choice.
Psalm 1
is unique not just because of its focus on asre,
blessed, but also because of its structural place in the Psalter. Were we to go back in time, the psalm that
you and I read today is not Psalm 1. It
was the introduction to the entire Psalter.
It stood apart from the Psalter, in certain respects, reminding you and
me why we should be engaging in the study of this poetry. If you want to consider this a bit more,
re-read Acts 13:33. A quote is taken
from the first psalm, but you and I know that reference to be Psalm 2:7, but
now I’m just reminding the Bible study group of layers they have forgotten many
psalms ago!
Psalm 1
is known both as a wisdom psalm and as a torah
psalm. In the first case, the psalm
today follows the two path choice of life.
One may choose to follow God, and receive the promised gift of
blessedness; or one may choose to follow someone or something other than God,
and receive the curse of not being blessed.
In the second case, the Psalm makes it clear that torah is what leads to
God. Torah is a word that does not
translate readily to English, as I have probably beaten over a dead horse. I wish the word was just adopted by the
English language so we could get all the nuances implied by the terms. Doesn’t
the word mean law? Yes, it does. But it also means instruction and teaching
and has a liberating and educating quality to it which the English word “law”
lacks. In fact, many of us tend to view
laws as limiting. Don’t speed. Don’t cheat on your taxes. No loud music after 10pm. Torah has that understanding of fulfilment,
of what the biblical authors call perfect freedom. If one wants truly to be in full communion
with a righteous, holy, just, loving, and all the great adjectives we know
about God, one must know the torah. This
is not a cursory understanding. In
Episcopal/Anglican circles, we would say that we need to read, learn, and
inwardly digest the torah to understand better and to please God more.
The psalm
also serves as an exhortation. As we
read the psalms, the two choices of life, and their consequences, are clearly
and emphatically contrasted. While the
first few verses deal with what we might charitably call temporal or earthly
consequences, the psalm ends with an eschatological look at the destiny of those
who fear God and those who believe themselves not to need God. The latter, of course, will be referred to as
foolish and evil throughout the Psalter.
They will be encouraged to turn back to, you and I would say repent,
God. The faithful or righteous, meaning
those who try to live by God’s instruction and who repent when they fall away,
are cautioned to avoid the snares of the unrighteous. Our verbs this morning show a life that is increasingly
comfortable living a life that is at odds with God. They also refer us back to the book of
Deuteronomy, verses 6:7 and 11:19 in particular, reminding us in a
not-so-subtle way that we should be immersing ourselves in the study and
meditation, and contemplation of God and His torah! But they also point us to the descriptive
nouns of verse 1. The Hebrew word
translated as wicked, resacim,
is a simple courtroom description. In a
particular instance or set of circumstance, this person did something
wrong. The word translated sinners, by
contrast, referred to those people whose inclination was to do wrong far more
often than not. Their lives were not
shaped by an isolated evil event or choice in their lives; rather they tended
to live their life in rebellion against God and His instruction. By further contrast stand the mockers, those
who openly and unabashedly, well, mocked people for following God and His
commands, who unabashedly tried to take advantage of others who obeyed God,
believing that there was no God to judge them!
Are you getting a better flavor of the richness and depth contained in
this, just the introduction to the Psalms?
I
know. Uh oh, Brian quoted verses again.
Those who have been around me now for four years understand I am not big
about doing that in sermons. I do in
Bible Study, but I try to avoid citations like that in sermons. Sermons are meant to encourage and prod and
comfort and afflict, not convict you of your ignorance or prove to you that I
study the Scriptures. The Psalter,
though, like any great poetry, can articulate in a few words what writers of
prose can say in paragraphs. This is a
perfect example. Unless you are
suffering from severe insomnia, how many of you have actually studied the book
of Deuteronomy to understand the reference of verse 2? See, no hands. Part of the problem with the richness of the
Psalms is that it points us to other places in Scripture, places and people we
may not know, if we are not immersing ourselves in God’s torah. See the cycle? As we
read and inwardly digest the Psalms, we are forced to study more of Scripture
in order to understand better what is really being said, which means we are
steeped more and more in God’s torah, which means we are steeped more and more in
His love, hesed, which means we
become holier and more righteous, dare I say more sanctified, as we live out
what we have internalized!
What
should we have internalized? Well, one
of the good teachings of the Psalter is the fact that so many are attributed to
David. I know some folks around here
have struggled with the idea that David was a man after God’s own heart. As I have preached on occasion this summer,
David did some truly horrible things. He
kills a husband to hide adultery. He
compels a faithful subject to sleep with him, betraying her husband. He even tells God to punish the people rather
than him and his family. But, the
author, or attributed author of many of these Psalms, is merely wicked. When confronted with his sin, David always
repents. And though David wishes to
avoid the consequences of some of his sins, he recognizes in the psalms that
God’s judgment and discipline are not only right, but for his own good. So, in a way, the Psalter sets an example for
how you and I should live. Those who
study the Psalms learn what God demands and expects and instructs, but we also
learn God’s willingness to forgive and to discipline.
We are
also taught, through the Psalter, that our outward condition in no way reflects
our relationship with God. Some
translations take asre and conflate
it to happiness. Happy is the man who
does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.
Let me ask y’all a question this morning. Who here is happy all the time not walking in
the counsel of the wicked? Good, those
hands should stay down. We are not happy
all the time. Life bearing a cross for
the glory of God is hard, demanding work.
Do not get me wrong, such work is wonderful and meaningful beyond
measure, but it is not always happy or joyful work. God uses suffering servants, in imitation of
His Suffering Servant, to reach His flock, His people. Though the psalmists will at times wrestle
with God, argue with God, complain bitterly at God, in the end the psalmists
are always moved to recognize that God will protect, will shelter, and will
even redeem those terrible circumstance of life. Unlike us, of course, the psalmist has no
understanding of the Cross and Resurrection, but one can certainly see their
place as we look back in history through the focusing lens of our Savior Jesus
Christ! And it is that Cross and Empty
Tomb which, in the end, gives us hope and comfort and surety and confidence!
Lastly,
and perhaps most importantly, the eschatological judgment should give us all
serious hope. The psalmist begins this
introduction with the claim that those who choose God and His ways are
blessed. Those of us who live in what the
kids nowadays call IRL (in Real Life) are left with the same question as the
mockers. How can we or anyone claim to
be blessed, if all life simply ends in death?
Put a bit differently, how many of you here today feel like God is
really in control or paying attention all the time? Cynics among us might like to argue that the
dead are blessed only in the sense that they no longer suffer the vagaries of
human existence. Certainly the mockers
believe there are no consequences for their rebellious decisions. He who
dies with the most toys wins! Thankfully,
and mercifully, as I have already mentioned, you and I get to read these psalms
through the focus of the Cross and Empty Tomb.
We know that Christ pays the penalty for our wicked acts and makes it
possible for us to receive the full measure of God’s forgiveness. More amazingly, while the psalmist wonders
how God can be honored if he or she goes down into the dust, you and I are
reminded of the redeeming power of God.
Jesus is but the first fruits of those raised from the dead. All who claim Him Lord, all who truly in
their hearts seek to live as He taught are promised a share in that eternal
blessedness proclaimed in this introduction.
And so, the question of death that so plagues the psalmist is no longer
the big hurdle to you and to me. We know
God’s power to redeem even death! And we
know His promise to redeem all His people.
And so, while we whose hope is grounded in the death and resurrection of
Christ may be said to experience a profound peace or comfort or however we want
to describe our life on this side of the grave in the midst of its vagaries,
are pointed to a future, an eternal future, where we experience all the
blessings first mentioned by the psalmists!
In a real way, the Psalter captures the life of God’s people and even
those who reject or even mock Him. Life,
as the psalmists so well know, is messy and full of grey areas. But the consideration and study of God’s
Word, both in Scripture and in the work and person of Jesus Christ, reminds us
that this shadowy existence is not all that there is, that our Lord calls us to
something far more permanent and far more glorious!
In Christ’s Peace,
Brian†
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