[Small Group] Psalm 65 – WHY?

This morning, we continue our study on Psalm 65. We have already laid out the WHO? (the people/groups/types) in this Psalm which will serve as the actors/cast in our minds as we practice bringing this passage to life. We have also already examined the WHEN/WHERE? (Environment/background/setting) which will serve as the stage and props. And we have even diverted the HOW/WHAT? (steps/storyline/order of events) that will serve as our script.

As we look at the WHY? today, there are three different perspectives that will all come into play. The first is about the WHY? within its original context — what the original participants would have been learning, sharing, etc.

WHY? ORIGINAL CONTEXT

In Psalm 65, we see David Praising God and acknowledging his own sin. And we have to realize that this was not some personal journal note written and tucked away while he pretended to be perfect. No, he wrote this Psalm to be shared publicly, with the purpose of sending it to be sung publicly. And when he talked about forgiveness of sins, David was talking about the method that God had given them for a very public and visible day of atonement and process of each family bringing a physical sacrifice to the altar.

for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord . It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.
Leviticus 17:11 NLT

This would have been David’s original meaning for this Psalm, to celebrate the Day of Atonement that was given to Israel as part of their ceremonies and traditions. You can read about the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 and here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/Day-Atonement-Yom-Kippur.html

WHY? IN LIGHT OF CHRIST

Being on this side of the cross, we are privy to the gospel and the epistles to help us understand how this applies to or points to Christ.

Paul discusses atonement in the book of Hebrews:

In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22 NLT

Peter in his first epistle:

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

1 Peter 2:24 NLT

And John, in the book of Revelation:

And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Revelation 5:9 NLT

And it is pretty important that we sing miss this point of identifying how these scriptures point to Christ, if we indeed believe His warning to the pharisees:

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!
John 5:39 NLT

Paul echoes the importance of a Chrisst centered understanding and application of scripture in His epistle as well:

I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.
Romans 10:2‭-‬4 NLT

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Romans 8:3‭-‬4 NLT

WHY? APPLICABLE TO US

When I think of David writing and sharing publicly his awe in Almighty God’s willingness to forgive us it reminds me of one of my verses for today:

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 NLT

And another that makes it clear how we best do this:

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:16 NLT

So my application for today is to:

1) recognize the sin — how I have fallen short

2) confess my sin to my brothers in Christ — who will encourage me and hold me accountable and pray for me

3) remember the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross — let hope spring up

4) remember the promises of God — grow in faith

5) pray for, encourage, and serve my brothers — grow in love

6) in all things, glorify God

This isn’t a checklist that I’m going to accomplish under my own power — No! This is what I’m going to witness Christ doing in me, and through me — by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the name of Jesus Christ, and by the promises of His Word — I know this is true. May it be true for you as well. Because He is the one that has laid the foundations and established our footsteps. Amen.

[Small Group] Psalm 65 – Where/When?

Continued from yesterday: https://hballinger.com/2018/01/12/small-group-psalm-65-who/

Psalm 65 itself doesn’t outright tell us when or where David wrote this Psalm. When I come to a question that I cannot answer by myself, I remember the wise advice about seeking counsel from others that is in the Bible.

You can find a wealth of information on that topic here: https://www.openbible.info/topics/wise_counsel

In this case, we are going to look at “Commentaries”. I have various physical, paper commentaries that I keep in my beside bookshelf and in my study/office, but we are going to stick to the commentaries we can easily reference online for the benefit of us researching this together.

Don’t just read what I’ve written in this post, but follow the links I provide and walk through the process yourself. This will help you learn to do this yourself. And my goal is not to gather a bunch of people listening silently in the pews with an occasional “like” as a virtual “Amen” to my “preaching”, but my goal is for you to be a disciple yourself — a student of the Word of God — a follower of Jesus who will have an active and saving Faith and a living testimony of living, serving, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the nations.

A few great places for multiple online Bible commentaries are here:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/

https://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/

Many of these sites have links to the related commentaries directly from the page when you go to the scripture itself on their sure as well.

I usually end up with Matthew Henry’s commentary first when working online because Google seems to provide his first if you search for something like “Psalm 65 commentary”: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Psa/Psa_065.cfm

But we can see after reading through it, that Mr. Henry gives us no clear opinion on specifically when or where David might have written this Psalm. Since David is primarily talking about the glory of God’s goodness and power and not about something in His own life, there are few clues that point to a point along the timeline of David’s life.

If we ask Google more specifically “When did David write psalm 65”, it leads us to this exposition/ commentary:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-65-1.html

And we can find a section with three parts that read:

Whole Psalm. The author of the Psalm is mentioned, but not the date of its composition; but from an examination of its contents, it would seem to have been intended as a song for the “day of atonement,” and for the “feast of tabernacles,” which followed immediately after. Numbers 29:7 Numbers 29:12 . The sins of the year were then “covered over,” and a thorough purification of the sanctuary was made by a special service of expiation. The labours of the year were all by that time concluded, and its fruits secured; and Israel could look on the goodness of God towards them, through its entire extent; and this Psalm was penned to serve as a fitting expression of their feelings. It opens with a reference to the “silence” that reigned in the sanctuary; to the profound, unbroken, solemn stillness that reigned within it; while, in deep abasement, the people without waited in hushed expectation the return of their high priest from the immediate presence of God, Leviticus 16:17 . It goes on to a statement of the blessedness of those who are accepted of God, and admitted to fellowship with One so unspeakably great; and concludes with a description of the various processes by which the Almighty had fitted the earth to yield a year’s supplies for his people. Dalman Hapstone, in “The Ancient Psalms in appropriate Meters… with Notes.” 1867.

Whole Psalm. We have here a psalm of thanksgiving to be sung in the Temple during a public festivity, at which the sacrifices were to be offered which had been vowed during a long and protracted drought ( Psalms 65:1-2 ). To the thanksgiving, however, for a gracious rain, and the hope of an abundant harvest ( Psalms 65:9-14 ), is added gratitude for a signal deliverance during a time of distress and commotion affecting all the nations around ( Psalms 65:7-8 ). Thus the Psalm becomes a song of praise to Jehovah as the God of history and the God of nature, alike. From the “Psalms Chronologically Arranged. By Four Friends.” 1867.

Whole Psalm. This is a charming psalm. Coming after the previous sad ones, it seems like the morning after the darkness of night. There is a dewy freshness about it, and from the ninth verse to the end there is a sweet succession of landscape pictures that remind one of the loveliness of spring; and truly it is a description, in natural figures, of that happy state of men’s minds which will be the result of the “Day spring’s visiting us from on high.” Luke 1:7-8 . O. Prescott Hiller.

The first commentary speaks more primarily to the authorship, the facts, and the likely circumstances surrounding David’s writing this Psalm. The second commentary speaks more to this Psalm’s use in religious ceremonies and how it might have fit into the “Hymnal” of the day. The last focusses on the feel and the mood and the atmosphere of the Psalm itself.

Understanding all three of these components I believe will seriously help us in creating the stage in our minds for today’s question of WHERE/WHEN? today where our actors from yesterday’s question of WHO? so that this Psalm can begin to come alive within our mind’s recreation that we are working so hard in this study to see fully manifested.

That’s probably enough for this post, but dig more into the commentaries if you like. See if you can find even more that we can consider about this stage as we are building in our mind’s eye a complete picture, in order to better understand this Psalm.

Next post, we will continue our work on the questions…

[Small Group] Psalm 65 – WHO?

Psalm 65 (AMP)

God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Man.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.

To You belongs silence [the submissive wonder of reverence], and [it bursts into] praise in Zion, O God;
And to You the vow shall be performed.O You who hear prayer,
To You all mankind comes.Wickedness and guilt prevail against me;
Yet as for our transgressions,
You forgive them [removing them from Your sight].

Blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be filled with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.

By awesome and wondrous things You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation,
You who are the trust and hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea;Who creates the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power,Who stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples,So they who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs [the evidence of Your presence].
You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.

You visit the earth and make it overflow [with water];
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You provide their grain, when You have prepared the earth.You water its furrows abundantly,
You smooth its ridges;
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.You crown the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths overflow.

The pastures of the wilderness drip [with dew],
And the hills are encircled with joy.

The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy and they sing.

Looking at the definition of dabar primarily pointing towards speech and words, this reminds me of something Jesus said that seems to fit in this circumstance:

The good man, from his [inner] good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his [inner] evil treasure, brings out evil things. But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak. For by your words [reflecting your spiritual condition] you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by your words [rejecting Me] you will be condemned and sentenced.”
MATTHEW 12:35‭-‬37 AMP

And it also reminds me of

But now the righteousness of God has been clearly revealed [independently and completely] apart from the Law, though it is [actually] confirmed by the Law and the [words and writings of the] Prophets. This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus’ crucifixion]. It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior].
ROMANS 3:21‭-‬26 AMP

Yes, I can see here that David is not claiming his own righteousness(he just confessed that sin had prevailed over him), but he is here acknowledging that God forgives them.

David acknowledges that our transgressions (the Hebrew pesha):

We see they are purged away, covered, atoned for by the Lord:

And this is the Good News since the beginning, seen yet again here to remind us of the covenant relationship between God and His people. We are weak, but He is strong. Even when we have failed Him and not loved Him, He has still loved us and offered us His mercy and grace.

While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly. Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a good man [one who is noble and selfless and worthy] someone might even dare to die. But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today].
ROMANS 5:6‭-‬10 AMP

Having addressed the two PERSONS (individuals) of the WHO? question for this Psalm (David and God), now we will talk about the TYPES that we can recognize hee as well.

We could include the world and mankind in the WHERE? question that comes later, and I believe we probably will once we get there, but I believe we should include both in the WHO? question as well, because there are things in this Psalm where there are exchanges between these two types and the Lord. There are interchanges and interactions that can be seen with each, so they play an active and participatory role as “characters in the story” and not just as the passive settings or environment in which this Psalm takes place.

For example, we see:

O You who hear prayer,
To You all mankind comes.

So “the Lord hears prayer”,

Yes this is in fact — “mankind coming in to the Lord”…

“mankind“:

“Coming in to the Lord“:

There is this interaction between God and His people – not just on a personal level as we saw particularly with David, but as a type, as “mankind” that we see as well.

We see it further played out in the relationship between mankind and God in the following verses:

Blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be filled with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.By awesome and wondrous things You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation,
You who are the trust and hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea;

Yes, there are ones He chooses:

And He is our salvation and our hope:

We can see this right relationship again established with our dependence upon God and not upon ourselves. We can see that this is available to all who might come:

Opening his mouth, Peter said: “Most certainly I understand now that God is not one to show partiality [to people as though Gentiles were excluded from God’s blessing], but in every nation the person who fears God and does what is right [by seeking Him] is acceptable and welcomed by Him.
ACTS 10:34‭-‬35 AMP

And our last type in our study of the WHO? of this Psalm is the World/Creation. You might have even noticed that we started out with God’s relationship to David, then to Mankind, and now to the whole of Creation — almost as if we were on a rocket ship that had departed from David’s presence and the higher we go up, the more that we see how things that once seemed individual are just parts of a greater whole.

The rest of this Psalm discusses the many ways that God not only has sovereignty and power over every facet of His creation, but that He shows favor in and through His creation:

You visit the earth and make it overflow [with water];
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You provide their grain, when You have prepared the earth.You water its furrows abundantly,
You smooth its ridges;
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.You crown the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths overflow.

The pastures of the wilderness drip [with dew],
And the hills are encircled with joy.

The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy and they sing.

So that covers the WHO? question fairly reasonably for now. So we’ll continue on in our study of this Psalm later this week.

God bless you, and may He continue to reveal Himself more in His Word and in your living testimony, child of God!