Author: Nick Booth

Psalm 52 and 1 Samuel 22. 9-23

Corrie ten Boom was a young woman and member of a watch making family in Holland during the Second World War. The whole family hid Jews in their home and helped them escape the Nazis. Eventually they were discovered, arrested and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Four of the family died, Corrie was released through a clerical error and two weeks later all the women in the camp in her age group were killed in gas chambers. Her sister, Betsie, died of ill health (16.12.1944), prior to her death she told Corrie, ‘There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still.’ The ESV Global Study Bible’s sub title for Psalm 52 is the Steadfast Love of God Endures. A summary of Corrie’s and her family’s lives can be found on, https://www.tenboom.org/about-the-ten-booms/

The opening stanza vv1-4 originally applied to Doeg, the Edomite, who betrayed David and killed a whole family of priests, in total 85, who provided sustenance to David as he was running for his life when threatened by Saul. It equally applies to anybody whether individual or organizational that plans and carries out evil. The psalm characterizes such behaviour as boasting of evil, v1 discussing plans for evil, v2 loving and enjoying evil vv 2,4 lying or being deceitful. v3
God did not prevent Doeg from carrying out his evil actions in conjunction with Saul. The psalm does however say that whatever their temporary prosperity God will judge them and bring about their destruction. v5 The psalm contains the inference that this is an eternal judgement as well as one applied to one’s mortal lifetime.  The psalm contrasts David, who made God his refuge, with Doeg who sided with and relied on the rich and powerful.
Verses 8 to 9 contrast the wicked who are ‘uprooted’ with the godly who become like a green olive tree. Olive trees are long lived, up to 500 years, and so the image is of endurance in God’s love. ‘I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.’ v 8 Because the psalmist has such confidence in God’s love he is able to wait in hope. ‘I will wait for your name, for it is good in the presence of the godly.’ v9 Corrie ten Boom was an example of a woman who waited upon the Lord, endured and overcame.
When we are feeling embattled and even find we have enemies, are we able to wait for the Lord?

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord – Chris Tomlin

Psalm 51.1-6 and 2 Samuel 11 and 12

A rich and a poor man lived in the same city. The rich man had many sheep and cattle and the poor man had only one ewe lamb. When the rich man received a visitor, he took the poor man’s only lamb to prepare a meal for the visitor. The lamb, being a ewe, was the poor man’s only hope for a future as from it he could breed more sheep. This is the story Nathan the prophet told David ^{2 Samuel 12.1-10} to expose to him the depth of sin he had committed against God and Uriah the Hitite. ^{2 Samuel 11} It was a case of sin mounting upon sin through the abuse of power. In the Harry Potter books there is a mirror where you see the greatest desire of your heart. Psalm 51 is like a mirror that has exposed David’s heart as God sees it.

The opening stanza ^{vv 1,2} is a plea to God for mercy purely on the basis of God’s love. There are no excuses offered or bargaining on the basis of other good things he has done.  He knows he has no capacity to cleanse himself from sin. He knows God knows his actions and his heart. One sin led to another. He coveted another man’s wife and by abusing power committed adultery with her.  To cover up his sin he tried to hide his adultery by making it plausible that Uriah was the father of Bathsheba’s child and when this failed because of Uriah’s loyalty to the king and his fellow soldiers, he conspired with his leading general to murder Uriah. In legal terms because of David’s power and status there were no consequences for David and he got to make his mistress, whether forced or willing, his wife.

Only when confronted with his sin did David repent and plead for mercy. Just as God through Nathan convicted David of his profound sin and rebellion against God, who had blessed him greatly, so it is God, whether through the direct action of the Holy Spirit or by other means who convicts us of our sin. Verse 3, ‘For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me,’ ^v3 accurately describes how God penetrates our consciousness and raises our awareness of our need for cleansing. Clearly David had treated Uriah with fatal abject disregard and yet David’s words addressed to God are, ‘Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.’ ^v3 This not to ignore the criminal injustice done to Uriah, but to emphasize that all sin is fundamentally against God.

David recognizes that God has the right to judge and is right in his judgements. ^v4 He also understands that he is intrinsically rebellious against God. ^{vv 5,6} This is frequently a major obstacle that prevents people from seeking God’s mercy as our pride does not want us to accept it. Paul confesses the truth of his inbuilt rebellion against God in Romans 7.19-20, ‘For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do— this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.’

Can you remember a time when you became particularly aware of rebellion against God’s ways and a need for his mercy?

Have mercy on me, O God – Graham Kendrick

Psalm 50

There are times when in our close relationships there is the risk of going through the motions of well worn habits while the intimate core that was once the focus has withered through neglect. In other words there can be a form of relationship without a heart. From a Christian perspective our human relationships are meant to reflect our relationship with God. Psalm 50 is a prophetic message to his own people about their relationship with him.

The opening stanza ^{vv 1-6} draws upon the exodus experience where an awesome God establishes his covenantal relationship with his people. The whole of creation declares his greatness and righteous character. ‘The mighty one, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth,’ ^v1 and ‘the heavens proclaim his righteousness,  for he is a God of justice.’ ^v6

The second stanza ^{vv 7-13} challenges any misconceived notion people might have that God is in some way dependent on human worship or actions. Ancient Judaism’s religious practices shared in common with the other surrounding religious practices, the incessant sacrificing of animals. C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘we should have not enjoyed the ancient rituals. Every temple in the world, the elegant Parthenon at Athens and the holy Temple at Jerusalem, was a sacred slaughterhouse.’ God’s words as conveyed by the psalmist are, ‘I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.’ ^{vv 9,10}

It is a reminder that frequently the form of worship in modern services can become our dominant preoccupation whether formal or informal but the form of worship does not constitute the relationship.

Verses 14 – 23 set out God’s basis for a relationship with him for the people of God as understood in Old Testament times. Framing all, to start and finish what God says, is thankfulness. ‘Sacrifice thank offerings to God,’ ^v14 and ‘Those who sacrifice thank offerings honour me.’ ^V23 Thank offerings were a form of fellowship offering. All fellowship offerings were voluntary and the other forms were votive offerings, brought to fulfil a vow and freewill offerings, brought to express love and worship of the Lord.

Verses 16 – 21 reveals how one’s life is the evidence of true freewill offerings. It is what we do, ^v18 how we speak, ^v19 and the honourability of our relationships. ^v20  Asaph, the psalm’s author was a contemporary of David and yet it is striking how modern this set of principles for a relationship with God is and how challenging it remains.

In what terms do we think of worship?

Do we ever get tempted to think that in some way God needs us?

Have we been prompted to examine any aspect of our life?

How Great is Our God – Chris Tomlin

Psalm 49 and Luke 12. 13-21

Benjamin Franklin’s famous words are often quoted but the truth of them had been apparent for centuries.  Psalm 49 confronts the reality of death and whilst not speaking exactly about taxes does refer to the cost of life beyond the grave. ‘Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit.’ ^{vv 7-9} The Psalm forms part of the bible’s wisdom literature and responds in part to the last verse of the previous psalm that speaks of God’s guidance.

“It addresses the confusion that the faithful often feel when they encounter trouble even while unfaithful people seem to get along so well. Is not God expected to show his favour for the faithful in how he treats them? The answer is that God will distinguish between the faithful and the unfaithful in what happens to them when they die ^{vv 12,20} Verses 12 and 20 are very similar, the key difference being in the words translated ‘remain’ and ‘understanding,’ which sound almost the same in Hebrew. The element of understanding makes the difference.  Those who sing this psalm will want to continue living faithfully. They will be strengthened against the temptation either to despair or to give up and join the unfaithful.” (ESV Global Study Bible)

Jesus takes this theme in the parable of the Rich Fool. In a response to a demand to settle a family dispute of an inheritance Jesus warns them to be on their guard against greed, ‘life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’ ^{Luke 12.15} Life should though, be lived in the awareness that one might die without warning. At that point it is what we stored up before God that is important.  ^{Luke 12. 20,21}

Psalm 49 does contain within it the promise of resurrection ^{v 15} although as yet the exact form and means of the resurrection is yet to be revealed. The ransom and resurrection become the principle focus of the New Testament.

Faithfull One So Unchanging

Psalm 48

Does the place you are in impact your sense of the presence of God and your ability to worship God?  The protestant church has had an uncomfortable history with buildings and symbols fearing that manmade objects can lure one into idolatry.  Isaiah was clear that God cannot be contained within a building, ‘Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.’ ^{Is 66.-2} However, it is true for many that we associate a place either natural or man-made with an encounter with God. A woman seeking refuge in this country, with little or no knowledge of Christianity, walked into Liverpool Cathedral and sensed God’s presence with her. This led her to find a local church and ask how to become a Christian and so began her daily walk with God. Special places form a part of our spirituality because they convey our awareness of God.

The complexity of the Ancient Hebrew makes the translation of some words in Psalm 48 difficult and so aspects of their meaning are not easy to understand. As the Psalmist worships the Lord in the temple and on Mount Zion he is aware God surrounds him in every sense. Zaphon ^v2 a mountain in the north also means north.  East ^v7 means in front as the Hebrews made the top of their compass where the sun rose before them. East also means before in time. The word translated ‘the next generation’ ^v13 also means behind, in terms of direction and after, relating to time. The Great Lord, most worthy of praise, ^v1 found in the city of God is not confined to the city alone, he surrounds them in all directions and through all time.

Mount Zion and Jerusalem in this psalm are synonymous.  Mount Zion is given exaggerated praise ^v2 when comparing it to Mount Zaphon, a much bigger mountain in the north, which Caananites believed to be the home of Baal. The city of Jerusalem was seen as a citadel defended by God that God makes impregnable. ^{vv 4-8} The particular incident referred to is not known although there are several possibilities recorded in the bible. A leading candidate is when the Assyrians failed in their siege in the time of Hezikiah. ^{2 Kings 19.35-36} New Testament imagery of the temple of God refers to the heart of the believer ^{1 Corinthians 3.16} or the collective church. ^{1 Corinthians 3.17} The threat to the temple, in Paul’s letters, is not physical destruction but the corruption of faith through false teaching leading believers away from Christ and immoral behaviour. As the psalmist celebrated the temple in Jerusalem as sacred so we are to treat our lives and bodies as sacred. The whole community of the universal church is to be considered the temple of God. ‘So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.’ ^{Ephesians 2.19-22}

To help us maintain a mindset where the unity in the Spirit with Jesus ^{(1 Corinthians 6.17)} is worked out in our lives, the psalmist provides us with helpful guidance.  He spends time thinking about the steadfast love of God. ^v9 The more we grasp God’s love for us, the more we will respond with obedience and love towards him. He also enjoys the righteousness of God and spends time rejoicing in his judgements. ^v10b,11 When we live in a society that frequently values and applauds things that do not accord with God’s righteousness it makes it easy to drift away from godliness. Finally spending time considering how God has built his kingdom through the sacrificial love of Jesus on the cross and his glorious resurrection will encourage us to pass on the good news and that good news will guide our lives. ^{Vv 12-14}

Jesus, all for Jesus – Robin Mark