Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in God’s rich nourishment of his special olive tree.”(Rom. 11:17) David learned 3 vital lessons from the olive tree:

1. I trust- “I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.” (8)

A tree is defenseless, it must trust in God’s love to preserve it: “When you are besieging a town and the war drags on, do not destroy the trees. Eat the fruit, but do not cut down the trees. They are not en- emies that need to be attacked! (Deut. 20:19) David chooses to live his life under the canopy of God’s love rather than the darkness of hatred and lies chosen by Saul and Doeg. The murderous Saul of Tar- sus is transformed into the Apostle Paul and writes the greatest description of love in all of human liter- ature: “There are three things that will endure–faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13)

2. I Praise- “I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done.” (9)

Every tree God created was made to lift its branches in praise: “The mountains and hills will bust into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!” (Isa. 55:12) David was able to get past this hor- rible chapter in his life to become the great leader of praise for all generations. Saul of Tarsus rose above his shameful past to lead the church in praise: “Glory and honor to God forever and ever. He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.” (1 Tim. 1:17)

3. I Wait- “I will wait for your mercies in the presence of your people.” (9)

A tree is patient in all the seasons of life; in the exciting springtime, in the warm summer, in the fruit- ful fall and in the coldest winter always waiting for the promised mercy of God. Paul stands along side of David in God’s heavenly house bathed in the mercy and love of Jesus.

PSALM 53: THERE IS NO GOD God Repeats Himself

The 53d Psalm describes the foolishness of ignoring the existence of God and is almost an exact repeat of Psalm 14. The first half of it is quoted in Romans 3 making the opening verses one of the rare sections of the Bible where God speaks the same thing 3 different times. If God says something only once it is important, how much more should we carefully listen to him on this subject when it is repeated in multiple passages. God knew that atheism would be a major philosophy for modern man, these psalms speak directly to that issue. There are 7 references to God in each psalm but in Psalm 14 Jehovah is used 4 times and Elo- him 3 times. In Psalm 53 all references to God are Elohim. Perhaps the significance to the inter- changeableness of God’s names is in the mystery of the Godhead where the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all agree and speak the same thing. One other major difference is verse 5 and 6 in Psalm 14 is condensed into simply verse 5 in Psalm 53. The Psalm 14 version is more hopeful and redemptive while the Psalm 53 version is judgmental and rejecting. Atheists can change their minds and receive the won- derful love of Christ or harden their hearts and be rejected by Elohim, the mighty one. Psalm 14 was written first while Psalm 53 is a later adaptation commemorating the defeat of some god- less nation. Although it is not certain, different writers have suggested that Psalm 14 was modified into Psalm 53 during the reigns of either Jehoshaphat or Hezekiah when they endured massive enemy in- vasions 1 . The outline follows Psalm 14:

I THE FALLEN RACE- 1-3 II THE FOOLISH PERSON- 4,5 III THE FREE SALVATION- 6

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