Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

(Rom. 8:31,32) We who live in the light of the New Testament should have an even higher level of en- couragement than David. The day we call upon God the tide of the battle turns in our favor!

“O God, I praise your word. Yes, Lord, I praise your word. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?” (10,11)

David has a glimpse of Christ, the Word of God. Of this verse Delitzsch says, “ ‘Through Elo- him…will I praise the word’ ; thus absolutely is the word named; it is therefore the divine word…there- fore the divine Son 2 .” He is saying that the sentence structure in the Hebrew language leaves no doubt that this is speaking of Jesus, the Word of God. “So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us.” (Jn. 1:14) Seeing Jesus in the Word of God caused all of David’s fear to dissipate. We should also expect to see Christ as we reverently read his Word. Psalms 56/57 are also termed ‘favorite word’ psalms as David repeats words and phrases for em- phasis and effect. “I trust in God, so why should I be afraid…” is a repeat of verse 4. We must remem- ber that these are songs and it is very natural to sing a refrain of words over and over again.

IV THE SACRIFICE OF ‘THANKS ’- 12,13.

“I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have res- cued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping.”(12,13)

From these verses we can assume that David made some promises to God during this time of great dan- ger and now he wants to fulfill his commitment out of a grateful heart. Many agreements made with God during moments of distress go unfulfilled once the danger passes and people forget to be thankful. God keeps his word and he expects us to do the same.

“So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.” (13)

Jesus quotes this verse in the Gospel of John claiming that he is the “life-giving light” that sustained David through his ordeal in Gath. “’I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.’” (Jn. 8:12) Jesus the “Light of the World” will be as close to each one of us as he was with David during the dark moments when he was in the hands of the Philistines.

1 Boyce 2 Keil & Delitzsch

PSALM 57: BE EXALTED, O GOD Praising God in the Caves of Life

David writes this psalm from the shadows of a cave as the army of King Saul is pursuing him. He rests in the shadow of God’s presence and a new song of exaltation is awakened in his heart that ex- tends to the whole earth. It is one of two psalms composed in a cave, the other being Psalm 142. David focuses intensely upon God as he is mentioned 21 times in name and pronouns. This is a ‘twin’ with psalm 56 as their construction, content and length is similar and both are named ‘Michtams’, meaning ‘golden’ in the Hebrew language. Like gold, the thoughts presented by this psalm have remained bril- liant and untarnished through the centuries. The 2 ‘Interludes’ (Selahs) divide it into 3 sections:

I THE SHADOW OF YOUR WINGS- 1-3 II THE SWORD OF THE WICKED- 4-6 III THE SONG FOR THE WORLD- 7-11

INTRODUCTION:

“For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time he fled from Saul and went into the cave. To be sung to the tune ‘Do Not Destroy!’”

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