Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

• “like a lonely owl in a far-off wilderness.” (6) Owls love deserted places such as the ruins of Jerusalem. • “I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.”(7) This image emphasizes his loneliness. A sparrow will sing mournfully when it loses its mate. • “I eat ashes instead of my food.” (9) This is hyperbole (exaggeration), intending to emphasize his deep sorrow. • “My tears run down into my drink” (9) • “For you have picked me up and thrown me out.” (10) The psalmist recognizes that God has arranged his circumstances. • “My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.”(11) • “I am withering like grass.”(11) Hezekiah also used ‘similes’ to describe his deadly sickness in the book of Isaiah particularly empha- sizing his knowledge of birds:

• “My life has been blown away like a shepherd’s tent in a storm.” (38:12) • “It has been cut short, as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom.”(38:12) • “…I was torn apart as though by lions.” (38:13) • “Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane…” (38:14) • “…I moaned like a mourning dove.” (38:14)

II YOU WILL ARISE – Present Favor- 12-17

“But you, O Lord, will rule forever. Your fame will endure to every generation.” (12)

Luther says: ‘Everything that has gone before looks to this verse 2 .’ Although it is difficult, it is nec- essary to lift our attention to God even in the most trying times as it changes our perspective. Suffering accents the contrast between that which is eternal and that, which is temporary. Through suffering we lay aside the valueless for the valuable: “For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!” (2 Cor. 4:17) You will arise and have mercy on Zion (Jerusalem) and now is the time to pity her, now is the time you promised to help. For your people love every stone in her walls and show favor even to the dust in her streets.” (12-14) This is most likely in reference to Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the 70 years of judgment upon the Jewish nation for their sins: “Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for sev- enty years. Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins, says the Lord.” (Jer. 25:12) God had a set time to favor his people and he kept his promise to rebuild the desolate nation. In the Old Testament the walls were made of natural stone, in the New Covenant the stones are ‘living’ people that God is rescuing from the ‘dust’, the ruins of bro- ken lives. “And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. “ (1 Peter 2:5) “And the nations will tremble before the Lord. The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory. For the Lord will rebuild Jerusalem. He will appear in his glory. He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas.”(15-17) The nations and kings did tremble (respect) the Lord as the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. Ne- hemiah, the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes of Persia was sent back to Jerusalem to restore the city: “If it please Your Majesty…send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.” (Neh. 2:5) Jesus fulfilled these verses when he traveled to Jerusalem over 400 years later and answered ‘the prayers of the destitute’ healing the blind, the lepers and the distressed people.

III YET TO BE CREATED - 18-22

“Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a nation yet to be created will praise the Lord. Tell them the Lord looked down from his sanctuary. He looked to the earth from heaven to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die. And so the Lord’s fame will be celebrated in Zion, his praises in Jerusalem, when multitudes gather together and kingdoms come to worship the Lord.” (18-22)

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