Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

• They angered the Lord- “At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord, causing Moses serious trou- ble. They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.” (32, 33) Moses was instructed to speak to the rock to provide water for the complaining Israelites and instead he struck the rock as he had done previously after they left Egypt. His act of frustration prevented him from entering the promise land: “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”(Num. 20:12)

IV THEY POLLUTED THE LAND - 34-39 Israel in the Promise Land

• They failed to destroy the nations- “Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had told them to. Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.” (34, 35) The evil that Israel tolerated and grew accustomed to eventually destroyed them. • They worshiped their idols- “They worshiped their idols, and this led to their down fall. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with mur- der. They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.” (36-39) The worship of the god Moloch involved burning their children to death in a sacrificial fire. The innocence of these helpless children angered God beyond appeasement. The Israelites were spiritually like an unfaithful marriage partner: “They rejected his laws and the covenant he had made with their an- cestors, …They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” (2 Kgs. 17:15) “That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special posses- sion. He handed them over to pagan nations, and those who hated them ruled over them. Their ene- mies crushed them and brought them under their cruel power. Again and again he delivered them, but they continued to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin.” (40-43) This passage is mostly in reference to the repeated cycle of bondage and deliverance that they ex- perienced in the Book of Judges: “Again the Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites fled to the mountains…”(Jdgs. 6:1) “Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries. He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love. He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness.” (44-46) This passage seemingly refers to the kindness that King Evil Merodach of Babylon showed to King Jehoiachin and the exiled tribe of Judah. “He was kind to Jehoiachin and released him from prison…He spoke pleasantly to Jehoiachin and gave him preferential treatment over all the other exiled kings in Babylon.” (2 Kgs. 25:25) V HE PITIED THEM - 40-46- Israel in Exile

“O Lord our God, save us! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you. [triumph in your praise. NIV] (47)

Eventually king Cyrus of Persia showed them the ultimate kindness and allowed them to return to their land to build the Lord’s temple: “He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem in the land of Judah. All of you who are the Lord’s people may return to Israel for this task. May the Lord your God be with you!” (2 Chron. 36:23) God is building a church of worship where it is always appropriate to praise him!

VI PRAISE THE LORD - 48 Israel Restored

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Praise the Lord!” (48)

This is generally considered to be the ‘doxology’ (ending praise) for the entire fourth Book of the Psalms (Numbers). It is the first time a single ‘Amen’ ends the praise as Books 1-3 all end with ‘Amen

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