Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

Psalm 18; a highly Messianic psalm: “The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death itself stared me in the face.” (Psa. 18:5) It is reflective of Jesus who escaped the ropes of eternal death by his righteous life and resurrection. Now God’s kindness, goodness and mercy can be displayed to those who come to Jesus like children with great humility: “I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, anyone who becomes as hum- ble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Mt. 18:3, 4)

“Now I can rest again, for the Lord has been so good to me. He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. And so I walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth!” (7-9)

Peace is the great gift that accompanies all who trust in Christ. Our soul can find rest and calm in the sanctuary of God’s heart of goodness. “I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (Jn. 14:27) We can- not walk with our eyes full of tears as it obscures our vision and causes us to stumble. Jesus loved to ‘walk’ with his disciples, talking with them and teaching them eternal things as they journeyed together: “As they (two followers on the Emmaus Road) walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. Suddenly, Jesus himself came along and joined them and began walking beside them.” (Lk. 24:14)

“I believed in you, so I prayed, ‘I am deeply troubled, Lord.’ In my anxiety I cried out to you, ‘These people are all liars!’” (10, 11)

Belief drives us to prayer. Here the troubled writer is led by the Holy Spirit to take his troubles and anxieties to the Lord. Instead of directly accusing people of being liars he pours out that frustration cor- rectly to God. There are many debates as to the proper rendering of verse 10: “I believed in you…” but thankfully Paul addresses this scripture in his second Letter to the Corinthians giving us the Spirit inspired mean- ing. He is discussing the closeness of death that he has faced constantly as a servant of Christ. He then takes it a step further in explaining the principle of Christ’s death working in the believer daily so that the life of Jesus may also shine in our lives: “Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you. But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, ‘I believed in God, and so I speak.’ …(Ps. 116:10) “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.” (2 Cor. 4:11-13, 16) In the Christian experience, life always follows death; there cannot be one without the other. To have the ‘faith the psalmist had’ spoken of here, we must learn to speak words that reflect faith in God in our deepest trials. We must learn the language of the psalms! When we worship and sing psalms such as this it helps us to combat the negative force of unbelief. Our lips are engaging our heart as the heart engages the lips. “What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me? I will lift up a cup symbolizing his salvation; I will praise the Lord’s name for saving me. I will keep my promises to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” (12-14) Now begins the thanksgiving section of the psalm, the author is truly grateful for the deliverance from death and wants to respond to the Lord’s goodness. He realizes that he cannot add anything to the salvation provided for him, it was totally the merciful act of God. There are three things springing from his ‘will’ that he has resolved to do in response: • “I will lift up a cup symbolizing his salvation…” In the ancient world, a god was worshiped by lift- ing a cup of sacred drink in honor of their name. Though he is referring to the Passover Cup, the psalmist is looking through a prophetic lens at the coming ‘Lord’s Supper’ mentioned to the Corinthian church; “When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the benefits of the blood of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16) Believers must learn to be receivers of the completed work of Christ. II I WILL KEEP MY PROMISES - 12-19 Determined to Live

293