Bible in one year 8/8/2022 The book of Psalm 5-7 By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce

 Bible in one year 8/8/2022  The book of Psalm 5-7

By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce                                                                                                          

Christian Arts Ministries : Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry & Counseling

 

Psalm 5  In this individual lament psalm, David entreats God to answer his morning prayer (vv.1-3), describes God’s hatred of sin (vv.4-6), asks God to guide him in righteousness (vv.7-10), and rejoices in God’s protection and blessing (vv.11-12).

Psalm 5: 1-12

Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. (vv.1-3).

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you with wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. (vv.4-5).

You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors. But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. (vv.6-7).

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies make straight your way before me. Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. Declare them guilty. O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. (vv.8-10).

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. (vv.11-12).

 

 Psalm 6 In this individual lament psalm, David expresses his distress that God uses his adversaries to chasten him (vv.1-3), petitions God for deliverance (vv.4-5), laments his sufferings (vv.6-7), and warns his enemies to depart, confident that the Lord will answer his prayer (vv.8-10). This is the first of the penitential psalms(also Pss. 32,38,51,102,130,143). In these, the distress afflicting the psalmist is his sin, and so the lament is a confession of sin. In verses 2-3 In David's dismay, David asks God how long this chastening will last. David’s extremity (vv.6-7) is God’s opportunity(vv.9-10). David offers two reasons why God should deliver him : 1) God’s unfailing love (loyal love, see Hos.2:19), and 2) David’s inability to praise God in the grave (Sheol (Gen.37:35). David is not here discussing the question of whether there is consciousness after death; he is simply stating that only the living can publicly give thanks to God here on earth. (vv.4-5). Verse 8 David speaks as a king purging his kingdom of evildoers. Christ quoted the verse in a similar way(Matt.7:23). 

Psalm 6: 1-10 

“ O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?”  (vv.1-3).

Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you form the grave? I am worn out form groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. (vv.4-7).

Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has head my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace. (vv.8-10).

 

 Psalm 7  In this individual lament psalm, David confidently seeks God for deliverance (vv.1-2), affirms his innocence (vv.3-5), appeals to God to vindicate him from slander (vv.6-10) and bring judgment on his wicked enemies (vv.11-16), and resolves to praise God for His righteousness(v.17). This is the first of the imprecatory psalms, which contain an invocation of judgment, calamity, or curse against one’s enemies who are viewed as the enemies of God. Shiggaion. An obscure term, perhaps indicating an ecstatic song. Cush. Not mentioned elsewhere; probably he was one of Saul’s henchmen sent to kill David. Verses 12-14 God is the subject of the actions of verse 13, but verse 14 again describes the actions of the wicked man, where the fertility of evil is compared to the process of childbearing.

Psalm 7 : 1-17   O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me. O Lord my God, if I have done this and there is quilt on my hands- If I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe- then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust.(vv.1-5).

Arise, O Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God, decree justice. Let the assembled peoples gather around you. Rule over them from on high; let the Lord judge the peoples. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High. O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure. (vv.6-9).

My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day. If he does not relent, he will sharpen his word; he will bend and string his bow. He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows. He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives  birth to disillusionment. He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head. I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. (vv.10-17).

 

Bibliography,

 

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.