Bible in one year 9/10/
2022 Psalm 88-89
By Rev. Katherine
Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries : Biblical precepts & Gospel music;
Pastoral ministry & Counseling
Psalm 88 A psalm of the Sons of Korah. A maskil of
Heman the Ezrahite. In this saddest psalm of the Psalter, the writer
describes the calamities facing him(vv.1-9) in the crisis that threatens his
life(vv.10-13), and expresses consternation concerning what is happening in his
life(vv.14-18). Leannoth means “To humble or afflict”. Heman the Ezrahite . A
leader of the Korahite choral guild(1Chron.6:33,37). Verse 3 grave.Heb., Sheol.
That the psalmist’s life was about to terminate in death is seen by the number
of words or concepts used that relate to the nether would: the pit(vv.4,6), the
dead(vv.5,10), the grave(not the word sheol,v.5), darkest depths(v.6), Destruction
(Heb., Abaddon; v.11), darkness(v.12), and the land of oblivion(v.12).
Psalm
88:1-18
O
Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. May my prayer
come before you; turn your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of trouble and
my life draws near the grave. I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man without strength. I am set apart with the dead, like the slain
who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your
care. (vv.1-5).
You
have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily
upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. You have taken from me my
closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot
escape; my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O Lord, every day; I spread
out my hands to you. (vv.6-9).
Do
you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise
you? Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? Are
your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the
land of oblivion? But I cry to you for help, O Lord; in the morning my prayer
comes before you. Why, O Lord do your reject me and hide your face from me?
(vv.10-14).
From
my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors
and am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed
me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest
friend. (vv.15-18).
Psalm
89 A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. In this royal psalm, the writer
praises the Lord for His covenant with David(vv.1-4) and for His character(vv.5-18);
he then rehearses the Davidic covenant in poetic form(vv.19-37; 2Sam.7:12-16),
laments the king’s present humiliating defeat(vv.38-45), and petitions the Lord
to remember His covenant(vv.46-51). Ethan the Ezrahite. Probably identical with
Jeduthun (Psalm39) though referring here to a descendant of the Ethan of
David’s time (1Chron.15:19), in that the disaster of verses 38:45 did not occur
during David’s reign but later, during the decline of Judah. Or the term may
refer to a choir guild bearing Ethan’s name. verses 30-37 though punishment
will follow disobedience, the Davidic covenant will remain inviolable.
Verses 38-45 This lament protests God’s apparent spurning of His covenant
because of some humiliating defeat suffered by the Davidic king.
Psalm
89: 1-52
You
said, “ I have make a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my
servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through
all generations.” (vv.3-4).
The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your
faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare
with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? In the council
of the holy ones God is greatly feared; He is more awesome than all who
surround him. (vv.5-7).
O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are
mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging
sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies. (vv.8-10).
The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
you founded the world and all that is in it. You created the north and the south; Tabor and
Hermon sing for joy at your name. Your arm is endued with power; your hand is strong, your right hand
exalted.(vv.11-13).
Righteousness
and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before
you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light
of your presence. O Lord. (vv.14-15).
Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful
people you said: “ I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have exalted a
young man from among the people. I have found David my servant; with my sacred
oil I have anointed him. (vv.19-20).
My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will
strengthen him. No enemy will subject him to tribute; no wicked man will
oppress him. I will crush his foes before him and strike down his
adversaries.(vv.21-23).
My faithful love will be with him, and through my
name his horn will be exalted. I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand
over the rivers. He will call out to me, “ You are my Father, my God, the Rock
my Savior.”(vv.24-26).
I
will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never
fail. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens
endure.(vv.27-29).
If his sons forsake my law and do not
follow my statutes, if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, I
will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; but I will
not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter what my
lips have uttered. Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—and I will not lie
to David- that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me
like the sun; It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful
witness in the sky.” (vv.30-37).
But you have rejected, you have spurned, you
have been very angry with your anointed one. You have renounced the covenant
with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust. You have broken
through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins. All who pass by
have plundered him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors. You have exalted
the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice. You have
turned back the edge of his sword and have not supported him in battle. You
have put an end to his splendor and cast his throne to the ground. You have cut
short the days of his youth; you have covered him with a mantle of shame.
(vv.38-45).
How long, O Lord? will you hide yourself
forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how fleeting is my
life. For what futility you have created all men? What man can live and not see
death, or save himself from the power of the grave? (vv.46-48).
O Lord, where is your former great love, which in
your faithfulness you swore to David? Remember, Lord, how your servant has been
mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations, the taught with
which your enemies have mocked, O Lord, with which they have mocked every step
of your anointed one. Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen! (vv.49-52).
Bibliography,
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
No comments:
Post a Comment