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    Ancient Truth: Psalms
    Ancient Truth: Psalms
    Ancient Truth: Psalms
    Ebook338 pages4 hours

    Ancient Truth: Psalms

    By Ed Hurst

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    About this ebook

    The Bible is Ancient Truth, but must be read in its own ancient context to be fully understood. Even the people among whom Jesus lived no longer understood their own Hebrew heritage because the leadership had embraced Western intellectual assumptions which were then foreign to Scripture. Where we stand today is even more foreign. The burden of responsibility is upon us to travel back into that world, to the context in which God chose to reveal Himself. This volume examines Psalms in light of those Hebrew mental assumptions.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEd Hurst
    Release dateOct 8, 2017
    ISBN9781370442706
    Ancient Truth: Psalms
    Author

    Ed Hurst

    Born 18 September 1956 in Seminole, OK. Traveled a great deal in Europe with the US Army, worked a series of odd jobs, and finally in public education. Ordained to the ministry as a Baptist, then with a non-denominational endorsement. Currently semi-retired.

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      Book preview

      Ancient Truth - Ed Hurst

      Ancient Truth: Psalms

      By Ed Hurst

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2017 by Ed Hurst

      Copyright notice: People of honor need no copyright laws; they are only too happy to give credit where credit is due. Others will ignore copyright laws whenever they please. If you are of the latter, please note what Moses said about dishonorable behavior – be sure your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23)

      Permission is granted to copy, reproduce and distribute for non-commercial reasons, provided the book remains in its original form.

      Cover Art: James J. Tissot, David Singing and Playing His Harp (1896-1902), gouache on board, The Jewish Museum, New York; image is public domain.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction to the Ancient Truth Series

      Introduction to Psalms

      Book 1: Psalms 1-41

      Psalm 1

      Psalm 2

      Psalm 3

      Psalm 4

      Psalm 5

      Psalm 6

      Psalm 7

      Psalm 8

      Psalm 9

      Psalm 10

      Psalm 11

      Psalm 12

      Psalm 13

      Psalm 14

      Psalm 15

      Psalm 16

      Psalm 17

      Psalm 18

      Psalm 19

      Psalm 20

      Psalm 21

      Psalm 22

      Psalm 23

      Psalm 24

      Psalm 25

      Psalm 26

      Psalm 27

      Psalm 28

      Psalm 29

      Psalm 30

      Psalm 31

      Psalm 32

      Psalm 33

      Psalm 34

      Psalm 35

      Psalm 36

      Psalm 37

      Psalm 38

      Psalm 39

      Psalm 40

      Psalm 41

      Book 2: Psalms 42-72

      Psalm 42

      Psalm 43

      Psalm 44

      Psalm 45

      Psalm 46

      Psalm 47

      Psalm 48

      Psalm 49

      Psalm 50

      Psalm 51

      Psalm 52

      Psalm 53

      Psalm 54

      Psalm 55

      Psalm 56

      Psalm 57

      Psalm 58

      Psalm 59

      Psalm 60

      Psalm 61

      Psalm 62

      Psalm 63

      Psalm 64

      Psalm 65

      Psalm 66

      Psalm 67

      Psalm 68

      Psalm 69

      Psalm 70

      Psalm 71

      Psalm 72

      Book 3: Psalms 73-89

      Psalm 73

      Psalm 74

      Psalm 75

      Psalm 76

      Psalm 77

      Psalm 78

      Psalm 79

      Psalm 80

      Psalm 81

      Psalm 82

      Psalm 83

      Psalm 84

      Psalm 85

      Psalm 86

      Psalm 87

      Psalm 88

      Psalm 89

      Book 4: Psalms 90-106

      Psalm 90

      Psalm 91

      Psalm 92

      Psalm 93

      Psalm 94

      Psalm 95

      Psalm 96

      Psalm 97

      Psalm 98

      Psalm 99

      Psalm 100

      Psalm 101

      Psalm 102

      Psalm 103

      Psalm 104

      Psalm 105

      Psalm 106

      Book 5: Psalms 106-150

      Psalm 107

      Psalm 108

      Psalm 109

      Psalm 110

      Psalm 111

      Psalm 112

      Psalm 113

      Psalm 114

      Psalm 115

      Psalm 116

      Psalm 117

      Psalm 118

      Psalm 119

      Psalm 120

      Psalm 121

      Psalm 122

      Psalm 123

      Psalm 124

      Psalm 125

      Psalm 126

      Psalm 127

      Psalm 128

      Psalm 129

      Psalm 130

      Psalm 131

      Psalm 132

      Psalm 133

      Psalm 134

      Psalm 135

      Psalm 136

      Psalm 137

      Psalm 138

      Psalm 139

      Psalm 140

      Psalm 141

      Psalm 142

      Psalm 143

      Psalm 144

      Psalm 145

      Psalm 146

      Psalm 147

      Psalm 148

      Psalm 149

      Psalm 150

      Introduction to the Ancient Truth Series

      Mankind is fallen, in need of redemption. The one single source is the God who created us. He has revealed Himself and His will for us, the path to redemption. The pinnacle of His efforts to reveal Himself came in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

      Most of us understand easily enough that Divine Son was born into a particular historical and cultural setting, one that is frankly foreign to us, and we to it. The distance is more than mere years of time, or language and culture, but a wealth of things that fall between Him and us. At a minimum, we could point out the Post-Modern culture, Victorian feminism, Enlightenment secularism, European feudalism, and Germanic tribal mythology – so much we can point out without much difficulty. What no one in our Western world today seems to realize is the single greatest barrier to understanding Christ is the thing which lies under all of those obscuring layers of influence: Western Civilization itself.

      That is, the ancient Classical Greco-Roman world is built essentially on Aristotle and Plato. Those two are not simply alien to the people of the Bible, but their basic view of reality is frankly hostile to that of the Bible. Aristotle rejected Hebrew Scripture because he rejected the underlying worldview of the people God used to write that Scripture.

      This book is not a long academic dissertation on the differences; that has been very well covered by far better qualified writers. But this should serve as notice to the reader how our Western intellectual heritage, including our basic assumptions of how a human can know, understand, and deal with reality, is not what’s in the Bible. If you bring that Western intellectual heritage to Scripture, you will not come away with a proper understanding of God’s revelation. If the rules, the essential assumptions, by which you discern and organize truth about your world remain rooted in the West, you will not fully understand the precious treasure of truth God left for us in the Bible.

      We do not need yet one more commentary on the Bible from a foreign Western intellectual background; we need something that speaks to us from the background of the Hebrew people. God spoke first to them. He did not simply find the Hebrew people useful for His revelation; He made the Hebrew people precisely so He would have a fit vehicle for His revelation. Bridging the divide between them and us is no small task, but to get readers started down that path, I offer this series of commentaries that attempt to present a Hebrew understanding for the Western mind. Not as some authoritative expert, but I write as another explorer who reports what he has found so far. I encourage you to consider what I share and heed the call to make your own exploration of these things.

      A note about Scripture translations: There are dozens of English translations of the Bible. None of them is perfect, if for no other reason translation itself is shooting at a moving target. More importantly, it is virtually impossible to translate across the vast cultural and intellectual gulf between that of current English-speakers and those who wrote the Bible. This author currently recommends the New King James Version.

      Introduction to Psalms

      The English name of this book arises from the Septuagint, and is a Greek word (psalmoi) meaning songs accompanied by a stringed instrument (psalter). David started the collection with older existing material and wrote many more. Quite a few were added later and it’s hard to be sure who and when. The Hebrew language and culture do not lend themselves to our kind of precision in attributing authorship. Most Scripture was regarded as property of the nation via the Covenant of Moses. David had wanted to build the Temple and commenced collecting the materials, including these songs. By the time Solomon actually finished the Temple, much of the organization for worship was already in place, including a very large choral group and orchestra.

      Because this collection had a distinct official use in ritual worship, it was arranged, and perhaps the songs edited, up until the time of Ezra when it reached the shape we see today. There is a sense in which all the scholarly discussions of the various types of songs and how they were used may not reflect what the author had in mind. Somewhere between the raw original and historical significance is something we can use to build our own faith.

      We could hardly pretend to know how the ancients sang these songs, and it’s unlikely many today would have much appreciation for that style of music. So while something is lost in the translation across centuries and cultures, we can still fulfill the central purpose in seeking to understand something of Hebrew worship. Because of their enduring popularity, it is very easy to find all sorts of commentary celebrating just about every aspect of these songs. Rather than bog down too much in all the academic details, what follows here is a very focused search for the moral significance. If these songs do not contribute to changing us in our context today, it’s hard to justify all the work in preserving the ancient knowledge.

      Book 1: Psalms 1-41

      This portion of the Psalms appears to have started out as David’s private collection. Only a few fail to specifically mention David as the author. Scholars note the predominance of God’s covenant name – Jehovah in English – though English translations often render it merely as the Lord and typically in all caps. This is significant chiefly in that David personally used that name to call on God.

      Psalm 1

      Our first song offers a conceptual contrast between just and unjust hearts. Scholars noted long ago the common Hebrew progression of walk, stand and sit representing a progressive fall into wickedness. How happy is the man who can avoid this vicious slide into sin! The moral justice of God is its own reward, incomparable to whatever it is sinners strive to gain by taking moral shortcuts. This man never takes his eye off pleasing his Lord.

      We know that grass and some shrubs simply go quiescent in drought, but such are easily removed when dry. Trees generally require a perennial water supply; however they are far more valuable, particularly in the semi-desert land of Palestine. Men who commit themselves to pleasing God are like trees fortunate enough to grow along a real stream instead of a seasonal wadi, with roots spread far and deep. This fellow is fully in touch with how God created the universe to run and hardly shakes when the storms of life come. His life is morally fruitful. The person who truly desires to please God seldom fails because God does not measure mere performance. Instead, He enables it.

      Contrast such with the wicked. They are like what’s left when the harvest is done, discarded and allowed to drift with every wind. They don’t belong anywhere in particular, but are especially out of place when God’s wrath falls. The wording specifically avoids the idea of eternal judgment in favor of the human experience. The image shows the wicked won’t be welcomed among God’s people, won’t be supported and defended from trouble.

      The summary is how God holds the just in high regard and protects them, but the unjust wander off into destruction.

      Psalm 2

      This psalm is not as provincial as it might seem on the surface. If I’m serving God and you are serving God, it’s possible we’ll still be knocking up against each other, but highly unlikely. God chose King David of Israel to rule the nation He chose as His earthly means to revelation. This psalm assumes that David and Israel are engaged in that mission faithfully. It doesn’t assume they never sin, but it also doesn’t chase the rabbit of when and where David as king or Israel as a whole sinned against God.

      When David and Israel were faithful, no nation was permitted to stand in their way. So far as we can determine, this is historically accurate. David didn’t fail in war against external enemies. It’s not as if no one sought terms of peace with him. It wasn’t hard at all. The nations weren’t required to join the Covenant of Moses, but could not oppose it. David made peace with plenty of pagan rulers whose religions were of no concern to him. His were not wars of religious conquest, but a matter of securing the opportunity for Israel to proceed with their religion and the mission that came with it. That mission was to demonstrate the truth so that those whom God called would be drawn to Him.

      The parabolic implications are obvious. David was a type for Jesus. Those who faithfully serve Jesus have nothing to fear from this world. Whatever authority secular powers exercise cannot hinder the gospel message for long. When our mission reflects the genuine calling of gospel, the Lord opens doors to the message and protects the mission. Obviously, our measure for faithfulness is far more subtle than merely observing Moses. Jesus made much greater demands than Moses, not so much in terms of performance, but in terms of personal commitment. Christ is our King with none of David’s weaknesses. Whatever problems we face are not from sin in our King, but either our own sin or something we may never understand. More importantly, whatever problems we face are our Lord’s problems; our mission is to remain faithful. The possibility of moral failure is a dark and threatening cloud on the horizon, just a reminder.

      Psalm 3

      The context is inserted by tradition, not a part of the original words, referencing events in 2 Samuel 15. It is by no means implausible. This psalm reveals how David was hardly arrogant, rather quite confident in the power of moral purity. We could argue that David’s sorrows were often of his own making. He was overly indulgent of his kin, particularly his sons and his cousin, Joab. Such was the source of much evil during David’s reign. No one argues David’s failings, but He was deeply and personally loyal to his God more than anyone living on this earth. His primary virtue was his utter humility toward the Lord.

      At the point when David and his court fled over the ridge toward the Jordan Valley, it certainly appeared God did not favor him. David knew better, because the problem was with David’s choices, not God’s. The Lord is not fickle as humans are, so David felt certain things would run their course. Eventually God would restore him to the throne of Israel. Meanwhile, David had no reason to believe this was the hand of God turned against Him, so he maintained his faith. He presents the image of God patiently waiting in His tent in Zion for David to return, this being before the Temple was built. Meanwhile, God had His own plans for events and David must ride out the storm.

      With this divine assurance, David had no trouble sleeping peacefully at night. Being surrounded by human enemies was no significant threat because God had already seen him through worse. Remember Goliath? In God’s good time, He would rise up and strike most decisively. That’s how God handled people who served His purpose.

      Psalm 4

      Scholars consider this a song of the evening. It’s another of those psalms that sound far better in Hebrew than in any translation. What comes across as simple and simplistic truism is actually quite majestic in tone. Hebrew language never pretended to carry much truth, but served as an indicator of things for which no words exist. Thus, this is a case of words serving as mere signposts to vast lands just waiting our exploration.

      David calls out to the sole source of a life worth living, the God who is righteousness defined, and who supplies what it takes to lay hold of righteousness. It matters not the facts of his context. David knows that in the tightest place God will give him room to breathe His Spirit. Thus, already David has established that here is nothing new. While he may have failed God countless times, God has never failed him.

      Who are David’s enemies? Mere humans are no match for God, and hardly capable of understanding what David values most. In vain do they attempt to make him look bad or feel bad. They cannot touch, much less take, what God has given him: divine favor. They aren’t even fighting on the same battlefield with David. Unless they repent and consider the vast difference between their desires and his, they can’t even understand how David rose to his position. Their envy alone is proof of their impending failures.

      David warns them to walk in God’s moral justice, to embrace the revelation in full trust. All they see is David’s privilege and comforts and assume this is what it’s all about. They assume God is just a vending machine; pay your dues and get your reward. It’s not like that. The most valuable thing on this earth is God’s smile and personal warmth. If that comes at the price of privation, so be it. David is ready to make that trade.

      David symbolizes the ultimate value in this world by his ability to rest peacefully. He has peace with God, the Maker of All Things. What else could possibly matter?

      Psalm 5

      This is a morning song. The context is clearly David as King, perhaps in a warm-up to more formal worship. In the quiet of his first rising, David appeals to God as a king beset by a royal court loaded with charlatans.

      This song is far more lyrical than many English translations can capture. David calls out to God, addressing Him as his Liege Lord. Surely a greater king understands the anguished sighing of one who rules. Not yet fully out of bed, David can already sense the constant tension between the need to get things done against the certainty that he faces any number of secret enemies. So the first order of business is to come before his Lord and wait for that sense of divine peace before he starts grappling with the divided loyalties of those who pretend to serve him.

      David rejoices in the assurance that his Lord has no tolerance for such deception. Sincere servants of any ruler would seek to absorb their master’s character, and David hopes he can develop the same intolerance for deception, the same sensitivity for injustice, that characterizes his master. So the first order of business is to appear for the morning offering at the Tent of Meeting David had erected in his courtyard. Calling it a house or temple is a figure of speech; wherever one encounters God is a holy place. A great potentate is at home throughout his domain. David was eager to meet with God wherever He wanted, and would gladly wait for Him as long as necessary.

      As a senior servant on earth in God’s domain, David knows how often some crafty servant will pretend to obey, but raise up hindrances, pretending to misunderstand through legalistic wrangling. So David asks according to protocol that his Lord grant him a mandate to waltz through all that nonsense and proceed directly with the divine mission. David knows he is surrounded by all sorts of scoundrels who take advantage of their position, trying to skim off an unjust portion of the traffic they handle for the king. They make the pretense of being the king’s most faithful servant and make all the right noises, but their mouths are loaded with slippery lies. Let them be caught in their own traps, O God! It matters not that they have rebelled in their hearts against David, but they have rejected God’s reign.

      By contrast, David sees no harm from those who are faithful to God. David would rather be troubled by honest men than pampered by liars. So he prays that God would give the just a sense of strength and courage to demand David’s best. People who are loyal to Jehovah should fear nothing from David, who is likewise His humble servant.

      Psalm 6

      As always, Hebrew poetry beckons to a place above both emotions and mere intellect. Thus, it is not necessary to see in this penitent song a specific historical reference. It offers a broad and generic call to live in penitence.

      The stricken conscience calls out for God to leave the door open to His courts. The image of God’s anger symbolizes a loss of access, of having been marked as God’s enemy, no longer His servant. The penitent is shaken to the very core of his being, in a state worse than death. David asks if he can be told the length of his sentence. It’s not about any real physical threat or illness, but the sense of no peace with God that disturbs him most.

      His cry for mercy is an appeal to the character of God, not anything the penitent can muster. It’s not as if David isn’t willing to taste death for his sins, but it would mean the end of any chance to bring God glory. Far too many assume David is suggesting God will miss out on His due praise and worship if David dies. On the contrary, David doesn’t want to miss out on God’s victory parade. Nor should we see here a literal explanation of David’s view of the afterlife. The image of Sheol is a literary device taken literally only by those poorly educated, and David was among the elite nobility with a high and proper schooling. Otherwise, he would not be able to write such fine Hebrew poetry.

      David describes the depth of his sorrow at disappointing God, unable to sleep at night for the weeping. This is no doubt literal enough, but it’s more important for what it signifies in terms of David owning the full depth of sorrow as his own fault. He can’t keep living like this.

      Suddenly, his tone changes. The vultures in his life had been gathering in their deathwatch, but he puts them to flight with a renewed sense of mission and calling. He announces ecstatically that God has restored him and the old warrior David returns to do battle again.

      Psalm 7

      People who don’t understand the Hebrew style of logic regard this psalm as wandering from one idea to another. They even imagine it might be several short bits thrown together, as if Hebrew scholars were no wiser than half-grown children. It’s easy to discount what one does not quite grasp.

      The heading of the psalm mentions someone from the Tribe of Benjamin. Never mind God’s revelation, that tribe generally regarded David as a usurper. The background tension was never forgotten, so we could hardly be surprised David felt the sting of persecution from anyone of that tribe. However, we cannot identify who Cush might have been, or if it was a symbolic name.

      David never forgot that it was God who placed him on the throne, and that it was God who kept him there. In this case we sense the matter was a campaign of slander against

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