To discover:
As you read consider the
qualities commended for the worshipper.
To ponder:
Psalm 128
expresses the blessedness (ie. happiness) of those who fear the LORD and
therefore walk in his ways, ie. in obedience. These are the blessings of the
covenant (Deut 28-30): good harvests (eating the fruit of one’s labour) and so
prosperity, and many healthy sons (128v1-4). Such promises were general and not
guaranteed. Hannah experienced bareness (1 Sam 1). Nevertheless, the psalm
encourages us to see the benefits we receive because of our work and the joys
of family as blessing from God. However, they look to the greater blessings of
the new creation. And the psalm points to this. It prays the worshipper would
be blessed by God from Zion – the
place of the temple and so of his presence. It also prays he would enjoy long
life and therefore see his grandchildren. But by praying he would see Jerusalem
prosper, the psalm longs for the Christ who would establish God’s kingdom in
its fullness (128v5-6).
Psalm 129 prays that those hating
and so standing against Zion might
be turned back in shame. It affirms that although Israel
has always been oppressed (ie. from her youth), she has never been conquered
(129v1-2). Her sufferings are described like long furrows made by a plough. But
the psalmist can declare that because God is righteous, always doing right by
his promises and people, he has always cut Israel
free from the metaphorical cords with which the wicked have sought to bind her
and so make her captive (129v3-4). Here the psalmist prays Israel ’s
enemies might become as weak, scarce and transient as the thin grass that might
grow on the roof of a house in his day (129v5-7). The blessing of 129v8 is
probably that declared during harvest. So by desiring passes by not say it, the
psalmist is simply reaffirming his desire that those who hate Zion be like
withering grass rather than mature wheat, and not experience God’s blessing. We
might see this psalm fulfilled in Jesus, who identified with Israel ’s
sufferings by enduring the lines of a whip like the furrows of the plough,
before being cut free from the cords of death. In this, the psalm declares
God’s judgement on those who stand against him and against his body, the
church. Nevertheless, the Christian is still called to pray God’s blessing on
their enemies, not least by praying they would turn from their sin.
In Psalm 130 the psalmist cries from
the depths of despair for mercy. In a model of gospel humility he accepts he
could not stand before God if God kept a record of his sins (130v1-4),
suggesting his despair is at his guilt or some penalty he is suffering because
of it. But he knows God is ready to forgive. His statement that because of this
God is to be feared, may refer to the fact that forgiveness makes it worthwhile
fearing God, as those who do receive his mercy. And so the psalmist “waits” for
the LORD - ie. for him to act by bringing him out of his trial. His
anticipation is even greater than that of the city watchman waiting for the
morning of a new day when the dangers of the night have passed (130v5-6). And
in this, the psalmist hopes in God’s word. This is to trust God for forgiveness
and salvation on the basis of his revelation of himself and his covenant
promises to restore all who repent (Deut 30). From his experience the psalmist
then urges all Israel
to hope in the same way for God to redeem (free them) from the guilt and
penalty of “all” their sins, because his unfailing love means he grants “full”
redemption (130v7-8). This suggests the psalm may have been composed or sung
during the exile. Whatever the case, it enables us to confess our sin and seek
God’s mercy and salvation on the basis of his gospel promise that forgiveness
is ours through the death and resurrection of Christ. It also assures us that
God’s great love guarantees “full” forgiveness. Its corporate conclusion makes
it particularly appropriate for corporate confession.
Psalm 131 also moves from the
personal to the corporate, as David elaborates on humility. It is to seek a
modest and simple life, not being proud or restlessly trying to be great, but
to know the peace and contentment of the “weaned” child who has moved beyond
crying for its mother’s milk, to be certain of her faithful supply. Cultivating
such things is a discipline in which one actively stills one’s soul. And it is
to this David calls Israel
to before God. Jesus reaffirmed the child as the model of faith, and Paul
taught these same virtues on the model of Christ (Phil 2v3-11, 4v12, 19). As
with David, such humility doesn’t require one to withdraw from doing great
things when the Lord requires them of us, but is to withdraw from seeking
greatness in itself (as Matt 20v26-29). It is to live a life of service and
trust in God.
Praying it
home:
Praise God for his
readiness to forgive and bless the repentant sinner. Pray that he would enable you
to still your soul so that you live in modesty and contentment, trusting God’s
sovereign control and provision.
Thinking
further:
None
today.
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