August 16th
Psalm 109
A song or Psalm of David
A
cry for retribution
1:
Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; 2:
For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened
against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. 3:
They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against
me without a cause. 4:
For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
5:
And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. 6:
Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right
hand. 7:
When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer
become sin. 8:
Let his days be few; and let another take his office. 9:
Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. 10:
Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek
their bread also out of their desolate places. 11:
Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers
spoil his labour. 12:
Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any
to favour his fatherless children. 13:
Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let
their name be blotted out. 14:
Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let
not the sin of his mother be blotted out. 15:
Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the
memory of them from the earth. 16:
Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor
and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. 17:
As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in
blessing, so let it be far from him. 18:
As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let
it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. 19:
Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a
girdle wherewith he is girded continually. 20:
Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them
that speak evil against my soul. 21:
But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy
mercy is good, deliver thou me. 22:
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23:
I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down
as the locust. 24:
My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
25:
I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they
shaked their heads. 26:
Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 27:
That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done
it. 28:
Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed;
but let thy servant rejoice. 29:
Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover
themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle. 30:
I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him
among the multitude. 31:
For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from
those that condemn his soul.
Psalm 110
A song or Psalm of David
The
king of the LORD
1:
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool. 2:
The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in
the midst of thine enemies. 3:
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties
of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy
youth. 4:
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek. 5:
The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of
his wrath. 6:
He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the
dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. 7:
He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up
the head.
Today we are
reading Psalm 109 & 110. Psalm 109 is a Psalm of David in which
he describes in prophetic terms the humiliation of Christ and his
deliverance. The Psalm has two almost identical verses. Which both
begin with prayer for himself and continue with a description of his
enemy oppression. Then the first verse ends with a description of the
reward of God on his enemies cursing. The second verse ends with a
description of the deliverance of the Lord from those who condemn
him. He begins saying, Do not be silent O Lord, God of my praise,
because my enemies speak against me. They speak lies full of hatred
for no reason. Because I love the Lord they are my adversaries but I
will give myself to prayer. They reward me evil for the good I have
done. And they return hatred for my love. Put over them O Lord a
wicked man with Satan at his side, so that when he is judged he will
be condemned and may his prayer become a sin. May his days be few and
may another take his place (We are thinking of Judas here) May his
children be orphans and his wife a widow. May his children be
penniless and outcasts and may they wander in deserted places begging
bread. May an extortioner steal all their wealth and may strangers
spoil all their work. May none show mercy to him and may his children
be without favour. May his children die and their name perish. May
his parents sin be remembered and never blotted out. May the Lord
never forget their sins so they will be forgotten for ever. It’s
interesting that the family of Judas disappear from history and are
never heard of again. David says may they be forgotten by the whole
earth. Because he did not show mercy but persecuted the poor and
needy man – Christ, so that he might even murder him that is broken
heart. Because he loved to curse so may he be cursed and as he did
not like to bless so may he not know Gods blessing. He clothed
himself in curses like a coat, so may the curse of God come into his
bowels turning then into water and like oil on his bones. May this
sickness cover him as a reward for speaking against the Lord. But
deliver me O Lord for your names sake because your mercy is good. I
am poor and needy and my heart is wounded within me. I am like a
shadow that is fading away. I am blown about like a locust in the
wind. I am weak from fasting and my flesh has no fat. They looked at
me and shook their heads. Help me O LORD my God and deliver me in
your mercy. So that my enemies will know that you have delivered me.
They might curse me but you bless me O Lord. And when they rise up
let them be ashamed but let me rejoice. May my enemies be clothed in
shame and covered in confusion like a cloak. I will praise you O Lord
greatly with my mouth, yes, and I will praise you in the crowds
because you stand as the defender of the poor and deliver them from
his accusers. Psalm 110 is also a Psalm of David in which he
describes the exaltation of Christ. It has two verses both of which
are very similar. They begin with a statement of what the LORD has
said, and then they state what the LORD will do. Then they describe
Messiah’s enemies and finally they describe the refreshment of the
Lord as being like the dew of heaven and brooks of Israel. This Psalm
is a very special Psalm because in the life of Christ having answered
every question put him fully and completely he then poses a question
of his own. This question brings all discussion to an end and
silences his enemies forever. Christ quotes verse 1 of this Psalm and
asks ‘If David called his son LORD how could the LORD be David’s
son?’ This question brought the true identity of Christ into true
focus. David’s son or scripture calls him ‘The Son of David’ –
Christ is the LORD God Jehovah. This astounded them and because this
truth was based on scripture it was unanswerable. So David begins his
song saying that the LORD Jehovah said to my Lord – Christ, sit at
my right hand until I make all your enemies your footstool. In this
amazing prophecy David says that the LORD Jehovah says to Jesus the
Son of David, sit on my right hand sharing the throne of the LORD
almighty and wait there until the LORD Jehovah brings all of Christ’s
enemies so low, that they will crawl to him and he will have such
total victory over them that he will put his feet on their necks. So
here we have a prophecy of Christ sitting in his Messianic kingdom,
ruling the world and bringing every nation and every king under his
total authority. David goes on to sing, The LORD will bring a rod of
discipline from the city of Zion and this rule will bring order and
control over all Christ’s enemies. He will make all the peoples of
the earth willing to submit to him in the beauty of his holiness from
the dawning of the day. Christ will be King in the freshness of his
youth. This prophecy is an oath of Jehovah and he will never change
his mind on it. The Lord refers to Christ as a priest forever in the
same way as Melchizedek was, because he had no record of birth or
death, so Christ was from eternity to eternity. The Lord will destroy
kings of the earth in the day of his wrath, He will judge among the
heathen nations and will fill the valleys with dead bodies of the
slain and he will wound the presidents of many countries. He will
drink of the brooks in the path as he travels and therefore he will
survive.
- What does David call on the Lord to do to the wicked?
- What does he ask the Lord to do for him?
- What is David asking the Lord to do in the second Psalm of the day?
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