Week Eight and Nine

 

Book Reading - Growing a Caring Church   Song - He Loves us So (LO Worship)  , Psalms 9, 82, 128, 146


The picture above is taken from the shore of Lake Garda - a stunning break for us travelling by train taking in Turin, Lake Garda, Venice, Sirmione, Isola Del Garda, Milan - with lots of hours on trains (around 20 hours) there was time to rest, read, sleep and reflect.

Travelling with a group of people gave chance for good conversations and many people of faith and some interesting conversations of faith too. Where is God? prompted mixed responses but great conversations. A couple of almost obligatory comments  also from people when they know what I do including - you only work one day a week (followed by a laugh) and do you do weddings and stuff. Quite frequently asked questions.

Listening to music  has been a joy and finding some new songs for cafe has been good.  

I only slightly dipped into the agenda for Methodist Conference which arrived just before I left - I certainly didn't pack it.  Three volumes and 755 pages 

Psalm 9

A powerful Psalm written by David and possibly around the victorious defeat of Goliath. Set to a popular tune of the day we remember Psalms sing of our encounter with God coming from the deep part of our souls. 

There is a reason Psalm 9 and 10 were placed together as in the Septuagint there as one Psalm and is an acrostic psalm. 

The first and second verses of the psalm begin with the letter Aleph (א), which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And then the third verse begins with the letter Beit (ב), which is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verse five begins with the letter Gimel (ג), which is the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and so on.

But Psalm 9 only gets us halfway through the alphabet, and then 10 picks up right where 9 left off. So the question is not why are these two psalms combined as one with the Septuagint, but why are they separated into two psalms everywhere else? You have to read Psalm 10 to see what that answer is.

The whole Psalm is one of thanksgiving to God for saving David from his enemies. All Kings have enemies  and as David discovered it was the nearest folk that hits the hardest. 

They were Goliath, Absalom, Saul, and Joab. These characters are real people in David’s life but also represent enemies of different kinds. The external enemy, Goliath, was easy to identify and fight. The rest were all so-called ‘enemies within,’ and how to handle them was unclear. Absalom (David's son) was the one whom David loved the most, but he ended up betraying him by usurping the throne. Saul represents the higher authority of the group with whom you have qualms. Joab is the one who is under your authority but who has his agenda.

In Psalm 9, David does not name a specific individual. Instead, he praises God for delivering him from hostile "nations" and the wicked. Historically, this context aligns with David’s early reign, where he fought surrounding regional enemies like the Philistines, Moabites, and Edomites. 

Perhaps read the Psalm slowly imagine David reflecting on the battles what image of God is portrayed here?

Psalm 82

When I read the word assembly I can't help but think of the stuffy school halls and a poor rendition of all things bright and beautiful  which involved 4 people singing (I was probably one of them) and the other 200 looking away and laughing). this however isn't the assembly Asaph (chief musician) is talking about. 

This assembly is like a court room and according to the Psalm.God is presiding over a divine council and judging corrupt leaders - we may perhaps think of some current and historical leaders this may apply to. Almighty God condemns these figures for failing to protect the vulnerable, strips them of their divine status, and declares they will die like ordinary men, prompting a plea for God to take over all nations. 

First, the psalm asserts the supreme authority of God over every supernatural power. A major question of Psalm 82 has been the identity of “the gods” in verse 1b, a literal translation from the Hebrew ’elohim. This word, of course, can be taken in the singular (“God”) as in the first line of the psalm or in the plural (“gods”) as in the second line of the psalm. Over 2,000 years of biblical interpretation have witnessed at least four major understandings of the term:

a)    Rabbinic interpretation tended to see the “gods” as the Israelite community that received the law at Sinai. This evokes Jesus’ allusion to “those to whom the word of God came” in John 10:35.4

b)    From patristic times (early church fathers - 100AD -451AD), the “gods” were thought to be human judges, based on possible readings of Exodus 21:6 and 22:8.5

c)     The Old Testament occasionally uses the term, “sons of God” to refer to angelic beings (Genesis 6:4; Job 1:6), some of whom appear to rule as princes over nations (Daniel 10:13, 20-21).6

d)    Closely related to the angelic interpretation is one based on ancient Near Eastern mythology — namely that “gods” refers to an assembly of divine beings ruled over by God, who is supreme creator and sovereign. These divine beings were appointed by God to be responsible for the just rule of the nations, as in Deuteronomy 32:8, “When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods.”

While this view may be the most difficult for traditional congregations to grasp, it seems to be the view that best interprets the psalm in its original context and one that exalts the lordship of Israel’s God more than other views. What do you think?

Second, the psalm’s ultimate subject matter is “the weak and the orphan . . . the lowly and the destitute . . . and the needy” (verses 3-4), who in all likelihood are the ones suffering from a lack of knowledge and understanding (verse 5).7 Their suffering is at the heart of the psalm and of the God whose judgment is invoked by verse 8. God’s indignation is compounded because the unjust administration of the “gods” has directly benefited “the wicked,” who serve as the human tormentors of the sufferers delivered into their hands

Points One and Two above are linked in our minds as they point to Jesus - incarnate God 

Psalm 128

Psalms are sung - and this Psalm is one of the Psalms of Ascents - it is one of the fifteen "Songs of Ascents" (Psalms 120–134) sung by ancient pilgrims as they journeyed up the Judean hills to Jerusalem for mandated religious festivals. 

These Psalms break down into five groups of three psalms each, and each group of three psalms follows a similar pattern. We have a psalm of trouble, followed by a psalm of trust, followed by a psalm of triumph. Today’s psalm is the last psalm in the middle group of three which makes it one of the psalms of triumph.

Psalm 128 is also what we call a wisdom psalm. It is a psalm that imparts wisdom to the reader through short phrases and vivid imagery. It’s important to remember that just as in the book of Proverbs, the wisdom passages in the Bible present wisdom to us rather than absolute promises.

And there’s a reason Psalm 128 follows Psalm 127. Psalm 128 builds off of Psalm 127. Remember that the Psalms of Ascent not only trace our ascent to God’s heart, but they also build off of each other. Common themes are reintroduced and advanced. And that’s what we have here in Psalm 128. Psalm 128 is a wisdom psalm about the blessings God gives to those who fear the Lord. (Read Psalm 128:1-6 and pray.)

"Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him.
You will eat the fruit of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots round your table.
Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
May you live to see your children’s children – peace be on Israel".


Psalm 146

We are ending towards the final Psalm and these last four Psalms are known as the Hallelujah Psalms (146-150)

The psalm begins and ends with "Praise the LORD" (Hebrew hallelujah), which serves as a fitting doxology and sets a tone of joyous praise following earlier books that explored grief, sin, and doubt. 

Just for a moment ponder the words "Praise the Lord" - What do you praise God for?  Who do you praise God for?

Verses 3-4 "Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing". warns against trusting in mortal princes or human leaders. Historically, this often reflects the era of Persian administration over Judea, where the fledgling Jewish community faced the temptation to rely on foreign governors and earthly patrons rather than Yahweh. 

The psalm notes that human plans perish when a ruler takes his last breath, highlighting the limits and mortality of mankind.  In stark contrast to human rulers who often fail, God is depicted as the Creator who remains faithful to His promises forever. The psalm emphasizes God’s active care for the vulnerable—giving food to the hungry, sight to the blind, freedom to captives, and defending widows, orphans, and foreigners.