Five times the psalmist calls for praises to be sung to God. Four times, perhaps to move us to passionate intensity. But with the fifth, to “understanding.” The Hebrew word translated “understanding,” is the word “maskil,” which could also be translated “with skill,” or “with a didactic psalm.” The psalmist encouraged praise that engaged both heart and head. Worship, like love, is to be offered to God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
The apostle Paul quoted Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa. 49:8) concerning the time of salvation that the coming Messiah would bring to both Jew and Gentile alike. Paul declared to the Corinthians that the long awaited for time had come. Paul began both phrases of his application of Isaiah’s prophecy with “behold, now.” The word “behold” demanded that one “look” and “see” with an understanding mind. The word “now” called for a sense of urgency from the one who having understood the gospel, would quickly decide to believe it.
As the Ecclesiates reading for today states, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). So today, we live in the “accepted time” of the gospel, yet let us not “receive the grace of God in vain.” Having heard the gospel, now is the time to accept it. Having accepted the gospel, now is the day to live it out and proclaim it.
This passage is considered a prophetic description of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. As the author of Hebrews wrote when quoting this psalm, “But to the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever… Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You” (Heb. 1:8-9). Understanding it as a Messianic writing helps to explain the confusing pronoun use referring to both God and the King with divine attributes. This passage hints at the Father/Son relationship between Jesus as the Son of God, and God the Father, which the book of Hebrews confirms. Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy and every Old Testament prophecy. He is the “anointed” One that came and is coming again.
God speaks, asking Job where he was when the universe was created and the singing and shouting of worship first resounded. Who or what are these “morning stars” that sing and these “sons of God” that shout? Many see both of these as metaphors for angelic beings. Certainly, Isaiah described Lucifer as a “morning star” before his fall (Isa.14:12). Yet, surprisingly the Lord may actually be referring to the stars themselves. As Dr Bill Chaplin, an asteroseismologist at Birmingham University, has reported, “Essentially stars resonate like a huge musical instrument.” In other words, stars sing! Even the stars were made to worship the Lord!
The combined effect of having received both the “mercy” and the “ministry” of the gospel strengthened the apostle Paul, so that he did not “lose heart.” The same should cause us to persevere in sharing the gospel. For as Paul also wrote, God has “reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18).
The apostle Paul said that he did not need letters or “epistles” of commendation from the believers in Corinth because they were his living “epistles.” They were walking testaments of the gospel of Christ that was “ministered” to them through him. So, Christ was the author and Paul the amanuensis and the Holy Spirit the “ink” by which the gospel was written on their hearts. This is a beautiful picture of discipleship and its fruit.
You may say that you have not written any books, nor had any written about you. Yet, if you are involved in giving the gospel out to others, they have become your “epistles.” If you are involved in life on life discipleship, your disciples are your living legacy.
The grief that covered Job like a cloud affected even his ear for music. The harp, a stringed instrument, was often employed by David to lighten the mood of King Saul. It was an instrument used in worship and in times of celebration. Yet, to Job’s ear, the vibration of the strings sounded mournful, vibrating at the frequency of his sorrowing soul. And the flute, a wind instrument, with its light, breathy lows and clear sparkling highs, was often heard accompanied by percussion at times of feasting. But to Job, the flute had become like a weeping human voice breathing out a dirge, perhaps reminding him of the times when his children enjoyed such feasts. Grief is like that. It darkens the sights and sounds of human perception, so that the spectrum of life’s color is reduced to gray.
The book of Job helps give vocabulary to our grief. But we must read to the end. For we are not to grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). Our hope is in Christ, the One who has defeated sin, death and the grave.
How does the music sound to you today?
The one who is considerate of the poor and helps, will be delivered by the Lord when trouble comes upon them. The one who helps the poor has come under the Lord’s blessing. This blessing is happiness with contentment. For the giver understands that the Lord is the Supplier and that they are merely the channel of His blessing. With this in mind the apostle Paul quoted the Lord Jesus, saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
The Hebrew is literally, “The rich and poor meet…” What does this “meeting” imply? Perhaps it points to the human tendency to focus on the externals, such as wealth and material things, that often cause the rich and the poor to clash. Or perhaps it is an observation that the rich and the poor need one another. However, I like the idea that it points to the great leveling of the gospel that invites all to come to the cross on equal terms, namely, through repentance of the sin that besets rich and poor alike, and believing in Christ as the only means of salvation. It is this gospel that allows the poor to boast in their “exaltation,” and the rich in their “humiliation” (James 1:9-11). The ground is level at the cross. All who approach will recognize their common need. All who receive must recognize their common Lord, who is the Maker and Savior of us all.
David wrote this psalm to the Lord, writing of his own record of “declaring” the “righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, lovingkindness, and truth” of God before all Israel and to the surrounding peoples. His motivation for writing of his own public witness seems to be that he wanted the Lord to remember it as He considered David’s prayer requests. Surely David was not making a false claim, for the Bible often records his public declarations of God’s great character. Yet, this passage is truly fulfilled in the prophetic office of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Can you make the same claim as David? Do you “declare” the things of God before the people? Or have you “hidden” the gospel within?