Psalms 90-94
Chapter 90
Moses' prayer, and the first Psalm of Book Four.
8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. [Psa 90:8 ESV]
This indicates that Moses understood about the intentional sins. He knew those could never be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats.
10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. [Psa 90:10 ESV]
Good funeral verse. Here's another:
12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. [Psa 90:12 ESV]
And these verses:
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. [Psa 90:15-16 ESV]
Life is affliction. Yet in the middle of all this affliction and the realization that our lives are short and of no real consequence, we can revel in our understanding and knowledge of God. Our purpose is to know Him better, because this is the good that makes the affliction worthwhile.
What does this say about the lives of those who don't know God at all. What "relief" from affliction is there for them?
Chapter 91
A Psalm about taking refuge in God.
MSB says it is a general Psalm that nothing can harm those who have God's protection.
True of individuals and nations.
However, he says the literal fulfillment of the Psalm will not be until the future messianic kingdom, when it will be true of everyone.
2022 - These verses:
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. [Psa 91:11 ESV]
12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. [Psa 91:12 ESV]. Aren't these verses quoted by Satan during Jesus' temptation? Yes:
10 for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,' 11 and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" [Luk 4:10-11 ESV].
Interesting, reading the two verses from Psalms in context. They are about the state of the world during the Millennial. They are not promises for every single day in the life of all Christians. Not that at all. Satan is trying to nail this prophecy of the far future into the present of Jesus' life. He is trying to make this Psalm "exclusively" about Jesus. That is obviously NOT what it means. This is how deceptive Satan really is. If you make it "all about the coming Messiah" and about how God will protect him - sort of the "conquering King" look at things, look what else it says:
14 "Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. This verse too is what Satan is tempting Christ to take advantage of.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. Rescue him. Again, see the point that Satan is making by deception.
16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation." [Psa 91:14-16 ESV]. Long life...Jesus knew that was not so. This is where it all breaks down for Satan. This chapter promises long life - clearly a Millennial promise - and Satan pushes Jesus to appropriate this also. If Jesus had jumped, he would have been saying he claimed ALL these promises, including the one that says he doesn't have to die on the cross. This was the one that Satan was getting at. I never appreciated the depth of this temptation.
One further idea...perhaps this whole Psalm IS about Jesus, exclusively, but is about Jesus as Conquering King, and not at all about Jesus as Ebed Yahweh. Maybe not...probably speaking more broadly than that...but then maybe that is exactly what it is about.
Possible FB post if I shorten it up a little.
Chapter 92
Psalm 90 is the beginning of Book 4.
92 is titled "A Song for the Sabbath".
First stanza says it is good to give thanks, with musical instruments accompanying.
Second declares that the Lord endures forever, long after evil doers perish. These verses:
6 The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: 7 that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; 8 but you, O LORD, are on high forever. 9 For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered. [Psa 92:6-9 ESV]
This goes very well with this week's FB post of 6/22/20, which was about those who do evil getting fat and happy while those who follow God struggle. As often happens, God has shown me a verse today, Tuesday, that confirms the interpretation of that verse I used as the basis of my post on Monday. I had that right. And having it confirmed so quickly means that it is important that I understand it. Perhaps tough times lie ahead for me. Perhaps the evil are about to "win", and appear invincible. The way this country is going, that could be the case. Whatever comes, I need to remember these verses, and remember that the final outcome is decided before the contest begins. Stay focused on what God wants, and don't get distracted by the evil of this world.
2022 - Today's post - 10/10/22, is again about the prosperity of the wicked. Today, I said that it is not statistically valid to say that evil people always do well. And I think that is true. But the more important point is this verse:
9 For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered. [Psa 92:9 ESV]. In the long view, which is the one we ought to be focused on, ALL the evil doers will perish. The lesson is not to be so shortsighted. Not to look at the expediencies and the parameters used to judge success in this world. This world is fleeting. Christians ought to focus on forever.
Possible FB post.
Third is a praise for God's blessings on the worshiper personally.
Fourth, the ongoing benefits of the righteous life, and this verse, possibly my new favorite:
Previously, "The righteous..."
14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, 15 to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. [Psa 92:14-15 ESV]
So even though I am old before I buckle down to do the things I should always have been doing, it is not too late to bear fruit. It is never too late.
Good FB post.
Chapter 93
A picture of God as a majestic ruler. Robed in majesty, a belt of strength.
Only five verses long. A good Psalm to pray back.
Chapter 94
1st, Oh Lord, how long will you let the wicked continue what they are doing?
2nd, God knows what they are doing, and he knows they are "but a breath".
3rd, Blessed is the man whom God disciplines.
4th, This verse:
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? [Psa 94:20 ESV]
...
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out. [Psa 94:20, 23 ESV]
If ever there were two verses made to give you peace about politics, surely this is it.
For FB:
I came across this verse today where the writer was asking God a question about corrupt politicians:
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? [Psa 94:20 ESV]
I'm pretty sure the answer to this one is a big obvious "No".
A few verses later, we find out what God is going to do about them:
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out. [Psa 94:23 ESV]
I wouldn't want to be them. And it's nice to know that it's not up to me to clean up our government. I pray that the One who is cleaning it up will do so very soon. In the meantime, I can rest, I can wait, because I know how this ends.
Psalms 95-99
Chapter 95
1st Stanza, Come give thanks and praise, for God is great.
2nd, Come and worship, and don't harden your heart when God speaks, as Israel did at Meribah.
This psalm might be taken as a warning. These verses:
10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways." 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter my rest." [Psa 95:10-11 ESV]
Never think that God won't or can't give up on an entire generation. This is a warning to individuals, and to nations that they can be "written off" entirely, while God waits for the next generation to rise.
Possible FB post.
Chapter 96
A Psalm full of praise for God.
Chapter 97
1st, The Lord reigns. Then a word picture of His greatness. This verse:
[Psa 97:2 ESV] 2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
I have seen this picture in several Psalms - the clouds and thick darkness. Seems like the wrong picture. I always think of God as shining brightly, not surrounded by darkness. Per MSB Joel 2:2, and Zephaniah 1:15 use that same phrase in describing the Day of the Lord. So this language points us directly to the coming of God on that great and terrible day. The picture is of God when he comes in power, unopposed because of his greatness.
2022 - But...Think of both the Tabernacle and the Temple. Think of how many layers there were between the Holy of Holies and the daylight. God's place, between the cherubim, had to be quite dark indeed. So in addition to the Day of the Lord, we ought to understand that God dwells in the darkness, perhaps as a contrast to His shining glory?
2021 - It would seem that 97-99 are all concerned with God's future judgement of all. We are to praise Him for all He has done while reverencing Him as our future judge, the ultimate authority.
2nd, God puts to shame the worshipers of idols.
3rd, God is exalted above all gods.
4th, Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord, for he delivers them.
Chapter 98
1st, Sing a song to the Lord, for He saves, and has proclaimed His salvation.
2nd, Make a joyful noise. the lyre, melody, trumpets and horns are called on to make this joyful noise.
3rd, All nature will celebrate the coming of the Lord, when He judges the world in righteousness.
Chapter 99
1st Stanza, The Lord reigns. This verse:
[Psa 99:1 ESV] 1 The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
This is the second time I have seen the cherubim. The first time, God was riding on one, now his thrown is on one. MSB says this is a reference to the Ark of the Covenant. Of course! Two cherubim on the top of the Ark. That's where God was.
Also, the phrase "Holy is he" is repeated twice in this stanza.
2nd, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were his priests.
3rd, The Lord was their God. Last phrase is "...for the Lord our God is holy!"
Psalms 100-106
Chapter 100
Only 5 verses. A Psalm of thanks.
Chapter 101
David.
David resolves to avoid evil, and to rule with justice, promoting good, ridding the land of evil.
2022 - This verse:
3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. [Psa 101:3 ESV].
Wow. Is this a verse for our times? How much of FB, Twitter, TikToc, YouTube, Netflix, and on and on and on, do we spend time reading that is just an indefensible waste of time? Here is the cure. We just don't put it where we can see it!
Possible FB post...but figure out what the second phrase means...
Chapter 102
This is labeled as a prayer of one afflicted, pouring out his complaint before the Lord.
The first stanza describes the condition of the one praying. He is really in a bad way. Too much pain to even eat, bones burning like fire, skin clinging to the bones. At the end of the stanza, he says it is because of God's indignation.
The second stanza praises the eternity and rule of God over all that is. It recognizes that God can, and does answer prayer.
The one praying wants his prayer recorded so future generations can see that God answers prayer. This verse:
16 For the LORD builds up Zion; he appears in his glory; 17 he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer. 18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: [Psa 102:16-18 ESV].
Wouldn't it be nice if the people yet to be created includes us, here in the US, and that He will regard our prayers for this country as he regards prayers for Zion.
Possible FB post.
This next stanza, the fourth, is short, and asks God not to shorten his days:
24 "O my God," I say, "take me not away in the midst of my days-- you whose years endure throughout all generations!" [Psa 102:24 ESV]
This stanza recognizes that God made all that is, and that even though God's created things will pass away, God Himself will still remain.
Chapter 103
A Psalm of David.
Starts with "Bless the Lord,
Oh my soul,
And all that is within me,
Bless his holy name.
Obviously, they got the song lyrics from David.
MSB says 103 and 104 go together and are a soliloquy of David's urging all that is - creation and created, to join him in praising God.
vs. 5 talks about God renewing our youth like the eagles. What does this mean? MSB says the long life of eagles is a mystery. The Psalm is saying that the righteous weaken and age more slowly than the wicked.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. [Psa 103:10-12 ESV]
And it's a good thing too...vs 12 is familiar to most people. The two before it, not so much. Turns out 12 is just the conclusion of the previous two statements.
17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. [Psa 103:17-18 ESV]
Maybe our lives do in some way carry over to our children and grandchildren. This verse implies that it does. Not that our salvation is transferable, but that maybe if we are righteous, God will direct more care and attention to those in our families that come after us.
Ever wonder what angels do for a living? Why God made them? To carry out his will.
20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! 21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! [Psa 103:20-21 ESV]
Chapter 104
2022 - This might be titled "The Creation Psalm". There are a lot of clues here about how, when, and why God did things. For instance "stretching out the heavens like a tent". Can you make the big bang resemble that? What does that look like in the part of the world and the time of the psalmist? How they set up a tent back then? Vs 6, the earth was "put in place", THEN covered with water, THEN the land appeared. I don't think science sees it that way. Hot rocks, cooling, then comets brought water...but never enough to completely cover the earth. A big mismatch here. Then "topography" was modified so that dry land came up out of the water as valleys sank down. BUT, the fountains of the deep were inserted too, to hold all that extra water. Beginning in 10, life appears, because the earth was made as it was in order to support life. It is not a random thing that earth supports life. Design is there from the beginning.
Starts with "Bless the Lord, Oh my soul...", as 103 also opened and closed.
The first stanza praises God, and begins a retelling of the Genesis creation story. I have used MSB pretty extensively to help me with the delineations here. Verses one through time are about the first two days of creation.
5 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. 8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. 9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. [Psa 104:5-9 ESV]
There was earth first, created by God, and then he covered it completely with water...as it was in Noah's flood. Then earth came up out of the water, and boundaries were set - presumably for water, mountains, and valleys all - so that the approximate land area of earth no longer changes.
vvs 10-18, The third day. Fresh water, so that animals and plants could be sustained.
vvs 19-23, the fourth day. Active times for predatory animals contrasted with the work time of men. God made it this way to minimize contact between them? (Before or after the flood?) These verses talk about the sun and moon also.
vvs 24-26, the fifth day.
vvs 27-30, the sixth day...but man is not mentioned here.
The last verses refer to a future time when creation is unpolluted by sin.
Chapter 105
2021 - 102 started with Hear my prayer, O Lord; 103 and 104 both started with Bless the Lord, O my soul...This one starts with Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
A reminder that God promised Canaan to His people from Abraham on. Vvs 8-11.
When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
Psalms 105:16-17 ESV
I like this wording. Sent ahead.
Then follows a history of Israel.
2021 - This verse:
25 He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants. [Psa 105:25 ESV]. The those who were Egypt's slaves at this time, it would have been very difficult to realize that the hatred of their oppressors was part of the plan to set them free. It is so very difficult with our short lifetimes and so our short time horizons, to discern the bigger picture of God's plans, which cover centuries, a thousand generations. We don't have the perspective for this kind of analysis if we are in the middle of it. What we can have is the faith to accept whatever comes, knowing that it IS a part of God's plan, and that He is making us a part of it.
2021 -
It is very interesting to put this psalm together with Psalm 89. In 89, everything seems to be falling apart, but then 105 looks back and reminds the people of their freedom from Egypt, after many generations there, that likely seemed unending, and also seem to point to a powerless God. But look how that one ended? Look at the prosperity that abounded after that. The nation has fallen not because God faltered, but because they have rebelled against him. He still has the power to pull them out of their situation - even from captivity by arguably the most powerful nation on earth at that time.
Chapter 106
Last Psalm of Book 4.
2021 - As the last Psalm was a recounting of God's faithfulness in keeping his promises to Israel, this Psalm is a recounting of the failures of the people of Israel and God's dealing with them. The last Psalm is set in Egypt, and recounts what God did to the Egyptians. This Psalm is set "on the road from Egypt", and recounts how God dealt with Israel.
1st stanza is a praise.
2nd is a plea to be included when God blesses His people.
3rd is very long. A confession for not believing when in Egypt and a recounting of the Red Sea crossing.
2021 - This verse:
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. [Psa 106:9 ESV] Through the deep, not through the shallow reeds that had a few inches of water around them. This verse says deep. Strong's says the word means "abyss", or "the deep". It is hard to make this word apply to a knee deep marsh.
2022 - This verse, again:
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. [Psa 106:9 ESV]. So the Bible clearly says that the Red Sea dried up so dry that it was like a desert. It didn't "push the swamp out toward the Sea and get it dry enough to walk across, where normally it would have been boggy quicksand". No. Dry as a desert. So when you look for alternatives to this, you are looking for direct contradiction of scripture.
4th. The first falling away, when they had "a wanton craving". God supplied it, but sent a wasting disease among them.
5th. God also puts down those who opposed Moses and Aaron.
6th. (It mentions that Egypt is the "Land of Ham". Second time I've seen this reference.) The making of the golden calf, and Moses standing in the breach to turn away God's wrath, lest he destroy the whole people of Israel.
7th. The refusal to take the land, the 40 years of wandering.
8th. 30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and [so] the plague was stayed. 31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. [Psa 106:30-31 KJV]
I thought only Abraham's faith was counted as righteousness. But if you go back to Numbers 25:11-13, and previous, Phinehas jealousy on God's behalf when the people worshiped the gods of Moab was also counted so, and for all time...MSB says it is the same kind of evidenced faith, and shows that the perpetual priestly line of the Levites, and through Aaron, continues through Phinehas.
9th. Meribah. A big deal, mentioned many times.
32 They angered [him] also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: 33 Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. [Psa 106:32-33 KJV]
So this is why Moses couldn't enter Canaan. He was angry, and spoke out of his own anger, rather than just for God. The meekest man ever, yet his temper got him into this kind of trouble.
10th. The people in Canaan did not wipe out the people living there, as they were ordered to do, but mixed with them, worshiped their gods, and even sacrificed their children to demons there. "Thus they became unclean...", vs 39.
11th. 43 Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity. [Psa 106:43 ESV]
A good summary of the time from conquest through the end of judges.
12th. But God kept his own promise, no matter how undeserving they were.
13th, only one verse. A plea to reunite Israel from the nations.
14th. One verse. A praise.
2021 - Look at this story as a progression of how God deals with an unfaithful nation:
At the Red Sea, they rebel. God saves them anyway by parting the sea for them to cross.
They indulge their cravings in the wilderness. God obliges, but sends a wasting disease.
They rebel against God's appointed leaders, the earth opens and fire consumes the wicked.
They make the golden calf and worship it. God would have ended them for this, but there was one to intervene on their behalf - they had a savior.
They are too afraid to go into Canaan the first time. They all die in the wilderness, and a sort of "future curse" is put on their descendants.
They worship a false god - Baal of Peor. God sends a plague that might have killed them all. But another savior intercedes - Phinehas.
They rebel at Meribah. Moses is pushed past his limit.
They don't wipe out the inhabitants of the land as ordered, and so become like those people. They become unclean in God's sight. God allows them to be conquered repeatedly, escalating in volume and intensity.
Even now, they are scattered, in captivity, despised by much of the world. The end of this psalm is a cry for deliverance.