Psalm 76
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph, a song.
1 In Judah is God known: His name is great in Israel.
2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, And his dwelling-place in Zion.
(God's greatness was known and among His people. Salem was the place of which Melchizedek was king (Genesis 14). He was called a priest of the Most High God. Salem meant "peace" and was believed by most Jewish scholars to have been Jerusalem. Again, the tabernacle was mentioned.)
3 There he brake the arrows of the bow; The shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah
4 Glorious art thou and excellent, From the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted are made a spoil, They have slept their sleep; And none of the men of might have found their hands.
6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both chariot and horse are cast into a deep sleep.
(God had complete control over things that did not have a will: chariots, horses, etc.)
7 Thou, even thou, art to be feared; And who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?
8 Thou didst cause sentence to be heard from heaven; The earth feared, and was still,
9 When God arose to judgment, To save all the meek of the earth. Selah
(God’s judgment caused the earth to fear and be still. The "meek of the earth" were those people who were humble.)
10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: The residue of wrath shalt thou gird upon thee.
11 Vow, and pay unto Jehovah your God: Let all that are round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
(Give to the Lord your God, vow (say) and pay (do) things for God.)
12 He will cut off the spirit of princes: He is terrible to the kings of the earth.
Psalm 77
For the Chief Musician; after the manner of Jeduthan. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 I will cry unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and he will give ear unto me.
(The psalmist believed God would hear his words.)
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remember God, and am disquieted: I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah
4 Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart; And my spirit maketh diligent search.
(The psalmist attempted to use the experiences of his forefathers to ease his troubles.)
7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be favorable no more?
8 Is his lovingkindness clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore?
9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah
(The psalmist was experiencing an unjust world, in the short term. God was Just and Justice would be equaled out, eventually.)
10 And I said, This is my infirmity; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
(Regardless of the psalmist’s infirmity, he chose to think on God.)
11 I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah; For I will remember thy wonders of old.
12 I will meditate also upon all thy work, And muse on thy doings.
(The psalmist stated he would meditate (think) on God's work and mused (talked) of God's doings for past generations.)
13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: Who is a great god like unto God?
14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples.
(The psalmist recognized God as THE God.)
15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw thee, they were afraid: The depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad.
18 The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook.
19 Thy way was in the sea, And thy paths in the great waters, And thy footsteps were not known.
20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
(God led the people as a shepherd, through Moses and Aaron.)
Psalm 78
Maschil of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
(The psalmist prepared the reader to hear his words. He was about to declare much of the history of the Israelites. Also, Jesus referenced verse 2 in Matthew 13:35.)
4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.
(The history of the Jews would be used to build the faith of coming generations.)
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;
6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born; Who should arise and tell them to their children,
(The Israelites were commanded to teach the Law to their children, their children's children, even to the ones that were not yet born.)
7 That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments,
8 And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that set not their heart aright, And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
(The generations were taught so their faith would be in God and so they would not be as their fathers were.)
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.
(The birthright given to Joseph was passed to his sons, one of which was Ephraim. This verse and a few others in the Bible (Hosea 5:3-14, 11:3-12) used Ephraim’s name as representation for all of Israel.)
10 They kept not the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law;
11 And they forgat his doings, And his wondrous works that he had showed them.
(The psalmist reminded the people of how their fathers did not walk in God’s Law even after all the works He did for them.)
12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; And he made the waters to stand as a heap.
(The parting of the Red Sea was mentioned.)
14 In the day-time also he led them with a cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.
15 He clave rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.
(God gave the Israelites direction in the wilderness and gave them all the provisions they needed.)
17 Yet went they on still to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 And they tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire.
(The people still sinned against God and tempted Him: Numbers 11.)
19 Yea, they spake against God; They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out, And streams overflowed; Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?
21 Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also went up against Israel;
22 Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his salvation.
(God’s anger was an effect of Israel not believing in Him or trusting in His deliverance of them.)
23 Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven;
24 And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven.
25 Man did eat the bread of the mighty: He sent them food to the full.
(God gave His people bread of the mighty (manna). The KJV translated this as "Man did eat angel’s food.")
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by his power he guided the south wind.
27 He rained flesh also upon them as the dust, And winged birds as the sand of the seas:
28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.
29 So they did eat, and were well filled; And he gave them their own desire.
(The people wanted flesh, so God gave them flesh, until it came out of their nostrils: Numbers 11.)
30 They were not estranged from that which they desired, Their food was yet in their mouths,
31 When the anger of God went up against them, And slew of the fattest of them, And smote down the young men of Israel.
32 For all this they sinned still, And believed not in his wondrous works.
(Still, the people did not believe God.)
33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, And their years in terror.
34 When he slew them, then they inquired after him; And they returned and sought God earnestly.
(Israelites returned to God after a loss. There are two reasons people grow:
1) Achieve gain, or
2) Fear of loss.
The Israelites chose fear of loss.)
35 And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied unto him with their tongue.
(The people said they would do something but did not do it.)
37 For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
(The Covenant these people had with God was violated by the people. It was never God’s fault.)
38 But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: Yea, many a time turned he his anger away, And did not stir up all his wrath.
(God was merciful on them. He did not immediately equal out Justice.)
39 And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
40 How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!
41 And they turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.
(Again, the people tempted God and provoked Him. The KJV translated provoked as limited. The Hebrew word meant "to cause pain.")
42 They remember not his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
43 How he set his signs in Egypt, And his wonders in the field of Zoan,
(The psalmist reminded the people of how God brought plagues to Egypt in order to facilitate the exodus…)
44 And turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, And their labor unto the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycomore-trees with frost.
48 He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, A band of angels of evil.
50 He made a path for his anger; He spared not their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence,
51 And smote all the first-born in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
(The Passover)
52 But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 And he led them safely, so that they feared not; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
(Again, the Red Sea miracle was referenced.)
54 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had gotten.
55 He drove out the nations also before them, And allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
(God came through with His end of the Covenant: He gave the Israelites the land He promised to them.)
56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And kept not his testimonies;
57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers: They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
(The people continued to turn away from God no matter how awesome He was to them.)
59 When God heard this, he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;
60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men;
61 And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the adversary's hand.
(The captivity was a result of Israel’s disobedience. Notice, Israel was called God’s "strength" and God’s "glory.")
62 He gave his people over also unto the sword, And was wroth with his inheritance.
63 Fire devoured their young men; And their virgins had no marriage-song.
64 Their priests fell by the sword; And their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
(God delivered His people again.)
66 And he smote his adversaries backward: He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, The mount Zion which he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he hath established for ever.
70 He chose David also his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds:
(David and Judah were chosen by God.)
71 From following the ewes that have their young he brought him, To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
(David was a shepherd unto the Israelites. David’s hands were called skillful. Skilfulness meant "understanding; intelligence.")
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations are come into thine inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled; They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
(This psalm was concerned with the desolation of Jerusalem.)
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be food unto the birds of the heavens, The flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; And there was none to bury them.
(Dead bodies were lying around unburied and being eaten by ravenous birds.)
4 We are become a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and derision to them that are round about us.
(The Jews were becoming an abomination to the people around them.)
5 How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry for ever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
(In 1979, on the White House lawn, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin signed a peace treaty. One of the Arab nations (Egypt) had recognized Israel's right to exist.)
6 Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, And upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob, And laid waste his habitation.
(A request was made for God to judge the nations that did not know Him because they had devoured Israel. Did Israel even know God? If they did, would they have been in this situation?)
8 Remember not against us the iniquities of our forefathers: Let thy tender mercies speedily meet us; For we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; And deliver us, and forgive our sins, for thy name's sake.
(The request got more specific. The iniquities of the forefathers was affecting the generation living during this desolation.)
10 Wherefore should the nations say, Where is their God? Let the avenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed Be known among the nations in our sight.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee: According to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to death;
12 And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom Their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture Will give thee thanks for ever: We will show forth thy praise to all generations.
(An appeal to God was made again regarding vengeance against the enemies of Israel. The psalmist stated if this happened, the people would give thanks to God forever. Did they follow through on this?)
Psalm 80
For the Chief Musician, set to Shoshanim Eduth.. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest above the cherubim, shine forth.
(The psalmist appealed to God as the Shepherd of Israel.)
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy might, And come to save us.
3 Turn us again, O God; And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
4 O Jehovah God of hosts, How long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
(God must not have been answering the prayers of His people.)
5 Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears, And given them tears to drink in large measure.
6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors; And our enemies laugh among themselves.
(The enemies of Israel mocked the Israelites.)
7 Turn us again, O God of hosts; And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
8 Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt: Thou didst drive out the nations, and plantedst it.
9 Thou preparedst room before it, And it took deep root, and filled the land.
(The Israelites were compared to a vine which brought forth much fruit.)
10 The mountains were covered with the shadow of it, And the boughs thereof were like cedars of God.
11 It sent out its branches unto the sea, And its shoots unto the River.
12 Why hast thou broken down its walls, So that all they that pass by the way do pluck it?
(Israel was broken.)
13 The boar out of the wood doth ravage it, And the wild beasts of the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine,
15 And the stock which thy right hand planted, And the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
18 So shall we not go back from thee: Quicken thou us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 Turn us again, O Jehovah God of hosts; Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
(Three times in this psalm a verse started with "Turn us again…" (3, 7, 19). This concerned the desire of the Jews to be turned back to Israel.)
(This post covered five psalms from Asaph that spoke of God's continual deliverance of Israel despite Israel continually not obeying God.)
Day 171
10 And I said, This is my infirmity; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
ReplyDelete'Remember the years of the right hand of the Most High' does that mean the writer remembers better days when he experiences his 'infirmity'?
This means that regardless of the injustice that this man was experiencing, he would remember God during that time! He would still THINK on God!!
Delete