Theological Commentary: Click Here
The psalms
for today are both deliverance psalms.
We have the usual verses crying out for salvation. We have the typical stanzas about how there
are people surrounding the psalmist and seeking his life, position, power, prosperity. We have the typical call for the wicked to be
swallowed up in the Lord’s wrath. These
psalms have all the telltale markings.
Reading
through the psalms of deliverance, though, there is something unique that is
vitally important to pick up. Unlike
many times in the world where we hear a cry for deliverance, this cry comes
with certain humbleness. There is an
admission of guilt. The psalmist doesn’t
cry out for salvation because they deserve it.
That’s what separates the deliverance psalms of the Bible from modern
pleas for deliverance. So often people
want to be saved because they want fairness, or they think they deserve it, or
someone else is picking on them. In this
psalm, the psalmist tells God, “You know my reproach and my shame and my
dishonor.” The psalmist knows that he’s
not perfect. He doesn’t deserve
salvation, he humble requests it.
I love this element
in today’s reading. It shows us the
importance of being humble and understanding our flawed humanity. Who are we to go before God and demand
salvation? Who are we to expect Him to
rescue us?
We have no
right to go before God and make demands.
In truth, we have no right to go before one another and make demands, either. What right we have is to go before God,
confess our fallenness, admit our guilt, embrace our shame, and then ask God to
save us.
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