Psalm 71
Psalm 71
begins as a psalm of protection, but it turns out to be a psalm of glory. The first four verses clearly speak of
protection and prevention from being forsaken.
It is clear that the psalmist is concerned about his relationship and
status in God’s kingdom.
However,
the psalm quickly turns to become a psalm about glorifying God. In fact, one of the neat things about this
particular psalm is that it is a psalm of tracing the testimony and witness of
a person from youth to adult maturity.
This psalm is an intentional witness from one generation to the next
about how a relationship with God fits in every stage of life.
In verse 5
we begin with youth. Notice that the
words that the psalmist uses are trust and hope. In our youth, our whole life is before
us. We have much to which we can look
forward. We have many expectations. Our dreams are big. It makes sense that when we are young we
focus on God from an angle of trust and hope and even anticipation.
In verse 7
we begin to perceive a shift in the psalmist’s perspective. Now the psalmist seems to be speaking as he
looks back into the past. He has been a
portent – or a sign or even a testimony – to others. People have learned about God from him. He has told people about God’s faithfulness. As we mature, we begin to realize that there
is more to life than that which lies ahead of us. Life can be about the generations that
follow. A good bit of life is the
process of understanding how God has been with us and then teaching those
stories to the generations so that they can mature in the faith as we
have. As we mature, we see a
relationship with God that still embraces hope and trust and it also embraces
the concepts of faithfulness, mercy, grace, and promise.
This
brings us to the major point of the second half of the psalm. Throughout our whole lives, we should be
beacons of God’s love to us. We should
live so that we can claim what the psalmist claims in verses 17-18. We should be about proclaiming His wondrous
deeds and announcing His might to the generations. We should be that witness built on His
foundation. Throughout our whole life we
have something we can learn from God and something we can take to the world.
Psalm 72
Psalm 72
is a psalm of Solomon, written after he has become king of Israel. At first, the psalm reads very much like an
“Oh God, give me” kind of psalm. I do
think that there is precisely that potential danger for misuse within this
psalm. More than once does Solomon make
a comment such as “May the gold of Sheba be given to him (the king … IE,
Solomon). More than once does Solomon
ask for his name to be remembered forever.
If we are not careful about our study of this psalm, it is quite simple
to turn this psalm into the next work in the “Prayer of Jabez” prosperity-gospel
line of thinking.
Our
relationship with God should not be about God giving to us. Our relationship with God should not be about
manipulating God into doing our will.
Our relationship with God should be about our humbling ourselves to His
will. It is in that light that we need
to read this psalm.
Under the
light of the supremacy of God’s will and its superseding our human will, we can
see what it is that Solomon actually desires.
Solomon is asking for a life in which people respect each other and God
is praised because of it. Solomon is
asking for a life where God’s blessings are so prominent that His name can’t
help but be praised. Solomon is asking
for a life where righteousness is a quality to be praised and valued. Solomon is asking for a life where we see
each other as refreshing influences to life rather than as challenges to the
accomplishment of our own personal agendas.
These are all very good things.
However, I
do think we have to be careful about which we ask. Solomon got his request. He was the wisest and wealthiest king of the
Hebrew people. But he fell into the
worship of other gods. After his reign
the Hebrew people split into two different kingdoms. For me, looking upon this psalm through the
lens of history causes me to really ponder the old cliché, “Be careful what you
wish for.” We should place more
importance on actually discerning what God desires of us than we put on what we
think would be good for us.
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