Psalms 52—67
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Scripture Reading: Psa. 58; Psa. 59; Psa. 60; Psa. 61; Psa. 62
Throughout the centuries, many Christian readers of the Old Testament have not had the proper understanding of the Psalms. In order to have such an understanding, especially of the psalms written by David, we need to consider David's situation regarding his fighting against the enemies and regarding his spirituality.
David was raised up by God to defeat the nations, especially the Canaanites, surrounding Israel. In Genesis 15:18 God had promised to give to Abraham's descendants "this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Later, in Deuteronomy, Moses charged the children of Israel to enter the land of Canaan, possess the land, and slaughter all the inhabitants of the land, clearing the land of idols. However, the children of Israel did not obey God. Instead, they possessed the land only in part and allowed most of the enemies to remain. As the book of Judges indicates, when Israel became weak, they were attacked by the nations. Various judges were raised up to defeat these nations, but the enemies were not utterly defeated until the time of David. David defeated the surrounding nations and prepared the land for the establishing of God's kingdom, with Jerusalem as the center, the capital, and the place where the temple would be built.
As such a person raised up by God, David was a type of the fighting Christ. While Christ was on earth, He was a fighting Christ, typified by David. But as the One at rest in the heavens after His ascension, He is the Christ of peace, typified by Solomon.
David often prayed, in his psalms, concerning his enemies, even asking God to annihilate them (54:5). Insofar as he had been raised up by God to destroy the enemies of the kingdom of God, he was justified in praying this way. Furthermore, because he typified the fighting Christ, he should have defeated the enemies and slaughtered them, and he should have asked for God's help in this matter.
However, we need to consider David not only in the aspect of his being a type of the fighting Christ but also in the aspect of his spirituality. David's psalms indicate that his spirituality was not perfect. As far as spirituality is concerned, David's prayers regarding his enemies actually violated the teaching not only of the New Testament, in which we are told to love our enemies (Matt. 5:43-48), but also of the Old Testament. Some might excuse David by saying that the Old Testament saints were not expected to love their enemies and were justified in hating them. This, however, is not true. To prove this, I would ask you to read Romans 12:20. Here Paul says, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire upon his head." This verse is actually a quotation of Proverbs 25:21 and 22. In both places "coals of fire" signifies burning love. Thus, even the saints in Old Testament times were charged to love their enemies. Yet in his psalms David prayed for his enemies to be annihilated, to be killed. It seems that his prayers contradict the word spoken by his son, Solomon, in Proverbs 25:21 and 22. The atmosphere and spirit in David's psalms are related not to loving the enemy but to hating him. From this we see that David, although he was spiritual, was not perfect in his spirituality.
Let us now go on to consider Psalms 58—62. In our study of these psalms, we will use the psalmists' pious expressions uttered out of their complex sentiments as a background to know the spiritual things in the New Testament.
In Psalm 58 the psalmist first condemned the sons of men (vv. 1-5) and then he prayed for their destruction (vv. 6-11).
In his condemnation of the sons of men, David says that in heart they perform injustice and that their hands "weigh out violence on earth" (v. 2). Then, writing very poetically, he goes on to liken them to a cobra, a most poisonous serpent (vv. 4-5).
In his prayer for the destruction of the wicked, David says, "O God, break their teeth in their mouth;/Break off the fangs of the young lions, O Jehovah" (v. 6). He continues by likening the wicked to water that runs off, to a snail that melts and goes away, and to a woman's miscarriage (vv. 7-8). Then he declares, "The righteous man will rejoice when he sees vengeance;/He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked" (v. 10). Surely it is not a virtue to rejoice at seeing vengeance. David concludes this psalm, saying, "Men will say, Indeed there is fruit for the righteous man;/Indeed there is a God who judges on earth" (v. 11). Here "fruit" signifies a good result or some kind of just compensation.
How do you feel about the standard of spirituality in this psalm? I cannot have a high appreciation for this psalm. There is very little here that is good. Even the prayer and the praise are unpleasant. Nevertheless, some Christians may love such a psalm and follow it blindly, something which I cannot do.
Psalm 59 is the psalmist's prayer for God's salvation from his enemies.
The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his enemies (vv. 1-3). He prays that God would set him on high, secure from those who rose up against him (v. 1b). Verses 9 and 10 indicate that the psalmist prayed by watching for God. "O my strength, I will watch for You;/For God is my high retreat. /My God in His lovingkindness will meet me;/God will let me look triumphantly upon those who lie in wait for me."
In verses 4 through 8 and 11 through 15, the psalmist asks God to punish the nations. He asks God to awake (v. 4b) and to have no mercy upon any who treacherously perform iniquity (v. 5b). He goes on to pray that Jehovah will scatter them by His power and bring them down (v. 11b). Then he prays, "Consume them in wrath; consume them so that they are no more;/And men will know that God rules in Jacob/Unto the ends of the earth" (v. 13).
In verses 16 and 17 we have the psalmist's praise to God. Here David says, "I will sing of Your strength;/And I will sing aloud of Your lovingkindness in the morning./For You have been my high retreat/And a refuge in the day of my distress./O my strength, unto You I will sing psalms,/For God is my high retreat,/My God of lovingkindness." This praise is quite good, but it is preceded by many verses involving accusation and condemnation.
In Psalm 60 we have the psalmist's prayer to God for His restoration. This psalm also includes God's exultation in His promise to His people for the possession of the land and the psalmist's prayer for God's deliverance from the adversary.
In verses 1 through 5 we have the psalmist's prayer for God's restoration. In verse 5 the psalmist prays, "That Your beloved ones may be delivered,/Save with Your right hand, and answer us."
Verses 6 through 8 are concerned with God's exultation in His promise to His people for the possession of the land. In verse 6a the psalmist says, "God has spoken in His holiness." The Hebrew word for "holiness" here may also be translated "holy place." In His holiness, or holy place, God said that He would exult, divide Shechem, and measure out the Valley of Succoth. He declared that Gilead and Manasseh are His, that Ephraim is the helmet of His head, that Judah is His scepter, that Moab is His washbowl, that upon Edom He would cast His sandal, and that Philistia should shout aloud because of Him. Here the psalmist expresses his expectation that God will subdue the neighboring nations and restore His people to their possession. Regarding the setting up of the kingdom of God on earth, the psalmist's expectation can be justified. However, spiritually speaking, it is hard to justify what the psalmist is saying here.
Verses 9 through 12 are the psalmist's prayer for God's deliverance from the adversary. Verses 11 and 12 say, "Give us help from the adversary,/For salvation from man is vain. /In God we will do valiantly,/And it is He who will tread down our adversaries." The psalmist asks that good things will happen to Israel and evil things to the enemies. This is the principle in all these psalms.
Psalm 61 is about the psalmist's enjoyment of God in His house.
In verses 1 through 5 we see that the psalmist enjoyed God as his refuge by dwelling in the tent of God under the covering of His wings. Verses 3 and 4 say, "You are a refuge to me,/A strong tower before the enemy./Let me sojourn in Your tent forever;/Let me take refuge in the covering of Your wings." This indicates that the psalmist enjoyed God in His house to such an extent that he wanted to dwell in God's tent forever. This shows us that the psalmist was close to God.
Verse 5 continues, "For You, O God, have heard my vows; /You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name." Here the psalmist's thought is that since he was one who feared Jehovah, he had a share of God's inheritance. He feared God's name, and God gave him a portion of the inheritance.
In verses 6 through 8 the psalmist asks God to add days to his days. "You will add days to the days of the king;/May his years be like generation after generation./May he dwell forever before God;/Appoint lovingkindness and faithfulness, that they may preserve him" (vv. 6-7). It is not easy to translate the Hebrew word for "appoint" in verse 7. The American Standard Version says "prepare," and Darby says "bestow." The psalmist is asking God not simply to give but to appoint lovingkindness and faithfulness that they may preserve him.
"So will I sing psalms to Your name forever,/As I repay my vows day by day" (v. 8). The psalmist's word here seems good, but it actually involves a kind of commercial transaction between him and God. God appoints lovingkindness and faithfulness, and then the psalmist repays God by singing psalms to His name. This means that the singing of psalms to God's name is the psalmist's "payment" for the "purchase" of God's lovingkindness and faithfulness. Here the psalmist is acting somewhat like a businessman.
In principle, we may do the same thing today. For example, we may pray, "Lord, we praise You, for You love us so much." This praise is a kind of commercial transaction. What would we do if, to our impression, God did not love us so much? Real love is a matter not of receiving but only of giving. If we love with the expectation of receiving something in return, that is not genuine love — it is trade, business, commerce. Peter had such a commercial concept in Matthew 19. After the Lord Jesus had spoken about the way for a rich man to enter into the kingdom, Peter said to Him, "Behold, we have left all and followed You. What then will there be for us?" (v. 27). Peter, like the psalmist, was thinking in commercial terms. If he had said, "Lord, no matter what happens, I will still love You," that would have been real love.
The subject of Psalm 62 is the psalmist's enjoyment of God as his high retreat.
Verses 1 through 7 speak of the psalmist's enjoyment of God. In verse 2 he says, "He alone is my rock and my salvation,/My high retreat; I will not be greatly shaken." He repeats this word in verse 6. This is good, but it cannot compare with the teaching in the New Testament.
In verses 8 through 12 we have the psalmist's advice to the people. In verse 8 he says, "Trust in Him at all times, O people;/Pour out your heart before Him;/God is a refuge to us." He goes on to say that men of low degree are but a vapor and men of high degree, a lie. Then he gives this advice: "Do not trust in oppression,/And do not become vain through robbery;/If wealth increases,/Do not set your heart on it" (v. 10). This advice regarding wealth is good, but it is not as good as Paul's word in 1 Timothy 6. The psalmist concludes by saying, "Once has God spoken;/Twice have I heard this, /That strength belongs to God./To You also, O Lord, belongs lovingkindness;/For You repay every man according to his work" (62:11-12). This word may seem somewhat good, but its spiritual level is very low compared to that of the New Testament.
The psalms we have covered in this message may function as a background to help us understand the real spiritual things revealed in the New Testament. These psalms concern humanity in the ethical field, and thus they are lacking in spiritual weight.
Nowhere in the Psalms do we have a word about living and walking according to the spirit. But in Romans 8:4 Paul speaks about walking according to spirit, and in Galatians 5:25 he says, "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." Furthermore, in Philippians 3:10 he says, "To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." Nothing in the Psalms compares to this. Instead, the Psalms speak about things such as being just and upright and holding on to our integrity. We need to realize, however, that justice, uprightness, and integrity are not spirituality. Spirituality is the Spirit. Since only the Spirit is spirituality, whatever we have apart from the Spirit is not spirituality.
As New Testament believers, it is not right for us to take, without adequate discernment, all the psalmists' pious expressions uttered out of their complex sentiments. We should use their pious expressions as a background for us to know the spiritual things in the New Testament. We need to see the contrast between the Psalms and the spirituality revealed in the New Testament. We should not pursue the justice, uprightness, and integrity we see in the Psalms. Instead, we should pursue the genuine spirituality we see in the New Testament — a spirituality which is actually the divine life lived out of us by the bountiful supply of the Spirit. This is real spirituality. If we practice such a spirituality, we will not pray for the Lord to destroy our enemies. On the contrary, we will pray, "Lord, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing. Lord, have mercy on them that they may repent and receive You by believing into You."
We should not follow the Psalms blindly, for they are not the absolute pattern up to the level of the New Testament standard for us to follow. Instead of following the Psalms, we should appreciate them for the help they give us — the help of being a background for the revelation of the all- inclusive Christ. Christ is the centrality and universality of God's economy, and He is the perfect One whom we should pursue.
From our study of the Bible, we can see that in both the Old Testament times and the New Testament times, many people, including some godly ones, have been misled by the wrong application of God's word. Some have been misled to such an extent that, as the Lord Jesus said, they have thought that by killing the believers they were offering service to God (John 16:2). Throughout the centuries, a great many Christians have been misled by the mistaken application of the Bible. From this we see that we should not follow the Bible without adequate realization of the sources, courses, lines, and principles of the Bible, and we must know the Bible's sources, courses, lines, and principles if we are to understand the Bible in the right way.
In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul charged Timothy, saying, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman, cutting straight the word of the truth." To cut straight the word of the truth means to unfold the word of God in its various parts rightly and straightly without distortion. This is what I am trying to do by helping you to know the Word according to its lines and principles.
If I did not love the Psalms, I would not study them so much. However, I want to emphasize the fact that the function of the Psalms is not up to the standard of the New Testament teaching. Concerning the prophecies related to Christ, the Psalms are outstanding, but in other matters the Psalms are below the standard of the teaching of the New Testament. The Psalms advise us to trust in God, to have confidence in God, and to wait on God. This may be good, but it is far below the spiritual level of the New Testament. New Testament spirituality involves the cross, resurrection, the eternal life of God, the life-giving Spirit, and the Spirit's application of the Triune God to our being for the mingling of divinity with humanity in the accomplishment of God's eternal economy concerning the church. This is the spiritual level of the New Testament, and the spiritual level of the Psalms is much inferior to it.
