Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 111 is an acrostic poem, in which each line starts with the next  letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Its main theme is the mighty acts of God, which elicit praise from the poet’s mind and heart. 

The poets describes God’s mighty acts like this:
  – Great are the works of the Lord (v. 2)
  – Glorious and majestic are his deeds (v. 3)
  – He has caused his wonders to be remembered (v. 4)
  – He has shown his people the power of his works (v. 6)
  – The works of his hands are faithful and just (v. 7)
  – He provided redemption for his people (v. 9) 

The poet  responds to God’s work with statements like these:
  – I will extol the Lord with all my heart (v. 1)
  – His works are pondered by all who delight in them (v. 2)
  – He provides food for those who fear him (v. 5)
  – All his precepts are trustworthy (v. 7)
  – Holy and awesome is his name (v. 9) 

Let’s join the poet in a prayer of praise. 

Our father, we praise you for your great redemption. As you delivered the Israelites from slavery, so you have redeemed us from slavery to sin, adopting us into your family. 

With the poet, we ponder your works. You work in those  we love. Whether they seek or ignore you, they display your image in acts of kindness, in faithfulness to spouse and children, in sensible and honest approaches to life and work. Others we know seek you amid problems of physical and mental health, anxiety and trouble. We have felt the broadening and softening movements of your spirit, changing us from harsh judges to quiet companions as we travel through life, deterring us from becoming curmudgeonly and irritable as we age. 

With the poet we fear you. Not with the fear of a slave for a cruel master, nor with the fear of one held at gunpoint, but a fear of respect as your light penetrates the dark places in our minds and hearts. We fear you with awe as we ponder the vast unknowable universe. We fear you with desire, as we hunger to participate in your goodness, and with dismay as we feel our propensity to sin. Receive our fear as the worship that is due you, our praise as our expression of honor.

The poet says,
  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
      All who follow his precepts have good understanding (v. 10).

O Lord, the foundation of our knowledge and understanding is not science that explains the laws of physics, nor artistic exploration that explores human potential. Our modern technologies bring knowledge and entertainment, but not wisdom and understanding. Modern psychology brings insight but not clear moral standards. You alone are the source of wisdom. Understanding follows obedience to your laws. A good life is one that seeks you. 

With the poet we conclude:
    To you belongs eternal praise (v. 10). 

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, General Macbeth’s wife encourages him to stage a coup, murder King Duncan, and take the Scottish throne. During Macbeth’s brief, paranoid, and murderous rule, she is the power behind the throne. 

If we ask, “Who was the power behind the throne of Israel?”, Psalm 110 gives this answer:
  The Lord said to my master,
      “Sit at my right hand
          until I make your enemies
          a footstool for your feet”.
  The Lord will extend your mighty sceptre from Zion, saying,
      “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
    Arrayed in holy splendour,
        your young men will come to you
        like dew from the morning’s womb (vv. 1-3). 

The Lord Jehovah is clearly the power behind the throne of Israel. Don’t look for a General and Lady Macbeth fiasco, with a manipulative partner inciting rebellion. No, this is the almighty God of the universe inviting the king of Israel to sit at his right hand and participate in God’s rule of the whole world. 

Modern scholarship classifies this as a royal psalm, probably written by a court poet or composer, in praise of the king of Israel. But the New Testament interprets this psalm as speaking in King David’s voice. David’s comment, “The Lord (God) said to my master” prompts the question, “David wasn’t a slave to anyone. Who is this person he calls his master?” 

In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees were waiting for a Messiah who would have King David in his family tree. Jesus quoted Psalm 110 and asked the Pharisees, “Who is this person, King David’s master, who God invites to sit at his right hand? You think it is the Messiah, but the Messiah is David’s son, not his master. How can he be greater than David?” The Pharisees were stumped.  (See Mat 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44). 

Psalm 110 also references Melchizedek, a king and priest of Jerusalem in Abraham’s time. He blessed Abraham and served him bread and wine. Abraham responded by tithing his spoils of war to Melchizedek. The Book of Hebrews interprets this as applicable to Jesus, the Messiah, quoting our psalm:
    The Lord has sworn
        and will not change his mind:
      “You are a priest forever,
        in the order of Melchizedek.”  

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we can’t imagine you saying to modern world leaders, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” That seems to be an offer reserved for Old Testament characters like King David, or perhaps for his son, the Messiah.

Like Israel, we wait for a Messiah who will set the world right, shatter the heads of evil rulers, and bring justice and peace. We also look for a forever priest in the line of Melchizedek, a king of righteousness, who will come in holy splendor wearing the bright dew of morning (v. 3). 

All praise to you, our father. All praise to Christ who sits at your right hand, waiting for you to make his enemies his footstool. All praise to the Holy Spirit who broods over the world, calling us to truth and righteousness. All praise to you, triune God, as you reign forever in glory. 

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me.”

Psalm 109’s message sounds like the opposite of Jesus’ prayer on the cross. Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.” In Psalm 109 , the poet prays:
  Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy . . .
  When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
      may his prayers condemn him.
    May his days be few,
      may another take his place of leadership. 

    May his children be wandering beggars,
    May a creditor seize all he has,
      may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
    May no one extend kindness to him,
      or take pity on his fatherless children (phrases from vv. 6-15). 

How’s that for a sustained and vengeful list of curses! I have four comments:

First, Jesus sometimes confronted great evil with great anger. In Matthew 23, he calls the Pharisees hypocrites, snakes, murderers, and tombs full of bones. He asks, “How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Mat. 23:1-36). His anger is an appropriate response to evil and injustice. We accept Jesus’ anger at the Pharisees and the poet’s anger at his enemies as legitimate emotional responses to people who perpetrate evil. 

Second, there is at least one major difference between Jesus’ anger and the poet’s anger: Jesus expressed anger by pointing out and giving examples of the Pharisees’ sins. The poet’s approach? He wants revenge! He steps beyond the Old Testament’s “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” rule by inviting evil to avalanche destructively on evildoers and their descendants. 

Third, I like the poets’ description of his enemy:
    He wore cursing as a garment,
          it entered his body like water
          and his bones like oil.
      May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
            like a belt tied forever round him.
      May this be the the Lord’s payment to my accusers,
            to those who speak evil of me (vv. 18-20). 

What an interesting word picture–an enemy wearing curses like a garment. The enemy’s garment begins to shape his identity. The attitude and practice of cursing seeps into his body like water, into his bones like oil, consuming his thoughts and life. 

Words are powerful. By constantly cursing others, the enemy creates a culture of verbal abuse and violence and he must live in the culture he creates. The poet praysGod permit this to occur, that God will let the enemy inhabit the cursed world his curses create. The poet here is not seeking vengeance on his enemy, just asking that he will experience the consequences of his speech and actions.

And finally, I note that the poet does not take up weapons or make plans to avenge himself against his enemy. His words are a prayer that God will avenge him. A wise choice, not to loose our vengeance and violence on the world, but to express our anger in prayer and invite God to bring about justice.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, the anger and vengeance of this psalm are words expressed to you. Help us, like the poet, to see clearly the injustices in the world, to be angry at perpetrators, to bring evil to your attention. Help us to walk with the poet in praying, to walk with Jesus in confronting evil, and to learn to say with Jesus, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” 

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.