Category Archives: Psalms

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“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it”—Psalm 81:10

Against preparing sermons, some preachers used to quote the verse, “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Ps 81:10). Or perhaps I should say more precisely, they used to quote a single line of the verse. Their resistance to preparation apparently extended to examining the context of the lines they quoted.

In the verse itself, God reminds them that he redeemed his people from slavery in Egypt and spoke to his people in the wilderness (81:8-10). His people resisted obeying him, following other gods, so God punished them (81:11-12). But if they would obey him, he would bless them, as he wanted to do (81:13-16).

What would he fill their mouths with? In this case, not what should come out of the mouth (words) but what should go in (food). As God provided manna for his people when they were in the wilderness, so he longed for their obedience so he could bless them with food:

“But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (Ps 81:16, NIV)

The verse is about provision, but not about providing sermon material without study, when we have access to be able to read the Bible. It’s about God supplying the needs of his people when they follow his ways.

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God’s precious Word—Ps 119:82, 86-88

There are many reasons to treasure words from God. Just in a few verses of Psalm 119, we can get a sample.

  • God’s Word (in context) brings comfort (Psalm 119:82)
  • God’s commandments are faithful, a Hebrew idea related to truth and trustworthiness, in contrast to the lies brought against God’s servant (119:86)
  • We must hold to God’s precepts despite opposition (119:87)
  • In addition to why we treasure God’s Word, we pray for God to revive us so that we may continue to obey what God has said (119:88).

We could elaborate on each of these points, and praying through the entire psalm supplies yet further motivation. In brief, this psalm reminds us why God’s Word is so important to us, and why we honor the God who gave it by observing it.

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How grace reads the Law—a sample in Psalm 119:1-37

The psalmist celebrates the blessedness of those who observe God’s law, not doing wrong (Ps 119:1-3). God genuinely desires this ideal of full loyalty (119:4). Yet the psalmist is not yet claiming this ideal as his own life: “O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!” (119:5, NRSV/ESV). (Later in the psalm the psalmist will both claim that he keeps the commandments and ask God to help him keep them.)

Nevertheless, once he is wholly right with God, he can read the law not with the shame of failure but with praise: “Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances.” (119:6-7).

He recognizes that he cannot do this by his own effort alone. He seeks God, but asks God to enable him to obey. “With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments” (119:10). “Put false ways far from me; and graciously teach me your law.” (119:29, NRSV). “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end” (119:33, NRSV). “Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight” (119:34-35, NIV). “Turn my heart toward your laws, and not toward selfish gain (119:36). “Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways” (119:37).

It is grace, not self-condemnation, that enables us to do righteousness. For those who are in Christ, we start with the gift of God’s righteousness, both in his sight (no condemnation) and by his power (with his new nature now at work in us). Approaching the law as a means of self-justification is the wrong way to read Scripture; it always leads to condemnation. Reading Scripture as a message of grace, trusting in the heart of the God who gave His Son for us, is the right way to read Scripture, reading not by a law by works but rather by a law by faith (Rom 3:27), a law that subjects us not to sin and death but an experience of God’s word empowered by the Spirit (8:2).

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Verses out-of-context, part 1

This 8-minute video includes some samples of verses often taken out of context, and what they really mean. These include examples from the Old Testament, including Psalms, Song of Solomon, Joel, etc.–texts such as “the cattle on a thousand hills”; “this is the day that the Lord has made”; “great as the army that carries out his word”; “let the weak say I am strong”; etc.

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God owns the cattle on a thousand hills

Some people insist that God can supply all our needs because, after all, He “owns the cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps. 50:10); some go beyond God supplying all our needs to suggest that He will supply anything we want. It is in fact true that God can supply all our needs, but there are other texts that explicitly make that point. Psalm 50:10, by contrast, does not address the issue of God supplying our needs (and certainly not all our wants); rather, it declares that God does not need our sacrifices.

The figurative setting of Psalm 50 is a courtroom, where God has summoned His people to respond to His charges. He summons heaven and earth as His witnesses (50:1-6)–as witnesses of the covenant (see Deut. 32:1; cf. Ps. 50:5), they would be witnesses concerning Israel’s violation of that covenant. Israel has some reason to be nervous; God is not only the offended party in the case, but the Judge (Ps. 50:4, 6), not to mention the accusing witness! Testifying against them, God declares, “I am your God” (50:7)–reminding them of the covenant He had made with them. They had not broken faith against Him by failing to offer sacrifices (50:8)—in fact, God has little concern about these sacrifices. “I don’t need your animal sacrifices,” he declares, “for all the animals belong to Me, including the cattle on a thousand hills. I don’t eat animal flesh, but if I did, would I tell you if I were hungry? Since I own these creatures, wouldn’t I just take them if I wanted them?” (50:9-13). The sacrifice which He really requires is thanksgiving and obedience (50:14-15; cf. 50:23). But He would prosecute (50:21) the wicked who broke His covenant (50:16-20).

Most ancient near Eastern peoples believed that their gods depended on them for sacrifices, and if their gods were overpowered, their nation would be overpowered as well. The God of Israel reminds them that He is not like the pagan gods around them. Unlike Baal of the Canaanites (whose temples included a bed), Zeus of the Greeks (whom Hera put to sleep so her Greeks could win a battle), and other deities, the God of Israel neither slumbered nor slept (Ps. 121:3-4). God does not mention the cattle on a thousand hills to promise us anything we want (as a song pointed out some years ago, many of us don’t need any cows at the moment anyway); He mentions the cattle to remind us that He is not dependent on us, and we are not doing Him a favor by serving Him.

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God owns the cattle on a thousand hills — Psalm 50:10

Some people insist that God can supply all our needs because, after all, He “owns the cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps. 50:10); some go beyond God supplying all our needs to suggest that He will supply anything we want. It is in fact true that God can supply all our needs, but there are other texts that explicitly make that point. Psalm 50:10, by contrast, does not address the issue of God supplying our needs (and certainly not all our wants); rather, it declares that God does not need our sacrifices.

The figurative setting of Psalm 50 is a courtroom, where God has summoned His people to respond to His charges. He summons heaven and earth as His witnesses (50:1-6)–as witnesses of the covenant (see Deut. 32:1; cf. Ps. 50:5), they would be witnesses concerning Israel’s violation of that covenant. Israel has some reason to be nervous; God is not only the offended party in the case, but the Judge (Ps. 50:4, 6), not to mention the accusing witness! Testifying against them, God declares, “I am your God” (50:7)–reminding them of the covenant He had made with them. They had not broken faith against Him by failing to offer sacrifices (50:8)—in fact, God has little concern about these sacrifices. “I don’t need your animal sacrifices,” he declares, “for all the animals belong to Me, including the cattle on a thousand hills. I don’t eat animal flesh, but if I did, would I tell you if I were hungry? Since I own these creatures, wouldn’t I just take them if I wanted them?” (50:9-13). The sacrifice which He really requires is thanksgiving and obedience (50:14-15; cf. 50:23). But He would prosecute (50:21) the wicked who broke His covenant (50:16-20).

Most ancient near Eastern peoples believed that their gods depended on them for sacrifices, and if their gods were overpowered, their nation would be overpowered as well. The God of Israel reminds them that He is not like the pagan gods around them. Unlike Baal of the Canaanites (whose temples included a bed), Zeus of the Greeks (whom Hera put to sleep so her Greeks could win a battle), and other deities, the God of Israel neither slumbered nor slept (Ps. 121:3-4). God does not mention the cattle on a thousand hills to promise us anything we want (as a song pointed out some years ago, many of us don’t need any cows at the moment anyway); He mentions the cattle to remind us that He is not dependent on us, and we are not doing Him a favor by serving Him.

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This is the day the Lord has made — Psalm 118:24

Many churches sing or open services by quoting, “This is the day that the Lord has made.” When we sing this, most of us mean that God has made every day and what comes with it, and that we should therefore rejoice in what happens on that day. This is a true principle, but we would do better to quote a different text to prove it (maybe Eph. 5:20). The text we are quoting or singing (and there is nothing wrong with quoting or singing it) actually offers us a different, dramatic cause for celebration.

In context, Psalm 118:24 refers not to every day, but to a particular, momentous day: the day when the Lord made the rejected stone the cornerstone (118:22-23), probably of the Temple (118:19-20, 27). It speaks of a special day of triumph for the Davidic king, applicable in principle to many of God’s great triumphs but usually applied in the New Testament in a special way. If Psalm 118:22-23 was fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry as He claimed (Mark 12:10-11), so also was Psalm 118:24: the great and momentous day the Lord had made, the day the Psalmist calls his hearers to celebrate, is the prophetic day when God exalted Jesus, rejected by the chief priests, as the cornerstone of His new temple (cf. Eph. 2:20). The verse points to a truth far more significant than merely the common biblical truth that God is with us daily; it points to the greatest act of God on our behalf, when Jesus our Lord died and rose again for us.