God's Perfections And Glorious Attributes!

 

By James Smith,
"The Way to Be Happy" 1855

"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!" Psalm 46:7

"If God is for us--who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

Who can prevail against us? Who can really injure us? Let us daily think of God's glorious perfections--and view them as engaged for us at all times.

·         His power is engaged to support, defend, and strengthen us.

·         His omniscient eye is constantly upon us--watching over us for good.

·         His omnipresence is our safeguard from all our foes--for no one can come and find our God absent from us.

·         His justice and righteousness shine in all His dealings with us--and are like lofty mountains round about us.

·         His holiness shines in all His purposes and plans--and forbids the thought that He will act unsuitably towards us.

·         His mercy is ever great towards us--and by it He sympathizes with us in all our sorrows, griefs, and woes.

·         His goodness will constantly supply us--and is sufficient to fill us with admiration and astonishment.

·         His truth renders certain--every promise He has given and recorded in His Word.

·         His immutability bears us up and bears us on--confirming our faith and hope in His Word.

·         His wisdom frustrates the designs of our foes--and arranges and manages all for our welfare.

·         His eternity is the date of our happiness--and the duration of our unspeakable blessedness!

Here is enough to:

·         engage our thoughts,

·         overflow our minds, and

·         forever fill us with adoration and praise!

What a God is Jehovah! And Jehovah, in Jesus--is ours!

How cheering this fact, and what sweet support it yields to the mind--to meditate on God's perfections and glorious attributes--seeing them all in Jesus--and in Him, engaged for our present and everlasting welfare!

What could shake our minds--if we did but firmly believe that God's omnipotence is engaged to defend us to the uttermost?

What could tempt us to commit any known sin--if we were realizing that God's omniscient eye is ever upon us; yes, that God is present with us, and that He is our sin-hating Father?

What could lead us into murmuring and rebellion--if we were fully persuaded that God's holiness and justice are for us, and will shine resplendent in all His dealings with us?

What could lead us to think that our prayers would not be answered, nor our petitions be regarded--if our minds were influenced by the assurance, that God is truth?

How could we believe that He would ever turn against us--if we rightly viewed His immutability?

Or, how could we think that our affairs could be disordered--if we felt satisfied that His wisdom was working for us at all times!

"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!" Psalm 46:7

The Shining Face Of Moses (Part 3)

29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)

Verse 31 - “and Moses …talked with them…” - Language and grammar are highly flexible and eloquent things.  particularly the "idiomatic" ones.  An "idiom" is "a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in 'keep tabs on'."  It draws on pictures and graphic ideas that are particular and unique to the culture that the language is taken from.  Such is the case here.  The grammar of this phrase draws a picture for us.  Moses calls the rulers of the congregation to him, and he "talks with them.  The tense and force of the verbs is such that we are meant to see this as an ongoing conversation, one that is active, ongoing, in the midst of happening, incomplete if you will.  The picture drawn for us is meant to create in our minds the picture of Moses actually speaking with the Elders of Israel.  It is not simply a matter of his telling them what happened on the mountain.  He "talked" with them - he explained, communicated, announced, preached, told, whatever was needed to be sure was necessary to see that they understood what God desired for Israel.

That is the task of the leader of God!  It is the task of anyone who has been given by God to see that God's message is communicated to another.  He is:

1. Call them to himself
2. Talk to them and tell, in whatever way is needful, what God desires for them to know in order that they might act as God desires them to act.

Now, we understand that, as those not under Law but under Grace, we communicate a different set of facts.  But, at the root, we are still talking about salvation by grace through faith alone for that has always been the way that God has brought men to Himself.

“Afterward" - There is an translated conjunction here, "and" or "then", that joins the prior verse to verse 32.  The English translators thought it unnecessary to include it.  It is another indicator of temporal sequence.

There is also a little adverbial "appendage" attached to the end of the word "afterward" proper that is not rendered in most English translations.  It is the Hebrew word "ken" and is yet another indicator of sequence, but implies a similarity of fashion or comparison, likewise,  in this case.  The context makes it obvious that the people approached Moses just like the Elders did, and so the English translators did not include it.

"Afterward" itself is an adverb (it modifies the act of the people coming to Moses - when did they come?) It is another direct time reference, with regard to the event directly before what it is attached to and means "then, afterward, later, some time later, i.e., pertaining to a time subsequent to another time, depending on the context of the verse.  It is fairly common, for instance Genesis 18:5 uses it:

5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” 

Note that in some contexts it can have a spacial reference as well, "behind" (Genesis 19:6); or even directional "to the west" (opposite the rising sun - Judges 18:12); and, as a metaphor, it can speak of following someone in a linear motion (1 Sam 12:14).

Verse 32 - "...he gave them as commandments..." is all one word in the Hebrew.  As we have said the original languages in which the Bible is wirtten are very expressive and can give a lot of information that require more than one word in English to express.  The first portion of the verb is what is called a "wav consecutive" that acts as a conjunction at the beginning of the verb.  Tagged on the end of the verb is the particle "em" that functions as an English pronoun, "them" in a sort of a Dative case - "to them".  Further, as a third aspect to the verb, we see once again the form that suggests that we see the verb as "imperfect" or in progress and Moses actually speaking with the people themselves.  The verb itself means "to command, to order, or to instruct, that is to state with force/authority what others must do.  Moses is here functioning in the role of a Prophet once again and performing that role by communicating authoritatively to the people what God had communicated to him on the mountain.

Note that he tells them "all that the Lord had spoken with him".  He left nothing out and he soft-pedaled nothing that God had said to him.  There was no holding back, no qualification of the matter, he gave it to them straight, just as God had communicated it to him.

Once again we must note that this is the task of the man of God.  We are to communicate to the congregation that which God has said.  It is our responsibility to repeat to them what the Word of God has said to us.

 

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The Shining Face of Moses (Part 4)

29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)

Verse 33 - "he put a veil on his face" - Most miss an obvious truth here.  The purpose of the veil was not to calm the anxiety of the people.  We know this because Moses put on the veil only after the people had come near and after he had finished declaring the law to the people (vv. 31, 32). Rather, as Paul in 2 Cor. 3:13 makes clear, the veil was to keep the Israelites from seeing that the glory was fading away.

According to Paul, this fading glory shows the temporary and inadequate character of the old Mosaic covenant and points to the need for a greater covenant Mediator—Jesus Christ.

When not speaking to the Lord or authoritatively on His behalf to the people, Moses veiled his face. The Apostle Paul advised that the veil prevented the people from seeing a fading glory and related it to the inadequacy of the Old Covenant and the blindness of the Jews in his day.

This physical action pictured the fact that Moses did not have the confidence or boldness of Paul because the Old Covenant was veiled, that is, it was was only an unclear foreshadowing of the coming work of God's Messiah. It was shadowy. It was made up of types, pictures, symbols, and mystery. Moses communicated the glory of the Old Covenant, but with a certain obscurity.

The “veil” here can be seen as representing unbelief. Those Israelites did not grasp the glory of the Old Covenant because of their unbelief. As a result, the meaning of the Old Covenant was obscure to them (cf. Heb. 3:8,  15; 4:7). Paul’s point was that just as the Old Covenant was obscure to the people of Moses’ day, it was still obscure to those who trusted in it as a means of salvation in Paul’s day. The veil of ignorance obscures the meaning of the Old Covenant to the hardened heart (cf. John 5:38).

Without Christ the OT is unintelligible. But when a person comes to Christ, the veil is lifted and his spiritual perception is no longer impaired (Is. 25:6–8). With the veil removed, believers are able to see the glory of God revealed in Christ (John 1:14). They understand that the law was never given to save them, but to lead them to the One who would.

This underscores for us the truth that the NC, the NT is not a replacement for the OC/OT; rather it is the fulfillment of it.  It is the ultimate demonstration of all that God had "merely" foreshadowed in type and picture in the Law.

Verse 34 - “…he would take the veil off…” - Given that the above is so, we can readily understand why Moses took the veil off when in the presence of God.  That picture of the Law, the OC, is not needful for the redeemed when he stands before the Lord.  Between the genuinely saved believer and his God there are no "veils".  There is only reality.  There are no shadows or types.  There is only the real.  And so Moses, when in the presence of his God, removed the veil, for there was no need for it.  There was no unbelief in Moses heart, nothing to keep him from God's presence as there was in the hearts of the people of the congregation.  He was safe in the presence of His God and thus,  off with the veil.

“…he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded…” - The grammar here is very similar to what we saw earlier.  What we want to note is that he continued to do this in what appears to be an ongoing basis.  He went into the presence of God and immediately emerged and communicated what God told him to the people of God.

We want to note also that nowhere, here or elsewhere, are these people called "his people".  They are God's people, the children of Israel, not Moses' people.   Moses understood that, and our leaders today ought to understand that.  My congregation is not "my people", even innocently.  They are God's people.  I must remain constantly, painfully aware that this always the case!

Further, we note that there is also a limitation on Moses here – he spoke all that God had told him, but he also spoke NO MORE!  We see through the rest of the OT Law that the prophet was strictly limited as to what he could say.  False prophesies we dealt with very, very harshly!  It was important that the man of God speak for God and speak accurately, both positively by what he said, and negatively by what he did NOT say.  Would that this were true today!

Safely Abiding in the Presence of God (Part 3)

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” ¹ 

“I will say" - To speak or talk usually with a focus on the content to follow, that is, it is most often used as a prelude to offering the content of what the person actually says. It is future, or more properly, imperfect and calls to mind the action itself, in progress.

“The LORD" is a euphemism of Adonai and is the name of the One true and Living God. The focus of the term is two-fold.

1. His sure existence.
2. His relationship to his covenant persons and peoples.

Thus Yahweh was set apart from the gods of the other peoples round about the Israelites. Not that they were any less sure that their gods existed. But that Israel was sure of a self-revealing God who was in Covenant with them and them alone. This was what made them unique among all nations round about. It was this of which the name YAHWEH spoke.

One must ask the question, then, (off topic) how wise was it, how truly reverent of Israel was it refuse to speak this Name and to use Adonai instead? It would seem to me (with humility) that truly honoring God and all that He had done and would do for Israel would require that they use the Name Yahweh and uphold the truth He was a covenant making and upholding God and that His covenant was with them and no other. I understand that the issue of "reverence" and holiness entered in, but I suspect that this became a false matter and that the real issue was that of tradition and bureaucracy and little more.

"He is my refuge..." - A refuge is a place of safety and a place that is free from danger; and figuratively, an extension of a place of refuge or shelter. It is most often used in the non-literal sense. David said that the Lord is the "refuge" for the poor (Psalm 14:6). In the very famous Psalm 46:2, he said

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

In Psalm 62:8 we read:

7 In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.

Solomon concluded:

26 In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge. (Proverbs 14:26)

Likewise Isaiah knew that...

4 You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
(Isaiah 25:4)

The word was derived from a word referring to a cave or a den, i.e., a physical hole or an overhang for shelter. In fact, the OT uses in that fashion at times. Job 24:8 speaks of being "...huddled around the rock for want of shelter". Psalm 104:18 says that the "...cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers".

Because we have referred specifically to Yahweh, the covenant implied in the use of the Name applies. Hence, the refuge offered is "my" refuge (the author being a member of the covenanted family).

"And", of course, is a coordinating conjunction, or a word that joins two phrases that are usually of the same grammatical status. It joins the two descriptions: "my refuge" and "my fortress"; implying that they are, grammatically at least, equal.

"...my fortress..." - A fortress is a stronghold, a mountain or rock fortress, namely, a place where one resides as a hiding or defensive position, often occupying a natural land formation in the high inaccessible rock or hill area. David was in a "stronghold" in 1 Samuel 22:4-5. Likewise, after David spared Saul's life in 2 Samuel 24:22 he went home to his "stronghold". It can also be translated "Fortress", a walled construction built for defensive position, and is so translated for instance in 2 Samuel 5:7 where we are told that David "took" the "fortress" of Zion (Jerusalem).

Note that both of these terms (refuge and fortress) are preceded by the Hebrew term "my or me". It is a simple preposition that is in a possessive form.

Scholars suggest that it is possible, grammatically, for both of these phrases, "My refuge and my fortress" to be joined and rephrased as “my secure fortress.” an interesting suggestion.

The Shining Face of Moses (Part 2)

29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)

“The skin of his face shone” - "Shone" in verse 30 is to be radiant, to emit light rays, i.e., a shining appearance due to glow of a face that supernaturally beams light.  The basic form of the word can literally mean "with horns"!  We are talking shooting out spikes of light here!  There was a blinding brilliance to Moses face man had never seen since the Garden (and Adam had nothing to compare that with!). 

"They", here, includes Aaron, Moses brother and by the time of Exodus 34, High Priest of Israel.  And they were afraid with good reason! 

"Afraid" is a common Hebrew word meaning to be in a state of feeling great distress, and deep concern of pain or unfavorable circumstance.  It is the word used to describe the state of emotion in Adam and Eve when they hid themselves in the garden after thier din in Genesis 3:10 and Adam gave explanation for their hiding to God:

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Adam knew that God had commanded that he obey and there would be consequences for disobedience and was "afraid" as a result.

The reaction of fear in this passage suggests previous events leading up to the current experience. It was only when they drew near and conversed without harm were they reassured. 

"Then" is another marker of co-ordinate relationship.  Here indicating another time relationship.  One phrase or action following immediately after the prior to keep the narrative moving.

"Called to them..." is a verb that is used of leader to subordinates or of one who has something to offer to the "offeree".  It means to summon, i.e., call a person(here, a group) to come into one’s presence.  God "called" Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12:31 and told them lead Israel out of Egypt:

31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said.

Moses acts as Israel's leader, their Prophet and calls them back to speak to them all that God has said to Him.  Let's not make the mistake of thinking that this is harsh.  It surely is not.  It is reasonable to see Israel as reluctant to come in to the presence of Moses, and by implication God, once again.  The experience, thus far, has been an awesome one, but it has not been a real positive one (their fault not God's of course.)  If not excused, we can surely see why they might hang back and need to be called to Moses' feet.

Just as a note, "...rulers of the congregation..." seems to refer to the leaders of the tribes of Israel.  That particular English phrase only appears 5 times, twice in Exodus and three times in Joshua.  The phrase "rulers of Israel" appears in Judges 5:9 and seems to refer to the same concept.  2 Kings 10:1 makes reference to the "rulers of Jezreel".  2 Chronicles 29:20 speaks of "rulers of the city" speaking of Jerusalem.  2 Chronicles 35:8 speaks of "...Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God..."  Isaiah 1:10 refers to the "rulers of Sodom" and Micah 3:1 refers to the "rulers of the House of Israel".  Matthew 2:6 refers to the "rulers of Judah" and Matthew 20:25 speaks of the "rulers of the Gentiles".  Mark 5:22, speaking of Jairus, calls him a "ruler of the synagogue".  Luke 14:1 speaks of the Rulers of the Pharasees.  In Acts 4:8 peter address the "rulers of the people and Elders of Israel...".  In Acts 13:15, when preaching at Pisian Anticoh, Paul address the "rulers of the Synagogue".  In Acts 17:6-8,  preaching at Thessalonica, Paul was dragged from Jason's house by the Jews before the "rulers of the city", but was eventually let go.  1 Corinthians 2:6-8 speaks twice of the spiritual "rulers of this age.  Likewise Paul, in Ephesians 6:12 famously speaks of the "rulers of the darkeness of this age". 

There are many "rulers" in the Scriptures.  These seem to the ones Moses selected and put in place in Exodus 18:21–26:

21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”

24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

It is this group that Moses called, summoned to him so that they, in turn could lead their charges to him in what follows.

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Safely Abiding in the Presence of God (Part 2)

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” ¹ 

"Most High" - a title for the true God with a focus on him being supreme, and shows high status. It occurs about 43 times in the English Bible. The point here is to invoke the idea of a ruler and all that this would imply to the ancient mind. Rulership, sovereignty, power, fear in the minds of followers, and the inviolable and unbroachable ability to protect. This is virtually absolute in the human world, how much more so in the realm of God Himself?

The title emphasizes God’s majesty and is parallel to the term Almighty. Together the terms Most High and Shaddai speak of God as a mountain-like majesty, in whose presence there is a “secret place” or a shadow.

"Shall abide" - The word appears 87 times and is from a root meaning to stay the night, to "lodge" or to abide for some extended time. The declension of the verb implies a causative idea, namely that the subject will be "caused to abide." It's form is also "imperfect" and so we are to see this either as future tense or as an incomplete action. It seems unlikely that this is a "pure" future tense, meaning that we dwell in the secret place now and abide later. Rather, we are to see this an an action in progress, incomplete as it were. The one who dwells in the secret place will be abiding, is, according to this verse, to be seen as abiding now, under the shadow of the Almighty.

One might actually view this in the form of a promise. It is surely a declarative statement on David's part, and, as the "Singer of Israel", under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he speaks for God and thus this declarative statement can be taken as being made by God Himself.

These kinds of statements can and should be taken be what they are - statements of God's intention to be, not only to David himself, but to all of His people what He promises. We see this by the generic nature of the verse. It is "He who..." and directed to David particularly.

"Under" is a simple preposition, a marker of position within certain limits, contrasted with being outside an area, even in a three dimensional area. It takes its' specific meaning from the context of the sentence. Here, because we are talking something that casts a "shadow", "under" seems the best and most logical translation.

"...the shadow of the Almighty" - A "shadow" refers to the state of interposing something between an object and a light source, with the associative meanings of protection and refreshment, and a transitory nature. This is the "shadow" referred to in 2 Kings 20:9 that went backward:

Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

As a metaphor it can refer to protection, or formally, shadow, i.e., that which keeps an object safe from harm or danger as a figurative extension of shade which comes between a light source and an object. The imagery is that of the superior extending a strong and mighty appendage so that it interposes itself between the the one in question and some danger or threat, with its' "shadow" thus providing security and protection. In a land where the sun can be oppressive and dangerous, a “shadow” was understood as a metaphor for care and protection.

"The Almighty" - One of the titles in the OT for the true God, as we have noted, with a focus on the power to complete promises of blessing and prosperity. The Hebrew word is used 41 times in the OT, 31 of those times are in the Book of Job; it is used a time or two in just a a book or two elsewhere.

The Humble Shall Hear Of It – Psalm 34:2b (Part 2)

The Testimony of Boasting in the Lord

Notice that David immediately turns his attention away from himself and to how his experience and what he has learned can do in benefit of other servants of God and how it bring glory to God. The redeemed are never content to sit in isolation and simply just “be” right with the Lord (whatever that would mean if such sitting still and being right were even possible). His concern is that “the humble” hear of his experience and they “be glad”.

The “humble”, it seems certain, are God’s people.

It is a plural noun and refers primarily to a person suffering some kind of disability or distress.[1] In theological contexts in the Scripture, that is most often the context of sinfulness and redemption. It was used of Moses in Numbers 12:3. David Himself used the word twice in the context of redeemed sinners in Psalm 25:9. He uses it in a similar context in Psalm 37:11; Psalm 147:6; & in Psalm 149:4. Solomon used in the same context in Proverbs 3:34. (We must certainly admit, though, that the word is not always used in the clear context of believers. Zephaniah 3:3 is not so clear a reference for instance.)

Self-satisfaction in being rescued was not David’s point. He was not just happy and basking in the after-glow of what God had done. Oh no! David wanted testimony to others and ministry to the family of God’s people (though that is surely NT language) to be the great profit of his experience. And more, as we see from what follows, he wanted God’s glory to be the profit – he want them to grow and benefit themselves and then to join him in magnify the God who had delivered him!!

The goals of the lives of the Redeemed is not self-centered! We are not here to experience life! We are told by sign after sign and therapist after therapist that what we need is “love ourselves” and just let go and experience life! But that is not what God has put us here for. We are here for the benefit of the Body of Christ and, ultimately, for the glory of Lord Who created us! David understood that and his heart raced to fulfill those goals.

Matthew Henry, in his wonderful, devotional commentary[2], gave three things for which we “must agree with David” at this point in Psalm 34:

• In great and high thoughts of God, which we should express in magnifying him and exalting his name, v. 3. We cannot make God greater or higher than he is; but if we adore him as infinitely great, and higher than the highest, he is pleased to reckon this magnifying and exalting him.
• He would have us to join with him in kind and good thoughts of God (v. 8): O taste and see that the Lord is good! The goodness of God includes both the beauty and amiableness of his being and the bounty and beneficence of his providence and grace; and accordingly,
• He would have us join with him in a resolution to seek God and serve him, and continue in his fear (v. 9): O fear the Lord! you his saints. When we taste and see that he is good we must not forget that he is great and greatly to be feared; nay, even his goodness is the proper object of a filial reverence and awe. They shall fear the Lord and his goodness,

I think that is the kind of thing David would have applauded! That his experience turn our thought to the character and works of God. That if the focus of the rest of the marvelous Psalm. His works are insignificant, nothing unless they drive the attention of the reader to the Person and Character of the One true and Living God. That ought to be what you and I live for as well!

One Last Consideration – The Necessity of Humility

There is one last matter for our consideration here. That last phrase, “The humble shall hear of it and be glad” points out the need for humility in order to receive the message Gospel. Micah 6:8 says:

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

God requires that, in order to walk before Him, men walk “humbly”. We can define humility as being marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful. Theologically that basic definition would stand up pretty well if we added the idea of rejecting dependence on human devices or ability for any part of salvation or sanctification or to commend you to God’s favor.

One cannot even enter into a relationship with God without some degree of humility. That humility is demonstrated in a willingness to repent of sin and hear the truth of the Word of God. This is why unredeemed people cast the Scripture aside and consider it foolish. Their pride will not allow them see its truth. They will not humble themselves before God and bow before his authority.

It is small wonder then that they spend their lives with little to be glad about and little encouragement. They have cut themselves off from the One Being in the entire universe Who could, in all situations, without fail bring them cheer and hope!

In the end, this is horribly foolish, but of course, that is from the point of view of the redeemed! From the point of view of the unredeemed they are simply doing what David did, serving their own best interest, a completely natural thing to do. But also completely self-destructive.

David would argue that there is no more “self-serving” thing than to give ones-self over to the service of their Creator. It is counterintuitive to the unredeemed, but once one is redeemed and that fog of sin is lifted and clear sight is restored, thinking is possible for the first time ever. Then things make sense and one can see how what once seemed to be ridiculous is not so foolish after all.

That being the case, it becomes easy for the “humble to hear” of the works of God and “be glad”. Who wouldn’t be?

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[1] Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (683). Chicago: Moody Press.

[2] Henry, M. (1996, c1991). Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Ps 34:11). Peabody: Hendrickson.

The Humble Shall Hear Of It - Psalm 34:2b

My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

The heart of David is one of the great example in the Bible of one who, though making terrible mistakes, sinful mistakes to be sure, still maintained a heart for the Lord that drove him to see the need for repentance and holiness. Often David would fall down and do very foolish, wicked things. But then God would show him how stupid his behavior was and he would repent and turn around and head back in the right direction.

The beauty of this and the example for us is that he was completely transparent in all this. There is no trying to hid anything from the Lord or from us. Once he realizes his sin, it comes out in the open, he repents and his heart breaks and forsakes it.

This Psalm is given over just such an incident, occurring in Gath when he fled from Saul in 1 Samuel 21:

10 Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:

     ‘Saul has slain his thousands,
     And David his ten thousands’?”

12 Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” (1 Sam. 21:10-15)

David, afraid of Saul, flees to Gath, becomes afraid of Achish (Abimelech) and so feigns madness. This great man of war crawls around, and acts like a crazy person lest Achish kill him (as Saul would have, or so he feared). All of this because he had lost his perspective on who God was and thus had lost faith in God’s Person and willingness to protect him.

He flees to the Cave at Adullam (1 Samuel 22) and there gathers men to himself and his fame grows as well as his faith is restored and he writes this Psalm.

Praise In the Midst of Helplessness

One of the themes of this Psalm is that praise, even in the midst of helplessness. David saw himself as helpless to defend himself against Saul. Saul was God’s anointed King over Israel and thus he was untouchable. He was in a place where David could not strike against him. In fact, David had no desire to strike against him for that very reason. He understood that God had established Saul as Kind and that was fine with David.

But David knew that Saul sought his life and the two things, Saul unreasonableness and his absolute power made his situation untenable. What he forgot what that God was also in the mix and that He was a power stronger that Saul. For some brief period of time, David saw with earthly eyes and saw no way out but to run, and so he fled to Gath.

We do that as well. We do not allow for God to enter a situation and alter the mix from “the hills”. In Psalm 121:1 David says:

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

He is, of course, using the physical hills around about as a figure for the heavens and our Lord. The “Lifting of the eyes” likewise is a figure for prayer and together they make a remarkable wonderful picture of prayer and dependence on God for help and intercession in our affairs.

I am certain that the affair in 1 Samuel 21 was not the only lesson that taught David this truth, but it surely was one schoolroom where he learned it! The sooner we learn that we are helpless and need the help of God to accomplish what He has sent us to do, the better off we will be!

My Soul Shall Makes It's Boast In The Lord!

2     My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
     The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

To speak of deeds, abilities, or characteristics in a manner showing pride or self-satisfaction. In the Bible the word also has a more positive connotation (“to glory in”).[1]

In the OT, “boasting” is often used to describe the basic attitude of the ungodly, who depend on their own resources rather than on God (Ps. 52:1; 94:3–4). The enemies of Israel boasted of their victories and claimed the glory for themselves (Deut. 32:27; Ps. 10:3; 35:26; 73:9; Is 3:9). They boasted of their riches (Ps 49:6) and wisdom (Is 19:11). According to the Lord, the rich and wise are to

“…boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth” (Jer. 9:24,).

Jesus depicted a proud Pharisee boasting to God in prayer (Luke 18:10–14). Most of the NT usages of the word occur in the apostle Paul’s letters. The negative aspect of vaunting one’s own accomplishments is contrasted with the positive counterpart of glorying in what the Lord has done (Rom 3:27–28; 2 Cor. 10:17; Gal 6:14).

Self-righteousness and bragging are to be avoided (Rom 1:30; 2:17, 23; Eph 2:9; 2 Tm 3:2). Paul associated boasting with the attitude of those Jews who developed a feeling of self-confidence because of having kept the law. There are, in fact, a number of clear reasons associated with boasting that are to be avoided in the Bible:[2]

• Man’s limited knowledge (Prov. 27:1, 2)
• Uncertain issues (1 Kin. 20:11)
• Evil incurred thereby (Luke 12:19–21; James 3:5)
• Salvation by grace (Eph. 2:9)
• God’s sovereignty (Rom. 11:17–21)

There are also quite a number of clear examples of the kinds of boasting that God despises and we are to avoid: [3]

• Goliath (1 Sam. 17:44)
• Ben-Hadad (1 Kin. 20:10)
• Rabshakeh (2 Kin. 18:27, 34)
• Satan (Is. 14:12–15; Ezek. 28:12–19)

For Paul, the only legitimate boasting was to boast (rejoice) in the Lord (Rom 5:11). In Romans 5:3, the rabbinic view of glorying in one’s sufferings is contrasted with Paul’s view that his present sufferings pointed to God’s power and toward Paul’s hope for the future.

Paul’s boasting was not based upon comparisons with others, in contrast to the boasting of his opponents. Because Christ worked through him (2 Cor. 3:2–6) and God commended him (10:18), he could give glory to God. Paul preferred to boast of his own weakness, and of the Lord’s power and strength (12:5, 9).

On occasion, the apostle did boast concerning a particular group of Christians (7:4, 14; 8:24; 9:2–3), but with the implication that he was expressing confidence in them, not bragging about his own successes. Concerning himself, Paul boasted reluctantly and only as a means of defense against an unsupportive element in the Corinthian church. He said that those who should have commended him had instead compelled him to engage in “foolish” boasting (2 Cor 12:11).

Boasting in the Lord

But there is the matter of "Boasting in the Lord" as David puts it here. That surely is not a sinful action and is not objectionable to God, and, in fact is pleasing and honorable to Him! The Scripture presents such "boasting as a four-fold responsibility for believers before their Lord: [4]

First, it is a Continual duty. Here in Psalm 34:3 David himself tells us this truth. Remember from our last lesson that this is in the "Jussive", which expresses and indirect command, that is a command to a second or third person. The point is that this is not an option, it is a necessary function of any believer's life. That duty has two components, that it be present and that it be continual or ongoing.

It is to be Always in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 10:13–18 says:

13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; 15 not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, 16 to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment.

17 But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 18 For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

Our boasting is not be in the labors of men, but what God has accomplished for us. Self promotion is not what gets us there - but being approved of God!

It is Necessary to refute the wayward. In 2 Corinthians 11:5–33 Paul speaks of the matter of false apostles. The Corinthians were being seduced by the credentials of men and impressed by false apostles who had come and were leading them astray. Paul writes and does a little "boasting to give them some perspective:

16 I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little. 17 What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. 18 Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast.

He goes on and lists all of his human qualification, secular AND spiritual, which dwarfed anything that the false prophets had to offer. Of course, his conclusion is that none of that matters. His human qualifications were irrelevant when it came to making hum the servant of God that God wanted him to be. He sums up his case in vv. 30-33:

30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. 31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

There could not be a more sound refutation! Our boasting, when we do it must be in what God has done for us and nothing more!

It is to be spiritual rather than natural. In those very famous verses in Philippians 3:3–14 Paul tells us that his qualifications to serve the Lord are spiritual and not physical. He sums it up in the middle of the section:

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

With all of the physical qualifications he had, including circumcision, one would think he was well suited to count him himself on solid ground. But he came to see that that was not what made ground with God solid. None of those things enter in to our "boasting" arena. The sooner we, as David and Paul, learn that lesson, the sooner we will be, as they - able to make our boast in the Lord!

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[1] Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (229). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers. (This entire section is taken from this resource)

[2] Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's quick reference topical Bible index. Nelson's Quick reference (107). Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[3] Ibid]

[4] Ibid, (108).

My Soul Shall Makes It's Boast In The Lord!

2     My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
     The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

What should be the object of our testimony? So often when testimony time comes in church we hear testimony concern what God has done for us and the focus of that testimony is all about what God has done for me. Inadvertently, perhaps, the center of the testimony ends up being the believer and his experience of God rather than God himself. I'm not sure that this is what should be happening. This is not the way David gave testimony, nor is it the way others in the Bible gave theirs. Jeremiah, for instance, in Jeremiah 9:23-24 said:

23 Thus says the Lord:
     “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
     Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
     Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24     But let him who glories glory in this,
     That he understands and knows Me,
     That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, 
     judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
     For in these I delight,” says the Lord.

Our glorying, even innocently, ought not be in ourselves or in any other thing that is about us, it ought to center in and about our Lord and abut Who He is. David knew this and practiced it!

Now, at the time this Psalm was written, he was in a where he should not have been and he knew that he was in trouble. Remember that this Psalm was written when he was feigning madness down in enemy territory before Abimelech (Achish - see 1 Samuel 21) in Gath to escape Saul. The Psalm is an acrostic Psalm (like Psalm 25) in which each verse starts with different letter of the Hebrew alphabet (with the exception that there does not seem to one for the letter "waw" , it seems to have been dropped or lost, after verse 5).

God had delivered him from danger and even from his own foolishness. David's focus in these entire first 10 verses is to call on the congregation to praise the Lord for delivering him and for His goodness to His people.[1] He does this by asking the people to focus, not on the effect of the deliverance, but on the character of the God Who did the delivering.

This is an important difference, especially in our day and age! So much of Christianity is only about God in token. When say "praise the Lord and then move on to "Me, Me, Me!" We are a function of our consumer age. Our "praise to God more about how He has satisfied us well and how He has made us full and well pleased than it is about Who He is and what His attributes are. This is truly pitiful.

Note the verbs: bless, boast, magnify, exalt just in first three verses. The name “Lord” (YAHWEH) is used sixteen times in the psalm.[2] All this points to David's focus on the person of God and not so much on his own experience. He is more concerned with the God who delivered him than he is with that he got delivered.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is not to say that he wasn't grateful, overjoyed that he had been delivered! I am certain that he was. But that was vastly overshadowed by the fact that all that was to his benefit was done by the God of universe! Somewhere in his experience down there in Philistia David realized this and that contrast changed his perspective and whereas he was once filled with fear, he became filled with the kind of courage only God can give someone. Not bald, human bravado; but true confidence in that God will provide and care and see to his well-being.

This is what David is testifying to - the realization anew that he serves the kind of God, the character and Person of a God that has made that kind of transformation in his life. He had lost that perspective. That fall in his mind and heart is allowed him to flee to Gath and feign madness. It was what allowed him to indulge in all of that nonsense and foolishness in the first place. But now, Oh! But now God, Yahweh - the One true and Living God has revealed Himself anew and afresh and has shown Himself to David!

Is it any wonder that this kind of praise is forced from his lips? Would it not be forced from yours and mine?

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[1] Ryrie, C. C. (1995). Ryrie study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 update. Includes indexes. (Expanded ed.) (859). Chicago: Moody Press.

[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be worshipful (1st ed.) (131). Colorado Springs, Colo.: Cook Communications Ministries.

What I Want My Praise To Be

1     I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. (Psalm 34:1a)

O Lord, the challenge of praise at all times! Not so much that I don't know that you don't deserve it but that I don't feel like it. Some would argue that it is only human that there are times when I don't feel like offering you praise, when my voice is not ready to lift itself high in worship and extol the virtues of the one who has done all to bring me all that I have. From a human standpoint, I can certainly see the logic there.

But from a godly standpoint, from the point of view of a redeemed person, I cannot see that logic. David did not see it. The redeemed ought to bless the Lord at all times is him opinion! The praise of God ought always be in their mouths. The ones whom God has brought to eternal life ought to live to worship and offer thanksgiving and praise to their God.

Now, I don't think that he means this as any kind of servitude. I don't believe that David intended or had in mind the kind of praise that we think of when we think of monks in a monastery, offering blank and empty, mechanical servitude born of a sense of trying to please God of some desire to please Him legally somehow, desperately hoping that we can balance the books by our effort. No, that is surely not David's intention.

Nor is he speaking of any kind of obligatory service that would follow after salvation that is "tacked onto" our relationship God as a means to keep it right and vibrant. David is not saying that there is some means by which we "must" keep things going or they die if we are not careful.

Likewise, David is not saying that we are somehow purchase the good pleasure of God with our praise. He is not saying that, as we praise him, we are somehow "buying" His favor and thus He is disposed to do good things for us. Sadly, many in Church history have this, but that is a fairy tale. That good favor was purchased by Christ alone. You and I cannot BE good enough to satisfy God, which is why Christ had to come in the first place.

No, David is simply saying that this continual praise is simply the response of the redeemed heart! The heart for whom God done such a magnificent thing will wish to praise Him and will wish to praise Him continually - as much it can and often as it can!

The verb in the phrase is "cohortive" in Hebrew, meaning that it expresses very strong intention, hence the "I Will Bless" in English. It means to bless another or speak words invoking Divine favor always with the intention that there will be a favorable circumstance resulting in the future. Most often the verb is used, of course, in regard to people. David here uses in regard to God Himself. There is nothing wrong with that, for there is no other human language to express the thought he intends.

"Praise" is adoration, thanksgiving, i.e., positive words about the excellence of another. Often these words are in the context of being sung in the Scripture. We see this often in the Bible, as they are here! They are often word of reputation, words that cause a person's reputation to be enhanced, that characterize Him in some fashion, that give that person glory or praise, words of renown. Again that fits this context well.

"All" is a catch all construct that that refers to the totality of a thing. It refers to the totality of thing, the entirety, its completeness. "Times" is actually singular in Hebrew. The word refers to time in the most general sense possible. The season, the idea most general sense of time one can imagine. David is saying that he will praise the Lord "Always" . His intention is to avoid any make the statement without any reference to time at all, just a blanket commitment to praise the Lord!

It that not wonderful! How marvelous a commitment to the praise of God that to make for any believer! I will praise the Lord - always! No consideration circumstance; no consideration what may occur, what I might feel like, nothing! I will praise the Lord regardless! O Lord - that is what I want my praise for you to be like!

Note also that this praise is also done with his mouth - it is oral, note just in the meditations of his heart it is for all to hear! It is public praise! Not to make too much of this, more than is intended, but it one thing to be full of thanksgiving and praise in our hearts, but it is another all together to be full of praise vocally, publicly, in front of the world, before people! David's intent is that God's reputation be enhanced, we saw that from the word he used for "bless". He desires that God's reputation before all men be lifted up and they think more of Him as a result. That cannot happen if he is "oral" with his praise. And so David spoke his praise - he shouted his praise form every housetop!

Nor can it happen if we are not open and out loud with our praise as well. It well and good to be all full praise in our hearts, and I sure that God approves of that - but that is not where our duty ends and that is not what the example of the Scripture is. Our pattern is that of the person of David - I will praise the Lord at all times - His praise shall continually be in my mouth!

Psalm 92:5-6 - How Great are the Works of God!

     Here the psalmist elaborated on God’s praiseworthy actions. The writer sang because of the Lord’s deeds . . . great works, and profound . . . thoughts. Specifically he was thinking of God’s vindication of the righteous by His destroying senseless . . . evildoers who sprout like grass (cf. 90:5) and flourish for a short time (cf. Pss. 49; 73).

O Lord, how great are Your works!

      How marvelous is it that we can directly address the Lord of the universe and He hears us? Those are not deaf ears.  Because of the work of Christ - we can address him - enter His courts and speak and he hears us and is sympathetic to our speaking, small and futile as it is!

      How truly great!  How marvelous and unassailably great - without question!  Man's greatness is either derived from you, a mirror of your own or creation's, or false, faked.  But your greatness, O Lord is truly Great!

     God’s acts and thoughts overwhelm us as we contemplate them. They draw us on to reverent fascination and humble devotion that exceeds our poor grasp.

     There is no end to His works, only and endless variety to what He has done, a tapestry varied and colorful for the believer to look at and enjoy.

…Your thoughts are very deep.

     That God has thoughts demonstrates that he is a being and not a force.  Only a being can have thoughts, a force can only do or be.  O God YOU think and are and act.

      Lord, your thoughts are deep, often too deep for us!  Too complex.  Too detailed.  They take too much into consideration and have too much to consider.  They are godly thoughts.  They are clean thoughts, pure thoughts.  They look backward to consider that past and forward to take in the plans for the future.

      O Lord your thoughts are too deep for us and we are glad that you are thinking them and not us!  For they are they are the thoughts of God and not man!

     The Lord’s plans are as profound as his doings are vast. Some people think but cannot work, and others are mere drudges working without thought; in the Eternal the conception and the execution go together. Providence is inexhaustible, and the divine decrees which originate it are inscrutable. Redemption is grand beyond conception, and the thoughts of love which planned it are infinite. Human beings are superficial, God is deep. We stand by the fathomless sea of divine wisdom, and exclaim with holy awe, “Oh the depth!”

      A senseless man does not know, 
      Nor does a fool understand this.

      Thank you Lord for the sense to both perceive and understand that your thoughts are not man's thoughts.  What a great gift!  What a fabulous treasure!  I praise you Lord for the great gift of understanding and the great gift of be able to perceive what God has done for me and understand what it means as well and to know that t this something that not all men are aware of!

      Don’t expect the natural man to understand the deep things of God. He can’t understand them, “because they are spiritual discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). As far as divine realities are concerned, he is dull and stupid though he may be an intellectual giant as far as the world is concerned. He never comes to grip with the fact that fixed moral laws in the universe prescribe destruction for the wicked. Though he may seem to prosper for a while, still his success is as short-lived as grass. Just as sure as the Lord is enthroned forevermore, so surely will His enemies be scattered and perish.