Psalm 42

"Why are you cast down, O my soul?" (vs. 1-11)--It's interesting that this psalm and the next appear to go together. Verses 5, 11, and 43:5 are the same: "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance." This is perhaps a chorus in the song. Because of this "chorus," both psalms have a mood of despair, but of hope. The writer desires God "as the deer pants for the water brooks" (v. 1). Yet God doesn't seem to be responding to him (v. 2), which brings tears "day and night" and continual mocking from his opponents (only identified as "they" in verse 3). Remembrance of his desire and need for God causes the songster to "pour out" his soul and reminds him of times he went "to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast" (v. 4). This tends to imply that he is not doing so now, for reasons that are not stated. Then the first rendition of the chorus, if such is what it is (v. 5). A despondent soul, which can only "hope in God" and praise Him "for the help of His countenance." There are indeed times for us all when we believe that only the Lord can help us. And sometimes it seems like He isn't, or at least He is delaying His answer longer than we desire Him to. But never give up (Luke 18:1-5). When our souls do get "cast down," then remember what He has done for us before (v. 6). Since He has the power to control nature, He can control our puny lives (v. 7). In His time, "Jehovah will command his lovingkindness"--notice the future tense, "will command." He wasn't doing it in the present, but the psalmist had faith that at some point, the Lord would act in his behalf. At the moment, and apparently for the immediate future (the future tense is used again in verse 9), the author thinks God has forgotten him, and he doesn't understand why (v. 9). His enemies are giving Him fits, and mocking him, chiding him for trusting in a God who is not there. So, the song ends on the despairing, but hopeful, chorus, "Why are you cast down, O my soul?...Hope in God" (v. 11).

Psalm 41

“Blessed is he who considers the poor” (vs. 1-3)—The Lord has always pronounced favor on those who aid the less fortunate; indeed, it is a sign of “pure religion” (James 1:27). Without a governmental welfare system in the Old Testament, Jehovah required voluntary service to the poor; indeed, there is no virtue in America’s system of forced benevolence. Even the king, who had the authority to compel people to do whatever he wanted, recognizes the blessings that accrue to those who “consider the poor.” Jehovah will “preserve him” and “he will be blessed on the earth” (v. 2). Protection from enemies (v. 2), and strength and sustaining in illness will also be his (v. 3). Again, this is poetic language and not intended as absolutes. But they do teach a general lesson that helping the feeble is noticed and blessed by God.

David and his enemies (vs. 4-9)—There seems to be a decided shift in the theme of this psalm from henceforth. David acknowledges his sin and asks for mercy (v. 4). Perhaps because of that sin, his enemies oppress him in various ways, in word (vs. 5-8) and in deed (v. 9). Specifically, these enemies “speak evil” and “lies” (v. 5). “His heart gathers iniquity to itself” (v. 6), then goes out and commits it. Notice that the heart is where sin begins, and if the heart is “gathering” sin, it will execute it. His enemies hope for David’s death (vs. 7-8), and even “my own familiar friend in whom I trusted…has lifted up his heel against me” (v. 9). David is once again contrasting the actions of man with the help only God can provide.

The appeal for mercy (vs. 10-13)—There is some indication that David might literally be ill. He speaks of such in verses 3, 5, 8, and 10. Whether that is so, he comprehends his need for mercy (v. 10), and in this case, he wants that mercy “that I may repay them,” i.e., the enemies he had been earlier discussing. Part of the evidence that Jehovah is “well pleased” with him was the defeat of the devises and plans of his foes (v. 11). How David knew that such a victory meant that the Lord was pleased with him, we do not know. Once again, we witness the belief that David had that God was active in his life and all that happened could be attributed to His moving and working on David’s behalf, or against him. The Lord would “uphold me in my integrity and set me before Your face forever” (v. 12). This is a cause for rejoicing and praising the Lord (v. 13).

Such ends Book One of the Psalms. We do not know, for sure, how or why the book has five divisions. Some have supposed that the songs were collected at different times by different persons. Regardless, the Hebrews recognized these divisions in the book and they have come down to us as well.

Psalm 40

Waiting patiently for the Lord (vs. 1-3)--Good things usually happen when we do, and David mentions four of them in the first three verses: He hears (v. 1), He brings us out of a "horrible pit" and sets us upon a firm foundation (v. 2), and He puts a new song in our mouths, i.e., a new reason for living (v. 3). As a result, "many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord" (v. 3). Waiting patiently is not something most of us are good at; but we simply must have the faith to let God work out things in our lives according to His will.

The wonderful works of God (vs. 4-5)--For the man "who makes the Lord his trust" (v. 4), there are many wonderful works of God that open up to his vista. Verse 5 is lovely: "Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." Our blessings are countless and innumerable; indeed, we don't even begin to know all of the things the Lord does for us. His works are truly wonderful. But only open eyes can see them.

The work of the Messiah (vs. 6-10)--These verses certainly refer to the Messiah; at least verses 6-8, because the writer of the book of Hebrews tells us so (Hebrews 10:5-9). Verse 6 is a frequent theme in both the Old Testament and New. While God does expect and demand worship, without a pure heart such worship is vain. The prophets speak almost endlessly of this (see Isaiah 1:10ff; Jer. 7:1-4; Amos 5:21-24). Verse 7 cannot refer to David: "Then I said, 'Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.'" And, again, the New Testament tells us these verses apply to Jesus. He certainly taught the word of God at every opportunity (vs. 9-10).

A final prayer (vs. 11-17)--We seem to return strictly to David in this section; verse 12, "My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head," can hardly apply to Jesus. David prays for the Lord's "tender mercies," and "lovingkindness" (v. 11); those are what he believes will save him from the "innumerable evils" that had surrounded him, and his own sins (v. 12). Whereas earlier in the psalm, David counsels patient waiting on Jehovah, in verse 13, he pleads, "O Lord, make haste to help me!" Verses 14-16 give us another grand example of "palilogical parallelism": "Let them be ashamed...let them be driven backward...let them be confounded...let all those who seek you...let such as love your salvation..." Again, this is for ease of memorization. David wants his enemies baffled and defeated, and all those who seek the Lord to rejoice, be glad, and praise Him. The Lord is our help and deliverer, yet David ends the psalm by again requesting, "do no delay, O my God." Well, David, follow your own advice of verse one and "wait patiently." But the human element, always so plain in the Psalms, is in evidence here. While we (and David) know that we should wait for the Lord's deliverance, which will come in His time, not ours, we still hope and pray that He will act soon. Thoughts such as this are what make the Psalms so valuable. They teach us grand lessons about the nature and actions of Jehovah, but they speak in such human language as well.

Psalm 39

Meditation (vs. 1-3a)--I think the key to this section is found in the first part of verse 3:  "While I was musing..."  David wasn't speaking, he was thinking.  "I will restrain my mouth...I was mute with silence, I held my peace" (vs. 1-2).  He was grieving for some reason (v. 2), and grief that burned in his heart (v. 3).  He appeared to be meditating on life itself.

The results of his meditation (vs. 3b-6)--David finally speaks up, talking to the Lord, and indeed, he is considering the futility of life.  He speaks of the frailty (v. 4), the brevity (v. 5), and the vanity of this earthly existence.  "Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor" (v. 5).  It's a good lesson for all of us to learn.  It doesn't matter if a man "heaps up riches" (v. 6); somebody else will enjoy them--he "does not know who will gather them." 

The heavy hand of the Lord (vs. 7-13)--And even though our only hope is in the Lord (v. 7), it does seem, at times, that even He is against us.  At times like that, we are most aware of our sins (v. 8). "Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand" (v. 10).  Jehovah rebukes us and man's "beauty melt[s] away like a moth."  Again, "surely every man is vapor" (v. 11).  David asks the Lord to deliver him from his transgressions, and to not make him a reproach (v. 8).  Even when David had nothing to say, "it was You who did it" (v. 9).  Once more we see how involved in his life David believes the Lord to be.  All that happens to him he attributes to God.  The king had a very strong sense of God's abiding presence.  Sometimes David felt that God was close, but in this psalm, "I am a stranger with You, a sojourner, as all my fathers were" (v. 12).  So he pleads for God to hear his prayer and see his tears, though he wants Him to "remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, before I go away and am no more" (v. 13).  Whatever the current circumstances were, they caused David to examine life in general, realize its brevity and vanity, and that God can make our lives difficult, but only He can deliver us (v. 8).

Psalm 38

The burden of sin (vs. 1-22)—This whole psalm appears to be a mourning over sin. David believes that the Lord is very angry with him (vs. 1-2). That’s an interesting thought. How does David know God is angry with him? Did the Lord tell him by revelation? Probably not. David simply believed that “because of my sin” (v. 3), and his current circumstances, the Lord was punishing him. David speaks several times of physical infirmities--“there is no soundness in my flesh” (v. 3), “my wounds are foul and festering” (v. 5), “my loins are full of inflammation, and there is no soundness in my flesh” (v. 7). This could be poetic and not literal, but the repeated mentioning of physical maladies leads me to believe that David is truly plagued at the moment with some illness. And he attributes that to the Lord chastising him because of sin. His sin had overpowered him: “For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (v. 4). Indeed, all who try to live godly know that feeling, but, of course, such is no excuse for sin. He pleads his case before Jehovah (v. 9); there is no one else to help. His own heart and strength fail him (v. 10), his loved ones, friends, and relatives “stand aloof” and “afar off” (v. 11). And his enemies plot his destruction (v. 12). But there was nothing David could do about it. He was as helpless as a deaf and dumb man (vs. 13-14). However, he believes the Lord will hear him (v. 15) and deliver him (v. 16). David has just about reached his limit, or believes he has (v. 17). His attitude towards his sin is the correct one: “For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin” (v. 18). Oh, that more people would have such a spirit! But he opposed by strong foes, and numerous ones (v. 19). They are against him “because I follow what is good” (v. 20), though apparently he hadn’t done so in the present circumstance. He makes one last plea to Jehovah: “Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (vs. 21-22). It’s enlightening that there is no resolution here. Unlike many earlier psalms where David makes his petition and then glorifies the Lord because of a positive answer, this song is left indefinite. As of the final writing, God had not answered David. And indeed, that is frequently how we feel. Contrary to our desires, the Lord delays His answer and our soul is in anguish. We must wait on Him and accept the consequences of our actions.