Psalm 108: God’s

Today’s reading is Psalm 108.

An Ancient Beginning

In Genesis 32-33, Jacob brought his family back to the Promised Land. However, he feared Esau. Did Esau carry his grudge over Jacob’s deception and theft from so many years ago? Was Esau bringing the 400 men with him as a war party?

You can go back and read the story for the details if you are unfamiliar. For now, simply note Esau embraced Jacob instead of attacking him. God made room for Jacob in the land. Then, in Genesis 33:17-18, we specifically see Jacob journey to Succoth and to Shechem. God provided mercy for Jacob and made room for him in the land.

A Psalmist Remembers

In Psalm 60, when David had been defeated in battle by Edom (the nation descended from Esau, by the way), and now in Psalm 108, when Israel has been belittled and cursed by Edom at their Babylonian defeat, the psalmists bring to mind God’s ancient mercy on their forefather. As God made room for Jacob alongside Esau (Edom), bringing him safely to Succoth and Shechem, the psalmists show God as saying, “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Valley of Succoth” (Psalm 108:7).

God has promised the Land to Israel. Though the remnant travels back from Assyrian and Babylonian captivity into a land filled with those who will come to be called Samaritans, God will make room for them. God will rebuild their fortified city. God will defeat their enemies before them. Though it feels like Israel has wrestled with God Himself, He will bless them and make room for them.

Mine!

God wanted to make it clear through the psalmist, Israel would find room in the land. But not because Israel was so good. No, they would find room because the land belonged to God and He is so good. He marked each part of it, “Mine!” Gilead on the east of the Jordan was God’s. Manasseh with allotments on both sides of the Jordan was God’s. Ephraim on the west side of the Jordan was God’s. Judah the southern kingdom was God’s. These lands had been Israel’s not because Israel was so great, but because they were God’s. God let them have these lands. But guess what! God didn’t just own the Israelite lands. He also owned the lands of their enemies. Moab, Edom, Philistia, were actually God’s. He would do with them whatever He wanted.

Israel, heading home from Babylonian captivity, had every reason to rejoice. The Lord their God loved them with a steadfast love and He owned all the land. He would find a place for them.

Ours!

Let’s face it, we have it pretty good. We don’t suffer that much and we don’t feel much like outcasts. We aren’t on a pilgrimage back to a homeland after being held in captivity for two generations. Yet, we fear days of suffering are on the horizon. We expect our latter years and perhaps those of our children will be spent as outcasts.

We can take comfort in this: the heavens and the earth belong to our God. He looks down on it all and says, “Mine!” We are His children. We are heirs of His kingdom. He is our heritage. All that is His is our heritage. Even if the enemies of God drive us off this rock and kill us, we know in eternity, the Lord will make a place for us in His place.

May our hearts be steadfast in the Lord, the owner of all things. May we rejoice no matter our situation. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 108.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 108 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Psalm 80: The Shepherd of Israel

Today’s reading is Psalm 80.

Psalm 80 begins with “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel.” If there was any doubt through the previous Asaph psalms building on the sheep/shepherd theme who the real Shepherd of Israel is, now we know for sure. Moses, Aaron (Psalm 77:20), David (Psalm 78:70-72), and everyone in between were under-shepherds. God was the lead Shepherd.

This is the only passage using this title for God: The Shepherd of Israel. But wording it that way and then immediately saying “You who lead Joseph like a flock,” calls to mind some ancient statements. In Genesis 48:15-16, Jacob, also known as Israel, blessed Joseph through his sons by saying:

The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth (ESV).

Then, when Jacob blessed Joseph among his 12 sons in Genesis 49:22-26, he said:

Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessing of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers (ESV).

Our psalmist doesn’t simply use a sweet metaphor reminding the nation of Israel they are a flock and God is their shepherd. He calls to mind a specific part of their history. God didn’t just shepherd the nation, He shepherded the man, Israel. He shepherded him from being Jacob to becoming Israel. He redeemed Israel the man from evil–his own evil and the evil perpetrated against him. In that, God had promised to let Israel’s name be carried on and grow. He fulfilled that when Joseph was attacked and harassed and shot at and taken into captivity. God shepherded Joseph through that and gave him a double blessing which produced the tribes Ephraim and Manasseh.

What does this remind Israel and Judah in a time of affliction, a time when the enemies are attacking, harassing, taking shot at them? It reminds Israel the nation God knows how to shepherd His people through affliction. He has saved before, He will save again. That’s the kind of covenant God He is.

Yahweh is not just the Shepherd of Israel, He is our Shepherd. He’s a good Shepherd. Even when the enemies take aim and even when they seem to be dominating, let the rod and staff of our good Shepherd lead us. He will carry us through the valley of deep darkness and lead us into His everlasting home.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 80.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 80 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Psalm 78: He Chose David

Today’s reading is Psalm 78.

Our psalm takes what seems to me a sudden and surprising turn between vss. 66 and 67. In Psalm 78:60-66, our psalmist reminds us of the events in 1 Samuel 4-6. The tabernacle of the Lord and Ark of the Covenant were housed in Shiloh, a city in Ephraim. However, because of sin and rebellion, God decided to punish Israel. He led them into defeat and allowed the Ark to be captured by the Philistines. Psalm 78:61 says God “delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe” (ESV). In 1 Samuel 4:21-22, when the priest Eli’s pregnant daughter-in-law learned Eli was dead as was her husband Phinehas and the Ark had been captured by the Philistines, she went into labor. She died in childbirth. However, before dying, she named her son Ichabod (which means “no glory” or “inglorious”), saying, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured” (ESV).

Shiloh was forsaken (Psalm 78:60). The Ark never went back to Shiloh. The tabernacle and Shiloh itself may have been destroyed at that time. We read Shiloh was cursed and desolate in Jeremiah 7:12-14; 26:6-9. If it didn’t happen in this battle, it must have happened soon thereafter. God’s people were given over to the sword, being defeated in battle. Specifically, Hophni and Phinehas the priests were given over to the sword. As we saw above, Phinehas’s wife made no lamentation for her husband, only for the Ark and glory of the Lord. The fire devouring the young men may be figurative, or could refer to God striking down some of the men of Beth-shemesh for looking in or upon the Ark in 1 Samuel 6:19-21. The Lord awaking certainly happened when His Ark was put in Dagon’s house. If you don’t remember the story, go back and read it. It’s amazing.

With this story in the back ground and noticing Psalm 78:67 starts to tell about how God rejected someone and shifted His choice to someone else, who do you expect to hear about? I expect to hear God rejected Eli and chose Samuel. However, that is not at all what the psalmist writes. As I said above, he takes a sudden and surprising turn. Rather, He backs out to 10,000 feet and says God rejected the tent of Joseph and the tribe of Ephraim (remember Shiloh was in Ephraim) and instead chose the tribe of Judah and Mt. Zion. The latter, of course, refers to the temple in contrast with the tent of Joseph.

Then, when the psalmist wants to highlight a person, he doesn’t highlight Samuel. He highlights David.

He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skillful hand (ESV).

All of this psalm was written to get to this point. Though Joseph had delivered Israel from the famine and Moses delivered her from Egypt, David son of Judah was chosen to be the ultimate shepherd. It seems, this psalm is written to explain why Israel the northern kingdom, often simply referred to as Ephraim because it was the largest tribe, was taken captive by Assyria while Judah and Jerusalem were delivered.

But the psalm doesn’t just explain the distinction between kingdoms and tribes. It drills in to a chosen individual. The end of Psalm 77 had Moses and Aaron as the shepherds. This shepherd theme continues showing God chose David to shepherd. David follows in the footsteps of Moses. More than that, God made a covenant with David. The psalmist calls it to mind referring to what we can find in 2 Samuel 7:8 and 1 Chronicles 17:7. God chose David from the pasture and brought him from following the sheep to leading His flock. But the part of the covenant that is truly important isn’t specified in the psalm.

I will raise up offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.

2 Samuel 7:12-16 (ESV)

The point behind all of this is for all the struggle Israel has been through, for all the sinning and rebelling they have done, God keeps covenants. He has always done so. He continues to do so. We don’t know when this psalm was written. However, in the arc of the psalms surrounding it, we are in the middle of the story about the Babylonian captivity. What does all this history tell us? God keeps covenants. He made a covenant with David. He’ll keep it. He said He would discipline the sons of David. But He will make David’s throne last forever. Hang on to God. He has repeatedly judged Israel and Judah, but He always delivers. He always brings them back because He has promises to keep and plans to fulfill.

And that is important for us. But we’ll learn more about that tomorrow.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 78 prompt or improve your hope in God?