Biblical Reflections

Psalm 48 is a hymn celebrating Zion as God’s special city, which God defends for the sake of the world. It commemorates an event where gentile nations threatened Zion, and God protected the city and the people within.  We can identify with this psalm as it is God himself who is our defense.

1-3 – The LORD is King, and he resides in Zion, Jerusalem. The reference to the holy mountain could be to the Temple in Jerusalem, but because of the reference of the holy mountain to be in the north, it is probably a poetic term, idiom, not for a physical location but for the throne of God over all creation.  See Isaiah 14:13.

4-8 – The gentile nations that attacked Jerusalem are defeated.  Even a mighty east wind destroys their ships.  

9-11 – The LORD’s presence and protection of Jerusalem brings joy to his people.  Such deliverance displays God’s steadfast love for his people.  The reference to the daughters of Judah is a poetic term for the towns and villages of Judah.

12-14 – While the congregation admires the strength of the city, yet it is God secures the city.  The congregation commissions itself to tell the next generation of this display of God’s steadfast love for them.

Psalm 47 is a hymn praising God for his kingship, that is his rule over all the earth.  We praise God because of God’s promises to Abraham that all peoples will be blessed though him, Genesis 12:3.  

1-4 – The LORD loved Israel and gave them the covenant blessings, but this was done so that all peoples of the world might come to fear and to love the God of Israel.  The term clap your hands, all people is a poetic expression of exultation.  Again, verse 2 uses the term the LORD, the Most High, El Elyon, the highest God over all the gods of the world.

5-7 – The psalmist now issues a call for all peoples to praise the God of Israel by voice and instrument.

8-9 – God reigns over all the nations.  The psalm looks to a future time when the leaders of the nations will worship God as children of Abraham worshipped God.

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Psalm 46 is a hymn praise celebrating Zion, Jerusalem, as the city, to which God has pledged himself and through which he will bless the world.

1-7 – Here is the scripture which inspired Martin Luther’s hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  The people of God are secure within Zion, even in times of tumult, for God is their strength and refuge.  Here the psalmist uses poetic forms, such a raging sea, great earthquakes and warring nations, to state that God will protect the people of Zion, no matter what.  Notice verse 4, the title Most High is El Elyon in Hebrew, the Most-High God of all gods, of all people, and is first referenced in Genesis 18:14.  This title for God is often used when relating the to the gentiles. 

8-11 –  This God who protects Zion will one day be exalted by all the nations of the Earth.  In verse 11, the title for God is the LORD of Hosts, which in Hebrew is Yahweh Tsabot, or in Latinized form, LORD Sabbaoth.  Here is God presented as the commander of the hosts of heaven, the heavenly beings.  One day God will make all wars cease and all people and all nations exalt and worship him.

Psalm 45 is a hymn celebrating a royal wedding.  It is a love song.

1 – The singer addresses the king, a descendant of David, directly.

2-9 – The king is described as handsome, majestic, and just.  In verse 6 the singer addresses God, who sits above the throne of the Davidic King.  Then the singer describes the divine ideals of how the earthly king should reign, which includes righteousness and which hates wickedness.  These are an admonition to the young king about to be married. These verses also have double meaning as they are cited in Hebrews 1:5 to refer to Christ as the Son, the Son of God, who is superior to the angels. 

10-15 – In verses 10-15, the singer addresses the bride and describes the wedding procession. She is described as beautiful, and she is a princess of a foreign country,

16-17 – Now singer addresses the young king that his sons will continue his line after he is gone.

Psalm 44 is a community lament when the people of God have suffered a great calamity at the hands of their enemies, and they are seeking God’s help. (Elohim). Please note that the focus of the group is personal. Each member identifies with the singular “I” although the request for God’s help is a group request. This is to remind them that they have a personal obligation under the covenant, and on that basis, they appeal to God’s unfailing loyalty to his covenant people.

1-8 – The congregation recites that they have heard of what God has done in the past for their ancestors. He drove out the nations and planted them in Palestine/Israel.

9-16 – They pour out their plea for help as it seems God has abandoned them just now on the battlefield. Their troops have been slaughtered and taunted.

17-22 – The congregation states that they have been faithful and have not forsaken the God of the covenant.

23-26 – Therefore, they cry out for God to come and to help them now. They use the poetic form of asking God to wake up, to see their distress, and to save them. They can boldly ask God with confidence for help because they are his covenant people. The Psalm is ended with the request for God to redeem his people for the sake of his steadfast love.

Psalms 42 and 43 go together as a song with three stanzas, and they share a refrain.  This is a lament in which the singer cries out about enemies who despise God and prevent his faithful servants from worshipping in the Sanctuary.  Here the emphasis is on the community singing praises to God as the corporate worship.  Such singing fosters a sense of yearning and expectation in the faithful as they look for God’s presence.  Stated simply, this is the yearning for God.  

1-5 – Here is a poetic expression of the soul yearning for God as the deer thirsts for a flowing stream.  The soul’s yearning for God is only satisfied in the singing of public worship at the Sanctuary.   

6-11 – The singer is geographically separated from God north of the Sea of Galilee near Mt. Hermon.  Verse 7 is a cryptic use of surging water, flowing streams and the roaring sea.  Deep calls to deep, perhaps speaks to two things.  First, the roaring waters are the troubles that flow over the singer and his deep need for God.  Second, only the deep water of God can satisfy the singer’s need.  Likely this is a call from the depth of despair to the depth of God’s goodness. 

Psalm 43

1-5 –  The singer asks God to vindicate him against the wicked who prevent him from worshipping at the Sanctuary.  God’s light and truth are personified as guides who will lead him back to God’s holy hill. 

Psalm 41 is lament of a man who satisfies his responsibility to the poor under the covenant and now asks for the LORD’s help and vindication in the midst of severe suffering. 

1-3 – The opening section calls in faith on the LORD to honor the covenant with Israel by sustaining those who are kind to the poor.  As an example, see Proverbs 19:17 - Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.  Note that the singer is praying according to God’s will.  See 1 John 5:13-15.

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

4-10 – The previous statement of faith now turns to the singer’s predicament, serious illness and betrayal by a close friend.  In John 13:18 Jesus applies this verse to Judas, the betrayer.    

11-12 – The singer returns to faith and acknowledges that the LORD will continue to honor him and to acknowledge his covenant help to the poor.  

13 – The end of Book One.  This a doxology concluding Book One.

Psalm 40 gives thanks to the LORD for past mercies and then presents a new situation that has risen in which the singer is again in need of God’s mercy.    

1-10 – The singer recounts past mercies from God that he is thankful for.  The singer recounts these past mercies to those in the great congregation.  In doing so, the singer highlights the LORD’s attributes of faithfulness and steadfast love.  The singer goes on to say blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust; such a man will not be disappointed.  The LORD does not seek sacrifice and offerings from his people, but an open ear to hear and to respond to the word of the LORD.  

11-17 – The singer now asks for mercy once again from the LORD; he asks for deliverance from the wicked.  This deliverance would put the wicked to shame, and they would be disappointed in their schemes.  This is in contrast to the faithful, to all who seek the LORD; they should rejoice and be glad, shouting Great is the LORD!  The prayer is offered in humility.

Psalm 39 – In this psalm the suffering person expresses bewilderment to God for his suffering.  In many ways it is a lament on how fleeting and sad life is.    

1-3 – The singer is trying to be quiet in his suffering and not to say anything disparaging about God in front of the wicked, but finally he speaks.  What follows next is worship, the only appropriate thing to say before God.

4-6 – The singer prays to know how fleeting is his life so that he may not engage in the turmoil of life trying to heap up wealth.

7-13 – The singer confesses his sin, which is perhaps partly responsible for his suffering.  The singer asks the LORD to deliver him from all of his transgressions and to take away God’s discipline for sin, and then he waits upon the LORD.  The final thought is a confession that the singer is just a sojourner, a guest in this present life, as are all men.