Psalm 142-145

Wednesday Evening Bible Study

June 2, 2004

Psalm 142

Maschil of David;

Maschil – maskiyl – (Hiphil) poem, song or poem of contemplation; a song written to instruct

The song instructs us on how to pray when we are in distress.

A Prayer when he was in the cave.

There were several times in David’s life when he was forced to hide out in caves. For the most part they were times when he had become Saul’s enemy, and his boss was out to have David put to death.

(1 Sam 22:1-2 KJV) David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. {2} And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

This was the beginnings of David gathering his “mighty men”.

(1 Sam 24:1-3 KJV) And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. {2} Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. {3} And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.

This was one of the times when David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but David couldn’t do it.

Times of great distress. Times when David would have told you that things weren’t going too well. Times when God was molding the character of David.

:2 I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble.

Lesson

Talking to God

God already knows everything about me.

(Psa 139:2-3 KJV) Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. {3} Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

Prayer is not about informing God on what’s happening down here.

But for my sake, I pour out my heart to God.

:3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.

God knows when I’m overwhelmed.

:4 refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.

At times it seems that no one understands you or cares about you.

:5 I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

Lesson

He’s all I’ve ever needed.

That’s the best place to come to, to realize that He’s the only one that really cares and the only one who will help.

(Psa 46:1 KJV) God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Man’s extremities are God’s opportunities

When you’ve come to the end of your rope and realize that God is the only one left – that’s the best place to be.

Yet it’s hard to grasp this fully until you find yourself in a place where everyone has let you down.

Perhaps you are in that place tonight, feeling that there’s no one you can trust.

God wants you to call on Him tonight.

:7 for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

David ends with hope, confident that God is going to see him through.

Psalm 143

A Psalm of David.

Written in a time of distress, some thinking written when he was fleeing from Absalom.

David had a life that was filled with troubles – just like some of us.

:2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

We shouldn’t be crying for justice. We should cry for mercy.

David has learned not to ask God to reward him for being “righteous”. He now knows better than that.

(Rom 3:10-11 KJV) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: {11} There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

(Rom 3:23 KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

If it weren’t for Jesus it would be hopeless for us.

We don’t want to ask God to give us what we deserve, we ask God for mercy.

:3 he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

It was possible that David was hiding in caves, possibly even caves where dead people were buried.

Not too different from Saddam Hussein hiding in a spider hole, not far from his palaces of luxury.

:5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

Lesson

Handling depression.

David does four things when he’s overwhelmed.

1. Remember

He thinks back to some better times. This is what we’re supposed to do when we’ve left our first love as well:

(Rev 2:4-5 KJV) Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. {5} Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

2. Meditate – hagah – to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak

He meditates on what God has done.

I think specifically it’s thinking about what God has done in the past for me and for others. God’s great works.

In the book of Joshua, you see several times where the people create these “monuments” by setting up a group of stones in order to make something to help the people remember what God did on a great battle or some great work.

(Josh 4:6-7 KJV) That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? {7} Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

(Josh 8:29-32 KJV) And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day. {30} Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, {31} As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings. {32} And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.

In Joshua 22, the tribes heading back to their land on the other side of the Jordan River built a huge altar as a memorial to remind future generations that they belonged to those Israelites on the other side of the Jordan.

3. Muse – siyach – to put forth, mediate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing

He muses on the “work of thy hands” – I think he’s talking about Creation. He’s talking about spending time thinking about just how great God is.

(Psa 8:3-4 KJV) When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; {4} What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

(Isa 40:12 KJV) Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

:6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee

4. Pray

The fourth thing David does when he’s overwhelmed is pray.

stretch forth – in prayer

:7-12 Prayer

:7 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

(Psa 143:7 NLT) Come quickly, LORD, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don't turn away from me, or I will die.

Here’s a great list of things to pray for when you’re depressed (in case you aren’t sure what to pray for …):

1^st petition: “hear me”

2^nd petition: “hide not thy face”

:8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

3^rd petition: “cause me to hear thy lovingkindness”

lovingkindness – checed – goodness, kindness, faithfulness; NLT – “unfailing love”

Sometimes it’s hard to hear the things we need to hear.

When Moses went to free the people from Egypt, things were so hard for the people that they had a hard time hearing the things that Moses was saying.

(Exo 6:9 KJV) And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

Yet God wants us to hear of His lovingkindness. He doesn’t want us to miss it.

4^th petition: “cause me to know the way I should walk”

Knowing God’s will. Can you hear Me now?

:9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.

5^th petition: “Deliver me”

:10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

6^th petition: “teach me to do your will”

I don’t just want to know about God’s will, I want to learn to do it.

(James 1:19-25 NLT) Dear friends, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. {20} Your anger can never make things right in God's sight. {21} So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls. {22} And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself. {23} For if you just listen and don't obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. {24} You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. {25} But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law--the law that sets you free--and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

:11 Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.

(Psa 143:11 NKJV) Revive me, O LORD, for Your name's sake! For Your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.

7^th petition: “revive me”

:12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.

mercy – checed – goodness, kindness, faithfulness; NLT – “unfailing love”

8^th petition: “take care of my enemies”

He puts his problem in God’s hands.

Psalm 144

A Psalm of David.

A psalm of victory, some have suggested that this was written after David’s victory over the rebellion of Absalom.

:1 Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

Some people may have trouble with this – but this is what David did, fight. It would have been terrible if God had not taught him these things, and then he had to face Goliath.

I think sometimes it’s appropriate to be good at “fighting”.

Illustration

After 17 years of marriage, a man dumped his wife for his young secretary. His new girlfriend demanded that she wanted to live in the couple’s Multimillion dollar home, and since the man’s lawyers were a little better, he prevailed. He gave his now ex-wife just 3 days to move out. She spent the first day packing her belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases. On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things. On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining room table by candlelight, put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar, and a bottle of Chardonnay. When she had finished, she went into each and every room and deposited a few half-eaten shrimp shells, dipped in caviar, into the hollow of the curtain rods. She then cleaned up the kitchen and left. When the husband returned with his new girlfriend, all was bliss for the first few days. Then slowly, the house began to smell. They tried everything; cleaning & mopping and airing the place out. Vents were checked for dead rodents, and carpets were steam cleaned. Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which they had to move out for a few days, and in the end they even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting. Nothing worked. People stopped coming over to visit... Repairmen refused to work in the house...The maid quit... Finally, they could not take the stench any longer and decided to move. A month later, even though they had cut their price in half, they could not find a buyer for their stinky house. Word got out, and eventually, even the local Realtors refused to return their calls. Finally, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place. The ex-wife called the man, and asked how things were going. He told her the saga of the rotting house. She listened politely, and said that she missed her old home terribly, and would be willing to reduce her divorce settlement in exchange for getting the house back... Knowing his ex-wife had no idea how bad the smell was, he agreed on a price that was about 1/10^th of what the house had been worth ... but only if she were to sign the papers that very day. She agreed, and within the hour, his lawyers delivered the paperwork. A week later, the man and his new girlfriend stood smirking as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home... including the curtain rods.

I’m sorry, but I enjoyed that story.

:2 who subdueth my people under me.

Lesson

Who’s in charge?

It’s a difficult thing to be a leader. Being a leader implies that you give direction to others.

David saw God as the one who “subdued” the nation.

You can force people to do what you say, or you can lead and see who follows.

From Spiritual Leadership (J. Oswald Saunders, pg. 28),

At a large meeting of mission leaders in China, the discussion turned to leadership and its qualifications. The debate was vigorous. But thorugh it all, one person sat quietly listening. Then the chair asked if D. E. Hoste, general director of China Inland Mission, had an opinion. The auditorium became still. With a twinkle in his eye, Hoste said in his high-pitched voice, “It occurs to me that perhaps the best test of whether one is qualified to lead, is to find out whether anyone is following.”

One place we will see this in action is in the home, in marriage.

The Bible tells wives,

(Eph 5:22 KJV) Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Yet if you look carefully at the command, the command is not for the husbands to “rule” or “order around” their wives. The command goes to the women to learn to submit. When a man feels like he has to demand that his wife “obeys” him, he’s trying to do it wrong.

Let God do the work of “subduing” the people. Just be the leader you’re supposed to be, and see if anyone follows.

:3 LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!

(Psa 8:3-4 KJV) When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; {4} What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

We have so much “light pollution” that it’s hard to see the stars at night. We see the works of man’s hands, not the works of God’s hands.

God is awesome. We are small.

He’s created a pretty big universe.

In 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope focused on a small section of space and found 2,000 galaxies in 1/25 of one degree of space. They are now estimating that the universe contains 40 billion galaxies, with each galaxy containing somewhere between 50 and 100 billion stars.

The galaxy that our Solar System is in, the Milky Way, is so huge that our little Solar System is just a speck that is 30,000 light years from the center of the galaxy.

On our little planet that is just a small part of our Solar System, there are over 6 billion people, and you’re just one of them.

You’d think that you could get lost in all of this. Yet God knows where you are.

:7 deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;

strange children – NKJV – “foreigners”, NLT – “my enemies”; NASB – “aliens”; yet the words hear are literally “strange children”.

:8 Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

Kind of like raising your right hand to swear to tell the truth … and then lie.

:9 I will sing a new song unto thee

Some have suggested that Psalm 145 is the “new song”.

:11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:

Could David be talking about Absalom or Adonijah?

He had at least two sons that were prideful and lied.

:12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones

Vigorous sons and dependable daughters

:14 that there be no breaking in, nor going out

(Psa 144:14 NLT) and may our oxen be loaded down with produce. May there be no breached walls, no forced exile, no cries of distress in our squares.

These are the kinds of things we long for in life – prosperity.

:15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

We are happy when we have these things, but the best happiness comes when the Lord is your God.

Psalm 145

We looked at this last Sunday morning.