CCRC: Psalm of the Month for October, 2014

At CCRC we are endeavouring to learn/focus on a Psalm or song each month. Psalm 46 - "God is Our Refuge and Our Strength" from the Cantus Christi hymnal was our song of the month. Below is a mediation.  

 

Psalm 46 

Verses 1-7

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he utter his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Verses 8-11

Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

There are two distinct sections to Psalm 46.

1.   Verses 1-6 are a corporate meditation upon the conflicts and flux of life. However, the meditation is from the perspective of knowing that God is near and that God is our help. Thus, this meditation leads to doxology -- a corporate declaration -- the “refrain” in verse 7: "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge!"

2.   Verses 8-10 takes the prior doxology and applies it to a future vision of peace, a meditation on how God will sovereignly bring an end to war. The prior confession in divine help, in verses 1-6, is the foundation for the subsequent meditation upon the optimistic view of the future. Thus, this additional meditation leads to additional doxology -- another corporate declaration -- the repeated "refrain" in verse 11: "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge!"

The corporate nature of this Psalm is obvious; the plurals “our” and “we” and “us” are used throughout, and are reinforced by the militaristic refrain "the Lord of hosts”, i.e., “the Lord of armies”, “is with us.” Both sections, verses 1-6 and 8-10, conclude with the same “refrain" which emphasizes God's divine presence and divine help. 

Israel is proclaiming that God is near. Israel is proclaiming that God is her divine help, see verse 5 -- “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.” Israel is also proclaiming assurance in the fact that God is her divine help, see verse 10 – “Be still, and know that I am God.”

In this Psalm Israel meditates upon conflicts and flux, but Israel meditates in light of the fact that God is present. Israel’s confession of faith in divine help and her corresponding assurance organically flow from her knowledge of and placing her trust in the presence of God. This should also be the case today for Christians: we know that God is near to us in Jesus Christ and that God through Jesus Christ is our divine help. God has “delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13-14). Indeed, because of Jesus Christ, the Lord of hosts is with the Church. Indeed, because of Jesus Christ, God is refuge and strength of the Church.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Consider how Psalm 46 is . . .

•  Profitable for doctrine because we are reminded of the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, which ought to be a constant source of comfort. God is sovereign and he is sovereign all the time! Even if the world were to "fall apart" and chaotic waters cover the mountains, God would still be our refuge and strength! This means that no matter what happens to us in life we have assurance that God is near and that God is our help.

•  Profitable for correction because this Psalm will most forcefully confront us when we are walking through the "hard providences" of life -- those times which are more-often-than-not a road or a type of journey that we never would have chosen of our own volition. It is especially easy (tempting) during those times to doubt that God is near and that God is in control. And yet this Psalm mentions conflicts (meditates upon them!), but only in order to declare that such uncertainties are overshadowed by God’s presence and sovereign care. This Psalm looks affliction in the eye from the vantage point of dwelling in the presence of God. And from that vantage point Psalm 46 provides correction: even when we emotionally feel like God is distant and not in control we learn to trust God and place our assurance in God. When we are plagued by doubts God speaks to us in Psalm 46 and reminds us that he is near and that we need to place our trust in Him. We learn to do this by obeying God, who commands us to “be still” and know that He is God.

•  Profitable for instruction because it teaches us that God will not only be our strength and refuge today but also in the optimistic future (verses 8-10). God’s sovereignty applies to the future, and God has revealed that He will be victorious in the future, and thus, that it will be peaceful – “He maketh wars to cease” (verse 9) . . . I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (verse 10). Christians are wise to be instructed by verse 10: the God who is near is the “Lord of hosts” of a peaceful future, and because of the work of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, it is a peaceful Christian future. Through the work of the Cross and the preaching of the Gospel, God is making wars to cease, breaking bows, cutting spears in half, and burning chariots with fire.

As Scottish minister John McCheyne said, writing in a pastoral letter in 1839, “It is no small joy to be able to sing Psalm 46 in the dark and cloudy day.”  The realization that God through Jesus Christ is near and our divine help is “no small joy,” particularly when conflict, affliction, and the flux of life are all too near. In such turbulent times we need to meditate -- “Be still, and know that I am God.” And our meditation will lead to doxology, we will join the congregation and corporately declare "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge!"

CCRC: Psalm of the Month for July, 2014

At CCRC we are endeavouring to learn/focus on a Psalm or song each month. Psalm 145:15-21 - "The Eyes of All upon Thee Wait" from the Cantus Christi hymnal is July's song of the month. Below is a mediation for this month's Psalm. 

 Meditation on Psalm 145

David's Psalm of Praise

I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.

They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;

To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.

Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

This is a "Psalm of praise" composed by David, but this Psalm can be prayer-sung everywhere, always, and by all Christians. From the beginning to the end, the inclusio "bless [thy/his holy] name for ever and ever" identifies what is at the heart of Christian living: Doxology - specifically, to give God glory with our mouths/words, e.g. "I will extol thee, my God, O king; . . . Every day will I bless thee" (vv. 1-2); "men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness" (vv. 6-7); "My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever" (v. 21). 

The "song" that David sings about God's righteousness is the exact same tune sang by those with regenerate hearts. The Church has experienced the love of God, therefore, the Church "for ever and ever" sings:

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy

The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom . . .

Let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. (vv. 7-8, 13a, 21b)

The Church while living in the Country of Man (Earth), which is being transformed into the Kingdom of God, sings Psalm 145:2, Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever, and this song echoes and harmonizes with the song sang in the Country of God (Heaven) by the four beasts, who, before the throne of God and without ceasing, sing both day and night: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 4:8). Christians are in the world but not of the world, therefore, we sing heavenly songs; Christians sing eternal songs about eternal life in an eternal kingdom, where they serve an eternal King. 

Commenting on Psalm 145, Patrick Henry Reardon, a pastor in the Orthodox Church, notes that: "The Kingdom of Christ is not of this world; it is truly eternal and transcendent and belongs to heaven. Accordingly, the words and sentiments of our psalm [Psalm 145] repeatedly raise the mind above the earthly things to the realm of eternal life." God's greatness is eternal, it is unsearchable (v. 3), therefore, this means that every day is a new day for Doxology and Praise; every day is a new day to sing about the righteousness of God! 

The Holy Ghost gave David these inspired words so believers might bend their lives with word-and-song towards their heavenly home. Don't be dismayed by the fires of life or the vale of tears, but rather lift up your heart to the Lord by singing David's song, for The Lord preserveth all them that love Him (v. 20). Christians call out to the Lord when they sing David's "Psalm of praise", and the Lord has promised that "[He] is nigh unto all them that call upon him . . . and will save them" (vv. 18-19). We sing songs about the God who saves us, for Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised! 

CCRC: Psalm/Song of the Month for April, 2014

At CCRC we are endeavoring to learn/focus on a Psalm or song each month. Psalm 22:11-20 - "Be Not Far Off, for Grief is Near" from the Cantus Christi hymnal is April's song of the month. Below is a meditation for this month's Psalm. 

Psalm/Song of the Month for April, 2014

“Be Not Far Off, for Grief Is Near”

Cantus Christi – 31

Psalm 22:11 – 20

Psalm 22 has become a standard (classic) passage for Christian liturgical use during the Lenten Season; Jesus on the cross, identifying with the Psalmist, recited its opening line (v. 1), "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"(Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)

This psalm begins with the honest question, "Why, God, have you abandoned me?" It ends, however, with the triumphant conclusion (vv. 30-31), "A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this." Considering the arc of this psalm, one commentator has said, "From the initial cry of cosmic isolation, the poet now engages himself to live ‘for’ or ‘in’ the Lord. The generation to be born shall then proclaim the fidelity of Yahweh to his beloved servant” (Samuel Terrien, The Psalms, 234-235). In this psalm, the poet has aptly described both the emotional and temporal transformation from sorrow/defeat to joy/victory.

Christians see this transformation, firstly, in the Father’s resurrection of Jesus, and, secondly, in the growth of the Church—it is the total Christ, both Jesus Christ and his Body (the Church), who proclaims the fidelity of God the Father to his only begotten Son, the beloved and suffering servant who went to the cross to save the lost.

There are three structurally identifiable divisions in this psalm which build to the concluding remarks in vv. 30-31:

• vv. 1-11. With intimacy, cf. vv. 1-2, poet introduces theme of lament, however, v. 11 concludes with a cry of hope.
• vv. 12-23. He describes the "animality" of tormentors, yet, in v. 16, he acknowledges that God is sovereign/cause of his torment. Finally, he instructs those who fear the Lord, i.e., the seed of Jacob, the seed of Israel, to praise the Lord.
• vv. 24-29. Without an elaborate transition, the psalmist introduces a hymn of praise/thankfulness—the psalmist is “certain of his deliverance or his healing to come” (Terrien, 233).
• vv. 30-31. Intimacy of vv. 1-2 “transmutes into a future of glory” (Terrien, 230); the future generation will “proclaim the fidelity of Yahweh to his beloved servant.”

The majority of the verses rendered/paraphrased for singing in Be Not Far Off, for Grief is Near are from the second division—the verses move from the (1) cry of hope, (2) to the description of tormentors, and (3) concludes with petition for deliverance.

Meditating on the 22nd Psalm reminds us that in Redemptive History there is no triumph without sorrow, there is no resurrection without crucifixion, and there is no Easter without Good Friday. “The ultimate lament begins with the terror of the void, but it ends with the fervor of the saved” (Terrien, 236). As Habakkuk said, “O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: . . . in wrath remember mercy.”

Aids for teaching and meditation:

• Because we have been adopted by God (cf. Romans 8:15), we have an intimate relationship with the Father. Not in spite of but because Jesus is our mediator, we are able to call out to God with honest intimacy, e.g., "My God, my God . . ."
• God is Holy (v. 3). God is sovereign over our affliction (v. 15). In our affliction, we appeal to God, but we do so with trust, godly fear, and praise (vv. 20-23).

Below is an interlinear presentation of Psalm 22:11-20 – bold is KJV/English translation and italic is Cantus Christi’s verse rendering/paraphrasing for singing (taken from The Book of Psalms for Singing, 1973).

v. 11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

v. 11 Be not far off, for grief is near, And none to help is found;

v. 12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

v. 12 For bulls of Bashan in their strength Now circle me around.

v. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

v. 13 Their lion jaws they open wide, And roar to tear their prey.

v. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

v. 14 My heart is wax, my bones unknit, My life is poured away.

v. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

v. 15 My strength is only broken clay; My mouth and tongue are dry, / For in the very dust of death You there make me to lie.

v. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

v. 16 For see how dogs encircle me! On every side there stands / A brotherhood of cruelty; They pierce my feet and hands.

v. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

v. 17 My bones are plain for me to count; men see me and they stare.

v. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

v. 18 My clothes among them they divide, And gamble for their share.

v. 19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

v. 19 Now hurry, O my Strength to help! Do not be far, O LORD!

v. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

v. 20 But snatch my soul from raging dogs, And spare me from the sword.