Day 156 Psalms 15-18

It occurred to me this afternoon while I was driving and listening to the radio that perhaps the psalms were performed to something like rap music. It is a theory that cannot be disproved—or proved either, of course--but it is an interesting idea. They certainly were not sung to tunes like modern hymns. The repeated, "mirrored" lines do however suggest the rhythms of rap music—and what a thing to imagine--the psalms sung to rap, led by priests and Levites in the temple to the sound of pipes and drums—with dancing!
Psalm 15
This psalm is a liturgy, which is a pattern of verse and response between celebrant and congregation used in worship on a particular occasion. (The LORD be with you, / and also with you—is a good example of verse and response.) The liturgy of Psalm 15 is intended to be sung by a congregation of worshippers entering the temple on some festival day. In verse 1 the people ask a question-Who may rightly enter the temple to worship? The remainder of the psalm is sung as a response sung by a priest or worship leader. What is surprising about the content of the psalm is that ritual purification is not suggested as the proper preparation for temple worship (see Numbers 19:10-22), but rather a right relationship with other people. Those who are ready to worship are those who have not slandered, but have spoken the truth, who "stand by their oath even to their hurt" (15:4), and are honest in matters of money. In other words the best preparation to for
worship—then and now-- is a life of integrity—without which, as my daddy used to say, everything else means nothing.
Psalm 16
This is a wonderful psalm—a good candidate for "favorite psalm." It has a long history of use and interpretation in the church. Early Christians saw in verse 10—"You will not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit"—as a prediction of Jesus' resurrection. God will take care of his faithful one. This is a psalm of trust, in which the psalmist intentionally takes "refuge" in the LORD in a world of uncertainties. He claims the LORD as his own—"You are my LORD," he says (16:2), and he rejects those who choose other gods and worship them. He will not even utter the names of these false deities. The LORD is his "chosen portion and [his] cup" (16:5), he says—if the speaker is a priest, as seems quite possible, this refers to his ritual functions in the temple and his calling. He rejoices in God's distribution of land to his people-- in that "goodly heritage" which has fallen to him personally (16:6)—his
home place. His satisfaction is expressed in fleshly terms, in descriptions of bodily rest and contentment. The last verse is particularly tender and beautiful. "You show me the path of life," he says. In his personal relationship to the LORD and in his calling as a priest the psalmist finds "fullness of joy" as an individual, and the promise of a lifetime of blessings in the presence of God.
Psalm 17
In this "night psalm," the voice cries out to God for help against the "deadly enemies who surround him" (17:9). He is innocent, he protests, and believing that the LORD who is just will not let the good suffer, the psalmist invites him to "try" his heart "in the night" and test his integrity. And then if he finds no wickedness there, he calls upon God to "wondrously show [his] steadfast love" (17:7) in the morning. The psalmist trusts that the "savior" who has done great miracles on behalf of his people in the past, will now again demonstrate his faithfulness by sheltering "those who seek refuge" (17:7) in him. His situation is desperate. Enemies surround him. They lie in wait like "a young lion," seeking to devour him. He is helpless against them, but God is his champion who "by [his] sword" will deliver him (17:13). The night time is when we worry and wrestle with our problems (17:3), but the psalmist is assured
that when the morning comes he will "be satisfied," awakening to behold the miracle God has done for his deliverance.
Psalm 18
We have already encountered this royal psalm of thanksgiving in 2 Samuel 22. It is the song that David sang "to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul." And this psalm was probably sung by later kings of Judah on royal occasions to celebrate the covenant that God had made with the House of David. Like so many psalms it begins with near disaster. The psalmist almost dies—"The cords of death encompassed me," he says (18:4). He imagines himself drowning and calls out the Lord, who "from his temple [hears his] voice" (18:6) and comes down to help him. The theophany—the appearance of God coming to the rescue —is described in terms of terrible thunderstorm breaking upon the earth and is a masterpiece of sublime description. God steps in to save David from his strong enemy—King Saul. The LORD "reached down from on high, he took me," David says. "He drew me out of
mighty waters" (18:16). And because David is righteous, the Lord chooses to make him king and to establish his house forever. "It is you who light my lamp," he says (18:28). This is a reference to the lamp of David that will never go out (18:28), the promise of the LORD's "steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendents forever" (18:50). David sings this psalm, and each time it was sung by later kings of his dynasty it was affirmation "the promise of the LORD [still] proves true" (18:30). Like their ancestor David, the LORD has given them the strength to rule and overcome their enemies. They also are chosen to rule. The psalm ends with a triumphant outburst of praise—"The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation" (18:46). God is a rock and fortress to all those who like David put their faith in him and his Messiah. (It is not surprising that this psalm was the inspiration for Martin
Luther's great hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.")