Day 159. Psalms 31-34

Psalm 31
This psalm follows that pattern that so many of the psalms share--it begins with a desperate call for help and ends with a shout of thanksgiving to the one who saves his faithful ones from tight places. In the midst of a grave crisis, the voice is the psalmist begs the LORD for "refuge" so that God will "not let [him] ever be put to shame" (31:1). The word "refuge" occurs again and again in the psalm, although we are not told the exact nature of the danger in which the psalmist finds himself. But he must regard it as life-threatening. "Into your hand I commit my spirit," (31:5), he says, and Jesus utters this line at the point of his death on the cross according to Luke 23:46. And yet even in this time of extreme stress he still trusts in his eventual deliverance, that the LORD will "set [his] feet in a broad place" (31:8). He contemplates how empty and "broken" his life is—both his soul and his body are wasting away. He
hears—or imagines that he hears—"the whispering of many—terror all around!—as they scheme together against [him], as they plot to take [his] life" (31:13). Don't let him be "put to shame," he prays; instead "let the wicked be put to shame; let the go dumbfounded into Sheol" (31:17). And then, from being an outcry of distress, at verse 21 it becomes a exclamation of thanksgiving. Clearly something is radically altered—though we are not told what. The crisis has passed, the siege is lifted (31:21). God has "heard [his] supplications" (31:22). And at the end of the psalm the faithful "saints"—the members of the worshipping community-- are called upon to "love the LORD" and "be strong," for he helps those who "wait" for him—as the voice can heartily testify.
Psalm 32
Those who are forgiven are called "happy"—blessed, fortunate, chosen by God—that is the theme of this psalm, which combines penitence and praise. At the beginning of the psalm unacknowledged sin is causing the psalmist's body to waste away. Presumably he suffers from an illness that had been caused by his sins—a strong belief in the Old Testament. But when he acknowledges his sins—he tells it all and stops trying to hide his "iniquity" anymore. And having repented he is forgiven and at the same time he is healed by the LORD. (The word for "saved" is the same as the word for "healed"—in the Bible to be healed is to be saved.) Now the voice who had been isolated and near death is again restored to the fellowship of the people of God—he is surrounded "with glad cries of deliverance" (32:7). Deliverance and healing reunite the individual with the community of the promise. It is worth noting here that the wicked are not
distinguished from the good or the pure, the wicked are contrasted with those "who trust in the LORD" (32:10). God's chosen ones are not perfect—examples abound of this!--God's chosen are the forgiven. And it is these saints—the "upright of heart"—who are called upon to "shout for joy" and "be glad in the LORD" in the context of temple worship (32:11).
Psalm 33
The theme and purpose of this psalm is the praise of God. "Praise befits the upright" (33:1), we are told; it is what we were created to do. And in the work of praising of the LORD, we again note the importance of music—both vocal and instrumental—the sound lyre and "harp of ten strings" (33:2). It should be done and done skillfully, because the music and words of the psalm comprise the vehicle that carries the "word of the Lord." His "word" is how God speaks and reveals his "steadfast love" (33:4-5) to humankind. It is by the word of the LORD that he creates the heavens and gathers the seas "as in a bottle" (33:6-7). He spoke his word at the moment of creation, and "it came to be" (33:9). And it is the word of the LORD that creates God's people Israel "whom he has chosen as his heritage" (33:12). Happy—blessed and lucky—are those who realize this. It is not the great army that saves a king; it is not the war
horse—the king's cavalry—that gives him victory. It is the "steadfast love" of the LORD for those who "fear" him. It is the word of the LORD that gives protection, refuge, and hope, and it is hope that gives us life.
Psalm 34
This is another acrostic poem—a word game as well as an outburst of praise in response to a marvelous deliverance. The voice calls upon the congregation to "magnify the LORD" with him (34:3) because the LORD has answered him and saved him. The psalm focuses on the concrete experience of grace—"Look to him, and be radiant" (34:5), he says, and "taste and see that the LORD is good" (34:8). Grace is as real as those things perceived by the senses. If this thanksgiving was accompanied by a sacrificial meal—which is very likely—the words "taste and see" may comprise an invitation for the worshippers to take part in the feast the kings has provided to celebrate the faithfulness of God in providing every good thing. "The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing" (34:10), the psalmist says. Again we hear the voice of an elder speaking to younger audience of worshippers—"Come, O children,
listen to me" (34:11), he says, and goes on to impart wisdom. We all have our share of trouble, he says--"many are the afflictions of the righteous" (34:19). But in the end that hardly matters, because "the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous" (34:15), and he is "near to the brokenhearted" (34:18). Those who "take refuge" in him are never "condemned"—they are always saved and rescued in the end (34:22).