Day 180 Psalms 139-144

Psalm 139
This psalm—number 139—is about creation-- specifically the creation of the human person. Its first stanza (1-6) deals with the LORD's absolute, inside-out knowledge of the psalmist. In some ways it is a comfort to be known so completely. And in another way it is an uneasy thought to consider, and the voice acknowledges that that probing, oppressive knowledge of his thoughts and motives hems him in, "behind and before" (5). Everything is naked before God—he knows this. But such knowledge as God has of him "is too wonderful" for him—he cannot imagine or grasp it. It is so high that "he cannot attain it" (6). Stanza two of the psalm (7-12) asks the question—How could I escape the probing knowledge of God? Again there is something comforting and at the same time disquieting about the fact that he cannot. If like sea bird, "I take the winds of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea," the psalmist says in a
particularly beautiful line, "even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast" (9-10). He can never be alone—not completely. God is always there, more present to him than he is to himself. The third stanza of the psalm (13-18) deals with the infinite complexity of the human body. It affirms that each human being is not a biological process, an accident, but an individual act of creation, "fearfully and wonderfully made" (13). A human life is created in potentiality before it ever exists; God knows all our days before we exist. His thoughts are complex and wonderful beyond contemplation. The psalmist says—"I come to an end—I am still with you" (18). The last stanza (19-24) prays for the annihilation of the wicked. "I hate them with perfect hatred," the voice of the psalmist says (22). The psalms deal frankly about the subject of human hatred. It can be quite embarrassing to the modern reader, but only
because we are used to sentimental hymns filled with sanitized emotions. But the psalms are raw stuff. The psalmist's hatred is real—but so are his love and awe. He does not try to hide either, because what point would there be in doing so. These songs are addressed to God, who knows both our most sublime and out basest emotions. And the psalms prove, if proof were still necessary, that we can say anything to God and be understood. He does, after all, know us inside-out and beginning to end.
Psalm 140
In this psalm—number 140—the voice of the psalmist cries out for help against the "violent" and the "arrogant," who have "hidden a trap" for him (5). He prays that God will foil "their evil plot" (8). They scheme against him; they slander him in order to destroy his honor (11). The wicked feel that they have license to do anything they wish because they do not believe in God or his justice. But the psalmist prays that God will show them their error—to their great sorrow—and allow "evil [to] speedily hunt down the violent" (11). This is a frequent theme in the psalms. God uses evil to punish evil—making the wicked fall into its own traps-- and thus he proves again that he "maintains the cause of the needy and executes justice for the poor"( 12).
Psalm 141
In this psalm—number 141—the psalmist, separated from the worshipping community in the temple and therefore unable to offer incense at the evening service, asks that this psalm be accepted "as an evening sacrifice" of praise (2). Far from Jerusalem, he prays that God will keep him from sin, and "set a guard over [his] mouth" (3). He is mindful that only the grace of God can keep him from sin. He prays for the guidance of the righteous—"let the faithful correct me" he says (5). Far from home in the midst of temptations, nevertheless his "eyes are turned toward" the LORD (8), praying that he will not be left defenseless against the traps and stratagems of ruthless people. Let them "fall into their own nets," he prays, while he alone escapes (10).
Psalm 142
This psalm—number 142—is the desperate "cry" of one who has been "brought very low" (6) by some unnamed predicament that has isolated him from the community. He feels he is utterly alone—"no one takes notice" of him, he has no place of refuge, "no one cares" for him (4). Only the LORD is his refuge "in the land of the living" (5). And he prays to be delivered from the fix he is in—what he calls his "prison" (7)--that he may once again be surrounded by the righteous.
Psalm 143
Most of the time in the psalms the voice is involved in a vigorous self-defense. In this psalm—number 143—the voice cannot even pretend to be righteous. No one living can (2). All have sinned and fallen short of the ideal of the Law. So he prays for forgiveness, which represents the difference between life and death to him. He begs for forgiveness and life, not because of anything he has done, but only because of the LORD's "steadfast love" and mercy and for his "name's sake"—because of who God is (11).
Psalm 144
When the nation was danger it was the business of Israel's king to lead the army in battle and also to offer appropriate prayers for victory in the temple. This psalm—number 144—is such a royal prayer, in which the king—he is identified as David—prays that God will "send out [his] arrows and rout" his enemies (6). He promises that if the LORD, his "rock" (1) and his "fortress" (2) will give Israel the victory the king will "sing a new song" to the LORD. "Upon a ten-stringed harp" he will play to "the one who gives victory to kings, who rescues his servant David" (9). He will sing a psalm—which is, in fact what he is doing. The rationale for war, the king says, is not plunder or conquest, but to preserve the security and prosperity of his people, so that there may "be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets" (14). "Happy" is the people who have peace secured by strength, "whose
God is the LORD" (15), ruling through a king who is both just and mighty in battle.