¹ Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
    Do you judge people with equity?
² No, in your heart you devise injustice,
    and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
³ Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
⁴ Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
    like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
⁵ that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
    however skilful the enchanter may be.

Read more…

Psalm 58

One of the features of Presbyterian worship in Scotland was the use of the metrical Psalms. For those who are not aware of this particular tradition, this involved setting the whole Psalter to a set of limited but great hymn tunes.  

If you like lots of variety then singing several Psalms to the same tune might not be seem so great, but it has its benefits – not least that it would have helped ordinary folk to memorise these Psalms more easily and be able to benefit from them.

Psalm 58, intriguingly, follows on from and is followed by Psalms which apparently were to be sung to the same tune, ‘Do not destroy’. Of course, no-one knows what that tune sounded like… I envisage heavy metal or punk, but I could well be wrong.

The name of the tune is, to say the least ironic, ‘Do not destroy’, yet for much of the Psalm that is precisely what the Psalmist wants God to do to his enemies!

He calls on God to smash their teeth (v. 6), to vaporise them (v. 7), to dissolve them like a salted slug (v. 8).

This isn’t the first time – nor will it be the last time – we meet such violence in the Psalms. Many of us find such expressions of anger unsettling and disquieting. We quite like a line of the Psalms here or there during a time of worship, but it’s difficult to imagine these words being read out between a couple of praise songs. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would find it uncomfortable sitting next to someone who is looking forward to bathing their feet in the blood of their enemies.

The Psalms are not nice. But while they may not be pretty, they are honest. Anger is as much a part of human life as the fear of the previous Psalm. It’s no use denying our anger or bottling it up, but it is worth taking it to God.

The anger expressed here is that of the victim, the one who is desperate and who has been systematically beaten down and degraded by those who are in power and who have been corrupted by evil (vv. 1–3). These oppressors have lost their humanity and have become like deadly animals, like the cobra and the lion (vv. 4, 6). There are sadly millions of people today around the world, made in God’s image and beloved by him, who find themselves beaten down and in some living hell because of the wickedness of others. At the very least the Psalm shakes us from comfortable complacency, reminds us that not all is well with the world and serves as a challenge to pray and to act on behalf of those who are in anguish.

The Psalm is a plea for justice, for evil to be defeated and for the right to be triumphant. When it comes to dealing with enemies, the Psalmist leaves that to God – there is no thought that it is something he or we should take into our own hands (v. 6). 

David’s description of the wicked (v. 3) reminds us of something he said about himself in a previous Psalm when he had abused his power with horrific results (Psalm 51:5). As well as being an encouragement to voice our own anger, to pray and act for the oppressed, the Psalm is also a mirror and a warning to anyone with any degree of power. What about us? How have we treated those around us?

¹ Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
    for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
    until the disaster has passed.
² I cry out to God Most High,
    to God, who vindicates me.
³ He sends from heaven and saves me,
    rebuking those who hotly pursue me –
    God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

Read more…

Psalm 57

David is in a dark place, literally. According to the title of this Psalm he has fled into a cave trying to escape from those who were seeking to kill him. The heading reflects the story in 1 Samuel 22–24 where there are a couple of references to David hiding in a cave to avoid his pursuers.

Hopefully no-one reading this will be hunted down like David but it is a reminder that we have brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world for whom persecution is a reality.

We may not face the danger that David faced but some of us are familiar with caves, cold dark places of depression in our own lives, untouched and unlit by the warm rays of the sun.

In his time of crisis David turns to God. The cave is cold, hard and unfeeling, but by contrast the imagery used of God is warm and tender, under the shelter of his wings we find shelter (v. 1). David’s confidence is in God’s steadfast love. That love is not something that God switches on and off like a tap, but is constant. Our love is like the moon that wanders up and down, but God’s love is like the sun, for ever constant and true (apologies to Robert Burns!).

When we think of our troubles or look around us at the troubles in the world our emotions can spin all over the place. We’re happy one moment, fearful the next, but it is as we focus on the everlasting love of God that we find strength and stability.

To reflect on that steadfast, relentless love of God that we find in Christ Jesus cannot leave us the same, cannot but change us and bring us hope. To reflect on that steadfast, relentless love of God that we find in Christ Jesus is to lead us from singing the blues to bursting into songs of praise. 

David was in a dark place physically and he was in a dark place emotionally, but reflecting on God’s steadfast love brings about a new perspective. ‘I can’t change the world / but I can change the world in me if I rejoice’ (U2).

The Psalms call us to be honest, not to pretend to God or ourselves or others but not to give in to despair either. Yes, reality can seem like a long dark cave, but even there God is with us and our confidence is that his light that shines in the darkness will one day shine gloriously over the whole earth.

¹ Be merciful to me, my God,
    for my enemies are in hot pursuit;
    all day long they press their attack.
² My adversaries pursue me all day long;
    in their pride many are attacking me.
³ When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
⁴     In God, whose word I praise –
in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?

Read more…

Psalm 56

Fear is a common human emotion. It is not a bad thing either. There are plenty of times when a good dose of fear is a very healthy and appropriate reaction. At the time of writing there was a brutal attack on a train where a passenger was knifed to death in a random attack. With the killer on the loose, fear was a perfectly healthy and reasonable reaction as people in the vicinity acted with far greater caution than normal.

At other times fear can be an unreasonable and unhealthy response. There are people who are so fearful that they cannot get out the door – agoraphobia is a serious and debilitating condition.  

Fear is a key theme of this Psalm and David seems to say two things which might, on face value, seem to contradict one another. 

In v. 3 David says that when he is afraid, he will put his trust in God. In v. 4, however, he says that he will not be afraid. Perhaps he is just referring to different occasions: there are times when he is fearful and so he turns to God and no longer feels afraid, that is one possibility. Another possibility is that David was both afraid and unafraid at the same time. Maybe David was internally fearful, anxious about what might happen, but he did not let those feelings prevent him from acting. That’s what courage is. Courage is not feeling unafraid – at times a lack of fear can just be recklessness or stupidity, not adequately understanding the danger of the situation and there is absolutely nothing praiseworthy in that. Courage is feeling the fear, realising the danger and yet still going ahead and doing the right thing, even if it is scary.

Our model for this is Jesus in Gethsemane. Luke tells us that Jesus was in anguish as he prayed to his Heavenly Father (Luke 22:44). The Greek word for anguish is ‘agonia’ and it was characteristically used to describe the feelings of gladiators as they waited to step into the arena. Like the gladiator, Jesus was engaged in mortal combat, offering his life to defeat the powers of death and darkness. And Jesus was scared, fearful of the physical pain that he would be put through because only an idiot would not be.   Jesus was scared of the emotional pain, the howling grief of his mother, the heartbreak of his disciples who did not and could not understand what was going on. And Jesus was scared because of the spiritual pain: he had always walked so closely to the one he called ‘Abba, Father’, but in the darkness of Golgotha that intimacy would be challenged like never before.

Yet Jesus prayed, ‘Not my will but yours be done’ and he showed courage as he actively did his Father’s will, laying down his life that we might live. 1 John 4:18 says perfect love drives out all fear and that’s a good text to meditate upon when we feel anxious. It doesn’t necessarily mean that every feeling of apprehension will disappear but it does mean that fear need no longer paralyse us from doing what is right.

Twice in the Psalm David asks, ‘What can mere mortals do to me?’ (vv. 4, 11). The answer is, ‘Quite a lot,’ but beyond the fear there is the assurance that God knows what we’re going through. And the God who records our tears (v. 8) is the one who will deliver us from death that we might walk before him in the light of life (v. 13).

Listen to my prayer, O God,
    do not ignore my plea;
    hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
    because of what my enemy is saying,
    because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
    and assail me in their anger.

Read more…

Psalm 55

One of the reasons for the ongoing popularity of the Psalms is their searing honesty. The composers of the Psalms don’t tell us how we ought to feel, they tell us how we actually do feel! In Psalm 55 the writer’s emotions are raw.

Once again, the Psalmist is troubled and, in his troubles, he turns to God. The exact cause of his distress becomes clear a little later on. He is the victim of what others have said. At the very least words have the power to destroy our social status and reputation, and at worst words can lead to false accusation and even to death (I am writing shortly after Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi was released from jail following accusations that were made against her: for a biblical example see 1 Kings 21). We do not always get things right and need to be open to learn from the criticism of others, even when those criticisms are expressed clumsily or woundingly. We also need to be careful about what we say and how we say it and that our intention is always to build up others (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

What is worse in this case is that this hateful slander originates from someone who David once considered to be a friend (vv. 13, 14). It is always so much more painful when those close to us attack us without reason and when they criticise us in public and seek to turn others against us. Not surprisingly in this situation the pressure builds up (vv. 4,5) and David longs for escape (vv. 6–8). The modern equivalent to ‘the wings of a dove’ might be a plane out of here jetting us away from all our troubles and taking us far, far away. Jesus words though sum up the reality of life, ‘In this world you will have trouble’ (John 16:33). That’s the bad news – the good news is that immediately beforehand Jesus promised that ‘in me you may have peace’ (John 16:33). 

Sometimes that peace may be found because Jesus comes and calm the storms of life (Mark 4:35–41), at other times the storm is still raging but he comes to us in the midst of it (Matt 14:27–31).

The Psalmist encourages us to cast our cares on the LORD (v. 22) and that call is picked up in the New Testament when Peter invites us to ‘Cast all our anxiety on him because he cares for us’ (1 Peter 5:7). What do we do with our cares, our worries, our anxiety? Taking them to the Lord rather than carrying them alone still seems like a good option.

Save me, O God, by your name;
    vindicate me by your might.
 Hear my prayer, O God;
    listen to the words of my mouth.

Arrogant foes are attacking me;
    ruthless people are trying to kill me—
    people without regard for God.

Read more…

Psalm 54

Psalms 52–54 all come from the earliest period in David’s life when he was a fugitive, on the run and hiding from Saul who was trying to track him down. Here, the reference in the title is to events recorded in 1 Samuel 23:14–28 where the Ziphites, among whom David was hiding, were happy to betray him and hand him over to his enemies.

In all of this (unlike Psalm 51!) David was not at fault, yet it didn’t prevent him from being threatened and his life being at risk. We can only begin to imagine what it felt like to be the innocent victim and yet to be hunted down as a criminal. 

No wonder David cries out to God to save him (v. 1). 1 Samuel tells us that Saul’s son Jonathan helped David to find strength in God and maybe verse 4 is the result of that. We need others to encourage us when the path on the journey of faith is rough and steep and we can be an encouragement to others when life is tough going.

Part of that encouragement is the reminder that evil is ultimately self-destructive – it loops back on those who commit it (v. 5). 

David wishes that those who slander him might be blown away. Although interestingly when David has the opportunity to do just that he shows the better way of mercy and spares Saul’s life (1 Samuel 24, Matthew 5:7, 44).

David anticipates that God will rescue him from danger and David’s response will be one of praising God in his words and his deeds. In verse 7 that anticipation is fulfilled.

The Psalm is a yet another reminder that to follow David’s God does not guarantee any immunity from suffering or hardship. When we are facing difficulties, we – like David – can bring them to God. In Christ we have the confidence that God is with us, that he can help us, that ultimately the powers of evil are defeated and that he will save us from our enemies of death and destruction.

The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
    there is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.

Read more…

Psalm 53

By the time you’ve read Psalm 53 you might well have a feeling of déjà vu, a feeling of ‘Haven’t I heard this before?’ And you’d be right because Psalm 53 is almost identical to Psalm 14.

There is a slight variation in the title where Psalm 53 adds ‘according to mahalath’ and describes the Psalm as a ‘maskil’ of David. The exact meaning of both of these Hebrew words is less than clear although Old Testament scholar Derek Kidner suggests that ‘mahalath’ maybe the name of a tune or even an instrument.

The other minor difference is that Psalm 53 uses the word God (Elohim) rather than the LORD (YHWH).

A greater difference occurs in verse 5 where the wording is somewhat different to Psalm 14:5, 6. There may be a slight shift in emphasis from the deliverance of the righteous poor (14:5, 6) to the fate of their oppressors (53:5), but any such shift is marginal.

At this point we may be left wondering why in the oversight of the Holy Spirit a Psalm that is, to all extent and purposes exactly the same, is repeated. Perhaps it is simply because the theme is so important.

The temptation of ‘practical atheism’ is ever present. The fool does not necessarily visibly reject belief in God but does so in practice, in their heart (v. 1). When the fool has discounted the existence of God everything is up for grabs, morality lets loose of its moorings and is all at sea or as the great Russian author Dostoyevsky wrote, ‘If God does not exist, everything is permitted.’

Let’s face it – many atheists are incredibly moral people. But that may be in spite of their beliefs rather than because of them. One of the practical consequences of rejecting God is that it can lead to the exploitation of others, fellow human beings are no longer unique and precious individuals made in the image of God but are simply there to be used for my satisfaction (v. 4).

The Psalm offers a counterbalance. In spite of what might look to be the case, there is a God who created the world and cares for that world, and God is still sovereign and reigns from his throne (v. 2). The Psalm celebrates an occasion that God dealt with the arrogant and the entitled who think they can terrify others and not suffer the consequences (v. 5). Sometimes we have to live in the gap between the promise of deliverance and its fulfilment, but, as we wait, we do so in the knowledge that Christ has defeated sin and death and is even now working all things for good (Romans 8:28).

Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast all day long,
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
You who practice deceit,
    your tongue plots destruction;
    it is like a sharpened razor.
You love evil rather than good,
    falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!

Read more…

Psalm 52

The problem in the previous Psalm is the pervasive and deep rooted nature of sin. Psalm 51 deals with my sin, my failure to live up to God’s expectations and to be the person that God created me to be, a person in his image full of his love, his joy, his peace. Psalm 52 is also about sin but this time it is about other people’s sin. 

The other major difference is that in Psalm 51 David recognises and ‘owns’ his sin: he realises (albeit with quite a lot of help from Nathan) that he is without excuse for his actions and he takes responsibility for the evil that he has done. For the evildoer of Psalm 52 there is no awareness of wrongdoing and no recognition of the need to repent. The evildoer of Psalm 52 has become set in his ways. Unlike the penitent David of the previous Psalm this is someone who boasts of evil, not just occasionally in moments of weakness but all day long (v. 1), who has grown to love evil rather than good (v. 3).

This is the person who has no fear of God, they think they can act with impunity. Such people clearly existed in David’s time and they exist in our own. They may be infamous on a worldwide or national scale, they may just be local bullies, their activity may be criminal or their activity might be quite lawful. 

When we see people act in such a way, we are not to envy them but to pity them knowing that they will have to give account to God for their actions (v. 5).

God is often described in the Psalms as a rock. He is our ultimate security and safety, but also the immovable force upon which evil will be broken. In Hebrews 9:27 the author writes that people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement. We may have questions about the nature of that judgement and how that interacts that with God’s love but as Paul wrote ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.’ (Galatians 6:7). We ended Psalm 51 with the English rapper Stormzy, so we’ll leave Johnny Cash with the last word on Psalm 52.

Well, you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What’s down in the dark will be brought to the light
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Johnny Cash, ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

Read more…

– Psalm 51

David was the great King of the Old Testament. Yet he had feet of clay. His shield adorns the flag of the modern-day state of Israel yet he was an adulterer and an accessory to cold-blooded murder (2 Samuel 11:1–25). Even the best of us are sinners.

There may not have been times when we have been guilty of acting as savagely as David or when our decisions have resulted in such devastating consequences. Yet there is probably something within us that recognises that moment when we realise that we have no excuses for our actions and when we realise the damage that we have done.

There was not a lot David could do to sort out the mess he had made. Uriah lay dead and he had already taken Bathsheba as his wife (2 Samuel 11:26–27). When we can make up for the things we have done wrong, we should attempt to do so. If we have hurt someone, we should apologise. But it is not always possible. David was left having to make the best out of a bad situation that he alone had created. The rest of David’s story is how he had to deal with the consequences, and it is messy.

David expresses a profound sense of guilt and throws himself on God’s mercy. He appeals to God’s ‘unfailing love’ and to his ‘great compassion’ (v. 1). David’s first need is forgiveness for his wrongdoing (v. 2) but the problem is more deep rooted than absolving him for a one-off misdemeanour. David’s problem and ours is we are mired in sin. While we have to take responsibility for our individual actions there is also a sense that we couldn’t help it – we are human beings, we sin, we hurt others, we hurt ourselves, it’s just what we do. Yet it was never God’s wish. God’s desire is that we are ‘faithful’ (v. 6): faithful to him and faithful to being his image-bearers on Earth.

As well as the need for forgiveness (vv. 7, 9) the Psalm expresses the need for renewal (v. 10). At the time of writing it is the second day of a new year, already countless resolutions have been broken and in the next few weeks they’ll be joined by many more. As human beings we’re just not very good at self-improvement. If we are to be healed, it will be the work of God to create in us a clean heart and a steadfast spirit.

David isn’t quite there yet but he knows that his ultimate joy is found in being restored to the God of unfailing love who made him in the first place (v. 12).

The Psalm speaks to all of us who feel broken because of the stupid and selfish things that we have done. It does not offer us a ‘Get out of jail free’ card as we, like David, still have to deal with the consequences of our actions (although we no longer do so alone but conscious of God’s presence).

In the New Testament we see the dynamic of salvation more clearly. Through Christ we have forgiveness for sin, the slate has been wiped clean, ‘there is no condemnation’ (Romans 8:1) and the Holy Spirit is at work in us to restore the broken image, to recreate us in our Father’s image, full of love, and joy and peace (Galatians 5:22).

The last word remains with one who, like David, was a singer and songwriter. One of the biggest hits of 2017 was Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2 by grime artist, Stormzy. Reflecting on his own experiences growing up he sings, ‘Lord, I’ve been broken / Although I’m not worthy / You fixed me, I’m blinded / By your grace’.

In an interview with The Guardian he explained, ‘One of the things that I’m most impressed by, in God, is the grace that he has. No matter what we do, there’s always this, “OK, it’s fine. I understand.” That’s not to say I can go out and do something bad… But just that knowing that someone’s got you throughout anything, and they’re not going to judge you, they’re just going to understand your situation. That’s grace.’

The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
    God shines forth.
Our God comes
    and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
    and around him a tempest rages.
He summons the heavens above,
    and the earth, that he may judge his people:
‘Gather to me this consecrated people,
    who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.’
And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    for he is a God of justice.

Read more…

– Psalm 50

One of the reasons that the Psalms are so loved and cherished is that they give voice to authentic human experience. Sometimes the writer is saying ‘God, you are great!’ or ‘I trust you,’ other times there’s just an urgent cry for deliverance, ‘help!’ or when the prayer has been answered, ‘thanks.’

In this Psalm though, the human voice is absent and it is God’s turn to speak.

The opening verses depict God thundering out from Jerusalem to call his people to account. The judgment begins with those God calls ‘my people’, the people that he loves, who he has chosen and who have committed themselves to him. Sobering words for those of us who claim to follow this God and who are often better are spotting motes of dust in other people’s eyes than the plank of wood in our own.

The first thing God says to them is ‘Listen’ (v. 7). In a world of constant noise and chatter that’s one of the most difficult things to do, we are so easily distracted and the ubiquity of the mobile phone doesn’t help. To be quiet and to listen is one of the hardest things to do but it’s one of the most important. Peter once asked Jesus, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (John 6:68). The words of God are life giving. The problem is we’re not always listening.

One of the ways we don’t listen is by thinking we’re doing God some sort of favour by following him. But God is not a needy God, God is not lacking in anything, the whole world is his, the whole universe is his and because he doesn’t need anything he isn’t open to bribery or flattery or manipulation (vv. 8–13).

Another way we don’t listen to God is by failing to turn to him when we’re in trouble. Obviously there are things that we should do to stop us getting into trouble in the first place and God doesn’t guarantee he will always wave a wand and magic all our troubles away but there are times when we find ourselves in too deep a mess and all the self-help books in the world can’t help us out of the pit. One of those pits is dug out of our sin and guilt, another one is marked death and dying. There’s no way out in our own strength but God promises that when we call on him, he will come to our rescue (vv. 14–15).

Another way we don’t listen is when we think God is more bothered by religious show than by our relationship with others.  The ‘wicked’ (v. 16) are those who happily perform religious acts and spout religious words but whose actions deny their faith. Calvin said that our minds are like idol factories and our biggest mistake is to think that God is like we are, self-seeking, indifferent to the needs of others and writing off those who cannot help us in some way, such a way cannot lead to abundant life (v. 22).

There is, however, an alternative: to live in deep gratitude (note the reference to ‘thank offerings’ in verses 14 and 23), to realise that none of us are self-made men or women and that everything that we have comes from God’s hand and because of his goodness. In the New Testament we call that ‘grace’.

Hear this, all you peoples;
    listen, all who live in this world,
both low and high,
    rich and poor alike:
My mouth will speak words of wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.
I will turn my ear to a proverb;
    with the harp I will expound my riddle…

Read more…

– Psalm 49

Sometimes the Psalmist’s world sounds uncannily like our own. We also live in a world where wealth often brings power and arrogance and where it’s usually the small people who suffer. It’s a universal disease which afflicts all types of societies, although in capitalism it seems to be actively promoted.

At the time of writing billionaire tax exile Philip Green has been accused of using his wealth to hide accusations of bullying and sexual harassment. In Turkey it has now been admitted that a journalist was bloodily murdered in the embassy of the oil rich Saudi Arabians. On a more minor note David Beckham successfully hired an expensive lawyer to get him off a speeding charge even though the ex-England footballer admitted to being guilty of driving his Daimler at 59mph in a 40mph zone. It seems if you have enough money you are able to lead a different life to everyone else, a life that appears to place you above the law and can lead to little or no regard for the wellbeing of others.  

The abuse of wealth to cover up misdeeds and to cover up the suffering of others is as depressing in our day as it was in the Psalmist’s and can lead us either to jealousy or despair. However, if we are tempted to think that way it’s worth reminding ourselves that for all their money and power the amoral affluent share the same destiny as those that they have ripped off, ignored, abused, exploited or even murdered. At the end of the day you really can’t take it with you. None of their ill-gotten or ill-kept wealth can insulate them or insure them against the one great reality of death: there’s a train a-coming, it might be slow but it’s coming.

The hope of life beyond the grave is not really developed in the scriptures we refer to as the Old Testament but it is hinted at here and there and this is one of those occasions. Derek Kidner calls verse 15 ‘one of the mountain-tops of Old Testament hope.’

This hope of life with God beyond death is not a big paracetamol – Marx’s opiate to take away the pain of the present – but rather a stimulant to live a different type of life: a life of acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8) because we know that ultimately God’s kingdom is the one that will prevail. 

Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
    in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
Beautiful in its loftiness,
    the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
    the city of the Great King.
God is in her citadels;
    he has shown himself to be her fortress.

Read more…

– Psalm 48

Psalm 48 is another Jerusalem Psalm. We’ve met them before (Psalms 42, 46). The Psalmist is enraptured by the ‘city of the great King’ (48:2) and is moved, like many a poet and lyricist, to go some distance beyond what others might see.

The Psalmist describes Jerusalem as beautiful in its loftiness (v. 2), but it’s actually not very high. The Psalmist describes Jerusalem as the joy of the whole earth (v. 2) but that was probably a minority opinion not shared by other nations.

In reality the Psalm is a big, bold, brassy declaration of faith. Mention of Mount Zaphon in verse 2 is not accidental, this limestone mountain on the Syrian-Turkish border was and is twice as high as Mount Zion and more importantly was where the Canaanites worshipped Baal. And yet the Psalmist says that the true God has made little old Jerusalem his dwelling place.  John Goldingay comments, ‘It’s typical of God to go for an insignificant little mountain in an insignificant location (Israel was to be an insignificant little people; David, an insignificant little boy; and Nazareth, an insignificant little village).’

Verses 4–7 speak of challenges to God’s power. The theme of opposition to God has cropped up several times already in the Psalms, most noticeably in Psalm 2 where the ‘kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord’ (Psalm 2:7). In both cases the outcome is the same. Here the invading forces melt away like the snow – they came, they saw, they fled. If we live faithfully we too can expect to face opposition (John 15:20) and that is a reality for many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world today. At times of opposition recalling those experiences of God’s deliverance in the past may encourage us that he can and will rescue us in the present.

The response to God’s salvation is to mediate on his unfailing love (v. 9). We who live on the other side of Christ are called to bring to mind the salvation that God has wrought for us, we do this most obviously when we gather together, particularly when we share bread and wine. In many church traditions what we call ‘communion’ is referred to as the Eucharist, a term that derives from a Greek word meaning ‘thanksgiving’ and which neatly sums up our response for all that God has done for us in Christ.

In the final verses of the Psalm we are invited to walk about and admire Jerusalem’s towers and ramparts. The point of the guided tour is not just to appreciate the finer details of Jerusalem’s architecture but to let physical objects remind us of God’s deliverance, in the same way bread and wine are tangible reminders of the Christ who died and rose for us. They are reminders of God’s unfailing love, so we are to pass that good news onto the next generation (v. 13) and have confidence that this good God will be our guide for ever and ever (v. 14).

Clap your hands, all you nations;
    shout to God with cries of joy.
For the Lord Most High is awesome,
    the great King over all the earth.
He subdued nations under us,
    peoples under our feet.
He chose our inheritance for us,
    the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.
God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
    the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing to him a psalm of praise.
God reigns over the nations;
    God is seated on his holy throne.
The nobles of the nations assemble
    as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings of the earth belong to God;
    he is greatly exalted.

– Psalm 47

We often read the Psalms individually, on a case by case basis, without paying too much attention to their sequence and order. However, for some of the Psalms at least there does appear to be a connection, some sort of flow between them. Psalm 46 and 47 are good examples of this.

Psalm 46 is a confident assertion, in uncertain times, that Israel’s God can be relied upon, that in an insecure world he is our ultimate security. Psalm 47 very much builds upon that. The Psalmist’s conviction that Jerusalem will not fall (46:5) turned out to be well placed (at least in the short term) and Psalm 47 seems to be a joyous, almost riotous celebration that Israel has indeed been delivered from her enemies.

Verses 2–9 look like a fairly typical example of the theology of the victor, the depressing ‘our God is the true God because our armies have duffed up your armies’ sort of thinking. From verse 2 onwards it all looks a bit triumphalist, a paean of praise to a national deity, no different to that you might expect from any pagan nation that had proved victorious in battle.  

Normally the twist in the tale comes at the tail but here it’s at the beginning.  The rest of the Psalm talks of nations being subdued (v3), of people being trampled underfoot (v. 3), of the rulers of the nations belonging to God as if they were humiliated defeated captives (v. 9). The great shouts of joy (v. 5) might be taken as being those of the victors who have triumphed over their enemies and are sharing out the spoils.  

The opening verse of the Psalm though gives a very different way, a quite surprising way, of reading those verses.  There’s much more going on here than first meets the eye. Instead of being lorded over and silenced, the subdued nations are invited to join in with the shouts of joy and to join in with the applause. 

Here we see the truth that Israel was prone to forget. Going back as far as Abraham she was called not for her sake alone but was called on behalf of others. God was blessing Abraham in order to bless the nations through him.

Of course, it’s not just Israel who had a tendency to forgetfulness, we do too. Yes, let us revel in the victory that God has won. Let us rejoice and be glad that by Christ’s death he has broken the power of the devil who holds the power of death and freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14, 15), let us celebrate that in Christ he has disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Col 2.15), let us delight that his Spirit dwells within us and we are no longer slaves to sin. Let us never forget the victories that God has won but let us also remember that the blessings God has given us, spiritual or material, are not for our sake alone but are to be shared as generously as he has shared with us.

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.’
The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

– Psalm 46

When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 many reporters described it as an earth-shattering event. The opening lines of this Psalm also employ the language of geology to describe life changing political events.

Verses 1–3 describe a world that is greatly troubled, where there is massive upheaval and the fear of conflict. Under such circumstances, when the stable foundations of our lives are under threat, whether by war or anything else, it is understandably very easy to be anxious and frightened about the future (v. 2).

In verses 4–6 the Psalmist expresses his conviction that in spite of what others say that Jerusalem will never fall – but it did (2 Kings 25).

The Babylonian exile is the painful reminder that the words of the Psalm are not to be taken in some wooden and literalistic way – as if faith in Israel’s God was some sort of rabbit’s foot or lucky white heather, a talisman or charm against any evil befalling them or us.

And yet the Psalmist’s confidence that God ‘is our fortress’ (vv. 7, 11) should not be lightly dismissed. When we feel the ground is giving way, when our bodies succumb to illness and the ravages of time, when the familiar falls away, when dreams are shattered, when our world is shaken, Jesus has promised us that we can know a peace that passes all understanding.  ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid’ (John 14:27).

God never promises us immunity from trouble or from tragedy but we can experience a measure of that promised peace in our lives because ‘the Lord Almighty is with us’ (v. 5). The God the Psalmist worshipped is the God who became flesh in the person of his Son, who shared our lives and who even now dwells in our hearts by his Holy Spirit.

The Psalm is profoundly personal speaking to us in our discomfort and distress but concludes with a hope that embraces the whole world. Not only are we invited to see how God has brought peace – and challenged to be part of what God is doing (Matthew 5:9) – but we are promised that the God who is with us and whose peace we can know now will one day bring peace to the whole earth.