Praying Psalm 16

"Beautiful Trust"

What is the title of Psalm 16? A Miktam (inscription) of David.

Read Psalm 16:1

¹ Preserve me, God, I seek refuge in you.

 With what attitude does the Psalmist begin? Trust – keep me trusting

Read Psalm 16:2-4

² You say to YHWH, “you are my Lord, there is no good apart from you.”
3 For the holy ones who are in the earth are these and the majestic ones all of my delight is in them.
4 The injury/pains are many, they hurry/exchange for another, I will NOT pour out their drink offerings of blood. And I will NOT lift up their names upon my lips.

 How does the Psalmist describe the community?

All good found in God – holy (quadesh, set apart) & majestic
NOT worship false gods (sacrifice imagery) trust issues *Remember ps. 15:4 discernment??

Read 16:5-6

⁵ YHWH is a portion of my portion (inheritance) and my cup you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen in the pleasant places, indeed the inheritance in beautiful to me.

 How does YHWH satisfy the Psalmist? Inheritance – big deal to Hebrews

Read 16:7-8

⁷ I bless YHWH who councils me indeed in the night my kidneys chasten/correct me.
⁸ I put YHWH in front of me continually, For from my right hand I am NOT shaken

 What does YHWH do for David?

Counsel & correction (kidneys = conscience)
God is 1^st = not shaken

Read 16:9-11

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my glory sings, indeed my flesh dwells in security. 
¹⁰ For you will not forsake my nephesh for Sheol, and not give your chesed ones to see corruption
¹¹ You make known to me a path/way of life, full of Joys in front of you. Delightful things from your right hand forever.

 How does David respond?

Glad – Trust – Happy with God’s gifts

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?

Encouraging Trust
Describing beautiful trusting relationship with God

 How does Christ fulfill this psalm?

He completely trusted God - He was preserved in this - he got the inheritance

How can we pray this?

Preserve US so we can pray this confidently in trust, too. Just believe what He says!!

WE PRAY:

Thy kingdom come.

What does this mean? The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also.

How is this done? When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and yonder in eternity.

Praying Psalm 15

"WHO?"

What is the title of Psalm 15? A Psalm of David.

Read Psalm 15:1

¹ YHWH, who sojourns in your tent? Who settles in the hill of your holiness?

What is the question?

WHO?
Tent – (Tent of meeting, tabernacle) Sojourn means this is someone who doesn't belong!!
 Hill – Zion (God’s presence among His people)

Read Psalm 15:2

² Walker of blamelessness and doer of righteousness and speaker of truth in his heart.

“Who” is the answer?

Walker, doer, speaker - wow that's a tall order!

Read 15:3-5

³ He does not slander with his tongue, he does not do evil to his neighbor and a reproach he does not lift to his friend.
4 One who is despised in his eyes is one who is rejected but  the fearers of YHWH he honors. He swears to (his own) hurt and does not change.
5 His silver he does not give with interest and a bribe over the clean/free/innocent he doesn’t take…

What does this person do?

No gossip or hurt to neighbor, discerns what is right, does not take advantage.

Read 15:5

^{5 …}He does these things and will not be shaken forever.

 What is the fate of this person?

Not shaken - EVER

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?

Teaching - wisdom psalm

How does Christ fulfill this psalm?

Christ is the “WHO”. There is no way we can stand before our God like this!!
 THIS GUY stands before God - he actually DOES all this stuff.

How can we pray this?

We want to BE Christ. We want his blamelessness & we want to not be shaken.
He exchanges His blamelessness for our sinful death. THIS is what God's Word teaches.
Thank God Christ was this!!

WE PRAY:

Hallowed by thy name

What does this mean? Gods name is holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may be holy among us also.

How is this done? When the Word of God is taught in truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, live a holy life according to it. This grant us, dear Father in heaven. But those who teach and live otherwise than God’s Word teaches, profane the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Father in heaven.

Praying Psalm 14

 “Fools”  

What is the title of Psalm 14? To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Read Psalm 14:1

¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt/ruined/spoiled, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.

Who is a fool?

No God (This is where it begins…) (1^st table: God relationship - Commandments 1,2,3)
Does bad things (How it is lived out) (2^nd table: Neighbor relationship - Commandments 4-10)

Read Psalm 14:2-3

² YHWH looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

³ They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

 What does YHWH see?

Looking down – sees NO ONE!!
*READ Genesis 6 - God sees no one, except Noah
*READ Romans 1 - No one...

 Read 14:4

⁴ Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?

What is David’s lament?

(1) No knowledge
(2) Eat people?? Devour, destroy others (2^nd table)
(3) Not call on YHWH (1^st table)

Read 14:5-6

⁵ There they are in great terror (Certainly dread), for God is with the generation of the righteous.
⁶ You (all) would shame the plans of the poor, for because YHWH is his refuge.

 How will it turn out?

They (v.5) & y’all (v.6) are FOOLS! = terror, shame the counsel
RIGHTEOUS – God is with, YHWH is refuge.

Read 14:7

⁷ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

What is David’s prayer?
Salvation from Zion – some thing OUTSIDE to save this unrighteous generation!
*Brainstorm what is Zion? mountain...temple...God's presence among his people...

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?
Lament – fools
Description – judgment (righteous shamed, terror)
Plea for salvation – from Zion

How does Christ fulfill this psalm?
Salvation has come from Zion –  outside of our own actions - CHRIST has come, he is the righteous one that God looks down to see. But wait - does he see Christ? Yes, Those who are "clothed with the blood of Christ" or "Baptized into his death" - God sees Christ.

Cross refer

1. 1 Corinthians 1:22 : See Matt. 12:38
2. 1 Corinthians 1:23 : Gal. 5:11; See 1 Pet. 2:8
3. 1 Corinthians 1:24 : [1Cor 1:18]
4. 1 Corinthians 1:24 : 1Cor 1:30; Col. 2:3; [Luke 11:49]

How can we pray this?

No one is righteous, including US! (Romans 1, 3)
Romans 5:8 -  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Salvation from Zion)

WE PRAY:

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

What does this mean? We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins, nor deny such petitions on account of them; for we are worthy of none of the things for which we pray, neither have we deserved them; but that He would grant them all to us by grace; for we daily sin much, and indeed deserve nothing but punishment. So will we verily, on our part, also heartily forgive and also readily do good to those who sin against us.

Praying Psalm 13

      “BUT I trust.”     

What is the title of Psalm 13?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Read Psalm 13:1-2

¹  How long, YHWH? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

 What is the psalmist asking God?

How long?
(1)   forget and hide – YHWH is far, not doing anything…
(2)   take counsel in my OWN nephesh/body/soul AND heart/mind. (This is NOT a good thing...)
(3)   Enemy exalted.

Read Psalm 13:3-4
³ Consider and answer me, O YHWH my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
⁴ lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

 What does David want YHWH to do?

Answer – act, do something
OR ELSE (lest): (1) I sleep/die (2) enemy wins (3) enemy rejoices

Read 13:5-6

⁵ But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to  YHWH, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

 What is the big BUT…?

Trust in *Chesed!*(Steadfast love)
Result is: heart/mind shouts about salvation – sing because HE has DONE it.

Did David’s situation in life change?

No – David’s words CONFESSED YHWH  in the MIDST of struggle/pain/death.
(He did not pray for change & THEN praise God.)

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?

Lament – How long – WHEN will it get better? Be made right?

This Encourages others to trust YHWH in their pain/suffering

How does Christ fulfill this psalm?

He endures this pain until the end – trusting in YHWH’s salvation perfectly.

¹² And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” ¹⁴ And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” ¹⁵ So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged^[a] Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.¹⁶ And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters),^[b] and they called together the whole battalion.^{[c] 17} And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. ²⁵ And it was the third hour^[d] when they crucified him. ²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.^{[e] 29} And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ save yourself, and come down from the cross!” ³¹ So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. ³² Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.³³ And when the sixth hour^[f] had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.^{[g] 34} And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:12-34

Cross ref

1. 1 Corinthians 1:22 : See Matt. 12:38
2. 1 Corinthians 1:23 : Gal. 5:11; See 1 Pet. 2:8
3. 1 Corinthians 1:24 : [1Cor 1:18]
4. 1 Corinthians 1:24 : 1Cor 1:30; Col. 2:3; [Luke 11:49]

How can we pray this?

Trust only in YHWH’s chesed – CHRIST, abounding love in the midst of our pain

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[b] to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,^[c] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being^[d] might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him^[e] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers,^[a] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony^[b] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ² For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴ and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men^[c] but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5

WE PRAY:

Thy kingdom come.

What does this mean? The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also.

How is this done? When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and yonder in eternity.

Praying Psalm 12

"Pure Words"

What is the title of Psalm 12?

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

Read Psalm 12:1-2

¹ Save, YHWH, for the godly/”chesed” one is gone; for the faithful/trustworthy have vanished from among the sons of man.

² Everyone utters lies/emptiness/in vain to his neighbor; with flattering/smooth lips and a double heart they speak.

What is the problem?

(1)   The righteous people are GONE?? Like in Genesis 6 – Remember the flood? God was THAT ANGRY.
(2)   They SPEAK empty things with each other – flattering, two-faced, lies…
** This is Lords name "IN VAIN" – empty things!

Read Psalm 12:3-4

³ May YHWH cut off all flattering/smooth lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
⁴ those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail/are strong, our lips with us; who is master/lord  over us?”

What is David’s prayer?

YHWH make it right. –YHWH is strong – These people are misinformed!!
What is so bad about flattering lips? Proverbs…5 & 7

Read 12:5-6

⁵ “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says YHWH; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
⁶ The words of YHWH are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

 What are the words of YHWH?

(1)“I will act” BECAUSE poor & needy. (This is when the Lord saves!)
(2) Pure clean words. True! Good! – contrast to words of people in v.2

 Read Psalm 12:7-8

⁷ You, YHWH, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.
⁸ On every side/encircled the wicked prowl/walk around, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

 What picture of reality does David end with?

(1)   YWHW protects.
(2)   Wicked surround – worthlessness & vileness rules around us.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

What is the purpose of this Psalm/prayer?

Lament – cry out that no one is righteous!! Surrounded by evil!
Prayer for judgment
Teach difference in WORDS – they are not all equal.

How does Christ pray this psalm?

¹² While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.^{[a] 16} They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them^[b] in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
John 17 12-17

 ¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. John 15:18-21

 ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. John 16:13-15

Jesus' words are hated. His followers will be too - BUT a Helper has come - the Holy Spirit.

1. 1 Corinthians 1:22 : See Matt. 12:38
2. 1 Corinthians 1:23 : Gal. 5:11; See 1 Pet. 2:8
3. 1 Corinthians 1:24 : [1Cor 1:18]
4. 1 Corinthians 1:24 : 1Cor 1:30; Col. 2:3; [Luke 11:49]

How can we pray this?
Christ is the righteous one. YHWH protects us who love Christ's righteous Words and follow their wise path. The Holy Spirit keeps us believing by teaching the of Word and giving of God's holy gifts, even amidst this evil world.

WE PRAY:

Hallowed be Thy name.

What does this mean? God's name is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may become holy among us also.

How is this done? When the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we as the children of God also lead holy lives in accordance with it. To this end help us, dear Father in heaven. But he that teaches and lives otherwise than God's Word teaches profanes the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Heavenly Father.