Old Testament Survey – Page 16 – Thoughts on the Old Testament

Psalm 36

Jeremiah 17.9 reminds us of what this psalm states. By nature, we are wicked. To the core of our heart, we are wicked. Our names could be placed at the beginning of this psalm. It is only because of God who is mentioned in verses 5-9 that we can have a clean heart, a new heart; that is only found in Jesus. Are you standing against the wicked (4) or are you walking beside them (Psalm 1)? Is your life lived partly for God and partly for you in this world? Are you living a life of syncretism?

Psalm 36

This psalm is clearly a psalm of contrasts much like Psalm 1. It contrasts the rebelliousness of the wicked man (1-4) with the righteousness of God (5-9) and concludes with a prayer of protection for the righteous (10-12). The superscription of “the servant of Jehovah” provides a similarity to Psalm 18. The subject matter reminds us of Psalm 14 and Psalm 53.

Verses 1-4-The style is rough in the Hebrew as David describes the life of the wicked man. The progression from disavowing God to practical atheism is brought on by the deceit of man and the teachings of deceitful mankind. These result in belief in self and blindness to moral issues where in the self becomes a god and there are no moral bounds. What is true for you may not be true for them; we call this moral relativism. When we examine the world, our world, the United States, we see this as having already occurred and Christians stand in its wake. This psalm is for us.

These verses show the attitude of those who deny God. They believe they will not be found out and if they are they will not be judged for it. Think of those the world celebrates, they commit crimes and believe they can walk off without being judged merely because of their name or position they hold. As an example, a recent President committed atrocities in the White House, was impeached, and then let go primarily because he was helping the economy.

The very first word in Hebrew (לַמְנַצֵּחַ) is not even translated in many versions. It means an oracle that is prophetic, coming from God, and it is associated with “the transgression” (נְאֻֽם־פֶּשַׁע). This would mean that God gave to David an insight into the very nature of the wicked, those in rebellion against God. And, that is the denial of the existence of the God who also reveals His very nature in verses 5-9. When describing those who base their righteousness on what they do, Paul quotes Psalm 36.1 in Romans 3.18. The person who walks away from God is described in Micah 2.1 as one who cannot sleep until he has devised a wrong and when he awakens he completes the thought with action. There will come a time when those who walk away from God will be incapable of doing anything of value in God’s sight (Jeremiah 4.22 and Romans 1.18-3.31). This is primarily because the wicked do not think that what they are doing is wrong. Abortion is an example of these verses being played out in the United States.

Verse four invites us to do the opposite of what the evil do. They do not reject evil. We need to actively reject the evil that the world, the devil, and we present to ourselves (1 John 2.15-17).

Verses 5-9-The style is lyrical when it comes to describe God (John 8.12 tells us this is speaking of Jesus). When it comes to knowing who God is, we need to rely on His revelation of Himself in His Word (Romans 11.33). Otherwise, we might mistake ourselves for Him. Part of the revealing God does becomes a revelation of our nature as well (as seen in the first four verses). The more aware we are of Him, who is light (John 1.4-5, 9), the greater we know our darkness (1 John 1.5-7). This is where repentance comes in (1 John 1.9). God blesses those who seek to know Him (9). He does not merely bless them with a place to go but with a life to live. Knowing Him goes far beyond what our imaginations can capture (Ephesians 3.20-21). It is not merely having a source of water for refreshment (Jeremiah 2.13), it is a fountain pouring forth. It is abundant life (John 10.10)

Verses 10-12-David’s prayer is for God to protect the righteous from the wicked. In God’s presence is protection (12). The wicked cannot stand before Him (see Psalm 18). David was given a revelation of the wicked, of God, and, here, a glimpse of the horror of judgment on the wicked (Proverbs 24.16). There will be a place, “there,” where the wicked will not stand (the Judgment Day).

Psalm 33

As this psalm is read, the personal relationship and fellowship God desires with humanity are evident. He created all, not evolution (6-7). He looks from heaven to see man and interact with him (13-19).

Psalm 33

As in Psalm 29, praise is based on the worthiness of the object to be praised. In this case, God is far above all other things and is most worthy to be praised (see our study on Psalm 29).

The psalm is neatly divided into three parts:

The call to praise God (1-3)
The reasons to praise God (4-19)

He has proven faithful to His Word (4-9)
He has done so by His work (10-12)
He is righteous and steadfast in how He deals with us (13-19)

A prayer to God (20-22)

We wait on Him
We are glad in Him
We hope in Him

He also is involved with nations (10-12). How far has our nation gone from His watchful eye? Nowhere. How far have we gone from His will?

Psalm 29

Try to describe God in terms of nature without making nature god. Ascribe the worth to God due Him.

Psalm 29

Just a cursory reading of the psalm should cause the reader to reconsider worship (as do Psalm 15, Psalm 19, and Psalm 93). Since worship is ascribing worth to something, then we should worship greatly. God is great and is due great worth. How do you worship at home and at church? If you need a moment to consider how great He is, review “That’s My King!” at the bottom of the video page.

Notice the chapter refutes that God is nature (“Mother Nature”). In order to be God, He must be above and in control of nature as verses 3-9 present. Notice the use of the sevenfold “voice” in this passage. ]As time allows, I will present a study on certain numbers found in Scripture.[ The power behind the sevenfold voice that shakes the earth comes as the power for peace. If you listen to the psalm, you will hear, see, and feel the power of the storm David is describing.

Strength comes to those who seek Him and living the life He created us for is a by-product of that pursuit as seen in the word “peace” that closes this psalm.

Try to describe God in terms of nature without making nature god. Ascribe the worth to God due Him.

Psalm 25

How well do you know God?

Psalm 25

This psalm is the second of eight acrostic psalms. It is a psalm of David, who is praying for God to deliver him from his enemies as he also seeks forgiveness for his sins. These themes are interwoven throughout this complex psalm.

Verses 1-3, 13-15-David knew where he should place his confidence, his soul, his life. He knew the only place to go was to God.
Verses 4-5, 8-9, and 12-Each of these verses contain the desire of David to have God’s teachings in order to have true guidance. He knew to have God’s Word is to have God’s presence.
Verses 7, 11, and 18-David seeks God’s forgiveness. There is an undertow here. David knows that God’s presence is only known where forgiveness dwells.
Verses 2 and 20-David feared that God would be put to shame if he were put to shame. So, the prayer is not for David to not be “embarrassed” but for David’s life not to put a blemish on the character of God. This is known as the fear of the Lord (12 and 14).
Verse 21-David knew that only through God’s character being developed in his character would he be able to live the life that God created for him to live.
Verses 16-17-If you notice, David was quite honest with God, who knows all things anyway. He not only confessed sins, see 7, 11, and 18, but confessed the condition of his heart due to the circumstances in which he found himself.
Verse 22-The prayer concludes not only for David but also for the nation in which he dwelt, which is Israel.

A key thought in this passage is integrity. In verse 21 David associates integrity as coming only from God to those who wait on Him. Integrity is having one mind, one purpose, one goal; it is not to be divided. It is possessed by an absence of syncretism. It is best illustrated by Jesus in Luke when Luke states Jesus set His face like flint toward Jerusalem (Luke 9.51, cf. Isaiah 50.7). Another writer wrote a comment on this passage, “Jesus Set His Face Like Flint.”

We can be assured of God’s guidance when we seek to glorify Him, wait on Him, ask for His help, confess our sins, and submit to His Word. All this implies what is found most commonly in this chapter. We need to know His Word well. For in knowing His Word, we can know Him. If you notice, David bases his prayers on who God is (2-3, 5, 20-21).

How well do you know God?

Acrostics

The writers of acrostic literature need to place great thought into each verse in order to achieve this genre due to the self-imposed fetter. Try it with English. Write a letter in the comment section of this post using the 26 letters of our alphabet to create a cohesive and interesting unit of literature that makes sense.

Acrostic psalms normally have 22 verses to coincide with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The first type of this is seen in the combining of Psalm 9 and Psalm 10. The next in the psalter is Psalm 25. The next few are Psalm 34, Psalm 37, Psalm 111, Psalm 112, Psalm 119, and Psalm 145. Psalm 119 is a special case in that it is created around eight verses for each letter, which results in 176 verses. As an oddity, there are eight acrostic psalms, 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, which, when combined, make 176, which is the number of verses in Psalm 119. The other psalms are created around one verse for each letter, which results in 22 verses. This style of writing is also evident in Proverbs 31.10-31 when the author speaks of the virtuous woman. The book of Lamentations is a series of acrostics. Chapters 1-2 and 4-5 have 22 verses while chapter 3 has 66 verses because it devotes three verses for each letter.

1 Chronicles 17

1 Chronicles 17 (see our study on 2 Samuel 7 for a deeper study of the subject)

One major difference between these two passages is the focus of David’s prayer, which is a result of the purpose of each book. Second Samuel is establishing David as king over all Israel and 1 Chronicles focus is on the religious aspects of David’s life. So, the prayer in 1 Chronicles 17.16-27 focuses on David as the planner of the Temple more so than a military focus. This focus can be seen in Haggai’s focus in Haggai 1 (see PPT analysis of this chapter-more to come if comments are given).

2 Samuel 7

David is amazed at what God has promised, not based on whom David is or what David does, but on whom God is and what God will do. This is the essence of the unconditional New Covenant God makes to us through His Son Jesus. It is and has and will always be about Him, not us.

2 Samuel 7 (cf. 1 Chronicles 17)

God makes a promise to David that is unconditional [listen to this message on Romans 3.1-8 preached at Evangelical Formosan Church of Cerritos on October 17, 2010 by Pastor David]. David responds to God with a prayer of praise. This is how it is. God promises us great things in Christ, and we need to respond with gratitude. How much gratitude have you shown God today?

God gave David peace )rest( from his enemies. The evidence of this is seen in the promises God makes with David in this chapter. Verse two reminds us of Hiram who provided David with the cedars of Lebanon (2 Samuel 5.11). This is the chapter that introduces the prophet Nathan. He plays a key role throughout the rest of the story of David (2 Samuel 12.1, I Kings 1.10, 22, 34, 2 Chronicles 9.29).

This is also the chapter that is central to the doctrine of Christ’s coming (12-13, 21). Christ is the seed that will come from David upon whom God will establish the eternal kingdom. Peter made sure the people of Jerusalem understood this in his first sermon (Acts 2.25-36). Paul mentions this covenant in Romans 1.1-3. Jesus even refers to it in Revelation 22.16. Both passages mention that Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenantal promise. The prophet Jeremiah, as an Old Testament example, awaited the day when the Messiah would come as fulfillment of this covenant (Jeremiah 23.5). Gabriel was sent with the same message in Luke 1.32-33 stating that the One who was to be born of Mary would be the One to sit on the throne of David. It is this covenant that ties the Abrahamic Covenant to the New Covenant made by Jesus (John 13-17).

According to this passage (10-16), the Davidic covenant is:

a house—a continued posterity of the royal line
a kingdom—a realm of political power, a literal earthly kingdom that can be interrupted (Hosea 3.4-5). Psalm 89 informs us that although individual members of the house of David may fail the conditions of the covenant because of their disobedience, the covenant itself remains unconditional (3-4, 19–24, 27–37; see our study on Psalm 89).
a throne—the rulership of that kingdom centered in David’s posterity, his offspring will have the only right to the throne in Israel

To conclude the matter of the covenant for the moment, ultimately God’s promise to Israel through the Davidic covenant will become evident in the Messiah, who is David’s seed (Jeremiah 33.19-26, Ezekiel 34.22-31, 36.16-38). Each of the covenants presented in Scripture, the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New covenants, will find their fulfillment (Ezekiel 37.21-28) in Christ, through whom the provisions of these three covenants come together (cf. Matthew 26.28-29, 31-33, 54-55, Luke 1.68-78, Acts 2.29-36, 3.25-26, 15.16-17, Galatians 3.13-16, 26-29, Hebrews 9.16-28, and Revelation 11.15).

The final thought in this chapter is David’s response to all this. He is amazed at what Nathan told him. He then enters the tent of worship, where the newly placed Ark is found, and he worships the Lord for a lengthy amount of time (7:18–29). During his prayer, he calls on the “Sovereign Lord” seven times. This title stresses God’s control over the nations and over this unconditional covenant God has made with David and the nation Israel. David is amazed at what God has promised, not based on whom David is or what David does, but on whom God is and what God will do. This is the essence of the unconditional New Covenant God makes to us through His Son Jesus. It is and has and will always be about Him, not us.

Psalm 132

During times of difficulty or praise, we need to record our prayers, desires, thoughts, and life so we might see God at work in our lives. When trials come, and they will, having a recorded testimony of God’s work in your life along with answered prayers will strengthen you and those around you. What is God writing in your life?

Psalm 132

This is another psalm of ascents and is the longest one. The authorship is unknown. It could have been Davidic (but verses 1, and 10-11 belie this) or Solomonic as a dedication of the newly built Temple. Whoever the author, this is a prayer given which asks God to remember His promises and is in connection with the Ark coming to Jerusalem and with the promise of the building of the Temple. This places the topic of the writing in time with our studies in 1 Chronicles and 2 Samuel (2 Samuel 7.8-16 [see study] and 1 Chronicles 17.11-14 [see our study]). Second Samuel is the Davidic Covenant and 1 Chronicles is the oath by God to build the Temple through David’s son, Solomon.

Verses 1-5-Remember David’s oath to build the Temple (see our study on 2 Samuel 5)
Verses 6-7-Remember David’s bringing the Ark to Jerusalem (see our study on 1 Chronicles 16). The writer recollects that David heard of the Ark in his youth as seen in the reference to Ephrathah, which is another name for David’s hometown of Bethlehem (Micah 5.2 and Genesis 48.7).
Verses 8-10-A prayer for God to remember the Ark and the King. The phrase “Your anointed” could refer both to David’s descendants and his ultimate descendant Jesus Christ, the Anointed One (Messiah).
Verses 11-18-A restating of the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7.8-16)

The prayers of verses 8-10 are answered in verses 16-18.

Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength (8).

This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it (14).

Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness (9a).

Her priests also I will clothe with salvation (16a).

And let Your godly ones sing for joy (9b).

And her godly ones will sing aloud for joy (16b).

For the sake of David Your servant, do not turn away the face of Your anointed (10).

There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed. . . . But upon himself his crown shall shine (17, 18b).

Psalm 105

When you remember what God has done for and through you, do you trust Him with today and tomorrow? If you state He has done nothing, look again. Begin writing down so you may remember more clearly what the Lord has done.

Psalm 105

This and Psalm 78 are historical psalms that trace the history of Israel in order to teach a current generation about God. As you read through this psalm, attempt to find the eleven commands given to God’s people (“give thanks,” etc.). Historic psalms are good for us to read through as we see that God called His people to remember the good He has done. When we do this, we can trust Him to do good for us in the present and future.

1-6-Call to Praise
7-11-Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
12-22-Joseph
23-38-Exodus
39-41-Wilderness
42-45-Summary of all blessings mentioned and a command to praise God

This psalm was written when David brought the Ark into Jerusalem as an offering of praise to God (see our study on 1 Chronicles 16).

Whereas this psalm stands as a testimony of the good God brought to Israel, Psalm 106 presents the case of how God’s people betrayed Him (see our study).

Psalm 101

The question then comes for each of us, what do we strive after as children of God? Have we allowed worthless things to deter us from God? Where do you stand?

Psalm 101

This psalm was written by David at the time the Ark was placed in Jerusalem establishing the city as the political and religious capital of Israel (see our study on 1 Chronicles 16).

A possible outline of Psalm 101: The Ideal King is Pure in Life (1-4) and Pure in Justice (5-8). The only true King that reflected this was Jesus Christ. The character expected of a leader by God is presented in this psalm (Word in Life Study Bible, 1997).

To govern wisely, without compromising their integrity.
To completely disassociate themselves from wicked schemes and those who promote them.
To tolerate no slanderous talk and to dismiss subordinates who even appear to be using privileges to unfair advantage.
To surround themselves only with people who are faithful to the Lord.
To purge their administrations of deceivers and liars.
To root out and destroy wicked people from the land.

Loosely stated, he is to avert his ways from syncretism. David goes so far in saying that he will not set any wicked thing before his eyes (3). The word for wicked happens to be belial (בְּלִיָּעַל) wherein we get the term of a god found in Scripture (Deuteronomy 13.13 and 2 Corinthians 6.15). A worthless thing becomes our god, which is syncretism.

The question then comes for each of us, what do we strive after as children of God? Have we allowed worthless things to deter us from God? Where do you stand?