Bible 101 - Psalms 51-60

Presented October 23, 2006 by Phyllis Gilbert

Review: The Psalms always present us with a kaleidoscope of subjects and emotions. Not only do we see shifting colors as we read through a series of psalms, but within a single psalm, the writer's mood may shift from anger to faith to doubt and back to trusting God again. Or the writer's topics may shift from blame or accusation (of enemies, or even God) to praise of God. This shifting scene makes a study of the Psalms a review of our own lives - not only of our lives as humans coping with raising kids, getting an education, finding a career, paying bills, and the struggle to get through one day on the freeway without swearing. But the Psalms are more: they show us our lives as people of faith. Are we always faithful? Do we wake up each morning saying "Hey, God, thanks for a new day" or "Wow, God, is it really morning? Do I have to get up?" Do we turn to God in prayer when problems strike or do we spin in our own circles trying to find solutions - and when our own fallible minds fail us, then turn to God? And we have those mountain top experiences reflected in psalms, too, those hymns of praise and thanksgiving when we can truly say "God's in his heaven, all's right with the world." We start tonight with a psalm that's almost as familiar as Psalm 23; it's that prayer of confession wrenched from the bottom of David's heart, Psalm 51.

Psalm 51: This is not the only psalm which looks at sin and its consequences, and/or forgiveness and its consequences. Psalm 32 contrasts the peace and "blessedness" of a person forgiven with the troubled soul and body of a person beset by guilt and sin. It's no accident that Ps. 51 follows Ps. 50 - a psalm picturing God as judge of the world, a God who despises sin and who warns those who sin and fail to confess it that consequences lie ahead.

Psalm 51 context: However, in Psalm 51, David is speaking about his own, very personal sin and its consequences. It's worth reviewing the circumstances. In II Samuel 11, we get the whole sordid story of David, the warrior king who led his armies to victory time after time, but this year, stayed home. And bored with palace life, he watches daytime TV, reads the paper - even the classifieds - talks with his children, gardens, reads the latest John Grisham novel, but he's still bored. And so he's up on the roof pacing one evening when he spots a woman bathing. Scholars believe that Bathsheba was in a private mikvah bath, or the bath of ritual cleansing after her monthly period. She's naked and David sees her beauty; the king of Israel, a man anointed because he was "a man after God's own heart," is a voyeur! The sequence of events is telling: he does not go out with his armies as usual; he's home and bored; he begins looking for something to do; he sees a woman. Now he's king; he has a number of wives (we're given the names of six of them in II Sam 3), many sons and daughters, and it's clear that he can marry additional women if he wishes to do so. But instead of arranging for an unattached, single woman to be added to his wives or concubines, he covets another man's wife, sends for her and takes her. This is a very strong verb in Herbrew and suggests a satisfaction of lust and not a desire for love. Notice that David is told from the beginning that she is Uriah's wife. This makes the woman doubly "off limits," for not only is she another man's wife, she's Uriah's wife and Uriah is one of David's "mighty men." Uriah has been one of David's core officers, sticking with him through thick and thin, while on the run from Saul and now in his own royal army (see the list of mighty men II Sam. 23 and I Chron. 11). David has trusted Uriah with his life; now he's committed a terrible betrayal of this man's trust in him. In a few weeks, Bathsheba sends word to David that she's pregnant. So David brings Uriah back from the battleground and gives him some R & R; Uriah won't have it. He's ashamed to be feasting in the palace and/or resting at home when the troops are living in tents on MREs, far from their wives. He sleeps outside the palace gate; David tries getting Uriah drunk; Uriah doesn't budge. We see in Uriah a much clearer ethical sense than David exhibits in this situation. Ironically, David sends Uriah back to the front with orders for Joab, the commanding general; in effect, he sends Uriah with his own execution order. And Joab puts Uriah and his men at the most vulnerable spot, Uriah is killed, some of his men with him, and Joab sends word to David that Uriah the Hittite is dead. David goes on with life, marrying Bathsheba, Uriah's widow. And the final sentence of II Samuel 11 reads: "But the thing David had done displeased the Lord."

What had David done? He'd broken most of the 10 commandments, and covered it up. It's Jerusalem-gate. And while none of his officials (all of them knew what was going on; David had sent messengers to find out about Bathsheba, to bring her to him, and then they knew about Uriah's visit and death) say anything to David, God knows. David can't hide in a cave as he did when on the run from Saul without God knowing he's there. He can't stay home or go to battle without God's watchful eye upon him. In fact, David has always prayed for God's presence and protection. So another of David's sins is failure to ask God for guidance, and to recognize now that he's separated himself from God's presence. (Sin always separates us from God; it breaks our relationship with God). God knows what David has done; he sends Nathan the prophet to tell David.

Nathan tells David a parable about two men and a lamb; David is outraged at the rich man's having stolen the poor man's only lamb, his family's pet, to slaughter for guests. He says "he shall repay four times," and Nathan says "you are the man!" Now David knows that God knows. This humble prayer of confession is the result.

Psalm 51: See David going to the Temple in mourning clothes; see him prostrating himself before God. See his tears; hear his soft and broken voice. In these 19 verses, we see a man who sees himself. And he sees just how far he is from God, and because he wants to restore fellowship with God, he pours out his heart in confession. The first three stanzas (vv. 1-6, 7-9, 10-12) are David's confession and request for forgiveness. He asks for mercy, for cleansing, and for a new heart; he appeals to God's love, compassion, holiness and justice ("You are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge" v. 4b). As he pours out his penitence and confession, David rightly acknowledges to God: "Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" (v. 4a). He is contrite; that is, he's genuinely and deeply sorry about and ashamed of past sins and determined not to sin in the future. Remember, David is king; he's got the power of life and death over those in the nation of Israel. But David has always known that he would not have that power were it not for God; he's king because God chose him and put him on the throne. It was not David's good looks or military prowess (though he had both) that got him the throne; it was God's plan and God's will that he serve. For David to humble himself in this way, to take off his crown and his title, and be a sinful man before God shows just how deeply sorry he is.

Psalm 51:13: Now there's a turning point in the Psalm; confident of God's forgiveness (and truly thankful for it!), David asks God to allow him once again to lead and teach. He's prayed in v. 6 "Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place." David has been anything but wise in this affair with Uriah and Bathsheba; he knows that. God has shone a bright light on the "inmost place" where David has rejected God's voice for his own. Now he asks for God's wisdom again, and the privilege of teaching it to others. What is that wisdom? That trying to hide sin from God is as effective as trying to hide an ice cube in your pocket; its presence will be seen in full daylight. God knows. Now David will "teach transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to you." And aren't we familiar with this feeling of forgiveness and the desire to tell others what a truly wonderful thing it is? An observant, penitential Lent makes Easter a joyful celebration.

Psalm 51:14-19: The end of the Psalm is a mixture of promise and thanksgiving; David is relieved that God has heard him, but he adds "save me from blood guilt, O God, the God who saves me," perhaps saying "don't let me do this again, O God." And God, David continues, I'll thank you every day, and in addition, bring sacrifices of the type you want - a broken and contrite heart. David knows that just going to the altar and offering a sacrifices isn't enough; God wants David's heart to be in that sacrifice. It must be more than a ritual. His heart and those of his people must be turned toward God and not toward themselves. They must be bringing the lamb or the bull for the right reasons: not to impress others or to say to themselves, "I'm doing this to feel better," but out of true gratitude and/or penitence offering their sacrifices. He concludes with confidence that God will bless and protect Jerusalem now that the king is reconciled to God, and when David and his people offer "righteous" offerings, God will accept them.

Psalm 52-60: These next nine Psalms are all by David, and all except Ps. 53 reflect specific incidents in his life. Recall that David was anointed future king to replace Saul, whom God had fired, when David was still a teenager. In fact, he was the kid shepherd when God sent Samuel to Bethlehem, to Jesse's house, and showed Samuel the one to anoint. It was another 15 years before David became king, and then he was king for 7 years in Hebron before uniting the nation and becoming king in Jerusalem for the next 33 years. During those years between David's anointing and his coronation as king, he's learning to trust God. And for ten of those years, he's running, hiding from Saul, living in the desert or in caves. It is during this time that he gathers around him the mighty men (including Uriah) who remain loyal to him for the rest of their lives and his.

Psalm 52: The inscription of this Psalm tells us that it was written when an officer of Saul's army, a spy, saw David with Ahimelech, the priest. The result was that David was given food and a sword (he'd had to run from Saul's household without any weapons or supplies of any kind). But the terrible consequences fell on Ahimelech: on Saul's orders, Doeg and his band of ruffians killed the priest and his family. (Their deaths fulfilled the prophecy Eli was given in I Sam. 2; Eli was high priest and his sons were wicked priests. God told Eli his house would be destroyed, and they are.) David's tone in Ps. 52 is angry and yet confident that evil men like Doeg will be punished. He concludes with a contrast: "Here now is a man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great weath and grew strong by destroying others" (v. 7), David's description of Doeg and others like him. Now David describes himself: "But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever." In contrast to Doeg's trust in riches and the destruction of his enemies by his own hand, David trusts in God's love to protect him. And he praises God for all he does to keep David safe and alive (v. 8).

Psalm 53: As parts of Ps. 52 reflect Ps. 1 (trees planted by streams of water describe righteous men), Ps. 14 is echoed in Ps. 53. "the fool has said in his heart 'There is no God.'" The psalm is a cautionary tale: a foolish man denies God's existence; God "looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God." (v. 2) Is David describing God's sense of our society? He might also be describing the situation in Gen. 6 when God saw that "all the thoughts of men were evil all the time." But David is not giving up: "O that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!" David knows God is the only hope, and God's Messiah is the ultimate salvation of Israel and of us.

Psalm 54: Here is another Psalm written when David was on the run, exiled from his own home, fearing for his life when Saul chased him all around Judah. The Ziphites, a group of people living south of Hebron in the Desert of Ziph, apparently loyal to Saul, informed Saul that David was hiding in their area. Saul, who'd been thwarted by God at every turn of his relentless pursuit of David, once again gave chase. And just as he was about to close in on David, a messenger came from the palace saying that pressing business required the king at home; God had delivered David once more (I Sam. 23). In Ps. 54, David prays for God's protection and vindication (shown to be innocent by real evidence), saying "Save me O God, by your name." We know that in Hebrew, a name stood for the entire character of the person, and in Ex. 34, God tells Moses who he is: "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation" (vv. 6-7). This is what David means when he prays "Save me O God by your name." God's characteristics of love and faithfulness, forgiveness and graciousness are being invoked by David. He directly asks God to listen to him; we can do this too. Often we may feel that no one listens to us, even God doesn't hear or answer. But he does, and asking him to "Listen to me, Lord," is not being cheeky; it's saying to God "I need your help!" David's prayer is to the one he trusts more than any human, "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." And he thanks God for past deliverance, looking with confidence toward God's saving him now.

Psalm 55: David's flight from Absalmon may be the circumstances of this prayer, although that is not specified in the title information. It is clear that David is in trouble; he is fearful, discouraged and distraught. He longs to leave all his problems and go to a peaceful, safe place. "O that I had the wings of a dove," he cries out. In the middle of this psalm, he asks God to "confuse my enemies," and mourns that this enemy is someone he once trusted; in fact, if this prayer was written during Absalmon's rebellion, David's trusted counselor Ahithophel sides with David's son. And so David prays, "O God, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishhness" (II Sam. 15:31b). Nevertheless, David's trust in God remains teadfast. He calls out to God, "who is enthroned forever," the God of the Universe who never changes. Men's loyalties change with the moon (or political fortunes); God is the "same yesterday, today and forever," (Heb. 13:8). He's particularly grieved at this betrayal of both his son and friend, but contrasts the faithlessness of friends with God's unchanging faithfulness. And he concludes: "But as for me, I trust in you [God]." (v. 23b).

Psalm 56: Another prayer for help, and this time the situation is spelled out in the superscription: "When the Philistines had seized him in Gath." This incident is described in I Samuel 21. David, running from Saul, goes to Philistine country and appears before the king drooling like a mad man. King Achish doesn't see him as dangerous and so lets David and his men live within his territory. The psalm reflects David's uneasiness in this situation, and several times, he admits fear: "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" (vv. 3-4) Then vv. 10-11 repeat v. 4. He concludes by saying "I am under vows to you, O God," pledging to God that though he is physically out of Israel, he still belongs to God and knows God's plan for him is to be king.

Psalm 57: David is still on the run; he spent 10 years hiding in caves and Philistine cities outwitting and escaping Saul's wrath. David's life was genuinely in jeopardy; this time of peril taught him to trust God completely. He's praying for deliverance. Here he contrasts God's might and mercy with the dangers that surround him. He describes God as his refuge, and trusts in God's preservation of his life in order "to fulfill his purpose for me." The enemy is compared to lions, ravenous beasts, "men whose teeth are spears and arrows whose tonguts are sharp swords." He's as outraged by the rumors and lies the enemy spreads as he is by the relentless physical pursuit by Saul and his army. He prays "my heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast," and when we consider that his situation is anything but steadfast, we're impressed by David's faith and trust in God.

Psalm 58: David speaks of rulers here, and since he's just been hiding from Saul in a cave that Saul entered, giving David the opportunity to kill him ( Sam. 24), he's reflecting on what a ruler is and should be. David could have taken justifiable revenge on Saul, but he refused to kill "God's anointed"; instead, David leaves revenge to God. But notice his strong nouns and verbs: "their venom is the venom of a snake" (v. 4) "Break the teeth in their mouths O God, tear out, O Lord, the fangs of the lions" (v. 6) and similar phrases follow. David is discouraged and angry that he should be out of house and home because his father-in-law is jealous. But David ends the psalm with hope: "Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth." This is why God made David king - he's truly "a man after God's own heart," (I Sam. 13:14).

Psalm 59: Another prayer for deliverance from Saul and his men demonstrates David's relationship with God. He may be surrounded by "snarling dogs" and "fierce men who conspired against [him]," but he can confidently say "O my Strength, I watch for you you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me" (v. 9). He does however ask God not to kill them, but to allow them to be publicly shown to be deceitful and wrong. He wants their punishment to be a lesson to the people I like his statement that "I will sing of your strength; in the morning I will sing of your love, for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." (v. 16). He ends by repeating his statement that God is his Strength and refuge. We should copy David's method for building confidence and faith: singing in the morning about God's faithfulness.

Psalm 60: the superscription is somewhat confusing; what we have in II Sam. 8 is a list of David's victories, including one over Edom in the Valley of Salt with Joab as commander. More confusing is why if the psalm is a commemoration of victories does it begin with a sense of defeat. But notice that in the title we're told it's a ". . . miktam of David. For teaching." Only this psalm is so labeled "for teaching." We can infer, then, that the reference to God's rejection is a cautionary tale, a reminder that when Israel has been defeated in the past, it's been because of its disobedience. If the nation (and the king) expect God to continue to make them victorious, they must continue to be obedient and faithful to God.

Next week: We'll finish this book of the Psalms and begin an introduction of Isaiah.

Homework for those who want to go deeper:

Let's close in prayer.