The psalms have
been described as the prayer book of the Jews for 3000 years and the Christians
for 2000 years. Dr. Bill Creasy noted that “in
the Psalms we encounter every possible response one can have to God, from
profound love to deep disappointment, from great joy to heartbreaking sorrow,
from soaring praise to quiet adoration. In the Psalms we probe the depths of
our own hearts as we seek to understand both God and ourselves. In the Psalms
we look into a mirror and we see reflected back the very depths of our own
souls.”
Psalm 1 had been
described by St Jerome as the ‘gateway of the psalter” with the “blessed man”
forming one pillar and the “godless man” the other. The rest of the psalms
capture the experiences of man’s relationship with God in the grey area between
the blessed man and the godless man.
The most
important lesson of Psalm 1 is the warning not to walk in the counsel of the
godless but to walk by the Spirit. Instead of standing with sinners, we are to
be singing with the saints. Instead of sitting and grumbling with scorners, we
are to delight in the Word of God and fill our hearts with gratitude.
It is foolish to
ignore or underestimate the reality of evil. In John 10:9-10 Jesus tells us he
is the gate to the sheepfold to keep the sheep safe from thieves who steal,
kill and destroy. From her experience with her husband's addiction to
pornography, Laurie Hall found that evil is not “an abstract intellectual
concept but a bone chilling reality which more real than intellectual.”
Many people do
not understand that the bible is a record of the spiritual warfare between good
and evil. It is a story of God's love for mankind who has rejected Him. It is
not a book of rules that we must follow in order to please God. It is a
treasure of the principles of truth to live by so that we will not live
according to what we feel is right. Hence it is a delight to meditate in the law of the Lord day and night.
The written Word
of God is to also to draw us to Jesus Christ the Living Word and the Shepherd
of our souls. We are to feed on the Word of God to grow in our relationship
with our Heavenly Father so that we will be transformed from inside out.
We will then be
evergreen trees planted along the river of life which will beat fruit in all
seasons of life. For God will be the Gardener of our souls carefully watching
over our paths. We will not be blown away like chaff in the wind of God's
judgment.
In Psalm 2, the
psalmist warns against the futile rebellion of those who see life as slavery to God and
seek to live without God. When we turn away from God, we will face the anger
and fury of God against evil. But God’s anger and fury is from the depths of
His compassion as He seeks to deliver us from evil. We read in Paul's letter to
the Christians in Rome of God's anger against evil:
"But God
shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the
truth by their wickedness." (Romans 1:18)
There is also a
warning to rulers and kings for them to act wisely. In the Diamond Jubilee
celebrations of Queen Elizabeth, she was described as a queen who reigned as a
servant of God. She is not a figure head of Parliament but the symbol of God's
sovereignty of the lives of the people in the United Kingdom as well as the
Comnonwealth.
Laurie Hall has
drawn attention to the important difference between positional authority and
functional authority. Those in positional authority have the responsibility to
earn the respect of those who are under them and to avoid the temptation to
abuse their authority. At the same time those under authority needs to choose
to honour those who are in positions above them - their parents, bosses and
leaders of government. We will not be able to subject ourselves to the
sovereignty of God if we do not learn to honour our human leaders by seeing
their position as being ordained by God. They will be accountable for their
actions to God just as we will be accountable to God for ours.
But more
importantly, the psalmist points us to the Kingdom of God where Jesus the Son
of God reigns. In God's kingdom we all have the functional authority of servant
leadership. This is the authority, to quote Laurie Hall, that comes through act
of caring and kindness we do for others. Jesus has given us a very clear
picture of true leadership:
"You know
that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt
their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different.
Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants
to be first among you must become your slave. “ (Matthew 20:25-27)
True leadership
is inspiring people to want to do what their selfish human nature do not
want to do. Hence everybody in God’s Kingdom is “a leader without a title” for
we will be encouraging one another to be kind to one another. As we live in God's Kingdom in the here and now we will find refuge and unspeakable joy. Our lives will be filled with songs of praise that will lift the hearts of many to God and deliver our
nations from evil:
"We have a
song to be sung to the nations,
That will lift
their hearts to the Lord
A song that will
conquer evil
And shatter the
spear and sword
And shatter the
spear and sword.
For the darkness
shall turn to dawning
And the dawning
to noonday bright
And Christ's
great Kingdom shall come on earth
The Kingdom of
love and light.
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