Copyright 1970 Everyday Publications Inc.

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Songs of Israel STUDIES IN THE PSALMS R.E. HARLOW Copyright 1970 Everyday Publications Inc. EVERYDAY PUBLICATIONS INC. 310 KILLALY ST. W PORT COLBORNE, ON CANADA L3K 6A6

Please read this Christians should meet together to worship God and sing songs of praise to Him, 1 Corinthians 14.26. They should also read from God s Word, the Bible. The biggest book in the Bible is the book of Psalms. These psalms are the old songs of worship which the people of Israel used. The Psalms will help you to praise God every day, Ephesians 5.19. Copyright 1970 by R.E. Harlow Reset 2006 ISBN 978-0-919586-03-1 Copyright 1970 Everyday Publications Inc.

READ A PSALM EVERY DAY You can read through the whole book of Psalms in six months if you study one psalm every day. The lists on pages 4 and 5 will help you. The longer psalms will take two or three days and you will need five days for the longest, Psalm 119. First read the psalm for the day, then study the Notes which explain it. These Notes will help you to understand God s Word. Other verses from the Bible will help you to understand hard verses in the Psalms. Only the verses in the Bible are the Word of God. You should look for every verse and try to understand what it means. Study God s Word every day; this plan will help you. On the first day of the first month, read Psalm 1, verses 1 and 2. On page 7 you will see a little number on the left side. The number 1/1 means that you start here on the first day of the first month. On page 8 the number 1/2 shows what you should read on the second day. This plan will help you to read through the book of Psalms and these Studies also in six months. You can start any month. Write in Copyright 1970 Everyday Publications Inc. the name of the month at the top of pages 4 and 5. If you want to start before the first day of the month, read a little every day, then start over again on the first day of the month. If the month has already started, you can read every day the verses for two days until you catch up. 3

Read a Psalm First Month Second Month Third Month 1 1.1-2 24.1-6 47.1-9 2 1.3-6 24.7-10 48.1-14 3 2.1-6 25.1-22 49.1-20 4 2.7-12 26.1-12 50.1-15 5 3.1-8 27.1-14 50.16-23 6 4.1-8 28.1-9 51.1-6 7 5.1-12 29.1-11 51.7-19 8 6.1-10 30.1-12 52.1-9 9 7.1-17 31.1-24 53.1-6 10 8.1-4 32.1-11 54.1-7 11 8.5-9 33.1-12 55.1-11 12 9.1-20 33.13-22 55.12-23 13 10.1-18 34.1-22 56.1-13 14 11.1-7 35.1-28 57.1-11 15 12.1-8 36.1-12 58.1-11 16 13 & 14 37.1-20 59.1-17 17 15.1-5 37.21-40 60.1-12 18 16.1-11 38.1-22 61.1-8 19 17.1-15 39.1-13 62.1-12 20 18.1-24 40.1-5 63.1-11 21 18.25-50 40.6-17 64.1-10 22 19.1-11 41.1-13 65.1-13 23 19.12-14 42.1-5 66.1-20 24 20.1-9 42.6-11 67.1-7 25 21.1-13 43.1-5 68.1-4 Copyright 1970 Everyday Publications Inc. 26 22.1-21 44.1-16 68.5-18 27 22.21 44.17-26 68.19-35 28 22.22-31 45.1-9 69.1-5 29 23.1-3 45.10-17 69.6-21 30 23.4-6 46.1-11 69.22-36 4

Every Day Fourth Month Fifth Month Sixth Month 1 70.1-5 91.1-13 114.1-8 2 71.1-24 91.14-16 115.1-18 3 72.1-20 92.1-15 116 & 117 4 73.1-14 93.1-5 118.1-18 5 73.15-28 94.1-23 118.19-29 6 74.1-8 95.1-11 119.1-32 7 74.9-23 96.1-13 119.33-72 8 75.1-10 97.1-12 119.73-112 9 76.1-12 98.1-9 119.113-152 10 77.1-20 99 & 100 119.153-176 11 78.1-20 101.1-8 120.1-7 12 78.21-55 102.1-28 121 & 122 13 78.56-72 103.1-22 123 & 124 14 79.1-13 104.1-23 125.1-5 15 80.1-7 104.24-35 126.1-6 16 80.8-19 105.1-22 127.1-5 17 81.1-16 105.23-45 128.1-6 18 82.1-8 106.1-27 129.1-8 19 83.1-8 106.28-48 130 & 131 20 83.9-18 107.1-22 132.1-18 21 84.1-7 107.23-43 133 & 134 22 84.8-12 108.1-13 135 & 136 23 85.1-13 109.1-19 137 & 138 24 86.1-17 109.20-31 139.1-24 25 87.1-7 Copyright 1970 Everyday 110.1 Publications 140 & Inc. 141 26 88.1-18 110.2-4 142 &143 27 89.1-28 110.5-7 144.1-15 28 89.29-52 111.1-10 145.1-21 29 90.1-4 112.1-10 146 & 147 30 90.5-17 113.1-9 148, 149 & 150 5

PSALM 1 7 Book 1 Psalm 1 1/1 The book of Psalms contains 150 psalms which God s people sang when they worshiped the Lord long ago. King David wrote half of them and other men of God wrote the rest. The Holy Spirit guided these men in writing the psalms and the book of Psalms is part of God s holy Word. There are five smaller books in the book of Psalms. Psalms 1-41 make up the first book. Some psalms have many verses, some have only a few. Often the first verse or the first two verses give the message of the whole Psalm in short form. In the same way we see in the first eight psalms a sample of the whole book of Psalms. Psalms 1 and 2 teach some important truths. Psalms 3 to 7 are prayers and Psalm 8 is a song of praise, prayer and teaching. We have many prayers and songs of praise in the book of Psalms as well as a great deal of teaching. The first psalm shows the difference between a righteous man and an ungodly man. Psalm 2 teaches that wicked men will try to fight against God. This struggle between righteous and wicked men goes right through the book of Psalms. David often spoke of his enemies and asked God to punish them. We should remember that David was a righteous man and he was really asking God to punish those who were fighting against God Himself. Another thing to note is this: The first Psalm tells of a perfectly righteous Man who is really our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In the second Psalm also we will see the Lord Jesus Christ. In many psalms we have pictures of Christ. Some of the psalms have verses which are also found in the New Testament and speak about Christ. We do not know who wrote the first psalm and none of its verses is in the New Testament. Yet the truth contained in this short psalm is found through the whole Bible. Psalm 1 could be called The Two Ways: the way of the righteous man, vs.1-3; and the way of the ungodly man, vs.4-6. God promises a blessing in verse 1 on any righteous man. The

8 SONGS OF ISRAEL Lord Jesus gave nine blessings for righteous people, Matthew 5.3-11, and you can find seven other blessings in the book of Revelation: 1.3; 14.13; 16.15; 19.9; 20.6; 22.7,14. In Psalm 1.1 the blessing is for the man who is separated. Three words in this verse show how a man may get farther away from God and closer to the world: walk, stand, sit. The man who is not separated to God first walks with sinners. Soon he stands and talks with them as if they were his best friends. At last he sits down with those who laugh at God. [Why do men laugh at believers in the last days? 2 Peter 3: 3,4.] Verse 1 tells us three things which the righteous man does not do. Other people could see from the way he lives that he is a man of God. Verse 2 tells what this man really wants in his heart. He does not just obey God s law because he is commanded to do so; he really loves the law of God. The word law may refer to the whole Scripture and this man gets pleasure from thinking about the Word of God at all times. The Holy Spirit in this psalm describes the righteous man. In Old Testament times many men partly lived up to this level. Only one Man ever lived who was perfectly righteous: the Lord Jesus Christ. These verses set a high standard for us to reach and promise a blessing if we do in part reach it. They also describe the perfect life of our Saviour, the only Man who completely did God s will. 1/2 The righteous man has great joy in his heart, and he is also a blessing to others, v.3. He is like a tree planted by a river which sends its roots down deep into the ground and finds plenty of the water it needs. Its leaves give shade the year around and it bears fruit at the usual time. In the same way the believer can be a blessing to others. The righteous man will succeed in all that he does, 1.3. In the Old Testament the righteous man got along well and became rich in this world, for example Abraham, Genesis 13.2; and Job, Job 1.1-3. The believer today should think of this promise in a spiritual way. God does not promise us wealth in this world, but if we have food and clothing, we should be satisfied. If we love God and His Word, He will give us many more spiritual blessings. When a farmer beats out the grain the wind blows away the

PSALMS 1, 2 9 light chaff, v.4. A tree planted by rivers of water is quite different from the chaff because the tree cannot be moved. Many wicked people seem to succeed in this world, but at the end of life God will judge them. John the Baptist said that the chaff would be burned with fire, Matthew 3.12. Both wind and fire are pictures of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2.2,3. Standing in the judgment, v.5, means to stand accepted in time of judgment. The guilty person stands before the judge, but he is soon taken to prison. All wicked men will stand before the Great White Throne to hear God s words of judgment, Revelation 20.11-15. Jehovah knows the way of the righteous man and keeps him safely in it, but the way of the ungodly man leads to death, v.6; John 3.36. The first psalm brings us to the most important problem of life: our relation to God. In the New Testament we read that there is not a single man who is righteous and that no man can please God without faith, Romans 3.10; Hebrews 11.6. One Man did perfectly please God and He gave His life, the Righteous Man for unrighteous men, that He might lead us to God, 1 Peter 3.18. Those of us who belong to Him should not walk with the world, v.l. We should think with pleasure about the Word of God, v.2, and bear fruit for His glory, v.3. We should also warn others of coming judgment, vs.4-6. Psalm 2 1/3 From Acts 4.25 we learn that David wrote the second psalm. This psalm teaches about Christ, as the first one did. We can divide Psalm 2 into four parts of three verses each. In these four parts we have different speakers. 1. The kings speak, 2.1-3. David asked the question, Why do men fight against God? He knew that their plan to rebel against God could not succeed, it would be in vain. Even if all men could agree, they could never put God off His throne. God did not create enough men to do that. The kings and rulers of the people lead them to set themselves against Jehovah and against His Anointed One. The word Christ

10 SONGS OF ISRAEL means the Anointed One, and anyone who rejects Christ rejects God. He who receives Me receives Him who sent Me, John 5.23; 13.20. Men s plan is to reject completely the authority of God. They think that God is a cruel master. In the beginning Satan suggested to Eve that God did not really love them. He said God did not want Adam and Eve to be like God and know good and evil, Genesis 3.5. We know that God is love and He loves everybody in the world, 1 John 4.16; John 3.16. Satan is still telling people that God is cruel, like the king in Luke 19.21. Those of us who know the Lord agree that the load He puts on us is light, Matthew 11.30. When did the rulers of this world agree to lead people in rebelling against God? This prophecy became true in the time of Christ. Herod and Pilate, the Gentiles and the Israelites, joined together against the Lord Jesus and put him to death, Acts 4.25-27. These verses will again come to pass after the Lord comes back for His Church. There will be a time of great trouble in the world called the Great Tribulation. The kings of the earth and their armies will gather together to make war against the Lord. They will not succeed, Revelation 19.19-21, The Lord Jesus Christ will rule for 1000 years on the earth, but after that Satan will be loosed again. 2. God speaks, 2.4-6. God does not have to worry even when all the kings of the earth join together against Him. Verse 4 does not mean that God laughs at people but at their childish plan to fight against Him. For example, imagine a little boy, two years old, who is angry with his father. The little boy runs at his father, throws his arms around wildly, trying to get his own way. The father might lift him up in one hand and hold him over his head still kicking and crying. In the same way God is in complete control of His world. God however cannot allow men to keep on rebelling against Him. In verse 5 He speaks in anger and says in verse 6 that He has set His own King on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. It would be a terrible thing to face God when He is angry. I was once in a court where a man was on trial for

PSALM 2 11 not looking after his wife and children. The judge was very angry with this man and told him that he should be ashamed of himself. How much worse to stand before the throne of God when He is angry! No true believer will ever have to do this because the Lord Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for his sins. 3. The Son speaks, 2.7-9. 1/4 The words of God are very precious to the Lord Jesus and here He tells us what Jehovah said to Him. While the Lord Jesus was on earth. God privately declared that Christ was His Son: He told John the Baptist, Matthew 3.17, John 1.32-34; He told Peter, James and John, Matthew 17.5. The Lord Jesus was shown to be the Son of God when God raised Him from death, Romans 1.3,4. The Son of God had no beginning and will have no end. He has always existed and always will. Psalm 2.7 does not teach that the Son of God was born or created. It teaches that God called Christ His Son when He raised Him from death. We know this from Acts 13.33 where Paul used the words of Psalm 2.7 when he spoke about Christ rising from death. [The Holy Spirit also used these words in Hebrews 1.5 and 5.5. What can you learn about the Lord Jesus Christ in those verses?] God told Christ to ask for the people of this world for Himself, 2.8, and promised that Christ would win complete victory over all His enemies, 2.9. You should think about these verses very carefully. Christ is called God s Anointed, v.2; His King, v.6; and His Son, v.7. Perhaps Nathanael was thinking about Psalm 2 when he said to the Lord, You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. The Lord Jesus promised to show Nathanael still more about His glory, John 1.49,51. When the Spirit shows you something about Christ, you should believe it in your heart. If you do, God will lead you on to see more truth, more of Christ s glory. 4. The Holy Spirit speaks, 2.10-12. The last three verses of this psalm are words of advice from the Holy Spirit speaking through David. The kings of the earth should

12 SONGS OF ISRAEL give up their foolish plan to rebel against God, 2.10. Instead they should serve Jehovah with fear, v.11, and trust in Him, v.12. In the first psalm God promises a blessing to anyone who walks in the way of the Lord. In the last verse of Psalm 2 He promises blessing to all who trust in Him. There is really only One who perfectly pleased God. All others will get great blessing by faith, not by works, if they trust in the Lord. An evil man will not go unpunished; Those who are righteous will be delivered, Proverbs 11.21 Psalm 3 1/5 David wrote the third psalm when he ran away from his son Absalom. Absalom was the third son of David, 2 Samuel 3.3, and He wanted very much to be king of Israel. We know nothing about the second son named Chileab or Daniel, 1 Chronicles 3.1, and He may have died while still young. The oldest son, Amnon, was in line to be the king after David, but he sinned against his sister and Absalom killed him, 2 Samuel 13.14,28. So Absalom was the oldest son in line for the throne, but he could not wait for his father to die. He tried to win the hearts of the people for himself and then to take the throne of his father, 2 Samuel 15.6,10. At first David ran away from Jerusalem, but he returned when Absalom had been killed. David wrote this psalm as a prayer that God would save him from his enemies. David had plenty of enemies and some people thought that God would not help him in this time of trouble, vs.l,2. God had often helped David before in his life and David still trusted in the Lord. David was a good soldier and knew how to use his shield to keep himself safe in a battle. He also knew that God had promised to be a shield for Abraham, Genesis 15.1, and he believed that Jehovah would be a shield for him, v.3. He cried to the Lord and God answered from His holy hill, which is Mount Zion, v.4; 2.6. When David prayed he received peace and was able to lie down and go to sleep, v.5. The word Selah, verses 2, 4 and 8, is found 71 times in the book of Psalms. The only other book in the Bible which has this

PSALMS 3, 4 13 word is Habakkuk, in chapter 3, verses 3, 9, 13. Selah may mean stop and pray. It is necessary to pray and think about the Scripture if you want to understand its deeper truths. These things take time, but they will help you to know some of the riches of God s wonderful Book. David was sure that the Lord would take care of him and He could face ten thousand enemies without fear, v.6. He prayed again that God would save him and could already see the Lord striking down his enemies, v.7. So he finished the psalm by praising the Lord. Psalm 4 1/6 David wrote this psalm to the leader of the singers. The people of Israel sang psalms when they came to worship Jehovah. There were also special singers in the temple, and others who played on instruments. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Leader of our songs of praise. We will see that Christ is speaking in Psalm 22, and in verse 22 He is leading the praises of His people, Hebrews 2.12. In Psalm 4 David prayed to God, verse 1, spoke to men, vs.2-5, and explained why he could trust in Jehovah, vs.6-8. We see that David was still in trouble and perhaps he wrote this psalm also while he was running away from Absalom. He asked the people not to put him to shame nor to follow lies, v.2. They had been listening to his enemies, but Jehovah had chosen David for Himself, v.3. They should not sin, but think things through quietly and trust in Jehovah, vs.4,5. That is just what David himself was doing. Many people had turned against him, 3.2, but many others were with him, 4.6. David s friends asked Jehovah to send them light. This is the way the high priest prayed for God s people, Numbers 6.26. David had more joy in his heart than his enemies had even when they had plenty to eat, v.7. It is better to have the joy of the Lord than the things of this world. David was sure God was with him and he could lie down and sleep in peace. He knew that God would save him from those who were trying to kill him, v.8. Whenever we are in danger or trouble we can be sure that the God of David is able and willing to keep us in His hand.

14 SONGS OF ISRAEL It is usually wrong to become angry, but sometimes it is right. [Did the Lord Jesus ever become angry? Why? Mark 3.5] We should not get angry quickly, James 1.19, nor stay angry long, Psalm 4.4, Ephesians 4.26,31; Colossians 3.8. Psalm 5 1/7 David wrote Psalms 4, 5 and 6 and sent them to the leader of the singers. They were to be used with different musical instruments: Psalms 4 and 6 with stringed instruments, Psalm 5 with flutes. Psalm 5 is a prayer to Jehovah. David asked his God to hear his prayers, vs.1,2. In the morning David prayed to Jehovah and offered a sacrifice, v.3. God had commanded Israel to bring a burnt offering every morning and every evening, Exodus 29.38,39. Perhaps David wrote Psalm 4 in the evening, 4.8. We know that God is ready to hear His children at all times. As we study these old prayers, may we learn to pray to our great Jehovah! David knew what God was like and prayed according to God s character, vs.4-6. We cannot expect God to do anything against His own character. God is not pleased with wicked men, v.4, but He is well pleased with His Son, Matthew 12.18. God hates those who do evil, v.5. We know from other verses that God loves sinners, but He hates their sins, especially murder and lying, v.6. Every verse in Psalm 136 says that God s love will last forever. 1 John 4.10 tells us of the love of God and Revelation 21.8 shows that God will judge murderers and liars. David knew God s character and so he felt sure that he could pray to God. He knew that God s love would let him come to His house, v.7. God is also holy, so David must come with great respect. He also prayed that the Lord would lead him in the right path and not let his enemies turn him from it, v.8. These enemies may be the men of Israel who followed Absalom when he tried to rebel against David. The words of verse 9 however describe wicked men of all time and the Holy Spirit used them again in Romans 3.13. David prayed that God would destroy his enemies because they were really rebelling against Him, v.10.

PSALMS 5, 6 15 Christians do not pray that God would destroy their enemies. Instead we follow the example of the Lord Jesus who prayed that God would forgive His enemies, Luke 23.34. However God will have to punish wicked men in the end. It is also God s will to bless His people. Here David prayed for those who love God s name that God would give them great joy, v.11. He asked Jehovah to deliver righteous men, v.12. God cannot bless wicked men who will not receive the gift of life. Even the Lord Jesus could not do many miracles in a town where the people did not believe, Mark 6.5. Men who refuse God s blessing must remain without it forever. No wonder that God has commanded His people to tell sinners of His love for them! Psalm 6 1/8 In Psalm 6 we see that David s enemies were still hunting for him, but he understood that the Lord had sent this trouble on him. He prayed to God, vs.l-7, and was sure God had answered, vs.8-10. He asked God to stop punishing him, v.1, because he was weak, v.2, and had a lot of trouble, v.3. He asked God to save him from dying because dead people cannot praise the Lord, vs.4,5. (Here we see that David did not know the truth of the New Testament. We know that we will go to be with Christ when we die and this is far better than life in this world, Philippians 1.23.) David was afraid of his enemies and could not sleep at night. Of course this made him weaker still, vs.6,7. But David believed that God would answer his prayer. He told his enemies to go away and leave him alone. He knew that God would put them all to shame, vs.8-10. Some day sinners who have not repented will hear the Lord Jesus tell them they must go away, Matthew 7.23; Luke 13.27. [What will the Lord say to those who are foolish and have not helped His people? Matthew 25.12,30,41.] He has asked men to come to Him, Matthew 11.28. He has stood at the door and knocked, Revelation 3.20, but they did not want to let Him into their hearts and lives. We should tell them once more that God loves them and really wants them to be with Him in heaven.

16 SONGS OF ISRAEL Psalm 7 1/9 This psalm is called a Shiggaion of David. We do not know what this word means, but a word in Habakkuk 3.1 is almost the same. (The third chapter of Habakkuk is also a song or psalm.) David wrote Psalm 7 about Cush, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. This may be the same as Shimei, a man of the same tribe who cursed David, 2 Samuel 16.7. This was the time when David had to run from Jerusalem because his son Absalom wanted to kill him. At first David prayed that Jehovah would deliver him from his enemies, vs.1,2. He had not done anything wrong to them. If God found that David had done them wrong, he was willing to die, vs.3-5. God knew that David had not killed his enemy Saul when he could easily have done so, 1 Samuel 24.1-8; 26.5-12. When Absalom was hunting for him, David told his soldiers not to kill him, 2 Samuel 18.5. In this way David was a picture of the Lord Jesus, who prayed for His enemies. David prayed that God would judge all men fairly, vs.6-10. God Himself had warned men that there will be a day of judgment, v.6. He will sit on His throne over all people of the world and judge all men. David was willing to have God judge him, vs.7,8. He knew that God will punish wicked people and hold up the man who is righteous, vs.9,10. God knows the hearts of all men and David trusted God to save him. Then David as a teacher tells us by the Spirit some important truth about God. God judges righteous men by declaring that they are righteous. He is angry with wicked people every day, v.11. If the wicked man does not repent, God will prepare His weapons to destroy him, vs.12,13. The wicked man acts according to his own evil nature, v.14, but the wicked things he has done to others will come back on him, vs.15,16. At the end David gave praise to God, v.17. We too can have confidence on the Judgment Day, because God has made us righteous in Christ. He will judge all men according to His own perfect righteousness. Psalm 8 1/10 David wrote this psalm of praise to the leader of the singers.

PSALM 8 17 The word Gittith means a place where men press the liquid out of the grapes after gathering them from the vine. The word may also mean a musical instrument. David declared that Jehovah s name is great in the whole earth, and His glory is higher than heaven, v.1. God gets praise from little babies, v.2; and the Lord Jesus Christ used this verse in Matthew 21.16. There are millions of young children in heaven who praise God the Father at all times. When anyone is first saved, he is born again and becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5.17. He has a new life, like a baby which has just been born, 1 Peter 2.2. He is at first very happy and really loves his new Saviour, but he may lose this first love and let other things keep him from praising the Lord. This is not right; we should never lose our first love, Revelation 2.4, but we should grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, 2 Peter 3.18. In verses 3 and 4 David asked a question about God and man. When he was a young man he looked after his father s sheep day and night. He saved the sheep many times from wild animals. He looked up at the sun, moon and stars and thought that men are not very important. In these verses he asked God why the great God would care about men. David wrote again about the sun and the stars which show God s glory, Psalm 19.1-6. Read these verses and also look at Job 9.4-10; 36.26-33; and chapters 38-41. It is valuable for anyone who loves God to study the world of nature which God has created. However today Science is taught in many schools by people who do not believe in God. Studying nature should lead a person to give glory to God and to really see how much man must depend on God. 1/11 David by the Spirit of God answered his own question, vs.5-8. These verses tell us that men have been made lower than God, in fact, lower than angels, who are also lower than God, Hebrews 2.7. Still God has given men a place over animals, even wild animals, v.7, and birds and fish, v.8. Today most wild animals, fish and

18 SONGS OF ISRAEL birds are afraid of men, but this was not true in the Garden of Eden. There we read that Adam gave names to all the animals, Genesis 2.19,20. Man lost control over the animals when he listened to the voice of a creature (Satan) and disobeyed God, Genesis 3. Even so today man is still greater than animals. He has a spirit and can talk to God. It is very wrong to bow down to an animal or suppose that God can be worshiped in the form of an animal. Men have failed, but God has planned that the Perfect Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, will have complete authority over the whole creation. Even when He was here in this world the Lord Jesus could control the fish of the sea, Luke 5.4-6; Matthew 17.27; John 21.6. He will come back to rule in this world for 1000 years, and wild animals will then be controlled, Isaiah 11.6-9. Everything the Spirit said about Man in Psalm 8 will be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 2.6-8 the Holy Spirit says again that all things will be put under His feet. When God said ALL He meant that nothing would be left out and every thing and every person will have to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not see this yet, but we do see the Man Christ Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than angels. The Son of God became Man so He could die for every one. Now He has a crown of glory and when He comes back all men will give Him glory. The Lord Jesus Christ will rule as King in this world, but even then there will be men who will turn against Him. Still God has promised that ALL things will be put under His feet and will have to obey Him, Psalm 8.6; 110.1, even His enemies, 1 Corinthians 15. 24-27. Death is man s great enemy and this too will be put away. In the end the Son will give the kingdom back to God and will obey God forever. David did not understand the whole meaning of the words which he wrote, but we have the full truth of the New Testament. We may say that the race of men has been glorified because the Son of God became a Man. David ends his song with more praise to Jehovah: verse 8 is the same as verse 1. We may think of what God is and what He has done and will do. As we think about these wonderful things we too

PSALM 9 19 can give praise and thanks to God the Father and God the Son. Psalm 9 1/12 David wrote the 9th psalm and said it was according to Muth Labben. David spoke in the Hebrew language and wrote his psalms in this language. Most of the men who wrote in the Old Testament wrote in Hebrew. In the Hebrew language there are only 22 letters. In some of the psalms the first verse begins with the first Hebrew letter, the second verse with the second letter, and so on for all 22 letters. If it was in English the first letter of each verse would be a, b, c, d, and so on to the end, x, y, z. In Psalm 9 the first verse begins with the first letter; the third verse with the second letter; the fifth verse with the third letter and so on. The 20 verses of the psalm follow the order of the first ten Hebrew letters. But what did David say in this psalm? The psalm is another song of praise to God. David promised to praise Him with his whole heart and to keep nothing back, vs.1,2. He looked forward to the time when his God would destroy his enemies and show to all men that David His servant was righteous, vs.3-6. Jehovah sits on His throne in heaven and will judge all men fairly, vs.7,8. This means that He will deliver His people when they pray to Him, vs.9,10. Then David called on the people of Israel to praise Jehovah and tell men of other nations about Him, v.11. Jehovah will not forget those who are in trouble, v.12. So David cried to Jehovah when he himself was in trouble and thought he was going to die, vs.13,14. God is the Governor of the whole world and must punish all sinners. The very things they make to trap others will be used for their own judgment, vs.15,16. Wicked men may dig a hole for others, and fall in it themselves. They may set a net for other men, and get caught themselves. For example, a wicked man, Haman, wanted to kill Mordecai, a man of God. In the end Haman himself was hung at the very place where he had planned to kill Mordecai, Esther 7.10. Satan has the power of death and so has kept all men in fear. Yet the death of one Man, the Lord Jesus, has taken away this power from Satan forever, Hebrews 2.14. Higgaion means slow music, and Selah means to stop, v.16. We ought to stop and think of the terrible end of evil men. God will turn the wicked into Sheol, the

20 SONGS OF ISRAEL place of death, and all men who forget God must go there too, v.17. Sheol is another word for Hades and at the Great White Throne all who were in Hades will stand to be judged, Revelation 20.13. God in His mercy judges men and punishes them here in this life. This is so they will learn and turn to Him before it is too late. Men should remember that they are only men, vs.18-20. Some day they will die and after that stand before God. We who know God must give them the Good News of God s love while they are still alive. Psalm 10 1/13 Psalm 10 continues to use the Hebrew letters in order following those of Psalm 9. In the old Greek Bible these two psalms are found as one psalm with 38 verses. Perhaps David wrote both of these psalms. In Psalm 9.9 David saw that Jehovah was a great help to those who are in trouble, but in Psalm 10.1 he thought that God was hiding Himself. The wicked men were acting proudly and David again asked God to catch them in their own traps, 10.2; 9.15. Verses 3-11 of this psalm do not follow the order of the Hebrew letters. These verses describe the sinful man. He is proud and loves money, v.3, like the Pharisees, Luke 16.14. He is so proud that he says there is no God, v.4. He cannot see God s righteous judgment and so he thinks that he will never be punished, vs.5,6. Verse 7 tells us about his bad language, he hides himself so he can catch poor people like animals, vs.8-10. He thinks that God will forget about his sins, v.11. These verses describe many men and the Holy Spirit uses the words of v.7 in Romans 3.14. But in the last days two wicked men will become very great leaders in the world. One is called the Man of Sin or Lawlessness, 2 Thessalonians 2.3-12. In Revelation 13 we read more about both of these wicked leaders. They will be proud and cruel and act as if there were no God in heaven. [What will happen to these men in the end? Revelation 19.20.] These men will not become great leaders in the world until after the Lord comes for His church. But even now there are many who say there is no God, that God is dead,

PSALMS 10, 11 21 or that He has forgotten about men. In the last part of the psalm, we see again that God will not forget those who are in trouble, v.12. Even if a wicked man does think about God, he tries to comfort himself by saying that God will not punish him, v.13. But God does see and will punish wicked men, vs.14,15. So David again showed that he could trust God fully, because He is King forever. He hears the prayer of common people and will take care of them, vs.16-18. We can trust Him too; He is always the same. Psalm 11 1/14 Here David is still trusting in Jehovah while his enemies are still hunting for him. Someone had suggested that David should run away but he was sure that he could trust the Lord, vs.1,2. However, sometimes it is wise to run away and David escaped from Saul more than once, 1 Samuel 18.11; 19.10. Usually we cannot run away from our enemies whenever things get difficult. Sometimes we should run away to escape temptation, as Joseph did, Genesis 39.12; 1 Timothy 6.11; 2 Timothy 2.22; sometimes we should stand and fight, 1 Timothy 6.12. We can always trust the Lord to help us. The nation of Israel was specially chosen by God. He gave them good laws and their king should have given them good government. King Saul was a weak man who became proud and gave up his faith in God. He did not rule according to God s laws; he did not help the righteous and punish the wicked. Righteous laws and good government should have been the foundations of society in Israel. When these were destroyed, what could the righteous do? v.3. The answer is very simple: they could only trust in Jehovah, vs.4-7. The Lord was still in control. He could see and test both the righteous and the wicked, vs.4,5. He will send down fire on wicked men, v.6, but the righteous will see His face, v.7. God did send down fire on the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19.24. In the future time of Great Tribulation many men, one out of every

22 SONGS OF ISRAEL three, will be killed by fire from heaven, Revelation 9.18. God s people will see His face, Revelation 22.4. These verses should be a strong warning to those who are turning away from God. They should also make us, His children, want to send out the gospel message. Psalm 12 1/15 Here is another psalm of David to the leader of the singers. The Sheminith may have been a musical instrument with eight strings. It was also used with the 6th psalm and was played by the Levites, 1 Chronicles 15.21. This psalm is a prayer of David with Jehovah s answer in verses 5 and 6. David cried to the Lord for help because it seemed that the number of true believers was becoming smaller all the time, v.l. Everyone was proud and told lies to make others feel proud, v.2. David prayed that God would judge such people, v.3, but they thought that they had no master over them, and could say anything they wanted to say, v.4. The Lord answered by saying that He would deliver poor people from their enemies, v.5. David believed this promise from God because all the Lord s words are pure, v.6. Still he prayed again that the Lord would keep His saints forever, v.7. He still thought that wicked men were on every side, and they seemed to succeed, v.8. In this psalm we see the difference between the words of men, vs.2,4, and the words of God, vs.5,6. Men today still talk proudly and tell lies. They even attack the Bible itself and say it is not true. We can be sure that the words of the Lord are pure. The Bible is true. David told the Lord that all godly men had gone, and everyone was telling lies. Later another servant of God thought he was the only one left who was still following Jehovah. But the Lord told Elijah that there were still 7,000 persons who would not worship the false god Baal, 1 Kings 19.10-18. We too sometimes feel sad when it seems that no one is following the Lord. But perhaps there are a few around us whom we do not know about. We should speak to people about the Bible and in this way we may find others who also believe in the Lord.

PSALMS 13, 14 23 Psalm 13 1/16 In this little psalm we see David s sorrow, vs. 1,2; his supplication or prayer, vs.3,4; and his song, vs.5,6. He thought that the Lord had forgotten him or hidden His face from him, v.l. He had sorrow and pain in his heart and thought that his enemy had won the victory, v.2. He asked Jehovah to give him light. If He didn t, he was afraid he would die and this would make his enemy very happy, vs.3,4. After praying these words, David was sure that the Lord would deliver him. He rejoiced as if the Lord had already answered his prayer. He was ready to sing this song of thanks to the Lord, vs.5,6. We can be sure that the Lord hears our prayers even in time of great trouble. If we really believe this we could give Him our thanks even before we see His answer. We could praise Him even as we are praying. We should always pray with a thankful heart, Philippians 4.6. Psalm 14 In this psalm the Holy Spirit spoke through David and described the wicked man. This man says to himself that there is no God. Many people act wickedly because they think that there is no God, v.1. Some people today say that there is no God. The Bible calls them fools. The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom, Proverbs 9.10. We have seen that a great leader called the Man of Sin will soon appear in this world, page 20. He will set himself up as if he were God, 2 Thessalonians 2.4. He will say there is no God except himself. Jehovah looks down from heaven and finds that no one is really doing what is good. He sees that everyone has turned from the right way, vs.2,3. The Holy Spirit used these verses again to show that all men need a Saviour, Romans 3.10-12. Wicked men act as if they do not know anything. They try to destroy the Lord s people and do not pray to God, v.4. Some day they will be very much afraid but at the present time they try to hurt those who are poor. However, God is with all who trust in Him,

24 SONGS OF ISRAEL vs.5,6. David prayed with God s people that the Saviour would come and bless them, v.7. Israel will be very happy indeed when Jehovah again brings great blessing to them. Job was very happy when the Lord again gave him great blessing. He had lost all that he owned in one day. His children were all killed and Job himself became very sick. At first he blamed God for all his trouble, but when he saw that he himself was a sinner, he gave glory to God. [What did God give him then? Job 42.10.] What should we do when people around us say that there is no God or that the Bible is not true? We should pray for them and try to tell them about the Lord. Some day they will all know that we are on God s side. Psalm 15 1/17 In Psalm 14 we learned what the wicked man is like. In Psalm 15 we see the righteous man. In verse 1 David asked the question: Who shall live in the tabernacle of Jehovah, or in His holy hill, Mount Zion? In the rest of the psalm we have the Holy Spirit s answer. The righteous man does what is right and tells the truth, v.2. He loves his neighbor as himself and does nothing bad to his friend, v.3. He gives honor to those who fear the Lord, not to men who turn away from God s truth. When he swears he will do anything, he does it even if he loses something by doing it, v.4. He does not covet money, v.5. The man who does these things can live in the tabernacle of Jehovah and will never be moved. He is like the righteous man of Psalm 1.3, like a tree by rivers of water. But who could do all these things perfectly? Only one Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that some men are more righteous than others, but we have seen that no one is without sin, Psalm 14.3; Romans 3.12. In Psalm 14 we saw the Man of Sin who will soon appear in this world. Now in Psalm 15 we can see the Lord Jesus Christ. His walk, works and words were perfect in the sight of God. He loved His neighbor and even His enemies; in fact, He gave His life for them. He told the truth about the Pharisees, the leaders of Israel, Matthew 23, but honored those who were true

PSALMS 15, 16 25 believers. When He was on trial for His life, the high priest made Him swear and tell if He were the Christ or not. He told the truth even though He knew that they would put Him to death for saying so, Matthew 26.63-65. The Lord Jesus alone did everything which God required. The last verse of the psalm says that the perfect man would never be moved. How then can we explain that the Perfect Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, was nailed to the cross? The answer is that He was indeed without sin, but He took our sin on Himself and paid the debt for us, 2 Corinthians 5.21. In the Old Testament God gave many promises to His people and told them they would do well in the land of Israel if they obeyed His laws. In the New Testament we see that the only Man who perfectly did God s will was nailed to the cross. We are His followers and can expect nothing better. We should do God s will at all times, but in this world we must be ready to suffer for Him. When the Lord comes again we will rule with Him in glory, but not now. Psalm 16 1/18 This psalm is called a Michtam of David. We do not know what this word means but it is used for psalms 56-60 as well. Here David is speaking of himself as a man who obeys God. So this psalm is more like Psalm 15 than Psalm 14. David trusted in Jehovah, vs.1,2, but knew that he had no good thing except what God gave to Him. [What good thing did Paul have in himself? Romans 7.18.] We all must learn this truth. The man who obeys God is happy when he is with others who love the Lord, v.3. He does not make friends of those who worship false gods, v.4. The man who obeys has many blessings in this world. He has chosen Jehovah, and even here and now he enjoys many good things, vs.5,6. He praises the Lord for guiding him in the right way, v.7. This man can trust God for things to come, v.8. With Jehovah before Him, he knows that he will not be moved from the right way, Psalm 15.5. He can be happy even when he thinks about the end of his life. He believes that God will not leave him in Sheol, the place

26 SONGS OF ISRAEL of the dead, vs.9,10. He looks forward to living with the Lord and knows that he will be very happy with Him forever, v.11. If we obey the Lord we can take these promises for ourselves also. We know that the only man who obeyed God in all things is the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost everything in the psalm was true of David and could be true of the saints of any time. But the last part of verse 10 is fully and completely true only of the Lord Jesus Christ. David did see the Pit ; his body was put in the grave and soon suffered decay. Peter used these verses to show that David knew God would raise his body from the grave. But David was really speaking of the Lord Jesus, whose body did not decay when it was in the grave. Peter taught these things in Jerusalem soon after the Lord Jesus had come back from death, Acts 2.24-32. The men of Jerusalem knew where David s grave was, just a short distance from the city. They could see that the Holy Spirit led David to speak about someone else besides himself; he spoke about the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul used verse 10 of Psalm 16 in the same way in his first message, Acts 13.35. David saw decay, but God kept the body of our Lord Jesus Christ from suffering any decay. Many believers who live at the end of this age will not die. When the Lord Jesus comes back again we will be gathered up to meet the Lord in the air. Even if we die before that, we are no longer afraid of dying, 1 Corinthians 15.55. We know that we will get a new body and be happy with the Lord forever. Think about these things and praise the Lord for His love to you. Let us also tell others about the Lord so they too can have these wonderful truths. Psalm 17 1/19 The 17th Psalm is called a prayer of David. David prayed to Jehovah because he was sure that he was right. He spoke the truth, and asked Jehovah to save him from his enemies, vs.1,2. David was sure that the Lord would find no evil in his heart or mouth, v.3. The Word of God kept him from sinning or doing the wrong thing, vs.4,5. He called on God to show His love and save him from his enemies, vs.6,7. He prayed God to keep him as the center of His own eye, vs.8,9.

PSALMS 17, 18 27 David said his enemies were cruel and would not pity him. They were proud and chased him like wild animals, vs.10-12. (Paul thought his enemies also were like wild animals, 1 Corinthians 15.32.) So David asked the Lord again to rise up and overcome them. These men had no desire for God or His blessings; they lived only for the things of this world. God gave them more than enough to eat and they gave some to their children, but they did not thank God for His goodness, vs.13,14. David s own desire was for blessing in heaven.he was sure that he would see the Lord after he died, and this would bring him great joy, v.15. There are lessons for us in this psalm. If there is any good thing in us, it is because God has given it to us. We should desire heavenly things more than anything in this world, Colossians 3.1. Some day we will see the Lord and be like Him, 1 John 3.2. Psalm 18 1/20 In the heading of this Psalm, David is called a servant of God. In this he was like Moses and Joshua, Joshua 22.4; 24.29. David was a great man of God but he had many enemies. The Lord saved him from Saul, and all who fought against him, 2 Samuel 7.1; 22.1. David wrote this psalm of praise to thank God for helping him to win the victory. After verse 1 Psalm 18 is almost the same as 2 Samuel 22, but some verses are a little different, for example, verse 35. Psalm 18 is the longest psalm of David. We can see how important it is because it is found twice in the Word of God. The first three verses show us that the whole psalm is a song of praise to Jehovah. David said that he loved the Lord. In verses 1and 2 he gave eight names of the Lord, who delivered him, v.3. A rock is a picture of a person who is strong. A shield, or buckler, speaks of the Lord s power to protect His servant when someone attacks him. Many animals fight against their enemies by using their horns. From this we see that the horn is a picture of one who is able to defeat his enemies. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, used these words when he spoke about the coming Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Luke 1.69. A stronghold, or fortress, is a safe place where we can run when people come to kill us.

28 SONGS OF ISRAEL When his enemies were all around him, David thought that he would die and go to Sheol. So he called on God, and God heard him from heaven, vs.4-6. God showed His power in the world of nature: the earth shook, v.7; a mountain poured out fire, v.8; a storm was seen, vs.9-13, also lightning, v.14, and great wind, v.15, as when Israel crossed the Red Sea, Exodus 14.21. God used this same power to deliver David from his enemies, vs.16-19. David thought that God had saved him as a reward for following God s law, vs.20-24. This does not mean that David considered himself to be perfect and without any sin. The Lord delivers His saints from the hands of wicked men because He is righteous. It would not be fair for God to let wicked people get the victory forever over those who follow God. But we are not perfect either. God saves us from our own sin because He is gracious. David here said that he had done nothing to deserve death. He was certainly more righteous than his wicked enemies. 1/21 God will deal with all men according to their own character, vs.25-28. The Lord Jesus taught that those who show mercy will get mercy, and those who forgive will be forgiven, Matthew 5.7; 6.14, 15. On the other hand, God will work against the wicked, Psalm 18, and the proud, vs.26,27. God delivered David from his enemies, v.17. He also gave him power to do great things. By God s strength, David was able to defeat a large number of his enemies, to jump over a wall, to bend a metal bow, vs.29-34. God s way is perfect, v.30, and He made David s way perfect or safe, v.32. David was a man of war and had to fight like a soldier. Even so it was God s help or gentleness which made David a great man, vs.35,36. [How can we become gentle? Galatians 5.22,23.] The Lord gave David strength and he was able to defeat his enemies, vs.37-42. David s life was important because he was the king whom God had chosen, as we read in verse 50. David was to be an ancestor of the Messiah, Matthew 1.6. Satan hated David and tried hard to kill him through his enemies. These enemies in their trouble even cried to Jehovah, but they did not have real faith, v.41.

PSALMS 18, 19 29 When David had defeated his enemies, he was able to rule over them, vs.43-45. Many nations bowed down to David, for example, the Philistines, 2 Samuel 5; the Moabites, Syrians and Edomites, 2 Samuel 8; the Ammonites, 2 Samuel 12. So at the end David gave thanks and praise to Jehovah, the living God, vs.46-50. Because God gave him victory, David promised to praise His name among the nations. Most of us today do not have to go to war. If we do go to war, we cannot say that the enemies of our country are the enemies of God. In the New Testament however we do read that the Christian has real enemies. We can defeat them only by spiritual means. We get victory by prayer, Ephesians 6.13,18; by a word of testimony, Revelation 12.11; and by the power of the Lord Jesus, John 16.33. Psalm 19 1/22 In this psalm David does not pray God to deliver him from his enemies as in Psalm 17. He does not praise the Lord for saving him as in Psalm 18. Here David teaches men how they can find out about God. The world of nature, which God created, tells us much about God; the Holy Scriptures tell us much more. The first part of the psalm tells us that the stars in heaven show God s glory. We noticed in Psalm 8 that David must have thought often about God s glory when he was in the field at night watching his father s sheep. The word firmament is used for the air where birds fly, Genesis 1.6-8,20; and for outer space, Genesis 1.14-17. Nature tells us that God is great and strong and wise. We can learn about God the Creator both day and night, vs.1,2. Nature has a message that people all over the world can understand, vs.3,4. The heavens are also a place where the sun seems to live and move along its usual path day after day, vs.4-6. The heat of the sun helps God s creatures all over the world. The second part of the psalm tells about the Scripture, the Word of God, vs.7-11. David gave six different names for Scripture; each one described the Word of God in a different way. For example: Name What it is What it does The law of the Lord perfect brings the soul back to God The command of the Lord pure gives light to the eyes