November 28 – Have Mercy

        Psalm 88:3 – "For my soul is full of trouble, and my life draws near the grave."

        I have always thought that this is the darkest psalm in the sacred writings. There is not even the slightest glimmer of hope. The psalm can be summed up in the words: "God, have Mercy!" The writer is clearly afflicted with some type of mortal physical ailment, perhaps chronic, that is pulling him ever closer to death. We don't know how old this person is, but it sounds like he has dealt with this problem since his youth (verse 15). One thing is clear; he attributes his sickness to the wrath of God (verse 7). Yet he appeals to God to rescue him from this sickness.

        Have you ever felt this way, either from having a lengthy sickness, or from other negative circumstances in life, or perhaps from a spiritually dry time (see Psalm 42)? As I read this psalm for the umpteenth time, I still cannot find any hope within the psalm itself. It is simply a dark prayer to God, conveying the writer's actual feelings of despair.

At the very least, the writer knows that there is a God to whom he can appeal (vv 1, 2). After that, there is no whisper of hope, only a desperate cry. Looking back from the New Testament revelations, there are a couple of questions that arise from his further statements. In verse 5, the writer states that God no longer remembers the dead, or cares for them. However, in Luke 16, Jesus tells that dead persons are either in torment in the flames, or in peace in Abraham's bosom, the latter clearly conveying the thought that the righteous dead are cared for, and not forgotten.

        While Exodus 4:11 intimates that God makes one seeing or blind, lame or ambulatory, Acts 10:38 plainly states that Jesus went about healing people who were under the power of the devil. Matthew 8:16, 17 also points to Jesus fulfilling OT writings about healing the sick. So, we know that while God allows sickness, it is most likely attributed to the devil. Did the writer of this psalm realize that?

        Verse 16 states, "Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have ruined me." No reason, however, is given for God to be displaying his wrath in the writer's life. Did he commit some egregious sin? Is he continuously practicing sin against God? The latter certainly prompted God to punish the nation of Israel. Perhaps this was written as a reminder to call on God, no matter how bleak the situation looks. Remember the persistent widow in Luke 18.

        Psalms 42 and 43 are companions to this Psalm with the same themes. However, Psalms 42 and 43 offer hope by reminding the writer to praise God, his joy and delight (Psalm 43:4).

October 27 – Foreigners Born in Jerusalem

        Psalm 87:6-7: "Yahweh will write in the register of the people: 'This one was born in Zion.' As they make music, they will sing, "All my fountains are in you". (NIV, copyright 1973)

        I had a revelation today, 2017, regarding this Psalm. I had always thought that this was some obscure, irrelevant short ditty, especially the last verse, which made no sense to me, and which seemed out of place in the psalm. Au contraire!

        Like so many prophetic writings of the Old Testament, this one points to several New Testament passages – John 3:1-8, Revelation 5:9, Ephesians 1:5, & Romans 11:13-21. God is in the adoption – choosing – redemption – business. He is always working, drawing people out of the world, and into his family. Just like Leviticus 19:33 intimates, God wanted ancient Israel to welcome aliens into his people, but only on his terms – not on deceptive, selfish terms, as is described of the people of Gibeon in Joshua 9. So the entirety of Psalm 87 describes the adoption of Gentiles into the family of God, being a part of the chosen people, not by natural birth, but by adoption. It goes further than that. God then says in verse 6 that these people will be considered as being natives! God doesn't look at me as a "red-headed stepchild", a part of the family, but actually unwanted. He calls me his son, and writes my name in his book of life (Revelation 3:5; 20:12).

        After researching the original language of verse 7, I was finally able to understand its meaning. The word "fountains" is probably not a clear translation in this case. It was probably used for its poetic nature. In our culture, a fountain is a man-made water sculpture, resulting in a beautiful flow of electrically-pumped water, emanating in an artistic spray. The original Hebrew word means "springs" or "sources", meaning a place where water naturally flows from the ground, which usually does not include an upward spraying of water. (One well-known exception would be Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park.) A spring usually just appears out of the ground, where it might not be expected. It is a source of water from a hidden place of origin.

        Keeping that thought in mind, verse 7 fits perfectly in this psalm. Having been adopted by God into his family, it makes perfect sense that my source of life is God himself. He has given me birth and life itself; I had no power to create my source of life or well-being. All my breath and life were given by God (Acts 17:25); he deserves all the glory for such.