A gracious God, the Father, we rest ourselves in thee, and I share word, and I share promises to us. Thank you, O Lord, for the saints of all who found the confidence, the help, the source of strength in you, the gatehold of your attributes. And as we study their prayers and their hymns, we enter into their minds and into their hearts. And as we face distress and difficulty, we may, with them, learn to rest ourselves in you, that we will face life unthreatened and dependent upon you, so that indeed we may be free. Free to express ourselves, free to express ourselves in the Lord. We realize the root of all things is faith. We pray, Lord, you'll be with our deliberations and our thinking this evening in Jesus' name and men. I should confess at the outset for getting bogged down last week in various types of messianic songs. Perhaps the word of explanation would help here. I am really fighting a psychological problem at this point. The first course I ever taught was in a blessed school for black students about 20 years ago, the Southern Bible Training School. And the first course I taught, which was assigned to me, was on messianic songs. And all semester I labored with messianic songs. And on the very last night of the course, one of the students raised his hand and said, Dr. Walkie was a messianic song. And I suspect I never got over that shock that I had taught a whole course on messianic songs and then the last night the students still didn't know what a messianic song was. And I suspect that that helped to get me bogged down last week. But the subject is important by way of background because our Lord told us in John chapter 5 that the scriptures speak of him. And we call on the Emmaus Road as he was talking with those two disciples along the way in the account in Luke chapter 24, verse 44. And he opened up the scriptures and in the law and in the prophets and in the Psalms, he showed them himself in holy scripture. And so the Psalms do indeed speak of our Lord Jesus but they speak of him in various ways. And he was saying on occasion David or the author is a picture of Jesus and we call these typical messianic songs. Another occasions the Psalmist uses vocabulary that goes beyond this experience and becomes prophetic. He is not only a type but he is prophetic and we call those typical prophetic messianic songs. Another times the Psalms speak of the king and since our Lord is a king, a son of David, they indirectly speak of him. There are two other types of messianic Psalms and I'll treat them very quickly. One is purely prophetic. It has no historical illusion at all. It is nothing in the life of the Psalmist that pictures Jesus. It is pure prophecy and the classic example of this is the one used by a Lord Psalm 110. We read in Psalm 110 that it is a Psalm by David and yet he says the Lord says to my Lord and David is speaking. I think we should note here that the Lord occurs in two different forms. The Lord. You'll notice the first time that the Lord is in capital letters and when the Lord is in capital letters and most quickly identified by the capital R and D, it is a translation of God's proper name which is Yahweh and it would be better translated Yahweh says to my and now notice that Lord is in small letters. Whereas the first time Lord is a translation of God's proper name Yahweh, the second time it is a translation of the generic noun meaning master, sovereign or Lord. So it says Yahweh says to my sovereign, to my master, sit at my right hand until I make dynamism of footstool for thy feet. And as a Lord reasons cogently in Matthew 22, that David must be speaking of someone greater than himself, the one of whom he speaks is greater than merely a son of David. For David calls this one his Lord, this is the Lord, this is the king par excellence and it has reference ultimately to Jesus Christ so this sort of Psalm is purely prophetic. There is not only the typical and the typical prophetic and the indirectly messianic and the purely prophetic but there are finally the Psalms that speak of Yahweh raining upon earth which must find its fulfillment in the Word. There is no fulfillment in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ upon the earth. We call these following damage as catalogically Yahwistic Psalms, these are found in Psalms 96 through 99. If you turn with me just one passage very quickly, Psalm 96 and verse 10. These Psalms are identified by the statement that Yahweh is king or Yahweh is raining upon the earth. For example in Psalm 1696 and verse 10, say among the nations, Yahweh reigns. Indeed the world is firmly established it will not be moved, he will judge the peoples with equity or again Psalm 971. The Yahweh is king or Yahweh reigns let the earth be joys. These Psalms speak of a day when Yahweh will literally reign in his kingdom upon the earth and establish his perfect justice upon the earth which we discussed as the very center of the theology of the Old Testament in the very first lecture. So these Psalms that speak of the day when Yahweh will reign are speaking of the future reign of Jesus Christ upon the earth but we'll go into this in more depth on another occasion. Now we have finished our background material and we are ready to get into the Psalms themselves. But let me take you through the notes just quickly to summarize the introductory material so that you can see where we have been and how it correlates with the notes for the lectures have not doubted precisely with the notes. I've already discussed on page 1 the title of the Psalms. I've already indicated that the Psalter is divided into five distinct books and on page 1 these five divisions are indicated for us. I did not discuss an explanation for the five book arrangement in essence we really don't know why it is that way. And the history of the formation of the Psalter I did not take time to discuss it it is not that cogent and you can read it for yourself. On page 4 I discussed the numbering in the Psalms. The discussion is not important to the average English reader. I had prepared these notes for seminary students in case they wanted to use the Greek translation in which the numbering is different. On the Roman numeral five I discussed the text of the Psalms and there I simply showed you a picture of the chumran scrolls and made the important point that our English Bibles are based upon the best known text, a very reliable text of the old of the Psalter. There is nothing to compete with the Hebrew text behind the translation. After last week I must confess I left with a bad feeling. I felt I had been a pope handing out rewards to differing translations and maybe that bothers you as well. So let me just say a word here at this point about translations. In my judgment the King James is an absolutely brilliant and marvelous and superb translation. The NASV is a superb translation and all of these are excellent translations. There are occasions where any of us may differ with the translation and I think I came on much too strong last Tuesday night. I expect it was a bad night all around but in any case I think I came on too strong and I may have cast skepticism and doubt about the reliability of the English translations. They are good translations and I highly commend most of them to you especially the two were probably using here. I can't really commend the living Bible as the only one I can't really commend. I feel there are too many weaknesses in its translation along with many brilliant paraphrases yet I feel the percentage is a little bit high there that I can't commend it. Well enough for that controversial discussion. Now we come to the headings of the Psalms and I have discussed their historical accuracy. I threw an overhead on the screen and she gave seven reasons why I believe the superscriptions are reliable with regard to the historical settings indicated for the Psalms. On page 6 we discuss technical names to designate the types of Psalms and the musical terms and the melody indicators. I do not want to bore you with such a technical discussion so suffice it at this point to say that if you're reading the superscription and you wish to know what that Hebrew word means you will find it on these pages, pages 6 and 7. On page 8 we have Hebrew prosody and we discussed that last week. On page 9 we have on the Roman numeral 8 the very important discussion on methods of interpreting the Psalms and I had taken that whole section and we cast it into background material for understanding the Psalms. Actually, various commentators use one, usually one or two of that background material as their method of interpreting the Psalms. First of all the traditional method of interpreting the Psalms is to find its historical setting and to interpret the Psalms according to that historical setting. The commentators who use that approach do well as we indicate it is important to know the historical setting when it is indicated but most of these scholars were not aware of form critical and cultic studies that had been done since their time. And so these commentators, the men under one, I indicate their method and two, I list the commentators who use that approach. If you pick up the classic commentary on the Psalms by Dalych, Peroni, Alexander, McLaren and so forth, they all use that approach. I have two problems with those commentaries. One, they do not take into consideration form critical studies which is really after their time they were not aware of it and two, they overextend the approach. They try to find the historical situation even when num is given in the superscription and I hesitate to follow that approach as indicated. A second approach is the literary analytical historical method, I did not discuss that for I feel it is mostly worthless. These men tried by literary criteria to locate the Psalms in the post-exilic period that is they tried to date the Psalms with respect to the second temple. This approach today is passé, though it dominated the scholarly literature between 1875 and 1925, there is scarcely a scholar today who will follow that approach and I did not discuss it. Thirdly, on page 10 we take up the form critical approach and I got into that last week and I will get into it in detail tonight, namely to understand that there are various types and forms of Psalms. And then fourth, there is the cultic approach on page 11. This is the approach especially of the Scandinavian scholars, Sigmund Mohenkel, who emphasized what we tried to emphasize in the second night of the lectures that they have to be studied against the background of the temple in the light setting of the temple and Mohenkel approaches it solely from that viewpoint. Finally, on page 12 we discussed the eschatological messianic approach and I said, and this is where I was last week, this method interprets the Psalms almost exclusively as referring to Christ and to his kingdom. For example, the blessed man in Psalm 1 refers to Christ, the blessed is the man who walks not in the council of beyond godly and these men interpret the Psalms exclusively as referring to the Lord Jesus. For myself I do not think that is valid, I do not think the Psalmist has in mind solely the Lord Jesus, where he said, blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the council of beyond godly. He is talking of all leaders and all men and Jesus Christ would certainly be part of it, but to me it is too narrow in interpretation. The men who follow this approach are the protistic writers, the medieval commentators, iron sides classic, gable lines classic, Olsen's meditation in the Psalms and Psalms very popular with many of us and they have many good things, though I do think they are a bit too narrow in making everything messianic. That then brings us to the time now where we actually get into the Psalms and the various types of Psalms. We noted last week that there are basically three types of Psalms as given to us in 1 Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 4, where we read that David appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the Ark of the Lord, even to remind and to acknowledge and praise the Lord God of Israel. For the next several weeks now we are going to be studying these Psalms that remind God that one is in trouble or we may refer to them as lament Psalms. When we are finished with lament Psalms we will move to acknowledgement Psalms and then to praise Psalms and then we will take Psalms according to various subjects, Psalms that do not fall into these three basic patterns. First of all then, tonight we want to begin our study of lament Psalms. As indicated last week these various types of Psalms have distinct motifs that is they have features that are common to an entire corpus. For example, in architecture the cross on top of the church is a motif, it is a feature common to Roman Catholic churches, wherever you see a Roman Catholic church you will normally see a cross on top of its steeple. Again the Torah in the front of the synagogue is a motif of synagogues. In every synagogue in the front of the synagogue there is a copy of the Ten Commandments that is a motif, it is a feature common to the entire corpus. These steeples are motifs, a common feature common to Protestant churches and when you have a feature that is common to an entire corpus, a united corpus of material, we call that feature common to the entire body, we call it a motif. These lament Psalms, which constitute about one third of these Psalms, have identical features. If you can outline one you can outline 50 and that is why it is so important that we understand the motifs that the poet is using. The motifs are not only in the hymn book, but these motifs are found in all the hymn books of the ancient Near East, it is common to all the meant Psalms, so that if we can find these features we will be well on our way to recreating in our minds the mind of the inspired poet. The features then that are common to this entire corpus of material to lay them out are these five and this last one has some variation. The five features that will normally be found in all the meant Psalms are one there is a direct address to God. One turns directly to God with often with an introductory petition and lament. The introductory part can vary a great deal, but the common feature is there is a direct turning to God in one's extremities. He does not turn in his extremity to the necromancer, nor to the sooth sayer. In his desperate need he turns to God, the God who is in covenant with him in the same way that we in our hour of crisis are instructed to turn to God the only one worthy of our confidence. After the address and sometimes an introductory petition and lament, there is the second feature, not necessarily in this order, there is the feature of the lament in which the Psalmist describes his lamentable situation, his lamentable state. This situation will vary from Psalm to Psalm, whether it's his sickness or whether it's persecution or he may be facing death, but he states for us his lamentable situation. Thirdly, after the introductory address and a statement of the lament, a third motif that is present is confidence. He will assert his confidence in God, he will find his confidence in God's attributes and God's covenant relationship with him. Fourth, there will be the petition itself, this normally has two parts, he will petition God to be favorable to him and then he will articulate precisely what he wants God to do for him. And finally, he will therefore enter into praise, frequently he will vow praise to God, another time he is so certain that God has answered his prayer that he burst directly into praise because God has answered his prayer. These then are the five basic motifs of the lament songs. Let's go over them again this time in a more picturesque way, after the introductory petition then there is first of all a normally lament, after the lament there is the petition to God. After the petition, one may look for confidence, now they may switch around, you'll have to get confidence before petition, the order is not stereotyped, the motifs are always present. There will be either a vow of praise that when God answers the prayer, the Psalmist will praise or there will be with that a realization of deliverance and he will burst forth into praise. These are the motifs then that are common to the some fifty songs of the hymn book. To develop it in more detail and we'll come back to this again, we have then the lament and actually there are two broad types of lament songs. There is the lament of the individual and there is the lament of the community and we will spend one lecture on the lament of the community, the whole community is in crisis and they pour out their lament to God. The individual may be in sickness, he may have false accusations hurled at him, he may be facing persecution, fear of death or there may be sin in his life which he lament. We will be considering shortly a distinct type of lament sob where he lament sin which we can which we call confessional sob. It's lamenting sin in the child of God's life. In the lament, we will look for certain motifs, he will seek to move God to act on his behalf. He will move God to act and also he will relieve his own burden of heart. The subjects involved which you will find, he will speak of himself, he will speak of himself with respect to God and he will speak of his foes. His own state is sorrowful, God is seems to have forgotten him and his foes are persecuting him. These are all features very frequently found in this kind of sob. We will come back to that again as I say when we actually start looking at a sob in just a moment. To develop the confidence section a little bit in more detail. These motifs, the that which gives him confidence in God are God's attributes and honors. The petition is urgent need or he may find confidence in his realization that I am innocent and his protestation that he shouldn't be in the state of affliction. These are real men, they are wrestling with their lives under God. To look at the petition in more details I say I am doing this more quickly because we will come back to this. We will hear normally to hear, be favorable, save me, punish and he will give a reason why. This is the normal elements that one will look for in these lament songs.
Regarding the vow of praise then with the vow of praise, the praise will be renewed and it normally contains the praise to be offered. What he will say when God has answered his prayer. The alternate type is he verse 4 into praise because he realizes he has been delivered. There is a deliverance and probably what occurs here is that God has spoken to the Psalmist either through a priest or through a prophet assuring him that his prayer has been answered as in the case of Hannah who was praying for a child. When Eli said your God will grant your request she went home rejoicing because she had heard a word from God and will see this more clearly as we get into the Psalms. Right now I am trying to give you an overview of the material and then we will take it more slowly and in detail. Let us go then to one of these Psalms and see these features as they have brought to play. Psalm 142 on your outline and your outline notes, this is on page 18. We read it's a masculine and candidly we not sure what masculine means. It's a masculine of David when he was in the cave and this is a prayer. Let us read through the Psalm. I cry aloud with my voice to Yahweh and I'll translate the tetragramaton, the four letters for God's name translated by the capital letters by the proper name so we can feel it. I cry aloud with my voice to Yahweh. I make supplication with my voice to Yahweh. I pour out my complaint before him, I declare my trouble before him. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, doubt it's no my path, in the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see for there is no one who regards me. There is no escape for me, no one cares for my soul. I cry out to thee, oh Yahweh, I say thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Give heed to my cry for I am brought very low, deliver me for my persecutors for they are too strong for me, bring my soul out of prison so that I may give thanks to thy name, the righteous will surround me, for thou will deal bountifully with me. Normally to enter into the mind of the poet one tries to analyze his ideas, and now that we know how the poet's mind is working in this situation, I think you can readily see the outline of the song. In verses one and two we have the direct address to God with an introductory word. In verses three and four we have his lamentable situation. In verse five we have his word of confidence. In verse six and seven a we have his petition. And seven b c and d we have his word of praise, his thanksgiving. Let us look now at more detail and just peruse it and apply it to ourselves. In the introductory petition he turns directly to God in his lamentable state, and how much more should we come to God as our father with all of our needs of life. We should come directly to God as the obvious inference of the poem. I try aloud with my voice to Yahweh. I make supplication with my voice to Yahweh. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare my trouble before him. In a word he says his word of introduction, I'm going to let my need be known. And the emphasis is obviously on aloud. Everyone will know it. I'm in trouble and I pour it out publicly and aloud. I may just comment here, I'm a little bit gun shy of unspoken requests that often are found in our prayer meetings. I believe that we're far too inhibited, we who are not semites. These are very expressive people and I think it would be better if we lamented together aloud more frequently in order that the reality of God may be more tangible in our midst. Now having turned directly to God to say it will be a loud crying of the heart to God, the broken heart of David in a cave. He now pours out his lamentable stay and if we analyze this we discover he has a pentad of troubles. He has five sorrows that are overwhelming him. First of all in 3A his spirit is overwhelmed within me and yet the vocabulary is broad enough that all of us can enter into his experience. When my spirit is overwhelmed within me, that is I'm in such trouble I'm about to faint. And I'm sure that all of us can identify with the Psalmist at a moment like that there are crises in life in which we seem as though there's no way to turn. And it's a deep emotional distress such was David's. My spirit is overwhelmed within me and yet he's going to say thou dost know my journey. In the way where I walk secondly they have hidden a trap for me. By clearly he is using metaphorical language. It were told at this point he's in a cave and what his enemy has done has done. Saul has come with his 4,000 troops. He's encircled the mountain on which David or he's encircled in Getty probably where David is trapped and David is in a cave. And so he feels himself that whichever way he turns he will step into a trap like an animal it will be his death or like a bird may go into a snare all around him it's one big trap. Every way he turns he faces death so outwardly he faces death. Furthermore he says in verse 4 in a very bold anthropomorphism talking directly to God and they pour out their heart and very vivid discourse and talk person to person with God. He says to God look at my right hand and see there is no one who regards me in this desperate situation he is alone. He has no personal to whom he can flee he is a tragic pathetic lonely figure in this crisis of his life and there is no one with him on this occasion. Perhaps this feeling is like Paul and Philippians chapter 2 I have no one who is like minded. His experience is like the experience of many of us when there are crisis in life we feel we are all alone. That we all are in depravity and we recognize in each other our selfishness and there are times when we feel totally alone. There is no one who regards me there is no escape for me no one cares for my soul. Thus the lament the wording is so worded that other saints in moments of crisis can identify with David. Indeed he handed it over to the chief musician for temple use so that God's people for the millennia to come could use this song for their prayers and their moments of crisis. So we see clearly one and two the direct address three and four lament and now when you understand the structure you can read it more slowly and isolate and detail the exact the generalizations of his lamentable state. Now in verse five you can see his confidence I cry out to thee oh Yahweh I say and he lays hold of two things about God thou art one my refuge the place where I can plead to be protected so that I need not be filled with my anxieties and fear. Now art my refuge thou art my portion here is the second metaphor that is used he's using the vocabulary from the time of the conquest and the settlement the Nakhla the portion was the land given to the tribes from which they could earn their living. That which sustain them it was their portion for their livelihood so they could continue their existence so when he says to Yahweh thou art my portion he means by that you are the source of my continuance you are the source the sustaining power of my life you are that upon which I can count and live so I can sustain myself upon the earth. All around his enemies are seeking his life but you are my refuge you are my portion in the land of the living that is I'm counting on you to defend me and I'm counting on you to continue my existence in the land of the living. So after the confidence section that I cry to thee and I say this to you oh Lord now comes the petition first of all a petition that God would be favorable to him give heed to my cry for I am brought very low and now more specifically two things deliver me from my persecutors for they are too strong for me. I am not able to cope the battle is bigger than I am so he says deliver me from my persecutors for they are too strong for me and yet he will use another metaphor it's as though I am in a prison I'm hemmed in on every way there's a cage all around me I have no escape. So he says bring my soul out of prison and now you can see how he moves into his thou appraise so that I may give acknowledgement to thy name the righteous then will gather round about me when I declare what you have done for me for thou will deal bountifully with me. And invariably the Psalms will take us from the low state emotionally from the weight of our reality in which we find ourselves they will lift us from the weight of our precious to the wings of faith of relying upon God so that once again we are truly free. It is the source of all mental spiritual health to root ourselves confidently in God that is the reality of the believer and when you know God and when we know God and we rest upon God we are no longer threatened we no longer have to be defensive individuals we can be open and free and relate to one another. We can live lives without anxiety but in praise and thanksgiving now since 50 of the Psalms go through the same basic procedure it seems to me we might learn something about prayer from all of this turning directly to God talking with God reasoning with God stating our needs moving into confidence as Paul says with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and with our prayers should be this note of thanksgiving and confidence and it's that evidently which pleases the heart of God. Now let's turn to another lament song oh I was going to show you these things I think they're quite evident but it's all here you can see the lament then here when my spirit was overwhelmed within me doubt it's no my path and so forth well we don't have to repeat and it was obvious wasn't it okay now let's go to another lament song and this time we will turn to Psalm 13. I'm sure that this may raise some theological questions for you along the way and I think at the end of this I'll give a little time to ask questions about some of this material. Psalm 13 this is found in your notes on page 22 let us read through the Psalms and this time I think I'll take time for you to outline the Psalm and you can discover for yourself the basic motifs and the elements of the Psalm and then you'll be well on your way to studying these hymns for yourself how long oh Yahweh will thou forget me forever how long will thou hide thy face from me how long shall I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart all the day how long will my enemy be exalted over me consider and answer me O Lord my God enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death lest my enemies say I have overcome him lest my enemies rejoice when I am shaken but I have trusted in thy steadfast blood my heart rejoices in thy salvation I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me okay I think we can see things quite readily here where is the direct address with a introductory petition what verses of these would you consider to be the yes yes verses one and two we have the direct address with an introductory petition let's go over it again how long oh Lord will thou forget me actually in this section with the introductory address actually combined here with it we move directly into lament do we not this is the lament section as well he goes direct he has the direct address how long of Yahweh but now the lamentable state involved with it three things which are normal what God is doing what he is doing and what the enemy is doing note the three features will thou forget me forever how long will thou hide thy face from me and I'm sure every believer can identify with this saint of old that there are times in life when there appears to be no answer to our prayers and that's not an unusual motif matai I don't know how long must this go on as we're in the moral discipline of God as he's teaching us through persecution patience and hope as Paul develops it in Romans chapter 5 and not only so but we glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation work is patience and experience and patience works experience and experience works hope and hope will not be made ashamed it is part of our moral tutelage that we depend upon God and he does not like some talus man answer our prayers immediately it is to our development and to our relationship to him how long oh Yahweh will thou forget me forever how long will thou hide thy face from me if God answered prayers immediately we would not have any moral education we would confuse morality with pleasure and pain God is developing us and teaching us virtues and character now in his own soul as he's going through this trip time how long shall I take counsel in my soul the idea seems to be I futile devised one plan after another and I find no way of escape having sorrow in my heart all the day long how long will my enemy be exalted over me and again the first lecture is extremely important at this point this is a theocratic warrior who is suffering on behalf of the kingdom of God now he is suffering the uncircumcised pagan the opponent to God's rule seems to be strutting around and parading and having his moment of triumph just as I feel today I feel how long must we go on in this moral darkness in which we find ourselves it seems as though evil is abounding everywhere that sinners are getting stouter and stouter and we seem to get weaker and weaker how long will the enemy be exalted over me now it happens in 3 and 4 it is quite clear after the direct address and lament what happens here yes yes here is the petition consider and answer me that is be favourable pay attention to me as he reminds God of his need consider and answer me O Lord my God enlighten my eyes that is restore my life revitalize me bring me back to life in efficiency again as a theocratic warrior and now the motivations are three why should God revitalize him enlighten my eyes one less I sleep the sleep of death and involved in that very frequently is the idea and when I am dead there will be no word of praise in shion 2 lets my enemies say I have overcome him 3 lets my adversaries rejoice when I am shaken now again it's important to realize he's fighting for his life he's fighting for righteousness it's in the moral struggles of life in which he speaks of his enemies which he speaks of triumph and opposition we must not think of God as and and the Psalms as some sort of an Aladdin's lamp and we stroke the genie and the lamp and the genie pops out and he caches to all of our needs that is a totally wrong orientation we must understand he is the Lord and we are his servants and the motivations for God are his kingdom his will be done we should be thinking his thoughts we should stand in the shoes of Jesus and see the world as he saw it all to walk in our prayers as James puts it are to consume it upon our own lust we pray for a new suit of clothing or a new dress or a new car or a new house and we're thinking so lustfully but that's not what's in the Psalms at all it's the eyes of the servant to his master the eyes of a hand made into her mistress depending upon his Lord to do his righteous moral well we must enter into that mind to understand the tensions and the conflicts of the hands then we can understand the motivations less the enemy will get the upper hand over the servant of God so we have the petition in 3 and 4 and what occurs in verse 5 what's the next feature motif pardon yes confidence I know I'm insulting your intelligence is so obvious but anyway it's good for us to do it and interact with it but I have trusted in your steadfast love I know I am in a covenant relationship with you and I am trusting that you are loyal to that covenant relationship that is the attribute of God as I said in the first lecture a second lecture which is the dominant attribute which they lay whole you'll see it all the way through here loving kindness or his faithful love he is loyal to that covenant relationship we can count on him to bless his program my heart shall rejoice and I salvation and now the praise I will sing to the Lord because and it's as good as accomplished he has dealt bountifully with me maybe it would be good at this point for me to list all the songs which will have exactly these motifs all they will the exact lament will be different the attributes they lay hold of will be different the statement of praise will vary these are the songs and all I want you to do here is took copy the numbers and then you can study them and I have listed the key verses that may strike a note in your thinking these are Psalms 3 4 5 7 9 and 10 13 which we just did 14 and 53 actually 14 and 53 are synoptic they are identical Psalms 17 22 which we looked at too long last week for the purposes of them hour 25 26 portions of 27 28 31 35 you'll get down the numbers at 39 famous Psalm I am by passing guest 40 after an acknowledgment section and verses 1 through 8 and the transition 9 and 10 we have be pleased though Yahweh to deliver me Psalm 40 12 through 17 or more precisely 13 through 17 is exactly Psalm 70 they are sorry thank you 41 42 and 43 is one Psalm they are not two different Psalms they should be studied as a unity the reason 43 was separated is that that's the petition section and the petition section in the use in the synagogue was separated off so that one could use just the petition without the first part of the Psalm 52 53 54 55 56 57 59 is mostly coming out of David's experience in his flight from Saul 61 64 69 70 as I say a synoptic with 40 13 through 17 71 77 86 88 89 we'll copy those I wish I had those in your memory graph notes I don't like to spend that time in a man who went to see just copying down numbers to finish it all right I'm gonna not finish finally to want to copy them one on nine 120 139 140 141 and 142 for your final exam in this course it will be a take home examination I will give you one of these Psalms and I will ask you to analyze it break it apart and study it on your own now we have just three minutes left and it isn't time to start another Psalm but perhaps this is raised a burning question that you'd like to ask at this point yes Dr. Wood yes yes yes that's a very good question because it enables me to explain something to in Hebrew there is no time we cannot say whether it's past or present or even future the Hebrew tense is very similar to the Greek system namely it is not temporal but aspectual in this case it is a perfect it means this is his character this is the quality of his life I would translate it there for blessed is the man who as here who who does not walk as a character of life we call it in fact a characteristic perfect we cannot tell that's why you'll notice sometimes I'm shifting tenses around because there is no time in the Hebrew tense system it is totally kind of action whether it is viewed as a whole as a point or if it's viewed as progressive imperfect so that's why they are named as perfect complete whole total or imperfect incomplete progressive but you cannot speak of time we cannot be sure yes oh yes that too thank you for clarifying that as I say I prepared these notes for seminary and they're prepared for the Hebrew Bible and as I say in the Hebrew Bible since the superscription is numbered I'm always one up just subtract one number and you always be right with the English text if there's a superscription just subtract one but that's that's the reason for that confusion I'm sorry I forgot about small details I really apologize for that yes what characteristic yes Yahweh is his proper name now the meaning of this proper name means that he enters into covenant with his people there are various names for God and when you see Lord we are there thinking of God in his history in his covenant relationship to his people we are thinking of God as he is the moral ethical governor of the universe as he uses his instrument is real to establish his kingdom that is why in the Psalms almost always the name used as Yahweh because these are his theocratic warriors now if you turn to the book of Job where we're not talking about God in history but we're talking about the transcendent Elohim there you always find Elohim or Ale and also in the Proverbs for example or Ecclesiastes where you think of God more transcendent and you're not so much concerned about God in covenant with Israel we do not find Yahweh but we find Ale or Elohim but in the Psalter we will see God Yahweh as the historical God you'll see this if you wish to pursue it take a look at Psalm 19 it's Psalm 19 it speaks of God in his twofold revelation and in the first six verses well we just take a look at it quickly Psalm 19 you see the heavens are telling the glory of God Elohim see the word God is used there his other name and there you speaking of him in verses one through six as the creator but when you speak of God as the moral governor of the universe then we immediately will switch to Yahweh as in verse seven the law of Yahweh is perfect see there you enter into law and Torah and from therein it's always Yahweh Lord all the way through because you're dealing with God as the ethical moral governor of the universe not the creator of the universe all right our time is up and you're dismissed