Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised

Our title comes from the opening verse of Psalm 48, but for the sake of any new readers of these Studies we need to set out the Scriptural basis for the Book of Psalms before we begin to `open up' this Psalm. In the Hebrew Canon of Scripture, as well as in most of the modern versions of the Bible, the 150 Psalms are divided into 5 Sections or Books. This comes from the Jewish Midrash which is a Book of Commentaries on the Hebrew Scriptures, known to Christians as the Old Testament. Commenting on Psalm 1:1 the Midrash says:

" Moses gave the Israelites the five Books of Torah and corresponding
with this David gave them the five Books of Psalms. "

With this understanding in place a careful reading of the Psalms will reveal a corresponding revelation running parallel with the five Books of Torah, the Penteteuch. We have likened the five Books of Torah to the Word of God and the corresponding five Books of Psalms as the Voice of God. Reading the Psalms in this way - as Books with a central revelation - removes the individual way in which we with our western Greek-style thinking are inclined to study Scripture. In addition, we need to understand that these five Books of Psalms are both prophetic and Messianic, and although undoubtably the Psalms can be used for personal meditation and instruction, when using them in this personal way more depth of understanding can be given if they are kept within the contextual setting of the Books of Psalms.

With this introduction we can now turn to the Second Book of Psalms, which corresponds with the Book of Exodus. The central revelation of these two Books concerns the people of Israel - chosen by God, called out and formed into a nation to His praise and glory. In the Hebrew Scriptures the Book of Exodus is simply called `These are the names' - as can be seen in the opening words of the book - for this book is the Book of Redemption, and as redemption is both individual and personal so too are those who are recorded in `These are the names'. Both the Book of Exodus and the first Psalm of the Second Book of Psalms open with a cry which comes from the depth of distress at the ruin people endure in slavery or the ruin people face from threatening armies of neighbouring powers. In the Book of Exodus we read in chapter 1 (verses 8-11) `Then a new king came to power . . . so they put slave masters over them', and in the corresponding Psalm 42 we hear the individual's cry, `As the deer pants after the water . .'. Both Books end with National Redemption, for in Exodus we read, `Then the Cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the Glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle' and in Psalm 72 we read: `Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, Amen and Amen'. It concludes with the prophetic words `The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended' - with the meaning that all is accomplished and the prophecy concerning Israel fulfilled.

But now we return to the opening Psalms of this Second Book of Psalms. The reader will note that there is no separating inscription between the first two Psalms, which indicates that Psalms 42 and 43 are actually two parts of the one Psalm, and by the joining of the two Psalms there is a cry of distress calling for Deliverance and then praise for the Deliverer. Our thoughts are then clearly directed towards the next Psalm (Psalm 44) where we begin to see the central message of the Second Book of Psalms. Psalm 44 opens with an inscription which separates it from the previous Psalm: `Of the Sons of Korah. A Maskil' (`The Sons of Korah' takes us back to the Book of Numbers where in chapter 16 we read of Korah son of Izhar rebelling against Moses, leading to his death and that of his followers. However his sons were spared, pointing to an undeserved deliverance through God's Grace.) The Psalm opens as a Maskil, that is, an instruction to look into what follows. We also note that this Psalm is the second Psalm of this Book, and you will find that the second Psalm of each of the Books of Psalms records an attack by an enemy upon the people of Israel. This turns our attention to something new happening, a separation from the first Psalm which is based on Genesis 1:-7-8 " And God made the firmanent and divided (separated) the waters which were under the firmanent." And so we also separate and turn to the four Psalms 44; 46; 47; 48 which together form a group when the fifth Psalm (45) is brought in to give us full understanding.

The historical setting for these Psalms concerns the threat coming from the armies of Sennacherib during the time of Hezekiah king of Judah. Hezekiah had seen the devastation those armies had wreaked upon the southern kingdom of Israel, and now those same armies were laying seige to Jerusalem - and a cry went up from the people: (Psalm 44)

" We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us
what You did in their days, in times of old . . . .
You are my King, O God, command deliverance for Jacob. "

Verse 8 finishes with a `Selah', a pause to stop and consider the past glorious deliverance from slavery and now trusting in a deliverance from their present distress. The `Cylinder of Sennacherib' has on it an inscription describing this seige:

" I fixed on him and of Hezekiah . . . . who had not submitted
to my yoke . . . . I reckoned them as spoils, Hezekiah himself
like a caged bird within Jerusalem. "

Psalm 44 finishes with these words:

" Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercies sake. "

and is `Entrusted to the Chief Musician upon Shoshannim'. This inscription reveals the prophetic content of this Psalm for, as we have said, all the Psalms are prophetic and Messianic, pointing forward to a final fulfillment. `Upon Shoshannim' has a meaning of Spring . . `to look forward to the Final great Spring Festival of Passover, of which the Apostle Paul wrote, `and so all Israel will be saved'.

Moving on to Psalm 46 the separating inscription `a Song on Alamoth' has a meaning of `a song to be sung'. These various separating inscriptions in the Psalms are part of Scripture, and therefore they are important to note for they give direction for what is still to come and also confirm what has been said. In Psalm 46 with its opening `Shur' we read of the people remembering the past but now turning from their anxiety and fear to trusting for a Deliverer to come again to their aid: `God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble'. Verse 3 ends with a `Selah', a pause, for this is a Song of Praise. The fear was real - `the mountains quake with their surging' Selah' - but their trust in God is more real - `There is a river whose streams make glad the City of God'. This Psalm of Praise is not for victory over an enemy but a Song of Praise as the people see the seige of Sennacherib lifted and their terror and fear subsides. Beyond the walls of Jerusalem lay total chaos: `Though the mountains quake with their surging . . . Selah . . . inside the walls of God there is a river; God is in the midst of her, she will not fall'. Verse 8 brings yet another `Selah', inviting all to `Come and see the works of the LORD'. This use of the Covenant Name of the LORD confirms that He has revealed that He is totally trustworthy to His Word . . `the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah'. Once again the words of this prophetic Psalm `Entrusted to the Chief Musician' point forward to the future Final Great Deliverance for the people of Israel!

Psalm 47 opens as a Mizmor, a Psalm revealing that what is to follow asks for thoughtful mediatation in the midst of jubilation and praise to the Deliverer of Israel. We also note that it is still for `the Sons of Korah', reminding us in our meditation that deliverance comes through the Grace of God and not because of anything the Sons of Korah do:

" O clap your hands, all you people,
shout unto God with the voice of triumph
. . . . for He is greatly exalted. "

Psalm 48 brings us to the fourth of this group of Psalms which are concerned with the deliverance of Judah from the armies of Sennacherib. This last Psalm opens with the inscription `a Song and a Psalm', a Mizmor and a Shur, indicating that what follows requires great instructive thought together with a Song of Praise. Indeed all we `Sons of Korah' understand the meaning of a Mizmor joined with a Shur as we recall our deliverance from our own rebellious natures wholly by the Grace of God. The entire Psalm is a great Song of Praise to the Deliverer of Jerusalem, `the City of the Great King'. This Psalm is the fourth Psalm concerning the danger Hezekiah faced, revealing in its number (four) not only the testing of the king and his people but also prophetically the Testing of Israel's King, the Messiah, who did indeed come with Deliverance for his people and Who will come again to that final remnant of all Israel at the `Time of Jacob's Trouble' - for as we have said, the Psalms are all prophetic and Messianic: (Psalm 48:12-14)

" Walk about Zion, go round about her,
count her towers thereof.
Mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces,
that you may tell it to the generations following.
For this God is our God for ever and ever;
He will be our guide even unto death. "
`Entrusted to the Chief Musician (for a future time)'

We mentioned in an earlier Study that there was a fifth Psalm `layered over' this group of four Psalms, that is, Psalm 45, to which we now turn. In doing so we note that it is placed in the midst of the other four Psalms - or as we have said, layered over them. This Psalm reveals the heart and the intentions of King Hezekiah, and prophetically beyond him to the Heart and Intentions of the LORD God of Israel. Hezekiah, understanding the waning power of Assyria, and hearing of Sennacherib's assassination, strives to bring together the two halves of a divided nation, Judah and Israel, into the one Kingdom of God. His intentions are centered upon Hephzibah, the one he delights in, and on the occasion of his marriage to her - a joining together in a one-flesh, unbreakable union of marriage - he invites the northern tribes of Israel to join together with Judah for this ceremony at the great Passover Feast. The Psalm opens `For the Sons of Korah', a Maschil' - an instruction, `a Song of Loves'. We need not comment further on that opening inscription or the setting of these Psalms, with one layered over the other four, for the words themselves speak a clear message. It is a majestic significant love (for that is the meaning of `a Song of Loves') that the true King of Israel has for His beloved people, tested and tried through the fires of the Great Tribulation, the Day of Jacob's Trouble and now in these prophetic Psalms joined to Him forever.

And so we can now leave these five Psalms - seeing in the group of five a sense of the Grace of God towards the Sons of Korah - and move on to where `the finger of Prophecy' is pointing, the Book of Revelation, the unveiling of the King and His Kingdom. In an earlier Study `The Apokalupsis Revisited' we set out our understanding that the Book of Revelation primarily concerns the people of Israel with only the slightest mention of the Heavenly Bride, the spiritual Bride of Christ. And so in our `final thoughts' we turn to chapter 19 of the Book of Unveiling, the final Book in the closed Canon of Scripture, God's Final Word, and it is here that we see the fulfillment of Hezekiah's intent - through his marriage to Hephzibah - of bringing together, of restoring, the whole remnant of the people of Israel to its rightful Husband, the God of Israel. Verse 7 of chapter 19 records:

" Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him, for the marriage
of the Lamb has come and His Wife has made herself ready. "

We see this marriage of the Lamb spoken of again in verse 9:

" Blessed are they which are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. "
Upon reading both verses verse 7 shows a break in the wording where it says: `. . the Marriage (Supper) of the Lamb has come . . the break occurs . . and His wife has made herself ready'. The `Wife' of chapter 19 in the Hebrew is not recorded as a `Bride' - a Numphe - because she is already a Wife - a Gune. This Wife `who has made herself ready' is the remnant of Israel which has come through the testing of Jacob's Trouble and is the earthly Wife of the great King, who together with the heavenly Bride of Christ celebrates the Marriage Supper of the Lamb - the Bride, the Lamb's Wife of chapter 21, now consisting of Jew and Gentile joined together as the One Bride of the Lamb, the heavenly Bride. And so we close this study on the Purpose of God, seen in these five Psalms of the Book of Deliverance, the Second Book of Psalms. Prophetic and Messianic . . five Psalms of `what was, what is and what is to come' . . the Final Restoration of God's people, the Wife and the Bride joined in one Family for all eternity through the finished work of Jesus!

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