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SELAH 4
That I may walk in the light of the living
Those who do not receive our Church Letters may not be familiar with our understanding of `the Five Books of Psalms', therefore it is worth mentioning it at the beginning of this `In Brief'.
You will note that the Psalms are separated into five distinct Books. Their principal message is seen in the corresponding five Books of Torah, but seen in a more personal way in the Books of Psalms. You will also see that the pre and post scriptions are broken into (often incorrectly) by our modern insertion of Psalm numbers. In the Hebrew Canon of Scripture there are no Psalm numbers and the `scriptions' - which are part of the sacred script - are read as the closing or opening of the next `psalm', and therefore the context determines which part belongs to which `psalm'. In this `In Brief' we are looking at Psalm 56 which is set within the second Book of Psalms, thus corresponding with the Book of Exodus in Torah. Its message therefore is concerning leaving one place to go to another - in the case of Exodus it is a deliverance of the Israelites by the LORD from slavery in Egypt and their testing the truth of His promise on their journey to their Land of Rest.
First, we look at the prescription of Psalm 56, which correctly is, `A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath'. The word `Michtam' has a meaning of `something engraved, something cut into'. All the `Michtam Psalms' are personal and Psalm 56 is therefore describing something very personal to David. He had been captured by the Philistines and was about to be tested in his belief as surely as the Hebrews were tested in the Book of Exodus. David had to know personally what the Apostle Paul wrote in his Letter to the Romans, that, `the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable'. David knew in his mind the Word of God and that he was anointed by Samuel to be the successor to Saul as king over the LORD's people - but here he was fleeing from Saul in fear of his life, only to be captured by the Philistines! David had to know in his spirit and emotions that the LORD's Word was engraved, cut into, His Righteous acts. Although here we now jump ahead to the end of Psalm 56, this is in order to understand - not only with our minds as we read Scripture, but also with our spirits - that this Psalm, particularly within the context of this `In Brief', is personal to all disciples of Jesus to know that God's promises are engraved into all His Righteous acts when we too face times of testing.
You will note that the closing postscription is `entrusted to the Chief Musician', that is, to the Royal Keeper of all Temple music so that on similar occasions, whenever they reoccur, the correct music would be brought out to accompany the Temple rituals. The concluding words of this postscription requests `at Al-Taschith', meaning `do not destroy'. This has a meaning of: `Do not destroy Your word to me but remember in my fear and anxiety Your faithfulness'. The Apostle Paul, when writing to `my dear son Timothy' wrote `All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God'. Therefore all prophetic Scripture is for those today who are called by Him into His salvation and who follow on. The LORD's Chief Musician, the Holy Spirit Who truly is the Royal Keeper of the LORD's `music', will bring this out when we too are fearful and anxious in the face of trouble or danger - `Do not destroy, but remember us who cry out when we are threatened by doubt or unbelief'. The Chief Musician assures us it is impossible for Him to destroy, for the LORD's promises are `yes and amen in Christ Jesus' and engraved for eternity.
However we need to turn to the Psalms and correct erroneous teaching within the Church. We are sure they teach with the right intention, but they speak only of a one-way journey -`safe in the arms of Jesus we walk into victory'. But Scriptures such as this Psalm show that ours is a continual two-way journey, for the Holy Spirit calls us to trust in the midst of our fear, for the LORD's promises are engraved in His Righteous acts. In this Psalm David had to learn this - afraid of the future but always trusting in the LORD's engraved promises. The Book of Exodus opens with the words: `Now these are the names of the children of Israel' and so indicates their journey to be personal for each one. The Book closes with the cloud of the LORD `above the Tabernacle . . . in the sight of all the House of Israel on their journey'. The `Exodus Psalms', that is, from Psalm 42 through to Psalm 72, show this same pattern. Psalm 42 opens with the well-known words: `As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God', and as we read on we read of anxiety and fear, but ending with the words:
" Why are you cast down, O my soul . . . .
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him. "
Psalm 72, the closing `Exodus Psalm', reminds us that the LORD's Righteous acts are engraved in Him:
" Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel . . . .
Blessed be His glorious Name for ever . . . Amen and Amen.
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. "
David knew - as surely as we, the LORD's disciples, also know - the promises of God. In his captivity he feared that God's promises for his future were in danger, but he trusted God in that fear because he knew the LORD's words were engraved for him personaly. Verses of Psalm 56 show this
Verse 3:
" Whenever I am afraid I will trust in You . . . "
Verse 4:
" In God (I will praise His word)
In God I have put my trust;
I will not fear, what can flesh do to me? "
Verse 8:
" In all my wanderings (my doubts, fears and anxieties)
put my tears in Your bottle, are they not in Your Book?
When I cry out to You, then my enemies (my doubts,
fears and anxieties) will turn back.
This I know, because God is for me. "
Within the Middle Eastern culture of David's time the tears of mourners were collected in bottles and buried with the one they mourned. Paul's Letter to the Romans tells us today:
" For if we have been buried (planted) together with Him in
the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the
likeness of His resurretion. " (Romans 6:5)
Do not doubt for one moment that Jesus, as death approached, and especially in the Garden of Gethsemane, was in fear and anxiety, and as David had done before Him cried out in His agony: `Whenever I am afraid I will trust in You. As Paul said: `If we have been planted with Him in the likeness of his death' our anxieties and fears are caught in `His bottle' and buried with Him, and after our time of testing we shall be raised up in our trust in His engraved Word. Are not our fears written in His Book, engraved in His Righteousness, then will our enemies turn back . . . `because God is for me!'.
The living words of Psalm 56 are for us today, for in the midst of anxiety and doubt we never stop trusting in Him because God is for us! Afraid of the future? . . . yes! But always we trust in His Righteousness because the prayers of David's Greater Son Jesus for our salvation are engraved upon His heart!
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