Meditations on the Psalms

The Righteous and Just King

1 A Psalm of David. I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O LORD, I will sing praises. 2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. 4 A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness. 5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbour, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure. 6 My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. 7 He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. 8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.

In this psalm David states his holy intention to lead a life of purity, and to repudiate all crookedness and deviation in his kingdom. He asks his God, "When will You come to me?"because he wants to live in the presence of God at all times. When that happens God's presence will fill his heart and the Lord will reign over his house. He will lead and guide him, and finally, the Lord will rule the kingdom through him. David lived with God and praised Him. His daily behaviour was compatible with his singing and his writings, because he applied the texts of his songs to his personal life as a sincere worshipper of God. As a king entrusted by God to carry the responsibility of ruling and caring for his people, he wanted to be the just ruler of a virtuous kingdom.

In this psalm David carries us away to meditate on his own personal life as a believer and as head of a family, and the reality of his practical life as king and ruler. He shows us how a worshipper applies what he says with his mouth in his own practical, daily life.

David explained his ethics in Psalms 15 and 24. He wondered, "LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?"Then he answered, "He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbour, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend"(Psalms 15:2,3). Again he wondered, "Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?"Then he answered, "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully"(Psalms 24:3,4). His last words were, "Thus says David the son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high... the sweet psalmist of Israel: `The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue... He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain'"(2 Samuel 23:1-4). This is the righteous David, the just king, of whom the Lord testified, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will"(Acts 13:22).

Expositors gave Psalm 101 many titles, two of which are: "A depiction of David the King"and "A Psalm to Princes". Many godly kings committed it to memory. It was said of King Ernest the Pious of Saxony that he sent the text of this psalm to one of his corrupt ministers, which gave rise to the saying about any corrupt official: "He will soon receive Psalm 101 to read."

The occasion for writing this psalm is not known for sure, yet expositors offered three occasions in David's life, any of which could have been the occasion for writing this our psalm:

1. He may have written it after the death of King Saul (2 Samuel 1:1-10). David was thirty years old then when the leaders of the tribe of Judah came to ask him to be the ruler over their tribe. David accepted their request and reigned over Judah for seven and a half years. The capital of his kingdom was Hebron. Thus David's status changed dramatically, after he had seen some hard days running away from King Saul, who chased him from cave to cave. He felt grateful to the Lord for changing his condition, so he declared that he would be loyal to God and be a just ruler over his people.

2. He may have written it after the death of his last opponent from Saul's family when all the other tribes asked him to take over the government. They told him, "Indeed we are your bone and your flesh... `You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over (all) Israel'"(2 Samuel 5:1,2). He sat on the throne in Jerusalem for 33 years. He sang this psalm to give thanks to God, praying that he may walk perfectly in the fear of the Lord and to reign over the people with justice.

3. He may have written it on the occasion of removing the ark of the Lord's covenant to the city of Jerusalem, the new capital, as a sign of God's presence in the midst of His people (2 Samuel 6). In the first place, the ark was not moved according to the Mosaic Law. Instead of carrying it on the shoulders of the priests, they carried it on a new oxcart. So when the oxen stumbled, a man named Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, and was struck dead by God on the spot. David feared the Lord, but soon understood why Uzzah died. Once he knew the right way for carrying the ark, he had it moved to the tent he built for it. Perhaps this is why he asks in this psalm, "When will You come to me?"(verse 2). It looks like he was saying, "I have prepared myself, my family and my city in the way that pleases You, O Lord, and my city has become Yours. I want it to always be the city where the ark of the covenant dwells, which you made with your people as a sign of your presence in their midst."It seems like David understood the intent of Christ's statement: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him... If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him"(John 14:21,23).

When the Lord honours and blesses you, giving you a special grace and success, sing this psalm along with David, having resolved to lead a pure and godly life, full of love for your family and the others.

The psalm contains the following:

• First: David the worshipper (verses 1-4)

• Second: David the just king (verses 5-8)

	First: David the Worshipper

(verses 1-4)

1. The worshipper gives thanks: "I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O LORD, I will sing praises"(verse 1). David sang to the Lord who is just and merciful every day, as Ethan the Ezrahite did, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face"(Psalms 89:14). David recalled how much strife and troubles he suffered from, and how he experienced the divine providence that assisted him and rescued him from every adversity. He then realized that every ruler must exercise mercy and justice in his judgments. "In mercy the throne will be established; and One (ruler) will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness"(Isaiah 16:5). He realized that every believer who wants to walk in a perfect way must overflow with praise to the good God, who is abundant in mercy and great in forgiveness. He must also thank Him for his equity that is manifest in His judgments and behave in a way that is in keeping with his faith, treating others with mercy and justice. "He (the Lord) has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"(Micah 6:8).

   So let us participate with David in thanking the Lord and singing of His justice and mercy. There is success and failure in our lives, as well as the fulfillment of dreams and disappointments. Our lives have both the sweet and the bitter, days of health and days of illness, days of gain and days of loss. Let us, then, thank the Lord for the mercies He showers upon us in the midst of all this and say with David, "I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech. Show Your marvellous loving kindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings"(Psalms 17:6-8). Let us praise God and thank Him for His just judgments toward us, whether by rewarding or chastising us, for the apostle Paul says, "You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: `My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives'"(Hebrews 12:4-6).

2. The worshipper strives for perfection (verse 2):

   1. Perfection of intention: "I will behave wisely in a perfect way"(verse 2a). In wisdom and understanding David declares that he intends to walk in a morally perfect way, for "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom"(Psalms 111:10), and "The way of the just is uprightness"(Isaiah 26:7). David said, "For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me"(Psalms 18:22). Afterwards when God told Solomon, "Ask! What shall I give you?"he answered, "Give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil."So the Lord answered him, "I have given you a wise and understanding heart"(1 Kings 3:5-15). It is a wise and understanding man who walks in the way that pleases the Lord, because it is the perfect way. For example, man often wants to avenge himself and take the law into his own hands, assuming that obedience to God will deprive him of his rights. So he does not obey God's order: "Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, `Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord"(Romans 12:19). Yet the perfect attainment of our rights and the perfect victory are only in obeying the Lord's orders not to take revenge and leaving it up to the Lord to render to each one what is due to him. How beautiful is the advice: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise"(Ephesians 5:15).

   2. Perfection of eagerness: "Oh, when will You come to me?"(verse 2b). David's life was replete with sweet memories with the Lord. He must have recalled how he dreaded the coming of the ark of the Lord's covenant to his city. He said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?"(2 Samuel 6:9). But now he gets rid of fear and is filled with confidence and eagerness for the Lord's presence, so much so that he says, "Oh, when will You come to me?"He expresses the feelings of the Korahites in the statement, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?"(Psalms 42:2). He declared his eagerness to be even closer to the Lord, so that he could acquire more understanding of the perfect way that he resolved wholeheartedly to follow. He will not sin against himself or sin in passing judgment because the Lord will give him wisdom and holiness. In this request of his he asks God to fulfil His promise to His people: "In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you"(Exodus 20:24).

      Come, let us declare our eagerness to live always in the presence of the Lord, making Him King over our lives. Say to Him, "When will You come to make my behaviour in accordance with your will? When will You come to my house as God, so that I may say together with my family, `But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD'? (Joshua 24:15). When will You have the final word in everything I do? When will you steer the ship of my life to where You want and please? This is truly heaven on earth!"How true is Saint Augustine's words: "God, You have created us for Yourself; our souls will never find rest unless they rest in You."

   3. Perfection of family life: "I will walk within my house with a perfect heart"(verse 2c). Palaces are usually places for corruption, intrigue and lust. David, however, declares that his palace will be a dwelling place for the Lord, as though he were repeating the motto: "The Lord is the Lord of this house, the unseen guest at the table and the silent listener to every conversation."David was not only interested in behaving perfectly before the people as king, but was careful to behave in a perfect way before God at home. It was even said of him after he had transferred the ark, "He blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts... So all the people departed, everyone to his house. Then David returned to bless his household"(2 Samuel 6:18-20). Striving for perfection, he said, "I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity"(Psalms 18:23). Solomon the wise also said, "The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him"(Proverbs 20:7). David announces here that he will walk amid his children with a perfect heart, to model righteousness and goodness of heart. David must have recalled what Job did with his children: "And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, `It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did regularly"(Job 1:4,5).

      The most difficult place to show our faith is at home. We often save the nice words for our dealings outdoors, and leave only the harsh words for indoors! The most ideal place for expressing feelings of love is at home, where our spouses and children are. Home is also the best place for testing a man's faith with his nuclear and extended family. The Lord always looks for a god-fearing home where He can find rest, as Christ looked for a home where He could rest on Wednesday during the Passion Week, and chose the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus (Matthew 26:6-13). The believers at Colossae found their rest in Philemon's house, for which reason Paul wrote to him and the church, saying, "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow labourer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"(Philemon 1:1-3). Does Christ find your house an oasis of rest and do the believers rest at your home?

3. The worshipper hates evil (verses 3,4):In these two verses David announces his perfect loyalty to God and that he will strive to lead a life of obedience, departing from all evil and loathing it.

   1. He will not imitate the wicked: "I will set nothing wicked before my eyes"(verse 3a). He resolved not to imitate any evil thing he sees in the wicked, no matter how famous or successful they are, because what the eyes behold and are attracted to enters the heart. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"(Matthew 6:22,23). Our first parents set the forbidden tree before their eyes, and found it good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, so they disobeyed God (Genesis 3:6). David guarded himself, though, against what they had done, and learnt the necessity of obedience.

      There is still another possible meaning to David's statement that he won't set anything wicked before his eyes, namely that he will not set before his eyes, or have intentions, to commit any wicked act. His entire intention was directed toward perfect, virtuous behaviour, because "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear"(Psalms 66:18). His motto was, "But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Your works"(Psalms 73:28).

   2. He will shake off any deviation: "I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me"(verse 3b). God ordered His people, "So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand... Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart"(Deuteronomy 13:17; 15:9). David acted on this commandment and decided to shake off all deviation and unbelief.

   3. He will not be friends with the wicked: "A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness"(verse 4). David knew that "Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the blameless in their ways are His delight"(Proverbs 11:20). So he decided to have nothing to do with the wicked. We ought to follow David's example, for "Evil company corrupts good habits"(1 Corinthians 15:33). We must obey the apostolic command: "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?"(2 Corinthians 6:14,15).

	Second: David the Just King

(verses 5-8)

1. The just king rejects the one who secretly slanders: "Whoever secretly slanders his neighbour, him I will destroy"(verse 5a). A slanderer is somebody who tells lies about others, and hurts people by what he says about them behind their backs, giving them no chance to defend their name. A king must have assistants and counselors to give him reports about the coun-try and the people. They should be honest and truthful, never slan-dering or wronging anyone, but give the king a true representation of the people and the state of affairs. If those around the king are honest, their reports will be honest, too; hence the king's decisions will be just. But if those around the king are wicked, they will submit false reports, which will lead to unjust and wrong decisions. For this reason King David did not permit anyone to slander others se-cretly; he rather removed them from his retinue, for "If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked"(Proverbs 29:12).

2. The just king rejects the haughty: "The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure"(verse 5b). David said to the Lord, "For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks"(Psalms 18:27). David had followed the example of his God; he did not endure haughty people like Haman. When King Ahasuerus asked Haman, "What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honour?"he thought in his heart, "`Whom would the king delight to honour more than me?' He suggested that the king should clothe him with the royal robe, let him ride on the king's mare, give him the king's crown to wear, then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: `Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour!'"So the king ordered this to be done to Mordecai, the gatekeeper of the palace (Esther 6:6-11). Truely, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart; these, O God, You will not despise"(Psalms 51:17). So "Be clothed with humility, for `God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time"(1 Peter 5:5,6).

3. The just king uses a perfect and faithful man: "My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me"(verse 6). David was faithful, walked wisely and in a perfect way. Therefore he loved those who are faithful and perfect. He continually looked for them to be paras of his entourage, counsellors, confidantes, co-workers and servants.

4. The just king drives out the liars: "He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence"(verse 7). David suffered greatly from the lying deceivers who sold him out to King Saul, who chased him and sought to kill him. When Saul was caught one time by David, David said to him, "Why do you listen to the words of men who say, `Indeed David seeks your harm'?"(1 Samuel 24:9). And when God made David king, he did not want anyone to suffer the way he suffered, so he drove the deceivers out of his house. It was David also who said, "Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous"(Psalms 31:18). He who endeavors to walk in a perfect way cannot live in harmony with a deceiver, but rather says, "As for the saints who are on the earth, 'They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight"' (Psalms 16:3).

5. The just king cleanses the capital of his kingdom: "Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD"(verse 8). David did not settle for just cleansing his palace from the wicked deceivers, but planned to cleanse his entire capital from them every day, "For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil"(Romans 13:4). David called the capital of his kingdom "the City of God,"therefore he planned to cleanse it from the workers of evil, in order to be the ideal city, a utopia. He planned that "early"every morning he would drive away from it the wicked and the unjust, who do wrong to others. The Lord said, "O house of David! Thus says the LORD: `Execute judgment in the morning; and deliver him who is plundered out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go forth like fire and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings'"(Jeremiah 21:12).

   So let us ask the Lord to bring us closer to Him, because if we walk close to Him we will be faithful in our work, house and ministry. We will deserve to hear the Lord say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things (your personal and family life, with your spouse and children), I will make you ruler over many things (a bigger and better work in ministry and society)"(Matthew 25:23). Let us walk before the Lord perfectly and uprightly, because we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, so that our light may so shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16).

	Questions

1. Why did God say that David is a man after His own heart?

2. What did David mean when he said that he will behave in a perfect way?

A Prayer of an Afflicted Man When He Is Faint

1 A prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come to You. 2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; incline Your ear to me; in the day that I call, answer me speedily. 3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned like a hearth. 4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. 5 Because of the sound of my groaning my bones cling to my skin. 6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. 7 I lie awake, and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop. 8 My enemies reproach me all day long, those who deride me swear an oath against me. 9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, 10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath; for You have lifted me up and cast me away. 11 My days are like a shadow that lengthens, and I wither away like grass. 12 But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of Your name to all generations. 13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favour her, yes, the set time, has come. 14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favour to her dust. 15 So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. 16 For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory. 17 He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer. 18 This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. 19 For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the LORD viewed the earth, 20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those appointed to death, 21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem, 22 When the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD. 23 He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. 24 I said, "O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations." 25 Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. 27 But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. 28 The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You.

This psalm is the fifth among the seven psalms of repentance (Psalm 6,32,38,51,102,130 and 143). Saint Augustine requested these psalms to be written down and hung on the wall across from his sick bed in his last days, so that he could read them and be comforted. How much do we need to stop a while and meditate on our lives in God's presence, and ask, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting"(Psalms 139:23,24). The way these psalms of repentance are distributed among the psalms teaches us that our prayers should include thanksgiving and praise, crying for deliverance and rescue, crying for victory over sins and weaknesses, as well as confession and repentance. This requires open eyes and attentive ears to God's voice, so that our lives may be pleasing to Him. In reciting the psalms of repentance we come to recognize that God does not want to record our mistakes in order to punish us for them, rather to confess them and repent of them. Above all, He is a loving Father, who always welcomes the repentant sinner with open arms. God receives us as we are, weak and unclean, to make us strong and clean. He says, "`Come now, and let us reason together,' says the LORD, `Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool'"(Isaiah 1:18).

This psalm describes the feelings of a bedridden patient, saddened by the guilt that brought about his sickness. He cries out, "Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin"(verse 5). In much the same way he was also saddened by the condition of his people and the community of believers of his time. The psalm is a prayer of a man who pours out his complaint in God's presence, because his cup is full of his afflictions, which he incurred for his sins and those of his brothers. When the body is in pain, each organ suffers, and when an organ is ill, the whole body is affected. It is just as Paul said, "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indig-nation?"(2 Corinthians 11:29). Yet the psalmist recalls the Lord's plentiful mercies, which comfort him and cause him to say, "You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favour her, yes, the set time, has come"(verse 13). He asks the Lord to intervene to rebuild the Church, so that God will have the credit: "For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory"(verse 16).

The psalm contains the following:

• First: The psalmist's complaint (verses 1-11)

• Second: The psalmist's hope (verses 12-22)

• Third: Two comforting differences (verses 23-28)

	First: The Psalmist's Complaint

(verses 1-11)

1. A crying complaint: "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; incline Your ear to me; in the day that I call, answer me speedily"(verses 1,2). The afflicted man who grew faint cries and pours out his complaint to the Deliverer who is able to save those who are tempted, who shows pity and compassion on the mi-serable. He upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down; He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds; He comforts all who mourn. The psalmist requests the Lord to hear his prayer, for He said, "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear"(Isaiah 65:24). He is sore afraid that the Lord will hide the light of his brilliant face from him in the time of his trouble, causing the world to grow dark in his sight. He fears that the Lord will neglect his request, put off the answer or grow weary of his complaints, so he requests that his cry be allowed to come into God's presence, so that He might in-cline His ears and rush to his aid like a mother who bows down to wipe away the tears of her weeping child. If men hear the crying of their children "shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? ...He will avenge them speedily"(Luke 18:7,8). Even if He does not give the believer what he asked for, He will still give him grace and strength to help him achieve victory, saying to him all the while, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness"(2 Corinthians 12:9).

2. The reasons for the complaint (verses 3-11):

   1. A serious illness: "For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned like a hearth. My heart is strick-en and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. Be-cause of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin"(verses 3-5). The psalmist complains that he spent days burning like dry firewood from the intensity of his grief over his own sins and the sins of his people. His life began to disappear quickly and use-lessly like smoke, his bones dried up like twigs of dry wood and his heart, the source of his life and vigour, became like withered grass, scorched and dried up by the harsh sun. He no longer savoured joy and quit eating his food. He groans increasingly owing to his swellings, "my bones cling to my skin."We hear an echo of such a complaint in Job's words: "My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth"(Job 19:20). Or perhaps he recalled the Scripture: "When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; surely every man is vapour"(Psalms 39:11).

   2. Deadly loneliness: "I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. I lie awake, and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop"(verses 6,7). The psalmist compares himself to birds that live far away from people in wastelands and desolate ruins, which serve as signs of evil omen. He likened himself to a lonely bird that sings in a sad voice on a housetop, under the heat of the sun or the downpour of rain, unable to fly away with his broken wings and his voice growing hoarse with the bitterness in his soul.

   3. The reproaches of the enemies: "My enemies reproach me all day long, those who deride me swear an oath against me. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, because of Your indignation and Your wrath; for You have lifted me up and cast me away. My days are like a shadow that lengthens, and I wither away like grass"(verses 8-11). His enemies gloated over his sickness and loneliness, derided him for being abandoned by his God, and, out of spite and hatred for him, swore to stand against him to increase his suffering and speed up his total ruin. His soul broke within him; he chewed and swallowed ashes (a sign of grief), his tears of pain mixed with his drink, so that he was neither satisfied nor quenched. He knew that all this was a result of God's anger with him for his sins. Because of His indignation He lifted him up and cast him away like a powerful storm or a destructive hurricane. Isaiah said, "Our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away"(Isaiah 64:6). His days have become like a long shadow cast by the setting sun, like dry grass with neither beauty nor usefulness, as though saying with Jeremiah, "Woe to us, for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are lengthening"(Jeremiah 6:4).

	Second: The Psalmist's Hope

(verses 12-22)

1. His hope is in the Lord: "But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of Your name to all generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favour her, yes, the set time, has come. For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favour to her dust"(verses 12-14). In all probability these verses were written during the captivity. After the psalmist had lifted up his complaint to the Lord, he directed his face to the heavens, for himself and on behalf of his people. There he saw God, who reigns from eternity to eternity, who said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: `The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations'"(Exodus 3:15). He is the same God of whom Jeremiah said, "You, O LORD, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation"(Lamentations 5:19). He must show mercy to Zion according to His sure promises, as Isaiah confirmed, "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins"(Isaiah 40:2). The time of favour has come as the Lord said to Habakkuk, "For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry"(Habakkuk 2:3). The psalmist emphasizes that the Lord surely feels for His people who love the stones of the city of God, which was razed to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar, and still yearn for the dust on its streets. Sanballat commented mockingly, "Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish; stones that are burned?"(Nehemiah 4:2). But the Lord rose up to show mercy and nullified the mockery of Sanballat and those who took his side. "For He says: `In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation"(2 Corinthians 6:2). "So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away... The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed, that he should not die in the pit, and that his bread should not fail"(Isaiah 51:11,14).

2. His hope is in a coming generation that will comprehend (verses 15-18):When the psalmist lifted his eyes up to heaven he rejoiced and his soul was filled with hope that a new generation, which knows the Lord, is coming.

   1. He knows the fear of the Lord: "So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory"(verse 15). When God brings His people back from captivity to Jerusalem both kings and subjects will comprehend the glory of the Almighty God: "So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him... the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising"(Isaiah 59:19; 60:3). Thus the generation coming after Nebuchadnezzar will comprehend that the Lord is glorious and to be feared, and every knee shall bow to Him, those in heaven and those on earth, and worship will extend from the limited earthly Zion to the whole earth. And in fact, this did happen on the Day of Pentecost as the Holy Spirit fell upon the worshippers who celebrated the Passover from every tribe, nation and people under heaven (Acts 2:21), who returned to evangelise their own countries. "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved"(Acts 2:21). "Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas (a Cypriot who gave away his field to the church), Simeon who was called Niger (probably a black African), Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch (an aristocrat), and Saul (a doctor of the Jewish Law)"(Acts 13:1).

   2. He knows the Lord's glory: "For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory"(verse 16). The Lord's glory appears clearly in His Church which He built up and purchased with His own blood, not of hewn rocks, but of living stones which are holy temples in which He dwells through His Spirit. In this way the prophecy will be fulfilled that says, "`And I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. `The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts"(Haggai 2:7,9).

   3. He knows the Lord's response: "He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer"(verse 17). The Lord's response to the prayers of His people shows that He is the One Who hears prayer; to Him all flesh will come (Psalm 65:2). It proves that He is the only true God, who answers the prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out their complaint before Him. He does not let him go empty-handed, but encourages him, saying, "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly"(Matthew 6:6).

   4. He knows the Lord's writing: "This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD"(verse 18). Both inspired Scripture and history record God's great work, so that the coming generations may study the greatness of God's deed with the previous generations. Thus they will know that "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms"(Deuteronomy 33:27). Therefore they will shout, "I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations... But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who repara His commandments to do them"(Psalms 89:1; 103:17,18).

3. He has hope in divine deliverance (verses 19-22):

   1. The Lord hears and sees: "For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the LORD viewed the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those ap-pointed to death"(verses 19,20). "He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who in-structs the nations, shall He not correct?"(Psalms 94:9,10). As the psalmist lifted up his prayer, the Lord looked down from heaven to answer the prayer. When he complained the Lord did not rise up to show mercy to him and his people (verse 13). But now the time for tender mercy had come, and the Lord looked down from on high and fixed His gaze on the earth to answer the prayer. "Look down from heaven, and see from Your habitation, holy and glorious... Doubtless You are our Father...You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name"(Isaiah 63:15,16). God must hear the groans of the prisoner who has been exhausted by the long prison night, as He did with Peter when He gave him restful sleep and woke him up to rescue and release him (Acts 12). God did the same when he opened the prison gate for Paul and Silas and brought them out of it (Acts 16). He sees the pains of the sinner who has been bound by the sins and evils, as he cries out in repentance, and hastens to set him from Satan's imprisonment. The prisoner then says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ"(Ephesians 2:4,5).

   2. The Lord reveals: "To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD"(verses 21,22). Sinners tend to say that "The LORD does not see, nor does the God of Jacob understand"(Psalms 94:7). Nevertheless the Lord did not leave Himself without witness; the healing of the afflicted when he grew faint and the return of the exiled people made everyone comprehend that the Lord is God, and soon they came to repent and believe in Him, and, finally, walk in His way. "The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry"(Psalms 34:15). Every believer who has been delivered by God will shout, "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; `For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation...' and in that day you will say: `Praise the LORD, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth'"(Isaiah 12:2-5).

	Third: Two Comforting Differences

(verses 23-28)

After the complaint came the hope, because the afflicted man who grew faint, together with his people, has fixed his eyes on God. At the conclusion of this psalm the psalmist's soul filled with comfort because he could see the brevity of his days in the light of God's eternity, then saw the changing world all around him in the light of divine stability.

1. A difference between man and God: "He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. I said, `O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations'"(verses 23,24). Owing to sickness the afflicted man who grew faint saw his body aging prematurely. But he shifted his gaze away from his own weakness and brevity of days to meditate on the One with endless years. He realized that the Lord made man weak so that He would realise that the Lord is strong, so that the created man would repara his Creator and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue"(Job 14:1,2). But the eternal God gives mortal man eternal life: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"(John 3:14-16). How lovely for man to call the Lord "my God". It is this personal relationship that gives man sanctification and life eternal.

2. A difference between God and nature: "Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You"(verses 25-28). When the afflicted man compared his age with that of heaven and earth, he found that his life is short and transient. As he looked up and compared God with nature, which He created, the man found that nature had a beginning and an end. But, God is eternal, already there even before the world He Himself created came into existence, and He will also remain after the form of this world passes away. "The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up"(2 Peter 3:10). Nature changes in obedience to the Lord's commands, who directs the winds and brings down rain to fill the seas, who shakes the earth, causes volcanoes to burst forth and change the face of the earth. They all change, but He remains the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Paul quoted those words when he was speaking of Christ, God's eternal Word (Hebrews 1:10-12).

Despite the brevity of the life of the afflicted man, he says to the Lord, "The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You"because the Lord makes them dwell in safety. They will grow and take root like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither. How beautiful is the future picture of the believers which the prophet Daniel saw: "And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed... But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever"(Daniel 7:13,14,18).

	Questions

1. Why did St. Augustine hang this psalm on his wall?

2. Mention the two differences the psalmist with which ended his psalm.

Bless the Lord, O my Soul

1 A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to an-ger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our frame; He reparas that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place reparas it no more. 17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, 18 To such as keep His covenant, and to those who repara His commandments to do them. 19 The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. 21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure. 22 Bless the LORD, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!

This is a psalm of joy, thanksgiving and praise. It opens and closes with the imperative: "Bless the LORD, O my soul."For the Lord is the believer's refuge at all times. When he is weary, he complains to Him, and He opens his hand of mercy to fill him with goodness. The Lord said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you"(Matthew 7:7). Also when the psalmist is happy, he goes to Him in gratitude and appreciation, because he experiences the divine generosity of giving and feels how indebted he is, so he impels his soul to offer thanksgiving, saying, "Bless the LORD, O my soul."If it is natural to cry out when in trouble, it is only appropriate to give thanks when we are blessed. As much as we expect a response from our generous God, He also expects us to thank Him when He grants our request. After Christ had healed the ten lepers, only one returned to thank Him. He asked, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?"(Luke 17:17).

From both the introduction and conclusion of this psalm we learn the necessity of thanking God. We are to begin and conclude our spiritual life with thanksgiving. As we start our right spiritual life with repentance and confession, trusting in the forgiving atonement of Christ, Christ enters our lives, and we begin our new spiritual life span with thanksgiving, saying, "I was blind, now I see"(John 9:25). And as our life here on earth nears its end, we also bless Him and thank Him, because He has begun a good work in us, which He promised to complete (Philippians 1:6). Now we are nearer to the completion of our salvation (Romans 13:11) and will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalms 23:6). Let us begin every day with the prayer: "Bless the LORD, O my soul,"and conclude it with the prayer: "Bless the LORD, O my soul."When faced with a problem, let us embark on solving it by thanking God, who is an expert at solving problems. When the problem is resolved, thanks to Him, we are to thank Him because He heard and answered.

The psalmist opens his psalm by demanding that his soul thank God for His favour and grace to him personally, having received five blessings from God. Then he moves on to urging the angels, the Lord's hosts, servants and all His works to join him in thanking the God of mercy, truth, revelation and the keeping of the covenant, whose kingdom dominates all.

The psalm contains the following:

• First: The psalmist gives thanks (verses 1,2)

• Second: Five blessings from God (verses 3-5)

• Third: God's mercy (verses 6-12)

• Fourth: The need for God (verses 13-18)

• Fifth: Everyone gives thanks (verses 19-22)

	First: The Psalmist Gives Thanks

(verses 1,2)

In the midst of feeling gratitude for God's favour, the psalmist said, "Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits"(verses 1,2). God had blessed the psalmist out of the goodness of His heart, so, in return, the psalmist demanded that his soul bless God with all the mind, the emotions, the will, the thought and the tongue, under all circumstances, because he felt how greatly indebted he was to the generous Creator. The apostle Paul said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ"(Ephesians 1:3). The apostle Peter also said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you"(1 Peter 1:3,4). God, therefore, blesses us with His rich gifts, both spiritually and physically. In return, we bless Him by exalting Him, praising Him, revering His name, thanking Him, giving Him credit and talking to others about Him. We also say to Him, "All things come from You, and of Your own we have given You"(1 Chronicles 29:14).

1. He blesses and thanks Him because He is the Lord:He is the Lord of creation, the supreme Ruler of both heaven and earth, who owns every beast of the forest, and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalms 50:10). As a son feels gratitude for his father who is "the lord of the house,"so does David expresses his gratitude to God who is "GOD the Lord."

2. He blesses and thanks Him because He is the holy One:The angels shout to him, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!"(Isaiah 6:3), and in the vision John saw all creation shouting to Him: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"(Revelation 4:8). All His works are pure, and every "good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning"(James 1:17). "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all"(1 John 1:5).

3. He blesses and thanks Him because He is the benefactor:His benefits are free gifts to the undeserving man-kind. He acts benevolently because He is gracious by nature "who gives to all liberally and without reproach"(James 1:5). As a result of His generous benefits we say, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want,"past, present and future. "But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me"(Psalms 13:5,6).

Men are tempted to forget to thank God, although they do not for-get to ask for their needs! Therefore we are admonished: "Beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God"(Deuteronomy 6:12; 8:11). And as we obey this command we say, "I will mention the loving kindnesses of the LORD and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, according to the multitude of His loving kindnesses"(Isaiah 63:7).

	Second: Five Blessings from God

(verses 3-5)

The psalmist mentions five blessings God gives freely to the believer: Forgiveness of all sins, healing of all diseases, redemption of the soul from the pit, crowning the soul with mercy and loving-kindness and satisfying life with goodness.

1. The blessing of forgiveness: "Who forgives all your iniquities"(verse 3a). The enumeration of five blessings begins with thanking God who forgives all the sins of the repentant sinner. Through forgiveness God begins to be pleased with him and starts His good work in him. Man cannot enjoy the rest of God's gifts unless he is sure that God accepted and forgave him.

   1. The meaning of forgiveness:The word "forgiveness"is rich in meanings; here are some of them.

      *To let go:When Joseph, Mary's husband, knew she was pregnant, he "was minded to put her away secretly"(Matthew 1:19), namely let her go. Of course there is some difference between Joseph's position to his blessed fiance´e Mary and our position to God as sinners. We are guilty and our transgression is evident and established. Yet God says to the repentant sinner, "I will let you go; I will forgive you and demand no punishment for what you've done. I will not proclaim your disobedience."This is exactly what Christ did with the woman who was caught in adultery; He forgave her and said to her, "Go and sin no more"(John 8:11). The gospel did not record her name, because God released her and let her go. Likewise the gospel did not record the name of the sinful Samaritan woman who repented (John 4), as well as many others.

      *Freedom and release:Christ declared that His mission was to free and liberate, which had been foretold by Isaiah long ago: "To proclaim liberty to the captives"(Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18). When the king forgave the indebted servant who could not pay, he "released him, and forgave him the debt"(Matthew 18:27). The word is used here in the same sense as when Pilate the governor "was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished"(Matthew 27:15). He released Barabbas during the feast even though he was guilty. This is forgiveness; the Lord frees the sinner from the bonds of his sins and set him at liberty. Christ said, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed"(John 8:36).

      *Remission:Christ told a parable of a man who had two peo-ple in his debt, "and when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both"(Luke 7:42). He simply remitted the debt.

      *Covering:Psalm 32 opens with the statement: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered"(Psalms 32:1). The author of Psalm 85 said, "You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin"(verse 2). When God covers transgression He no longer sees it, because He Himself covered it and hid it. Our first parents tried to cover themselves with leaves, but to no avail. Therefore God provided them with a real cover; He made them shirts from animal skins, from a sacrifice. This is the garment of righteousness that comes from God. How thankful we are to God, for He covered, absolved and released the soul that was polluted with sin, and let it go free!

      *Blotting out: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities"(Psalms 51:1,9). It means: Do not let them be recorded in Your book, but wipe them out entirely.

      *Removal: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us"(Psalms 103:12). The east and the west will never meet, and so will the transgressions of the repentant sinners never be seen or counted against them.

      *Casting: "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea"(Micah 7:18,19).

      *Putting away:When David confessed his sin before Nathan the prophet, Nathan said to him, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die"(2 Samuel 12:13). Paul also said of Christ, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love"(Colossians 1:13).

   2. The foundation of forgiveness:There are two bases for receiving forgiveness.

      * The grace of God:as David wrote Psalm 103 by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he must have been thinking of the Passover lamb. Its blood was applied by the Hebrews on the two doorposts and the lintel of their houses on the night they left Egypt, so that the destroyer would pass over them when he came (Exodus 12:13-23). He must have also been thinking of the bronze serpent which Moses had lifted up in the Sinai Desert, and that every one of the Israelites who was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze serpent in faith was healed of the deadly venom (Numbers 21).

      The Passover lamb and the bronze serpent were both symbols of salvation, which was to come through Christ. When John the Baptist saw Christ, he exclaimed, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"(John 1:29,36). Paul said the same thing also: "For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us"(1 Corinthians 5:7). Christ Himself said to Nicodemus, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life"(John 3:14,15).

      Forgiveness of sin, then, is a free gift from God alone: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast"(Ephesians 2:8,9).

      * Repentance:The tax collector prayed, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"and went down to his house justified (Luke 18:13). The repentant thief on the cross said to the other thief, "We indeed (are crucified) justly"then, turning to Christ, said, "Lord, repara me when You come into Your kingdom"(Luke 23:40-42).

      It is not naturally easy to confess our sins and repent, because we prefer to blame others. Confession of sins, however, means that we have discovered our transgressions and shortcomings, as well as our inability to save ourselves. At this point we turn to the Saviour who is able to save to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).

      In order to obtain forgiveness, some people try to keep certain laws, but they soon discover that these only show them their wrongs. The laws are like a straight measuring stick that shows any crookedness and shortcomings, but is unable to complete that shortcoming or straighten the crookedness. The harder man tries to apply the laws the clearer he sees his inability, and cries out, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"(Romans 7:24).

      Some people try to obtain forgiveness by means of doing good works, but they forget that their ability to do good is from God, that the money they offer to the needy is a gift from God, and that the intelligence they use to serve others is also from God. So, we cannot have forgiveness except as a free gift from God, having believed in Him and trusted His grace that was made manifest in the cross. This truth was seen in the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts and in the bronze serpent on the pole, because "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (and a new direction); old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new"(2 Corinthians 5:17). Let us return to God in repentance, trusting the atonement of Christ, who said, "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out"(John 6:37). So let us hasten to Him, saying, "You said, `Seek My face,' my heart said to You, `Your face, LORD, I will seek'"(Psalms 27:8).

   3. The blessings of forgiveness:The psalm introduces the five blessings with the blessing of forgiveness, because it is the basis for enjoying all of God's blessings. Man can never enjoy God's blessings, whether they be health, family or work unless he has peace with God. Sin raises a dividing wall between man and God, which screens off the divine light from reaching man, causing his life to become dark no matter how much health, riches, knowledge or friends he has. Health cannot give light to life, neither can money, however abundant, shine on our hearts. Knowledge increases man's woe, because the more knowledge he acquires the more ignorant he feels. "Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh"(Ecclesiastes 12:12). Only one Person can help us enjoy life; that is God, when He grants us forgiveness. It is He who commanded "light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ"(2 Corinthians 4:6). "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"(1 John 1:9). "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"(Ephesians 1:7).

      When we receive God's forgiveness we have peace with God, with ourselves and with others, too. We also receive the free gift of adoption, because all those who receive Christ's salvation "to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born... of God"(John 1:12,13). At this juncture they will say to each other, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God"(1 John 3:1). They will also say, "Therefore, having been justi-fied by faith (through what Christ has done for us), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us"(Romans 5:1-5). How lovely it is to stand in God's grace, near to Him, at peace with Him, following our Saviour in confidence, love and obedience.

2. The blessing of healing: "Who heals all your diseases"(verse 3b). Our heavenly King is the only One who "forgives all your iniquities"and "heals all your diseases."One may fall ill because of his guilt, and God heals his spirit by forgiveness, then heals his body. Christ said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you,"and quickly added, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house"(Mark 2:5,11). Christ said to the sick man of Bethesda after healing him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you"(John 5:14).

   One may also fall ill because of a broken heart and of grief, as it is said, "Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression"(Proverbs 12:25). But when someone starts a pure, personal relationship with God, he will run to Him with a son's frankness, and pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name"(Matthew 6:9). He will pray for comfort for his sorrow, so that the divine promise is fulfilled to him: "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you"(Isaiah 66:13). Through this sweet, personal relationship with God the sick is healed from his sickness, which was brought about by the brokenness of his soul. Therefore he will say, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God"(Psalms 42:11). And he will hear, "But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves"(Malachi 4:2).

   There are also physical diseases that the Lord heals through medi-cines or miracles, or through grace, which enables the sick person to bear the torments of his disease. Complete healing, however, will be achieved when the believer is taken up to heavenly glory.

   1. Healing is to restore something to its original state:God created man righteous and complete, but sin destroyed everything. Righteousness and reconciliation with God are part of man's original nature, whereas sin is foreign to his nature. Health is original, whereas sickness is foreign. Therefore the psalmist says, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word"(Psalms 119:67). When we say that God heals all our sicknesses we are talking of the Creator God who restores everything to its original state. God created man after every other thing, and saw that it was good, and indeed it was very good. (Genesis 1:4,31). But "through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned"(Romans 5:12).

   2. The Lord is the Healer:God let the Israelites know Him as "the LORD who heals you"right after their escape from Egypt. "So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, `What shall we drink?' So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them. And there He tested them, and said, `If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you'"(Exodus 15:22-26).

      "The LORD who heals you"in Hebrew is a title: "Jehovah Ropheh". This word "Ropheh"may be linked to the Arabic root rapha, meaning to darn or mend. It is so fitting, then, to say that the Lord is the Healer who restores the warp and woof of the human body to their original state, healing the wounds and setting the broken bones. Martin Luther said, "The physician is the cobbler of the human body, because he stitches its torn parts together."The Lord is the greatest physician there is. Has not Christ said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly"(John 10:10)? An abundant life is a whole life, which the Lord touches with His blessing, forgiving all sins and healing all diseases. To Him we pray, "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise"(Jeremiah 17:14).

   3. How does the Lord heal us?

      (1) He heals us through medicine:The Bible recorded several cases of healing through medicine. Here are three of them:

      i. The healing of King Hezekiah: Hezekiah developed a deadly boil, and was told by the prophet Isaiah, "Thus says the LORD: `Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.' Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed, `Repara now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly."Then God said to Isaiah, "Go and tell Hezekiah, `Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years."' ... Now Isaiah had said, `Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it as a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover'"(Isaiah 38:1-4,5,21).

      ii. The healing of Epaphroditus: Epaphroditus carried a gift of money from the church at Philippi to the apostle Paul, who was imprisoned at the time in Rome. He volunteered to serve Paul, but sickness prevented him from doing so. So the apostle nursed him until he got better. Although the apostle had been given the gift of healing people miraculously (Acts 14:8-10; 16:16-18; 28:8), God, in His wisdom, intended for Epaphroditus to be healed in a natural way. Epaphroditus received medical treatment until he got better. The apostle Paul wrote about this incident thus: "For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow"(Philippians 2:27).

      iii. The healing of Timothy: Paul sent Timothy a medicinal recipe, most likely in the form of advice from Luke the physician, in which he told him to "No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities"(1 Timothy 5:23).

      (2) He heals through miracles:The pages of the Bible are full of cases of miraculous healing. The apostle James admonished, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord"(James 5:14). Here are two examples from the Old and New Testaments of miraculous healing:

      i. The healing of Naaman the Syrian: There is no cure for leprosy, and a person suffering from it expected only death. Naaman the Syrian, however, was cured from his leprosy when he "dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean"(2 Kings 5:10-15).

      ii. The healing of the man who was born lame: This was the first miracle to be performed after the Pentecost. A forty-year-old lame man, who had never walked before, was healed. Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and the man leapt for joy (Acts 3).

   (3) He gives grace to the sick person to bear his sickness:The greatest example of such a situation is Paul's condition. Paul said, "A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me"(2 Corinthians 12:7). We do not know exactly what that thorn was, but it could have been an eye disease (Galatians 4:13-15). Paul prayed three times asking for healing, but did not get it because the Lord said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."No sooner had he heard this than he responded, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me"(2 Corinthians 12:9).

   (4) God will give complete healing in heaven:Every believer realizes that he has a life without end, which started the day he opened his heart to the Lord. Therefore the believer does not consider death as the end of his life, but a passage to a better life. He says, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain... having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better"(Philippians 1:21,23). There "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new'"(Revelation 21:4,5). This is the perfect health and complete healing which the Lord wants to give to the believer.

3. The blessing of redemption: "Who redeems your life from destruction"(verse 4a). The Hebrew word shachat can mean both "hole"and "destruction". In this verse "hole"would indicate the grave, i.e. physical death, and "destruction"would be the eternal destiny of the lost. When God blesses someone by forgiving his sins, He also redeems him from hellfire. When God blesses someone by healing his sickness, He also redeems his life from destruction. Elihu, Job's friend, mentioned these two blessings as he said, "In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man (i.e. to help him repent and change his direction, as well as remove pride from him in order to confess his sins to the Lord), He keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword"(Job 33:17,18). King Hezekiah received the two blessings, so he sang to the Lord this song of thanksgiving: "O LORD, by these things men live; and in all these things is the life of my spirit; so You will restore me and make me live. Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back"(Isaiah 38:16,17).

   1. Redemption from the hole that men dig:In saying this David must have been thinking of Saul's plots to kill him. At one time Saul offered his daughter to him in marriage if he (David) would kill a hundred Philistines of the king's enemies. In giving such an offer Saul was digging a hole for David, for he expected him to die while carrying out such an impossible mission (1 Samuel 18). At another time David's next of kin, his own son Absalom, dug a hole for David in that he planned a coup, in which he would kill his father and rule in his place (2 Samuel 15). But the Lord saved David from those pits of death.

      David must also have recalled his forefather Joseph who was thrown down into a cistern by his own brothers, but "The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man"(Genesis 39:2). God released him from Pharaoh's prison, placed him in a distinguished position, so that, looking back, Joseph could say to his brothers, "As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive"(Genesis 50:20).

      A friend may dig a hole for you with good intention, in order to drive you away from something that appears to be harmful, yet is good and necessary for achieving God's purposes. Peter scolded Christ to drive Him away from the cross, but Christ answered him, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offence to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men"(Matthew 16:23).

   2. Redemption from the hole that the devil digs for us or we for ourselves:James said, "Let no one say when he is tempted, `I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone (by evil). But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death"(James 1:13-15). The man who is drawn away by the devil's deception will fall into the hole of disobedience. The devil deceives us when he makes good look like evil, and fools us by his false representation. The devil never twists the arm of anyone to make them sin, but is content with false suggestions. It is up to man himself to accept or refuse. Pharaoh attempted to harm the Israelites, but the harm that the Israelites caused to themselves was far worse. Pharaoh caused them bodily harm, but it was their murmuring against God that caused their destruction and falling into the pits of lust in a place called Kibroth Hattaavah (Numbers 11:33,34).

      On the other hand, the Lord warns people of sin, and it is the people themselves who either pay attention to the warning or are drawn away by deception. In both cases God still wants to redeem the penitent from the devil's pit and save them from falling into his snare. Obviously a ship is in no danger from the water that surrounds it; the danger lies in letting the water come into the ship. Therefore Christ prayed for the believers, saying, "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one"(John 17:15).

   3. How redemption is achieved:David must have been thinking of redemption in terms of the Mosaic Law. A redeemer was someone who redeemed, i.e. ransomed, a prisoner, or discharged the debt of someone unable to pay it. A redeemer was also next of kin, someone responsible for someone else by reason of close kinship. This sense of the word is made clear by Naomi when she spoke with Ruth about Boaz: "This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives"(Ruth 2:20). There was a closer relation to them than Boaz who refused to fulfil the legal obligations of kinship, so Boaz filled his place and performed all the duties required by law. When David said that the Lord redeems his souls from the pit he meant that the Lord was his nearest relation, his next of kin. Redemption from slavery and from debts took place in the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:25,47-49). The gospels tell us that Christ came to proclaim the year of Jubilee and called it "the acceptable year of the LORD,"in which He proclaimed liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound (Luke 4:19). Thus He proclaimed that He was our Redeemer, our next of kin, the only One that can save us from the pit of sin, which leads anyone who falls into it to the eternal pit of destruction. On the last day, at the Second Coming of Christ, the Lord will raise the bodies of the believers from the pit and the grave: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first"(1 Thessalonians 4:16).

      Now you must be wondering, "How can Christ be any relation of ours?"Scripture says that Christ is the Creator, the Son of God from eternity past, and we are created of dust. He is the Holy One who came down from heaven, and we are mortal sinners. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, came to us, born of a woman, the blessed Virgin Mary, born under the law (Ephesians 2:4; Galatians 4:4). The Bible also con-firms that "Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh"(1 Timothy 3:16). "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth... And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace"(John 1:14,16). Because of this Martin Luther said to Him, "My Lord, Jesus Christ, You have become what You were not so that I can become what I was not."He became a man to make us partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). On the cross He carried our sins and became sin for our sake, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). And by virtue of this redemption He says to every one who believes in Him, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine"(Isaiah 43:1).

      When John the Baptist was born his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people"(Luke 1:68). Christ promised the believers not only to visit them but also to accompany them on their life journey. He said, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age"(Matthew 20:28). Christ came in the form of a man and visited Planet Earth, having provided eternal redemption. When we were yet hopeless in our pit of sin He came to us, and He still comes to visit us in all situations; in our sins, sicknesses and when our enemies plot against us. We can always hear Him calling, "Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"(Matthew 11:28). When we answer His call we become "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"(Roman 3:24).

4. The blessing of loving kindness and tender mercies: "Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies"(verse 4b). In the first three blessings we saw God blessing us with the basics; i.e. forgiveness, healing and redemption. But in the fourth and fifth blessings we see Him granting extra benefits: crowning the head with loving kindness and tender mercies and satisfying one's mouth with good things, so that one's youth is renewed. The psalmist says to the Lord that He crowns His children with loving kindness and tender mercies, considering them princes and princesses. They are the sons and daughters of the heavenly King.

   1. A crown of tender mercies means kinship:Rachamim (tender mercies) in the Hebrew language is derived from the same root as "womb"and "kinship", that is, any blood relationship. The Lord showed loving kindness to His people by granting them adoption and making them paras of His family and household. When Moses was sent to Pharaoh to get the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses was commanded to say, "Thus says the LORD: `Israel is My son, My firstborn... let My son go that he may serve Me'"(Exodus 4:22,23). Christ said, "For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother"(Matthew 12:50). God says to the believers, "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and paras of the household of God"(Ephesians 2:19). Since we do not deserve God's acceptance due to our transgression, He shows us loving kindness as we cry out to Him, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions"(Psalms 51:1). To everyone who accepts Christ as a merciful Redeemer He gives "the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"(John 1:12,13). This means those who are not born from a physical relationship, nor by human will, but rather through the work of God. The believers marvel at this heavenly work and say to one another, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!"(1 John 3:1). "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, `Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ"(Romans 8:15-17). The credit for all this goes to Christ who came "to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, `Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ"(Galatians 4:5-7). Adoption gives us the right to call God "Abba, Father". Abba is actually an Aramaic word. Paul quoted it and then translated it into Greek, "father". Paul meant that we could call God "Abba"with the same familiarity that children have with their own father, yet we should respect Him also by using the more formal word "father". This filial familiarity is related to the boldness, access and confidence given to us by God (Ephesians 3:12). When God grants us adoption we become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. So praise the Lord.

   2. A crown of tender mercies means loving kind-ness for His people:After granting them adoption, God shows mercy to His people, and makes them paras of His own household. This tender mercy was manifest in what God said to Moses: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt... for I know their sorrows... Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt"(Exodus 3:7,10). The prophet Isaiah ex-pressed God's tender mercies for His people this way, "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old"(Isaiah 63:9). If the be-liever meditates on "the days of old"in his own life, he will be amazed at the divine mercy and his heart will fill with confidence in the future, because God is "the same yesterday, today and forever"(Hebrews 13:8). The same God who redeemed the afflicted from their bondage, bore them and carried them all the days of old, will redeem, bear and carry now and in the future, too. Paul put it this way, "Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us"(2 Corinthians 1:10,11).

      God showed His great mercy for us when He came to us in the form of a man, and "in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted"(Hebrews 2:18). He did help them, for He "went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd"(Matthew 9:35,36). "And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, `This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.' But Jesus said to them, `They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.'... And He took the five loaves and the two fish... blessed... So they all ate and were filled"(Matthew 14:14-21). When he stood by Lazarus' tomb and heard the two sisters weeping, he could not help weeping, for He was moved by their mourning (John 11:35).

   3. A crown of loving kindness and mercy adorns the heads of the believers:The Lord's mercy appears in the fact that He sets different crowns upon the heads of the believers, all having the characteristic of permanence. Paul made a comparison between the short-lived wreaths of flowers, received by the contestants of the Olympic games, and the permanent crown received by the perseverant believer who exerts himself in keeping God's way. He said, "And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown"(1 Corinthians 9:25). The believers who run the great spiritual race with faithfulness and diligence, striving against sin and Satan, will receive an imperishable crown from the Lord. Scripture lists several crowns which the Lord sets upon the head of a believer:

      * A crown of glory and honour:The psalmist marvelled at the mercies of the great Creator God who is mindful of man, who is made of dust, and even visits him. He said, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honour"(Psalms 8:3). How great is the mercy that places a crown of glory and honour on the head of frail man, and invests him with authority over all God's creation, setting everything under his feet!

      The highest crown of glory, however, is the one given by God to the pastors (shepherds) who persevere in serving Him and all those He left in their charge. The apostle Peter says to those men, "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away"(1 Peter 5:4). We are all shepherds responsible for a flock, whether we be fathers, mothers, teachers, pastors or government officials.

      * A crown of wisdom:Solomon the wise said that wisdom "will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you"(Proverbs 4:9). Wisdom is a crown the Lord places on the heads of the believers. The apostle James said, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him"(James 1:5). A wise man is the man who surrenders himself to the Lord and wins souls (Proverbs 11:30). He will receive forgiveness for his sins, healing for his sicknesses, redemption from destruction and the crown of wisdom.

      * A crown of a happy family: "An excellent wife is the crown of her husband"(Proverbs 12:4), and "Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father"(Proverbs 17:6). It is a mercy from the Lord to the believer to have a blessed house and an excellent wife, where children take pride in their parents and grandparents are crowned with grandchildren.

      * A crown of a glorious silver-haired head:Another mercy from the Lord to the believer is to have the glorious crown of godliness in youth and a silver-haired head in old age. Solomon the wise said, "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness"(Proverbs 16:31).

      * A crown of righteousness:It is given by God to those who strive for the sake of the kingdom, who eagerly await the Second Coming of Christ, such as Paul who said, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing"(2 Timothy 4:6-8).

      * A crown of life:God gives it to everyone who loves the Lord and endures the temptations which the Lord Jesus permits him to undergo, such as Job who said, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD... shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?"(Job 1:21; 2:10). The Bible blessed Job and all those like him as follows: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him"(James 1:12).

      Yet we are in danger of losing our crowns if we violate the conditions for keeping them, therefore Christ warned the angel of the church of Philadelphia, saying, "Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown"(Revelation 3:11). This means that God may assign someone else to do the job the believer refuses to do, because He will not leave His work unfinished. Then He will give the crown to the one who does the job which would have been given to him who fell behind.

      We, however, will have the privilege and honour of receiving that crown when we cast it at Christ's feet on the day we will meet Him. The Bible says about the twenty-four elders, who represent the churches of the Old and New Testament, "The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, say-ing: `You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and pow-er; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created'"(Revelation 4:10,11). So let us hold on to the crown given to us, so that we may have the honour to cast it down gratefully at Christ's feet, who alone is worthy of glory, honour and power.

5. The blessing of satisfaction and renewal: "Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's"(verse 5).

   1. God satisfies:The psalmist blesses the Lord because He satisfies him and gives him everything generously and liberally, according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). This is what the prodigal son found out in the far country. He thought he could live his life and spend his money in any way he wanted as long as he was far away from his father. But the bitter experience in the far country taught him that departure from his father meant hunger and misery, and that true satisfaction could only be enjoyed in his father's house. He then said, "How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father"(Luke 15:17,18). No sooner had his father seen him than he embraced him with joy and held a banquet for him. The prodigal son had to pay dearly to learn that basic lesson, which we hope to learn without having to go through the sufferings the prodigal son went through.

      In order to explain the conception of heavenly satisfaction, Christ said that the kingdom of God was like a wedding banquet held by a king, who gave every guest he invited a royal garment suited for the grandeur of the occasion and the greatness of the royal status. The point of Christ's parable is that God satisfies our life with good things and dresses us with a garment of salvation and righteousness (Matthew 22:1-14).

      Christ did not just settle for teaching about satisfaction, but also fed five thousand hungry persons with five fishes and two loaves of bread (John 6:1-15). Then He said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst"(John 6:35). God still satisfies the believers both physically and spiritually, for "The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it"(Proverbs 10:22). And the believers will respond, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore"(Psalms 16:11).

   2. God satisfies us with good things: "Who satisfies your mouth with good things."Good things are things that suit our needs, and meet them. When God gives them to us we say, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want"(Psalms 23:1). Moreover, good things suit God's good nature. He gives the believers the best and the most costly, because they are the dearest and the best that He has. David testified to this as he said, "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread"(Psalms 37:25).

      (1) The best thing is God's salvation:Christ said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me"(Revelation 3:20). He satisfies us with His precious character when He enters our hearts, saving us from our sins. In describing the conditions of the soul that is fettered by sin and humiliation, the psalmist said, "For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons; because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High, therefore He brought down their heart with la-bour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses"(Psalms 107:9-13). He satisfied them by saving and freeing them. As Christ enters our hearts we say, "As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness"(Psalms 17:15). So we start our day with prayer, and speak with God so that our souls may be satisfied. On the Last Day He will satisfy us with the completion of His salvation as He raises us from the dead to enjoy the light of His countenance forever.

      (2) The best thing is His word:The word of God satisfies the hungry heart, as the psalmist said, "They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures"(Psalms 36:8). "How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"(Psalms 119:103). Christ said, "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life"(John 6:63). The prophet Jeremiah said, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts"(Jeremiah 15:16).

      (3) The best thing is praising Him: "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips"(Psalms 63:5). The believer is filled as he continually praises the Lord on earth, and his satisfaction will be complete in heaven when he sings forevermore. "The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail"(Isaiah 58:11).

   3. God renews the youth: "So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."God satisfies the believer with good things, so that his youth is renewed like the youth of an eagle that soars on high. It is not meant that the eagle renews its youth, because eagles die. The reference is made here to the strength of the eagles and the heights they rise to. There are young people who soar to the hori-zons of spirit and mind when they are in their eighties, and there are people who are old when still in their twenties. It is the person who possesses a deep faith and a strong hope that renews his youth, because his confidence in the Lord makes him say, "I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they com-fort me"(Psalms 23:4). Elihu's statement about what the Lord does to the penitent will then be fulfilled to him: "Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom; his flesh shall be young like a child's, he shall return to the days of his youth"(Job 33:24,25).

      Moses, who died at the age of hundred and twenty, was an example of renewed youth. In describing him the Scriptures say that His eyes were neither dim nor his natural vigour diminished (Deuteronomy 34:7), although his life was fraught with burdensome responsibilities. The Lord satisfied him with good things and his youth was renewed. Similar to him was Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who said of himself, "And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive... here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in"(Joshua 14:10,11).

      (1) The believer rises like an eagle:The Bible says, "But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). The Lord renews the youth of the believer, who becomes like an eagle that raises its wings and soars on high, and, having fixed his eyes on high spiritual things, rises and ascends in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord.

      (2) The believer teaches others as an eagle does: "As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him"(Deuteronomy 32:11,12). The eagle teaches its young how to fly by shaking its feather-lined nest, which is supported by thorny twigs. The thorns start to annoy the young and they try to use their wings to fly. When they jump out of the nest, the adult eagle swoops down to carry them back to the nest to rest. It repe