Psalms of, who?

I recently finished a book about the Psalms and it was frustrating work. The author has some really good insights and observations but in some passages I wondered if he and I were reading the same Bible. He spends a lot of time suggesting and offering the best thoughts of the latest scholarship and is very careful not to disagree too strongly against any wind of doctrine, but I was almost finished with the book before he hinted at his opinion. One popular thought among the scholars suggests (because they always suggest) David didn't write any of the Psalms.

These academics say the "sweet Psalmist of Israel" could not have written the Psalms attributed to him because he could not have been as sophisticated and theologically advanced as the Psalms attributed to him are, or so they say. Because critics don't really believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, they can spend their days teaching us why it's wrong. Many of the same scholars do not believe the history of the Old Testament can be trusted so they developed the "form-critical" view of the Psalms that categorizes groups of songs of praise or lament, and views them through that context. Why? Because they believe we can't trust the history of the Bible to get the context, so this is an alternative lens to read the Psalms. They view the Scripture, not as God's Word, but a historical text to preside over in judgment. These same men give credence to extra-biblical records and histories and those histories trump the Bible. The Psalms are an academic puzzle to be solved rather than God's truth to be believed.

I, for one, believe David wrote a good portion of the Psalms (Psalms 72:20). I'm standing apart from many of the learned, I know, but I think I stand in good company. Jesus believed David wrote Psalms (Luke 20:42;Mark 12:36). Peter believed David wrote Psalms (Acts 1:16; 2:25). Paul believed David wrote Psalms (Romans 4:6). The author of Hebrews believed David wrote Psalms (Hebrews 4:7). Not only did the New Testament writers believe this, but the author of Hebrews attributes a Psalm to David that doesn't have a title AND tells us it was God speaking through David as He was moved by the Holy Ghost (Hebrews 3:7). I'll believe the Bible.

This is why we must be discerning as we read the thoughts of men, no matter how much schooling they have under their belt. The best of scholars are men and all men are liars. Writing and publishing thoughts doesn't elevate thoughts and a seminary education doesn't sanctify them. A book is merely a one-sided conversation of someone's ideas and some ideas are trash. You may not read these scholars. But you might listen to men preach who have read them and are under their influence. My advice is to read the Bible with faith and read every book written by men like a textual critic, and preside over their works with suspicion.

Inherit the Wind

He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, Proverbs 11:29.

I'd rather walk ten miles to avoid senseless trouble than to ride a mile into it. Eliphaz hit the nail on the head when he said, "man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward," and I have more trouble in my life than suits me now, so why would I want to add to my own misery? But apparently, there are a special few who just don't have enough problems in their life so they have to get some of their own making. They must get out of bed, bored to tears, and stir up a heap of trouble to pass the time. The more likely explanation is that a fool doesn't understand the consequences of his actions. People (most people, most of the time) don't want trouble in their life but they have a funny way to go about it because living contrary to God's way is a sure fire path to misery now, and poverty for the future. Sin today troubles the house and will eventually bring it down.

 

If you bring trouble home, you are destroying the future of your own house. How can you expect God to bless your rebellion? The Lord has set before us the path of blessing and the path of judgment (Psalm 1) and having a respect for the Bible, but not following Christ's Words is going to bring trouble home. Venerating the book, but having enough dust on the cover to write "DAMNATION" across it, as the preacher said, is a sure way to bring your house to ruin.

 

You can trouble your house by who you bring home. There are many pious people who wouldn't let a blasphemer abide for very long in their living room or refuse to let a man mock God before their family, unless, of course, he's on television. That's different. Do you think you can bring ungodly people into your home night after night to instruct you and then reap the fruit of righteousness?

 

You can trouble your house by who you keep out of it. Some take great pains to keep people and trouble out of their house. They build fences, put up signs, install security systems, and have a dog on patrol. They remain vigilantly armed to the teeth ready to keep problems out, but they trouble their house because Christ is not in the home. They trust in their strength and their armory. They trust in their valiance and their bullets. But if Christ is not in the home, or the heart, then your fortress is built on sand and will crumble. God is the founder of the home (Genesis 2:23-24). The Lord is the leader of the family (1 Corinthians 11:3). And Christ is the provider and sustainer of the house (Psalm 127:1). So to shut the closet door and not seek the Lord's face in the home is to trouble the home and inherit the wind.

 

 It's bad enough to trouble your own house, but some have the gumption to try and bring trouble to the Lord's house.  The soul foolish enough to bring trouble to the Lord's house will inherit a whole lot more than wind. 

 

Seeking and Finding

Proverbs 11:27  He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. The book of Proverbs is wisdom literature, so keep this in mind as you read. It's like the man who returned his air mattress to the store complaining it wasn't sea worthy. He wanted the mattress to do something it wasn't made to do. Proverbs are not fortune cookies but wise words designed to teach us how to walk in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:1-7). They are short and sweet generalized principles God gave us to help us make the right decisions in our life.

 

Our text could have a spiritual application, the child of God who serves the Lord with gladness will be rewarded in Heaven, while the wicked will get his payment in Hell. That's a truth, but I don't believe that's the truth here. This proverb is comparing people in the world who get what they got coming to them. Generally speaking, this is how the world works, but not always. Sometimes the good guy doesn't get the girl and the guy in the black hat gets away with the crime. But again, a proverb is instructing us in how to live in the fear of the Lord and giving us principles to live by and generally speaking, doing good will be a blessing and sinning will bring sorrow to your life.

 

The man who is actively working for good will procure for himself good in return. In the first half of the proverb, the person isn't looking for favor, nor is he working to get blessings, but he's diligently searching to do good. The blessing is a byproduct of what he labors for, it's the unintended consequences of doing good. I'll be honest, sometimes it's hard to do good. As bad as it sounds, a person can get weary in well doing. But I've found that doing good, even when we don’t feel like it, generally comes with its own blessing. On the other hand, the man who is looking for mischief will find it and a whole lot more. He will get all the unintended consequences that come with wickedness. We love the pleasures of sin now but hate the consequences. So when a person pursues evil, he'll find it and then get to deal with all that goes along with it.

 

So why do we do bad things? Doing the cost benefit analysis, sin costs more pain in the long run than the temporary pleasure you might get out of it – but we do it anyway because that's our nature (Jeremiah 17:9-10). Wisdom tells us to stop, but we don't listen and despite the pain it brings us, we do it anyway. This proverb proves our dire spiritual condition. That's why we need a Saviour. We need someone to make us clean and give us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:25-27). By trusting in Christ, the Wisdom of God, you can be made clean. 

The Only Comfort

The Heidelberg Catechism (or the 1680 Orthodox, if you are a Baptist) starts things off by asking, " What is your only comfort in life and in death?" I think all of us could easily answer the first part and maybe list more than a few things in this life that give us strength, hope, and consolation. Maybe it's a parent, or a sibling, or trusted friend who can help bear life's burdens. Maybe your job gives you strength and hope to keep pressing on, day after day. President Ulysses S Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer and didn't have much in the way to leave to his wife. He spent his final days writing his biography. There were days when the pain was almost unbearable and he hardly had the strength, but he pressed on, determined to finish the work because he wanted the book to be a source of income for his wife after he died. She was his comfort in life, and knowing he'd leave enough to sustain her was a comfort in the last days of his life.

But what about the second part? If we make a list of our comforts in this life, what would carry over to be our comfort in death? Your work may give you comfort now, but you can't take your job to the afterlife. Your friend may be a consolation to you now, but want about the second after you leave this world? What hope does your family provide you in your death?

What can comfort you both in life and in death? What can provide hope and assurance to me now, and when I die as a sure ground for hope and consolation? I believe the catechism is true when it says there is only one comfort that can help in life and death. "That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him."

I belong to Jesus and I am his purchased possession. He saved me from my sins and delivered me from Hell, and gave me his righteousness. I'm loved by my Father in Heaven, who chose me before the foundation of the world in love, and preserves me, keeps me, and protects me in this world and the world to come. I'm indwelt by the Comforter, my friend who seals me, guides me, and blesses me with assurance and fills me with the fruit of grace.