Like a great river coursing over the soul

"The Psalms are a beautiful haven when life is tough because they remind us of the power found in praise and worship regardless of our distresses," writes a Bible commentator. "They point us to the comfort found in His presence, even in the midst of pain, when we remember how wonderfully faithful He is.

"The vast majority of Psalms came pouring out of a heart wrought with pain and turmoil. Most of them are laments. They are the songs of the people of God crying out to Him in the midst of loss, persecutions, obstacles, trials and heartaches. I love the honesty with which they felt free to approach God." 

*****

“I remember I used to read Psalm 88 years ago and think, ‘Man, there’s not a ray of sunshine in that psalm!’" says Richard Jordan. "Somebody has said that there’s ‘no ray of light or word of comfort’ in this whole psalm. That’s true except for verse 1: ‘O LORD God of my salvation.’

“The only hope in that psalm is the first phrase. The rest of it is just a plaintive cry of the Believing Remnant in Israel as they are consumed by the despair and the persecution of that time of Jacob’s trouble, and you see that deep longing that takes hold of the Little Flock’s heart as they look to the Lord for deliverance.

"Psalm 89 is the deliverance. It’s sort of the capstone of the description of the deliverance and the avenging and the release of Israel from all the persecution into this great light—this sunshine of the sure mercies of David. Coming as it does after Psalm 88, it would certainly be a great balm.

"Isaiah, when he talks about John the Baptist, he says, ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,’ this is the kind of stuff that will comfort them. Just like the words about God’s grace and the provision you have in Christ comforts you, these things are what give hope and comfort, strength and support for the nation Israel.

"A Maschil is a psalm designed for the edification, the education, the understanding to be enlightened. It’s an instructive psalm. These titles, when it says a Maschil, there are other kinds of psalms, and what those titles do is they tell you what the intent of the psalm is.

"Psalm 89 says it’s a 'Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.' In I Kings 4 and I Chronicles 25 you find Ethan. He was the wisest of Solomon’s counselors. God had told Solomon (I Kings 11) that because of his idolatry, the kingdom was going to be taken away from his sons and wasn’t going to continue in his family, and Ethan would have known about that.

“That’s why we’re going to read about the failure of the son of David to accomplish, and so Ethan writes this in the light, obviously, of knowing God was going to take the kingdom line lineage of Solomon away from his sons. But God wasn’t going to take the covenant away from David because there was going to be another son of David to accomplish what God promised.

“Psalm 89 says, 'I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

[2] For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
[3] I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
[4] Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.’

“In either verse two or three, Ethan quits talking and now God’s talking. And it’s really going to be God, through Ethan, talking for the rest of the chapter.

“Now, that term ‘Selah’ in prophecy  . . .  I know what they say in the devotional commentaries, that that’s a rest note in music, and that’s true, and that you are supposed to stop and contemplate that and think about what he just wrote.

“But, you know, you’re supposed to meditate on all the words. When you see that word Selah in your Bible, especially in the psalms, that term does two things. No. 1, it tells you the context is the Second Advent. Two, you want to stop and think about this passage in light of the Second Coming.

“So it’s a little flag, a reminder, a thing to point out to you the context doctrinally is going to be the Second Advent. And if you want to see where you can know that for sure it’s Habakkuk 3.

*****

"Peace in trouble, you learn at higher and higher levels, comes from standing and resting in the truth of God’s Word.

"By knowing 'tribulation worketh,' we learn how much God loves us; how highly He values and esteems us. We’re told ‘the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.’

“That ‘shed abroad’ is like a great river coursing and flowing over our soul. It just comes and courses in and flows in over us and refreshes us. It’s like the old Nestea Plunge commercial. This sweaty, hot guy falls off into that pool and you just almost want to go ‘Ahhh’ yourself when you see him go under.

"It’s the Holy Spirit that takes all of these things as they happen to us; it’s the Holy Spirit that takes the Word of God and builds up in our soul strength. We’re strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man.

“People, it’s the Word of God that energizes us. God’s Spirit works through His Word and He takes what we know about these things and energizes us.

"As David writes in Psalm 36, 'How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
[8] They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
[9] For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.' "

(new article tomorrow)