Wednesday Bible Study: The Return of the King

You may recall that an earlier psalm purported to be the last Psalm of David, but as we know, the current Book of Psalms is actually a compilation and the editors just didn't delete that. There are more psalms attributed to David and we've come to two of them today. Psalm 101, attributed to David,  is a sort of oath of office. Psalm 103 is a song of praise, which gives God several attributes that he clearly doesn't have. No, he doesn't heal all diseases (v. 3), doesn't renew youth (v. 5), doesn't work vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed (v. 6) and most certainly is not merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (v. 8). I don't even know where to begin. Let's say, oh, just to pick one at random, Numbers 25:

25 While Israel dwelt in Shittim the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. ² These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. ³ So Israel yoked himself to Ba′al of Pe′or. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; ⁴ and the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵ And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you slay his men who have yoked themselves to Ba′al of Pe′or.”

 Or how about, oh what the heck, 1 Samuel 15:

15 And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore hearken to the words of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish what Am′alek did to Israel in opposing them on the way, when they came up out of Egypt. ³ Now go and smite Am′alek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.’”

⁴ So Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Tela′im, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵ And Saul came to the city of Am′alek, and lay in wait in the valley. ⁶ And Saul said to the Ken′ites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amal′ekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Ken′ites departed from among the Amal′ekites. ⁷ And Saul defeated the Amal′ekites, from Hav′ilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸ And he took Agag the king of the Amal′ekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹

 Then there's Numbers 31, where you really get to see merciful God who is slow to anger:

31 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Avenge the people of Israel on the Mid′ianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” ³ And Moses said to the people, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Mid′ian, to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Mid′ian. ⁴ You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵ So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phin′ehas the son of Elea′zar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. ⁷ They warred against Mid′ian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and slew every male. ⁸ They slew the kings of Mid′ian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Mid′ian; and they also slew Balaam the son of Be′or with the sword. ⁹ And the people of Israel took captive the women of Mid′ian and their little ones; and they took as booty all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. ¹⁰ All their cities in the places where they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, ¹¹ and took all the spoil and all the booty, both of man and of beast. ¹² Then they brought the captives and the booty and the spoil to Moses, and to Elea′zar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹³ Moses, and Elea′zar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. ¹⁵ Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? ¹⁶ Behold, these caused the people of Israel, by the counsel of Balaam, to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Pe′or, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. ¹⁸ But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. ¹⁹

 Sweet!

In between is another of those endless, whiny laments by some guy who thinks the whole world is against him. 

 

A Psalm of David.

101 I will sing of loyalty and of justice;
    to thee, O Lord, I will sing.
² I will give heed to the way that is blameless.
    Oh when wilt thou come to me?

I will walk with integrity of heart
    within my house;
³ I will not set before my eyes
    anything that is base.

I hate the work of those who fall away;
    it shall not cleave to me.
⁴ Perverseness of heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.

⁵ Him who slanders his neighbor secretly
    I will destroy.
The man of haughty looks and arrogant heart
    I will not endure.

⁶ I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
    shall minster to me.

⁷ No man who practices deceit
    shall dwell in my house;
no man who utters lies
    shall continue in my presence.

⁸ Morning by morning I will destroy
    all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all the evildoers
    from the city of the Lord.

 

A prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

102 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to thee!
² Do not hide thy face from me
    in the day of my distress!
Incline thy ear to me;
    answer me speedily in the day when I call!

³ For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.
⁴ My heart is smitten like grass, and withered;
    I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of my loud groaning
    my bones cleave to my flesh.
⁶ I am like a vulture^[a] of the wilderness,
    like an owl of the waste places;
⁷ I lie awake,
    I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
⁸ All the day my enemies taunt me,
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.
⁹ For I eat ashes like bread,
    and mingle tears with my drink,
¹⁰ because of thy indignation and anger;
    for thou hast taken me up and thrown me away.
¹¹ My days are like an evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.

¹² But thou, O Lord, art enthroned for ever;
    thy name endures to all generations.
¹³ Thou wilt arise and have pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    the appointed time has come.
¹⁴ For thy servants hold her stones dear,
    and have pity on her dust.
¹⁵ The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
    and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord will build up Zion,
    he will appear in his glory;
¹⁷ he will regard the prayer of the destitute,
    and will not despise their supplication.

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:
¹⁹ that he looked down from his holy height,
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die;
²¹ that men may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
²² when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³ He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.
²⁴ “O my God,” I say, “take me not hence
    in the midst of my days,
thou whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”

²⁵ Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but thou dost endure;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away;
²⁷     but thou art the same, and thy years have no end.
²⁸ The children of thy servants shall dwell secure;
    their posterity shall be established before thee.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 102:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

A Psalm of David.

103 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 iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the Pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵ who satisfies you with good as long as you live^[a]
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works vindication
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹ He will not always chide,
    nor will he keep his anger for ever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor requite us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove 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 remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
    he flourishes like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
    and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
    upon those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant
    and remember to do his commandments.

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
    and his kingdom rules over all.
²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his word,
    hearkening to the voice of his word!
²¹ Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
    his ministers that do his will!
²² Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Footnotes

1. Psalm 103:5 Heb uncertain