Psalm 8

Psalm 8:

How richly blessed we are to be recipients of the Psalms. The Psalms truly reflect the Church's song throughout the ages. The Psalms represent the song of the Church as it awaited the coming of the Messiah. So, Psalm 2 very clearly portrayed the Messiah and now we have the Messiah spoken of again already six chapters later. Truly, awaiting the coming of the Messiah was central in the life of the Church of the Old Testament.

Read Psalm 8 and Luther's Commentary. Take a few days to devotionally follow the verses of this psalm through the Scriptures. Notice how so much of the content of these verses are so strongly paralleled throughout the Scriptures.

For example: verse 2

"Out of the mouths of babes and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes..."

This verse highlights the humility of the Kingdom of the Messiah. The "voice" will establish this kingdom, that is, the Word of God that even dwells within babes and infants.

This then, is not a kingdom of "sword and armor" as Luther says, but one of humility.

A parallel theme appears in 1 Corinthians 1 :27-28ff

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are..."

Take some time to search out other parallels. Feel free to share your findings!



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Psalm 4

Welcome to week II!

If you're just arriving we're reading from the book "Reading the Psalms with Luther." Purchase the book from www.cph.org

At the beginning I said let's study the "Messianic Psalms." However, I think a better idea is to select and highlight certain Psalms in the order in which they appear. This, I believe, will help us retain them better in our memory, and will allow us to hit other very well-known and comforting psalms along the way.

Psalm 4.

David is the writer of this "Individual Lament" (pg. 357) as the subscript shows. (See your bibles) Psalm 4 was used in the worship setting in Israel, much like we sing the psalms today.

Specifically, due to the final verse, "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safty," this psalm is often used in the service of "compline" (pg. 360) which is the service at the close of the day, right before you go to bed. (Note compline in your LSB hymnals, pg. 253. One would sing this Psalm at the point of the "Psalmody" pg. 254) If you own your own hymnal, this is a wonderfully rich and meaningful way to usher youself and your family into a peaceful night's sleep in the LORD's hands.

Read Luther's commentary and then the Psalm itself. Now it's your turn to start the conversation.

Luther says this is, among other things, a psalm of comfort.

What words make this a psalm of comfort?

How could you use Psalm 4 to comfort others, or yourself?

I will anxiously await your reply:)

Psalm 2

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Friends in Christ. Welcome to our first conversation. Read Psalm 2 and Luther's commentary. The prayer at the close can accompany your daily prayers throughout this week.

The postings for each week will include daily reflections on various comments made by Luther in his commentary on the psalm. Offer comments, questions etc. as freely as you would like. Without further delay, let us begin.

"What in the world is this about"?

How often have you sat in church and thought as you were singing a psalm or listening to an Old Testament reading, "What in the world is this about?" We are not as familiar with the Old Testament as we should be. This, of course, applies to the Psalms as well.

Within the Psalms are some of the richest descriptions of our God and His only begotten Son (vs. 7). When reading or listening to God's Word, we often have to ask ourselves, "Who is the writer/speaker/author here?" When we know who is writing we can begin to get our bearings straight about the particular thing written.

So, look at Psalm 2. Who wrote this?........(if you said the Holy Spirit, you are correct, however my question is, by whose hand were the Holy Spirit's words recorded?) It doesn't say.
Don't be troubled oh student of Scripture. As you well know, one of many important general rules of biblical interpretation is, Scripture interprets Scripture. Look around in Scripture. Look in the little notes you may have in the margin of your bible. Already at the first verse I see Acts 4:25-26 highlighted. What do you find there in Acts? Luke writes,

...'who by the mouth of your servant David have said: 'Why do the nations rage, and the people plot vain things?'

So, Scripture has spoken, David is the writer. Now we ask, who is David? Well you know. David the shepherd, the giant killer, the king, the adulterer, the saint, the sinner...that David. So then, we can say for sure that this Psalm was breathed by the Holy Spirit and written by David's hand. This being true, we can further say that any personal pronoun (me, my, I, etc.) must refer to David, correct? That is the first question of the week.

1. Read verse 7 again. If David is the writer, who is "Me?" (If you were in church you might say, "What in the world is this all about."

2. Secondly, read the greater context of Acts 4:25-26. Note how correctly this Psalm is applied to the events around the persecution of Peter and John, and the rest of the early church.

"Why do the nations rage and the people plot vain things?" Why are the kings of the earth gathered together against the Lord and His Christ?

Ask yourself this Advent why are so many groups so adamantly opposed to anything that smells Christian? Really, are Christians intimidating? Are Christians wicked? While you may know one who is wicked or intimidating or be a wicked or intimidating Christian yourself, this is not Christianity! Christianity is all about Christ. Christ is neither wicked or intimidating. Rather, our dear Savior, though He has every right to be terrifying, intimidating, harsh and vengeful, He has chosen to be patient, humble, loving and selfless. He has chosen to assume human flesh, wear diapers, obey His parents, take orders from church and civil authorities and even allow them to nail Him to a tree. That is, death for the Christ so that kings, rulers and every other poor, miserable sinner can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Has Christ somehow offended the world by being so loving?

Why is the atheist, Phillip Pullman, working so hard at creating "The Golden Compass," a movie that mocks the Triune God and brainwashes children into rethinking their understanding of Christianity. (The movie to be released on Friday, for more info see http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp )

Why have the people, kings and rulers of the world taken their stand against our "Lord and against His Christ?"

So there are two areas of conversation. Talk about them around the dinner table, at work, play or when you walk along the way. If you would like to respond, jump right in. I will pose more questions or highlight specific portions of the Psalm or Luther's commentary more or less depending upon your desire to discuss the current questions. Feel free to ask questions not related to what I have highlighted. Of course, questions that may be way off the topic we may just save for a rainy day. Happy blogging!

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.