The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 3:1-4,
"Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are
saying of me, 'God will not deliver him.' But you, Lord, are a shield
around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the
Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain."
Often times the view from further above something provides interesting
patterns, cohesion, and even additional sense and meaning. I believe
the book of Psalms provides that very thing. The reading of larger
portions of the book (not just a psalm here and there) on a frequent
basis provides clearly defined themes not so easily seen otherwise.
I certainly do not advocate the subordination of word studies,
analysis of grammar, identifying figures of speech, and the other
tools typically used to study the Scriptures as these are all very
important, but a "bird's eye view" provides some interesting themes
that may not be as apparent.
Not all psalms are the same, of course. Different psalms provide
different messages or expressions of the heart. Some constitute hymns
of praise and worship, some are penitential in nature (confession of
sin, expressed sorrow for sin, etc.), some are considered to be
"wisdom psalms" that describe and prescribe the way to live life as
God designed it, and some are even "imprecatory", that is, they appeal
to God to pour out his wrath on enemies, a curse.
Beyond our understanding of the nature and message of each psalm, I
believe we see some themes that are expressed throughout the entire
collection of psalms (and throughout the entire Bible itself). The
first four verses of Psalm 3 express two of these many themes that can
be found: the first is that mankind has problems and the second is
that God is the very one man needs to flee to for relief, to find a
refuge, to bring a solution for his problems. These two themes (as
well as others) are developed throughout the entire book and have
specific purpose for us.
That purpose, particularly when expressed in so many different ways
and circumstances in the book, teach us two things God wants us to
know:
1. Mankind is lost and fallen, estranged from God living in a lost and
fallen world that is cursed. Consequently we all have problems! Even
David who wrote this psalm, whom God himself claimed to be "a man
after my own heart", Acts 13:22. You and I have problems as well as
every other person.
2. God is our refuge to find relief, protection, a refuge, the
solution and the Savior to go to for our problems.
Of course, the big problem we all face (and not explicitly stated in
this psalm) is that we have all sinned and face God's looming judgment
of us. That is a big problem. God sent his Son, Jesus Christ as our
refuge and our deliverer from his Father's judgment. It is this very
issue I believe why we see so many psalms providing us these two
themes in many ways.
These are not the only themes we see expressing themselves repeatedly
in the psalms, but they are of the most important in my estimation.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here:
http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
respond and let me know.
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