Psam 5

Shalom Valentin   Pondering Psalm 5 For the choir director; upon the Nehiloth, a Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my meditation. Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and God, for I pray to You. LORD, hear my voice in the morning; in the morning I turn to[1] You, and wait. For You are not a God who desires wickedness; evil cannot sojourn with You;  Boastful men cannot stand in Your sight. You hate all who do iniquity;  You destroy those who speak lies; LORD abhors a man of bloodshed and deceit. But as for me, through Your abundant mercy, enter Your house; I bow towards Your holy temple in awe of You. O LORD, lead me along Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before me. For there is no sincerity in their speech; their gut is destruction; their throat is an open grave; their tongue slippery. Hold them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own devices; for their many crimes cast them out, for they are recalcitrant to You. But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; may they ever sing in exultation as You shelter them; and let those who love Your name exult in You. For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, encircle with favour as with a large shield.   COMMENTARY Introduction Within this Psalm, David plays with the Hebrew language, and even in translations, we can see this playfulness. Note how he uses: Different Terms for speech: words, meditation, the sound of my cry, prayer and speaking. A Variety of Descriptions for evildoers and their acts: the wicked; boastful men; who do iniquity; who speak lies; a man of bloodshed and deceit. Many Diverse Expressions for God’s listening: give ear, consider, listen and hear. And some Sundry Descriptions of the pious: those who take refuge; those who love Your Name and the righteous man. And finally an Assortment of Words for gladness: rejoice; exultation and exult. A main theme in this Psalm is the contrasts between the righteous and the evildoers; the enemies of God. Strophes (stanza) One way to divide this Psalm up is in strophes: Verses 1-3, David says: hear my prayer. Verses 4-6, David says: keep me from the evildoers. Verses 7-8, David says: guide me in Your Tzedakah, (righteousness) and by Your Chesed (lovingkindness / abundant mercy). Verses 9-10, David says: God defend me from these evildoers. Verses 11-12, David says: shelter me, so that I may rejoice. Verses 1-3, David says: hear my prayer. It is ascribed to the leader of the band; specifically written for wind instruments (הַנְּחִיל֗וֹת – ha’nechilot)[2], a Psalm of David. The word nechilot[3] is only used once in scripture, it is often left untranslated for we do not know for certain what instruments these were. In Psalm 4 we read about the stringed instruments (Neginot), in Psalms 6 & 12 there is a reference to the Sheminit meaning an “eight” stringed lyre or harp and here in Psalm 5, it is thought that these might be wind instruments, we do know that they used various wind instruments in worship (Isaiah 30:29, 1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Kings 1:40). Amongst the wind family were: עוּגָב ugav, the long flute - possibly a pan-flute (Genesis 4:21; Job 21:12; 30:31, Psalm 150:4) קֶרֶן keren, a natural horn (Joshua 6:5; 1 Chronicles 25:5). שׁוֹפָר shofar, also a natural horn with a natural bright call, often mistranslated as a trumpet (Joshua 6:4; Exodus 19:13; Numbers 10:10). חֲצוֹצרָה hatsotserah, the silver straight trumpet (Psalm 98:6; Numbers 10:1-10). חָלִיל chalil, literally “bored through” meaning a pipe, flute or even a horn with holes (1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Kings 1:40).  It makes you wonder about the sounds of worship during the Tabernacle and later in Temple times. David prays consider my meditation and hear the sound of my cry, both are valid requests before God, our silent prayers and our deep groans can be laid before Him, who is both LORD and King. David indicates he belongs as a subject to the Lord, and it is exclusively to and for Him, so that David turns morning by morning to Him in prayer. As we noted in Psalm 1 (see the previous email) this word meditation, is important, and so it bears repeating; David uses the Hebrew word הֲגִֽיגִ, ha’gi-gi denoting the almost unverbalised, we could translate this as mumblings, or sighings, it is used again in Psalm 39:3. Biblical meditation is thinking or speaking, mulling over, pondering the Word of God. Meditation is never trying to empty the mind; rather it is about the renewal of the mind. The apostle Paul in Romans 12:2 writes “Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is - what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.” We can determine what God’s will is by knowing the scriptures, that is His revealed will. So that we transform our stinking thinking by meditating, pondering the Word of God (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2). David mentioned the LORD as King. Over the years I have noticed that some believers in Yeshua seem to have lost sight of His kingship, Yeshua is the prophet and the Priest from Hebrews, but His kingship is spiritualised away. Yet even the Gospel message that Yeshua preached was the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14  and Mark 1:14-15 ).It was the message of the kingdom of God (mentioned some 70 times in the New Covenant alone).  The promise of His reign was mentioned when the angel spoke to His mother Miryam (Mary) with the promise “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of his father David.” (Luke 1:32) Many Jewish prayers talk about the LORD being king and about His kingdom כי המלכות שלך היא, “for yours is the kingdom”, and “You shall reign in glory forever and ever.” In this Psalm, we see glimpses of these kinds of prayers already. One day Yeshua shall indeed reign over all the earth and David shall be one of the kings of the earth, David just over Israel (Ezekiel 34:24; 37:25), and Yeshua over all. “And the LORD shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall the LORD be One, and His Name One.” (Zechariah 14:9) Verses 4-6, David says: keep me from the evildoers. God does not delight in wrongful behaviour, for within Him and with Him no evildoer can reside. David then describes one of his enemies. It is possible that he is thinking of Shimei who cursed and even threw stones at him. Shimei said to David you are a man of blood and a worthless man (2 Samuel 16:5-14) words that are echoed here. These words describe David’s main antagonists; men like Shimei, Doeg the Edomite (1 Samuel 22:9:23) and Ahitophel (2 Samuel 15:12) aptly, David reminds himself and us not to be like them. Verses 7-8, David says: guide me in Your Tzedakah, (righteousness) and by Your Chesed (lovingkindness). David like all Godly Jewish men turns towards Jerusalem in prayer and worship and expect to go up to the House of the Lord for service and bow down towards the Temple. Many translations write Temple, but this would be difficult as the temple had not yet been built. The word for Temple in Hebrew is הֵֽיכַל hecal literally meaning palace, and God who was described in this Psalm as King, and a king, would indeed reside in a palace. According to Psalms 80 and 99 God is enthroned above the Cherubim, inside the Holy of Holies, which was the throne-room. As such, He sits in the Tabernacle (the Tent of Meeting) this is His residence, (for other references regarding the Tabernacle being the hecal see 1 Samuel 1:9; 3:3; 2 Samuel 22:7).   Two key Hebrew words are used: Chesed חֶ֫סֶד and Tzedakah  צְדָקָה Chesed חֶ֫סֶד volumes have been written on the meaning of this word and the translations vary widely here: Lovingkindness, Steadfast Love, Mercy, Goodness, Covenantal Love, it appears almost 250 times in the Hebrew scriptures, God shows His Chesed, He gives it above and beyond that which we deserve because He is Love (1 John 4:8). The second word is Tzedakah  צְדָקָה righteousness or justice, when applied to our lives it becomes also the giving of charity. David wrote, “lead me in Your righteousness” contrary to my enemies, make my life upright and in right relationship with You O Lord. It is well worth contemplating these words. For those well acquainted with Hebrew liturgy verse 7 (8 in the Hebrew text), it is the second line from the beautiful prayer Ma Tovu. Ma Tovu - מַה טֹּבוּ How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel! As for me, in the abundance of your lovingkindness will I come into Your house. I will worship toward Your holy Temple in the fear of You. Modern translation from the Siddur (Jewish Prayer book). This prayer is a quotation from many scriptures: Numbers 24:5; Psalms 5:7; 26:8; 95:6; and 69:14. A simple but nice rendering can be found here http://zemirotdatabase.org/audio/recording253.mp3 The words that David prays in verse 8: guide me / lead me Lord in your righteousness, are echoed in both the Tanach (Older Testament) and in the Brit Chadashah (New Testament) one example is in the disciples’ prayer, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” Matthew 6:13 & Luke 11:4. We like David need to remind ourselves God will guide us (Psalm 48:14) and we too need to ask the Lord to guide us by the Good Shepherd Yeshua (John 10:11-14) and in the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17 etc). Verses 9-10, David says: God defend me from these evildoers. We like David must recognise when the enemy comes to steal and destroy using blatant false statements or flattering lips. Either way, we should avoid such people and where possible not listen nor regurgitate those statements. The graphic picture painted for us by David the “throat being an open grave” is reflected in Proverbs 18:21a “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”. We in opposition ought to be people who through Yeshua continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His Name (Hebrews 13:15). Verses 11-12, David says: shelter me, so that I may rejoice. May those who take refuge in You, those who love Your Name: Rejoice; שָׂמַח be joyful and glad Be Joyful; רָנַן to sing joyful, in jubilation Exult;  עָלַץ rejoice and exult Why this three-fold emphasis on rejoicing, how could David encourage the righteous to rejoice? First, because they take refuge in the LORD and second, God protects them by spreading His large shield over them. These three different words are all trying to bring the same response from them and also from us. David like the apostle Paul had his fair share of troubles and Paul sums it up “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Final Thoughts Let us meditate and cry out to the Lord, and pray He leads us away from evil, that He will guide us in His righteousness and Mercy, so that we can stand strong in the grace of King Yeshua and be joyful despite the circumstance, in our lives. May we be like David the king and or the apostle Paul who both rejoiced despite their sufferings for His sake. We too can expect our share of troubles and tribulations and still know that He is the large protective shield around us shielding us from much evil.   Shalom in Messiah Yeshua Paul   End Notes [1] lit., ‘lay out (before You),” indicating prayer and/or sacrifice [2] A Chasidic insight was offered by rabbi Yosef: “The Targum the Aramaic translation of “on the Nechilot” is “l’shabcha al chignon.” This means to offer praises at the dance festival, or fair.” In Living Waters - The Mei HaShiloach: A Commentary on the Torah by Rabbi Mordechai Yosef of Isbitza (1800-1854) Translated by Betsalel Phillip Edwards, 2001 page 436. [3] Other interpretations of Nechilot.  )a) Some translations primarily based on the LXX, “heir” and the Vulgate “inheritance” indicate Nechilot - נחילות signifies “inheritances,” and indeed David does write about the two peoples (heirs) or their inheritance, the wicked and the righteous. Midrash Aggadah (Shocher Tov) which renders it as “an estate, an eternal inheritance” (b) Or Nechilot according to its use in the Talmud “swarms” as if swarms of bees. Nechilot swarms (singular - nechila), (Bava Kamma 114a, 81b) David offers a prayer that is directed against the vast armies which come upon him like swarming bees.  Further to this the sound bees make was like a swarm of buzzing bees. This would then reflect according to the Midrash, the murmurings against David by Avshalom (Absalom), Doeg and Ahithophel (Achitofel). This is seen in 2 Samuel 22:5, “bands (נחלי) of scoundrels would affright me”. Targum Yonatan sees this connection with the “bands of sinners”. (c) Finally some link nechilot with the meaning “nachla” as grievous; as it says, “My wound is grievous” נחלה מכתי “nachla Makati” (Jeremiah 10:19).  The Scripture conveys that David accepted his afflictions (2 Samuel 24:17).

psma 2

Weekly Letter

Shalom Valentin   Pondering Psalm 2 1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to Me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of Me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Psalm 2 reads like a play with four scenes. Scene 1: on the earth, verses 1-3, the nations speak and form a conspiracy Scene 2: in the heavens, verses 4-6, the LORD speaks and declares His response. Scene 3: on the earth, verses 7-9, The LORD’s promise to His Son the Messiah the King. Scene 4: in the heavens, verses 10-12, the LORD counsels submission to His Son. In this “second psalm” (Acts 13:33), one of the most frequently quoted in the New Testament, the LORD through David (Acts 4:25) exhorted the nations (heathens) to forsake their efforts in opposing the Lord and His Anointed king. And He urges them to submit to the authority of the Son whom God has ordained to rule them. This is based on the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7). Scene 1: on the earth, Psalm 2:1-3, the nations speak and form a conspiracy. David speaking as a prophet expressed amazement that the Gentile nations would try to overthrow the Lord and the king He had placed on the throne. The nations; KJV the heathen or the Gentiles, the Hebrew: "גוים" - "Goyim"), usually this word denotes the non-Jewish nation sometimes in antagonism to the LORD himself or his people. As is the case here; they are in opposition to the LORD and His Anointed, so these are the heathens.) These nations “meditate a vain thing” more literally they murmur an empty or a worthless thing. The contrast to Psalm 1 should not be missed. For the Happy Men and these kings and rulers stand in sharp opposition to each other. The godly meditate on God’s words (Psalm 1:1), but these wicked rulers meditated on rebellion (Psalm 2:1). 2:2 The nations opposed God and His Anointed (the term “Anointed” is “מַשִׁיחַ” “Messiah”). There have been many anointed ones (prophets, priests and kings), but in this Psalm, we are talking not about AN Anointed one, but The Anointed One. He is declared to be the Son of the LORD, we know this is none other than Yeshua the Messiah. (see Luke 2:26 & 3:22; Matthew 3:17, Acts 13:33…). 2:3 The nations, the people and kings of the earth, say with one voice, we do not want to submit to the rule of God’s Anointed. And want to remove themselves from the “bonds” and “cords”. This is language that indicates the nations want to break the laws, ordinances of God and cast of God’s truth. Scene: 2 in the heavens, Psalm 2:4-6, the LORD speaks and declares His response. 2:4 David envisioned the LORD as King over all the Earth, sitting on His royal throne in the heavens. He is not worried about the plan of the nations but is laughing at their futility. He then has them in derision, i.e. He is mocking them. 2:5 But the scene continues and after this God speaks to the nations in anger because they refuse to submit to the authority of His king. Finally, He becomes vexed with them in His sore displeasure.  Note the progression: 1) He smiles (laughs), 2) He Mocks, 3) Anger and finally 4) the LORD is vexed. Indicating that He trembles with rage, the word vex can mean shake, and indeed He will shake the heavens and earth (Haggai 2:6). 2:6 The LORD declares what He has done, namely He installed His king (past tense) on the throne in Zion. Many kings were anointed in and around Jerusalem but No king was ever anointed on mount Zion the Holy Hill. This is where according to Psalm 9:11 the LORD Himself sat enthroned. How can an earthly king be sitting in the place of God? Because this Anointed One is the Lord of lords and King of Kings (Revelation 17:14). Scene 3: on the earth, Psalm 2:7-9, The LORD’s Promise to His Son the Messianic King. 2:7 The LORD talks about the decree, this is a reference to the Covenant with David (2 Samuel 7 & Palm. 89:34-37), in which the LORD promised that a son of David would reign forever, and David makes a reference to his greater son, the Anointed one would be  both the Son of God (Matthew 26:63-64; 27:43; Mark 1:1; Luke 1:35; John 1:49; Acts 9:20, etc.). and the Son of David (Matthew 1:1; 9:27; 20:30; 21:9 etc.)! 2:8 God the Father requested from His Son that He asks for His inheritance. The gift is all the nations of the earth. This was not promised to David or Solomon, but David’s Son will someday reign over all the earth (Zechariah 14:9). 2:9 And when He reigns, He will putt down the nations that will still rebel against Him even though as the Good Shepherd he will extend His “rod” and the “sceptre of uprightness” (Psalm 45:6) overall humankind. Wanting them to be the sheep of His pastures walking in His ways. The final scene 4: in heavens, Psalm 2:10-12, the LORD counsels submission to His Son. 2:10 In my view this is where we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit calling for the nations to submit before they anger the great King. He tells them to make an intelligent decision “be wise” and bow in submission to Yeshua the Anointed King. 2:11 The Holy Spirit calls the nations to walk in His ways with reverential fear of Him, not just because of His coming judgment, but because the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, (Proverbs 1:7). They are to serve Him, this word can be taken as worship (Psalm 97:7) and how do we worship the LORD by both rejoicing, and trembling before Him. 2:12 This is the most controversial verse in this Psalm “Kiss the son” is an act of submissive homage to the king (1 Kings 19:20; Hosea 13:2). Just as human submitted to kings so God asks the kings of the earth to submit to the Son. It is only by taking refuge in His anointed, rather than rebelling against him, that they could avoid the wrath of God. “Kiss the Son” could also be translated as “Do homage in purity”, this very different translation is based on one word (בּר - bar) which means in Aramaic Son and in Hebrew Purity. Perhaps rather than one or the other we ought to see it as both. We need to do homage in purity and Kiss the Son, i.e. submitting to Him in Holiness. So that we can say “Happy are all they that take refuge in Him”. What did we learn from Psalm 2 Messiah is the Son of God. Messiah will be crowed King on Zion the Holy Hill. Messiah will rule over all the earth. Shalom in Messiah Paul & Sue Cohen

psalm 1

Pondering Psalm 1

The Psalms give us a unique understanding of the ministry of the Messiah, we can see this as both Yeshua and the disciples used them extensively. Luke 24:44 tells us of Yeshua saying to his disciples after the resurrection:
“This is what I told you when I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Yeshua knew what was in them about him and the ministry he did, is doing and will be doing, for within them we have the complete ministry of Messiah; Prophet, Priest and King.

Like many other cultures, Israel had a vibrant singing culture; in the Bible alone there are 185 songs, most of these are found in the five books of Psalms, though we must remember that the book of Psalms is more than a songbook. We might recall two other Biblical songbooks; Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) the love song between Solomon and Shulamite and the almost directly opposite literature the Book of Lamentations with its five dirges (mournful / funeral songs), which we will read in August on Tisha B’av. Some of the songs scattered throughout the Bible are very short and some are very long, ranging from 5 to 7 words in Hebrew slightly longer in English, in (2 Chronicles 5:13 & 20:21). As compared to the very verbose 947 words in Hebrew (or some 2,400 words in English) in Psalm 119.

Like me, you may be surprised to learn how great a number of the Psalms are quoted and alluded to in the New Testament. It seems that over 100 separate passages from at least 60 different Psalms are referenced in the New Covenant. And in many of these the subject deals with the sufferings, resurrection, and the ascension of Messiah. Others are about the priesthood and future kingship of Messiah.

The Hebrew word for “psalms”, is תְּהִלִּים (Tehillim), at times translated as “hymns” or “songs of praise”. However, the Psalms are much more than this, for they contain prayers and songs, prophecies and warnings. They form the basis of much of the liturgy and worship for 1000’s of years and we too should sing these more often, they are after all God’s inspired songbook.

According to Jewish tradition (Bavli Berachot, 9b) Psalm 1 and 2 are one Psalm attributed to David, who is described as the Prophet and King. Indeed many of the psalms were written by David, who according to tradition wrote 73 in total, but others are by Asaph, Korah, Solomon, Moses and others.

This Psalm is one of the more well-known ones. It summarizes the two paths of life open to people, first the portrait of the righteous (Psalm 1:1-3), second the ruin of the wicked (Psalm 1:4-6).

The same warning is found in Jeremiah 17:5-7 “Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. (6) He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. (7) “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.” (see also Deuteronomy 30:11-20).

Some commentators have seen all of history built around this concept of the ‘two ways’.

For the Two ways are the two destinies.

1. We too must, therefore, make a choice, are we in the first Adam and in the Last Adam (Romans 5; 1 Corinthians 15:45)?
2. Are we walking in the way of Cain or Abel? (Genesis 4)
3. Do we follow ungodly or Godly advice like Ishmael or Isaac? (Genesis 16-28)
4. Do we despise our birthright and the covenant like Esau (Genesis 25:32; Hebrews 12:16) or pursue it like Jacob? (Genesis 25:32).
5. Do we build our own kingdom like Saul (1 Samuel 13:11-16) or are we men and women after God’s heart, building the Kingdom of the LORD? (1 Kings 8:17).
6. Do we walk like Orpah or Ruth, wanting to be part of the covenant people despite the hardship or do we turn back to comfortable surroundings?

More examples are in scripture, and so it makes me wonder what about us; do we walk in the Light of the Word of the Lord or sit with the scoffers?

Finally, there is an interesting phrase in verse two, his meditation this is curious  as the Hebrew has יֶהְגֶּ֗ה (yeh’geh) which is something a bird does ‘coo’ or a lion ‘growl’, as such perhaps an alternative translation might read “to murmur” or to “mumble” as if to “speak to oneself” this is not a negative as in English but indicating that His word is on our lips continually, i.e. repeating the words softly to ourselves, so that we might think about the words and study and review them throughout the day and night as it is written in Psalm 4:4 “ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah”.

Friends over the next months I hope to ponder some of the Psalms with you.

For now let me leave you with the Robert Alter a fresh translation of Psalm 1
1 Happy the man who has not walked in the wicked’s council,
nor in the way of offenders has stood,
nor in the session of scoffers has sat.
2 But the LORD’s teaching is his desire,
and His teaching he murmurs day and night            
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water,
that bears its fruit in its season
and its leaf does not wither-
and in all that he does he prospers.
4 Not so the wicked,
but like chaff that the wind drives away,
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in judgement,
nor offenders in the band of the righteous,
6 For the LORD embraces the way of the righteous,
and the way of the wicked is lost.

© The Book of Psalms by Robert Alter


May we be murmuring what the Lord has said and what He has done in our lives day and night.
Shalom in Messiah

Paul & Sue Cohen