psalm 12 Celebrate messiah Sydney

Shalom Valentin

May I ask you to please continue in prayer:
For Neidra that the Lord will restore her in complete health.
For Harry and Zelda as they are in Africa.
For Will as he is volunteering with Celebrate Messiah in New Zealand for the next 6 months.

Pondering Psalm 12:

The war between God’s words and man’s words.

Introduction

We do not know what incident took place in David’s life that caused him to write this Psalm. Perhaps there were many incidents, and we too may have found ourselves crying out to the Lord “Hoshianah Save o Lord,” while we are speaking with godless men whose words are but hollow deceptions.

Many of the Psalms are hard to classify, including this Psalm. Is it a personal lament, a communal lament or a prayer for rescue or salvation?  Academics argue about which genre to use to classify this psalm, and how to interpret it. But a drowning man might both lament his loss and in the same breath pray for salvation. So too here, it is a lament and a prayer.

The title I have given this Psalm is: “The war between God’s words and man’s words.” This battle raged then just as it rages around us today. It comes down to this, who did David believe and whose words did he trust? We have the same problem as David. Who do we believe and whose words do we trust?
 

Superscript verse 1

1 For the choir director; upon eight, a Psalm of David.
 

Commentary

A Psalm written by David with instructions for the choir director. This was to be sung in the Tabernacle as a faith-building song. It is upon an שְּׁמִינִ֗ית (sheminit) “eight” this could mean an eighth note upon which the psalm was sung, or as most take it an eight stringed harp or lyre. The word is only used in two other places (1 Chronicles 15:21 and Psalm 6:1). Based on this verse the Talmud records Rabbi Judah telling that when Messiah comes there will be an eight stringed harp, as if to say there were no eight stringed harps after the Second Temple (Bavli ’Arakin 13b). It is an interesting thought that Talmud raises when the Messiah comes, David was indeed a prophet (Acts 2:29-31) who spoke about Messiah (Psalm 2).

Josephus in his tome the Antiquities of the Jews identifies the three metre and the five (penta) metre. These would be rhythmic patterns or beats and he identifies the ten and twelve stringed instruments (Ant. 7.12.3):
“And now David being freed from wars and dangers, and enjoying for the future a profound peace, composed songs and hymns to God of several sorts of metre: some of those which he made were tri-meters, and some were penta-meters: he also made music instruments, and taught the Levites to sing psalms to God; both on that which is called the Sabbath day, and on other festivals. Now the construction of the instruments was thus: the viol was an instrument of ten strings: it was played upon with a bow. The psaltery had twelve musical notes, and was played upon by the fingers. …”

It is thought that the viol signifies the Biblical kinor that was more like a lyre or a harp, not a violin. The Harp (נֵ֥בֶל nevel) and the lyre (כִּנּוֹר kinnor) had 3 to 12 strings.

Some see that this Psalm refers to the time of tribulation prior to Messiah’s coming, for it is then that the LORD shall arise. This might be true, yet this Psalm also applies to us. Who do we trust and who do we listen to, God or men.
 

Prayerful lament verses 1-2

1 Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak falsehood to one another;
 With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.
 

Commentary

The word הוֹשִׁ֣יעָה (hoshiah) is translated here as help, but in Psalms 118:25 the same word is translated as save. It’s a desperate cry: assist Lord come to my aid. This is the cry of those who fear the Lord. They are being described as the חָסִ֑יד (chasid) the godly and the אֱ֝מוּנִ֗ים  (emunim) the faithful ones i.e. those that are waiting upon the Lord. David despairs that the Godly decrease compared to those who trust the sons of men. Generally, this phrase includes every person on the earth although here it refers to the wicked.

Note that they speak with falsehood, with flattering lips and with a double heart: literally with a heart and a heart; i.e. with two hearts.
Three things are said about the speech of the unbeliever:

1. Falsehood here is not so much that they speak lies, but that they speak worthless things.
2. Flattering lips they say what they think the other wants to hear, smooth dishonest talkers.
3. Finally with a Double heart, this means deceptive speech or language. This is reflected two other times in scripture. In 1 Chronicles 12:33 the men of Zebulun were “not of double heart” i.e. not deceptive and secondly, in James 1:8 “a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” In Biblical Hebrew, the heart was considered the place of intellect and thinking, so while not the same word it was certainly the same thought. David writes about their words in Psalm 55:21 “His speech was smoother than butter, But his heart was war; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords.”

 

Prayer verses 3-4

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things;
4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
 

Commentary

Cut off is a technical term meaning death. David essentially asked the Lord to take the lives of those who speak boastfully against Him.

They say “we will triumph,” as if to say “Who does the LORD think He is.” They believe that their intellect is lord and master. Today we too see this kind of speech, for example as we talk with atheists, who deny God and the Living Words He spoke. They claim ‘it is just a good book’ that was ‘written by men,’ and in the same breath they claim their own words are more trustworthy than God’s. Clear examples can be seen in the evolution versus creation debates. Those who hold to an evolutionary view have removed God and reduced God’s words by bolstering their own words. We can see that their own speech is now lord over them.

 

Oracle verse 5

5 “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy.
Now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”
 

Commentary

It reads as if the claims of the wicked, independence from God, caused others to be harmed to the point that they cry aloud to the Lord. The needy were harmed by the destructive power of the words of the wicked. Words are powerful and this can be seen often in Scripture, especially in Proverbs.

Proverbs 12:18 “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.” We would find it easy to say ‘the words of the ungodly, they….’, but we too need to keep our tongue in check (James 1:26). Proverbs 18:21a tells us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” This applies to everyone; our words can bring pain or healing. It is one of the issues that the apostle Paul raises concerning living a wholesome Messianic life (Ephesians 5:4) let us magnify the Lord with songs of thanksgiving.

For God, Himself will arise and be their help and grant them safety, יֵ֗שַׁע (yesha). It is security and deliverance but also speaks of salvation, for God is the once who will grant them safety and salvation. We have seen in this Psalm that David emphasises speech, words, and now he says “for which he longs.” The word longs יָפִ֥יחַֽ (ya-phi-yach) is an expression of speech. For example, see Proverbs 6:19, 12:17 or Habakkuk (2:3): “and He shall speak יָפֵ֥חַ (ya-phe-ach) of the end, and it shall not fail.” So longs here is the word spoken by the righteous, it is his prayer.

 

Trust in the Lord verses 6-8

6 The words of the LORD are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
7 You, O LORD, will keep them;
You will preserve him from this generation forever.
8 The wicked strut about on every side
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
 

Commentary

David now compares the words of the sons of men to the words of the Lord. The sayings of the Lord are pure, sayings that are refined seven times. Seven here is symbolic, meaning complete, i.e. the words of the Lord are perfectly pure. This is echoed in Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” Here too we see God’s word is tested (for purity) and He is our shield if we take sanctuary in Him.

How will the Lord prove His Word is true? One only needs to look at Israel. God has preserved the nation, and we could look at our own lives. What has the Lord done for us? He has brought us to salvation and He preserves us from this wicked and crooked generation even forever. The last phrase “forever” allows us to see that the safety, or physical rescue mentioned above, is now extended to a spiritual salvation.

The last verse is a reality check. If we open the newspapers today we can see wicked men strutting about, and vileness being exalted amongst the people.  It is then that we come full circle in crying out with David “Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men”.
 

Conclusion

This Psalm describes the two kingdoms that are at war, in a war of words, a war for our lives and devotion. Whose words do we follow? God’s words are tested and proved right. Have we allowed His Word to purify and cleanse us, by the washing of water with the Word (Ephesians 5:26). Or do we trust the words of men? May we continually call out Help oh Lord, Help and trust and know that words of the LORD are pure words.

Selah

Shalom in Messiah Yeshua
Paul

psalm 11

psalm 11

Introduction In the first verse in the Hebrew text, or the superscript in most Christian Bibles, we note that this Psalm is written by King David. From the remainder of the Psalm we note that he was in severe trouble. We do not know when this Psalm was written or what the event was that caused his friends to urge him to flee, but reading the life of David I am tempted to place this event at the time he was serving king Saul, somewhere between 1 Samuel 18 chapter 10 and chapter 20. It is at this time that David was protected by his wife Michal (1 Samuel 19:11-17); by Samuel the prophet (19:18-24); by Jonathan, the prince and close friend of David (1 Samuel 20:1-42). After these events David eventually flees and is protected by Ahimelech, the priest (1 Samuel 21:1-9) and even by the Philistine Achish, the king of Gath (1 Samuel 22:10-15). In the early part of his life we see that the personal war of Saul against David destroyed Saul, for God had made a Covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:12-16 & 1 Chronicles 17:1-9). Based on that Covenant David expresses his trust in the LORD, for He knows that God will protect him. I can envisage with my ‘sanctified imaginations’ that Jonathan is rushing through the city towards David’s house. I imagine Jonathan knocking loudly on David’s door, shouting “David, DAVID” and urging him to flee away from Judea. He would have urged him to flee to the mountains, possibly even the mountains of Moab, where David and his family would later flee (1 Samuel 22:3-4). Of interest, I note that the theme and the similarity in language come back when David does flee from King Saul in 1 Samuel 26 verses 18 “Why does my lord (the king) pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands?” … 20 “….hunts a partridge in the mountains”  and in 21 “…Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day”. Commentary Superscript 1 For the choir director, a Psalm of David. Comment Sometime after David experienced this event, he wrote this as a song and passed it to the choir director, so that all Israel and all generations of believers (you and me), may be encouraged by his experience and like David come to a deeper faith. Verse 1 the counsel given to David: “Flee like a bird to your mountain” 1 In the LORD I take refuge; How can ye say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain?” Comment David takesחָסִ֗יתִי  (chasiti from חָסָה chasah) refuge in the Lord (some translations, including the KJV, have put my trust which is fine as it is the meaning behind it). In Psalms 91:2, 9 & 94:22 we see the same root-word being used. David expresses his faith multiple times, saying I trust in the Lord and seek my refuge in Him, rather than responding to his friend request to ‘flee.’ This is a moment of fight or flight for David and this too will happen in our lives. As indicated by the introduction above, David pondered this fight or flight and at times he did flee. If I may make a small application, if you are in a situation of fight or flight, stop and pray but also seek counsel from Bible Believers and pray again, ask the Lord which way you should choose and remain steadfast, whether He says stay or go. Sometimes David stayed and sometimes David fled. So too for us, sometimes we might stay and sometimes we might flee, but please make sure you know the answer is indeed from God and that you have the peace of God about it (Philippians 4:7). The mountains are generally a safe place for birds. It is harder for the attacker to sneak up on the bird and easier for the bird to dive into a valley or hide in a cliff away from archers. But note the precise language of the friend, “flee like a bird to YOUR Mountain” (הַרְכֶ֥ם). Birds have nests but they do not have mountains. The bird is a metaphor for David, and he did flee to Mizpah of Moab, which is indeed in the mountains (1 Samuel 22:3). Was that “his mountain” and if so, why is this David’s mountain? The mountains of Moab are promised to the children of Lot. Israel had a clear commandment not to harasses them (Deuteronomy 2:9), so it cannot be those mountains. I tend to think the mountain here is used symbolically, meaning the kingdom. David is urged to flee from Saul’s kingdom to a place where he can build his own kingdom, as he was promised (1 Samuel 16:1-13). King Saul by now has the conviction that David wants to take over his kingdom (1 Samuel 23:17), and so it makes good sense to flee away from Saul’s presence. Places where we can see that mountains are used symbolically of a kingdom are Isaiah 41:14-15; Jeremiah 51:24-25; Ezekiel 17:22-23; Daniel 2:35, 44-45 and in Psalm 30:6-7 (Hebrew text 30:7-8) where the kingdom of David is even called “my mountain.” Verses 2-3 the reason for the guidance: “if the foundations are destroyed” 2 For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? Comment The wicked, that is King Saul and his henchmen (especially Doeg the Edomite see Psalm 52 and 1 Samuel 22:18-19), who are out to destroy. The bow is used as a physical weapon, but perhaps it is also being used symbolically, as the wicked have directed their tongue treacherously (Jeremiah 9:2). They put their arrows upon the strings, which is done in darkness, that is in secret. David describes himself here as a man who is upright of heart, and indeed David was the man after God’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). If the foundations are destroyed here David compares the kingdom of Saul to a building. The foundations are the central values that hold a society together; law and order (Psalm 75:3; 82:5 and Ezekiel 30:4). In this context David would have been referring to priest and king for they were the source of religious and political power. Doeg, Saul’s henchman, had killed the priest of Nob and David, though innocent, was being pursued by the king and his men. They were acting wickedly as if they were above the rule of law. David then asks “what” can he do? The answer then and today remains the same, pray for the leaders of the government (1 Timothy 2:2), for that is what the righteous ought to do. Verses 4-6 David’s response “speaking to his soul” 4 The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. 5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. 7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face. Comment The Temple would be built by David’s son Solomon. The word הֵיכָל (hekal) might be better translated as a sanctuary, for the Tabernacle was still in a tent. David then clarifies this by adding that the throne of God is in Heaven. God is enthroned between the cherubim (Psalm 99:1) and his Temple is indeed in the heavens (Ezekiel 1:26, 10:1; Isaiah 6:1-5; Daniel 7:9; Revelation 4). From Heaven the Lord test or tries the righteous (Micah 1:2). He does not tempt people with wickedness (James 1:13), yet He examines all of us by looking (eyes) and even by contracting “His eyelids,” as if to examine an object closely. That is, God scrutinises the ways of the righteous, do we walk in His ways, do we meditate in His word (Psalm 1). In contrast, the wicked are those who love violence, those who act in secret. The “portion of their cup” is the cup of His wrath (Psalm 75:8 (9); Isaiah 51:17-22; Jeremiah 25:15, Revelation 16:19), which is described in similar language, as the judgment from the Lord on the five cities of the plain (Genesis 10:19, 19:1-29). This is a clear reference to when the Lord rained fire and brimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Verses 7 David’s conclusion the righteous “will behold His face”. 7 For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face. Comment For the Lord is righteous צַדִּ֣יק (tzadik). This is the same word in verse 3 but there it referred to the righteous people. What do these righteous do? They do “righteous deeds.” These are not our own deeds (Isaiah 64:6) but the deeds of the Righteous One, the Messiah Yeshua, who will give us (exchange) our deeds for His, our filthy garments for the garments of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10 & Matthew 22:1-14). It is then that the promise will be fulfilled, for the upright will behold His face. This is part of the blessing in the Aaronic Benediction (Numbers 6:24-27) and the promise of Yeshua in Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” As such we need to walk in His righteousness and continually put on the Lord Yeshua (Romans 13:14), by placing our trust in Him. Conclusion Just as David faced this perilous situation, so too in our lives there will be difficult times. Sometimes it may be because we have walked away from God, and at other times God will test our faith. When it is a test of God we should try to be steadfast, for God has not given us the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7) and then (and only then) can we ignore the advice from friends who counsel us to flee. Like David, we can encourage ourselves and others to continually place our trust in the Lord, who will do what is right and if we continue to walk with and in Him we will behold His face. Shalom Paul   Paul will be teaching on the following Torah portion.

Psalm 10...Brit Chadashah sydney

Shalom Valentin   Pondering Psalm 10  Psalm 10 Introduction Within this psalm we see that the Psalmist describes two different worldviews. On the one hand the writer is talking about himself and on the other hand he is talking about the wicked. As you and I read this Psalm we note that like him we can be confident that God will act in His time, and that we will encounter the same problem he encountered. The wicked will announce “there is no God,” or if there is a God that “He has hidden His face.” The wicked think that they can get away with oppressing the poor. In his freedom to act he may think he is sovereign, but with the Psalmist we contend that “The LORD is king forever and ever,” and that despite what we see in the world, ultimately God will do what is right. The two world views are seen in that the wicked bases himself on past experiences ‘I have gotten away with it before,’ while the Psalmist deepens his life of faith and waits for the LORD. Psalm 9 and 10 have some similarity; some keywords come back in both Psalms and in both there are opponents; the wicked, but in Psalm 9 this is an external enemy, the nations surrounding Israel, whereas in Psalm 10 the wicked are within the community. *** In both Psalms there will be the downfall of the opponent. In Psalm 9 they get trapped and entangled in their own traps (see comments on Psalm 9:16). This forms the confidence in faith for the Psalmist in Psalm 10, that the wicked that are among the community will also suffer a parallel fate (10:2). The opponents are described as גֹּויִם (goyim), the ‘foreign’ foes (Psalm 9:5; 10:16). Together with this Psalm it might be better to see these as the uncircumcised of the heart (Jeremiah 9:25-26), from among the Gentiles and the Jews. Commentary Psalm 10:1-2 1 Why, O LORD, do You stand far away? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? 2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. Comment This is not a murmur or a complaint against God, but rather a desire to know why, in the light of his present hopeless condition, the LORD is far off. The Psalmist asked God why, especially in light of the wicked one’s action, do you hide Yourself? This is in contrast to Psalm 9:10 where it says You will not forsake. This was not just a problem for the Psalmist, as we also see the same reflected by Peter, “do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). And so too for our time, if we would write our Psalm, our song of deliverance, it too might include the question, “Where are You Lord? I need you, for those that trouble me are many and all around me.”   Psalm 10:3-4 3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD. 4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” Comment This is a good example of Proverb 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”  Their claim “there is no God” is repeated twice more by David in Psalms 14 & 53, and in both cases he adds the phrase “the fool says in his heart” and so they curse and renounce the LORD. They even think He does not exist. Yet they are “נָבָל” (nabal) foolish, perhaps better translated as a combination of wicked and stupid. A clear Biblical example of this is the story of Nabal and yes he was a fool (1 Samuel 25).   Psalm 10:5 5 His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. Comment The wicked ways are (or appear to be) continually flourishing, and he is not even aware of the elevated ruling against him, he even dares to puff at them. This expressed the thought that the wicked one knows of the heavenly court, yet is openly scornful and contemptuous of it. The heavenly court is also seen in Psalm 82 where God sits in judgement over the judges.   Psalm 10:6-7 6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; from generation to generation I shall not meet adversity.” 7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. Comment He reasons to himself “I won't meet trouble, not now, not ever.” The wicked curse maliciously with false oaths (compare Job 31:30) and by being untruthful (the same thought comes back in Psalm 59:12). It is almost a summary statement as the wicked is being described here as the anti-Torah man (Exodus 23:1), who gives false reports etc.   Psalm 10:8-9 8 He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; 9 he lies in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lies that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. Comment The trap he sets is by the wayside, the place of thieves and robbers. The meanness of the wicked culminates in the murder of the one who is innocent of the crimes mentioned above, like the man who gets trapped by the lies and deceit of the conman. The wicked carefully build an ambush and pounce on the innocent, seeking to devour him (1 Peter 5:8), as a skilful hunter drawing them deeper into his web of deceit. The repetition of the poor (עָנִי) is reminiscent of the poor in Matthew 5:3, that is the poor in spirit, the humble, the innocent ones.   Psalm 10:10 10 He crouches, he bows down, and the helpless fall into his mighty claws. Comment The Hebrew here is difficult and this is reflected in the multitude of translations that vary greatly. So in this translation (JPS) we see once again the image of the lion that pounces on the poor. He is now described as the one who is deserted and falls into the strong claws. Again it reflects the imagery we see in 1 Peter 5 where it talks about the adversary and here too this fits well, the wicked reflect their father.   Psalm 10:11 11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, He has hidden His face, He will never see it.” Comment Thus even if the wicked does acknowledge God, he continues to slay the poor (the righteous) for his thinking is: God has forgotten them, the Lord no longer concerns Himself about the faithful, He does not want to know. But this is contrary to God’s way of thinking. Listen to these words in Zechariah 7:9-10 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another,  10  do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” This is the summary of the commandments in Exodus 22:21-24, 23:9 and Deuteronomy 24:14-18 & 27:19. The claim of the wicked was not true then and is not true today. Despite our suffering, which is often for our growth (James 1:2-4), God does hear the cries of the broken-hearted (Psalm 34:17-18).   Psalm 10:12-13 12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand; forget not the afflicted. 13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? Comment “Arise, O Lord” are like the words of Moses in Numbers 10:35, where Moses prays for God’s enemies to be scattered. Here too the prayer is for God to arise and lift up His hand, with the request for God to demonstrate who He is. It was His hand that was against Egypt (Exodus 7:4) and brought deliverance for Israel. Just as the Lord looked after Israel, the Psalmist asked the Lord to confirm that He would look after the poor, the orphan and the widow. This fits well with the next line where the wicked announce that they have abandoned God, and so believe that God will not call them to account. It sounds the same as an atheist today, who claims that ‘there is no god’ and says that even if there was a god, they would question and denounce him. I am reluctant to name Stephen Fry or Richard Dawkins, yet their outrageous statements do come to mind. They think they can question God when they arrive at heaven’s gates.   Psalm 10:14 14 But You do see, for You do note mischief and vexation, that You may take it into Your hands; to You the helpless commits himself; You have been the helper of the fatherless. Comment Contrary to the thoughts of the wicked, God not only sees what happens, He then sees to the need. He does observe and requires an account from them into His hands. God is the helper of the orphan, for God will not abandon the poor in spirit. Even in tumultuous times He remains our refuge and our strength and a very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46).   Psalm 10:15 15  Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till You find none. Comment The breaking of the arm is metaphorical. The arm here symbolises strength, and so he requests that God paralyse their power to do mischief. (Psalm 37:17 & Job 38:15). Interestingly, ‘the wicked and evildoer’ are put into two categories, as if to say that there are those who are actively wicked but there are also those who enable it to happen. The Psalmist asks God to remove all of them.   Psalm 10:16 16 The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from His land. Comment In contrast to the removal of the wicked, the LORD is the eternal King, whose kingdom will be truly universal and never end (Zechariah 14:9; Daniel 7:14 & Revelation 11:15). The nations will be removed from the Promised Land, which is His land. He will judge the nations according to how they treated His people Israel and how they divided His land (Joel 3:2).   Psalm 10:17-18 17 O LORD, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You will strengthen their heart; You will incline your ear 18  to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. Comment In the conclusion the Psalmist expresses the prayer of faith, that his request does not remain unanswered, that justice will be done to the orphan (Psalm 10:14) and the downtrodden (Psalm 9:9). Secondly, he asks God to strengthen them in their ponderings (the heart is the seat of thinking in Jewish classical thought). The phrase “Incline your ear” is the shortened version of “Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see,” as found in Isaiah 37:17. It represents that God gives His full attention to the problems of the orphan and the oppressed. The concluding line “so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” refers to the unregenerate man, very much in line with the first man in 1 Corinthians 15:47.   Conclusion In this Psalm, the author complains to the LORD about the wicked oppressing the poor. He prays for the remedy and appeals to the Judge and finally expresses his confidence that the Lord will reign. A second request is for the Judge to incline, pay careful attention to the afflicted. Shalom in Messiah Paul e  harry@celebratemessiah.co