What started as a scheduling delay in our Psalm series has culminated in a bit of biblical theology.  Upon further investigation many scholars believe that Psalm 9 & 10 were originally one Psalm.  The subject and tone are very similar in both Psalms and Psalm 10 is one of only a few that does not have a title of it’s own.  In Hebrew Psalm 9 & 10 together form an acrostic poem that runs through the whole Hebrew alphabet which further indicates that these might have been originally been one Psalm and certainly deserve to at least be read together.

This week Pastor Matt Johnson and I will walk through both of these Psalms together as we wrestle with how to relate to King David’s (the psalmist) judgement, cursing and celebration of victory over his enemies.

A word on enemies…
The Psalms are full of talk of cursing and enemies.  Academics call these psalms of “imprecation”.  Imprecation is not a word that many of us use these days but it’s an important word for our study.  It means to pray (the latin percari) ill or evil on someone or literally to curse.  At first glance it’s hard to not either avoid or criticize these Psalms.  They seem very far removed from our reality.  If we’re honest they also seem a bit self righteous as the Psalmist declares his righteousness and hurls curses at his enemies.  However, if we take the time to sort it out, there are some amazing truths here.

Last month I attended the Worship God conference put on by my friend Bob Kauflin and Sovereign Grace ministries.  At one point Bob asked David Powlison to speak to these specific cursing Psalms. He had a great perspective and I will share a few thoughts inspired by him.  You can hear his talk here and check out some great notes that Bob took here.

Does my life really measure up?
When I first started studying the Psalms I really struggled with all the talk of David’s enemies.  I’m guessing you likely struggle with the same thing.  There are definitely places in the world and situations where people are plotting the death and destruction of others but that is not the case for most of us.  I have never had one of my children lead an open rebellion against my kingdom (like Absolom).  I just don’t have anyone who hates me so much that are plotting my murder (at least that I know of…).  But when David speaks of the hatred, malice and slander of his enemies he is speaking of real people.  I admit my tendency was to simply read these Psalms rhetorically as David crying out to God in the middle of HIS circumstances.  I thought they were HIS circumstances with no real connection to mine.  It almost felt like these Psalms were dismissive of my struggles because they just didn’t measure up to what David was dealing with.  How could my feelings of depression, abandonment or sorrow measure up to the King of Israel and the “man after God’s heart”.

There are a couple of problems with this line of thinking.

You can’t compare…
These comparisons where I am sizing myself up against David are largely fruitless.  If you take that line of thinking to an extreme even David’s problems become meaningless as you compare him to Jesus.  We must always look for Jesus in the Psalms and if you put Him in the place of the Psalmist His struggles completely dwarf even what David was dealing with.   David feared for his life but Jesus was actually betrayed and killed by His own creation.  David felt abandoned by God but Jesus actually was abandoned by his Father as he bore the sin of the world.  If we carry this idea to an extreme then all suffering is meaningly and should be minimized compared to Jesus.

However that is not the case.  Jesus was betrayed, mocked and killed in OUR place.  He can relate to every feeling and experience that we have.  Though he could rightly mock us for our immaturity and weakness instead he treats us with understanding, compassion and patience.

When we read the Psalms we should not compare ourselves to see how our circumstances measure up. Rather, we can know that Jesus has been there and he understands where we are at like no other person in all creation.

Who is the real enemy?
We need to realize that we DO actually have a real enemy that is actively plotting our destruction in great detail.  When you read about the enemies of the Psalmist they are described as liars, deceivers, accusers, killers, predators, betrayers and malicious.  Does this ring a bell?  I love the line in the movie “The Usual Suspects”, “The greatest lie the Devil ever told was telling the world he didn’t exist.”  The great enemy behind all enemies is Satan.  He’s behind it all.  He is the source of all the evil the Psalmist so vividly describes.  He is the source of all evil and his plan is to steal, kill and destroy. Ultimately all our cries for justices and curses of evil are directed at Satan for his destruction.

When we realize these two truths we can start to find some common ground with the Psalmist.  But before we go straight to application on Ps 9 & 10 we need to discuss both our place in the evil of the world as well as the real hero who defeats our enemies (hint… Jesus).  We’ll get into that in part II.

Radiohead is still one of the most creative, longest running rock bands in the world.
They just are!

Despite giving their album away it hasn’t hurt their CD or ticket sales.
This is a powerful statement to an industry obsessed with extending more and more control over created works.  Maybe it’s more profitable to just let it go???

Seattle does not physically respond to music.
It’s not just Sundays at Mars Hill but one of the most popular bands in the world could barely elicit more movement from the audience than the photograph above.  Over and over again the lights would flash revealing a crowd of over 30,000 people standing almost completely still.  Maybe it’s just Radiohead fans and we have a church full of them.   Hmmmmmm…

If you’re going to fork out the money for a big show don’t go cheap.
I choked on the ticket price and settled for the lawn in far back.  I could see much and with a band like Radiohead it’s all about seeing how they’re doing what they’re doing (at least for me).  Lesson learned.

Even if it’s August 20th I still live in Seattle.
It rained.  It poured.  It was around 55 degrees and windy.  It seemed like a particularly wet kind of rain.

Think twice (or maybe 3 or 4 times) before I go to another show at White River Amphitheater.
This is a pretty remote location.  Narrow roads and lots of people to get in and out.  I left my house at 5pm.  Had a brief stop for dinner and arrived just in time for Radiohead to start at 9pm.  The show was over at 11:15pm and I arrived home (still wet) at 2am.  I REALLY like Radiohead and this was just, almost, barely worth it.

All in all it was a great show and both my wife and I really enjoyed it.  It has always surprised me how much my wife Beth likes Radiohead.  She is a fairly casual music fan.  She doesn’t go looking for much music and she doesn’t have to with me around as there is always a constant flow.  There is a lot of music that I like that gets on her nerves but she has always like the ole’ Radiohead.  I will always remember when she was in labor with our first daughter, Trinity, and she demanded I put on Radiohead’s Amnesiac album.  Our doctor, who is likely the coolest gyno Dr. ever, started talking about recently seeing them live on that tour at the George.  Beth and I were there as well and so an enthusiastic conversation ensued on the greatness of Radiohead between contractions.    It was a strange and beautiful moment.

It was a great show and if you haven’t done so already, check out their latest album “In Rainbows”.

I have been a bit preoccupied with studying the book of Jonah the last couple weeks.  Yesterday I preached primarily on repenting from idol worship in Jonah chapter 2.  It has been an amazing study that has been very fruitful in my life.  I will post the audio of my sermon as soon as it’s available.

As for Psalm 9…  I just didn’t get to it last week so this week you will be able to double your fun as we release both Psalm 9 & 10 this coming Sunday.

Have a great week…  Pastor Tim

Written by Rose Johnson

Rose, my lovely and talented wife, lamented to me a couple years ago that she wishes she could write songs. I said, “How do you know that you can’t write if you’ve never tried?”. So she wrote a song and she’s been writing great tunes since. Most of which have been sung at Mars Hill.
I have the distinct privilege of hearing these songs come together around the house as Rose labors at the piano. That’s phase 1. Then we get to arrange the song in phase 2 as a band in Sons of Thunder. Rose brings the “skeleton” of the song (i.e. the melody and chord changes) and our wildly talented band mates help us put skin on the song by adding their respective guitar, bass and keys parts.

Here’s Rose’s thoughts on the writing of Psalm 8. (Read Psalm 8 here) –Pastor Matt

Sons of Thunder’s Psalm 8 was inspired by a John Piper sermon I listened to called The Peculiar Mark of majesty part1.

Piper does an amazing job looking at this Psalm in its entirety, and I would highly suggest you check it out. But the part that really stuck out and convicted me to write this song is how Jesus uses the very weakest of things to declare his praise and silence his enemies. (more…)

Doxologist Psalm Preview from Mars Hill Church on Vimeo.

Today we begin a new weekly feature a long time in the making. Beginning today, and continuing each Sunday indefinitely, we are launching an extended series on the Psalms. The Psalms are unique in that they express the whole of the human experience and do it all to the glory of God. (more…)