Week 31: Psalms 68 – 82

THE BOOK OF PSALMS – Chapters 68 to 82

Psalm 68 – Battle march.  Thought by some to have been written and used for moving of the ark into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:2-19).   God praised on general grounds (1-6).  God praised for His acts at Sinai and in the wilderness (7-10).  God praised for the conquest of Canaan (11-23).   God praised in connection with His sanctuary (24-27).  God praised for future triumphs (28-35).  

Psalm 69 – Out of deep sorrow and suffering.  “Perhaps in no psalm in the whole psalter is the sense of sorrow profounder or more intense than in this” (Morgan).  Despair of himself (1-12).  Dependance upon God (13-21).  Denunciation of his foes (22-28).  Dedication to the LORD (29-36).  Passages of this psalm are referred to often in the NT:  v. 4 in John 15:25 (by Jesus re the attitude toward Him); v  9a in John 2:17 (at the cleansing of the temple);   v 9b in Romans 15:3 (that Jesus did not seek to please Himself); v 21 – re Jesus’ suffering on the cross (Matt. 27:34,48; Mark 15:36; Luke 23:36; John 19:29); v 22,23 in Romans 11:9,10 (of those who hardened themselves against God); 25 in Acts 1:20 (of Judas); v 28 in Revelation 3:5 (the blotting out of names from the Book of Life).  

Psalm 70 – A cry for help.  The same as Psalm 40:13-17 (in Book I), with a few changes.

Psalm 71 – The prayer of an aged person.  A plea for help (1-19a).  A song of assurance and praise for deliverance (19b-24).

Psalm 72 – The ideal king.  Perhaps it had reference to Solomon, as the note suggests, but the actual and ultimate fulfillment will be found in Jesus Christ.  

Verses 18 and 19 are the doxology (statement of praise) for the end of Book II (Psalms 42-72).  Note the reference to David (20).

NOW WE BEGIN BOOK III (Psalms 73-89).  

Psalm 73 – Through doubt to faith.   Asaph, mentioned in the notations of Psalms 73-83, was appointed by David to be one of those to lead the service of song in the temple (1 Chr. 16:4-6).  Some of these psalms were likely written by descendants rather than by Asaph himself. The problem: the prosperity of the wicked (1-14).  His feelings led him to exaggerate, for evil people are not “always at ease” or “carefree” or always without trouble and pain.  But it must be admitted that many of them are at ease, even though they might badmouth God.  He wonders if it is really worth it, this trying to be decent and godly (13,14).  Progress toward the solution (15-20).  He kept his thoughts to himself, lest he damage or destroy the faith of the young and the weak (15).  When we struggle with faith problems we may need to go with them to others, but those others must be mature in age and faith.  In the process of worship he came to think about the end (“the afterward”) of the evil person (17).  He came to see that the prosperity of the wicked was a dream and the presence of God the reality (18-20).  “Evil cannot stand the test of permanence” (Hazelip). A person can be fooled by prosperity and health into believing in a dream and that dream may lead him to the mistake of casting off  from God.   As he thinks about it, he asks

himself “Why didn’t I see that before?” ( 21,22).  In his envy of the evil his outlook was no better than that of a mere animal!  The prospect for the godly (23-28).

Psalm 74 – Desolation of the city.  At the destruction of Jerusalem (587/586 BC), or some other time?  An appeal for help against the enemy (1-11).   A hymn of faith (12-17).  “Rise up, O God” (18-23).

Psalm 75 – The judgment of God.  In anticipation of deliverance.  Perhaps in the time of King Hezekiah and the Assyrian invasion (701 BC, Isaiah 36-37).  The voice of the people (1).  The voice of God (2-5). The voice of the king (6-9).  God speaks (10).   “Horns” represent strength and pride.

Psalm 76 – A song of celebration.  Defeat of the Assyrian army (Isaiah 37:36)?  

Psalm 77 – Sorrow and song.  Sorrow (1-9).  In this section first person pronouns predominate (22 of them [“I” and “my”] against 11 references to God.  Verses 8 and 9 are asked with a “no” answer understood?  Pivotal statement (10) that is difficult to translate.  Examples: “And I say, ‘It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed” (NRSV).   “This I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High”(NIV).  “This is my infirmity: But I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high”(ASV).  Whatever the translation, there is a change in the writer in the following verses.  Song (11-20).  Note the “I will” of surrender as he turns from “self” to “Saviour.”  This last section contains only 3 first person pronouns but 24 mentions of God!

Psalm 78 – The hand of God in history.  God’s guidance in spite of the people’s unfaithfulness.  To Israel: Remember the lessons of history!   The call to hear and heed (1-8).  Disobedience.  Forgetting what God had done (9-16).  Lack of faith and sin in the wilderness.  God’s provision (17-31).  They did not believe, remembered but were not steadfast (30-39).  Israel’s forgetfulness of God’s past mercies (40-55).  Testing God and rebelling against Him, yet He responded to their need (56-66).  Judah and David chosen (67-72).

Psalm 79 – Funeral anthem of a nation.  The conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians?

The sadness described (1-4).  A plea for God’s help (5-13).

Psalm 80 – A cry for restoration.  Note the refrain (3,7,19).  Israel described as a vine God planted which has been destroyed (8-18).

Psalm 81 – God’s goodness and Israel’s failure.  Notice God’s yearning (13-16) – if only they would listen to Him!
Psalm 82 – The Judge of judges.  The word “gods” (1,6) is used here of men in places of authority.  Jesus used verse 6 in response to the claim of some Jews that He was blaspheming (John 10:34-36).  “If in any sense the Psalm may apply this term to men, then much more may it be applied to Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world…. His argument is of the ‘How much more variety’”(Morris).