UNDERSTANDING THE PSALMS AND THE OTHER POETIC BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

Do you find this verse troubling?

·       I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. (Psalm 37:25; ESV)

I find it troubling. It sets me up for disappointment and disbelief. How? I know the trials I have experienced and have seen the many trials of my brethren. There have been times when we all go begging for help. Certainly, those Christians facing death and forced conversions at the hands of ISIS, Boko Haran, and a multitude of other Islamic terrorist groups are begging for help.

It comes down to this – can we really trust God and His promises? King David, the writer of this Psalm, also “went begging” from the rich but miserly Nabal (1 Samuel 25:1-8).

Even worse, the chosen of God have often lived lives of destitution:

·       They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:37-38)

Where was God at these times? Where was He when His saints were experiencing martyrdom, which He Himself had ordained? How can we reconcile these painful hardships with His promises of deliverance and blessedness?

Interestingly, even in Psalm 37, we find both perspectives – the prosperity of the wicked and the poverty of the righteous:

·       Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. (Psalm 37:7-9)

But when shall we be delivered? When shall we “inherit the land?” When will his promises be fulfilled? As Hebrews teaches us, the martyrs were required to wait until His Kingdom comes. Meanwhile, He is holding our hand.

Even immediately before the troubling verse (25), David acknowledged that the righteous will fall:

·       The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand. (Psalm 37:23-24)

However, suffering is only temporary. Meanwhile, “the Lord upholds his hand.” "Where sin abounds, so does grace much more so abound” (Romans 5:20).

Also, even when we fall, we “shall not be cast headlong” in destruction, as Paul had taught:

·       But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:7-11)

To truly know grace, we must also know the depths of our sin and condemnation. To truly know God’s deliverance, we must also know our helplessness and desperation.

How do we put all this together? How should we interpret the Psalms and the promises of God? We need to see the big picture and to understand the far-reaching plan of God.

The Psalmist had despaired of the promises of God:

·       Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. (Psalm 73:12-13)

However, he was later shown the big picture, how the promises of God would eventually be fulfilled, and that made all the difference. He therefore confessed:

·       I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:22-26)

Indeed, our flesh will fail us, but we have something far better.

Disappointment with God

Here is a letter I just sent to a dear friend who has experienced many failures and closed doors – and he had believed that God was leading him – and, as a result, is disappointed with God

I can't speak with any authority about your situation, but I can about mine! I too had asked for and trusted in God's guidance on many occasions, but I got failure instead - like when I set up a Christian counseling service. Almost immediately, it fell apart (along with me). It was a humbling experience, but I needed humbling - something I couldn't see at the time.

After my life-threatening chain saw injury, the surgeon told me I'd have to exercise my hand in order to insure its future use. However, I didn't, thinking instead, "God is totally in control. He's going to take care of me. I therefore don't need to exercise my hand."

Well, it froze up on me just as the surgeon told me it would, if I didn't get some mobility into it. I therefore felt betrayed by God - that I had trusted Him completely, as He told us to do.

However, over the years, there were so many times I felt like punching the daylights out of someone, but had to dismiss the thought because I couldn't use my right hand. So I began to see that, even in this, God was mercifully directing things, even by allowing me to have my errant theology.

For years, I tended to think that I couldn't trust God because He had let me down. But now I see that this thinking was wrong. Instead, I now thank God for the pain and failures because I see that I needed them, as King David had recognized:

• It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. (Psalm 119:71) 

However, at the time, I didn’t realize that to be the man that my Savior wanted me to be, I required some rigorous training. Paul also confessed:

• We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. [9] Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Cor. 1:8-9)  

I trust that God has a purpose for allowing you to go throw the Valley of the Shadow of Death. You may not see it for many years, but just know that it is there. He has taught me so much through my pains and failures. In retrospect, I wouldn't want it to be otherwise.

Our Pain and His Promises: How to Bridge the Gap

Have you experienced that seemingly impassable divide between your present circumstances and God’s promises of love, joy, peace, healing and deliverance? I certainly have. For years, I was unable to experience any of my Savior’s promises. Depression and panic attacks tore so violently at me that going to church was a torment.

It seemed to me that everyone else was a spiritual winner and I was the biggest looser. They were realizing God’s blessings in their lives and I wasn’t, or so it seemed. Compounding my problems, I was convinced that there was something horribly the matter with me.

Similarly, a friend informed me that he had been experiencing the unceasing torment of same-sex attraction. He had become a sex-addict and found himself unable to escape the cycle of shame and guilt followed by praying for the Lord’s deliverance. His life was entirely removed from God’s unreachable promises of deliverance.

Unfulfilled hope grows faint, and many seek greener pastures elsewhere. How, then, can we grasp hold of the reality of God’s promises when they seem so far off – so ephemeral like a desert mirage? First, we need to realize that we are not alone:

·        No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Cor. 10:13)

In fact, the burdens that we bare are the same ones with which the Psalmists also struggled. In a typical lament, the Psalmist lays out the problem. He begins by citing the promises of God in God’s own words:

·        I will maintain my love to him [David] forever, and my covenant with him will never fail… I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered…that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky." (Psalm 89:28-37)

Once the Psalmist recaps God’s glory, faithfulness and promises, he then brings his angry indictments against God:

·        But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust. You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins… O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David? (Psalm 89:38-40)

He charged that God has failed to fulfill His promises – that Israel is now in ruins, seemingly contradicting God’s promises of unabated future glory. This raises a related problem. Is there a contradiction in God’s Word? Is it therefore untrustworthy? Are the Psalms no more than an expression of the human struggle and not completely the Word of God?

Indeed, we are faced with what appears to be a bold-faced contradiction: The Psalmist cites God as saying, “I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered,” but the Psalmist charges, “You have renounced the covenant!” Contradiction, right?

Not necessarily! Scripture often contains errant human statements to make its point. Job’s three friends had stated many things that were wrong. Besides, when God appeared to correct Job, He charged that Job had stated many things wrong about God!

Does this mean that we can no longer trust Scripture? Well, no! However, we first have to determine the overall purpose of the book. The Book of Job demonstrated that we all have our breaking point, even the most righteous of men. In Job’s case, his suffering brought his self-righteousness to the surface. He eventually repented of his wild charges against God.

Likewise, in the Psalms, in an inerrant manner, God brings to the surface human errant sentiments and statements. In the case of Psalm 89, the Psalmist concluded his indictments with a simple statement of trust: “Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.”

This is perplexing! How can the Psalmist conclude with praise to a God who he knows to be unfaithful? He can’t! Instead, at the end of his diatribe, the Psalmist reaffirmed his faith in God despite the tremendous chasm between God’s promises and Israel’s present disappointing reality.

However, despite the apparent contradiction, the Psalmist reasserts his faith in the God of Israel and reassures himself that there is a resolution to the tension, albeit obscured by his God.

In another Psalm, the Psalmist receives the answer to his dilemma – a divine revelation. He too had experienced the seemingly impassable chasm. While Scripture clearly taught the blessedness of those who followed their God, the Psalmist perceived that it was the other way around – that the evil were receiving all of the blessings! He temporarily concluded that he was wasting his time serving God:

·        Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. (Psalm 73:13) 

However, after God had bridged the impassable chasm between reality and promise, by way of revelation, everything was then changed for the Psalmist. He was enabled to see the big picture in which God resolved everything - the puzzle fit together and every mountain and impassable chasm became a highway into His presence:

·        I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:22-26)

We are all ‘brute beasts” before God. We are all so undeserving of His mercy. Our Lord uses the tension between our painful and humbling present reality and His promises of glory to reveal this to us. He uses this protracted waiting period to kindle within us a knowledge and a longing for Him alone:

·        Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

If life is too comfortable here – if there is no tension between reality and promise – we will not “be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Instead, we would probably apply for a time extension – “Come back in a couple of months. I’m not ready yet!”

My friend had to persevere in faith for years, but finally he was delivered from the torments of same-sex attraction. Sadly, many have not persevered. Perhaps they had the false expectation that reality and promise would immediately come together and therefore became overly discouraged.

In the midst of my many-year struggle with depression and panic attacks, I had forsaken any hope of deliverance. It just didn’t seem that the gulf between my reality and His promises could ever be breached. Fortunately, I had tried everything else out, and everything had proved an unmitigated disappointment. Therefore, I had nowhere else to go and continued to camp out at God’s doorstep. The door was closed but perhaps it might open. It wasn’t much of a hope, but it was my only hope. Meanwhile, the Psalmist counsels, “wait!”

·        I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13-14)

How then do we bridge the gap? Sometimes, the only thing we can do is wait. (But sometimes, it might also be “Repent, and follow Me!”)

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Where is God when I Hurt?

Where was God for all of the suffering and martyred Christians? Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? Can I trust Him with my deepest concerns? These are questions that arise as quickly as the dust on a hot dirt road, but questions which the Psalms have examined from many different angles.

Disappointment with God had driven one Psalmist to conclude that following God was for naught:

 

• Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. (Psalm 73:13)

God just didn’t seem to be working for him. Instead, it was the wicked who seemed to be inheriting God’s blessings:

• For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills (3-4)…This is what the wicked are like--always carefree, they increase in wealth (12).

The Psalmist admits that he was tormented by the silence of God in the face of this horrible injustice and confusion:

• All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning…When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me (14-16).

However, where his wisdom had utterly failed him, God opened the Psalmist’s eyes to the big picture. Everything then came into focus when:

• I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors (17-19)!

Through this revelation, God assured the Psalmist that although it seemed that God was not at work, He had His own time-schedule. He also assured him that, although he didn’t see God’s blessings, they were rock solid:

• Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you (24-25)

The Psalmist demonstrates that if we have these reassurances, we can endure the worst circumstances. When he saw the grand panorama of God’s plan, he was able to find rest for his tormented soul:

  

• When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you (21-22).

Our Lord doesn’t want to feed our natural arrogance. Therefore, He often allows us to see how unspiritual we really are and how undeserving!

The knowledge of God made all the difference for the Psalmist. It provided all the comfort and elicited all the praise. While the Psalmist had received this revelation in the Temple, we can receive it through the Word and in prayer.

However, there is no assurance that we will receive this revelation in our timing. Sometimes, our Savior allows us to stew for a while. King David certainly did a lot of stewing:

• How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? (Psalm 13:1-2)

It felt that his God had rejected him and had left him without any uplifting revelation. Nevertheless, he knew who God is and recalled His goodness, reminding himself that His grace was certain:

• But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me (5-6).

Sometimes, surrendering to praise is our only recourse as we continue to contain our tears. Meanwhile, we ask ourselves, “God, I don’t understand your ways. Why are You so slow in responding to my cries? And why must I wait for so long?”

Part of the explanation is that we don’t know what’s good for us. We think that having our prayers answered in a timely fashion is good, but we might fail to see the hidden costs. While many are certain that by winning the Lotto, they would be happy, most of the time, such a win was actually a loss. It eventually brought misery.

We also fail to understand the necessity of suffering. Only after thirty-five years of following Jesus can I say, along with David:

• It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. (Psalm 119:71)

In my earlier years as a believer, I was unable to see how much was wrong with me – I wouldn’t allow myself to see this – and how much refinement I required. If these things are true about us, we need to entrust our concerns and demands to God’s will. King David learned that waiting was a virtue, especially in the midst of his pain and uncertainty:

• I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13-14)

David had learned the necessity of waiting. He concluded by praying that we might also learn the same lesson.