Psalm 133 is a pilgrim song extolling the virtue of brotherly unity – both within extended families and the Israelite community as a whole as they come to worship together at one of the feasts in Jerusalem. Two metaphors are given to depict how good and how pleasant (verse 1) that unity is. It […]
The next song of ascents, Psalm 132 is a pilgrim prayer asking God to keep His promises – His covenant – that He made with David. It makes specific reference to our recent studies in 2 Samuel 6 and 7. For this reason, many believe Psalm 132 may have been written by Jews returning from the […]
Psalm 131 is a song of ascent of David, joining fellow Israelites who are going up to Jerusalem for one of the religious feasts. David’s song is a declaration of his humble dependence upon the LORD, rather than being proud and giving way to selfish ambition “in great matters” as we have seen with his son Absalom in our recent studies in 2 Samuel.
Our human tendency is to “go astray like sheep to our own way” apart from the Shepherd (Isaiah 53:6). Even when things start to become difficult, we often still try to find “our own way” apart from God’s “narrow way that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14). It’s only when we become desperate enough, that we […]