Plymothian

Zion is a symbol of Hebrew nationalism.  The return of Israelites to their homeland settling amidst the Palestinians is called Zionism.  The mount in Jerusalem is a central symbol of Jewish identity.  Psalms like Psalm 48 have helped to elevate Mount Zion.  More recently Bob Marley has taken the symbolism and changed it into something else http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+marley/iron+lion+zion_20021821.html .  Read Psalm 48 to get a sense of the original grandeur of Zion.

Psalm 48

 ¹ Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise,
   in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

 ² Beautiful in its loftiness,
   the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon^[b] is Mount Zion,
   the city of the Great King.
³ God is in her citadels;
   he has shown himself to be her fortress.

 ⁴ When the kings joined forces,
   when they advanced together,
⁵ they saw her and were astounded;
   they fled in terror.
⁶ Trembling seized them there,
   pain like that of a woman in labor.
⁷ You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish
   shattered by an east wind.

 ⁸ As we have heard,
   so we have seen
in the city of the LORD Almighty,
   in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
   forever.^[c]

 ⁹ Within your temple, O God,
   we meditate on your unfailing love.
¹⁰ Like your name, O God,
   your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;
   your right hand is filled with righteousness.
¹¹ Mount Zion rejoices,
   the villages of Judah are glad
   because of your judgments.

 ¹² Walk about Zion, go around her,
   count her towers,
¹³ consider well her ramparts,
   view her citadels,
that you may tell of them
   to the next generation.

 ¹⁴ For this God is our God for ever and ever;
   he will be our guide even to the end.

Questions

1. Where does God reside according to this psalm?
2. How would this psalm encourage Israelite nationalism?
3. How would you describe Mount Zion in your own words?
4. How can the concept of Zion transcend the nation of Israel?
5. Are there locations today where God is more present than others?

Postmodern means that which follows the modern.  The modern period was the time when mankind set itself up as the ultimate authority.  Scripture, myths, and emotions needed to take second place to science and logic.  In falling in love with the scientific method and human rationalism, it was thought that mankind would eventually solve all its problems through scientific progress.  Of course, World War I and II put a dent in the popularity of mankind’s ability to get along.  The present War on Terror would be an indicator that science and technology have not led us into an age of bliss.

The time after modernism, postmodernism, is skeptical.  It says that no story, whether it is the scientific story of evolution or the theistic story of Creation provides absolute meaning to our lives.  Everyone has the authority to make up their own story because all that exists is opinion and that doesn’t count for much (which, I guess, is just a postmodernist’s opinion and doesn’t count for much).  The problem is that postmodernism will get you killed as a philosophy to live by.  If a psychopath or terrorist wants you dead and they’re entitled to their own way of making sense of the world, they have every right to kill you.  Your opinion that you should stay alive is just that – a weak opinion.

Reality seems to reveal a self-evident truth that killing the innocent is wrong (deciding who is innocent is a hard one, though).  Reality seems to reveal that there are laws and principles at work that are true whether we want them to be or not.  Reality reveals that the fierce individualism of postmodernity which allows you to treat the world however you choose is absurd.  Reality reveals that there is a unifying force behind all of life – even behind the order in the universe.  Reality is best explained by the narrative of Scripture.  Scripture claims that there is one God who is the ruler of everything.  I can imagine him looking down from heaven at the absurd departure of mankind from logic and reason, from faith and wisdom.  I can imagine him saying, “Enough with the postmodernism, already.  Don’t make me come down there!”  However, he is already here, if we will just see him.  We are still living on the planet over which he is king and he reigns despite his tolerance for our rebellion.

Psalm 47

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

 ¹ Clap your hands, all you nations;
   shout to God with cries of joy.

 ² For the LORD Most High is awesome,
   the great King over all the earth.
³ He subdued nations under us,
   peoples under our feet.
⁴ He chose our inheritance for us,
   the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.^[b]

 ⁵ God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
   the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;
   sing praises to our King, sing praises.
⁷ For God is the King of all the earth;
   sing to him a psalm of praise.

 ⁸ God reigns over the nations;
   God is seated on his holy throne.
⁹ The nobles of the nations assemble
   as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings^[c] of the earth belong to God;
   he is greatly exalted.

Questions

1. How are the shouts of the nations described?
2. What did God choose for Israel?
3. How does the psalm take a local truth and make it universal?
4. Do you think of your God as everyone’s God?
5. How do people today reduce God from reigning over the nations?  How will he put that right?

Going Deeper

Clap your hands in verse one is a Hebrew idiom.  Can you find what it means?

In Psalm 46 there is once more a reference to the waters.  In this case the reference is to mythical primal waters.  You may remember that in Genesis 1 the Spirit of God hovers over the waters.  The mythological significance of the small section on the Spirit over the waters is huge.  The precreation waters are chaotic, mighty, and untamable.  God is such a force for order that he is able to take the seemingly untamable forces of the primal waters and tame them.  In Psalm 46:2 it looks so bad to the psalmist that the very act of God’s creation of mountains from the seas of chaos looks to be undone.  However, the psalmist is reminded that the chaos of water is redirected through God’s presence into an irrigating stream from the Temple Mount that brings life from God to his people.

Do you sometimes feel like chaos is taking over God’s ordered plans for you?

Psalm 46

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.^[b] A song.

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

 ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

 ⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 ⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

 ¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Questions

1. When is God at hand?
2. What does God tell people after they are still?
3. How would people see pacifism in this psalm?
4. How can there be no fear in the midst of chaos?
5. What battles are you fighting?  How can the chaos of war become an ordered peace?

When I was in state elementary school we used to sing the song:

I hear the sound of rustling in the leaves of the trees,
The Spirit of the Lord has come down on the earth.
The Church that seemed in slumber has now risen from its knees
And dry bones are responding with the fruits of new birth.
Oh this is now a time for declaration,
The word will go to all men everywhere;
The Church is here for healing of the nations,
Behold the day of Jesus drawing near.

My tongue will be the pen of a ready writer,
And what the Father gives to me I’ll sing;
I only want to be His breath,
I only want to glorify the King.

And all around the world the body waits expectantly,
The promise of the Father is now ready to fall.
The watchmen on the tower all exhort us to prepare
And the church responds – a people who will answer the call.
And this is not a phase which is passing,
It’s the start of an age that is to come.
And where is the wise man and the scoffer?
Before the face of Jesus they are dumb.

A body now prepared by God and ready for war,
The prompting of the Spirit is our word of command.
We rise, a mighty army, at the bidding of the Lord,
The devils see and fear, for their time is at hand.
And children of the Lord hear our commission
That we should love and serve our God as one,
The Spirit won’t be hindered by division
In the perfect work that Jesus has begun.

The chorus was pulled from Psalm 45.  I remember us enjoying the song, but most of the people that I went to school with would call themselves Christian only in the nominal sense.  They are atheists or agnostics in their daily lifestyles and thought patterns.  What does this show us about an education that is moral and includes daily worship, but lacks the life-transforming relationship with the heavenly author of the psalms?

Psalm 45

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.^[b] A wedding song.

 ¹ My heart is stirred by a noble theme
   as I recite my verses for the king;
   my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

 ² You are the most excellent of men
   and your lips have been anointed with grace,
   since God has blessed you forever.

 ³ Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;
   clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously
   in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
   let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.
⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;
   let the nations fall beneath your feet.
⁶ Your throne, O God,^[c] will last for ever and ever;
   a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
   therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
   by anointing you with the oil of joy.
⁸ All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
   from palaces adorned with ivory
   the music of the strings makes you glad.
⁹ Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
   at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

 ¹⁰ Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
   Forget your people and your father’s house.
¹¹ Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
   honor him, for he is your lord.
¹² The city of Tyre will come with a gift,^[d]
   people of wealth will seek your favor.
¹³ All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
   her gown is interwoven with gold.
¹⁴ In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
   her virgin companions follow her—
   those brought to be with her.
¹⁵ Led in with joy and gladness,
   they enter the palace of the king.

 ¹⁶ Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
   you will make them princes throughout the land.

 ¹⁷ I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
   therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

Questions

1. What kind of royal event was this written for?
2. What words show the psalmist’s hopeful wishes for the enemies of the king?
3. How can Israel understand God to be their deliverer, refuge, and strength when this psalm was sung in captivity in Babylon?
4. How mindful should we be of God at the timeof marriage?
5. In the royal wedding of William and Kate a coupleof weeks ago, did the nations see God exalted?  How would you justify your answer?

Going Deeper

Look over the Royal Wedding of William and Kate again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWMgceoDuA0  Do you think that Psalm 45 would have fit?

In Israel it was understood that if you lived a wise life things would go better for you.  It was also understood that if you were faithful to the Old Testament law, things would go well with you.  It is in the context of keeping the law and living wisely that the psalmist is trying to make sense of suffering.  Is there meaning in suffering, even if you have faithfully followed God?  It does not mean that you would be sinless.  However, what kind of reward is suffering for the faithful?

The psalm indicates that the suffering is redemptive.  It is for God’s sake that the psalmist and the psalmist’s community is suffering.  The question is whether our lives are God-focused enough to accept suffering from his hand.

Psalm 44

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.^[b]

 ¹ We have heard it with our ears, O God;
   our ancestors have told us
what you did in their days,
   in days long ago.
² With your hand you drove out the nations
   and planted our ancestors;
you crushed the peoples
   and made our ancestors flourish.
³ It was not by their sword that they won the land,
   nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
   and the light of your face, for you loved them.

 ⁴ You are my King and my God,
   who decrees^[c] victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;
   through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I put no trust in my bow,
   my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
   you put our adversaries to shame.
⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,
   and we will praise your name forever.^[d]

 ⁹ But now you have rejected and humbled us;
   you no longer go out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us retreat before the enemy,
   and our adversaries have plundered us.
¹¹ You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
   and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You sold your people for a pittance,
   gaining nothing from their sale.

 ¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
   the scorn and derision of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations;
   the peoples shake their heads at us.
¹⁵ I live in disgrace all day long,
   and my face is covered with shame
¹⁶ at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
   because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

 ¹⁷ All this came upon us,
   though we had not forgotten you;
   we had not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our hearts had not turned back;
   our feet had not strayed from your path.
¹⁹ But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;
   you covered us over with deep darkness.

 ²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
   or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ would not God have discovered it,
   since he knows the secrets of the heart?
²² Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

 ²³ Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?
   Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
²⁴ Why do you hide your face
   and forget our misery and oppression?

 ²⁵ We are brought down to the dust;
   our bodies cling to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up and help us;
   rescue us because of your unfailing love.

Questions

1. What events does the psalmist bring to memory?
2. What is the psalmist’s present condition?
3. Restate verse 22 in your own words.
4. In reality do you measure things by how they serve you or how they serve God?
5. How have you suffered for the sake of others and for God?

My friend Fred says, “Once more, with feeling,” when something is repeated.  Psalm 43 is a continuation of Psalm 42.  The passage,”Why, my soul, are you downcast?/ Why so disturbed within me?/Put your hope in God, /  for I will yet praise him, /   my Savior and my God.” is found in both psalms highlighting their unity.  What Psalm 43 adds that Psalm 42 needs is the perspective of hope.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.  The light is found in communal worship.  The sinner has their downcast soul lifted when they reach the tabernacle or temple and can engage in community worship with the faithful.

Does this ring true for you?  Have you struggled with the faith but had your spirit revived by the church, youth group, or family coming together in community praise?  This week, I pray that will be your experience.

Psalm 43

 ¹ Vindicate me, my God,
   and plead my cause
   against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are
   deceitful and wicked.
² You are God my stronghold.
   Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
   oppressed by the enemy?
³ Send me your light and your faithful care,
   let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
   to the place where you dwell.
⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God,
   to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
   O God, my God.

 ⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
   Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
   for I will yet praise him,
   my Savior and my God.

Questions

1. What is missing from the beginning of this psalm which may indicate it is the continuation of the psalm before?
2. What is the disconnect between the psalmist’s expectations or beliefs and his present experience?
3. How is the refrain in verse 5 morehopeful than the refrain in the previous chapter?
4. Where do you feel most transported in the worship of God?
5. Who would you join in worship tomorrow if your soul needed encouragement?

Going Deeper

K-Love claims to play positive, encouraging music.  On Sunday some members of my small group said that it has too few songs in rotation so that it becomes dull.

http://www.klove.com/listen/player.aspx 

Moody Radio plays a few songs on its radio station, but it focuses on talk.  However, if you follow the link below you can go to their Praise and Worship broadcast lower on the page.  Join the people of God on both radio stations for a while. 

http://www.moodyradiochicago.fm/rdo_main.aspx?id=44604 

Did either one help you to see God more clearly?  Did either one provide God’s light in darkness?  Are there podcasts or albums that would be more helpful?

I know I prefer hip-hop or electronica.  Here is a Christian hip-hop rap channel:

http://www.rhapsody.com/player?type=radio&id=sta.8648097&remote=false&page=&pageregion=&guid=&from=&__pcode=vh1

When I read Psalm 42 I have a deeper sense of how the psalmist feels because of being to Israel.  Between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea is the wilderness and it is dry and hot.  I have never been without water for more than a day, so I do not know what it would be like to need a drink after days in the wilderness.  I have lived in hot, arid lands.  I spent a while in the desert in Pakistan teaching teachers how to teach.  The Christian village was struggling because local Muslims had cut off their water supply.  The parched earth made your throat dry to look at it.  Where there should have been crops there were dusty cracks in the ground.

The longing for water of a parched animal is compared with the longing of the psalmist’s soul for God.  His mind is uncluttered from what is really important.  What fills your mind with longing?  Marriage?  Children?  A desire for a better job or salary?  Jesus said not to chase after these things, but you should seek first the kingdom of God and all your other needs will be taken care of.  Psalm 42 gives us a sense of that longing.

Psalm 42

For the director of music. A maskil^[c] of the Sons of Korah.

 ¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
   so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
   When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food
   day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
   “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember
   as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
   under the protection of the Mighty One^[d]
with shouts of joy and praise
   among the festive throng.

 ⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
   Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
   for I will yet praise him,
   my Savior and my God.

 ⁶ My soul is downcast within me;
   therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
   the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
   in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
   have swept over me.

 ⁸ By day the LORD directs his love,
   at night his song is with me—
   a prayer to the God of my life.

 ⁹ I say to God my Rock,
   “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
   oppressed by the enemy?”
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
   as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
   “Where is your God?”

 ¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
   Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
   for I will yet praise him,
   my Savior and my God.

Questions

1. How would you describe the psalmist’s condition upon writing this psalm?
2. How is the depth of God’s relationship with the psalmist described?
3. Why would water be such a powerful theme in Israel/Palestine?
4. How would you describe your prioritizing of your relationship with God?
5. What sharpens your sense of need for God?

Going Deeper

Listen to this song.  Is it faithful to the passage?  Is it dated?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF27EczT_pU

I am surprised that I am being used by God at all. Why?  Because I would count myself among the weak.  I am not emotionally a giant.  I know enough to know that I don’t know much.  I fight for the right words at the right time. 

In Psalm 41, God is the God of the weak.  He is God of those who can not help themselves.  Of course, we are all weak if we have the right view of ourselves.  It is when we are weak that God makes us strong.  That is what is so amazing to me.  I have never been weaker than I am at present.  However, God’s strength is still with me. 

How does your weakness come through?  Do you see God’s strength because of it?

Psalm 41

 For the director of music. A psalm of David.

 ¹ Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
   the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.
² The LORD protects and preserves them—
   they are counted among the blessed in the land—
   he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
³ The LORD sustains them on their sickbed
   and restores them from their bed of illness.

 ⁴ I said, “Have mercy on me, LORD;
   heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
⁵ My enemies say of me in malice,
   “When will he die and his name perish?”
⁶ When one of them comes to see me,
   he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;
   then he goes out and spreads it around.

 ⁷ All my enemies whisper together against me;
   they imagine the worst for me, saying,
⁸ “A vile disease has afflicted him;
   he will never get up from the place where he lies.”
⁹ Even my close friend,
   someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
   has turned^[b]against me.

 ¹⁰ But may you have mercy on me, LORD;
   raise me up, that I may repay them.
¹¹ I know that you are pleased with me,
   for my enemy does not triumph over me.
¹² Because of my integrity you uphold me
   and set me in your presence forever.

 ¹³ Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
   from everlasting to everlasting.
            Amen and Amen.

Questions

1. What does the LORD do for the weak?
2. What forces are working against the psalmist?
3. How does the psalmist expect justice?
4. In what ways are you weak?
5. How does God sustain you in your weakness?

The psalmist paints a strong picture of a person who is helpless at the bottom of a cistern or well.  There is no escape from this prison.  Only God has the ability to reach into the mire and pull the hostage out.  Cisterns were used to imprison Joseph and Jeremiah at different points.  They were deep places where water was stored, but they could dry out when empty.  In this case we have a cistern that is mostly dry but the bottom is muddy and has nowhere firm to stand.

I have felt like that.  I have felt like I am alone in an isolated cell.  I have felt like my life was unstable.  God has, in the past, lifted me out of those kinds of situations.  He has sometimes taken me from dark situations in one part of the world and brought me to new situations where I am free.  However, in Psalm 40 the release comes through a confession of sin and weakness.  The psalmist proclaims the inadequacies and failings that he has.  This only serves to glorify the God who has saved him more.

I am learning to confess weakness to my wife, my friends and my small group.  It is humbling and hard.  However, like the psalmist I see God’s ability to save.  I wait patiently for the LORD.

Psalm 40

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
   and put their trust in him.

 ⁴ Blessed is the one
   who trusts in the LORD,
who does not look to the proud,
   to those who turn aside to false gods.^[b]
5 Many, LORD my God,
   are the wonders you have done,
   the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
   were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
   they would be too many to declare.

 ⁶ Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
   but my ears you have opened^[c]—
   burnt offerings and sin offerings^[d] you did not require.
⁷ Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
   it is written about me in the scroll.^[e]
8 I desire to do your will, my God;
   your law is within my heart.”

 ⁹ I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
   I do not seal my lips, LORD,
   as you know.
¹⁰ I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
   I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
   from the great assembly.

 ¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD;
   may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
¹² For troubles without number surround me;
   my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
   and my heart fails within me.
¹³ Be pleased to save me, LORD;
   come quickly, LORD, to help me.

 ¹⁴ May all who want to take my life
   be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
   be turned back in disgrace.
¹⁵ May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
   be appalled at their own shame.
¹⁶ But may all who seek you
   rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
   “The LORD is great!”

 ¹⁷ But as for me, I am poor and needy;
   may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
   you are my God, do not delay.

Questions

1. What did God give the psalmist after he had raised him?
2. What does the psalmist proclaim?
3. How are confession and God’s salvation related?
4. Who do you confess your failings to on a regular basis?
5. How does your confession of weakness help others to be saved?

Going Deeper

How do U2 use the lyrics of Psalm 40?  Is this valid?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB4kxMj0-IE&feature=related

For the psalmist there is no clear understanding of an afterlife.  We read that into the text after we are have read the New Testament.  For the psalmist, the presence of God is searing in its justice and righteousness.  He knows that God is just if he looks with righteous judgement on any person’s life and shortens their days, like the boat rental man who shouts across the lake, “Come in boat number 6, your time is up.”  With no idea of what comes next, the psalmist wants God to leave him alone.  The psalmist complains that his time on this earth is too short.  When my father died at age 56, he said it was all so short.

The psalmist wants God’s presence to go away, but he knows that God is omnipresent.  We all must get right with God before the sands of time run out.

Psalm 39

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

 ¹ I said, “I will watch my ways
   and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
   while in the presence of the wicked.”
² So I remained utterly silent,
   not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
 ³ my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned;
   then I spoke with my tongue:

 ⁴ “Show me, LORD, my life’s end
   and the number of my days;
   let me know how fleeting my life is.
⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
   the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
   even those who seem secure.^[b]

 ⁶ “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
   in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
   without knowing whose it will finally be.

 ⁷ “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
   My hope is in you.
⁸ Save me from all my transgressions;
   do not make me the scorn of fools.
⁹ I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
   for you are the one who has done this.
¹⁰ Remove your scourge from me;
   I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
¹¹ When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
   you consume their wealth like a moth—
   surely everyone is but a breath.

 ¹² “Hear my prayer, LORD,
   listen to my cry for help;
   do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
   a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
¹³ Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
   before I depart and am no more.”

Questions

1. How is the life of those who seem secure described?
2. How does God’s presence in a person’s life affect their view of sin?
3. Where is the psalmist’s hope?
4. Why do youths live like life is eternal?
5. How does knowing the brevity life, God’s justice, and our own sin help us to live life and to pray well?