Ps 144 3 O LORD , what is man that you care for him,
the son of man that you think of him?
  4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a fleeting shadow."

The Psalmist teaches that God created man for the purpose of ruling over creation. So God progressively brought salvation to the earth by the creation covenant in establishing the nation of Israel through law. It is a universal pronouncement of Gods blessing that any nation outside of the walls of Israel had not been given the law and were under the pronouncement of the curse. Because the nations are not given the law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promised they are like a fleeting shadow. If God is concerned for the suffering of His elect then He must be able to subdue the wicked under the authority of His curses. Salvation comes through pronouncing the axioms. The Psalmist is teaching that Israel must take the land away from the nations by force. God law must be thoroughly applied through governing.The pronouncement of the curse will bring about the complete destruction of the wayward and rogue nations. God was establishing the curse through the advancement of physical force that would be applied in a legal war. Israel was required to pronounce the curse in order to have the right attitude to destroy all the unlawful nations.  4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a fleeting shadow."

The Psalmist is teaching that the history of the world is a history of redemption. God is establishing His law through nations in order to protect the value of all men. God redeems his people by paying the price in order to avenge the devaluing of the creation. God redeems men by overturning the redefining of His governing law. The Owner must take vengeance upon the wicked by taking their profits and giving them to His people. When Gods law is redefined sons and daughters are abused, the barns are empty, the oxen die in the fields, and the enemy climbs over the walls and steals the nations treasury and Israel is led into captivity. This happens because no one pronounces the axioms which leads to redefining Gods law and abusing Gods people. The Psalmist is praying that God would reestablish His majesty and glory in the nation through the curse that will produce the attitude of detests of the rogue nations.   

Ps 33 9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm."

The question is why was it important for God to create every thing in order to bring Himself pleasure? The reason is because God gets pleasure through hearing and speaking. The complaint I hear the most as I have lived my life is that everyone complains that no one listens to them when they speak. So the Psalmist is explaining why all of our troubles in this life are tied to hearing and speaking. He is saying that God spoke all things into existence in order that the beauty of creation depended upon one thing answering the need of the other thing in order for the creation to survive. God made all of the things of creation with a need that only other things of creation could provide. The entire balance of creation is dependent upon meeting the needs of the created things. So we can say that all of the things of creation survive by a desire being met.

The Psalmist is teaching that God is always happy because He is able to answer all the desires of all the creation. So God created all things in order to display His goodness, faithfulness, kindness and graciousness by receiving pleasure in meeting the needs of all creatures. The earth needs the sun, the plants need the sun, animals need warmth and food, man needs communication. But we must understand that if God did not put the desire in the creature and make the thing that meets the need of that creature then He could not receive the pleasure that would satisfy Himself. God is the only being who makes the parts in order to desire and the parts that meet those desires. This is why we experience all of the sorrows of this earth because we cannot communicate with others so that we are always satisfied that they are listening to us. You see our security, our rest depends upon the perfect creation where everyone listens.

In the garden Adam and Eve were not just able to communicate perfect toward one another but they also really believed that the other person had listened to them. This is why they both experienced perfect rest..perfect unity. Do we understand that in order for the creation to work according to Gods law it must be completely unified in desire being met?But because God cursed the creation because of sin man was given a pox in which he always fails to listen perfectly and meet every need.In this since all of creation has been thrown into experiencing a lack of connection. But God made the creation for His pleasure in order to create unity by the need and answering it. So if we are to survive God must relate to us as He did in the garden or we would be consumed with loneliness and sorrow. The enter creation has received the pox of alienation toward the other parts of the creation. Man cannot satisfy our original wants. We will always be frustrated. We are completely dependent upon God.

But the good news is that God is able to create the answer to every one of our needs and meet all of our desires. We need more than a listener. We need to experience perfect unity in God creating the want and meeting it without frustration. So the Psalmist says that we should not put our trust in man if we want to be at rest. Sometimes we can say that we know that the person was listening to us but this satisfaction is hardly ever achieved in this life. This is why the Psalmist describes this unity that God speaks into existence ..knowing our wants and meeting them so that we are satisfied is God breathing new life into our needy souls. This is why the Psalmist spend most of his time in meditation on the law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises, because it is the only language after sin entered that can speak salvation to us..this unity that God is pleased when all the desire of created things are met. We are revived when we know that God has listened to us.      

In order for us to be secure we must depend upon the news we hear. Every person wants to be happy because they are assured that their desires are fulfilled. The Lord is very concerned about how alert we are by listening to the right voices and seeing the right things. Most all of our troubles can be avoided if we are listening to God.  Most of our insecurities come from being unaware of what the Lord is saying to us by what we hear. What does the Psalmist want to hear?


Psalm 5 3 He wants God to hear his voice in the morning.
10 17 He wants God to hear him when he is suffering
17 1 Wants God to hear what he is saying that is correct.
17 6 Hear his prayers so as to hear the answer
18 44 Hear that God intervened and he was protected from being trapped or harmed.
27 7 Hear the Psalmist voice whenever he speaks
28 2 Hear his cry for mercy
30 10 Hear his cry for help and meet it
31 13 Hear the slander in order to be aware of the danger
34 2 Let other people hear the Psalmist brag about the Lord
38 13 When the troubles are enough to make him silent he wants God to hear his silent suffering
39 12 Hear him when he is crying. collect his tears
49 1 Make the people hear what the Psalmist is saying
51 8 Let the Psalmist only hear joy and gladness ..gladness over sorrow
55 2 Silence my troubled thoughts.
55 19 prevent wicked men from abusing him by changing their thoughts

When the Psalmist ask God to hear, it is not speaking to a God who sits and listens but when God hears He acts. God acts but we can only ask and hear.

Ps 143 3Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.
12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy all my foes, for I am your servant."

The question is if God curses the wrong use of the law then we who have been saved are subject to being cursed since we are corrupted? The answer is that saved people and unsaved people share in the same condition of corruption but we live in two separate kingdoms. When Christ came in the incarnation, He not only substituted in our place but He obtained the possession of all things. So when we are saved we enter into a kingdom in which we receive an inheritance of all that Christ has obtained. This is why the Psalms are not just our personal pronouncements. The Psalms are pronouncements that go to the ends of the earth. So God has shown our value by returning to us our control over the earth by the universal pronouncements of the eternal king. If God has brought love and faithfulness together in the cross then we who are his representatives are given control over the earth in the pronouncements. "in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief."

We live in a kingdom in which the Father is our Judge. The Judge deals with our sins by looking at us through the work of Christ. In this new kingdom we are still guilty of ongoing sin. But we have a legal argument that keep us from returning to our life in bondage to sin. The question is  Who is more guilty before the judge? The person who is responsible for all his sins or the person who has a Barabbas to take his punishment? Obviously the person is is far worse to be judged is the one who must pay for all his sins. In this new kingdom we can never return to our former self. Because ever time we sin God looks at us and says the people in the other kingdom are far worse.  3Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you".

You see God is not dealing with us according to our sin. We could be sinning more and yet in order to focus on our success in our work we are able to put our weak effort to avoid sin aside. Cause we always argue that if there was someone in the other kingdom who was better then we should be judged. God knows that all of our opposition is focused on our destruction by pointing out our sin. But they are blind to the inoculation to their curse. We are familiar that we are sinners while they cursed with blindness to their sin. God has saved us from trusting in ourselves so that we avoid the curse of self righteousness. We can now in our sinful understanding curse the curse. The more we curse the curse the more we are surrounded by Gods protection and the more obnoxious we are to the pride.

After the Psalmist appeals to God as a sinner , he presents his case in order to be unopposed on his path in the commands, do not hide, let every morning be blessed, show the way,rescue me from the enemies, teach me your will, and lead me on firm ground. In this way God will destroy all opposition.    7Answer me quickly, O LORD ;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
9Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD ,
for I hide myself in you.
 10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
  12In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant.

Ps 35 6 may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them".

The bible is a self revealing book. This is why we are taught that the all of the words of the bible never return void. Because God spoke all things into existence according to the law, covenants, statutes, curses, decrees and promises, then the words of scripture always work to defend and create success for Gods elect. The Psalmist describes the defense of the bible to be a rock that we stand on. We must understand that since we live in a fallen world Gods cry for our safety is the only foundation for our confidence. Even tho we have been guilty of crimes against Gods kingdom yet we are represented by a judge who comes to our defense. We have a Father who is our Judge.

 Man is at enmity with God because of His sin. So man was in a state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to God and his fellow man. The covenant of creation that gave man the ability to be successful in applying the law, was reversed by the curse so that man uses the law to destroy God and his fellow man. This is why the apostle says that all men are under the pox of excusing themselves while condemning others. All men are in bondage to this curse. So when we use the law to destroy God and others we curse ourselves.  We are in this cycle of defending ourselves and cursing ourselves. We cannot escape this bondage unless God makes us righteous again. When man sinned God had to curse him and the creation in order to prevent man from destroying the human race. Gods judgement against the first sin was final. In other words if God had not come as a man and complied with the law in a passive and active obedience then man would have cursed himself in order to receive the punishment of his rebellion in eternity. So God had to apply His righteousness to us in order to free us from the bondage that plagues all of mankind. We do not live in a world that is neutral and nice to God and His elect. We live in a cursed world that is filled with rebellious men who seek to curse others and themselves. This is the state of enmity with God.

We must live with the Philosophy that men who are not justified by God live in blindness to their own violent response to God. This is why in the OT, they were commanded to remove all of the leaven from their dwelling. In other words the leaven represented the danger of miss application of the law that is a result of the curse. The leaven had to be removed so that we would not be tempted to trust in the wrong application of the law and curse ourselves. Even tho we have been freed from the curse by cross yet we are surrounded by the dangers that could make us walk with a limp in this life. This is why Jesus warned that the Pharisees would give you a permanent wound. The Psalmist teaches us how to avoid the violent assault.

He is teaching us that all men curse themselves by trying to be righteous by their own works. You must understand that God made man to be the judge who is able to adjudicate the law. You see in the garden man was able to rule the creation by applying the implanted law. Man was righteous by complying with the standard of the law. But when man sinned he was not destroyed as person. The abilities were cursed. Man is dependent upon being successful by applying the law. But the problem is that he is cursed with using the law to destroy God and his neighbor. Because he cannot escape the evil use of the law, he accuses God people of using God to claim righteousness. Because he is bent on cursing himself, he will attack the people who are weak and dependent upon God.

The question is, If Christ went through the most extreme suffering and abuse from men in becoming a curse in order that we might be blessed, then why are we easily tempted to accept that we are not like Him because were sinners and we fight against fear, guilt, sorrow and pain? If Christ is proving that His work to bless us is successful then why do we focus on this world for our acceptance? Christ is proving that He is successful by our success. This is why faith is denying yourself by pushing the curse away in the curse of the law. When we curse the curse we express our dependence upon Gods righteousness.We must remove all leaven from our presence.       

  Ps 38 10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
even the light has gone from my eyes.
  11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
my neighbors stay far away.
  12Those who seek my life set their traps,
those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
all day long they plot deception. "


This Psalm has been historically labeled a penitent Psalm. It is taught that when God is offended by our sin we must come with a contrite heart in order to receive ongoing forgiveness. After speaking this Psalm for 40 years, I believe it is a confession but the second part  puts the confession into context. The historical  teaching is that each Psalm must be put in the circumstances that motivated the Psalmist to write each Psalm. But the Psalmist is using words, deliverance, salvation, redemption, and sin that are mention in other parts of scripture that cannot be put in a separate category from the rest of scripture. If we say that the same concepts that are taught in other parts of scripture are different in the Psalms then we are opening a Pandoras box for reinterpreting other parts of scripture. The Psalms are made to memorize , meditate using them for illumination and prayer.


So when the Psalmist uses the words of salvation , he is repeating them in order to apply them so that he is orthodox in his petitions. So we must always ask the question, What is the central argument that he uses and is it effective in gaining access before God? So when we study the penitent Psalms we must see that he is expressing his pain according to Gods view in order to overcome his opposition. Our natural approach is trying to be contrite or happy. We are thinking that if we present the right attitude that all of the promises will be given to us. If we practice prayer then we become good at developing the attitudes like humility or happiness. But the Psalms are not like this. When you speak the Psalms in prayer it is much different than coming to God with an attitude or with our own petitions.

The Psalms are written from Gods view as if Christ was praying them. There are different levels of communication according to how close we are to a person. This is why the Psalmist is always describing his usage of them as face to face with God. So when we pray the Psalms we are using them as a way of communicating that is beyond our natural way of describing our experiences. We are talking to God and ourselves. Our natural way of speaking is pragmatic. But the Psalms are written as extremes in response to evil and good. The purpose is more than just learning how to petition. We must understand that we make choices by how we think and then it affects what we like. Our fall back position is to be pragmatic.  This is why we accept a lower standard of what we describe as pleasurable. When we speak the extremes we are beginning to change from being pragmatic to having eternal standards. The Psalms help us live in the pleasure that comes from the unity that is created by the them. We can say that most of our pain comes from accepting pragmatism.

We use the pronouncements of both extremes in order to develop desires that cannot be satisfied in other forms of speech. When we learn to live in these forms of speech our definition of abuse and favor change. After you pray these Psalms for years you learn that there is no formula or steps in approaching God. When we fail to memorize and pray the Psalms we are living as if prayer should be steps to God.  So when we see the Psalmist confess his sin it is always in a greater context. We must understand that God reacts to sin with anger. Gods anger is universally applied in the curse. It is always seen in sorrow, guilt, fear and shame.  It is always experience in either physical or spiritual suffering. But the Psalmist uses this universal anger in the context of how the implanted law in man is used in a culture.  The plot is that since he has been declared righteous the anger of God is directed toward the wicked. The Psalmist complains about the physical and spiritual suffering of his sin but it is not to receive forgiveness because he says  9 All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you." He is saying that salvation has made Him righteous by making him a new man. In other words he knows that he is not like the wicked because he has a new core ..the new man that dwells in him. After this he turns away from himself and puts it into the context of being opposed.

He is asking why he is suffering since the Psalmist desires are all for the glory of God. In a sense he opens up as a man who is hurt because God is taken the side of his opposition. God has treated the Psalmist as He directed his anger toward the wicked. The first part of the Psalm is a complaint as the reason for his argument that he is losing to the wicked. The Psalmist has not approached God with pragmatic intentions. He is not approaching God according to a circumstance or a level of attrition but rather as a man who has righteous desires who is being abused by the cursed wicked. The Penitent Psalms teach us how to argue in the culture of cursing or blessing.  

Ps 58 4Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
 5that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
however skillful the enchanter may be.

The question is why do the Psalms teach an attitude of distrust and caution toward rulers? When God placed man in the garden, he was able to rule himself. So God gave each man the gift of ruling over the earth. Man was able to rule without being constrained by God. We must understand that the Bible upholds free will. Gods established the law as the foundation of perfect unity. The practice of the law resulted in the increase of the glory of man. This is why the law does not measure the quality of the action but it is a pronouncing of blessing to those who keep it. At the same time it pronounces a curse upon those who break it. But do not believe that the law has two purposes. It does not pronounce destruction in order to destroy the good that God has made. Rather the curses prevent further destruction because the law is Gods instrument of sovereign preventing. The work of the law in the judgement of God is to separate the wicked from the righteous in order to end the war and punish the guilty. So we can say the the curse of the law in the ultimate sense is shown in earthy wars. God gave nations the responsibility to exercise the curse in declaring a legal war.  The legal war destroys the wicked opposition.

But man was opposed in the garden by the most beautiful and powerful fallen angel. The devil tempted man by an evil curse. Man had never been opposed by violence. We can say that the first temptation by the devil was violent. So the devil ended mans blessed relationship to God and the earth by cursing man. The Psalmist is teaching that the devil became the prince of the air by a violent attack. What was the first violence? It was twisting Gods word.  So  the Devil was the first ruler who unlawful exercised his authority.  Its like the exercise of authority between an adult and a child. The adult explains the conditions of the conduct in order to get the child to comply. God does not exercise His authority in this way toward His creation. Gods word is self attesting it is not an interaction of violence. The Psalmist is teaching that facing temptation is not really giving in because of the pleasure. We are faced with a violent attempt of an assault to our souls. This is why the Psalms are filled with curses.

Our first blessed estate was without opposition or tension. When man sinned he received the violent tension. Sin bought self violence and social violence. Man was made as a free moral creature because he applied the axioms perfectly. But when sin entered the corrupted man applies the axioms with violence. The Psalmist teaching that the violence is our incorrect application of Gods law. God had to respond to the miss application by cursing the violator. This is why the apostle exhorts us to put sin to death. The Psalmist teaches that we must curse all opposition because we live with corrupted desires and in a culture of violence. When we get to the root of temptation we are opposing the desire with the violent curse.

 All communication in relationships is mixed with humanity and violence. Every person gives into temptation because of violence. In this sense we live in world in which the prince and the power of the air is assaulting all sinners. We must be able to dissociate the personal attack of in the violence from the universal struggle with the violence of corruption. We are able to control the violence by cursing the curse. This is why the Psalmist is teaching that with authority comes corrupted applications of the axioms that assault the soul.All authorities are given the position in which they can destroy the lives of a lot of people. And they are put in the position where it is easy to become self serving. They are distant from the people who they rule over. The Psalmist never presents the struggles in this world in the context of the avoidance of pleasure but of destruction and violence.      

Ps19 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

The Psalmist is teaching that he is able to create Gods kingdom like God created the earth. God has given His elect His word as the instrument of creating the kingdom. Just as God has placed the sun as the governor over the day and placed the stars in the sky as a display for man so He has made man the center of His creation establishing mans glory by covenant and creating the provision for mans enjoyment. The Psalms are written for meditation.They are a collection of soliloquies. When we speak them we are able to destroy all opposition and enjoy the highest pleasure all the gifts of the creation.

God created the earth by speaking the law, covenants, curses, statutes , decrees and promises. Just like God exercised His free will by pronouncing the creation into existence so He has provided us with all that we need in natural and special revelation. He is teaching that God created man and gave him a garden to rule over and enjoy its fruits. But he is not comparing the physical creation with the physical markers of covenant, sacrifice and center of worship. Rather God shows forth the creation in relating to it by the living word that comes from His mouth. Just because the physical creation is given for our pleasure, yet we are taught that the purpose of creation is to show forth the attributes of God in the axioms. So the Psalmist is teaching that we relate to God by our view of creation according to the axioms. We view every thing according an image of that thing and not the thing itself.

God has implanted the axioms as the kingdom that dwells in us. When we meditate on the Psalms we are relating to the creation according to Gods purpose in making us. The axioms unify all reality. When we speak them we are recreating the unity of all things. In order for us to be in control of the creation we must develop the attitudes of a king. This is why the Psalmist teaches us that we must depend upon the written revelation of God in order to reestablish the original order of the creation covenant which is compared to the sun shining as we over come all opposition, and as God put the display of stars and the planets so we must meditate on the axioms in order to enjoy Gods gifts.

God is creating the world according to redemption. The purposes of redemption are reestablished by recreating the conditions in the garden. Man enjoyed being the glory of God. The Psalmist is saying that we must learn to image God according to the axioms in order to rule without opposition.The world is according to our view. The Psalmist explains how we are successful in our kingship as the sun rules the day and the stars display the beauty of Gods glory.So the axioms are given to us in the circumstances of the garden.  The law has been given as a pronouncement in order for us to be perfected. So when we pronounce the law we are aligning our mind will and emotion. The unity converts our soul. The law, covenants, curses, decrees and promises are pillars that we establish by speaking the axioms in order to create the culture of stability.  We are creating a firm foundation for the simple minded.

When we speak the decrees we are establishing Gods testimony. God has worked to save and deliver His people in the events of history. We are revived when we pronounce Gods works. We command the commandments of the Lord and we receive illumination. When we speak the curses we are trusting that the law will destroy all opposition. When we see God judge the wicked we are filled with awe. God has given us the axioms in order to reestablish the glory of man. Our only opposition comes from the wicked.  13Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me." This is a figure of speech and refers to being in danger by the violence of wicked men. 

Ps 28 8The LORD is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever."

The Psalmist is teaching that the strength that God excised when He spoke all things into existence is given to His elect.  The creative strength is exercised by God in salvation. This strength is the foundation of our lives. Just as the Shepherd carries the helpless sheep so God acts according to His creative axioms in order to cause us to stand. We must understand the work of the law exercised by God who uses evil as part of the foundation that we stand on. When we are saved we are shielded from the condemnation of the law. We are being under girded by Gods control of good and evil. This is more than a standard of morality. It is used in the exercise of Gods power over the destructive activity that is a result of sin and corruption. Sin and righteousness are like oil and water. Just as the oil does not absorb the water, so our use of the axioms prevent us from being infected by the virus of the curse.

We repel the destructive force of evil in the pronouncement of the curse. The Psalmist is teaching that we must be carried by God in order to be saved. So we are born in world where we are not strong enough to repel  the destructive dangers of evil. When we are the most vulnerable to destruction he has given us the curse as the foundation to stand on. Because we are always faced with danger we must be able to destroy the opposition. If there was no curse of the law then we would not be able destroy the threat. Sin has brought the threat of destruction that must be quarantined. This is why the Psalmist prays   4Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work; repay them for what their hands have done and bring back upon them what they deserve. God is not a judge in order to punish every sin. He is the judge in order to defend His elect from the threat of destruction. How does God provide the sure foundation? Through poxes.
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We must acknowledge that we face an enemy that never rest. We cannot outmaneuver the enemy. We cannot run from the enemy. If there was no curse then mankind would be destroyed. So God prevents the wicked from destroying Gods elect. God responded to sin by giving man the pox so that whatever he desires results in cursing himself. The curse of the law has become a gift to us in order to allow and prevent. 6Praise be to the LORD ,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
7The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.

Ps 17 3Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,
though you test me, you will find nothing;
I have resolved that my mouth will not sin."

The Psalmist teaches that God cursed all men to walk on the path of destruction. The creation is a description of who God is and how He performs. Language was given to man in order to glorify God. Man was not able to know all of Gods language. This is why God describes Himself and His works in baby talk. Because God knows all things then He does not live in uncertainty. God is the only being who is able to think and desire, and act in prefect unison. We live in mystery because we are not omniscient, omnipresent or omnipotent. So we can say that our uncertainty proves that God limited our ability by limiting our language. Since God can explain all the details from His eternal view then we who are limited in our language are completely dependent upon God. The question is can we know enough to know God and understand ourselves?

If God has described the entire creation in all of the detail then He does not experience uncertainty.  So God is the only one who knows Himself as He is. So when we describe the problems that result from being finite, sinners and under the curse, it is always our struggle to describe reality like God. Our frustration with all opposition is experiencing the uncertainty by our inability to understand all the reasons about ourselves and our circumstances. In order to know ourselves and God like God knows we must not have any limitations.Gods language is detailed enough to describe the reasons for all reality. Since God created us to glorify Him by being dependent, He had to communicate His will to us so that we could be rewarded as our dependence grows. The question since God is free of the control of all things then we cannot be free as God is free since we limited in our knowledge and language?

If God has made us to rule over the earth and given us limits that He can control then how can we be successful in ruling? If God rules with unlimited power then how can He reward us if our power is limited? The answer is that God has given us an outline of His extensive language in order to give us unlimited freedom as He is free. God has written down the outline so that we can know what we desire and express our desires to Him. God has revealed His baby talk in the law, covenants, statutes, curses, decrees and promises. He has given us the language in the pronouncements of the king. God has given us the ability to destroy the opposition that comes from sin, the curse and our own limits.

 We must understand that all reality is Gods application of His law. Without law there is nothing that can be good or evil. Without law the creation would be without personality. Since we cannot know as God knows then we live with mystery.  But God describes mystery by applying the law. The question is If God created us to be free like He is free then how can we be law keepers if we fail because we do not understand good as God is good. Has God made us to live in the destructive uncertainty in order to force us to depend upon Him?  If all things are related to each other by law then how can God be just if we fail because we do not have the detailed knowledge in order to be good as God is good? We must live with the rule that God relates to us in perfect unity because He treats us according to the law of relationships. This is the reason that God must destroy all opposition because He cannot deny Himself. He must unite His desires with our desires in order for us to be free as He is free. This is why we have eternal pronouncements in the law, covenants,curses, statutes, etc.

When the Psalmist says  4As for the deeds of men- by the word of your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent. 5My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped. he is describing the recreation in pronouncing the axioms. God creates the social order in the pronouncements so that we experience unity.

Ps 93 5Your statutes stand firm;
holiness adorns your house
for endless days, O LORD. "

God planned all things in His eternal counsel. He is holy because every thing is spoken into existence.He has created all things according to His law, covenants, statutes, curses, decrees and promises. All of creation is fixed firmly upon Gods axioms. The creation is proof that God is not pragmatic. All of creation must rise up to the standard of blessing or be judged by the pronouncement of the law. Gods purposes in creating all things must never be measured or changed. So the Psalmist is teaching that God orders all things according to His fixed judgements.1b " The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved."

The creation is spoken by God pronouncing the axioms. God has determined the beginning from the end in His eternal counsel.  Even tho the earth is subject to the process of decline yet each change in the decline of a thing rises up to the line of blessing or cursing. Because man lives in bondage to time, he experiences sorrow, fear, anxiety and pain. The Psalmist is teaching that our natural desires oppose to the axioms. In this Psalm we are taught that our only hope of finding security and stability is Gods eternal judgements. The waves show the rising and falling of Gods power to exercise His blessing and cursing. The repetition of the waves shows that all of history is dependent upon the fixed judgements of God in the blessing and cursing. 4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,mightier than the breakers of the sea- the LORD on high is mighty."

He is comparing the waves rising up to the voice of God in pronouncing the axioms. 3The seas have lifted up, O LORD , the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves"
The waves make a loud boom as they crash against the sea so also the power of God in pronouncing the axioms is sure and steadfast. All of creation is ordered like the constant movement of sea as the waves roll. God rises up to blessing and cursing in reestablishing His axioms.

The Psalmist is comparing the waves to our experience of speaking the axioms. We are made to seek after blessing. But when we are opposed we are forced to descending into the sorrows of this world. So we are pronouncing blessing and cursing in order to rise up to the unity of all things or push the sorrows down in descending into the trial in order to curse the curse. Our lives are experience like the waves rising and descending into the sea. When we speak the axioms our security is fixed as the waves make the loud boom. The Psalmist is teaching that Gods holiness is His eternal pronouncement that has brought all things into existence for the purpose of blessing or cursing. All of the experiences of our lives have already been fixed in this judgement. 5Your statutes stand firm;holiness adorns your house for endless days, O LORD .      

This is for my Canes.....


How to win every game.

When I was a kid, my dad used to walk me to the ob to watch Bama come to the OB game on New Years. The one thing everybody talked about was Bamas undersized Dline dominating their bigger opponent. They would always win the battle on the line of scrimmage even tho they were shorter and weighted less. One of the reason was Bear Bryant taught them how to leverage their weight.  But the bigger reason was they had a stronger will than their opponent. They refused to get beat. So when the Canes started dominating in the 80s they displayed the same standard of dominance. The Canes refused to get beat.

Let me say that Cane philosophy was in total agreement with King David whether they understood this or not . The truth is that we christian can use our religion in the wrong way. Did you know that God does not like to lose? Just think if all of the bad people dominated the christians then our level of peace and tranquilly would be destroyed. This is why God never loses. Since the beginning of time God has destroyed many brutal nations. There is no better christian example than King David. He did not just win, He fought in a way that no one wanted to fight Israel after David annihilated the enemy.  I will explain Davids favorite Psalm. If i were young and playing to win I this would direct my thinking about what it means to compete like a Cane. We have a history of that is extra ordinary as an example that we should be warriors not just football players.Here was what David taught about being a good christian example. 

1I love you, O LORD , my strength. 2The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call to the LORD , who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

Just because you have physical talent does not mean you will win.  You need to train your will to never lose. The old canes used to say you got to dominate your opponent until they are convinced that you are their dad. You see God has won the victory over all opposition. That is why David describes God as being his shield. The first axiom is that when we are dependent upon God we have the will to overcome all opposition. So the problem is not having what is necessary to achieve our goal.  The problem is that we allow our thoughts to wonder. We should never give time to thinking about losing. So this is the first rule that should dominate our thinking. We depend upon a God who overcomes all our opposition.

   4The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6In my distress I called to the LORD ;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

I memorized this Psalm and it helped me use every experience as motivation to overcome opposition. God wins because He has more power than the opposition and he is able to destroy the opposition. So when we lose the little battles those are temptations to accept losing. We must never accept any thing that motivates us to play below our ability. King david taught that our opposition were reminding us of the our weakness instead of motivating us to win. So in this way it was cursing the king. So he calls on the Lord  in order to control his anger and use that loss as fuel to never give up. You see competing has noting to do with the plays or the calls. Competing is having a stronger will than the opponent. David is saying that when he was in the height of the war was when he was at his best. When he was in danger of losing the war , he would knew that God wins every time. His will was too strong to give in.

  7The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
8Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
 10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
  11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him-
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
 12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
 13 The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded. 
 14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies ,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.
 15 ^`The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD ,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

David was a pro at exercising his will to win. He is saying that all of the wars he won had universal consequences. Winning depended upon owning all the land. The stakes were the highest because when David won, God took possession of all the kingdoms. David had a will that would not bend. He was totally devoted. Every time the U dominated college football we made all our opponents home turf our own. This is a great chritian witness. This portion is so important for developing a devotion that is uncommon. We must play for the highest purposes. We must win for the glory of God.


¹⁶ He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰ The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the LORD ;
I have not done evil by turning from my God.
²² All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
²³ I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
²⁴ The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.


God has made us to excel beyond our ability. David is saying that when he meditated on this Psalm, he was motivated to be better than his last effort. He was motivated because he believed that he represented a nation that was ruled by God. He is pronouncing the power that he experiences from God when he faces the opposition. We are made to fight beyond our ability. God has given us chemicals called endorphins. When we play on the endorphins we never get tired. David is pronouncing Gods power flowing through him in order to be motivated beyond his ability. He is fighting on the endorphins. When he is pronouncing the power he is fully focused on the battle so that he is obeying God. Just being in the war and never giving up is obedience. Being led into a spacious place is when you are ahead in the game and you and your opponent know that you are dominating. They believe they are gonna lose.

 ²⁵ To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
²⁶ to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
²⁷ You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
²⁸ You, O LORD , keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
²⁹ With your help I can advance against a troop ^F36 ;
with my God I can scale a wall.
³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?
³² It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You give me your shield of victory,
and your right hand sustains me;
you stoop down to make me great.
³⁶ You broaden the path beneath me,
so that my ankles do not turn.

Now listen we are not happy with losing because we lose control. No one remembers who we are. You were not made to lose control. God is in control because He always wins. When you win the entire college conversation is on the Canes. So this helps you learn the importance of developing the kings attitude here so that you never lose control of  the conversation. The world is not right if the Canes are losing..thats the christian conviction.

 ³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
³⁸ I crushed them so that they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.
³⁹ You armed me with strength for battle;
you made my adversaries bow at my feet.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save them-
to the LORD , but he did not answer.
⁴² I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind;
I poured them out like mud in the streets.
⁴³ You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
you have made me the head of nations;
people I did not know are subject to me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they hear me, they obey me;
foreigners cringe before me.
⁴⁵ They all lose heart;
they come trembling from their strongholds.
⁴⁶ The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Savior!
⁴⁷ He is the God who avenges me,
who subdues nations under me,
⁴⁸ who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from violent men you rescued me.
⁴⁹ Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD ;
I will sing praises to your name.
⁵⁰ He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.


David is teaching that you can never let up on the opponent. Your not just winning in order to win the game. Your playing to send a message to the rest of the teams. You will lose when you play the Canes. This winning attitude and dominance is promised to us. We are Davids descendants. 

Ps 142 3"When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way".

 The Psalmist is teaching that we are born in a world of opposition. The only hope of being secure is to overcome the inward trials and the outward temptations. But the problem is bigger than using wisdom in order to make our lives better. As long as we are corrupted and we live in an evil world we cannot live in a perfect world. So there are more dangers that we face than we can handle. The longer we live in this world the more we become familiar with evil. So life is the process of losing our innocence.

The Psalmist is teaching that God created us in the garden in perfect unity in order for us to thrive in a world without opposition. If there was no presence of evil then there would be no threats that would end in our destruction. When we are children we do not have experience with evil thoughts and bad examples. We are dependent upon our parents to provide our emotional and physical needs. Because we have not faced the destructive consequences of the cursed world we enjoy the simplicity of innocence. The Psalmist is saying that there is only one person who knows us a as we were as a child. When we face the dangers of inward and outward evil we become needy. But God knows us on the level of perfection. He understands who we are without opposition. God exist in a world without tension. A God who knows our beginning and ending is able to meet our needs according to His purpose of making us His glory. He is able to meet our greatest desire so that we are fulfilled in this life according to His original creation covenant.

But in order for us to understand that desire we must never experience evil. The Psalmist is teaching that the presence of corruption has devalued us. When we are not familiar with the value that is without corruption then we are forced to accept the standards of this sinful and cursed world. But God has made us to live in a perfect world without tension. This is why Gods law curses the smallest corruption. Because we cannot be free unless all the danger of sin and corruption that we come in contact with is dead. The truth is that the smallest inward or outward sin that is present in our lives would destroy us in a second if God were not preventing the full destructive force from killing us.

Since we were created to live in a perfect world then we react to corruption with the highest disregard for its presence. But the problem is that the evil clings to us. Evil is the presence of the destructive nature of destroying our value. So the Psalmist is saying that since the presence of evil destroys us then he has had to much experience with evil to return to the value of innocence. He wants to be set free from that prison. The knowledge of Gods way in knowing the Psalmist is to unite the Psalmist gifts with his circumstances. He must return to the unity that exist before sin entered the world.   7"Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name."

Ps 143 4The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
4So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed."

The Psalmist teaches that salvation is in God alone. When we are saved we are taken from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of Christ. He teaches that Christ came to earth and took possession of all things. The question is How did Christ take back the creation from the control of Satan? How did Christ obtain the possession of the creation upon His ascension into heaven? We find the answer in this Psalm?

 Not only did Christ suffer and die for sin but He lived in complete dependence upon the Father and fulfilled the law of God. Christ fulfilled the obligations of the kingdom of David. He was the Prophet who spoke the law, covenants, statutes, curses, decrees and promises.He overcame all opposition by speaking the axioms. We must understand that although we were responsible for sin and corruption the satisfaction of justice was much greater than we could understand. So when Satan threatened Adam as a powerful fallen angel we were the recipients that were caught in a war between God and Satan.We were never created to endure sin and corruption. Sinners are violated by the abuse of the Devil. This is why the Psalmist mixes confession with cursing. Because when God made us he gave us an inheritance of the earth in order to meet our needs and satisfy our longings. Sin has brought guilt, fear, shame and sorrow. The Psalmist views the conditions of the curse as the enemy of our desires. When we sinned God did not add to our guilt, fear etc. Instead God cursed the curse in the law in order to reestablish the creation covenant with us. Instead of preventing us from all of the gifts in the creation covenant, God gave us the gift of knowing our sinfulness in order that we could curse the curse and get what we desire.

Why does the Psalmist add a curse in all of the Penitent Psalms? Because God had to legally justify our response by fulfilling the obligations of the law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promise. God could not demand the obedience of repentance by experience. We must be able to destroy sin and corruption with spiritual weapons. You hear this all the time that repentance is an attitude of the heart but then we teach that it is not how much sorrow we experience. But this just adds to our frustration because we are denying the physical and spiritual effort for the sake of establishing another proper attitude. That is a contradiction. So we kill the opposition by confession and the cursing of the law.

I have 40 years of experience in speaking the Psalms. Whenever the Psalmist teaches about confession or an attitude in the christian experience it is always in the context of the law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises. You see this in the Psalmist teaching of the ot sacrifice. Where as the books of the law teach outward conformance the Psalms teach the application of the axioms in order to have the right heart attitude. So the Sacrifice was more than putting the animal to death. It was a slaughtering.  You see the culture of that day was developed in the environment of blood and slaughter. This is why the Psalmist warns the Priest that Israel would be slaughter if the animal was sacrificed without applying the axioms. In other words God warned that they would be slaughtered like the animal. Ps 50 22 "Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:


All of the actions in creation are showing that God upholds the axioms. Slaughtering the animal was the right of God to curse the wicked. We are faced with the internal consequences of the curse in the opposition of guilt, fear, shame and sorrow and we are faced with the opposition of the Devil who controls the wicked. The Psalmist teaches that our own efforts to destroy the opposition will fail. We must apply the axioms in order to avoid the temptation in using other means. The bible teaches that we are changed by being converted. We must convert ourselves by cursing the curse. This is the only means of spiritual death.So the Psalmist teaches that we are saved in the past and we are being saved. In order for us to continue to be saved we must apply the axioms as the remedy for being delivered. So all opposition is destroyed and we are delivered.  
    

Ps 78 4 We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD ,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,"

God spoke creation into existence by pronouncing the law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises. The work of God in creating and sustaining creation was planned in His eternal counsel. All things that God created are proof that He rules every square inch as the governor. One small particle must bring Him glory because He rules with justice and equity. The entire balance of creation is proof that God is always the President, Judge and Legislator of all things. God established the creation covenant in Israel. The government of God was passed down by the fathers until God established Israel as a Nation. All civilized societies are established by the laws of nature. The laws of nature are established in the creation covenant that God made with Adam.

God gave the law in word form. The law is the foundation of all relationships. It is impossible for something to exist without the law. Because the law is the reasonable description of all things.This is why God gave Adam the task of naming the entire creation. Because he was able to describe the personality of the thing in order to describe the creation according to the perfect unity of the creation. Man is dependent upon the perfect application of the law in order to establish peace and order in government. So God created the garden with the purpose of gifting man the ultimate control of the earth through an earthly government.

Now listen we have got to stop describing the christian faith as a contradictory one. If God made man and gave him the responsibility of ruling over creation then man must be like God. If man was made different from God then there are two sets of laws. And man cannot rule if he is controlled by anything outside of himself. If man was not like God then every man could claim that he is more worthy of ruling than other men. In other words there would be two laws and two gods. So the law of God is so intertwined with the creation that all men are able to be in control as God without violating the control of other men. So God established government in order to uphold the rights of all \creatures and establish perfect unity so that God glorifies Himself.

The question is why did God pronounce death upon the smallest offense? Because the smallest offense is rebellion against the control of God over creation.  It was an attempt for man to govern with two gods. But God created everything with a separate personality in order to show the most beauty so that all things work together in perfect unity in that separate control. Man lost control of the creation when he fell into sin. So God had to rescue man and return the control he had over creation so that the earth would be saved from establishing a god who was successful in controlling other men. This is why God gave the law, covenants, curses, statutes,decrees and promises in the kings pronouncements in order to establish each man with his own control.     

Ps 143 2O LORD , hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief."

 God can only be pleased by working according to His law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises. God created the earth and made a covenant with man to rule over it. Man was implanted with the axioms. Man was united with Gods word and experienced no tension. The standard of success was ingrained in the creation. All things were unified as a display of Gods faithfulness and righteousness. But when man sinned , he was thrown into tension. But man was never made to experience tension. In the garden , man was never thwarted in what he wanted. When man began to experience tension it was unbearable.  The tension brought instant despair. So the whole creation cries out for Gods faithfulness and righteousness or the world is unbearable. We were created with eternal desires that cannot bear the opposition. The Psalmist has learned to confront the opposition by pronouncing the recreated free will.

Christ reestablished the freedom in this world in doing the work of  faithfulness and righteousness in the incarnation. Now we are brought back by overcoming all opposition in pronouncing the axioms. You see the Psalmist is using the weapon that destroys all opposition.  He is appealing to Gods kingdom on this earth as the new garden. This is why Gods curses are described as banishing the wicked outside of the new garden. SO there is only one way to satisfy mans desires. It is granting man the free will to speak the axioms in order to destroy all opposition and thus give him the power to rule again.

3"Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you."
You see that God must judge sin. The great enemy is being controlled by the curse. The curse is the presence of guilt, shame, sorrow and fear.  There is only one acceptable way that God deals with the curse. God must apply His faithfulness and righteousness in destroying sin and corruption. Our great struggle is in using the wrong means. The Psalmist is saying that he cannot endure the power of the Opposition. It must be destroyed immediately. If it is not destroyed then he is prevented from ruling over the creation. So the Psalmist is saying that Gods faithfulness is showing the Psalmist his own desires, giving him what he desires and destroying all of the opposition.  

Ps 143 5I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
6I spread out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
Selah

God has spoken all things into existence according to His law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises. He has created all things in order to show His love, faithfulness, long suffering, gentleness and kindness. There is nothing outside of God that can add to His work. He works in order to prove that He is God. So the Psalmist has practiced commanding God in pronouncing the axioms in order to increase his faith. God works on a much grander scale than we could ever imagine and He is more dreadful than we could ever endure. In this Psalm he is speaking to God in the way that God is pleased. When we go before God we must speak the axioms in order to create a future that is greater than we could ever imagine .

The Psalmist has learned that he is most comfortable when he views this life through the lens of the future judgement seat where he will receive his rewards. In order to bring the future reward ceremony into the present His elect must be comfortable in seeking God who acts in this life beyond our understanding. The Psalmist has memorized the axioms and has put his security in pronouncing them. In other words , he has two forms of communication. He has the horizontal way of communication and the vertical.  But after years of speaking to himself , he grows in his distrust of men and feels anxious when he is not pronouncing the axioms. You see this Psalm is written in order to apply the axioms in the future judgement when we are rewarded. We present our case over and over again until we are in eternity. It is written in order to bring the future eternity into the time.

This time sequence is short and fleeting. Time is the future moving into the past. But God has made us to live in an eternal mindset. Because life is so short we should expend our energy in mediation. We should speak the axioms as if we are being pursued by the end of this time sequence. We must be obsessed with the amount of pronounces we make before our time ends. There is only a few days on this earth and there is never enough time to present our case. Living in an eternal mindset is seeking God according to what pleases Him in order to receive the most that we can when we are rewarded. We cannot waste our lives in our young years. We must learn to meditate day and night. We must make memories of speaking the axioms and experiencing mystery. You see eternity is the only present experience in this world. Because eternity is outside of the future moving into the past.  We meditate for years and the experience is never forgotten. We must not come to the end of our lives and be overcome the grief of spending our time thinking under the constraints of this world. It is bad enough having to grieve with those who have wasted their lives. We cannot go back and relive what we failed to do. We must meditate day and night.  

Ps 29 1Ascribe to the LORD , O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness."

The Psalmist teaches that holiness is more than God exercising His moral goodness. But holiness is Gods work in creating , ordering and sustaining all things. God is holy because all of His work is complete and holistic. God acts in nature in order to show forth His works in turning the natural disasters in our lives into blessing. You see God does not act because He has control over the weather but He acts because He is the governor over all things.  I have spoken this Psalm through 5 hurricanes and 3 ice storms in my life.

I memorized  this Psalm about a year before Andrew came through Miami. Throughout the year before the storm I had a lot of questions. First most of the Psalms are written to explain Gods authority through the King; But one day I was meditating through the Psalms and the hurricane had made a sharp turn toward south dade. It did not move from its westerly course.  I found myself in a two story house north of my place of residence. Andrew was exactly what I needed for my meditation in this Psalm as the storm passed over us. And it really wasnt experience that I remember.But it was the foundation that was laid to bless my family in order to provide enough money so that we could minister in our next location. Andrew was my first angel.

This is what the Psalmist is teaching. That God turns the world upside down because He is concerned for the insignificant family.  When God speaks we cry glory. I cannot take credit for the years of ministry. The storm was brought into our lives to change our lives and bless our family.  The next 4 hurricanes were angels too.  

Ps 46 1God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble."

The Psalmist is teaching that when we think of control as men it is limited. It is limited to time and space. In this sense being in the time sequence is being subject to the control of the finite. It is the source of our inward struggle. We struggle to use our time wisely so that we will be accepted. We never can enjoy the present because time is always moving from the future to the past. So time is always pointing us to the past...what we could have done. But the truth is that we live in a world that is controlled by God.

God has revealed His grand control. Every time we are confronted with a tornado, hurricane, ice storm or war we are faced with uncertainty and a lack of control. And yet we were originally created with the ability to control the earth by ruling over the creation.  When we fell into sin the earth became our enemy. In the garden everything worked together to create order and peace. But when the earth was cursed, violence and disorder dominated the creation. The question is if Christ has come and obtained the possession of all things then is there a way to return to our the creation covenant. Can we control the cursed earth?

The answer found in the pronouncements. We are born in the infancy of understanding that God created us to be like Himself. How did God bridge this problem of a very powerful opposition in nature? He gave us natural and special revelation with the understanding that we would face opposition. This is why the curses and the decrees are spoken on the level of Gods control over nature. The truth is that God has revealed Himself in the events that we cannot control. But at the same time He has united His control over nature with our desire to destroy all opposition in the curse and the decree. You see that in order for God to speak it must be more than in word form. God must show us that we can control time. So God acts to break into time.

God creates tornado's, hurricanes, ice storms and war. Just as the Psalmist teaches that nature pours forth speech so also are the events of these disasters. God speaks the curses and the events break into time. He has given us this interior experience of eternity breaking into time. Gods curses and decrees are much worse than we could ever imagine. We are consumed by the pronouncements. When the curse and the blessing come together we experience eternity breaking into time. The experience is like being in one of  these disasters. But God unites the pronouncements with the experiences of the disasters. Just as the curses lead us down to the lowest parts of our culture so they help us push the curse down in the storms. This is why the Psalmist is showing that after the disaster we can watch the results and it cries out to be still and know that I am God.Just like Gods work in natural disasters is mysterious so to pronouncing the axioms bring us the mystery of blessing and cursing. We are overcome with a spirit of awe.  

 Ps 44 18 Our hearts had not turned back;
our feet had not strayed from your path."

The Psalmist is teaching that God established His government on this earth through Israel. God establishes all legitimate governments by giving them His law. All governing authority is derived by God and are subject to Gods scrutiny. So God establishes earthly rulers by turning their governments upside down. The reason that God cannot bless earthly nations is because a legitimate government must not be corrupted. All governments must rule with justice and equity. But when sin entered the world the Psalmist teaches that the corruption is not neutral. Anyone who desires to redefine Gods word seeks to overturn the axioms that establishes peace and introduce violence. When God overturns governments He is destroying the lawless exercise of power. God had to take swift action by cursing the creation when man sinned.

God created man and made a covenant that man would rule the garden in perfect unity. God curse against sin was implemented in order to reestablish His government of perfect unity. God had to overturn the curse in the curse of the law in order to renew all things. The Psalmist teaches that God speaks the axioms in order to recreate unity as the foundation of our refuge. We see then that the unity is established as the blessing and the curse come together. God destroys the unlawful confusion of the earthly power in the curse and unifies His elect. This is the context of Gods interaction with Israel throughout the ot.

The ceremony of circumcision was ot oath of citizenship. When God speaks to the nation He is addressing those who are circumcised in the flesh and those who are circumcised in the heart. God speaks as the ruler of Israel who always upholds His justice in cursing and blessing. Circumcision had no value in preventing Israel from building a culture of violence by redefining Gods law, covenants, etc. In order for God to protect the elect from the violent culture..those circumcised in the heart , He had to send the nation into exile. He protects His elect by controlling the Nations. He sends His elect into the world in order to spread the gospel. God always speaks as the creator who orders all things according to the law, covenants, curses, statutes and promises. God shows respect to His elect according to the creation covenant by speaking judgement against the citizens who are covenant breakers. 

 Ps 31 18Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous."

The Psalmist teaches that when man sinned, he began to redefine Gods law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises. Man began to curse himself and his neighbor. So God had to reestablish the relationship through the work of Christ. The Psalmist describes this in two worlds. Those who are in covenant with God have a face to face relationship. Those who are outside of the covenant with God are cursed and live in complete darkness. Gods covenant people are bought into the kingdom that has been united by the six axioms. 

God created all things as a display of the perfect communication of the axioms. The axioms are rules  that cannot be thwarted. When we are saved we enter into this governing communication that unites all things. Even tho we are corrupted yet we are implanted with the axioms. Salvation is in God alone. God works according to the axioms in doing this perfect work in us. God must rule with perfect justice, equity and faithfulness. He unites His government with our identity in returning us to the creation covenant. This is why the Psalmist describes the conflict with the wicked as a conflict of speech. They are attempting to redefine Gods axioms in order to destroy the citizens of a new kingdom." they speak arrogantly against the righteous."

When man fell he began to create a world that is opposed to the kingdom of God. The Psalmist teaches that men plan to rebel against the six axioms while they are on their beds. The Palmist describes this as conspiring against Gods lawful authority.20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men;" The wicked create a violent culture by planning to redefine Gods axioms. This conspiracy to overthrow Gods kingdom is perfected over many generations. God has responded to the violence by pronouncing the six axioms in order to overturn this conspiracy. The Psalmist speaks the axioms in order to command Gods command.Ps 71 3 "give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress." 31 4 Free me from that trap that is set before me for I take refuge in you"
 
 

Rom 8 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."


The apostle is teaching that there is only one law that is adjudicated by one Governor. The phrase "law of the Spirit" is God justifying the righteous through the law. The law of the Spirit is the Judge pronouncing life and death. Gods law does not have a life giving principle. The laws pronouncement of death has both positive and negative results. The law is the only instrument in the hands of God that destroys corruption and sin.  Because of sin and corruption God had to destroy the work of Satan that brought about the rebellious will and save sinners by regeneration and renewal. So the law is positive in that it pronounces death on those who come in their righteousness. So when the Apostle says that we are set free from the law, he is saying that when we were dead in our sins and trespasses, God regenerated us and prevented us from returning to the laws power in the curse. You see our only means of being justified in our identity with Christ is our claim of being dead. So Christ freed us from the curse by freeing us from the law.

The negative work of the law is that it condemns the wicked. So the law of sin and death is the power that prevents the wicked from being accepted by their own righteousness. In this way the law takes no prisoners. We could say that the law is the gulf that separates the righteous from the wicked. This means that the law is more than a suggestion.  The law is more than a standard of obedience. The law defines all creation. You ask why it is so important for the law to prevent the righteous from being cursed and prevent the wicked from escaping the curse is because the law is the foundation of the smallest particle that was created and it is the glue that holds all things together. There is no such thing in the bible as governing under limits. The work of the law only has two functions. It pronounces death on all sinners. And it destroys all corruption. So the law is Gods government that upholds  nature. The law is the power of nature that is exercised by God that constrains His elect to the simplicity of His government.  And the law is the power of nature that encourages the wicked to go beyond the bounds of Gods government.   

Ps 2 8Ask of me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
9You will rule them with an iron scepter 
you will dash them to pieces like pottery."


The Psalmist is teaching that God created all things by speaking them into existence. Because God owns every thing then He has the lawful right to bless His elect with an inheritance. God created the earth and gave man the blessing of ruling over it. The purpose of God in establishing order through free moral agents was to bring pleasure and glory to Himself. Because no man was present when God created all things then he must rule in complete dependence upon God. The Psalms teach that man can only rule through the revealed word of God. They are written in the kings pronouncements of the law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises. Christ was the only man who fulfilled the axioms. Christ unified all of creation in pronouncing cursing and blessing in order to destroy destruction and reestablish the creation covenant with His elect. Everything that we are and possess is gifted to us by God. In being identified with Christ we now rule the world through the axioms.  "Blessed are all who take refuge in him."

God created all things according to the axioms. Gods supreme power is displayed in creating every man as the governor over his own kingdom. He has given His elect the axioms in order to destroy all opposition. God is able to uphold the self interest of every man in order to establish the unity of creation. God has given man control over all opposition through the pronouncements of blessing and cursing. The axioms unite Gods government with mans self governing control. God created man as a display of His glory.  God unites His glory with mans glory over creation in pronouncing the axioms. God established government over creation by revealing His control over all things through the axioms. The Psalms teach that man mirrors Gods control in speaking the axioms. If man is completely dependent upon God then government must be expressed through total ability that is established out of total inability or man has the self power to be his own god.   




 

Gal. 1 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."


When Christ came in the incarnation He did not change the ot law. He established it. Christ did not change the ceremonial law but He amended it. The reason that I say He amended the ot law is because the there was a curse that resulted from breaking the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law was not opposed to the good of the people. But it was like medicine. It prevent the spread of destruction. And this is my point.

The question is Is the apostle saying that the curses were part of the old testament ceremonial law or do they have a function in the New covenant? So when the Apostle described the spread of the gospel in the New Testament it was describe in spreading to the ends of the earth. So the apostle is arguing that the gospel is more revealed because the presence of the gospel spread to the ends of the earth. In other words the success and the power is greater in the nt by the extended geography. Now we see here he is teaching that the curses are spread to the ends of the earth as well. We are always teaching that the faith is a missionary faith because it is proclaimed in the far regions of the earth. But then when the apostle describes that the ot curses extend as well then we argue that they were part of the ceremonial law. It makes no sense.

We must see that the curses where not destructive actions of God. They actually prevented the spread of disease and destruction. This is exactly why God gave the curses as judgements in the moral law. We cannot change the terrible state of the wicked. If the law was stripped of the curses then the world would be destroyed by man. If the punishment of the law was lesson then the gospel would not be as powerful or as effective. If we grow in our respect for the gospel it must be our argued so that the curses convince us that we must be saved. Without the pronouncement of death by the law there is no new life. So this is why Christ came to the earth and pronounced the ot axioms. He pronounced the law, covenants, curses , statutes, decrees and promises in order to establish the NT covenant. This is why the apostle is teaching that the curses extend as far as the gospel is preached.

This means that instead of us looking at the curses as an extreme solution to people who are under physical persecution we must see that they are the preventive medicine of the foundation of safety that permeates the civilized world. Instead of the curse being lesson they actually are on steroids. Peter taught that ceremonial law was no longer binding but this is not what the apostle says about the curses here. The reason that man views salvation as a just a message of a way to advance success is because it is taken out of the context of the curses or death. This is why the apostle brings the jurisdiction of the law into the church. Because the law of God is no different in the church or in the world.  When the curses are absolutely necessary as part of salvation then the church becomes the place of adjudication of the law. The law prevents destruction because it is more than a standard of conduct in society. The very fact that we distinguish a saint from the wicked as being in the light as opposed to being completely blind is that the curses of the law ring out from the church. If there were no pronouncements of death then there would be no distinguishing marks between the church and the world.  We are so blessed because the church is the place were the Psalms adjudicate all governments.