The curse that we must overcome

Ps. 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

Salvation is God establishing a relationship with us by delivering us from every evil scheme.  In this Messianic Psalm Christ faced the rejection of His Father so that we can curse unbelief. This portion of the 22 is describing Christ boundaries that He has set for His sons. These words  8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." are describing the curse of the wicked. Ps. 10 7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. The Psalms describe Gods curses of the law as the tool to respond to the curses of the wicked. The heart of the wicked is described with this overall character. 8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." I believe this voice is at the heart of unbelief. And you see here that these words were spoken at the lowest point of Christ suffering. These words are compared to being thrust through with a sword in war.

God has given us all things in Christ. He has given us the gift of salvation. This salvation was obtained by Jesus in this Psalm which is describing His death on the cross. At the end of this Psalm it is describing a new earth with perfect family relationships that are centered on Christ. In the future we will enjoy unhindered fellowship with Christ and each other but now we must obtain our identity by spiritual violence. How does Christ protect us from the curse of the wicked? He judges them by the whole law which speaks death or the curses. When we face this kind of accusation that we only trust in Christ we have a defense. Christ shows the value of the grace that we possess by opposing the opposition of grace with a declaration of death. 

We are fully identified with Christ. The Psalms describe our salvation as a perfect communication of all that we need that is met in Christ. When we learn how to push away the violent communication that speaks this curse in this verse then we protect ourselves from experiencing unbelief. The Psalms describe the perfect image of Christ in a language that we can govern ourselves. We can create a kingdom in ourselves by using the gifts of salvation in our prayers , petitions, meditations, and pronouncements. The Psalms are Gods gifts to us of His way of creating the original creation but we receive them like He is talking to a baby. He has simplified the way that He creates so we have a sure foundation of protecting our salvation. We can oppose the schemes that we face in the culture of this world that speak this curse. We can tear down and destroy anything that sets itself against the knowledge of God.

Wrestling with God 

 Psalm 142

1 I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.

2 I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.

3 When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me.

4 Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.

5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."

6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.

7 Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.

The Psalmist is distinguishing between the culture that man creates and the personal security that only God can provide. He declares "it is You who know my way" . This word "know" is better understood by us if we think of it as "God creating our way." The Psalmist uses these words in the context of God in us and we in God. Most of the words we use when we are talking about interacting with others is in a true fellowship of equals. But the Psalmist is describing something that is much deeper than human relationships. The Psalmist is breaking down everything that we face in this world as a description of how it is working to bring us good and to glorify God. This is the central truth in the Psalms that our reality is how we describe our experience and our connection to this world. We sort of have an ongoing description of our history and we describe our present circumstances by that little voice in our heads that has left an imprint in our minds. In the Psalms God is the only one who describes all things in the way that they work and fit together in true reality. 

This is why in this time frame before all things are recreated both heaven and earth. When the skys will be rolled back like a scroll as they were at the cross , we will be able to see the throne of God and the effervescence of God shine out into all eternity from the new earth. Gods glory and His beauty will no longer be hidden behind the door. But until we are in the new perfect kingdom we must face sin and each other who carries the virus of sin. 

The Psalms teach that sin and evil which are a result of the fall of man hold the whole world in deception. Man is helpless to overcome sin in himself. I mean not just choosing to do this good instead of that evil but this Psalm is describing men who are trapped in their view of the world under the power of the corruption of sin. All men are guilty at all times of thinking about things as a description of their reality in which they slant the truth to their own advantage. This is why religion can be a way to use their view to obtain something for themselves. Men can take the religious words and use them to destroy their neighbor. This is why in the Psalms the description of Gods rest is to be harmless in speech so that we create peace. Resting in Christ is to tell the story without any aggressive attempt to control circumstances in which we have been taken advantage of.

This is what Psalmist is saying that those who try to control others must face the whole law and be cursed to death. This is the central issue in this psalm. That the Psalmist must overcome all opposition in order be set free. But the Psalmist is not saying that his actions will lead to this new conversion...this new revival. Rather the Psalmist is pleading with God to undo every thing that has been placed in his path and in God overcoming everything then he will bring others to this freedom. This phrase "Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me." Is in the same context as we find in the kings prayer in Ps. 9 13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,14 that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation. When I speak of conversion I am talking about years of struggling and wrestling in prayer and then God answers.

We have the kingdom of God dwelling in us.
The Psalmist is describing  how God creates. Every thing in the universe is an explanation of God, His purpose, His beauty, His faithfulness, kindness, long suffering, gentleness, ie what He is like in gifting us with His covenants, laws, decrees and statutes that we view when we look on His creation. He is saying that when we meditate we use Gods laws, statutes, decrees ..etc as His instruments to show forth His attributes and uphold them. This is why the Psalmist uses the bridegroom and the champion. In other words we are champions before we finish the course. We are a bridegroom..that being we are given authority over His creation in the use all these tools of creating that make up all of His word.

This is why the Psalmist reasons that the result of the gift of the entire word of God  is enlightening, reviving, making wise, enduring, and righteous. The law if used like the Psalmist uses it will be our interaction with the perfect characteristics which are these results of the law. The comparison is the bridegroom being under the influence of these perfect attributes that he possesses. He is already but no yet.

This is the way of grace. The word acts to free us from ourselves by creating in us a new heart by these perfect attributes. You cannot copy the way of grace. You cannot create it by your efforts. The working of the word cannot fail. The Psalmist always teaches that the reward at the end argues  that our works will be accepted because these results {being gifts} are already perfect in us.

The Psalmist always confesses sin in order to present his argument before God. He never looks at his confession as a need for atonement. He has already in numerous occasions acknowledge that God has removed our sin..He doesnt count our sin etc. In this Psalm , he is expressing his motives for being successful. He wants God to accept his arguments, curses, petitions, and pronouncing Gods covenants for his success to be acceptable. God is the only one that the Psalmist can stand behind ...forgive , keep, argue for my blamelessness..".Im gonna get closer to sin because I trust Your promises so that I can understand how bad it really is in order to be motivated to greater passion in my petitions. So that I will see the future kingdom breaking into this world and when you bring that kingdom in , my experience in this world will be my new position in that future kingdom. Your kingdom language is always on my lips"

We rule with Christ.
Psalm 19

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

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.

This is a Psalm that explains the way God works in creation and re creation.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

He uses three elements in creation, light, darkness and heat to explain His work. The three elements are used by God to control creation. The light is His spoken design that brought all things into existence. The darkness is His purpose to display His design with the back drop of corruption. And the heat is describing the working of His law...or word...in and through us. The Psalmist said that he tried to keep silent before the wicked. As he meditated in silence his heart grew hot within him. 

God has established the first heaven like a tent in which He speaks creation into existence, sustaining that creation and correcting the corruption that exist in His creation. His reference to the suns course is that the sun rises and proceeds on a straight line only to rise again and set each day. So He has created the earth with a beginning and just as the sun proceeds on a straight course it will have an ending. This creative act of God overturns all other philosophies by proceeding just as He planned to a course that will end for the purpose of bringing Himself glory. The Psalmist is making a distinction that in Gods original creation there is a cycle but in His recreation the heat of His word cannot be avoided by any man.

A lot of people describe this Psalm as teaching that the law is only an instrument of showing us our sin. But I believe the Psalmist is describing something that is much deeper than his struggle with sin. It is expressed in the phrase.."Who can discern his errors?"Hes not concluding that as his errors are exposed he gets profit from the working of Gods law. He is really throwing up his hands in wonder and exclaiming that Gods scrutiny is mysterious and it is the back bone of his experience with Gods glory. 

So we must put 19 in the context of all the Psalms. This is the amazing plan of God. Just as God ordered the universe as His creation to govern, so He has ordered His saving work to create man in putting in man His creative abilities. God has made man to govern over His creation by working in man the success that he provided for man. We become united with Gods purposes as we speak according to Gods word that teaches us to rule over His creation. In our natural selves we image a servant motif but His word teaches us that we are sons and are co regents with Christ. ill return to this.

<sup>We have been made part of a heavenly family.

Heb 9 14</sup> How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,^[c] so that we may serve the living God! 
²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Isaiah 54:2
“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.


Ps. 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.

10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

20 Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.

23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him-- may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-- those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it. 

This Psalm is Messianic. In Psalms 1 the Psalmist is describing two kinds of men. Psalm 1 is a short overview of what the Psalmist is going to describe in detail in the rest of the Psalms. We find as we read through the Psalms that the Psalmist is describing the motives, speech and actions of two men who are at war with each other to rule the earth. In this Messianic Psalm this Man experiences the actual circumstances that David prays to be delivered from in the rest of the Psalms. This is the only Man on earth that embraces the consequences of the curse so that we could be delivered from the curse. Now listen to me. If we were allowed to experience just a small portion of one of these terrible scourges we would be destroyed. The truth is that if He doesn't shield us from the potential to be cursed then we would never be saved. But the trouble we face is not from the curse but its our unbelief that He is really a complete substitute. Let me race through this. 

The fuel for damnation is to experience shame and rejection. The Psalmist in cursing men who live by guilt says that they leave his soul forlorn.{ Sad or lonely because of isolation.} We curse the shaming because it adds fuel to our feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. "May they always say the Lord be exalted who delights in the well being of His servant." The only other option is to live in blame. 

But here we see Christ forsaken not only by other men but by His Father. I do not think a person understands this kind of experience. If the person were really forsaken in the ultimate sense he would be swallowed up before he could commit suicide. The truth is that there are many good reasons that we feel forsaken but most of it is mysterious. I mean it is most always self inflicted anger. {Im not discussing physical problems with the brain.}  The covenant that God made with us is a reminder that He will never forsake us. This part of the covenant is pointed out in the Psalms when the Psalmist is speaking to Israel in exile. It really is spoken as a creative healing in the worse part of the battle. Over the years when I spoke this promise I was motivated to find greater sweetness in meditation. 

In Pslms 27 Gods government over the earth is not divided between executive , judicial and private citizenship. But its His acts as a Father to His children to save them. God fights our battles, controls our desires, and draws us into a face to face relationship with Him in the sense of real equal fellowship. In order that He might bring us back to the Patriarchal experience in an upside down world so that we might rule with Christ. We should come full circle in our lives. Or He will become our Father in the family sense. This is what it means to be accepted. I will write more about the verses above Psalm 22 and the rest of the Psalm.

 Our value is only because of God.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

16 O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains. 

The Psalmist concludes that its better to be alive to continue being the king than to be dead. But how can the Lord be precious if He has taken those we love away from us?Because he expresses His being freed from the chains of death in verse 16 i do not believe the Psalmist is happy that God took his friends. Rather I believe that the Psalmist is saying that sustaining life is more important than what the Psalmist does. And you will find this reasoning throughout the Psalms. He is saying the only reason that I am able to return to God for His goodness is because He freed me. But its because God considers life more important than what a man does. I really do not think anyone can understand Gods side of bringing His loved ones to himself.  But they went to God and that is why they are valuable. He reduces Gods work to simplicity.

 The Psalm is really about God answering the Psalmist prayer to be saved from death. So i believe its saying that we should be thankful that we are alive. Thats all God requires. And so what is mans part? Its to see that a persons life is valuable because it belongs to God. And therefore we should under-gird each other.. all of our help to those who are suffering should be pronouncing blessing upon them and cursing for their protection and to see that they are valuable just being alive. As the Psalmist prayer was answered in the simplicity of God speaking His word so each life is valuable because they belong to God. In this way sometimes just "resting in the Lord" is not doing much.  

God sustains life

6 The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.

7 Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.

8 For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling,

9 that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

10 I believed; therefore I said, "I am greatly afflicted."

11 And in my dismay I said, "All men are liars." 

The Psalmist in verse 5 quotes the covenant as always. The Psalmist believes that God orders all things by the word of His mouth. So when the Psalmist is face with trouble He believes that pronouncing the covenant will be like God our Father blessing us. If God orders all things by His words then we have the ability to create good from bad by pronouncing the covenant blessing. As Ive said the Psalmist uses Gods covenant language as a creative tool for blessing and he uses the curses as a defensive tool for his protection. 

If in fact God orders all things by His word then is it logical to trust our part of the christian life in order to be blessed? Or is it more logical to see that God opens His hand and we are sustained? You will always be guilty of over complicating the trouble if you add to the simplicity of the pronouncement of the covenant. You cannot view God as a miracle worker if you add your works or your side to the equation of being blessed. 

This is what the Psalmist means by simplicity. Not only that the world, the communication of men, or trusting in the help of men is adding more adversity to a situation but the Psalmist compares the magnitude of Gods ability to sustain his life to mans efforts to sustain life. What does the Psalmist conclude? He uses mans inability to sustain his life as the back drop that we can only trust in Gods covenant words as the cause of overcoming death. This is why he says that all the promises of man are lies. In this way the Psalmist puts a stake in the ground so that he remembers his prayer and pronouncement of the covenant as the cause of God sustaining his life. So the psalmist has been reduced to the simplicity that is in the gospel.