Monday, November 23, 2015

Psalm 6 and Proverbs 2:1-5

Psalm 6
This is a psalm of lament. Although some take the psalmist to be extremely sick, the expression, "my bones are shaken" (6:2) probably has more to do with the terrifying situation the psalmist is in. There are hints of enemies who are ready to pounce (6:10).

But the psalmist is convinced that the LORD will spare him. The LORD has heard his prayer (6:9). The psalmist has shed tears before the LORD, pleading for deliverance (6:6, 8). "How long?" he asks, before the LORD will deliver (6:3).

There is a hint that the psalmist senses the LORD's anger and discipline as part of what is going on (6:1). The psalmist pleads--there will be no praise of the LORD in Sheol (6:5). In effect he says, "Let me stay alive, because in death I am no good to you."

This psalm reflects a lack of sense of any meaningful afterlife. "In death there is no remembrance of you" (6:5). Sheol here seems like the Greek Hades of that time--mindless shadows with no thought or memory.

God is also asked to save the psalmist because of his hesed, God's "steadfast love." God's hesed is a key concept in the Old Testament.


Proverbs 2:1-5
The father now speaks to the child. The child wishes to gain a knowledge of God. The child wishes to know the fear of the LORD. The father knows how.

The path to knowledge means treasuring up the teaching of Solomon, the father. Wisdom is like silver, like a hidden treasure. Cry out for her...

Psalm 1 and Proverbs 1:1-7
Psalm 2 and Proverbs 1:8-14
Psalm 3 and Proverbs 1:15-19

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