Though I have read this Psalm numerous times, I have never really understood the significance of it.

The Psalm begins with an affirmation or praise of Zion, the city of God. You can imagine the people of Israel singing this or rehearsing it together. It’s not hard to believe as Zion was known for being the centerpiece of true religion, God’s religion. This was where the worship of the one true God was centrally located. Zion alone.

So verse four through six should take you back a bit. For the first countries or peoples mentioned in verse four were all enemies of Israel at one time or another. Gentile nations. Unbelieving nations. And it is said that of them, “This one was born there.”

Egypt, Babylon, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush and, of course, Zion. These were born there? Zion we can understand, but what about these other peoples? In that day and age, such statements were obviously far-fetched.

“The Lord records as he registers the peoples, ‘This one was born there.’”

The significance of saying that these peoples were born in Zion should be obvious. After all, if someone is born in the United States of America, they naturally receive all the rights of being an American. So it was for the people of that day. So to say that these peoples were born in Zion is to say that they have full rights as people of God. No doubt this statement was not really true at the time. For there was so much division, so much strife.

Through Jesus Christ, however, all such ethnic divisions are broken down, so that people from every tongue, tribe, language, and nation really can enjoy the full rights of the city of God, the true Zion. For the true Zion is Jesus Christ. This is where we receive our full rights as children of God. This is where the unity that was pointed to actually becomes a reality. Only in Jesus Christ. Only in Him ultimately can all the ‘singers and dancers [really] say, “All my springs are in you.”

I can’t imagine the people who originally penned this song or sung this song really understood its full meaning. They couldn’t imagine a day in which all the nations really could enjoy the rights of sonship together. Because of Jesus Christ, however, we can.

Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. Indeed they are. We cannot wait for the city that is soon to come.

A few observations.

1) We must be diligent to allow the text to address only that which it meant to address. Genesis 1 is a poetic offering of the creation account. Genesis 2 prose. We must beware of making either of these accounts say something that they did not intend to say. Much of the debate regarding the age of the earth cannot be firmly supported by the creation account in Genesis 1-2. We are wise then to be humble with our thoughts on such matters and gracious towards others who disagree.

2) The Lord gave man authority to rule. This is evident not only in his command to cultivate the earth and subdue it, but also in Adam’s naming of the animals. Every Christian ought to understand the significance of this, the earliest command. Significance of life in the home, work, relationships, and the human community. Not to mention the care of personal property. The command to subdue the earth and cultivate the potential laden in the original created order touches every single area of human life.

3) The Fall is such a horrible, cosmic event. Reading it should make us weep for what we have lost. Everything is touched by the Fall. Corrupted even. The most basic relationship between husband and wife is corrupted. So also the basic need to eat and the work necessary to enjoy the basic necessities of life. No matter what technological progress we currently enjoy, the effects of the Fall are plain.

4) Praise God for Jesus, who has come to reverse the effects of the Fall. As the second Adam, he came to deal with sin and Satan and death, once for all and to raise up a new people for the Lord who would be agents of redemption. One day He will return and make all things new…as they were always supposed to be and so much better.

Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.

How simple, yet how rare! And how often would we keep ourselves from trouble by simply pondering the path of our feet? By carefully reflecting upon our decisions?

The wise in heart are those who ponder. Who reflect. Or who as the Hebrew word alludes to, ‘make level’ the path of their feet. They do not act rashly, but patiently. Meditatively. Their actions flow from an inner rest of soul. So they can act decisively and with confidence. For they have taken the time to reflect. They have made their way level so that they can take their next step with confidence.

One point to make plain would be that our pondering is at its best when it is done in the presence of the Lord. Privately in particular. Quietly. With an open Bible and a prayerful and Christ-centered heart.

How well do we ponder? Are we reflective? Or do we simply act? Are we are people who are always on the go? Or are we wise enough to wait and ponder in order to assure our steps?

Continually in the Psalms we are called to the ‘Praise the Lord.’ Indeed, everyone in heaven and earth (animals and nature included) is called to do so in many a Psalm. But the Psalmist never simply call us to praise Him without giving us ample reason to do so.

It seems wise then, to meditate heavily on the reasons the Bible gives for why we should praise the Lord. For if we begin there (and remain there), praise, it seems, is inevitable. It’s a must when we come to understand who He is and all that He has done. Praise is always a response. Thank God that He has given us so much to respond to!

So if we are struggling to praise the Lord, we must be sure not to focus too much on praising Him. We are better to reflect on who He is and what He has done. For as long as we have those things clearly in mind, praise will soon come.

A few things to make us marvel in this chapter:

1) Man’s sinfulness and stupidity as seen in Solomon.

Here is a man who received untold blessing from the hand of the Lord and personal encouragement and exhortation from Him as well. Yet his heart strayed from a single-hearted devotion to the Lord. He ended up worshiping all sorts of gods. No doubt the worship of such false deities led him to do things that are horrible even to mention. Solomon was far gone and thus, serves as great evidence from the sinfulness and stupidity of man in general. For if we think we would be different from Solomon apart from a great work of God’s grace, we are fooling ourselves.

2) The fact that God raised up enemies for Solomon before Solomon was even on his throne.

If you notice in verse 9-40, various enemies are mentioned. Each of them, with the exception of Jeroboam, were enemies of Solomon’s because of something David did during his day. So we know that the Lord knew exactly what Solomon would do and used the desires of wicked men and David’s mistakes to raise up enemies for Solomon.

The case of Jeroboam is interesting to note as well, because from the narrative, it doesn’t seem like Jeroboam was anti-Solomon until the prophet sort of placed him at odds with the king. Jeroboam is certainly a clear case of God Himself obviously raising up an enemy for Solomon, for the Lord sent His prophet to Jeroboam in order to make his future plain.

Immediately after the defeat of Jericho, Joshua sends out spies to the land of Ai, and subsequently, a small army of soldiers. But they are surprisingly defeated. So Joshua comes before the Lord and addresses Him with these words:

“Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

Notice a few things:

First, notice that Joshua seems to instinctively assume that there is some sort of problem in God, not in him or them. That is, rather than coming before the Lord and humbly asking what the problem is with him or the people, Joshua comes before Him and asks what is going on with Him!

Lest we jump all over his case and get down on Joshua, this simply shows how human he was, for we are all inclined to do the very same thing. If God doesn’t seem to fulfill His promise to us, we are oftentimes inclined to believe that there is a problem with God, not us. We should instead, come before Him humbly, asking Him for insight into what is going on, rather than jumping to conclusions that end up far from the truth.

Second, notice that Joshua instinctively runs with this negative result of the war with Ai to the point where the people are wiped from the face of the earth. That is, this one incident leads him to believe that all is lost.

Now, I realize that the situation the people were in was rather perilous. For they were trying to take over a vast amount of land already inhabited. However, when the odds are against us in anything, we must never forget ‘the God factor.’ If God is for us, who can be against us? So if we are thinking clearly, let us come before the Lord with the incident itself and not jump to conclusions that will not occur.

Third, notice that Joshua asks the Lord, “What will you do for your great name?” This is wisdom. Here is what motivates God. His name. His fame. His glory. This is what gives power to Joshua’s prayer and to ours. Petitioning the Lord to act for the sake of His name.

Fourth, notice the Lord’s response to Joshua in verse 10.

“The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up!…”

No doubt our God is patient with us, but like a good parent, He also isn’t shy about rebuking us and setting our thoughts upon the right track. In this instance, the Lord speaks plainly with Joshua, confronting his foolish thinking and unbelief. He is still gracious with Joshua, but He is also quite firm, for Joshua’s good and the good of the people.

Fifth and finally, notice that Joshua gains clarity after coming to the Lord. Even if he didn’t come with a whole lot of wisdom, at least he left with a whole lot of wisdom. We are wise to follow in his steps.

After being sent into the land of Canaan to survey the land and its people, the Israelite spies return with a report (and some good fruit). The majority give a report full of unbelief, while Caleb and Joshua give a report full of faith.

Caleb said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

The majority said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”

Notice: faith speaks with a confidence that we can overcome, because of the One who is with us and fights for us. Unbelief, on the other hand, focuses only on the strength of the obstacle and forgets the power of God.

This is true not simple for the Israelites, but for all of us, all the time. We are either viewing things in faith or unbelief. One or the other is winning out. The key seems to be to continually keep in view the power and promises of God. To make sure that your entire understanding of things is clouded, as it were, with His presence and His power. For the moment you lose sight of Him, all you can see is the greatness of the obstacle that stands in your way.

Right now, the Lord may have a ‘promised land’ for you, some sort of dream or desire of your heart. Is unbelief standing in your way? Do you see only the obstacles that keep you from that land? Or, while noting the strength of the obstacles, do you remember and rejoice in the power of Almighty God? Do you believe it can be yours? Or are you like the majority who forget God and therefore, lack faith?

No matter which side you may be on right now, there is still only one thing to do: fuel the fires of faith. Think only and continually of the power and promises of God. Seek Him until you believe. Then seek Him all the more.

One quick lesson from this Psalm:

Remembering what God has done for us in the past strengthens and emboldens us to pray for help in the present.

We are wise to remind ourselves daily of the acts of God, particularly in Jesus Christ. For it is in remembering that our faith finds the strength to pray with confidence for help right now. Looking back enables us to look forward with confidence, no matter how difficult our present circumstances may be.

In this Psalm, the people of God count themselves rejected. It’s as if the Lord were sleeping, they say. And all of this is true even though they have not forsaken Him. Yet because they spent the first part of the Psalm looking back upon the Lord’s previous mercies, they can confidently petition the Lord to act for them once again. They can call upon Him with fervency to come to their help, to redeem them, and to show His power once again.

Which brings to mind another lesson hidden within this Psalm:

God may sometimes remove His favor in order to bring us into a humble frame of mind, so that we might look to Him for help with greater fervency and fire. The removal of His favor should stir us to seek Him all the more.

And one more:

God may sometimes remove His clear favor, so that He might reveal His power and glory all the more by working for His people in response to their pleas for help.

The last two lessons certainly go together. If the Lord does not seem near to us, we have no reason to pout or throw some sort of pity party, but instead, reason to seek Him all the more. For no doubt He is jealous to work for us and to reveal His glory and wisdom and power in the process. He knows when it is good for us to enjoy His presence and power with ease. And when it is good for us to long for Him as if we were in the desert longing for food and water.

We can trust the Lord in both circumstances. And either way, we are responsible to seek Him. For if we remain persistent in pursuing Him, we will be better for it and God’s glory will be more manifestly displayed. We just can’t go wrong in maintaining a fervent pursuit of the Lord.

Nadab and Abihu are consumed by the fire of the Lord after they offer up ‘strange fire’ in the Temple. They were being careless and were possibly under the influence of alcohol. This showed that they lacked reverence for the Lord and His commands. After they were killed, no doubt a holy reverence was upon all the people. Even Aaron feared the Lord to such an extent that he did not offer one of the following sacrifices to its perfect completion.

I can’t help but wonder whether or not the Church is weak today in large part because her vision of God does not include scenes such as the one in Leviticus 10. There is little fear of the Lord God. Little awe. Little joy-filled reverence. Because we hear so much about the mercy of God, we think it is a light thing to enter into and enjoy His presence. Maybe we take Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit for granted, failing to recognize what an awesome privilege it is to be in right relationship with the King of kings.

Scenes such as this one should wake us from our slumber, because our God is the same God that wiped out Nadab and Abihu for their disobedience. It is good for us fear the Lord. It is healthy to stand in awe of Him while keeping Jesus in view. When we pray, do we recognize, really recognize, that we are speaking to the King of kings? When we read and make petitions…or even when we complain…do we recall the God with whom we have to do? Do we remember who He really is in all His glory or are we apt to presume upon His presence and favor?

These are difficult questions that we must all answer ourselves. But we must also answer them corporately as well. We must take a hard look at ourselves to see whether or not we lack the fear of the Lord. For this fear, when rightly engaged in and enjoyed, will prove to be a sweet blessing to the people of God and to the world.

As always, much could be said about this Psalm. Here are a few things that stood out to me this morning:

1) A conscious awareness of the brevity of life helps us to live our lives to the full–provided we are thinking rightly.

I suppose it is possible for a man to contemplate the brevity of life and therefore declare, ‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!’ But that man is not thinking rightly. For he is failing to consider what will take place after his brief life here is done. And he is failing to recognize that what he does here on this earth carried consequences in the land of forever.

If we are thinking about life in this fashion, then it is good to think about how short our lives are. Which is to also imply that it is good to think of the fact that we will soon die. For such things, when combined with a solid understanding of the life that awaits us, serve to give us a certain urgency to live well here and now. If we realize that what we do now matters forever, we are much more apt to do all we can to get our acts together now.

That being said, I suppose it should at least be mentioned that a proper understanding of what awaits us is necessary. That is, we must understand not only the fact that there is a Heaven and Hell, but what kind of places Heaven and Hell will be. For if we understand Heaven to be floating in the clouds, we will live a certain kind of way now. Maybe we will care only for saving souls. But if we embrace the biblical picture of Heaven as a New Earth, with the strong possibility that many of our cultural works will be carried over onto that New Earth, our perspective will change and we will no doubt live differently.

2) We need to pray consistently for this conscious awareness of the brevity of life.

It’s not enough to read it as it was said by someone else in the Psalm. We must pray it ourselves, for it is only with the Lord’s help that we will really become consciously aware of the brevity of our lives. It is only through prayer that this plain reality will sink in deep enough so as to have a dramatic impact on the way in which we live our day to day lives.