The Savior of Psalms

Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.

Do you ever find yourself searching for something bigger than you? For a community to be a part of? A place founded on truth and love? A place to worship the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Son of God? Welcome to Founded in Truth, where we're more than just a fellowship. We're a family. So welcome home. Shabbat shalom, everybody.

A Game Changer

We're continuing to explore the Psalms, and I hope our journey through Psalm 22 and its connections to Yeshua on the cross was edifying last week. It's definitely a game changer in your faith when you realize, when you read the Word, that God doesn't stop just because things get hard. There's that song that speaks about the pursuit of God's love that seems reckless from the human perspective. That God would leave the 99 and run into the wilderness—as the scripture says—where the danger is and the bears and the lions, just to search for the one, a single sheep, this single member of the flock. That's absurd.

Who would do that? Who would do that? A 1% loss. Who would take on that much burden, put that much energy into that, and take that much of a risk for a possible 1% loss? He would, without flinching, he would. See, to God, the 1% loss is unacceptable. You, you are an unacceptable loss. God doesn't turn his back on his flock just because the circumstances seem hard. God rushes into them. God is present in the times that are deemed difficult. God is present in the times when we cry out—he is present, engaged, even with our lament. And that's a game changer when we read Psalm 22 as a template for our own times of struggle.

The New Testament Knew Something Special

Today, we're going to be looking at Psalm 108. But not just Psalm 108, we're going to explore a few other latter psalms. Psalm 104, 5, 6, 7, 8, 72. But first, I want to look at the New Testament. I spent a good portion of this week creating the outline and how I was going to present this message. And yesterday I realized, you know what? I'm going to start over and redo this because I wanted to make sure that I started with the New Testament. Because if you don't walk away from this message with anything else, I want you to remember what the New Testament says. The authors of the New Testament knew something special about the book of Psalms.

They knew that this was a collection of songs and poetry and prayers that was intentionally organized not only to retell the story of Israel as it orbited the kingship of David, but also pointing forward to a hope of a Davidic kingdom, a new David whose throne would be established forever. And this new David would reign over a people, a kingdom that would produce the character of God's reign in their own lives. That's the flow of the book of Psalms. And it's really neat how the editors took these ancient songs sung in the temple and preserved them through the exile and intentionally organized them—the way we have them today. The New Testament contains over a hundred references to Psalms.

Almost every single author draws from its message when speaking about Yeshua. The opening line of the New Testament in Matthew's gospel account says— Then there's Luke. Luke. See, in Luke's gospel account, you can find the Psalms absolutely everywhere. Throughout even just the opening chapters of Yeshua's birth, he loads Psalms in as if it was birdshot and just fires away, just everywhere. In Luke's account, even Satan quotes the Psalms in the temptation. He quotes Psalm 91. So many of us—I can speak for myself—I grew up thinking that Psalms was just a bunch of individual poems and songs. I mean, who really reads Psalms?

Who really reads it as if it was Joshua or Zechariah or Matthew? When COVID hits, everyone starts quoting Psalm 91, the same Psalm that Satan quoted. But the New Testament authors knew something more. You'd think as a New Testament author, you would depend on the prophets if you were trying to show that Yeshua was the Messiah. You'd depend on Isaiah and Jeremiah, the prophets that prophesied of him. No, this Yeshua is the true king. The authors of the New Testament, they seem to think that Psalms satisfied this conclusion. And it's funny because we see the Psalms written and we go back and we read that one Psalm. And if I can be honest, you read the Psalm and you're like, what does that have anything to do with how the New Testament authors are quoting it?

Three Songs in Luke's Gospel

In Luke's infancy narrative, Luke 1 through 3, it speaks of Yeshua's birth, and within this section, Luke spends so much effort hyperlinking and inferring verses from Samuel and Isaiah and Psalms. But I want to show the intentionality there, because I think it's important. See, if you're unfamiliar with the beginning of Luke, there are three songs that are sung or proclaimed in the first two chapters. The three songs are sung by Mary, then Zechariah, John the Baptist's father, and the song of Simeon when he sees Yeshua. And what's so neat about these songs is there exists this orbit around Psalms 105 through 108, along with some other selected scriptures.

Mary's song in Luke 1, 46 through 55, is a proclamation referring to the story of Israel back to the patriarchs. And Luke records her heavily surfing on top of the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2. The greatness of God being fully revealed due to the birth of a child. There are also many reversals in Hannah's prayer of the poor being lifted up and seated with princes. But here in verse 53, she makes the connection to Psalm 107. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. That's Luke 1, 53. And it's a direct inference to Psalm 107. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Zechariah's song in Luke 1, 67 through 79, is riddled with links to Psalm 105 and 106 specifically, as well as Isaiah. Those who sit in darkness. Luke 1, 79. Also Psalm 107, 10 and 14. Some sat in darkness and utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains. He brought them out of darkness and utter darkness and broke away their chains. See, Zechariah's song is declaring that Israel has been enslaved. But God's redemption has come fully. He has raised up the horn of David. He's raised up the new David who is ushering in the restored divine kingdom of God. Those who sat in darkness due to sinful rebellion have been freed.

They've been redeemed. Their chains are broken, as Psalm 107 puts it.

Simeon's Vision of Salvation

Simeon's song in Luke 2—it's short, so let's just go ahead and read it. In Luke chapter 2, starting at verse 28. Simeon took him in his arms and praised God. Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. Now what's interesting about Simeon's song and its connection to Psalms is that while Mary and Zechariah's songs sing more directly to Israel's history and salvation, Simeon's song— prompted after he sees Jesus or Yeshua as an infant—sings about not simply Israel's salvation.

No, he's singing about a bigger impact of what he sees coming. He's singing about a bigger move of God. He's singing about God's salvation that overflows out of Israel and engulfs all nations, all people, all of the Gentiles are drowned in the salvation of God. His short song is filled with references in Isaiah, but also a large section of Psalm 108. What's Psalm 108 about? Well, Psalm 108 is about the overwhelming victory of God's redemptive power and it being received by all nations. Let your glory be known all over the earth. I'll give thanks to the ears of all nations, all people. Sing your praises among all of the nations.

A Trajectory of Salvation History

What is it about these four Psalms, Psalm 105, 106, 107, and 108, that Luke had to make sure you as the audience heard them at the beginning of his two-volume collection? Because these Psalms paint a clear trajectory of the story of God's salvational history in Israel's story. See, Psalm 105 tells the story positively from God's saving hand with the patriarchs to the salvation of Israel at the time of the Exodus. How great are you, God? You've saved us. Psalm 106, however, takes a turn. It retells the same history, but from a negative view. It notes how Israel has responded to God's repeated acts of salvation by repeatedly rebelling against him.

This Psalm begins with the Exodus from Egypt and goes through the exile to Babylon. Psalm 107 is the thanksgiving to God for redeeming his people from exile. It's a response to both psalms. And Psalm 108, it's an appeal for help for God's triumphant victory to be manifest over their enemies. And it's also a response from Psalm 107 where the exodus and the return of exile are linked pointing to a future redemption that is just a greater version of both. Psalm 108 therefore sits as a prayer that is regarded as messianic in nature of God's redemptive power, but also a testament of a coming salvation that will overflow into all of the earth.

I point this out—I point this out—because this is Luke's theology of salvation history presented from these Psalms. Of God's acts of salvation and of Israel's acts of sinfulness despite God. That seems to be in Luke's view of his present day. Stephen, before his stoning, recalls the same thing, charting Israel's sinfulness and rebellion against God, calling to mind Psalm 106. Paul and Barnabas tell a similar story in Acts 13. Luke wants you to understand that Israel has repeatedly rebelled against God and the people who knew the Torah the most, by stereotype, tend to be the most rebellious in pursuing the heart of God.

He wants you to understand what the Old Testament is actually a story about. That leaves a cliffhanger. When will God fill his promises and fix this? Luke also wants you to know that despite the constant rebelling of the human heart, God has still brought forth salvation. And it only comes in the person of Yeshua. And it's here, and it's now, and it's through Yeshua that salvation will come to Israel. And from Israel, it will overflow to all nations. And Luke drew from this concept. And not just in Luke, but also his second volume, Acts. At the very beginning of Acts, the apostles ask a question to Yeshua.

They say, in Acts 1-6, they say, then they gathered around them. Lord, is it at this time that you're going to restore the kingdom? Well, that question is answered at the end of the book in Acts 28-28. Therefore, I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles and they will listen. So you remember, Acts 28 is when Paul wanted to meet with the Jewish leaders to tell them about God's salvation, and they rejected him. Not all, verse 24, not all of them. There's no replacement theology in Luke, but the majority. Salvation is offered, and it seems Luke is using Psalm 105 to 108 as a workflow to help the audience understand.

We can either accept God's salvation, praising him as in Psalm 105, or we can choose the route of Psalm 106, turning our backs in the graciousness and the kindness and the mercy because we want to live our lives our way. It's about what we want, not about caring for others, not about focusing on the vulnerable, not about serving and being thankful that God has enabled us to even be in the position to do so, but only pursuing the self-defined freedoms we feel entitled to at the expense of others. God's salvation will bring forth one way or another, as Psalm 107 indicates, and the climax will be an era where the world will be filled with his glory, as in Psalm 108. The book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome, not Jerusalem. He's under house arrest, but people come to see him day and night, and he preaches the gospel of Yeshua from the central hub of the Gentiles.

Why? Why do the New Testament authors insist on referring to the Psalms when speaking about Yeshua? Because the Psalms are a story about the coming salvation of God made manifest through this Davidic king who also at times is made synonymous with a kingdom of people.

A Post-Exilic Israel: The Story in the Psalms

Taking a step back, how many of you know that the psalm is not just a bunch of randomly collected psalms thrown together? I know, everyone's shaking their head yes, right? I knew that. But do you read it like that? What's neat is most historians believe the book of Psalms was edited together sometime near or after the Babylonian exile. There were individuals who preserved these hymns and psalms and prayers, likely sung in the temple service, familiar by the inhabitants of Judah. They preserved them through the exile, and at the end of the exile, they intentionally organized all of these ancient songs and maybe added some additional in, as we're going to see in a minute.

And they put them in an order that ends up not depicting a random collection of songs and poetry, but a narrative, a story. So not only do we have these prayers and psalms that we can use as templates for prayer, as we've been discussing, but now if we step back, if we choose to step back, we see an entire story that was giving to a post-exilic Israel. An Israel that returned home, but were still slaves, as Nehemia 9 states. For them, leaving Babylon didn't end the exile. How powerful. If that's truly the context for the book of Psalms and how it was organized, that's powerful. Guys, before we go any further, I want to let you know of two articles that are great resources and have been great resources for this message.

And if you're able to access them, they might be great resources for you. I believe that you can only really access them if you have an academic background access to like a college library online or whatnot. But the first one is The Shape of Psalms as Messianic by Peter Hu. And the second is The Psalms in Luke's Infancy Narrative by Christopher Stenskay.

The Five Books of Psalms

And let's just look at the Psalms. The flow of Psalms as we know it looks something like this. Psalms is divided up into five books with subtle ending and beginning points. Your Bible translator likely has taken the freedom to add in a header at the beginning of each book of Psalms. Psalm 1, Psalm 2, Psalm 3, 4, and 5. And these five books are a retelling, macro view, a retelling of the story of Israel overlaid on the character of King David along with the retelling of Israel's story in the Torah. Remember, how many books is in the Torah? The five books. It's intentional. Psalms is exhaustive in the punch that it holds. There's a lot in there, but this is the general direction, specifically in regards to the Davidic collections or the Davidic Psalms within the five books of Psalms.

As you know, there are multiple assumed authors of Psalms. You have David, Asaph, the sons of Korah. Moses even has one in there. But per the graphic, I want to draw your attention to the Davidic collections, the groupings of the songs that are attributed or in honor of David. Because when we follow the Davidic groupings, the Davidic collections, we see something very special that the editors did with the narrative they wanted us to see.

David's Kingship: From Enthronement to Downfall

See, the first book, as well as the Davidic collection, the first Davidic collection, it orbits around David's enthronement as king. It ties into the creation account, this growing expectation of this new king being enthroned as God's son on the throne. God encouraging him to grow being with him. This king is being enthroned as a mediator, the image bearer, the one that will mediate heaven to earth, God's kingdom. That's the flow of the collective Psalms pushing forward. You have Psalms of lament. You have Psalms of praise. Again, moving forward. A king is being formed and matured to rule over Israel.

This is great. It's awesome. Until we go to book two of Psalms. See, the second grouping of Davidic Psalms in book two orbits not around David's enthronement, but around his kingship being broken, his downward spiral away from being the ideal king that would rule as God's true son of God or God's true image bearer. It's in this section that you have the Psalms where David's constantly getting in trouble. You have Psalm 51 is in there. That's when David recounts his transgression with Bathsheba, the downward spiral. The second book of Psalms ends in Psalm 72. And Psalm 72 is significant because it builds the narrative for the kingship being passed on.

And it ends with this verse right here in Psalm 72, 20. The last line is, this concludes the prayers of David, son of Jesse. Now, what makes this verse so important is that there are many Psalms after Psalm 72 that have superscriptions that say, "'La David,' of David.'" Psalm 72 says this is the last Psalm of David. So how are we supposed to view all of the other groupings and all of the other Psalms that are attributed to David after Psalm 72? Well, here's a quote from Dr. Peter Hu that I think you'll appreciate. And he sums it up very nicely. He says, in his posterities, but in the generations that come after him, somewhere in his seed.

Psalm 72 is seen by some as written as a way of handing off the kingship to Solomon from David. But it's also a messianic hope. It's a hope for a king that will actually do what they're supposed to do. And Solomon, he's the hopeful son of David. But we know Solomon does not fill that scope. That's 1 Corinthians, that's 1 Kings 10. So we're left seeking for another son of David. This son of David is what the New Testament proclaims is identified as Yeshua. So in Psalms, when we read it as a narrative, Psalm 72 launches this new, better kingship. It launches us into the third grouping. Again, we're emphasizing specifically the Davidic groupings within these books.

A New, Better Kingship Emerges

The grouping of Davidic Psalms in book four re-images the kingship of past into this new evolved King David rising from the ashes. This new David is afflicted but transformed as a result. This is the David that has a new heart, a heart of a messianic king, a heart that sings of God's love and justice. David in Psalm 101 says, Here's what he cries, this new David. The next Psalm, Psalm 102. He's afflicted. The superscription says, and he declares God's faithfulness through it all. Psalm 103, a burst of praise, a new vitalized praise song that this Davidic figure is leading Israel in. Grouping number four orbits around an even greater evolution of a renewed Davidic figure.

One scholar refers to him as the new Joshua, this character that is defined in the Davidic Psalms here. In Psalm 108, it mentions the triumph of the Valley of Sukkot, Edom, and Moab. This new Joshua is leading a new triumph, whom in Psalm 109 happens to be falsely accused and surrounded by people who condemn him, only to, in Psalm 110, reign and rule as this new priest-king hybrid, referencing the scepter that reaches forth from Zion, making direct references back to Melchizedek. It's a story being written for us to read. The fifth grouping of Davidic Psalms, near the end of book five, it orbits around this realization that while tension and sacrifice still take place in book four, as the king is moving and ruling, book five has moved towards this final destination of this ideal social community that is identified by Yahweh's ultimate justice and peace and praise.

And finally, in Psalm 145, it's the chapter that bumps up against the concluding five chapters that begin and end with hallelujah. And finally, in Psalm 145, this new evolved messianic Davidic king hands over the kingdom back to Yahweh. It's your kingdom, Yahweh. Your kingdom is established forever. This is the story of Psalms. And this is a very general overview, but I think it's important for you to realize that there are promises and stories told in the Old Testament that need to be filled by someone. And these stories cannot be disregarded or ignored. Either God has not fulfilled his promises, either the authors of the Old Testament were mistaken in their assumptions and their trust in God and their expectations of God, or Yeshua is the true Davidic king that rules.

He is the true son of David. It's most likely the case that at the end of exile, people were faithful. They preserved these hymns and prayers and psalms and felt compelled, we believe by the Holy Spirit, to edit and intentionally place each psalm, each poem, each prayer in a specific spot to create a narrative, a story. Five books in Psalms. Five books of Torah. There are correlations. It's not coincidence. But Psalms is written in—like, here is a new way to read the Torah after exile. If the Torah was a prayer book, this is what it would look like, and this is the story it would tell.

Leaving Babylon

And I want you to imagine leaving Babylon. Your cities and your home, the temple has been destroyed, and you return home as a new generation to begin picking up the pieces. But it doesn't feel much like home. In fact, you still feel as if you're in exile. This is what Nehemia 9 and Ezra 9 both attest to. In Nehemia, the Levites cry out to God, why are we still slaves even though we've returned to our homeland? Why? Because sin and rebellion against God still exist. Being redeemed from Babylon didn't fix the reason why they went to Babylon. Where is the blooming desert that God promised through Isaiah?

Where is the child leading the bears and the lions? Why is the wolf not lying down with the lamb? Life is still hard. They're still suffering and I don't know how to keep going. This is the generation that left Babylon. This is the context for the Psalms being organized the way that it was. As you read the prayers and you see the Psalms of lament, King David being enthroned by God, still lamenting, still going through times of struggle, still being consumed by darkness that creeps in when we are vulnerable. These Psalms of lament countered by the Psalms of praise, of giving hope, throughout the entire Psalms they give this tug-of-war tension that reflects the actual world that we experience and walk through.

These Psalms of praise show that God is still there, not only that, that God is right there beside you. You are not alone. God is walking you through this valley. You shall fear no evil, for God is with you.

Hope in the Darkness

Imagine being that generation filled with so much doubt after leaving Babylon. What's powerful is the usage of the Psalms when Israel left Babylon. What a powerful use of the Psalms when today we find ourselves going through difficult, challenging, daunting times. Sometimes we too allow the darkness to creep in when we are vulnerable. Sometimes we too have anxiety. We face enemies. We have our doubts that, man, does God even care? And this is a story that does not simply disregard those emotions. It's a story that embraces them as being real. And then at the same time, it shows you in those times, there is also a better way. There is a way of hope. There is a way of faith. You are not alone. You can feel that way and that's okay. But if you choose to feel that way, there is a praise within you bubbling up in those times, just waiting, waiting to burst forth. That's the tension throughout the book of Psalms as the characters grow and evolve.

Psalm 108: A Composite Prayer

Psalm 108, which I'm really excited about. This messianic psalm. This is the psalm I want to leave you with today as a template this week. See, the thing about Psalm 108 is it's not an original. No. It's a composite of two earlier psalms. If you turn to Psalm 108, your Bible should have a footnote showing that it's a composite of Psalm 57 and Psalm 60. It's a combination of two different psalms during the section of psalms where David is having a downward spiral in his life. The first half of Psalm 108 is a copy and paste of Psalm 57, 7-11. And the second half is made up of Psalm 60, 5-12. Someone took these chunks and decided that it would be a good idea to try to pass it off as a new psalm later in the book.

This is divinely inspired plagiarism. Psalm 57, the superscription, the heading of the psalm, it reads this. Man, that must have been a daunting situation. Psalm 60 starts off with this superscription. It says... Not great times. Psalm 57 states this. Amen. Psalm 60, the very first verse, you have rejected us, God, and burst upon us because you have been angry. But what's neat isn't that someone made a new psalm out of two existing psalms. What's neat is what he left in and what he chose to trim out. Likely an anonymous author took these two psalms. He trimmed off all of the negative sections full of anxiety and doubt and sections of lament and struggle, he cut them out and instead he copy and pasted the latter part of each psalm into what we know as Psalm 108.

And the likely background is that this psalm originated after exile. You don't have to accept that opinion, that's fine. It says it's from David, so the editor strips away all of the description of the headings of Psalm 57 and 60 and just says, of David or in honor of David. And he takes these two Psalms that are very hard to identify with, if we're going to be honest, because they have to do with David struggling in his life, running from Saul, battle. But remember, remember what the assertion is. The assertion is that any Psalm of David after Psalm 72 is not a Psalm reflecting the earthly David, but a future archetypal messianic David.

The Psalms about the earthly David end at the end of Psalm 72. And every single Psalm after that which mentions David is speaking about a new David. It's telling a new story about an up-and-coming David. It's talking about the messianic Davidic king that is coming. This new David. This is a psalm that is a victory cry of triumph through this new David. And this author took the concluding positive hopeful parts of these psalms, the prayer, and created a new prayer for Israel to pray after they left Babylon. A psalm written for a generation that was moving away from having stony hearts, moving away from Babylon and looking forward to the hope that is only found in this new David, this coming kingdom of God. This time that the authors of the New Testament proclaim had come for anyone who would put their trust in Yeshua.

Reading Psalm 108

And so I want to read this psalm now. And if you would turn with me to it, you can follow along. This is a psalm that Luke uses to reinforce the infancy narrative of Yeshua. And I want you to read it as a cry of triumph and victory of someone facing a world that seems difficult, that seems dark. You have Yeshua as your king. Imagine facing a battle before you, even right now in your life. A big enemy, a struggle, a Goliath. But you know who fights for you. Psalm 108, a Song, a Psalm of David. We got to back up. I want to reemphasize that this psalm was crafted and birthed out of two psalms that were full of times of lament and struggle and doubt that God was even there.

Psalm 108, a Psalm of David, verse 1. My heart is steadfast, O God. I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre. I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O Lord, among the peoples, I will sing of you among the nations. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth. That your beloved ones may be delivered. Give salvation to your right hand and answer me. God has promised in his holiness. With exaltation I will divide up Shechem and a portion out of the valley of Sukkot.

Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine. Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my scepter. Moab is my wash basin. And Edom I cast my shoe. Over Philistia I shout in triumph. Man, can you feel the passion of the psalm, of this newfound meaning behind it? Bring it on. Bring it on. Because I know who fights for me. Because my Savior lives. My King, He reigns. That's Psalm 108.

A Template for Prayer

This is the Psalm that the New Testament authors proclaimed throughout their writings. And I want you to take this psalm this week and use it as a template of prayer. No matter if you're going through a hard time or if you just want to shout praises to God, this is the psalm that Luke wanted to inject in the opening chapters describing Yeshua's birth of this new son of David, this new messianic king that will sit on the throne forever, ushering in this new kingdom that will overtake all nations. Why did the New Testament authors feel so compelled to use the Psalms and this Psalm throughout all of their writings, more than any other book of the Bible? Because they understood, they recognized the Savior of the Psalms.

Closing

I'm Matthew Vanderels, pastor of Founded in Truth Fellowship, and we hope you enjoyed this message and that it was a blessing to you and your family. Founded in Truth exists to cultivate a fellowship of image bearers that live the redeemed life only Yeshua can give. If this ministry has been a blessing to you, we would love to hear from you. Send us an email through the contact form on our site and tell us how God has used this ministry to edify your faith and your relationship with Him. If you would like to donate to Founded in Truth Ministries and be a part of this ministry's continued impact, you can do so through our website. Thank you for joining us, and we pray that you experience the peace and the joy of God's holy Sabbath. Shabbat Shalom. Info@foundedintuth.com