Category: Wisdom & Poetry

Psalm 14 Commentary: Introduction Turn to Psalm 14. In Psalm 14, David is meditating on this theme: Atheism. The lack of belief in and obedience to God. Atheism in its INTELLECTUAL, theoretical form. And atheism in its PRACTICAL form – in the way that it’s worked out in the lives of practically every single human…

Psalm 13 Commentary: Introduction How does it feel to lose? Do you like that feeling? Of losing a game or a match or a contest? If you’re a husband – how does it feel to lose to your wife? Well, you’re probably more mature than I am and so you probably don’t struggle with the reality…

Turn to Psalm 12. Psalm 12 Commentary: Genre Psalm 12 is a lament psalm. The author – David – is wrestling with an issue in his mind and he works through it for all of us to see and learn from his example. Psalm 12 Commentary: Theme The issue that David is struggling with is…

You might think that the report in Psalm 11 1-3 couldn’t get much worse. But it does. It ends on this cheerful note – “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Hopelessness. That’s what this report to David is aiming to achieve in the hearts of the upright. Foundations are the part of a…

Psalm 11 Commentary: Introduction I’ve been a little random in my teaching through the Psalms. I started with lament psalms. Then I covered in one lesson praise psalms. And then I basically started back from Psalm 1 and since then we’ve just been marching along, psalm by psalm until now we’re in the 11th Psalm…

Psalm 9 Commentary: Structure Psalm 9 is a classic example of a lament psalm. As you recall, a lament psalm has five ingredients to its structure, the most prominent of which is the lament itself. The lament is where the psalmist exposes the enemies of God – who are also usually his enemies as well.…

Psalm 8 Commentary: Psalm 8 is a reflective or meditative psalm. That just means, the author wrote it to reflect and meditate on something. In this case, the author is David, and he’s reflecting on nature. And in particular he’s meditating on man’s place in relation to nature. Psalm 8 Commentary: Structure Body of Psalm…