During this season of preparation for the celebration of Resurrection Sunday, we are slowly journeying through Psalm 139. So far, we have been making our way through the heading of the psalm, which reads, "To the Choirmaster. A Psalm of David."
Yesterday we reflected upon "To the Choirmaster."
Today, let us look at the next fragment -- A Psalm of David. Before we dig in, let us pray for guidance.
Lord GOD,
please open our minds
and deposit in our hearts
precious nuggets of Your wisdom
as we look at this segment of this most notable hymn
that sings of your omnipresence and omniscience.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen!
Building upon yesterday's concept that everything emanating from us is dedicated and offered to the ultimate choirmaster or life master (God Himself), "A Psalm of David" suggests to us that David wrote this psalm. Buttressing this point, the prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon penned:
"It [Psalm 139] bears the image and superscription of King David, and could have come from no other mint than that of the son of Jesse. Of course the critics take this composition away from David, on account of certain Aramaic expressions in it. We believe that upon the principles of criticism now in vogue it would be extremely easy to prove that Milton did not write Paradise Lost. We have yet to learn that David could not have used expressions belonging to the 'language of the patriarchal ancestral house.' Who knows how much of the antique speech may have been purposely retained among those nobler minds who rejoiced in remembering the descent of their race? Knowing to what wild inferences the critics have run in other matters, we have lost nearly all faith in them, and prefer to believe David to be the author of this Psalm, from internal evidences of style and matter, rather than to accept the determination of men whose modes of judgment are manifestly unreliable."
Another writer, John Jebb, further remarked:
"How any critic can assign this Psalm to other than David I cannot understand. Every line, every thought, every turn of expression and transition, is his, and his only. As for the arguments drawn from the Chaldaisms which occur, this is really nugatory. These Chaldaisms consist merely in the substitution of one letter for another, very like in shape, and easily to be mistaken by a transcriber, particularly by one who had been used to the Chaldee idiom; but the moral arguments for David's authorship are so strong as to overwhelm any such verbal, or rather literal criticism, were even the objections more formidable than they actually are."
If it is indeed King David who wrote this majestic psalm, "A Psalm of David" implies to us that the King of kings empowered the writer to take his time and to work assiduously in order to produce yet a new, pleasing, and fragrant offering to the Lord for the advancement of the Father's Kingdom. It tells us that David graciously labored to prepare and present a royal gift, a beautiful crown befitting the feet of Christ. And in the process, he was able to write a literary work, a poem, a song that is dubbed "one of the most sublime compositions in the world" by George Rogers.
If it is indeed the former shepherd boy who wrote Psalm 139, it implies to us that the One who calls Himself the Good Shepherd saw fit to let His Spirit fill and move a lowly shepherd to speak of sublime themes such as omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, infinity, immutability, eternity, etc. It further states that no status of ours is too low for the Holy Spirit of God to set our hearts ablaze and use us for His much higher purposes.
"A psalm of David" invites us to ponder:
When was the last time you or I composed a song, penned a poem, prepared a tribute of any kind to the Father as a result of parking ourselves before the presence of our King, regardless of our status in life?
We tend to come up with all kinds of reasons discrediting ourselves:
"I'm not musically or artistically inclined"
"I'm not influential enough"
"I don't have the goods"
Might we remember that God chose David not because of external reasons? Might we remember that God calls us all, whether king or servant, to practice being in His presence just like David? Might we realize that, as a result of our intimate pondering in God's greatness, His Holy Spirit will fill and move us to prepare and present a royal gift to our King involving our areas of giftedness?
See, when we lay our hearts bare before the throne of God above, we attach ourselves to the Vine of Christ. The ensuing clarity and intimacy that cover us do nothing less than unleashing productivity, creativity, and fruitfulness for the advancement of God's kingdom.
Is there any trace of hiding left in your heart, in my heart? Lent calls you and me to come and attach ourselves to the Vine of Christ. Lenten thought invites us to rend our innermost selves and allow God's clarity and intimacy to cover us and render us productive, creative, and fruitful for His Kingdom.
Thank You, Lord, for using David!
Thank You, Lord, for using us!
O, thank You, Lord!
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