Derek Kidner describes this psalm as a, “… rushing cataract of a psalm – one of the most boisterous and exhilarating in the Psalter – may have been composed for David’s procession with the Ark from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with rejoicing (2 Samuel 6:12). It opens with an echo of the words with which the ark set out on all its journeys (Numbers 10:35), and finds its climax in God’s ascent of ‘the high mount’ which (God) has chosen for his dwelling.
The two main parts of the psalm celebrate, first, God’s victorious march from Egypt, with its culmination at Jerusalem (v 7-18), and secondly, the power and majesty of his regime seen in the ascendancy of his people and the flow of worshippers to his footstool (v. 19-31).”
In the context of the whole psalm we can look to verse 4 where we read, ‘Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts ...” and verse 7 later where we read, ‘O God, when You went forth before Your people, When You marched through the wilderness …’ This psalm is reminding the people of their exodus from Egypt. The people are being encouraged to give glory to and trust in Jehovah by way of reminder. And so, we also ought to be encouraged as we look back at where we were and where we are by the grace of God. David was not telling the people to glory in their military might or their great craftiness in escaping Egypt – likewise, we should not dwell on our own works – but rather to look at what the Lord has done for us – and to give Him the praise.
This psalm was certainly written as an encouragement of God’s people. David wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to call attention and to give glory to God. If this psalm was written on the occasion of the triumphal entry of the Ark into Jerusalem there would have been great temptation to either nationalistic pride or a kind of king-worship. But David would have none of that! His desire was to glorify God. So in that sense, this is a gospel psalm and in it we see echoes of Christ’s now and future kingship. We are a small and needy people; God is a sovereign and mighty Lord. We receive the blessings and He rides victorious accomplishing His purposes according to His sovereign will.
In particular, I would like to call attention to verses 5 & 6.
[5] A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
[6] God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
We know that legitimate government, including Kings, are called to protect the helpless and pronounce judgment on the lawless. So this portion of the psalm is reminding the people that the Lord is the perfectly righteous ruler. He ordained the civil magistrate to rule in His place but we must never forget that He is the ultimate Ruler. He is the King of kings.
Like most of the psalms there is a ‘now and not yet’ aspect to consider. King David was speaking of the ‘now’ as he was placed as God’s ordained protector of the fatherless and widows. He was continuing the work of God, the ultimate one who was and would provide protection and pronounce judgment.
The psalm reminds us of what the Lord has done. The children of Jacob were prisoners in Egypt but Jehovah the Liberator, set them free. They once had no homes they could call their own, but now, Jehovah gave them their own homes and property. The book of Joshua tells us that they did not earn the land or the homes – it was given to them by the promise. As slaves, they were denied justice, but now, because of the Lord’s deliverance, widows were protected. They were formerly ‘alone’ under the authority of hard masters, but now lived free to associate together in families and tribes. That was what the Lord had done for them in the past. David was saying, ‘remember what the Lord has done!’
But even in David’s time, were there no orphans, or widows, or the lonely, or the poor? Of course! But I think we can see the ‘not yet’ part of this statement. Through God’s appointed means there is provision for the orphan, widow, and the poor. But complete fulfillment is yet to come. God is indeed, father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, he makes a home for the lonely and leads the prisoners into prosperity. This promise has not been completely accomplished in our time. How is the Lord working these things out? Through the Church!
Historically, the Christian Church has led this movement for the rights of orphans, widows, prisoners, and the poor. Indeed, the church has been commanded to minister to the least of these. I think we can probably agree that the church in America has been overly focused on its own gratification and has neglected its responsibility in ministering to orphans, widows and the poor. I would encourage believers everywhere to consider their responsibility to reach out to all people, including those who have nothing to offer us. An inward focused church considers its own needs and its own gratification first, but a biblical church will look outside itself and consider how to minister to others in a gospel centered way. And we all agree that when Christ returns there will be no more orphans, widows, prisoners, or poor. But in the meantime, especially in our time where the government appears to be increasingly ineffectual in fulfilling its God-given roles, the church has been given greater opportunity to minister to the orphan, widow, the lonely, and those who are denied justice.
I would like to make a connection between the first part and the last part of verse 6:
“God makes a home for the lonely … only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.”
Who are the rebellious? Two different people fall into this category. First, I think David was thinking of the Egyptians who refused to, ‘let my people go!’ Included in this are also those who rebelled in the wilderness, that generation which did not live to enter the Promise Land. In other words, unbelievers or false professors. False professors are those who were part of the Nation (and part of the church today) but were (are) not converted and show no evidence of a desire to be obedient to the Lord’s commandments. Clearly, this group needs to hear the gospel and receive Holy Spirit conversion. For the unconverted, though life may be sweet for the time being, there is a future, eternal dwelling for them in a ‘parched land.’ Other versions translate the word parched as a desert or a wasteland. The implication here is dreadful; the rebellious who reject God are destined for eternal dryness.
But I think we can see another group here – those who are truly converted but who are in temporary rebellion against the Lord’s commands. Think about it for a moment, if the Lord disciplines those he loves, then perhaps this phrase, ‘… only the rebellious dwell in a parched land’ may apply to us at times. Of course, we have no promise that we will have no struggles in this life, but our promise is that the Lord will provide the way of escape, that we may be able to endure whatever struggle the Lord allows. Not only that we may endure struggles, but also an assurance that our struggles are sovereignly designed for our ultimate good – in order to grow us into Christian maturity.
At this very point, I think we can see that the phrase, ‘… dwell(ing) in a parched land’ may be one of the ways the Lord disciplines his people. Synonyms for parched include words like dry, thirsty or unsatisfied. The contrast found in Jesus words to the woman at the well may be helpful. He said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” and “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4). Elsewhere, Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Living water and rest from our weariness are both strong words in contrast to living in a parched, or dry land.
My point is that Christ offers this living water, this rest, but that for believers we must drink and enter into that rest. If we are truly converted we are adopted into the family – that is our position in Christ – we did not earn it nor are we in a position to lose our adoption. But we may, at times, act like rebellious little children. For the believer, our relationship with the Father and the Son is as firm as the promises of God are reliable. But whether we are comfortable in our close relationship with the Father and the Son, often depends on our obedience. In other words, we are always His children, but in our disobedience we will feel alienated. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were naked before God; but in their sin they were ashamed. God was still their father but they felt ashamed. Ashamed or alienated is simply another word for guilt – feelings of guilt ought to drive us to repentance and reconciliation. We read that ‘... the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death’ (2 Corinthians 7:10). But sometimes, in our feelings of guilt, we are driven to introspection. The reality of the Scripture tells us that our reconciliation has always been and always will be based on the life and death of Christ alone, not our own works. But when we focus on ourselves and our guilt we are like moths attracted to the bug zapper – we keep circling into defeat and depression over our inability to conquer our remaining sin. But when we turn our attention outward toward Christ, we have hope and assurance of forgiveness. Again, we are faced with the now but not yet! We have been liberated from slavery to sin, but we are not yet free from the struggle with our remaining flesh. But we must live in the reality of Christ’s victory over sin and our adoption as sons and daughters of the King. The opposite of alienation is friendship. Because of Christ we are called His friends and that is the reality. Sometimes we alienate ourselves from fellowship with the Father and the Son because of our sin. Remember what the Apostle John wrote, “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
OK, this is all fine and dandy on paper but what ways has the Lord given for us to escape the circle of guilt and depression?
Briefly, I see two means of grace that we are responsible for participating in:
· To fight our own feelings of alienation we need frequent reminders of the gospel. The Lord has graciously given us weekly public worship and the preaching of the Gospel. Great care should be taken to bring ourselves and those we love to worship on the Lord’s Day. This is the great remedy for depression. This is our great encouragement to persevere in our struggle with sin.
· Fellowship with other believers. Part of worship is the gathering of the Lord’s people in public worship. This is God’s gracious reminder and encouragement that we are not alone. It should not be surprising that when we are isolated we tend to think too much about ourselves. And this kind of self-absorption tends toward guilt and depression. Looking outward, to Christ and to our brothers and sisters tends toward a more positive outlook. Look what the Lord has done for him or her! This is the power of getting to know one another and one of the reasons we are to assemble together regularly. “… and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together…” (Hebrews 10:23-25). We are commanded by the Lord himself to look to the interests of others rather than to ourselves. And there is an abundance of the ‘one another’ commands in scripture. For example, He said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” and this reference to the law of the harvest: “let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grew weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:9-10). The less we think about ourselves and the more we think of Christ and others, the happier we will be.
Conclusion:
The failures of our government bring greater opportunities for the Church to minister to our neighbors. Are we willing to reach those who have been failed by the false-idols of government? Are we willing to prepare for future opportunities to serve our neighbors? Are we looking for ways to serve one another? Is our love for one another growing?
This psalm is a reminder of what the Lord has done for us – redeemed, adopted, freed from sin and the shame of sin – we have been made ‘friends’ of God because of what the Lord Jesus has done. Furthermore, we are given the means of grace to enjoy our freedom. We are granted the privilege of participating in weekly public worship to be frequently reminded of the gospel and to prepare ourselves for eternal worship, and the gift of fellowship with our brothers and sisters to encourage us to further good works. Not that those here are lacking in either of these but I would encourage you to an increase in love for our Savior through Worship and Fellowship with the saints.
