The Psalms are the word of Christ

[OBW]

Originally Posted by aron

Well it's pretty clear by now that I'm a "lost in the clouds" type, and I can tell you my living doesn't match my vision at all. But I try to be merciful to others, and Jesus said if you show mercy to others, then God will be merciful to you. That's my best hope.

I sort of doubt that. And I was not complaining about this thread. But I see so much where the study starts with the truth in something like the Psalms and then it never gets to what does it mean for me today. And without that, it isn't worth much.

I am less lost in the clouds, but often lost in the analysis. Not much different until I actually put some of this into practice.

Maybe tomorrow.

[aron]

Originally Posted by OBW

I see so much where the study starts with the truth in something like the Psalms and then it never gets to what does it mean for me today. And without that, it isn't worth much.

I am less lost in the clouds, but often lost in the analysis. Not much different until I actually put some of this into practice.

Maybe tomorrow.

One thing the analysis does, right off the bat, is make me resistant to poor teaching. Lord knows there's enough of that. So that helps. I've got enough problems already, without being dragged into the ditch by someone's confidence game (see under, "Lee, Witness").

Secondly I've enjoyed doing analysis as part of an ongoing conversation, or discussion, because it helps to be corrected by others, and hear what others think, as well. And it even helps when some of the correction seems a bit thin. I remember one unregistered guest who said I'd gone way off the right path, with my thinking. And perhaps I had. But the guest never addressed or even acknowledged the verses that I'd been examining. I found that to be rather telling. It was encouraging, actually, like the Holy Spirit was saying, "Keep going."

And occasionally it comes into my conversations at work and home and church. My ideas and perceptions sometimes seem helpful to others, in untangling the knots that bind us all. So it always encourages me to have something useful for others. I mean, that's what it's all about: helping others. If I just please myself, that surely wouldn't please God. It must have utility or it's nothing.

And lastly, we have the promise: "Seek and ye shall find". My seeking is of itself, as an activity, a vain affair. But God has promised us that we'll find. Therefore, I keep seeking.

Notice that the Psalms are very much in the here and now: "Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head." (Psalm 141:5). The Psalms were written when the battle raged. I'm not sure how much of Psalm 3 was actually composed when David was hiding in a cave, with his son Absalom and the princes on the warpath. But it is very focused on the moment. It's within the context of a God who is in heaven, who has promised and who functions, at least in part, through the "invisible host". But "Save me, O God" is not the sweet bye-and-bye. It is today. "Today, if you hear His voice, do not refuse it" (cf Psa 95:7-11; Heb 3:15).