Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days The Oxford Bible Church

Psalm 6 is one of the 7 Penitential Psalms of the early Church (6,32,38,51,102,130,143). It describes David in a terrible state, in a perfect storm of problems. He is weak, like a withered plant, and sick, with his body wracked in pain (v2), also in a state of emotional distress and mental torment (v3), grief and depression (v6-7), even close to death (v5). Also, he has many enemies coming against him (v8-10). He realises the root cause of all this and the greatest of his problems is that he is not right with God, as he has sinned, and so is under God's discipline. Thus, it begins with David acknowledging his sin and asking God to forgive him: "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger" (v1). When we confess our sin to God, He forgives us and cleanses us from it (1John 1:9), but that is not enough for our full restoration. Our sin causes us to be separated from God's Presence and blessing, and puts us in a negative (unclean) state. When we confess our sin, we are forgiven and cleansed by the Blood of Jesus, which blots out the sin, and brings us into a neutral (common) state. However, there is still a lack of the God's Presence (an emptiness in our soul), which makes us vulnerable to sinning again and becoming unclean (Matt 12:43-45). The only way to be empowered to overcome sin and be restored to a positive (holy) state of blessing is to rededicate ourselves to God and invite His Holy Spirit to fill us. God can't fill what is unclean - 1st we must be cleansed by His Blood and then we can be consecrated (made holy) by the Oil of His Holy Spirit possessing us. This is why he does not stop with his confession in v1, but continues by saying: "Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am weak" (v2a). He is asking God to fill him with His grace and restore him in every area of his life. Having done this, He now looks to his Lord in confident faith to move quickly to heal him and restore his soul: "but You, O Lord - how long?" (v3). As he returns to the Lord, he asks Him to also return (turn back) to him and restore His Presence in his soul and body and deliver him from his sickness (v4a). His prayers are based on his covenant with God, who is a covenant-keeping God (he uses God's personal covenant name 'Yahweh' many times in Psalm 6), for he appeals to God's unfailing covenant love as the basis of his petition: "Oh, save me because of Your mercies (chesed = steadfast love)" (v4b). He also pleads his case for God to save his life on the basis of His greater glory, reminding God he can glorify Him much more if He keeps him alive, rather than letting him die and go down to Sheol (the underworld): "For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave (Sheol) who will give You thanks?" (v5). This is not saying people are unconscious in Sheol-Hades, or that believers will not praise God there. Luke 16:19-31 proves that all men in Hades are conscious, and Psalm 115:17-18 shows that although 'the dead' (unbelievers) do not praise God there, believers continue to praise God after death. Rather it means, he will not be able to glorify God in Sheol in the same way as in this life. v5 can be translated: "For in death no Memorials are made to You." This refers to public worship at the Feasts (Esther 9:28). After death, he says he will not be able to glorify God and give Him thanks, as much as in this life, especially at the Feasts. This shows the special importance of this life, and the opportunity it gives us to glorify God, especially in our public worship.

In v8-10, David is now confident God has heard his prayer and now has the assurance that He will give him the victory over his enemies. He is no longer afraid of them but says to them: "Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity" (v8a). Now God has returned to him and is with him, they must flee from him, for if God is for him, who can be against him (Rom 8:31, Jam 4:7). He declares: "for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping" (v8b), referring to his tears of contrition and grieving ove

In this teaching we look at the healing of a leper (Luke 5:12-15). This is the first of 4 Messianic Miracles, which were specific signs of the Messiah. The others are casting out a dumb spirit, healing of a man born blind, and resurrection after 3 days - the sign of Jonah. The special significance and symbolism of Leprosy in the Bible explains why it was a Messianic Miracle. God uses leprosy to teach us about sin. That’s why it was treated differently from all other sicknesses. Leprosy is a picture of sin (Isaiah 1:18), which is why the Bible only talks about the cleansing of a leper. Derek shares how leprosy is a picture of sin. The healing of a leper is a picture of Messiah saving us from sin, for we were all spiritual lepers. Since only Messiah can save us from our sin, it was appropriate that only Messiah can cleanse lepers, which is why it was a Messianic Miracle, so when Jesus healed lepers it was a special sign proving He was the Messiah. The cleansing of the leper in Mark 1:40-44 is a picture of how a sinner receives salvation from the Lord, who is full of compassion for us.

2 chapters are devoted to what the priests should do with lepers. Leviticus 13 told them how to diagnose leprosy. Leviticus 14 told them what to do when a leper was healed. While the priests constantly practiced Leviticus 13, they never practiced Leviticus 14, for no leper was ever healed in Israel! They came to conclude that only Messiah will heal lepers. There was a prescribed Ceremony for leprosy that was ordained in the Leviticus 14, that the priests had to fulfil whenever a leper was healed. When Jesus sent the leper to go to the priests to verify his healing and perform the Ceremony, that was a testimony to them that the Messiah was on the scene. This Ceremony which involved 2 BIRDS. It revealed the basis upon which leper was healed (Leviticus 14:1-7). This Ceremony gives us a wonderful picture of the Atonement of Christ. God is declaring that the cleansing and healing of the leper was accomplished through the Atonement. Since leprosy represents both (1) sin and (2) sickness, this Ceremony shows both (1) that we are CLEANSED from SIN, and (2) that we are HEALED from SICKNESS through the ATONEMENT of Christ. This confirms that Healing is in the Atonement. Healing from sickness and cleansing from sin is only possible through Christ's Atonement - that is what the ceremonial Law of the Leper proclaimed.

Psalm 5 is the first example of an imprecatory Psalm, where David prays that God would deal with his enemies: "Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You" (v10). The challenge we face is how we can harmonise this with Jesus' teaching that we should love, bless and show mercy to our enemies (Luke 6:27-36)? It helps to understand the difference between temporal judgments in this life and a man's final eternal judgment which happens immediately after death, when his eternal destiny is forever sealed. It is surely against the teaching of Jesus for us to desire and pray that anyone would die and go to Hell. It is probable that the imprecatory verses were the basis for the teaching of the Pharisees: "You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy" (Matthew 5:43). But Jesus rejected this interpretation saying: "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" (v44). Thus these imprecatory verses must be interpreted in this light - as expressions of love, not hate for our enemies. In Psalm 5:4-6, God reveals to David that the wicked are under God's wrath and if they will not repent, they will be condemned and cast out of God's Presence forever. One way to read v10, allowed for by the Hebrew, is as a prophetic declaration affirming this final judgment, in agreement with His revelation in v4-6: "You will pronounce them guilty, O God! They will fall by their own counsels; you will cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You." In this way of reading it, the Psalmist is also adding His agreement with God's holy justice in executing Him final judgment on them, at the time of His choosing. God's declaration of eternal judgment is His warning to sinners that they must repent before it is too late.

However, there seems to be more going on here than a declaration and all the translations interpret v10 also as a prayer, in which case, the interpretation that best fits with the rest of Scripture is that it is a prayer for God to intervene in their life (in a temporal judgment), in such a way as to lead them to repentance, so that they do not face the horror of eternal condemnation and punishment. This is confirmed by the phrase: "Let them fall by their own counsels", which points to their evil plans in this life coming to nothing and even rebounding on them, for if they prosper in their evil-doing, they are less likely to repent. In other words, a loving prayer for the wicked is: "Lord, do whatever it takes in their life to bring them to repentance. Don't let them prosper in their evil-ways, but bring them to the end of themselves, so that they realise that they need to repent and turn to you in faith and so be blessed, rather than going to Hell." David's basis for praying v10 is: "for they have rebelled against You", which shows that he is not praying out of personal malice, but rather a concern for God's glory and a realisation that their rebellious state makes them candidates for eternal condemnation.

In Psalm 5:9, David again describes the wicked nature of his enemies, including the phrase: "Their throat is an open tomb; they flatter with their tongue" which Paul quotes in Romans 3:13, in his general description of the sinfulness of all mankind (v9-20), where he establishes that all mankind is sinful and guilty before God and so heading for eternal condemnation. But God offers His saving mercies to those who will turn to Him, trust in Him and submit to Him (Psalm 5:2,7), and so David completes the Psalm by describing the blessedness of those who put their trust in God. They rejoice because they are under God's covering (atonement): "But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend (cover) them" (v11). They are protecte

Psalm 5 shows us how David came to God in the morning (v3) to receive the wisdom, strength and protection he needed for the day, especially because there are many enemies conspiring against him - the word for enemies in v8 means those 'who lie in wait.' The setting might be during the time that many were conspiring against him to remove him as king and replace him by Absalom. Psalm 5 provides a model for purposeful prayer (v1-3,7-8,10-12), as well as giving a clear contrast between the righteous under God's covenant love (v1-3, 7-8, 11-12) and the wicked under God's wrath (v4-6, 9-10).

David understands that prayer is the expression of the inner thoughts (meditation) of his heart, so he opens his heart to God and invites Him to look into his heart to see his genuine commitment to God and desire to see his prayer answered (v1). David is purposeful in coming to the Lord and focusing on Him: "to You I will pray." In particular, he addresses the Lord as "my King and my God" - focusing on both His awesome majesty (transcendence) and gracious presence (covenant nearness). Moreover, he presents his prayer with urgency, determined that God will hear him (v2). In v3, he emphasises twice his commitment to come to God in the morning, which confirms the importance of morning devotions, to dedicate the day to God and to receive His grace for the day (Mark 1:35, Lam 3:22-23). The he describes what we should do before and after our prayer to God. Before we make our petitions, we should 'direct it to God.' the word 'direct' literally means 'to prepare' and 'to set in order' (Psalm 23:5). It means to arrange our prayer before God, to plead our case (a lawyer prepares his arguments before presenting them to the judge). We should first know the basis of our petitions from God's revelation of Himself in Scripture and on His covenant-promises to us, and then present our case to God. Doing this will increase our faith that we are praying according to God's will and that He will hear us (1John 5:11-12). We see many examples of this in Scripture. After praying, we should 'look up' to God with expectation, to watch to see what God will say or do (Habakkuk 2:1).

As he draws closer to God, he becomes more aware of God's holiness and man's sinfulness. David sees God's wrath upon all sinners and His unrelenting opposition to them, and he sees their ultimate end in final judgment if they do not repent (v4-6, Psalm 73:17-18). By contrast, in v7, David, as an example of a righteous believer in covenant with God (see also v11-12), is one who comes into God's Presence (House), (1) trusting in God's abundant covenant love (mercy - chesed), not in his own righteousness, and (2) worshipping Him in reverential fear (submitting himself to God's authority), looking up to God in His holy Temple (in Heaven - Psalm 2:4,6, 3:4), just as we are to pray: "our Father who art in Heaven." David exemplifies a saving faith of trust in God as his Saviour and submission to God as his Lord. Having first come into His Presence in praise and worship (v7), David is now in position to ask for and receive God's leadership and guidance for his life: "Lead me, O Lord, in Your (way of) righteousness" (v8a). This was especially necessary "because of my enemies" (v8b) who were plotting against him. Likewise, satan's kingdom is setting traps for us to fall into, so every morning we need to pray: "Lord, do not lead me into temptation (the traps of the enemy), but deliver me from evil." David knew only God could protect him from the traps of sin, satan and his enemies. He also asks God to give him wisdom by revealing to him the way that he should walk, and that He would remove all hinderances, so that he might make speedy progress in fulfilling God's will: "Make Your way straight before my face" (v8c).

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). As well as teaching us what it means to be a good neighbour this Parable reveals the Gospel in code. It also gives a hint that Jesus will return after 2 DAYS (2000 years).

Psalms 3 and 4 connect together, for both took place just before the battle with Absalom's army (2Samuel 18). Whereas Psalm 4 is set in the evening before the battle, Psalm 3 is set on the morning of the battle, so when David declares in Psalm 3:4 that he has prayed and God has heard him, this refers to his prayer in 4:1. Likewise his belief he would sleep well in 4:8 was fulfilled (3:5). Compare also 3:2-3 and 4:2. David reveals the basis for his approach to God was that his righteousness was from God (not himself): "Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!" (v1a). This is imputed righteousness through faith, and well as the fact that he knew he stood for a righteous cause (he was praying the will of God). Having righteousness before God gives us confidence that God will hear our prayer (1John 5:14, Proverbs 15:29, 1Peter 3:12, Psalm 34:15). He prays that God would be gracious to him and relieve him in his distress; changing his situation from being hard-pressed on all sides to an enlarged place of freedom (v1b). Based on his assurance that God has heard his prayer in v1, David speaks boldly to his enemies, declaring that their rebellion against him, which was based on following lies (that he was no longer God's anointed) and empty promises, is about to come to an end (v2). He also declares that he is still beloved and chosen by God, set apart to Him by covenant as God's anointed king, and this gives him confidence that God hears his prayers and will give him the victory (v3).

We then discuss different applications of David's advice: "Be angry and do not sin" (v4a), which Paul applies in Ephesians 4:26-27. In order to overcome the flesh and not sin, we need to mediate in God's Word (v4b, Psalm 1) and bring our flesh into quietness, so that we can hear God's voice to us (v4b). Then we need to 'offer the sacrifices of righteousness', which means doing right actions in obedience to God's word to us, and doing what God tells us to do in the situation, trusting in Him that He knows best (v5, Proverbs 3:5-6), even though this may well mean denying the natural inclinations of our flesh and human reasoning.