Old as New
Notes
Transcript
Old as New
Old as New
During my Torah Tuesday group several weeks ago, I had an opportunity to go through a Psalm that just hit me for several reasons.
First, I am continually shocked at the brilliance of scripture.
Two, I am continually reminded of how little I know.
Three, I am repeatedly convinced of scripture’s human and divine nature.
Some of you have already heard this, so bear with me.
The rest of you have not
So get ready for a journey
From the Old to New
We are going to look at Psalm 45, which is a fascinating journey into literary genius.
They key is in the superscript of the Psalm
What is a superscript?
Here it is…
Psalm 45, “To the instructor: Consider the Lilies. For the Sons of Korah. An instruction. A song of the David’s.”
Unpack this a bit.
The verse is critical.
The Psalm is directed to ‘A’ King.
Let’s see if we can figure out who.
You are beautiful among the children of adam.
Your lips pour out grace.
Therefore, God blessed you for an age.
Psalm 45:2-5
Pay attention to that opening phrase…you are beautiful
Strap your sword on your thigh,
Gibbor (Mighty Strong Man).
Your splendor and
your majesty.
(The sword is this Gibbor’s splendor and majesty)
Psalm 45:2-5
Your majesty.
Rush out!
for matters of truth, humility, righteousness.
Ride!
Psalm 45:2-5
Let your right hand cause you to learn (torah) fear.
Your arrows are sharpening peoples,
under you they will fall.
In the heart of the enemies of the king.
Psalm 45:2-5
So far, this could be any king…
Let’s keep reading…
Your throne, O god (elohim), is for an age and still.
A rod of uprightness. A rod of your kingdom.
You loved righteousness and you hated wickedness.
Therefore god (elohim), your God (Elohim),
anointed you with oil of gladness from your companion.
Psalm 45:6-9
You may be reading along and wondering, “What version does Jeremy have?”
I have the Hebrew.
Pause…The Psalmist told us he is speaking of a king.
Here the king is called a god.
It seems like we are speaking of a Messianic King.
But are we…?
Ancient people saw their king as the earthly personification of their god
Israel is not immune to this…
Let’s keep reading…
Daughters of kings are among your precious standing stones.
As queens at your right hand, in the gold of Ophir (dust).
Psalm 45:6-9
This does not sound Messianic…
It sounds like what Solomon did when he setup high-places for the god(s) of his 700 wives!
Let’s keep reading…
Listen daughter. See. Incline your ear.
Forget your people and the house of your father.
Let the king crave your beauty.
For he is your lord (adon) and
you will bow in worship to him.
Psalm 45:10-12
Now, what is the command of Genesis 2:24? A man shall leave his fathers house and join himself to his wife.
Yet, the entire structure of a king is to ensure the daughter (a princess) leaves her father and joins the king in his fathers house.
Does this still sound Messianic or does it sound like an Israelite king?
It sounds like Solomon.
And notably, when the serpent in the garden entices the woman, he entices her, through wisdom, to make herself like an elohim (a god).
And what did we just read a few verses ago?
The king is addressed as ‘elohim’ (god)
Solomon, who is granted extreme wisdom based on his request, is making himself into a god, a king like the other nations.
What do human kings who function like little gods do?
The daughters of Tyre
like gifts before your face
will bow like one who is sick.
The wealth of people.
Psalm 45:10-12
Ps 45:13-15, speaks of the bride(s) being dressed in gold (like the standing stones above), but there is a phrase in there that caught my attention:
All glorious is a daughter of a king inside [the filigree].
From the filigree settings of gold as her garment.
The embroidered work of many colored stones.”
Psalm 45:13-15
Get this image: a daughter of a king is like the precious stone (as described above)
The garment is like the gold setting that displays the precious stone.
The filigree settings of gold term is the same term used in Exodus 28, 39.
The two stones that had the twelve tribes (six on each) are to be set in a filigree gold setting (high priest)
The twelve stones that comprise the ephod (one for each tribe) are to be set in a filigree gold setting (high priest)
This is the ONLY other place this term is used.
The king is replacing the breast-piece of the priest of Yahweh (the God of Jesus) with a bride(s)
She (they) become the one through whom this king communicates with the gods.
The embroidered work term was first used in Judges 5:30, “Have they not found and divided the spoil? A womb or two for every man; spoil of dyed materials for Sisera, spoil of dyed materials embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the next as spoil?”
This is from the Song of Deborah. It is about the mother of Sisera who is waiting to see if her son (the commander, Sisera) returns. But he does not. She is peering out the window, ‘Why is it taking so long to beat these puny Israelites?’
And her “wisest princesses answer, indeed she knows herself,” and then the phrase above.
In other words…Her son, Sisera, is dividing the spoil and raping the women.
Again in Ezekiel 16, describing the LORD’s faithless bride
But also in Ezekiel 27 as goods for trade in a prophecy against Tyre (which was already mentioned in Ps 45:10-12.
Given the context of this word, and it is a rare term, the thought is trading women as property.
What is going on in this Psalm?
Let’s keep reading…
She will be led to the king.
With virgins after her. Her companions.
She will be led to you.
She will be led
in joy and gladness.
She will come into a palace of a king.
Psalm 45:13-15
What strikes me is the indefiniteness of ‘a king.’
Like the author purposely, so clearly and intentionally did not use a definite article (the).
Again, what is happening with this Psalm…
Let’s keep reading.
In place of your fathers,
will be your sons.
You will set them
as princes in all the earth.
I will cause the remembrance of your name
in every generation and generation.
Therefore, people will
1) confess your sin,
or 2) praise you (as king)
for an age and still.
Psalm 45:16
Okay, pause. We know this is a problem. The ‘fathers’ are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Here, the sons of a king will take their place.
The princes are going to be setup in all the earth.
Remember…they rejected God as their King
They wanted a king like the other nations.
So the memory of the name is not the memory of God’s name
It is the memory of a king’s name
Which is exactly what Cain did in Genesis 4.
What is happening in this Psalm?
Solomon, and all the kings that follow are being ridiculed for their ego and insatiable desire for praise, power, wealth, offspring, and women.
But…
If we transform the ridicule into a Psalm about Messiah, given what we know about Jesus and the New Testament, then this Psalm becomes very interesting.
He seeks ‘brides’ (church is called a bride)from every kingdom on earth
They are prepared for him
They are led to his palace
His prayer is that we become one with he and the Father
And the ‘sons’ of God (church) are Royal priests (breastplate language)
In this case, the bride(s) are the components of the breastplate
Loyal believers are the names engraved into the stones set in filigreed gold!
Revelation 2:17, the one who conquers (survives faithfully) gets hidden manna and, ‘I [Jesus] will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone, that no one knows except the one who receives it.’
I mentioned the key to this Psalm was in the superscript.
Psalm 45, “To the instructor: Consider the Lilies. For the Sons of Korah. An instruction. A song of the David’s.”
Consider the lilies…I want you to connect everything we just went through to that phrase.
When you hear ‘Consider the lilies’ think Psalm 45
Someone from the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me!’ ‘Tell me, my good man,’ replied Jesus, ‘who appointed me as a judge or arbitrator over you? ‘Watch out,’ he said to them, ‘and beware of all greed! Your life doesn’t consist of the sum total of your possessions.’ He told them a parable. ‘There was a rich man whose land produced a fine harvest. “What shall I do?” he said to himself. “I don’t have enough room to store my crops! ‘ “I know!” he said. “I’ll pull down my barns—and I’ll build bigger ones! Then I’ll be able to store all the corn and all my belongings there. And I shall say to my soul, Soul, you’ve got many good things stored up for many years. Take it easy! Eat, drink, have a good time!” ‘But God said to him, “Fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you! Now who’s going to have all the things you’ve got ready?” That’s how it is with someone who stores up things for himself and isn’t rich before God. ‘So let me tell you this,’ he said to the disciples. ‘Don’t be anxious about your life—what you should eat; or about your body—what you should wear. Life is more than food! The body is more than clothing! Think about the ravens: they don’t sow seed, they don’t gather harvests, they don’t have storehouses or barns; and God feeds them. How much more will he feed you! Think of the difference between yourselves and the birds! ‘Which of you by being anxious can add a day to your lifetime? So if you can’t even do a little thing like that, why worry about anything else? Think about the lilies and the way they grow. They don’t work hard, they don’t weave cloth; but, let me tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed up like one of them. So if that’s how God clothes the grass in the field—here today, into the fire tomorrow—how much more will he clothe you, you little-faith lot! ‘So don’t you go hunting about for what to eat or what to drink, and don’t be anxious. The nations of the world go searching for all that stuff, and your father knows you need it. This is what you should search for: God’s kingdom! Then all the rest will be given you as well. Don’t be afraid, little flock. Your father is delighted to give you the kingdom. ‘Sell your possessions and give alms. Make yourselves purses that don’t wear out, a treasure in heaven that lasts for ever, where the thief doesn’t come near and the moth doesn’t destroy. Yes: where your treasure is, there your heart will be too.’
That phrase…
Consider the lilies…
Is not a way of telling you that you are nothing.
It is a way of telling you that you are more glorious than them.
And when you are on a walk, or perhaps smelling some flowers in the store, or even receiving them…
Use that as an opportunity to think about how you are thinking.
Are you pursuing the kinds of things Solomon was?
Wealth, power, relationships, etc.?
Are you being treated as a possession
Like something high-school boys pass around (girls)
Are you building your value through others?
Increasing princesses (or princes) in your house
So you have value?
IMAGINE for a moment…
How it might be if the world did not function this way
If leaders did not pursue glory at the expense of others
IMAGINE how you might live…
If you really believed there is a way to store treasure in heaven
And you wanted your wealth in that kingdom.
Old as New
Old as New
