Psalms 17
1 For the end; by the servant of the Lord, David, what he spoke, the words of this song to the Lord in the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul; and he said:
2 I will love you O Lord, my strength.
3 The Lord is my support, my refuge, and my rescuer,
God is my helper, and I will hope in him,
my protector and my horn of salvation,
my helper.
4 While praising him, I will call upon the Lord
and I will be delivered from my enemies.
5 Birth pains of death surrounded me,
and the brooks of lawlessness threw me into confusion
6 birth pains of the place of the dead encircled me,
the snares of death anticipated me.
7 And when I was oppressed, I called upon the Lord
and I cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from his holy shrine,
and my cry before him entered into his ears.
8 And the earth shook and trembled,
and the foundations of the mountains were troubled,
and they shook, because God was angry with them.
9 Smoke went up in his wrath,
and fire from his presence flamed up,
charcoal was set afire by him.
10 And he tipped over heaven and came down,
and darkness was under his feet.
11 And he mounted a cherub and flew,
he flew on the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness to be his hiding place;
his tent encircled him,
the water was darkened by the clouds of the air.
13 The clouds passed through from the brightness before him,
hail and coals of fire.
14 And the Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High put forth his voice;
15 and he sent forth arrows and he scattered them
and he multiplied lightning and he threw them into confusion.
16 And the springs of water were seen,
and the foundations of the world were uncovered
from your rebuke, O Lord,
from the breathing on of the breath of your wrath.
17 He sent out from height and he took me,
he took me for himself from many waters.
18 He will rescue me from my powerful enemies
and from those who hate me, because they had greater strength than I did.
19 They anticipated me in my day of oppression,
and the Lord became my support
20 and He led me out to a spacious place,
he will rescue me, because he wanted me.
He will rescue me from my powerful enemies
and from those who hate me.
21 And the Lord will reward me according to my righteousness
and according to my innocence, he will reward me,
22 because I kept the ways of the Lord
and I didn’t depart wickedly from my God,
23 because all of his judgements are before me,
and I didn’t remove his ordinances from me.
24 And I will be blameless with him
and I will keep myself from my lawlessness.
25 And the Lord will reward me according to my righteousness
and according to my innocence before his eyes.
26 You will be declared holy with the holy
and you will be innocent with the innocent man
27 and you will be chosen with the chosen
and you will be twisted with the twisted.
28 And you will save humble people
and you will humble proud eyes.
29 Because you will give light to my lamp, O Lord;
My God, you will give light to my darkness.
30 Because in you, I will be delivered from a gang of pirates
and in my God, I will pass over the wall.
31 My God, his ways are blameless,
The oracles of the Lord have been burned,
he is the protector of all who hope in him.
32 Because who is god except the Lord?
and who is god except our God?
33 God who girds me with strength
and makes my way blameless,
34 who makes my feet like a deer
and stands me on high places,
35 teaching my hands for battle
and he made my arms a bronze bow;
36 and he gave to me protection for my salvation,
and your right hand helped me,
and your instruction completely straightened me out,
and your instruction itself will teach me.
37 You broadened my steps beneath me,
and my footprints didn’t weaken.
38 I will pursue my enemies and I will overtake them
and I will not turn away, until they fail;
39 I will drive them out, and they shall never be able to stand,
they will fall under my feet.
40 And you girded me able for battle,
beneath me, You bound the feet of all who rise up against me
41 and you gave to me the back of my enemies
and you destroyed those who hate me.
42 They cried out, and there was none who saves,
they cried out to the Lord, and he didn’t listen to them.
43 And I will crush them to powder like dust in the wind,
I will grind them down like the mire of a street.
44 You will rescue me from the squabbling of the people,
you will appoint me as the head of the nations;
A people, who I didn’t know, became a slave to me,
45 They obeyed me at the ear’s hearing;
foreign sons lied to me.
46 Foreign sons became old
and walked lamely from their paths.
47 The Lord lives, and blessed is my God,
and let the God of my salvation be lifted up,
48 The God who gives me vengeance
and subjected people under me,
49 my Deliverer from my quick-tempered enemies,
You will lift me up from those who rise up against me,
You will rescue me from the unjust man.
50 Therefore, I will acknowledge you among the nations, O Lord,
I will sing a psalm to your name,
51 magnifying the acts of salvation of his king
and showing mercy to his Anointed One,
to David and his descendants forever.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring the eschatological nature of the Greek Psalms, especially the language, in the Psalms that have the heading Εἰς τὸ τέλος (For the end) to see if they really carry any “end-time” language.
Well, I would say that there is no doubt that this one does. But, let’s take a look as some of the language.
The first place I want to draw you attention to is passage of verses 4 and 5.
5 περιέσχον με ὠδῖνες θανάτου,
καὶ χείμαρροι ἀνομίας ἐξετάραξάν με
6 ὠδῖνες ᾅδου περιεκύκλωσάν με,
προέφθασάν με παγίδες θανάτου.
5 Birth pains of death surrounded me,
and the brooks of lawlessness threw me into confusion
6 birth pains of the place of the dead encircled me,
the snares of death anticipated me.
The first thing that I’m reminded of is that this language of θάνατος and ᾅδης is seen in several places in Revelation. Here they are.
Rev. 17 …μὴ φοβοῦ· ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος 18 καὶ ὁ ζῶν, καὶ ἐγενόμην νεκρὸς καὶ ἰδοὺ ζῶν εἰμι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾅδου.
Rev. 17 …Don’t fear, I am the first and the last 18 and the One who lives, and I was dead, and look, I live forever and ever and I have the keys of death and the place of the dead.
θάνατος and ᾅδης (Death and Hades/The place of the dead) are what Christians will escape from through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the bedrock, which is Christ, stands before the gates of ᾅδης (Hades) so that we will never be bound to it. (Matt. 16:18).
Here’s the next one. Revelation 6:7-8 at the fourth seal.
Rev. 6:7 Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν τετάρτην, ἤκουσα φωνὴν τοῦ τετάρτου ζῴου λέγοντος· ἔρχου. 8 καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος χλωρός, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ ὄνομα αὐτῷ [ὁ] θάνατος, καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἠκολούθει μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἐξουσία ἐπὶ τὸ τέταρτον τῆς γῆς ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν λιμῷ καὶ ἐν θανάτῳ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς.
Rev. 6:7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature say, “Come forth!” 8 I looked and behold, a green horse and the rider on it was named Death ([ὁ] θάνατος) and the place of the dead (ὁ ᾅδης) was following with him. Authority was given to them to kill one quarter of the earth with a sword, with famine, with pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Oh, but what happens in the end at the Great White Throne of Judgement at Revelation 20:13-14?
Rev. 20:13 καὶ ἔδωκεν ἡ θάλασσα τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἔδωκαν τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐκρίθησαν ἕκαστος κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν. 14 καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρός. οὗτος ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερός ἐστιν, ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρός.
Rev. 20:13 And the sea gave the dead who were in it and death and the place of the dead gave the dead who were in them. And they were judged, everyone according to their deeds. 14 And death and the place of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death; the lake of fire.
One day, there will be no more death! There will be no more place where the dead go! We will truly have eternal life.
In verses 7-16, the Psalmist describes what happened when David cried out to God for deliverance from Saul. But does it also carry eschatological language that describes the Lord’s return? I will emphasize the language.
7 And when I was oppressed, I called upon the Lord
and I cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from his holy shrine,
and my cry before him entered into his ears.
8 And the earth shook and trembled,
and the foundations of the mountains were troubled,
and they shook, because God was angry with them.
9 Smoke went up in his wrath,
and fire from his presence flamed up,
charcoal was set afire by him.
10 And he tipped over heaven and came down,
and darkness was under his feet.
11 And he mounted a cherub and flew,
he flew on the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness to be his hiding place;
his tent encircled him, (he’s coming secretly…)
the water was darkened by the clouds of the air.
13 The clouds passed through from the brightness before him,
hail and coals of fire.
14 And the Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High put forth his voice;
15 and he sent forth arrows and he scattered them
and he multiplied lightning and he threw them into confusion.
16 And the springs of water were seen,
and the foundations of the world were uncovered
from your rebuke, O Lord,
from the breathing on of the breath of your wrath.
Although it seems obvious that this passage contains “end-time” language, I will share one verse from Revelation that can sum this passage up, but there is much more. This passage is at the Seventh Trumpet.
Rev. 11:19 Καὶ ἠνοίγη ὁ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ὤφθη ἡ κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐγένοντο ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταὶ καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ χάλαζα μεγάλη.
Rev. 11:19 And the shrine of God which is in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was seen, and there were lightnings, voices, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail.
I don’t think it takes much to connect the two passages.
I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t bring up the figurative nature of David’s deliverance from Saul. We all have read the story of Saul’s defeat. The Lord didn’t literally tilt heaven and come down. Smoke didn’t literally go up from his wrath. Arrows didn’t come down from heaven. This is all figurative language that shows us that God is ultimately in control and his power is greater than any worldly power. And so it also is in Revelation. I’ll let all of you chew on that.
The last passage we will look at is verse 44.
44 You will rescue me from the squabbling of the people,
you will appoint me as the head of the nations;
A people, who I didn’t know, became a slave to me…
Most of the time in the New Testament, ἔθνη (the plural of ἔθνος) means “gentiles” rather than “nations”. Dουλεύω (to serve as a slave/to be a slave) is used around 25 times in the New Testament and many times it means “to be a slave to God or Christ”. The reason that you don’t see it is that δουλεύω is mostly translated as “serve” when used with God. Paul himself said that he as “a slave of Jesus Christ” and he would use this word many ways.
The Jews of the 1st Century were God’s people, but they rejected Jesus as the Christ (Anointed One). As a result, God extended his mercy through Jesus Christ to a people he didn’t know—to us, ἔθνη/gentiles. The Old Testament Scriptures foresaw this. Even Jesus indirectly speaks of this in John 10:14:
14 I am the good shepherd and I know my possessions and they know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 But I have sheep which are not from this fold; and I must lead those sheep and they will listen to my voice, and they will be one flock, and there will be One Shepherd.
“The people that I didn’t know” became slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to serve him as a slave as a 1st century slave served his master. Just as a slave belongs to his master, we belong to our Master.
I will leave you with this. Whatever you are, God will become that to you and will show that to you. That is shown in this Psalm as the Psalmist sings about the Lord:
26 You will be declared holy with the holy
and you will be innocent with the innocent man
27 and you will be chosen with the chosen
and you will be twisted with the twisted.
28 And you will save humble people
and you will humble proud eyes.
If you are holy, God will be holy to you and will make you holy. If you are innocent, God will make you innocent. If you are chosen, God will chose you. But if you are twisted and perverted, God will twist and pervert you and be twisted and perverted to you.
He will save the humble and humble the proud.
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