The Psalms are for personal and communal worship. They are written as poetry and designed to be sung, yet they contain clear statements of most of the first principles.
The state of the dead
No book in the Bible has more verses proving that the dead are unconscious. “In death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” (6:5). “The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence” (115:17). “Put not your trust in princes nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts [plans] perish” (146:3-4). Death is a “land of forgetfulness” (88:10-12).
In their death, human beings are as the animals: “Man being in honor abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish” (49:12). In fact, the dying process is the opposite of creation for all animal life, including human beings: “Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust” (104:29 and look at the context).
The state of the dead is likened to being asleep when time passes without our knowing: “Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death” (13:3). And the resurrection is compared to waking out of sleep: “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (17:15).
The reward of the righteous
The Psalms are designed for the people of God. These are the believers who look forward with great joy to the blessings God has promised to the faithful. As we would expect, therefore, the Psalms reveal much about eternal life and the activities of those who are made immortal by the Lord Jesus.
“The righteous shall inherit the earth and dwell therein forever.” We may think of these words as originating with the Lord Jesus. In fact, the Lord was summarizing the point made in Psalm 37. Six times in that Psalm (vs. 9,11,18,22,29 and 34) the reward of the righteous is set forth as being to inherit the earth forever. This hope stands in sharp contrast to the idea that the upright spend eternity in heaven. God has not made such a promise for, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men” (Psa. 115:16).
Other aspects of the reward of the righteous are also expressed in the Psalms. The upright will be made immortal, sharing in the glorious divine nature (Psa. 17:15; 149:5). They will work with Christ to subject the nations to the kingdom of God. In that process, they will subdue the wicked and “execute vengeance upon the heathen” (Psa. 58:10; 149:6-9).
The kingdom of God
Psalm 72 provides one of the most beautiful descriptions of the kingdom of God found in all of scripture. The Lord Jesus shall “have dominion from sea to sea…in his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth” (vs. 78). Every nation shall serve him, “all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him” (v.11).
The rich, the powerful, the cruel shall no longer control the world for the king and his co-rulers (the saints) “shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence” (vs. 13-14). And great plenty will exist in the earth. Even on the tops of the mountains, which now are barren, a handful of corn seeds will produce such a wonderful crop that “the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon” (v.16).
This will be a truly glorious time and we can be a part of it if we are among the faithful who inherit the earth.
Punishment of the wicked
Psalm 37 made much reference to the reward of the righteous and, as we might expect, by way of contrast it sets out the end of the wicked. “The transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off” (v.38). When the faithful are exalted to inherit the earth, “the evildoers shall be cut off” (v.9). They will not burn in hell, however, for as the Psalms clearly declare, “Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish” (49:20).
Some wicked people prosper in this life. This can be a great dilemma to faithful people as expressed in Psalm 73:3, “I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” In the Psalms, the righteous are urged not to be troubled by this condition (37:1) but to look at the final end of the wicked. “[When] I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction” (73:17-18).
In our own lives, we will sometimes be distressed that everything does not go smoothly. God knows this but is shaping our characters by the difficulties we experience in order that, in the end, we may be prepared to inherit the earth and live in it forever. While we are being tried, let us not be envious of the wicked who prosper, for when the faithful inherit the earth forever, the wicked shall be cut off.
The conduct God wants
Even when translated into English, there is still a rhythm to the Psalms. This makes them fairly easy to remember. That is especially helpful with Psalm 15 which is a summary of the type of person “who shall dwell in thy holy hill.”
The person who pleases God is one who “worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart” (v.2). He does not just talk about righteousness, he does it and integrity is deep within him, in his heart.
The Psalm continues providing some detail on what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. The person who loves does not slander, work evil against or spread gossip about another person (v.3).
Then in verses 4 and 5, we have some of the practical aspects of loving God. Loving God means loving what He loves and abhorring what He abhors. It means being true to our promises and practicing generosity and impartiality in our lives.
Right conduct is easier to learn about than it is to put into practice. With this in mind, the Psalms teach us what we can do to help ourselves be obedient. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word…Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psa. 119:9-11). This comes as no surprise. The Bible is vital to our service to God. But to make it work for us, we need to get the Bible off our tables and in our heads.
This same Psalm stresses another help we must have if we are to put obedience into practice: “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments… Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness” (vs. 35-36). We need God’s help. We need to pray for it and, when we do, He will give it.
The cause of sin
Clear statements are found in the Psalms revealing that sin comes from within our own hearts. When Israel disobeyed God, they did not follow the temptations of a supernatural devil, but they followed “their own hearts’ lust; and they walked in their own counsels” (Psa. 81:12).
The great choice that they faced, and that we face, is whether to go God’s way or our own way. A supernatural devil does not exist. What does exist are the lusts of the eyes and of the flesh and the pride of life. These things are part of our very make-up and it is in serving them that we go astray from God’s way.
Lack of faith in the power of God is cited as a major cause of sin. Israel sinned because they “limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy” (Psa. 78:41,42). One of the important reasons we must continually study the Bible is to prevent our doing the same thing. We must always reinforce in our own minds that God is faithful to His promises and nothing is too hard for Him to accomplish.
Psalm 10 provides an extended insight into the thinking of the wicked. There we learn the danger of pride, “The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor…the wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God” (vs. 2-4). We also learn the danger of thinking God does not see all we are doing and know all we are thinking (vs. 4,6,11,13). Because we are not thinking about God does not mean He is ignoring us. It is a great mistake to think “He will never see it…[God] will not require it.”
The LORD God of mercy and great power
Since the Psalms are Israel’s hymn book, we are not surprised to find extended praise of God. In the course of this praise, much is revealed about the physical and moral attributes of God.
God dwells in heaven, therefore “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, 0 thou that dwellest in the heavens” (123:1). He is the great Creator of all things; “Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is” (Psa. 146:6; 124:8). His power is without measure, “and his greatness is unsearchable” (145:3; 62:11).
As His power is without limit so is His knowledge: “He telleth the number of the stars…Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite” (147:4-5; 92:5; 104:24). And he knows everything that exists upon earth, including our thoughts: “From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth…he knoweth the secrets of the heart…whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me” (33:13-14; 44:21; 139:7-12). God’s knowledge of every thought and action may seem threatening at times, but it is a great assurance for the faithful that they will never be away from His loving care.
The lovingkindness, compassion and mercy of God is nowhere better expressed than in Psalm 103. “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (vs. 12-14).
But note, such love is not for everybody; it is only for those who “fear him.” God is not only loving, He is jealous and expects to be worshiped and obeyed. When God saw the persistent defiance of Israel, “When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel” (Psa. 78:59). The word “abhorred” may seem strong to us. God abhors sin but does He really abhor sinners? Yes, He does if they insist on practicing iniquity: “Thou hatest all workers of iniquity…the wicked and him that loveth violence his (God’s) soul hateth” (Psa. 5:5,6; 11:5). Let us, then, not take the grace of God for granted. Let us serve Him to the best of our ability, trusting in His great mercy to then forgive the sins we do commit.
Principles of the atonement
Paul’s letter to the Romans contains a great exposition of the atonement. In that letter, some of Paul’s most important arguments are developed with quotations from the Psalms. In Romans 3, for example, he reinforces the fact that Jews, as well as Gentiles, “are all under sin.” His first proof verse is from Psalm 14:1-3: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one…” The next proof text is from Psalm 5:9: “Their throat is an open sepulchre….,” and three of the next four are from the Psalms (Rom. 3:13 from Psa. 140:3; Rom. 3:14 from Psa. 10:7 and Rom. 3:18 from Psa. 36:1). Thus in the Psalms, the doctrine is wholly proved that “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (Rom. 3:20).
Romans 4 goes on to provide an explanation of the fact God counts our faith as righteousness: “His faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). In elaborating the point, Paul says this: “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom. 4:6-8 citing Psa. 32:1-2). Forgiveness of sins is another way of saying faith is counted for righteousness. And this vital doctrine, which is part of Bible teaching on the atonement, finds a clear expression in the Psalms.
Another aspect of the atonement is that the Savior is of our nature, for he is a member of the human race. This point is developed in detail in Hebrews 2:6-18 and again the Psalms provide the key verses that are used. Psalms 8:4-6 provides a lead-in to the discussion (Heb. 2:6-9). The Psalm reveals a time will come when all things will be subject to mankind. That is not true yet; but what is true is that one of the race has been glorified above the angels. He is the savior of other faithful humans who will be joint heirs with him by being included as members of his family. This family relationship is proven by three Old Testament passages (cited in Heb. 2:12-13) two of which come from the Psalms (Psa. 22:22; 18:2).
For worship and instruction
In making this review, we can clearly see that the Psalms abound with teaching on the first principles of the Truth. Like all scripture, they are fully beneficial for doctrine and instruction in righteousness (II Tim. 3:16).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One