Page 74 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

almost slipped…for I envied the arrogant (73:2).” Many times life can feel like God’s rejection (74:1;
77:7). The arrogant are around doing their defiant deeds (75:4). The righteous must wait, trusting in
God’s eventual judgment (75:8; 76:10) History proves the difficulty of waiting for God (Psalm 77:22;
79:5). “How long, LORD God Almighty will your anger smolder (80:4)?” “How long will you defend the
unjust (82:2)?” “You have rejected, you have spurned (89:38).

Book IV asserts God’s sovereignty in judging people. As much as Book III mourns the suffering of God’s
people and his apparent rejection of them, Book IV celebrates the victory of God through testimony. “He
is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust (91:2).” “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and
there is no wickedness in him (92:15).” “When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your unfailing love, LORD,
supported me (94:18).” “Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns (96:10).” “The LORD reigns (97:1;
99:1).” “He comes to judge the earth (98:9).”

How fitting to reassert the truths of Book II after the competing theological claims of Book III and Book
IV! Life involves extreme suffering for the believer. God is still sovereign. Psalm 57 insists, “My heart, O
God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music (v. 7)” despite living “in the midst of
lions…whose teeth are spears and arrows (v. 4).” After all the trials of Book III with a multiplicity of lions
who have sharp teeth, the psalm writers assert the possibility of a steadfast heart that praises Yahweh
among the nations (106:3).

In the face of God’s seeming rejection, tearing open the land and desperate times (60:2, 3), the earlier
writer could call on the sovereign God who owned Moab and Edom and Philistia (60:8). Only his help
would be of value and gain the victory (60:11-12).” So now in Book V the same theology is cited. “In
triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth (108:7),” “With God we will gain
the victory, and he will trample down our enemies (108:13).” As history progresses, the theology of trust
in God is the only sustaining heart commitment in the face of impossibly strong enemies.

Psalms 108, 57, and 60 are not mistakes or unnecessary
fillers. They are a spiritual benchmark for God’s people of
all ages. God’s character does not change. God’s
sovereignty does not change. The suffering of those who
believe in the Messiah does not change. Until Christ
returns as king of kings to break the nations with a rod of
iron (Ps. 2:9), his people will have many, many
opportunities to practice a steadfast heart of praise in the
face of devastating persecution. What was true in the
days of the psalmists continues true in NT times despite
the first coming of Christ. He has come in humility. He will
Figure 39: Benchmark England one day come in triumph.

We noted the structure of Psalms divided into five Books marked by praise, and we have looked at
repeated verses in Books 1, 2, and 5, pointing to the God who does not change despite the situation his
people might be in. It is valuable now to turn to a brief discussion of that righteous man, that anointed
king, and how he speaks from other Books.

Psalm 72, the last of Book II, is the center of Psalms. It starts with Solomon, ends with David, and
references another generation, a royal son (v. 1). He will rule from sea to sea (v. 8). All kings will bow
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