whirlingmerc
Puritan Board Sophomore
The lament of Heman : Psalm 88, the God of my salvation has led me into darkness,
A Psalm of the sons of Korah
The sons of Korah, those bouncers in the temple who wrote Psalms had an unusual family tree. Centuries before, Korah opposed Moses. God's holiness challenged and the earth opened up and all who belonged to Korah.
but
Not all the sons of Korah died, so said a sneaky, easy to miss, verse a few chapters later.
Some found satisfaction protecting God;s holiness physically as gatekeepers protectors of the temple and as protectors of hearts as Psalm writers, writing songs of Praise in Books 2 and 3 of the Psalms writing such things as:
As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after You
Glorious things of Thee are spoken
God is our refuge and strength
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God
Better is one day in your house than a thousand elsewhere
But their final song most unusual. No praise. No trust. A lament with no resolution of hope. It was almost like falling in the dark pit of of their forefather Korah.
One of their own steps forward and sings:. Heman.
O LORD, God of my salvation;
I, cry out day and night before you.
Psalms is from the word meaning praises
Tehillah-to sing hallal, a new song, a hymn of spontaneous praise glorifying God in song, A 'sing hallelujah' song
This is a song and a Psalm
A strange praise. This praise of Heman, and a lament, if it is a praise at all.
Praise seems absent form this Psalm although hinted in the title
Incessant, persistent in prayer throughout
You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror to them.
An appeal to God through questions
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
Relentless but unrelieved Heman appeals to the character of God and presses on.
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
But I, O LORD, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
Darkness has become my companion
And in his tears and prayers, Heman doesn't see
He is also painting a picture of one who will be abandoned by friends, arrested and tried and bear the wrath of God to death
The Praise will come , in the next Psalm
It will be like the 'hinds feet of the dawn' the early morning light hinted in the title of Psalm 22, a Psalm that contains the cry "my God my God why have you forsaken me'.
Ethan will sing in Pslam 89 his song of God’s love for the seed of Abraham, calling him a beloved Son, indeed the Messiah and called anointed through his forsaking - before, during and after.
And in his tears and prayers and praise, Ethan doesn't see
He is also painting a picture of one who will be beloved, chosen, yet forsaken, die and rise. The songs of the mostly priestly singers end in the Psalms with Heman and Ethan. And a fitting end. A portrait of the ultimate atonement.
Heman and Ethan would smile if they knew Jesus sang the song with them
I will sing of the mercy of the Lord forever
A Psalm of the sons of Korah
The sons of Korah, those bouncers in the temple who wrote Psalms had an unusual family tree. Centuries before, Korah opposed Moses. God's holiness challenged and the earth opened up and all who belonged to Korah.
but
Not all the sons of Korah died, so said a sneaky, easy to miss, verse a few chapters later.
Some found satisfaction protecting God;s holiness physically as gatekeepers protectors of the temple and as protectors of hearts as Psalm writers, writing songs of Praise in Books 2 and 3 of the Psalms writing such things as:
As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after You
Glorious things of Thee are spoken
God is our refuge and strength
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God
Better is one day in your house than a thousand elsewhere
But their final song most unusual. No praise. No trust. A lament with no resolution of hope. It was almost like falling in the dark pit of of their forefather Korah.
One of their own steps forward and sings:. Heman.
O LORD, God of my salvation;
I, cry out day and night before you.
Psalms is from the word meaning praises
Tehillah-to sing hallal, a new song, a hymn of spontaneous praise glorifying God in song, A 'sing hallelujah' song
This is a song and a Psalm
A strange praise. This praise of Heman, and a lament, if it is a praise at all.
Praise seems absent form this Psalm although hinted in the title
Incessant, persistent in prayer throughout
You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror to them.
An appeal to God through questions
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
Relentless but unrelieved Heman appeals to the character of God and presses on.
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
But I, O LORD, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
Darkness has become my companion
And in his tears and prayers, Heman doesn't see
He is also painting a picture of one who will be abandoned by friends, arrested and tried and bear the wrath of God to death
The Praise will come , in the next Psalm
It will be like the 'hinds feet of the dawn' the early morning light hinted in the title of Psalm 22, a Psalm that contains the cry "my God my God why have you forsaken me'.
Ethan will sing in Pslam 89 his song of God’s love for the seed of Abraham, calling him a beloved Son, indeed the Messiah and called anointed through his forsaking - before, during and after.
And in his tears and prayers and praise, Ethan doesn't see
He is also painting a picture of one who will be beloved, chosen, yet forsaken, die and rise. The songs of the mostly priestly singers end in the Psalms with Heman and Ethan. And a fitting end. A portrait of the ultimate atonement.
Heman and Ethan would smile if they knew Jesus sang the song with them
I will sing of the mercy of the Lord forever
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