PSALMS

CHAPTER 1
1 Blessed is the man Who does not walk In the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand on the path of sinners, Nor sit in
the seat of mockers;
2 Rather his delight is in the law of Jehovah, And in His law he meditates by day and by night.
3 And he will be like a tree Transplanted beside streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And whose
foliage does not wither; And everything he does prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, But are like chaff, Which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment; Nor the sinners, in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For Jehovah knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.

In Psalm 1 the psalmist said that the one who delighted in the law of Jehovah
would prosper. Why do you think the law is given to us by God? Some would say it
was given for us to obey, others would answer that it serves as margin in our lives.
But why do you think the law of Jehovah is given to us? Because God wants to
expose us that in ourselves we cannot truly obey them all, if we use our own
abilities in obeying Gods law we will surely fail. He wants us to realize that with
ourselves we cannot, we need Him. This is the true function of the law; so we can be
exposed and admit to ourselves that we are not able, that only through Him we can
comply with by the law.

CHAPTER 51
1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassions
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And from my sin cleanse me.
3 For I do know my transgressions, And my sin is before me continually.
4 Against You and You alone have I sinned, And I have done what is evil in Your sight. Therefore You are
righteous when You speak; You are clear when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, You delight in truth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part You would make known wisdom to me.
7 Purge my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean; Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear gladness and joy, That the bones which You have broken may exult.
9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from Your presence, And do not take the Spirit of Your holiness away from me.
12 Restore to me the gladness of Your salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will turn back to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation; And my tongue will ring forth Your
righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth will declare Your praise.
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice; Otherwise I would offer it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18 Do good in Your good pleasure unto Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, In burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; Then
they will offer bulls upon Your altar.

This psalm shows a person repenting, confessing his sins to God, and asking God for His
purging. In the life of each one of us, there needs to be a period of time, perhaps lasting for
several days, in which we thoroughly repent, confess our sins to God, and plead with Him to deal

with our sins and with our sinful nature. Furthermore, day by day we need to repent and
confess. God is merciful. Like David, we need to stay in the presence of God, confessing that we
were born in sin and pleading with Him to wash us and cleanse us, to blot out our
transgressions, and to purge our sin. To pray in this way indicates that we have no trust in
ourselves. Realizing that we are sinful and that God is holy, we trust only in Him. Also, we
realize that we need Christ to be our Mediator and our sacrifice.

CHAPTER 139
1 O Jehovah, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar.
3 You thoroughly search my path and my lying down, And You are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For a word is not yet on my tongue, And already You, O Jehovah, know it completely.
5 You have closed in on me behind and before And have laid Your hand on me.
6 O knowledge too wonderful for me! It is so high; I cannot attain to it.
7 Where shall I go, away from Your Spirit, And where shall I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, there You are.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn And settle at the limits of the sea,
10 There also Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me.
11 And if I say, Surely darkness will cover me, And the light around me will be night;
12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And night shines like day; The darkness is like the light.
13 For it was You who formed my inward parts; You wove me together in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, And my soul knows it
well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, Skillfully fashioned in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; And in Your book all of them were written: The days that were
ordained for me, When not one of them was yet.
17 And how precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would be more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh that You, O God, would slay the wicked - Depart from me therefore, you men of bloodshed 20 Those who speak of You with evil intent, Who as Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Jehovah? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with a perfect hatred; They have become my own enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there is some harmful way in me, And lead me on the eternal way.

The subject of Psalm 139 is the psalmist's asking Jehovah for His searching and trying.
Verses 1 through 6 speak of God's omniscience. For example, the psalmist said that
Jehovah understood his thoughts from afar and was acquainted with all his ways.
Jehovah knows everything. In verses 7 through 12 the psalmist continued with a
word regarding God's omnipresence. God not only knows everythingHe is
also everywhere. Verses 13 through 18 indicate that the psalmist appreciated being
created by God. After speaking about God's creation, the psalmist declared, "How
precious are Your thoughts to me, O God!/How great is the sum of them!/If I should
count them, they would be more than the sand./When I awake, I am still with You" (vv.
17-18). Verses 19 through 22 describe the psalmist's hating and loathing the wickedness
of the wicked according to the principle of good and evil. Finally, in verses 23 and 24 the
psalmist asked God to search him and try him and then to lead him on the eternal way.
He could write such an intimate word because he was close to God and intimate with
Him.
I believe that the purpose of the arrangers in clustering these psalms together was to
show that they were written by persons who were very intimate with God. When I read
these psalms, I am comforted and I receive help in the matter of godliness. Like the
writers of these psalms, I aspire to be one who is close to God, who is intimate with God,
and who lives and walks not only in God's presence but even in God Himself.