“The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.” (Psalm 37:18-19, NIV)
You know I have often wondered as I read through the Psalms who on earth the psalmist is talking about, because half the time when I read the Psalms, especially in something like the one I have quoted above, I think this can’t possibly be talking about me. Then looking at the author, who is David in this case, he can’t possibly be talking about himself either because at the end of the day we not only know what David did with his life and the disaster that was caused with his infidelity and pre-meditated murder (2 Sam 11-12), we also know about our lives and the things that we have said and done. So can we really read the songs and the poetry in the Psalms and say to the Lord as we read through them, “oh yes Lord I am the blameless one here and I can see why I should be blessed just like this beautiful poem says I should be.”
Well, if we are honest with ourselves, and I think we always should be, I don’t think any of us can say that we are blameless right? I mean, if you think you are just and blameless before Almighty God might I recommend doing what Psalm 1 tells us to do and that’s meditate on the law day and night and see yourself in light of that (Ps 1:2). I think by the time you get to the second syllable of the first command, you’ll start to see how far we fall short! (Ex 20:3 c.f. Rom 3:20, Gal 3:19-26). So with all of that said, how do we read through the Psalms without reading ourselves into every jot and tittle, leaving us confused over our own utter depravity and condemnation in light of our honesty with ourselves? Well, the answer comes in the gospel.
You see Jesus said that the Psalms were actually given for a purpose and that wasn’t to have lyrics for our hymn book. No, the Psalms were actually prophetic because they taught us about none other than Jesus Himself (Lk 24:44c*). This means that in some way they are teaching us about Jesus continually and not us. Now in saying that, I don’t want you to now see the Psalms as completely disconnected from us, they aren’t. That’s because they teach us how to pray, lament, praise, worship and even how to complain biblically (Ps 142:1-2). Yet they should always teach us Christ as He is the blameless One who stands before our Father in Heaven totally justified and is the blessed One who has earnt all righteousness under the law (2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, 1 Pet 1:18-19)
So what do we do when we pray or sing the Psalms? Well brothers and sisters, we look to Christ in them, knowing that when we come to passages like the one quoted we are in a sense totally blessed and justified before Almighty God because we are IN Christ and it is He who has earnt this status for us (Eph 1:7, Col 1:3-4, 1 Pet 2:9). So this week, as you go to your prayer closet, as you go on your prayer walk or however you go before our God, might you be encouraged by the Psalms and launched into a deep prayer life looking to Christ as you come before the throne of grace
Michael
* I found this to be a thoughtful and encouraging article on Christ and the Psalms from the Gospel Coalition.