Psalm 31:6 – “Hating and Trusting”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶I hate ones giving heed to vanities of worthlessness, but I trust upon YHVH.

Hate.

Hate is an intriguing subject under a God who “is love” and who tells us the two great commands are to love God and love others, and who tells us to “live a life of love.” People brush away the subject with clichés like “hate the sin but love the sinner;” but then you run across a verse like this, “I hate ones …” Add to that verses like Psalm 139:19-22: “If only You would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! … Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against You? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.” Even of the Lord Himself, it says, “His soul hates the wicked and those who love violence” (Psalm 11:5).

We could brush off the subject by calling it “Old Testament” but then we see the Apostle Paul saying, “If anyone does not love the Lord – a curse be on him” (I Cor 16:22) and “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned” (Gal 1:9).

To me the idea of hating evil makes perfect sense in a fallen world with a literal devil. Of course we should hate evil. Particularly as believers, we see the horrific devastations evil brings into God’s beautiful world. Of course we should hate evil. But it is hard for me to see how to hate the people who do evil – while still loving them. Obviously that is what God does. He says He hates them, but then Jesus “died not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world.” There is no question in my mind that the Bible teaches us God loves everyone, but then there are these verses where we find He can hate them too – and then we find verses like Psalm 31:6 where godly people hate people!

I’d also like to say if we could just somehow live in the church building, we could look out at the world and say we hate those who do evil. The problem is we can’t live there and the Lord doesn’t want us to. We get up on Monday morning and go out to live and work in the real world, to deal all day every day with real people, most of whom have little regard for the Lord.

I suppose it also makes sense to me that people in leadership have to at times assume what at least looks like a posture of hate. The fundamental responsibility of government is to protect its people, which means to identify evil people and deal with them accordingly. I don’t throw anyone in jail, but I wholeheartedly support our policemen when they do. In a sense, I want them to hate evil people. The same would be true of our armed forces. The enemies of our nation should be killed. And then even in an office and even in a church, there is a time when leaders have to “lower the boom” on people who are evil and making everyone else miserable. At those times, they are expressing what looks like hate.

Perhaps that is what we’re seeing in the Bible? Certainly God should hate evil people. I’m glad He’ll throw the devil in an eternal hell. I’m glad when Jesus returns one of the first things that happens is “a sharp sword goes out of His mouth with which to slay the wicked.” And in our Psalm, perhaps David is speaking from his position as king? Once again, a king should hate evil people, in the sense that he needs to protect the good people of his kingdom from them.

Hmmmm. That actually makes sense to me. Perhaps that is part of what Solomon meant when he said, “There is a time to love and a time to hate.” There is a time. Maybe that “time” is when we are in positions of authority and it is our responsibility to protect the good? Certainly, as a father, if a man had ever entered my house to hurt my children, I would not have hesitated to shoot him. In protecting my children I clearly would have “hated” the man. Similarly, Paul says, “Rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong … He does not bear the sword for nothing … He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrong-doer” (Rom 13:3,4).

Yes, yes. This is making perfect sense to me now. In the general comings and goings of my life, God’s call to me is simply to love Him and love others. It’s only when he puts a person into a position of authority that, in an evil world, they also take on the responsibility to protect the good and punish the evil.

Very good. I can live with that.

Back to our verse, the ones David (as a king) is hating are “ones who give heed to vanities of worthlessness.” The “vanities of worthlessness” gets translated in various ways. The NIV renders it, “worthless idols.” That is a possible understanding but the basic ideas of the words are just this idea of “worthlessness” – completely empty, useless, pointless whatever. And in fact  that perfectly describes our “lust of the flesh, and lust of the eyes, and pride of life.” Those things are all lies, they’re all figments of our imagination. Without God, people will spend their entire lives chasing those things, only to find as Solomon did, they are all “vanity,vanity.”

But David says he has seen through it all. Elsewhere he says, “You have made known to me the path of life; You fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand” (Ps 16:11). It is God who delivers on His promises, not this world. And so he declares in our verse, in contrast to those who live for this world’s emptiness, “I trust in the Lord.” I’ve underlined the “I” because it is emphatic in the Hebrew. David is clearly wanting to communicate, “As for me and my house …” He just called the Lord in v5, “the God of truth,” and now is obviously contrasting Him with this world’s foolish deceptions.

I love the word translated “trust.” It sounds something like “bataq.” There are several Hebrew words which may get translated as something like “trust,” but this one in particular means to trust God recklessly. It would seem, in this context, David is highlighting the fact that he has determined to trust God rather than believe the promises of this world. We all know that often feels “reckless” because the world’s promises seem so certain and true and delicious, while God’s Word may seem literally like we’re stepping out into air. But believers learn more and more as they grow that this world’s promises really are “vanities of worthlessness” while God’s promises hold true. He really has shown us “the path of life” and it is Him who gives us “eternal pleasures at His right hand.”

So, I think I’ve learned something valuable about this business of “hating” in God’s world of love, and I’ve certainly enjoyed being reminded how “very great and precious” are God’s promises!

Psalm 31:5 – “Faithfulness”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁵Into Your hand I entrust my spirit. You have ransomed me, Lord God of truth.

This, we all know, is the verse Jesus quoted from the Cross, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” For Him and at that time, they were of course dying words. Down through the centuries they have been the dying words of many, many of God’s people. What a priceless privilege we enjoy that, even as we hang for a few last seconds between time and eternity, we can be calm, contented, hopeful people, entrusting our very souls to our faithful God.

But, on the other hand, when that moment comes it isn’t some strange new experience for us, nor was it for Jesus. Peter tells us that, “When He was insulted, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats.” And why? “Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly” (I Peter 2:23). In fact, these words are the very essence of faith itself, “Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit.” All day every day, to walk by faith is to commit to Him ourselves, our lives, our families, our finances, even the outcome of whatever it is we need to trust Him for. This quote becomes dying words to those who have long been living them. Lord, help us to live these words today, that they might be our dying words tomorrow.

As I’ve been studying this verse, I have become more and more convinced all of this is the importance of the second half of the verse, “You have ransomed me, Lord God of truth.” The word translated “ransomed” is basically a synonym for the word “redeemed.” These words remind us that the very beginning of our relationship with God is that He redeemed us. He paid the ransom to free us from sin and hell. His name of course is Jesus – “for He shall save His people from their sins.” And so that is who we are – redeemed people. Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The God to whom David is praying and to whom we would pray the words of this Psalm is none other than our great Redeemer. Our very relationship with Him starts with Him showering His great and gracious love on us.

Some translations make this an imperative, “Redeem me, O Lord God of truth,” and that certainly is an option. However, the word they translate “redeem” (which is more literally “ransom”) is in the Hebrew perfect tense, which would more naturally be translated as past tense, so I have it as “You have ransomed me …” In the Hebrew picture-painting, story-telling, practical kind of thinking, it probably doesn’t make any difference, but, once again, I’m trying to translate things in their most basic sense first, then see if there is a good reason to resort to the options which are possible, though less basic.

Finally David addresses Him as “Lord God of truth.” Once again, in the Hebrew picture-painting, story-telling, practical kind of thinking, this simple appellation takes on a universe of meaning. David is addressing the Lord as “Lord God of truth” as part of his prayer, “Into Your hands I commend my spirit. You have ransomed me Lord God of truth.” God is truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” The only reason faith is even possible is because God is truth. He is who He says is. He will do what He said He’d do. His words are to us “very great and precious promises.” The writer of Hebrews says we can trust Him because “it is impossible for God to lie” and that “we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (6:17-20).

If David is thinking along these lines, we could translate his words as “Lord God of faithfulness.” I suspect that is in fact his idea. We can commend to Him our spirits precisely because He is the One who has ransomed us and because He is our faithful God. He is truth, and at times like these, that truth comes to our hearts as faithfulness.

Knowing our faithful God, we could talk at length how important it is for us to be faithful too. We all can have “faith” precisely because God is faithful. Other people should be able to have faith in us as well because they find us faithful or, another way of saying it, dependable. We too should do what we said we’d do, be who we said we’d be. We of course can never be as faithful as God, but our own dependability ought to be high on our list.

The old people used to often say, “My word is my bond.” They meant by that “My word binds me.” They meant that whatever they said, you could count on. It’s interesting that, as this country has lost its grip on God, it’s also lost this resolve to be faithful ourselves. That is too bad, as we all depend heavily on each other in a million different ways. But, while you and I can’t change a whole country, we can ask the Lord to help us be different, to be people whose “word is our bond.”

Back to our Psalm, may the Lord today give us grace to honestly commend our very lives to Him, to remember the great work of Redemption He’s already carried out for us, and to trust completely in His faithfulness.

Too many people don’t have a God to trust.

But we do.

Psalm 31:4 – “Strength”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁴Bring me out from the net, this [one] they hid from me, because You [are] my strength.

“Bring me out from the net, this [one] they hid from me…” David, being a king, had a lot of enemies. Some were obvious – like the Philistines – but too he would have had all the usual palace connivers, all the intrigue and scheming that goes on around thrones. The latter is what seems to be in view here and I think we’d all agree it is the more difficult to deal with. It’s one thing to have someone who openly hates us. It’s another thing to have those who pretend to be friends while they secretly try to ruin us. Absalom was of course a huge example of that in David’s life – his own son who would steal his throne.

I have had the blessing in my own life that I’ve seldom had to deal with people who were actually plotting my ruin behind my back. I’ve certainly had people who hated me and, to this day with most of them, I have no idea why. When in leadership positions, I’ve certainly had to deal with people’s opposition. But on the whole, I’ve enjoyed “people.” I really hope and pray this blessing can continue until I leave this world.

On the other hand, I have suffered grievously at the hands of two enemies. The first is myself, or should I say my dark side. I would not hesitate to say the evil me has ruined my life. It would be easy to say I would have had an altogether wonderful life if only I wasn’t always there. Sure I’ve known a few unpleasant people, but even then, had I done a better job of dealing with them, maybe they wouldn’t have seemed so bad. It was me and my stupidity that ruined it all.

The second is of course the enemy, the devil. Every night I read from the prayer of Psalm 143 which says in v3,4: “The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is stunned.” I don’t know of any more fitting description of my life than this. I am painfully aware that all day every day there is someone working against me, someone plotting my ruin, someone lying to me and luring me to my destruction. He is relentless in his cruelty. As David said there in Psalm 143, “… my heart within me is stunned.”

When I was younger, I don’t know how much the devil needed to bother with me. I did a pretty good job of wrecking my own life. But just in the last few years, I feel like the Lord has taught me such jewels of grace that perhaps we’ve tipped the scale. I feel now it really is the enemy who is most bent on wrecking my life. I’m of course always ready to give him a hand, but I really do feel these days he’s leading the charge.

And again, he is relentless. I feel all day every day his crushing and I feel my spirit growing “faint within me.” I can’t do this. Just a few verses ahead of Psalm 143, David prayed in Psalm 142:6: “…rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.”

Ah but thanks be to God, I’m not alone. David can pray for the Lord to draw him out of the net the enemy has hidden for him – and why is that? “Because You are my strength.” I love this phrase. It’s just three simple words in Hebrew, “Qi Atah maozi.” What is the Lord’s answer to the enemy’s relentless cruelty? “My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Cor 12:9). “My strength,” the Lord says. I love His answer to Gideon when he plead his weakness. The Lord told him, “Go in this thy strength.” “Go.” “Just do it.” “I know You have no strength, but Mine will prevail.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started into my day carried by those simple words, “Go in this thy strength.”

I head into my day, even today, painfully aware of the enemy’s malice and of my stumbling weakness against him. But I go with hope because I have a Champion. Again, I really like David’s simple words, “For You are my strength.” “Qi Atah Maozi.” As I’ve been studying this verse, I’ve been struck with the thought that I don’t know if I’ve ever really seen the Lord as “my strength.” Of course I’ve known He was my strength in the sense that He gives me the strength to go on day after day, that I only succeed at all because He helps me. But it’s one thing to say of the Lord, “He is my strength.” It’s another thing to look Him in the eyes and say, “You are my strength.” You are my strength.

He’s all those other things to me – Rock, Refuge, Shield, Hope – and it is a blessing to add to that list Strength, but not just in a third person, matter-of-fact kind of way, but rather seeing this “Strength” is a Person. Someone observed that strength is one of the Lord’s essential attributes. It’s who He is. It’s not something He is because I need Him to be. He is Strength. And as I look in His eyes I can say to Him, “You are my Strength” – my very own, my very personal presence of the strength to go on even while the adversary would brutally crush the very life out of me. As David says in Psalm 143, “I lift up my hands to You.”

What a blessing to go out into this very real and, in many ways, this very difficult world but know that my Champion goes with me – and that He doesn’t just “help” me, He is “my Strength.”

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are saved” (Prov 18:10).

We can do this.

Psalm 31:1-3 – “Faith-Talk 2”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹In You, YHVH, I have taken refuge. Do not let me be ashamed to ages. In Your righteousness, deliver me. ²Incline to me Your ear. Quickly rescue me. Be to me to a rock from strength, to a house of fortresses to save me, ³because You [are] my Rock and my Fortress and for the sake of Your name You lead and guide me.

In the last post, I pondered over the “Be to me because You are.” There is a little more to the “because” I want to think about before I move on to v4.

David says, “Be to me a Rock and a Fortress because You are my Rock and my Fortress,” but then notice in my translation, the “because” clause continues: “Because You are my Rock and my Fortress and for the sake of Your name You lead and guide me.” It is this final “and” clause I want to think about.

First of all, I should note this clause is variously translated. Both the NIV and the old KJV translated the phrase as imperatives:  “For Your name’s sake, lead and guide me,” while the NASB translated it as futures: “For Your name’s sake You will lead and guide me.” As usual, I recognize that the translators are far better Hebrew scholars than I will ever be, but, on the other hand, this is a good example of exactly why I personally have to be able to examine the original text. While they may all be great scholars, yet they don’t agree on how to translate it – which means it is subject to judgment.

It is precisely these places where I want to be able to form my own opinion. I want to know exactly why they are disagreeing, exactly what the Hebrew text does say, and then be able to decide for myself what I think is the best translation. A general rule I try to follow is, at least at first, to render the simplest possible translation of each of the Hebrew words. Only after that do I look back and consider perhaps the simplest translation is for some reason not the best.

For example, consider this decision of whether the verbs are indicative (as in my translation), imperative (as in the KJV and NIV), or futures (as in the NASB). The form of the Hebrew verbs could be any one of the three – but the simplest translation is to leave them as indicatives … and so I do.

Also notice in my translation this final phrase begins with an “and.” None of the three major translations even include the “and,” even though there is in fact a Hebrew “and” in the text. Once again, I include the “and” in my translation just because it’s there, then look back to see if for some reason I think there is some reason to ignore it. In this case, in my opinion, I see no reason to ignore it and, in fact, if we leave it in, we see that the thought in our larger “because” clause is actually continued.

In my opinion, the entirety of vv. 2&3 form a single sentence, based on what I think is the simplest translation of each word all compiled together. For whatever it’s worth, this is also why I always start these posts with my “fairly literal translation of these verses.” What I’m trying to record (for my own later perusal) is what I think is the simplest possible translation of each word. It makes for very awkward English translations, but, what I’m trying to avoid is that, in order to “smooth out” the English translation, any would-be translator has to make a lot of decisions. As in this text, the old KJV or the NASB try to reflect the original text, to be as “literal” as possible, which sometimes leaves them (like me) reading a little awkwardly. The NIV translators, in an effort to make the Bible very readable (and in which I personally think they did a very admirable job), often depart further from the original text than I personally am comfortable with. What we are all reflecting is the difficulty of translating from one language to another – do you try to translate exactly what they said or is it more important to translate what they meant? The problem with the first is that it may be awkward. The problem with the second is that it is subject to the translator’s judgment (and biases … and errors).

What I’m trying to do with my “fairly literal” translations is to reflect the simplest possible translation from the original words without inserting my own judgment. “It is what it is.” In this case, however, one does have to make some decisions in order for the English to make any sense at all, and so, in the end, my translation just becomes one of many. Being fundamentally arrogant, of course I think I’m right, that mine is the simplest (and best) translation of the words. Honestly (and I hope humbly) I do think my translation is the most defensible – and so, going forward, my thoughts are candidly based on my own translation.

I had to say all of that so I could comment on this final “and” clause of indicative verbs. David, again, is praying, “Be to me a Rock and a Fortress because You are my Rock and my Fortress and for Your name’s sake you lead me and guide me. I personally think this “and” clause is highly significant. As I pondered in my last post, we, in faith, ask the Lord to be to us who He is. But there’s more to it than even that. We can ask Him to be who He is to us, but we also can remind ourselves that it is all “for His name’s sake.”

There is something going on here much more important than my own personal comfort and desires. Even as I struggle on in my little corner of the universe, the Lord Himself is engaged in the great eternal battle of the ages. It is “for His name’s sake” that He leads us and guides us. Fortunately for us, the Lord’s greatest glory is always our greatest good. Recognizing this, we can pray for whatever we think we need or what we think should happen in the confidence that He will in fact do what is best. This, of course, is just more faith-talk. Confidence in Him is faith in Him.

“Be to us because You are and because we’re confident You always do what’s best.”