Journal for Christ: The "Efficiency of Scripture"

April 6, 2019

Worship in WORD:

Ps 28:6-29:1

6 Praise be to the Lord,

for he has heard my cry for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people,

a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

9 Save your people and bless your heritance;

be their shepherd and carry them forever.

A psalm of David.

NIV

Ps 28:6-9

6 Praise the Lord!

For he has heard my cry for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and shield.

I trust him with all my heart.

He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.

I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

8 The Lord gives his people strength.

He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.

9 Save your people!

Bless Israel, your special possession.

Lead them like a shepherd,

and carry them in your arms forever.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®,

Ps 28:6-9

6 Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

KJV

Ps 28:6-9

6 Blessed be the Lord!

For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people;

he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!

Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

ESV

I. Minor Key: vv. 1-5

A. Pleas (vv. 1- 3)

1. Hear Me! - v. 1

2. Have Mercy! – v. 2a

3. Help! – v. 2b

B. Imprecation (vv. 4-5)

II. Major Key: vv. 6-9

A. Praise (vv. 6-8)

B. Supplication (v. 9)

Verse 8 is naturally associated with verse 9, and this is reflected in most translations today. I have chosen to include it with verses 6 and 7 for thematic reasons. I think it continues the theme of confident praise found in these preceding verses and stands as a segue to verse 9 since it moves from God and David to God and His people.

Verse 8 speaks of both His people and the king himself. But I think David uses the term “anointed one” (NIV) to expand the thought beyond merely himself to the office of the king, whoever that may be at any time in the nation of Israel.

The term His anointed acknowledges God’s covenant with David, His promise that He would be David’s God and David would be His representative. This passage became a heritage of the monarchy, a treasure for each godly king in the Davidic line to go back to for strength and encouragement.

Radmacher, E. D.; Allen, R. B.; & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Ps 28:8–9). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

Verse 8 is not just praise and a pronouncement, but a promise (and a subtle premonitor* as well). It not only declares who God is to His people and the king, but it stands as a promise. A promise that is exclusively experienced by those who genuinely believe these things. For surely, he will not be the “strength” of a seditious people, nor would He be a “fortress of salvation” (NIV) to a faithless king.

Some try to say that verses 8-9 were tacked on later to this Psalm for liturgical purposes.

This may well be a later addition designed to adapt the individual's expression of faith for corporate worship.

(from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1962 by Moody Press. All rights reserved.)

However, I do not believe that is a necessary assumption one needs to make. I believe there is a reasonable and smooth transition between 6-7 and 8-9. David has done this in other places (see Psalm 25:22; 27:14; 31:19-20, 23-24). While the term “loosely” may perhaps be too strong of a word in the following quote, it does show how these verses do connect with the preceding verses.

The closing strophe (vv. 8,9) is but loosely connected with the body of the psalm except on one supposition. What if the singer were king over Israel, and if the dangers threatening him were public perils? That would explain the else singular attachment of intercession for Israel to so intensely personal a supplication. It is most natural that God's "anointed," who has been asking deliverance for himself, should widen his petitions to take in that flock of which he was but the under-shepherd, and should devolve the shepherding and carrying of it on the Divine Shepherd-King, of whom he was the shadowy representative. The addition of one letter changes "their" in ver. 8 into "to His people," a reading which has the support of the LXX. and of some manuscripts and versions and is recommended by its congruity with the context. Cheyne's suggestion that "His anointed" is the high-priest is only conjecture. The reference of the expression to the king who is also the psalmist preserves the unity of the psalm. The Christian reader cannot but think of the true King and Intercessor, whose great prayer before His passion began, like our psalm, with petitions for Himself, but passed into supplication for His little flock and for all the unnumbered millions "who should believe on" Him "through their word."

(from The Expositor's Bible, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2013 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

With this reference to our Savior Jesus Christ in the previous quote, let me end this portion with a quote from Matthew Henry.

He pleases himself with the interest which all good people, through Christ, have in God (v. 8): "The Lord is their strength; not mine only, but the strength of every believer." Note, The saints rejoice in their friends' comforts as well as their own; for, as we have not the less benefit from the light of the sun, so neither from the light of Gods' countenance, for others' sharing therein; for we are sure there is enough for all and enough for each. This is our communion with all saints, that God is their strength and ours, Christ their Lord and ours, 1 Cor 1:2. He is their strength, the strength of all Israel, because he is the saving strength of his anointed, that is, 1. Of David in the type. God, in strengthening him that was their king and fought their battles, strengthened the whole kingdom. He calls himself God's anointed because it was the unction he had received that exposed him to the envy of his enemies, and therefore entitled him to the divine protection. 2. Of Christ, his anointed, his Messiah, in the anti-type. God was his saving strength, qualified him for his undertaking and carried him through it; see Ps 89:21; Isa 49:5; 50:7,9. And so he becomes their strength, the strength of all the saints; he strengthened him that is the church's head, and from him diffuses strength to all the members, has commanded his strength, and so strengthens what he has wrought for us; Ps 68:28; 80:17,18.

(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

* noun

a person who, or a thing which, forewarns

Premonitor Definition And Meaning | Collins English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/premonitor

Witness:

Reading the above quote from Matthew Henry reminds me of the “efficiency of Scripture.” Many have heard of the “sufficiency of Scripture,” but have never heard of the latter term. Actually, I just made it up now. I put it in quotes because even though I don’t remember reading anywhere of anyone using this term, it does not mean someone hasn’t. With all the preaching and writing done through the ages, someone surely has used it before.

So what does this term mean as I use it? One may think I am referencing Scripture’s ability to effect change in a person’s life. Not the words themselves, but the One who has uttered them. We see this spelled out (pun intended) in the book of Isaiah. There God says:

Isa 55:10-11

¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

ESV

This is so true and definitely a part of the meaning to the term “efficiency of Scripture.” However, it is more than that. I believe it also refers to how God uses Scripture to reveal more than one layer of meaning in some passages. That certain passages have a prophetic message both to the present audience it addresses as well as future generations. And many passages apply to the person writing or to a person the author is writing about in their present context, yet it may also have a Messianic application as well. And beyond that, it also has a personal and/or corporate application for us as well. This is also what I mean by using the term “efficiency” concerning the Word of God. God, through the efficient use of His word, speaks to many people and circumstances through one passage to convey His message to each. Therefore with reverent caution, I will listen for the voice of God as He speaks through His Word. Not over applying Scripture as many today do, nor ignoring the truth He wants me to know and do.

Lord grant me

The ears to hear

And the wisdom

to distinguish

these things.

Amen

Worship in Song: Your Words by Third Day

Let me hear your words
Above all other voices
Above all the distractions in this world (2X)

For your words bring life
And your voice speaks promises
Lord, your love offers more
Than anything else in this world

Your words give us life that's never ending
Your words bring us love that never fails
Everything else will fade away
But what will remain
Are your words

Let us speak your words
More than ours, more than ever
Let us share your love with all the world

Your words give us life that's never ending
Your words bring us love that never fails
Everything else will fade away
But what will remain
Are your words

The grass will wither, and the flowers will fall
But the word of our God will last forever
The grass will wither, and the flowers will fall
But the word of our God will last forever

Your words give us life that's never ending
Your words bring us love that never fails
Everything else will fade away
But what will remain
Are your words (2X)

Songwriters: POWELL JOHNNY MAC / LEE MARK D / ANDERSON SAMUEL TAI / CARR DAVID

Lyrics (corrected from this source): https://www.google.com/search?q=lyrics+to+Your+Words&oq=lyrics+to+Your+Words&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.9231j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Video: https://youtu.be/9zaaiFp4RSM

Journal for Christ

Saturday, April 6, 2019

The "Efficiency of Scripture"

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