Worship in WORD
|
19
Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which
you have stored up for those who fear you and
worked for those who take refuge in you, in
the sight of the children of mankind! ESV |
Ps 31:19-22
19 How
great is your goodness, which
you have stored up for those who fear you, which
you bestow in the sight of men on those
who take refuge in you.
NIV (1984) |
|
Ps
31:18-22
19 Oh
how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee;
which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! KJV |
Ps 31:19-22
19
How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who
come to you for protection, blessing
them before the watching world. Holy
Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright
© 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers. All rights reserved. |
A. Action – v. 1
B. Appeal – v. 2
C. Acknowledge – vv. 3-4
D. Abandon – v. 5
E. Abhor – v. 6
F. Acclaim! – vv. 7-8
II. Help! – vv. 9-18
1.
Soul sickness – vv. 9-10
2. Societal scorn – vv. 11-13
1.
Surrender – vv. 14-15
2.
Shine – v. 16
3.
Shame – v. 17
4.
Silence – v. 18
A. God, for His Great Goodness – v. 19
B. God, for His Sheltering Presence – v.
20
C. God, for His ds#j# Hesed – V. 21
D. God, Who Hears and Answers His
People – v. 22
IV. Heart – vv. 23-24
Thought flow: Hope→Help!→Hail→Heart
Hail, interj. - An exclamation of
respectful or reverent salutation
(from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary of the English
Language, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2011 by
Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
A. Hail God, for His Great Goodness – v.19
David makes a 180⁰ turn from focusing on his
enemies. Instead, he begins to extol the Sovereign LORD, who also is the God of
Salvation. As you can see from the different versions I have represented above,
the Hebrew word rab can be translated in various ways. The ESV
chose the word “abundant” (so also LEB, NRSV, RSV) and the other three have
“great.” Most versions prefer the latter. However, a few have translated it as
“wonderful” (TEV, CEV).
Before I go any further, let me first say that David is not
focusing on an attribute of God here. He is not dwelling on what God is. Instead, David directs his praise towards God’s
outward good acts that flow from His inward essence.
Let us consider the word each version chooses to use in this
passage. We see that each wants to emphasize quantity or quality.
If we go with “abundant,” we highlight the extent or magnitude (quantity) of
God’s goodness expressed. If we go with “wonderful,” we are referencing its worth
or excellence (quality). However, I
don’t believe we have to choose either or. We can, instead, opt for both ideas.
I think that is what David is trying to convey in verse 19. Using the word
“great” actually contains both notions, but to me lacks a depth of emotional expression.
Perhaps it would have been better to choose several words to ascribe to God’s
good acts towards His people.
May I suggest this paraphrase:
How wonderfully great and marvelously abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
And when we think about the
goodness that the Lord has laid up for and showered upon us, we must not limit
it to one or the other. When we meditate on the abundance of His goodness, we
must not forget how good it is. And when we contemplate how good it is, let us
not forget its vastness. Is this not what David demonstrates in Psalm 139?
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Ps 139:17 NIV
Ironically, David was not in a “good” place as he wrote Psalm
31. And yet, he still praised God for His good acts towards His people. Those
wonderful deeds from the storehouse of His goodness that break forth in blessings
he showers on those who hope in Him.
Worship in Witness:
So when we count our blessings, let us also pause to taste
its sweetness as well.
O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness
Ps 30:20 (v 19 in other versions) Douay-Rheims
And because David believed that God’s good deeds flowed out
from His very essence, he could declare in Psalm 34:
O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Ps 34:8 NASU
How do we taste it? David prescribes one way and ends it
with a promise:
9 O fear the Lord, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.
Ps 34:9-10 NASU
Is this not an echo sounding from the present verse we are
in (31:19)?
How great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you,
which you bestow in the sight of men
on those who take refuge in you.
A fear that is not forbidding but finding. For when we fear the
Lord we find that He is good and a shelter against the bad and the evil we face
in this world. He is our provider and power and protector.
Worship
in Promise, Poem, Prayer, and Praise
Personal note: The message from this particular study was very relevant to
me today. When I got off work today, my daughter informed me that her car had
started to smoke as she drove to work. It ended up being a cracked radiator and
a hole in a hose. In addition, my friend in Nigeria was having difficulty
accessing the funds I sent him to cover his rent and child's school expenses.
So I had to spend time trying to fix that. Finally, I barely got to sleep
before my granddaughter came running over because the gas dryer was on fire. By
the time I arrived, the fire was out, thankfully. All this led to a sleepless
afternoon.
Nevertheless, I will praise Him for His goodness. My daughter was not hurt, nor were my grandchildren next door. My friend – and brother in the Lord, has demonstrated patience and understanding, and gratefulness to God.
Hurry
Lord/My Grace is Sufficient
Hurry Lord, come to my rescue
Your answer seems long overdue
I search the horizons
Waiting for it to come into view
I cry and cry each day
Waiting for You to come through
The Amen, who is faithful and true
Says, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
My blessings overflow
My goodness and mercy daily pursue
My compassions are great
And every day, they are made new
My promises are not like the dew
That fades when noon makes its debut
Neither earthly power
Nor time and circumstance can undo
For I Am the LORD
And nothing is out of My purview
Lord Let
Me Rest...
Lord,
Let me rest in Your sovereign hands
May I trust
in Your wise and holy plans
And when things don’t “seem” to go right
Lord let me keep this one truth in
sight
You’re
working all things for good
And all is taking place as they
should
To
make me and mold me in the image of Your Son
And though
the battle wages on, the victory’s already won
— Amen
Christ
Our Hope in Life and Death: by Keith & Kristyn Getty, Matt Papa
Words and Music by Keith Getty,
Matt Boswell, Jordan Kauflin, Matt Merker, Matt Papa
[Verse 1: Matt Papa]
What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to him belong
Who holds our days within his hand?
What comes, apart from his command?
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ, in which we stand
[Chorus: Matt Papa & Kristyn Getty]
O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death
[Verse 2: Matt Papa]
What truth can calm the troubled soul?
God is good, God is good
Where is his grace and goodness known?
In our great Redeemer's blood
Who holds our faith when fears arise?
Who stands above the stormy trial?
Who sends the waves that bring us nigh
Unto the shore, the rock of Christ?
[Chorus: Matt Papa & Kristyn Getty]
O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death
[Verse 3: Matt Papa]
Unto the grave, what shall we sing?
“Christ, he lives; Christ, he lives!”
And what reward will heaven bring?
Everlasting life with him
There we will rise to meet the Lord
Then sin and death will be destroyed
And we will feast in endless joy
When Christ is ours forevermore
[Chorus: Matt Papa & Kristyn Getty]
O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death
O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death
See this link for the reason for writing this song: https://www.gettymusic.com/christ-our-hope
Video: https://youtu.be/OibIi1rz7mw (view this video in
full screen, it’s awesome!)
Further Notes:
Here is the fifth and final
excerpt from the Homiletical portion of Lange’s commentary (Phillip Schaff,
General Editor) on Psalm 31.
BARNES: We shall live as long as God has appointed; we shall pass through
such changes as He directs; we shall die when and where and how He chooses. In
the faithful discharge of our duty, therefore, we may commit all these things
to Him and leave all at His disposal.
SPURGEON: Faith’s repetitions are not vain. The avowal of our reliance upon
God in times of adversity is a principal method of glorifying Him.
—In our most importunate intercessions, we must find breathing
time to bless the Lord; praise is never a hindrance to prayer, but rather a
lively refreshment therein.
—Better spend our years in sighing than in sinning.
—If we wantonly give a portion of our strength to sin, it will by
and by take the remainder from us.
—We must not look for the reward of philanthropy this side of
heaven, for men pay their best servants but sorry wages, and turn them out of
doors when no more is to be got out of them.
—The sovereign arbiter of destiny holds in His own power all the
issues of our life; we are not waifs and straws upon the ocean of fate, but are
steered by infinite wisdom toward our desired haven. Providence is a soft
pillow for anxious heads, an anodyne [serving to alleviate
pain – Merriam Websters Dictionary] for care, a grave for despair.
—We generally speak amiss when we are in a hurry. Hasty words are
but for a moment on the tongue, but they often lie for years on the
conscience.—C. A. B.]
Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Moll, C. B., Briggs, C. A., Forsyth, J.,
Hammond, J. B., … Conant, T. J. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures:
Psalms (pp. 221–222). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.