| Psalms Index | Blindness Perspectives | Home Page | Contents/Site Map | Other Links |
COMMENTS: The "leader" mentioned in verse one would be the leader or director of music for temple worship. Based on my sources, Mahalath is an uncertain term which may refer to a musical arrangement, or may refer to a musical instrument such as a lute or lyre. The word Maschil appears in the title of 13 Psalms and indicates that the content is intended to be instructive. Since this term appears in the text of thirteen Psalms beginning with PS32, but not in Ps14 (the twin of Ps53), other Psalms may be considered instructive without having Maschil specifically in the text.
Verse 14:1 and 53:1-2 combined in amplified paraphrase:
The fool, one senseless and without judgment, says in his heart (within his thoughts and with his will) "there
is no God" (or "God is not"). But these fools are corrupt, decaying, proceeding to ruin and destruction; their unjust and unrighteous actions are unequivocally detestable, loathsome, thoroughly disagreeable, and abhorrent; there is not one of them that does good.
The Lord of glory is, and shall forever be; and only the foolish know
this not.
“21 For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, and He seeth all his goings. 22
There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may
hide themselves.” (Job 34:21-22 JPS)
“6 How great are Thy works, O LORD! Thy thoughts are very deep. 7 A brutish
man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this. 8 When the wicked
spring up as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it
is that they may be destroyed for ever.” (Ps 92:6-8 JPS)
“Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this
world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1Co 1:20 AV)
Those who trust solely in the Lord for righteousness seem foolish to
those of the world; but that trust makes them in truth the wise ones, and
they have the sure blessing of the Lord. It is far better to receive the
embodied instruction of a Maschil than to remain in sin, and truly be a
fool. Even when conditions seem completely against us and we are weak and
afraid, the Lord remains faithful because the righteousness he sees in us is
from him, not from us. The Maschil shows both the joy of our comfort, and
our call when we are weak.
“1 [A Psalm] of David. Maschil. Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is pardoned. 2 Happy is the man unto whom the LORD counteth not
iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Ps 32:1-2 JPS)
“BOOK II 1 For the Leader; Maschil of the sons of Korah. 2 As the hart
panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.” (Ps
42:1-2 JPS)
“1 For the Leader; with string-music. Maschil of David. 2 Give ear, O God,
to my prayer; and hide not Thyself from my supplication.” (Ps 55:1-2 JPS)
“1 A Song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah; for the Leader; upon Mahalath
Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. 2 O LORD, God of my salvation, what
time I cry in the night before Thee, 3 Let my prayer come before Thee,
incline Thine ear unto my cry. 4 For my soul is sated with troubles, and my
life draweth nigh unto the grave.” (Ps 88:1-4 JPS)
“1 Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. 2 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD
for ever; to all generations will I make known Thy faithfulness with my
mouth.” (Ps 89:1-2 JPS)
COMMENTS: If the Godless seek for support of their denial of God, from
men all around the world, they will readily find it in abundance. But this
is not because the proof of creation itself does not shout the truth to
them. It is rather because they all have become dull of hearing and blind to
see, through rejection of the Creator, who would otherwise become their
redeemer. And that is the natural state of every man through Adam. So, as
God looks from heaven, he sees the true condition of man: that all need a
Savior.
“And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted their way upon the earth.” (Ge 6:12 JPS)
“1 A Psalm of David. O LORD, hear my prayer, give ear to my supplications;
in Thy faithfulness answer me, and in Thy righteousness. 2 And enter not
into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man living be
justified.” (Ps 143:1-2 JPS)
“Who can say: ‘I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin’?” (Pr 20:9
JPS)
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us.” (1Jo 1:8 AV)
"9 What then? are we better [than they]? No, in no wise: for we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is
written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone
out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that
doeth good, no, not one.” (Ro 3:9-12 AV)
“But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” (Ga 3:22 AV)
COMMENTS: the JPS says "shall" they not know, the English translation of
the LXX says "will" they not know, and various others say "have" they no
knowledge. I especially like the JPS here, because it emphasizes the
certainty that awaits the scoffer of God, and this becomes clear in the next
verse of Psalms 14 & 53. For any who will accept the truth, other scripture
leaves no doubt that God exists and he will act.
“See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with Me; I kill, and I
make alive; I have wounded, and I heal; and there is none that can deliver
out of My hand.” (De 32:39 JPS)
“These things hast thou done, and should I have kept silence? Thou hadst
thought that I was altogether such a one as thyself; but I will reprove
thee, and set the cause before thine eyes.” (Ps 50:21 JPS)
“For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it
altogether.” (Ps 139:4 JPS)
“Declare ye, and bring them near, yea, let them take counsel together: Who
hath announced this from ancient time, and declared it of old? Have not I
the LORD? And there is no God else beside Me, a just God and a Saviour;
there is none beside Me.” (Isa 45:21 JPS)
COMMENTS: Those who show no fear as they reject an omnipotent and awesome
God now will see terror in the end, with no refuge. They mocked the counsel
of the Lord that comforts the poor and the weak; but God will reject them
utterly and display the folly of their own counsel.
“1 [A Psalm] of David. Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be
thou envious against them that work unrighteousness. 2 For they shall soon
wither like the grass, and fade as the green herb.” (Ps 37:1-2 JPS)
“For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait for the LORD, they
shall inherit the land.” (Ps 37:9 JPS)
“Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD; for He hath delivered the soul of
the needy from the hand of evil-doers.” (Jer 20:13 JPS)
“10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought; He maketh the
thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD
standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.” (Ps
33:10-11 JPS)
“There are many devices in a man’s heart; but the counsel of the LORD, that
shall stand.” (Pr 19:21 JPS)
“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.” (Pr
21:30 JPS)
“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their
works are in the dark, and they say: ‘Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?’” (Isa
29:15 JPS)
“Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not
of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may
add sin to sin:” (Isa 30:1 AV)
“25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;
and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the
waves roaring; 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall
be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with
power and great glory.” (Lu 21:25-27 AV)
COMMENTS: The Lord has determined that salvation does indeed come out of Zion, and his mercy has extended to even the gentile. “2 The LORD hath made known His salvation; His righteousness hath He revealed in the sight of the nations. 3 He hath remembered His mercy and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” (Ps 98:2-3 JPS)
“I bring near My righteousness, it shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel My glory.” (Isa 46:13 JPS)
“Yea, He saith: ‘It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be My servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the offspring of Israel; I
will
also give thee for a light of the nations, that My salvation may be unto the
end of the earth.’” (Isa 49:6 JPS)
“Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth: say ye to the
daughter of Zion: ‘Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with
Him,
and His recompense before Him.’” (Isa 62:11 JPS)
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem;
behold, thy king cometh unto thee, he is triumphant, and victorious, lowly,
and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zec 9:9 JPS)
“And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt,
and they set Jesus thereon.” (Lu 19:35 AV)
The most grievous captivity is not that which is perpetrated by other
men. "And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his
friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10
AV) Job was released from the captivity of his suffering. And Jesus spoke to
religious leaders who thought they were free, yet were in bondage they could
not hope to break on their own. Paul also draws attention to such bondage,
and freedom from the bondage of sin leads to life eternal.
“33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to
any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of
sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son
abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free
indeed.” (Joh 8:33-36 AV)
“16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience
unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin,
but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered
you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.” (Ro 6:16-18 AV)
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” (Ro 6:22 AV)
Christ destroyed the sting of death on the cross, and thereby lead those
righteous in him, out of captivity to the gift of eternal life.
“Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast
received gifts for men; yea, [for] the rebellious also, that the LORD God
might dwell [among them].” (Ps 68:18 AV)
“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men.” (Eph 4:8 AV)
This freedom from captivity will lead all in Christ, Jew and gentile
alike, to rejoice and be glad. And we don't base this sure hope on the
conditions we see all around the world, but we base it on our great,
awesome, and faithful God whose love endures forever!
“(40-17) Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; let such
as love Thy salvation say continually: ‘The LORD be magnified.’” (Ps 40:16
JPS)
“8 He will swallow up death for ever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears
from off all faces; and the reproach of His people will He take away from
off all the earth; for the LORD hath spoken it. 9 And it shall be said in
that day: ‘Lo, this is our God, for whom we waited, that He might save us;
this is the LORD, for whom we waited, we will be glad and rejoice in His
salvation.’” (Isa 25:8-9 JPS)
“But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that,
when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
(1Pe 4:13 AV)
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable.” (1Co 15:19 AV)
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the
Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” (Re 19:7 AV)
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man
according as his work shall be.” (Re 22:12 AV)
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even
so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Re 22:20 AV)
O Lord, it is only those who are senseless and without judgment who would willfully say that God is not. They may pridefully believe they have great wisdom, but they are bound for destruction because their attitude of heart is despicable and loathsome to you. When you view man THROUGH your righteous holiness, who AMONG men could possibly even approach that standard of perfection? All of us in Adam's race are sinful and need your faithful righteousness to escape judgment. The workers of iniquity who have scoffed at your authority shall certainly know that you are God, for their mistreatment of the righteous will be recompensed. They may be bold now, and show no fear for their actions; but they will be terrified when you call them to account. You set your name in Zion with a temple to draw all men to yourself, and by your divine will you sent our Savior there to pay the penalty for sin. When Jesus returns to Jerusalem, all who love your appearing will be glad and rejoice. Come quickly Lord Jesus!
Published on MPNHome.net 15 November 2004
Copyright © 2004 MPNHome.net - Bible Study, Prayer, Being Blind