Mark the Man Who Memorized Psalm 37, for the End of That Man is Peace

Marv and I have fantastic news. I finally got through Psalm 37. I more or less made it last night, and this morning I sharpened it up. I think by Monday I’ll have it in the bag. I guess it’s time to pick the next psalm. I can’t believe how long this one took. It just refused to be memorized.

The surprising thing about the Psalms is how useful they are. So much of the material is prophetic; I have to wonder if the psalmists even understood what they were saying. Simultaneously, they referred forward in time to the Crucifixion and backward to the first Passover: “He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken.” They wrote about the final judgment: “The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.” “For the Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.” “When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” “The enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume. Into smoke shall they consume away.” They described the effects of the baptism in the Holy Spirit: “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.”

A lot of the material spells out God’s promises to the righteous. “The Lord knoweth the way of the upright; their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine, they shall be satisfied.” “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.” “O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him.” “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them.” One of my mother’s favorite verses: “I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Another good one, also from Psalm 34: “Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust in him also, and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday.”

How about this: “The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand nor condemn him when he is judged.”

I may have the punctuation wrong; I haven’t memorized that. They did some funny things back in 1611. I think I got the words right. Thanks to memorization, I now have all this stuff ready when I need it.

Psalm 2 seems to describe the trick God played on his enemies during the Crucifixion. “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”

So far I have 1, 2, 4, 23, 34, 37, 63, and 101. That’s only 8, but there is a ton of useful stuff in there.

It’s notable that Jesus quoted the Psalms when he faced challenges. Truthfully, I think a lot of the material in the Psalms is encoded so it will be useless to God’s enemies, but believers will be able to understand and use it at the right time. It sounds like pleasant, flowery poetry, but it has a serious purpose. Reading this stuff, I feel like Indiana Jones. Except this is real, and Indiana Jones is pulp material.

I would like to find out what other Christians think about all this. I think I’m right, but I’ll be sure if I see that other Christians are getting the same ideas.