Lord, we thank you for another day that we can meet together and we can open your word together. Help us again to grow in our knowledge and therefore our knowledge of you and our living a life that is honoring to you and worthy of your grace to us. And so we pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Okay, we've been looking at the structure here, the psalter, and we made our way through the first book, and we still see the line here with the different segments and so forth. So we move then to the second book here, and we'll start that today, and so on. So if you have your your handout here of the Psalms. Does anybody need a copy? Okay. Anybody else? Okay. Alright, so on the front page, of course, we have this diagram here. Now we come to book two, which are Psalms 42 to 72. And as we see there, the word that he uses to summarize the message of this book is communication. Now, I'll say here at the beginning, the confrontation is still part of the theme. It's just not in the same emphasis as book one. Book one is more of, can you say, a personal encounter with enemies by David. Here now, book two, includes that thought, but now there's more of this outward focus, focus on the nations, calling on the nations to repent, to praise Yahweh, these kind of ideas. And so, it's a similar message as book one, but now it's more outward in its focus. And again, communicating with the nations. So, let me begin here today with this point, and One of the most obvious things that we come to when we start with Book 2 is that the name of God is different. And this is something you can see in English. You don't have to know the Hebrew to see this. But when you're reading Book 1, God's personal name, Yahweh, or Lord in capital letters, is used over and over again. As you begin book two, now everything shifts. And now the name of God, Elohim, is used over and over and over again. Now I've made mention of this, but this was last spring, so let me remind you of some of these numbers. The name Yahweh, or again, capital letters, Lord, it's often given in the English, that this name is used 695 times in the Psalms. Now, you include the shortened form of that, Yah, and that's another 41 times. So 736 times is the name of Yahweh is used in the Psalms. Not surprisingly, it's the name that we see more than any other, by far. Now the other name that we see is Elohim, and of course typically is translated as God. Now there are some other names, we have Adonai translated as Lord, we have El, or Eloah, that are also translated as God. This is clearly the most frequent one of those. This one's used 353 times in the Psalms, which is actually a bit unusual. This is more than twice as many. The overall ratio is about 2,500 times Elohim's in the Old Testament versus about 7,000 for Yahweh in the Old Testament. So there's actually a higher percentage here in the Psalms. And it's because of what we see here in this book. Everything switches around. And it actually is a little bit longer than the book, but I'll start with this. In book one, Yahweh is used 278 times, whereas Elohim is used 48 times. That's even less than that big ratio I was just giving to you, but this is a little bit more normal, you might say, based on the rest of the Old Testament. In Book 2, though, and actually it's bigger than Book 2, Psalms 42 to 83, which is roughly two-thirds of Book 3, because Psalm 72 is the end of Book 2. So a little bit more than that, everything switches. Elohim is used 243 times, whereas Yahweh is used 48 times. Interesting connection here with that same number. And so when you start with Psalm 42, you're like, Whoa, what's going on here? Again, even in English, you pick up on this pretty readily. The name of God, Elohim, is the one that becomes the focal point of the names. Now, just to finish this here, the rest, Psalms 84 to 150, Yahweh is used 410 times, and Elohim, then again, produced to 62 times. So you see how this just stands out? This is a very intentional thing on the part of Ezra or whoever it was that compiled the Psalter. They put these Psalms together and emphasize the name Elohim. Now, Lord emphasizes God's personal name. As I've said many times over the years, Covenant Lord is the idea. Not just Lord, not just Master or Sovereign or the Powerful One or something like that, but our Covenant Lord, the One who has entered into relationship with us. That's the emphasis. Yahweh emphasizes God's existence, I Am, but also His presence. He is with us. and hence the term Covenant Lord. I don't remember the first time I heard that definition, Covenant Lord. It might have been in seminary, but I've always thought that that was a good way of understanding it. Now as for Elohim, this name emphasizes God as Creator. It's what we see in Genesis 1, for example, this name. And so his power, his sovereignty, his authority. Now think of what I just said in summary of Book 1 and Book 2. Book 1 emphasizes David, this personal encounter with enemies. Not surprising that God's covenant name is used there repeatedly. Now, as we move into Book 2, with this emphasis on speaking to the nations, It's not surprising that God's personal name used with Israel and God's people is not used as much. But the more generic name, if you will, that is used among the nations even by Israelites is much more common. Remember Pharaoh? Who is Yahweh? I don't know Yahweh. Well, he learned who Yahweh was. Yahweh is Israel's God. And so with this outward focus on the nations, this name makes more sense to you. So even today, if you talk to unbelievers, if you use the name God, they're going to at least track to some degree what you're talking about. Now in our country, even if you use the name Jesus, many people are going to at least understand that that's a Christian. In other parts of the world, maybe that's not quite as much. But, of course, Jesus is a much more personal name compared to God. It's a bit more generic, so to speak. And so, again, when we speak to an unbeliever, we might use God more than Jesus. Now, for witnessing to them, obviously, we have to use the name Jesus. But you can see how this approach, this emphasis, is consistent with the names of God. many times over the years, pay attention to the names of God in any passage that you're looking at, because it usually tells you something important about the key message in that passage, or in this case, in a psalm, or a group of psalms. Alright, so, as I've begun to say, the reason why this is done is to focus on this interaction with the nations. In book one, At most, 8 of the 41 Psalms refer to the nations. At most. That's about 20%. In Book 2, at least 20 of the 31 Psalms refer to the nations. That's about 65%. So again, using just some bare numbers here, we can see this emphasis here in this way. Book two ends with Solomon. He only has two Psalms in the whole Psalter, and one of them is, the first one is Psalm 72, and it speaks of the Messiah's rule to the ends of the earth. And so Elohim's Messiah governs everything here by the end of the book. All right, now, here's some broad ideas, using some specific numbers, but some broad ideas. Any comments or questions to this point? Alright, now, let's look at some more details, because there are some things that, again, are very striking here. Let's turn to our Bibles. All right, Psalm 67. Not surprisingly, there are references to Aaron's blessing at different times in the Psalms. And here's one of those. And even Psalm 4 will do that. We'll talk about it here in a little bit. But you remember, it's the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, that kind of thing. Well now look at Psalm 67 verse 1. God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his name to shine upon us. That's very striking. You expect the name Yahweh there. Instead it's Elohim. Lord in capital letters, instead it's God. Again, it's just part of this emphasis. It's one of those things you're like, wait a second, that's not the name we should expect to see there, and yet, Here it is. Now, I have talked about the differences between the name Yahweh and the name Elohim, but this whole thing right here, book two, with all this emphasis, is saying, let's make a distinction, but they're still the same God. Okay, we can't make too much of a distinction here. These are different names for the same God. They emphasize different things. But again, it's still the same God. We could maybe, in one sense, say the same thing about the Trinity. You can make distinctions between the Father, Son, and Spirit, but it's still one God. And so here's one of these examples that just jumps right out at you. Another one is this. If you look at Psalms 14 and 53. So what I'd like us to do here is open to both of these places, and we'll go back and forth here, just look at this briefly, Psalm 53 and Psalm 14. Let's start with Psalm 14, okay, and then we'll jump to Psalm 53. So notice, Psalm of David, Psalm 53 also, Contemplation of David, note it also says set to But then it begins, Psalm 14, the fool said in his heart, there is no God, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. Psalm 53, verse one, same thing. And not surprisingly, the more general name God is used here. The fool is saying that. Then verse two back in Psalm 14, The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good, no, not one. Paul quotes that in Romans chapter 3. But then look at Psalm 53. Instead of the Lord looks down, it's God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, and so forth. The rest is the same. Then if you look at verse 4, back in Psalm 14, Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge. You eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on the Lord. And then here in Psalm 53, same thing, but, and do not call upon God. All right, now here's the biggest difference. If you look at Psalm 14, verse five, it says, they, sorry, there they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You shame the counsel of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. Remember our theme of book one. David, the individual, facing oppression. There is this comfort for David. The Lord, I should say, is my refuge. Now if you look at Psalm 53, verse 5, There they are in great fear, where no fear was. Now notice this is different. For God has scattered the bones of them who have camped against you. You have put them to shame, because God has despised them. So the Lord is his refuge, now God has despised them. Not only the difference of name, but the difference of focus. Psalm 14 is a comfort to the believer. Psalm 15 is a word to that foolish man. You see the different emphasis. Not just a different name of God, but it's a different point. Psalm 14 comforts us when the fool says those things to us. God is our refuge. Yahweh is our refuge. Psalm 53, okay? God has despised them. You have put them to shame. Now that's an encouragement to the believer, but notice how it's a warning to that foolish person. So, note the difference. Then verse six, everything is the same again, except for the name. Psalm 14, verse seven, when the Lord brings back the captivity of his people. Here now, Psalm 53, verse six, when God brings back the captivity of his people. This is no accident. This doesn't just happen. This is very intentional. And so, as we look at this, the reason for the differences are because of where they are placed. Psalm 53 is in Book 2, hence with this different emphasis, and why Palmer Robertson and others say, look, you see how this helps us to understand the message of Book 2. Now here's one of those times where, when I look at this, I'm like, did Ezra or the group of people or whatever after the exile, did they make this change? I mean, it does say Psalm 53, a contemplation of David, so you assume that David wrote this. Is he the one that made these changes, or did Ezra or somebody later on make some of these changes? I'm inclined to think David did, but Maybe the compilers did a little bit of editing, too, in places to help make the point. But they were directed by the Spirit, so they have every right to do that, and it is authoritative. But here's one example of this. Let's look at another example. Let's turn first to Psalm 40. and then also open up Psalm 70. Now this isn't the whole Psalm, but you'll see the last verses of Psalm 40, and then also turn to Psalm 70. Okay, if we start in verse 13 of Psalm 40, it says, Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me, O Lord, make haste to help me. And if you look at Psalm 70 verse 1, make haste, O God, to deliver me, make haste to help me, O Lord. Okay, so instead of Lord twice, it's God and Lord. Note also both of these are written by David. And then in verse 14 of Psalm 40, let them be ashamed who brought to mutual confusion, who seek to destroy my life. Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil. And in verses 2 and 3, not exactly the same, but it's very much the same idea. Then if you, especially verse 15, includes the ah-ha, ah-ha part, taunting him and mocking him. Then in verse 16 of Psalm 40, let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you, and such as love your salvation. Say continually, the Lord be magnified. All right, now Psalm 70, verse 4, same stuff, same words, but you have Elohim instead of Yahweh. And then lastly, in Psalm 40, verse 17, I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O my God. Now notice how, in Psalm 70, verse 5, those names are switched. They make haste to me, O God, and then, O Lord, do not delay. So, again, here's just another example of some very intentional differences to help communicate a point. Let me say this. You recall that David's Psalms were put together. There was an initial compilation of the Psalms of David, probably toward the end of his life, and maybe David had a say in some of this division. in that some of those initial editing processes and not just at the very end when Ezra or whoever it was put these together. And so David is communicating these truths to us. All right. Let me pause here a moment. Comments or questions? 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I've been traveling around the world. It's a Yeah, and those changes are highlighted then, aren't they? Yeah, it drives home the different point that he was trying to make in Here Now David. All right, let's look at another one. This one we won't be quite as specific, but Psalms 31. and 71. Psalms 31 and 71. So, again, if you turn to these briefly, quickly. Psalm 31 is a psalm of David. Psalm 71 does not tell us anything, actually, in the title. But because of these connections, it suggests to us it was a psalm of David. Alright, if you look at verse 1, then, of Psalm 31, In you, O Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in your righteousness. Bow down your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be my rock of refuge or fortress of defense to save me. Now, if you look at Psalm 71, it starts the same basic way. In you, O Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in your righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline your ear to me and save me. be my strong refuge to which I may resort continually, and so on and so forth. So you see, it's not exactly the same, not as similar as those other two examples I just gave you, but it is clearly saying some of the same things. Now if you continue down through, notice there are 24 verses in Psalm 31, there are 24 verses in Psalm 71. I don't think that's an accident. Now, overall, Yahweh is used, I'll just abbreviate it here, in Psalm 31, ten times. Okay, whereas Elohim is used once. But now, in Psalm 71, Elohim is used nine times, and Yahweh is used three times. Now, you can read through the rest of these psalms, and you'll see some of the similar language, similar ideas with both of them. But again, you see this switch of names, how it highlights the different emphasis, the different focus of Book 1 versus Book 2. All right. Let me give you another one. I'll come up here. Psalms 32 and 51. Let's turn to these, then, briefly. Psalm 32, another Psalm of David. This is one that, remember, Paul quotes in Romans 4. Psalm 32, verse 1, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and whose spirit there is no deceit. That's what Paul quotes, those two verses. So it's talking about forgiveness of sins. All right. Now, if you look at Psalm 51, this one is familiar to us as well, because this is the one that David wrote after his sin with Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness. Blot out my transgressions. I acknowledge my transgressions, and so on and so forth. Both of them talk about the forgiveness of sins. But in this case, Psalm 32 uses the name Yahweh four times, and Elohim is used not at all. Psalm 51, Elohim is used six times, and Yahweh not at all. Again, note some of the different emphases here. These two songs are not similar in their language, but they are similar in their ideas, both talking about the forgiveness of sins. Yahweh forgives sins. That makes sense. He's our covenant Lord. He's entered into relationship with us. But Elohim forgives our sins too, because ultimately it's the same God. But again, book two, this is a message not just for the Israelite, not just for the true believer, but even to the nations. Now, one more example of this, and this has to do with a grouping. All right, Psalms 20 to 24, I believe it was. Yes. Okay. You might remember from what we had done last week that this is one of those pyramids. Psalm 22 is right in the middle. And this pyramid emphasizes the work of Messiah King. Psalm 23 is right in there. He is our shepherd king. Psalm 22 quoted on the cross. So the focus on our Messiah King. So again, just looking at some of the numbers here, Yahweh is used twenty-three times, whereas Elohim is used five times in those five psalms. Now compare that then to Psalms 45 and 48. Now granted, there's one less psalm in this group, but this is the kingship psalm here grouping in Book 2, whereas these in Book 1 emphasize Messiah King, Here in book two, Psalms 45-48 emphasize God ruling over the nations, the king over the nations. And so not surprisingly then, Elohim is used twenty-seven times, Yahweh is used seven times. I could keep going giving you examples, but these are the most obvious ones. And the point here is Just look at the different emphasis. This is very intentional. These are not randomly put together. Very intentional message. Now, some of the examples that I've given to you over the last few weeks or whatever, you might say, well, how am I supposed to see that if I don't know Hebrew? Well, here's one that you can see right in the English because of how we translate Yahweh with the capital letters. This is something you can see yourself. But here are some of the most obvious comparisons and contrasts and so forth. You remember when I was preaching through Acts? You remember when Paul went to the synagogue? He would start with Abraham. Because the Jews there, they already knew the early chapters of Genesis. So he would focus on how God established them as a nation and how the Messiah has fulfilled this. Yet when he spoke to Gentiles, he started in Genesis 1. Who is God, our creator? Well, this is a similar approach, isn't it? Book 1 is, as it were, starting in Genesis 12, so to speak. and Book 2 is starting in Genesis 1, so to speak. It's a similar approach as Paul took on his missionary journeys. And maybe Paul did it that way because he understood the message of Psalms Book 1 and Book 2. Maybe that's part of his reasoning. And so again, Book 1 is God, our Redeemer King, our Covenant Lord, Book 2 is God, our Creator and Ruler King, ruling over all things. Do these themes overlap? Of course they do. And do you see both themes in both books? Yes, you do. But there is this disproportionate emphasis. Another thing to mention is that Book 1 builds on Psalms 1 and 2. Book 2 Again, you can't make extreme statements, but as a general statement, Book 2 is building on Psalm 2, where David's speaking to the nations there at the end of the psalm, calling them to kiss the sun and so forth. That's generally what we're seeing here. There are more themes than this in Book 1 and in Book 2. But it seems like these are the themes that are what the compiler was using, maybe even initially with David, why they put these songs together, these particular themes. All right. Comments, questions? Yeah? There is a word for it. I'll let those people go. I'll change the group. Well, You could also say that Jesus, the name Jesus means Yahweh saves. So you have that example from what you're saying. I think part of it comes down to what are you emphasizing? Let me finish that thought and then I'll go to another one. When we talk about God, Are we talking about Him in terms of His equality as Father, Son, and Spirit, or the differences between Father, Son, and Spirit and what they do? And so Jesus not only says, I and the Father are one, but He also says the Father is greater than I. So which point are we emphasizing? And so I think that contributes to some of that discussion. from what you're saying. But I think another reason why they would say what they're saying is because, especially in the New Testament, we see Jesus referring to his Father, and Paul referring to God, and when he says God, usually he means the Father. Or when he says Lord, it depends on the context. If he just says Lord, Many times he's referring to the Father, but many times he combines Lord with Lord Jesus. So, if he just says God, he often then means the Father and then Jesus separately. So, they're not altogether wrong, but they may overstate it, is basically what I'm trying to say. There's some, I think, some justifiable reasons for saying Yahweh refers to the Father, But you can't focus on that too much or you get in trouble. And either modalism or whatever other problem there. Because Hebrews 1 clearly applies the name Yahweh to Jesus. So anyway, is that... Sure. Sure. Right. Right. A power or force. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, I guess I would say that all false teaching has some truth to it. And so they're not altogether wrong with their emphasis on Jehovah or Yahweh, but I think they've gone way too far and are ignoring some very important things. You mentioned a couple, I mentioned a couple. So for them, they don't talk about ontology. They talk about the economy of relationship of the Trinity. And that's error. Yes? Yeah. Plurality. Yeah. Yes. Plurality of majesty. Yes. Yeah. Well, some also say it refers to angels. But see, this form here, Elohim, this part, El or Eloah, that's the singular form of the word. You add the em on the end, you make it plural. So, what is this emphasizing? Well, I think it's pointing to the Trinity. They would say, no, it's just talking about a plurality of majesty is the common phrase that they'll use there. Okay, yes, he has a plurality of majesty, but uh... Yep. Yes. Yes. Oh yeah. Yes. Right. Right. Right. You're right. Absolutely. Yep. It stands out. Yep. Absolutely. So John 1 helps us to know that we're not just talking about a plurality within God himself in the sense of his power and greatness, but a plurality in the sense of his person. He is Father, Son, and Spirit. John 1 helps to clarify what's assumed there, but not clearly stated in Genesis 1. Absolutely. Yes. Yes. Right. Right. Yes. Absolutely. You know, I've said it different times that you can almost literally debate every word in the Bible. And people are going to have different interpretations of almost literally every word. You mentioned one. But as we put all the different pieces together, I think this has to be our understanding, what we've just been talking about. Or back to what Joe was saying with Jehovah's Witnesses. And that's what so often happens in different denominations. in different so-called Christian cults or whatever, as they'll focus on some things but not all of it. And in the one hand, we can't fully comprehend all of it, but we can approach it. And I think the reform position best encompasses all those different ideas. We fail to implement it, but I do think that we are closest to that comprehensive understanding. Though it's probably still way below total comprehension. All right, well, we better close here today. Let's pray together. Father God, we thank you for who you are and your names and what they reveal to us. We thank you, Lord, for being our God, for making us in your image, for being our King and Lord, and sending forth your Son to restore us to yourself. We thank you, Lord, that you are not just God of Israel or God over the church. You're a God that rules over all. And we are thankful for this message in book two, It teaches us that, that all nations must be subject to you. That wasn't just true 3,000 years ago when David wrote it, but it is true today. And we are thankful for this, especially as we look at how our world is throwing off your cords and rebelling against you. And we thank you for this message of comfort in this way. Lord, we pray now that we would Worship you as you deserve. Give us strength. Work among us by your spirit, we pray. And that through it all, you would be magnified. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.