Comparing scriptures with scripture (1 Corinthians 2:13)

Psalm 53 / Psalm 14

• 1 To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
• 1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
  
• 2  God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
• 2  The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
  
• 3  Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
• 3  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
  
• 4  Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
• 4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
  
• 5  There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
• 5  There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
• 6  Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
  
• 6  Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
• 7  Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Meditation Points:

1. If God says it once, we should listen; if God says it twice, we should listen twice.
2. Atheists are fools.
3. One can be a “closet” fool who never declares his heart-felt conviction that there is no God.
4. To live without consideration of God is foolish.
5. Men may say that there is no God; God says that with men there is no good.
6. Psalm 52 declares the same truth: men are sinful for trusting their riches and for living without God.

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Maschil-instruction

in the cave-how much time did David spend hiding in caves?

Psalm 142

• Lord, if you get me out of this mess, I’ll praise Your name.
• I have nobody else to ask for help.

Psalm 143

• Lord, please hurry; I’m too weak to go on.
• Strengthen me; and cut off my enemies.

1 Samuel 22

• Hiding amidst the Philistines wasn’t a very good idea; why did David think that allying with the Moabites was a better idea?
• God sent the prophet Gad to tell David to go back to Judah. Has God ever sent someone to tell you to go back home?
• When Saul learned that the priest had helped David, Saul ordered his men to kill the priest. To their credit, they refused.
• In his defense, Ahimelech was ignorant of the rift between Saul and David at the time that David requested food and a sword.
• Doeg, the Edomite, had no qualms about killing a man of God.
• Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son, escaped the slaughter of the priests, and went to join David.
• Upon learning of Doeg’s part in the atrocity, David said (verse 22), “I knew it…”; and he took responsibility for the deaths.

Meditation Points:

1. If we would pray as often as David prayed in caves, our relationship to God would be better.
2. David finds instruction in the fearful troubles of life; shouldn’t we?

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Altaschith-destroy not. David did not destroy Saul; and he rejoices that God does not destroy him. For other “altaschith” psalms, see 58, 59 & 75.

In the cave-when we’ve been in the lonely dark, it’s good to be in the light of God’s company.

Psalm 57

• Condition surrounding (verses 1-6); David’s Prayer.
• Comfort abounding (verses 7-11); David’s Praise.

Psalm 58

• Injustice-what a crime (verses 1-5)
• Justice-what a God (verses 6-8)
• Judgment-what a relief (verses 9-11)

Meditation Points:

1. Psalm 58:3. Do you believe that we are born sinful? Without a doubt, God says that we are. Read Romans 3:10-18.
2. Don’t expect too much from the unsaved. After all, it’s just natural for them to be liars.

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More notes on the lists of David’s leaders

Meditation Points:

• As Joab, whom we know to have been the “general” of David’s army, is not mentioned in these catalogues, we see here listed the military leaders beneath him.
• Immediately below Joab was a group of three captains, the first of whom was Jashobeam the Hachmonite (1 Chron 11:11). Several commentators have suggested that the text of 2 Sam. 23:8 should read “Jashobeam the Hachmonite” for “He who sits in the seat of the Tachmonite”, and “he lifted up his spear” for “Adino the Eznite”, and that “800” includes those slain by his men and “300” represents those who he personally killed.
• “The Lord wrought a great victory” (2 Sam. 23:10, 12). Always, to God be the glory, great things he has done!
• Some people won’t lift a finger to help, but they come quickly to join in the spoils (23:10).
• What was so important about the water of Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23:15)? Have you ever longed to eat or drink something that you remember from your childhood? Many an American who has been traveling around the world tasting the delicacies of foreign lands has, after a few weeks, longed for an old-fashioned hamburger. Often we must be away from the familiar and comfortable before we actually appreciate the simple gifts of God.
• Three men (the three leaders just mentioned?) risk their lives to retrieve water for David. There was no order to do so; but there was a desire to please their commander-in-chief. Does your love of Christ sometimes make you reckless in seeking to show your devotion to Him?
• David refused to drink the water, considering it to be as precious as the blood of the men who risked their lives to bring it; and so he poured out the water as an offering of thanksgiving to God. (On a personal note, I was ministering in Czechoslovakia in the early 1990’s; and I told a pastor friend from Pennsylvania that we couldn’t buy peanut butter. Not long later, in the mail we received a package with several large plastic bottles of peanut butter–the postage was $75.00! I remembered how David refused to drink the water; then I got out a knife and some bread and began to enjoy my newly arrived peanut butter.)
• A snowy day (1 Chronicles 11:22). We don’t often think about snow in Bible lands, likely because we forget that there were mountains. Even at sea-level, here in Athens, we had snowmen, frozen water lines, and blocked highways this past winter. But we don’t have lions.

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