Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
We hit the halfway point in Psalms today, looking at Ps. 71- 80. I have a note in my Bible that Ps. 71 begins 'Book 3'...the third in the series. All of the psalms we are looking at today were written by Asaph who, gleaning from a simple search, was one of the Levites who wrote and performed the psalms during the reigns of both David and Solomon.
The first psalm that mentions Heart/Hearts is Ps. 73...which, according to one of the search results, is Asaph's most famous psalm. It's certainly something that most folks can identify with.
I'm going to include just a wee bit of context along with the verses, but let's just consider them all together here:
Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Ps 73: 1-3; 'Heart' is the common Strong's H3824, lebab.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. Ps. 73:7; 'Hearts' is H3824 again.
Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. Ps. 73:13; 'Heart' is, once more, H3824
When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Ps. 73:21-22; 'Heart' here is Strong's H3629, kilya , which we have seen a few times and means 'reins' or 'kidneys'...a modern paraphrase could easily be 'guts'.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Ps. 73:20; both occurrences of 'Heart' are H3824.
Looking at these verses all together...it's a pretty good summary of the whole psalm. After stating that God is good to the pure in heart, he admits that his heart had nearly faltered when he thought about how the wicked seemed to prosper, despite their evil hearts. He wonders if he has maintained his integrity for nothing, but he did come to realize the ultimate fate of the wicked (vs 17-20, the only point in the narrative that isn't in the above list). He confessed his failure, and rejoiced that God is good even when he faltered. And...he uses 'lebab' for the source of morality, behavior, belief...but when he talked about being grieved, his word choice was 'kilya'...which the NIV translated as 'heart' but I think 'guts' would have been a better choice. The Hebrew phrase is literally 'pierced in my kidneys'...but I recognized the gut-level distress of emotional upheaval. It's a description of a physical reaction. Who doesn't know the knotted up feeling that accompanies such times?
I would love to just hang on that psalm for the whole post, but we need to cover more ground...
The next mention of 'hearts' is in Ps. 74, talking about the enemies of Israel
They said in their hearts, "We will crush them completely!" They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land, we are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be. -- Ps 74:8-9; 'heart' is the other frequent word, H3820, leb, which is a variant of H 3824.
Y'all. There are still folks who look at Israel and say, 'We will crush them completely!' As it was when Asaph was writing, it's a deep, heart-level hatred. It was sad then...it's sad now.
Moving on to Ps 77:6:
I remembered my songs in the night, My heart mused and my spirit inquired: "Will the LORD reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?" : 'Heart' is H3824.
The worry that comes in the night when sleep won't...is a whole 'nuther level. In the midst of such a night, Asaph begins to ask himself questions...questions to which the answer is 'NO'. Prompted by his heart, he's reminding himself of the love and the faithfulness and the mercy of God. He's getting out of his head and into his heart and his spirit, which is a good example to follow when those night worries come.
Ps. 78, the last one with any references to 'heart/ hearts' in the ten chapters we're considering today, is a review of the history of Israel up to the reign of David.
He opens the song with instructions to teach the children these things so that
They would not be like their forefathers -- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him. -- Ps. 78:8; 'Hearts' is H3820.
Speaking of the later generations, who turned to God when they were in need, and then did as they pleased once he had delivered them:
their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant. Ps. 78:37; 'Hearts' is, again, H3820
Finally, we see King David leading the nation
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. -- Ps 78:72; 'Heart' is H 3824.
This, of course, is part of the story of David's origin story as a shepherd of sheep...now being a shepherd of God's people. And, while he famously messed up more than once, he also continually sought God's guidance on what to do. Not a perfect king... a human king who sought God.
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