CS Lewis wrote,
"There are, indeed, some few passages in which a psalmist thinks of 'judgement' with trembling: 'Enter not into judgement with thy servant...' (143:2)... But the opposite attitude is far commoner: 'Hear the right, O Lord' (17:1), 'Be thou my Judge' (26:1), 'Plead thou my cause' (35:1), 'Give sentence with me, O God' (43:1), 'Arise, thou Judge of the world' (94:2). It is for justice, for a hearing, far more often than for pardon, that the psalmists pray. ... The psalmists, with very few exceptions, are eager for judgement because they believe themselves to be wholly in the right. Others have sinned against them; their own conduct (as they frequently assure us) has been impeccable. They earnestly invite the divine inspection, certain that they will emerge from it with flying colours. The adversary may have things to hide, but they have not. The more God examines their case, the more unanswerable it will appear. The Christian, on the other hand, trembles because he knows he is a sinner. Thus in one sense we might say that Jewish confidence in the face of judgement is a by-product of Jewish self-righteousness. But that is far too summary. We must consider the whole experience out of which the self-righteous utterances grow..." ("Christian Reflections", p124-5)
My comment: Lewis wrongly assumes that it is David speaking of his own personal experiences in the Psalms. And thus Lewis is forced to conclude that the Psalmists were "self-righteous".
He should have looked at, for example, the New Testament relation to Psalm 24. Here the Apostles say that Christ alone is the one who ascends into heaven by his own righteousness. David did not ascend by merit of his own works...
Psalm 24:3
Who shall go up into the hill of Jehovah? And who shall rise in His holy place?
Ephesians 4:8,9
Because of this, He says, "Having gone up on high, He led captivity captive," and gave "gifts to men." [Quoting Psa. 68:18] But that He went up, what is it except that He also first came down into the lower parts of the earth?
Acts 2:24,34 But God raised Him up, loosing the throes of death. ... For David did NOT ascend into Heaven, but he says, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand.
My comment: Clearly, Christ is the one written of in the Psalms. But a lot of people will object and say -- What about all the Psalms that talk about sin? Was Christ a sinner? Of course not. Just as 1 Peter 2:24 (see below) talks figuratively about Christ having sin, so do the Psalms. Now, there's no way Christ actually had sin "infused into his body". Even though Peter says, "he bore our sins in his body", it can only be prophetically speaking, not literally. In the same way, all those sin passages in the Psalms must be talking about Christ taking away the sins of the elect.
1 Peter 2:24
[Christ] Himself carried up in His body our sins onto the tree; that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness, of whom by His wound you were healed.
My comment: Notice that if you look carefully, you can see that the sin was OUTSIDE the Psalmist...
"... iniquities have passed OVER MY HEAD; as a heavy BURDEN too heavy for me." (Psalm 38:4) "For evils have SURROUNDED me until there is no number" (Psalm 40:12) "...sin is ever BEFORE me." (Psalm 51:5).
My comment: The idea that sin was over Christ's head, and that sin surrounded him is perfectly consistent with Him also being the spotless lamb. OK. Let's now finish with a couple of interesting points. First, have you noticed the almost word for word exactness between David's words and Asaph (another Psalmist's words). Even though both men were obviously very different, they use almost the same patterns of speech....
Asaph: "My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud" (Psa 77:1)
David: "I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD" (Psa 142:1)
Asaph: "I will meditate on all Your work" (Psa 77:12)
David: "I meditate on all Your doings" (Psa 143:5) Asaph: "..cause Your face to shine upon us" (Psalm 80:3)
David: "Make Your face to shine upon Your servant" (Psa 31:16)
My comment: Clearly, it's not a coincidence that the two men spoke almost completely alike. They were prophets, and Christ was talking through them. OK. Final point... According to the two verses below, the Psalmist is God. How do I know this? Well, in Psalm 63 it says that everyone that swears by the King shall glory.
"But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him shall glory" (Psa 63:11)
But remember -- in the OT, men were only to swear by God's name.
"You shall fear the Lord your GOD, and serve Him, and shall SWEAR BY HIS NAME". (Deut 6:13)
So when Psalm 63 talks about people glorying in the King, it can only be Christ they are talking about!
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9:16
C.S Lewis's surviving BBC radio addressby gnosisandlight138,532 views
@shortwavejones and the sovereign nature of god, along with every one of his attributes, has everything to do with everything. we interpret every truth, every word, every action or inaction by the nature and character of god.
tercelkisor 3 months ago
@shortwavejones no.. divorce was never permitted except because of the hardness of the hearts of the isrealites. jesus said that. i didnt say that god was speaking as himself. though, in a sense, its true. i did not say that david wasnt writing as himself. the truth that god said the words of scripture does not diminish the fact that david said it himself. thats a false assumption. its not different than the truth that god killed christ and that the jews killed christ. they are both true.
tercelkisor 3 months ago
@tercelkisor The sovereign nature of God has little to do with the matter of who gave the law on divorce-are you saying that God changed his mind?Or that Jesus differing in opinion from God?Thats clearly not so leaving only the option that David was writing prayers and visions both AS himself and FOR himself.
ALL things a man writes in accordance with Gods will are "inspired" or even "breathed" by Him BUT thats NOT the same as saying that God was "speaking as Himself" in the psalms.
God bless.
shortwavejones 3 months ago
@tercelkisor Hate to differ but without the words to pick apart then there is no message, its rather the point. WHERE do you get the idea that the Psalms were Jesus's words?I would assume FROM PICKING APART THE WORDS you read.
The argument given in this vid picks words apart in a most un-convincing manner, so perhaps you can provide a better argument.
Seriously, are you saying that God dictated ALL the books personally?
Mark10:5
"...hearts were hard that MOSES wrote you this law" says Jesus
shortwavejones 3 months ago
your argument is like that of a child that picks apart words, completely missing the meaning. david physically wrote the words, he even formulated them in his own mind. that is true. the bible says that what was happening when david was writing was god talking. it was god breathing his own character and nature into words. come on bro. you have got to see that.
tercelkisor 3 months ago
@shortwavejones the greek word is "theópneustos." the definition is "god-breathed." it refers to the origin of the scriptures. beyond this glaring, undeniable, evidence, the concept of the sovereignty of god proves it. god didnt see david writing and say after the fact, "oh, thats good. i call dibs on that psalm." it says also that christ is the word. his nature and character is what is spoken in the scriptures.
tercelkisor 3 months ago
@tercelkisor
Nope, it says INSPIRED not 'breathed' or 'dictated word for word' or 'writian by' ect.
Matt22:43 "Jesus responded, "Then why does DAVID, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah 'my Lord'? For David said..."
Psalm 110 "The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
So would Jesus call HIMSELF lord in the 3rd person or is it David under inspiration writing?
shortwavejones 3 months ago
@shortwavejones 2 tim 3:16 says that all scripture is god breathed. regardless of whose line it is, the author wrote it.
tercelkisor 3 months ago
@tercelkisor I beg to differ but psalm 74 refers (9) to WE not seeing any prophet and (1) US being cast off forever.
Also you will see that while (mat22) Jesus refers to DAvid speaking ON THAT OCCASION "in the spirit" the psalms are often about pretty obviously prayers TO God not BY Him.
90:3 You turn us back to dust and say turn back you mortals
92:4 ..have made me glad by YOUR work (not 'our" or 'My" work)
101:2 I will study the way that is blameless when shall I attain it?
Jesus say that?
shortwavejones 3 months ago