'THE
DUST OF DEATH'
1.
DAVID AS POET AND PROPHET (AGAIN)
11
Be not far from me, for trouble is
near, and there is none to help.
12
Many bulls encompass me; strong
bulls of Bashan surround me;
13
they open wide their mouths at me, like a
ravening and roaring lion.
14
I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint; my heart
is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15
my strength is
dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue
sticks to my jaws; you
lay me in the dust of death.
16
For dogs encompass me; a company of
evildoers encircles me; they have pierced
my hands and feet--
17
I can count all my bones-- they
stare and gloat over me;
18
they divide my
garments among them, and for my
clothing they cast lots.
19
But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O
you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20
Deliver my soul from the sword, my
precious life from the power of the dog!
21
Save me from the
mouth of the lion! You have rescued me
from the horns of the wild oxen!
(1)
See David the Poet.
How
carefully he crafts his Psalms.
This
section divides into two parts marked by the refrain
do not be far off -
v11&19.
In
the first part v11 there is none to
help, in the second the
LORD is his help v19 - O you my help,
See
how the images change from v12 bulls
to, v13 lion
to v16 dogs
and then in reverse v20
dog,
v21 lion and
oxen.
We
feel with him what it is to be v14 poured
out like water...and
then be v15 dried up like a potsherd.
He
describes the different sensations he feels in his body: my
bones, my heart, my
breast; my strength, my tongue
my jaws, my hands and feet, my bones, my
garments, my clothing.
He
says v15 you lay me in the dust of
death and goes on to ask
for deliverance for -v20
my precious life.
Enter
into the poetry of the Psalms, get a feel for it and the Psalms will
come alive for you.
(2)
See David the prophet:
We
cannot but see Jesus on the cross. No one today could miss it.
13
they open wide their mouths at me,
14
I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint;
15
my strength is
dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue
sticks to my jaws; you
lay me in the dust of death.
16
a company of evildoers encircles me; they have
pierced my hands and feet--
17
I can count all my bones-- they
stare and gloat over me;
18
they divide my
garments among them, and for my clothing
they cast lots.
Before
the cross no one but Jesus (and the prophets?) saw his suffering.
1
Peter 1v10 Concerning this salvation, the
prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched
and inquired carefully, v11 inquiring
what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when
he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. v12
It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but
you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those
who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from
heaven, things into which angels long to look.
The
Spirit predicted the sufferings of Christ, but how much did the
prophets see and understand?
Nowhere
in any Jewish writings is there any trace of anyone seeing the
suffering Messiah here, or in any of the other Psalms, or in Isaiah
53. No one expected the cross. This is why Peter reacted so strongly
when Jesus first spoke of the cross - Mark
8v31-33.
The
cross is not just to be admired, it is to be appropriated, taken up
by everyone who would follow Jesus - Mark
8v34-38.
2.
THE SUFFERINGS OF DAVID AND THE MESSIAH
(1)
David feels alone.
David,
who has earlier spoken of feeling forsaken by God calls for the Lord
not to be far from him: v11 Be not
far from me,
He
states the reason for this plea: for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
Where
were David's mighty men? See 2 Samuel 23v8-39.
Sometimes
even the mightiest of men (and women) cannot help (as much as they
may wish they could).
See
Psalm 27v9-10.
We
can request help for one another in prayer. I am sure the
faithful were praying for David.
(2)
David feels surrounded.
i.
As by a herd of strong bulls of Bashan bulls
from Bashan
Remember
Og king of Bashan whose bed was made of iron, 9 cubits in length
(Goliath was 6 cubits and a span tall) and four cubits in width (Deut
3v11)
Og's
60 cities were taken by the Israelites. The region is a large fertile
plain east of modern-day Jordan. It became famous for it's rich
pasture and it's large livestock.
Ezekiel
39:18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of
the princes of the earth--of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of
bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan.
Amos
4:1 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush
the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
Micah
7:14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your
inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden
land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in
the days of old.
He
is a weak worm, they are strong bulls, who outnumber him and are far
more powerful than he.
ii.
The bulls change to become lions.
It
is as if the lion opens it's mouth and is about to bite off David's
head. (Remember the Lion tamers act in the circus) The lions that
open their mouths against David are no well fed, contented, trained,
circus act - they are ravening and
roaring.
Lions
rip open their prey. He is their prey!
iii.
His strength has gone.
v14
I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint; my heart
is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
v15
my strength is
dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue
sticks to my jaws; you
lay me in the dust of death.
A
potsherd is a fragment of a clay baked vessel.
Job
2v8 And he took a piece of broken pottery
(AV - a potsherd) with which to scrape himself while he sat in
the ashes.
What
does it feel like to be really terrified?
(Has
anyone here ever been really terrified?) This is what David
felt.
iv.
The lions become dogs.
16
For dogs encompass me; a company of
evildoers encircles me;
Dogs
are not pictured in the Bible as family pets, man's best friend.
1
Kings 14:11 Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the
dogs shall eat,
1
Kings 16:4 Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the
dogs shall eat,
1
Kings 21:23 And of Jezebel the LORD also said,
‘The dogs
shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’
Jeremiah
15:3 I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the
LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and
the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and
destroy.
Philippians
3:2 Look out for the dogs, look out for
the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
Revelation
22:15 Outside are the dogs and
sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and
everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Dogs
are pictured as savage animals who will pray on a man's flesh and
lick up his blood. David is surrounded by
dogs...a company of
evil doers encircle him.
v.
The suffering intensifies
they
have pierced my hands and feet--
17
I can count all my bones-- they
stare and gloat over me;
There
is more than physical suffering here, there is the mental suffering
caused by the company of evildoers who are against him:
They
stare and gloat over me;
And
far from helping him they want to profit from his death. He sees
their eagerness to take the very cloths he stood up in.
v18
they divide
my garments
among them, and for my clothing they
cast lots.
vi.
The depths of his physical and mental suffering are described by that
memorable phrase:
you
lay me in the dust of death.
Genesis
2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust
from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and the man became a living creature.
Genesis
3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return
to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for
you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Job
30:19 God has cast me into the mire, and I have
become like dust and ashes.
Ecclesiastes
3:20 All go to one place. All are from the
dust, and to dust all return.
Ecclesiastes
12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it
was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
1
Corinthians 15:47 The first man was from
the earth, a man of dust; the second man
is from heaven.
David
knew what it was to feel as though he was going to die (or at least
that there was a very real possibility that he was going to die at
that time.)
When
Jesus read this Psalm he learned that what David described as
something he felt, it was as if...., he would experience for real. He
would suffer and die such a death as described here.
A
wonderful insight into the cross given 1,000 years earlier (cf.
Before William the Conqueror!)
3.
DAVID RENEWS HIS PLEA FOR HELP AND THIS TIME HE IS ANSWERED
19
But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O
you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20
Deliver my soul from the sword, my
precious life from the power of the dog!
21
Save me from the
mouth of the lion!
You
have rescued me from the horns of the
wild oxen!
Faith
waits on God and keeps waiting and will not be disappointed. Even in
death? Especially in death.
For
David, this time, it is rescue. For Jesus it will be death.
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