Dale Ridge church of Christ

          In this series, we are looking at what Psalm 8 says about man.  But before looking more closely at it, I think it is helpful to take a broad view of the picture given to us of the first fifteen psalms.  William Holman Holt’s famous 1859 painting, which is sometimes used to illustrate Revelation 3:20, also serves as an appropriate picture of the opening section of the Book of Psalms.

            We have seen from the previous article in this series that Psalm 8 can be seen as a “hinge” (Psalm 9-10 are also closely related, so they can also be part of this hinge as well).  This hinge is connected to Psalms 3-7 and 11-14.  But we need to ask now “how do Psalms 1-2 and 15 fit in this picture? “   If we can imagine Psalms 3-7 and 11-14 as both sides of the door, Psalms 1 and 2 serve as a picture of Christ knocking at the door, and Psalm 15 is the door handle on the inside of one’s “house” or we might say “heart” (notice in Holman Holt’s painting, there is no door handle on the outside for Christ to open-we must open the door and let Him in).

            Psalm 1 and 2 offer us a choice.  Psalm 2 prophetically presents Jesus as our risen Savior and King-He stands at the door and knocks (notice the choice we are given at the end of this psalm and the blessing that is offered (Psalm 2:10-12).  The lament psalms (3-7 and 11-14) represent both sides of our “door”.  These psalms have a theme that runs through them of “trusting faith” (Psalm 4:5; Psalm 5:11; Psalm 7:1; Psalm 11:1; Psalm 13:5).   Psalm 15 fits very well into this picture as the “door handle” of obedience.  In Psalm 15, there are listed fifteen characteristics of the one who is acceptable to God.  You might notice that the one described in Psalm 15 is the one whom the LORD is mindful of as is seen in the previous lament psalms.   An interesting exercise is to go through these earlier lament psalms looking at the characteristics of those who trust in the LORD and those who do not and note how they coincide with the twelve characteristics of Psalm 15.  We must open the door of faithful obedience that we may receive the blessing of the wonderful grace of God.  

Whereas Psalm 8 asks the question, “What is man?”  or as we might ask “Who am I?”, Psalm 15 ask “What should I be?”  Looking at the psalms in this comprehensive way can help us to get to become better acquainted with them.  But more importantly, it can help us to understand better who we are and what we ought to be.

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Filed under: Devotional, Michael Carter on July 27th, 2008