Psalm 147:10: “His pleasure is not
in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” I thought
this was an appropriate passage to look at on Robbie Burns Day. For Christmas
one year Susan bought me some Bible Commentaries on Psalms. In one of these
books, Peter C. Craigie, from Scotland, writes:
… for
years I had been mystified by the psalms. I belong to a tradition in the church
in which the psalms continue to be used regularly in worship. And yet as a
teenager singing the psalms, their words for the most part contained little
meaning for me; they were songs of a remote and distant land, with no evident
relevance to my own world. It was the custom in Scotland for boys to wear the
kilt to church on Sunday; to this day I can recall singing the words of Psalm
147:10 ‘Neither delighteth he in any man’s legs’. I pondered at that time the
question of whether scripture condemned the kilt.[1]
When I read Peter Craigie’s quote I
knew immediately what I should preach on while I am wearing my kilt for Robbie
Burns Day. First, does anyone know who Robbie Burns is? Robert Burns
(1759-1796) was an 18th Century Scottish poet and songwriter who wrote hundreds
of lasting tributes to Scottish life in both song and poetry. Of himself, he
wrote:
A Scottish
Bard, proud of the name, and whose highest ambition is to sing in his country’s
service, where shall he so properly look for patronage as to the illustrious
names of his native land: those who bear the honours and inherit the virtues of
their ancestors? The poetic genius of my country found me, as the prophetic
bard Elijah did Elisha—at the plough, and threw her inspiring mantle over me.
She bade me sing the loves, the joys, the rural scenes and rural pleasures of
my native soil, in my native tongue; I tuned my wild, artless notes as she
inspired (ROBERT BURNS, Edinburgh, April 4, 1787).[2]
Robert Burns is a poet; he is not
to be confused with Scotland’s patron saint, who is St. Andrew from the Bible.
St. Andrew’s Day is the 30th of November and it is a national holiday in
Scotland. Robert Burns Day is the 25th of January and this is a good time for
people of Scottish heritage in this country here to get together, wear the
kilt, eat haggis, and listen to the bard’s poetry. Sarah-Grace used to be and Heather is a highland dancer.
MILITARY AND OTHER MIGHT
In our text, in the NIV, Verse 10
reads: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in
the legs of the warrior [or 'man' in place of 'warrior' depending on the year
published];” the rest of this sentence is contained in Verse 11: “the LORD
delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”
This sentence tells us something
very straightforward. It tells us what God does not delight in and what he does
delight in. Psalm 147:10 is not necessarily talking about wearing a kilt,
bathing suit, or shorts when it says that God doesn’t delight in a warrior’s
legs.[3] This passage is not addressing Christian modesty. It is telling us
that if we put our faith in people – in this example the passage by referencing
‘horse’ and ‘warrior’ is specifically referring to devoting our resources to
and, by extension, our faith in the army[4] – if we put our faith in people, we
will not impress God,[5] who is the creator, preserver, and governor of all things
(cf. TSA d. 2). Some scholars suggest that this psalm was once two psalms and
that Verse 10 was the conclusion of the first psalm and Verse 11 the
commencement of the next one summing up its whole meaning and purpose.[6] Most
scholars agree however that in this psalm in the form that we have it now,
Verses 10 and 11 sum up the theme and the intent of the entire psalm. As such
we shall look at each of these verses today.
Verse 10: “His [God’s] pleasure is
not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior”
This verse is referring to the cavalry and the infantry. For most of their
existence Israel and Judah were surrounded by hostile nations until God finally
used these hostile nations to destroy Israel and then Judah and deport the
people in 586 BCE (2 Chronicles 36:17-21). Israel and Judah only had a very
brief history as a united kingdom. God used King David to unify the kingdom at
the end of a long civil war (1 Samuel 31 – 2 Samuel 5) and then because of the
sins of David’s son, Solomon, God broke it apart again (1 Kings 11-12; cf. 2
Chronicles 10). One of the things the children of Israel were told way back
when they left Egypt with Moses was not to get horses from Egypt
(Deuteronomy 17:16). This reference to horses – just like in our text today -
was a reference to putting faith in the military instead of in God.[7] One of
the very first things the second king of Israel (Solomon) did was to get horses
from Egypt (1 Kings 4:26, 9:19, 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14, 9:23; cf. Deuteronomy
17:16). The prophet Samuel warned the people – when God and the people were in
the process rejecting the leadership of his own corrupt sons – he warned them
that if they were a unified country under a single political leader that the
leader would press their children into military service (1 Sam 8:1-22). King
Solomon and his heirs and his descendants did just this and more as they
ignored this advice and continued to put their faith in themselves, their
military, their legs, and their horses until God finally has enough and puts an
end to all of their reigns (2 Chr 36:17-21).
WHO DO WE TRUST?
How about us here today? Do we ever
fall into this same trap? Do we sometimes put our faith in the strength of the
horse or the legs of a man? Do we ever put our faith in something other than
God? I think we can be tempted to do this in a number of different ways in our
society today. I think we do this whenever we do not believe that God will look
after our needs. Most people acknowledge that we should give God at least a
tenth of the money He gives us through our jobs, our pensions, our businesses,
our disability cheques, or whatever. I think we fall into the trap of Psalm
147:10’s sin of putting our faith in the horse and the legs of a man when we
don’t at least tithe our income. I think when we withhold more than 90% of our
income from God; we are saying pretty vocally that we don’t trust Him to
provide for even ten percent of our needs (cf. Ps 20:7, 33:17, Amos 2:14-15, Mt
6:31-34; Lk 9:57-62, 18:19-30; Acts 2: 42-47; Hb 4). I think when we just try
to solve our problems with our own thoughts and abilities; failing to petition
God in prayer when we have decisions to make, we are showing God we don’t have
faith in God. I think whenever we know what is right to do in a given circumstance
but give into peer or a colleague’s pressure, it shows that we are putting our
faith in the majority – democracy, the sin of the book of judges (cf. Judges
21:25) – instead of putting our faith in God. I think that when we make our
decisions as to what we should do with our time and our abilities based on our
wallets rather than on revelation from God - which comes from praying and
reading the Bible - then we are committing the sin of our text today of putting
our faith in the strength of the horse or the legs of the warrior man.
We know that putting faith in
anything other than God is basically a rejection of Him and His Kingdom. A New
Testament equivalent to this warning about putting our faith in horses and
men’s legs would be from Matthew 6:24-27.[8] I know you’ll recognize it as I
read it:
No one
can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or
drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and
the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or
reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single
hour to your life?
You cannot serve both God and
money. Once, a non-profit organization I knew broke my heart. It was started by
God through a church and then it seemingly renounced its Christian faith in
favour of the secular religion for money. They wrote this:
The organization has officially
obtained a non-profit status. This has opened the door to more corporate
funding. Additional grant monies are now available because we are NOT designated
as a religious organization.
The organization decided this would
NOT be a Christian ministry anymore so that they could get more money.
Now this claim that you are able to raise more money if you are not a Christian
organization has not been true in this country. But, with the Canada Summer Jobs
Grants controversy maybe it is now. Even if it is true, Matthew 6:24: ‘You
cannot serve both God and money’; ‘you will devoted to the one and despise the
other’. Psalm 147:10 “His [God’s] pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of the warrior.”
We don’t have to make this wrong
choice our lives that the organization did and that some other organizations
may be making today in renouncing faith in their long-held beliefs. There is
another way, Psalm 147:11: “the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put
their hope in his unfailing love.”
FEAR AND
LOVE
Now ‘fear’ can mean a lot of things
in the Bible. The word translated ‘fear’ in this verse, yare, in the tense and context that it is used here refers quite
simply to a moral reverence. It is a kind of deference but it does not include
any of the moral dread that is involved with other variations of the word.[9]
An example of this ‘fear’ in our society
is sort of like when one is in court and the judge tells you specifically to
remove your hat, you do it. This ‘fear’ (yare)
would probably be – in this context - more like if someone meets me on a
Saturday or when I am on vacation and I am out of uniform and they are using
rather rough language with a lot of profanity and swear words. As soon as they
find out that I am an Officer, a pastor plus, they immediately apologize for
every swear word they ever uttered in my presence (or anyone else’s sometimes)
prior to that discovery. 'Watching their language’ is out of respect for my
vocation, my calling. It is not out of fright at all. Likewise, we in the
Lord’s courtroom need to respect His authority and we can also put our faith in
His unfailing love.
This unfailing love (checed)
relates to a strong sense of goodwill especially as can be relied on in real
times of need (cf. Dt 7:7,12; Ps 89:24, 28, 33, 49; 2 Sam7:15; Isa 55:3).[10]
Sometimes this word is translated as ‘mercy’ or ‘kindness’. This word, checed,
relates to the person you can turn to in a crisis. We all have friends and
family but we know that when the chips are down we really can’t rely on all of
them. Some people let us down. This word for love or mercy applied in this
context refers to one who will never let us down in a time of need. And this is
God.
The Lord delights in those of us
who respect Him – who care enough about His station and His feelings to watch
our language around Him. And He can be trusted in our time of need because of
His unfailing love for us (cf. John 3:16ff.). We don’t need to rely on horse
and men’s legs. We don’t need to rely on cavalry and infantry. We don’t need to
rely on man or Mammon. We don’t need to rely on people or money. We don’t need
to rely on anyone in place of God. God will provide.
Corporately we should never deny
our Christian faith in order to get government money. Individually we should
make sure that we don’t make our decisions based on what other people think or
on our own abilities and prejudices. We don’t need to withhold our tithe money
because we think we can’t make ends meet without it. Do you really think that
if you give God His tithe that He will unjustly let you starve to death? Do you
not trust God? Do you put your faith in your own ability to handle your
finances more than you put your faith in God? Who is best to look after you:
you, the government or God. Doctrine 2 of The Salvation Army says, “We believe
that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver,
and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious
worship.” We need only to serve God; not money, not pride, not laziness, not
whatever else it is that takes our focus off of God. When we seek first
the Kingdom of God, all else that we need will be given unto us (Matthew 6:33).
THE
CHARGE
[2] Cited from, C.D. Merriman, ‘The Literature Network: Robert Burns’ (Jalic Inc. 2006), cited 17 January 2011, available on-line at http://www.online-literature.com/robert-burns/
[3] Cf. Charles H. Spurgeon, ‘The Treasury of David Vol. 3: Psalms 101-150’, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, page 429.
[4] John H. Stek, ‘ Note on Psalm 147’, (NIV Study Bible: Zondervan: Grand Rapids Michigan, 2002), 950.
[5] Cf. Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1975 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 16), S. 523
[6] Cf. Leslie C. Allen, 'Psalms 101-150', 2nd ed., (WBC 21: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 2002), 383 – some even suggest 3 psalms; Cf. also Charles H. Spurgeon, ‘The Treasury of David Vol. 3: Psalms 111-150’, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers,
[7] Willem A. VanGemeren, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Deuteronomy/Exposition of Deuteronomy/III. The Second Address: Stipulations of the Covenant-Treaty and Its Ratification (4:44-28:68)/C. Specific Stipulations of the Covenant-Treaty (12:1-26:19)/2. National concerns (16:18-19:21)]/d. Appointment of and rules for a king (17:14-20), Book Version: 4.0.2
[8] Cf. Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1975 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 16), S. 523
[9] 'Yare', in The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1966), p. 395. Cf. also Cf. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, ‘3373: yare’ (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995), p.59.
[10] John H. Stek, ‘ Note on Psalm 6:8’, (NIV Study Bible: Zondervan: Grand Rapids Michigan, 2002), page 792; Cf. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, ‘2617: checed’ yare’ (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995), p.46.
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Presented originally to the Swift Current Corps 23 January 2011
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