Ps 17 15 And I-in righteousness I will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
In this Psalm we are being taught the Psalmist perspective on inability. The Psalms teach that inability is the attitude that we have as we rise up to the full effect of the curse. We are taught in the Psalms that Gods law represents the extent and the standard by which we live in reality. When sin entered the world we were not only subject to curse and the darkness of the withdrawal of Gods blessing but we were prevent from meeting the standard that we enjoyed in the garden. This perspective is absolutely essential in satisfying our frustration by the understanding of inability as if we were given a cold drink of water after we had run a marathon. The point is that we are not comforted in the doctrine of inability in the teaching that the law shows us our sin and we acknowledge our inability to keep it. That is falling back on guilt and being relieved by understanding that Christ work on our behalf gives us acceptance. In this sense we are unable to achieve acceptance by what we do. But this is always remaining in the same step to God mentality.
In the Psalms inability gives us the right to appeal to God with in the spirit of justification that defines forgiveness and acceptance without us going through those steps. Because God is dealing with us according to our limits and not the violation. It is drawn from this logic that God established the success of Israel through eliminating the nations who worshiped false gods. In other words God cleansed the nation of Israel and the people were unable to be tempted from those nations. In this logic every opposition that we face rises to the level of the full curse. Because God acted to prevent Israel from destroying themselves by preventing their temptation. God dealt with them as a people who were unable to prosper with opposition. He dealt with Israel not according to their righteous but according to their inability to withstand the opposition. 30 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;give me neither poverty nor riches,but give me only my daily bread.9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'Or I may become poor and steal,and so dishonor the name of my God." Solomon is teaching that the power of the curse is too strong to overcome. In order to rise up to his highest enjoyment in this life , he must not be prevented by the weight of the opposition in the curse. In this Psalm ,David is complaining about the limits that he must endure because of the success and the propagation of evil men.
The terms used about the behavior of wicked men are constraining the Psalmist experience of God and his ability to fully prosper. He uses words like assail, close up, track me down, like a lion hungry for prey and surround me. You will find that the Psalmist uses his sin as a complaint because it is a weight that prevents him from his full success. So he considers his sin in the category of inability but the opposition of this world he uses the law in his complaint to overcome these limits. In other words if we are able then there is no need for the curse. There is no need for God to destroy our opposition. So inability goes beyond our application that we simply must accept the limits in this world and fall on the side of humanism. But inability rises up in the curse and confronts the opposition in the spirit of justified righteousness. 7 "Show the wonder of your great love,you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;hide me in the shadow of your wings

Ps 17 4 As for the deeds of men-
by the word of your lips
I have kept myself
from the ways of the violent.

The Psalmist is not really talking about God searching him in a moral way. Every person that has ever been born has been controlled by the decrees of God. There is no man who controls himself. Every action is under the control of God. God does whatever pleases Him. The Psalmist is saying that God has ordered his steps in the way of innocence because God has given the Psalmist the blessing. A person who receives salvation walks in the way of blessing. The elect are brought into a kingdom that is perfectly described. God has given us the blessed words of life and caused us to walk in compliance with His word. We are no longer considered rebellious. Because rebellion pre supposes that you are in a relationship where you are scrutinized.
We find that some of the elect can act as a proud and disobedient man. But they can never be intrinsically disobedient. The kingdom of God is to seek peace. God cannot be forced or coerced into changing or violating His nature. When we say that God is in absolute control we are acknowledging that God is the one who controls the language of blessing and cursing. God always judges absolutely. His kingdom cannot be violently destroyed. All the men who are cursed dash themselves against the judgement of God with many wounds by their own rebellion. The problem for the elect is not one of breaking Gods law but its the immature belief that they is able. Because God has opposed the violence of wicked men in the full effect of the curse. So Gods people enjoy the absolute voice of protection as the curse becomes swift to silence the wicked.
This is the context of saying "by the words of Your lips, I have kept myself from the way of the violent". In other words , violent men take the vengeance upon themselves because they think that they are in control of the curse. God says this is why they curse from their hearts. Because their communication is to dethrone and kill God. To be under this power is to speak in a way whether it is passive or aggressive to destroy God and His elect. But to speak under the control of the Spirit and the word is to speak peace." By the word of YOUR MOUTH I have kept myself from the way of the violent".

Ps 143 3 The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.
The Psalmist has suffered some king of physical trauma or trouble from the schemes of his enemy's. This trouble has put him on his back. He is unable to get up and begin his daily routine. He is comparing his terrible pain with Gods promise to descend lower than the lowest experience in life. Gods hand is always under the worse experiences of His elect. Ps 37 23 If the LORD delights in a man's way,he makes his steps firm;24 though he stumble, he will not fall,for the LORD upholds him with his hand." The elect live in a world where there is a fierce spiritual battle. When Christ descended from His throne in His incarnation the scripture compares this to descending into hell. The world is run by Satan. The bible calls this the course of the world. The power is not from evil men who are in darkness but its from the evil forces in the heaven-lies that use the system of man to turn Gods government upside down.
This is why we face opposition that is too strong for us.Ps 18 16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;he drew me out of deep waters.17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,from my foes, who were too strong for me." The system of this world is on the level that is beyond our control. This is why there are times when our security is reduced by the size of the opposition. Our trust in God is shaken. We must understand that the real world is Gods heavenly armies fighting against the forces of evil in the heaven-lies. We are caught in a universal struggle of mystical forces. Here the Psalmist feels overwhelmed by the opposition and he is comforted in the promise that if Gods judgement depended upon man then the Psalmist would have no hope. But God lowers Himself below our lowest experiences because He has provided us with a promise that He will never leave us or forsake us in His covenant. Ps 94 14 For the LORD will not reject his people;he will never forsake his inheritance.15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will follow it."
The Psalmist is teaching that when we face opposition or injury that makes us feel powerless that we are experiencing a world that is disjointed. Our hopelessness is brought about by a world where everyone is unable to walk uprightly. The world has gone astray from Gods law. When men sin they create violence in society. Every sin against God is an attack on mans neighbor. When men sin they violate the rights of their neighbor. The Psalmist is saying that God is not taken by surprise or thwarted in His judgements. God has decreed all things and has judged the world so that He has recreated complete unity in His pronouncements. He blesses some men and He curses others. We are in need of complete deliverance. He is saying that God always promises to deliver us completely. He will reorder our lives so that we will experience His judgement coming together with His protection of us.
This is why God has gifted us with the Holy Spirit. He is the advocate who is the perfect spokesman for us that brings us complete deliverance. He says 143 10b " may your good Spirit lead me on level ground." Here the Psalmist is praying that the Spirit is the person who acts to bring about Gods blessing and cursing. The Spirit speaks for us as if Christ was walking in our path. This is why the Psalmist commands the Lord to send the Spirit to create his full deliverance. 11 For your name's sake, O LORD , preserve my life;in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;destroy all my foes,for I am your servant." When we are opposed we must not faint or lose heart. But we must resist in the confidence that God will come and remove all our opposition. He will make it so that we can walk firmly in this life.

Ps 49 20 A man who has riches without understanding
is like the beasts that perish.
There is only living in reality or in darkness in this world. The Psalmist is not saying that if a man uses his money wisely that he will be above the beast. The Psalmist is distinguishing between the elect of God and the wicked who are the beast of the field. He is saying that the elect view their riches by God giving them salvation. The bible calls this covenant blessing. On the other hand the wicked view their riches as beast of the field. The bible calls this being cursed. Verse 20 is wishing that God would bless His covenant people by bringing cursing and blessing together. Its the theme that the world is filled with wicked men who are in darkness who believe that they control their money. When someone reacts to events in a self protective way ..this man speaks violence. You see the world is real by the value we place on people and things. The difference between men and beast is that the beast fulfill their needs by ravaging their food. They get things by instinct. So they live in an environment that eats its own flesh.. They live in a very violent world. The measure of their worth is how to survive on the next victim.
The Psalmist is saying that the nations around him are like a colony of animals. He is contrasting Israel with these violent nations. He is saying that Israel has been the product of Gods gifts. God gave them the law, the covenants and the inheritance. They live in the kingdom of God...a kingdom in which they obtain all that they possess through redemption. If the Lamb had not come and been the sacrifice for their sins then there would be no price good enough to redeem the people. So the security, provision, and stability was the payment of price of redemption that Christ paid in order to be granted to the nation. Christ became the standard of their value and the repayment of the abuse that they suffered.

So God is saying to the Israel...I treated You as special. I proved it by the obvious culture of violence that you observe in the the nations. You see they see everything that they obtain as being under their control. But the most valuable which is redemption cannot be bought with money. God is teaching that the curse has made man as violent and as controlling as an animal. He will devour anyone who opposes him in moving up the ladder of success. And he will build big houses as proof that he is successful. Man has an insatiable desire to be seen as the ruler when he is old. He cant avoid the pitfalls of the grief of seeking these things. He faces the power of the curse that crushes him. Man lives below the standard of glory that God has purpose for him.

Ps 9 4 For you have upheld my right and my cause;
you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.
The Psalms teach that our understanding of God determines how we view ourselves. How we view ourselves is how we react to the circumstances of life. This is why 80 percent of our problems come from a wrong view of God. There is only one problem in life. Every person lives in the world of their own minds as their experience in community and the use of the things in this world. This is why the Psalmist is using the logic that if God is absolutely sovereign then the Psalmist has control of the success in his life. This is why we Calvinist cannot accept any description of God that is false. The only way that a person can live in his own skin is to describe God in the orthodox according to the system of Calvinism.
The truth is that everyone swears that he remains neutral in his judgements about himself and others because he is not dogmatic about his beliefs. But the Psalmist teaches that all men live in the imagination of their own minds by the ignorance of their belief. The system of theology is a description of the quality of life and not a set of rules that a person can apply. In other words if God reveals the truth about who He is then it is backed up with the threat of death if it is not confessed. Because God has made us to describe the truth about who He is and who we are in the perfect revelation of His word. The Psalmist is proclaiming that he has confessed the laws, decrees, covenants, curses and promises as his reality of who God is. This is his "cause"
But the Psalms employs his imagination when he thinks about the work that God has done in giving him success as the king. 1 F19 I will praise you, O LORD , with all my heart;I will tell of all your wonders.2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. This name of God as the "Most High" is speaking about the God who wins all the battles in this world. If you could picture this world that is inhabited by men who are little gods because they are corrupted by being born in sin. Every man is born to be his own sovereign. The problem is because sin has alienated man from God , he views every thing in the world under his control.
The teaching of pride in the scriptures is not talking about an attitude but a way of life that is under the power of the "curse."You see we believe that a persons doctrinal position is not two sides...that being that there are some situations in life were he is under the control of the curse and other situations where he is saved from the curse. But we believe that true salvation is explained in life and death terms. In other words every thing that we believe about God and His existence in eternal life is the exact defense of our survival. He is saying as God is sovereign so my survival and success depends upon confessing that I am successful as God is sovereign. These confessions of the law, decrees, covenants , curses and promises are final pronouncements of the reality of the existence of all things. We live in the confidence that these confessions are the reality that we are orthodox and obedient to God as Most High.

Ps 9 3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right and my cause;
you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished. "

The Psalmist is teaching that we reduce our sphere of influence when we have a short sighted view of our opposition. We deny the potential of the power that dwells in us when we view our opposition in our little world. We judge the situations in our lives with simple answers when we do not understand the distance and the depth of the curse that dwells in this world. We lower God when we reduce our opposition to the powers that we can control. We create great harm and distention in this world when we conclude that the time we spend in confessing the curse of the law is of no value. We attract the disposition of blame, guilt, and fear when we spend no time dealing with our own anger in the curse.
The truth is that we are facing an enemy that we cannot control or define. We are not just people who face negative circumstances in this world and overcome them. But we are people who have meta physical needs that are met in order for us to understand the disposition of peace and tranquility, The Psalmist is praising God for overcoming all his opposition in this life according to Gods realm of opposition. He is using words that are universal. He is concluding that Gods power over the earth is displayed in His absolute power to destroy all opposition
The truth is that the context of the curse is the power that God created from before the foundation of the world. You see God ordered the existence and the success of all things by describing the reasons and the ends for which He created them. This description was His final word. God ordained that sin would enter the world in light of His work on a universal and eternal level in opposing sin by the pronouncement of the law. This is why David views the victories in time to be expressed in the new world where there is no opposition. God has made us completely new and views us as already overcoming the whole force of evil that extends to the heavenly realm. These divine powers in this spiritual battle are determining the course of this world. The curse is Gods pronouncement of death upon all opposition. They are spoken from the highest places in eternity. We have this spiritual kingdom in which we experience mysterious opposition in this world that have eternal consequences. No matter how small our troubles are ...each one rises up to the level of the power to oppose all opposition on a level that is mysterious. This is the future coming into our present struggle.

Ps 131 1 My heart is not proud, O LORD ,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
The Psalms take away the desire to obtain wealth through our natural gifts. The Psalmist is weaned from the world. Its not just talking about being weaned from the things of this world but he is saying that we can make our responsibilities the carrot that we chase. We can be successful through being motivated by law keeping. The Psalmist is not saying that he avoids certain things that tempt him. The things that are too wonderful for him are those things that he faces that take away his strength.
We must understand that the gospel is Gods covenant to supply all of our needs. This means that everything that we obtain in this life is a gift that is provided for us. The Psalmist is not really talking about being filled with emotional peace or rest. When God makes a covenant with us , He doesnt promise to have good feelings about us. He promises to act on our behalf. God speaks in one language. He has no romantic communication. He only has a covenant communication. This communication is in a command form. This is why the Prophets teach in Isaiah 45 11 Thus, saith, Yahweh, The Holy One of Israel And his Fashioner, As to things to come, they have asked me, Concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands, they would command me! 12 I, made the earth, And man upon it, I created, - I - mine own hands, stretched out the heavens, And all their host, I commanded": The "command" in scripture is pregnant. There are two ways this word is used. One usage is the commands purpose to judge. The other usage is the command producing the circumstance for the purpose of fulfilling it. Here in Isaiah it is reciprocal.
The Psalms are written in the language of creation. God creates something from nothing by commanding it into existence. We speak the petitions in the Psalms to command God to create our success. The Psalms are filled with strong words that command God to act. Arise oh Lord, may they be, bring them down, destroy them, do not let them have their desire, contend against them, etc.. the Psalms are filled with commands for action. They are not filled with emotional outburst. But they are spoken in the language of hand to hand combat. We can confront the evil that has been described as if we are slaying an enemy in war. The Psalms are given to us for the purpose of rising up to the evil as we observe it and create the circumstances through our commanding for the evil to rise to the surface. In other words we can draw near to the full opposition of the evil and command the Lord to destroy it. We are professional at obtaining victory over the evil that is prevalent
Most of the time we confuse emotion with meta physical action. When we expend emotion we get a temporary relief. But when we pray in a confrontational language of the Psalms we experience the spiritual blood that is spilled in the struggle. Instead of an emotional release we got filled with power. This covenant language is gifted to us in order that we might prosper in going from one deliverance to another. This is the context of weaning from the world.

62 4b "With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse".
The Psalmist is describing two kingdoms. The wicked respond to God and His law by redefining it and opposing it. God has established His kingdom by speaking His word. But the wicked oppose Gods kingdom by redefining the word. The reason that the Psalmist describes the wicked who oppose Gods word as cursing in their hearts is because their passive and active rebellion is the communication of the wicked curse. 10 7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue". The Psalmist does not describe evil in a strictly moral sense. But he describes it as a word that redefines Gods law as an attempt to destroy God and His elect. The Psalmist is talking about two different realms. One realm is Gods description and is real reality. While the other realm is mans redefinition and is total darkness.In this Psalm he is teaching that in the realm of darkness is to devalue Gods creation and His work. So the violence that is practiced in the government of man is in the spirit of destruction and not just an argument that opposes Gods word. This spirit is an attempt to spread blame in attacking God for the problems of His elect. From birth man is born with the voice that curses Gods government.
The Psalmist is saying the salvation is in God alone. He is making an analogy that personal salvation is being in the kingdom of God who places great value on His elect. God has established His authority in His kingdom when He makes His elect kings and priest of the Most High. The Psalmist is saying that he lives in a world where His opposition to the wicked is described as being thrown down from his kingly position. The value that God places on His elect is their ability to exercise His authority by the pronouncements of His kingdom that are absolute. The pronouncements are made to extinguish the opposition of the wicked. The elect are given the gifts of the laws curses as a protection against the evil curses. This is why the Psalmist says that his salvation and honor depend upon God. The Psalmist has experience Gods honor when He has established the law in fighting and winning Israels wars. He uses the metaphor of the God as the rock as the means by which God restores honor to HIs elect. The rock is Gods fighting to deliver the Psalmist in the battle. The Psalmist is comparing the spoils of war with Gods active curse that kills all opposition. After God destroys His enemies the Psalmist retreats behind the walls of Israel enjoying the peace that comes from God destroying his enemies. He is our fortress.
The Psalmist goes on to describe the extent and the personal struggles of Gods people in the midst of the devaluing of Gods kingdom by the wicked. This phrase is in the form of a curse.- [ 9 Lowborn men are but a breath,the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath".]He is teaching that all men are born to attempt to extort their neighbor for profit.10" Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods;" In other words the world is under the spell as blindness to escape the devaluing of Gods creation and kingdom. They do not understand the value of Gods curses. They believe that Gods people are a pox upon society. But God redefines His elect as the agents by which everyone is blessed and protected in the world. God repays His people in a system of rewards only. God establishes His covenants and He provides His people with an inheritance.
This Psalm is not really describing the idea of resting in the sense of kicking back in physical rest. But its talking about the authority that Gods people have in the ability to argue and obtain absolute authority over the kingdom of man. We do this by pronouncing the kings language. He says one think God has spoken..two things I have heard . The one thing is backed up with the two promises. Or the promise of reward is backed up with Gods laws, decrees, covenants, and promises that God has spoken as the authority of His kings and priest. All other reasoning and descriptions are just an imaginative world. In this we rest in God alone.

Ps 91 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. F169
2 I will say of the LORD , "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

This Psalm is describing the safety of newly hatched birds that are covered in their nest under the wings of the adult bird. It describes the potential danger that these newly born birds will face when they begin to venture out to get food and to fly together in a flock. It is a metaphor for Gods elect escaping the condemnation of the curse.
The birds are saved from human weapons, from the trap of the hunter, from the disease that kills the whole flock of birds, from the wild beast of the forest, and from the strike of the serpent. It is describing the protection of the adult bird who covers the newly hatched birds with His wings. And the protection that the birds enjoy by the angels.
Just like the birds are protected by being in the nest so the elect are protected in the house of God. The house could be the ot worship in the temple or the hand of God watching over His covenant people when they are exiled. As they venture into dangerous territory they are protected by the angels.
This Psalm is teaching that God enforces His covenant in the history of Israel in the promise to never leave them nor forsake them. Its reversed in the teaching of salvation. God provides the nest in which He covers His people under His wings so that He shows His people the impossibility for them to be judged as the motive for them to place all of their trust in Him. 124 1 If the LORD had not been on our side-let Israel say-2 if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,3 when their anger flared against us,they would have swallowed us alive; .....7 We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare;the snare has been broken,and we have escaped.8 Our help is in the name of the LORD ,the Maker of heaven and earth. (Creation covenant..grace covenant)
God is the Most High. He rules from the highest throne in eternity and does whatever pleases Him. He has given the elect reflexive will. When the elect experience danger they will respond by calling upon Him and He will answer. So our faith is expressed by pronouncing Gods word as the confidence that we will be delivered. True faith stands upon Gods word,which is the final curse that seals the fate of wicked. Just as the elect are protected by God who declares war from His position as the Most High so the elect will judge the wicked in eternity. 8" You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked." Because His covenant of grace is compared to the potential effects of the curse that could kill the birds like the pox that we face in the curse. But the promise to never leave us or forsake us is the pronouncement that prevents us from being cursed. Prov. 26 "Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest".

Ps 18 30 As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
This verse is describing the goal of creating utopia on earth.18 50 He gives his king great victories;he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,to David and his descendants forever."
Gods kingdom cannot be thwarted by any one or thing on this earth. God only advances His kingdom under the banner of perfect victory. In other words we may describe all the battles that have ever been fought spanning from personal battles ,political battles or wars that are fought , but God works to destroy every evil and corruption that opposes Him in the whole history of the world. When we describe the human struggle and The victory that comes out of the struggle it is always lower and limited from our view. So the freedom comes when we renew our description of how God describes victory.

This description of the Psalmist is the perfect experience of Christ who concurred all of His enemies. This Psalm is describing the work of the law of God as being flawless in the way that we change our view of our past victories. We experience power and victory by our limited understanding . But this Psalm teaches that every opposition that we face must be opposed as God describes in this Psalm. Gods way is perfect in overcoming all opposition because His word is flawless. Flawless means that there is not even a small corruption in His battle victories. You see we teach ourselves that all of our past victories where accomplished in the context of limited powers, corrupted strength, being limited by our sin and the struggle that we have in guilt, shame, and fear. We limit the kind of victory that we rejoiced in because of our corruption.
Not only is our problem our limits of understanding the amount of power and perfection that was required. But we are always in denial that the standard of Gods work was insignificant. This way of thinking about the past does not motivate us to a hope in the future that Gods victory will be more glorious. We naturally limit God by not renewing the our victory as God describes it in this Psalm. But the eyes of faith look beyond the limits of human power and limited resources and it brings the future eternal judgement and victory back into the present. This is what we call the blessing and the curse coming together. We rise up to the full effect of the curse by describing how God accomplishes the victory.

Ps 127 2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat-
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

In my opinion the first part of the Psalm is a curse in direct contrast to the second part which is "he grants sleep to those he loves"..which is the promised blessing. In this Psalm he is describing the care that God has for His covenant people in the midst of the humanistic ideal..which is to conclude that work is mans judgement. The principle is that God uses evil men to provide the nation who work 7 days a week, because they worship this world. We as Gods people push this view away.
The Psalmist is practicing pushing the cursed humanist away. In pushing it away he is establishing his success. This act of pushing the curse away by pronouncing the end of humanism is the defense that proceeds the use of weapons in war. This is why he says that unless the Lord builds the house....or unless Gods law is established in building the world by through the nation of Israel then the world would be humanistic.
When the Psalmist goes on to describe relationships in the family , he is saying that the curse against humanism will be the enforcement to simplify the family. Instead of the military being defined by public identity they will be defined by family origins. This involves the proper education of the children. So the teaching is that if we pronounce the curse against humanism then we will propagate children who defend the family values as the motive for fighting against the nations. The terrible effects of the curse are fueled by a very strong temptation to go outside of Gods law that simplifies and prevents humanism from being present from one generation to another. In this sense the success of the military in cursing the nations in war is spreading life on the earth.

Ps 25
1 To you, O LORD , I lift up my soul;
2 in you I trust, O my God.
This Psalm is written for the purpose of creating our new image in petitioning God to change us as a practice in speaking as God speaks in creating all things. We are taught to speak to Him according to our desires as God has given them to us. We lift up our souls as a way to unite our own view of ourselves with Gods view of us. In this sense we are putting ourselves in Gods hands in order to be molded by speaking to God according to this expression of our deepest need that is united with Gods perfect activity to recreate us.
This is why when the Psalmist puts himself in Gods hands ,he becomes the object of blame by the world. Because all men are cursed with the attempt to be loved by God in attacking other men. We must understand at the core of every sin is a desire to respond to the condemnation of the law by doing something to relieve the guilt. In this way every man blindly attempts to redeem himself. This disposition of the wicked is what the Psalms call "noise".This noise that is sounding in the world start as complaining and grow to violence. The Psalmist is saying that he is no longer cursed with this desire to redeem himself.3" No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame", The Psalmist is saying that the elect are separated from the wicked by hearing the sound of the violence and not necessarily blaming the wicked who are in complete darkness, for attacking in a malicious way."3b,but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse." The shame is the natural response of the person who is under the condemnation of the law. We could say in this context that shame is the noise that is violent. 2b"Do not let me be put to shame,nor let my enemies triumph over me.
The Psalmist is walking down the path of righteousness as the view of uniting his desire with Gods.4" Show me your ways, O LORD ,teach me your paths;5 guide me in your truth and teach me,for you are God my Savior,and my hope is in you all day long." This path is the perfect walk of Christ in His incarnation.7b"according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O LORD". The oneness is remembering or recreating the elect according to Gods unfailing love. The Psalmist is uniting his desires with Christ desires as he walks in this world. The Psalm is a metaphor of walking down a path with receiving acceptance of God as if Christ walked this path. In order for the Psalmist to be successful , Christ must reorder his past,7" Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;according to your love remember me,for you are good, O LORD "recreate his steps through word and Spirit,8 Good and upright is the LORD ;therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
"9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way". provide forgiveness of all his sins,10" All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.11" For the sake of your name, O LORD ,forgive my iniquity, though it is great". The sin against the demands of the covenant are forgiven. and be the only Person on this earth that is open to the Psalmist to be confided in. The Lord must be the Person that is available to take the most severe problems and the worse troubles from our sins and overcome all the opposition.14 "The LORD confides in those who fear him;he makes his covenant known to them. "
But the path of the elect is the opposite to the path of the wicked. The wicked are under the obligation of the law. They are under the disposition of the curse. When the wicked work to overcome their struggles they get temporary relief. But the Lord turns this upside down for the righteous. He meets their needs first in order for them to be acceptable to His covenant.The Psalmist confides Himself in being accepted by Christ righteousness alone through petitioning and pronouncing Gods covenant. But then the Psalmist goes beyond the consolation of Gods word to a person to Person expression of his deep need. "16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,for I am lonely and afflicted.17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied;free me from my anguish.18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.
19 See how my enemies have increased
and how fiercely they hate me!
20 Guard my life and rescue me;
let me not be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
The Psalmist is speaking to God according to the sorrows that he experiences and not trying to control his feelings. The Psalms expressions lead a man to uncover the need that is hidden in the deepest recesses of his soul. In other words it is not known until it becomes revealed in praying according to these words. He expresses this uncovering as being reduced to weeping. In other words there is something in us that must be brought up by word and Spirit that is the source of our sorrows. It is always revealed in weeping. In this sense we are taught that God deals with us beyond the normal functions of public religious expressions. The normal process by which God renews us is through uncovering the deep need and bringing it out through weeping. God meets are deepest need before He changes us according to His covenant.The integrity is Christ uncovering our need as we express it.
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope is in you.

Ps 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging".
The natural course of the earth and in kingdoms is to degenerate. Everyone is dependent upon everyone else to create a healthy environment. We all want to believe that everything around is secure and stable. But God sees everything that happens in this world and has a much greater understanding of the total individual catastrophes in society. He can handle the awful view of abuse and hatred that exist in the world. If He were to give us a glimpse of the level of evil we would all be destroyed. But God has given us the ability to unite our anger and dissatisfaction with His mysterious righteous indignation. At all times Gods judgements are terrible and unfathomable. Eternal judgements are described in cataclysmic terms. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;he lifts his voice, the earth melts."
We live in a world where the eternal judgements of God are great events that make us feel like the ground beneath us is giving away. But we have the presence of this mysterious judgement dwelling in us in the curse. This mysterious power and destructive event is Gods curse consuming our anger. He is saying that God takes the terrible event of His judgement and gives us rest in the curse. Because fear is anger turned inward.But the curse is anger turned into righteous indignation.2" Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea," We can have the experience of everything collapsing around us as the support that hems us in. If we viewed how God reacts to the terrible abuse of his world then we will see that necessity to bring everything into account in the eternal judgement. So in this Psalm we have a direct contrast. The view of God that has no pragmatism. Extreme cursing or extreme blessing,
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.5 God is within her, she will not fall;God will help her at break of day.6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;he lifts his voice, the earth melts". Here is the gift we have to live by faith. You see faith believes that God speaks all things into existence. God controls all things. Faith is described as God speaking one word and all things are put into order. Real teaching of faith is that on the one hand there is great opposition to faith. There is in Gods view of the opposition that we would conclude is insurmountable that would be extinguished with one word of God."9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,he burns the shields with fire." So the difference between the nations who are in extreme desolation and Israel who dwell in safety and prosperity is God speaking one word.
This is why we believe that all reality is not how we view it but what God has spoken. In this sense our desire to survive is expressed as saving faith in looking for that word of salvation. We go from one deliverance to another in one word of salvation. The pleasure of being reduced to trusting in one word of deliverance is that we can pronounce the curse (6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;he lifts his voice, the earth melts). that rises up to Gods mysterious eternal power so that we as it were push God in between us and the disaster."8 Come and see the works of the LORD ,the desolations he has brought on the earth.9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,he burns the shields with fire." I call this cheering God on. (With excitement...come and see) On the one hand we are shielded from the disaster and on the other hand we are protected in the most simple trust in the one word. We are surrounded by Gods blessing. 10 "Be still, and know that I am God;I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth."

Ps 40 11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD ;
may your love and your truth always protect me.
12 For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD , to save me;
O LORD , come quickly to help me.
14 May all who seek to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.
15 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!"
be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation always say,
"The LORD be exalted!"
The Psalmist has been teaching in the beginning of this Psalm that the Lord had saved him from the pangs of war. The Lord lifted him out of the mire and put his feet on a rock...which is the Temple mountain...a place where the Psalmist sings praises to God The temple is the place where God is moved to defeat all of our enemies. The temple worship is seen in the musical procession that proceeded the troops into the battle field and the procession up to the temple after the victories of war.
The Psalmist is comparing the visual destruction that is experienced by the Israels military and the opposition that we experience in this sinful world. The truth is that we were never made to handle the destructive world where Gods law is violated. We were never given the ability on our own to even view the hateful and depraved actions as a result of sin. The Psalmist is describing the plan of attack that he experiences being in a world were Gods law is violated. He is saying that the violation of one of the smallest laws of God are the same as the threat of destroying the innocence of the entire world. If we lived in a world where no one treated sin with contempt then all of us would be innocent of violating the the rights of other people. And if we overlooked the smallest violation of the law we would in some ways be deceived. We would allow our hearts to be hardened like the frog in a hot pan who does not feel the heat. So the Psalmist here is a person who has spoken the curses and covenants as the cause of finding innocence in the mystery of the curses and blessings coming together. He actually feels the innocence in the effect of the heat of Gods word that codify the prior abuse.A man who experiences the mystery of Gods presence describes his experience as feeling the effects of sin that sweep over him.
Remember that any time a sin is practiced then there is a violation in the community.When the sin is multiplied it is the same as being in a world where the culture is violent. But the Psalmist is the person who meditates on Gods word and so he reorders his view of being in this depraved inner experience casting off the weight that crushes him in the self knowledge of experiencing the danger by this continuous experience of mystery. In the attempt to reduce the multiplicity of the violations to the smallest sin the Psalmist is pushing the violence away so that he overcomes all of his opposition.
You must understand that every man who practices sin is hardened at some point to the violence that is propagated. Not only do we live in a violent world but we live with others who are blind to their neglect to come to mystery. Every man swears by his experience. Every man believes that he is always right. So we must look away from men and deal with our hearts in severe desperation. No one exalts the Lord in the highest sense who treats sin as if it was not an attack upon his neighbor. As I have been saying that applying the gospel is the opposite of how we applied the truth in our former lives. We experience sin by the weight of the violence that is put upon us. And we cast it off by the perfect righteousness that is imputed to us.

Ps 63 3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
This Psalm teaches that everyone is described in the world on the level they understand knowledge in comparison to Gods word. What we do not know is our blindness to escape the mold of our culture. God has determined from before the world began everything that exist. He has described it in completeness beyond our ability to understand. This is why the apostle prays that we might not be taken captive ..Col 2 .8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." and Eph 1 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe." The apostle is comparing knowledge that we obtain by our own control and is always subject under the constraints of our faith and on the other hand in Ephs he says that we might know these things that we cannot understand. We are seeking something that is beyond our ability to grasp by our natural thinking process. This is what the Psalmist is saying here "Because your love is better than life," The Psalmist is saying that when he experiences this mysterious effect in the blessing and the cursing coming together there ceases to be tension. In other words we are seeking things that we cannot completely understand so that we entertain things that we cannot explain.
But the Psalmist tries to compare the experience like feasting on the kings table. Eph 1 5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you." He is saying that God condescends to us in a communication that draws us to Himself. God has created us with the full knowledge of what motivates us. This is the teaching of the Psalmist that God searches our hearts. He searches our hearts through word and Spirit. God has made the move toward us in Christ. He has succeeded as a Man in who enjoyed complete oneness with the Father in His incarnation. The communication between the Father and the Son united heaven and earth by each word that was spoken in the Trinitarian relationship. This communication was the perfect description of all things that existed that was planned in eternity past. The the Psalmist speaks about Gods control over all things it is in the context that God speaks everything into existence. In this sense Christ was in complete control of everything that came into existence in understanding it by the His eternal knowledge as He walked on this earth. As God He did not lack any understanding of the smallest particles that exist throughout the history of the world.
But we are dependent upon Gods word for our spiritual understanding. We need the same communication that Christ enjoyed as a Man in order to be united with the Father. This is why" in Christ" we share in the unity of the Trinity. In Christ high priestly prayer... He prayed....Jn 17 20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." Christ is praying that this unity which is beyond our understanding might be in us. This is why we believe that the communication of the Father is tied together in the whole counsel of God.Deu 4 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you". Moses is saying that we cannot separate the words of scripture. Even if they were not printed on a page they would still be connect throughout all eternity as God spoke them. Even tho we have a vehicle to understand the words of scripture it is not necessary in order for God to bring everything to its end. To rest in Gods absolutely sovereign is to trust that He alone accomplishes the ends of all things beyond the written word from His eternal counsel. In other words we can trust that God has spoken everything in detail that is given to us in the simplicity in baby talk that is enough to be one with the Father as the Father and the Son are one.
We have all that we need in the Father speaking to us in order for us to experience His power and success. He has drawn near to us through speaking His covenants. He has met our needs by speaking His decrees. He has given us protection by speaking His curses. He has established a successful way for us to prosper in this world by speaking His law. He has unified us in this new kingdom by speaking His statutes. He has created the world and become the governor of all things. He has created man and gifted him with His governing abilities. The law, covenants, curses , promises and statutes are God spoken way of creating and sustaining all things. God establishes His authority over all things by acting according to His word. He acts by speaking everything into existence. He establishes His sovereignty over all things in pronouncing the His word.
He has given us a communication that draws us to Himself. The phrases of the law, covenants, etc are the final spoken word of God that overrules all of mans decisions. Now listen. Every man is gifted with the ability to chose for himself what he enjoys the most. But God overrules these decisions ie...in the context of the curse and the blessing. God overrules every decision by creating the image that men view as the reality of other men. His word...covenant..etc cannot be re imaged. His elect live in a world where His word unities everything through renewing us and all things into the image of Christ who has put all things under His feet.The phrases of the covenants, laws etc are the outline of the full communication of God over all things. We are filled with the fullness of God in the communicative sense by one word being the spirit of all the words.

Ps 127 2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat-
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

In my opinion the first part of the Psalm is a curse in direct contrast to the second part which is "he grants sleep to those he loves"..which is the promised blessing. In this Psalm he is describing the care that God has for His covenant people in the midst of the humanistic ideal..which is to conclude that work is mans judgement. The principle is that God uses evil men to provide the nation who work 7 days a week, because they worship this world. We as Gods people push this view away.
The Psalmist is practicing pushing the cursed humanist away. In pushing it away he is establishing his success. This act of pushing the curse away by pronouncing the end of humanism is the defense that proceeds the use of weapons in war. This is why he says that unless the Lord builds the house....or unless Gods law is established in building the world by through the nation of Israel then the world would be humanistic.
When the Psalmist goes on to describe relationships in the family , he is saying that the curse against humanism will be the enforcement to simplify the family. Instead of the military being defined by public identity they will be defined by family origins. This involves the proper education of the children. So the teaching is that if we pronounce the curse against humanism then we will propagate children who defend the family values as the motive for fighting against the nations. The terrible effects of the curse are fueled by a very strong temptation to go outside of Gods law that simplifies and prevents humanism from being present from one generation to another. In this sense the success of the military in cursing the nations in war is spreading life on the earth.

Ps 58 1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
Do you judge uprightly among men?
2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;
from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
however skillful the enchanter may be.
The bible teaches that God cannot share His glory with any man. Gods law is absolute. He never judges on a sliding scale. The reason that God must judge according to His standard is because any small departure from His law is like having a foreign bacteria that grows in the body of a person until he is dead. So God must pronounce death to anyone who violates one of His laws. Just like the small virus kills the body so one small departure from Gods law is a point of departure from the perfect unity that Gods law requires in mans relationships. The one small departure introduces the virus that causes the proliferation of guilt , shame and fear in society.
Gods law is not just a constraint upon men. But its a protection that prevents disunity. If every man was able to be compliant with all of Gods laws then the earth would be totally unified. The awful threat of disunity is the introduction of the virus of shame and guilt. If there were no presence of shame and guilt then every one would be unified in supporting the success of all men in the most pleasurable and appreciative environment. In other words when man sinned in the garden, he experienced the process of degeneration. Before the presence of sin , man had no opposition and no weight that prevented him from achieving the highest success with the most rewarding experiences. So the presence of shame, guilt and fear were the consequences of sin that could not be eliminated in experiencing the perfect unity of Gods law in society. No matter how hard and persistent man tried to eliminate guilt fear and shame he was crushed under the weight of the presence in society.
This is why God had to provide man with an antibiotic in order to be freed from the dominance and the sorrow of the terrible presence of guilt, shame and fear. God had to send His Son so that when He was hanging on the cross , He had to be the object that was cursed. The picture of Christ on the cross that is painted and hung on a wall is the same as light to a vampire. Christ on that cross represented all the effects of anything that causes destruction to exist in the world and creation. It was the representation of man being dethroned from his original position as Gods co heir. There are destructive things in this world that we avoid for our own welfare. In this sense if Christ had remained on that cross then the presence of that painting on the wall would curse everything that exist. But when Christ came down from that cross and restored to His original position as the eternal Son of God and King, then the curse of the law no longer put a pox on our lives. The empty cross was the voice of the curse on our behalf that united us with with Christ so that we could be totally free from guilt, shame, and fear. Now just like the stake was used to destroy the vampire so our identity with Christ destroys the effects of the curse.
This is why God speaks so strong against evil rulers. Because as the power of man rises so the proliferation of the curse increases. This is why the Psalmist compares evil rulers to serpents. The only hope of being freed from the effects of the curse that prevent us from achieving our highest abilities on this earth is God pronouncing death on all destructive opposition. True freedom is to kill all destructive opposition in the death of Christ. Biblical freedom is described as salvation or deliverance. Its not how we obey the law but its how we put to death the corruption that exist in us and in society in the pronouncement of death. We are totally free in Christ by being identified in His death and resurrection.

Before we obtained grace we were under our school master of the law through being alienated from God. All of our possessions were obtained by our own sweat. All of our enemies were from within. We were motivated by guilt, shame , fear, and sorrow. Our motives were divided between feeling sorrow for ourselves and gaining respect through aggression. All of our confidence was in having a group of people who followed us. We believed that we could prolong our lives through some outward behavior.
But when we obtained grace all of these things got reversed. Now sin becomes our friend because God has taken care of it and pity's us as weak and in need of His strength. We no longer have divided allegiances,...we no longer have enemies from within...all of our enemies are without...we no longer are motivated by guilt, fear, shame or sorrow. But because God has justified us in Christ we now become a kingdom that cannot be thwarted. Our problems no longer come from some deep rooted evil agenda.. (dont confuse this with my writing about brain injuries... I have a living ..walking example in my son of every form of mental illness as a result of a brain that is not normal) but we wrestle with people who want to define us in an evil way. All of our confidence is in God alone since we have been implanted with the seed of His word .. or the creative power of God to overcome all opposition. We put our trust in Gods sovereign hand that the length of our lives are under His care. This is why grace is so important.

Experiencing the nearness of God is taught in the example of how God dealt with Israel. We are not an island unto ourselves. Every thing that we experience in this life is in the context of government. When God created the earth He gave man the responsibility to rule His creation. This is why He gave each man the governing ability by writing His law on their hearts. But God also allowed man to unite as a nation to govern the earth. One government cannot be overthrown. It is Gods government that is established through His covenants, laws, decrees, and curses. It is an absolute rule over all creation through His chosen people. But the earthly governments are under the judgement of God.

There is never a time where God will establish a nation that can oppose Him by their united efforts. Just as God dispersed the human race in the tower of babel so He establishes His curses on the earth in turning earthly governments upside down. God will not share His glory with any man...or God will not suffer any other gods. Even tho He addresses the rulers of the earth as gods, yet God never accepts mans abusive authority. The worse curses are spoken against the highest authorities. The principle is ..as a man rises up the ladder of success he must be the lowest of everyone. The active opposition of God is always greater from the top down.
When the world sinks into depravity then Gods people experience the same effects as Israel being dispersed among the nations. In other words they lose the enjoyment of being protected by the law of God so that they can be the most successful. The declension is a process by which they experience the violation of their rights and protections under Gods law. This means that they are abused like slaves. There is no excuse for any abuse. This is why God gave Israel the curses. When they glory in the curses as a result of the abusive circumstances of their slavery they store up wrath against their abusers for the day of judgement. In glorying in the curses they are saved from their anger and distress. We must always rest in the curses because we could be molded by the abuse and become a stumbling block in our self protection. The greatest experience of unity on this earth in our occupation is to have Gods law rule our society. Then no one will be opposing our highest purpose.

Ps 33 12 13
13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
This Psalm is describing the relationship that God has with His chosen people within the nation of Israel. In describing the governing extent that God exercises over all nations the Psalmist always begins by comparing it with Gods original work in creation. He is saying that Gods word was completely successful in designing the creation and upholding it. This same sovereign God who spoke all things into existence was the same God who gave His elect His covenants. 4 For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does". 6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth." The Psalmist is teaching that God ordains whatsoever comes to pass in eternity past. He determines the purpose of every one and thing that exist that include thoughts and actions. 13 From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do."
This means that all reality is spoken from eternity past and is worked out through His laws, covenants, statutes, promises and curses. Here the king is declaring sovereign ruler-ship over the nations by the absolute power of the curse that surrounds the blessed state of Gods elect.12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD ,the people he chose for his inheritance." When the Psalmist teaches that Gods people are blessed in the inheritance he is not only talking about the gift of the land , but the Psalmist is talking about the state of grace that they enjoy. The Psalmist is saying that the elect are marked with blessing in Gods absolute authority to over rule all decisions and words that redefine Gods work.The words of the Psalms in blessing and cursing over rule all events in time. 16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;despite all its great strength it cannot save". 18 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so that they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.
39 You armed me with strength for battle;
you made my adversaries bow at my feet.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them-
to the LORD , but he did not answer.
42 I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind;
I poured them out like mud in the streets". The Psalmist Is describing the context of God as our "Rock". He is not necessarily talking about his ability in a physical war. He is talking about the ability of Gods people to make war through His word! 18 30 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. This is borrowed from Ps.12 And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times."
In Psalm 12 he is comparing Gods work in speaking all things into existence with Gods word and Spirit as the authority that allows and prevents through His pronounced blessing and cursing. The context of the flawless nature of the "word" is in reality of allowing and preventing through the blessing and cursing. God has made His elect like Himself. In our response to the events of this world the fire of Gods blessing and cursing consumes our success and anger in Gods overcoming all opposition. We are not under the constraints of a process but we are bringing Gods eternal government to bear on this earth through word and Spirit. We speak eternal things.