Ps 31 4 Free me from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O LORD , the God of truth."

In Psalm 1 the Psalmist sets the counsel of the wicked apart from meditating on the this book. In our culture we seek counsel in order to make wise decisions and to overcome our problems. Our motto is to take what is dealt to us as our starting point. Our natural way of thinking is to plan our lives and to discipline ourselves so that we are able to perform at our best in our different occupations. But this is not the counsel the Psalmist is describing from in his life of meditation.
In old testament poetry our lives in the time sequence are described as walking down a narrow path. The way that we make plans is by creating. The counsel of the Psalms is only real by meditation. In other words the Psalms are written to apply the gospel to our lives. Our assurance of knowing that we will have all of our needs met is speaking the promise in pronouncements and speaking the words of assurance that the Psalmist has written. In other words we are not getting knowledge in order to make wise decisions but we are always going from the valley to the mountain and back to the valley again.There is a time of struggle and preparation in order to prepare for the mountain. All Hebrew poetry that is spoken by meditation will create the future circumstances.
Hebrew poetry in meditation creates the desire to create the future of our lives. The Psalms describe all the circumstances of life and the all people who are in this world. Its hard for us in our natural way of thinking to believe that our view of the world and people are the image we create in our own minds. Every person has their own view of reality. So we need more than a knowledge by study. We need to recreate our images so that our view matches the narrow path that we walk on. All views come from self deception and result in a faulty view of the danger and the value of the things and people in this world. The bible calls this our natural dullness to spiritual things.
Hebrew poetry redefines all personalities and all images of creation. We must understand that God orders our lives with unfathomable detail. Our natural tendency is to trust in our view as we plan our future. But Hebrew poetry is written to expand our view. It is written in the way that God recreates our lives in a very simplistic form. We meditate on the outline of the unfathomable detail as God views our future. It does not matter how long we go through preparation. Because the preparation of one generation affects the next generation. We never stop preparing our future until we reach the mountain.

 Ps 140 8 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD ;

in you I take refuge-do not give me over to death.

9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,

from the traps set by evildoers.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I pass by in safety.

The Psalmist is offering his troubles up to God as a meal offering of the evening sacrifice. He is reasoning with God that the dangers that he faces are life threatening. He is arguing that placing his life in Gods hands is as valuable as offering God a sacrifice or meal offering. The apostle says that we face many trials in this life. These trials are given by God to strengthen our faith. But because we live in a fallen world in which Satan works against us we are susceptible to being harmed for life. The Psalmist describes this throughout the Psalms as a trap set by the wicked. The Psalms are not really a counseling book. They are not just written to pass on encouragement. These Psalms are more than encouragements for Gods elect. They are written in pronouncements and cries in order to direct us in a way to avoid the trap or the wound that will scar us for life. The Psalms are prayers and pleas for God in order for us to go from one deliverance to another. Just like the Psalmist faced death in the heat of the battle he was comparing the wars of Israel with the daily responsibilities of public life.We are taught in Psalms 1 that if we do not meditate on the law, covenants, curses, statutes, promises and decrees that we will be drawn away by the counsel of the wicked, into the path of the wicked and eventually be comfortable sitting in the seat of scoffers. These Psalms are given in order for us to know ourselves and God.

The Psalmist is teaching here that he avoids speaking words that create the culture will ultimate trap Gods people by daily approaching God in the words of the law, covenant etc. This is why he says set a guard over my mouth." He is saying that the words that spoken in this world create the culture of danger that will trap Gods elect. You see this if in how the world treats the handicap. You see God turns the world upside down in order to focus on the weak and helpless. We naturally think the world is run by the activity and the work of men. But the Psalms teach us that the real world is a war of desires. It is a creation of God that is opposed to the desires of the wicked. Every man is who he is by the images that he creates. This why the Psalmist prays about facing the potential traps as desires of

he wicked. Every man is who he is by the images that he creates. This why the Psalmist prays about facing the potential traps as desires of the wicked." do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud". So the Psalms are pronouncements that create the world through righteous desires. The Psalmist is teaching that the prayers offered to God in these pronouncements are the way that he communicates. They save him from the words that spoken in the world that create traps for the helpless.

Ps 143 2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you."
The Psalmist is teaching that God judges every man. The only way to escape Gods judgement is through imputed righteousness. But when God gave the covenant of grace, His elect were required to show evidence by obedience. And yet we are taught that there is no man who meets the standard that is required by the law for man to be acceptable. But if Gods elect were required to obey and yet were unable to meet the standard in order to be intrinsically righteous then to have confidence in human effort would be inconsistent with the true reality of the standard of the law.
All communication can only be real when it rises up to the true standard of the law. Any thing that we know, desire and act upon must be done in the full context of the truth. This is impossible for a sinner to be in perfect alignment with real reality because only God rises up to the true standard of the law and is able to make absolute judgements. This is why God had to give us the true standard of the law by imputing His righteousness to us.
But at the same time God required His people to make an oath that they would obey the entire law. You find this in Ps 7 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands-
4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me
or without cause have robbed my foe-
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust.
Selah And yet this oath is so often taken out of context. The Psalmist is not arguing that he escapes the judgement of God for each sin in swearing to be obedient. The guilt here that he is describing is abandoning the faith. Throughout the Psalms we find that the sin of the wicked is the same as doing violence to God and His elect. The violence the Psalmist is talking about is in the context of being at enmity with God. He is actually building a case in order to move God to show kindness by upholding His promises in the covenant.7 10 My shield is God Most High,who saves the upright in heart." You see the proof of imputed righteousness is based upon our confidence of receiving the blessing of God because all sin is under the judgement of God in the sense that our disobedience is under the scrutiny of God just as the wicked mans disobedience. In comparing the sin of the wicked with his sin, he is abandoning his confidence that he has escaped Gods judgement because of his own ability. He is simply acknowledging that he is a covenant keeper because he understands that he is a sinner. The wicked man has not been gifted with this saving knowledge. These are the reflexive pronouncements that express a dependent seal upon our oath. The Holy Spirit who is our advocate....."may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.143 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.
Because the natural man is blind to his own sin, he is at enmity with God and he is at war with Gods elect.143 6 Arise, O LORD , in your anger;rise up against the rage of my enemies.Awake, my God; decree justice. The Psalmist is actually upholding Gods law by repeating what the law says about the wicked.7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you.Rule over them from on high; The wicked violate Gods peaceful kingdom and they rob God. Because Gods elect have the gift of the knowledge of their own sin they can argue for God to show Himself faithful to His covenant because they are protected from being condemned for sin as long as the wicked who are far worse are in the world opposing Gods people and His kingdom. Ps 143 2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,for no one living is righteous before you."

1 Sam 810 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king."

The creation ordinance established Gods word as a creative government over the earth. Before the fall there was nothing preventing Gods word from successfully establishing the order of the earth through man. God had written His law on each mans heart. Each man was created to be his own government. Gods decree for man to rule over the earth was established in a succession of decrees as man named the animals, successfully exercising his authority over the creation. Every man was his own king as he was able to act according to the law.

But when sin entered God had to curse sin and corruption in order to reestablish the authority of man over creation. In other words the opposition of sin and corruption that threatened Gods original government had to be overcome. He gave man the ability to destroy all of his opposition in the curse of the law. The curse of the law as not just given as a way to destroy but it also constrained Gods elect. In Gods government all of creation must be enable by God to bring in the culture of the Gods kingdom. So man was given the pronouncements of the law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises in order to act as kings to recreate the kingdom of God on this earth. Gods kingdom must be established through word.

So when the people wanted an earthly king they were rejecting the way of the creative pronouncements. All of creation exist by God pronouncing them into existence. All of the things of creation are imaged by the perfect creative pronouncements. So when the people wanted an earthly king they were creating a false image. This is why God said they want a king because they 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.God had created man to express his authority over creation with the upmost freedom. But man wanted to be put in bondage.

Ps 33 9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations."

The Psalmist teaches that all reality is governed by Gods law. God orders time by speaking it into existence. He governs time with perfect justice and equity. One word that is spoken is a description of a lawful reason of its existence. So he is teaching that when God speaks the creation into existence it is the same thing as commanding a perfect response of that thing. We say that God gives the ability to obey His commands.

We must understand that God works in ordering all things according to His knowledge and power. The gulf that exist between our knowledge and Gods, demands that we must seek Him for the ability to rest in His sovereignty. We are totally dependent upon God. The Psalmist compares this perfect order of God to salvation or deliverance. You will find in the OT narrative that Gods commands to His remnant are followed by a decree that they will do what He commands. The apostle teaches that our works are created by God in His eternal counsel.

Gods order in creation is the witness of His swearing to His own hurt if He does not uphold His covenants. All real reality is the order of Gods perfect word. So the Psalmist describes the creation as a continuous communication of Gods perfect law. It is the evidence of Gods commands being spoken in law, covenants, curses, statutes, decrees and promises. The Psalmist expresses his dependency on God in pronouncing the law, covenants etc. Just as God speaks the creation into existence so we must flee from self confidence by showing our dependence upon Gods pronouncements.

God requires perfect obedience to His commands. When God created all things He perfected the end for which they were created. Just like we can depend upon the foundation of Gods perfect order in the working of creation so we can be completely confident on Gods perfect law of liberty that dwells in us. The reason that God cannot share His work with any man is because God is the only one who controls life and death. In this way we are not depending upon God as if He were rationing out His strength. But we must flee from ourselves by pronouncing the blessings in growing up and the curses in growing down. We can only be confident in the gifts of Gods love, peace, etc in the defense of the curses and the success of the blessings. So the Psalmist expressions of his heart in praise, thankfulness, victory, and glory are founded upon the practice of speaking all the pronouncements. In other words his expression of praise come from the holistic use of the pronouncement's that contain the recreation.

Ps 4 4 In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD .

The Psalmist is teaching that we can approach God when we are angry. The question is it good for Gods elect to have a general attitude of anger as a result of being miss treated in the world? Should we be more concerned for examining our sin or see the importance of dealing with our anger on a daily basis?

The Psalmist starts the Psalms teaching us the entire world is in darkness and Gods word is the only means to light our way. In Psalm 2 , he teaches that Gods judgements are not delayed. God is absolutely just at all times. His blessing and curses cannot be thwarted. Gods line of justice is always the same. Psalm 3 he teaches us that we will face an insurmountable army as we live from day to day. He is teaching that we should not be surprise when we look at the circumstances in our lives and feel like we are facing an opposition as if we were ready for war and the opposition we face made us fear for our lives. Then here in Psalm 4 he is teaching us that we live in a world in which men scheme against Gods creative order. We are always facing the miss representation of our plans to do good. We are always being forced in an evil prophecy about us and about our purposes. It is interesting that the Psalmist teaches us how to deal with our anger before Psalm 5 in how to deal with our guilt.

So we see in the opening of the Psalms he is showing that we must approach God throughout every day in order to deal with personal attitudes. We cannot allow these attitudes of sloth, lack of faith, having no hope, being hardened by anger and guilt to flourish from one day to the next . We must apply these Psalms so that we will not allow ourselves to be hardened. In this Psalm he is teaching us the importance of knowing the evil scheme that we are always facing and rolling over to God.

In Psalm 2 we are taught that the world is controlled by Gods kingdom principles. Man cannot opposes the kingdom of God because God judges all things in life and death judgements. In this Psalm God is the Elohim...creates the re ordering of all things and has revealed them in Christ. When we are saved we are set apart from the world by grace. In Psalm 3 he describes our opposition in the world, but in 4 he is describing our inward opposition. He is saying that all communication is a war between a world where man returns to his original purpose of enjoying the gifts of God. God is reordering our view by teaching us the prophecy of blessing. But wicked men devise schemes that oppose our view of a good God. He is teaching us that we must discern the schemes and we must be aware of our reaction of anger in facing the opposition. We must deal with our anger before it hardens us.

We approach God with the law, covenants, curses, etc on our lips. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord. Here trusting is "confiding in" so as to be secure. Gods word is the basis of our trust as we speak the gifts. When the Psalmist offers a sacrifice he is approaching God according to his present disposition . The Psalmist sacrifices with a overflowing joy, and enlarged view of God, a confession in a covenant, when he is in danger, and in this Psalm he is dealing with anger. This is a picture of substitution by death. It pleased God to punish Christ who destroyed all corrupt opposition. The substitutionary work of Christ is that by which we can role all our troubles both inward and outward over to God.

Are the Psalms connected?
Any teaching in the scripture including the narratives are Theological and Systematic. Even tho the Psalms are written in the different circumstances of the Psalmist yet the teaching of Doctrines of grace are consistently used in their application to the circumstances. The scripture should never be separated from the daily practical experiences in ones life. The question is , Did God simply react to the occupation of the king or did He decree from eternity past that the doctrines of God would come in the mode of conquest? Is Gods covenant limited to the activity of the church or is it unlimited in its application to the all of creation?
The first term of the doctrine that defines the condition of man and the creation after the fall is sin. Is the context of sin put in the mode of conquest? You will see that the teaching of sin is along side of the violence that permeates society. Sin is an offense toward God that is always applied horizontally. Ps 7 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands-
4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me
or without cause have robbed my foe-
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust." compare ..9 O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.
David is teaching about a specific sin and guilt not the daily sins of Gods elect. In this context the "sin" is speaking and acting as an enemy of the kingdom. Essentially it is a traitor to the covenant. When we are saved we enter into a bond with God. This bond is a swearing upon our own hurt. But we are not perfect. But God also swears to uphold His covenant on our behalf. So you have a guilty party swearing to their own hurt and the perfect party demanding perfect obedience. This creates desperation in the guilty party. The only answer to the condition of our hopelessness is the application of death or the curse.
Adam enjoyed this unopposed bond with God in the garden. The power of man in exercising his control over the creation was unlimited. Thought was followed by desire that resulted in action that was unopposed. But when man sinned , he was plagued with the inability to overcome sin and corruption. But mans desire to control the creation brought about the self destruction of living in contradiction. Man was completely divided. The Psalms teach that man in the garden was filled with the desire for the glory of God but in the fall man received the hopelessness of the curse. But the curse of God was actually a gift to man. You see the law of God demands absolute obedience upon the threat of death. We could compare this curse of death to a plague of inability in which every gift that was given to man only reminded him of the inability to fulfill his purpose. God had to give man power to overcome sin and corruption. We find that violence in this context is the result of the inability to overcome the curse of corruption. God had to provide man with a curse that gave him the ability to curse the desire to curse God. The traitor to the kingdom is the person who is unable to unite the two parts of the ten commandments.
Sin brought the curse of the law. This means that the laws condemnation was directed toward man. As the law is present in all reality so the curse speaks against the sinner. So God decreed from eternity past to bring to us a representative who would endure the curse in place of His elect who deserved to be under the power of the law and its curses. Christ not only ended the power of the curses but He brought us wholeness by turning the voice of the curses law away from us. If the curses are too powerful for Gods people then they would do violence. But now we have the weapon to kill the desire to curse God. We now direct the curse of the law toward the universal evil that is present in this world. There are two kinds of curses taught in the bible!

Ps 58 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. "

In the scriptures evil rulers are compared to snakes. Because a violation of the constitution is the same thing as producing venom that will kill. So you can picture this Cobra who is being changed by the charmer as he is playing the flute. Well wicked rulers are the Cobras that cannot be changed.

We must understand that as the level of lawlessness increases the greater opposition of violence defines our culture downward. In this way all people are forced to live under the weight of anti social relationships. God says that sin is crooked or changing normal relationships into relating to mankind in an unnatural way. Even the elect are forced to carry the weight of the unnatural violence. This is why generations decline. Because the moral line is moved to a lower standard. In the 50s kids were being disciplined for talking out of turn. Come to the 2000 and we have metal detectors in our schools. In a depraved society the people suffer from Stockholm syndrome. If you could imagine being in a elementary class in the 50s you will experience a lot more acceptance because of the tight constraints in society. You are not in fear because a kid talked out of turn. But in the decline you are faced with threats of physical violence. You are forced to accept others who are practicing detestable sins if you want to get along in society.

The gospel is the only secure communication of true freedom. Because the gospel is a message of life and death. We are all faced with being hardened as we react with anger. So this can develop into a core of rage. Religion can become odd. It can teach us to build up anger. We have been given the most sever emotional reaction in the curses. Because we do not really believe that the smallest offense of the 50s was worthy of death. So the resistance to abuse in the gospel is confronted by the extreme pronouncement of the curses. It turns our the anger upside down. We never can be hardened to the point of rage. This is why God has established the gospel as the standard of true freedom.