Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
² the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
³ The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.^[b]

⁴ As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
⁵ My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶ And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
⁷ All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.

⁸ They say, “A deadly thing is poured out^[e] on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
⁹ Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
¹⁰ But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!

¹¹ By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
¹² But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.

¹³ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

1) Who wrote this psalm and why is that significant?
This psalm is attributed to King David and is significant because David was used by God as a “type” of Christ. This means that God used David’s life to foreshadow Christ’s coming in many ways as well as to use David as an example of what Christ would be like. Because of this, we look carefully at Davidic psalms to see how they point forward towards Jesus’s time on earth and even beyond to His return!

2) What is the overarching theme of this psalm?
Nearly every psalm showcases the character of God from different perspectives and this one does exactly that by illuminating God’s eternal, all-powerful victory. The Lord is shown to be victorious and hold all power over trouble, sickness, death, enemies, and even sin itself.

3) In what ways does this psalm foreshadow Christ?
Prophetic Scripture refers directly to a future event. Foreshadowing, on the other hand, is where a current event “mirrors” or “points forward” to an event that has similar wording and meaning in the future, and usually will have a much fuller significance in the future as well. In the case of this psalm, the poor were originally exactly that, the financially poor. David saw God did not disregard them, even though society had made them obscure. In the New Testament, we see the “poor” as being those who are stuck in their sin with no hope of ransom without Jesus Christ. “The Lord protects them and keeps them alive” is a reference to salvation, as He rescues us from “the will of enemies (Satan)”. (see also verses 11-12)

4) Are there any prophecies in this psalm?
Yes! Verses 8-10 are ripe with prophecies! “A deadly thing is poured out on him, he will not rise again from where he lies” is what the Enemy says over Jesus. The deadly thing being our sin poured out on Jesus at the cross. Satan’s lie is that Jesus wouldn’t be able to “rise again.” Verse 9 refers to Jesus at the Last Supper where he shares bread with Judas who would betray him to the Romans. Verses 10-13 ring with triumph as Jesus entrusts Himself to the Father to raise Him up and claim eternal victory over sin and death!

1) Who wrote this psalm and why is that significant?
Though the Bible was written over a span of 1,500 years and composed by 40 different authors in different time periods, it is still amazingly singular in theme and purpose and is incredibly accurate. Approximately 2,500 prophecies appear in the Bible, of which about 2,000 have been fulfilled 100% accurately, while the remaining 500 are considered still to be futuristic from current day. When we consider these astounding facts, it’s no wonder that God would be able to use David to showcase His future glory!

2) What is the overarching theme of this psalm?
In just 13 verses we see God’s living character in a way that we are desperate for in our regular, everyday lives. How do these truths impact your day, your relationships, responsibilities, and weaknesses? Our God is not one who is far away, watching us struggle from a distance! His power is here and available to us as we cast ourselves upon Him!

3) In what ways does this psalm foreshadow Christ?
If you haven’t been a Bible student for long, you can still easily study and learn to recognize prophecies from the Old Testament without much difficulty. Remember that any time you study God’s Word a little deeper, you will be rewarded! To look for prophecies, you can first look at the various cross-references that are referred to in a passage to see where else they point in Scripture. Another excellent resource is studylight.org where you can enter your verse, click “study tools”, and then read a few commentaries. (we recommend John Gill’s Exposition and Matthew Henry’s Complete)

4) Are there any prophecies in this psalm?
The Old Testament is so incredibly rich with deep treasures to seek out as they shine beautifully onto New Testament truths. Often our understanding of things we thought we fully understood about the Bible or Jesus take new depth as we learn new insights about the character of God! Take time to dig a little deeper next time you pick up your Bible. Remember that it isn’t an old, dusty book, its truths are living and active and ready to be applied to your everyday life!

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
Sign up to receive every Journey Study!

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Passionate!