The Holy Psalms of David
Psalm 3 ~ for Jews, Muslims and Christians
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Even King David, inspired by Y’aweh/ Allah/ God to write down the Psalms for the Book of God, was not sinless. In fact no prophet (other than the Messiah) has ever been sinless. This is not to say they were living in known disobedience to God. Rather it means they were always open to the possibility of selfishness and lack of submission to God. Hence tradition says Muhammad prayed many times each day for Allah to forgive his sins. Equally king David sinned badly on one particular occasion recorded for us in the Book of God. He committed adultery and then murdered his lover’s husband. Even though David repented and sought Allah’s forgiveness, Allah punished him for it. One of the punishments was that his oldest son Absalom rebelled against him and David had to flee for his life. Psalm 3 is written at this time for our comfort.

‘O lord so many are against me. So many seek to harm me. So many say Allah will never help me[1]. But Lord you are my shield, my glory, and my only hope. You alone can lift my head now bowed in shame.’

This teaches us that (as the Ingel/New Testament) says, ‘All those to call upon the Name[2] of the Lord (His Messiah) shall be saved’.

Even before the coming of the Messiah, it was possible to call on the Name of the Lord and the Psalm ends with the words, ‘I cried out to the Lord, and he heard me from his Temple in Jerusalem. Then I lay down and slept and woke up safely, for the Lord was watching over me. And now …I am not afraid. For salvation comes from Allah. What joys he gives to all his people.’

footnotes
[1] Because David had sinned, his enemies thought he could not be forgiven by God and that God’s punishments would have no limit. They were wrong!

[2] The context here implies that the Name of the Lord is synonymous with the authority and power invested by Allah in his Messiah.

The Holy Psalms of David
Psalm Two ~ for Jews, Muslims and Christians
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Jews, Muslims and Christians will all unite to proclaim,
“Great is the Lord God and greatly to be praised!” (Psalm 146 v 1)

Psalm 2 commences with the words, ‘What fools the nations are to rage against the Lord God! How strange that men should try to outwit God! For a summit conference of the nations has been called to plot against the Lord God, and his Anointed Messiah. “Come let us break his chains,” they say, “and free ourselves from all this slavery to God.” But God in heaven merely laughs!’

This prophesy has yet to be completely fulfilled, however we have seen in the last century and this, various communist governments in unity organising and driving their populations to free themselves of all vestiges of Almighty God, and to proclaim instead atheistic humanism (e.g., the common anti-God policies of the former USSR countries).

Note the Book says that Allah has an ‘Anointed Messiah’. Although Jews, Muslims & Christians accept this concept, it is only the Muslims and Christians that acknowledge that this person is none other than Jesus of Nazareth.

Psalm 2 continues, ‘The Lord God declares, “This is the Ruler of my choice, and I have enthroned him in Jerusalem, my holy city.’ His chosen one replies, “I will reveal the everlasting purposes of God, for the Lord has said to me, ‘You are my Son[1]. This is your coronation day. Today I am giving you your glory.’” “Only ask and I will give you all the nations of the world….’

This Psalm of David (which according to the Qu’ran is part of God’s Word) is a particular problem for Muslims. It would seem that the prophet Mohammed in later years came to believe that Christians were proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God in the limited sense of the eternal God having sexual intercourse with Mary (in the same way that the Greek gods had sexual intercourse with humans. Such an idea is & was an anathema to both Christians & Jews). Such thoughts do not come from the Book of God.

In Psalm 2 David is in fact proclaiming that the Christ (i.e., Messiah) will be Allah’s Anointed spiritual ruler and, as other parts of God’s Book reveal, that this Appointment was not to be just for his life on earth, but for all of time until the Day of Judgement. Thus the Messiah would come as a Jew and live for the perfect glory of God (sinless in the way no other prophet or anointed person has or will ever be) and return to sit at Allah’s hand of power in order to effect Allah’s purposes of salvation for all who truly submit.

This one and only Messiah, appointed by God Almighty for all of time, is in fact God’s Word become flesh. Muslims and Christians acknowledge this in the person of Jesus Christ. This ‘Word become flesh’ is God’s Way of enabling us fallible mortals (made in God’s image, but fatally flawed in our complete inability to live for God’s glory) to begin to live to please Him, and to show that by loving all mankind including, as Jesus did, our enemies[2].

Psalm 2 concludes, ‘Oh kings and rulers of the earth, listen while there is time. Serve the Lord with reverent fear; rejoice with trembling. Fall down before his Son and kiss his feet before his anger is roused and you perish… But oh, the joys of those who put their trust in him!’

If the rulers of this earth are advised to submit to Allah’s Messiah, do you not suppose that the earth’s peoples are also advised to submit before it is too late? This submission to the Lordship of Allah’s Messiah is enjoined on Christians as on Muslims, Jews and all who hear the message of God’s Book. We all need to submit to God’s Messiah, for he is the means that God has chosen to save us from the natural corruption of mankind and to bring those who submit to heaven.

footnotes
[1] The term Son used here the ancient Middle Eastern usage by an Emperor referring to a vassal king

[2] I have heard a Muslim publicly proclaim that he is not a Christian and so is not called to love his enemies, but rather, ‘as a Muslim’ he repays them double for every insult or injustice they may have done to him (whether meant to or not). Such an attitude, I would suggest does not come from a godly man, but rather from a proud man who has no love for Allah in him. Nor do I understand this to be a tenable position in Islam.

The Holy Psalms of David
Psalm One ~ for Jews, Muslims and Christians.
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“Oh the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God (Yahweh/ Allah/ Almighty God): but they delight in doing everything that GOD wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely.”

Thus does the first Psalm of David start in GOD’s Book (described by the prophet Muhammad in the Qur'an as ‘The Book’[1] and by Christians as ‘The Bible’). And Jews, Muslims & Christians all echo the truth of these words and claim that they define a devout man or woman of their particular faith.

The laws of GOD, which David speaks of here, are in fact the first five books of the Bible, the Jewish Scriptures, but which Muslims & Christians have also adopted as part of the ‘Word of Allah’. These five books are not just the laws given to Moses for Israel, but are also the story of Creation, Abraham and the patriarchs, as well as the story of GOD bringing the Israelites miraculously out of Egypt and enabling them to possess the ‘promised land’. Again these ‘laws’ will have different, but vital meaning for Jews, Muslims and Christians.

David continues, “They are like trees along a river bank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper.” Here the man of GOD declares that the truly devout give out healing, refreshment and joy to those around them. This ‘fruit’ comes from GOD’s Spirit working within them, regardless of the ‘seasons’ of their lives. David is saying that ‘godliness’ does not wither under the circumstances of life, but draws water from GOD’s Word.

The first Psalm ends with the words, “But for sinners, what a different story! They blow away like chaff (i.e., dried/ burnt up) before the wind. They are not safe on Judgement Day; they shall not stand among the Godly. For the Lord (Allah) watches over all the plans and paths of Godly men, but the paths of the godless lead to doom.”

Again all devout Jews, Muslims and Christians echo the truth of these words. The pity is that many Jews, Muslims and Christians will deny this truth about all faiths other than their own! Although the Old Testament clearly teaches that Godly Gentiles are acceptable to Yahweh, there have been Jews who have persecuted them. And although the New Testament teaches that some who have never heard of Christ will be saved, many Christians have not believed this. And although the Qur’an clearly teaches that Christians and Jews who follow the Book are acceptable to Allah, many Muslims are not willing to face this and traditions have negated the truth of this Quranic text.

As for the Laws of GOD, they show up how desperately we all need GOD’s enabling power to live by, for, as GOD’s prophet Paul proclaimed, “ALL have sinned and fallen short of the standard that GOD’s eternal glory demands.” (The Book, Romans 3v 23)


footnote[1] Some traditions of Islam negate this Qu’ranic text, by claiming that The Book referred to in the Qur'an is no longer the Bible, but is a Book held in heaven. This is an attempt to explain away some of the vital discrepancies between the Bible and the Qur’an. At the time Muhammad first recited the early Surahs, it could be that he was personally unaware of these discrepancies. It is only in later years or centuries that Islamic Tradition introduced these explanations. Muslims claim that the Qur’an provides the divinely corrected version of The Book, hence such Muslims teach their adherents not to read the Bible (even though this was advised by Muhammad himself)