Propositions
Recording 839 words of direct quotations from God, the108 verses in Psalms listed in the two tables provide us with some significant theological insight. First and obviously, we note that (1) God has indeed spoken to mankind in normal words that mankind can understand. Verbs that indicate ordinary verbal communication appear several times to introduce the quotations: אמר (’amar, “to say”; 2:7; 12:5; 50:16; 68:22; 90:3; 105:11), דבר (davar, “to speak”; 2:5; 60:6; 89:19; 108:7), קרא (qara’, “to call”; 50:4). David used the noun נְאֻם (ne’um, “declaration”; 110:1) once.
Many of the quotations occur in situations where the psalmist is petitioning or otherwise speaking to God and God enters into a dialogue with him. Thus we may say that (2) God sometimes answers the prayers of saints directly with His word. The so-called “answering oracle”45 occurs in 12:5; 27:8; 32:8–9; 60:6; 108:7–9, and elsewhere. In Psalm 12 David has cried for help, and he gets an answer. In Psalm 27 David says, “hear” (v. 7), and he gets an answer. In Psalm 32 David testifies, “Thou art my hiding place” (v. 7), and the Lord speaks to him.46 In Psalm 60 David says, “save” and “hear” (v. 5b), and God answers! In Psalm 108 David praises Yahweh (v. 3) saying, “Be thou exalted,” and God speaks to him. The significance of this for us is that when we pray to God, we need then to open our Bibles and read, expecting the Holy Spirit to guide us to some verses and illumine our hearts that He is answering or speaking to us from the Scripture.
These direct quotations include cases when (3) God has spoken directly about His plan. In Psalms this is especially the case concerning the Davidic Covenant. Two of the longer quotations contain the specific promises God made to David: 89:19b–37 and 132:11–18, the latter focusing on the Lord’s plans for Zion as “a lamp for David” (v. 17). In Psalm 2 the Lord states His blueprint for the messianic kingdom (vv. 6–9). In 46:10 Yahweh declares His plan to be universally glorified in the earth,47 thus frustrating all His enemies’ conspiracies (v. 6a). That plan God has not hidden from the wicked.
Furthermore, (4) God has spoken directly to the wicked to warn them about the coming judgment. Yahweh communicates to the rebellious kings in wrath (2:5) and informs them that the Messiah will “dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (v. 9b). Psalm 105:15 reports what God said to a pagan king about Abraham (Gen. 20:7). In Psalm 50, where the second and third longest quotes appear, He admonishes His people who have been mistaken about the place of sacrifices (vv. 7–15); then Asaph records what God explicitly said “unto the wicked” (v. 16), and we have 62 words from God that describe their sins and warn of their judgment (being torn to pieces, v. 22). Significantly, God reveals the possibility of deliverance from the coming destruction for a person who repents by changing his way (v. 23).48 In another psalm by Asaph God speaks directly to the boastful wicked (75:4), warning them (v. 5) and declaring His judgment (v. 2). The most alarming statement to the wicked is the one God the Son makes in 101:7–8.
God also has something to say to the saints. (5) The Lord encourages the righteous by directly promising to rescue them. When David prayed for help, he heard God tell him what He would do for the one in need of salvation: “Now I will arise …; I will set him in the safety for which he longs” (12:5b, NASB). David knew the value of that promise because God’s words are “pure” (v. 6).49 The certainty of such promises is enhanced by God’s faithfulness in the past: the Lord testifies directly about how He rescued Israel from Egypt (81:6–7, 10a). God promises deliverance from “the depths of the sea” (68:22) and victory over enemies (v. 23).50 In Psalm 91 after the psalmist reassures the one who trusts in the Lord (vv. 9–11), suddenly God speaks with no introduction to promise delivery in answer to prayer (vv. 14–16).51 Indeed, God proceeds beyond His act of rescuing by pledging that “the horns of the righteous shall be exalted” (75:10b).
Additionally, (6) God has words of instruction for the saints. “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” (32:8). He directly tells them not to harden their hearts as the Israelites did in the wilderness (95:8). On the positive side is the instruction to “wait on the Lord” (27:14).
We could make a further claim that (7) God has something to say to everyone. Psalms presents Him issuing a series of direct invitations. “Seek ye my face” (27:8a). “Be still, and know that I am God” (46:10a). Moses reported God’s sincere bidding: “Return, ye children of men” (90:3b). Each of these are plural imperatives, addressed to all mankind.
New Testament Echoes
In the New Testament we notice cases where the very voice of God was heard on earth. At Christ’s baptism God testified: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). At the Transfiguration the disciples heard that same voice: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matt. 17:5). John 12:28–30 records another case of direct speech from God. Paul affirms that when he cried out to the Lord to request delivery from his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7–8), God spoke to him: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). The book of Hebrews begins with the affirmation that God has indeed spoken to mankind in the past (1:1) and that now He speaks by His Son (v. 2), who is indeed Immanuel, God with us. The Gospel writers claim they have recorded the very words of this Immanuel (hence red-letter editions of the NT). But it is not just the Gospels that record direct quotes from Jesus: we find a number of them in Acts (1:4b–5, 7b–8; 9:4b–6, 11–12, 15–16; 11:16b; 18:9b–10; 20:35c; 22:7b–8, 10b, 18b, 21b; 23:11b; 26:14b–18). Paul quotes Christ a couple of times in his letters (1 Cor. 11:24b–25; 1 Tim. 5:18b).52 Of course, Revelation contains a number of quotations in chapters 1–3 and 22. If we look at all these words of Christ, we will find Him affirming the seven propositions above.
A fitting conclusion to this theme of God’s speaking to mankind is what the psalmist tells the Lord in Psalm 89: “Then You spoke in a vision to Your saints, and You said …” (89:19a, literal translation). This is indeed good news! God chose to converse with sinners. When our first parents sinned, God could have killed them on the spot, but He came and spoke to them. We then have the first proclamation of the gospel (Gen. 3:15).
2
Instruction
God has spoken. When we say that, we naturally think about God’s law delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Hebrew word for “law” is תּוֹרָה (towrah),53 related to a verb (ירה, yarah) that means “to teach” or “to instruct.” As God has spoken to mankind, right from the beginning after creation, He instructed humans about His requirements and blessings (Gen. 1:28–30; 2:16–17). In fact, everything that the Lord has said to mankind could, in a broad sense, be called “instruction.” God’s word is always instructive for both the ungodly and the godly. The verb for instruction (ירה, yarah) appears twice in Psalm 25. The Lord “instructs sinners in the way” (v. 8, NASB), and He “instructs” those who fear Him (v. 12). Psalms has much to say about the Lord’s instruction: over 200 verses treat the subject of God’s word.
When the book of Psalms speaks about God’s law, it is referring not just to the law of Moses as God’s word but also to itself. In other words, the Psalms themselves are God’s word. There are certain indications in the Old Testament that what the psalmists are saying has been inspired by the Holy Spirit. In a Davidic psalm recorded in 2 Samuel 23, David makes the following claim: “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue” (v. 2).54 In Psalm 49 the author exhorts everyone to listen to his poem because his “mouth shall speak of wisdom” (v. 3). This is really a claim that the Holy Spirit has revealed divine truth to him: “For