Excursus:
The "Poor" in the Psalms and Its Relation to Proverbs
I tend to view the poor in the Proverbs in a
similar way to how the poor are viewed in the book of Psalms. This is relevant for Proverbs, because
Solomon is the chief composer of Proverbs just as his father David is the chief
author of the Psalms. Since it is hard
to imagine that Solomon, who appears to have been familiar with the wisdom
writings of the nations around him (1 Kings 4:29-31), would have been unfamiliar
with his own father's psalms. Thus, it
seems hard to imagine that Solomon was not influenced by the Psalms. It seems reasonable to expect, then, a
similar view of the poor and their identification in both the Psalms and
Proverbs.
In this excursus (see also the excursus on Jesus' Use of the Word Poor), I will take a brief look at the
25 times the word poor is used in
Psalms. I will argue that with one
exception, and possibly two, which certainly do not disprove the rule, the
poor in the Psalms are a synonym for the Lord's people, and especially describes
their inward disposition. This
dovetails nicely with our Lord's spiritual definition of "the poor in
spirit" and his use of the word poor, to whom belongs the kingdom of heaven
as taught in his first beatitude (Matthew 5:3).
I will go through the occurrences in order. The first is found in 9:18 and the last is
found in 132:15. The first twelve
occurrences of the word poor occur in
book one of the Psalms (1-41), and establish the pattern of the word's
usage. Five occurrences occur in book
two Psalms (42-72) with three occurring in Psalm 72, a psalm of Solomon, which
is particularly important in establishing a link with Proverbs. There are three occurrences of the word in
book three (73-89), and five times poor
appears in book five (107-150).
Psalm
9:17-18
17 The wicked
shall return to Sheol,
all
the nations that forget God.
18 For the
needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the
hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
This chiastic construction parallels "Sheol" and "perish forever"
in the outer frame, contrasting the wicked and the poor. The inner frame is connected with the idea of
forgetting. Unlike the wicked/nations
who forget God, the needy/poor are not forgotten by God. The wicked forget God with the disastrous
result that they will perish forever. But
the needy, who it is implied remember Him, will not perish forever.
Psalm
10:2, 8-9
2 In
arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let
them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
His eyes stealthily watch for
the helpless;
9 he
lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may
seize the poor;
he
seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
In this psalm the wicked are pursuing and persecuting the poor and
helpless. But the truth that the poor
are not just the poor in general, is shown in verse 14. Here we see that the poor, who have been
identified with the helpless in verses 8 and 9, have a commitment to the
Lord. For verse 14 says, "to you
the helpless commits himself."
Psalm
12:5
“Because the
poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
I will
now arise,” says the Lord;
“I
will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
Here the poor are those who long for the safety
and refuge the Lord gives. The Lord
guards them from a wicked generation, which is described in the psalm. The poor are classified with the "godly"
and "faithful" of verse one, which consists of a small remnant.
Psalm
14:6
You
would shame the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is
his refuge.
Again, the poor is not just anyone who is poor,
but rather those have the Lord as their refuge.
Psalm
34:6
This
poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved
him out of all his troubles.
David is the writer of this psalm. Even though he is the king of Israel, and the
richest man in the land, yet he describes himself as poor. Since David is the small "c"
christ, which means anointed one, he prefigures Christ Jesus, the true King. In David's words we hear Christ
speaking. Starting in verse 8,
David/Christ begins to teach "his children." It is significant that verse 20 is true of
Jesus, as the Righteous One, for on
the cross not one of his bones was broken.
Psalm
35:10
“O Lord, who
is like you,
delivering the
poor
from
him who is too strong for him,
the
poor and needy from him who robs him?”
After describing his suffering in verses 1-8 by
the hands of those who "without cause" hated him, David/Christ
joyfully describes his deliverance.
Thus, once again, the King, who by definition is fabulously wealthy, is
described as poor in spirit! So too,
then, must be his people.
Psalm
37:14
The
wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to
bring down the poor and needy,
to
slay those whose way is upright;
The poor and needy are parallel with the
upright. Thus, the poor here cannot be
the literal poor. The poor and needy are
synonymous with the upright, thus, the parallelism points to the inward
disposition of the upright, which is to be poor in spirit.
Psalm
40:17
As
for me, I am poor and needy,
but the
Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my
deliverer;
do not
delay, O my God!
Hebrews 10:5-7 places Psalm 40:6-8 into the mouth
of Jesus. Since there is no change of
speaker in this psalm, the entire Psalm must be regarded as the words of our
Lord. Therefore, for the third time,
Jesus, through David, describes himself as poor!
Psalm
41:1-2
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.
In verses 1-3, David teaches that the Lord considers the poor and delivers them
from trouble and sickness (verse 3). He
describes this trouble in words that remind us of Jesus' death and
resurrection:
8 They
say, “A deadly thing is poured out 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!
Putting this all together, then, we see that the
poor, who suffer but are delivered by the Lord, are imitating and participating
in the sufferings and deliverance of the Christ to whom David points.
Psalm
49:2
Hear
this, all peoples!
Give
ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both
low and high,
rich
and poor
together!
This is the only time I can find a literal rather than a metaphorical use of
the word poor in the Psalms, with one
possible exception. Here it is used
together with the rich as a merism. A
merism brings together two contrasting words to refer to the whole. Both low and high and rich and poor are
merisms to emphasize that all the inhabitants of the world are addressed in Psalm
49. This fits the emphasis of book two
of the Psalms (42-72), which announces that the Davidic king is established and
the world would be wise to bow before the Lord and his anointed king.
Interestingly, though, Psalm 49 contains a
polemic against wealth, which is seen as a rival to God (v. 6, 13, 16-20). In the psalm, it is not the literal poor who
are saved indiscriminately, but those with understanding (v. 20), and are
partakers in God's costly ransom (v. 8, 15).
Psalm
70:5
But
I am poor
and needy;
hasten
to me, O God!
You are my help and my
deliverer;
O Lord,
do not delay!
Here is another instance where David/Christ describes himself as poor and
needy. The whole earth belongs to the
Lord, according to Psalm 24:1, and yet our Lord describes himself as poor! 2 Corinthians 8:9 describes the grace that
has come to us in Christ: "though
he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might
become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). True wealth is found in Christ Jesus through
faith and love. But that wealth is given
to the poor in spirit. Our Lord's inward
disposition as the most blessed man is described in the first beatitude: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).
Psalm
72:2, 4, 12
2 May
he judge your people with righteousness,
and
your poor
with justice!
4 May
he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give
deliverance to the children of the needy,
and
crush the oppressor!
12 For
he delivers the needy when he calls,
the
poor and him who has no helper.
First, notice that in verse two, "your
people" is parallel to "your poor." The "your' refers to God in line
one. The royal son, the Davidic king, is
to judge or rule the Lord's people, to defend their cause in verse four, and to
deliver them in verse 12. In verse 17, God's
royal son, whose name is to endure forever, is the one in whom God's people,
the poor, are blessed. Thus, we have
Solomon, using the words poor and needy in a most significant way. For he describes the poor as the people who
belong to God and his royal son, who foreshadowed Christ. To read the poor in Psalm 72 as the literal
poor is just plain poor reading.
Psalm
74:18-21
18 Remember
this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and a
foolish people reviles your name.
19 Do
not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
do not forget the life of your
poor forever.
20 Have regard
for the covenant,
for the
dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let
not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
let the
poor and needy praise your name.
This psalm is a prayer for the Lord's exiled people. The "enemy" and a "foolish
people," who "reviles" the Lord's name, rule over his
people. The poor in verse 19 are
identified with Israel, which is often pictured as a dove. In verses 20 and 21, it is clear that the
poor are members of the covenant. Once
again, the poor in the Psalms refer not to the literal poor, but metaphorically
to the Lord's people.
Psalm 86:1
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer
me,
for I
am poor and needy.
In this prayer of David, we see David/Christ again describe himself as poor and
needy. This is the basis of his
expectation of being heard by the Lord!
Thus, poverty is a description of the inner being of Jesus Christ and his
people. This poverty of spirit,
therefore, is the right spirit for man in his humanity. Verse two immediately follows with the words,
"I am godly . . . [and] trust in You." True riches are found, therefore, in the
trust, which unites us to our God.
Psalm 109:16, 22
16 For he did
not remember to show kindness,
but
pursued the poor and needy
and the
brokenhearted, to put them to death.
22 For I am poor
and needy,
and my
heart is stricken within me.
This is a psalm of David. The early
church saw it as about Christ in his sufferings on our behalf. The last two verses (30-31) point to his
resurrection. The psalm focuses on the
opposition to Christ, and especially on the one who would betray Jesus, namely,
Judas. Peter cites the psalm in Acts
1:20 when a successor for Judas is chosen.
Verses 16 and 22 show the close connection between Christ and his
people. Once again, our Lord is seen as
the consummately poor man, in verse 22.
To attack Christ's people (16), the poor, is to attack him. To attack Christ, the poor man, is to attack his people. Thus, at Paul's conversion, the Lord Jesus
says to Saul, who became Paul, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me"
(Acts 9:4, 22:7). Saul was persecuting
Christ's people, but Jesus is so intimately linked to his people, that
persecution of them is persecution of him.
Because Christ is poor in spirit, so must his people be who are united
to him by faith.
Psalm 112:9
He has distributed freely; he has
given to the poor;
his
righteousness endures forever;
his horn
is exalted in honor.
This psalm is about the blessings that come to those who fear the Lord. And, yet, it is hard not to see Jesus as both
the pattern of this fear of the Lord, and the dispenser of spiritual blessings
to his people, the poor. When verse 3 of
the psalm says, "Wealth and riches are in his house," it is hard not
to see an allusion to Wisdom in Proverbs 3:16 and 9:1. Psalm 112:9 could be read of Christ, who
after his exaltation gives gifts to men (Ephesians 4:8). Or, it could be read as the good believers do
for others, especially, to those in the household of God. It seems to me, this is the one instance in
the Psalms where giving to the literal poor may be in view. But given the association of the word poor with believers, our rule for
charity must follow Galatians 6:10: "So then, as we have opportunity,
let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the
household of faith." The poor in
Christ, and especially, the literal poor in Christ's church, have a priority.
Psalm 113:7-8
7 He raises
the poor
from the dust
and
lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to
make them sit with princes,
with
the princes of his people.
In the Bible, repentance is associated with sackcloth, dust and ashes. In this age, as our baptism into Christ's
death signifies, daily dying with Christ is our way of life. God only exalts the humble, who mourn their
sin. Thus, in this life we both mourn
our low condition and exult in our high position as those who have been seated
in the heavenly realms with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Our baptism is the symbol of both our
continual mourning and continual joy, for we have both died with Christ and
been raised with him. Law and gospel are
our rule in our Lord's church. To do
away with either is dangerous to our spiritual health.
Psalm 132:11, 13-16
11 The Lord swore
to David a sure oath
from
which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body
I will
set on your throne.
13 For the Lord has chosen
Zion;
he has desired
it for his dwelling place:
14 “This
is my resting place forever;
here I
will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I
will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy
her poor
with bread.
16 Her priests
I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints
will shout for joy.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of David set on the throne forever (11). He has ascended to the heavenly Zion (13-14),
and he satisfies his "poor with bread" (15), clothing his people with
salvation. Significantly, this final
reference to the poor points to the Lord's Supper and baptism (16). For in the Supper he gives us the true bread
of his body, and in baptism we put on Christ Jesus, "for as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ"
(Galatians 3:27).
