Part 4 Bible reading and commentary

35. Because he says also in another Psalm, ‘Thou wilt not let thy Holy One undergo decay.’

(Psalm 15:10)

(Paul is quoting from a Psalm that is directly attributed to King David of ancient Israel. Therefore when you read this psalm it is written as David speaking to God. The subject of the psalm is “God the Supreme Good.”

1. Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
2. I say to the Lord, “My Lord are you. Apart from you I have no good.”
3. How wonderfully has he made me cherish the holy ones who are in his land!
4. They multiply their sorrows who court other gods. Blood libations to them I will not pour out, nor will I take their names upon my lips.
5. O Lord, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot.
6. For me the measuring lines have fallen on pleasant sites; fair to me indeed is my inheritance.
7. I bless the Lord who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhorts me.
8. I set the Lord ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
9. Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence;
10. Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
11. You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights of your right hand forever.

The line that Paul is quoting is line 10. Peter the Apostle also quotes from this passage in Acts. The reason that they recognize this psalm as being prophetic by David, rather than strictly applying to his personal relationship with God, is clear in line 10. “Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world” could indeed apply to David or any person, as faith in God saves the soul from the nether world and places the soul with God in eternal life. But the second half of the sentence says, “nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.” Corruption here, in both the Greek and the Hebrew, refers to the decay of the body, not corruption as in dishonesty. Why would David state that when it is clear that all bodies break down and do decompose? This is the point that the Apostles recognized as being part of the huge body of prophetic scripture that pointed directly to Jesus as the Messiah. For Jesus was laid in a tomb for three days yet was resurrected and ascended to heaven by God, with his body uncorrupted and indeed, glorified instead. David was clearly speaking in this line 10 of the Messiah because in David’s time there was no tradition of the faithful being protected by God from bodily corruption.)

36. For David, after he had in his own generation served God’s purposes, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and did undergo decay;

37. but he whom God raised to life did not undergo it.

38. Be it known therefore to you, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

39. and in him everyone who believes is acquitted of all the things of which you could not be acquitted by the Law of Moses.

(Here Paul is saying something very important to understanding the authenticity of the early Church and its Jewish roots. Some modern “scholars” today think that Christianity was just an offshoot Jewish sect. Huh? Just read what Paul, who as Saul was the most zealous of Jews, even persecuting Christians to death is saying. He is saying that humans cannot be fully acquitted by the Law of Moses. This is a totally radical statement from someone who had been one of the most pious and zealous of Jews. He is saying that he recognizes that as the scriptures foretold, the people of Israel, and the Gentiles too, will reach a point where the Law of Moses is no longer sufficient for acquittal in the faith. As Jesus taught, the Commandments are still requisite, but Jesus identified that the Law of the Old Covenant had to be replaced with the New Covenant and this, rather than political, military or temporal authority, was the role of the Messiah. So Paul is stating shortly after Jesus lived that they are taking a radical departure from the Law of Moses. I cannot understand how ill informed of the actual words of the Apostles some people who are “thinkers” today can be, when they dismiss Christianity as a Jewish sect. Good grief, the Apostles themselves are stating otherwise right on the pages of the Book of Acts, which documents their activities after the resurrection of Jesus. Paul is actually delivering this discourse in a synagogue, telling them that in Jesus Christ “everyone who believes is acquitted of all the things of which you could not be acquitted by the Law of Moses,” urging them to leave the synagogue and join them. This is very far from establishing sect synagogues and doing some modifying of the Law of Moses!)

40. Beware, therefore, that what is said in the Prophets may not prove true of you,

41. ‘Behold, you despisers, then wonder and perish, because I work a work in your days, a work which you will not believe, if anyone relates it to you.’”

(Paul is quoting the Book of Habacuc 1:5:

Look over the nations and see, and be utterly amazed! For a work is being done in your days that you would not have believed, were it told.

Habacuc is well known as a prophet who challenged God to answer why the world was such a mess, and who documented in this book the answer that he received directly from God in vision. Habacuc lived about six hundred years before Christ)

42. Now as they were going out, the people asked to have all this said to them on the following Sabbath.

43. And after the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the worshipping converts went away with Paul and Barnabas, and they talked with them and urged them to hold fast to the grace of God.

44. And the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

(And if you keep reading Acts you can see for yourself all that happened. I hope this detailed look at Paul’s discourse was helpful and is eye opening to truly seeing the wealth of specific spiritual instruction and factual information that is documented in the scriptures).

(One final point on this topic. This chapter closes with line 52: And the disciples continued to be filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

This is not just a "feel good" statement. This is attestation that the Holy Spirit, as was received by the disciples and Mary at Pentecost, was inspiring and directing their speech. The Holy Spirit makes people more articulate about the actual word of God, not less articulate with tongues and mysterious messages. St. Luke, who was physically there and who wrote the Book of Acts is stating that he can feel and see the Holy Spirit guide them in their speech, giving them the actual words to use, and giving them joy even as they were persecuted and in danger. So people today who think the Holy Spirit is giving them some secret mysterious messages in strange tongues are mistaken. The Holy Spirit only validates orthodoxy of belief and provides the words to hear, believe and evangelize the already well understood and orthodoxy of the faith. The Holy Spirit does not tell you to tap your neighbor on the shoulder and tell them to fix some part of their life more toward your liking; that’s coming from your own head. It is irresponsible to claim to receive the Holy Spirit if you do not first read and understand from the words of the people who received the Holy Spirit directly from God on the behest of Jesus how the Holy Spirit operates. The Holy Spirit’s influence is clearly documented as being the voice of God to give strength and clarity to written and oral witness of God’s will and his authentic prophets. The Holy Spirit does not fuel individual worshipers to become their own “prophets” and forge paths away from God’s orthodoxy of catechism).