99. I Have Two Pierced Ears

Psalm 24

In my opinion, this is the most beautiful psalm in the Psalter!  The only way to really appreciate it is to read and re-read it.

Psalm 32

This is a prayer of penitence and of rejoicing for sins that have been forgiven.

Many Bible commentaries suggest that this psalm was written, by David, shortly after his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah.

Psalm 38

Here we learn that unconfessed sins can actually make a person physically sick.

Psalm 40

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not asked. Then I said, Lo, I come, in the volume of the Book it is written of Me; I delight to do Your will, O My God; and Your Law is within My heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; 6-9.

Some scholars say that there is nothing in this psalm that distinctly refers to Christ.  Others believe that it was actually Christ, speaking of His future self, who dictated this psalm to David.  The writer of the Book of Hebrews, in The New Testament, claims that it was Christ who had spoken the words of these four verses.

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire:  According to the books of Moses, these are the things that Jehovah demanded.  Some commentaries say this means that God does not desire sacrifice and offering compared to obedience to Jehovah and a holy lifestyle. 

You have prepared a body for Me. This is a very interesting phrase associated with a lot of confusion. 

In Hebrew it reads something like: two ears thou hast opened for me. 

In The Literal translation: You have opened ears to Me.  This could mean, You hear my prayers.

Many translations use this meaning: My ears You have opened.  This meaning is recorded, eight times in three gospels; Christ in His speeches said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.  Perhaps that is the meaning used here.

Some say that the meaning is, You have pierced my ears.  This would relate to the Jewish law where, after a slave had been with his master for seven years and was allowed to go free, but he decided to stay, the master would pierce the slave's ears, which indicated that the slave belonged to the master for the rest of his life.  According to this theory, Christ said to His Father, "My ears hast thou bored", that is, thou hast made me thy servant for ever. Clarke Heb. 10:5.

In the Book of Hebrews, in place of, my ears You have opened, we find these totally different words, You have prepared a body for Me.

How did they ever get from, my ears you have opened to You have prepared a body for Me?  The apostle who wrote the Book of Hebrews was copying these words from the Septuagint version of the psalms. In Hebrew handwritten letters, there is only a slight difference in styling the letters, and that change could have happened in the Septuagint by something as simple as using too much ink on the bottom lines of one or more letters. Clarke's commentary. 

Whatever the reason for this misprint, it at least reminds us that we must not be too hung up on the idea that the Bible is "word perfect".

Psalm 42

O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Why are you cast down, O my soul, and moan within me? Hope in God; for I shall praise Him for His salvation. 5-6.  Sometimes in our depression, we feel as if there is nothing left for which to praise Jehovah, but then! we remember the salvation which He has bestowed on us.  Again we raise our souls in praise and gratitude.