Psalm 85, verse 8 - God has spoken to us

AELW 11:160

Psalm 85:8, Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, 

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.

"What He will speak, for the Word of God is perceived only by hearing. It is the nature of the Word to be heard. But when we shall see what He will form and (to put it thus) put into appearance and fashion, it will be different. It is the nature of a form and an image to be seen and not to be heard. Therefore, for the Lord Himself to speak is to give out and manifest His Word, but as something to be heard. Thus God the Father has spoken to us, that is, He has shown us the Son, His Word, in the hearing of faith. And this is the Gospel of God which He had promised before through the prophets, one of whom is here saying, “I will hear what He will speak.” And this speaking, this showing of the Word, this proclamation of the Gospel He accomplished by the ministry of the apostles and their successors, for in them He has spoken to the whole world."

Psalm 85, verse 4 - Convert us, O God our Savior

AELW 11:15-157

Psalm 85:4. Convert us, O God our Savior, and put away Thy wrath from us. 

"Having explained himself how he wanted to be understood, namely, that he is speaking in spirit, he now prays for the things which he had foretold would come. Consequently he is now speaking also about spiritual conversion and wrath. This is, therefore, supremely necessary, because this cannot be done by human strength, only by divine strength. This is true because God is hidden in the flesh, so that no man can recognize Him unless he has been enlightened by God’s spiritual grace. Hence blessed Peter, who had been thus converted and said, “You are Christ, the Son of the living God,” heard Him say: “Blessed are you, Simon, Bar-Jona. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 16:16–17). And in John 6:45 we read: “They shall all be taught by God”; and in Matt. 11:25: “Thou hast revealed these things to the little ones and hidden them from the wise and prudent.” [And again (John 6:44): “No one comes to Me unless My Father, who has sent Me, draws him.”] Therefore no one can be converted to God unless he has first been converted to Christ, as He says (John 14:6): “No one comes to the Father, but by Me.”

Psalm 84 - God can never be exhausted

AELW 11:144

Psalm 84:4. Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, O Lord. They will praise Thee forever and ever. 

"Since we receive everything from God, there is nothing that we can render Him but praise, and praise to Him alone. For a person cannot praise God only unless he understands that there is nothing in himself worthy of praise but that all that is worthy of praise is of God and from God. But since God is eternally praiseworthy, because He is the infinite Good and can never be exhausted, therefore they will praise Him forever and ever"

Psalm 84:3 - Our first altar

AELW  11:141

"3    Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, 

where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God."

"Our first altar is Christ, Himself the Priest and the Sacrifice and our Altar, on which we are placed and offered to God the Father, and in Him we offer all our sacrifices. And He in His body presented us to God, mortified in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. But if He offered us in His body, then His body is our altar, since the offering cannot be made except on the altar. His cross was His altar on which He was Himself given for us, offering us in Himself."

Psalm 81:7, Down to Hell and back again, a sinners tale

AELW 11:108

"81:7     In distress you called, and I delivered you;

I answered you in the secret place of thunder;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah"

"When the soul has sinned, immediately there begins the clamor and growling of the conscience, which is truly a noisy sound in God’s ears. For this is “a violent taking of spoils with tumult” (Is. 9:5). How does he say at the same place that it is not the despoiling of Christ? This is indeed the manifestation of the storm but the hidden place of calm and peace. On the contrary, in the devil’s case it is an outward show of calm but in secret an uproar and a storm. For in the open he tickles the sense, and inwardly he disturbs the mind. But Christ openly disturbs the sense and inwardly tickles and calms the mind. The devil leads to the heavens and brings down to hell; Christ brings down to hell and back again."

 

Word Study - Unicorn...רְאֵם (reʾēm) ...continued...

The word for "Wild Ox, Rhinoceros, Unicorn", occurs in scripture as noted below and is translated in the ESV as wild ox, but sometimes in the Vulgate as unicorn ...

Nu 23:22; (Vulgate Rhinoceros)

"God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox."(ESV)

Num 24:8;  (Vulgate Rhinoceros)

"God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows."(ESV)

Dt 33:17 (Vulgate Rhinoceros)

A firstborn bull—he has majesty,and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”(ESV)

Job 39:9, 10;  (Vulgate Rhinoceros)

“9 Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger? 10 Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,or will he harrow the valleys after you?"(ESV)

Ps 22:21 (Vulgate 21:22)  (Vulgate Unicornium)

"21     Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!"(ESV

Ps. 29:6 (Vulgate 28:6) (Vulgate Unicornium)

"6     He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox."(ESV)

Ps. 78:69 (Vulgate 77:69) (Vulgate Unicornium)

"69     He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever." (ESV)
 

Ps. 92:10 (Vulgate 91:10) (Vulgate Unicornis)

"10     But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil."(ESV)

Isa 34:7 (Vulgate 34:7) (Vulgate Unicornes)

"7     Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat."(ESV)

Psalm 78 verse 69 - Unicorns?

AELW 11:88-89 

Psalm 78:69 (maybe worth further study on how... רָ֭מִים     ...is translated in the Vulgate as unicornium?

The difference between...??? (Reem and Ruwm?)

7214 רְאֵם [râ’em, râ’eym, reym, rem /reh·ame/] n m. From 7213; TWOT 2096a; GK 8028; Nine occurrences; AV translates as “unicorn” nine times. 1 probably the great aurochs or wild bulls which are now extinct. The exact meaning is not known..(Strong's)

AND

7311 יָרוּם, יָרַם, רוּם, רָם, רָמַם [ruwm /room/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 2133; GK 3727 and 3753 and 8123 and 8225 and 8249; 194 occurrences; AV translates as “(lift”, “hold”, “etc … ) up” 63 times, “exalt” 47 times, “high” 25 times, “offer” 13 times, “give” five times, “heave” three times, “extol” three times, “lofty” three times, “take” three times, “tall” three times, “higher” twice, and translated miscellaneously 24 times. 1 to rise, rise up, be high, be lofty, be exalted. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to be high, be set on high. 1a2 to be raised, be uplifted, be exalted. 1a3 to be lifted, rise. 1b (Polel). 1b1 to raise or rear (children), cause to grow up. 1b2 to lift up, raise, exalt. 1b3 to exalt, extol. 1c (Polal) to be lifted up. 1d (Hiphil). 1d1 to raise, lift, lift up, take up, set up, erect, exalt, set on high. 1d2 to lift up (and take away), remove. 1d3 to lift off and present, contribute, offer, contribute. 1e (Hophal) to be taken off, be abolished. 1f (Hithpolel) to exalt oneself, magnify oneself. 2 (Qal) to be rotten, be wormy.(Strong's)

"69     He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, 

like the earth, which he has founded forever." (ESV) 

^"69     et aedificavit sicut unicornium sanctificium suum in terra quam fundavit in saecula "(Vulgate)

" 69     וַיִּ֣בֶן כְּמֹו־רָ֭מִים מִקְדָּשֹׁ֑ו כְּ֝אֶ֗רֶץ יְסָדָ֥הּ לְעֹולָֽם׃" (Hebrew)

AND FINALLY...Luther's comments...

 "69. And He built His sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which He founded forever. Solinus says: “The unicorn is a most fearful monster, with a savage roar, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant, a pig’s tail, a deer’s head. The horn protrudes in the middle of its forehead, of marvelous magnificence, to a length of four feet, so sharp that what it strikes is easily pierced by its thrust. It does not come into man’s power alive, and while it can be killed, it cannot be captured.” This is what he says."

Further note on who Solinus is...

"Gaius Julius Solinus compiled a summary of the history, geography, customs, and products of countries of the ancient world soon after A.D. 200. This work, Collectanea rerum memorabilium apparently is deeply in debt to Pliny’s Natural History. It was later revised under the name Polyhistor, which was mistaken for the name of the author."

Psalm 78, Verse 13 - Prosperity and Adversity

AELW 11:53

Both prosperity and the lack thereof  attack us by leading us to worship a false god, that of the perceived riches in money...

13. He divided the sea and led them through, and He made the waters stand as in a vessel.

"Now he begins to list the miracles which were done among our fathers and which they and we have forgotten. The sea is the world allegorically, and the mingling of prosperity and adversity. And through the midst of these He has led the holy apostles and the martyrs, our fathers, into the heavenly realms. And He made them stand, so that from either side neither prosperity on the right nor adversity on the left would be able to overwhelm them. Faith is the vessel which holds these waters and bids them stand and not do harm and by its spirit makes its way through their midst."

And in the Large Catechism...

"Many a person imagines that he has God and everything he needs, provided he has money and property.  He relies upon these, boasts about them, and feels so immovably secure that he cares bout no one.  But look, he too has a god, named mammon, that is the money and property to which he has given his whole heart.  Mammon is the world's favorite idol  One who has money and property has a sense of security and feels as happy and fearless as if he were sitting in the middle of paradise.  On the other hand, one who has nothing is as insecure and anxiety-ridden as if he had never heard of God  Very few can be found who keep a cheerful spirit and neither fret nor complain when they are without mammon."(LC - First Part, The Ten Commandments, paragraph 4)

Psalm 78, Verse 12, The experience of sight agrees with hearing

 AELW 11:52-53

 "¹²In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders

   in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan."

"12. Wonderful things He did in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt and in the field of Tanis. He does not say “in their sight” but “in the sight of their fathers.” Yet they were accused of having forgotten the benefits which they had heard and come to know from their fathers. This is to say that Christ did miracles in the sight of the apostles and their successors among the Jewish people and the Gentiles throughout the world. And not only have we heard, but we have also known them. In German, Wir wissen, dass es also ist [as we have heard and seen], and we cannot deny it. For the experience of sight agrees with hearing [corroborates it], just as then the children could not deny that they had been led out of Egypt. For though they only heard about the exodus, they nevertheless saw that they were in the place to which their fathers had been led. So we, too, though we did not see Christ’s suffering and the wonders by which He led mankind out of the world into the church, we do see by experience that we are in the church. For all that we hear and read agrees with our experience. Therefore, like them we, too, are deservedly rebuked because though we see that we are in a land flowing with milk and honey, we nevertheless forget the works of God by means of which He led us and our fathers into it (that is, His cross and suffering)."