Thursday
Evening Bible Study
September
10, 2015
Introduction
Sunday’s Baptism extravaganza
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Target 3300 words
Video = 75 wpm
We are about to embark on a journey through the longest book of the Bible,
covering 150 chapters.
I imagine we will finish sometime early next summer.
We will be taking a journey in
worship, and I hope to be asking these questions about each Psalm.
Why did the author write the song
(if we know)?
What can we learn about God in the
psalm?
What can we learn about worship in
the psalm?
The English word psalm comes from a Greek word that means “a poem
sung to musical accompaniment”, or in particular, “stringed instruments”.
The Hebrew name is tehillim, which means “praises.”
The book of Psalms is the hymnbook of God’s people.
It’s also the “Him” book as well.
Jesus said the Psalms were about Him:
(Luke 24:44 NKJV) Then He said
to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still
with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of
Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
We’re going to see a lot of Jesus in the Psalms.
Divisions
The Psalms are divided into five books:
Book I: Ps. 1-41
Book II: Ps. 42-72
Book III: Ps. 73-89
Book IV: Ps. 90-106
Book V: Ps. 107-150
In most of your Bibles you will find some sort of reference at the
beginning of the next “book”. (look at
chapters 41/42)
Each book also ends with some sort of “doxology”, or “blessing” towards
God.
Authors
There were many human authors (that we know of) in the book of Psalms:
David wrote at least 73 of the Psalms, possibly up to 30 more.
In Book 1 he wrote (37), Book 2 (18), Book 3 (1), Book 4 (2), Book 5 (15)
Asaph wrote 12 Psalms, Ps. 50, 73-83
The sons of Korah wrote 12, Ps. 42-49; 84; 85; 87; 88
Solomon wrote 2, Ps. 72, 127
Moses wrote 1, Ps. 90
Ethan wrote 1, Ps. 89
Heman wrote 1, Ps. 88 (a very STRONG song)
Interesting Psalms
The book of Psalms contains many interesting Psalms.
Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible.
Some songs are meant to be sung antiphonally, where one person or group
does one line, and the other group answers with the next.
See Psalm 136.
Some songs are written with the Hebrew alphabet in mind, kind of like a
code.
In Psalm 119, each group of eight verses starts with the same Hebrew
letter, starting with the first letter in the alphabet, and then progressing
through the end of the alphabet.
It’s like the first eight verses all start with a word that starts with
“A”, then the next eight all start with “B”, and so on.
There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and 22 x 8 = 176 verses.
Types of Psalms
There are many ways of categorizing the Psalms:
Messianic Psalms
Songs about the person and work of Jesus, the Messiah
Lament Psalms
Songs that cry to God for help
Testimonial Psalms
Songs that tell what God has done
Pilgrim Psalms
Songs sung during pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem
Imprecatory Psalms
Songs asking for judgment on the wicked
Penitential Psalms
Songs expressing sorrow over sin
Wisdom Psalms
Songs that give guidelines for godly people
Historical Psalms
Songs that record God’s dealings with Israel
Nature Psalms
Songs that describe the beauty of God’s creative work
Music and meter
We do not know how the music went with these Psalms.
I remember years ago coming across something where some suggested that some
of the extra Hebrew characters indicated what the melody might have been, but
that’s not certain.
There are notes at the beginning of some Psalms that might be an indicator
of some popular ancient melody.
In English, we tend to make our song lyrics have some sort of “rhyme” based
on words that sound the same at the end of the line.
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like ME
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I SEE
Hebrew poetry does not work the same.
Their poetry is not a rhyming of sounds, but a rhyming of ideas.
Sometimes it is two similar ideas next to each other like:
(Psalm 105:23 NKJV)
Israel
also came into Egypt, And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
Each phrase describes the same event.
Sometimes it is in two contrasting ideas side by side:
(Psalm 90:6 NKJV) In the
morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.
The morning is contrasted to the evening.
Memorable
Music has a way of helping us remember things. When we attach a melody to some lyrics, it
sometimes sticks.
Can you complete this sentence:
“Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they’re a (modern stone age family
… from the town of Bedrock, they’re a place right out of history…)
Some of the songs we’ve been taught over the years aren’t so helpful, but
we still remember them…
These songs are not like those songs.
These songs are the Word of God.
They are extraordinary songs.
They are going to speak to you as only God can speak.
Though we don’t know the music attached to the songs, one of the reasons
God gave us these songs was to put some memories into our brains.
Soul Music
Music touches the soul. It’s
“soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.
Some may say, “I’m not an emotional kind of person. I just worship God with my mind”
Yet worship is the very heart of our relationship with God. It’s the place where our soul, our emotions,
connect with our spirit. It’s the place
of intimacy with God.
Can you imagine your spouse saying to you as you are getting married, “I
just want you to know I’m not a very emotional person. I just want to love you with my mind.”
What kind of intimacy is that?
God desires that we know Him and that we know Him intimately. He is our groom. We are His bride. Jesus said,
(John 4:23–24 NKJV)
—23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him. 24 God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God is looking for worshippers. People who connect their “spirit” with
God’s Spirit.
It is my prayer that as we embark on this journey through the Psalms, we
won’t just look at these songs academically, with our mind, but that we may
also grow as worshippers.
Psalm 1
Some see this as the “preface Psalm”, the introduction to the rest of the
book of Psalms. The goal of the writer
is to show a contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
You have a choice in life as to which direction you will go.
Will you choose to go in the way of the wicked, or the way of the
righteous?
:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
:1 walks … stands … sits
This could be a simple example of Hebrew poetical parallelism.
It also seems to be a progression.
Going the wrong way starts with listening to the wisdom or counsel of those
who don’t know God.
Things get worse when you find yourself actually on the path towards taking
action, towards committing sin.
Finally you become someone who sits down in the place of sin and becomes
bitter and mocking.
scornful – luwts – to
mock, talk arrogantly; speak words which show no respect for the object, and
make fun of the object
It all starts with a choice of who you are going to listen to.
The contrast to all of this is …
:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
:2 delight … meditates
Lesson
Loving and chewing
Both words (delight and meditate) describe what our relationship ought to
be to the Word of God.
We ought to find delight in it.
I remember being quite impressed
when Jon Courson once shared about his “hobby”.
Some pastors have a hobby of playing golf, others like to play a musical
instrument, some like photography. Jon
shared that he was too simple for those things.
His hobby was God’s Word. He
finds great delight in it.
One reason we struggle with delighting in God’s Word is because we’ve
forgotten just what it is. Love letters
from a distant land.
Illustration
A childhood accident caused poet Elizabeth Barrett to lead
a life of semi-invalidism before she married Robert Browning in 1846. There’s
more to the story. In her youth, Elizabeth had been
watched over by her tyrannical father.
When she and Robert were married, their wedding was held in secret
because of her father’s disapproval. After the wedding the Brownings sailed for
Italy,
where they lived for the rest of their lives.
But even though her parents had disowned her, Elizabeth never gave up on the
relationship. Almost weekly she wrote
them letters. Not once did they
reply. After 10 years, she received a
large box in the mail. Inside, Elizabeth found all of
her letters; not one had been opened!
Today those letters are among the most beautiful in classical English
literature. Had her parents only read a
few of them, their relationship with Elizabeth
might have been restored.
In a very real sense, God's Word is his love letter to
us. Nothing has the power to free us
from destructive behavior and revitalize our relationship with Him like His
Word.
We also need to learn to “chew” or “meditate” on God’s Word.
Biblical meditation isn’t like eastern religious meditation where we empty
our mind or just chant empty mindless sounds.
Biblical meditation is about thinking on, chewing on, considering the
thoughts in God’s Word.
I think we ought to consider putting some of God’s Word into our system
every day and “chewing” on it during the day.
Illustration
H.P. Barker writes, “As I looked out into the garden one
day, I saw three things. First, I saw a butterfly. The butterfly was beautiful, and it would
alight on a flower and then it would flutter to another flower and then to
another, and only for a second or two it would sit and it would move on. It would touch as many lovely blossoms as it
could, but derived absolutely no benefit from it. Then I watched a little longer out my window
and there came a botanist. And the botanist had a big notebook under his arm
and a great big magnifying glass. The botanist
would lean over a certain flower and he would look for a long time and then he
would write notes in his notebook. He
was there for hours writing notes, closed them, stuck them under his arm, tucked
his magnifying glass in his pocket and walked away. The third thing I noticed was a bee, just a
little bee. But the bee would light on a
flower and it would sink down deep into the flower and it would extract all the
nectar and pollen that it could carry.
It went in empty every time and came out full.”
Are you a butterfly, botanist, or a bee?
Sometimes we’re going too fast and making too much noise to really
understand what God is saying.
Illustration
From Mrs. Lettie Cowman’s book, Springs in the Valley (pp. 196-197):
In the deep jungles of Africa,
a traveler was making a long trek. Coolies had been engaged from a tribe to
carry the loads. The first day they marched rapidly and went far. The traveler had high hopes of a speedy
journey. But the second morning these
jungle tribesmen refused to move. For
some strange reason they just sat and rested. On inquiry as to the reason for
this strange behavior, the traveler was informed that they had gone too fast
the first day, and that they were now waiting for their souls to catch up with
their bodies.
Then Mrs. Cowman concludes with this penetrating
exhortation:
This whirling rushing life which so many of us live does
for us what that first march did for those jungle tribesmen. The difference:
they knew what they needed to restore life’s balance; too often we do not.
Slow down and meditate on God’s Word.
:3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings
forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever
he does shall prosper.
:4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the
wind drives away.
:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous.
:6 For the Lord knows the way
of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
:5 the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment
These same principles are repeated throughout the Bible.
Lesson
Trust and Obey
God wants us to make it through the judgment that is coming. He wants us to “pass” the test of life.
If you truly love and chew on God’s Word, then you will learn to God.
Jeremiah repeated the same picture like this:
(Jeremiah 17:7–8
NKJV) —7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted
by the waters, Which
spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not
be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Jesus also talked of surviving judgment.
He said that if you truly learn to trust God, then you will also learn
to do what He says.
(Matthew 7:24–27
NKJV) —24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I
will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain
descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these
sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his
house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
It all starts with learning to love and chew on God’s Word.
Song:
I Will Delight (Ps. 1)
I will delight in the Law of the Lord
I will meditate day and night
Then like a tree firmly planted
I'll be, grounded in Your Word
Blessed is the one
Who follows the way of the Lord
Blessed is the one
I Will Delight / Words & Music by Walt Harrah & John A.
Schreiner / © 1991 Maranatha! Music / IWillDel.doc
Psalm 2
We’re told in Acts 4:25 that this psalm was written by David.
(Acts 4:23–26 NKJV) —23 And being
let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the
chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one
accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the
sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the
mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did
the nations rage, And the people plot
vain things? 26 The kings
of the earth took their stand, And the
rulers were gathered together Against
the Lord and against His Christ.’
:1 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel
together, Against the Lord and
against His Anointed, saying,
:2 against His Anointed
anointed – mashiyach – anointed, anointed one; of
the Messiah
This is the Hebrew word for “Messiah”, which is translated “Christ” in the
Greek language.
The early church was acquainted with this song. Peter and John had been
arrested because they had healed a man who had been lame since birth and they
had insisted on giving Jesus the credit for it.
This caused the first wave of persecution against the early church.
(Acts 4:21–28 NKJV)
—21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding
no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God
for what had been done. 22 For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of
healing had been performed. 23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and
reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 So when they
heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You
are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
They are praying and will now quote our psalm …
25 who by the
mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their
stand, And the
rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and
against His Christ.’
They stop after the second verse and go on to say…
27 “For truly
against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius
Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do
whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
They are saying that Herod, Pilate, and the Romans were fulfilling David’s
prophecy about the nations being gathered together against God’s Son.
They see God has planned for this all along. Jesus’ death on the cross was
not the fault of the Jews. It was God’s purpose and plan for Jesus to die for
our sins.
They felt that with this Scripture, they realized that there are no cosmic
“mistakes”. God is in control. Instead of running with their tails between
their legs, they ask for more boldness.
Lesson
God knows what He’s doing
The early church was standing by watching God fulfill Scripture before
their very eyes and they realized that the difficulties they were facing were
not a mistake.
God knows what is going on in your life.
You can trust Him.
There will also be a sense in which this Psalm will have a final
fulfillment again in the future during the reign of the antichrist:
(Revelation 19:19
NKJV) And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His
army.
The antichrist will have gathered the armies of the world together in order
to defeat this one who is going to invade the planet.
:3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”
:3 cast away their cords from us
The world does not want God or His Messiah to rule over them.
Lesson
No freedom apart from God
This would be like … me going out into the parking lot and cutting everyone’s
brake lines. I don’t want you to have anything “holding you back”. But brakes
are good. God’s “cords”, His ways, His laws, His purposes for our lives are
good, even if they “keep us back” from things.
Illustration
About 15 years ago I came across an article by Chuck Colson entitled,
“Family Values on HBO?” In the article, Chuck talks about how some of the most
immoral programs actually can promote moral living if you watch carefully. He
writes,
Recently, in the excellent English magazine The Spectator,
writer Mary Kenny made an unusual observation: “Sex and the City means
family values” read the title of her article. You’ve got to be kidding, right?
Explicit sex, graphic language, glamorized promiscuity—where do “family values”
fit in there?
Well, the truth …can pop up in unexpected
places—particularly the truth about human nature. We’re made for one another,
and men and women were created with certain roles. And when we flout them, the
way we’re made will always come back to haunt us.
For example, the fact that homosexuals desire marriage
actually betrays the “lifestyle” they extol. Of course they want to marry and
have children—they’re human, and that’s the way God made us. But two
homosexuals “married” can’t do that, which is why marriage and homosexuality
can never go together. Gay “marriage” has always got to be a counterfeit, and
gays know it.
“The ‘forces of conservatism’ always win in the end,”
writes Mary Kenny, “because it is the natural order.” Though moral Darwinists
would say otherwise, humans weren’t meant to jump from mate to mate, or juggle
multiple partners at once, because sex is not a recreational act. It is not,
says Kenny, that “brash, competitive, and indeed consumerist” activity depicted
on Sex and the City. Rather, she goes on to say, it’s one that “evokes
in human beings something both animal and transcendental.”
The author goes on to talk about
some of the characters on the show and writes,
Carrie, the center
of the show, sums up the futility of the sexually “liberated” single life when
she remarked to a friend, “I’m lonely. I’m really lonely.” Later, at
Charlotte’s wedding, Carrie tells her, “I wish I had a man strong enough to
catch me when I stumble.”
The world wants to break the “bonds” that God lovingly gives us, and yet in
the end when we break God’s laws, we’re the ones who are poorer for it.
:4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.
God is laughing at them for thinking that they could attempt such a thing,
rebelling against Him.
:5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep
displeasure:
:6 “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”
God speaks of it as having already happened. You could look at this as if
David is talking about himself, but he’s speaking prophetically.
:7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord
has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
:7 You are My Son
It may seem like David is speaking about himself, but he is speaking prophetically
of Jesus. (1Pet. 1:10-12; Heb. 11:13)
(1 Peter 1:10–12 NKJV) —10 Of this
salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of
the grace that would come to you, 11 searching
what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was
indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the
glories that would follow. 12 To them it
was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the
things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the
gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to
look into.
(Hebrews 11:13 NKJV) —13 These all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off
were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Much of what we’ll see in the Psalms is prophetic.
:8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your
inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
:8 I will give You the nations
This is God’s promise to the Son.
The Son will rule over the earth after He comes back.
There will be those who survive the
Tribulation when Jesus comes back, who have come to believe in Jesus and yet
have not been martyred. Jesus will rule over them.
:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces
like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
:9 break them with a rod of iron
This speaks of a tough king.
This is how Jesus will rule and reign in the coming kingdom.
(Revelation 19:15
NKJV) Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should
strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He
Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Jesus says to the church
of Thyatira:
(Revelation 2:26–27
NKJV) —26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I
will give power over the nations— 27 ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall
be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’— as I also have received from My
Father;
We will share this rule with Jesus.
We will be a part of enforcing righteousness on the earth over those who
still have their natural bodies and are still going to be tempted in their
flesh.
:10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the
earth.
:11 Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
:11 fear … rejoice
Joy without fear is frivolous.
Fear without joy is morbid.
We need both joy and fear.
:12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When
His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their
trust in Him.
:12 Kiss the Son
kiss – nashaq – to put
together, kiss
One of the New Testament words that is translated “worship”, proskuneo, means to “kiss towards”. This is the same word used in:
(John 4:24 NKJV) God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
:12 Blessed are all those
who put their trust in Him
Lesson
Trusting Him is best
From time to time I get comments
from folks who say things like, “God has let me down, I’ve tried to trust Him
and it hasn’t worked”.
When you hear or read something
like that you are faced with a choice. Are you going to believe what that
person has said and feel bad for them for God having let them down? Or are you
going to believe what God’s Word says and realize that God isn’t the one with
the problem?
If you feel like God has let you
down, you are faced with one of two things being true:
Either you haven’t
really trusted God at all and been faithful to do what He has asked you, or,
God simply hasn’t
done the things you’ve expected Him to in the way you expected, or in the time
that you expected.
But that doesn’t mean that God
isn’t at work and that He isn’t doing exactly what He’s planned.
Psalm 3
A Psalm of David When He Fled from Absalom His Son.
These notes were added by editors, but they give us an idea about the background
to the Psalms.
:1 Lord, how they have
increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.
:1 Many are they who rise up against me
David loved his son Absalom, yet Absalom turned on him.
(2 Samuel 15:1–6
NKJV) —1 After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots
and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 Now Absalom would rise early and
stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a
lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and
say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is
from such and such a tribe of Israel.” 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and
right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.” 4 Moreover
Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who
has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.” 5 And so
it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his
hand and take him and kiss him. 6 In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king
for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
David understood what it was to be betrayed by those very close to him,
those whom he had been extremely gracious with.
You’re going to see through the Psalms that there is a HUGE variety of
emotions that will be expressed.
:2 Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in
God.” Selah
:2 There is no help for him in God
When David realized that Absalom was planning on a coup, including killing
David, He took his entourage and fled Jerusalem. As was leaving the city, there were people
along the way who weren’t very encouraging, including a man named Shimei:
(2 Samuel 16:7–8
NKJV) —7 Also Shimei said thus when he cursed: “Come out! Come out! You
bloodthirsty man, you rogue! 8 The Lord has brought
upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned;
and the Lord has delivered the
kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son. So now you are caught in your
own evil, because you are a bloodthirsty man!”
There are plenty of people who will want to kick you when you’re down.
It is inevitable that people will come against you.
:2 Selah – celah – to lift
up, exalt; Selah
This is a technical musical term probably showing accentuation, pause,
interruption
I like to think of it was the guitar solo.
David is expressing great trouble, and he takes time to “pause”, to “reflect”.
:3 But You, O Lord, are
a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
When things seem so sour, look up and put your eyes on the Lord.
:4 I cried to the Lord with
my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
Guitar solo. Stop and think about
it. God actually hears us.
:5 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord
sustained me.
:5 I lay down and slept
Lesson
Peaceful sleep
Sometimes we shouldn’t get too comfortable when we sleep.
Illustration
Baskin Robins
Two robins were sitting on a branch high in a tree. One
looked down and saw a field full of worms. Turning to the second bird he said,
“We ought to go down there and eat.” “Good idea,” said his friend. The two of
them flew down to the field and ate their fill and then some. When he could eat
no more one said to the other, “You know, we ought to stop eating and fly back
to our branch.” Rubbing his belly the second responded, “Yep.” With that they
tried to fly to their branch in the tree, but they had eaten too much to get
off the ground. The second one said, “Maybe we should just stay here and relax
in the sun.” Before long the two birds slept, basking in the afternoon sun. As
they slept, a cat happened upon the field. Seeing the birds, sleeping, and
oblivious to his presence, the cat pounced. As feathers settled around him, the
cat rubbed his belly, and said, “There is nothing better than baskin robbins.”
Sometimes we fool ourselves like those robins into
thinking that everything is going to be okay and go to sleep with a false sense
of security, trusting in the wrong things.
Most of the time it’s just hard to sleep.
David was well aware of the danger from Absalom, yet he was able to sleep
because he trusted in the Lord.
Many times I wake at night and have a hard time sleeping because I am
worried about one thing or another.
Truly putting things into God’s hands results in God’s peace.
(Philippians
4:6–7 NKJV) —6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.
:6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves
against me all around.
:6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
When Absalom rebelled against David, he had turned most of the nation
against him.
:7 Arise, O Lord; Save me, O
my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken
the teeth of the ungodly.
:7 You have broken the teeth of the ungodly
Lesson
Enemy Identity
David will sometimes pray for God to break the bones or the teeth of his
enemies.
Sometimes it’s not all that bad to ask God to handle a certain person who
is causing you trouble, but like David, be sure you put it in God’s hands and
don’t try to take care of it yourself.
Most of the time though, we need to be careful about the true identity of
our “enemy”.
Sometimes what we think is an “enemy” is just a puppet.
Paul wrote,
(Ephesians 6:12
NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Satan is the real enemy.
Sometimes he uses people, but they are not the enemy.
:8 Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah
Think about it.
Song:
A Shield About Me (Ps.
3)
Thou O Lord
You're a shield about me
You're my glory
You're the lifter of my head (repeat)
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You're the lifter of my head.
A Shield About Me / Words & Music by Donn Thomas &
Charles Williams / © 1980 Word Music & Spoone Music Corp. / Shield.doc