Thursday
Evening Bible Study
October
22, 2015
Introduction
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
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. It’s all about Jesus.
The writer of
Hebrews quotes from Psalm 40:8 when he writes,
(Hebrews 10:7 NKJV) Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book
it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
The author was talking about Jesus.
We’re going to see a lot of Jesus in the Psalms.
Soul Music
Music touches the
soul. It’s “soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.
We’re going to find
every kind of emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.
For every sigh
there is a Psalm.
For most of us, this is what makes the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest most depressing Psalms describe
the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue 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 18
: To the Chief Musician.
A Psalm of David The Servant of the Lord,
Who Spoke to the Lord The Words
of This Song on the Day that the Lord
Delivered Him from the Hand of All His Enemies and from the Hand of Saul. And
He Said:
on the Day that
the Lord Delivered Him
This Psalm is also
found in 2Sam. 22:1-51 with only a few changes.
2Samuel 22 is at
the end of David’s life, as we are given various ways of summing up David’s
life.
It is possible that this song was sung at various times during
David’s life when he recognized how God had saved him from his enemies.
18:1-3 God
delivers us
:1 I will love You,
O Lord, my strength.
:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my
deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of
my salvation, my stronghold.
:2 in whom I
will trust
The writer of the
Hebrews (Heb. 2:13) pulls this short little phrase out and tells us that this
is Jesus speaking
(Hebrews 2:13 NKJV) And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”
:3 I will call upon
the Lord, who is worthy to
be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.
:3 So shall I be
saved from my enemies
If this song was
written towards the end of David’s life, then these words carry some extra weight
to them.
David saw prayer as
the key to deliverance from his enemies.
Over and over
again, whenever David was faced with enemies, he found that when he prayed, God
answered.
Illustration
Charles H. Spurgeon once told of a pastor who was sent
to see an old lady and while he was there thought he would give her some
precious promises from the Word of God. Taking
her Bible and turning to a passage, he saw written in the margin “P” and he
asked, “What does this mean?” “That means precious, sir,” she replied. Further
down he saw “T and P” and he asked what those letters meant. “That,” she said,
“Means tried and proved, for I have tried and proved it.”
18:4-6 Troubles
and Prayers
:4 The pangs of
death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
:5 The sorrows of
Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
:6 In my distress I
called upon the Lord, And cried
out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even
to His ears.
:6 He heard my
voice from His temple
Lesson
God hears prayer
Sometimes we can
wonder how God could possibly be listening to all the prayers of the people of
this world.
The problem is not
with God, the problem is with our understanding.
My computer can
multitask. It can be editing a video
while I am working my Bible Study, get my email, remind me of appointments, and
all at the same time.
And that’s just a silly laptop.
Don’t bring God
down to your level, as if God operates at the same intelligence level that you
operate at.
God hears our
prayers.
The Bible says that
our prayers are like incense rising before God’s throne.
(Revelation 8:3–4 NKJV) —3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the
altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the
prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the
incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s
hand.
As incense burns,
the smoke rises, filling the room. Our
prayers rise before God and are pleasing to Him.
I wonder sometimes
if the issue that we are concerned about isn’t represented as a bowl in
heaven. As we pray, the bowl for our
concern is gradually filled with incense.
When the bowl is filled with incense, the incense is poured out before
God and He answers.
Some bowls are big, while some bowls are little. Some needs only take a single prayer. Some take fifty years of praying.
David was convinced
that God heard his prayers and responded to them:
(Psalm 34:4 NKJV) I
sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all
my fears.
Don’t think that
your prayers don’t count. God hears your
prayers. He responds.
How often do we actually cry out to the Lord in our trouble?
I want to get to the point where I am faced with a need, and I
immediately bring it to the Lord instead of waiting for a few days or a week.
Here’s an example
of how God answered one of David’s prayers…
18:7-19 God’s
deliverance
:7 Then the earth
shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
:8 Smoke went up
from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it.
:9 He bowed the
heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.
:10 And He rode
upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.
:10 He rode upon
a cherub
cherub – keruwb –
cherub, cherubim (pl); an angelic being
The cherubim are
the angelic “living beings” that are around the thrown of God.
Ezekiel even
describes God riding something like a chariot accompanied by cherubim (Eze.
1,10)
The cherubim first appear in the Garden of Eden after Adam and
Eve were expelled by God (Gen. 3:24)
(Genesis 3:24 NKJV) So He drove out the
man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming
sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Two of these angelic beings were molded onto the Mercy Seat, the
lid of the Ark of the Covenant
(Exodus 25:18 NKJV) And you shall make two
cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the
mercy seat.
These are the “living creatures” that are around the throne of
God described by John in his Revelation.
Ezekiel describes God riding something like a chariot accompanied
by cherubim. (Eze. 1, 10)
:11 He made
darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters And
thick clouds of the skies.
:12 From the
brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of
fire.
:13 The Lord thundered from heaven, And the
Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.
:14 He sent out His
arrows and scattered the foe, Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
:14 He sent out
His arrows
This time, when God
answered David’s cry for help from his enemies, the answer seems to have come
in the shape of a storm.
God’s “arrows” are
lightning strikes hitting the earth.
Even today God
sometimes answers prayer with lightning (cover your ears)
:15 Then the
channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At
Your rebuke, O Lord, At the blast
of the breath of Your nostrils.
:16 He sent from
above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.
:17 He delivered me
from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me.
:18 They confronted
me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord
was my support.
:19 He also brought
me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.
:19 He also
brought me out into a broad place
broad place – merchab – broad or roomy place
from – rachab – to be or grow wide, be or grow large
When Isaac was
trying to dig wells for his flocks he kept running into conflicts with the
other shepherds in the land. Finally
they dug a well that nobody fought with them over and they gave it a name.
(Genesis 26:22 NKJV) And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not
quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall
be fruitful in the land.”
God bringing you to
a “broad” place is a good thing. It’s a
place of abundance, a peaceful place.
18:20-28 David’s
Righteousness
:20 The Lord rewarded me according to my
righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
:21 For I have kept
the ways of the Lord, And have
not wickedly departed from my God.
:22 For all His
judgments were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.
:23 I was also
blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.
:24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my
righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
:20 rewarded me
according to my righteousness
The following
verses can be a little confusing.
Some have chosen to
look at these prophetically, as if Jesus is speaking. He is perfectly righteous.
There is a sense in
which this is true. Jesus is in this
Psalm.
Some have seen this
as almost hypocritical of David – David was a sinner like all of us.
Some have chosen to
see this as David standing in the righteousness of Christ, how God would look
at him. David wasn’t perfect, but when
he sinned he also confessed his sin and received God’s forgiveness.
:25 With the
merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show
Yourself blameless;
:26 With the pure
You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself
shrewd.
:25-26 merciful
… blameless … pure … devious
Lesson
He responds to me
How God deals with
you depends upon who you are.
I think I want to
be careful that I myself am
Merciful
Jesus said,
(Matthew
7:2 NKJV) For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the
measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
If you are merciful to others, God will be merciful to
you.
James wrote,
(James
2:13 NKJV) For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Blameless
This is not just about learning to have victory over sin
in your life, it’s learning to rest on the cleansing forgiveness of Jesus
Christ.
Keep short accounts with God.
When you blow it, don’t run from God, run to Him and ask
for His mercy.
(1
John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Pure
There is a lot of horrible stuff in the world that can and
will pollute our minds if we continually expose ourselves to them.
Some people see a dirty joke or innuendo in just about
everything.
May you never get the joke.
I don’t want to be devious
Some people have
some very bad ideas about God.
Could it be that the root of their bad ideas actually
comes from inside of them?
:27 For You will save
the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.
:28 For You will
light my lamp; The Lord my God
will enlighten my darkness.
18:29-45
Deliverance and Future Victory
:29 For by You I
can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall.
:29 by You I can
run against a troop
David saw his
battle victories as coming from the strength that God gave him.
Lesson
God gives strength
What David
experienced wasn’t just some sort of emotional high. God gave him real physical strength.
He was able to do
more than he thought possible with God’s help.
I think God can
take us further than we think we can go.
Paul wrote about
the difficulty of learning to be content in all circumstances, including
financial difficulty. He said,
(Philippians 4:13 NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
:30 As for
God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in
Him.
:30 The word of
the Lord is proven
Again, at the end
of his life, David could say that He had tried God’s Word and proved it to be
true.
:31 For who is
God, except the Lord? And who is
a rock, except our God?
:32 It is
God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.
:33 He makes my
feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.
:33 He makes my
feet like the feet of deer
Ein Gedi is one of
my favorite places in Israel.
It's where David
saw God deliver him from Saul.
Video: Ein Gedi map
It’s located right
off the Dead Sea, in the middle of a desert.
As you hike up the canyon, you are following a little stream. It’s an oasis. The name of the place means
“spring of the young goats” because of the mountain goats that populate the
area.
The picture is that
of God helping David through dangerous places, helping him navigate without
slipping and falling.
One of my favorite
books as a young Christian was “Hinds
Feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnand
It was an
allegorical story like Pilgrim’s Progress. The story was about a small frail crippled
creature called “Much Afraid” and her journey to meet the Shepherd on the “High
Places”.
During the journey
she learned to embrace friends like “pain” and “suffering”, which made her
stronger.
:34 He teaches my hands
to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
:35 You have also
given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your
gentleness has made me great.
:35 Your
gentleness has made me great
gentleness – ‘anvah – humility, meekness; condescension
It is amazing that
the eternal God who created the heavens and the earth would dare to humble
Himself to help us.
Maybe that’s a
lesson we could learn from God – to learn to be gentle with others.
:36 You enlarged my
path under me, So my feet did not slip.
:37 I have pursued
my enemies and overtaken them; Neither did I turn back again till they were
destroyed.
:38 I have wounded
them, So that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet.
:39 For You have
armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose
up against me.
:40 You have also
given me the necks of my enemies, So that I destroyed those who hated me.
:41 They cried out,
but there was none to save; Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
:42 Then I beat
them as fine as the dust before the wind; I cast them out like dirt in the
streets.
:37 I have
pursued my enemies and overtaken them
Lesson
Fighting the enemy
We have talked
about this before and will continue to remind ourselves of how to deal with
enemies through the Psalms.
Who our enemy is
affects how we deal with them.
Real people
Sometimes our enemy
is a real human person. Our rules are
different than those that David lived under.
(Matthew
5:44 NKJV) But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do
good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and
persecute you,
We need to be careful to love our enemies.
Spiritual enemies
Sometimes the enemy
is a spiritual one.
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.
We need to be sure
to take up spiritual weapons for a spiritual foe.
(Ephesians
6:13 NKJV) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
God has given us spiritual weapons to learn to use.
Our armor includes things like truth, righteousness, the
gospel, faith, and salvation.
Our weapons include things like the Word of God, prayer,
the blood of Jesus, and our testimony.
Me
Sometimes the enemy
is me. I’m my own worst enemy at times.
(Romans
7:18 NKJV) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not
find.
Paul said that he
was learning how to deal with his flesh by learning to “die” to it.
(Galatians
2:20 NKJV) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
This is actually a daily, continual battle we face,
learning to do as David said to “beat it as fine dust”.
:43 You have
delivered me from the strivings of the people; You have made me the head of the
nations; A people I have not known shall serve me.
:43 A people I
have not known shall serve me
I think this is a
prophetic passage, with Jesus doing the speaking.
Paul talks about
the truth that the Gentiles will one day serve God as a “secret” or a
“mystery”, something in the Scriptures, but hidden from the eyes of the Jews
(Col. 1:26-27
(Colossians 1:26–27 NKJV) —26 the mystery which has
been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His
saints. 27 To them God willed to
make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles:
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Here is one of the
many passages that hint that one day the Gentiles (“a people I have not known”)
will serve the Messiah, Jesus.
:44 As soon as they
hear of me they obey me; The foreigners submit to me.
:45 The foreigners
fade away, And come frightened from their hideouts.
18:46-50
Thanksgiving
:46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
:47 It is
God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me;
:48 He delivers me
from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have
delivered me from the violent man.
:49 Therefore I
will give thanks to You, O Lord,
among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.
:50 Great
deliverance He gives to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and
his descendants forevermore.
:49 give thanks
… among the Gentiles
Paul quotes this
verse as part of his reasoning to say that God had promised to be merciful to
the Gentiles as well as Jews:
(Romans 15:8–9 NKJV) —8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the
circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the
fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it
is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.”
D
I will call (echo)
Em
On the Lord (echo)
F#m
Who is worthy (echo)
G
To be praised (echo)
(repeat)
(together)
F#m G
So shall I be saved
F#m G
A
So shall I be saved
D G D G A
From my enemies
I Will Call
Ps.18:3/ Words & Music by Victor Rubbo / © 1982 Mercy Publishing / IWillCal.doc
I Will Call Upon The Lord (Ps. 18:3,46)
Tran: C F
C F C
F
I will call upon the Lord
C F C
F
Who is worthy to be praised
C F C F
So shall I be saved from my enemies
C F C F
I will call upon the Lord
C /E
F C
The Lord liveth and blessed be the rock
F C G
And let the God of my salvation be exalted
C /E
F C
The Lord liveth and blessed be the rock
F C G
C F
And let the God of my salvation be exalted
Words & Music by Michael O'Shields
©1981 Universal Music