Thursday
Evening Bible Study
October
29, 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 19
: To the Chief Musician.
A Psalm of David.
Spurgeon: In his
earliest days the psalmist, while keeping his father’s flock, had devoted
himself to the study of God’s two great books—nature and Scripture; and he had
so thoroughly entered into the spirit of these two only volumes in his library
that he was able with a devout criticism to compare and contrast them,
magnifying the excellency of the Author as seen in both.
19:1-6 God’s 1st
Book: Creation
:1 The heavens
declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
handiwork – ma‘aseh –
deed, work; business, pursuit; undertaking, enterprise; achievement
:1 The heavens
declare the glory of God
Lesson
God is amazing
All of creation is
a witness to God, the Creator.
Paul wrote,
(Romans 1:19–20 NKJV) —19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has
shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without
excuse,
Man can’t say he didn’t know God existed because
everything around him says He does exist.
Isaiah wrote that
God measures heaven with the span of His hand (Is. 40:12). Let’s take a trip to the edge of the universe
to see just how big that is…
God is very, very big.
The heavens give us a peak at His glory.
Illustration
In the evening, Theodore
Roosevelt and his friend, the naturalist William Beebe, would go out and look
at the skies, searching for a tiny patch of light near the constellation of
Pegasus. “This is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda,” they would chant. “It is as
large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of
one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun.” Then Roosevelt
would turn to his companion and say, “Now I think we are small enough. Let’s go
to bed.”
We are small. God is big.
:2 Day unto day
utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.
In both daytime and
night time you see evidence of a Creator.
:3 There is
no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.
:4 Their line has
gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In
them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
:4 Their line
has gone out through all the earth
line – qav – cord, line, measuring-line
You can see
evidence of craftsman’s measuring tape throughout the whole world.
Illustration
I’d like to suggest
that to say that a well-precisioned, mathematically created universe “just
happened” is about as credible as saying Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary was
accidentally published because of an explosion in a printing factory, or that a
Boeing 767 was assembled when a tornado swept through a junk yard.
Illustration
:5
Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices
like a strong man to run its race.
:6 Its rising is
from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing
hidden from its heat.
:6 Its rising is
from one end of heaven
David is using
poetic language about the sun here. There are some people who would look at
this language and try to find fault in the Bible.
Yet at the same
time we all use the terms “sunrise” and “sunset”. If we were to be technically
correct, we would eliminate those terms because in one sense the sun isn’t the
object that’s moving.
Yet there is still
truth to what David says, even if you take it literally.
The sun actually
travels across the galaxy at 64,000 miles per hour.
In addition to
this,
The earth spins on
its axis 1,000 miles per hour.
The earth travels
around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour.
The galaxy moves
481,000 miles per hour across the universe.
That means that
right now you are moving at over 630,000 miles per hour through the universe. And
you thought the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party at Disneyland
made your head spin!
Video: King of
Creation – The Heavens Declare (sml)
19:7-11 God’s 2nd
Book: His Word
:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the
soul; The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple;
:7 The law of
the Lord is perfect
perfect – tamiym – having integrity; what is entirely in accord with truth
and fact
This means that
God’s Word is perfect, without error. The total message of the Bible is about
Truth.
Illustration
Billy Graham
writes, “On the cover of your Bible and my Bible appear the words “Holy Bible.”
Do you know why the Bible is called holy? Why should it be called holy when so
much lust and hate and greed and war are found in it?
“I can tell you
why. It is because the Bible tells the truth. It tells the truth about God,
about man, and about the devil. The Bible teaches that we exchange the truth of
God for the devil’s lie about sex, for example; and drugs, and alcohol, and
religious hypocrisy. Jesus Christ is the ultimate truth. Furthermore, He told
the truth. Jesus said that He was the truth, and the truth would make us free.”
:7 converting
the soul
converting – shuwb –
to return, turn back
Lesson
It changes you
If you will commit
to spending time every day in God’s Word, and commit to not just read it, but
to do it, you will be changed.
(Hebrews 4:12 NLT) For
the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest
two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It
exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
:7 The testimony of the Lord
is sure
sure – ‘aman –
(Niphal) faithful; verified, confirmed; reliable
You can count on God’s Word. It does not change. It is always
right.
:8 The statutes of
the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord
is pure, enlightening the eyes;
:8 The statutes
of the Lord are right
right – yashar –
straight, level; right, pleasing, correct
Lesson
God’s Word is right
Some people have
certain rules or laws for how they operate.
Illustration
You’ve probably
heard of Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will.
There’s Lorenz’s
Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose
will begin to itch.
There’s the Dilbert
Principle: The most ineffective workers will be systematically moved to the
place where they can do the least damage - management.
And there’s “Cole’s
Law”: Thinly sliced cabbage.
Sometimes people’s
“rules” can get them into trouble.
Some live by the
“Golden Rule”, in other words, “The One with the Gold Rules”.
Sometimes we only
want to listen to the things that “tickle our ears”, things that give us
permission to do what we know is wrong. Like picking up the “Playboy” lifestyle,
if it feels good do it.
The older we get,
the more polluted we can be to the world’s “laws”.
Children sometimes
know what’s “right” better than we do.
The Laws of the
Lord are “right”. Obeying them brings blessings to daily life.
:8 The
commandment of the Lord is
pure
Sometimes I’ve
exposed my mind to some pretty trashy stuff. Sometimes it’s by accident,
sometimes I purposely pick up bad stuff.
Your mother used to
threaten to wash your mouth out with soap.
You can wash your
mind, cleanse your thoughts with the pure Word of God.
:9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether.
:10 More to be
desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than
honey and the honeycomb.
:10 More to be
desired are they than gold
Lesson
The Treasure Chest
This is an
incredible Book.
Illustration
A man was out
walking in the desert when a voice said to him, “Pick up some pebbles and put
them in your pocket, and tomorrow you will be both sorry and glad.”
The man obeyed. He
stooped down and picked up a handful of pebbles and put them in his pocket. The
next morning he reached into his pocket and found diamonds and rubies and
emeralds. And he was both glad and sorry. Glad that he had taken some—sorry
that he hadn’t taken more.
And so it is with
God’s word.
We can get
sidetracked by stuff, by money, by things.
We’ve got the best
treasure right in our hands.
:11 Moreover by
them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great
reward.
:11 by them Your servant is warned
Illustration
If you were in New York visiting the top of the Empire State
Building, and a fellow breaks out some wire cutters and begins to cut a hole in
the fence so he can jump out. He says to you, “I have this theory. I think I
can fly. I found something that looks like Pixie Dust, and since I’m thinking
happy thoughts, I think I’ll be able to fly”. And as he crawls out on the
ledge, you say to him, “Don’t do it, don’t jump! If you jump you will die. When
you hit bottom every bone of your body will be broken.” He says to you, “Hey,
stop being so negative! You’re just bumming me out. You only want to ruin my
fun.” So he turns his back on you, takes a minute to think his
“happy-thoughts”, and jumps. What’s going to happen? Should he have paid
attention to you, or paid attention to his Pixie-Dust-theory?
Pay attention to
the warnings in God’s Word. God means what He says. He doesn’t warn us to ruin
our fun, He wants to save you from destruction.
19:12-14 Prayer
for Grace
:12 Who can
understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
:12 Cleanse me
from secret faults
These are sins of
ignorance. Things you did wrong without realizing it was wrong.
Even if you didn’t
know what the speed limit was, you can get a ticket for going over it.
:13 Keep back Your
servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
:13 from
presumptuous sins
These are things
done out of deliberate, prideful, rebellion.
Many times I am
tempted, and I linger too much on the temptation, and I give in knowing full
well I am in rebellion when I do it.
David wants God to
help him with these things.
:14 Let the words
of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
:14 words …
heart … Be acceptable
All of life flows
from your heart. It starts in your heart.
Words come from
what’s in your heart.
Actions come from
what’s in your heart.
It’s my prayer each
time I teach.
Tran 1 - Verse 1 (all vocals) – Chorus 1
Verse 2 – Chorus 2
Tran 2 – Refrain (2x) – Chorus 2 (2x)
Repeat “Jesus Christ is the Lord” as needed
Tran 1: G C2
Verse 1:
G C2
The heavens declare
G C2
The glory of God
G
And all of the world
D/F# Em
Will join the praise
C D
His wonders proclaim
G C2
The oceans and skies
G C2
Lift up their voice
G D/F#
And all He has made will rise
Em C
D
To bless the King of all Kings
Chorus 1:
G D
Let us adore Him
Em C
Let us adore Him
G D
Em C
Jesus Christ is the Lord
Verse 2:
G
C2
Eternity’s King
G C2
Is coming again
G D/F# Em
Though all of the earth will fade away
C D
His truth will remain
Chorus 2:
G D
Let us adore Him
Em C
Let us adore Him
G D
Em C
Jesus Christ is the Lord
G D
Come and behold Him
Em C
Bow down before Him
G D
Em C
Jesus Christ is the Lord
Tran 2: G D Em
D C Em Am G D
Refrain:
G D
Hallelujah
Em D
Hallelujah
C Em Am
You are worthy
G D
Of all praise
(repeat)
Words & Music by Reuben Morgan
©2005 Hillsong Publishing
D Em
The law of the Lord is perfect
A D
Restoring the soul
Em
The testimony of the Lord is sure
A D D7
Making wise the simple
G Em
More to be desired are they than gold
D Bm
Yea, than much fine gold
Em
Sweeter also than honey
A D
And the honeycomb
The precepts of the Lord are right
Rejoicing the heart
The commandment of the Lord is pure
Enlightening the eyes
The fear of the Lord is clean
Enduring forever
The judgments of the Lord are true
They are righteous altogether
Let the words of my mouth
And the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord
My rock and my redeemer
(extra chorus)
Moreover, by them
Is Thy servant warned
Is Thy servant warned
And in keeping of them
There is great reward
Psalm 19/ Author unknown / © unknown / Ps19.doc
Tran: F C
C
May the words of my mouth
Am7
And the meditations of my heart
Fmaj7 C/G
G
Be pleasing to you, pleasing to you
C
May the words of my mouth
Am7
And the meditations of my heart
Fmaj7 Dm7/G C
Be pleasing to you my God (2x)
C/E F G/B C
You're my Rock and my Redeemer
C/E F G/B C
You're the reason that I sing
C/E F G
Am7
I desire to be a blessing
Dm7 Gsus G
In your eyes
C/E F G/B
C
Ev'ry hour, ev'ry moment
C/E F G C
Lord I want to be your servant
C/E F G Am7
I desire to be a blessing
Dm7 Gsus G
In your eyes
F
In your eyes
Instrumental- C Am7 Gsus G F
Psalm 19/ Words & Music by Terry Butler / © 1995 by Mercy/Vineyard
Publishing / Psalm19.doc
Psalm 20 –
Battle Song
: To the Chief
Musician. A Psalm of David.
This seems to be a song centered on the battle. This might be
something that David and his men sang before battle.
:1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
:1 the name of
the God of Jacob
Lesson
The Powerful Name
The first phrase
actually contains God’s name, though it’s translated with the all-caps “Lord”
God’s name is
“Yahweh”, and our translators follow the Jewish practice of not spelling it out
or pronouncing it because it is so special, so holy, and we are not. So they substitute the actual name for the
word “Lord”.
David knew the
power in God’s name. When he faced Goliath, he said,
(1 Samuel 17:45 NKJV) …“You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin.
But I come to you in the name of the Lord
of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
And fighting in “His name”, David defeated Goliath.
We find power in
the name of Jesus.
Peter said to the
lame man,
(Acts
3:6 NKJV) Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have
I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Peter said there
was salvation power in the name,
(Acts
4:12 NKJV) Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
I know there is
much behind the concept of a “name”. It represents the person, power, and
character of Jesus.
But the name itself
is simply powerful.
Just speaking His
name, praying in His name, brings help.
:2 May He send you
help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion;
:2 send you help
from the sanctuary
Though this could
be taken as the temple or the tabernacle on earth, it’s probably speaking of
Heaven’s Sanctuary, the very throne of God.
Ask God to send
help from heaven.
:3 May He remember
all your offerings, And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah
:4 May He grant you
according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose.
:4 grant you
according to your heart’s desire
Lesson
God’s desires
Illustration
There once was this
guy that got a dirty old lamp for his birthday. He cleaned it up and POOF!--out
popped a genie! “I shall give you three wishes. You may have anything you
like.” So the guys thinks for a minute and says, “I would like a billion
dollars.” “You shall have it,” and the genie grants him the wish. “Anything
else?” The guy thinks for a while. “I would like a VW Bug with A/C, power
locks, power windows, you know the works.” “Your wish is my command. What is
your last wish?” “Hmmm. I think I’ll save it for a rainy day.” “OK, suit
yourself,” says the genie. So the guy gets in his new VW and goes for a drive
to show all his friends. He turns on the radio. There’s a very familiar
commercial on. The guy starts singing to it: “I wish I was an Oscar Meyer
Wiener.”
The truth is, God
is not your personal, private genie.
The key here is the
“heart”. What desires are in your heart?
David wrote,
(Psalm 37:4 NKJV) Delight
yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the
desires of your heart.
I think that what David is saying is that the more God
Himself is your delight, the more God will put HIS desires into your heart.
Then the things you pray for tend to be the things that HE
wants to do for you.
He changes your desires so you desire what God desires.
:5 We will rejoice
in your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our
banners! May the Lord fulfill all
your petitions.
:5 we will set
up our banners
This was a lofty
signal-flag, not carried about, but stationary.
It was usually erected
on a mountain or other lofty place.
As soon as it was
seen the war-trumpets were blown and the battle begun.
:6 Now I know that
the Lord saves His anointed; He
will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right
hand.
:6 the Lord saves His anointed
Could refer to the
king, who was “anointed” with oil.
Could refer to the
Messiah, whose title actually means “anointed”.
:7 Some trust
in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
:8 They have bowed
down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.
:9 Save, Lord! May the King answer us when we
call.
:7 trust in
chariots … the name
David is giving us
two ways that an army can enter into battle.
You can enter into
a fight knowing that you have a good, strong army … or …
You can enter into
a fight trusting in God.
I am a little
afraid of our nation because we seem to be trusting in neither of these things
at the moment.
Lesson
Trust God first
David was not a man
without any physical weapons.
Even when he faced
Goliath, he still had a sling and five stones.
When David faced
the armies of the enemies of Israel, he had his own fighting force, men
equipped with swords and spears.
But above all, they
trusted God.
Some people can
fall into the trap of thinking that they should do nothing in life except sit
on the sofa and “trust God”.
Getting off the
sofa and putting out job applications is not the opposite of trusting God.
We need to learn to
trust God first, and then pick up the weapon at our feet.
Last week I started
a project of upgrading my laptop with a solid state hard drive. I had never
done that particular kind of upgrade before.
It took a while to
order and receive the parts, but eventually they all got shipped to our house.
I tried to put it
all together, but I couldn’t get it to work. I tried over and over. No success.
I decided to put it to rest for the evening and went to bed.
In the morning I
decided I should probably ask God for help with this silly thing.
When I tried
putting it together the next time, it worked.
Probably not a
miracle to a devout atheist, but God reminded me I ought to put all things into
His hands first.
Psalm 21 -
Thanksgiving
: To the Chief
Musician. A Psalm of David.
Some have suggested that this may have been a song of
thanksgiving for the result of God answering the prayers of David in Psalm 20.
:1 The king shall
have joy in Your strength, O Lord; And in Your salvation how greatly shall he
rejoice!
:2 You have given
him his heart’s desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
Selah – stop and
think about it.
God had actually
answered David’s prayer.
:3 For You meet him
with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
:4 He asked life from
You, and You gave it to him— Length of days forever and ever.
These were
apparently some of the blessings that David had asked God for.
A crown – to rule
Pure gold – not
just any crown
Life – that God
would give David a long lie.
:5 His glory is
great in Your salvation; Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.
:5 His glory is
great in Your salvation
David understood
that God had made Him a great king with much recognition and glory, but it was
only in how God had worked in his life that had made him great.
:6 For You have
made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your
presence.
:6 exceedingly
glad with Your presence
Lesson
Joy with Papa
David also wrote,
(Psalm 16:11 NKJV) You
will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are
pleasures forevermore.
I think that sometimes
we can be a bit too serious about life.
I don’t think any
of these videos was done with a secret, hidden camera while the babies were
making themselves laugh.
The laughter came in the presence of the one shooting the
video, probably the parent.
There is joy in
God’s presence.
He can make us “exceeding glad” in His presence.
:7 For the king
trusts in the Lord, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be
moved.
:7 through the
mercy of the Most High
David had learned
in his life that stability, not “being moved” came from God’s mercy, not His
judgment.
Be careful beloved
when you sin to not dwell too long in the condemnation and judgment that comes
from your action.
Yes, we need to be
serious about our sin.
Yes, we need to
repent and turn from our sin.
Ultimately, we need
to find ourselves swimming in God’s mercy.
:8 Your hand will
find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You.
:9 You shall make
them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The Lord shall swallow them up
in His wrath, And the fire shall devour them.
:10 Their offspring
You shall destroy from the earth, And their descendants from among the sons of
men.
:11 For they
intended evil against You; They devised a plot which they are not able to
perform.
:12 Therefore You
will make them turn their back; You will make ready Your arrows on Your
string toward their faces.
:13 Be exalted, O
Lord, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power.
:8 Your hand
will find all Your enemies
Lesson
Mercy first
God will one day
deal with all His enemies.
You don’t want to
find yourself as an enemy of God.
But God hasn’t
dealt with all His enemies quite yet.
Why? Because of His mercy.
(2 Peter 3:9 NLT) The
Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is
being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants
everyone to repent.
We tend to want our
enemies dealt with quickly and completely, but God is different than we are.
He takes no
pleasure in the death of the wicked, but He delights in mercy. So He waits.
Lesson
God handles enemies
The important
lesson to learn from David was that he let God handle the enemies.
Too often we take
things into our own hands.
Illustration
There was a truck
driver who dropped in at an all-night restaurant in Broken Bow, Nebraska. The
waitress had just served him when three swaggering, leather-jacketed
motorcyclists—of the Hell’s Angels type—entered and rushed up to him,
apparently spoiling for a fight. One grabbed the hamburger off his plate;
another took a handful of his French fries; and the third picked up his coffee
and began to drink it.
The trucker did not
respond as one might expect. Instead, he calmly rose, picked up his check,
walked to the front of the room, put the check and his money on the cash
register, and went out the door. The waitress followed him to put the money in
the till and stood watching out the door as the big truck drove away into the
night.
When she returned,
one of the cyclists said to her, “Well, he’s not much of a man, is he?”
She replied, “I
can’t answer as to that, but he’s not much of a truck driver. He just ran over
three motorcycles out in the parking lot.”
Life is much better
when we put the situation into God’s hands.
(Romans 12:19–21 NLT) —19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger
of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,”
says the Lord. 20 Instead, “If your enemies
are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In
doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer
you, but conquer evil by doing good.