Thursday
Evening Bible Study
September
15, 2106
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
Announcements:
Saturday is the food outreach. Come
at 8:00am if you want to help.
Sunday is the baptism.
We need help with setting up on Sunday morning. Come at 7:00am.
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 67 Blessings
: To the Chief Musician. On Stringed Instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
:1 God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine
upon us, Selah
:1 God be merciful to us and bless us…
merciful – chanan – to be
gracious, show favor
Lesson
The Blessing
Though this is not exactly word for word, the concepts in this verse come directly
from what is called the “Aaronic Blessing”.
(Numbers 6:22–27
NKJV) —22 And the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: 23
“Speak
to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of
Israel. Say to them: 24 “The Lord bless you
and keep you; 25
The
Lord make His face shine upon
you, And be gracious
to you;
Note: the word for
“gracious” in vs. 25 is also hanan,
the same word as Ps. 67:1.
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you
peace.” ’ 27
“So
they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
There are three pairs of concepts in the blessing.
bless – barak – to bless,
kneel.
It comes from the word for “knee”. It seems to speak of
submission, obedience, and prayer. We receive blessing through submission to
God.
Its goal was to cause abundant and effective life to come
upon a person or a thing. In the Old Testament, the concept of the abundant
life and blessing was seen as coming from God’s love and faithfulness.
keep – shamar – to keep,
guard
It speaks of asking for God’s protection.
When God “blesses” us, we are safe, protected.
His face … shine
Moses spent time in God’s presence and always came out
glowing because He had been before God’s face.
be gracious – chanan – to
be gracious, show favor
Asking for God’s grace and mercy.
When God shines on us, we receive grace.
countenance
This is the same word for “face” (paniym).
God “lifting up” his countenance speaks of God looking on
a person and smiling.
peace – shalowm – completeness,
soundness, welfare, peace
Having a “complete” soul, true peace, having it be “well”
with our soul, comes from God smiling on us.
Since this is what the priests were to speak over the people of Israel, and
since we as believers are “priests” as well, I try to make a point of praying
and saying this over folks whenever I can.
I pray this daily for my wife.
I pray this daily for myself.
:2 That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
:2 That Your way may be known
When God’s people are blessed, then
(Numbers 6:27 NKJV)
“So
they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
People will understand God better, they will know His “name” better, when
we His people are blessed.
NOTE: I’m not talk about becoming
wealthy. God’s blessing involves God’s
presence and grace in our lives, even if we are “poor” financially.
:3 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
:4 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the
people righteously, And govern the nations on earth. Selah
:5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
:6 Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall
bless us.
:7 God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
:7 God shall bless us
Lesson
God wants to bless
(1 Chronicles
4:9–10 NKJV) —9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother
called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 10 And Jabez
called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and
enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me
from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
bless me indeed – the Hebrew has the words doubled, something like,
“Oh that blessing You would bless me”. The Hebrew does this to show intensity,
to “bless me indeed”, to “really, really bless me”.
God wants to bless us. This is a difficult thing for some of us to ask for.
We feel that we are unworthy of anything good that God might do for us.
Yet God loved us so much that He gave His only Son to us. Jesus came to the
earth for the expressed reason of dying on a cross, taking our place in
judgment, paying for our sins.
If God did this, do you think He’s going to withhold any good thing from
us?
When we come to
believe in Jesus, God removes us from the place of condemnation and puts us in
the place of blessing. (John 3:17-18)
When we come to trust in Jesus, we become God’s children. God wants to
bless His children.
Jesus said,
(Luke 12:32 NKJV) “Do not
fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.
Jesus wants to give the kingdom to all who are
in His flock.
God wants to bless you. God desires to bless you.
Illustration
Mr. Jones Goes To Heaven
There’s a little fable about a Mr. Jones who dies and goes to heaven. Peter
is waiting at the gates to give him a tour. Amid the splendor of golden
streets, beautiful mansions, and choirs of angels that Peter shows him, Mr.
Jones notices an odd-looking building. He thinks it looks like an enormous
warehouse-it has no windows and only one door. But when he asks to see inside,
Peter hesitates. “You really don’t want to see what’s in there,” he tells the
new arrival. “Why would there be any secrets in heaven?” Jones wonders. “What
incredible surprise could be waiting for me in there?” When the official tour
is over he’s still wondering, so he asks again to see inside the structure.
Finally Peter relents. When the apostle opens the door, Mr. Jones almost knocks
him over in his haste to enter. It turns out that the enormous building is
filled with row after row of shelves, floor to ceiling, each stacked neatly
with white boxes tied in red ribbons. “These boxes all have names on them,” Mr.
Jones muses aloud. Then turning to Peter he asks, “Do I have one?” “Yes, you
do.” Peter tries to guide Mr. Jones back outside. “Frankly,” Peter says, “if I
were you....” But Mr. Jones is already dashing toward the “J” aisle to find his
box. Peter follows, shaking his head. He catches up with Mr. Jones just as he
is slipping the red ribbon off his box and popping the lid. Looking inside,
Jones has a moment of instant recognition and lets out a deep sigh like the
ones Peter has heard so many times before. Because there in Mr. Jones’s white
box are all the blessings that God wanted to give to him while he was on earth
... but Mr. Jones had never asked.
“Ask,” promised Jesus, “and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). “You do
not have because you do not ask,” said James (James 4:2). Even though there is
no limit to God’s goodness, if you didn’t ask Him for a blessing yesterday you
didn’t get all that you were supposed to have. That’s the catch-if you don’t
ask for His blessing, you forfeit those that come to you only when you ask. In
the same way that a father is honored to have a child beg for his blessing,
your Father is delighted to respond generously when His blessing is what you
covet most.
Bruce Wilkinson, The
Prayer of Jabez, pgs. 25-27
Psalm 68 Arise to Victory
: To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
A Psalm of David
It is thought that this Psalm was written for the occasion of David moving
the Ark into Jerusalem from the house of Obededom.
It is a Psalm that has wonderful things in it, but also some very
difficult, hard to understand and translate phrases as well.
:1 Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him
flee before Him.
:2 As smoke is driven away, So drive them away; As wax melts before
the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
:3 But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let
them rejoice exceedingly.
:1 Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered
If this song was written for the time when David brought the Ark into
Jerusalem, it would be fitting because this first line was what Moses would say
every time Israel would break camp and move through the wilderness.
(Numbers 10:33–36
NKJV) —33 So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant
of the Lord went before them for
the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34 And the
cloud of the Lord was
above them by day when they went out from the camp. 35 So it was,
whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: “Rise up, O Lord! Let Your
enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You.” 36 And when it
rested, he said:
“Return,
O Lord, To the many
thousands of Israel.”
:4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the
clouds, By His name Yah, And
rejoice before Him.
:5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His
holy habitation.
:6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound
into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
:4 By His name Yah
Yah is the shortened form of Yahweh, God’s name.
You see it in many words and names in English that end with “iah”
(Hezekiah) or “jah” (Elijah).
:5 A father of the fatherless
The widows and orphans were the most exploited and neglected people in
society.
Lesson
Helping the helpless
The old saying is, “God helps those who help themselves”.
There is truth to the fact that God wants us to be doing things to help
ourselves.
But it is also true that God helps those who can’t help themselves.
Jesus came across a man one day who had no one to help him… (John 5)
Video: John – Bethesda Healing
You may feel like everyone else has abandoned you, but God hasn’t.
He cares for you more than you will ever know.
Isaiah wrote,
(Isaiah 25:4 NKJV) For You have
been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge
from the storm, A shade from
the heat
He also wrote about the day when we
finally see God face to face:
(Isaiah 25:9 NKJV) And it
will be said in that day: “Behold,
this is our God; We have
waited for Him, and He will save us. This is
the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be
glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
:7 O God, when You went out before Your people, When You marched through
the wilderness, Selah
:7 marched through the wilderness
David is going to remind the people of their history as God led them from
Egypt to the Promised Land, leading them through the wilderness.
:8 The earth shook; The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of
God; Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
:8 Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God
Moses recorded that there was an earthquake when God descended upon Mount
Sinai (Ex. 19:18)
(Exodus 19:18 NKJV) Now Mount
Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the
smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
:9 You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, Whereby You confirmed Your
inheritance, When it was weary.
:10 Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness
for the poor.
:9 sent a plentiful rain
God didn’t rain water, but manna, bread from heaven. (Ex. 16:4)
(Exodus 16:4 NKJV) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will
rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a
certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law
or not.
:11 The Lord gave the word; Great was the company of those who
proclaimed it:
:11 The Lord gave the word
David now moves from the wilderness wandering, to when Joshua took Israel
into the Promised Land to begin conquering it, taking spoil from the cities and
kings they conquered.
:12 “Kings of armies flee, they flee, And she who remains at home divides
the spoil.
:13 Though you lie down among the
sheepfolds, You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And her feathers with yellow gold.”
:14 When the Almighty scattered
kings in it, It was white as snow in Zalmon.
The next two verses (vs. 13-14) are apparently a little difficult to
translate. Here’s another attempt at
these verses:
(Psalm 68:13–14 The
Message) —13 While housewives, safe and sound back home, divide up
the plunder, the plunder
of Canaanite silver and gold. 14 On that day that Shaddai scattered the kings, snow fell on
Black Mountain.
“Zalmon” (Black Mountain) was a mountain near Shechem. (Judg. 9:48)
(Judges 9:48 NKJV) —48 Then
Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with
him. And Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees,
and took it and laid it on his shoulder; then he said to the people who
were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have
done.”
Vs. 15-16 are also awkward…
:15 A mountain of God is the
mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of
Bashan.
:16 Why do you fume with envy, you
mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God
desires to dwell in; Yes, the Lord
will dwell in it forever.
(Psalm 68:15–16 NLT)
—15 The mountains of Bashan are majestic, with many peaks stretching
high into the sky. 16 Why do you look with envy, O rugged mountains, at Mount Zion, where
God has chosen to live, where the Lord
himself will live forever?
Bashan is the area in north eastern Israel, known as the Golan Heights.
It is at the foot of Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in the region.
David speaks as if these higher mountains of Bashan are jealous of Zion
(not as high), where God had chosen to put the Ark of the covenant, where the
Temple would be built, where God would “dwell”.
:17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, Even thousands
of thousands; The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.
:18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have
received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lord God might dwell there.
:17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand
God has a pretty hefty army. Jesus
said He could call more than twelve legions of angels if He wanted to (Mat.
26:51-53)
Elisha and his servant was
surrounded by the Syrian army, but in reality they were also surrounded by
another army, God’s army:
(2 Kings 6:17 NKJV) And Elisha
prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray,
open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
:18 You have ascended on high
(Psalm 68:18 NLT) When you
ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from
the people, even from those who rebelled against you. Now the Lord God will live among us there.
David is most likely talking about the taking of the Ark up to Mount Zion.
At that time people gave gifts (sacrifices) to God.
But this verse has a prophetic side to it as well, as it becomes a picture
of Jesus ascending into heaven.
Spurgeon writes: “As great
conquerors of old led whole nations into captivity, so Jesus leads forth from
the territory of his foe a vast company as the trophies of his mighty
grace. From the gracious character of
his reign it comes to pass that to be led into captivity by him is for our
captivity to cease, or to be itself led captive; a glorious result indeed.”
Paul uses this verse to talk about the gifts of the church, but instead of
“receiving” gifts, Paul changes it to God “giving” gifts.
Paul is actually just interpreting the passage a little because what does
God need gifts for? He only passes them
on to His people.
(Ephesians 4:7–12
NLT) —7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the
generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights,
he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”
The Old Kings James says that He received gifts “for” men, carrying both
the idea that God received gifts, but also passed them along to us.
9 Notice that
it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our
lowly world. 10 And the same
one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that
he might fill the entire universe with himself. 11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave
to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and
teachers. 12 Their
responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church,
the body of Christ.
It was Jesus ascending into heaven that was followed by God pouring out His
Holy Spirit on the church, giving not only spiritual gifts, but also giving the
“offices” of apostles, prophets, etc…
God’s ultimate goal in these gifts is that we all be matured in our faith.
:19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation! Selah
:20 Our God is the God of salvation; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.
Salvation from death – this is what God does.
:21 But God will wound the head of His enemies, The hairy scalp of the one
who still goes on in his trespasses.
:22 The Lord said, “I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring them
back from the depths of the sea,
:22 back from Bashan
God delivered Israel from Og, king of Bashan.
:22 from the depths of the sea
God delivered Israel through the
Red Sea.
:23 That your foot may crush them in blood, And the tongues of your
dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”
:23 blood … dogs
This seems to be a picture of Israel’s victory over their enemies by
describing Israel as putting its feet in the blood of its enemies while dogs
licked up the blood.
Kind of like how King Ahab died,
with his blood running out of the chariot and the dogs licking up the blood
(1Ki. 22:38)
(1 Kings 22:38 NLT) —38 Then his
chariot was washed beside the pool of Samaria, and dogs came and licked his
blood at the place where the prostitutes bathed, just as the Lord had promised.
:24 They have seen Your procession, O God, The procession of my God, my
King, into the sanctuary.
:24 Your procession
This seems to be David’s description of the Ark being bought into the city
of Jerusalem.
:25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed
after; Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.
:26 Bless God in the congregations, The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
:27 There is little Benjamin, their leader, The princes of Judah and
their company, The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
As the tribes bring the Ark in to
Jerusalem, David has been describing the parade:
(Psalm 68:27 NLT) Look, the
little tribe of Benjamin leads the way. Then comes a great throng of rulers
from Judah and all the rulers of Zebulun and Naphtali.
:28 Your God has commanded your strength; Strengthen, O God, what You have
done for us.
:28 God has commanded your strength
Lesson
Strength from God
Strength doesn’t come from the dark side, it comes from God.
“The Lord hath sent strength for thee.”
(Psa. 68:28, P.B.V.)
THE Lord imparts unto us that
primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with
intensity and decision. We are “strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man.” And the strength is continuous; reserves of power come to us which we
cannot exhaust.
“As thy days, so
shall thy strength be”—strength of will, strength of affection, strength of
judgment, strength of ideals and achievement.
“The Lord is my
strength” to go on. He gives us power
to tread the dead level, to walk the long lane that seems never to have a
turning, to go through those long reaches of life which afford no pleasant
surprise, and which depress the spirits in the sameness of a terrible drudgery.
“The Lord is my
strength” to go up. He is to me the
power by which I can climb the Hill Difficulty and not be afraid.
“The Lord is my
strength” to go down. It is when we
leave the bracing heights, where the wind and the sun have been about us, and
when we begin to come down the hill into closer and more sultry spheres, that
the heart is apt to grow faint.
I heard a man say
the other day concerning his growing physical frailty, “It is the coming down
that tires me!”
“The Lord is my
strength” to sit still. And how
difficult is the attainment! Do we not often say to one another, in seasons
when we are compelled to be quiet, “If only I could do something!”
When the child is
ill, and the mother stands by in comparative impotence, how severe is the test!
But to do nothing, just to sit still and wait, requires tremendous strength.
“The Lord is my strength!” “Our sufficiency is of God.”
—The Silver Lining.
_______[1]
:29 Because of Your temple at Jerusalem, Kings will bring presents to You.
David could be speaking of the
Tabernacle, or speaking prophetically of the Temple which had not yet been
built.
:30 Rebuke the beasts of the reeds, The herd of bulls with the calves of
the peoples, Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
:30 Rebuke the beasts of the reeds
David is going to talk about some of Israel’s enemies, those who want to
wage war against Israel.
(Psalm 68:30 The
Message) Rebuke that old crocodile, Egypt, with her herd of wild bulls and
calves, Rapacious in
her lust for silver, crushing peoples, spoiling for a fight.
:31 Envoys will come out of Egypt; Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her
hands to God.
David foresaw the day when Egypt and Ethiopia would be coming to make peace
with Israel.
:32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; Oh, sing praises to the Lord,
Selah
:33 To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
:34 Ascribe strength to God; His excellence is over Israel, And His
strength is in the clouds.
:35 O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of
Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be
God!
:1 Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered
Lesson
First Place Victory
It seems that David’s point in the psalm is to show that God brings victory
to His people when God is first place in their lives.
For David, “first place” meant putting the Ark in the highest place in
Jerusalem.
David has reminded the people of their past victories when He’s been
“first”:
David reminded the people about God’s victory over the Egyptians, bringing
them through the Red Sea.
He’s reminded them of the victories in Bashan – over King Og.
He’s reminded them of the victories over the kings of Canaan.
All that’s in the past shows us that God is able to take care of our future
as well.
For our part, it starts with putting Him in His proper place in our hearts,
putting Him in the highest place.
Put Him first. The promise isn’t to
win every foot race, but to win in the race of life.
When David first tried to bring the
Ark into Jerusalem, he had it put on an ox cart.
As the cart was making its way up the
hill to the city, it hit a bump, and one of the priests reached out to steady
the Ark to keep it from falling. He died
immediately for touching the Ark.
After that the Ark was taken off to
the side to the house of a fellow named Obed-Edom. While the Ark was there, this fellow was
super blessed. David was jealous of Obed-Edom’s blessings.
David did a little research and
found out that they had been moving the Ark improperly – it was supposed to be
carried on poles by the priests, not on an ox cart.
(2 Samuel 6:13–15 NLT) —13 After the
men who were carrying the Ark of the Lord
had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 And David danced before the Lord
with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. 15 So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing
of rams’ horns.
I think this is
giving us a taste of the power of worship – honoring God with praise.
Put Him first and
let Him take care of the battles.