Thursday
Evening Bible Study
June
29, 2017
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.
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 146 – Command Praise
The last five Psalms are called “Hallel” psalms, or “praise” psalms.
At some point in Jewish history, Psalms 146-150 became part of the daily
prayers in synagogue worship.
In our group, each psalm starts with “praise the Lord” and each psalm ends
with “praise the Lord”. The Hebrew for “praise the Lord” is “Hallelu-jah”, or literally, “praise
Yah”.
praise – halal
– (Piel) to praise; to boast, make a boast
There are other “hallel” psalms.
Psalms 113-118 were called the “Egyptian Hallel” psalms.
The “Songs of Ascents” (Ps. 120-134) are a part of a group of Psalms called
“the Great Hallel”.
The Septuagint suggests in the title of Psalms 146,147 that they were
written by Haggai or Zechariah after the return from the captivity in Babylon,
but that’s not for sure.
:1 Praise the Lord! Praise
the Lord, O my soul!
:1 Praise the Lord, O my
soul!
The first phrase translated “Praise the LORD” in Hebrew is literally, hallelu yah.
Grammatically it’s in an “intensive” (Piel)
form, and imperative in mood.
The “intensive” part means that the object of the sentence (“the LORD”) is
impacted by the effect of the action.
God is impacted by praise.
The imperative part speaks of a command.
I must praise God.
The hard part is that I don’t always feel like praising God.
What is the Psalmist doing?
He’s talking to his soul as if it’s another person, and commanding his soul
to give God praise.
This is the reason for me titling this psalm “Command Praise”
You’ve heard of a “command performance”?
We need to learn to command ourselves to praise Him.
He’s talking to himself.
Lesson
Self-Talk
We have this notion that someone who talks to themselves is a little bit
crazy.
Yet to be totally honest, nobody talks to us more than we do.
I talk myself into things all the time.
I might tell myself that I deserve a treat, so it’s time
for some ice-cream.
I might tell myself that some person has hurt me so bad
that I can’t trust them any longer, and I pull back from them.
I might tell myself that bad things are surely around the
corner, and I better be very, very afraid.
Have you ever heard any of those “voices” in your head?
The Psalmist is commanding his soul to worship God.
Sometimes when it comes to an opportunity to worship, I don’t because I
don’t feel like praising God.
Yet how many of you have ever wanted to stay home from
work, but you got up in the morning and went anyway despite not “feeling” like
it?
We have the ability to choose to do things we don’t “feel”
like.
When it comes this topic of “self-talk”, I do believe we can go overboard
just a little, especially when we stray outside of the truth.
I like that little Jessica was learning to say “I like”
certain things, but to think that she can do anything better than anyone else
is nothing but a setup for disappointment.
This concept of self-talk appears several times in Scripture.
The prophetess Deborah led the Israelites to defeat the king of the
Canaanites, and sung about commanding her soul to keep going, to “march on”.
(Judges
5:21 NKJV) The torrent of Kishon swept them away, That ancient
torrent, the torrent of Kishon. O my soul, march on in strength!
The Psalmist commanded himself to have “hope”
(Psalm
42:5 NKJV) Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted
within me? Hope in God,
for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.
David commanded himself to “bless” God.
(Psalm
103:1 NKJV) Bless the Lord, O my
soul; And all that
is within me, bless His holy name!
The Psalmist commanded himself to calm down, to find “rest”.
(Psalm
116:7 NKJV) Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
Here in our passage, the Psalmist is commanding himself to “praise” God.
How are you talking to yourself?
:2 While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
:2 while I have my being
trans – ‘owd
– still, yet, again, besides
It expresses “continuance”.
He will keep singing praises to
God.
(Psalm 146:2 NIV) …I will
sing praise to my God as long as I live.
(Psalm 146:2 NLT) …I will
sing praises to my God with my dying breath.
:3 Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there
is no help.
:4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans
perish.
:4 His spirit departs
spirit – ruwach
– wind, breath, mind, spirit
When man dies, his spirit departs and he is buried in the ground, and on
that day all his plans are over.
:3 Do not put your trust in princes
put your trust – batach –
trust in; to have confidence; to be secure
Lesson
Counting on
We have to count on people for things in life. We can’t get on without others in our lives.
Paul said that as believers, we are a part of the body of Christ, and that
since we’re only body parts, we need each other:
(1
Corinthians 12:21 NKJV) And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor
again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
Yet we will fall into a trap of thinking that people are always going to be
there and always going to bail us out of our problems.
When the nation of Judah had been in captivity in Babylon, it was King
Cyrus that changed things.
He made a decree and allowed the Jews not only to go back to their land,
but promised to finance the building of the Temple.
And then all the trouble began.
(Ezra 4:4–5 NKJV)
—4 Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of
Judah. They troubled them in building, 5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all
the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of
Persia.
These people wrote letters to the kings of Persia and had
all the financial support cut off and the Temple building project stopped.
It was then that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah stepped in and began to
encourage the people to get back to work.
Though the people would eventually gain financial aid once again from the
kings of Persia, they first had to turn back to God and get on board with God’s
program and choose to obey God first.
As believers we face this delicate balance of being a part of the body and
“needing” each other, yet ultimately not putting our trust in people but in the
Lord.
Illustration
The Cat in the Tree
There is a small rural town, somewhat northeast to the
city of Niagara Falls,
NY. One evening, a resident of the town called the local volunteer fire
department to request assistance in removing their cat from a tree. Since this
was a “questionable” call, the fire control dispatcher called the fire chief at
home to ask if he wanted to respond. The chief said sure, call out the
department, since it was early evening and it shouldn’t be a problem for the
volunteers to respond. The fire department responded with a rescue truck which
had an extension ladder. The tree, however, was too tall and willowy to support
the weight of the extension ladder. Rather than send men back to the fire hall
to bring the aerial ladder truck, one of the firefighters suggested an
alternate course of action. Two of the firefighters supported the ladder while
a third climbed high enough to tie a rope around the tree at about half its
height. The other end of the rope was tied to a trailer hitch on a pickup
truck, with the truck slowly driven forward, forcing the tree to bend over. One
firefighter was poised to grab the cat as soon as it was within his reach. The
knot securing the rope to the trailer hitch slipped free. The cat was last seen
airborne heading south toward the city of Niagara
Falls, and was never seen again. This incident adds a
rather new definition to the word “catapult”. Needless to say, the particular
fire department did not receive praise from the local ASPCA when the story made
its rounds.
People will let you down from time to time.
Friends will let you down from time to time.
I will let you down from time to time.
When people let you down, let it be an opportunity to show grace to them,
as well as to remind yourself that your trust and expectation needs to be from
God.
:5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose
hope is in the Lord his
God,
happy – ‘esher
– happiness, blessedness
help – ‘ezer
– help, succour
hope – seber
– hope
:5 the God of Jacob for his help
Lesson
Exciting Faith
Though we will be disappointed if we are counting on humans, we will be
“happy” if we learn to count on God.
Though it is not an easy thing to do, it can be exciting to step out in
faith and to actually live your life trusting in God.
When Ezra the priest decided to move from Babylon to Jerusalem to join in
the effort of rebuilding the Temple, he had to take some risky steps of faith.
Ezra was going to lead a band of Jews back to Jerusalem, and they were
going to be taking a lot of treasure and materials with them on the trip.
The road from Babylon to Jerusalem was not the safest of roads, and there
would be the possibility of facing robbers along the way.
(Ezra 8:21–23 NKJV)
—21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might
humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our
little ones and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and
horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the
king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek
Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”
23 So we fasted
and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.
And they made the trip safely.
There are going to be times in our lives when we are going to face
challenges and dangers.
I’m not saying that every risky opportunity before you is from God, but I’m
also not saying that following God’s directions in life doesn’t mean that you
might not be stepping into dangerous territory.
Illustration
I remember years ago when we took a step of faith and decided to try and
pull off doing an outreach to Russia, I wondered what in the world I was doing
going to Russia.
I remember feeling like I’ve made a scary commitment like
Ezra did and had to move forward despite it.
Through the first part of the trip I was terrified of
everything, wondering of some KGB agent was going to arrest us and throw us
into prison.
What I found out was that there are wonderful, beautiful
people in Russia.
We saw God work in people’s lives.
Best yet, I saw God working in my life, showing me that I
could do things that I was afraid of doing.
While people will let you down, God won’t.
Illustration
Cat-a-pult
A pastor in Romania found his kitten stuck up in a tree. Suddenly a bright
idea struck him! By tying the wispy branches of the tree to the bumper of his truck
and slowly driving forward, he could bend the top branches enough to reach his
terrified, precious kitten. Carefully, the brave rescuer executed the brilliant
plan. However, just as the pastor reached for his furry friend, the rope
snapped and the wide-eyed, frozen kitty flew through the air as though
catapulted into space.
Sound familiar?
After a fruitless search the dejected pastor gave the care of his former
companion into the hands of his creator. While shopping not many days later,
the pastor bumped into the grocery cart of a woman from his church. Knowing her
reputation for disliking cats, he commented on the fact that she had cat food
in her basket. “You’ll never believe what happened!” replied the woman. “My
little girl has been begging me for a kitten for months and I continually
responded that we have no need for a cat. She has such love for animals, and
one day when she again asked for her very own cat, I told her that I would not
get a cat for her, but if God gave her one, she could keep it.” Satisfied with
the answer, my daughter ran into the backyard, got down on her knees, closed
her eyes tightly and prayed, “Dear God, please send me a kitty of my very own
to love and care for. Amen.” “She opened her eyes and what do you think she
saw? A little kitten with paws outstretched flying through the air. It landed
right in front of my daughter and has been part of our family ever since!”
While people let you down, God won’t.
He may not do things the way YOU want Him to, but He will always do the
right thing.
:6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who
keeps truth forever,
:6 Who made heaven and earth
The God we trust in is a big God.
(Isaiah 40:12 NKJV)
Who
has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured
heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the
mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?
It’s really hard to grasp this while we’re sitting in a room with a dozen
people.
You have to get outdoors to really think about just how big God is.
:6 Who keeps truth forever
keeps – shamar – to keep,
guard, observe, give heed
truth – ‘emeth – firmness,
faithfulness, truth
While man’s plans stop (vs. 4) and people let you down…
He “guards” “faithfulness” forever.
You can count on God to keep His promises.
(2 Corinthians 1:20
NKJV) For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen,
to the glory of God through us.
(2 Corinthians 1:20
NLT) For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a
resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to
God for his glory.
Jesus fits this. As well as all that follows…
:7 Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the
prisoners.
executes – ‘asah
– to do, fashion, accomplish, make
oppressed – ‘ashaq
– to press upon, oppress, violate, defraud, do violence, get deceitfully,
wrong, extort
freedom – nathar
– to loose, let loose, undo, be free, be loose
:7 Who executes justice for the oppressed
Our world is filled with injustice.
We ought to be concerned about injustice because God is.
God doesn’t take bribes and only rule in favor of the wealthy or
privileged, He will do what’s right for all people.
justice – mishpat –
judgment, justice, ordinance
He will judge people according to what’s right when he helps those who are
oppressed.
This will ultimately take place as men stand in judgment before God.
How does this work if we are the guilty one? Ultimately we are all guilty of sin.
(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.
How can God be “just” and forgive us?
God is “just” in forgiving us because the price required to pay for our mess
of sin has been paid by Jesus on the cross.
:7 Who gives food to the hungry
When the multitude was with Jesus for a couple of days out away from the
town, and they were beginning to get hungry, Jesus took the lunch a small boy
offered, and used it to feed 5,000.
Because God is concerned with feeding hungry people, so should we. But God’s concern goes beyond physical
hunger.
Later Jesus said,
(John 6:35 NKJV) And Jesus said
to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he
who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Jesus deals with a spiritual hunger, that hole in your heart that can only
be filled by Him.
:7 The Lord gives freedom
to the prisoners
Isaiah prophesied:
(Isaiah 61:1 NKJV) “The Spirit
of the Lord God is upon
Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach
good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim
liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
When Jesus began His ministry, He read from this passage in Isaiah and said
that it was speaking about Him. (Luke 4:17-21)
(Luke 4:17–21 NKJV) —17 And He was
handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He
found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord
is upon Me, Because He
has anointed Me To preach the gospel
to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” 20
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to
the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were
fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to
them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Though we ought to be concerned about things like human trafficking, the
slavery that affects all men is sin.
Paul wrote,
(Romans 8:2 NKJV) For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death.
In regards to slavery to sin, Jesus said,
(John 8:32 NKJV) And you
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
:8 The Lord opens the eyes
of the blind; The Lord raises
those who are bowed down; The Lord
loves the righteous.
:8 The Lord opens the
eyes of the blind
(John 9:1–7 NKJV) —1 Now as Jesus
passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man
or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus
answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God
should be revealed in him. 4 I must
work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming
when no one can work. 5 As long as
I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made
clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is
translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
Jesus opens blind eyes.
Sometimes blindness isn’t physical, but spiritual. We don’t want to see what God is trying to do
in our lives.
God wants you to see what He’s going.
:8 The Lord raises those
who are bowed down
raises – zaqaph
– (Qal) to raise up
bowed down – kaphaph
– to bend, bend down, bow down, be bent, be bowed
This may be talking about how God uses those who will humble themselves,
but I wonder if there isn’t more.
Jesus went to visit Mary and Martha after hearing that their brother
Lazarus was ill, in fact he actually died.
When He arrived at their house…
(John 11:25 NKJV) Jesus said
to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he
may die, he shall live.
After this, Jesus asked to be taken to Lazarus’ tomb, and asked that they open
up the tomb.
(John 11:41–44
NKJV) —41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead
man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank
You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who
are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He
had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who
had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was
wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Jesus raises the dead.
:8 The Lord loves the
righteous
loves – ‘ahab
– to love
righteous – tsaddiyq –
just, lawful, righteous; just, righteous (in government); just, right (in one’s
cause); just, righteous (in conduct and character); righteous (as justified and
vindicated by God); right, correct, lawful
It’s all about being right with God.
The problem is, the Bible says,
(Romans 3:10 NKJV) As it is
written: “There is
none righteous, no, not one;
And yet there is a way to become right with God, and it starts with faith.
(Romans 4:3 NKJV) For what
does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness.”
It’s not just any faith, but specifically faith in Jesus.
(2 Corinthians 5:21
NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we
might become the righteousness of God in Him.
God loves it when you trust Jesus to pay for your sins.
:9 The Lord watches over the
strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He
turns upside down.
:9 The Lord watches over
the strangers
strangers – ger –
sojourner; a temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights
I understand the complexities of our nation’s immigration policies. Tonight I’m not advocating a wall or
sanctuary cities.
How our nation handles immigrants is one thing, but as people who follow
after God, we have other priorities.
God told the Jews, and I think this applies to us as individuals:
(Exodus 22:21 NKJV)
“You
shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in
the land of Egypt.
How many of you know someone who is Muslim?
I’m thinking of inviting Samy Tanagho to speak at our church on how to love
and reach our Muslim neighbors and friends.
Interested?
:9 He relieves the fatherless and widow
In ancient days, these were the most oppressed of all people.
There was no one to stand up for them.
Except God.
:10 The Lord shall reign
forever— Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
:10 Praise the Lord!
Again, the Hebrew here is hallelu-yah
Look back at verse 1:
(Psalm 146:1 NKJV) Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
We were commanded to tell our souls to give God praise.
Do you see any reasons why we shouldn’t be able to command ourselves to
praise Him?
We can do this.