Thursday
Evening Bible Study
July
13, 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 148 – Creation’s Worship Band
We are in a section known as the “Hallel” or “Praise” songs.
In Psalm 146-150, each song starts with “Hallelujah” (in Hebrew) or “Praise
the Lord.
Each Psalm also ends with “Hallelujah”
There are two sections to this psalm.
The first section (vs. 1-6) deals with things above (in the heavens).
The second section (vs. 7-14) deals with things on the earth.
Each section talks about the things that should praise God and why they
should praise God.
Let’s stand and read the entire Psalm together:
:1 Praise the Lord! Praise
the Lord from the heavens; Praise
Him in the heights!
:2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
:3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!
:4 Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens!
:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.
:6 He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall
not pass away.
:7 Praise the Lord from the
earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths;
:8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
:9 Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars;
:10 Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl;
:11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the
earth;
:12 Both young men and maidens; Old men and children.
:13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.
:14 And He has exalted the horn of His people, The praise of all His
saints— Of the children of Israel, A people near to Him. Praise the Lord!
The first six verses talk about everything in heaven praising God.
:1 Praise the Lord! Praise
the Lord from the heavens; Praise
Him in the heights!
:1 Praise the Lord from
the heavens
heavens – shamayim –
heaven, heavens, sky
heights – marowm
– height, elevation, elevated place
(Isaiah 33:5 NKJV) The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
We think of “heaven” exclusively as the place where God dwells, but the
Bible speaks of three kinds of “heavens”.
The lowest heaven is where the birds fly.
We call it the atmosphere.
The second heaven is where the stars are.
We call it space.
The third heaven is in the spirit realm, where God dwells.
Paul uses this terminology when he wrote,
(2 Corinthians 12:2
NKJV) I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I
do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was
caught up to the third heaven.
Paul would go on to describe his own experience of being
caught up before God’s throne.
You’ll see that the Psalmist is talking about heavens #2,3 here. He deals
with #1 in the second section.
:2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
:2 Praise Him, all His angels
angels – mal’ak
– messenger, representative
Lesson
Angel worship
Angels are created beings that have tremendous abilities.
When Jerusalem was under siege by the Assyrian armies, Hezekiah prayed, and
God answered by sending a single angel.
(Isaiah
37:36 NKJV) Then the angel of the Lord
went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five
thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the
corpses—all dead.
Throughout history, people have been tempted to worship angels.
Paul wrote,
(Colossians
2:18 NKJV) Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false
humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not
seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
As much as we might be in awe of the angels that surround us, we’re told
they are here to serve us.
(Hebrews 1:14 NKJV)
Are
they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will
inherit salvation?
Even the apostle John, when escorted by an angel through the book of
Revelations went a little too far in his appreciation of the angel:
(Revelation 22:8–9
NKJV) —8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw,
I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 Then he said
to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow
servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of
this book. Worship God.”
The angel considered himself a “fellow servant” of John.
Angels don’t want worship, they worship God.
:2 Praise Him, all His hosts!
hosts – tsaba’ – army,
war, warfare, host
Following the principle of Hebrew parallelism, the word “angels” is
equivalent to “hosts”.
The word is used to describe human armies, like the armies of Israel, but
it’s also used to describe angelic armies.
He is known as the “Lord of Hosts” (Sabbaoth), or, “Lord of heaven’s
armies”
You get a glimpse of what this looks like during the life of King
Jehoshaphat and King Ahab.
Jehoshaphat was the good king of the southern kingdom of Judah, while Ahab
was the wicked king of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Ahab was allied with Jehoshaphat through the marriage of their kids.
When Ahab wanted to make war against the city of Ramoth Gilead, he decided
to ask his daughter’s father-in-law if he wanted to join him. These two kings were sitting on their thrones
at a joint meeting up north, surrounded by counsellors and prophets.
All of Ahab’s counsellors and prophets liked the idea of the war.
Jehoshaphat didn’t want to go into battle unless Yahweh said it was okay,
so he asked Ahab if there was a prophet of Yahweh around that they could
ask. Ahab wasn’t thrilled with the idea
because the only guy available was Micaiah, and he tended to not say good
things about Ahab. Micaiah is called and
says that they will lose the battle, and the northern kingdom would lose their
king. Then he describes what was going
on in heaven.
(2 Chronicles
18:18–22 NKJV) —18 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven
standing on His right hand and His left.
The scene in heaven is actually not all that different than the one taking
place on earth before two earthly kings.
19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king
of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this
manner, and another spoke in that manner.
God had had His fill of Ahab. It was
time for Ahab to be judged and fall.
20 Then a
spirit came forward and stood before the Lord,
and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The Lord
said to him, ‘In what way?’ 21 So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of
all his prophets.’ And the Lord
said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.’ 22 Therefore
look! The Lord has put a lying
spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”
Not all angels are “good” angels.
Yet God in His sovereignty is able to use even the “bad” angels to get
His will accomplished.
Even Satan has to ask God for permission before doing anything.
In the book of Job, Satan comes before God and asks
permission to make life difficult for Job.
God allows it, but only to show Satan that Job is a man
who trusts in God.
Even the bad angels have to worship God.
(James
2:19 NKJV) You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons
believe—and tremble!
:3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!
:3 sun…moon…stars
From man’s earliest days, he has been enamored with the objects in space.
There are sun gods.
The Egyptians worshipped the sun god “Ra”
There are moon gods.
The Greeks worshipped Selene as their moon goddess. Oops, Selene, not Celene.
People today are still caught up in the trap of astrology, horoscopes, and
the supposed “power” that the stars have over you.
Isaiah taunted the Babylonians and their trust in their horoscopes:
(Isaiah 47:13 NKJV)
You
are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly
prognosticators Stand up and
save you From what
shall come upon you.
God warned Israel,
(Deuteronomy 4:19
NKJV) And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when
you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel
driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole
heaven as a heritage.
The Psalmist reminds us that the sun, moon, and stars are God’s creation,
and they give Yahweh praise.
:4 Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens!
:4 you heavens of heavens
This is speaking of the third heaven, the heaven where God’s throne is.
God is worshipped day and night in heaven.
(Revelation 4:8–11
NKJV) —8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes
around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God
Almighty, Who was and
is and is to come!” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to
Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the
twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him
who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 “You are
worthy, O Lord, To receive
glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”
All of heaven worships God because He is the Creator.
He has made ALL things.
:4 you waters above the heavens
The Psalmist is talking about the clouds in the atmosphere, the second
heaven.
This is what took place on the second day of creation:
(Genesis 1:6–8 NLT)
—6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to
separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is
what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the
waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came,
marking the second day.
During Noah’s flood, water came from underneath the earth as well as the
sky:
(Genesis 7:11 NKJV)
In
the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day
of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up,
and the windows of heaven were opened.
The Psalmist says these clouds should praise God.
:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.
:5 praise the name of the Lord,
Or, “praise the name of Yahweh”
:6 He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall
not pass away.
The next eight verses talk about things below the heavens praising God.
:7 Praise the Lord from the
earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths;
:7 great sea creatures
great sea creatures – tanniyn –
dragon, serpent, sea monster
This could include animals like whales and dolphins.
I imagine it would include the great “fish” that swallowed Jonah. (Jonah
1:17, though a different word is used).
(Jonah 1:17 NKJV) —17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to
swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three
nights.
It is translated “sea serpent” (Job 7:12)
(Job 7:12 NKJV) —12 Am I a sea, or a sea serpent, That You
set a guard over me?
The Old King James even translates it “dragons” (Ps. 74:13)
(Psalm 74:13 KJV) Thou didst
divide the sea by thy strength: Thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
These creatures worship God.
:8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
:8 fulfilling His word
fulfilling – ‘asah – to
do, fashion, accomplish, make
These weather elements all do God’s bidding.
That’s how they worship Him.
:8 Fire and hail
Lightning and hail.
You see these weather elements at work during the Exodus.
(Exodus 9:23 NKJV) And Moses
stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the Lord
sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.
:8 Stormy wind
stormy – ca’ar
– tempest, storm, whirlwind
wind – ruwach
– wind, breath, mind, spirit
God works through stormy weather.
When God finally spoke to Job in his trial…
(Job 38:1 NKJV) Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind
Yet God is not the “whirlwind”.
Elijah was hiding in a cave wanting to hear from God.
(1 Kings 19:11–12
NKJV) —11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong
wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and
after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord
was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and
after the fire a still small voice.
God has authority over the stormy wind.
(Matthew 8:23–27
NKJV) —23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly
a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.
But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord,
save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”
Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men
marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
He has authority over the winds and the sea.
They worship Him by “fulfilling His will”
Here’s a novel concept:
Obedience is a form of worship.
:9 Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars;
:9 Mountains and all hills
Isaiah wrote,
(Isaiah 55:12 NKJV)
“For
you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the
trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Lesson
Inanimate Praise
Some might look at this as if the Bible is simply being metaphorical (and
it might) when it comes to what can and should praise God.
C.S. Lewis liked to give some of these “inanimate” things like trees actual
life in his “Chronicles of Narnia” books.
He did this because the Scriptures hint at these inanimate things having
actual life.
Lewis’ friend J.R.R. Tolkien did the same in his Lord of the Rings trilogy:
It seems that Jesus had similar thoughts about creation having intelligence
as well.
(Luke 19:37–40
NKJV) —37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of
Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God
with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 38 saying: “ ‘Blessed
is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in
heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher,
rebuke Your disciples.” 40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should
keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
In Psalms we see the winds, hills, and trees giving God
praise.
Jesus added a “rock band” as well.
We think of certain things around us as being inanimate objects, yet the
Bible speaks of them as capable of praising God.
How is it that inanimate objects are ready to praise God when we are not?
:10 Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl;
Creeping things – remes
– creeping things, moving things, creeping organism
flying – kanaph
– wing, extremity, edge, winged, border, corner, shirt
fowl – tsippowr
– bird, fowl
:10 Beasts and all cattle
cattle – behemah – beast,
cattle, animal
The word comes from the word used here:
(Job 40:15–17 NKJV)
—15 “Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; He eats
grass like an ox.
16 See now, his strength is in his hips, And his
power is in his stomach muscles. 17 He moves his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are tightly
knit.
I’ve wondered if this might be describing dinosaurs like a brontosaurus.
Beasts – chay – living,
alive; living thing, animal
It’s quite a general term, from the simple word for “life”.
Lesson
Intelligent life
Paul wrote,
(Romans 8:19–22
NKJV) —19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the
revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but
because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also
will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of
the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth
pangs together until now.
Our family is on pins and needles right now as we are
waiting expectantly for our little granddaughter Ruthie to be born.
Paul says that all of creation has the same kind of
expectancy for the return of Jesus.
Creation has birth pangs, waiting for Jesus.
I’m not saying we should get all strange and go around hugging trees or
talking to plants, but I would like to suggest that a little more might be
going on around us than we realize.
:11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the
earth;
:11 Kings of the earth
Lesson
Recognize greatness
I know the purpose of the video is to help remind us that we all have
something special … but when it comes to being the “greatest”, there’s only
one.
Worship of God is all about learning to recognize that He is the “great
one”.
Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest ruler of his generation.
He conquered the known world and had absolute authority over all.
Yet there came a day when God needed to teach Nebuchadnezzar a lesson
concerning his pride and who really ruled over the earth.
God warned Nebuchadnezzar that He would humble him by making him act like
an ox until…
(Daniel
4:25 NKJV) They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the
beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall
wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you
know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever
He chooses.
The day came when Nebuchadnezzar let his pride get the better of him, and
he started acting like a cow until he turned to God. Then Nebuchadnezzar wrote,
(Daniel
4:34 NKJV) And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to
heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and
praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His
kingdom is from generation to generation.
That’s when Nebuchadnezzar’s mind returned to him.
Do you see the “worship” in what Nebuchadnezzar is saying?
:12 Both young men and maidens; Old men and children.
Male and female.
Old and young.
All should praise the Lord.
:13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.
:14 And He has exalted the horn of His people, The praise of all His
saints— Of the children of Israel, A people near to Him. Praise the Lord!
:14 He has exalted the horn of
His people
This is a metaphorical way of
saying that God has strengthened His people.
When we are weak, He strengthens
us.
(2 Corinthians 12:7–10 NKJV) —7 And
lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a
thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I
be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning
this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My
strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather
boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak,
then I am strong.
We should praise Him because He
makes us strong.
:5 He commanded and they were created
All these things, the heavens, angels, sun, moon, stars, and clouds are all
part of God’s creations.
All things under the heavens, great creatures, powerful weather, mountains,
and every living being and person are all created by God.
They should praise God because He created them.
Lesson
Worship is wise
When man recognizes who his Creator is, and is careful to worship the
Creator instead of what is created, he walks in wisdom.
When man refuses to acknowledge his Creator, things get a little foolish.
(Romans 1:18–32
NKJV) —18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, 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, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as
God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish
hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed
the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and
birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
When you don’t get the basics right, like acknowledging
what’s right in front of your face, that there is a Creator … then things start
to get foolish.
Once our minds become foolish, it affects the way we live
our lives.
24 Therefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor
their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this
reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the
natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned
in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and
receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over
to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they
are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing
the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are
deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice
them.
When man loses sight of his Creator, there is no more
standard for morality.
We start to worship all the wrong things.
Illustration
Last year we saw the movie “Hidden Figures”. It’s the true story about a group of black
gals with amazing math skills and how they helped NASA back in the sixties when
the U.S. was trying to get a man into space.
At this point in the movie, the main character has made a suggestion for
the space program, and all the big bosses want to know how she’s come up with
her ideas. Especially since some of them have tried to keep some of the
important facts from her by redacting the reports she has access to.
She not only did the “math”, she “held it up to the light”.
God is our light, and when we refuse to hold things up to His light, we’re
going to keep getting the wrong answers.
When we hold things up to His light, and do our math, we get the right
answers.
Songs
All Creatures Of Our God And King
C
All creatures of our God and King
Am7
Lift up your voice and with us sing
F
Oh praise Him, Alleluia
C
Thou burning sun with golden beams
Am7
Thou silver moon with softer gleam
F C/E
Oh praise Him Oh praise Him
F C/E G
C
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
C
Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Am7
Ye clouds that sail in heav'n along
F
Oh praise Him, Alleluia
C
Thou rising moon in praise rejoice
Am7
Ye lights of evening find a voice
F C/E
Oh praise Him, Oh praise Him
F C/E
G C
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
C Am7 F
C
Let all things their Creator bless
Am7
And worship Him in humbleness
F
Oh praise Him, Alleluia
C
Praise praise the Father, praise the Son
Am7
And praise the Spirit, three in One
F C/E
Oh praise Him, Oh praise Him
F C/E G
C
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
C
Praise praise the Father, praise the Son
Am7
And praise the Spirit, three in One
F C/E
Oh praise Him, Oh praise Him
F C/E G
F/A G/B F/C G/D
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
F/A G/B
Alleluia Alleluia
F/C G/D
Alleluia Alleluia
F/A G/B
Al-le-luia Alleluia
F/C
G/D
Alleluia Alleluia
F/A (soft) G/B
Al-le-luia Alleluia
F/C G/D
Alleluia Alleluia
F/A...
Al-le-luia...
All Creatures Of Our God And King/Words & Music by
Francis of Assisi arr: David Crowder Band
©2002 worshiptogether.com songs/AllCreaturesOfOurGodAndKing.doc