Thursday
Evening Bible Study
January
28, 2016
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 35 – Deliverance from Enemies
: A Psalm of David
It has been suggested that this is one of the Psalms that David wrote
during the time that he was being chased by Saul.
:1 Plead my cause, O Lord,
with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me.
:1 Plead …with those who
strive…
Plead – riyb
– to strive, conten; to conduct a case or suit (legal), sue; to make
complaint
strive – yariyb
– contender, opponent, adversary
The word is based on the word for
“plead”
When people oppose or fight against
David, David is asking God to be the one who opposes or fights back.
:2 Take hold of shield and buckler, And stand up for my help.
In English, a “buckler” is a small shield.
In Hebrew, both words can be
translated either shield or buckler.
shield – magen
– shield, buckler
buckler – tsinnah
– shield, large shield, buckler
:3 Also draw out the spear, And stop those who pursue me. Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
:3 Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
I like this.
David is asking God to remind him just where the real salvation is going to
come from.
:4 Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor Who seek after my
life; Let those be turned back and brought to confusion Who plot my hurt.
:5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, And let the angel of the Lord chase them.
:6 Let their way be dark and slippery, And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
:6 the angel of the Lord
Again, just like we saw last week in 34:7, we have this mysterious person
show up in the text, this person who we believe is Jesus Christ.
:7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit, Which
they have dug without cause for my life.
:7 without cause … net for me in
a pit
Lesson
No good reason
Sometimes people have a reason to hate us:
(1 Peter 4:14–16
NLT) —14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will
be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 15 If you
suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying
into other people’s affairs. 16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for
the privilege of being called by his name!
Sometimes people hate us because we are representing
Christ and they don’t like it.
Yet sometimes they hate us because we are simply obnoxious
people.
Solomon gave one reason we can be obnoxious,
(Proverbs
25:17 NLT) Don’t visit your neighbors too often, or you will wear out your
welcome.
Sometimes we don’t pay attention to the fact that we’ve
become annoying to others.
Sometimes we do stupid things:
Illustration
A young executive was leaving the office late one evening
when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in
his hand. “Listen,” said the CEO, “this is a very sensitive and important
document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing
work?” “Certainly,” said the young executive. He turned the machine on,
inserted the paper, and pressed the start button. “Excellent, excellent!” said
the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. “I just need one copy.”
Yet sometimes there’s simply no good reason.
You may be doing everything correct, and they’re still going to hate you.
:8 Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly, And let his net that he has
hidden catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall.
:8 Into that very destruction let him fall
Solomon has a great promise to remember when someone is trying to trap you:
(Proverbs 26:27
NKJV) Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have
it roll back on him.
:9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
:10 All my bones shall say, “Lord,
who is like You, Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”
:11 Fierce witnesses rise up; They ask me things that I do not know.
:11 Fierce witnesses rise up
Fierce – chamac
– violence, wrong, cruelty, injustice
David had several people who caused him trouble during the time he was
running from Saul.
One of them was a man named
“Nabal”, which means “fool”. When David
sent some of his men to ask for some financial support since David had been
protecting Nabal’s shepherds, Nabal responded,
(1 Samuel 25:10–11 NLT) —10 “Who is
this fellow David?” Nabal sneered to the young men. “Who does this son of Jesse
think he is? There are lots of servants these days who run away from their
masters. 11 Should I take my bread
and my water and my meat that I’ve slaughtered for my shearers and give it to a
band of outlaws who come from who knows where?”
I think there is also a prophetic hint of Jesus here.
(Matthew 26:59–61
NKJV) —59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false
testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 but found none. Even though many
false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses
came forward 61 and said,
“This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build
it in three days.’ ”
Jesus said these things, but He didn’t mean it the way that they were
taking it.
They are twisting His words and will use this for their charge of
“blasphemy” against Jesus, leading to His death.
Lesson
Jesus understands.
There is nothing new under the sun.
David went through it.
Jesus went through it.
You and I may go through it as well.
Jesus knows what you’re going through.
(Hebrews 4:15–16
NLT) —15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced
all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us
come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy,
and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
:12 They reward me evil for good, To the sorrow of my soul.
:13 But as for me, when they were sick, My clothing was sackcloth; I
humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart.
:14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother; I
bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.
:14 as though he were my friend or brother
David treated Saul with kindness when Saul was trying to have David put to
death.
Lesson
Treat them differently
They may be harsh to you, but you don’t have to respond back with
harshness.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 5:38–45
NKJV) —38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you
on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take
away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever
compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from
him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. 43 “You have
heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.’ 44 But I say to
you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may
be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on
the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Don’t let yourself get caught in the “not fair” trap.
The issue is not about being treated fairly, it’s about
representing God accurately.
We sing a Chris Tomlin song with the lyric, “I’ve heard a
thousand stories of what they think you’re like…”
Our job is to be healthy “sons of your Father in heaven”,
to show them what God is really like.
God is kind even to those who hate Him.
:15 But in my adversity they rejoiced And gathered together; Attackers
gathered against me, And I did not know it; They tore at me and
did not cease;
:16 With ungodly mockers at feasts They gnashed at me with their teeth.
:17 Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, My
precious life from the lions.
:17 My precious life from the lions
Most of the time when a word is in italics,
the word is added to help the translation.
It’s not in the original text.
Here, the word “life” isn’t in the text…
How do we know to translate this
“precious life”?
The context does make the word
“life” be a good fit.
Some feel it’s best to see it as
describing the “soul”.
It is technically parallel to the
word “me” in the previous phrase “Rescue me from their destructions”.
The Hebrew word for “precious” is interesting…
precious – yachiyd – only,
only one, solitary; only begotten son
It’s almost as if David might be praying for the “only begotten son”.
:18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among
many people.
:19 Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; Nor let
them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
:20 For they do not speak peace, But they devise deceitful matters Against the
quiet ones in the land.
:21 They also opened their mouth wide against me, And said, “Aha,
aha! Our eyes have seen it.”
:22 This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence. O Lord, do not be far from me.
:23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication, To my cause, my God and
my Lord.
:23 Stir up Yourself
David is asking God to help him.
Lesson
Let God work
This is quite a long psalm, and it’s all about having trouble with people
who will hurt you, lie about you, people who want you to be destroyed.
David handles the situation with prayer, asking God to work and deliver
him.
Paul writes,
(Romans 12:18–21
NKJV) —18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with
all men.
The problem is that many times it simply isn’t possible to
be a peace with all people. Sometimes they’re going to hate you for no good
reason.
19 Beloved, do
not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is
written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your
enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so
doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Put the situation into God’s hands. Let Him take care of
it.
:24 Vindicate me, O Lord my
God, according to Your righteousness; And let them not rejoice over me.
:25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!” Let them
not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
:26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion Who rejoice at my
hurt; Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor Who exalt themselves against
me.
:27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And
let them say continually, “Let the Lord
be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
:28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness And of Your
praise all the day long.
:28 of Your praise all the day long
Lesson
Back to praise
The kind of trouble that David has been experiencing can get your eyes off
of God.
So now David works to get his eyes back on God and on praising God all day
long.
This is the kind of situation when praising God is difficult. It takes effort. It is a sacrifice.
(Hebrews 13:15
NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise
to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
Psalm 36
: To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the Servant of the Lord.
To the Chief Musician
Lesson
The Worship Leader
There is value in organized worship where one person has prepared
themselves to lead a group in worship of God.
A worship leader needs to be prepared.
The music needs to be prepared
David wrote the music and had his “chief musician” led it. That takes work.
The heart needs to be prepared
As important as it is for a worship leader to hone his/her
music skills, it’s nothing if the heart of the worship leader isn’t prepared.
To lead in worship means that you are the first one
through the gates into God’s presence and the rest of the church simply follows
your example.
If the worship leader isn’t worshipping, it’s much harder
for the church to worship (though not impossible).
David the Servant of the Lord
This song is going to be about David’s struggle with wicked people.
servant – ‘ebed
– slave, servant
Lesson
Humility in the struggle
The safest place to be when you are in conflict with others is to be in
submission to God, as God’s servant.
Sometimes the struggles I face with others is simply due to my own
shortcomings.
I’ve caused trouble and I need the humility to admit that
I was wrong.
Sometimes the problem is just a misunderstanding.
The humble person can be gracious and resolve things in
the face of misunderstanding.
Sometimes the struggle I’m in is because the other person is doing a wicked
thing, and I am the unwilling victim.
You don’t have to take up the battle like the proud person
who doesn’t want to lose a fight.
It’s good to know that you are employed in the service of
the King of Kings.
He takes care of His own.
36:1-4 Wicked Men
:1 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There
is no fear of God before his eyes.
:1 An oracle within my heart
oracle – ne’um
– utterance, declaration (of prophet); revelation
This is a prophetic revelation that God has given to David concerning
wicked people.
This song is about one of those “aha” moments when God spoke something to
David’s heart about wicked people.
:1 no fear of God before his eyes
This is what’s at the root of the sin of the wicked.
They have no sense of just who God is.
Lesson
Fear of God
A proper fear of God will result in turning from our sins.
Job wrote,
(Job
28:28 NKJV) And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to
depart from evil is understanding.’
Solomon wrote,
(Proverbs 3:7 NKJV) Do
not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
Why should we “fear” God?
He is our creator.
(Psalm
100:3 NKJV) Know that the Lord,
He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…
If anyone should have authority over our lives, it should
be Him.
He is all powerful.
He can do anything.
Our very breath is in His hands.
Daniel told Belshazzar that God was …
(Daniel
5:23 NKJV) …the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your
ways…
He is holy.
He is completely without sin.
There’s nothing dark in Him.
He is so completely different from us sinners.
(1
John 1:5b NKJV) …God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
He is just
He will punish all sin.
If not now, He will in the end.
He will one day judge this earth and us as well.
(Psalm
98:9 NKJV) For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge
the world, And the
peoples with equity.
He loves me
Some of us have this twisted idea about love that we think
that if a person loves us they won’t mind if we do something wrong.
They might indeed love us, but that kind of attitude shows
we don’t love them.
God loved us so much that He was willing to send His Son
to die a horrible death on the cross in order to pay for our sins.
(1
John 3:16a NKJV) By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us…
Are those good enough reasons to have a serious “respect” or “fear” of God?
Are those good enough reasons to want to turn from our
sin?
:2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and
when he hates.
:2 he flatters himself in his own
eyes
It sounds as if the wicked man pats himself on the back for all the bad
things he’s doing.
The ESV has a slightly different
taste:
(Psalm 36:2 ESV) For he flatters
himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
His patting himself on the back
might be because he thinks he will never be found out.
The NLT gives us a different idea as well:
(Psalm 36:2 NLT) In their
blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.
Lesson
Being teachable
I cringe when I see people who can’t see their own faults.
I sometimes wonder if I can see my faults.
Illustration
British painter and engraver William Hogarth was once commissioned to paint
the portrait of an exceptionally ugly nobleman. As was his custom, he depicted
the subject with the utmost frankness and realism. When the nobleman saw the
portrait, he refused to pay for it, and a bitter discussion ensued. Eventually
Hogarth, needing the money, sent a letter to his client, saying that a certain
showman who specialized in exhibiting freaks and monstrosities was interested
in the portrait. Unless Hogarth received payment within three days, he would
embellish the picture with a tail and other appendages and sell it to the
showman for exhibition. The nobleman paid up, then burned the portrait.
Are you open to learning about your own faults, flaws, and sins?
:3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; He has ceased
to be wise and to do good.
:3 The words of his mouth are
wickedness and deceit
Because the heart is wicked, the
words are wicked.
When a person’s life is
characterized by deceit, don’t be quick to believe anything they say.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 12:34 NKJV) ... For
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
:4 He devises wickedness on his bed; He sets himself in a way that is
not good; He does not abhor evil.
When he’s trying to sleep in his bed, all he can think about is what kind
of evil thing he will do the next day.
36:5-10 A Good God
David will now draw the greatest contrast with wicked men. He will describe how good God is.
:5 Your mercy, O Lord, is
in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
:5 Your mercy, O Lord, is
in the heavens
mercy – checed – goodness,
kindness, faithfulness
NLT has “unfailing love”
How big is God’s love for us? It
reaches to the heavens.
:5 Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds
faithfulness –
‘emuwnah – firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness
Faithfulness is how trustworthy a person is. Can you count on them?
How big is God’s faithfulness? To
the clouds.
:6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are
a great deep; O Lord, You
preserve man and beast.
:6 righteousness … judgments
righteousness – tsedaqah
– justice, righteousness
judgments – mishpat
– judgment, justice, ordinance
God is good and the things He does are as huge as the mountains.
God’s laws, His ways of making decisions, are very deep.
:7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the
children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
:7 How precious is Your
lovingkindness
precious – yaqar
– valuable, prized, weighty, precious, rare, splendid
lovingkindness – checed
– goodness, kindness, faithfulness
This is the same word translated
“mercy” or “unfailing love” in verse 5.
:7 put their trust …
When men realize how great God’s love is for them, it’s not so hard to
trust in Him.
:8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You
give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
:9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
:9 the fountain of life
Life in the desert called Israel is
all about learning to find where the water is.
With God, you don’t need to be
afraid of going thirsty.
Jesus used this picture to talk
about the Holy Spirit.
(John 7:37–38 NKJV) —37 …“If
anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his
heart will flow rivers of living water.”
:9 In Your light we see light
You don’t really understand what light is until you start letting God’s
light shine on you.
Lesson
Changing perspective
When we simply rely on our own “light”, we don’t see very clearly, like the
person who just can’t see their own faults.
It’s like standing in front of the mirror shaving yourself, in the dark.
You might think you did a pretty good job until you
actually turn the light on, and then you see the places you missed and the
spots where you nicked yourself.
When we turn to the Lord and let Him light up our lives, we tend to see
things a little differently.
(Luke 5:1–9 NKJV)
—1 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of
God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the
lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got
into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little
from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. 4 When He had
stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your
nets for a catch.” 5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all
night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when
they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was
breaking. 7 So they
signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And
they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for
I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of
fish which they had taken;
I find it interesting that Simon didn’t grasp his own sinful condition
while Jesus was teaching.
Perhaps he was just too tired from fishing all night.
It wasn’t until he got close enough to Jesus to see how Jesus could really
impact his life, that Peter woke up to who Jesus really was, and who Peter was
as well.
John tells us what happens when we start seriously walking in God’s light.
(1 John 1:7 NKJV) But if we
walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
When we are walking in God’s light, we will find that
we’re not walking alone.
There are others working at walking in His light as
well. We have fellowship. We have things in common.
We will also experience cleansing.
Walking in the light will expose areas of our lives that
need to change.
Walking in the light will lead us to confess our sins to
God, to turn from our sins, and to find cleansing.
This is very different from the wicked man who wants to
keep his sins secret from others.
:10 Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your
righteousness to the upright in heart.
36:11-12 Request For Help
:11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, And let not the hand of the
wicked drive me away.
:12 There the workers of iniquity have fallen; They have been cast down and
are not able to rise.
:11 Let not the foot of pride come against me
Though we can look at this as a prayer for God’s help, don’t forget that
this is all part of a psalm. This is a
song.
Lesson
The song in the struggle
David has a lot of songs about conflicts with enemies.
He has learned to “sing” in the “struggle”.
From Job 35
Illustration
British preacher Charles Spurgeon once vacationed at an isolated spot in England because
he had been told that many nightingales lived there. To his great disappointment, however, it started
to rain just as he arrived at the hotel.
The weather turned unseasonably cold and Spurgeon feared that the
primary purpose of his trip had been spoiled. But as he sat by his open window,
he suddenly heard a delightful melody -- a nightingale perched on a branch
outside. The only light was a dim lamp
burning at the entrance to the hotel.
The nightingale, oblivious to the rain and cold, was exulting in that
tiny bit of light. Spurgeon wrote of his
experience, "I do not expect to listen to anything so sweet and thrilling
again until I hear the angels sing in glory.
The God of that nightingale is the same loving Savior I serve. In spite of darkness, storm, or thorns, He
always provides some ray of light and gives a song in the night."
Song
Your Love Oh Lord (Psalm 36)
Tran: E A2 E A2
Chorus:
E A2
Your love, oh Lord
E B
Reaches to the heavens
C#m7 A2
Your faithfulness
E B
Stretches to the sky
C#m7 A2
Your righteousness
E B
Is like the mighty mountains
C#m7
Your justice flows
A2 E B
Like the oceans tide
Bridge:
B
And I will lift my voice
A2 E
To worship you my King
B
And I will find my strength
A2 F#m7
B
In the shadow of your wings
Words & Music by Brad Avery, David Carr, Mac Powell,
Mark Lee, & Tai Anderson
©1999 New Spring / Vandura 2500 Songs