Thursday
Evening Bible Study
May
5, 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
National Day of Prayer
Pray for our nation
Pray for our leaders
Pray for the election
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 57 - Mercy
: To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” a Michtam of David When
He Fled from Saul into the Cave.
Set to “Do Not Destroy”
do not destroy – al tashcheth
– “do not destroy”
This is thought to be the name of the melody of the song.
Sometimes a melody can make you think of certain things, even when you
change the words of the song.
There’s a song out that’s very popular.
I think you’ll recognize the melody.
I’ve always struggled figuring out just what the song is about, but
recently realized it was about a teacher wishing there was a “Snow Day”
Same melody. Different words. Just like here…
This same melody (“Do Not Destroy”) will be used in Psalms 57-59, as well
as in Psalm 75.
All four psalms have one thing in common besides the “melody”. They all come out of a sense of
struggle. There is some sort of evil
thing or person who is causing trouble for the Psalm writer and this is his
response.
I think the melody (“do not destroy”) sets the tone for the words to
follow.
When He Fled from Saul into the Cave
We have two different times recorded when David was in a cave while fleeing
from Saul. I don’t know if we can
pinpoint which time this was.
The first time happened at Adullam after David had fled and gotten bread
and Goliath’s sword from the priests, then spent some time hiding out with the
Philistines, and then he fled and hid in a cave:
(1 Samuel 22:1–2
NKJV) —1 David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of
Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they
went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in
debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became
captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.
It was after that when Saul had the priests killed, David went out to fight
more Philistines, Saul started hunting David again, and David once again found
himself hiding in a cave, but this time at En Gedi.
(1 Samuel 24:2–3
NKJV) —2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went
to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 So he came
to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in
to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the
cave.)
This was where David would cut off a corner of Saul’s robe and afterward
challenge Saul as to why Saul kept wanting to kill David.
:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these
calamities have passed by.
Be merciful – chanan
– (Qal) to show favour, be gracious
David started Psalm 56 with this
phrase, and repeats it twice here.
refuge – chacah
– (Qal) to seek refuge, flee for protection; to put trust in (God), confide
or hope in (God) (fig.)
calamities – havvah
– desire; desire (in bad sense); chasm (fig. of destruction); engulfing
ruin, destruction, calamity
:1 my soul trusts in You
trusts – chacah – to seek
refuge, flee for protection; to put trust in (God)
This is the same word translated “make my refuge” later in the same verse.
Lesson
Increase my faith
I came across a great quote on faith the other day…
Illustration
I hear men praying everywhere for more faith, but when I listen to them
carefully, and get at the real heart of their prayer, very often it is not more
faith at all that they are wanting, but a change from faith to sight.
Faith says not, “I see that it is good for me, so God must have sent it,”
but, “God sent it, and so it must be good for me.”
Faith, walking in the dark with God, only prays Him to clasp its hand more
closely.
--Phillips Brooks;
Streams in the Desert – May 1
Sometimes we too ask God to increase our faith, but it’s because we too
think that if we had enough faith that our faith would make the difficulties
stop.
Faith is counting on God even when you don’t understand or don’t see what
He’s doing.
Faith is what gets us through our difficulties, whether they stop or not.
Faith isn’t the means to change difficult things, but it’s the way you
survive when things are hard.
Illustration
A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go
out to the back porch and bring her the broom. The little boy turned to his
mother and said, “Mama, I don’t want to go out there. It’s dark.” The mother
smiled reassuringly at her son. “You don’t have to be afraid of the dark,” she
explained. “Jesus is out there. He’ll look after you and protect you.” The
little boy looked at his mother real hard and asked, “Are you sure he’s out
there?” “Yes, I’m sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you
when you need him,” she said. The little boy thought about that for a minute and
then went to the back door and cracked it a little. Peering out into the
darkness, he called, “Jesus? If you’re out there, would you please hand me the
broom?”
Faith isn’t always about getting Jesus to do our work for
us. It’s about getting us through the
dark and stormy night.
:1 in the shadow of Your wings
I can think of at least three pictures this phrase hints at:
1) A mother bird will shelter its young with its wings.
Just like the little mother hummingbird that’s sitting on her nest outside
our kitchen window.
By the way, one egg has hatched, and there’s a new egg in the nest.
Illustration
The Fire
After a forest fire in Yellowstone
National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the
inferno’s damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched
statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the
eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he struck it, three
tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings. The loving mother,
keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of
the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the
toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to
abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had singed her
small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to
die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.
2) The Ark of the Covenant has two cherubim molded onto the lid with their
arms outstretched and touching each other – perhaps this might be partly in
David’s mind.
3) Hiding in a cave could be thought to be very much like being under the
shadow of God’s wings, finding shelter.
:2 I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things
for me.
:2 who performs all things for me
(Psalm 57:2 NLT) I cry out to
God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.
Lesson
He has a plan
Do you believe that God has a plan for your life?
Do you believe that God will be faithful to work things out in your life
according to His plan?
David believed it.
Paul wrote,
(Ephesians 2:10
NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Paul not only believed that God had a plan for him, but that he could count
on God bringing the plan to pass.
(Philippians 1:6
NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good
work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
(1 Thessalonians 5:24 NKJV) He who
calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
:3 He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would
swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
:3 He shall send from heaven and save me
David was praying and God was in heaven.
God heard David’s prayers and God is responding with help from heaven.
(Psalm 20:2 NKJV) May He send
you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion;
It’s like ordering something on Amazon.
God has free shipping.
:3 He reproaches the one who would swallow me up
reproaches – charaph
– to reproach, taunt, blaspheme, defy, jeopardize, rail, upbraid
The one who would swallow up David was King Saul.
Saul is so crazy about destroying David that he’s even willing to kill his
own son over it.
(1 Samuel 20:30–33
NKJV) —30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him,
“You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have
chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s
nakedness? 31 For as long
as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your
kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 And Jonathan
answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has
he done?” 33 Then Saul
cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined
by his father to kill David.
This happened near the time periods when David had been in a cave.
:3 God shall send forth His mercy and His truth
These are the packages God will send from heaven.
mercy – checed – goodness,
kindness, faithfulness
truth – ‘emeth – firmness,
faithfulness; reliability; stability
:4 My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men Who
are set on fire, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a
sharp sword.
:4 My soul is among lions
Some of David’s own men were a bit rough around the edges. They tended toward being bloodthirsty savages
at times.
When David was hiding in the cave, they were urging David to waste Saul
while he had the chance (1Sam. 24:4)
(1 Samuel 24:4 NKJV) —4 Then the
men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into
your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” And David
arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
Later, when David snuck into Saul’s camp, Abishai promised he would kill
Saul quickly:
(1 Samuel 26:8
NKJV) Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your
hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear,
right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!”
Yet in each of these circumstances, David did not give in to the peer
pressure, but paid attention to his conscience and did not kill Saul.
It’s hard to do the right thing when the people around you are hot-headed
and want you to act impulsively.
:5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be
above all the earth.
:5 Be exalted, O God
This is the “refrain” or “chorus” of the song. It is repeated again in verse 11.
:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They have
dug a pit before me; Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen.
Selah
net – resheth
– net; for catching; of judgment (fig); of leaders leading people to sin;
as a trap for man
bowed down – kaphaph
– to bend, bend down, bow down, be bent, be bowed
:6 They have prepared a net for
my steps
Saul is working hard to trap David.
:7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and
give praise.
steadfast – kuwn –
(Niphal) be established; be stable, be secure
Just as God sends forth “truth” or “stability”, David’s heart is stable.
:8 Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.
dawn – shachar
– dawn
:8 I will awaken the dawn
Lesson
First thing in the morning
David is getting up early in the morning to praise the Lord. He’s making music at dawn.
Don’t start off the day with your worries and regrets.
Start off the day turning to God, trusting Him, praising Him.
This is not an easy thing to do.
I am not by nature a happy contented guy.
I tend to lean towards depression and fear.
I have learned that it is an important discipline to learn
to give God praise and thanks in the morning.
:9 I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among
the nations.
people – ‘am –
nation, people; persons, members of one’s people, compatriots, country-men;
kinsman, kindred
nations – l@om
– a people, nation
:9 I will sing to You among the nations
Though David is talking about the nations around him like Philistia, Moab,
Ammon, and Edom, Ezekiel found it stretched all the way to Babylon:
(Ezekiel 11:16 NKJV)
Therefore
say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have
scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them
in the countries where they have gone.” ’
Where ever we are, God wants to be our sanctuary, our place of refuge and
worship.
:10 For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the
clouds.
:10 mercy … truth
Remember mercy and truth from verse 3?
mercy – checed
– goodness, kindness, faithfulness, lovingkindness
truth – ‘emeth
– firmness, faithfulness, truth; sureness, reliability; stability
As David is praising God, he is experiencing a fresh sense of God’s mercy
and truth.
:11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be
above all the earth.
:11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens
Here’s that refrain (chorus) from verse 5.
Lesson
What do you focus on?
David isn’t expressing praise in order to somehow force God to deliver him
from his troubles.
David is expressing a heart of praise despite being in a difficult place.
David’s main goal in life is for God to be exalted and praised.
What if God doesn’t answer your prayers the way you want, could God still
be glorified? Would that be okay with
you?
When we are in difficult circumstances, our eyes get stuck on only seeing
the bad things around us.
David lifted his eyes and acknowledged how great God was.
(Hebrews 12:2 NKJV)
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Songs
G
Wake up my soul
C G
Wake up early in the day
Bm
Wake up my hands
Am G/B
D
And the instrument I play
G
Wake up my voice
C G/B
Am
Let the world hear me say
G
You are worshipped
D G
And exalted here today
D
Your loving kindness
C G
Is great as the heavens
D
Your faithfulness
C G
Is higher than the sky
D C G
Be exalted, God above the heavens
G Am G/B C Dsus D
Let Your glory shine
Well, I will cry
To my God who does wonders
Under the shadow
Of Your wings will I hide
Though my enemies try to surround me
Let Your glory shine
Wake Up My Soul / Words & Music by Richie Furay
& Scott Sellen / ©
1997 Always An Adventure Music / WakeUp.doc