Thursday
Evening Bible Study
June
22, 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 145 – Focus on Praise
: A Praise of David.
A Praise of David.
Praise – tehillah –
praise, song or hymn of praise
This is the same word that the Hebrew title for the book of Psalms.
This is the only psalm with a title like this. When a Psalm is called the “Praise” of the
sweet psalmist of Israel, I think it’s something we ought to pay attention to.
This is the last Psalm that has David’s name attached to it.
Pastor Chuck used to say that when he felt like he couldn’t find the words
to express his thanks to the Lord for something, this was one of the places he
turned and meditated on.
This is another alphabetical acrostic psalm like Psalm 34, Psalm 111, and
the big one Psalm 119.
In the Hebrew, the first verse begins with the first letter of the Hebrew
alphabet, and each succeeding verse begins with the next letter of the
alphabet.
It has been suggested that this was a way of helping a singer memorize a
song.
This Psalm is unique in that one letter is missing, the letter “nun”, which should be between verses 13
& 14.
Writing an “acrostic” song is not an easy thing to do. To do it well takes
some thought, planning, and a good command of the language.
Let’s try and write a couple of lines in our own acrostic Psalm, with the
theme of God’s greatness.
Start with the letter “A”, and go through the letter “G”.
And then go back through those lines, fit them to a
melody, and even consider working them into a rhyming scheme. Not an easy thing to do.
This week I was listening
to a lecture by songwriter Matt Redman.
Matt has written some pretty special songs that we sing like, “The Heart
of Worship”, “10,000 Reasons”, “Better is One Day”, “Friend of Sinners”, and
“Blessed Be Your Name”. Matt was
speaking at the Calvary Chapel School of Worship.
He is talking about the tensions in songwriting…
Video: Matt Redman on songwriting –
spontaneity and hard work
Though some songs come spontaneously, others require a lot of work and
development.
Spurgeon wrote,
“The Holy Spirit condescends to use even the more
artificial methods of the poet, to secure attention, and impress the heart.”
:1 I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and
ever.
:2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and
ever.
:2 Every day … forever and ever
Lesson
Get used to it
If you are going to go on an Israel tour with us, it is generally
recommended that you get in the habit of walking two miles a day.
Video: Bethsaida Walking
Why do we recommend walking ahead of time?
It’s not required, but we will be doing a little walking on our tour,
and you want to be in enough shape to enjoy every bit of your trip.
When we find ourselves before God’s throne in heaven, whether we’re ready
or not, we will respond like all the
other inhabitants in heaven and worship God.
(Revelation 5:11–13
NKJV) —11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the
throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with
a loud voice: “Worthy is
the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength
and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under
the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing
and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Though I don’t think the only thing we’ll be doing in
heaven is worship, I do believe this is something that we’ll be doing on a
regular basis.
I think that some people find this concept dull and boring.
Some people say, “Heaven is going to be so boring, just sitting around
playing harps all day.”
I think that’s because they haven’t learned to worship Him very well while
we’re here on earth.
Have you ever had a loved one be gone for awhile, and then met them at the
airport when they arrived back at home?
I think our arrival in heaven will be a little like that,
when we finally see Him face to face.
And yet that awe and wonder of who He is is never going to
stop.
:3 Great is the Lord,
and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.
:4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare
Your mighty acts.
:4 One generation … to another
Lesson
Pass it on
Each generation has the responsibility to pass on not only a knowledge of
God, but to also pass on the practice of worship.
How do you think that little girl learned to act like that?
While being filmed, the little girl may have simply been mimicking her
parents, but hopefully it will catch on as she grows older.
We have the responsibility of passing it on.
To our kids
(Deuteronomy
6:7 NKJV) You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of
them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down,
and when you rise up.
To disciple others
(1
Timothy 4:12 NKJV) Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers
in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
We should be examples to other believers, and reaching out
to younger believers to teach them how to praise God.
It doesn’t even have to be people younger than ourselves,
but we still be an example.
:5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your
wondrous works.
:5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor
meditate – siyach – to put
forth, mediate, muse, ponder, sing
glorious – kabowd
– glory, honor, glorious, abundance
splendor – hadar
– ornament, splendor, honor
majesty – howd
– splendor, majesty, vigor
wondrous – pala’
– to be marvelous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary; (Niphal) to
be beyond one’s power, be difficult to do; to be difficult to understand
Lesson
Mind Exercises
We exercise our minds thinking about things that aren’t all that helpful in
life.
Can you finish these sentences?
Video: Gilligan’s Island Theme
The mate was a
mighty sailing man, The skipper brave and sure. Five passengers set sail that
day, For a … (three hour tour, a three hour tour.)
Video: Flintstone Theme Song
“Flintstones, they’re the Flintstones, they’re the modern
stone-age family. From the town of
Bedrock, they’re a … (place right out of history)
We are good at storing and retrieving all sorts of worthless information,
but how good are we at recalling what’s really important?
Let’s see if we can come up with ten unique things about God that describe
how “glorious” He is. Can you share a
single word, an “attribute” of God?
Paul wrote,
(Philippians 4:8
NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are
noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report,
if there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Meditating on God’s greatness isn’t an easy thing. It takes work, it takes thought.
We too need to “meditate on majesty”.
The size of your anxiety is not based upon the size of your problem. It’s based on the size of your God.
Your problems may indeed be much bigger than you, but if you would take
time to think about how much bigger God is than your problems, perhaps you
wouldn’t worry as much.
Illustration
Discouraged? Take
this good counsel from Charles Spurgeon: “Plunge yourself in the Godhead’s
deepest sea; be lost in His immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch
of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I
know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of
sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon
the subject of the Godhead.”
:6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, And I will
declare Your greatness.
:6 Your awesome acts
awesome – yare’ – (Niphal)
to be fearful, be dreadful; to cause astonishment and awe
The Old King James here says, “men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts”
The way God delivered Israel
out of Egypt
was “terrible” or “awesome”.
The plagues of frogs, the hail and fire from the sky, the firstborn sons
being slain.
When Israel
began to conquer the Promised Land – the walls of Jericho fell down – quite “terrible”! And awesome.
:7 They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, And shall sing of
Your righteousness.
:8 The Lord is gracious
and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.
gracious – channuwn
– gracious
compassion – rachuwm
– compassionate
slow – ‘arek
– long (pinions); patient, slow to anger
anger – ‘aph
– nostril, nose, face; anger
mercy – checed
– goodness, kindness, faithfulness
:8 gracious and full of compassion…
These same four qualities are a part of what God showed to Moses. Moses had
asked to see God’s glory, and this is what happened:
(Exodus 34:5–6
NKJV) —5 Now the Lord
descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the
Lord. 6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth
Yes, God is “terrible”, “awesome”,
and He will punish sinners. But the
chief attributes of God are His grace, compassion, patience, and mercy.
David reorders the attributes slightly so he starts with “gracious” since
is fits into his “heth” lettered
verse (that’s the letter that “gracious”, channuwn,
starts with.
Some of the English words don’t match, but the same four Hebrew words are
used.
Lesson
Make it yours
David doesn’t just copy verbatim what Moses recorded, but adapts it into
his psalm.
In a way, He’s making these truths about God to be his own.
The phrase “the LORD your God” is found in 239 verses in the book of
Deuteronomy.
God wanted the people to be sure to get the message that He wanted to be their God.
When the nation was wanting to set up their own king, Samuel warned the
people about what they were asking, and they asked Samuel to pray for them:
(1 Samuel 12:19
NKJV) And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not
die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for
ourselves.”
I like the idea that the people recognized that Yahweh was
Samuel’s God.
I don’t like the idea that they don’t call Yahweh, “The
LORD our God”.
These aren’t cold concepts that are repeated in some sort of a mantra for
David, but precious qualities that David knows and loves about God.
:9 The Lord is good to
all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.
:10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
And Your saints shall bless You.
:10 All Your works shall praise You
There’s a line from the old hymn, “Holy, holy holy”
“All Thy works shall praise Thy name
on earth and sky, and sea.”
:11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power,
:12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious
majesty of His kingdom.
:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures
throughout all generations.
:13 throughout all generations
Remember that there was a missing Hebrew letter/verse in the Psalm, based
on the letter nun? There is an extra line that is found in the
Septuagint and in some of the Qumran texts that add this extra verse.
Some of the newer translations add the extra line:
(Psalm 145:13 ESV) Your kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all
generations.
The
Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.
:11 the glory of Your kingdom
In vs. 11-13, David spends some time thinking about God’s kingdom.
This is coming from a man with his own kingdom.
God’s kingdom has “glory”.
God’s kingdom is forever.
Lesson
Whose kingdom?
I find it fascinating that David is focused on one kingdom, God’s kingdom.
We all have a kingdom in a sense.
Each of our lives is a kingdom.
The things we surround ourselves with is our kingdom.
Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the world.
If anyone had a right to be proud of his accomplishments, it was
him. And he was proud. God warned Nebuchadnezzar about his pride in
a dream, but old Neb
didn’t pay any attention.
(Daniel 4:29–32
NKJV) —29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal
palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have
built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” 31 While the
word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King
Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 32 And they
shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of
the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass
over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and
gives it to whomever He chooses.”
God humbled Nebuchadnezzar by making him act like a cow
for a period of time, until he came to realize that there was a God in heaven
who ruled over the affairs of man.
How do you view your life? Is it
your little “kingdom” that you have made?
My wife used to tease me about a computer game I played where you rule over
a nation and the people you rule over respond by saying things like, “Yes
m’lord” and “Whatever you wish”. It
gives you a sense of POWER and CONTROL.
Sometimes I can go through life expecting that everyone is supposed to
say “Yes, m’lord” and “Whatever you wish”.
It’s not going to happen. It
shouldn’t happen.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done”. But when we pray, do we really mean, “My kingdom come, my will be done”?
Is the focus of your life the building of “your kingdom” or “God’s
kingdom”?
Jesus said,
(Matthew 6:31–33
NKJV) —31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What
shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly
Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Put God first. Put
His kingdom first.
Everything else will work out just fine.
:14 The Lord upholds all who
fall, And raises up all who are bowed down.
:14 The Lord upholds all
who fall
Lesson
Forgiveness
The truth is we all fall. Every
single one of us.
We can get mad at others when they fall.
We seem surprised when we fall.
Yet we all fall.
God will raise up the one who calls on Him for help.
The prodigal son learned this.
(Luke
15:20 NKJV) “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great
way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him.
If you’ve fallen, there is forgiveness.
There is mercy.
But take note, it comes when we learn humility, when we are “bowed down”.
:15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food
in due season.
:16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
:17 The Lord is
righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.
:17 righteous in all His ways
Lesson
The Good Judge
From time to time we wonder about how God is going to handle certain
situations.
What will happen to the person who has never heard of Jesus Christ, and yet
dies and is facing judgment?
We may not know for sure exactly what is going to happen to every person
who has not heard of Jesus Christ, but this we do know:
God is righteous.
He does what is right.
Abraham declared:
(Genesis
18:25b NKJV) …Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
The angels who are observing God’s judgments will declare:
(Revelation
16:7 NKJV) And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God
Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”
You and I may not know what the right judgment is on a person, but in the
end we will all stand back in amazement at how God will have done the right
thing.
:18 The Lord is near
to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
:18 near to all who call upon Him
Sometimes it seems like God is just so very, very far away.
He’s actually quite close. He’s just
waiting for your call.
Brother Lawrence was a 17th century monk who lived a simple life
doing menial chores in a monastery. He
became famous because he had learned to “Practice the Presence of God”. People
came from all over to hang out with this man who simply walked with God. He wrote,
“You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we think.”
:19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear
their cry and save them.
:19 those who fear Him
We find in the Bible several keys to having our prayers answered.
Delighting in God
(Psalm 37:4 NKJV) Delight
yourself also in the Lord, And He shall
give you the desires of your heart.
Faith
(Matthew 17:20
NKJV) …if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for
you.
(John 14:14 NKJV) If you ask
anything in My name, I will do it.
His will
(1 John 5:14 NKJV) Now this is
the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us.
(John 15:7 NKJV) If you abide in Me,
and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done
for you.
Here, the key is having a healthy “fear” of God.
Lesson
Fearing God
I think one aspect of fearing God involves knowing what God can do to you.
When a craftsman is at work, if he’s not careful he can cut a finger off
with his saw. I’ve known many craftsmen who are missing a finger. But they
learn to “fear” the saw. They don’t stop working with the saw, they just gain a
new respect for the saw.
Illustration
There are two men working together at the sawmill when one
of them accidentally saws his arm off. Quickly thinking his friend takes the
arm, puts it in a plastic bag and rushes them to hospital. The following day he
visits the hospital to find his friend playing tennis. “Wow the wonders of
modern science”. So anyway they get back to work and are chatting away when a
lapse in concentration results in the same careless guy sawing his leg off.
Knowing the drill his friend takes the leg, puts it in a plastic bag and off
they all go to hospital. The next visiting time he finds his friend playing
football. “Wow the wonders of modern science”. A week later, back at work when
the guy leans forward just a little too far and saws his head off. Straight
away his friend takes the head, puts it in a plastic bag and rushes them all
off to hospital. The next day the friend visits to find no sign of his chum.
“Where’s my friend” asks the guy of the orderly. “Well”, said the orderly, “we
could have saved him but some idiot put his head in a plastic bag and he
suffocated.”
The real problem wasn’t plastic bags, it was a lack of
“fear” of the saw.
Last week there was a news
item about someone who bought an old camera in a thrift store, and found
some undeveloped film in it.
The gal had the film developed and found pictures of Mount St. Helens
erupting.
There was a old fellow who lived on the mountain named Harry Truman (not
the president). Harry thought he was
okay, and wouldn’t evacuate when he was warned.
He died in the eruption. He
didn’t have a healthy “fear” of the mountain.
This isn’t the kind of “fear” that keeps you away from God. It’s a “fear” that teaches you to respect who
God is.
When you “fear” God, you will learn to ask for the right things.
:20 The Lord preserves all
who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.
:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and
ever.
:20 preserves all who love Him
preserves – shamar
– to keep, guard, observe, give heed
Is it possible to “fear” God and “love” Him at the same time? Absolutely.
We can fear Him for what He could do to us. We love Him for what He has
done for us.
He could speak a word and we’d all be toast, but He hasn’t.
He sent His Son to die for us. That is an incredible love.
God doesn’t want you to just fear Him, He wants you to love Him as well.
Song:
Great Is The Lord (Psalm 145)
Intro: 4 bars
drums
A E D A
E (3x)
A E D
Verse 1:
E
We will exalt our Lord
D
Our God and our King
E
Forever praise His name
D
With our hearts we will sing
Chorus:
A E
D A E
Great is the Lord
A E
D A E
Most worthy of all our praise!
A E D
Who can measure the height and the depth
A E A E D
Of His mighty ways
Verse 2:
E
Tell every generation
D
Of all His deeds
E
Let us proclaim His power
D
With our hearts we will sing
Chorus:
A E
D A E
Great is the Lord
A E
D A E
Most worthy of all our praise!
A E D
Who can measure the height and the depth
A E A E D
Of His mighty ways
Verse 3:
E
Glorious and awesome
D
In all splendor He reigns
E
Wondrous in works so
D
With our hearts we will sing
Inst. A E D A
E (4x)
Repeat: A E D A
E (until end)
Great is the Lord
Most worthy of all our praise!
Who can measure the height and the depth
Of His mighty ways
Great is the Lord
Most worthy of all our praise!
Who can measure the height and the depth
Of His mighty ways
Who can measure the height and the depth
Of His mighty ways
Of His mighty ways
Words & Music by David Dunagan
© 2016 by David Dunagan