Day 291: Psalms 116-118 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hey Bible nerds, this is Dr. Manny
2. 0:02Orango. Welcome to the Bible department
3. 0:04podcast powered by Arma. We are walking
4. 0:08through the entire Bible in a year. You
5. 0:10can go to the description or the bible
6. 0:13department.com to download a reading
7. 0:15plan and join the journey
8. 0:18[Music]
9. 0:24family. Welcome to day 291.
10. 0:28We are making our way through the entire
11. 0:30Bible. But before we make it through the
12. 0:32whole Bible, we got to make it through
13. 0:34Psalms. And today we've got three more
14. 0:37Psalms on deck to look at, study, and uh
15. 0:41examine. I hope that you've already done
16. 0:43the reading. I had a blast doing the
17. 0:46reading. Was really personally edified
18. 0:48by Psalms 116, 117, and 118.
19. 0:53Loved reading these three psalms. As you
20. 0:56probably can realize or as observe, uh,
21. 1:00Psalm 117 is the shortest Psalm in the
22. 1:04entire book of the Psalms. So, you got
23. 1:06no excuse. Okay? If you haven't done the
24. 1:10reading yet, stop the video, pause the
25. 1:13audio, go get the reading done. If you
26. 1:15have done the reading, then let's dive
27. 1:18in. Like every day, I'm going to give
28. 1:20you context clues. I'm going to give you
29. 1:23some nerdy nuggets, some things that you
30. 1:25wouldn't have been able to know about
31. 1:27these Psalms had you watched or listened
32. 1:29to this episode. And then we're going to
33. 1:31end today's episode just like we end
34. 1:33every episode with a timeless truth. And
35. 1:36today's timeless truth is really,
36. 1:38really, really cool. So context, I got
37. 1:41bad news. Okay, none of these psalms, as
38. 1:44you can see in your Bibles, have a
39. 1:46title. Okay. Psalm 17 116 has no title
40. 1:51up at the top. And Psalm 117, same. And
41. 1:55then Psalm 118, same deal. No titles on
42. 1:58any of these psalms. But these are the
43. 2:01final three psalms from the Egyptian
44. 2:05hell. All right. So, we're going to end
45. 2:08the Egyptian hell. And so the context of
46. 2:11these three psalms is exactly the same
47. 2:14as all of the psalms in this little mini
48. 2:18section of the book of Psalms. Okay,
49. 2:22I'll just kind of read this from our
50. 2:24notes from yesterday. As the name
51. 2:26implies, the Egyptian hell was the hal
52. 2:30or the praise associated with Passover
53. 2:33and celebrates Yahweh's saving of Israel
54. 2:35from Egypt, hence Egyptian. Okay. Psalms
55. 2:39113, Psalms 113 all the way to Psalms
56. 2:43118
57. 2:44are all lack a title, but they all are
58. 2:48collectively known as the Egyptian hell.
59. 2:51So, no new context from today, but we've
60. 2:55got context on this collection of Psalms
61. 2:58as a whole, and that context kind of
62. 3:00carries over from yesterday. In the
63. 3:03event that you were not here yesterday,
64. 3:04but you're here today, then I'd probably
65. 3:06say watch yesterday's episode. I
66. 3:09probably gave way more context about the
67. 3:12this mini collection of psalms that we
68. 3:14have called the Egyptian hello. So, no
69. 3:17titles, no individual context for each
70. 3:20psalm, but this these three psalms fit
71. 3:24into a wider miniolction of psalms known
72. 3:28as the Egyptian hell. So, that's our
73. 3:30context for today. Let's get into some
74. 3:34nerdy nuggets. Okay, let's dive into
75. 3:36Psalm 116 first. Family, the wait is
76. 3:40over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos,
77. 3:43is out now and available everywhere
78. 3:46books are sold. Literally today, I
79. 3:50walked into a Barnes & Noble and I
80. 3:52signed a bunch of copies at a physical
81. 3:54location. So, you can grab this book at
82. 3:57a physical Barnes & Noble or you can go
83. 3:59to a Books a Million or Amazon or
84. 4:02anywhere books are sold and grab a copy.
85. 4:05If you enjoy reading the Bible from an
86. 4:08ancient perspective, if you understand
87. 4:11that the beauty of scripture is actually
88. 4:13knowing it in context, then you'll love
89. 4:16this book. And if there's any chaos in
90. 4:18your personal life, I think that reading
91. 4:21the Bible from an ancient perspective
92. 4:23can actually help to crush the chaos in
93. 4:25your life. I think this book is going to
94. 4:27be a New York Times bestseller. I really
95. 4:29do. I think we wrote a good one. I think
96. 4:32you should get a copy today. All right,
97. 4:35back to the episode. And uh want to give
98. 4:37as many nerdy nuggets as possible.
99. 4:39First, this is a psalm of individual
100. 4:42thanksgiving. Okay. And this psalm is
101. 4:44split into two parts with a hinge verse.
102. 4:48Okay. Two parts with a hinge. Verses 1
103. 4:51through 11 are all going to tell the
104. 4:54story of deliverance. Okay. And then
105. 4:58verse 12, there's this turning point.
106. 5:01There's a reasonable question based on
107. 5:04the deliverance that Yahweh has
108. 5:06provided. And then verses 13- 19 is the
109. 5:11offering of a thanksgiving sacrifice.
110. 5:14Okay, so verses 1- 11 kind of give
111. 5:17context for this Thanksgiving offering
112. 5:20and then verse 12 turning point and then
113. 5:22verses 13- 19 we are going to get the
114. 5:26actual thanksgiving sacrifice being
115. 5:29shared. So let's kind of back up. Okay.
116. 5:31Verses 1 through 11 of Psalm 116 says,
117. 5:37"I love the Lord for he heard my voice.
118. 5:40He heard my cry for mercy. Because he
119. 5:43turned his ear to me, I will call on him
120. 5:46as long as I live." Now, I want you to
121. 5:48remember these psalms are are a part of
122. 5:51what we know as the Egyptian hell. So,
123. 5:54let's think about what was happening
124. 5:57while the people of Israel were being
125. 6:00enslaved. They were crying out to God.
126. 6:02In the book of Exodus begins with this
127. 6:05amazing verse that God heard the cry of
128. 6:08his people and was inclined to move in
129. 6:13salvation with a mighty hand and an
130. 6:15outstretched arm because he heard them.
131. 6:17Uh it says, "The cords of death
132. 6:19entangled me. The anguish of the grave
133. 6:21came over me. I was overcome by distress
134. 6:24and sorrow." Next verse, verse four,
135. 6:26"Then I called on the name of the Lord."
136. 6:30Lord, save me. Again, this action of
137. 6:33calling out to God and him saving. By
138. 6:36the way, this idea of calling on the
139. 6:39name of the Lord for salvation is going
140. 6:41to be an idea that the New Testament
141. 6:43writers are going to pick up on, that
142. 6:46they are going to emphasize, and that
143. 6:48they are obviously going to apply to the
144. 6:51person of Jesus. Rightfully so. Okay.
145. 6:54The Lord, verse 5, is gracious and
146. 6:57righteous. Our God is full of
147. 6:58compassion. The Lord protects the
148. 7:01unwary. When I was brought low, he saved
149. 7:05me. Verse seven, return to your rest, my
150. 7:07soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
151. 7:11And this is a I teach this all the time.
152. 7:13This may as well be a timeless truth,
153. 7:15actually, that we will never be we will
154. 7:18never experience the peace of God until
155. 7:21we're at peace with God. That what does
156. 7:23salvation bring? It brings rest. brings
157. 7:26rest to what? To my soul. It brings rest
158. 7:30to my very soul. For the Lord has been
159. 7:33good to you. For you, Lord, have
160. 7:35delivered me from death, my eyes from
161. 7:38tears, my feet from stumbling that I may
162. 7:41walk before the Lord in the land of the
163. 7:44living. I trusted in the Lord when I
164. 7:47said, "I'm guilt. I'm I'm greatly
165. 7:49afflicted." In my alarm, I said,
166. 7:51"Everyone is a liar." Now, we're going
167. 7:54to get a hinge. Verse 12, what shall I
168. 7:57return to the Lord for all his goodness
169. 8:00to me? What should I return to the Lord?
170. 8:04What's my part to play? And this could
171. 8:07be a good timeless truth. We're we're
172. 8:08saying, well, a good formula for
173. 8:11thanksgiving is to recount all the ways
174. 8:14that God has saved me, rescued me,
175. 8:16delivered me, provided for me, and then
176. 8:19to ask a reasonable question. And that
177. 8:22reasonable question is this. What shall
178. 8:24I return to the Lord? Not give, but
179. 8:28return. I love just that. That's the
180. 8:31word. Like when we tithe or when we are
181. 8:34generous at church, we're not giving
182. 8:36anything to God. We're returning to him.
183. 8:39When we lift up our hands in church,
184. 8:41we're not giving praise. We're returning
185. 8:43it. God's the one that gives us the
186. 8:45ability to lift up our hands. When we
187. 8:48live for him, we're not giving him
188. 8:50anything. We're returning it to him
189. 8:53because he gives us breath. He animates
190. 8:55us. He empowers us. And then 13, I will
191. 8:58lift up the cup of salvation and call on
192. 9:02the name of the Lord. That's a theme
193. 9:04throughout this whole psalm, the name of
194. 9:05the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the
195. 9:08Lord in the presence of his people. I
196. 9:12will fulfill my vows. I'll fulfill my
197. 9:15vows. Precious in the sight of the Lord
198. 9:18is the death of his faithful servants.
199. 9:20Truly, I am your servant, Lord. I serve
200. 9:22you just as my mother did. You have
201. 9:24freed me from my chains. I will
202. 9:27sacrifice a thank offering. I will
203. 9:29fulfill my vows in the presence of his
204. 9:31people, in the courts of the house of
205. 9:32the Lord, in your midst, Jerusalem. So,
206. 9:36we get the actual thanksgiving offering.
207. 9:38Now, a couple things, couple nerdy
208. 9:40nuggets that you need to know about the
209. 9:42Thanksgiving offering. It's a shared
210. 9:44meal divided three ways. That
211. 9:47thanksgiving offering meant that God got
212. 9:49a portion. That was what was offered on
213. 9:52the altar. But then it meant that the
214. 9:53priests and the one offering the
215. 9:56sacrifice would share the meal together.
216. 9:59They would partake. This is a meal
217. 10:02between the worshipper, the mediary, and
218. 10:07God. The worshipper, the mediary, and
219. 10:10Yahweh himself. all take part in this
220. 10:15thanksgiving offering which becomes a
221. 10:18thanksgiving meal. So the story of Psalm
222. 10:21116 is the story of a grateful
223. 10:24worshipper coming to Jerusalem sharing a
224. 10:26meal with Yahweh just to say thank you.
225. 10:29And man, I I love that that this psalm
226. 10:31is all about gratitude. And what happens
227. 10:34when we have gratitude?
228. 10:36Gratitude becomes the foundation for
229. 10:39generosity. You can't really get
230. 10:42longlasting generosity without
231. 10:44gratitude. Gratitude. God, I'm thankful.
232. 10:48I'm just so glad for what you've done
233. 10:52for what you've provided. Okay.
234. 10:55Generosity is preceded by gratitude and
235. 10:58it's fueled by gratitude. And then we
236. 11:00got Psalm 117. Now, this is a small like
237. 11:04short psalm, but it's it's it's short,
238. 11:07but it's strong. And there's a
239. 11:08interpretive key that's actually going
240. 11:10to make its way into the New Testament.
241. 11:13So this hymn is the shortest of all the
242. 11:15psalms. It shows Yahweh to be the God of
243. 11:17all the nations and calls on all the
244. 11:20nations to praise him. It's quoted in
245. 11:23Romans chapter 15:1 where Paul uses it
246. 11:26alongside other similar Old Testament
247. 11:29quotes to show how the purpose of Israel
248. 11:32in the Abrahamic covenant was to bless
249. 11:35all nations and bring all peoples into
250. 11:37relationship with Yahweh. It is Israel's
251. 11:41role promised to Abraham that they would
252. 11:44be priests of the earth. Here we go. The
253. 11:48second word used in verse two. Okay, the
254. 11:51second word used in verse two, extol him
255. 11:54all you peoples. The word that we're
256. 11:57talking about here is peoples. Okay, is
257. 12:00not a usual word or a common word used
258. 12:04when speaking about the nations. The
259. 12:06only other time it occurs are actually
260. 12:09in Genesis 25:16 and Numbers chapters
261. 12:1225:15.
262. 12:13In both cases, the word is referencing
263. 12:16smaller units of people rather than
264. 12:18people groups. and is more like tribes.
265. 12:22Okay. So the right word is not peoples,
266. 12:25it's tribes. So this verse is also some
267. 12:29trans sometimes translated uh nations or
268. 12:32tribes instead of peoples. This means
269. 12:35that this line right here in Psalm 117
270. 12:39is is quite probably the inspiration for
271. 12:43one of the most famous images we have in
272. 12:45the book of Revelation. And that's this
273. 12:47Revelation 7:9. After this, I looked and
274. 12:50behold a great multitude that no one
275. 12:52could number from every nation, from all
276. 12:55tribes and peoples and tongues, standing
277. 12:58before the throne and before the Lamb
278. 13:01clothed in white robes with palm
279. 13:04branches in their hands. Revelation 7
280. 13:09verse9.
281. 13:11When Revelation says from all tribes, it
282. 13:15is because Psalm 117 actually mentions
283. 13:19the fact that God is not just the one
284. 13:22who is Lord over the nations, but he's
285. 13:26also Lord over smaller groups of people
286. 13:29that we call tribes. That's a nerdy
287. 13:32nugget. And and the language that we get
288. 13:34in Revelation comes straight out of
289. 13:36Psalm 117. This is actually a verse that
290. 13:40I began to memorize when I was younger.
291. 13:42Uh, Revelation 7:9. And the reason I
292. 13:44memorized it is because when God began
293. 13:47to put in my heart a desire to pastor, a
294. 13:50desire to plant a church, I had this
295. 13:53dream that the church that I wanted to
296. 13:56pastor and lead should look like heaven.
297. 13:59The Bible in Revelation 7:9 tells us
298. 14:02exactly what heaven looks like. It's a
299. 14:03great multitude that no one could number
300. 14:05from every nation, from all tribes and
301. 14:07peoples and languages standing before
302. 14:09the throne and before the Lamb. And I
303. 14:12I've always been inspired by the fact
304. 14:14that God's ideal image of human
305. 14:17flourishing are people from every nation
306. 14:20in all tribes and languages standing
307. 14:22before him and uh the throne that his
308. 14:26son Jesus sits on. I think just think
309. 14:29that's beautiful. It's captivating. It's
310. 14:31captivating for me and has encouraged me
311. 14:33to want to build, grow, plant a
312. 14:36multithnic, diverse church that really,
313. 14:39really does look like heaven. All right,
314. 14:41last Psalm 118. This is another psalm of
315. 14:45individual thanksgiving. And this is
316. 14:47actually in the format of a festival
317. 14:50procession. Taking the story of a king
318. 14:53entering Jerusalem for a festival. Okay,
319. 14:57a king entering Jerusalem for a
320. 15:00festival. Um, this is a psalm of
321. 15:02individual thanksgiving. It takes the
322. 15:04form of a procession, a processional
323. 15:07psalm following the story of a king
324. 15:09entering Jerusalem for a festival. So,
325. 15:12verses 1- 4 begins with liturgy and the
326. 15:15people and priests praising Yahweh. Then
327. 15:18verses 5-4, we have the personal
328. 15:21testimony of a victorious king who was
329. 15:24victorious in battle. who won in battle
330. 15:27when Yahweh saved him. Then verses 15
331. 15:29and 16, the people respond in thanks.
332. 15:33And then verses 17 and 18, the king
333. 15:36humbly approaches. And then verses 20 to
334. 15:4025, the king requests permission to
335. 15:43enter the temple and the people respond
336. 15:46and he enters. And then verses 26 to 29
337. 15:51is the king approaches the altar and
338. 15:55sacrifices. Okay, so this psalm is truly
339. 16:00timeless. And so now that you know how
340. 16:02the psalm works and what the function
341. 16:04is, I'll move into our timeless truth.
342. 16:07Okay? Because Psalm 118 is the poetic
343. 16:10backbone of Jesus's triumphal entry.
344. 16:13Ain't that great that this is a king
345. 16:17entering Jerusalem on a feast in order
346. 16:21to have a processional into the city as
347. 16:26a victorious king and uh Jesus this is
348. 16:30exactly what happens on Palm Sunday uh
349. 16:32when Jesus the the the day that starts
350. 16:36Holy Week. Okay, so this is 6 days or I
351. 16:40guess 5 days before Jesus is going to
352. 16:43die for the sins of the world. What's a
353. 16:47Thomas truth? Our Thomas truth is is
354. 16:50found in in the way that this Egyptian
355. 16:52hell ends. It is a picture of a grateful
356. 16:55people redeemed and saved and
357. 16:57approaching their God. It is also the
358. 16:59story of a thankful victorious king
359. 17:01approaching to thank Yahweh and
360. 17:04sacrificed to Yahweh. Those two images
361. 17:07are then combined in Israel's present.
362. 17:10When the pilgrims sing this ancient
363. 17:13king's personal thanksgiving when
364. 17:16traveling as a people to the festivals
365. 17:19to worship, they repeat his journey to
366. 17:23the courts of Yahweh to sacrifice.
367. 17:28Now, what's this a massive type and
368. 17:31shadow for? Well, Psalm 118 is also
369. 17:35future focused as the gospels take this
370. 17:37psalm, its language, its imagery, and
371. 17:40when they write of Jesus's triumphant
372. 17:43ascent to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, it
373. 17:47is the king approaching the temple to
374. 17:51sacrifice. Yet, it is far more than
375. 17:53that. as the fulfillment of this psalm
376. 17:56is that the king who is the temple will
377. 18:00sacrifice himself to save Israel and the
378. 18:04nations. And that's not just true for
379. 18:08the moment where the psalm is being
380. 18:10collected or where the psalm is being
381. 18:12written. That's true for you and I as
382. 18:15well. We will never out sacrifice God.
383. 18:19We will never outgive God. It'll never
384. 18:21happen. The church that I grew up at
385. 18:23used to always say, "You can't be
386. 18:24god-giving." Well, not only is that
387. 18:27true, even if he never blessed you with
388. 18:29anything ever again, that's because what
389. 18:32he's done on the cross should actually
390. 18:34spur you towards gratitude, which should
391. 18:36then spur you towards generosity. And so
392. 18:39the psalmist is simply saying that
393. 18:42because Jesus did like this king figure
394. 18:46here in Psalm 118, enter into Jerusalem,
395. 18:49then enter to the temple, then get to
396. 18:51the gates, then go all the way to the
397. 18:53altar and sacrifice from a place of
398. 18:56victory. Jesus offered himself as a
399. 18:59sacrifice, not from a place of loss, but
400. 19:02from a place of victory. And because
401. 19:05Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice
402. 19:09from a place of victory and because he
403. 19:11was king, now you and I get to respond
404. 19:14to that sacrifice with all kinds of
405. 19:16sacrifices. But we are indeed only ever
406. 19:21responding. We are not initiating. We
407. 19:24are not the first to be generous. We are
408. 19:26only generous towards God because he is
409. 19:29first generous towards us. And uh so
410. 19:32this thanksgiving this psalm that's
411. 19:35supposed to accompany the offering of
412. 19:38thanksgiving sacrifice is actually
413. 19:40supposed to inspire us as sacrificial
414. 19:44givers. Givers of our time, givers of
415. 19:47our treasure, and givers of our talents.
416. 19:50I've been teaching our church here in
417. 19:51Houston, Texas, that we should all be
418. 19:54sacrificing of our time, talent, and
419. 19:57treasure. Your time is serving and
420. 19:59leading at your local church. Your
421. 20:02talent is serving not just with your
422. 20:05hands, but with your skills. Things that
423. 20:08you may get paid for outside of church,
424. 20:10you actually offer to the Lord that for
425. 20:13no pay because that's your talent. And
426. 20:16then your tithe, like we sew financially
427. 20:20into what God is up to in the earth. But
428. 20:23we don't sow begrudgingly. We sew from a
429. 20:25place of joy because we're excited that
430. 20:28we get to respond to God's generosity
431. 20:31towards us by being generous towards his
432. 20:34bride. And that's not just true for the
433. 20:36characters in this psalm or for the
434. 20:40people that are taking part in this
435. 20:42Egyptian hell or the Passover. That's
436. 20:45true for you. That's true for me. And uh
437. 20:48that is a timeless truth. All right,
438. 20:50I'll see you tomorrow for day 292.
439. 20:54Day 292 is unique in that we're only
440. 20:57covering one Psalm. That's right, Psalm
441. 21:00119. It's the only day on the plan that
442. 21:02dedicated to one chapter of the Bible.
443. 21:04So, uh, this is a very long chapter of
444. 21:07the Bible, but nonetheless, it's one
445. 21:09singular chapter. And so, tomorrow, the
446. 21:12only thing we're studying is Psalm 119.
447. 21:15I can't wait. It's one of my favorite
448. 21:17chapters of the entire Bible, and we get
449. 21:20to dive into it tomorrow right here on
450. 21:22the Bible department. I love you guys.
451. 21:24I'm so proud of you, especially if
452. 21:25you're on a streak. I see you tomorrow.
453. 21:28Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on
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