Day 295: Psalm 126-129 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango — Transcript

Full transcript

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. 0:24family. Welcome to day 295 here on the
9. 0:28Bible department podcast. Today we're
10. 0:30looking at four Psalms. I know most days
11. 0:33we look at three, but today we're
12. 0:35looking at four. You know what I'm
13. 0:36saying? Ain't nothing wrong with
14. 0:38overachieving. So, we're going to look
15. 0:40at Psalms 126 through 129. If you have
16. 0:44not done the reading, hey, stop the
17. 0:47video, pause the audio, go get the
18. 0:49reading done. Uh you're actually going
19. 0:51to recognize a lot of what I would say
20. 0:54are familiar verses from the Bible as we
21. 0:57go through the reading today. I almost
22. 0:59knew all of Psalm 127. So yeah, uh go
23. 1:05get the reading done. If you have done
24. 1:07the reading, then you already know what
25. 1:09we're about to dive into. We're going to
26. 1:10dive into context clues. We're going to
27. 1:12I'm going to try to give you as many
28. 1:13nerdy nuggets as I can. And then we'll
29. 1:16always close off the episode with a
30. 1:18timeless truth because we are not here
31. 1:20learning history. We are here learning
32. 1:22theology. We're here learning about the
33. 1:24Bible. And what good is it if we know a
34. 1:28lot about the Bible but don't apply it
35. 1:30to our life. So, we'll end the episode
36. 1:31with the timeless truth. So happy that I
37. 1:34get to hang out with you guys today. So
38. 1:35happy that you get to hang out with me.
39. 1:37With no further ado, let's dive in. All
40. 1:39right. reminder as we dive into our
41. 1:42context clues that Psalm 120 all the way
42. 1:46to Psalm 134 are what we call song of
43. 1:50asents or songs of ascent. Okay?
44. 1:54Collectively they are 15 songs of ascent
45. 2:00but individually it's a song of asense
46. 2:03as you're ascending from wherever you
47. 2:06are to Jerusalem everywhere.
48. 2:10uh where pilgrims would be coming to
49. 2:13Jerusalem from would require them to
50. 2:16ascend. All right, they are ascending
51. 2:19geographically and that this these are
52. 2:21the songs that they are singing as
53. 2:23they're making their trek upwards
54. 2:26towards Jerusalem. All right, that is
55. 2:28the context for all of our psalms today.
56. 2:32Psalm 126, 127, 128, and 129. That was
57. 2:35the context for our psalms yesterday.
58. 2:38That'll be the context for our Psalms
59. 2:41tomorrow. All right. And so, not a ton
60. 2:44of context clues because we are looking
61. 2:47at a mini collection that kind of share
62. 2:52contextual themes. All right. So, let's
63. 2:54dive into some nerdy nuggets and I'll
64. 2:55try to give you a couple for each of the
65. 2:57Psalms that we've got slated for today.
66. 3:00All right. Let's start with Psalm 126.
67. 3:03Okay. If you were here yesterday, then
68. 3:05you remember that Psalm 125 was all
69. 3:08about security, right? As pilgrims are
70. 3:11approaching Jerusalem, they begin to
71. 3:13realize, man, Jerusalem is nestled in
72. 3:17all these mountains. Okay? So, I'll
73. 3:19remind you of what we looked at
74. 3:20yesterday. Psalm 125. Those who trust in
75. 3:23the Lord are like Mount Zion. Okay?
76. 3:26Mount Zion, that's the Temple Mount.
77. 3:27That's where Jerusalem is. Mount Zion,
78. 3:29which cannot be shaken but endures
79. 3:31forever. as the mountains surround
80. 3:34Jerusalem. So the Lord surrounds his
81. 3:36people both now and forever more. Okay?
82. 3:39So remember as you are ascending up to
83. 3:42Jerusalem, you would begin to be
84. 3:44inspired by the landscape, be inspired
85. 3:47by the geography and sing these words to
86. 3:50the Lord. Okay. Now what is the fruit of
87. 3:53that security? What happens when you are
88. 3:56super super super secure? Well, what
89. 3:59happens is that God begins to bring
90. 4:02restoration. Okay, restoration is God
91. 4:05has to secure you and then restore you.
92. 4:09So Psalm 126 starts out with these
93. 4:11words. When the Lord restored the
94. 4:13fortunes of Zion, you got to realize
95. 4:16that that word Zion is going to get
96. 4:19written and spoken and sang over and
97. 4:22over and over again. If there are any
98. 4:24psalms that are the most pro- Zion,
99. 4:26which means pro-Jerusalem,
100. 4:29pro- temple, okay, it it's these right
101. 4:32here. Because David is saying that, no,
102. 4:34you're not just going to make a
103. 4:35pilgrimage to a tabernacle that's at a
104. 4:38random location. No, you're making
105. 4:39pilgrimage to the tabernacle that's set
106. 4:41up here in Jerusalem. Okay? David has
107. 4:45required that all the tribes have to
108. 4:48travel to Jerusalem in order to worship
109. 4:50Yahweh. Now, there are people who I
110. 4:53wouldn't even say cynical who just see
111. 4:55the Bible less theologically and more
112. 4:58just politically and are saying this is
113. 5:00a brilliant political maneuver from
114. 5:02David. Okay, he monopolizes power. He
115. 5:05consolidates power by making it so that
116. 5:08all the other tribes have to travel to
117. 5:11his tribal territory in order to worship
118. 5:14Yahweh. Right? So, uh, you can see this
119. 5:17as political maneuvering or you can just
120. 5:19see this as obedience. Okay? Depends on
121. 5:21how cynical or, you know, cynical or not
122. 5:25you'd like to be. Okay? What happens
123. 5:28when we prioritize Zion? There's
124. 5:31restoration because there's security.
125. 5:34Verse two, our mouths are filled with
126. 5:35laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
127. 5:37Then it was said among the nations, the
128. 5:39Lord has done things for them. The Lord
129. 5:41has done great things for us, and we are
130. 5:43filled with joy. Restore our fortunes,
131. 5:46Lord, like streams in the negative.
132. 5:48Those who sow with tears will reap songs
133. 5:51of joy. Okay, you've probably heard that
134. 5:53verse tons of times, okay? That those
135. 5:55who sow with tears will reap songs of
136. 5:58joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying
137. 6:00seed to sew, will return with songs of
138. 6:04joy carrying sheav.
139. 6:06All right, so the language here is
140. 6:09actually going to tell us that there are
141. 6:11two options for context. Okay, there's
142. 6:14clearly an emphasis on streams, seed,
143. 6:16sewing, and sheav. Okay, this indicates
144. 6:19that the Lord is restoring his people
145. 6:22from what? From drought or famine or
146. 6:26perhaps a siege on Jerusalem where
147. 6:30people were starving or hungry. Okay.
148. 6:33So, the salvation of Yahweh, the
149. 6:35restoration of Yahweh takes uh the form
150. 6:39of food and water. All right. So uh and
151. 6:43people are coming into Jerusalem and
152. 6:46they are rejoicing of the fact that God
153. 6:48has restored us. Uh there was a season
154. 6:52of drought, there was a season of
155. 6:54famine, there was a season of siege. But
156. 6:56God is faithful. And the same God uh
157. 6:59that the definition of security is not
158. 7:02that he keeps us from all hurt, harm, or
159. 7:04danger, but that hurt, harm, and danger
160. 7:07don't lead to death. And even if we've
161. 7:10experienced suffering, uh that there is
162. 7:13a God who's able to restore us from said
163. 7:17suffering to rescue us from that
164. 7:19suffering and to restore us. Okay? So we
165. 7:23begin to see like aspects of God. Psalm
166. 7:25125, he's a God that brings security.
167. 7:28Psalm 126, even if you feel like God
168. 7:31wasn't the most secure thing in the
169. 7:34world, he's also the God that brings
170. 7:35restoration. Okay? which means that it
171. 7:38was secure. All right. Uh that's enough
172. 7:41nutty nuggets for Psalm 126. Okay. Psalm
173. 7:44127. Very very very ironic. Now uh this
174. 7:48is the second Psalm of Solomon that we
175. 7:51have uh in the book of Psalms. Okay. And
176. 7:54it says this, "Unless the Lord builds
177. 7:56the house, the builders labor in vain."
178. 7:59Now, that's also going to be our
179. 8:01timeless truth for the end of the
180. 8:03episode. up. Unless the Lord builds the
181. 8:05house, those who build it labor in vain.
182. 8:07And then we're going to drop down to
183. 8:09verse three. Children are ah heritage
184. 8:11from the Lord. Offspring a reward from
185. 8:13him. Like arrows at the hand of a
186. 8:15warrior are children born in one's
187. 8:18youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver
188. 8:20is full of them. They will be they will
189. 8:22not be put to shame when they contend
190. 8:24with their opponents in court. Okay,
191. 8:26this is fascinating. It's fascinating
192. 8:28because it's ironic. And it's ironic
193. 8:30because who wrote it? Now, let's think
194. 8:32about Solomon. There's two big focuses
195. 8:35here in this psalm. Psalm 127. It's
196. 8:39house and children. House and children.
197. 8:42Okay? Unless the Lord builds the house.
198. 8:46The builders labor in vain. So, the big
199. 8:49theme at the front of the psalm is the
200. 8:51house. What house? We'll get into that
201. 8:53in a second. Second theme is children.
202. 8:55Okay. Offspring. Children are a heritage
203. 8:58from the Lord. Offspring a reward from
204. 9:00from God. All right, so let's open up
205. 9:02the house tab. When David says he wants
206. 9:05to build a house for Yahweh, he means a
207. 9:08literal house, a place for Yahweh to
208. 9:10dwell. Then God responds back and says,
209. 9:12"No, I'll build a house for you." What
210. 9:14does God mean? Does he mean a literal
211. 9:15house? No, he means a dynasty, a
212. 9:18lineage. He means a metaphorical house.
213. 9:21Like if you watch Game of Thrones, which
214. 9:23I didn't cuz I'm a Christian and I don't
215. 9:24believe in watching that. But if you
216. 9:26did, you know, House Targaryen, right,
217. 9:28or House Stark or House Lannister, it
218. 9:31doesn't mean a literal house. It means
219. 9:33everyone born to that house. It means a
220. 9:36family. Okay? So God blesses David's
221. 9:40lineage, his family. David wants to
222. 9:43build a literal house for Yahweh. So you
223. 9:45first have to ask a question. Unless the
224. 9:47Lord builds the house, what house? Well,
225. 9:51both. The answer is both. Unless the
226. 9:54Lord builds the temple where his
227. 9:56presence is going to be, and unless the
228. 9:58Lord builds your family, those who build
229. 10:02it labor in vain. Now, here's the
230. 10:05question, though. Was Solomon good at
231. 10:09prioritizing Yahweh's temple or his own
232. 10:12family? And the answer to this question
233. 10:14is no, not really. So, let's think about
234. 10:17this. Uh first Kings chapter 6 tells us
235. 10:21that it takes seven years to build a
236. 10:22temple. God doesn't let David build it,
237. 10:24but he allows Solomon to build it. And
238. 10:27it takes seven years to build a temple.
239. 10:29All right. On the surface, this doesn't
240. 10:31seem like an issue. It takes seven
241. 10:33years. It is what it is. But then first
242. 10:36Kings chapter 7, one chapter later kind
243. 10:39of throws some shade without throwing
244. 10:42shade. It says that it took 13 years to
245. 10:45build Solomon's palace. It took takes
246. 10:47almost double the amount of time to
247. 10:49build Solomon's house as opposed to
248. 10:52Yahweh's house. That Solomon builds
249. 10:54Yahweh's house, but it would seem as if
250. 10:57Solomon puts way more effort, way more
251. 11:00energy, and way more focus into building
252. 11:02his own house than into building
253. 11:04Yahweh's house. That David really,
254. 11:07really, really had the heart to build
255. 11:09Yahweh's house. But Solomon was allowed
256. 11:12to build that house. Which lets us know
257. 11:15like, so what perspective is Solomon
258. 11:18writing from when he says, "Unless the
259. 11:20Lord builds the house, those who build
260. 11:22it labor in vain." Did he know that God
261. 11:25wasn't really building the house? Was he
262. 11:27talking about his own house? Was he
263. 11:29saying that the reason it took double
264. 11:31the amount of time to build my house is
265. 11:33because God wasn't in it? Why wasn't God
266. 11:36in it? Okay, next tab. Children.
267. 11:39Fascinating that Solomon has something
268. 11:41to say about children because my brother
269. 11:44had 700 wives and 300 concubines. 700
270. 11:49wives and 300 concubines. Now, the
271. 11:53scriptures only record three or four
272. 11:56children born to Solomon. But if you got
273. 11:58700 wives, you like political marriages,
274. 12:01300 concubines, I don't know, brother.
275. 12:04You you probably got more than three or
276. 12:07four kids. You know what I'm saying? And
277. 12:09so I think we have to put Solomon's
278. 12:11words into the category that we always
279. 12:14have to put Solomon's words. It's kind
280. 12:16of like my dad. My dad has been addicted
281. 12:19to drugs for a long time. He's been a
282. 12:22crack cocaine user and abuser for a long
283. 12:25time. And there was a season of my life
284. 12:27where I didn't take advice from my dad
285. 12:29cuz I was like, what does he know? I
286. 12:31mean, he's an addict. And then things
287. 12:33switched and I went, he probably
288. 12:34actually has fantastic advice cuz he's
289. 12:37an addict. There's two sides of the
290. 12:38coin. So when my dad says, "Hey man,
291. 12:41never take drugs." Am I supposed to not
292. 12:44believe him? Am I supposed to say that
293. 12:46his, you know, advice has no credibility
294. 12:49because he's on drugs? Actually, no. His
295. 12:52advice probably has more credibility
296. 12:53because he's been on drugs. So is
297. 12:55Solomon saying from a place of failure?
298. 12:59Hey, unless you build the house with
299. 13:02God, those who build it labor in vain.
300. 13:05Hey, I should have valued my children. I
301. 13:07should have involved God in the building
302. 13:09of my house. I should have built
303. 13:11Yahweh's house for the right reasons. Is
304. 13:14Solomon writing from a place of remorse,
305. 13:17regret, wisdom, or is he just writing
306. 13:20assuming that he made all the right
307. 13:23choices? And I think, you know, you got
308. 13:26to make that decision for yourself. And
309. 13:28then that should be an interpretive lens
310. 13:30that you use to like read the
311. 13:32scriptures. Cuz if you read
312. 13:33Ecclesiastes, you may ask like, "Okay,
313. 13:36vanity is a theme. Vanity is also a
314. 13:39theme here in Psalm 127:1." And who
315. 13:43better to know about vanity than
316. 13:44somebody who had every resource under
317. 13:46the face of the planet. And I think
318. 13:48sometimes we like discredit Solomon
319. 13:50because of the 700 wives and the 300
320. 13:53concubines. But maybe, just maybe, he
321. 13:56actually has something valuable to tell
322. 13:58us because of the mistakes that he made.
323. 14:00And um I think sometimes we're really
324. 14:03quick to jump to the conclusion that if
325. 14:06someone's failed, they don't have wisdom
326. 14:07for us. But recently, you know, I'm
327. 14:10launching a church right now and I've
328. 14:12said to all the young guys who I think
329. 14:14are dating people that maybe they
330. 14:16shouldn't. Go talk to some of the
331. 14:18divorce guys on our team. They'll sober
332. 14:20you up. Divorce doesn't mean that their
333. 14:23advice is not credible. It actually
334. 14:26means that their perspective is way more
335. 14:29credible because they've experienced the
336. 14:31pain, the heartache, and the turmoil of
337. 14:33divorce. And maybe, just maybe, who
338. 14:35better to caution you and to make you
339. 14:38walk in wisdom than someone who has
340. 14:42failed in an area or come up short in an
341. 14:46area. With that said, let's move to a
342. 14:48nerdy nugget from Psalm 128 where wisdom
343. 14:52is the theme. That's a wisdom psalm.
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366. 15:51to the episode. Psalm 128 is a wisdom
367. 15:53psalm. And the big emphasis of the psalm
368. 15:56is those who harmonize, order, align
369. 16:01their life with the fear of the Lord and
370. 16:05the source where he blesses people will
371. 16:08be blessed. And where does he bless
372. 16:10people from? You guessed it, Zion. It's
373. 16:12a pro-Zion psalm. It's pro- Zion because
374. 16:16the Psalms are pro David. And it's pro-
375. 16:18David because God chose David and David
376. 16:22then chose Jerusalem because Yahweh
377. 16:24chose Jerusalem. And so the Psalms are
378. 16:27going to say like you're not going to be
379. 16:29blessed if you go offer sacrifices
380. 16:32somewhere else that's not Zion. Okay?
381. 16:35Blessing flows from Zion. So therefore
382. 16:38submit, get your life in order.
383. 16:42Harmonize your life. Which then leads us
384. 16:44to Psalm 129. This is an antipal psalm.
385. 16:49Antipinal. Uh we've had a couple of
386. 16:51antipal psalms, but sometimes I just
387. 16:53forget to let you know. Uh that simply
388. 16:56means call in response. Call in
389. 16:58response. So Psalm 129, you can tell
390. 17:01that it's antipal because it says, "Let
391. 17:04Israel say at the end of verse one. Let
392. 17:06Israel say." So there's something that
393. 17:08the choir master is supposed to say and
394. 17:10then that call is supposed to lead to a
395. 17:12response which means that it is antipal.
396. 17:16Two big movements for Psalm 129. The
397. 17:18first movement is from verses 1 to4
398. 17:21which talks about the history of
399. 17:22oppression that we're not just blessed
400. 17:25because we just like poof and here we
401. 17:28are we're blessed. No real blessing is
402. 17:30that God has delivered us from setbacks.
403. 17:33God has delivered us from oppression.
404. 17:35And there's vengeance on those who hate
405. 17:38Zion. That's right. The Psalms are pro-
406. 17:41Zion. Okay? And those who hate Zion, God
407. 17:44will punish them. Which leads us into
408. 17:47our timeless truth for the day. I love
409. 17:50this cuz this is from Psalm 127:1.
410. 17:52Unless the Lord builds the house, the
411. 17:55builders labor in vain. The builders
412. 17:59labor in vain. I don't want to build
413. 18:03anything in vain. I don't want to build
414. 18:05this podcast in vain or the garden in
415. 18:08vain. By the way, the garden is the name
416. 18:10of the church that we're planting right
417. 18:11now. I don't want to build Manny Orango
418. 18:13Ministries in vain. I don't want to
419. 18:15build the Orango home in vain. I don't
420. 18:18want to build anything in vain. I think
421. 18:20that this psalm, Psalm 127 and Solomon's
422. 18:24life should cause all of us to take a
423. 18:26long hard look at like how are we
424. 18:28building and what are we building and is
425. 18:31God really involved or are we building
426. 18:34it for our own glory and for our own
427. 18:36pride? And most scholars would say,
428. 18:39"Took seven years to build Yahweh's
429. 18:41temple. Took 13 years to build your
430. 18:43palace." Solomon, if you're this
431. 18:46concerned with your house, and you're
432. 18:48more concerned with your house than
433. 18:49Yahweh's house, then did you really
434. 18:52build Yahweh's house for him or did you
435. 18:55build it for you? And I think that uh a
436. 18:58lot of us have to answer that question.
437. 18:59Are we building companies for ourselves?
438. 19:02Are we actually building them to glorify
439. 19:04the Lord? Are we building churches so
440. 19:07that we could have a place to preach or
441. 19:09we actually building them for the Lord?
442. 19:10And I'm not saying I'm perfect. I'm
443. 19:12saying that we have to continue to keep
444. 19:15one Psalm 127 before us because I don't
445. 19:19think that you fix your motives and then
446. 19:20they're changed forever. I think that
447. 19:22you have to keep surrendering your
448. 19:24motives to the lordship of Jesus. Say,
449. 19:27Lord, unless you build it, I'm doing
450. 19:30this in vain. because the grass will
451. 19:31wither, the flower will fade, but the
452. 19:33word of the Lord is going to last
453. 19:34forever. And I want to build stuff that
454. 19:37stands the test of time, which means God
455. 19:39is going to have to build it with me.
456. 19:41And God's going to have to build it with
457. 19:43you. And I don't think that's just true
458. 19:45for Solomon. I don't think that's just
459. 19:47true for the troop of returned exiles
460. 19:50who are rebuilding Jerusalem or for the
461. 19:53pilgrims who are ascending to Jerusalem.
462. 19:56No, I think that that's timelessly true
463. 19:58for me and for you for us to assess
464. 20:01whether or not we're really building
465. 20:03stuff for the Lord or for ourselves
466. 20:06because if we're building it for
467. 20:08ourselves, then we're laboring in vain.
468. 20:10And that is our timeless truth for
469. 20:13today. All right. Tomorrow we're still
470. 20:15going to be in the Psalms of Ascent.
471. 20:17Tomorrow we are going to be looking at
472. 20:20Psalms 130, 131, 132, and 133. We got
473. 20:25four more Psalms tomorrow for day 296
474. 20:30on the Bible department bobber reading
475. 20:31plan. Love you guys so much. Proud of
476. 20:33you. I'll see you right here tomorrow.
477. 20:35Same time, same place. Peace. Thanks so
478. 20:38much for joining us on the Bible
479. 20:40department podcast. If this episode was
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