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Day 297: Psalm 134-137 | 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. 0:24Family, welcome to day 297 here on the
  9. 0:27Bible department podcast. We are diving
  10. 0:30into a handful of Psalms today. We're
  11. 0:32going to be looking at Psalms 134, 135,
  12. 0:36136, and 137.
  13. 0:40We're going to actually end our songs of
  14. 0:43asense. We've been looking at songs of
  15. 0:45ascent or songs of asense uh for the
  16. 0:48last couple of days. And so uh Psalm 134
  17. 0:51is the last psalm of a sense. Um, but
  18. 0:54it's actually really, really masterful,
  19. 0:57honestly, when you start looking at how
  20. 0:59the Psalms get woven together. And, uh,
  21. 1:02the Psalms that follow Psalm 134 are
  22. 1:05definitely by no means in the position
  23. 1:08that they are are in by accident. And
  24. 1:10we're going to dive into all of that.
  25. 1:11Hey, I want to take time right at the
  26. 1:14top of the episode to say if you haven't
  27. 1:16done the reading for today, how about
  28. 1:18you stop the video, pause the audio, go
  29. 1:21get the reading done. four beautiful
  30. 1:24psalms to to read today. And I promise
  31. 1:27you, everything that I say on this
  32. 1:30podcast episode is going to be way more
  33. 1:32helpful if you actually have context and
  34. 1:35you've done the reading. Okay. So, who's
  35. 1:38going to give you some quick context for
  36. 1:40all of the psalms that we're going to
  37. 1:41look at today? Uh, and then we'll dive
  38. 1:43into nerdy nuggets and then we'll end
  39. 1:45the day or end today's episode uh with a
  40. 1:47timeless truth like always. Okay. So
  41. 1:50number one, just want to give you this
  42. 1:52bird's eye view context. As you know,
  43. 1:54Psalm 134 is going to end this mini
  44. 1:58collection that we've been looking at
  45. 1:59for the last couple of days. Okay? And
  46. 2:01you can see that right there in the
  47. 2:03title, okay, in my Bible, soon as I open
  48. 2:06up Psalm 134, uh it says a song of
  49. 2:10ascent. Okay, in the heading, uh and I
  50. 2:12just wrote in the margin, it's the final
  51. 2:14one. It's the last one. And if you look
  52. 2:16at Psalm 35, that heading that's been
  53. 2:19there for I think it's 15 Psalms in a
  54. 2:22row is no longer there. Okay? And so it
  55. 2:25says, actually, we we'll get into the
  56. 2:27content of the psalm in a little while,
  57. 2:28but that is the context. The context for
  58. 2:32every song of ascent is pilgrims coming
  59. 2:36from all over Israel ascending the hills
  60. 2:40that lead to Jerusalem and going to
  61. 2:43Mount Zion which is the location or the
  62. 2:47hill or the mountain where the glory of
  63. 2:49the Lord dwells where the temple is
  64. 2:52located. All right, that is the context.
  65. 2:54All right, now Psalm 135. There's
  66. 2:57absolutely no context for Psalm 135. So
  67. 3:00Psalm 36. Okay. Also, one one last thing
  68. 3:04I'll tell you about Psalm 34 is that
  69. 3:06it's a reverse antipinal psalm. Okay.
  70. 3:09Reverse antipol. Now we when we we when
  71. 3:12we get to our nerdy nuggets, I will tell
  72. 3:14you exactly what reverse antipol means.
  73. 3:17Uh so Psalm 135 has no context. Psalm
  74. 3:20136. This is the clearest and most
  75. 3:23famous example of an antipal psalm.
  76. 3:26Okay. Uh this is where the congregation
  77. 3:28or a choir is responding to the choir
  78. 3:34master or whoever is like leading the
  79. 3:36congregation essentially. You know in
  80. 3:38church we would call this a call and
  81. 3:40response psalm antipol. And then psalm
  82. 3:43137 uh this is a song a psalm of exile.
  83. 3:48Okay exiles are singing this in Babylon
  84. 3:51about Jerusalem. So you see all the
  85. 3:53songs of Ascent have been about how the
  86. 3:56people are so happy to get to Jerusalem.
  87. 4:00You know, God dwells there. Zion is the
  88. 4:02place where God has chosen to to put his
  89. 4:06name to to put his presence to dwell.
  90. 4:09And then we get to Psalm 137 and people
  91. 4:12are no, they're not allowed to be in
  92. 4:15Jerusalem because Jerusalem is burned
  93. 4:16down. So there's this extreme juosition
  94. 4:19that we get and that's not by accident.
  95. 4:21That's not by coincidence. Psalm 137 is
  96. 4:25placed here uh on purpose. Now, the
  97. 4:27songs of ascent find themselves in a
  98. 4:29greater volume of work called the great
  99. 4:32hell. And Psalm 136 is the last of the
  100. 4:36great hell. And then Psalm 137 starts
  101. 4:39and now all of a sudden we get a rather
  102. 4:42like dark and a rather um you can feel
  103. 4:47the tone change immediately. And
  104. 4:49honestly, Psalm 137 is going to have
  105. 4:52some of the most difficult passages in
  106. 4:54the entire Bible to even deal with or to
  107. 4:57interpret. If you've done the reading,
  108. 4:59when you got to Psalm 137, probably
  109. 5:02somewhere around, you know, verses 9,
  110. 5:05you were probably really really aware
  111. 5:07like, "Oh, this is dark. Like, this is
  112. 5:10this is heavy. Like, this is uh I don't
  113. 5:13know what to do with this." So, we'll
  114. 5:15tackle that by the end of the episode
  115. 5:16for sure. Okay. All right. That's all
  116. 5:18the context that we have. And so that's
  117. 5:21all the context that I can even give
  118. 5:23you. Okay. So, let's dive into some
  119. 5:25nerdy nuggets. Okay. Psalm 134. We're
  120. 5:27going to read Psalm 134. This is a
  121. 5:29reverse antipal psalm. Now, in an
  122. 5:32antipal psalm, it is the Levite or the
  123. 5:36musician or the choir master that says
  124. 5:40something and then the congregation or
  125. 5:42the choir responds. But, uh, we're going
  126. 5:45to have this in reverse. Okay? So it's
  127. 5:47the congregation. It's the people that
  128. 5:50are going to prompt the Levites and the
  129. 5:54Levites are going to respond. Okay. So
  130. 5:55Psalm 34 it starts. Okay. The people
  131. 5:59saying come bless Yahweh all you
  132. 6:01servants of Yahweh. Okay. Who stand by
  133. 6:04night in the house of Yahweh. Lift up
  134. 6:05your hands to the holy place and bless
  135. 6:07Yahweh. That's verses one and two. Okay.
  136. 6:11It's not clear or not not that it's not
  137. 6:13clear. You just need to know that that's
  138. 6:16what the people are saying in order to
  139. 6:18know that's what the people are saying.
  140. 6:19It's not like the Bible's going to tell
  141. 6:21you, "Oh, this is the part where the
  142. 6:23people say something." Okay? The
  143. 6:25congregation are calling out to the
  144. 6:26Levites to bless Yahweh day and night in
  145. 6:29the temple. Okay? Now, we got to kind of
  146. 6:31go to 1st Chronicles 9:33. Okay? Because
  147. 6:351 Chronicles chapter 9:33 is gonna add
  148. 6:38some context so that we actually know
  149. 6:41what's going on in Psalm 34. Okay? So
  150. 6:441st Chronicles 9:33, I'm going to pull
  151. 6:47it up. It says this, "Those who were
  152. 6:50musicians, head of the Levite families,"
  153. 6:53okay, these are the people who the
  154. 6:54congregation would have been saying this
  155. 6:56to. Okay, stayed in the rooms of the
  156. 6:59temple and were exempt from other duties
  157. 7:02because they were responsible for the
  158. 7:04work day and night. Okay, they were
  159. 7:07responsible for the work day and night.
  160. 7:09So the people are telling them uh who
  161. 7:12stand by night in the house of Yahweh,
  162. 7:15lift up your hands to the holy place and
  163. 7:17bless Yahweh. Okay, we know from 1st
  164. 7:19Chronicles 9:33 that the Levitical
  165. 7:22choirs were on duty 24 hours a day. So
  166. 7:26worship was going up to Yahweh
  167. 7:27constantly, day and night. The people
  168. 7:30then encouraged the Levites who were
  169. 7:33leading their worship, calling them to
  170. 7:35their duty of blessing Yahweh. The
  171. 7:38Levites then sing back. Okay, this is
  172. 7:41verse three. The Levites sing back, "May
  173. 7:44Yahweh bless you from, come on, drum
  174. 7:46roll please, Zion." Of course, it's
  175. 7:48Zion. He who made the heaven and earth.
  176. 7:51The Levites are then fulfilling their
  177. 7:53role as the priestly tribe. They are the
  178. 7:56intermediaries between Yahweh and
  179. 7:58Israel. The people call them to bless
  180. 8:01Yahweh and they call back Yahweh's
  181. 8:04blessing to Israel. This is a reverse
  182. 8:07antipal interaction. The final line then
  183. 8:10of the songs of ascent emphasize once
  184. 8:14more the theme that runs throughout this
  185. 8:16entire pilgrimage to the temple that
  186. 8:18Yahweh reigns in Zion, his chosen place.
  187. 8:23And from there, the creator of all
  188. 8:25things blesses his loyal worshippers.
  189. 8:29Okay, that's Psalm 134. Let's move right
  190. 8:32into Psalm 135. Now, this psalm or this
  191. 8:35hymn is almost like a greatest hits of
  192. 8:38scripture as almost every part of it
  193. 8:41either quotes or is quoted elsewhere in
  194. 8:43the Bible. Here's just some examples.
  195. 8:45I'm going to run through this. Okay,
  196. 8:47verse one is a rearrangement of Psalm
  197. 8:50113:1.
  198. 8:52Verse three is actually Psalm 52:9 and
  199. 8:56Psalm 147:1. Verse 4 is Deuteronomy 7:6.
  200. 9:02verses 5-7 is actually Exodus 18:1,
  201. 9:07Psalm 115:3, and Jeremiah 10:13.
  202. 9:12Verses 8-2 echo Psalm 136:10
  203. 9:17and uh 18-22.
  204. 9:20Verse 11 echo Numbers 21
  205. 9:25and Deuteronomy 3:1.
  206. 9:28verses 13 and 14 are are Exodus 3:15 and
  207. 9:33Deuteronomy 32:36
  208. 9:36verses 15-18 is Psalm 115 4-6 and verse
  209. 9:418 and then verses 19- 21 of Psalm 135 is
  210. 9:46actually Psalm 115 9- 11. So, as you
  211. 9:51look at Psalm 135, it's literally just a
  212. 9:55a gumbo, a collection of different
  213. 9:59scriptures and verses from all over the
  214. 10:03rest of the Torah. Jeremiah, Psalms,
  215. 10:05Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and placed
  216. 10:08here in Psalm 135. Okay? So, if any of
  217. 10:11these verses in Psalm 35 look or sound
  218. 10:15familiar, it's probably because you've
  219. 10:17read them in some other place in the
  220. 10:20Torah. All right. Uh, that's our nerdy
  221. 10:22nugget for Psalm 135. Let's move into
  222. 10:25our nerdy nugget for Psalm 36. This is
  223. 10:28the most famous of the antipinal psalms.
  224. 10:31Okay. Now, uh, if you look at Psalm 36,
  225. 10:34going to say, "Give thanks to the Lord
  226. 10:36for he is good." Okay. That's what the
  227. 10:37leader or the Levite or the musician
  228. 10:39would say. And then the congregation or
  229. 10:42the choir is going to say, "His
  230. 10:43steadfast love endures forever." And
  231. 10:46then the the leader is going to say,
  232. 10:48"Give thanks to the God of gods. His
  233. 10:51steadfast love endures forever. Give
  234. 10:53thanks to the Lord of Lords. His
  235. 10:54steadfast love endures forever. To him
  236. 10:57who alone does great wonders." And then
  237. 10:59all the people are going to say, "His
  238. 11:01steadfast love endures forever." Okay?
  239. 11:03Over and over and over and over again.
  240. 11:04This is the most clear example of call
  241. 11:07and response. Call and response. call in
  242. 11:09response is the people have one thing
  243. 11:11that they are going to say over and over
  244. 11:13and over and over again. His steadfast
  245. 11:15love endures forever. Now let's get real
  246. 11:17nerdy in English. It's a little clunky
  247. 11:20to sing this. Okay, it takes a little
  248. 11:23bit essentially it takes far too long to
  249. 11:26say or sing the refrain response for his
  250. 11:28steadfast love endures forever. In the
  251. 11:30original Hebrew, the refrain only had
  252. 11:33six syllables, okay? instead of the nine
  253. 11:36syllables in English. Okay? But in order
  254. 11:39to create an accurate translation, we we
  255. 11:43have to have those nine syllables. Okay?
  256. 11:45So the word in Hebrew for steadfast
  257. 11:48love, okay, that refrain is his
  258. 11:50steadfast love endures forever. His
  259. 11:51steadfast love endures forever. The
  260. 11:54Hebrew for steadfast love is hassid.
  261. 11:56Okay, hessid, which is a key word in the
  262. 11:59Old Testament. It is not love in the
  263. 12:02traditional sense of like emotions or
  264. 12:04feelings or Hollywood love but would be
  265. 12:08more accurately covenant love has said
  266. 12:11could be translated as covenant love. It
  267. 12:14is the love of Yahweh for Israel based
  268. 12:16on the covenant that he has made with
  269. 12:19them. It is connected then with his
  270. 12:22righteousness in his covenant dealings
  271. 12:26and his faithfulness towards the
  272. 12:28covenant which he has made with his
  273. 12:32people. Perhaps it could also be summed
  274. 12:35up by the simple word loyalty or
  275. 12:38covenant loyalty. It is the loyalty that
  276. 12:41Yahweh shows towards Israel as her king
  277. 12:45based on the covenant. The loyalty of
  278. 12:48Yahweh is his love, his righteousness,
  279. 12:51his faithfulness. And this psalm's
  280. 12:54refrain echoes the call throughout
  281. 12:56scripture that Yahweh's loyalty, love,
  282. 12:59righteousness, and faithfulness to
  283. 13:00Israel has no end. I love how this is
  284. 13:04written out in my notes. Hessed means
  285. 13:06that Yahweh cannot become unloyal. It is
  286. 13:10impossible for him to betray Israel, to
  287. 13:12let them down, or to be unfaithful to
  288. 13:15them. The irony of course is that the
  289. 13:19same covenant that Yahweh is bound to in
  290. 13:22covenant love and loyalty, that same
  291. 13:24covenant calls for Israel to be loyal in
  292. 13:27return to love Yahweh their God with all
  293. 13:30their soul, all their might, all their
  294. 13:32strength. And Yahweh is being asked to
  295. 13:34give to God what he has already given to
  296. 13:38them. Hessid. Okay. So, uh, Psalm 136
  297. 13:43really, really, really focuses on the
  298. 13:45hessid of God, the covenant love,
  299. 13:47covenant loyalty, righteousness, and
  300. 13:49faithfulness that Yahweh has shown to
  301. 13:51his people. Which means when we are
  302. 13:53loyal in return, that's not legalism.
  303. 13:56Because legalism is if God were
  304. 13:59demanding something that he does not
  305. 14:01first initiate. But as long as we're the
  306. 14:03responders, then that's not legalism.
  307. 14:06Because to respond to God's loyalty with
  308. 14:08loyalty is not legalism. That's actually
  309. 14:11grace. All right. So now let's get into
  310. 14:14our last psalm of the day. Psalm 137.
  311. 14:16Family. The wait is over. My brand new
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  332. 15:10should get a copy today. All right, back
  333. 15:13to the episode. This is another pretty
  334. 15:16famous song. This is given a picture of
  335. 15:18exiles in Babylon weeping over Jerusalem
  336. 15:20that had been destroyed. that this psalm
  337. 15:22is perhaps placed here as it acts as
  338. 15:25such an extreme contrast to the songs of
  339. 15:27a sense. Okay, which we have spent the
  340. 15:29last couple of days reading and studying
  341. 15:31and diving into. Okay, the songs of a
  342. 15:33sense gloried in Zion and in Yahweh's
  343. 15:37temple. Okay, but here we have the stark
  344. 15:40reality of what was in between the times
  345. 15:44celebrated in the songs of ascent. They
  346. 15:46looked back to David establishing the
  347. 15:48tabernacle in Zion and thrown in Yahweh
  348. 15:50once again and then Solomon building the
  349. 15:53temple. They are probably put together
  350. 15:55in the temp second temple period when
  351. 15:57the rebuilt temple had been restored to
  352. 16:00the center of Jerusalem and to the
  353. 16:02Jewish people. We see then the joy of
  354. 16:04the pilgrimage both before and after
  355. 16:08contrasted here in Psalm 137 by the pain
  356. 16:11and misery of those who are in exile uh
  357. 16:15that lay in between those times. Okay,
  358. 16:18so we got like a sandwich essentially.
  359. 16:20The Jews went through this time when
  360. 16:23Zion was no more, when the temple was
  361. 16:25destroyed, when all that was left were
  362. 16:29the memories of Zion in exile, which led
  363. 16:32the people to tears and led to the
  364. 16:34mockery of the ones who had destroyed
  365. 16:37Zion when they forced the Jews, this
  366. 16:39would be the Babylonian captivity, while
  367. 16:42the Jews are in their custody or
  368. 16:44captivity, would force the Jews to sing
  369. 16:47the songs of Zion that we find in the
  370. 16:49songs of Ascent. Okay, so those songs of
  371. 16:51a set that that really kind of celebrate
  372. 16:54how awesome the temple is, how awesome
  373. 16:56Jerusalem is, how awesome Zion is. Since
  374. 16:59they had destroyed Zion, they made the
  375. 17:01Jewish people sing these songs in
  376. 17:04mockery. Okay? They forced the Jews to
  377. 17:06sing the songs of Zion. has probably
  378. 17:08meant the psalms that we have been going
  379. 17:11through over the last couple of days,
  380. 17:13songs of joy and celebration in the
  381. 17:15temple in Jerusalem now turned into
  382. 17:18mockery by their enemies. And there in
  383. 17:21Babylon, as they weep, as they pray,
  384. 17:24they begin to pray a terrible prayer of
  385. 17:26vengeance against those who destroyed
  386. 17:28Jerusalem and the temple, against the
  387. 17:31who betrayed their brother
  388. 17:33nation and sided with Babylon, and
  389. 17:35against the Babylonians themselves, that
  390. 17:37what had happened to Zion would happen
  391. 17:39to Babylon. It ends with the most
  392. 17:42disturbing line in all of scripture.
  393. 17:45Blessed shall he be who takes your
  394. 17:48little ones, your babies, your infants,
  395. 17:51your toddlers, and dashes them against
  396. 17:53the rock like kills your children. This
  397. 17:56is brutal. This is raw. This shows the
  398. 18:01level of anger, hurt, pain, and
  399. 18:03suffering that these exiles felt as news
  400. 18:06came to Babylon of what had happened to
  401. 18:09their home. pain made even worse by the
  402. 18:12way the Babylonians used it to mock
  403. 18:15them. This is a desire for revenge.
  404. 18:19There's no other way to cut it or slice
  405. 18:22it. This is a desire for revenge that
  406. 18:25Babylon would also feel the pain that
  407. 18:27they had inflicted upon others. It is
  408. 18:31lines like these that really show the
  409. 18:34humanity of the Psalms. This is the
  410. 18:37inspired word of God. Absolutely. Yes.
  411. 18:39like that's not even in question. But in
  412. 18:41a very different way than the prophets,
  413. 18:44which we've obviously spent a lot of
  414. 18:46time studying on this podcast. In the
  415. 18:49prophets, Yahweh spoke. And the prophets
  416. 18:51brought his message with their own
  417. 18:53skill, their own poetry, their own
  418. 18:55knowledge of the Torah and shaped it
  419. 18:57into the prophecies that we know and we
  420. 19:00love. The prophets have human
  421. 19:02fingerprints all over them. However,
  422. 19:05their source was always the words of
  423. 19:07Yahweh to Israel. The Psalms, however,
  424. 19:10are the reverse. These are human
  425. 19:13prayers. These are hymns sung by men and
  426. 19:16women. Yes, inspired by the Holy Spirit,
  427. 19:18but not the same way that prophets are
  428. 19:22giving humans, other humans, oracles
  429. 19:24from God. These are the words of Israel
  430. 19:27to Yahweh. Yes, at times the spirit uses
  431. 19:31these words and we have so many
  432. 19:33prophecies that emerge from the worship
  433. 19:35and poetry of these psalmists. But at
  434. 19:38their heart they are humans crying out
  435. 19:40to Yahweh. We have seen that these are
  436. 19:45cries of joy, praise, thanksgiving, but
  437. 19:48also prayers of lament, of suffering, of
  438. 19:50crying out for salvation, of looking at
  439. 19:53the heavens and asking why. And here too
  440. 19:58we have cries of anger born out of
  441. 20:00suffering beyond what we could ever
  442. 20:04imagine in our 21st century American
  443. 20:07context. These are cries of vengeance
  444. 20:10against enemies that have done
  445. 20:13unthinkable thing to the Israelite
  446. 20:16people to the Jewish people. This is
  447. 20:18human suffering, human anger and Yahweh
  448. 20:21heard it and understood and so we too
  449. 20:25can hear it and understand. not condone
  450. 20:27or repeat the prayer for our own lives
  451. 20:30or try to apply it to how we see our own
  452. 20:32enemies, but we can understand and show
  453. 20:35empathy because that is what the psalms
  454. 20:38do. They show us a mirror to our own
  455. 20:42souls. They pierce our emotions. They
  456. 20:45raise us high, but also take us to the
  457. 20:48depths. And this psalm takes us down
  458. 20:51into the depths of the human experience.
  459. 20:53And Yahweh honors our human pain and
  460. 20:56emotions by including these strange
  461. 20:58prayers in his scriptures. It's not a
  462. 21:01mistake that Psalm 137 ends up in our
  463. 21:05Bibles. It's by design. And so, what is
  464. 21:08our timeless truth for the day? That God
  465. 21:10is deeply acquainted with your pain.
  466. 21:13He's deeply acquainted with my pain and
  467. 21:15he fully understands it. He's not a God
  468. 21:18that's unfamiliar with pain himself. He
  469. 21:21knows pain. He's well acquainted with
  470. 21:23sorrow and pain. There is nothing you
  471. 21:26could ever say that would cause God to
  472. 21:28cringe or to be shocked by what you say.
  473. 21:31He may correct what you say, but he'll
  474. 21:34never cringe at what you say. These
  475. 21:36psalms are asking the Lord to bless
  476. 21:40those who take the babies of the
  477. 21:42Babylonians and dash them against rocks
  478. 21:45and kill them. If the psalmist can ask
  479. 21:49that children would be killed in term in
  480. 21:52in order to enact revenge, you could say
  481. 21:55anything to the Lord. That doesn't mean
  482. 21:58that God condones it. That doesn't mean
  483. 22:00that God doesn't correct it, but you can
  484. 22:02be honest with all of your emotions and
  485. 22:05all your feelings. I hope that by
  486. 22:07reading some of this extreme content,
  487. 22:09you begin to go, "All right, if this is
  488. 22:12the bar for how honest I can be, I must
  489. 22:16be able to say anything to this God."
  490. 22:18And I'll just say this. I'll I'll say it
  491. 22:20as plain as I can. You know, we listen
  492. 22:22and we don't judge. That was not started
  493. 22:25as a social media trend. That was
  494. 22:27started right here in God's heart in
  495. 22:28Psalm 137. God heard that. that God,
  496. 22:32God, we pray that you would bless those
  497. 22:34who take babies and dash up against the
  498. 22:36rocks. And God went, "Good thing we
  499. 22:38listen and we don't judge. Come on, you
  500. 22:40can let it out. Come on, be honest. God,
  501. 22:42you you can tell me how you really feel.
  502. 22:44I can handle it." And God does his work
  503. 22:48of not enacting this level of revenge,
  504. 22:51but changing our hearts once we are
  505. 22:54honest with him. And that's not just
  506. 22:56true for Psalm 137. That's true for me.
  507. 22:58That's true for you. That's true.
  508. 23:00Period. What happens when we hide our
  509. 23:02real emotions? They actually get worse.
  510. 23:05But when we're actually able to reveal
  511. 23:07our feelings, God can actually heal the
  512. 23:11stuff that you reveal. But whatever you
  513. 23:13hide, well, the only thing that happens
  514. 23:17to hidden emotions is that they grow
  515. 23:20worse in the dark. They don't heal, they
  516. 23:22just grow. And so you have a decision to
  517. 23:25make. What's the wildest thought that
  518. 23:29instead of just keeping it in your head,
  519. 23:31you can begin to tell the Lord about the
  520. 23:35intrusive or maybe even toxic thoughts
  521. 23:37that you have. I promise he's not going
  522. 23:40to judge you. And nothing that you can
  523. 23:42say is going to be worse than what the
  524. 23:44psalmist in one in Psalm 137:9
  525. 23:47has said to the Lord. God knows your
  526. 23:51pain, knows your suffering, and he wants
  527. 23:54to meet you in the middle of your
  528. 23:57darkest moment in your most honest and
  529. 24:00vulnerable prayers. All right, that's
  530. 24:02not just true for David. That's not just
  531. 24:04true for the Psalmist. That's true for
  532. 24:06me and you. That's timelessly true. All
  533. 24:08right, tomorrow we got day 298. We're
  534. 24:11going to be looking at Psalms 138 to
  535. 24:14141. It's going to be a good day here at
  536. 24:16the Bible department podcast. I love
  537. 24:18you. I'm proud of you. Especially if
  538. 24:21you're on a streak. I'll see you right
  539. 24:22here, same time, same place tomorrow as
  540. 24:24we look at day 298. Love you so much.
  541. 24:27Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on
  542. 24:30the Bible department podcast. If this
  543. 24:32episode was helpful, how about you leave
  544. 24:34a comment, share with a friend, and
  545. 24:36subscribe so that you never miss an
  546. 24:39episode. To learn more about the show,
  547. 24:41head to the bible department.com. We'll
  548. 24:43see you right back here tomorrow.

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