Day 298: Psalm 138-141 | 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 298. WE'RE SO
9. 0:27close to day 300. We are cruising
10. 0:30through the Psalms. I'm so proud that
11. 0:33you are sticking it out with us. So,
12. 0:35welcome to day 298. Uh, like every day,
13. 0:38we're going to start the episode with
14. 0:40contact clue context clues. Then I'm
15. 0:43going to give you as many nerdy nuggets
16. 0:45as possible. And then we'll always end
17. 0:48the episode off with a timeless truth
18. 0:51cuz this is not a history lesson.
19. 0:53Although history is important, it brings
20. 0:55the content to life when you understand
21. 0:58the context. And so history and language
22. 1:00and all that stuff, all that context is
23. 1:03important. But primarily the Bible is
24. 1:06not just here to teach you history. It's
25. 1:08here to teach you about yourself, about
26. 1:11the nature of humanity. So if you
27. 1:15haven't done the reading for the day, if
28. 1:16you have not read Psalm 138, 139, 140,
29. 1:20and 141, I invite you, I implore you,
30. 1:25stop this video, pause the audio, go get
31. 1:28the reading done, and come back once you
32. 1:31have done the reading. Incredible
33. 1:33reading. Honestly, today we've got one
34. 1:36of my favorite alltime Psalms. One of my
35. 1:39favorite chapters in the entire Bible,
36. 1:42and that is Psalm 139. Okay, but before
37. 1:45we dive in to all of our nerdy nuggets
38. 1:48uh regarding Psalm 39, got to give you
39. 1:50context clues, and we got a lot of David
40. 1:53today. Now, no context, but definitely
41. 1:56authorship. So, got good news and bad
42. 1:59news. no context like David wrote this
43. 2:02when or David was doing this when he
44. 2:05wrote none of that. We we have that a
45. 2:07lot in the Psalms, but none for today.
46. 2:10However, all of the Psalms that we have
47. 2:12today are going to be Psalms of David.
48. 2:15So, I don't have a ton of context for
49. 2:17you, but we'll make up for it with our
50. 2:19nerdy nuggets and our timeless truth.
51. 2:21All right, let's dive into our nerdy
52. 2:23nuggets. Okay, Psalm 138. This is a
53. 2:25psalm of individual thanksgiving. Okay,
54. 2:29here we see David thanking Yahweh for
55. 2:31his salvation. Says this in verse three,
56. 2:34on the day I called, you answered. Okay,
57. 2:37my strength, the strength of my soul,
58. 2:40you increased. My strength of soul, you
59. 2:43increased. The psalm ends with familiar
60. 2:46themes of Yahweh's persever
61. 2:48preservation,
62. 2:50deliverance from enemies, and faith in
63. 2:52Yahweh's steadfast love. It is the
64. 2:54center of the psalm, however, that
65. 2:56stands out. As the nations are
66. 2:58addressed, but not in the usual Yahweh
67. 3:00will defeat our enemies context. It says
68. 3:03this in verses 4 to6, "All the kings of
69. 3:08the earth shall give you thanks, oh
70. 3:10Yahweh, for they have heard the words of
71. 3:13your mouth, and they shall sing of the
72. 3:17ways of Yahweh. For great is the glory
73. 3:20of Yahweh. For though Yahweh is high, he
74. 3:24regards the lowly, but the hotty he
75. 3:27knows from afar. It looks forward to a
76. 3:30time when the kings of the world will
77. 3:32know Yahweh. When Israel has fulfilled
78. 3:35its calling of the priestly nation that
79. 3:38leads all the other nations in the
80. 3:40knowledge of Yahweh and all other
81. 3:43nations of the world know Yahweh through
82. 3:46Israel, the priestly nation. Okay. David
83. 3:49praises Yahweh as king of the covenant
84. 3:52nation of Israel, but he looks forward
85. 3:54in faith to a time when all nations will
86. 3:58be in covenant with Yahweh. And by the
87. 4:00way, time in history that we're living
88. 4:02in is the moment that David was looking
89. 4:04forward to, which is the moment where
90. 4:07all the world has been blessed by the
91. 4:10Messiah of Israel being born into the
92. 4:13world and the disciples going out into
93. 4:15every nation and preaching the gospel to
94. 4:18all nations. Okay? uh he looks forward
95. 4:20in faith to a time this time when all
96. 4:24nations will be in covenant with Yahweh
97. 4:26and he and so he will no longer be alone
98. 4:30in his praise. All the kings will join
99. 4:32him in praising Yahweh, the true king of
100. 4:35the whole earth. And that's kind of one
101. 4:39of the dopest things about David. Not
102. 4:40only does David acknowledge that Yahweh
103. 4:43is the king of Israel, he acknowledges
104. 4:46you're the king of the whole earth. I
105. 4:48long for the day where I'm not the only
106. 4:51earthly king that acknowledges you in
107. 4:54covenant loyalty and love, but that all
108. 4:56the kings of the earth, which means all
109. 4:58the nations of the earth are also
110. 5:00acknowledging you. And then we get to
111. 5:02the most famous, not the most famous,
112. 5:04Psalm 23 is probably more famous than
113. 5:06this, but we get to a very very very
114. 5:08well-known psalm of David, which tells
115. 5:11of the greatness of the presence and
116. 5:13knowledge of Yahweh. I love love love
117. 5:17Psalm 139. Oh Yahweh, you have searched
118. 5:20me and known me. You know when I sit
119. 5:24down and when I rise up, you discern my
120. 5:27thoughts from afar. You search out my
121. 5:29path and my lying down. You are
122. 5:31acquainted with all my ways. Even before
123. 5:35a word is on my tongue. Behold, oh
124. 5:37Yahweh, you know it all together. These
125. 5:39are the first four verses of Psalm 139.
126. 5:42David is aware of the power of the
127. 5:46knowledge of Yahweh. He knows that he
128. 5:48cannot hide from Yahweh. That Yahweh
129. 5:51sees and knows all that he does and
130. 5:53says, and then he responds, "Such
131. 5:55knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is
132. 5:57high. I cannot attain it." That's verse
133. 5:59six. But that is not all. He asks is a
134. 6:03rhetorical question. Where can I go from
135. 6:07your spirit? Where can I flee from your
136. 6:10presence? Is verse 7. Where shall I go
137. 6:13from your spirit? Or where shall I flee
138. 6:16from your presence? That's the question
139. 6:18that David is asking Yahweh. This is
140. 6:20Psalm 139:7.
141. 6:23He goes on to answer nowhere. That's the
142. 6:26answer. Nowhere. If David goes to
143. 6:29heaven, guess what? Yahweh's there. If
144. 6:31David goes to shol, guess what? Yahweh's
145. 6:33there. If if David dwells in the
146. 6:36uttermost parts of the sea, guess what?
147. 6:38Yahweh still finds him. If he hides in
148. 6:40utter darkness, Yahweh still sees him.
149. 6:43Even before he was born, as he grew in
150. 6:45the womb, Yahweh saw him, knew him. Yet
151. 6:49this does not terrify David. But
152. 6:51instead, here's David's response in
153. 6:54verses 17 to 18. How precious to me are
154. 6:56your thoughts, oh God. How vast is the
155. 6:58sum of them. If I were to count them,
156. 7:02they are more than the sand. I awake and
157. 7:05I'm still with you. Yahweh's constant
158. 7:08presence is not a thing to be feared but
159. 7:10glorious. And if Yahweh is with David to
160. 7:14this degree, then David's response is
161. 7:17asking that Yahweh would be with him in
162. 7:19defeating his enemies. All right, this
163. 7:21is where this and then the next couple
164. 7:24of psalms get really, really
165. 7:25interesting. Now, David understands that
166. 7:28he has two enemies that Yahweh's
167. 7:31presence with him will defeat. Okay? So
168. 7:34David understands, I don't just have one
169. 7:36enemy, I've got two. His natural enemies
170. 7:39in verses 19- 22. Okay? But also his
171. 7:43greatest enemy in verses 23 and 24. So
172. 7:46let's start reading verse 19. I've got
173. 7:48it in my iPad. I've got it on my on in
174. 7:51my physical Bible starting in verse 19.
175. 7:54Okay. It says this. If only you uh Lord
176. 7:58would slay the wicked away from me, you
177. 8:01who are bloodthirsty. They speak of you
178. 8:04with evil intent. Your adversaries must
179. 8:06use your name. Do I not hate those who
180. 8:09hate you, Lord, and abore those who are
181. 8:12in rebellion against you? I have nothing
182. 8:15but hatred for them. I count them my
183. 8:18enemies. Okay, so from verse 19 to verse
184. 8:2122, David is talking about his enemies.
185. 8:24Yahweh's adversaries, his enemies, the
186. 8:27people that he hates. Okay, he hates the
187. 8:30people who hate the Lord. Okay. He hates
188. 8:33people who misuse Yahweh's name. Okay.
189. 8:36Uh so David realizes that if God's
190. 8:39presence is an available power and force
191. 8:43that there are some real enemies that
192. 8:45David has and beseeches the Lord. Hey,
193. 8:48can we deal with these enemies? But I
194. 8:49love this. Verse 23. David realizes that
195. 8:53his biggest enemies are not external,
196. 8:55but his biggest enemies are internal. So
197. 8:58starting in verse 23, it says this.
198. 9:00Search me, God, and know my heart. Test
199. 9:03me and know my anxious thoughts. See if
200. 9:05there is any offensive way in me and
201. 9:08lead me in the way everlasting. Wow.
202. 9:13This is David acknowledging that his
203. 9:17internal enemy is worse or more
204. 9:20dangerous than his external enemy. David
205. 9:23recognizes that his own sin and his own
206. 9:26failure and his own habits and his own
207. 9:29intrusive thoughts or toxic thoughts
208. 9:32have always been a greater enemy to his
209. 9:36destiny and purpose than any Philistine
210. 9:39army than any Philistine giant that any
211. 9:42Philistine enemy or any other people
212. 9:44group that have opposed him or or God's
213. 9:48army or the Israelites. But the
214. 9:50consecrance of Yahweh will defeat his
215. 9:53own sin and lead in the way everlasting.
216. 9:57We're going to come back to this because
217. 9:59honestly this is our timeless truth for
218. 10:01the day. Okay. Psalm 140. This is an
219. 10:03individual lament is a return to a major
220. 10:06theme in David's Psalms. His cry out to
221. 10:08Yahweh for deliverance from the wicked.
222. 10:11It highlights David's faith and
223. 10:12confidence in Yahweh for salvation.
224. 10:15Verses 6 through8 says this. I say to
225. 10:17Yahweh, you are my God. Give ear to the
226. 10:19voice of my pleas for mercy. Oh Yahweh,
227. 10:21oh Yahweh, my Lord, the strength of my
228. 10:23salvation. You have covered my head in
229. 10:26the day of battle. Grant not, oh Yahweh,
230. 10:27the desires of the wicked. Do not
231. 10:30further their evil plot or they will be
232. 10:32exalted. Sah. Now in this individual
233. 10:36lament, what enemy is being focused on?
234. 10:40That's right. External enemies. So Psalm
235. 10:43139 has introduced David's got two
236. 10:46enemies. internal and external. And so
237. 10:49Psalm 140 is going to deal with the
238. 10:52external enemy, okay? The external
239. 10:55threat. It says this, "You have covered
240. 10:56my head in the day of battle." What is
241. 10:59David praising Yahweh for in terms of
242. 11:02salvation? Salvation from physical
243. 11:04natural enemies. Now, Psalm 141 is where
244. 11:07it gets fun. This is another individual
245. 11:10lament of Yahweh, I mean of David. So,
246. 11:12we've got two individual laments
247. 11:13backtoback. It is times like this when
248. 11:16you read through the psalms and not look
249. 11:18at them individually. Okay? But you
250. 11:21begin to see the care in which these
251. 11:24psalms were put together. Psalm 139
252. 11:26looks at the sovereign presence and
253. 11:29power of Yahweh and how David knows it
254. 11:32will mean victory over his enemies both
255. 11:36internal and external. Psalm 140 then
256. 11:39looks in more detail on how Yahweh's
257. 11:42presence with David means the defeat of
258. 11:44his external enemies and their plots
259. 11:47against him. Now Psalm 141 looks at the
260. 11:52internal enemies of David, his own sins.
261. 11:56It says this starting in verse three,
262. 11:58"Set a guard, oh Yahweh, over my mouth.
263. 12:00Keep watch over the door of my lips. Do
264. 12:03not let my heart incline towards any
265. 12:06evil to busy myself with wicked deeds in
266. 12:10company with men who work iniquity. And
267. 12:13let me not eat of their delicacies. Let
268. 12:16a righteous man strike me. It is a
269. 12:18kindness. Let him rebuke me. It is oil
270. 12:21for my head. Let my head not refuse it.
271. 12:24That's Psalm 141:es 3-5. The psalm also
272. 12:28contains some strange language, and
273. 12:30we'll get into that in just a second.
274. 12:33But David is aware that it's the
275. 12:36internal threats that are more dangerous
276. 12:39than external threats. And you can see
277. 12:41how Psalm 139, 140, and 141 weave all of
278. 12:45these themes together. And I'm stealing
279. 12:47my thunder because this is going to be
280. 12:50part and parcel of how we're going to
281. 12:52get to our Thomas Truth for the day. All
282. 12:55right, family. The wait is over. My
283. 12:58brand new book, Crushing Chaos, is out
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285. 13:04[music] sold literally today. I walked
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289. 13:15Barnes & Noble or you can go to a Books
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294. 13:29beauty of scripture is actually knowing
295. 13:31it in context, then you'll love this
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297. 13:36personal life, I [music] think that
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304. 13:50a copy today. All right, back to the
305. 13:53episode. One more little nerdy nugget.
306. 13:55Okay, when we look at Psalm 141, okay,
307. 13:59verses 6-7 gives us some strange
308. 14:01language. It says this, "When their
309. 14:02judges are thrown over the cliff, then
310. 14:05they shall hear my words, for they are
311. 14:08pleasant. As when one plows and breaks
312. 14:11up the earth, so shall our bones be
313. 14:14scattered at the mouth of shol." Now,
314. 14:17these verses have long puzzled Bible
315. 14:20interpreters, especially Bible
316. 14:22interpreters of the Psalms to what on
317. 14:24earth David is talking about. A hint for
318. 14:27the confusion can be found in the
319. 14:30footnotes in most Bibles. It should say
320. 14:32this meaning of Hebrew uncertain. This
321. 14:35is one of those times and it doesn't
322. 14:37happen a lot when the reality of dealing
323. 14:40with an ancient dead language becomes
324. 14:43very very apparent. There are parts of
325. 14:46scripture where we simply do not know.
326. 14:50And a lot of times I don't like, you
327. 14:53know, we don't know as a copout. But
328. 14:55sometimes we just got to admit when we
329. 14:57don't know. There is nothing to compare
330. 14:59these words with. Or it might be that
331. 15:01the vows are lost to time. And so the
332. 15:04word is also lost to time. We do not
333. 15:07know. But it should make us appreciate
334. 15:10even more the linguistic scholars who
335. 15:12have worked so hard over the centuries
336. 15:14so that we can read this dead language
337. 15:17as accurately as we're able to. All
338. 15:20right, with no further ado, let's get
339. 15:22into our timeless truth. Okay, our
340. 15:25timeless truth for the day is that it is
341. 15:28the presence of Yahweh that gives us the
342. 15:31power to overcome our internal threat,
343. 15:34which is sin. Sin, chaos, confusion,
344. 15:38rebellion, habits, toxic thoughts,
345. 15:40whatever you want to call it. Your
346. 15:42internal enemies are always a bigger
347. 15:46threat than your external enemies. I
348. 15:48know everybody thinks they got haters,
349. 15:50but I'm here to tell you right now, the
350. 15:52thing that hates you is sin. Sin hates
351. 15:55you. The thing that's got your you in
352. 15:58crosshairs is not any external threats.
353. 16:01It's an internal threat. And I I don't
354. 16:04even want to mean this as like, you
355. 16:06know, political statement or a social
356. 16:08statement. I really don't. Like, that's
357. 16:09not my goal. But I did see a very very
358. 16:12fascinating clip recently. It was Jamal
359. 16:14Bryant. He was actually talking to Cam
360. 16:17Newton, a retired football player who
361. 16:19used to play was the quarterback for the
362. 16:21Panthers. And uh Jamal Bryant, Cam
363. 16:24Newton, you're talking and uh Jamal
364. 16:25Bryant is really known especially in I
365. 16:29would say Christian space as probably a
366. 16:32social justice preacher. You know, Jamal
367. 16:35Bryant is a black pastor and really kind
368. 16:40of is a voice against racism in America.
369. 16:45uh has a lot to say in in condemning the
370. 16:48white evangelical church. I'm not here
371. 16:51to agree or disagree with anything Jamal
372. 16:54Bryant has to say. That's neither here
373. 16:56nor there. Totally irrelevant. Just
374. 16:58wanted to give context. And so Jamal
375. 17:01Bryant is very very very outspoken about
376. 17:03anything that comes across racist or
377. 17:06white supremacist leaning. just that's
378. 17:09kind of his platform and that's the
379. 17:12tenor and tone of kind of the stuff that
380. 17:15he has to say. And uh it's funny because
381. 17:17he's getting interviewed by Cam Newton
382. 17:20and Jamal Bryant just throws a
383. 17:22curveball. I mean I was shocked that he
384. 17:24said it. I I almost thought it was AI. I
385. 17:26was like this got to be AI. This can't
386. 17:28even be real. He said these words. He
387. 17:30said my own sexual sin has been more of
388. 17:35an issue in my life than racism. He
389. 17:38said, "It is my inability to have sexual
390. 17:42discipline that has done more to damage
391. 17:46my ministry than white America, than
392. 17:50white supremacy, than racism, than any
393. 17:52of that." And I was shocked. Like, and
394. 17:55this is where it's helpful to not put
395. 17:57people in boxes because that sounds like
396. 17:59a very conservative thing to say, but
397. 18:02Jamal Bryant is is not like a
398. 18:04politically conservative figure at all.
399. 18:06But what he's saying is just true. It's
400. 18:09straight up true that his own lust and
401. 18:14his own inability to control his sexual
402. 18:19reproductive organs has been more of a
403. 18:22problem for him than white people hating
404. 18:25him or prejudice prejudice act actions
405. 18:28towards him or racism or redlining or
406. 18:31anything like it's his own inability to
407. 18:36control himself that's been the biggest
408. 18:38problem. And that's his words. Like, and
409. 18:42man, if that's not the heart of what's
410. 18:44happening here in Psalm 139 and then 140
411. 18:48and 141, it's like David is realizing,
412. 18:51yeah, there's some external threats. The
413. 18:53Philistines are real, but man, my own
414. 18:57internal enemies are a bigger threat. my
415. 19:00own sin, my own habits, my own
416. 19:03shortcomings, my own thoughts, my own
417. 19:05inclinations, my own proclivities. And
418. 19:08not only are those internal realities a
419. 19:12bigger threat than any external reality,
420. 19:15I'll I'll say this, what Psalm 139 is
421. 19:18teaching is that it is the presence of
422. 19:21God that breaks the power of both
423. 19:25external and internal enemies. So this
424. 19:27is counterintuitive because a lot of
425. 19:30times when we're dealing with sin and
426. 19:32when we're dealing with habits,
427. 19:34addictions, toxicity,
428. 19:36we have this tendency to run away from
429. 19:40God. We flee his presence. It's almost
430. 19:43like his presence can make us
431. 19:45uncomfortable. It's like shame can get
432. 19:48so can cover us and and attach itself to
433. 19:52us so deeply that uh instead of running
434. 19:55towards the one whose presence can
435. 19:59conquer sin, we run away from God and
436. 20:02then we're shocked that sin is
437. 20:05dominating us even more than it was
438. 20:07before. And so there's this
439. 20:09counterintuitive nature that when I'm
440. 20:12dealing with sin, I don't run away from
441. 20:14God and shame, but I run towards him in
442. 20:18humility. And when I begin to run
443. 20:20towards him, his presence gives me an
444. 20:23ability that I don't in my own
445. 20:26self-possess to begin to overcome sin.
446. 20:29So I don't overcome sin on my own and
447. 20:32then appear before God like, "All right,
448. 20:34God, I handled it. We're good now." No.
449. 20:37in desperation, in dependence, I go to
450. 20:41God. I let him help me with his presence
451. 20:46dominate and overcome and conquer my
452. 20:49sin. And then I walk out in the freedom
453. 20:53that he's given me in his presence. But
454. 20:56for a lot of us, we want to fix it on
455. 20:58our own. We want to DIY our own holiness
456. 21:01and then go to God and show God what we
457. 21:04accomplished. And overcoming sin doesn't
458. 21:07work that way. His presence is a
459. 21:10requirement for overcoming sin. And I
460. 21:12know if you're battling with sinful
461. 21:15addictions or habits or thoughts or
462. 21:17behaviors, maybe like you want to avoid
463. 21:20God. But I would tell you like you need
464. 21:24to walk boldly into God's presence to
465. 21:28receive grace because it is only by the
466. 21:31power of his presence that you will ever
467. 21:33break the stronghold of sin addiction or
468. 21:36habits in your life. And that's not just
469. 21:39true for David. That's not just true for
470. 21:42Psalm 139, Psalm 140 and 41. That's true
471. 21:46for me and that's true for you. Because
472. 21:49as long as we are alive and breathing,
473. 21:52we are going to have sin issues. And God
474. 21:55has a formula for how to conquer sin.
475. 21:58And it is impossible to conquer sin on
476. 22:00your own. Because the moment you go to
477. 22:02God proud of the sin you conquered,
478. 22:05guess what? Pride is a sin. So it's a
479. 22:08vicious cycle. You're you're never going
480. 22:10to be able to conquer sin because the
481. 22:11moment you're proud that you did it,
482. 22:13you're now back in sin because pride's a
483. 22:15sin. And so it's actually humility that
484. 22:17drives us to God that says, "God, I
485. 22:19don't have the power to deal with this
486. 22:21on my own. I need your presence to break
487. 22:23the power of sin in my life." And God
488. 22:25begins to be the hero of your story, not
489. 22:29you. And that is timelessly true,
490. 22:33especially on this side of eternity. All
491. 22:35right, TOMORROW WE'VE GOT DAY 299. We're
492. 22:38going to be looking at Psalms 142, 143,
493. 22:41144, and 145. Guys, only a couple days
494. 22:45left in the book of Psalms. I cannot
495. 22:47believe it. Uh, we've got, I think, 66
496. 22:51days or maybe 67 days left total for the
497. 22:54rest of the year. What a year it's been.
498. 22:56I love you. I'm proud of you. I'll see
499. 22:58you right here tomorrow for day 299.
500. 23:01It's going to be the last day of book
501. 23:04five. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow.
502. 23:07Love you. Proud of you. Peace.
503. 23:10Thanks so much for joining us on the
504. 23:12Bible Department podcast. If this
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511. 23:25here tomorrow.