Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Our first chapter for today, Psalm 65, was probably written as praise for a feast or harvest time. David starts out by saying praise is due to God in Zion, which, as you may recall, is another way of referring to Jerusalem. Since Mount Zion is the highest peak in Jerusalem, the two names are often used interchangeably.
And they're also both used to refer to the nation and the people of Israel as a whole. I love this psalm. Every line is so rich and dense. I think there's something really beautiful about the way David lays out verse 3. It says, "'When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.'" David's iniquities are stronger than his ability to rescue himself. They prevail against him. He knows he needs God's rescue, and he praises God for making atonement for his sins.
David goes on praising God for the fact that he's the hope and joy of his people. He's the creator and sustainer of all things. And as they're harvesting the crops, David sees the abundance God has given them this year. David praises God's abundant provision in verse 11 when he says, In Psalm 66, David praises God for the ways he triumphs over his enemies and for protecting his people.
David has a God-honoring view of the trials he has been through, and he's able to praise God even for the hardships. We see it in verses 10-12 especially. He says,
David isn't holding a grudge toward God because of what Israel has gone through. He's not saying, I don't trust you anymore. Because of the parameters of the Davidic covenant, David knows that Israel's struggles were the result of their own rebellion. And even though he ascribes those hardships to God, he knows that God did it in response to their sin.
Despite their tough history, David has his heart set on praise. And in verse 16, he says, Wow, what a response. Verse 18 gives us an interesting insight into God's attentiveness.
Since God is everywhere and knows everything, then of course He hears all prayers. Even the prayers thrown out to Him by people who don't know Him, asking for things that don't glorify Him in any way, He hears it all. But He's under no obligation to listen and respond to people who don't know or love Him. Is it cruel for God not to heed their prayers? Absolutely not. Those who cherish sin over God have no regard for His glory or what's best.
Often, they offer up prayers as a means to their own selfish end. So it's in no one's best interest for him to turn his attention to their prayers. This doesn't mean he never responds to their prayers, just that he's under no obligation to. Sometimes he does when their prayers align with his will. Moving on to Psalm 67, we see that the author here does not suffer from a scarcity mentality. This song focuses not only on Israel praising God, but on all the nations praising God.
I love that an Israelite asks God to save other nations, even their enemy nations. This is a beautiful prayer that shows this psalmist knows how good and huge God is. He's big enough to be good to others without ignoring Israel. God has enough goodness to go around to people from among all nations. Psalm 69 is a personal psalm of lament written by David, but it serves multiple purposes. Just because it's personal doesn't mean it's private.
David has written it as a representative of the people, for them to be able to sing it as well. There are lots of prophetic elements woven into this chapter too, so it's personal, it's public, and it's prophetic. In fact, you may have noticed some of the prophetic verses right away. Jesus quoted verse 4 in John 15, "...they hated me without cause." And Jesus was given a sour drink when he was thirsty on the cross, like in verse 21.
Verse 9 says, And we see how this is a prophetic word about Jesus turning over tables in the temple in John chapter 2. In this psalm, David is struggling. He's weary and surrounded by enemies who hate him without cause and who lie about him.
He confesses that while he's not innocent altogether, he's innocent of what he's been accused of. And he doesn't want this painful situation to bring shame on Israel. He loves God and God's people, and he trusts God to rescue him. No one gets him except for God. They're all cruel, adding to his pain. Then he prays for his enemies to be punished. This, of course, assumes they remain unrepentant. That's an important thing to note.
Nothing we've seen from David or God indicates an unwillingness to forgive those who repent. David wants people to love and honor God, and he's angry that justice isn't being done.
Our final chapter, Psalm 70, has a lot of the same tones as chapter 69. David asked God for deliverance as well as punishment for his enemies. And again, we see that he's assuming these enemies don't repent, because if they did repent, they'd fall under his prayer in verse 4 instead. It says, "...may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you." The punishment he asked God to deliver to his enemies is contingent upon their position as God's enemies, not just his enemies.
And those who repent aren't God's enemies. Where did you see your God shot today? I loved Psalm 65, 4. "'Blessed is the one you choose and bring near.'"
Do you realize how blessed we are? How blessed you are? If you know God, it's because He chose you and brought you near. We were far from Him, enemies by birth. But He bent down and adopted us into His family through no effort of our own. He brought us near and seated us at His table. We couldn't get there on our own, but He brought us near, brought us, came and got us. And He even put His Spirit inside us as a guarantee of the relationship we have with Him.
I'm so grateful He chose me and brought me near. It's the greatest blessing of my life because He's where the joy is. It's almost that time of year when people walk across stages and get diplomas. Do you want to get them something to celebrate their accomplishment, something that's going to help them for the rest of their lives? I'd recommend a personal size copy of the Bible recap book, either in our blue vegan leather or black bonded leather.
Both options contain the same great content from Big Blue and our Deluxe Edition, but in a size that's way easier to carry when you go off to college or your first job or to the military. Probably not a great option for the kindergarten graduates, though. For them, I'd recommend our TBR Kids Devotional. Find these options and more for all your college, high school, and kindergrads at thebiblerecap.com forward slash store. Or click the link in the show notes.