Day 254: Psalms 6–8 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango

Welcome to the Bible Department podcast powered by Arma. We are walking through the entire Bible in a year. You can go to the description or thebibledepartment.com to download a reading plan and join the journey. (upbeat music) - And we welcome to day 254 here on the Bible Department Today we are walking through Psalm 6, 7, and 8. Got a good mixture of Psalms. Got two Psalms of lament. And then we've got kind of like a praise Psalm. A really, really popular one in Psalm 8. So we got a lot to dive into. If you haven't done the reading for today, I don't know what's wrong with you. You gotta get the reading done. Hey, stop the audio, stop the video. Go read Psalm 6, Psalm 7, and Psalm 8. It won't take you a lot of time, but it will give you tons of context for what I'm about to talk about. So let's dive in today 254. And just like every day, I'm gonna give you context clues. I'm gonna give you some nerdy nuggets, and we're always gonna leave the episode with a timeless truth. So let's dive into today's episode. Okay, I wanna start with some context clues. I'll just give you a handful of context clues. Like I'll give you three, I'll kind of give you, I'll try to give you at least one for each

of the Psalms that we're dealing with today. So kind of in the same vein as we were talking about yesterday, Psalm 6 and Psalm 7, the first two Psalms for today's reading are personal laments. So we ended yesterday with Psalm 5, which is a Psalm of lament. This is another Psalm of lament, okay? So we are gonna get two Psalms of lament today. And one is gonna have no context, one is actually gonna have some context. Let me tell you the context of Psalm 7, okay? So if you go to Psalm 7 and remember yesterday, we kind of learned how to read these titles, okay? It says this in the title for Psalm 7. First, it says, "A Shigaeon." First of all, what is a Shigaeon? We don't know what a Shigaeon is, okay? A Shigaeon is a tune or a melody. It kind of be like, if I said, "Hey, sing this song, but sing it to the tune of Back That Thing Up" by Juvenile, right? Like if somebody, if archeologist 500 years from now dug up something that said Back That Thing Up by Juvenile, they wouldn't know what it sounds like even if they had the lyrics, okay? So we are in the same scenario as, let's say an archeologist would be 500 years from now that they don't know what it sounds like, but all they got is the lyrics.

And I wonder if I'm the only one, when I say Back That Thing Up, you can hear, you can hear, you can hear the beat in your head, I know you can, I know you can, anyway, all right. So a Shigaeon, we don't know what a Shigaeon is. It's like singing, it's kind of like when, I don't know if this happens with anybody, you know, it's time to wish somebody a happy birthday and you gotta ask the question, you know? You gotta ask the question. Are we gonna sing like the classic one or the Stevie Wonder version? We're probably gonna sing, okay? So the title right here at the top of the song is saying that. Like, are we gonna sing happy birthday to you? You know what I mean? Are we gonna sing that? Or are we gonna sing happy birthday to you? Like what are we doing? And this is letting us know we're gonna do a Shigaeon. That's what we're gonna do, we're gonna do a Shigaeon. And obviously we don't know what a Shigaeon sounds like, but the psalmist knows exactly what that sounds like. And clearly it is culturally relevant enough and popular enough that this would have answered all the questions for the director of music at the time, okay? So Psalm seven, you can see the same thing and Psalm six actually. Psalm six is a Sheminith, okay? So Psalm six is for the director of music

with stringed instruments, okay? Play this with the stringed instrument and according to the Sheminith, okay? So that's a different tune, that's a different melody, okay? So Psalm six is gonna be for the Sheminith and then Psalm seven is for the Shigaeon. And we can leave it up to your imagination, what the melody is, what the tune is, what's that song? Obviously it's lost to history, but you know, it's fun to make some conjectures. Anyway, all right, of David, which he's saying to a Lord concerning Kush, a Benjamin. Now, a lot of scholars are gonna take those words concerning Kush, a Benjamin, and kind of make some guesses that the situational context of this Psalm has to do with him being chased by Absalom. And the reason is because this person Kush some scholars to think that this is connected to Absalom's rebellion. This was because during Absalom's rebellion, there was an uprising by the Benjaminite tribe. So we get tons of context. The first thing that I want to let everybody know is, you know, a Shigeon, and then this Kush, Benjaminite thing has led a lot of people to think that maybe this is David's response or a lament Psalm in response to his son rebelling against him and trying to usurp control of the kingdom. Okay? All right. Last little context clue that I want to give you is for Psalm 8, okay? And Psalm 8, I love to kind of teach through like Hebrew poetry and stylistic techniques. And we've talked about parallelism in previous episodes, but today we're going to talk about

a refrain or an inclusio, okay? A refrain is going to act like, let's say, a chorus, whereas a verse is different than a chorus. A chorus gets repeated over and over and over again. So a refrain is when a particular line is repeated throughout the Psalm, but this refrain is also an inclusio, which means it bookends the Psalm, everything before it and everything after, after it is included in the Psalm, which is what an inclusio does. So it's at the top and it's at the bottom. So for Psalm 8, the inclusio here is Lord our Lord. This is Psalm a verse one, Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth? And then how does it end in verse nine, Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth? So that is our refrain. That is also our inclusio, everything before verse nine and everything after verse one are included in the Psalm, that's why it is an inclusio. All right. So that's the context. That's kind of some literary context and we're going to get another melody or tune that we don't know in Psalm 8, okay? So remember in Psalm 6, we were supposed to sing this according to what? The shamanist, we don't know what a shamanist is. In Psalm 7, we're supposed to sing this. It's a Shigeon. We don't know what a Shigeon is. I like saying that word. I really don't know why I like saying Shigeon is a fun word. And then Psalm 8, for the director of music according to Gitteth. So we're supposed to sing this one according to Gitteth. We don't know what Gitteth is, but obviously the director of music knew exactly what that was and that would have made total sense.

All righty, one of the funnest things that I did actually in college was the biblical studies team teamed up with all the music majors and we put the Psalms to music. It was fun. Anyway, does anybody out there who's super musical have at that? You do that. You recreate the Gitteth. All right. Let's keep moving. Okay. Next, I want to give you some nerdy nuggets. My goal is to try to give you at least maybe a nerdy nugget for each one of these I may not. I may not be able to do that. Anyway, actually I stole my own thunder because my dirty nugget for chapter six was a shimminith and then my nerdy nugget for chapter seven was a Shiggyon. So we talked about a shimminith and a Shiggyon, but actually it leaves me more time to talk about the nerdiest of the nuggets, which is going to lead into our timeless truth for the day. And also, well, let me give you a pre nerdy nugget. We're going to really dive into Psalm 8 and this is a descriptive praise psalm. Okay. Let's read chapter eight. Let's read Psalm 8. Lord, oh Lord, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name and all the earth? You have set your glory in the heavens through the praise of children and infants. You have established a stronghold against your enemies. I have always loved that verse that a stronghold would be like a fort, right? Like Fort Sumter or like, you know, there's different military bases all throughout America that are strongholds against foreign powers or foreign enemies. And the psalmist is saying actually, the praise of children and infants is the stronghold

that God has established against his enemies to silence a foe in the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care about them. So right here, David is essentially saying, man, when I look at all the stuff, when I look at your handiwork, when I look at your creation, there's so much glory in your creation. We're nowhere near as physically appealing as the sun or the moon or the sun. Therefore, Jesus could not have incarnated into the moon or a star or anything in the heavens. Jesus couldn't have become a tree, okay? So for all the people who are kind of pantheists, who kind of worship the creation. This psalmist saying, no, the creation actually reflects the brilliance of a creator. And that creator, when it came time to incarnate, could not become anything in the creation except that which was made in his image, which was humans, you and I. And so we may not seem as glorious as some of this majestic stuff in the creation, but actually, we are the most majestic because we're made in the image of God and we're uniquely made in the image of God. And God can only become what he's made in the image of or what's made in the image of him. Sorry, I said it the wrong way the first time. So Jesus could only become a human. And that is very, very special. We need to remember that, okay? You have made them, you made humans. This is what most translations are going to say, a little lower than the angels. That's also how a lot of people have memorized this verse, but I'm going to challenge that. That's actually my whole nerdy nugget is around challenging that idea and crown them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands and put everything under their feet, under humanity's feet, everything, okay? So how could we be lower than angels, but everything's under our feet? That doesn't actually make sense. That doesn't line up, okay? All flocks and herds and the animals of the wild, the birds and the sky. This actually correlates perfectly with Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 that when God made Adam and Eve, he gave them dominion. That part of what it means to be a human is that we would subdue and rule and exercise dominion over the creation. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name and all the earth? What a good song. What a great song. All right, family, the weight is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos, is out now and available everywhere books are sold. Literally today, I walked into a Barnes and Noble and

I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a books a million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book and if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times best seller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. Let's deal with the interpretive issue in this song. Okay, it says this in verse five, you have made humans a little lower than the angels. Now, here's the conflict. In every Hebrew text, that word for angels is God. Okay. In the original Hebrew text, verse five reads, you have made humans or you have made them a little lower than God. So, if you're reading it a English translation and you just click the little subtext that's right there at the end of the word angel, it would probably say or then God. Okay. Instead of then the angels, then God. Now, it is the Septuagint, that is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible that has a little lower than the angels. Okay. So, most translations for a myriad of reasons have decided to translate this based on our Septuagint data instead of our Hebrew text data. Okay. So, with this verse, the Hebrew text that we have and the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew text, don't match. Okay. There's a discrepancy in the source material and most modern translations have opted to go with lower than the angels as opposed to lower than God. The only problem with that is the incarnation of Jesus because Jesus is not lower than angels. Okay. And this song, Jesus can become a human because humans are made a little lower than God, not lower than angels. And there's a clue in the text that said you've put everything under their feet. So Jesus is essentially ruling in the place of Adam and Eve, because God has given Adam and Eve all authority over everything in creation. And then a spiritual being who's in the form of a dragon or a snake, clearly in the garden, he's some kind of created being, is actually lower than them. But that being that we know as Satan usurps their authority and now has authority above them, but that's not how it's designed to be. So Jesus is incarnated as a human to regain that authority over a fallen angelic being or an angelic being or a spiritual being. So I would not contend that this verse says a little lower than angels. I would actually say what the Hebrew text says I feel more comfortable with, which is God. You have made humans a little lower than God, that human beings are actually in the pecking order or the hierarchy of the cosmos are not below angels, but are above angels.

And I actually would say that probably lines up more with a holistic with the entire Bible, right? Also, we believers are in Christ. And Christ is at the right hand of the Father, and he's a human forever. I actually had to fix this idea with someone recently, because they were like, yeah, Jesus had a body for 33 years and I was like, no, he has a body right now. Jesus, the incarnation is an eternal reality. For the rest of time, eternally into the future, Jesus will have a body. He didn't incarnate and then unincarnate. No, he's incarnate, he's in the flesh, and then he got a glorified body, a resurrected body and ascended. And we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. That's what Paul teaches. So if I'm seated with Christ in heavenly places, I'm not lower than the angels. I'm higher than the angels. So this verse right here, I've heard this verse quoted a lot. People just will memorize the English translation of this verse, and I would actually contend that the Hebrew text has it right here and not the Septuagint. Why the Septuagint made a change to the word when translating from Hebrew to Greek? I don't know. But I would opt to go with the original as opposed to the translation for this one, which leads easily into our timeless truth, which is that you and I, every human being watching this, is made in the image of God. We're in the middle of planting a church right now called the Garden, and one of our cultural values is honoring people is how we honor God. And the reason that honoring people is the way that we honor God is because people are made in the image of God. When I interact with another human being, I'm not just interacting with in any agram number or an employee or a brother or a sister or a sibling. I'm interacting with someone who bears the image of God, and because they bear God's image, the way that I treat them is actually a reflection of what I think about God. And that's a timeless truth. Like, biblically, when God begins to tell Noah, if someone murders someone, then I have to take their life because murder is destroying an image bearer. Like, this goes against, like, murder is an offense to God because you are ripping, you are ending someone's life. And so God says, for their lifeblood, I'll give an account. Like, murdering, I know all the, you know, animal lovers, and, you know, but deer are not made in the image of God. Dogs aren't made in the image of God. Killing a dog is not the same as killing a human. And I know there's, you know, there's all these people who would hate that I said that. But the reality is that there's something special about humans. There's something that's divinely special about human beings. So the reason I hate poverty is because poverty begins to diminish the dignity of the human. The reason I hate racism is because racism diminishes the humanity of humans, the dignity that humans have. Suffering, I actually think that part of the mission that God has Christians on is on this mission to reconcile or to restore the dignity of what it means to be human. And so I'm all about the restoration of all things that we should be restoring people to their rightful place as co-heirs with Christ, seated with Christ in heavenly places. And if there's royalty in your DNA, then that should affect how you act and think.

I remember one time a pastor of mine who was just holding me accountable was like, at some point, you are going to realize that you're going to stop indulging in sin when you realize I'm better than this. Okay, we don't get you to stop indulging in sin by making you guilty about it. We get you to stop indulging in sin when you realize this is beneath me. Actually, I should be disgusted by this. Why am I acting this way? I'm a human. And what it means to be human doesn't mean that I indulge in sinful behaviors, but it means that I keep my dignity. I'm elevated, but this is beneath me. And whenever we dip back into our primal, carnal, animalistic ways, we have to remember we're made a little lower than God. And that's a timeless truth. And when we honor people, we honor God. And knowing that we're image bearers has tons of implications for the incarnation of Jesus, but also how we honor each other and how we love each other. Because the greatest commandment is to love the Lord, your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, all your strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Why does God connect to loving him with loving your neighbor? Because your neighbor is made in his image. And you can't say that you love a God who you don't see, but you don't love your neighbor who you do see your sibling, your coworker, your boss, whoever that person is in your life as an opportunity for you to prove that you actually do honor God, that you actually do love God, they're made in God's image so that they can be the recipient of your love for God. And when you think about it that way, it actually gives you a whole bunch of grace to deal with complicated people because they're made in the image of God. And that's not just true for the Psalmist in Psalm 8. That's true for you and I today. And with that, I'm going to tell you, I'm proud of you, especially if you're on a streak, and I want you to meet me back here for Day 255 as we walk through Psalm 9, 10, and 11. I love you so much. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud that you're on this journey with me. I honor you for reading the Bible this year, and I'm so happy for you. Glad that we get to do this together. See you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible department podcast. If this episode was helpful, how about you leave a comment, share with a friend, and subscribe so that you never miss an episode. To learn more about the show, head to thebobledepartment.com. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. [Music]