Day 257: Psalms 15–17 | 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 thebobledapartment.com to download a reading plan and join the journey. (tense music) Family, welcome to day 257 here on the Bible Department podcast. Today, we are walking through Psalms 15, 16 to 17. And I love this set of three Psalms. I actually think that we're gonna get to dive into David and Yahweh's relationship through these Psalms. All three of these Psalms are Psalms of David. They're all a little bit different. If you haven't done the reading yet for today, then stop the video, pause the audio, go do the reading. This podcast is not designed to substitute your Bible reading, but supplement your daily Bible reading. So get the reading done. I'm not going anywhere. You can come right back here so that you can greater understand what you just read. So we've got three Psalms before us today. Hopefully for everyone who's done the reading, I hope these Psalms were impactful to you. Right out of the gate, let me kind of give you some context. We've got a Psalm of David, a miktam of David

and a prayer of David, okay? So we've got a Psalm, pretty self-explanatory. We've got a song of David, okay? So the first one's easy. But second, we got a miktam. So what's a miktam? I'm so glad you asked what a miktam is, okay? There's a lot of debate on what a miktam is and I'll kind of tell you what I think it's not. And then I'll kind of tell you what I think it is. All right, so the Hebrew word miktam, a lot of scholars kind of think that it's similar to the Hebrew word from gold, which is katem, okay? miktam and katem. So a lot of these Psalms that are a miktam of David kind of get known as the golden Psalms, okay? However, I don't see a lot of reason. At least the scholars that I really find reputable and that I really trust don't translate them that way. But the Hebrew word miktam is also really similar to the Hebrew word katemu, katemu, miktam katemu, which means to cover. And the image is likely to be about covering the lips in that this is a secret Psalm, a silent prayer uttered to Yahweh in times of distress, okay? So there's, there are a multiple miktams of David throughout the Psalms and you can either, you know, you could look it up on your own or you could maybe figure out do you like golden Psalm or do you like this idea of covering the lips, okay?

So a secret Psalm, okay? So next is a prayer of David, okay? So Psalm 15 is a Psalm of David. Psalm 16 is a miktam and I'll just cover my lips when I say the word miktam, okay? A secret prayer. And then last we get a prayer, just a normal public prayer of David and we're gonna dive into all three, okay? So let's dive into our nerdy nuggets. That's enough context. Now let's, let's get some nerdy nuggets going, okay? Psalm 15 says this, "Oh Lord, who may abide in your tent, who may dwell on your holy hill?" These two lines right here, this one verse separated into two lines. Zach's gonna set the tone for all three of these Psalms. You can sense like in David's soul that there is this sense of wanting to be near God, wanting to abide with God, wanting to dwell with God. If there was one thing that kind of stood out to me as we were studying through the former prophets, which we get a lot of the stories of David as we go through books like Samuel is, "Ooh, this is a complicated guy." Like David is, David's not necessarily like the upstanding citizen. But then when we get into the Psalms, you're like, "I love this guy." Like when you start reading the Psalms,

you get this sense of like, this guy loves the Lord. And I actually think that the Bible is trying to give us a realistic picture of what it means to have a complex, complicated relationship with yourself and with the Lord. A lot of times in, you know, just as we think about people, it's easy to make people But what you begin to realize I think as you mature as a person is that everyone has shades of gray, that there are moments where people are incredible. And then there are moments where people are confusing because an incredible, awesome, amazing person could do something or say something that's kind of like rubs you the wrong way or off. And in our current culture, it's almost like if somebody does something that you would deem or that I would deem as wrong, it kind of eliminates all the good that that person has done. And I actually think that the Bible, it creates gray characters. Often, it's not just David. It's gonna create characters that are not just all good or all bad, but characters who are like, you know, it's funny 'cause my son right now is four years old. Every show that he watches, whether it's the little Spider-Man cartoon or Blaze and the Monster Machines or anything, right? There's good guys and there's bad guys. And he's four years old and that's everything. It's either good guys or bad guys.

Dada, we gotta get the bad guys, all right? And there's none of these shows that are, you know, designed for toddlers have complex characters. Characters who are good and bad. And the reality is that sometimes we bring a toddler level maturity into life. And so people are either all good or all bad. And then the Bible presents us with David and goes, what do you do with David? Because there's a lot of bad, there's a lot of good. And I actually really enjoy digging into the Psalms 'cause the Psalms really highlight this man who loves God with his words and with his praise and with his song. And so these words right here are gonna set the tone for all three Psalms. Who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? I would say that the story of the Exodus is about God deciding to dwell with humans. But David is like, that's not even enough. I wanna dwell with you, okay? So God's design in the book of Exodus is everybody is an attempt and God now is gonna have his tent in the middle of everybody's tent. So God has decided to dwell with his people. And David is saying, but how do we abide in your tent? How do we dwell on your holy hill? Say, it's not enough for you just to dwell with us. We wanna dwell with you.

There's this sense of, I wanna be near the Lord. I wanna be close to the Lord. And this is gonna get highlighted, okay? What's the answer? Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right. Essentially Leviticus would say those who are holy, be holy for God is holy. Okay, not perfect, but holy. Holy means to be set apart. And speak the truth from their heart who don't slander with their tongue, who do no evil to their friends, take up reproach against their neighbor and whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord, who stand by their oath even to their hurt. So people who will stand by their oath even when it personally doesn't benefit them, who do not lend money at interest and who do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved. Okay, so this is about who can abide in God's sanctuary? Next Psalm, Psalm 16. Protect me, O God, this is the secret prayer. Okay, this is the mictan. Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. So not only is God my dwelling place, not only is he the tent that I dwell in, he's my refuge, he's my safety, he's my shelter. Okay, and you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you. Oh my God, this is, it's moving. Like it's a mostly moving. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's essentially what David is saying. As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble in whom all is my delight. So people who are righteous, oh man, they're the people I delight in as a leader. I delight, my happiness, my joy is when people are following after you Lord. Not how rich we are, not how many horses and not how great the military is, but my delight is in the holy people that follow after you. And think this is a king who's saying this. Those who choose another God multiply their sorrows. So you can see David's hatred towards idolatry. Those who follow idols, they multiply their sorrows. Their drink offerings of blood, I will not pour out. So I won't partake and take their names upon my lips. I'll never speak the name of a foreign God. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. And so David is saying because I'm loyal to Yahweh, I've been blessed. I've been exceedingly blessed. So much of the Torah is actually about the curses

that will happen if you choose idolatry. This Psalm is a breath of fresh air because it's actually saying I've resisted idolatry and God has blessed me. It's the flip side of that same coin. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. I have a godly heritage. I blessed the Lord who gives me counsel. But God provides me with wisdom. Think about how intimate of a relationship we have to have in order for God to give me counsel. And the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices. My body also rests secure. For you do not give me up to shield or let your faithful one see the pit. Right here, this verse, verse 10 of Psalm 16 is gonna get quoted in Acts 13 verse 35. By Paul, why? Because David is actually prophesying about Jesus in Psalm 16. So let's think about it. Does David actually escape Shio? No, he does not. Shio is the place of the dead and David died, okay? Or let your faithful one see the pit. Did David see the pit?

Yes, he did. David saw the grave. David went to Shio, but who is the son of David? Who is the fulfillment of King David? Who is the ultimate anointed one Messiah who will be resurrected from the dead? who will preach to those in Shioh, that's Jesus. And Paul is gonna see this as clear as day in Acts 13, 35, and he's going to preach that exact point. David did die. His soul went to Shioh. He slept with his ancestors. His body was corrupted and rotted away, yet for the Son of God, okay? The great, great, great, great, great, you know, descendant of David, Jesus. Jesus died, yet his soul did not stay in Shioh. He did not sleep with his ancestors in Shioh, like David, but was raised up by God. And so his body did not see any corruption. Jesus was the true son of David, who David had prophesied about centuries before in this silent prayer for preservation and refuge for salvation of Yahweh. Yahweh saves or to put into a name Yeshua, Joshua, Jesus, Yahweh saves, okay? David's descendant ultimately answered his silent prayer for salvation. Ain't that cool? Okay, let's keep going.

Last verse of the Psalm. You show me the path of life. In your presence, there's fullness of joy. Man, you know, this is a verse that gets quoted a lot in church. In your presence, there's fullness of joy. In your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Someone who has walked with God wrote that. Someone who has known the joy of God's presence and the pleasure of God's right hand has written this. And you get to see, like these Psalms just highlight the deep personal relationship that David has with Yahweh. 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 in 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 gonna be a New York Times bestseller. I really do.

I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. Last one, Psalm 17. This is a public prayer, okay? Here, a just cause, oh Lord, attend to my cry. Give ear to my prayer from lips free, from lips free from deceit. Then I don't have deceit for lips. From you, let my vindication come. Let your eyes see the right. If you treat, if you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, My mouth does not transgress. There's this theme of my mouth, okay? Like my lips are free from deceit. We see this in all of these Psalms. James is actually gonna pick this up in the New Testament. He's gonna say, if somebody is free from sin in what they say, then they're free from sin in what they do, 'cause your tongue is the hardest thing that to tame or to control, okay? My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God, and climb your ear to hear my words, wondrously show me your steadfast love. Oh, Savior, of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand, guard me as the apple of the eye.

This is love language, man. This is romantic language. Like this is heartfelt language. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. Do that same idea of who can dwell in your tent, okay? Hide me in the shadow of your wings. I wanna be close. I wanna abide with you. I wanna dwell with you. You're my refuge. He's using multiple different metaphors to say the same thing in all three Psalms. From the wicked who destroy me, my deadly enemies who surround me, they close their hearts to pity. With their mouths they speak arrogantly. They track me down. Now they surround me. They set their eyes to cast me to the ground. They are like a lion eager to tear, like a young lion lurking in ambush. Rise up, Lord, comfort and overthrow. And then at the very, very, very end of Psalms 17, may their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them. May their children have more than enough. May they leave something over to their little ones. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. So David is saying, for everybody else, man, though when they would leave an inheritance

to their children and their children's children, let their children have enough. Let their little ones that they would receive an inheritance. But for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. That's the win. That everybody can win on another scoreboard if they want. But God, I wanna behold your face. I wanna see the face of God. When I awake, I shall be satisfied beholding your likeness. This is a man whose heart is captivated by God. This is a man whose heart and whose affections have been won over by the Lord. This is a man who, in my mind, I can understand, after reading these three Psalms, why God, in response to David killing Uriah and impregnating, impregnating Bathsheba, would say, "He's a man after my own heart." Again, for my son, there's just good guys and bad guys. But I think as you begin to mature as a human, the Bible begins to invite you in to the grave, to the complexity of life doesn't just have good guys and bad guys. Life has complicated people who could write stuff like this that as for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. And when I awake, I shall be satisfied beholding your likeness. But this same guy could kill a man because he found that guy's wife to be beautiful. Like that's the complexity of the human experience.

And the Bible doesn't shy away from it. The Bible's not like trying to lie, to act like, you know, the Bible's just full of people that have just followed God perfectly. And that's hard, I'm still processing that. That's difficult. I don't know what conclusions to draw, but what I do know is that the Bible is okay with showing you every angle of a person 'cause the Bible has nothing to hide. And our timeless truth today is twofold. Maybe you're someone who liked the Bible's hard to trust. Well, I would actually argue that the Bible's showing you the negative or the negative side or the failings or the flaws of its real human characters, actually reveals that the Bible has nothing to hide, which means that the Bible can be trusted. I would actually be leery if the Bible only had good guys and bad guys. But because there's complicated people in the Bible, it actually makes me believe, oh, this is actually a record of reality that God's not trying to fabricate something, to impress me. He's actually allowing the record of human history to reflect what actually took place and that God's not scared to deal with complicated people like David, which means that he's not scared to deal with a complicated person like me

and a complicated person like you. The last timeless truth I'll leave you with, I kinda got a double timeless truth today. but here it is, no longer private. And I think that the hardest thing for me to embrace as a leader is that my life with God, like my relationship with the Lord is personal, but it's never private. Like it's deeply personal. Like I have a personal relationship with the Lord, but it's just not private. And I think that's one of the things that you give up when you become a leader. Like this podcast is actually the fruit of my personal relationship with the Bible, but that's not private. God wants me to share out of the fruit of how I've studied the word or read the Bible. And I think that can be hard. I think as church leaders, we need to help younger leaders realize, "Hey, the moment you cross over in a leadership, "your personal life with God will no longer be "your private life with God." That your personal prayers could end up in a psalm that people are gonna read hundreds of years from now. And man, that ministry is this overflow of our personal relationships with the Lord. But those personal relationships with the Lord do overflow, which means they're no longer private,

but they become, there's this corporate, there's this corporate benefit that we get as a church when our personal relationships with God are rich and are meaningful and are intimate. And we get to enjoy the benefit of David's personal relationship with the Lord as we memorize and study the psalms. And I don't think that's just true for David. I also think that's true for you and for I. And for anyone who would lead God's people, I think that God wants us to have deep personal relationships with him so that out of the overflow of that depth, we could add a benefit and a blessing to the people that we lead. So that's my time of truth for the day. Tomorrow is day 258. We're already at Psalm 18. So tomorrow we'll be studying Psalm 18, 19, and 20. If you're on a streak, I'm insanely proud of you. If you're not on a streak, I guess I'm still proud of you. I just want you to be on a streak. Come on, let's stack up the winds. I love you guys so much. Thanks for spending time with me today and going through the psalms together. I'll see you tomorrow for day 258 right here. Same time, same place. Peace, love you. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. If this episode was helpful, how about you leave a comment?

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