Day 261: Psalms 27–29 | 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 thebaldapartment.com to download a reading plan and join the journey. (upbeat music) Family, welcome to day 261. We got three Psalms that we get the pleasure of diving into today, Psalm 27, Psalm 28, and Psalm 29. Like always, I'm gonna give you context clues. I'm going to give you a couple of nerdy nuggets. We're gonna end the episode with a timeless truth because we are not here studying history. We are here trying to learn how to follow God better, how to follow God more closely, how to be better disciples of Jesus. So we're gonna leave with a timeless truth that you can apply to your life today. So Psalm 27 and 28, as I told you yesterday, are connected to Psalm 26. So Psalm 26, 27 and 28 form a trio, okay? A bundle of three Psalms. And so we already started to look at Psalm 26 yesterday, but for those of you who may not be on a daily journey with us, let me just pick up with Psalm 26, okay? Psalm 26 is all about the petitioner, the person who's following after God, who ascends, enters, and then approaches the throne of God. Psalm 24 is all about Yahweh, the Ark of the Covenant ascending the hills, leading up to Jerusalem,

entering into the gates of Jerusalem, and then being enthroned in the center of the people of Israel, okay? So that's what Psalm 24 is all about. That's then mirrored in the worshipper, okay? The petitioner takes that same path. And so Psalm 27 tells us that the person who's seeking after God now comes into the house of the Lord, this is a really, really dope part. I mean, the context here is there's a trio of Psalms, and this is the thing that's just super, super captivating, okay, Psalm 27, let's just start reading in verse one, says this, "The Lord is my light in my salvation. "Whom shall I fear? "The Lord is the stronghold of my life, "of whom shall I be afraid." Okay, so the petitioner is in the presence of God, and instead of making a petition, the petitioner begins to praise, begins to exalt and extol the name of the Lord. "When evil doers assail me to devour my flesh, "my adversaries and foes, they shall stumble and fall." Why? 'Cause go back up to verse one, "Because the Lord is the stronghold of my life, "that the Lord, the person of Yahweh, "is a safe place, is a refuge. "Though an army in camp against me, "my heart shall not fear, "the war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. "Now the petitioner has their chance

"to make a petition of Yahweh." And here we get verse four, one thing I ask of the Lord, that will I seek after, okay? To make this petition is the whole point. This is what started in Psalm 26. So now here we are in Psalm 27, the petitioner is before the Lord, and what are they gonna ask? To live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. So the thing that the petitioner is petitioning is to be able to petition God, that's the petition. One thing I seek, one thing that I'm looking for, to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. And you don't have to really wonder why David's a man after God's own heart, after reading Psalms like this. The petitioner is there to ask their request of God. And the request is that they just get to continue to be in God's presence. That's the request, okay? Which sets up this, I don't know, a formula, if you ask me, that the presence of God is more important than the petition I have for God. The presence of God, that for those of us who really love the Lord, he is the gift. Not only is he the giver of gifts, but he's the gift.

And so the petitioner continues for he will hide me in his shelter, in the day of trouble. He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will set me high on a rock. I will sing and make melody to the Lord. Okay. I'm gonna sing. I'm gonna make melody to the Lord Okay, now we get to Psalm 28 to you old Lord. I call The petitioner has not even made a petition yet. He kind of was like ah Just being in your presence is enough. So behold your beauty is enough So we're still kind of waiting waiting with baited breath. Like so what's what's gonna be the thing that he asked God for though Because he still hasn't really made his petition or his request known to you old Lord I call my rock do not refuse to hear me for if you are silent to me I show be like one who goes down to the pit So he's like Lord don't don't refuse to hear me. Please listen to me Okay, hear the voice of my supplication. Well, he hasn't made the supplication yet as I cry to you for help as I lift up My hands towards your most holy sanctuary. Okay. I want to key on an that word cry as I cry To you for help okay? Remember Psalm 23 you kind of said the only thing the sheep has is the shepherd. That's the only thing the sheep It's got going for it is the shepherd Well, I kind of misspoke there if you ask a question well, what natural defenses does a sheep have? Well, it doesn't have claws doesn't have teeth can't bite you can't kick you can't claw at your can't Can't you can't do anything? What's the one natural defense that it has? Well, you may want to jump to the conclusion and say the shepherd well kind of sort of but no not really the one natural defense that a sheep has is It's cry for hell. That's right. The only thing a sheep really knows how to do is Cry out and when the sheep cries out that is what triggers the shepherd man You know what David has kind of said a precedent a precedent for us We as sheep of Yahweh have one natural defense. What is it to cry out to Yahweh? That's right worship and praise the voice of the sheep is the one thing That props the shepherd to defend protect act and to Attack the enemies and so the one thing that we have you could use that as you exhort this next week

If you have stage responsibilities, you could use that as you exhort in Exhort people to worship because the number one natural defense that we as sheep have Against the enemy is our ability to cry out to the God who loves us? Who's the shepherd of our souls? Okay as I cry out to you for help lift up my hands towards your most holy sanctuary Let me give you another just sidebar all this language of House like house of the Lord house of Yahweh It causes a lot of people to think that Psalm 26 27 28 aren't written by David because these terms Like house would make it seem like the writer is talking about a fixed Temple not a moving tabernacle. Okay, so these seem to be written after David's lifetime But in the same style that David would have written Psalms. That's possible that David could have written these Maybe he didn't the jury's out. We honestly don't know I just like lay that before you as just a nerdy nugget. All right, so that the petitioner is still Talking in verse three of chapter 28. Do not drag me away with the wicked with those who are Workers of evil who speak peace with their neighbors while mischief is in their hearts. Here's the request now We finally get the petition repay them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds We don't know who these evil people are We don't know who's been plotting against the king or against the Messiah but the petition tell y'all way is this repay them according to their evil because they do not regard the works of the Lord or The work of the Lord's hands the Lord will break them down and build them up no more Blessed be the Lord for he has heard the sound of my pleading I love this because Psalm 28 doesn't end by saying the Lord is granted my request or the Lord has Approved my petition. No, it's this the Lord has heard the sound of my pleading You want to know what the end of the prayer is or the confidence that we have as believers? It's not that God says yes to everything that we ask. It's that God hears everything that we ask and So there's two things that I want to say. We kind of, I gave you half of this formula a couple of minutes ago. It's the first part of the formula is this.

His presence is more important than the petition. But then, here's the next part. The humility to even ask God anything is more important than his answer is the fact that I put myself in a vulnerable place to ask it. Asking anyone for anything is just a vulnerable place. It's saying, there's something I need. There's something I'd like. Could you please do this for me? A lot of people, their failure when it comes to prayer is not that they didn't get the answer that they wanted, is that they never even asked for what they needed. And so David sets us up. The win here is that the Lord heard me, not that he did what I wanted him to do. Because prayer is not a way to control God. Prayer is not a form of spiritual manipulation. Prayer is a way to connect with God. And ultimately, the real gift is his presence. And the real confirmation is that he heard you, not that he decided to do what you asked him to do. 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 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. Okay, next, the Lord is my strength and my shield. In him, my heart trusts. Not in the blessing that he bestows, but in him, in him, my heart trusts. So I'm held in my heart exalts. And with my song, I give thanks to him. The Lord is the strength of his people. He is the saving refuge of his anointed. Back to that idea of refuge, okay? Verse eight says this in Psalm 28. The Lord is the strength of his people. This is how the Psalm is gonna end. The Lord is the strength of his people. He is the saving refuge of his anointed. Remember that anointed is Messiah, of his Messiah. So ultimately we can apply this to the person of Jesus. But David is his anointed in this context or whoever the king of Israel is, if this is written after the lifetime of David.

Oh, save your people. Now, save doesn't mean save from hell. Save means save from their enemies, okay? Bring salvation, this is military salvation, physical protection. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage. Be their shepherd and carry them forever. So we get this full circle moment where Psalm 23 starts with this idea that Yahweh is the great shepherd. And now we end with Psalm 28 with this coming back again. Be their shepherd and carry them, carry your people forever. And with that, we get right into Psalm 29, okay? So Psalm 29, now this is 100% a Psalm of David, okay? So Psalm 26, 27 and 28, maybe Psalms of David or they may just be written in the style of David. And if you haven't been rocking with us for a long time, we know that based on the little heading, okay? When a Psalm is 100% written by David, you can see in the title of Psalm 29, it says a Psalm of David. But when a Psalm is typically written in the style of David, but not necessarily written by David, it's just says of David as opposed to a Psalm of David. And you can compare the titles in Psalm 28 versus Psalm 29 to see what I'm talking about, okay? Psalm 29, bonafide Psalm of David, okay? Written by David. And this is a good classic Psalm of praise, okay?

A scribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, a scribe to the Lord, glory and strength. The scribes to the Lord, the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in holy splendor. This is the Psalm of praise. The voice of the Lord is over the waters. What do the waters mean? Chaos, okay? So the voice of the Lord is above the waters. and giving poetic expression, filling in the gaps, okay? The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The glory of God thunders. The Lord over mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. The voice breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf in Syrian, like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. So now we've gone from chaos that God is stronger than chaos to now, God is stronger than nature, okay? So now we're gonna get all these nature images. In other pagan cultures, okay? The gods get their power from the nature, okay? So Baal gets his power from the thunder, from the lightning, but Yahweh is more powerful than the thunder. He's more powerful than the lightning. This is a deeply, deeply, deeply monotheistic

and monolatrous worldview. The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord causes the oats to whirl and strips the forest bear. And in his temple, all say glory. The Lord sits enthroned over the flood, AKA sits enthroned over the chaos. The Lord sits enthroned as king forever. So the last song we got, the Lord as shepherd. And now we get him as king because these images are mirrors of each other. He's shepherd, he's king. He's shepherd, he's king. May the Lord give strength to his people. May the Lord bless his people with peace. And that is Psalm 27, 28 and 29. Let's dive into one last dirty nugget and then a Thomas truth. The word sanctuary is gonna get used a lot today. In Psalm 27, 29, we get this word repeated a lot. Sanctuary, sanctuary, sanctuary. Sanctuary has a two-fold meaning and I wanna highlight both of them. The first is safety or refuge. When I think of a sanctuary, I think of two modern case uses for sanctuary. Number one, certain cities are sanctuary cities for immigrants, okay?

So these are cities where the federal government doesn't really go after immigrants because they're sanctuary cities. These are places where immigrants can seek asylum, okay? So a sanctuary is a refuge. It's a safe place. So if somebody is trying to arrest someone, they can't because that's a sanctuary city, okay? So the next idea for sanctuary, I want you to think a plate. So when we think about immigration, the next is in Texas, I live in Texas. Texas is a pretty red state. So surgeries for transgenderism for people who are underage are not really allowed here, except for Austin. Austin is a sanctuary city for trans teenagers, okay? So any kind of surgical procedures to assist young people who wanna transition medically, that can happen in Austin because it's a sanctuary city. So I want you to think sanctuary. It's someone is pursuing, but the city is a sanctuary. The same is true with the cities of refuge that the Levites have set up all over Israel. Let's say you killed someone and that the relative of the person you killed wants to avenge that person's death. If you flee to a city of refuge, they can't kill you, okay? So it's a place of safety.

If you're in danger, you could throw yourself on the mercy of Yahweh in his power and it meant that you were safe from harm. We see this in first Kings chapter one, verse 50. When Solomon's brother, Adonai, just fearing for his life, fled to the tabernacle and clung to the horns of the altar, he was granted sanctuary and Solomon spared his life, but only four times, okay? So sanctuary, refuge, safety, okay? Protection. The other way that the Bible talks about sanctuary is that a sanctuary is a place where God and humanity meet and are in relationship. Eden is the first sanctuary in scripture, where God and humans dwell together in relationship, in an intimate relationship. The tabernacle and then later the temple being another, which is why there's so much garden, To be in the sanctuary means that you are in covenant with Yahweh and this is seen clearly in this psalm of sanctuary. Psalm 27 is a psalm of sanctuary. One thing I've asked of Yahweh and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house, dwell in the sanctuary, dwell in the tabernacle, dwell in the temple of Yahweh all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of Yahweh and to inquire in his temple. So I wanted to just give a full breadth of what the word sanctuary means biblically. I want to leave you with our timeless truth of the day and it's actually a formula that I've already given you through the episode and it's this. It goes right back to these words in Psalm 27 verse 4 that the presence of God has to be more important than whatever our petition of the Lord is. Like we have to be the kind of people who are so infatuated, so in love with the presence of God that it's almost like when we get in his presence we forget what we were going to ask him. Like the petitioner in Psalm 26, 7, and 8 has a petition, has a request,

but then when they get around asking it all they can say is I just want to dwell in your house forever. I just want to dwell here all the days of my life. I just want to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. I just want to inquire and it's like okay then inquire. Nah I just want to inquire. What's your inquiry that I just get to inquire? It's like the goal of spiritual maturity is that you get to the point where man God becomes so more than enough for you that it's like I could ask you for a bunch of stuff or I could just enjoy your presence. The second half of the formula, which is timelessly true, is that the act of asking is actually more important than whatever answer Yahweh gives. The confirmation of prayer is not that he answered but that he heard and you can rest assured that every time you ask the Lord something he hears. Does he always grant our request? No, but he hears every request and I can take refuge in that and if I need him to give me a yes then actually I'm not as spiritually mature as I would hope I am that what becomes more than enough is that he hears and just because he hears I actually know I'm loved, I'm cared for, I'm his child and he's my shepherd, he's my king and I'm glad that he just heard my request. But the second half of the formula doesn't work if the first half of the formula isn't in place. If his presence is not more important than whatever I have to petition him for, then the act of me asking is never going to be more important than whatever his answer is. So these two pieces of the formula work together and they're both counterintuitive and they're not just important for David or for the generation after David, they are imminently important for you and for us because without this formula we actually just become spiritual gold diggers and we'll use prayer as a way to try to get God to do a bunch of stuff instead of using prayer as a chance to get to abide with the Almighty God and that that's timelessly true forever. All right, tomorrow we've got day 262 we are going to be studying Psalm 30 31 and 32. I'll be right here same place same time. If you're on a streak, I'm so proud of you. That matter if you're on a streak for 262 days or a streak for two days, I'm proud of you. I hope that you're not just engaging with a book, but you're engaging with the author of that book. I love you so much. I'll 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. [BLANK_AUDIO]