Day 284: Psalms 96-98 | 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 284. Today, we are looking at Psalms 96 through 98. And remember, if you were here yesterday, you probably remember that Psalms 93 to Psalms 100 are all a part of a block or a collection of Psalms. And so today, we are going to continue to look at three of the Psalms that are in that wider collection from Psalm 93 to Psalm 100. We are in book four of the Psalms. If you haven't done the reading today, this is a good time to stop the video, pause the audio, go get the reading done. Read Psalm 96, 97 and 98. Three short and simple Psalms. They're short and sweet. And my job is to help you to understand what you've already read. I know there's a lot of people who sometimes they reach out. They say, well, we list an episode first, then we read. I'm like, okay, I mean, I hear you, but I want you to read it on your own first. Like, at least try to understand it. And then once you listen to the episode, you can grade yourself on like how close did I get?

So I'm comprehending that or to understand that. All right. So I told you yesterday that this entire block of Psalms, okay, from 93 to 100, they don't have a context. Now, they don't have a definitive context. However, no pun intended, there is a context clue. Okay, there's a clue as to the context. And I can actually Psalm 96 is where we begin to discover the context. Now, once you start to read Psalm 96, you can go to first chronicle 16, okay, first chronicle 16. And what you're gonna realize is that first chronicles 16 starting essentially in verse 23, okay. First chronicles chapter 16 verse 23, mirrors Psalm 96. I mean, word for word, okay. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord a new Psalm, okay, pretty close. Then proclaim his salvation day after day. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord praise his name. Proclaim his salvation day after day, okay. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all people. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deed among the people. I'm just reading, you know, I'm reading first chronicles chapter 16. Starting in verse 23, I'm just reading it line by line and then just reading Psalm 96, line by line.

You can do that on your own. And what you will begin to realize is that all the way down to first chronicle 16, verse 34, okay. So from 23, from first chronicle 16, verse 23, all the way down to verse 34. Well, let's actually just back up to verse 33. Let the trees of the four sing. Let them sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth, okay. That's verse 33 of first chronicle 16. Now let's go over to Psalm 96. And it says, let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world and righteous this and all the peoples in his faithfulness, okay. Pretty dang close, okay. And then verse 34 ends, gift thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever. All right, so Psalm 96 in first chronicles, chapter 16, verses 23 to 34 are dang near identical. I mean, pretty close, which gives us a clue that Psalm 96 probably comes from first chronicles, chapter 16. So then the question is, what's happening in first chronicles, chapter 16? And I'll tell you exactly what's happening. David is taking the Ark of the Covenant from Obed Edom's house and actually bringing it back to Jerusalem to a restored rebuilt tabernacle. Now, why is this so significant?

Well, it's so significant because the Ark of the Covenant is known as the throne of Yahweh, okay. It's the throne of Yahweh. So imagine, you know, God's throne has been chilling at a dude's house and why is it at that dude's house? Is that that dude's house? 'Cause the Philistines had captured it, which means the enemy had captured the Ark. And now it's just at some Jewish dude's house named Obed Edom and David cares so much about God. He cares about God's kingship because he cares about God's presence. He cares about God's glory. And David goes through the painstaking process of returning the throne of God, the presence of God, the glory of God, back to where God needs to reign, which is the center of the nation, which is Jerusalem, A.K.A. Zion, okay? So this psalm is being sang by the Levitical choirs as the throne of God comes back into the city of God, okay? Now that is huge because this is literally like what David's known for. David restores a focus on the kingship of Yahweh. So if that's the context for this psalm, because all of these psalms are connected from Psalm 93 to Psalm 100, that is actually the context for this entire block of psalms. So now that we've got context out of the way and you can go back to 1 Chronicles 16,

you can read the whole story if you'd like, okay? Now that we've know that context, let's dive into some nerdy nuggets. I mapped out a timeline here in my trusty dusty notebook, okay? Mapped out, anytime I say context clues, I think blues clues. And then you know, the Steve on blues clues had a trusty dusty notebook. And so I call this my trusty dusty notebook. And anyway, you don't need to know all that, but I said it anyway. So ADHD for the win. All right, let's go. This leads me to our nerdy nuggets, okay? So I kind of wanted to give you a history of Yahweh as king because if we don't know how Yahweh has been treated as king, then it's hard to really appreciate how David is treating Yahweh, okay? So this history starts out number one, in Deuteronomy, Yahweh's suzerainty. So remember, if you've been on this journey with us for a long time, Deuteronomy is set up in the template of a suzerain vassal treaty. Suzerain just means king. Vassal means, you know, subject, ruler subject, or big king, little king. Yahweh is established as the suzerain or the king legally, like via a treaty with Israel that was signed back in Deuteronomy, okay?

So contractually, covenantally, okay? Yahweh is king established in Deuteronomy. Now, obviously the people ratify that covenant in the wilderness, they fail to take the land under Moses, they do it under Joshua, they go into the land. So, you know, he's king, okay? For the book of Joshua, and then by the time they get to Judges, the resounding theme of the book of Judges is this verse. There was no king in Israel, everybody did what was right in their own eyes. That's Judges chapter 17 verse six, Judges chapter 18 verse one, Judges 19 verse one, Judges 21 verse 25, I mean over and over and over and over again. The theme of the book of Judges is, there's no king in Israel, everyone does what is right in their own eyes, okay? So Samuel is a transitionary character, he's the last judge and he anoints the first king, okay? So we get out of Judges and you get Samuel. By the time you get to Samuel, Samuel is grieved and Yahweh is like, hey dude, they haven't rejected you, they've rejected me as their king and the people keep begging for a king. Give us a king, give us a king, give us a king, give us a king. And God is just like the people have rejected me as king. And so Samuel has to anoint Saul

and Saul is an evil king, okay, terrible king. Now, there's a couple things that are gonna happen. It's his first Samuel chapter four, the tabernacle at Shiloh gets destroyed and the Philistine steal God's throne, the Ark of the Covenant. And nobody seems to care. Psalm 78 verse 60, he abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, okay? So Shiloh is where the tabernacle was established. He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans, okay? He set the Ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy, okay? So the Psalm 78 is giving poetic words, imagery to the historical events that happened in first and into chapter four. Jeremiah seven verse 12, okay? Jeremiah seven starting in verse 12 says this, Jeremiah is warning people. Like dude, God's got to judge Jerusalem. So what does he say? "Go now by my place that was in Shiloh." So this is a warning. Don't think that just because you have my prayer. and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. So, God is saying through Jeremiah, I destroyed Shiloh, I judged it because my people were wicked. Okay? So, here we go.

Under Samuel's leadership, the tabernacle at Shiloh gets destroyed, the ark of the covenant goes into captivity, A, amongst the Philistines. The people have rejected Yahweh as king, they want Saul. So God gives them what they want. Under Saul's leadership, he never goes to restore Shiloh, nor does he rebuild the tabernacle in Jerusalem because Saul saw himself as king. Why do I need a throne for Yahweh when I'm king and I have a throne for myself? Saul sees himself as king. He does not see himself as serving the real king, which is Yahweh, then comes David. Okay? So, judges, everyone does what is right in their own eyes because Israel has no king. Samuel, the very last judge, Yahweh says, don't worry, Samuel, they haven't rejected you, they've rejected me as king. Samuel, anoint Saul, okay? The ark of the covenant is off in enemy territory, the tabernacle has been destroyed, sawed on care, sawed on care about God being king. He doesn't care about God's glory, God's presence, he doesn't care about God's rule or God's reign. He's arrogant, he's insecure, he cares about his own reign. Finally, a shepherd boy named David gets exalted to be king and David's heart posture is, I'm not king, God's king, let's go get the ark. We got to go get the ark, we got to make sure that there's a tabernacle for Yahweh in Jerusalem. So the reason that David is such a hero is because for centuries, not a judge, not a ruler, not a leader, all throughout judges, all throughout Samuel, all throughout kings, saws, kingship, nobody regards Yahweh as king, which is why they don't care about his throne until David. David acknowledges, I am not really king, Yahweh is king, David is different, David knew his role, David knew Yahweh was the true king and so when he had control over all Israel and had chosen a place to be the capital, he then gave that authority back to Yahweh. David brought the throne, the ark, to the capital, he restored the tabernacle and declared to the people of Israel, Yahweh reigns.

That's why the theme of all these Psalms from Psalm 93 to Psalm 100 is Yahweh reigns. It is the legacy of David, David is essentially saying by Yahweh reigns you think I don't reign, I'm not in control, I'm not the one in power, I only have power because Yahweh has given me power. So why would I not give that authority back to the one who's given me authority? This is the counter, this is going to be my timeless truth obviously. He gave that authority back to Yahweh, he brought the throne, the ark to the capital, he restored the tabernacle and declared to the people of Israel Yahweh reigns. These Psalms tell the real reason why David was the ultimate king, a man after God's own heart because David gave Yahweh's authority back to Yahweh and led the people in true worship and acknowledgement of their king and savior, Yahweh, Yahweh reigns. David never made it about himself, ever. He makes it about Yahweh and this is why Yahweh makes it about David, Yahweh celebrates David because David celebrates Yahweh and this is the counter-intuitive nature of leadership. If I make my church the garden about me, then God will be like, all right, you're busy promoting yourself, so I'll let you promote yourself. But the moment I make it about him, God will reward me and make it about me. This is God. Remember the tower of Babel and the call of Abraham happened side by side. What do the tower builders say? Let's make a name for ourselves, let's build this tower. And God's like, yeah, right, I'm a confused your language is you'll never make a name for yourself. And then God choose a man by the name of Abraham who doesn't care about making a name for himself and what promises God give Abraham. I'll make your name great. I'll make your name great, Abe. I will make sure that your name is great. So God is not anti making people's names great. God's not anti-fame, he's not anti-popularity.

He's anti-iodality. He's anti self worship. He's anti self promotion. God's all about God promotion. God promotes people. God expands the influence of people. God does that really well. He does it better than social media can do it. He does it better than Hollywood can ever do it. God knows how to promote people. The testimony of my ministry career, my ministry life has been, as long as I make a big deal about God, God, I make a big deal about me. I really don't have to make a big deal about me. Don't really have to talk about myself that much. I'm just going to talk about God. He's going to make God famous. And guess what? The more I've made God famous, God has set book deals into my life. He has set speaking engagements into my life. I've stood on bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger stages. I've gained influence, preaching clips, go viral. I just make a big deal about God. And God in turns makes a big deal about me. David is arguably one of the most important characters in the entire Bible. And that is because God just goes, anyone who makes a big deal about me

from a pure place with no agenda. God says, ah, it's easier me to make a big deal about you. You make a big deal about me. You know, somebody asked me recently, it seems like you promote yourself a lot. I was like, yeah, right. I was like, I promote a message and that message is the gospel. And because I'm promoting the gospel, God will always promote me because the message I'm preaching is the gospel. And God wants to get his message of hope and life and lordship out to the world. So as long as I make a big deal about God, God will always make a big deal about me. And that's honestly, that's the timeless truth. But before we get to that timeless truth, which I've already stolen my thunder on the timeless truth, let's get to Psalm 96 and 97, okay. Sambley, 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. Or sorry, Psalm 97, 98. Since Yahweh reigns, since he's king and since his throne is being brought to the capital, to Jerusalem, and these Psalms are all really about celebrating that. Psalm 97 begins with the words Yahweh reigns. And if he reigns, and that means the establishment of his throne is, it says it in verse two. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Righteousness and justice. Now these two words go together. And I wish to God, we just, if we could preach this all year, righteousness and justice, especially as we live in a nation where, for whatever reason, politics has become something that has divided righteousness and justice. And so if you talk to anyone who identifies as more progressive or identifies as being

on the left side of the political spectrum, big on justice. And that's awesome, that's great. And people on the right side of the political spectrum really will preach righteousness. And I just go these political categories that we've made just, just baffle me. And I just always go, hey, hey, hey, can we just, can we just teach this? Can we just teach this? Can we take our hope and our faith out of these parties and just, hey, the Bible talks about righteousness and justice. The Bible says that God's throne, the foundation of his throne, aka the politics of his kingdom, are both righteousness and justice. Tim Keller said this, and I think it's brilliant. He's like, my job is to be so conservative, I make liberal people uncomfortable, and to be so liberal, I make conservative people uncomfortable. And amen Tim Keller, because the reality is that, the unfortunate reality in our country, is if you say something that's biblical, like, hey man, we're called by God to dismantle systems of oppression. People will be like, ah, systems of oppression, that's a liberal word. That's not a liberal word, it's a Bible word.

These are Bible words. And then if you say, hey man, God's all about the nuclear family. People are like, those are conservative words. Those are Bible words. These are Bible words. My frustration is that you could just be teaching the Bible and people are hearing you teach the Bible and wanna put you into a conservative or liberal category. And the reality is that I can't speak for everybody who's teaching the Bible. I can speak for me if gonna be impossible for somebody who's really teaching the Bible to get put into any of these categories. These are man-made categories. And I wanna challenge you, if you are constantly trying to fit people into conservative or liberal categories so that you can feel comfortable with them, then that's a problem. The only category I'm trying to figure out when I hear someone, I'm not listening out for, are they concerned or are they liberal? I'm listening for, was that Bible? Was that Bible? Was that kingdom? Was that the gospel? Does that sound like Jesus? And that's it. If it's Bible, I agree with it.

If it's kingdom, I'm all in. And righteousness and justice are the foundations of its throne. So Christians should be all about righteousness and all about justice. Man, and that leaves me kind of a little bit homeless because you just live in a world that is just obsessed. I mean, infatuated with these political categories. And at the end of the day, I'm gonna preach righteousness. I'm gonna preach justice 'cause these are Bible words. These are Bible words. And I just think we gotta get back to the place where the number one way that Christians identify themselves are as Bible-believing, blood-washed, kingdom citizens. Bible-believing, blood-washed, kingdom citizens. We're Bible people, we're Jesus people. We're blood of the land people. We're gospel people. We're kingdom people. Period. There's no other thing that needs to be an identity marker for us in terms of ideology or worldview. Nah, man, I'm Bible. I'm Bible, I'm kingdom, I'm gospel. I'm Jesus, man. If it's Jesus, I'm with it. All right, you get the point. All right, one little nugget from Psalm 97 is we're gonna, in verse seven,

we're gonna get the word images. All who worship images are put to shame. Now, you're gonna need a little bit of worldview for this because in the ancient worldview, images and idols are the same, okay? So the reason that God says don't make any idol, okay? Any graven images in those words are gonna get used interchangeably is because for Yahweh, he made us in his image so that we do the job that pagan idols do for their gods, okay? An idol of Baal made in Baal's image is not Baal. It's an image, it's an idol. Baal actually exists as a spiritual being and the people who worship Baal make Baal's images, idols. And God says, don't do that because I've already done that. I made you in my image, you are images of me. So actually, when we carve out physical idols and worship them, you are actually trying to get a idol made of wood or stone or a statue to do your job for you. And that's just lazy. Your job is to reflect my image, okay? So I wanted to just point out all who worship images are put to shame. So why does it say images instead of idols? Well, it's because in the ancient world, idols and images are flip side of the same coin. Idols are made in the images of the gods that they represent. So images, idols, images, idols. When you see the word image, you should think idol,

these words are interconnected. All right, last nugget, okay? And again, if Yahweh reigns, then these things are true, all right? And that lasts Psalm 98. If Yahweh reigns, he brings salvation, okay? If Yahweh reigns, he brings salvation. And so Psalm 98 is all about the salvation of Yahweh. He brings salvation as an outpouring of his love, his faithfulness and his righteousness, okay? We don't really have time to dive into all that. But I want you to see all of these Psalms through the lens of if Yahweh reigns, what's true? And these Psalms are answering the question that if Yahweh reigns, these other things must be true. All right, what's our timeless truth? Our timeless truth is we are gospel people. Two timeless truths for the day. We need to be discipled by the Word of the Lord. We got to get discipled by the Word of God. I just feel like I'm living in an America right now where everyone just sees life through either a liberal lens or a conservative lens, and I just want to take the glasses off everybody and say, "Can you just see the world through a Bible lens? Can we just see the world through a Bible lens, please?" A kingdom lens, a Jesus lens, a gospel lens. So I want those to be the buzzwords, okay? A gospel Bible Jesus kingdom, Bible gospel Jesus kingdom, Bible gospel Jesus kingdom. Those are the buzzwords. Do you want to know the lens? Those are the lens. And then second, if you make a big deal about God, God will in turn make a big deal

about you. And I know that's counterintuitive, but in the kingdom, the way up is always down. And I want that to be a timeless truth. That's not just true for David. That's not just true for Psalms 96, 97, and 98. That's true for ever. That's true for me and you today, and I think that's super, super relevant. Tomorrow, we've got day 285. We're going to be looking at Psalms 99 to 101. So we'll look at Psalms 99 and 100 because that's the end of this little mini collection. And then we'll look at Psalm 101 as a separate deal. So tomorrow, we got Psalm 99 and 100, both part of our Psalms around the enthronement of Yahweh. And then we got Psalm 101, three Psalms tomorrow. Can't wait. I'll be right here, same place, same time, tune in and I'm so proud of you. I love you. 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 the Bible department.com. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]