Day 300: Psalm 146-148 | 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. (electronic music) - Family, welcome to day 100 here at the Bible Department. I'm so excited. Can you believe we're about to celebrate 300 days down 65 days to go? That means we're towards the end of the year and if you are on a 300-day streak, come on! Clap it up, like that is just amazing. I'm so glad that you've decided to spend 300 days in God's Word and I'm also honored that you spent 300 days with me as we've studied God's Word. Like always, if you haven't done the reading for the day, I'm gonna ask that you stop the video, pause the audio, go get the reading done. We are towards the end of the book of Psalms. It feels like we've been in Psalms forever. Today is our second to last day in the book of Psalms. So we've got Psalms 146, 147 and 148 today, just three Psalms and these are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Psalms. So if you have not done the reading for the day, go get the reading done and then come back. Like always, I'm gonna provide or I'm gonna at least attempt to provide some context clues, some nerdy nuggets, and a timeless truth so that we can not just study the Psalms

but live them out in our day-to-day life. All right, let's dive into what I think is some really, really, really important context, okay? Psalms 146 to 150, okay? Are known as the final halal. We've had multiple collections of halals. That word halal means praise, okay? And so this is the final praise or the final halal. Here's a challenge, I actually would challenge you to read today and tomorrow's reading together as one. I would love for you to read the final halal all together with no breaks, okay? So Psalms 146 to 150 is a collection, it's called the final halal, okay? And I know most of you have already done the reading for the day, which means you stopped it, Psalm 148. But just go ahead and add on Psalm 149 and 150. I think that'd be a good thing to do today and tomorrow to essentially like listen to or read the final halal both today and tomorrow. So instead of reading Psalms 146, 147 and 148 today and then 149 and 150 tomorrow, just read all of it today and all of it tomorrow. I think a double dose of Psalms to go out with a bang would be really, really good. All right, these Psalms, okay, 146 all the way to 150, okay? These last five Psalms are most likely written by Ezra, all right? Now, these are most likely written by Ezra to complete or conclude the collection of the five books. Now, the person who is arranging the Psalms

into five books or into five smaller collections, the person who is putting the entire collection together, the person who essentially kind of edits and crafts the Tanakh as a whole is Ezra. Ezra is going to end the Tanakh by writing two books that we typically know as more than two books but they are two books in the original Hebrew. That first book is gonna be Ezra Nehemiah, okay? This is a book that in most of our Bibles is broken up. I'll just go to my table of contents, okay? I don't use my table of contents much. So that felt like it was so hard to find, okay? What we've got in the Old Testament is Ezra. I actually do not use my table of contents often, so that took a long time to find, okay? What we have here is Ezra is one separate book, Nehemiah is another separate book, but together these are actually one book in the original Hebrew scriptures, okay? But in our English translations, these are split into the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah, but in the original it's just Ezra Nehemiah as one book. The other change is that Ezra wrote chronicles, okay? In the Hebrew Bible, it's just chronicles. In your English translation, it's gonna be first chronicles and second chronicles. However, in the original it's just chronicles. So Ezra also in the original, that is the end. Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles ends the Tanakh,

whereas in most of our English translations, that's somewhere in the middle of the Old Testament. So not only is the ordering of the books different in the original Hebrew, but the placement, the order of the books, but also them being split in half or being split apart is also a change that I wanted to make you aware of. All right, that's enough context for today. Okay, so Ezra is probably responsible. All that to say, Ezra is most likely responsible for these last five chapters or five Psalms that we have here at the end of the book. And these Psalms are known as the final praise or the final Hallelujah. All right, let's dive into our nerdy nuggets, okay? Psalm 146 is gonna contrast Yahweh to the princes of the world, okay? These princes are also sons of Adam, okay? Or sons of man. And so Yahweh is gonna get contrast to princes, okay? These princes are leaders, kings, foreign suzerines, pharaohs, and all the people that Ezra had put their trust in for centuries. The people that essentially Yahweh is always like, hey, don't put your trust in Egypt. Don't put your trust in any other foreign power. Don't put your trust in Saul. Don't put your trust in these sons of man or in these princes, I want you to put your trust in me, okay?

So there's three distinct contrasts that this Psalm, Psalm 146 is going to make. The first is this, is that these sons of Adam, okay, these sons of man, okay, Adam, come from the Adamah, that word is dust or ground, okay? So Adam is literally like dirt man, okay? So Adam and Adamah, the word in Hebrew for dust or ground or dirt is Adamah. So the reason that God names Adam, Adam, is because he takes them, takes him from the Adamah. So why do humans return back to the soil? Because they are from the soil, they are mortal, okay? And so Yahweh is saying, why would you praise that which was made from the soil? Or trust in that, which is made from the soil and is going back to the soil? Why not trust in the one who made the soil and controls mankind? And that is none other than Yahweh, okay? So what praise should be doing is creating a humility. I'm immortal, Yahweh alone is immortal. I'm gonna put my faith, trust, hope not in that which is made from the dirt, but the one who makes the dirt that can make the people. The next is breath, okay? Psalm 146 is adamant, not to be confused with Adamah, but adamant, that's kind of a corny joke but I think it's funny, adamant, okay? That verse four, human beings who cannot save, okay? Princes, don't put your trust in princes.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground. On that very day, their plans come to nothing. Remember, Yahweh forms Adam from the ground and then breathes the breath of life into him. And that breath, okay, becomes the animating spirit that brings Adam to life. Well, that word when there's spirit departs is also when their breath departs, okay? So there's another, not only does Adam come from the dirt which God made and goes back to the dirt which God made, but man or Adam or the sons of man are reliant on the very breath that God provides. And if God doesn't breathe his spirit into every living person, then they won't be living people. And so why would you trust in people with breath when you could just trust the God who gave them the breath that they have? Again, it's helping humans to see that there is a massive difference between the source of life which is Yahweh and a resource which are people. And so God is saying, hey, before you place your trust, before you place your faith in humans who are returning to the dust and who rely on breath from Yahweh, why not direct that faith in that trust to the one who made the dirt and the one who provided the breath? That is the ultimate argument of the psalm. You can also see how the psalm is linking trust, faith

and praise and worship. That whatever I trust in is what I have faith in and what I have faith in is what I actually, And so there's this link between wait, wait, the Psalms are designed to halleluh, to praise the Lord. And God is trying to help people to not direct praise towards princes in the sons of man, but direct praise to him. And then there's a third contrast. Not only does man go back to the dust of the earth, not only does man rely on his breath from the only one who can give breath, which is Yahweh, but man is not faithful forever, but Yahweh alone is faithful forever, okay? So it says this in verse six, Yahweh is the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them. He remains faithful forever. That's kind of where everything's going. Not only does Yahweh not need breath from anybody, not only does Yahweh not return to the dust, but the thing that really sets him apart is that he's faithful forever. Number one, he's able to be faithful forever because he's the only being that can live forever. Number two, he's faithful because he's completely in control of all of his actions. He's under the influence of nobody and nothing.

There is no enemy that can tempt him or there is no flesh that can make him fluctuate. He is faithful forever. So he needs no breath because he is the source of life. He doesn't return to the dust because he made the dust and therefore we can conclude he's faithful and he's not just faithful today, he's faithful forever, okay? Verses seven through nine for this psalm. He upholds the cause of the oppressed, gives them food for the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free. The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless in the widow, but he frustrates the plan, the ways of the wicked. That whole section from verses seven all the way down to verse nine is essentially recounting what Yahweh has done for his people since the exile. He brought his people back to Jerusalem and this is written, remember, by Ezra post-exile. These are people who are now returning to Jerusalem once their years in Babylonian captivity are over. And so these verses recount all the things that God did for his people while they were in exile and then how his faithfulness has brought them home from exile and here we go. It ends with the Lord reigns forever.

Your God, O Zion for all generations, prays the Lord, okay? Which leads us into Psalm 147, okay? Now we ended Psalm 146 with the word Zion and that is immediately what we're gonna pick up on in Psalm 147, okay? How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him. So we open up with a general kind of verse on praise and who we're praising. And then verse two, the Lord builds up Jerusalem. He gathers the exiles of Israel. So it's right off the heels of what's happening at Psalm 146. We immediately start with Psalm 147, okay? He heals the brokenhearted and bides up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and he calls them each by name, okay? That's a whiplash from verse three to verse four. We're also gonna get that same whiplash from verse eight to verse nine, okay? So let's talk about what that whiplash is. Let's talk about verse three. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. This is a God who's close. This is God who's intimate. This is a God who is near, okay? And then verse four, he determines the number of the stars who calls the by name. Whoa, whoa, whoa. This is God who's cosmic. This is God who's far.

This is God that's transcendent. You see right here, verse three and four are focusing on the dual nature of the reality of Yahweh's existence. That he is both holy, far away, transcendent and cosmic yet intimate and close and acquainted with who we are. That he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. That's compassion. That's comfort. That's close. That's a God I can touch. That's tangible. That's right here. That's intimate. But he determines the stars and knows the stars by name. Whoa, he's infinite. He's omniscient. How do you remember the name of the stars? Like that you're clearly a being that is outside of the realm of my own human understanding or my finite understanding, okay? So we're gonna get the same thing in verse eight to nine. He covers the sky with clouds. He supplies the earth with rain and makes the grass grow on the hills. Got it, cosmic, powerful, almighty. He's God, he's big. food for ravens. Again, he's close. He's intimate. He's near. He's acquainted with what we are up to. He cares for ravens, young ravens. He cares for little baby birds, but he also covers the sky with clouds, earth, rain, grass growing on the hills. But why does he do all of that

so that cattle and ravens can eat? Like this is a god who's transcendent and far and holy and awesome, but this is also a god who's near and he's close and he's intimate. And he's got things that he's caring for that are tangible and close and small, minute. Who cares about baby birds? God, right? But he cares about the big stuff and the small stuff. There is no big stuff for small stuff to him. Everything in his creation is something that's under his purview and his care. This is true omnipotence. Some omnipotence at its finest. Another just idea from Psalm 147, we extol the Lord, Jerusalem, praise your God, Zion. You can see that the emphasis over and over and over again, and then we're going to get the creation. He sends commands to the earth, where his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool, scatters frost, hrows down hail. He sends his word and melts them, stirs up breeze and waters below. He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation. They do not know his laws. So that's a reframing for us. That the laws are not a burden, but the laws are a privilege. That the fact that God would reveal his word and his law and his decree to his people, Israel is not a burden to Israel, but it's a privilege because he's not done that to any other nation. Okay, and we end with our refrain, praise the Lord, which gets us into Psalm 148. If the creation was being emphasized in a small way in 147, it's going to get emphasized in a big way in Psalm 148. So the Psalm starts the same way as all these Psalms, praise the Lord or praise Yahweh. Okay, praise the Lord from the heavens, praise them from the heights above, praise them all as angels, praise them all as heavenly hosts. Okay, I got a list here of all the things that are giving praise to Yahweh. Okay, verses one through four, the heavens are praising Yahweh. Verse two, the angels in the host of heaven are going to praise Yahweh. Verse three, the sun, the moon and the stars are going to praise Yahweh. Verse four, the waters beyond the sky praise Yahweh. So in the same way that I gave you kind of what's being praised from verses one through four, the heavens, and then each verse, there's an aspect of the heavens that are praising him. Same thing with Psalm 148 verses 7 through 10, verses 7 through 10, the earth is going to praise Yahweh. Okay, what on earth? Well, in verse seven, the great sea creatures, aka the dragons, are going to praise Yahweh. Verse eight, the weather praises Yahweh. Verse nine, the mountains, the hills, and the trees praise Yahweh. Verse 10, the beast, the livestock, the creeping things, and birds praise Yahweh. Okay, verses 11 through 12, humanity is going to praise Yahweh. Okay, so verses one through four, the heavens praise. Verse 7 through 10, the earth is going to praise.

And then verses 11 through 12, humanity is going to praise Yahweh. Verse 11, kings, people, princes, and rulers all praise Yahweh. Verse 12, young men and women, old men and children praise Yahweh. It says this, "Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for his name alone is exalted, his majesty is above earth and heaven." That's 148 verse 13. The psalm ends with just one mention of Israel, okay, who are not described as praising him as all the rest. But it is the climax of the psalm and also the springboard for the next psalm. I want you to see how some of these psalms weave, where one psalm ends, the next psalm picks up. Okay, these are written as an interconnected collection, interconnected whole maybe. Yeah, psalms 146 all the way to 150, like they are designed as a unit. So everything praises Yahweh, okay, the heavens, the earth, humanity, okay, everything praises Yahweh down, and then until you get down to the end. Okay, so psalm 148 verse 13. "Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted, And he has raised up for his people a horn. Okay, everything's praising Yahweh, everything's praising Yahweh, everything's praising Yahweh. And now Yahweh is doing something for his people. He's raised up for his people a horn. The praise of all his faithful servants of Israel, the people close to his heart, praise the Lord. And what I have written down in my notes is literally everything that has been created is designed to praise Yahweh. Yahweh is praised by all. And then here's what Yahweh does. He strengthens his own. He raises up a horn. He reaches down and raises up a horn for his people. A horn is usually associated with strength or glory. Yahweh is glorified by all. And then Yahweh strengthens and glorifies his own.

Praise Yahweh, Hallelujah. - Tambly, 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 & Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes & 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. I wanna end on our timeless truth just like always. One of the things that is timelessly true is we are timelessly navigating the tension between the transcendent reality of a holy God who is holy other and also relating to an intimate God who is right here, right in our space. We are constantly just holding attention, the omnipresence of God, like He's everywhere all the time.

There's nowhere where I can flee from His presence, but also there are times where His manifest presence is so close. And this is why I love the person of the Holy Spirit because in the person of the Holy Spirit, we encounter the grandeur, the holiness, the magnificence of an awesome and great God, but also a God that wants to take a residence in us and who wants to talk to us. And we are always going to have to balance or hold the tension between these juxtaposing realities. And the moment we fall into either one or the other, our relationship with God is either going to reflect the fact that we think that He's transcendent or the fact that we think He's just close. And so I want you to actually begin to maybe journal. I know I don't give homework a lot here on the podcast, but I'd love for you to journal. Which of these two realities do you connect with more? I personally have always connected more just immediately with the transcendent awe-inspiring, strong, omnipotent, creator of the universe, God. And sometimes I can struggle with the near close intimate dad that He wants to be and that He is like in my life. And so God's holiness, His other than me-ness, His big-ness, His grandeur, not very hard for me to conceptualize, but the small minute detail-oriented God, the God that cares about everything happening in my life, the God who is down to be interrupted.

You know, it like knows me in a really, really close way that God has been harder or at least not as natural for me to connect with. And so it's hard for me to think about God as my friend. It's easy for me to think about Him as the ruler of the universe. And so that's just me, okay? So I, in my own personal walk with the Lord, I need to begin to err on the side of, He's my constant companion, He's close, He's here, and invite Him into my day-to-day. And you may be opposite me, Him being close, Him being friend, Him being near, Him being intimate. Maybe the thing that you immediately vibe with, but then you respecting Him, honoring Him, exalting Him and worshiping Him in all of His grandeur and His glory. A, let us know in the comments if you're watching this on YouTube, but also like journal about that. And that is a clear tension that is true in the Psalms, but that's not just bound by history. That's also a reality that you and I are walking with. And that's not a problem to solve, but it's a tension to manage. And I wanna know in the comments how you're managing that tension. And I want you to apply that as your time is true for today. All right, tomorrow we've got Psalms 149 and 150. We are finishing the book of Psalms tomorrow for day 301.

I'm so excited about it. But remember, here's my challenge. I'd love for you to read all of the final Hillel today and all of the final Hillel tomorrow. Read all five of these Psalms as a unit both today and tomorrow. I'll see you right here tomorrow. Same day, same, well, no, not same day. Same time, same place. I'm so proud of you. I love you so much. So glad we're on this journey together. 300 days down, 65 days to go. 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 thebobaldapartment.com. We'll see you right back here tomorrow.