Transcript

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 27 GNT, Ch. 28 NCV, Ch. 29 CEB

Podcast Introduction

This is Psalms Wednesday. We’ll read chapters 27-29. And the episode title is “David’s Praise.”

Comments on Psalms 27-29

Thoughts on Psalm 27

This psalm of David is one of contrast. Verses one through six show him extolling God’s protection, but from verses eight through thirteen David pleads with God to hear him and not forsake him. The psalm ends in verse fourteen with David’s words of encouragement to hope in the Lord.

Thoughts on Psalm 28

This is a Psalm of David in which he is again crying out to the God he loves. He praises God for hearing and answering his prayer. Three different facets of the heart are described. In verse three: the evil heart. In verse seven: the trusting heart and the rejoicing heart.

Thoughts on Psalm 29

In this psalm by David, he writes of the power of a storm and compares it as the power and voice of God. David speaks of the voice of God no less than seven times, and repeats the name of the Lord eighteen times. This is a psalm of praise.

Image from James from Norway

Here’s a photo of the type of toadstool James from Norway asked about.

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Transcript

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PSALMS 27-29: David’s Praise (LSFAB S13E067)

[TEASER – 0:00]
The power and voice of God.

[INTRO S13E067 – 0:10]
Welcome to the Lifespring Family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California, and podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we’re reading through the entire Bible together in a year. The website is at lifespringmedia.com. Thanks for inviting me into your day. This is Psalms Wednesday. We’ll read chapters 27 through 29, and I’m calling the episode “David’s Praise.”

Now today, I’m gonna depart just a bit from the normal format. I usually give a brief introduction to each psalm before reading it, and then after reading all the day’s chapters, I share some thoughts with you. Well, in all transparency, I’m afraid I won’t have time to share my thoughts with you today after the reading because the Lovely Lady LeeAnn and I have a date to go see the Johnny Cash movie tonight.

We will have the Christmas question number seven today and this time you’ll hear a question asked by James in Norway, something about toadstools, as I recall. And then our Christmas expert James Cooper of whychristmas.com will, of course, have the answer. And at the end of the show, I have another sort of mixed-up version of a classic Christmas song. And it’ll all make sense when we get there.

Before we read, let’s pray.

[OPENING PRAYER – 1:22]
Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for our time together and we pray God that you would touch our hearts and our minds and, Lord, help us to praise you as David did. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

All right, let’s begin.

[INTRO TO PSALM 27 – 1:39]
Psalm 27 is a psalm written by David and it’s a psalm of contrast. Verses 1 through 6 show him extolling God’s protection. But from verses 8 through 13, David pleads with God to hear him and not forsake him. The psalm ends in verse 14 with David’s words of encouragement to hope in the Lord.

[PSALMS 27 (GNT) – 2:00]
Psalms, chapter 27.

(1) The Lord is my light and my salvation;
I will fear no one.
The Lord protects me from all danger;
I will never be afraid.

(2) When evil people attack me and try to kill me,
they stumble and fall.
(3) Even if a whole army surrounds me,
I will not be afraid;
even if enemies attack me,
I will still trust God.

(4) I have asked the Lord for one thing;
one thing only do I want:
to live in the Lord’s house all my life,
to marvel there at his goodness,
and to ask for his guidance.
(5) In times of trouble he will shelter me;
he will keep me safe in his Temple
and make me secure on a high rock.
(6) So I will triumph over my enemies around me.
With shouts of joy I will offer sacrifices in his Temple;
I will sing, I will praise to the Lord.

(7) Hear me, Lord, when I call to you!
Be merciful and answer me!
(8) When you said, “Come worship me,”
I answered, “I will come, Lord.”
(9) Don’t hide yourself from me!

Don’t be angry with me;
don’t turn your servant away.
You have been my help;
don’t leave me, don’t abandon me,
O God, my savior.
(10) My father and mother may abandon me,
but the Lord will take care of me.

(11) Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do,
and lead me along a safe path,
because I have many enemies.
(12) Don’t abandon me to my enemies,
who attack me with lies and threats.

(13) I know that I will live to see
the Lord’s goodness in this present life.
(14) Trust in the Lord.
Have faith, do not despair.
Trust in the Lord.

[INTRO TO PSALM 28 – 3:35]
Psalm 28 is also a Psalm of David in which he is again crying out to the Lord he loves. He praises God for hearing and answering his prayer. And three facets of the heart are described in this song in verse 3 the evil heart, in verse 7 the trusting heart, and then the rejoicing heart.

[PSALMS 28 (NCV) – 3:56
Psalms, chapter 28.

(1) Lord, my Rock, I call out to you for help.
Do not be deaf to me.
If you are silent,
I will be like those in the grave.
(2) Hear the sound of my prayer,
when I cry out to you for help.
I raise my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.
(3) Don’t drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil.
They say “Peace” to their neighbors,
but evil is in their hearts.
(4) Pay them back for what they have done,
for their evil deeds.
Pay them back for what they have done;
give them their reward.
(5) They don’t understand what the Lord has done
or what he has made.
So he will knock them down
and not lift them up.
(6) Praise the Lord,
because he heard my prayer for help.
(7) The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him, and he helps me.
I am very happy,
and I praise him with my song.
(8) The Lord is powerful;
he gives victory to his chosen one.
(9) Save your people
and bless those who are your own.
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

[INTRO TO PSALM 29 – 5:07]
David also wrote Psalm 29 and he wrote of the power of a storm. He describes it as the power and voice of God. David speaks of the voice of God no less than seven times and repeats the name of the Lord eighteen times. This is a beautiful song of praise.

[PSALM 29 (CEB) – 5:18]
Psalms chapter 29

(1) You, divine beings! Give to the LORD—
give to the LORD glory and power!
(2) Give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bow down to the LORD in holy splendor!

(3) The LORD’s voice is over the waters;
the glorious God thunders;
the LORD is over the mighty waters.
(4) The LORD’s voice is strong;
the LORD’s voice is majestic.
(5) The LORD’s voice breaks cedar trees—
yes, the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
(6) He makes Lebanon jump around like a young bull,
makes Sirion jump around like a young wild ox.
(7) The LORD’s voice unleashes fiery flames;
(8) the LORD’s voice shakes the wilderness—
yes, the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
(9) The LORD’s voice convulses the oaks,
strips the forests bare,
but in his temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”
(10) The LORD sits enthroned over the floodwaters;
the LORD sits enthroned—king forever!
(11) Let the LORD give strength to his people!
Let the LORD bless his people with peace!

[LIFESPRING FAMILY HOTLINE – 6:26]
Well, Beloved, tell me your thoughts. What do you think? Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511 or go to comment.lifespringmedia.com and comment there, or you can email me at st***@*************ia.com.

Our reading tomorrow will be Job 21 through 22. It’ll be Poetry Thursday.

[LISTENER FEEDBACK – 6:52]
I got a comment this morning from Lifespring Family Berean Brother John of Canada and the comment was about the Soap Opera episode. Brother John says “Wow, it is amazing how God works. I never realized that Jesus’ genealogy went through Perez. I mean, I knew he was the Lion of Judah. But I had never stopped to consider what that meant or how it happened. So many times God uses sinful circumstances to bring good. He is our Redeemer. Wow. Thanks, Steve for bringing that to light.”

Well, my pleasure, Brother John. I myself always used to skip reading the genealogies in the Bible. But then I realized that God put them there for a reason. Some, many of the people listed in those genealogies are people that we don’t have much knowledge of, but there are some that we do. And that’s where we often find some amazing lessons. Thanks for your comment Brother John of Canada. God bless you.

[CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS – 7:52]
James in Norway sent a really good question in. He said, “I was having dinner with some natives the other day – native Norwegians, that is – and the conversation eventually turned to Christmas traditions here in Norway. They said, ‘It’s not fully Christmas until the toadstool figurines are brought out.'” James says, “Yeah, toadstools, these things!” And he sent an image and I will put the image on the show notes page at lifespringmedia.com/s13e067. James says, “I’m not from Norway originally. So this came as a surprise to me. Any ideas why toadstools would be Christmasy for Norwegians?”

Well, James, I’m really glad you sent in this question, and especially the image. I don’t recall where we got them, but Leanne and I have some small glass Christmas ornaments for our tree that look just like the image you sent. They’ve got the red cap on the top of the toadstool, and it’s got the red cap with white polka dots like the image you sent. And I always thought they were just for splashes of color on the tree. Well, let’s see if James Cooper knows anything about them. Come on in, James.

[JAMES COOPER ANSWERS – 9:02]
Well now, this is a very interesting question. And you might be rather surprised by the answer. In Norway, there are lots of evergreen forests full of conifer trees and in those forests during the winter, historically, Norwegians might have expected to find two things which are red and white. The first of these are the “Nisse.” These are small gnomes who often wear red pointy hats and have big white beards. In Sweden, they’re called “Tomte.” And Santa is called “Julenissen” in Norway and “Jultomten” in Sweden, both of which mean the “Christmas gnome.” The Nisse are the ones who bring children their presents in Scandinavia. And you might have seen Nisse decorations in shops as they’re becoming more popular. I’ve got a Nisse who’s about two feet tall, and most of that is his hat.

But what about the mushrooms as that was what the question was about? Well, they’re also red and white as they’re the fly agaric mushroom whose horticultural name is Amanita muscaria. They’re the classic red and white mushrooms you get in cartoons. They’re also the mushroom which Alice ate in “Alice in Wonderland.” You might remember from that story that if she ate one side of the mushroom, she grew really big. And if she ate the other side she shrank really small. Well, that’s because if you eat fly agaric it makes you hallucinate and they can actually kill you. In fact, they got their common name fly agaric as they used to be mixed with milk to attract and kill flies.

Back in pre-Christian times, the shaman of the Sami and other native tribes in Scandinavia, ate these mushrooms during their rituals, especially around the winter solstice to give them visions. As they’re so dangerous to consume, one safer way to do so was to let the reindeer eat them first, and the reindeer also rather enjoyed the experience. And then the shaman ingested the, um, yellow snow that the reindeer created as the toxins in the mushrooms had then been partially removed. Some historians say that this helps to explain Santa’s connection to wearing red and white and having reindeer which fly, although others disagree. I prefer the route tracing St. Nicholas in his red bishop’s robe to Sinterklaas, which is still a name for St. Nicholas in parts of Europe to Santa Claus which he became known as when settlers brought the story about Sinterklaas and St. Nicholas over to the USA. But it might well be like many Christmas traditions, that it’s a bit of a mixture from different places and at different times, like these red and white mushrooms, along with their forest dwelling Nisses are still popular Christmas decorations in Norway. Although many people now no longer are aware of their rather interesting past.

[STEVE WEBB – 11:31]
Well, I will never again look at our little red glass mushroom Christmas tree ornaments in the same way. Thanks to James from Norway for asking and James Cooper of whychristmas.com for the answer.

Have you sent in your Christmas question yet? I need more questions to fill in all the days before Christmas. There are still some openings, which means you still have a chance to be one of the ticket winners to see the movie “Jesus Revolution” when it comes out in February of 2023. To be in the drawing, all you have to do is send in a Christmas question or two or three, whatever, each question you send in we’ll get you an entry whether or not I use your question on the show. And of course, I am having a drawing for a free signed copy of my book “Webb’s Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide.” And for that drawing for each question I use on the show, you will get an entry. If you want to know more about the book, you can go to easybiblenamesguide.com. So please do send in your questions at st***@*************ia.com and put “Christmas question” in the subject line.

[PRAYER REQUESTS AND PRAISE REPORTS – 12:37]
Prayer requests. An anonymous prayer request came in today which says, “Please pray for my friend Sarah. She needs two knee replacements, but the doctor tell her that she must lose weight before they can do anything. Unfortunately, she has other health problems that make it difficult for her to lose weight. She says she’s contemplating getting a wheelchair or scooter. She also has diabetes. None of this is a winning combination. Please pray for her healing and that she’ll find the right doctor to help her. Thanks.”

Well, Anonymous, I know that it can be very hard to lose weight in the best of circumstances. But having health problems can certainly make it harder. One of my sisters-in-law was quite overweight for much of her life. And she was having a lot of knee problems too. She decided that she wanted the surgery that reduces the size of the stomach so you’re sort of forced to lose weight. Well her doctor told her that she had to lose a certain amount of weight. And if I remember right, it was quite a bit, but if she wanted the surgery bad enough, she had to make that weight loss happen. It was hard for but she finally did lose it. And now guess what? Her knee problems are mostly a thing of the past. I don’t think she’ll ever need the knee surgery. And I know with weight loss, oftentimes diabetes goes away. Not always. It depends, I guess on the type of diabetes it is. But I’m sure your friend probably knows all this. We’ll certainly pray for her. But you might want to tell her about my sister-in-law. Maybe that’ll encourage her. I don’t at all want to minimize the seriousness of her condition. But there could be hope for her and obviously, when God is in it, miracles can happen.

Well speaking of needing miracles, Kathi was supposed to go to City of Hope this past Monday, but she was too sick to make the trip. She was afraid her nausea would cause problems during the drive what with car sickness and things like that. So she’s been rescheduled for December 19.

And Bryan Duncan’s wife Cassie is still scheduled for surgery on December 24. Bryan said she’s been pretty stoic about her pain. She’s normally pretty talkative, but she’s mostly pretty quiet now because of the pain. At least the bruising on her face that she got from her fall is gone.

So let’s pray.

Our loving heavenly Father during this time of year we are so thankful for your plan to save us. Thank you for the birth of Jesus and the beginning of his earthly mission to redeem us. Thank you, Lord, for your love and your mercy.

Now we pray for Sarah that she’d be able to have the surgery for her knees or better yet, that she might have the same result as my sister-in-law. You know what’s best for her, Lord, so we ask you to work in her life so that she might have the right outcome. Encourage her, Lord, and bless her, we pray.

And Father, we ask the same for Kathi. Encourage and bless her. She has a good day and then several bad days. Help her Lord. Touch her, we ask in Jesus’ name. It only takes a word from your mouth to bring healing. We know that and at the same time, we do trust you. Bless Kathi and encourage Del, too.

And Lord, we ask that the time will go quickly for Cassie as she waits for her surgery date, ease her pain, Lord, and help Bryan to be the support that she needs.

I thank you, Lord, for the Lifespring family. And I know that there are needs that they’ve not told me about but you know everyone. So, Lord, I ask you to minister to them and make your presence known in each life. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

If you have a prayer request or a praise, please do go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com and let me know about it. I’ll pray for you and praise with you in my private prayer time. And we’ll share on the next Sunday show.

[SUPPORT THE SHOW – 16:26]
Comment on the show by calling the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511 or by sending an email to me at st***@*************ia.com, or going to comment.lifespringmedia.com. And as we get closer to Christmas, if the Lifespring Family Audio Bible has been a blessing to you in any way, would you consider making a donation and thanks for that blessing. Pray about it and then go to

[JINGLE SINGERS – 16:52]
lifespringmedia.com/support.

[OUTRO S13E067 – 17:03]
At the top of the show today I told you that I had a sort of mixed-up version of a classic Christmas song to play for you and that it would all make sense when we get to this point in the show. So with James from Norway’s question in mind and James Cooper’s answer about the toadstools and their hallucinogenic properties, I give you Dan the Automator’s remix of Dean Martin singing “Jingle Bells.”

Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly, and thank you for inviting me into your day. My name is Steve Webb. See you next time. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Transcript corrected by Denise