Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Today we will complete the book of Psalms 93-95. I’ll have comments on both chapters after the reading, and I’m calling today’s episode “Surf’s Up Part 2.”

Comments on Psalms 93-95

Psalm 93

I don’t know about you, but I can’t help but get excited when I read chapters like these. Psalm 93 declares that God is king, then proceeds to illustrate in great, majestic language how this is true.

But mightier than the violent raging of the seas,
mightier than the breakers on the shore—
the Lord above is mightier than these!

Psalm 93:4 NLT

When I read this verse, I am immediately taken back to a morning when I was about seventeen or eighteen years old.

It was a beautiful, sunny, southern California day. I was at a spot right on the border of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. My friends and I called it “the jetty”. And the waves were pumping that day. The sets were coming in at about twelve feet. And they were perfectly shaped for surfing. Nice tubes. The biggest waves I had ever been in. It was truly a rare day.

And I was terrified.

Sure, they were great waves, and guys were getting spectacular rides, but I had never ridden waves this big. I was used to the average waves that come through…two to four feet. I had ridden hundreds, if not thousands of those waves. But these 12 footers were a completely new experience. Just paddling out was a challenge. Even though I was in great shape, having been a competitive swimmer for about ten years, with a lot of first place finishes, I was having a hard time making progress as I tried to paddle out. These waves were stronger than anything I had ever experienced.

I felt completely helpless.

But finally there was a lull between the sets, and I was able to paddle out to where the other guys were waiting to grab a ride when the next set came through. As we waited, I was able to rest and regain my strength. The fatigue in my shoulders faded, my breathing relaxed, and I watched the horizon, waiting for signs of the next set.

I didn’t have to wait very long.

Pretty soon I could see the color of the horizon get darker and rise as the swell rushed in toward the shore. I turned my board around to face the beach and began to paddle as hard as I could. And before I knew it, the swell began to lift me up and push me faster and faster. And the wave began to break. The tube was just beginning to form as I stood up, and I looked down the face of the biggest wave I had ever been on. In that moment, it felt like I was on the top of a careening freight train. But I was in the wrong spot on the wave, and all of a sudden I found myself being thrown from my board like a rag doll.

The next thing I knew I was under water, being pushed down and tumbling helplessly, holding my breath and waiting for the force of the wave to release me. And then I felt a sharp pain on my left arm, just below the shoulder as the rail, or edge of my board struck me as the turbulence of the wave had control of both of us.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it released me and I was able to make it to the surface. I was about 75 yards from the beach, where I could see my board already on the shore. I swam in, humbled, still feeling the pain in my arm, and found that my board had also suffered an injury. There was a brand new ding on rail, about an inch deep and four inches long.

The bruise on my arm healed, but even after repairing the ding, my surfboard carried a scar that always reminded me of the power of that wave.

But mightier than the violent raging of the seas,
mightier than the breakers on the shore—
the Lord above is mightier than these!

Psalms 94

Psalm 94 opens by referring to Him as the God of vengeance. This is an interesting word. I think that, to many people, vengeance has a negative connotation. And in the hands of man, vengeance can be an ugly and negative thing, but that’s because man’s vengeance is often not based on perfect justice. But listen to the definition of the word as the Oxford Dictionary has it: Punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong.

Now, who better than the author of all that is right and good, to be the One to exact vengeance? Who better to judge those who injure or wrong the innocent? Psalm 94 implores God to let His glorious justice shine forth, to give the proud what they deserve, to punish the evil who kill widows and murder orphans. 

Our culture often doesn’t like to hear that there truly is evil in the world. Or if they do, many do not think that the ultimate punishment (death) should be meted out. “We don’t have the right to kill another human being, no matter how bad they are or what they have done,” they say. Perhaps. But God does have that right, and that is what the author of this Psalm is calling for. We certainly do not have the right to play God, but God does.

Psalm 95

This psalm is a call for us to sing and shout joyfully to the Lord, the Rock of our salvation. It shows Him as our shepherd, and us as the flock under his care. This is a call to us to kneel before Him, trusting that we will be safe as He watches over us.

I for one am amazed and humbled that this Holy and Righteous God, creator of everything that is, takes note of me at all. I am nothing in the grand scheme of things. When I ponder the vastness of the universe, when I think of my failures, when I look at His infinite greatness, I have to ask myself why this God would care about me. But then I am reminded of the scripture that says simply, “God is love.” 1 John 4:8. And John 3:15-18, “16“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.18“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him.”

How wonderful is His name! 

Your thoughts? Scroll to the bottom of the page and let me know.

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 93-95 NLT

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Transcript

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Steve Webb 0:00
In that moment, it felt like I was on top of a careening freight train

Steve Webb 0:12
This is the Lifespring family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California, podcasting since 2004. I’m your OG God. castors. Steve Webb, welcome. I’m so glad you’re with me today. This is the daily show where we’re reading through the entire Bible in a year and today we’re gonna read the book of Psalms, chapters 93 through 95. I’ll have some comments on the chapters after the reading and I’m calling today’s episode. Surf’s up part two. The show notes page for today’s episode is Lifespring media.com/s 12 e 217. You can email me at Steve at Lifespring media.com. I always like to get your emails. And with that let’s get started.

Steve Webb 0:55
Introduction to Psalm 93 This Psalm has no title but of Psalm 93 James Montgomery boys wrote, Psalm 93 describes a theocracy as do the seven psalms that follow it. The words Yahweh Mielec, or Jehovah reigns or Jehovah is King are the watchwords of these theocratic songs. Now, as we know most if not all, theocracies that have existed or exist today become miserable failures because they’re instituted and enforced by man, flawed human beings. Only a theocracy with the perfect just loving and merciful God will ever be successful.

Steve Webb 1:38
Psalms 93 The Lord is King. He is robed in majesty. Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength. The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. Your throne oh lord has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past. The floods have risen up Oh, Lord, the floods have roared like thunder. The floods have lifted their pounding waves, but mightier than the violent raging Of The Seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore. The Lord above is mightier than these. Your royal laws cannot be changed your reign oh Lord is holy, forever and ever.

Steve Webb 2:22
Psalm 94 has no title either, but commentator G. Campbell, Morgan wrote, In this song, we see how these very things which assault faith and threatened to produce despair may be the opportunity for praise in the place and act of worship.

Steve Webb 2:41
Psalms chapter 94 Oh Lord, the God of vengeance. Oh God a vengeance. Let your glorious justice shine forth. Arise, oh, Judge of the earth. Give the crowd what they deserve. How long? Oh, Lord, how long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast? They crush your people, Lord, hurting those who claim as your own. They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. The Lord isn’t looking they say, and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care. Think again. You fools. When will you finally catch on? Is he deaf? The one who made your ears? Is he blind, the one who formed your eyes. He punishes the nation’s Won’t he also punish you. He knows everything. Doesn’t he also know what you’re doing? The Lord knows people’s thoughts. He knows they are worthless. Joyful are those who discipline Lord, those who teach with your instructions. You give them relief from troubled times until a pit is dug to capture the wicked. The Lord will not reject His people, He will not abandon his special possession. Judgment will again be founded on justice and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it. Who will protect me from the wicked who will stand up for me against evil doers. Unless the Lord had helped me I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out I’m slipping, but your unfailing love Oh Lord supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side leaders whose decrees permit injustice. they gang up against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord is my fortress. My God is the mighty rock where I hide. God will turn the sins of evil people back on them. He will destroy them for their sins, the Lord our God will destroy them.

Steve Webb 4:51
Psalm 95 is also untitled. The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, quoted and wrote about Psalm 95 In chapters three and four of that book, again, let’s hear what James Montgomery boy said about this psalm. He said, this is probably the most thorough sighting of an Old Testament passage in the New Testament.

Steve Webb 5:15
Psalms chapter 95. Come let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to Him. For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to him, for he made it his hands formed the dry land to come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker for He is our God. We are the people he watches over the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today, the Lord says don’t harden your hearts is Israel did it mera BA, as they did it Massa in the wilderness for their your ancestors tested and tried my patients, even though they saw everything I did. For 40 years, I was angry with them. And I said, they are a people whose hearts turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them. So in my anger, I took an oath, they will never enter my place of rest.

Steve Webb 6:26
Beloved, I don’t know about you, but I can’t help but get excited when I read chapters like the ones we read today. Psalm 93 declares that God is King then proceeds to illustrate in great majestic language how this is true. Verse four says, But mightier than the violent raging in the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore, the Lord above is mightier than these. Now when I read that verse, I am immediately taken back to a morning when I was about 17 or 18 years old. It was a beautiful, sunny Southern California day. And I was at a spot right on the border of Huntington Beach in Newport Beach. My friends, and I called it the jetty. And the waves were pumping that day. The sets were coming in at about 12 feet, and they were perfectly shaped for surfing. They had the kind of beautiful round tubes that surf photographers just love. And they were the biggest waves that I’d ever personally seen in person. That was a truly rare day. And I was terrified. Sure, they were great waves and the guys that were out there were getting spectacular rides, but I had never ridden waves this big. I was used to the average waves that come through two to four feet in that area, and I had ridden hundreds, if not 1000s of those waves. But these 12 footers were a completely new experience. Just paddling out was a challenge. Even though I was in great shape at that time, having been a competitive swimmer for probably 10 years. With a lot of first place finishes, I was having a hard time making progress as I tried to paddle out. These waves were stronger than anything I had ever experienced. I felt completely helpless. But finally there was a low between the sets and I was able to paddle out to where the other guys were waiting to grab a ride when the next set came through. And as we waited, I was able to rest in regain my strength, the fatigue and my shoulders faded, my breathing relaxed, and I watched the horizon waiting for signs of the next set. I didn’t have to wait very long. Pretty soon I could see the color of the horizon get darker and rise as the swell rushed in toward the shore. I turned my board around to face the beach and began to paddle as hard as I could. And before I knew it, the swell began to lift me up and push me faster and faster, and the wave began to break. The tube was just beginning to form as I stood up and I looked down the face of the biggest wave I had ever been on. In that moment. It felt like I was on top of a careening freight train. But I was in the wrong spot on the wave. And all of a sudden I found myself being thrown from my board like a rag doll. The next thing I knew I was underwater being pushed down as I tumbled helplessly holding my breath and waiting for the force of the wave to release me. And then I felt a sharp pain on my left arm just below the shoulder is the rail or the edge of my board struck me as the turbulence of the wave had control of both of us. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it released me and I was able to make it to the surface. As I looked around, I could see I was about 75 yards from the beach where I could see my board already on the shore. I swam in humbled, still feeling the pain in my arm and found that my board had also suffered an injury. There was a brand new ding on the rail about an inch deep and four inches long. Well the bruise on my arm healed but even after repairing the ding my surfboard carried a scar that always reminded me of the power of that wave. But mightier than the violent raging of the sea, mightier than the breakers on the shore, the Lord above is mightier than these.

Steve Webb 10:16
Psalm 94 opens by referring to God is the God of vengeance. This is an interesting word. I think that too many people Vengeance has a negative connotation. In the hands of man, vengeance can be an ugly and negative thing. But that’s because man’s vengeance is often not based on perfect justice. But listen to the Oxford dictionary definition of the word, Vengeance is punishment, inflicted, or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong now, who better than the author of all that is right in good to be the one to exact vengeance? Who better to judge those who injure or wrong, the innocent? Psalm 94, implores God to let his glorious justice shine forth, to give the proud what they deserve to punish the evil who killed widows and murder orphans. Our culture often doesn’t like to hear that there truly is evil in the world, or if they do, many don’t think that the ultimate punishment, death should be meted out. They say, We don’t have the right to kill another human being no matter how bad they are, or what they have done. Maybe that’s true. But God does have the right and that is what the author of this psalm is calling for. We certainly don’t have the right to play God, but God does. And then Psalm 95 is a call for us to sing and shout joyfully to the Lord, the rock of our salvation, it shows him as our shepherd and us as the flock under his care. This is a call to us to kneel before him, trusting that we will be safe as he watches over us. I’m amazed and humbled that this holy and righteous God, Creator of everything that is takes note of me at all, and nothing in the grand scheme of things. And when I ponder the vastness of the universe, when I think of my failures, when I look at his Infinite greatness, I have to ask myself, why this God would care about me. But then I’m reminded of the scripture that simply says, God is love. And then John 315, through 18 says, For this is how God loved the world. He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. How wonderful is his name? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear. Go to Lifespring media.com/s 12 e 217. Scroll to the bottom of the page and tell me what you think about what we’ve read today. Reading tomorrow is Proverbs 16. Boost.

Steve Webb 13:09
Kirsty went to the show notes page for the Leviticus 22 through 24 and I for an AI episode, she said, since I listened to episodes while I’m driving, I don’t often comment, but I want to say I get a lot out of your commentary. Stephen, I thank you for sharing it with us. I really liked your explanation of an eye for an eye today. It was really helpful to understand this tricky verse. Well, thank you, Kirsty for taking the time to write. I know life gets busy and it’s sometimes hard to remember to comment, when we have a moment happens to me too. I’ll be listening to a podcast and here’s something really good. And I’ll say to myself, I need to remember to tell that guy how much I liked what he just said. And then I forget to do it. So thank you, Kirsty. I appreciate your comment. It really is a privilege to do this show. And I don’t know why the Lord chose me to do it. But I’m glad he did and I can’t help but be humbled. God bless you, Kirsty. Thank you. And I do have to mention here that booster grams are a really convenient and quick way to send comments to your favorite podcasters while you’re listening, the apps I’ve been telling you about it new podcast apps.com really do make it easy. There’s a button right there on the podcast player that you tap. Then you put in your comment, tap the button again and within seconds the podcaster receives your comment. It’s one of the best features of a podcasting 2.0 app go get one at newpodcastapps.com.

Steve Webb 14:44
Let’s pray. Our Heavenly Father the Psalms we read today so eloquently describe you in comparison my words seem like those of a three year old child. Thank you Lord for giving the authors of those psalms the words to write you are an awesome God your words worthy of our praise and our worship and our devotion. You’re infinitely above us and we are so grateful to you for even noticing us, let alone the love you have for us. Hallelujah. Lord, thank you. I asked God today that you would bless the Lifespring family. As you hold us in your strong right hand we are secure and safe. We owe you everything. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. If you’ve got a prayer request or a praise, go to prayer dot Lifespring media.com and fill out that form there. My website will send your prayer request or your praise right to me, and I’ll pray for you in my private prayer time and on the show. And this just now occurred to me you can send your prayer requests and praises to me via a booster gram as well. Whether you use the website at prayer dot Lifespring media.com or booster gram will get your prayer request or praise either way.

Steve Webb 15:59
Please do share the show. Help the people you care about get into the word every day. Comment on the show and Lifespring media.com/s 12 V 217 Or email me at Steve at Lifespring media.com support the show please at Lifespring media.com/support. And until tomorrow may God bless you richly. Thank you for being here. I have enjoyed our time together today. I hope it’s a great one for you. I’m Steve Webb. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai