Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Today is Psalms Wednesday. We’ll read chapters 137-139. I’m calling today’s episode “The God Who Knows Me.” 

Comments on Psalm 139

I love the fact that God knows me intimately. To understand that He knows my desire to know and serve Him makes me feel good, as when a little boy is happy when his daddy is pleased with him. But to also understand that God knows my ugly, dark, sinful parts causes me to feel utterly amazed that He still loves me. He knows my heart, and He knows the weakness of my flesh. But as Psalm 136 said in it’s refrain: His steadfast love endures forever! 1 John 4:8 puts it this way: “God is love.”

Knowing this, my heart swells with love and gratitude. And it makes me want to continue to try to please Him, to continue to persevere in my efforts to live a  life more devoted to Him today than I did yesterday. Not because I’m trying to earn His favor…I already have it. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me more, or love me less. I just want to love Him because He loves me.

And on those dark days when I fail Him to the point where I know I must have certainly brought Him grief, as the last verse in this chapter mentions, the shame I feel motivates me to humbly go to Him and ask forgiveness. And that is when I am most grateful for the promise we have in 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Every verse in this chapter is a jewel. Every verse confirms how good God is. 

How about this one: 5You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. “God is there behind me and in front of me, protecting me, surrounding me. And the most beautiful part of the verse, He lays his hand on me. When my boys were small, many were the times that when we were sitting next to each other, or when we were walking next to each other, I would lay my hand on their head or their shoulder. Just a loving touch to let them know that I was there and I love them. That’s what God does with us. Our loving daddy, or Abba in the Greek language. 

How can one read chapter 139 and not love God more? 

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 137-139 ESV

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Transcript

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STEVE WEBB – 0:00
Every verse in this chapter is a jewel.

INTRO S12E329 – 0:10
From Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible. And podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily show where we’re reading through the entire Bible in a year. And how are you today? It really is great to see you. I mean that! I look forward to our time together every day. It’s Psalms Wednesday, and we’ll read chapters 137 through 139. And has been our custom, I’ll have a brief introduction to each chapter before reading them. I’m calling today’s episode, “The God Who Knows Me”. And I also have a personal prayer request to share with you today. Show Notes page for today’s episode is at lifespringmedia.com/s12e329. And I’d love to hear from you via email. You can send it to st***@*************ia.com. You ready? Let’s get going.

INTRO TO PSALM 137 – 0:57
In Psalm 137, because of their turning from God and worshipping false gods, God has brought judgment on those who lived in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. Babylon has come in and utterly destroyed Jerusalem, killing many men, women and children, and taken captive those who were not murdered. This Psalm is a lament. We don’t know when it was written exactly. And some people think that it was written after the return from Babylon and some think that it’s some years into the exile while still in captivity in Babylon. What we are certain of is that in the midst of the exile, the writer remembered how good it was in Jerusalem, and what the reason was for their exile. They missed Jerusalem and they were sorrowful that they had sinned in such a way that God had allowed them to be in this place. And they asked God to judge Babylon for the terribly cruel treatment that they had received.

PSALM 137 (ESV) – 1:55
Psalms, chapter 137.

(1) By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
(2) On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
(3) For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
(4) How shall we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
(5) If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
(6) Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
(7) Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
(8) O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
(9) Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!

INTRO TO PSALM 138 – 2:54
The title of Psalm 138 is “A Psalm of David”. And many commentators write that having Psalms 137 and 138 next to one another is fitting. Psalm 137 mentioned how the psalmist was unable to sing in front of the heathen. But David says in 138, that even the kings of the nations will praise God. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “This psalm was wisely placed. Whoever edited and arranged the sacred poems, he had an eye to apposition or the placement next to each other, and contrast for if in Psalm 137 we see the need of silence before revilers, here we see the excellence of a brave confession. There is a time to be silent, lest we cast pearls before swine. And there’s a time to speak openly, lest we be found guilty of cowardly non-confession.”

PSALM 138 (ESV) – 3:46
Psalms, chapter 138.

(1) I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
(2) I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
(3) On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.
(4) All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
(5) and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
(6) For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
(7) Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
(8) The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.

INTRO TO PSALM 139 – 4:47
The title of Psalm 139 is “For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.” And as I’ve mentioned before, “For the Chief Musician” is thought to mean that it is written to God while others believe that it’s written to the temple music leader perhaps Asaph or Heman. This truly is a beautiful psalm. 2 Samuel 23:1 is right when it calls David, the sweet psalmist of Israel.

PSALM 139 (ESV) – 5:13
Psalms, chapter 139.
(1) O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
(2) You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
(3) You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
(4) Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
(5) You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
(6) Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
(7) Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
(8) If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
(9) If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
(10) even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
(11) If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
(12) even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
(13) For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
(14) I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
(15) My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
(16) Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
(17) How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
(18) If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
(19) Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
(20) They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
(21) Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
(22) I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
(23) Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
(24) And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

COMMENTS – 7:34
Commenting on Psalm 139, I love the fact that God knows me intimately. To understand that he knows my desire to know and serve him makes me feel good as when a little boy is happy when his daddy is pleased with him. But to also understand that God knows my ugly, dark, sinful parts causes me to feel utterly amazed that he still loves me. He knows my heart and he knows the weakness of my flesh. But as Psalm 136 said in its refrain: His steadfast love endures forever! Hallelujah. 1 John 4:8 puts it this way: “God is love.”

Knowing this, my heart swells with love and gratitude. And it makes me want to continue to try to please him to continue to persevere in my efforts to live a life more devoted to him today than I did yesterday. Not because I’m trying to earn his favor. I already have it. There’s nothing I can do to make him love me more or love me less. I just want to love Him because He loves me.

And on those dark days when I fail him to the point where I know I must have certainly brought him grief. As the last verse in this chapter mentions, the shame I feel motivates me to humbly go to him and ask for forgiveness. And that’s when I’m most grateful for the promise we have in I John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Every verse in this chapter is a jewel. Every verse confirms how good God is.

How about this one: verse 5 says, “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” Beloved, God is there behind us, and in front of us, protecting us, surrounding us. And the most beautiful part of the verse for me is he lays his hand on me. When my boys were small, many were the times when we were sitting next to each other, or when we were walking next to each other, I would just lay my hand on their head or on their shoulder, just a loving touch to let them know that I was there, and I love them. That’s what God does with us. He is our loving daddy or Abba in the Greek.

How could anybody read this chapter and not love God more?

What do you think? Do you have a comment? Let me know at lifespringmedia.com/s12e329. And tomorrow was Poetry Thursday we’ll finish the book of Ecclesiastes by reading chapters 11 and 12.

Boost.

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER SHOUT-OUT – 10:17
We have an anonymous Associate Producer today who sent a $100 donation in this morning, and Anonymous I thank you so very much, and may God bless you richly.

I just wanted to give a shout out to Matt Bogart who followed me on the Fountain app. Matt is a longtime Lifespring family member. We broke bread together a few years ago, and Matt, I just want to say it’s so good to know that you’re still there. Say Hi to the family for me. God bless you.

And, Beloved, if you are using the Fountain app, you can feel free to follow me too. I’ll follow you right back. And by the way, the Fountain app has a new feature that will stream sats to you while you listen to podcasts. I don’t know of any other app that pays you to listen to podcasts. And I think that’s pretty cool. Check it out at fountain.fm. And no, this is not a commercial. They didn’t ask me to talk about them. I just think that they’re a cool app. And they’re doing a lot to help move value-for-value into the mainstream. Go to fountain.fm and find out more.

ON THIS DATE IN CHURCH HISTORY – 11:24
This is kind of a big day in church history. On July 27, 1516, future reformer Martin Luther preached for the first time against indulgences. As you probably know it was Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses against indulgences and other church abuses on the Wittenberg door that ultimately precipitated the Protestant Reformation. Yeah, big day, July 27, 1516. If you don’t know about the significance of Martin Luther and his 95 Theses, do some research. It’s an important part of church history.

PRAYER REQUESTS – 12:05
Prayer requests. As I record this, it’s Tuesday afternoon. And I have to say I have a heavy heart today. I told you this past Thursday that Kathi’s oncologist had some bad news for them and asked her if she had her affairs in order. They are going to try a new treatment, as I said, but if it doesn’t work, well… Del and Kathi were supposed to be here right now. We were going to have a barbecue for them and spend some time together before she starts her new cancer treatments. Once they start, she’s going to have to be isolated from people for months, I guess, and I’m not really sure why. But we wanted to have a meal with them.

Well, this morning, Del called to tell me that she’d had a really rough night last night and she didn’t feel up to driving down the hill. They live up in the Lake Arrowhead area in the Southern California mountains here. So, Beloved, please do continue to pray for Kathi and Del. Pray that the cancer will again go into remission or better yet that God would heal her. And after 50 years of marriage, Del relies on her for so very much. I think I’ve told you that he was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment several years ago, and that’s not something that just goes away. It gets worse. So pray for them both, please.

For those that don’t know, Del and I have known each other since we were in the seventh grade. And he’s the one who invited me to the church where I gave my heart to the Lord when I was a teenager. I love him like a brother, and it just hurts to see what they’re going through. I know that they’re in God’s hands, and both of them love the Lord. But it’s still hard to watch and not be able to fix it. I’m a fixer. It’s who I am. And so not being able to bring some kind of relief to them is just – it’s hard for me. But we can pray, and that’s not nothing. And James 5:16 tells us that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Kathi’s healing is not beyond the power of God. Perhaps her healing is not in God’s perfect plan. But until he reveals that to us, I am believing for a miracle. I hope you’ll join me in that.

CLOSING PRAYER – 14:08
Let’s pray. Our heavenly Father it is nearly inconceivable, for me anyway, that you should know everything about me and yet love me. But you do. And Father knowing that makes me fall to my knees in worship. You are so patient and you are so kind. Thank you for your servant, David, and the words you led him to write in the Psalms so that we can learn how to praise you and honor you. And no matter what I will praise and honor You, Lord, because you deserve it.

But Lord, I’m asking you to hear me now. Jesus said that we have not because we ask not, or we ask amiss, not according to your will. Lord, if my request is not in line with your will or your plan, please forgive me. But I’m asking you to heal both Kathi and Del. Heal Kathi, the cancer that’s been a part of her life for so, so long and bring clarity of thought to Del. You can do it with just a word from your mouth. I know that from my deepest being. And I’m asking you for that right now in Jesus precious name. Touch them, heal them. Bring a miracle into their lives, Lord, and everyone will know that it is you that did it. There will be no denying the fact that you are real, and you will be glorified. There is none like You Lord. I pray this in Jesus name, amen.

If you have a prayer request or a praise, go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com. We’ll pray together on the show and I’ll pray for you in my private prayer time, prayer.lifespringmedia.com.

OUTRO S12E329 – 15:45
Comment on the show at lifespringmedia.com/s12e329. Or send me an email at st***@*************ia.com. Thanks to the team: Kirsty, Sean of San Pedro and Denise. You guys are truly a blessing in my life. Thank you again to those of you who are streaming sats. Thanks to Anonymous for their donation today and for helping to bring this episode to you. And thank you for giving me the honor of being with you today. Support the show at lifespringmedia.com/support, please.

And until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb.

Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Corrected by Denise