How to Study the Bible III - Psalms 22 & 23

Yeah, I'm really glad that God doesn't operate like Microsoft. OK. All right. So we are continuing on. We began studying Psalm 1, 2, and 6 last time. And Stan asked a very good question about who authored what. And two things, one is that lot of the Bibles will have the Hebrew notes in there and it'll say a psalm of David or a psalm of you know it'll give the author other cases it doesn't give the author but we can see inside the psalm what the circumstance was right and even today as we look at Psalms 22 and 23 we'll be asking the question was this written by David early later right and we'll have an answer okay so at any rate continuing through the psalms because there's the psalms are a significant Old Testament book and and they're not all just uniform they're often very different in their content yeah stand some someone is anonymous We don't know who the author was. David wrote Psalms 2 and 6 that we looked at last time. So 2 and 6, what we'll look at today is Psalm 22 and 23. Both of those are Psalms of David. David wrote 73 of the Psalms, so far as we have any identification.

But they're Israel's national hymn book. They had a collection of them. And and they they made notes before the psalms and sometimes at the end of them That aren't a part of the psalm, but gives us some kind of insight as to you know Who wrote it and what was the circumstance and even what was the stage of collection?

So You know those are indicative a lot of our better study Bibles And I would say for study Bibles, I would tend to recommend the Ryrie Study Bible in the New American Standard Edition. And another good one is the Nelson Study Bible. So, at any rate, those are a couple of some of the better ones. OK, so let's take a look at Psalms 22 and 23.

And if you're joining us more recently, I've kind of changed the way I do my teaching on this. So you'll probably want to make sure you have a handout and do some note taking. We've said before that Psalms is Israel's national hymn book. There are 150 of them. They are arranged in groups of five, but not necessarily grouped by author. And so you really have to look at each one.

And that's why we spent six months going through tools of observation. What I find is that people are often under equipped in terms of the ability to observe And then people tend to fall into, here's my system. And the system is actually a crutch because what they need to do is observe better. When we fall into a system, and by that I mean all our isms, it's a crutch instead of observing carefully.

Right? And so you'll have your Calvinism and your Armenianism and your, you know, those kinds of isms. And those are a failure to observe, basically. People tend to observe a few things, run to their system and then move. Instead of observe, observe, observe very, very thoroughly and carefully. Yes.

Yeah, what what happens is I use my system and I have to end up inserting a bunch of words into the scripture as I interpret essentially I give the example where hardline five-point Calvinism would say for God so loved the world of the elect and that whosoever believe, which will only be those of the elect, right? Yeah, so you end up inserting a bunch of meanings into the text that aren't there, instead of observing, observing, observing very, very carefully, right? And I say, throw away the system. Just observe carefully, what did God inspire to have written? That's what we need to focus on, right? The world of the elect if you go for Calvinism, right? That's correct. That's correct.

And so, yeah, Calvinism has to insert a bunch of different things in there. But Arminianism, there's another ism, right? Arminianism just simply inserts different words in different places, right? Instead of saying, what does the Bible say? And observe, observe, observe very, very carefully. So, you bring up a very good point, and that is that leaning on our system is a laziness. I'll put it this way. Calvinism is a laziness. Arminianism is a laziness. And we stick to dispensational interpretation here, but dispensationalism can be a laziness too. Right? Because it's just observe, observe, observe very, very thoroughly and carefully and don't jump to our ism, right? All right, so here's Psalm 22. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

In other words, what happens is people jump to their system instead of saying, what did God inspire? Right? And frankly, those isms don't take God's inspiration of scripture seriously. They take whatever the ism is, and frequently those isms are named after a person. Right? They take those isms seriously more so than God's Word.

Yeah. Okay, so Psalm 22, written by David, it expresses emotions and events in David's own life in very poetic terms, in metaphors, and in other figures of speech. On the other hand, Psalm 22 prophesies at the same time about Christ's crucifixion. Really an astounding piece of poetry. So we'll step through it.

It says in the Hebrew notes, which means hind of the dawn, literally, and that we don't know exactly what that is. Likely it's the name of the tune for this psalm. They did not have musical notation. very thoroughly, so they would instead have to refer to, OK, this tune that we all know, that's what goes with this song, right?

Musical notation was something that evolved over time. And what we have now as written music is something that developed relatively recently in historical periods. That's another subject, is the history of music. I've got some recordings of Assyrian music reproduced from ancient times.

And it's fascinating, but we won't have time to go into that now. All right. So this Aijelet Hashashar is Hind of the Dawn, and it's likely the name of the tune by which this was sung. Some other popular song, and they put the words to music. And one other thing, did they rhyme the sounds like we do? No, they did not. They rhymed the meanings. And to the Jewish mind, that's just fine, right? It works well for translation if you go to sing it with our, you know, kind of Greek background music, you know, patterns. It is a little odd, right? Alright, so what's the first thing in this psalm?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That's what Christ said on the cross. And when did He say it on the cross? In the morning or the afternoon? In the afternoon. It's one of the few things recorded in that afternoon part of the crucifixion that we'll be going through in our 10-15 service here in a few weeks. But yeah, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

And what Jesus said was, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. He said it in not the Hebrew, but the Aramaic. So as we have noted there, Matthew 27, 46 and Mark 15, 34 are the ones that have it there. Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. Verse 2, Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer by night, and I have no rest. Why does he say day and night?

Two halves make the whole, right? And it's not God made the world, God made heaven and earth. God, you know, in here it isn't I cry all the time. You know, we would say 24-7, right? How would the Jews express it? Day and night. The two halves make the whole principle is the way the Jews would express things. And what you'll find is when the Apostle Paul writes, He switches back and forth. Why would he switch back and forth between Jewish expressions of heaven and earth and then the Greek expression of the world? Why would he switch back and forth?

Yes. His audience included both okay, he frequently had a significant number of Jews and Probably a majority of Gentiles, but he's talking to both and he wants to make sure he communicates to both Mindsets, okay And then All right, so then yet you are holy and You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel in you our fathers trusted they trusted and you delivered them To you they cried out and were delivered in you they trusted and were not disappointed Is are there Hebrew poetry patterns in that verse Right in other words you see the trusted and in the start and in the finish. As a matter of fact, trusted is in the start and the finish, and what's in the middle? Cried out and delivered, right? So, there's a repeat of I cried by day.

Yep. They cried out. Yep. So you have some Hebrew poetry patterns there in this as well. Verse 6, I am a worm and not a man. We note there Job 25.6 and Isaiah 41.14. Both have reference to a worm. Those are not the only references to a worm, but just a couple that I've given. And in the Jewish mindset, a worm, that worm idea, I'm a worm, or they're a worm, or something like that, means two things. One, very vulnerable, right? What are worms vulnerable to? Yes. Yeah, the latest bird that went around, right? Yeah, you went and dug up the soil and Yeah, so very vulnerable is worms. The other thing is of no consequence. Anybody cry because the worm didn't make it? Yeah, they're of no consequence.

Okay, so now, a reproach of men and despised by the people. Okay, what did we say? The nation, the people means what? Jews. And how do we say Gentiles? The nations and peoples. And we're going to see that later on in this. So what he's saying is he's despised by his fellow Jews. All who see me sneer at me, and this is, we put in quotes there, Luke 23, 35, they separate with the lip. Okay, he's got two body language statements. They separate with the lip. What does that mean? Stick the lip out. Take the lower lip out. That's a Hebrew expression for body language of disapproval.

Right? And it's equivalent to, in our culture, sticking out the tongue. Right? In our culture, we would stick out the tongue, and that would be an insult. In their culture, it's not sticking out the tongue, it's sticking out the lower lip. Then the next one, they wag their head, which is more similar to our culture, as people are going... Right? Disapproval. Right?

Yes, yeah, yeah, so so again we have to understand it culturally the wagging the head thing We would say uh-uh you know if I'm up here giving the message and everybody in the congregation is going You know I would say oh Right this is this is bad. I've said something wrong Okay, so then so They sneer at me, they stick out the lower lip, which is equivalent to our sticking out the tongue, they wag the head, so this is a negative expression, saying, we're on top of page two now, commit yourself to the Lord, let Him deliver Him, let Him rescue Him, because He delights in Him, and Matthew 27, 43 quotes that. Ah, that's a very good question. I'm glad you asked it because it was one I was thinking we should ask.

When David was king and he had all this territory covered, would he be writing this kind of thing about enemies? No. So what does this tell us about when it was written? Earlier when he was running from Saul and we had difficulty, when he was actually later on approved, and we'll be taking a look at that, when he was later on approved, he didn't have a bunch of enemies. So this was earlier, and so we not only know that it's David, but we know about when in David's life this would have occurred.

So he's a young adult, he's probably not yet king. By the way, when he was brought up as king, representatives of all the tribes came and talked to him about being king. He had all tribal approval for being king. So this is earlier in his life. So this is earlier in his life and it is expressing this, I've got lots of enemies and they're all around me. early on because even as David was running from Saul, more and more people started to amass around him.

So this is quite early in David's adult life. Yeah. Yes. And later on that wouldn't fit, right? Everybody came to him and there was universal approval. All the tribes approved of his kingship. Yeah, yeah. And he was king for seven years before he took Jerusalem, right? And he took Jerusalem with lots of support from the rest of the tribes.

So this is quite early. So you ask a couple of really good questions. One, who wrote it? It's David. And then secondly, when in his life? Quite early in his life this was written. Right? Okay, so let's continue on. Verse 9 is astounding because it is essentially a one-verse summary of what's contained in Psalm 139. And I'll read it here. Yet you are He who brought me forth from the womb. You made me trust when upon my mother's breast, upon you I was cast from birth. You have been my God from my mother's womb.

Okay. So, does that mean he was saved when he was conceived? No. What is he saying? In other words, even his conception, was something that the Lord had planned and the Lord specifically was concerned about him. And I think this is something that we as believers, we'll be taking a look at it again in the 1015 service, we as believers need to understand. It wasn't like, you know, I just believed and eventually became a Christian and all that. The Lord had all these things settled and planned before He said, let there be light. And then, when a person, you know, is conceived that's a believer, he's beginning to deal with you then. Right? Already having chosen you in Christ from the foundation of the world. Yeah, I look at this and I You brought me forth from the womb. You made me to trust upon my mother's breasts.

And by the way, in the Hebrew culture, they would do breastfeeding until about age four. About age four. And guess what? I became a believer when I was age four. Not that my mother breastfed me until age four, but at four I became a believer. When I got older, in my teen years, my older brother tried to dissuade me from Christianity.

Nothing doing. Nothing doing. And when he left, because he was a few years older than me, when he left the farm, I turned around and I said, I'm not doing that to my younger brother. So I taught him the Bible. He's ten years younger than me. Today he's a pastor. He's teaching this morning.

Yes? Yes, yeah. And so, you know, looking at it, the Lord has a plan for us. Right? And he has his intent for us. Yes? Backwarding to where you're teaching in Luke right now with Pharisees and leadership, the idea that God dealt with each individual Jew was already written in their texts. There is an ongoing narrative that each and every one of them individually would be designed or known or thought out by God so that they all thought, well, we're of Abraham, we're in. That was their own odd thinking. They couldn't have gotten that from anything in their text. Yes, and let's think about this.

Calvinism says that Christ only died for the elect, right? Christ only died for the elect. Did Jesus only give the gospel to those who would believe? Jesus said, John chapter 8, verse 24, John chapter 8, he said, unless you believe to these Jewish leaders, unless you believe, you will die in your sins. So he gave them the truth that they needed to believe whether or not they were going to believe. And if Calvinism is correct, he was wasting his time. Right, he would have known. So they're wrong.

Even to the point of presenting the gospel. Why would the Messiah, the Son of God, waste his time giving the gospel Telling those who don't believe and won't believe unless you believe you're gonna die in your sins Here's here's Judas, I believe Jesus died for the sins of Judas and Jesus loved him so much and expressed that love all the way up to washing his feet and on the night before Judas would betray him, that none of the disciples could tell he was the betrayer.

He loved him that much. And he expressed love to Judas. He didn't treat him differently. He loved him that much that they were clueless as to who the betrayer was. And within a few hours before Judas betrayed him. Jesus expressed love for Judas, just the same as the others.

Yeah, it just it doesn't fit with the facts, right? And I have to insert a bunch of words into scripture to make it fit. Something's wrong there, right? Okay, so now Verse 11 be not far from me for trouble is near for there is none to help many bulls surround me strong bulls of Bashan That's what oftentimes pronounced Bashan that is ever heard of Gilead Or in modern terms Golan Heights same it same thing. Okay east of and north of northeast of the Sea of Galilee.

That was a good place to raise bulls, and they got big and strong, and they were dangerous. They were dangerous. These days we've got some really strong fences and barbed wires and things like that. They didn't have that, and so the bulls were, yeah, you need them, but they're dangerous. They could easily overwhelm you.

Okay, so many bulls, so notice the sequence here. Bulls. The next one, a ravening and roaring lion. Okay, so bulls and then a lion. And so these are threatening. There is the exposure, the open mouth is the exposure of teeth, sharp teeth. And then there's lots of noise, right? It's roaring. So it's threatening. So you've got bulls, you've got lions.

Alright, here's the next one where we've got to look at figures of speech. I am poured out like water. What does I am poured out like water mean? This is going to be funny, but we would say in our modern parlance, I can't get it together. I can't get it together. I'm poured out like water. Are you going to drink the water once it's poured out? No. I can't get it together. So, then, all my bones are out of joint.

That was in the Middle East for centuries, another figure of speech expressing emotional distress. Isn't that interesting? Now, that also, however, fits with the crucifixion, because what happens if I weigh 150 pounds, and I don't, but if I weigh 150 pounds, just to keep the arithmetic easy, and I hang like this, I've got from here and here 75 pounds on each hand, right? If I am crucified, The angle that I put it out as, at 30 degrees, it doubles the stress on each joint. If I am crucified tighter, it's much greater. It can be nearly a thousand pounds of pull on my shoulder joint if I am crucified straight out. So the angle as I go out farther away from vertical greatly increases the stress on my shoulder joints, and it pulls them out of socket. So not only is it a figurative expression for emotional distress, but it also fits with the crucifixion.

All right. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. No will to resist. I have these enemies, but I just sit there, just totally unable to respond, right? My strength is dried up like a potsherd, a piece of broken pottery. My tongue cleaves to my jaws. It's parched.

You lay me in the dust of death for dogs, so here's, remember we've got a bull, a lion, and now the dogs. These are wild pack dogs, not little pet cuties. These are wild mangy pack dogs that work in a pack, and what do dogs in a pack do? They hunt, and he says, these guys are ready to spring on me. and I have no will to resist. My heart's melted within me. I'm in trouble. A band of evildoers has encompassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet.

That sounds like Luke 24, 36-40. I can count all my bones. Now here's another figure of speech. I can count all my bones means I'm skin and bones. I'm just depleted and I'm skin and bones. He's running, he's not able to sit down and have decent meals and all that. I can count all my bones, I'm skin and bones.

They look, they stare at me, they divide my garments among them, for my clothing they cast lots." Now, it's interesting, that's what they did with Christ, right? So that's quoted, and as a matter of fact, that part, I give references in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all four Gospels have that recorded as the soldiers, you know, cast lots for the garments. Now, did David lose his garments? Essentially, what he is saying is not that he lost his garments, but to his enemies, it's so certain that he's going to go under, that they're betting ahead of time. But for Christ, it was literally the case, right?

Okay, but you, O Lord, be not far off. O you, my help, hasten to my assistance. Deliver my soul from the sword. my only life from the power of the dog. Now you're going to have the, remember we had bulls and then lions and then dogs, and he's going to go those same animals, at least in rhyme, in reverse. So what's that? It's a chiasm pattern, right? So he's going to deliver me from my soul from the sword, my only life from the power of the dog, save me from the lion's mouth, and from the horns of the wild oxen, and that rhymes with, is not identical to the bulls, right?

So then, I will tell of your name to my brethren, and who are his brethren? Jews, right? In the midst of the assembly with other Jews, right? With other Jews I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise Him. All you descendants of Jacob glorify Him and stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.

Alright, so that rhymes, right? And one of the things you'll find in poetic and prophetic language is Israel and Jacob will be found near one another in the same text. And because that was a way of rhyming, right? It's a Hebrew way of rhyming. And why both terms? Jacob's first name was Jacob, right? And then he was named by God Israel, okay? Fighter with God, right? Fighter with God. So today when they say the name Israel, what are they saying? Fighter with God.

Amazing, even though most of them don't believe in God. So then verse 24, And he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from them, but he cried for help, he heard. In verse 25, from you comes my praise in the assembly. I should pay my vows before those who fear Him.

Let's ask a question. Should we make vows now? Do you mean generally speaking? Yes. Should we make vows to the Lord now? No, we don't have to. Yeah, we don't have to. And let's ask this question. What does a vow indicate? And when we talk about a vow to the Lord, what does that indicate? A promise to Him. Okay. And why, you know, I talk about vows to the Lord. Why is that, you know, why is it okay for Him to talk about it? But why does that suddenly not set well with us? And so we've got this whole group that is now kind of faded but called promise keepers, right? And the question is, should I even be making promises, right? Right? So, yeah. Good question. Yes. Yeah?

So, now that we are enemies, we have been fully identified with Christ. So, and we are completely, I don't know, encompassed, for lack of a better word, by God. God's Father, God's Son. So, and we are completely I don't know, encompassed, for lack of a better word, by God, God's Father, God's Son.

So it doesn't make sense, it's not congruent, to make a vow if you are ideally controlled completely by God, because it's a moment by moment where we live. In David's time, it was a different time in history, there was a different need, there was a different stewardship, where vows were considered. Yeah, in other words, so a vow is proper under the law. So David isn't doing something wrong, but for us, it's a matter of what God did and does, and us knowing and understanding that and walking by faith in that. rather than making promises. So under a law system, it was the right thing to do. Under grace, vows no longer make sense. Alright, we're running out of time and we have something very valuable to pass along about Psalm 23. So I'm going to race ahead more than I would ordinarily do so. Okay, so look at verse 27.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will worship before you, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations. Remember earlier he talked about the people? Okay, and then he was talking about Jews. Is he talking about Jews in verse 27? No, he's talking about Gentiles. Isn't that interesting? He switches now. Before he had a problem with the Jews, now he switches over to Gentiles.

And when is this going to be fulfilled? It hasn't been fulfilled yet. It will be fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom. Isn't that amazing? 3,000 years ago, David wrote this. And it's yet to be fulfilled. It will be fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom. And then verse 29. All those who go down to the dust will bow before him, even he who cannot keep his soul alive." Every knee shall bow. Now the next one, I'm going to switch to Psalm 23 because it's an important one to cover. David had been a shepherd in his earlier years. Where was he a shepherd? Where was the city of David? Bethlehem. Yes. Yes. Bethlehem. Right?

So he had been a shepherd there in Bethlehem. That was where he was when he was anointed. 1 Samuel 16. But even as king, he was seen as a shepherd. So we have quoted there 2 Samuel 5, 1-5. And in verse 2, you will shepherd my people Israel. You will be a ruler over Israel. And by the way, that's a Hebrew poetry pattern, right? Shepherding and being ruler are rhyming, right? And it's over Israel each time. And it's my people, single, right? Not my peoples, that would be Gentile. So it's my people, Israel, right?

Okay, now we have there some quotes at the bottom of page three, some quotes about our church policy manual and it refers to shepherding. Shepherding is a complex job in spite of the fact that it was not well respected. Protecting, guiding, leading, seeking out pastures and waters, selecting paths, correcting the paths of some, rescuing, mending wounds and illnesses, etc. Okay, so we're going to switch to page 5. This is Psalm 23, which is also a psalm of David.

It says, the Lord is my shepherd, and that the Lord is my shepherd is not just here in Psalm 23, it's also pictured in, I give Isaiah 40.11 and Ezekiel 37, and other places too. So God being a shepherd is a frequent Old Testament theme. Also carried on into the New Testament.

I'm going to skip over, I shall not want for a reason here. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leaves me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. Are we sheep? Literally. Are we literally sheep? No, we're not, right? So would you like for the Lord to make you lie down in green pastures? No. No, you really wouldn't want that, right?

And beside quiet waters, interestingly, years ago, I talked to a Wycliffe Bible translator who was working with the Tarahumara tribe in northern Mexico. And I talked to him because my dad was helping him out. But he said, wait, we have to translate this.

He leads me beside rushing waters. Because they believe that little imps called Wilibis are in the quiet waters. So when they read quiet waters that disturbed them greatly So he said we have to translate it he leaves me beside rushing waters because then there's no we'd leave ease in them Yeah, so anyway, but so really you look at this this is very much a Sheep as a figure of speech, right? I Sheep is a figure of speech. And then, in the end, what does he mean by that? What's the literal meaning of, he makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me besides quiet waters? This is rest and peace, but green pastures, there's plenty of food, so much that I can take the time to lie down.

And there's plenty of water, so much that it's right nearby, but I don't have to be over there next to it. Nancy and I used to live in Nevada, and the company I worked for did a lot of studies of range management in the middle of Nevada and other desert places. And I used to joke that the cows in Nevada have to eat at five miles an hour or else they'll starve to death. Because there's not enough grain and grass there. But here, he makes me lie down.

I have such abundance of food and water that I can actually lie down and all that I need is right next to me. Now, what does he mean by green pastures and quiet waters? What does he mean by that? What's the literal meaning? Does he mean that I am provided physically with abundance, or does he mean I am provided spiritually with abundance?

I think so. I think so, and that's one reason why we make reference in the previous slide there to physical food, milk and meat, being used, especially in the New Testament, for food. And there's lots of designations there as to what's appropriate by age and stage. I could be reading more into this, but it's noteworthy that a physical idea of green pastures, anybody who's ever grown up with Yeah, it's food and water. It's all that I need right then we have a He restores my soul. So essentially, that's telling you that the understanding of green pastures and quiet water should be understood spiritually. Right? And so it's saying you're correct. It's spiritual, not just I have physical abundance.

He guides me in paths that's actually tracks of righteousness for his name's sake. If you've ever seen where sheep go, And a lot of hoofed animals will do similar. They tend to make a track so much that there'll be a track where the grass is gone, and they'll keep walking in that track. It's one of the ways you can track deer and that kind of thing, and cows will do similarly. So it's not just a path, it's a track of righteousness for His name's sake.

Let's ask this question, where does the shepherd and sheep analogy end in this psalm? Probably the shadow of death because it changes from he and I. I would say at the end of war. Yeah, let's take a look here. It says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and your staff. That's a shepherd, right?

So that's the end of the sheep analogy. And you will find, I haven't kept track of it. Here, let me see. You will find pictures like this. Here's Jesus, you know, with sheep and, you know, the Lord is my shepherd. And those are fitting, right? But one that you'll find is this.

And He anoints my head with oil is out of the sheep and shepherd analogy. That is, it's not, it's wrong. Right? He anoints, did the shepherds use oil on the head of the sheep? Yes, they did. The problem is that in verse 5, God changes from being a shepherd to being a host. Right?

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Do you prepare a table for sheep? No. So you've just left the shepherd analogy, and in verse 5, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Does that sound like it's a bad thing? In the presence of my enemies? What? What are you doing preparing a table before me in the presence of my enemies? And why is that not a bad thing?

Okay, think of the Middle Eastern hospitality imperative. If you had someone that you had as a guest, you didn't just have provision for him, you had what? Protection. You had a protection obligation in the Middle Eastern hospitality imperative. And so it doesn't matter, here I am right in the middle of my enemies and you protect me. So it's an obligation not only to provide for your guests, but to protect them.

So you can prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies and you protect me and provide for me. The millennial banquet you're talking about. I don't think this is the case because there won't be enemies. Right? I mean, you bring up a good question, but there won't be enemies then. So this is right now where I have enemies, right?

And we also have another question to answer. Was this written earlier or later in David's career? More likely earlier, right? And it's also closer to the time when he was a shepherd. Yeah, Jim? Yes, in other words, anointing with oil is not the sheep thing. Here's another picture of it. I look for it. Anointing with oil, they mix with the sheep analogy, but it's actually something that would be done with guests. You would offer them oil for their head, for their feet. Yes That can't be Romans 17 There's that part, that if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink or do so you will keep burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil is good.

So would Paul's mindset be saturated with this idea that you protect and provide for your enemy? I have to think about that one because that's a different principle I think. Yeah, this is focusing on the hospitality imperative. In other words, he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemy's protection. You've anointed my head with oil. This is a very gracious, hospitable act. My cup overflows. You provided for me abundantly.

Next, surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me. And by the way, that does not mean to just kind of take up the rear. It means to pursue vigorously. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me vigorously all the days of my life." Why? Because of the Lord. And, and here I'm going to surprise some of you probably. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Let me have some additional comments. I will return to dwell in the house of the Lord. That doesn't mean I'm going to stay there. He's writing this psalm and he's not in the house of the Lord, but he's going to go back there. And one more thing. I think forever is probably not the best of translations. It literally means length of days. And it rhymes with all the days of my life. It's a Hebrew poetry pattern, right? And one more thing, and then the house of the Lord everywhere else in the Old Testament does not refer to going to heaven, but it refers to either the tabernacle or the temple. Everywhere. It doesn't refer to going to heaven. So he's not in... Oh, let's ask one other question.

Was there a temple during David's lifetime? No. Who built it? Solomon. David was told not. So this house of the Lord is what? The tabernacle. The tabernacle. So let me put it this way. I will return to dwell in the tabernacle for the length of days. For as long as I have days, I'm going to go back there.

That's what he's really literally saying. Yes. So could you say that goodness and loving-kindness would have a spiritual connotation as well as the pastures of love? Oh, I don't think it's even referring to the pastures. Right, I know that. Do you think that He could be referring to spiritual goodness?

Oh, definitely. Definitely. These things which are characteristic of the Lord will pursue me vigorously. for the rest of my life I can count on it. And my response to that, God so graciously being good and loving, my response to that is I will return to dwell in this tabernacle, at the tabernacle.

And by the way, could he go in it? No. He was not allowed to. Why? He was a king. He was of the wrong tribe. He couldn't go in it so he would go there right in front of it. But that area in front was still considered at the House of the Lord. Well, one king did go in there and got lepers. Yeah, so he couldn't go in there. You had a problem with that, right? Stan? This may be for another day.

Why is this Hebrew poetry pattern as well where the he is used initially and then it breaks at the shadow of death and then it becomes second person? your, you, you, and the last half. And so that's a part of poetic and prophetic writing. All right, we're way past time. We've got to end it. But to me, this is great stuff. And it's good to really see what is the psalmist saying. And so both of these are powerful psalms. Both of them are really great, and they're frequently misunderstood. And hopefully we've got better insight into what they're actually saying here.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for just the immense blessing it is to understand what it is you had David write 3,000 years ago that is so immensely relevant to us today and provides such huge insights. And we thank you for that. I pray as we continue to fellowship and learn and center it around your word and the work of your Holy Spirit. We just pray in Jesus' name. Amen.