The Bible Recap - Day 106 (Psalm 56, 120, 140-142) - Year 4
Episode Date: April 16, 2022SHOW NOTES: - All the info you need to START is on our website! Seriously, go there. - Join our PATREON community for bonus perks! - Get your TBR merch - Show credits FROM TODAY’S PODCAST: -... Ephesians 6:17 - 1 Samuel 1:9-18 - D-Group Promo Video - D-Group Map SOCIALS: The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter D-Group: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter TLC: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter D-GROUP: The Bible Recap is brought to you by D-Group - an international network of discipleship and accountability groups that meet weekly in homes and churches: Find or start one near you today!
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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap.
We have another day of Psalms today, another day where David is responding to God in light
of his circumstances.
And as a refresher, he's been promised the throne, but the current King has been hunting
him down until recently, and he's living in the desert.
Most of these psalms have some sort of lament woven into them, but also lots of hope.
I'm not sure my heart would be so filled with praise if I were in David's circumstances.
In Psalm 56, David reminds himself of what is eternal, and he fixes his eyes on that,
on God, in the midst of his troubles.
It's easy to think God is distant or unfeeling when we're going through trials, but David
knows that's not true.
He says God has kept count of His tossing, has stored His tears in a bottle, and has recorded
all of this in detail in his book.
God knows and God sees.
He's not distant.
David knows that God is for Him, despite what his circumstances seem to say.
Psalm 120 is a bit different from most laments.
It's short and it doesn't end with hope or praise.
It's almost like he wrote it in a rush.
And you know what?
I love that it got recorded like this.
It's his honest thoughts,
his hearts cry to God, unpolished and seemingly incomplete,
yet it's preserved in Scripture.
This probably mirrors my prayers more closely than half of the other stuff David wrote.
I don't always remember to praise him for who he is and what he's done.
I don't always remember to preach the gospel to myself.
And this Psalm serves as a reminder from David that God invites me into conversation with
himself regardless.
Psalm 140 is another unique Psalm.
David begs for deliverance from the words, and hands, and plans of evil men.
He asks God to be attentive and he prays as God for being his covering.
In verse 7, he says, O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head
in the day of battle.
This verse reminds me of the helmet
of salvation that Paul references in Ephesians 6, with God as his covering he has protection
and salvation, and that's our only hope as well, that Christ is our covering. He asked God
to thwart the plans of the wicked, acknowledging God's sovereign control over the plans of
man, and he prays for the destruction of his enemies.
These may be hard prayers to stomach,
but we also know that these people are God's enemies too.
David knows God is a God of justice
and that the righteous will praise him
for his actions on their behalf.
He continues in Psalm 140 with a request for God
to listen and act quickly.
He's not near the tabernacle, he's in the wilderness,
so he can't be there for sacrifices and incense burning. All he's got to offer are his prayers
and his hands up in praise. So he asked God to accept those offerings. He also asked God to guard
his heart in his words. He knows how the human heart can easily be led astray. In this psalm,
even more than he asked God to protect him
from his enemies, he asked God to grant him personal integrity.
He wants to surround himself with the righteous
and he longs for accountability.
If you've ever been without good Christian community,
you may resonate with David's desires here.
He may be surrounded by 600 men,
but it's likely that none of them
are on the level with him here. They may not know God like he does or they may be too impressed 600 men, but it's likely that none of them are on the level with him here.
They may not know God like he does, or they may be too impressed by the Giants' layer
to speak honestly with him.
He probably feels very alone.
Today's final chapter, Psalm 142, is just gorgeous.
There's such a depth of ache mingled within a bounding hope.
The second verse says, I pour out my complaint before him. I tell my trouble before him.
It reminds me of Hannah when she was crying out to the Lord in First Samuel.
David feels utterly alone here, but not without faith that God will shift things for him soon.
What was your God shot today? I loved the picture of God storing up David's tears,
counting and recording all of his tossings, being attentive to it all.
David had lived in the palace.
He was a war hero.
He had worshipped at the tabernacle.
He had a best friend who risked his life for him.
And here he was, living on a rock in the desert, with 600 men who don't really get him,
while he clings to a God he can't make sacrifices to.
He can't keep the bestal calendar in the too. He can't keep the festival calendar in the city.
He can't bring his tithe. He has nothing to offer God, but prayers and praise and tears.
And God treasures every bit of it. David knows that he comes to God and he's deeply in need of everything.
He cries out to his only hope, who is also my only hope and your only
hope. Our God is attentive and he knows we have nothing to offer him, but he delights
in us still. You can take your needs and your nothing to him. He's where the joy is.
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our groups meet in churches as well.
But over the years, people have come to us with an entirely different need.
They're people who have unique life circumstances or schedules that make it challenging to meet in real life.
Or maybe they don't know anyone else who wants to join a D-group.
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to see if an online group might work you instead. Whether in person or online, we'd love to have you
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