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Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast. Powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. Let's be honest, a lot of us are still treating digital ministry like it's a backup plan from 2020. But discipleship isn't just happening on Sundays anymore. People need gospel centered connection every day of the week. And if you're stuck juggling five different platforms, one for giving, another for sermons, something else for events, it's no wonder engagement feels off. That's not ministry. That's a mess. Subsplash changes that one platform. Everything you need, media, giving, events, messaging, your app, your website built specifically for churches. No hacks, no workarounds, just clarity and simplicity. Because every day you wait, families scroll past your sermons, new guests click away from clunky sites, and real people miss real moments with Jesus. Don't waste another summer stuck in digital survival mode. Use it to get ahead, simplify, upgrade, get back to what matters. Head to subsplash.combible-dept and schedule a free no pressure demo. And let this be the summer your church gets focused and fully equipped family. Welcome to day 257 here on the Bible Department podcast. Today we are walking through Psalms 15, 16 and 17. And I love this set of three Psalms. I actually think that we're gonna get to dive into David and Yahweh's relationship through these psalms. All three of these psalms are Psalms of David. They're all a little bit different. If you haven't done the reading yet for today, then stop the video, pause the audio, go do the reading. This podcast is not designed to substitute your Bible reading, but supplement your daily Bible reading. So get the reading done. I'm not going anywhere. You can come right back here so that you can greater understand what you just read. So we've got three psalms before us today, hopefully for everyone who's done the reading. I hope these psalms were impactful to you right out of the gate. Let me kind of give you some context. We've got a Psalm of David, a Miktam of David, and a prayer of David. Okay, so we've got a psalm, pretty self explanatory. We've got a Song of David. Okay, so that the first one's easy, but second we got a mictam. So what's a mictam? I'M so glad you asked what a mictam is. Okay? There's a lot of debate on what a mictam is, and I'll kind of tell you what I think it's not, and then I'll kind of tell you what I think it is. All right, so the Hebrew word miktam, a lot of scholars kind of think that it's similar to the Hebrew word for gold, which is katem. Okay? Mictam and katem. So a lot of these psalms that are a mictam of David kind of get known as the golden psalms, okay? However, I don't see a lot of reason. At least the scholars that I really find reputable and that I really trust don't translate them that way. But the Hebrew word miktam is also really similar to the Hebrew word katamu, Katamu, miktam, katamu, which means to cover. And the image is likely to be about covering the lips in that this is a secret psalm, a silent prayer utter to Yahweh in times of distress. Okay? So there are multiple mictams of David throughout the psalms. And you can either, you know, you can look it up on your own, or you could maybe figure out, do you like golden Psalm, or do you like this idea of covering the lips? Okay, so a secret psalm. Okay, so next is a prayer of David. Okay, so Psalm 15 is a Psalm of David. Psalm 16 is a Miktam. And I'll just cover my lips when I say the word miktam. Okay, A secret prayer. And then last we get a prayer, just a normal public prayer of David. And we're gonna dive into all three. Okay, so let's dive into our nerdy nuggets. That's enough context. Now let's get some nerdy nuggets going. Okay, Psalm 15 says this. O Lord, who may abide in your tent, who may dwell on your holy hill? These two lines right here, this one verse separated into two lines is actually going to set the tone for all three of these psalms. You can sense, like, in David's soul that there is this sense of wanting to be near God, wanting to abide with God, wanting to dwell with God. If there was one thing that kind of stood out to me. And as we were studying through the former prophets, which we get a lot of the stories of David as we go through books. Like Samuel is, ooh, this is a complicated guy. Like. Like David is. David's not necessarily, like, the upstanding citizen. But then when we get into the Psalms, you're like, I love this guy. Like, when you start reading the Psalms, you get this sense of, like, this, this guy loves the Lord. And I actually think that the Bible is trying to give us a realistic picture of what it means to have a complex, complicated relationship with yourself and with the Lord. A lot of times in, you know, just as we think about people, it's easy to make people either black or white, good or bad, all good or all bad. But what you begin to realize, I think, as you mature as a person is that everyone has shades of gray. That there are moments where people are incredible, and then there are moments where people are confusing. Because an incredible, awesome, amazing person could do something or say something that's kind of like rubs you the wrong way or off. And in our current culture, it's almost like if somebody does something that you would deem or that I would deem as wrong, it kind of eliminates all the good that that person has done. And I actually think that the Bible, it creates great characters. Often it's not just David is going to create characters that are not just all good or all bad, but characters who are like. You know, it's funny because my son right now is four years old. Every show that he watches, whether it's, you know, the Little Spider man cartoon or Blaze and the monster machines or anything, right? There's good guys and there's bad guys, and he's 4 years old, and that's everything. It's either good guys or bad guys. Dada, we gotta get the bad guys. All right? And there's no. None of these shows that are, you know, designed for toddlers have complex characters, characters who are good and bad. And the reality is that sometimes we bring a toddler level maturity into life until people are either all good or all bad. And then the Bible presents us with David and goes, what do you do with David? Because there's a lot of bad. There's a lot of good. And I actually really enjoy digging into the Psalms because the psalms really highlight this man who loves God with his words and with his praise and with his song. And so these words right here are going to set the tone for all three psalms. Who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? I would say that the story of the Exodus is about God deciding to dwell with humans. But David is like, that's not even enough. I wanna dwell with you. Okay? So God's design in the book of Exodus is everybody's in a tent, and God now is gonna have his tent in the middle of everybody's tent. So God has decided to dwell with his people. And David is saying, but how do we abide in your tent? How do we dwell on your holy hill? Saying, it's not enough for you just to dwell with us, we want to dwell with you. There's this sense of, I want to be near the Lord, I want to be close to the Lord. And this is going to get highlighted. Okay, what's the answer? Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right. Essentially, Leviticus would say, those who are holy, be holy, for God is holy. Okay? Not perfect, but holy. Holy means to be set apart and speak the truth from their heart, who don't slander with their tongue, who do no evil to their friends, take up reproach against their neighbor, in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord, who stand by their oath even to their hurt. So people who will stand by their oath even when it personally doesn't benefit them, who do not lend money at interest and who do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved. Okay, so this is about who can abide in God's sanctuary. Next, Psalm, Psalm 16. Protect me, O God. This is the secret prayer. Okay. This is the Miktan. Protect me, oh God, for in you I take refuge. So not only is God my dwelling place, not only is he the tent that I dwell in, he's my refuge. He's my safety. He's my shelter. Okay, in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you. Oh, my God. This is. It's moving like it's emotionally moving. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me is essentially what David is saying. As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble in whom all is my delight. So people who are righteous, oh, man, they're the people I delight in. As a leader, I delight. My happiness. My joy is when people are following after you, Lord, not how rich we are, not how many horses, and not how great the military is. But my delight is in the holy people that follow after. You think this is a king who's saying this? Those who choose another God multiply their sorrows. So you can see David's hatred towards idolatry. Those who follow idols, they multiply their sorrows. Their drink, offerings of blood, I will not pour out, so I won't partake. Okay? And take their names upon my lips. I'll never speak the name of a foreign God or an idol. Okay? The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen from me in pleasant places. And so David is saying, because I'm loyal to Yahweh, I've been blessed. I've been exceedingly blessed. So much of the Torah is actually about the curses that will happen if you choose idolatry. This psalm is a breath of fresh air because it's actually saying, I've resisted idolatry and God has blessed me. It's the flip side of that same coin. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. I have a godly heritage. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel. God provides me with wisdom. Think about how intimate of a relationship we have to have in order for God to give me counsel in the night also, my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices. My body also rests secure for you. Do not give me up to Sheol or let your faithful one see the pit. Right here. This verse, verse 10 of Psalm 16 is going to get quoted in Acts 13:35 by Paul. Why? Because David is actually prophesying about Jesus in Psalm 16. So let's think about it. Does David actually escape Sheol? No, he does not. Sheol is the place of the dead, and David died. Okay. Or let your faithful one see the pit. Did David see the pit? Yes, he did. David saw the grave. David went to Sheol. But who is the son of David? Who is the fulfillment of King David? Who is the ultimate anointed one, Messiah? Who. Who will be resurrected from the dead? Who will preach to those in Sheol? That's Jesus. And Paul is gonna see this as clear as day in Acts chapter 1335, and he's going to preach that exact point. David did die. His soul went to Sheol. He slept with his ancestors. His body was corrupted and rotted away. Yet for the Son of God, King the Great, great, great, great, great, you know, descendant of David, Jesus. Jesus died, yet his soul did not stay in Sheol. He did not sleep with his ancestors in Sheol like David, but was raised up by God. And so his body did not see any corruption. Jesus was the true son of David, who David had prophesied about centuries before in this silent prayer for preservation and refuge, for salvation of Yahweh. Yahweh saves, or to put into a name, Yeshua, Joshua. Jesus. Yahweh saves. Okay? David's descendant ultimately answered his silent Prayer for salvation. Ain't that cool? Okay, let's keep going. Last verse of the psalm, you show me the path of life. In your presence, there's fullness of joy. Man, you know, this is a verse that gets quoted a lot in church. In your presence, there's fullness of joy. In your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Someone who has walked with God wrote that. Someone who has known the joy of God's presence and the pleasure of God's right hand has written this. And you can just see. Like these psalms just highlight the deep personal relationship that David has with Yahweh family. The wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books a Million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. Hey, are you looking for a really cool gift or just solid tools to support your faith in daily Life? Check out Mr. Pen. 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Give ear to my prayer from lips free from deceit, saying, I don't have deceitful lips. From you let my vindication come. Let your eyes see the righteous. If you treat, if you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me. My mouth does not transgress. There's this theme of my mouth, okay? Like, my lips are free from deceit. We see this in all of these psalms. James is actually gonna pick this up in the New Testament. He's gonna say, if somebody is free from sin and what they say, then they're free from sin and what they do. Because. Because your tongue is the hardest thing to tame or to control, okay? My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped. I call upon you for you will answer me. O God, incline your ear to hear my words wondrously. Show me your steadfast love, O Savior, of those who seek refuge from their adversaries. At your right hand, guard me as the apple of the eye. This is love language, man. This is romantic language. Like, this is heartfelt language. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. That same idea of let who can dwell in your tents, okay? Hide me in the shadow of your wings. I want to be close. I want to abide with you. I want to dwell with you. You're my refuge. He's using multiple different metaphors to say the same thing in all three psalms. From the wicked who despoil me, my deadly enemies who surround me. They close their hearts to pity with their mouths they speak arrogantly. They track me down. Now they surround me. They set their eyes to cast me to the ground. They are like a lion eager to tear. Like a young lion lurking in ambush. Rise up, Lord, comfort and overthrow. And then very, very, at the very, very, very end of Psalm 17. May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them. May their children have more than enough. May they leave something over to their little ones. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. So David is saying for everybody else, man, the wind. They would leave an inheritance to their children and their children's children. Let their children have enough. Let their little ones that they would receive an inheritance. But for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. That's the win. Everybody can win on another scoreboard if they want. But God, I want to behold your face. I want to see the face of God. When I awake. I shall be satisfied beholding your likeness. This is a man whose heart is captivated by God. This is a man whose heart and whose affections have been won over by the Lord. This is a man who, in my mind, I can understand after reading these three psalms, why God, in response to David killing Uriah and impregnating, impregnating Bathsheba, would say, he's a man after my own heart. Again, for my son, there's just good guys and bad guys. But I think as you begin to mature as a human, the Bible begins to invite you in to the gray, to the complexity of life doesn't just have good guys and bad guys. Life has complicated people who could write stuff like this. That, as for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness, and when I awake, I shall be satisfied beholding your likeness. But this same guy could kill a man because he found that guy's wife to be beautiful. Like, that's the complexity of the human experience. And the Bible doesn't shy away from it. The Bible's not like, trying to lie, to act like, you know, the Bible's just full of people that have just followed God perfectly. And that's hard. I'm still processing that. That's difficult. I don't know what conclusions to draw. But what I do know is that the Bible is okay with showing you every angle of a person, because the Bible has nothing to hide. And our timeless truth today is twofold. Maybe you're someone who, like, the Bible's hard to trust. Well, I would actually argue that the Bible showing you the negative or the negative side or the failings or the flaws of its real human characters actually reveals that the Bible has nothing to hide, which means that the Bible can be trusted. I would actually be leery if the Bible only had good guys and bad guys. But because there's complicated people in the Bible, it actually makes me believe, oh, this is actually a record of reality that God's not trying to fabricate something to impress me. He's actually allowing the record of human history to reflect what actually took place. And that God's not scared to deal with complicated people like David, which means that he's not scared to deal with a complicated person like me and a complicated person like you. The last timeless truth I'll leave you with, I kind of got a double timeless truth today is that I love this mictam because it's a private prayer, but here it is no longer private. And I think that the hardest thing for me to embrace as a leader is that my life with God, like my relationship with The Lord is personal, but it's never private. Like, it's deeply personal. Like, I have a personal relationship with the Lord, but it's just not private. And I think that's one of the things that you give up when you become a leader. Like, this podcast is actually the fruit of my personal relationship with the Bible, but that's not private. God wants me to share out of the fruit of how I've studied the Word or read the Bible. And I think that can be hard. I think as church leaders, we need to help younger leaders realize, hey, the moment you cross over into leadership, your personal life with God will no longer be your private life with God. That your personal prayers could end up in a psalm that people are going to read hundreds of years from now. And, man, that ministry is this overflow of our personal relationships with the Lord. But those personal relationships with the Lord do overflow, which means they're no longer private, but they become. There's this corporate benefit that we get as a church when our personal relationships with God are rich and are. Are meaningful and are intimate. And we get to enjoy the benefit of David's personal relationship with the Lord as we memorize and study the Psalms. And I don't think that's just true for David. I also think that's true for you and for I and for anyone who would lead God's people. I think that God wants us to have deep personal relationships with him so that out of the overflow of that depth, we could add a. A benefit and a blessing to the people that we lead. So that's my timeless truth for the day. Tomorrow is day 258. We're already at Psalm 18, so tomorrow we'll be studying Psalm 18, 19, and 20. If you're on a streak, I'm insanely proud of you. If you're not on a streak, I guess I'm still proud of you. I just want you to be on a streak. Come on, let's stack up the wins. I love you guys so much. Thanks for spending time with me today and going through the Psalms together. I'll see you tomorrow for day 258 right here. Same time, same place. Peace. Love you. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram @thebible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper and into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com. we'll see you back here tomorrow.