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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 family. Welcome to day 284. Today we are looking at Psalms 96 through 98. And remember, if you were here yesterday, you probably remember that Psalms 93 to Psalms 100 are all a part of a block or a collection of psalms. And so today, we are going to continue to look at the three of the psalms that are in that wider collection from Psalm 93 to Psalm 100. We are in book four of the Psalms. If you haven't done the reading today, this is a good time to stop the video, pause the audio, go get the reading done. Read Psalm 96, 97, and 98. Three short and simple psalms. They're short and sweet. And my job is to help you to understand what you've already read. I. I know there's a lot of people who sometimes they reach out. They say, well, we. We listen to the episode first, then we read. I'm like, okay, I mean, I hear you, but I want you to read it on your own first. Like, at least try to understand it. And then once you listen to the episode, you can grade yourself on, like, how. How. You know, how close did I get to comprehending that or understanding that? All right, so I told you yesterday that this entire block of Psalms from 93 to 100, they don't have a context now. They don't have a definitive context. However, no pun intended, there is a context clue. Okay? There's a clue as to the context and can actually. Psalm 96 is where we begin to discover the context. Now, once you start to read Psalm 96, you can go to First Chronicles 16. Okay. First Chronicles 16. And what you're going to realize is that First Chronicles 16, starting essentially in verse 23. Okay, 1 Chronicles, chapter 16, verse 23 mirrors Psalm 96. I mean, word for word. Okay. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord. A new song. Okay, Pretty close then. Proclaim his salvation day after day. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord. Praise his name. Proclaim his salvation day after day. Okay. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all people. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deed among the people. I'm just reading, you know, I'm reading 1 Chronicles chapter 16 starting in verse 23, I'm just reading it line by line and then just reading Psalm 96 line by line. You can do that on your own. And what you will begin to realize is that all the way down to 1 Chronicles 16, verse 34. Okay, so from 23, from 1 Chronicles 16, verse 23, all the way down to verse 34. Or let's actually just back up to verse 33. Let the trees of the forest sing. Let them sing for joy before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. Okay, that's verse 33 of 1st Chronicles 16. Now let's go over to Psalm 96. And it says, let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes. He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and all the peoples in his faithfulness. Okay, Pretty dang close. Okay, and then verse 34 ends, Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. All right, so Psalm 96 in 1st Chronicles chapter 16, verses 23 and 34 are dang near identical. I mean, pretty close. Which gives us a clue that Psalm 96 probably comes from First Chronicles chapter 16. So then the question is, what's happening in First Chronicles chapter 16? And I'll tell you exactly what's happening. David is taking the Ark of the Covenant from Obed Edom's house and actually bringing it back to Jerusalem to a restored, rebuilt tabernacle. Now, why is this so significant? Well, it's so significant because the Ark of the Covenant is known as the Throne of Yahweh. Okay? It's the throne of Yahweh. So imagine, you know, God's throne has been chilling at a dude's house. And why is it at that dude's house? It's at that dude's house because the Philistines had captured it, which means the enemy had captured the ark. And now it's just at some Jewish dude's house named Obed Edom. And David cares so much about God's throne because he cares about God's kingship. He cares about God's kingship because he cares about God's presence. He cares about God's glory. And David goes through the painstaking process of returning the throne of God, the presence of God, the glory of God, back to where God needs to reign, which is the center of the nation, which is Jerusalem, AKA Zion. Okay, so this psalm is being sang by the Levitical choirs as the throne of God comes back into the city of God. Okay, now that is huge because this is literally like what David's known for. David restores a focus on the kingship of Yahweh. So if that's the context for. For this Psalm, because all of these psalms are connected from Psalm 93 to Psalm 100, that is actually the context for this entire block of Psalms. So now that we got context out of the way and you can go back to 1 Chronicles 16, you could read the whole story if you'd like. Okay, now that we know that context, let's dive into some nerdy nuggets. I mapped out a, A, A timeline here in my trusty, dusty notebook, okay? Mapped out. Anytime I say context clues, I think Blue's Clues. And then, you know, the Steve on Blue's Clues had a trusty, dusty notebook. And so I call this my trusty dusty notebook. Anyway, you don't need to know all that, but I said it anyway, so ADHD for the win. All right, let's go. This leads me to our nerdy nuggets. Okay, so I kind of wanted to give you a history of Yahweh as king, because if we don't know how Yahweh has been treated as king, then it's hard to really appreciate how David is treating Yahweh. Okay, so this history starts out number one in Deuteronomy, Yahweh's suzerainty. So remember, if you've been on this journey with us for a long time, Deuteronomy is set up in the. In the template of a suzerain vassal treaty. Suzerain just means king. Vassal means, you know, subject, ruler, subject, or big king, little king. Yahweh is established as the suzerain, or the king, legally, like via a treaty with Israel that was signed back in Deuteronomy. Okay? So contractually, covenantally, okay? Yahweh is king, established in Deuteronomy. Now, obviously, the people ratify that covenant in the wilderness. They fail to take the land under Josh under Moses, they do it under Joshua. They go into the land. So, you know, he's king, okay, for the Book of Joshua. And then by the time he gets to Judges. The resounding theme of the Book of Judges is this verse. There was no king in Israel. Every buddy did what was right in their own eyes. That's Judges 17:6, Judges 18:1, Judges 19:1, Judges 21, 25. I mean, over and over and over and over and over again, the theme of the Book of Judges is there's no king in Israel. Everyone does what is Right. In their own eyes. Okay, so Samuel is a transitionary character. He's the last judge, and he anoints the first king. Okay? So we get out of judges and you get Samuel. By the time you get to Samuel, Samuel is grieved. And Yahweh is like, hey, dude, they haven't rejected you. They've rejected me as their king. And the people keep begging for a king. Give us a king. Give us a king. Give us a king. Give us a king. And God is just like, the people have rejected me as king. And so Samuel has to anoint Saul, and Saul is an evil king. Okay? Terrible king. Now, there's a couple things that are going to happen since First Samuel, Chapter 4, the Tabernacle at Shiloh gets destroyed and the Philistines steal God's throne, the Ark of the Covenant. And nobody seems to care. Psalm 78, verse 60. He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh. Okay, so Shiloh is where the tabernacle was established. He abandoned the Tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among humans. Okay? He set the ark of his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy. Okay, so that Psalm 78 is. Is giving poetic words, imagery to the historical events that happened in 1st Samuel. Chapter 4, Jeremiah 7, verse 12. Okay, Jeremiah 7:12, starting in verse 12, says, this Jeremiah is warning people, like, dude, God's gotta judge Jerusalem. So what does he say? Go now by my place. That was in Shiloh. So there's a warning. Don't think that just because you have my presence, you're protected. Go over to Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people, Israel. So God is saying, through Jeremiah, I destroyed Shiloh. I judged it because my people were wicked. Okay, so here we go. Under Samuel's leadership, the Tabernacle at Shiloh gets destroyed. The Ark of the Covenant goes into captivity. A amongst the Philistines, the people have rejected Yahweh as king. They want Saul. So God gives them what they want. Under Saul's leadership, he never goes to restore Shiloh, nor does he rebuild the Tabernacle in Jerusalem because Saul saw himself as king. Why do I need a throne for Yahweh when I'm king and I have a throne for myself? Saul sees himself as king. He does not see himself as serving the real king, which is Yahweh. Then comes David. Okay, so judges, everyone does what is right in their own eyes because Israel has no King Samuel, the very last judge, Yahweh says, don't worry, Samuel. They haven't rejected you. They've rejected me as king. Samuel anoints Saul, okay, The Ark of the Covenant is off in enemy territory. The tabernacle has been destroyed. Saul doesn't care. Saul doesn't care about God being king. He doesn't care about God's glory, God's presence. He doesn't care about God's rule or God's reign. He's arrogant. He's insecure. He cares about his own reign. Finally, a shepherd boy named David gets exalted to be king. And David's heart posture is, I'm not king. God's king. Let's go get the ark. We got to go get the ark. We got to. We got to make sure that there's a tabernacle for Yahweh in Jerusalem. So the reason that David is such a hero is because for centuries, not a judge, not a ruler, not. Not a leader. All throughout judges, all throughout Samuel, all throughout King Saul's kingship, nobody regards Yahweh as king, which is why they don't care about his throne Until David. David acknowledges I am not really king. Yahweh is king. David is different. David knew his role. David knew Yahweh was the true king. And so when he had control over all Israel and had chosen a place to be the capital, he then gave that authority back to Yahweh. David brought the throne, the ark, to the capital. He restored the tabernacle and declared to the people of Israel, yahweh reigns. That's why the theme of all these Psalms, from Psalm 93 to Psalm 100, is Yahweh reigns. It is the legacy of David. David is essentially saying by yahweh reigns. You think, I don't reign? I'm not in control. I'm not the one in power. I only have power because Yahweh has given me power. So why would I not give that authority back to the one who's given me authority? This is the counter to. This is going to be my Talmud's truth. Obviously, he gave that authority back to Yahweh. He brought the throne, the ark, to the capitol. He restored the tabernacle and declared to the people of Israel, Yahweh reigns. These psalms tell the real reason why David was the ultimate king, a man after God's own heart. Because David gave Yahweh's authority back to Yahweh and led the people in true worship and acknowledgment of their king and savior, Yahweh. Yahweh reigns. David never made it about himself, ever. He makes it about Yahweh. And this is why Yahweh makes it about David. Yahweh celebrates David because David celebrates Yahweh. And this is the counterintuitive nature of leadership. If I make my church, the garden about me, then God will be like, all right, you busy promoting yourself, so I'll let you promote yourself. But the moment I make it about him, God will reward me and make it about me. This is God. Remember the tower of Babel and the call of Abraham happened side by side. What do the tower builders say? Let's make a name for ourselves. Let's build this tower. And God's like, yeah, right, I'm gonna confuse your languages. You'll never make a name for yourself. And then God choose a man by the name of Abraham who doesn't care about making a name for himself. And what promise does God give Abraham? I'll make your name great. I'll make your name great, Abe. I will make sure that your name is great. So God is not anti making people's names great. God's not anti fame, he's not anti popularity, he's anti idolatry. He's anti self worship, he's anti self promotion. God's all about God promotion. God promotes people. God elevates people. God expands the influence of people. God does that really well. He does it better than social media could do it. He does it better than Hollywood could ever do it. God knows how to promote people. The testimony of my ministry career, my ministry life has been as long as I make a big deal about God, God will make a big deal about me. I really don't have to make a big deal about me. Don't really have to talk about myself that much. I'm just going to talk about God. This is going to make God famous. And guess what? The more I've made God famous, God has sent book deals into my life. He has sent speaking engagements into my life. I've stood on bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger stages. I've gained influence. Preaching clips go viral. I just make a big deal about God. And God in turn makes a big deal about me. David is arguably one of the most important characters in the entire Bible. And that is because God just goes, anyone who makes a big deal about me from a pure place with no agenda, God says, ah, it's easier for me to make a big deal about you. You make a big deal about me. You know, somebody asked me recently, it seems like you promote yourself a lot. I was like, yeah, right. I was like, I promote a message, and that message is the gospel. And because I'm promoting the gospel, God will always promote me because the message I'm preaching is the gospel. And God wants to get his message of hope and life and lordship out to the world. So as long as I make a big deal about God, God will always make a big deal about me. And that's honestly the timeless truth. But before we get to that timeless truth, which I've already stolen my thunder on, the timeless truth, let's get to Psalm 96 and 97. Okay, family, the wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos is out now and available everywhere. Books are, 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 or, sorry, Psalm 97. 98. Since Yahweh reigns, since he's king, and since his throne is being brought to the capital, to Jerusalem. And these psalms are all really about celebrating that. Psalm 97 begins with the words Yahweh reigns. And if he reigns, then that means the establishment of his throne. Is. It says it in verse 2. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Righteousness and justice. Now, these two words go together and I wish to God we just, if we, we could preach this all year, righteousness and justice, especially as we live in a nation where for whatever reason, politics has become something that has divided righteousness from justice. And so if you talk to anyone who identifies as more progressive or identifies as being on the left side of the political spectrum, big on justice. And that's awesome. That's great. And people on the right side of the political spectrum really will preach righteousness. And I just go these, these political categories that we've made just, just baffle Me and, and I just always go, hey, hey, hey, can we just, can we just teach this? Can we just teach this? Can we take our hope and our faith out of these parties and just, hey, the Bible talks about righteousness and justice. The Bible says that God's throne, the foundation of his throne, AKA the politics of his kingdom, are both righteousness and justice. Tim Keller said this and I, I think it's brilliant. He's like, my job is to be so conservative I make liberal people uncomfortable. And to be so liberal I make conservative people uncomfortable. And Amen Tim Keller. Because the reality is that the unfortunate reality in our country is if you say something that's biblical like, hey man, we're called by God to dismantle systems of oppression. People be like, ah, systems of oppression. That's a liberal word. That's not a liberal word, it's a Bible word. These are Bible words. And then if you say, hey man, God's all about the nuclear family, people like, those are conservative words. Those aren't conservative words. Those are Bible words. These are Bible words. My frustration is that you could just be teaching the Bible and people are hearing you teach the Bible and want to put you into a conservative or liberal category. And the reality is that I can't speak for everybody who's teaching the Bible. I can speak for me. It's going to be impossible for somebody who's really teaching the Bible to get put into any of these categories. These are man made categories. And I want to challenge you. If you are constantly trying to fit people into conservative or liberal categories so that you can feel comfortable with them, then that's a problem. The only category I'm trying to figure out, when I hear someone I'm not listening out for, are they conservative, are they liberal? I'm listening for, was that Bible? Was that Bible, Was that Kingdom? Was that the Gospel? Does that sound like Jesus? And that's it. If it's Bible, I agree with it. If it's Kingdom, I'm all in. And righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne. So Christians should be all about righteousness and all about justice, man. And that leaves me kind of a little bit homeless because we just live in a world that is just obsessed, I mean, infatuated with these political categories. And at the end of the day, I'm going to preach righteousness, I'm going to preach justice. Because I, because these are Bible words. These are Bible words. And I just think we got to get back to the place where the number one way that Christians Identify themselves is, are as Bible believing blood washed kingdom citizens. Bible believing blood washed kingdom citizens. We're Bible people. We're Jesus people. We're blood of the Lamb people. We're Gospel people. We're Kingdom people, period. There's no other thing that needs to be an identity marker for us in terms of ideology or worldview. Nah, man, I, I'm Bible. I'm Bible, I'm Kingdom, I'm gospel. I'm Jesus, man. If it's, if it's Jesus, I'm with it. All right, you get the point. All right, One little nugget from Psalm 97 is we're in verse 7, we're going to get the word images. All who worship images are put to shame. Now you're going to need a little bit of worldview for this because in the ancient worldview, images and idols are the same. Okay? So the reason that God says don't make any idol, okay, any graven images and those words are going to get used interchangeably is because for Yahweh, he made us in his image so that we do the job that pagan idols do for their gods. Okay? An idol of BAAL made in Baal's image is not baal, it's an image, it's an idol. BAAL actually exists as a spiritual being and the people who worship BAAL make Baal's images idols. And God says don't do that because I've already done that. I made you in my image. You are images of me. So actually when we carve out physical idols and worship them, you are actually trying to get a idol made of wood or stone or a statue to do your job for you. And that's just lazy. Your job is to reflect my image. Ok? So I wanted to just point out all who worship images are put to shame. So why does it say images instead of idols? Well, it's because in the ancient world, idols and images are. Flip side of the same coin. Idols are made in the images of the gods that they represent. So images, idols, images, idols. When you see the word image, you should think idol. These words are interconnected. All right, Last nugget. Ok. And again, if Yahweh reigns, then these things are true. All right? And that lasts. Psalm 98. If Yahweh reigns, he brings salvation. Okay? If Yahweh reigns, he brings salvation. And so Psalm 98 is all about the salvation of Yahweh. He brings salvation as an outpouring of his love, his faithfulness and his righteousness. Okay? We don't really have time to dive into all that. But I want you to see all of these psalms through the lens of if, if, if Yahweh reigns, what's true? And these psalms are answering the question that if Yahweh reigns, these other things must be true. All right, what's our timeless truth? Our timeless truth is we are gospel people. Two timeless truths for the day. We're gospel people. We have to honestly stop being discipled by CNN and Fox News. We need to be discipled by the word of the Lord. We gotta get discipled by the word of God. I just feel like I'm living in an America right now where everyone just sees life through either a liberal lens or a conservative lens. And I just want to take the glasses off everybody and say, can you just see the world through a Bible lens? Can you just. Can we just see the world through a Bible lens, please? A Kingdom lens, a Jesus lens, a gospel lens. So I want those to be the buzzwords, okay? The Gospel, Bible, Jesus Kingdom, Bible, Gospel, Jesus Kingdom, Bible, Gospel, Jesus Kingdom. Those are the buzzwords. You want to know the lens? Those are the lens. And then second, if you make a big deal about God, God will in turn make a big deal about you. And I know that's counterintuitive, but in the Kingdom, the way up is always down. And I. I want that to be a timeless truth. That's not just true for David. That's not just true for Psalms 96, 97, and 98. That's true forever. That's true for me and you today. And I think that's super, super relevant. Tomorrow we've got day two, 85. We're going to be looking at Psalms 99 to 101. So we'll look at Psalms 99 and 100, because that's the end of this little mini collection. And then we'll look at Psalm 101 as. As a separate deal. So tomorrow we got Psalms 99 and 100, both part of our Psalms, around the enthronement of Yahweh. And then we got Psalm 101, three Psalms tomorrow. Can't wait. I'll be right here. Same place, same time. Tune in and I'm so proud of you. I love you. See you tomorrow. Peace. 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 hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible you can get free access to our library of courses. And@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.