Mike Domeny, actor, author, and founder of Outloud Bible (outloudbible.com), reads the Bible out loud in a conversational and approachable way so you can read the Bible like it makes a difference! This isn't simply an audiobook version of the Bible! Every episode offers helpful context so you won't get lost, and a brief takeaway to help apply that reading to your life.
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We take a break from Paul’s letters to celebrate a milestone week by reading “the Bible’s greatest hits” that have strengthened believers for generations. We focus on David’s greatest Psalms and let wisdom, comfort, confession, and praise shape our hearts. • why certain Bible passages feel universal and timeless • Psalm 1 on resisting corrupt counsel and meditating on God’s commands • Psalm 23 on God’s guidance through the darkest valley • Psalm 46 on God as refuge and the call to stop striving and know him • Psalm 51 on confession, mercy, and asking God for a pure heart • Psalm 139 on being fully known, guided, and searched by God • Psalm 103 on remembering God’s kindness, compassion, and justice
Send me a message. I’d love to hear what your favorite psalm is.
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Hey, this is the Out Loud Bible Podcast, and I am Mike. Thanks so much for joining me here today. I'm excited about this week of the podcast because we are celebrating our 500th episode later on this week. And so this whole week, I'd just like to step away from where we are in the podcast. We're in between two different letters of Paul in the New Testament, so it's perfectly good time to take a break and step aside here and read what I'm calling the Bible's greatest hits. And look, I love the whole Bible. I hope you do too. That's why we're here. But you know, there's just some chapters and some sections and some verses in the Bible that just mean a whole lot to a whole lot of people. They've just got a universal quality to them that they just seem to always apply. They always seem to hit home. They're quoted, they're memorized, they're recited around the world for thousands of years for good reason, because they just are so dense with so much great truth, so much encouragement, so much correction, so much instruction and peace and joy and hope, and so many great sections of the Bible that I want to take some time this week and just focus on the Bible's greatest hits together. I've organized them based on who is the author or the speaker here for these various sections of the Bible. And so today we're going to read David's greatest hits, specifically in the Psalms. And I'm pretty sure one of your favorite psalms will be represented here today. Of course, we are not going to read them all. So many great ones, and if you have a favorite one that I don't read today, let me know. Send me a message. I'd love to hear what your favorite psalm is, but I've taken some guesses today of what uh at least some of them may be. So we're going to read David's Greatest Hits today on episode 499 of the podcast. I'll be reading these in the New English translation, and I'll let you know each psalm as we get to them so that you can go back and read them yourself or follow along if you like. These are David's greatest hits, starting with Psalm 1. How blessed is the one who doesn't follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway
with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers. Instead, he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord's commands. He meditates on his commands day and night. He's like a tree planted by flowing streams. It yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. Instead they are like wind driven chaff. For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment, nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. Certainly the Lord guards the way of the godly, but the way of the wicked ends in destruction. Next is Psalm twenty three. I knew you knew this would be on the list. It's on the list for a reason. Here it is. A Psalm of David. The Lord is my
shepherd. I lack nothing. He takes me to lush pastures, he leads me to refreshing waters, he restores my strength, and he leads me down the right paths for the sake of his reputation. Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you're with me, your rod and your staff reassure me. You prepare a feast before me in plain sight of my enemies. You refresh my head with oil, my cup is completely full, and surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days, and I will live in the Lord's house for the rest of my life. Next is Psalm forty six, which I have to admit is not actually a Psalm of David, it's actually by the sons of Korah, who was a priest family. They're a bit more heavy metal of musicians than David is, but here's Psalm
forty six. God is our strong refuge. He's truly our helper in times of trouble. For this reason we don't fear when the earth shakes, and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, when its waves crash and foam and the mountains shake before the surging sea. The river's channels bring joy to the city of God. The special holy dwelling of the Most High. God lives within it and it cannot be moved. God rescues it at the break of dawn. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms are overthrown. God gives a shout, the earth dissolves. The Lord of heaven's armies is on our side. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come, witness the exploits of the Lord, who brings devastation to the earth. He brings an end to wars throughout the earth, he shatters the bow and breaks the spear, he burns the shields with fire. He says, Stop your striving and recognize that I am God. You may know this in another translation, be still and know that I am the Lord. I will be exalted over the nations, I will be exalted over the earth. The Lord of heaven's armies is on our side. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. This is Psalm fifty one, a Psalm of David written when Nathan the Prophet confronted him after David's affair with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me,
O God, because of your loyal love. Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts, wash away my wrongdoing, cleanse me of my sin for I'm aware of my rebellious acts. I am forever conscious of my sin. Against you, you above all, I've sinned. I've done what's evil in your sight. So you're just when you confront me, you're right when you condemn me. Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. Look, you desire integrity in the inner man. You want me to possess wisdom. Cleanse me with hyssop and I'll be pure. Wash me and I'll be whiter than snow. Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven. May the bones you crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins. Wipe away all my guilt. Create for me a pure heart, O God. Renew a resolute spirit within me. Don't reject me. Don't take your Holy Spirit away from me. Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance. Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey, and then I will teach rebels your merciful ways, and sinners will turn to you. Rescue me from the guilt of murder, O God, the God who delivers me, and then my tongue will shout for joy because of your righteousness. Lord, give me the words, and then my mouth will praise you. Certainly you you don't want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it. You you don't desire a burnt sacrifice. The sacrifice God desires is a humble spirit. Oh God, a humble and repentant heart you won't reject. Because you favor Zion, you do what's good for her. Fortify the walls of Jerusalem, and then you will accept the proper sacrifices, burnt offerings and whole offerings, and then bulls will be sacrificed on your altar. This is Psalm 139. O Lord, you examine me and know me. You know when I sit down and
when I get up. Even from far away, you understand my motives. You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest. You're aware of everything I do. Certainly my tongue does not frame a word without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. You squeeze me in from behind and in front, and you you place your hand on me. Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension. It's so far beyond me I'm unable to fathom it. Where can I go to escape your spirit? Where can I flee to escape your presence? If I were to ascend to heaven, you'd be there. If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, you'd be there. If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the other side of the sea, even there your hand would guide me. Your right hand would grab hold of me. If I were to say, Well, certainly the darkness will cover me and light will turn to night all around me. Even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, and the night is as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. Certainly you made my mind and heart. You wove me together in my mother's womb. I'll give thanks to you because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You knew me thoroughly. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret and sewed together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence. How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, oh God. How vast is their sum total. If I try to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Even if I finished counting them, I would still have to contend with you. If only you would kill the wicked, oh God. Get away from me, you violent men. They they rebel against you and act deceitfully. Your enemies lie. Lord, I uh do I not hate those who hate you and despise those who oppose you? I absolutely hate them. They've become my enemies. Just examine me, O God, and probe my thoughts. Test me and know my concerns. See if there's any idolatrous way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Let's conclude David's greatest hits with Psalm 103. Let's see if any of this sounds familiar to you. Praise the Lord, O my soul. All that's within me, praise
his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Don't don't forget all his kind deeds. He's the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who delivers your life from the pit, who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion, who satisfies your life with good things, so your youth is renewed like an eagle's. The Lord does what's fair and executes justice for all the oppressed. The Lord revealed his faithful acts to Moses, his deeds to the Israelites. The Lord is compassionate and merciful, he's patient and demonstrates great loyal love. He doesn't always accuse and he does not stay angry. He doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve. He doesn't repay us as our misdeeds deserve. For as the skies are as high above the earth, so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers. As far as the east horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. For he knows what we're made of. He realizes we're made of clay. A person's life is like grass, like a flower in the field it flourishes, but when the hot wind blows, it disappears, and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew. But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers and is faithful to their descendants, to those who keep his covenant, who are careful to obey his commands. The Lord has established his throne in heaven. His kingdom extends over everything. Praise the Lord, you angels of his, you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees and obey his orders. Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, you servants of his who carry out his desires. Praise the Lord, all that he's made in all the regions of his kingdom. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Can we give God some praise today? He's worthy of it. Thankful for his word, thankful to celebrate it in this way. Thanks for joining me here on this episode of Out Loud Bible. Join me next time to
