North Bible Recap
Walk through the Bible, each week, with clear explanations and practical takeaways.
North Bible Recap
Episode 37: Matthew and 2 Samuel
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What does it look like to follow Jesus with both faith and surrender? This week on North Bible Recap, Pastor Christian and Pastor Sawyer unpack powerful moments from Matthew 14–18, 2 Samuel 1–16, Proverbs 11, and Psalms 73–74—from Peter walking on water, to David’s rise and failure, to the reminder that God still speaks through His Word. They also dive into forgiveness, generosity, eternal perspective, and the importance of keeping your heart aligned with God instead of just looking holy on the outside.
Welcome to the North Bible Recap. My name is Christian Valenz and I'm here again with Pastor Sawyer. Thank you so much for being this episode.
SPEAKER_03It's so good. It's a week later. We've got the same clothes on.
SPEAKER_00That's cool, Pastor. Yes. Yes.
SPEAKER_03That's still Pastor Rodney's jokes. He's not here.
SPEAKER_00You're still doing good.
SPEAKER_03Doing good. Still doing work three minutes ago. That's right. Doing good. Glad glad to be here. Excited to talk about the Bible.
SPEAKER_00Hey, do us a huge favor. We would like to know um uh where you're watching from. If you're even if you're from here, from Edmund, just let us the city that you're on. If you're from you know outside of the United States, let us know. I know we have people from Somos Church uh in Latin America that listen to the podcast as well. Let us know in the comments. But here's what I want you to do. If you're not subscribed, if you're not um uh sharing this, that's gonna help us tremendously to get this episode to more people so they can follow along, especially on Facebook. Facebook is the easiest place that you can share uh this. So we're continuing Matthew. We're gonna cover Matthew chapter 14, 14 through 18, and we're gonna cover uh we finish first Samuel, we're gonna go into 2 Samuel uh chapter 1 through 16. Uh, we're gonna uh cannot cover everything, but we're gonna cover specific uh things in there. So uh we talked about parables in the last episode, and one of the things that I mentioned is that there were some unique parables to the gospel of Matthew. I want to give them all of them to you. Uh, if you're taking notes, which I know that some people take, I know Kelsey Bird, she's one of our co-workers, she watches every Thursday and she takes notes.
SPEAKER_03Kelsey, write this down, right? Sawyer is my favorite co-worker. Put that in your notes.
SPEAKER_00So uh the parables that are unique to Matthew. So you have hidden treasures, that's chapter 13, verse 44, perils of great value, chapter 13, 45 through 46, the net. These are all in chapter 13. And if you remember, chapter 13 was the middle of the chiasm in the book of Matthew, one of the most important chapters. Why? No, not the one of the most, the most, because it's talking about what the kingdom of heaven is like. Um, the unforgiving, the unforgiven servant, chapter 18. We're gonna touch on that one today. Labors in the vineyard, chapter 20, verse 1 through 16, the two sons, chapter 21, 24, uh 28 through 32 verses, uh, marriage feast, chapter 22, the 10th virgins, chapter 25, the talents, chapter 25, uh 25 as well, and then the judgment parables, chapter 25, 31 through 46. So in chapter 25, you get a couple of parables that are just specific to the uh gospel of Matthew.
SPEAKER_01So super cool.
SPEAKER_00Chapter 14, we have the death of John the Baptist, and we talked about that. Um, the the it did not end well for John.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's a terrible, terrible way to go for somebody that served the Lord faithfully. And um further, yeah. But I mean, like you said in the last episode, Jesus tells us that in this world we'll have trouble. He says, Hey, the world hated me, they're gonna hate you too. Leonard Ravenhill once said, Why do we expect to be better treated by the world than Jesus was? Um, so hopefully that we don't have the same end as John the Baptist. But just remember following Jesus is not always gonna be sunshines and rainbows, it's it's gonna be sacrifice and hard.
SPEAKER_00So in chapter 14, uh, here's where we are. Um, one thing that I just like to highlight is when Jesus is feeding the 5,000, uh, one verse that really I I it really speaks to me, like it pops every time I'm reading it. It's uh verses 13 through 14 says, Now when Jesus heard this, he would drove from there and in a boat uh to a dissolute place by himself. But the but when the crowd heard it, they follow him on foot from the towns. And here's the verse when he went ashore, he saw the great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Oh, good. So I want you to think about this. Wherever is Jesus is going now, people are literally following on foot from town to town.
SPEAKER_03They ran around the the the lake or or wherever he was going across.
SPEAKER_00It's and they are bringing the sick. Now, that is something that you and I should be doing, yeah, as followers of Jesus. We need to be bringing people into the presence of God. Now, the difference is like the presence of God is with us wherever we go because we have received the Holy Spirit. Yeah, so it's not only like, oh, you bring them to church. No, wherever you go, you pray for people, you preach the gospel. But this is why it's important that you bring people into the house of God so they can have an encounter uh with the presence of God collectively with the people. That doesn't mean that you it cannot happen in the coffee shop or in your house, right? Uh, but it is important, and one thing that we see here is that Jesus had compassion and he healed their sick. So um, people, the world has this sickness called sin, and Jesus wants to heal them. So good. Um Jesus healing is a big theme in the gospel of Matthew. Now, in this same chapter, uh, Peter walks on water, we have that miracle. Um, I love many years ago, Pastor Manny Rango came and preached, and he said that Peter didn't walk one time, well, he walked two times because that in the middle he actually sunk. And Jesus grabbed his hand and walked back to the boat. Back to the boat, yeah. So it was something uh very interesting. Like, yeah, even when we doubt Jesus and we fall, fail, yeah, he's gonna lift us up and we're gonna be able to walk on whatever circumstance we are in. So amen. He heals the sick where wherever he goes. Um chapter 15, and uh this chapter deals with uh Jesus' teachings. Uh one, uh, you mentioned this in the last episode that Matthew uh quotes uh old testament prophets and prophecies. So uh if you can, could you read chapter 15, verse 7? I know you're reading in the NIV.
SPEAKER_03Yep, yep, I've got the NIV here. 15 verse 7, Jesus says, You hypocrites. He's talking to a group of Pharisees and teachers of the law. He says, You hypocrites, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. Do you want me to read eight eight as well?
SPEAKER_00And then he quotes verses uh seven through nine.
SPEAKER_03Yes, okay, cool, seven through nine. So he Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, and then he quotes from Isaiah. Uh, and he says, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, their teachings are merely human rules.
SPEAKER_00Do you remember when it last week and Pastor Sensor mentioned this? Who is the gospel of Matthew directed to?
SPEAKER_03It's directed to the Jewish people, the Jewish people.
SPEAKER_00So now Jesus is quoting Isaiah, who prophesy about many things, but one of the things the Messiah. But this prophecy, when they heard this prophecy, immediately they knew what Jesus was talking about. And Jesus is using an old testament prophecy to tell them that now they are living in what Isaiah uh prophesy. And he says, you know, uh, they worship me with their lips, he says, but their hearts are far from me. That's not a good place for us to be. Yeah, not only in here is something about uh plain Christianity and plain being a Christian, or like, oh, I'm a Christian that goes to church and I'm highly favored and blessed from the Lord. Like, no, no, no, no. Our hearts need to be in line with the word of God, with um his law. It's important that we don't act Christians to people, but that we are actually following Jesus and living according to the word of God. Now, are we gonna be perfect? No, we are not, but we're not gonna be imperfect on purpose, right? And then just say, Yeah, well, I'm and nobody knows this, and the the Lord loves me. Yes, he loves you. Yeah, but one of the things that I just love it, Paul talks about be renewed, uh, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Something that you and I need to do is to renew our mind through with the word of God, yeah, not with culture, not with anything else. So here Jesus in chapter 15 is talking to the Jews, the scribes, the Pharisees, these are the leaders and leaders, and he's telling them, Yeah, you are a hypocrite. Yeah, you do all the things that look holy, but your heart is far from God.
SPEAKER_03They have it backwards. I think when we when we do focus on the inside, our heart, our our mind, all of the stuff that people can't see, the external will take care of itself, typically, is what I've learned.
SPEAKER_00Um, so then um chapter 15 has a very interesting story is the faith of a Canaanite woman. Um, this is a passage of scripture. If you can read chapter uh the chapter 15, verse 24 through 28. There is a verse in here that I was always super confused, and I hope that I can bring a little bit of light.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, good. I want to learn about it too. So it says this um Jesus answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel after this this woman has come to him uh asking for for help. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord help me, she said. He replied, It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs. Yes, it is, Lord, she said. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Then Jesus said to her, Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed at that moment.
SPEAKER_00So this is a woman who is is a gentile. Now, the focus of the Gospel of Matthew is towards the children of Israel. The do you know kind of what what he said in the in the in the first verse to the house of Israel is to the Jews. So the focus and everything that you see in Matthew, and even though that Jesus does make miracles and he heals Gentiles and all that, yeah, the focus wasn't the Gentiles, it was the house of Israel, right? So this woman tells Jesus, yeah, but even the dogs eat from the crumbs of fall from the table. Yeah, what an incredible faith. What is she referring to? This woman is referring to the extended blessings promised to the Gentiles through Abraham. She knew what God promised Abraham, that his offspring was gonna be a blessing, not only for them, but to the entire world. And Jesus sees this woman, and even though he would which is kind of odd that he says, I understand, but I didn't come for you. That's kind of harsh, Jesus. Yeah, but when she sees when he sees her faith, he says, your request is granted. Because and and we need to have this type of faith that that that that we are going to pray and believe that God is going to grant us what we're asking, not for our own benefit, but honestly for the benefit of others, that persistence in in pursuit of of him is which it was very and and this is one of the things that my I have a uh study Bible, and in my notes, that's where it it I just learned about that. It says, uh, this woman is pressing Jesus by referring to the extended blessings promised to the gentles through Abraham. So if if you don't have a study Bible, might be a good thing for you to invest in that. Um, but um if you don't have it, this is why we're here to help you uh do that. Chapter 16, uh, very famous uh chapter. Um, actually, every chapter in the Bible, especially what Jesus is in there, it's pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty famous. Um, but in this one, I think what I want to uh hone in is where Peter, uh where Jesus asked the disciples, Who do you say that I am? Right, and the disciples say, Well, some people say you're Elijah, some people say you're this, some people say you're that. And he go turns to them and says, But who do you say that I am? And Peter confesses and says, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered, Blessed are you, Simon, bar Jonah, probably his name, middle name.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean son of Jonah.
SPEAKER_00So uh for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. So we have a the the great confession. Now, important to understand where Jesus is at. He is in Caesarea Philippi. Uh Caesarea Philippi was this place where there is a bunch of idol worship. There is even a uh a statue of Caesar Augustus himself in there. So this is a place that um it's not necessarily where uh you will see Jesus and his disciples, but he takes them there, and it's there that he asks that he could have asked that question, I mean, anywhere. Yeah, but he goes to this place that even that there was a section of this place, I mean, there is prostitution in there, idol worship, everything dark that you can think of was happening in this area, this area of life, and there is a place in there that actually was called the gates of hell. So when Jesus is asking this question and Peter confessing as the Christ, and he says, I will establish my church in the rock, in this rock, he says, and the gates of hell. Pretty much I want you to imagine this. I love this, I I've said this a million times. I love imagining kind of what I'm reading. So, even you know, as I'm thinking about this, I see the disciples in a very strange place. Yeah, why is Jesus bringing us to where there is prostitution, idol worshiping, uh offering things to idols, and now he's bringing us to this place that probably the area is called the gates of hell, right? And he's saying, I'm gonna build my church, and none of this that is around you will be able to stop it. Yeah, I mean, that's probably the dark, one of the darkest places uh that they could have gone. And Jesus is saying, I'm gonna establish myself, my church, and none of this is gonna be able to stop it. Uh, I also believe that he was preparing them for what was to come. Uh, so that's happening in chapter 16. Then, right after, he foretells his his death. And what does Peter said?
SPEAKER_03Get behind me, or no, he says, Never, Lord, you will never, you'll never die. We're not gonna let you. And Jesus responds, get behind me, Satan. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00It's funny how somebody can be anointed in one place and be the devil.
SPEAKER_03Literally, two passages. He's like, You are the rock of the church, and no, you are the devil right now.
SPEAKER_00Then chapter 17 is a transfiguration. This is where he takes uh three of the disciples, yeah, and the Jesus is there, and Elijah and Moses appear. And I think it's it's it's very important to understand what who's there, you know. Elijah, an amazing prophet from the Old Testament, right? And Moses, which was the prophet of prophets. I mean, uh, even in this time, I guarantee you that even his disciples still believe that Moses was greater than than Jesus at that point. But it's important to understand because why is Matthew uh uh doing also Matthew is telling uh through this story that one greater than Moses is to come, and now we have Moses in the in the mouth of the transfiguration, so it's it's a very, very, very cool moment. Uh, but then Jesus goes and starts healing the boy that is demon possessed. Um, and we get to chapter 18. Here's where we're gonna end today and our in in Matthew. So this is the fourth block of teaching. Again, remember there's five blocks of teachings in the Bible, and in between, Jesus is healing everyone. Um, and this one starts in chapter um it's chapter chapter 18. Um, that's where you have the parable, the lost sheep, the temptation temptations of Jesus. Uh, so lots of parables uh in here. One of the things that I really really like about in here is that we have uh the the question about forgiveness. They ask the question because Jesus teaching, remember, and he the he came to proclaim the gospel, teach, and to kill everyone. He's asked that they're asking to say, Well, how how much should I forgive my brother? Which is listen, when somebody is hurting me and uh being ugly to me, I also asked the question, but Lord, how long? And he says, 70? No, 70 times seven. But and and it's not about the amount, it's just an absurd amount, yeah. Because why? Because that's what God does with us, right? He forgives us time after time, time after time, time after time. So, chapter 18, that's the fourth block of teaching in the gospel of Matthew. There is one more um in the Gospel of Matthew. Uh, but where are we gonna end? We're gonna go into 2 Samuel chapter 1 through 16. Um, have you ever wondered who wrote 2 Samuel Professor Sawyer?
SPEAKER_03So I I sometimes do wonder that. I'm I'm expecting you to tell me right now.
SPEAKER_00What why did you wonder that?
SPEAKER_03Because Samuel Samuel dies. Yeah, he's not he's not there.
SPEAKER_00How are you writing from the dead? Right. So uh this is this is a question that has been um kind of like asked and wondered because we know that Samuel is writing the book of Samuel. Uh so Pastor Samson mentioned this last week that the book of Samuel was one book, it's not first Samuel and 2 Samuel. Uh they have divided it just to show kind of like the the difference in the stories, uh, but it was one book, and probably Samuel wrote kind of like the beginning of 1 Samuel until he died. Yeah, uh, but also um uh probably the prophet Nathan, it's someone else that is the continue that now that happened to multiple of the prophets, yeah. Uh, I think even the the prophet um Isaiah, I believe.
SPEAKER_03Isaiah, um and then Jeremiah had somebody he had they all had ghostwriters essentially. So they had uh even even like Joshua, Joshua dies at the end of Joshua, but he wrote the book, so Moses does too, right? Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Um so so yeah, so Samuel wrote that wrote it, but probably after his death, probably the prophet Nathan, which is it's it's who is kind of like that the the following uh his footstep, and he is the prophet that is with David. So, anyways, uh chapter uh first uh Samuel, uh it was the story of Saul coming into his power, his kingship, and his fall.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00In first Samuel, you see David's up and coming as a king, and then in 2 Samuel is where it's now is David's story on it, and we do see David's fall as well.
SPEAKER_03Uh so in 1 Samuel chapter 1, uh Saul is dead, so and so is Jonathan, yeah, and David is sad about it, David's best friend, yep, and then the guy that's been hunting him for years and years and years trying to kill him.
SPEAKER_00And you will think, oh Saul, Saul is dead, yay! No, yeah, he's lamenting, yeah. He's sad about this. So uh that's kind of what's happening in chapter one and chapter two. David is anointed king of Judah. Uh now, something very important to understand. He was called to be a king when he was probably 12 to 15 years old. He's probably now in his 30s, kind of what we read, but he wasn't king of Israel, right? The entire thing. Right now, he's king only of Judah, which is the southern kingdom. Yeah. And he was only the king of Judah, just Judah, for about seven to eight years. Right. Uh later on, I believe in chapter six, um, he becomes a king of Israel as well. So now David is conquering, he's fighting, right? He is uh he actually recovers the Ark of the Covenant. And uh when he recovers it, he gets really like worried because, like, I cannot keep this. So he asks somebody else to keep it and his house started to be blessed.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, can you imagine just some guy has the Ark of the Covenant in his house?
SPEAKER_00And because he's worried, like, oh, if there is not a house for this, uh, what's gonna happen? Everyone is gonna die. So, um, so then here we have that the this man's house is being blessed, and now David uh brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, uh Israel. And uh something very important that we need to understand is that in during this time, David is such a different king than uh Saul. Uh he's not using his power uh for whatever is best for him yet. Uh, but yeah, he is being a really good king, he is conquering land, he's stretching the kingdom of Israel, making it bigger, yeah um, conquering land. He was a warrior, and then chapter seven is the chapter that I really want to like focus in because this is a very important chapter. I think I would even say I was reading some commentaries, and some scholars believe this is probably the most important chapter uh or even that happened in the old testament. Wow, because in chapter seven, really the the conversation goes David is trying to wants to build God a house, but God is telling him, Hey, there's too much blood in your in your hands, you are a warrior. But hey, one of your descendants are gonna are gonna do that, talking about King Solomon. And when you read the story, David did everything but build the the temple. He bought everything, he took care of everything for his son uh to do that. But what is incredible about this story is that in chapter seven, uh God establishes his covenant with David. Uh, he's telling God, God, I want to build a house uh for you. And God actually turns and says, David, my lineage will be established through you. So it's like he's trying to do something. Something kind of like beautiful and go good for God, and God turns and says, Hey, I'm gonna make a covenant with you. Yeah, that the king of Israel it's going to be everlasting. So good. Saul lost his kinship, and Jonathan wasn't able to do that.
SPEAKER_03It's now with a new family, a new line.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And now the covenant that God makes with David, it tells him, No, your lineage will be forever the kings of Israel.
SPEAKER_03So good. I think it helps understand the rest of the New Old Testament is the covenant. Somebody taught me one time to read the Old Testament. You understand the three major covenants that God gave to individual people. And they all start with L. He promised Abraham a land, promised Moses a law, promised David a lineage. And we remember the land, the law, the lineage, it helps point everything to Jesus and the coming of the Messiah. So that's it, right there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and because of it, it's now we get Jesus through the lineage. What is Matthew doing in the beginning of the book? Did you skip chapter one? Is it chapter one in that or something?
SPEAKER_03Matthew one. Yeah. The genealogy of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00Genealogy of Jesus. What is Matthew doing? He is pointing Jesus to David. He's pointing Jesus to um to the key, how it this aligns with so cool. What is happening? So it's kind of cool that we're reading Matthew, and it's a fulfillment of this promise right here. Literally, it is promise. Uh, it says in verse 16, it says, in your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever, in accordance with all these words, and and in accordance with all this vision. Nathan spoke to David. So cool. So God is speaking through the prophet and the uh Nathan. So uh lot more things happen in this book that we cannot cover, but I really encourage you to read the story. Read it, read it, read it. It's a beautiful story. Uh, but then he is anointed king over all Israel. Uh, we read that we talked about that already. Um, then the the lineage is established. So I'm I'm flipping through my pages. Um, David had many victories. Um, if you have a study Bible, which I I do have one, uh you can see some maps as how it looked back then. You will think that Israel was like, I mean, massive, right? No, it was actually pretty small compared to what we often uh think. So, but what I want to go to in is chapter 11. Okay. Chapter 11 is where David falls, and he has a pretty um awful uh moral failure. Yeah, uh, and it it it and it all starts in verse 1. Can you read 11, verse 1?
SPEAKER_03Yes, it says in the spring at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00So it's it makes it very clear, and Nathan probably is the one writing this, makes it very clear that David was supposed to be at war, yeah, but he stayed behind. And because of it, we continue to read the story. You already read the story if you're listening to this podcast, right? He sees Bathsheba, he saw with his eyes and desire and call for her. Uh, many people believe that she had no option. That some people believe that he pretty much took advantage of her, kind of like even like being the king of Israel, yeah. Well, as far as like he probably raped her, we don't know that. There's no way the scripture is telling us, but we know that what he did was awful, yeah, awful, awful, awful. And then that but here's the thing I don't think that was the worst part. Yeah, that he fought in sin. It just snowballs, it's just and this is what happens with sin. When we sin, we and we try to cover up, which is what he did, it just became that massive snowball. Then he tells Joab, Joab was his his his uh commander. I mean Joab was whoo a warrior like him.
SPEAKER_03Bad dude.
SPEAKER_00He is uh at war and he sends a letter and says, Hey, send me Uriah.
SPEAKER_03Uriah was who?
SPEAKER_00The husband of Bathsheba. Right now, Bathsheba's pregnant, so he receives that. So he tried to trick Uriah to come home and sleep with his wife. So he thinks it's his kid, that it's his kid, but Uriah has so much integrity and said, My brothers are fighting. Yeah, I cannot go.
SPEAKER_03Like sleeps outside, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sleeps outside of the of the of the of the of the palace. I'm like, but here's the picture that's what David was supposed to be doing. Yeah, fighting to be fighting, and Uriah does not go home, and David try to get him drunk to try to go home, and he's like not going. So he's give him a letter and tell tells it, take this to Joab. And and the letter said, put him in the front. And what does that basically mean? He's gonna be gonna die.
SPEAKER_03He's pretty much the the sacrifice of the of the fight because you're right up there in the front, nobody's defending you. Yep, and he tells him just stay back, just pretty much not only put him in the front, everybody else get away from him. So he's one man fighting a whole other army, essentially.
SPEAKER_00So horrible thing, and because of it, uh, we have chapter 12. Uh, David, um, David is confronted by the prophet Nathan. And Nathan, it's again, if you're listening to last week's episode, I was just telling the purpose of a parable. Really, the purpose of the parable wasn't to bring clarity, but really to harden someone's heart and make somebody mad. And that's what happened. Nathan is telling him this parable, and David gets upset and he says, We gotta kill that man. He said, And he said, Who is that man? He says, You are that man. Yeah, the prophet, and this the importance of we need godly people in our life that will call our sin out.
SPEAKER_03Amen.
SPEAKER_00And now we have two options either we can um surrender to the Lord when somebody calls out, or we can just walk away and do whatever we want. Right, we should do what David did, even though he sinned, he tried to cover it up, got the man killed, right? He repent, which is the beautiful, uh, kind of the beautiful story.
SPEAKER_03That's part of what makes him a man after God's own heart was that he repented when he when he fell, when he sinned.
SPEAKER_00And I I said this in the in the last episode. Often we struggle with David because we like to see this as a moral story, right? But really, what to see is his heart, even though when he fell in sin, he was quick to ask for forgiveness to the Lord. And you know, when you continue to read the story, they actually lost the son. Yeah, um, and then uh out of that uh all of that, it's when we get King Solomon later on, which is the king that uh the prophet Nathan said he is gonna be the one that builds the house. So uh anyway, that's uh 2 Samuel, we're gonna continue and close uh next week, but we got some psalms.
SPEAKER_03That's right, we got a proverb this week, too. So I'm excited about this. So um we're gonna look at Proverbs 11, and then we're gonna look at uh two Psalms as well. So Proverbs chapter 11. This is the chapter um is from kind of like the meat of the book. Um it's a section where there's just hundreds of ancient wisdom sayings on all sorts of topics: family, work, community, relationships, sex, marriage, money, debt, anything.
SPEAKER_00It's it's loaded.
SPEAKER_03It is it is loaded. So read Proverbs, don't don't skip them. It is amazing. And what's interesting about Proverbs is it's kind of meant to be like a reference guide for us to refer to as we follow Jesus and and to learn how we can live wisely in God's world. Something that has been was difficult for me to learn, but now helps me read the Proverbs in context is that they are not necessarily promises. It doesn't mean if I do A, B will happen to me. Um but what it does mean is that they are probabilities or principles, which means they're not always true, but usually these things are going to be true. Um and they help us live a wise life, a good life. And I just want to pull out one of these Proverbs. It was really hard to pick just one. Um, but Proverbs 11:25 says a generous person will prosper. Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Now remember, this isn't necessarily a promise. It doesn't mean that if you are generous, you're gonna be rich um financially, but it's an encouragement um and a reminder that we can't outgive God. We can never give more than He does. And generosity is one of our values at North Church. We lead the way in generosity, is what we say. And the takeaway, the observation from this proverb is that giving isn't generous if you're expecting something in return. We're not just giving so that we can get something back, we're giving because it's what God has called us to do. Um, John Bunyan once wrote, You haven't lived until you've done something for someone who can never repay you. Um I think that's that's like what Jesus did for us. Yeah. Um in Matthew 6, 3, uh, which we talked about a few weeks ago on on this podcast, uh, in the Beatitudes Jesus, or sorry, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, When you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. And it kind of makes me wonder, man, when was the last time I did something nice for somebody? I gave something to somebody without anyone else knowing? Yeah. When was the last time that I did something for someone when I had absolutely nothing to gain for it? Um because giving isn't generous if we are expecting something in return. So that's just one verse from Proverbs. There's so many more. Go read Proverbs 11 this week. Um, and let's jump over to Psalms. We're gonna look at two Psalms today, Psalms 73 and 74. Um, and this is kind of the opening of a section that is in my Bible. It's labeled Book Three of Psalms, because just like a lot of other books in the Bible, this has been compiled over time, and there's five books in Psalms, and uh these five books actually correlate with the five books of the Torah as well, um, which means that book three, which is the one that we're gonna start today of Psalms, correlates with the third book of the Torah, which is I'm gonna let you answer at home. Leviticus is the third book of the Torah. And Leviticus uh guides the people in their relationship with God, it's kind of the bulk of the law, and book three of Psalms is guiding the people in worshiping God, um, teaching about his sovereignty. I didn't know that. It's so good. It's it's pretty it's been pretty interesting um to learn. So Psalm 73 is the first one in book three, and it's written by a guy named Asaph. Okay, and Asaf was kind of like the famous worship leader of the day. Um he was known as a great singer, a great musician in the time of David, and then he also uh led in the time of Solomon as well. And when David was king, David appointed Asaph to be the chief musician over the Levites. So he was like the first worship pastor for the nation of Israel, pretty much. And Asaph actually, there's 12 psalms that are attributed that we we know um were written by him, and that's actually the second most after David. Nobody's close to David. I think David David's like what, like over 70 or something.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, a lot of them.
SPEAKER_03Um Asaph is the next uh number two, and he wrote at least 12. So in this psalm, ASAF kind of brings up a problem at the beginning, and he's essentially asking God, how can you be good? And all of these wicked people I see are are prospering and they are having these amazing lives.
SPEAKER_00I have that question too. All the time.
SPEAKER_03But then in the middle of the book, which is the part we're gonna we're gonna look at today, in the middle of the book, his perspective actually kind of shifts. And then at the end of the book, he sees the reality that the wicked are not gonna prosper forever, and that we have a hope in in God when we live righteously. So I want to look at that middle part where his perspective shifts. It's Psalm 73, verses 16 and 17. ASAF wrote this when I tried to understand all this, why the wicked were prospering, why um good things were happening to bad people and bad things were happening to good people, it troubled me deeply. Verse 17, until I entered the sanctuary of God, and then I understood their final destiny. He's saying that he was confused um and not understanding what was happening in the outside world until he went into the house of God and then he had an eternal perspective. Um, so the takeaway from this psalm is that spending time in God's house with God's people helps us to have an eternal perspective. That's why we we talk about it all the time is our framework of faith, the word of God, the people of God, the spirit of God, and surrender to God. We need the people of God. And when we gather together in church, in small groups, in north groups, um, when we gather together and talk about God's word, um, it helps us to shift our perspective to think eternally. So that's Psalm 73, and then Psalm 74 is another one written by ASAF as well. Now, this one is is super interesting. I was kind of nerding out on this um as I was preparing. So this this psalm in the heading, it says a maskle. And I that's in a lot of the psalms, and I always think it's interesting because in my Bible, I don't know about yours, Pastor Christian, but it says pretty much in the footnotes, it's like we don't really know what this word means, but here's how we think it means um it describes the purpose of the psalm. So different versions of the Bible, different translators have interpreted that word differently. So it may be like a contemplation, so this is like a thoughtful psalm, or it may be an instruction, so like a teaching. Um, the word may mean that it's something that has insight. So it's a massive, it's a it's a unique type of psalm. We know that. And in this psalm, Asaf is asking God to remember the sanctuary being destroyed. Now, here's where we're gonna get kind of nerdy for a second, okay? The sanctuary being destroyed is referring to most likely the destruction of the temple by Babylon in 586 BC. Okay, why does that matter? Because Asaph lived in the 11th century BC. So that was about 400 to 500 years before the temple was destroyed. So, how is Asaph writing this psalm, praying to God about the destruction of the temple? Is he from the future? No, he's he's prophesying. That's what he's doing here. Not only is he I was like very confused. I was like, Well, you just told me that David is and how do we know that for sure? Well, in 1 Chronicles 25, it says that David set apart Asaph for the ministry of prophecy, and then in 2 Chronicles, uh, it refers to Asaph as Asaph the seer. So he wasn't only a worship leader, he wasn't only a singer, uh a psalmist, but he was a prophet for the nation of Israel and was prophesying something that was coming five or six hundred years later. Um, but the key verse I want to look at from this psalm is that while Asaph is lamenting the future destruction of the temple and calling for God's restoration, he writes this in Psalm 74, verse 9. We are given no signs from God. No prophets are left, and none of us know how long this will be. I think it's kind of ironic and kind of funny that the guy that we just said is a prophet is saying, There's no prophets. Like God, there is nobody here to speak for you. And perhaps I think the issue wasn't necessarily that there was no one prophesying to Israel, but maybe that nobody was listening. I don't know about you, Pastor Christian, or you listening at home or in the car, but there's been a lot of times in my life where I have felt like God's not listening, like God's not there, like my prayers are not being heard at all. And sometimes I feel like, man, God's not speaking to me. I'm not hearing from God. Why am I not hearing from God? But then I remember that I have my Bible right there. I'm holding up my Bible if you're if you're listening, if you're not watching, I remember I have my Bible right there, and this is God wanting to speak to me. So the takeaway from this psalm is that God wants to speak to you. So just open up your Bible. God wants to speak to you, so open up your Bible. And that's the goal of this whole podcast is not just so that we can teach you stuff because we're not that great, we're not that smart, we're learning. Um, but we want to encourage you to open up God's word for yourself. So that's Proverbs and Psalms this week.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much. That was great. That was really, really good. Thank you for teaching me that.
SPEAKER_03It was it was a fun thing to learn. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I hope that this uh episode has been a blessing uh to you. Here's what I want you to do again like, subscribe, make sure you're writing a review, if you're listening to an Apple Podcast, if you're in Spotify, uh share this with someone if you're on Facebook, on YouTube, text this to someone, and also go tell Pastor Ronnie next time you see him. Man, old Pastor Christian and Pastor Soya did so good.
SPEAKER_03They did so good.
SPEAKER_00They're so good. Thank you so much for being in another episode of the North Bible reading.