Note - Pastor Steve spoke several Sundays ago about having American Heritage Month in July. Last Sunday was his second sermon on the Great Reset and Psalm 2.
On this stream, we will continue each day in PBJ but try to link the day’s reading to something in American Heritage and use both to confound one of the eight goals of the Globalists in what they call the ‘Great Reset’… But what is currently only the Big Setup. That is what Jack Hibbs and Charlie Kirk called it.
Keep that in prayer as I research and weave this into a month of celebrating the Godly Heritage He gifted to us.
2 Sam 11-12
I Cor 5
Psalm 42; Psalm 43, Psalm 44
J. Vernon McGhee’s analysis from his ‘Walk Through the Bible’ commentary.
Psalms 42–72 comprise the Exodus section. As in the Book of Exodus, we will see God's people in a strange land, a suffering people away from the Land of Promise. The heel of a dictator is on them. You hear them groan and moan, and you hear the whip of the taskmaster falling upon them. They are in great trouble, which increases rather than decreases. Finally, Israel's cries and groans are heard, and the Lord arises on behalf of His suffering people. He makes good His covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then the Lord delivers them out of the land of Egypt. For example, in the first seven psalms (42–48) we find conditions as they were at the beginning of the Book of Exodus. But these psalms do not refer to the past; they look to the future and reveal the experiences of the remnant of Israel in the days that lie ahead. We will see God's chosen people away from Jerusalem; they are separated from the holy place and out of touch with Jehovah, just as they were in Egypt.
In the Genesis and Exodus sections of the Psalms there is an interesting contrast of the names of God. In the Genesis section the name Jehovah occurs 272 times, while the name Elohim occurs only fifteen times. In the Exodus section the name Elohim occurs 164 times, and the name Jehovah occurs only thirty times. What is the significance of this? These two personal names of God have different meanings. Elohim speaks of the fullness of God's divine power. The name Jehovah is involved in redemption. Jehovah is the One who keeps Israel.
We will find that David did not write as many of the psalms in this section as he did in the last one. David wrote nineteen of the psalms, and seven of them were written by the sons of Korah who were connected with the Levitical family. All of the psalms in this division are a prophetic picture of Israel in the last days.
In Psalms 42–44 we see the children of Israel in Egypt with Pharaoh ruling over them. Psalm 43 mentions the Antichrist, and Israel is mourning because of the oppression of the enemy. We find them crying out to God to deliver them, and deliverance comes to them. Psalm 45 is the great millennial psalm which speaks of the Lord Jesus coming to reign on the earth.
Something important for God's people to see is that the primary and fundamental interpretation of these psalms is applicable to the nation of Israel. They look to the future during the time of trouble called the Great Tribulation. Therefore, we need to be careful when we lift out a verse from one of the psalms to ask the question, “How does it really apply to us?” We can apply many of the psalms to our needs today. God's children, who are in trouble, can find real solace and comfort in them, but we must never forget that their primary application is to Israel. I think it is a terrible thing to exclude Israel from the plan and purpose of God for the future as many people do. It is almost like writing off a certain portion of God's Word, and saying, “Yes, I believe in the inspiration of Scripture that applies to me, but if it supposedly applies to other people that I am not concerned about, it is not the Word of God.” There is danger today in that type of thinking.
Let us keep in mind that when the psalmist speaks of Israel he is not referring to the whole nation of Israel, for the entire nation is not in view. We see this distinction also in the word church. Is the church made up of all the names of people on membership rolls in every church regardless of the denomination? I don't think so. The church is made up of a body of believers who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. You don't become a member of the true church by joining a visible church and having your name put on a church roll or by going through a ceremony of some kind. Only a personal relationship with Christ can make you a member of the true church. We should always make a distinction between the organized church and what is generally called the invisible church. The remnant of the nation of Israel is not the entire nation, just as all members of the organized church do not make up the invisible church, or body of believers. It is the believing remnant of Israel that we will be looking at in this Exodus section of the Book of Psalms.
Jay