This is the LifeSpring One-Year Bible Rewind, and coming to you from Riverside, California,
podcasting since 2004, I'm Steve Webb, your OG Godcaster.
This is the podcast that comes to you every day, and we're reading the entire Bible in
a year.
I'm glad you're here.
Where would I be without you?
Welcome.
The website is lifespringmedia.com, and this is a day I do not endorse.
It's National Dress Up Your Pet Day.
A day that celebrates creativity, companionship, and the quiet dignity pets lose when we put hats on them.
Yeah.
As a lifetime dog lover who has had many dogs in my more than seven decades around here, don't do that.
And it's Psalms Wednesday.
We'll read Psalms 36 through 38.
After my comments, we'll have an on this date in church history and a time of praises and prayer requests.
And before we get started, a little housekeeping.
Yesterday's show was published late because of a problem with my web hosting company.
It wasn't me. It was them.
They didn't get things squared away until about 2.30 a.m. Pacific time, so about four and a half hours late.
My apologies.
And today's episode will be late because the lovely lady Leanne and I had to go out and do our windshield repair business today, which went late.
As I record this, it's eight minutes after 11 p.m. Pacific time.
So I'm not going to make it out on time.
So my guess is that the show won't be published until well after midnight.
And I'm thinking it's probably going to be 1.30, 2 o'clock.
Sorry about that.
But I still got to work to pay the bills.
Okay, enough of that.
Let's get started.
Our Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that as we read today, you would teach us, that you would touch our hearts, that we would learn from you.
We thank you, Father, for bringing us together.
We thank you for your word.
And Lord, we thank you for showing us how we can better love you, how we can better respond
to you, and how very much you love us.
We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name.
Amen.
The title of Psalm 36 is, For the Choir Director, A Psalm of David, the Lord's Servant.
Interestingly, there's only two psalms that use the phrase, The Lord's Servant, in the
title.
That was Psalm 18 and now Psalm 36. In Psalm 18, David is an old man. Here in Psalm 36,
David is a young man. All of his life, David saw himself as God's servant.
Psalms chapter 36. An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked
person. There is no dread of God before his eyes, for in his own eyes he flatters himself too much
to discover and hate his sin. The words of his mouth are malicious and deceptive. He has stopped
acting wisely and doing good. Even on his bed he makes malicious plans. He sets himself on a path
that is not good and does not reject evil. Lord, your faithful love reaches to heaven,
your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your judgments like the deepest sea. Lord, you preserve man and beast. God, your faithful love
is so valuable that people take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They are filled from the
abundance of your house. You let them drink from your refreshing stream, for with you is life's
fountain. In your light we will see light. Spread your faithful love over those who know you,
and your righteousness over the upright in heart. Do not let the foot of the arrogant man come near
me, or the hand of the wicked one drive me away. There the evildoers fall, they have been thrown
down, and cannot rise. The title of Psalm 37 is a simple one, a Psalm of David. We learn in verse
25 that David wrote this when he was old. Like the book of Proverbs, the purpose of this psalm is to
teach wisdom. But unlike Proverbs, this is a song, and it was written as an acrostic,
with each line beginning with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
This arrangement made it easier to memorize.
Psalms 37
Do not be agitated by evildoers. Do not envy those who do wrong. For they wither quickly like grass,
and wilt like tender green plants. Trust in the Lord, and do what is good.
Dwell in the land and live securely.
Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires.
Commit your way to the Lord.
Trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like the noonday.
Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him.
Do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans.
Refrain from anger and give up your rage.
Do not be agitated. It can only bring harm. For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put
their hope in the Lord will inherit the land. A little while and the wicked person will be no more.
Though you look for him, he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will enjoy
abundant prosperity. The wicked person schemes against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him.
The Lord laughs at him because he sees that his day is coming.
The wicked have drawn the sword and strung the bow to bring down the afflicted and needy
and to slaughter those whose way is upright.
Their swords will enter their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.
The little that the righteous man has is better than the abundance of many wicked people.
For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord supports the righteous.
The Lord watches over the blameless all their days,
and their inheritance will last forever. They will not be disgraced in times of adversity.
They will be satisfied in days of hunger, but the wicked will perish. The Lord's enemies,
like the glory of the pastures, will fade away. They will fade away like smoke.
The wicked man borrows and does not repay, but the righteous one is gracious and giving.
Those who are blessed by him will inherit the land, but those cursed by him will be destroyed.
A man's steps are established by the Lord, and he takes pleasure in his way. Though he falls,
he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord holds his hand. I have been young, and now I am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned or his children begging for bread. He is always
generous, always lending, and his children are a blessing. Turn away from evil and do what is good,
and dwell there forever. For the Lord loves justice and will not abandon His faithful ones.
They are kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked will be destroyed. The righteous will
inherit the land and dwell in it permanently. The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom. His tongue
speaks what is just. The instruction of his God is in his heart. His steps do not falter. The wicked
one lies in wait for the righteous and seeks to kill him. The Lord will not leave him in the power
of the wicked one or allow him to be condemned when he is judged. Wait for the Lord and keep
his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land. You will watch when the wicked are destroyed.
I have seen a wicked, violent man well-rooted like a flourishing native tree. Then I passed by and
noticed he was gone. I searched for him, but he could not be found. Watch the blameless and observe
the upright, for the man of peace will have a future, but transgressors will all be eliminated.
The future of the wicked will be destroyed. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
their refuge in a time of distress. The Lord helps and delivers them. He will deliver them
from the wicked and will save them, because they take refuge in Him.
Psalm 38's title is A Psalm of David, To Remember or To Think About.
David is asking God here to remember him, to think about him, to be mindful of him because
he's wracked with guilt for some sin that he's committed. We don't know when this psalm was
written, so we don't know what sin has him in this state. This is one of the seven penitential
Psalms, the others being Psalms 6, 32, 51, 102, 130, and 143.
Psalms 38. O Lord, do not angrily punish me or discipline me in your wrath. Your arrows have
struck me. Your hand has struck me hard. No healthy spot is left on my body because of your rage.
There is no peace in my bones because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me. Like a heavy load,
it is more than I can bear. My wounds smell rotten. They fester because of my stupidity.
I am bent over and bowed down very low. All day I walk around in mourning. My insides are filled
with burning pain, and no healthy spot is left on my body. I am numb and completely devastated.
it. I roar because my heart's in turmoil. You know all my desires, O Lord, and my groaning
has not been hidden from You. My heart is pounding. I have lost my strength. Even the
light of my eyes has left me. My loved ones and my friends keep their distance, and my
relatives stand far away because of my sickness. Those who seek my life lay traps for me. Those
who are out to harm me talk about ruining me. All day long they think of ways to deceive
me. But I am like a person who cannot hear, and like a person who cannot speak. I am like one who
cannot hear, and who can offer no arguments. I wait with hope for you, O Lord. You will answer,
O Lord my God. I said, Do not let them gloat over me. When my foot slips, do not let them
promote themselves at my expense. I am ready to fall. I am continually aware of my pain.
I confess my guilt. My sin troubles me. My mortal enemies are growing stronger.
Many hate me for no reason. They pay me back with evil instead of good,
and they accuse me because I try to do what is good. Do not abandon me, O Lord. O my God,
do not be so distant from me. Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my Savior.
Psalm 36 reaffirms something for me that I have often thought of.
In verses 1-5, David talks about the evil man and how he acts, what he does.
And in verse 4, David says,
He plans ways to sin while he lies in bed.
He is committed to a sinful lifestyle.
He does not reject what is evil.
Okay, so I'm far from perfect.
In fact, there are times that I feel like the Apostle Paul that I'm the chief of sinners.
But I'm constantly amazed by how thieves and liars devise schemes.
When I hear how they do things to accomplish their evil deeds, I can hardly believe it sometimes.
How do they come up with such twisted plans? I could never think that way. It's incredible.
When, for example, I hear about some scheme that someone used to embezzle money or con some old
person out of their life savings, I'm shocked at how they did it. My mind just doesn't work that way.
I mean, they had to really think in great detail to come up with their plans. I just don't think
that way. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that I am without sin. It's just that I'm
not a schemer like that. My brain doesn't work like that. Maybe I'm not smart enough. I like to
think, though, that because the Holy Spirit lives in me, He protects me from such thoughts. As a
matter of fact, in chapter 37, verse 4, David says, Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you
your heart's desires. Well, the way I understand that verse, David is not saying that God will give
you whatever you want, but that if you delight in Him, He will cause your heart to desire what
pleases Him. He will give you your heart's desires. But I most certainly do have my share of failures.
In my more than half-century of following Him, I have discovered, like David, that real joy is
found in staying as close to God as I can, and I am so very thankful that I am His. Beloved,
if you don't have that kind of relationship with Him, I encourage you, with everything that is in me,
to reach out to him now and ask him to give you a thirst to know him, to follow him, to delight in
him. Now, in Psalm 38, we see a man that is desperately crying out to God, and he seems to
be at the end of his rope. He still has faith, but he says, Do not be so distant from me.
I don't know about you, but I've been there. I know how David feels. I know what it is to have
sinned and to feel God's correction. I know what it is to wonder when or if I will ever feel His
blessing on me again. Like David, I have cried out, Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my Savior.
Now listen, this is a good place to be, beloved, if you have willingly remained in sin.
This is a loving father chastising a misbehaving child. It's a confirmation that you are His.
He does it to correct the behavior, to bring you to repentance.
Hebrews 12, 7-11 says,
As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as His own children.
Who ever heard of a child who was never disciplined?
If God doesn't discipline you as He does all of His children,
it means that you are illegitimate and are not really His child after all.
Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us,
should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our Heavenly Father and live forever?
For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how.
But God's discipline is always right and good for us, because it means we will share in His holiness.
No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening. It is painful.
But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
Beloved, God's discipline is meant to bring us to genuine repentance.
It's a good thing.
When we confess our sin, He forgives us because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.
And that is when we can again enjoy the close fellowship and the blessings of God.
Our reading tomorrow will be Job 25-26.
Here's the verse of the day.
Lord, your faithful love reaches to heaven, your faithfulness to the clouds.
That's Psalms 36.5.
Psalm 36 reminds us that God's steadfast love reaches to the heavens and His faithfulness
never runs out. Well, the LifeSpring One Year Bible Rewind exists because of that same confidence
that God's Word is worth returning to day after day. Beloved, I rely on you to help support the
show. It's value for value. If this daily time in Scripture has helped anchor your faith or remind
you of God's steadfast love, I'm asking you to return value in whatever way you can—time,
talent, or treasure. That can mean prayer, an email of encouragement, or a financial donation
for an amount that you decide reflects the value this show has for you. You can learn more right
here.
Lifespringmedia.com slash support.
Jamie the Trucker sent in a 340-sat boost on Monday.
Thanks, Jamie.
God bless you.
And Lifespring Family Berean Brother Michael Hainer, who lives not far from me in not that
Paris, continues to stream 10 sats a minute as he listens to the show.
God bless you, Brother Michael.
And Minion, I really appreciate your boosts from 100 to about 240 sats.
Thank you so much, and God bless you as well.
And the lovely lady Leanne made a run to the post office box this morning, or this afternoon after work, and she found a Christmas card in there from Brian Kennedy from Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Thank you, Brian. That was really nice. God bless you.
Which reminds me, I have been remiss.
I have not mentioned that you can send snail mail to me at 5225 Canyon Crest Drive, Suite 71-152, Riverside, California, 92507.
That address is on the support page, too.
So if you send a check to the box there, there are no processing fees.
So that's good.
Same with Zelle.
You can send donations through Zelle.
There's no service charge and information is on the support page at
LifespringMedia.com slash support.
Beloved, if today's reading stirred something in you,
there's a verse I want you to spend a little more time with this week.
Hebrews 4.12 is one of those scriptures we hear quoted a lot.
We know the words, but we don't always think about what they're doing to us.
On this week's episode of Verses We Missed, I talk about what happens when the Bible stops
being familiar and starts getting personal, not in a harsh way, but in a precise way.
It's about the moment we realize we're not just reading Scripture.
Scripture is reading us.
You can find Verses We Missed wherever you listen to your podcasts or at LifespringMedia.com.
It's a midweek breath of Scripture and grace.
On this date in church history, January 14th.
In the year 1501, a young man named Martin Luther enrolled at the University of Erfurt.
At the time, there was nothing especially remarkable about it.
Luther was not setting out to reform the church.
He was a bright student from a modest background, studying law, philosophy,
and the classical curriculum expected of an ambitious young scholar in late medieval Europe.
But Erfurt was no ordinary school.
It was one of the most respected universities in Germany.
It was steeped in rigorous academic discipline and serious theological debate.
Can you imagine a university today being involved in serious theological debate?
Well, it was at Erfurt that Luther encountered Scripture in a deeper way,
and he wrestled with questions of sin and grace,
and he began the intellectual habits that would later shape his theology.
Well, years later, those habits would matter a great deal, wouldn't they?
The questions Luther learned to ask at Erfurt
would eventually lead him to challenge long-standing church practices and assumptions,
setting in motion events that reshaped Western Christianity.
On this date, no theses were nailed to any door,
but a journey quietly began, one classroom at a time.
Praises and Prayer Requests
Lifespring Family Berean Brother Scott Snyder sent in a praise report, and here it is.
In a follow-up to my wife's second round of mammogram testing,
it was determined that a biopsy would not be necessary
and just a more frequent testing about every six months going forward.
I praise the Lord for the relief it has brought our family
and many blessings to the Lifespring family for their prayers.
Yours in Christ, Brother Scott Snyder.
Well, praise the Lord for that, Brother Scott.
That is so good to hear.
I know the feeling of relief.
Leanne and I have been through the same thing, and boy, it is a good feeling.
And so praise God.
Thank you for sending that in.
And then Joy Kurtz sent in a prayer request for healing.
She was in a car accident some time ago, as I told you, and she sustained a head injury.
Well, she's asking the Lord for healing of her brain.
Joy, I've been praying for you, and we'll pray for you today on the show.
Let's pray.
Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we worship you right now because you are worthy.
There is none like you.
You are the Alpha and the Omega.
You're holy.
You're righteous.
You're merciful.
You're faithful.
You hold everything in your strong right hand, and your love endures forever.
Hallelujah.
Thank you, Father.
Lord, thank you for being a loving Father to us.
Thank you for your correction when we need it.
You care enough about us to do that so that we will be more like Jesus, which is where
we want to be.
Father, we thank you and praise you for hearing our prayers.
Thank you for the wonderful news about Scott's wife.
We pray that nothing will develop and that soon they'll decide that they don't have
to do any more testing than just as her normal intervals.
Father, we thank you and we praise you.
And Lord, we pray for joy.
Please bring healing to her brain.
Now, to us, this sounds like a really big ask, but we absolutely know that to you, it's not big at all.
So please, Lord, bring healing.
God, Joy loves you.
Be with her where she lives.
Surround her with your love.
Hold her in your loving arms.
Encourage her.
Heal her brain in Jesus' name.
And I pray for the Lifespring family and ask you to bless each one listening right now, Lord.
Lead them.
Guide them.
Protect them.
Each of us, Lord.
And I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thanks, Brother Scott and Joy, for sending those in.
And family, please continue to pray for Scott's wife and for Joy, as I will do.
Our next time of prayer together will be Sunday.
You know what to do.
If you enjoy the show, tell someone.
Beloved, until tomorrow, may the Lord guard your heart, shape your desires, draw you closer to
himself, and may God bless you richly. Thanks for spending this time with me. My name is Steve Webb.
Bye.
All the programs in the Lifespring Media family are made possible by your value-for-value support.
Thank you.
The Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind is a Lifespring Media production hosted by Steve Webb, the OG Godcaster since 2004.