Steve Webb 0:00 The Lord listens to the needy. Steve Webb 0:10 This is the Lifespring! One Year Bible and I'm coming to you from Riverside, California, podcasting since 2004. I'm your OG Godcaster. Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we're reading through the entire Bible every year. It Psalms Wednesday, and we'll read chapters 69 through 71. And we'll have a time of prayer. And our second installment of essentials. I'm calling this episode praising God regardless. Let's get started with prayer. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you once again for the Psalms and we ask that You would bless our time of reading today. Teach us Lord, I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, are you ready? Let's get started. Steve Webb 0:56 Introduction to Psalms 69. The title of this psalm is to the chief musician set to the lilies, a Psalm of David. You probably remember that some commentators believe that to the chief musician is referring to the music leader at the temple, and others believe that it refers to God, the chief musician, set to the lilies probably refers to a tune called the lilies. And then of course, a Psalm of David tells us who wrote it. Commentator G. Campbell, Morgan wrote, perhaps in no Psalm in the whole Psalter is the sense of sorrow profounder or more intense than in this, the soul of the singer pours itself out in unrestrained abandonment to the overwhelming and terrible grief, which consumes it. Steve Webb 1:45 Psalms chapter 69 Saved me God, because the waters have reached my neck. I have sunk into deep mud. My feet can't touch the bottom. I have entered deep water. The flood has swept me up. I'm tired of crying. My throat is hoarse, my eyes are exhausted with waiting for my god. more numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me for no reason. My treacherous enemies, those who would destroy me are countless. Must I now give back what I didn't steal in the first place? God, you know, my foolishness. My wrongdoings aren't hidden from You, Lord God of heavenly forces. Don't let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me, God of Israel. Don't let those who seek you be disgraced because of me. I am insulted because of you. Shame covers my face. I have become a stranger to my own brothers and immigrant to my mother's children. Because my passion for your house is consumed me the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. I wept while I fasted, even for that I was insulted. When I wore funeral clothes, people made fun of me. Those who sit at the city gate muttered things about me. Drunkards made up rude songs, but me. My prayer reaches you Lord at just the right time. God in your great and faithful love. Answer me with your certain salvation. Save me from the mud. Don't let me drown. Let me be saved from those who hate me. And from these watery depths. Don't let me be swept away by the floodwaters. Don't let the Abyss swallow me up. Don't let the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, Lord, for Your faithful love is good. turned to me and your great compassion. Don't hide your face from me your servant because I'm in deep trouble. Answer me quickly. Come close to me. redeem me, save me because of my enemies. You know full well the insults I've received. You know my shame and my disgrace. All my adversaries are right there in front of you. Insults have broken my heart. I'm sick about it. I hoped for sympathy, but there wasn't any. I hoped for comforters but couldn't find any. They gave me poison for food. To quench my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let the table before them become a trap their offerings a snare. Let their eyes grow to dim to see. Make their insides tremble constantly. Pour out your anger on them. Let your burning fury catch them. Let their camp be devastated. Let no one dwell in their tents. Because they go after those you've already struck. They talk about the pain of those you've already pierced. Pile guilt on top of their guilt. Don't let them come into your righteousness. Let them be wiped out of the scroll of life. Let them not be recorded along with the righteous and me. I am afflicted. I'm full of pain. Let your salvation keep me safe God. I will praise God's name with song I will magnify Him with Thanks because that is more pleasing to the Lord than an ox more pleasing that a young bull with full horns and hooves. Let the afflicted see it and be glad you who seek God, let your hearts beat strong again, because the Lord listens to the needy and doesn't despise his captives. Let heaven and earth praise God, the oceans too, and all that moves within them. God will most certainly save Zion, and will rebuild Judas cities so that God's servants can live there and possess it. The offspring of God's servants will inherit Zion, and those who love God's name will dwell there. Steve Webb 5:37 Introduction to Psalm 70 The title of this psalm is to the chief musician, a Psalm of David to bring remembrance. Martin Luther wrote, This prayer is the shield, spear, Thunderbolt and defense against every attack of fear, presumption, and lukewarmness, which are especially dominant today. Steve Webb 6:02 Psalms chapter 70. Make haste Oh, God to deliver me. Make haste to help me Oh, Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded who seek my life. Let them be turned back and confused, who desire my hurt. Let them be turned back because of their shame who say A ha ha. Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. And let those who love your salvation say continually, let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy. Make haste to me. Oh God, you are my help and my deliverer. Oh, Lord, do not delay. Steve Webb 6:41 Introduction to Psalm 71. This Psalm is Untitled. We therefore do not know its author. We don't know it's time or the circumstances under which it was written. Charles Spurgeon had this to say about it. We have here the prayer of the aged believer who in holy confidence of faith, strengthened by a long and remarkable experience pleads against his enemies and asks further blessings for himself. Steve Webb 7:09 Psalms chapter 71. Lord, I have come to You for protection. Never let me be defeated. Because your righteous helped me and rescue me. Listen to me and save me. Be my secure shelter and a strong fortress to protect me. You are my refuge in defense, my God, rescue me from Wicked people from the power of cruel and evil people. Sovereign Lord, I put my trust in you. I have trusted in us since I was young. I have relied on you all my life. You have protected me since the day I was born. I will always praise you. My life has been an example to many, because you have been my strong defender. All day long. I praise you and proclaim Your glory. Do not reject me now that I am old. Do not abandon me now that I am feeble. My enemies want to kill me. They talk and plot against me. They say God has abandoned him. Let us go after him and catch him. There is no one to rescue him. Don't stay far away from me. Oh God, my God, hurry to my aid. May those who attack me be defeated and destroyed. May those who tried to hurt me be ashamed and disgraced. I will always put my trust in you. I will praise you more and more I will tell if your goodness, all day long I will speak of your salvation. Though it is more than I can understand. I will go in the strength of the Lord God, I will proclaim Your goodness yours alone. You have taught me ever since I was young, and I still tell if you're wonderful acts. Now that I am old and my hair is gray. Do not abandon me. Oh God, be with me while I proclaim Your power in might to all generations to come. Your righteousness God reaches the skies. You have done great things. There is no one like you. You have sent troubles and suffering on me, but you will restore my strength. You will keep me from the grave. You will make me greater than ever, you will comfort me again. I will indeed praise you with the harp, I will praise your faithfulness my god. On my heart. I will play hymns to you the Holy One of Israel. I will shout for joy as I play for you. With my whole being I will sing because you have saved me. I will speak of your righteousness all day long, because those who tried to harm me have been defeated and disgraced. Steve Webb 9:33 All right, beloved, let's talk for a few minutes about Psalm 69. This is a Psalm which is especially applicable today if you ask me and will become even more so as we approach the last days. David began this psalm asking God to save him and he writes about how utterly miserable he feels. He says I'm tired of crying. My throat is hoarse, my eyes are exhausted with waiting From my God. And then in verse four, he reveals the reason for his misery. He says, more numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me for no reason. My treacherous enemies, those who would destroy me are countless. Must I now give back what I didn't steal in the first place? Beloved, David is being attacked without cause. Does that sound familiar? And you thought cancel culture was a new phenomenon. So why do they hate him? Verse seven tells us, I am insulted because of you. Verse nine, because passion for your house has consumed me the insults of those who would assault you have fallen on me. So they hated David because David loves the Lord and because he lives his life for God. And if it isn't bad enough that strangers hate him, even his brothers have rejected Him. Verse eight says, I have become a stranger to my own brothers in immigrant to my mother's children. And in these troubled times that we live in, I have heard so many stories of families being divided over conflicting beliefs, and you probably have to, but just as David was committed to the Lord, beloved, we must also be when we are attacked, we should cry to God for His protection. Listen to verses 17 and 18. Don't hide your face from me, your servant because I'm in deep trouble. Answer me quickly. Come close to me, redeem me, save me because of my enemies. And then David did something that might surprise you. Listen to verse 30. I will praise God's name with song I will magnify Him with Thanks. Yes, even in this persecution, David says, I will praise your name. David knew that this kind of hatred was not unique to him. Then this Psalm, he encouraged others who were hated without cause he said, Let the afflicted see it and be glad you who seek God, let your hearts beat strong again, because the Lord listens to the needy. And Jesus said in Matthew 1011, and 12, happier you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you all because of me. be full of joy and be glad because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way people harassed the prophets who came before you. Don't be afraid of canceled culture. Beloved, courageously proclaim the good news. Stand before men and kneel before God. Praise him regardless of your circumstances, beloved, what do you think? Call the Lifespring family hotline and plus 1-951-732-8511 or send a comment via boostagram or go to comment.lifespringmedia.com dot com. Tomorrow will be poetry Thursday, and we'll read Proverbs for Lord willing. Announcer 13:09 boostagram. Steve Webb 13:12 In a moment, I'll have a couple of comments on the essential segment that we did last week. But first, let me share this boostagram It's 3333 SATs and it came in from the fountain app. It says Hi, Steve, my name is Matt Leroy, or Matt Leroy. I think it's Matt Lowe. Roy, I live in Southeastern Kansas. I heard about you through no agenda, Jingle 13:35 no agenda, boost boost boost to get boosted boost. Steve Webb 13:41 I've been listening to this whole season from the beginning and love hearing the Bible being read. Thank you so much for all the work you do in the morning. And thank you for your courage. PS I'm a little bit behind. But I'm still working to catch up and stay current. Well, Matt, thank you in the morning to you. And thank you for your courage. I'm glad to have you in the Lifespring family. God bless you. Jingle 14:07 New Mail Notification. Steve Webb 14:09 Now let me share a couple of comments I got on the essential segment. The first one is from Lifespring Berean brother Paul of Seattle. He said Hi, Steve. I really liked the idea of the essential series of segments and I'm looking forward to it. I just pause this quickly before the Apostles Creed discussion. Because I really do not think you need to bear the burden of not teaching your son the essentials. Yes, we are to proclaim God's name and word in action. And Brother Paul has a tangent here. He says I always feel like such a hypocrite when I say things like this because I don't think I do it at all. Well, Brother Paul, you're not alone. I don't think any of us do it as much as we should. Continuing his note here, but it is God's timing to change someone's heart. As you have said we can't know why God does the things he does or brings the people he brings to faith. We just need to have faith that he knows even if it's not what we would choose. I say this knowing that you're talking about your son, and yeah, that's great for others. But I know you're thinking, This is my son. Maybe it's better to know where your son's heart is, rather than having him go through the motions just to please you, and Leanne. I think of myself here, I wouldn't say I was just going through the motions for a lot of my life, but I definitely wasn't walking with God. More like on the path a few paths over, I would say nobody I was close with knew this. So they didn't know how to pray. When I stopped going to church for a while. I know my mom and dad were praying about it. I'm sure they prayed for me before. But I'm also sure that our prayer changed when that happened. Granted, it took many more years, even after my dad's death, for me to be touched by a song while in the midst of the Lifespring!, One Year Bible, and I still have much growing, but it's much, much better than just going through the motions. It is harder now in this life to have a son who wanders, but it could be harder in the next life when you think you'll see him but he's not there. Now you have the opportunity to pray for him. All this to say, I don't believe you should put the burden on yourself. Just keep praying and like your dad, if and when it's God's time, it will happen. I hesitated writing if there because since I don't have any clue what God is thinking, I don't want to over promise. Probably some rambling here but wanted to get this out of my head. Well, Brother Paul, thank you so much for that. And yes, I understand that I don't bear all the responsibility for perhaps not giving enough of the essentials to Steven, when he was growing up. Not perhaps I know that I didn't. And I know it's not all on me. Stephen has to make his own decision. I know that. I realize it but you know, as a parent, I just can't help but think that maybe I could have done more. So I appreciate your words, and I agree with him but still, you know, there's a father's heart. And then Lifespring Berean brothers Sean of San Pedro wrote this. Hi, Steve. I'm very excited for this new weekly segment. Reading the full Bible in a year is so very healthy and helpful, but some parts can be confusing without a deep study. The commentary segments are great at addressing those but they aren't designed to create strong anchor points for us to stake our understanding on. The world is full of distractions and plenty of people that will argue in bad faith for the sole purpose of misguiding unbeliever. I believe that we should not shy away from difficult conversations. Since this can be a form of evangelism. However, some conversations can leave an unprepared believer at risk if they encounter a sneaky deceiver. I have to stop there. A sneaky to see. Is there any other kind of deceiver than a sneaky one? Anyway, brother Shawn, I'm not at all criticizing. There's just that it's almost redundant, right? Anyway, Sean continues. So I am excited to learn more about these essentials, which will help anchor our faith. I love that we have the benefit of 1000s of years of high minded contemplation to draw from new believers don't have to solve these problems on their own. May the Holy Spirit guide our studies, strengthen our faith and equip us for evangelism. Amen. Amen to that, Shawn, thank you so much for that note. I am so encouraged by those notes from Brother Paul of Seattle and brother Sean of San Pedro, and I welcome any feedback you might have for me too, beloved. All right. Well, speaking of the essentials, how about we get into it? Steve Webb 19:01 Last week, I read the Apostles Creed, and there were a couple of things in it that I mentioned that I will be commenting further on. So let's read it again here because it never hurts to review. And then I'll comment. So here is the Apostles Creed once more. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty, whence he shall come to judge the living in the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. So do you remember what I commented on last week, I explained that the Holy Catholic Church mentioned in the Creed there is not the capital C Catholic. It is not the Roman Catholic Church that exists today. The word Catholic lowercase c means universal. It refers to all believers who have placed their faith in Jesus for salvation. So this statement is saying that believers worldwide make up the church. This week, I want to dig a bit into the part that says Jesus, quote, descended into hell, unquote. In thinking about this, as is often the case, it helps to know a bit about the original Hebrew and Greek words that are translated into the English word hell, and if there are other uses for those words in Scripture. As you might know, the original Old Testament languages Hebrew and the New Testament is largely Greek. So the Old Testament Hebrew word that is often rendered as hell in our English Bibles is Schiele, which literally means the place of departed souls or spirits. And the Greek New Testament equivalent word is Hades, which also means the place of the dead. There are New Testament verses that clearly tell us that she'll or Hades are not the permanent destinations. Rather, they are where souls await the final judgment or resurrection. In Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15, we read, then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it, earth and heaven fled from his presence and no place was found for them. I also saw the dead, the great in the small standing before the throne, and books were opened, another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. Then the sea gave up it's dead, and death and Hades gave up their dead, all were judged according to their works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire, and anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Okay, beloved, in this scene, we first have a group of people called the dead, who are standing before the throne of God, where books are opened. And then another book called The Book of Life is also opened. And the dead are then judged according to what they did while they were alive on this earth. We know by what is written a bit earlier in Revelation 20, that these dead are those who did not accept Jesus redemptive work during their lives on earth. So they are personally accountable for each and every sin they committed, which are recorded in these books. Now, can you imagine the terrible nature of this, every thought, every action that was contrary to God's perfect holiness, with each single one being enough to bring about eternal judgment? Romans 623 says, For the wages of sin is death. It does not say, For the wages of too much sin, it says, For the wages of sin. So even one sin is enough to receive the death penalty. Does that seem extreme? Well, if it does, remember that God is holy, absolutely, perfectly 100% boldly, he cannot tolerate any sin in His presence. And that's why Jesus, the perfect, spotless, sinless Lamb of God was necessary for our salvation. But those who refused to accept His sacrifice, his gift, now find themselves standing before him, as he sits on his throne to answer for their own sins. Their names are not written in the book of life, all they have is what is written in the other books, their own record of a lifetime of sin, and they are judged accordingly. And then we read, The sea gave up, it's dead. Now, there is some uncertainty as to whether or not this is to be taken literally. But since I believe that what we're seeing in this passage will actually happen, just as it is written. I tend to agree with commentator Albert Barnes, who was a 19th century theologian who wrote an excellent set of commentaries called barns notes, now of the line the sea gave up instead, he wrote all that had been buried in the depths of ocean. This number in the aggregate will be great if we include all who were swept off by the flood. Now let me stop right here, all who were swept off by the flood. This is all the people who were drowned in the Great Flood, those who are not with Noah and his family on the ark. In other words, this is the entire population of the earth at that time. That's a lot of people. So going back here to barnes notes, if we include all who were swept off by the flood, and all who have perished by shipwreck, and all who had been killed in naval battles and buried in the sea, and all who had been swept away by inundations of the oceans, and all who have peacefully died at sea as sailors or in the pursuits of commerce or benevolence, the number in the aggregate will be immense. A number is so vast that it was proper to notice them particularly in the account of the general resurrection, and the Last Judgement. So that's why we have this line in there, and the sea gave up instead. And then it goes on to say, and death and Hades gave up their dead, all were judged according to their works. So here we see another group of people who had not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We know this because they were judged according to their works. And then finally we read, Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire, and anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. So beloved, the Lake of Fire is the final destination for the wicked, those whose names are not found in the book of life. In other words, those whose sins are not covered, not paid for by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Notice that Hades is not the Lake of Fire, Hades, which is sometimes translated as what, right? Hell, Hades is a holding place, a place where souls wait for this final judgment we just read about which by the way is known as the Great White Throne Judgment. Many people think of Hades and the lake of fire as hell. But as we've seen here, they are not the same. She'll or Hades has two sections, one section for judgment, and one for blessing. In Luke 16, we read about two men, a rich man who lived only for himself and Lazarus, who was poor. Now Lazarus died. And we're told in Luke 16, that he was carried away by the angels when he died to Abraham's bosom. And then the rich man died. And listen to verse 23 of Luke 16. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. Okay, so the rich man was in Hades, and in torment. And he looked and he saw far away, Abraham with Lazarus by his side. In some translations, it says that there was a great chasm between them, there in Hades, but one is in torment in the other is not. So we see both the saved and the last are found in Sheeler, Hades. And besides the term Abraham's bosom, the section of Hades that holds the saved is also called Paradise. In Luke 2343, when Jesus was hanging on the cross, and the man next to him, asked him to remember him. Jesus answered him and he said, Truly, I tell you, today, you will be with Me in Paradise. So when Jesus died, he went to the Blessed side of shield or paradise. Some people believe that when Jesus died, he went to the side of Hades, that is the place of torment to be further punished for our sins. But this idea has absolutely zero biblical support. His death on the cross, His shed Blood was what brought about our cleansing from sin. First John one seven says, But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. So Jesus had no need no reason to be further punished for our sins after he died. Gotquestions.org sums it up nicely. They say on the website there. As Jesus near death, he said, It is finished from John 1930. His suffering in our place was completed. His soul slash Spirit went to Hades, the place of the dead. Jesus did not go to quote unquote, hell, or the suffering side of Hades. He went to Abraham side or the blessing side of Hades. Jesus' suffering ended the moment he died. The payment for sin was paid. He then awaited the resurrection of his body and his return to glory in His ascension. Did Jesus go to hell? No. Did Jesus go to shield or Hades? Yes. So that kind of sums it up. I think it helps to remember that the Apostles Creed was not written originally in English. So in the line that says he descended into hell, I haven't looked it up in the original language of the Apostles Creed, but I'm pretty sure that when it says He descended into hell, it's He descended into shield or Hades. Next week in our essential segment, we'll talk about the line in the apostles creed that mentions the communion of saints, what is the communion of saints? have any ideas? Steve Webb 30:55 Beloved, if you find the Lifespring! One Year Bible to be a blessing in your life, would you be willing to help support the show? Please pray about it. And then ask the Lord what he would have you do? Then go here. Steve Webb 31:10 Lifespringmedia.com/support Steve Webb 31:10 I'll Thank you, and I believe that God will bless you. Steve Webb 31:17 We have no new praises or prayer requests today. So let's just go straight to prayer. Our heavenly Father, oh Lord Howe, we praise You. We worship You, Lord, for who you are, and for the gift of your son who did so much more than we could ever hope for what an inconceivable act of love and mercy and grace he made, so that we could be spared from an eternal destiny to horrific to fathom. Because of that gift and the gift you gave us to have the faith to believe in Him. We will be with you in eternity. Oh, hallelujah. Your mercy endures forever, Lord, praise your name. Father, we lift up to you again, the prayers that we brought to you before here on the podcast. Your memory is perfect. Mine is not. I pray for your perfect will in each of our lives, Lord, and I pray that You would give us more faith. Give us a thirst to know you better. Give us the discipline to walk closer with you each day, and the boldness to share the good news with those who need to hear of your love. I thank You, Lord for the Lifespring family and I pray that You would bless them today. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Our next time of prayer together here on the show will be Sunday. If there's a praise we should know about or if there's something that you would like us to pray with you about. Tell me about it on the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1951732 at 511 or go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com dot com. If you want to remain anonymous, that's just fine. Just let me know. I'll pray for you and my quiet time and we'll pray together right here next Sunday. Steve Webb 33:08 Thanks to Sister Denise Michael Haner Scott Snider, Jason Paschall who did today's show art. Thank you, Jason. And I thank sr Brittaney. These are the team without whom I could not do everything that needs to be done. So thank you guys. And thank you, beloved, for being with me today. Until tomorrow. May God bless you richly. My name is Steve webs by Steve Webb 33:34 Lifespring media bringing the message of hope, love and good news since 2004 Transcribed by https://otter.ai