[Brother V]

Psalm 31-35

Psalm 31

1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

Don't be ashamed of the LORD like Peter was.

3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

Odd, how Psalm 31 seems to be about Peter. Jesus said "upon this rock I will build my church".

4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

Remember, Jesus found Peter casting his net into the sea.

Psalm 32

2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

Yes, blessed is the opposite of imputeth iniquity.

5 I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Confess your sins and God will forgive.

9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

Don't be a dumbass.

Psalm 33

1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

Comely means attractive. So, if you are upright, singing praises to the LORD is attractive, not so if you aren't upright.

2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.

David loved him the 10 stringed harp.

3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

Dance in your underwear!

10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

Bad people are worthless.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Pray for rain.

17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

Horses again, that's 2 psalms in a row.

Psalm 34

1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Not some of the time, not most of the time, not when I feel like it, but All times.

3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Who's with me?

11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Praise Jesus, start kids early learning the fear of the LORD.

16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

Most people today say those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, but if you forget it, then how do you know it's a repeat?

Psalm 35

1 Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

David's in a bad way ... again.

4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.

My my my

12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.

David sure thinks he never did anything wrong.

17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.

Apparently, this was the time when the LORD was napping.

23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.

Wow, he WAS napping.

26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.

David is only asking that the people who mock him, later get mocked, is that so wrong?

So what have we learned today?

1. God is sometimes sleepy, and needs to take a rest, for example, 3 days in a tomb, and ... well, he's kinda been asleep or at least very hands off, for the past 2000 years (at least as far as the speaking with a loud voice)

2. 10 stringed instruments make the best noises for the LORD, it just so happened that it's what David played.

3. God please make my enemies suffer as much as I do/did. Amen

YIC
V

[Pastor Billy-Reuben]

Praying for the death of others

When I was about five years old, there were some older kids at my school who were mean to me. As I was saying my prayers one evening, I prayed that they would die. My liberal "Christian" parents overheard and were horrified. They told me you aren't supposed to pray for bad things to happen to others. I guess they hadn't read Psalm 31.

Ps 31:17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

You see, it's perfectly OK to pray for the death of others.

The Unimportance of Human Strength

Ps 33:16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
Ps 33:17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

There is no strength in armies, men, or horses. The Lord alone has strength. When you go to war, it doesn't matter how big or powerful your army is, or how many planes, tanks, ships, missiles, or nukes you have -- the ONLY thing that matters is whether you are right with God.

That's why David got in so much trouble for counting his soldiers in 2Sam 24:1-4, because it showed a lack of trust in the Lord. We have no way of knowing whether David wrote Psalm 33 before or after that episode. It probably wasn't during it.

Psalm 34: A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.

Yes, that's the title. David wrote this while he was on the lam in Gath. He had just fled from Abimelech's place because Doeg was after him, but not after tricking Abimelech into giving him Goliath's sword. The "changed his behavior" business refers to this:

1Sam 21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

David thought Achish the King of Gath was going to kill him, so he pretended like he was crazy, and Achish left him alone. Psalm 34 was David's song of thanksgiving to the Lord for helping him to escape. However, God was not quite as good to Abimelech when Doeg found out that he had (albiet unwittingly) helped David to escape. David knew what was going to happen and didn't warn him about it either.

1Sam 22:22 And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house.

Pastor Billy-Reuben

[SUV]

"Don't be ashamed of the LORD like Peter was."

Someone this disgraceful is probably ashamed of his own. Peter.

So disgusting I could not read past the very first line to try to ascertain if Job ever got a job yet