The Bible Recap

Day 142 (Psalm 95, 97-99) - Year 6

SHOW NOTES: - Head to our Start Page for all you need to begin!- Join the RECAPtains- Check out the TBR Store- Show credits- Spiritual Assessment QuizFROM TODAY’S RECAP: - Isaiah 52- Sign up for PREcap Emails (at the bottom of the homepage!)BIBLE READING & LISTENING:Follow along on the Bible App, or to listen to the Bible, try Dwell!SOCIALS:The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | TikTokD-Group: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/XTLC: Instagram | FacebookD-GROUP:D-Group is brought to you by the same team that brings you The Bible Recap. TBR is where we read the Bible, and D-Group is where we study the Bible. D-Group is an international network of Bible study groups that meet weekly in homes, churches, and online. Find or start one near you today!DISCLAIMER: The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and affiliates are not a church, pastor, spiritual authority, or counseling service. Listeners and viewers consume this content on a voluntary basis and assume all responsibility for the resulting consequences and impact.

Duration:: 5m
Broadcast on:: 21 May 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

SHOW NOTES:
- Head to our Start Page for all you need to begin!
- Join the RECAPtains
- Check out the TBR Store
- Show credits
- Spiritual Assessment Quiz

FROM TODAY’S RECAP:
- Isaiah 52
- Sign up for PREcap Emails (at the bottom of the homepage!)

BIBLE READING & LISTENING:
Follow along on the Bible App, or to listen to the Bible, try Dwell!

SOCIALS:
The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | TikTok
D-Group: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X
TLC: Instagram | Facebook

D-GROUP:
D-Group is brought to you by the same team that brings you The Bible Recap. TBR is where we read the Bible, and D-Group is where we study the Bible. D-Group is an international network of Bible study groups that meet weekly in homes, churches, and online. Find or start one near you today!

DISCLAIMER:
The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and affiliates are not a church, pastor, spiritual authority, or counseling service. Listeners and viewers consume this content on a voluntary basis and assume all responsibility for the resulting consequences and impact.

Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. We don't know who wrote any of the Psalms we read today, but they're all really descriptive, picturesque Psalms, so it makes me wonder if they were written by the same person. Psalm 95 opens with praise and reminds the listener that God isn't just supreme over the earthly realm, he's supreme over the spiritual realm as well. He's worthy of worship and especially the worship of his people. It's not entirely evident in the English version of verse 6, but in this short verse which says, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." He's describing three different postures for worshiping God. Bowing and down are two separate acts and kneeling is another act. These are humble postures of honor and submission, which is how we should relate to the one who made us. But then he goes on to describe another aspect of our relationship with God. It's not contradictory to the humble bowing toward our Maker, it's complimentary. He portrays God as our shepherd, the one who is attentive to us and feeds us and watches over us. He calls us the sheep of his hand. It's a much more intimate relational picture, and both things are true of our relationship with God. He's our Maker and he's our shepherd. He doesn't just make us and then leave us on our own. He's with us all the time watching over us. The psalmist begs the listener not to harden their hearts to such great truths, and he references the Israelites who did have hardened hearts. They didn't know God's ways and they missed out on the beautiful complexity of this kind of relationship with him, the kind that brings rest and restoration. Psalm 97 reiterates God's supremacy over everything. He depicts God as a thunderstorm with lightning that strikes and consumes his enemies. He also says God melts the mountains like wax, which is a direct affront to all the ancient pagan deities that were believed to live on these mountains. God shames them by bringing them low. Meanwhile, God's people rejoice. Psalm 98 has a lot in common with Isaiah 52, which is a prophecy about the coming Messiah. So it's no surprise that this psalm repeatedly references God's salvation. When this psalmist was written, the psalmist was likely only referring to military saving, deliverance from enemies big and small. But there seems to be far more going on here than the psalmist realized as he was writing this. For instance, when he writes, "All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God," in verse 3, he's likely just referring to how everyone saw the way God worked on Israel's behalf in military battles, or even his miraculous provision like sending manna and the wilderness. But in light of God's promise to send a Messiah who will establish a relationship between him and people from among every nation, this verse takes on a whole new meaning. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. I think the psalmist probably had no idea how much more this verse would eventually encompass. When we close today with Psalm 99, which is another song about God's kingship. Verse 1 positions God above the chair of him on the ark of the covenant, which is viewed as his earthly throne. And he is a king who rules with equity and justice. This song shows what a great privilege it is that God has come down to earth to have a relationship with mankind. He has set up mediators, he speaks to them, he has given us his presence on earth, and he's given us his word. We have everything we need to know him better and respond to him with worship. He even forgives us when we sin, we lack nothing. My God shot today came from Psalm 9711. It says, "Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright and heart." You may wonder where God is in this sentence. Who do you think is doing the sowing? It's him. I love this imagery that light and joy are sown. If you're in a dark season, the light and joy might not have bloomed yet, but God has planted them. Sometimes it takes a while for things that are planted to grow and bear fruit, but trust that they've been sown for you by his hand. I'm praying you'll see it soon, that his light will dawn on you and that you'll be able to confidently say, "He's where the joy is." I know it can be tough to stick to your Bible reading plan in the summer with the kids out of school or the you out of school or vacations or weddings or you name it. But you've already made it through some of the toughest sections in the Bible and we don't want you to drop off now, so we're here to help. If you haven't already, sign up for our pre-cap emails. These are our daily reminder emails with links to each day's reading and recap right there waiting for you each morning. You don't even have to think ahead, just check your inbox. You can sign up at the bottom of our homepage at thebiblerecap.com or click the link in the show notes. And by the way, if you want to make sure these emails don't end up in your spam folder, go ahead and add our newsletters email address to your contacts list. It's hello@thebiblerecap.com. Are you feeling a bit lost in your faith journey? The world's biggest small group is ready to help you find your footing. Learn more about your right next step through their spiritual assessment quiz. Don't let uncertainty hold you back. Click the link in the show notes to find out more. [MUSIC PLAYING]