Psalms Nuggets

[Here Am I]

Interesting parallel I discovered in my reading of Psalms:

"O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great." (Psalm 115:9-13)

Compare to

"Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever." (Psalm 118:2-4)

Who is Israel? The Jews, God's chosen people.
Who is the house of Aaron? The Levitical priests.
Who are those who fear the Lord? Believers/saints, but probably Gentiles by birth.

There were some interesting comments in Brother Ruckman's Psalms commentary, but I can't recall them right now. I'll check it tonight unless someone else wants to post his notes.

[Here Am I]

Another interesting verse from the same area of Psalms:

"The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence." (Psalms 115:17)

While I realize that this is not doctrinally applied to us, I saw something that I thought could be applied to us, spiritually:

The dead don't praise the LORD:

1. The dead in body don't praise the LORD.

2. The dead in spirit (unsaved) don't praise the LORD, either.

See also Psalms 88:5 and 6:5.

[Daniel]

That fits perfectly with my sermon from this past Sunday. Part of it was

Matthew 22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30  For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven.
31  But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32  I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

(09-07-2010 12:05 PM)Here Am I Wrote:  Another interesting verse from the same area of Psalms:

"The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence." (Psalms 115:17)

While I realize that this is not doctrinally applied to us, I saw something that I thought could be applied to us, spiritually:

The dead don't praise the LORD:

1. The dead in body don't praise the LORD.

2. The dead in spirit (unsaved) don't praise the LORD, either.

See also Psalms 88:5 and 6:5.

[Here Am I]

Okay, here is the stuff that I read in Brother Ruckman's commentary on Psalms (115:9-13):

Quote:Three groups are told to trust in the Lord and use Him as a "help" and a "shield." The "help" is aggressive action against the enemy; the "shield" is for protection from the enemy.
1. "Israel": an admonition given to Jews in the Tribulation who are tempted to set aside the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and fall down and worship the image.
2. The "house of Aaron": Levitical priests who are about to serve in the Millennial temple (Ezekiel 40-42) under the Messiah but, at the present, are being called upon to supervise Baal worship (Revelation 2:14) in the Temple, with fornication (Revelation 2:20-21) and cannibalism as part of the "religious happening" (see Psalm 14:4 and 53:4). "All the commentators, etc."
3. "Ye that fear the LORD" (vs. 11) would be Gentile converts to Israel, in the Tribulation (see Revelation 7:9), who are sorely tempted to buy and sell (Revelation 13:13-17) at the cost of their soul (Revelation 14:9-11). A great multitude of these will "fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell" (Matthew 10:28, see Psalm 111:10 and comments), and will die (Revelation 6:9-12) trusting God as "their help and their shield."

(snip)

When he says "the LORD hath been mindful of us" (verse 12), he is talking about these three classes just mentioned. In the Millennium, all three classes will be resurrected if they were martyred, and all three classes will be "ye blessed of my Father" (see Matthew 25:34). In the Millennium, the "house of Aaron" will be separated from the twelve tribes in the Old Testament. The "you" of verses 14 and 15 refers to the same three groups again. It is this great increase in children (verse 14) that was referred to back in Psalm 87:5, 6; 14:5; 24:6; 48:13; and 102:18--the places where the commentators misplaced the verses and put them in the Church Age.

The surest proof that the context is in the Millennium is verse 17. "The dead praise not the LORD," and Isaiah told you WHO those dead were (Isaiah 26:13-15). John told you that they wouldn't be around to praise the Lord because they stayed dead during the Millennium (Revelation 20:5).

[Here Am I]

From my study last night, and this morning:

I read Psalm 106, again, even though I am working through 119. I noticed something and decided to check it out.

The context is the Exodus, towards the end of the journey.

In Psalm 106, verse 32-33, it is written:

"They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips."

It went ill with Moses because he spake unadvisedly?

I have been taught that the reason that Moses did not go into the Promised Land was because he struck the rock, instead of speaking to it.

Going back to Numbers 20:7-12

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."

How did Moses speak unadvisedly?

The Lord told Moses to speak to the rock in verse 8.

In verse 10, Moses does not speak to the rock, but to the congregation!

Yes, Moses should not have struck the rock. But was that the main reason that he was not allowed to go to the Promised Land? Or was it because he did not obey God, and spoke to the congregation instead of to the rock?

King David sinned grievously, but only the killing of Bathsheba's husband is mentioned. The things that we think are the worst sins aren't necessarily what God sees as the worst sins.

[Laura]

Perhaps because it was in how Moses spake that was in direct contravention to the Lord's command?

To get water, God told Moses to speak to the rock. Period. Instead, he spoke to the congregation, and smote the rock. Also, after speaking to the rock, God was going to look after making it give water. In smiting the rock, Moses added his own works to the miracle.

Same old sin of man putting his own spin on what God said, only that time it cost Aaron his life.

I'd not noticed that before, ds, thanks!

[William]

Good stuff, sister, thank you!