Psalm 83: Who Is Praying?

0:01 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone. It is Friday, June the twenty first, twenty twenty four. It is currently two twelve pm Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, I am hoping that this broadcast goes a little bit better than the last one, the last one I had. You know, of course, my daughters I go live, they can be in another state, another country, they could it could be at any time.

0:44 I go live, Boom, Almost instantaneously, I'm getting a FaceTime call. It's like they they plan. I think they have a conspiracy. Hey, hey, are you monitoring it? Are you? Yeah? Oh oh oh oh he's going live. He's going live. Call now, call now, call it, let's enterrupt. I think they do it on purpose. Okay, maybe maybe that's me just being paranoid. Okay, but so we had that, and then I'm I'm like, I don't know. Ten minutes into the broadcast, twelve minutes into the broadcast, and all of a sudden, I hear, wait, my food is here. How did my food arrive, so it wasn't supposed to be here for like another twenty twenty five minutes. How is my food already here now? And you think I would be happy that my food arrived so early, but I wasn't happy because well, I was in the middle of a broadcast. So then it gets cold and I don't like, uh ah yeah, so but so then I had to abruptly kind of end the broadcast. It was. It was horrible, but hopefully everything goes better for this broadcast, because this is an important broadcast.

1:47 It's Friday. You know what that means. We are almost at the end of another week. And remember this week turned into the PSALM eighty three week. I've given you all kinds of as and things to do for SSAW eighty three. Hopefully you've been very busy at it. Hopefully hopefully not a lot of people have turned in much, but hopefully people have been busy with it. And remember how it all started. I was in my car, had to drive to this place in this place, in this place, in this place, and I had to sit in parking lots waiting, just a lot of driving and waiting, and so I'm like, you know what, it's twenty twenty four. It's the Sermons two point oh sermon Challenge. So let me grab my iPad and download a bunch of random sermons from the Sermons two point oh app and I will listen to them as I drive. Yes, see, I participate. I give you the challenge, but I participate in the challenge. I remember I came across a sermon entitled the Coming Middle East War, and I'm like, Ooh, I wonder what they're talking about.

2:53 This is going to have something to do with eschatology or prophecy. So I started listening, and we realized immediately that the entire title of that sermon was Psalm eighty three, the Coming Middle East War. And remember it's an entire series. It's like up to seventeen or eighteen parts. Now. I think they just dropped a new episode for that series. I think they just dropped one today. I think maybe that's part sixteen today or Part seventeen today. So they're continuing their work on it, which is great because it's more content for people to listen to on Psalm eighty three as we continue to work on it. But remember, we listened to it and we were somewhat perplexed. Well, the reason I was perplexed is how is some eighty three about a coming Middle East war? I don't see it in any way, shape or form as being prophetic. In fact, it's not even classified as a prophetic psalm. It's not a messianic psalm. It's a palm of lament. It's a lament s a communal lament psalm. So I'm like, where, how is this being prophetic? I don't see it, And we were confused.

3:57 So we've done a little bit of work on it, and you can go listen to my two hours of teaching. We did an outline, we've done, we talked about the author, we talked about the type of psalm that it is. We started working on it, and remember we did another sermon review. We found out that some believe SAW eighty three is actually connected to Second Chronicles chapter twenty. So I told everyone to do a kind of a comparison and contrast between p SSAW eighty three and Second Chronicles twenty. Make a chart. Remember I told you to do that. Well, I finished a little bit of work today on my own compare and contrast on Psalm eighty three and Second Chronicles twenty, so there's a high probability. We'll talk about it a Sunday at Victory Baptist Church. I don't know how well how we'll do, so I need to get back to our eschatology. But the PSAW eighty three. But the bottom line is the week is almost over. So we've got to do some more work on SAW eighty three, right, we have to. We've got to, We've got to. We got to figure it all out. So I was just looking, and I was just looking for random sermons on SSAALW eighty three, and I find that entire When you do a search right now SAW eighty three on the Sermon's two point zero app or thee Beta dot Sermonaudio dot com website, you're going to see that long series on SAW eighty three, the Coming Middle East War, and then they get to like part twelve or part thirteen, and then they changed the title to just now Saw eighty three Part thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. I don't know why they changed the title. That was odd, but they changed the title.

5:25 Usually you don't change the title in the middle of your series, right or you go back and change all of them. So I don't know, but they're still talking about it. So I kept looking them, and then I saw all of my messages on SAW eighty three. I'm like, Okay, who's this weird guy? Right? Then I skipped all of those, and then I came across one and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, what is this? We all know psawm eighty three. It's clearly a prayer. It's a lament. Right, and if I go to SAW eighty three, remember how it begins. Some of you should have it memorized by now. Right, do not keep silent, Oh God, Do not hold your peace, and do not be still, Oh God, for behold your enemies. Make a tumult. The psalms is crying out to God. He's crying out to God. He needs God to hear, he needs God to listen, he needs God to intervene. He needs God to speak because they're in a very difficult situation, because a confederacy of nations is coming against Israel.

6:30 So this is a sum of lament. Now, we talked about that, this is a psalm of Asaf. He was a Levite in charge of the worship, so he may have composed this for the worship of Israel for them to cry out as a community, as in a sense, as a congregation of Israel, to cry out to God in lament. So I would say, who is praying? Well, asep is praying, who is praying? Israel is praying. But I stumbled upon a sermon with this title the churches cry for help, and I'm like, wait, the churches, wait, this is Israel. Now do we keep Israel in the church distinct?

7:14 Or do we say Israel is the Church in the Old Testament, now, which a lot of people believe. In other words, I know this is going to come as a shock. And all the years of theological studies and the history of Christianity, there's not agreement on how distinct do we keep the Israel in the church and how much do we bring them together? So who is actually praying? And Saw eighty three? Is it asaph? Is it? Well, if it's a communal lament, it's for the it's for Israel, right, is this for? Is this a national lament instead of calling it a communal Do we call it a national lament? Is this the prayer of the nation or do we call it the prayer of the church? Does it really matter? Well, you know how the reviews work. I haven't listened to it yet, So let's have a little bit of a sermon review as we try to finish our week focusing on PSAU Many three. Don't forget, we're still working on the Book of Proverbs. We got that to work on too. So are you ready? Here we go. I hope the volume is loud enough. This is one time I didn't immediately fill the need to go, you know, amplify it in my software. So if it's not loud enough, well it's too late. Now, okay, we're we're nine minutes almost eight minutes and thirty six seconds into this, thirty seven seconds into this. There's no there's no there's no going back. If it's not loud enough, I don't know what I'm gonna. I'll find someone to blame,

8:45 all right, I'll just I'll open up the map and close my eyes and just point and whatever state I end up on, that's the state I will blame. Okay, all right, here we go, ladies and gentlemen. The church is cry for help. You can find this sermon on the Sermon's two point oh app as I always tell you any sermon I review, please go download it. Please, stream it. Listen to it without all of my interruption, right, listen to it, give them the stream, give them the download, all right, and if you like what you hear, go follow them all right. If you're using the Sermon's two point oh app, how many people are you following? How many? How many sermons appear in your feed tab per week? Do you keep track? May I want my feed tab updating all day is what I want. I want to I want every time I grab the Sermon's two point oh app and I hit the feed tab. I don't want to just see my messages now. I follow me because I want to make sure that my stuff is showing up in the feed and it's showing up everywhere, and it sounds okay. But please use the app and follow. Find a number of broadcasters that you find.

9:54 If if you have your list of broadcasters you follow, email them to me news Yahoo dot com, news fit Yahoo dot com. I would tell you, though, you should be following the Briefing, the Daily Briefing by Albert Mohler, because that comes out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. So that's one you want to because it's there every single day. That's Albert Mohler, the briefing or the daily briefing. Okay, you want that. Then what I highly recommend is following every Bible college and every seminary and Bible institute. If it's labeled Bible institute, Bible College, or seminary, follow that because that shows you what the what's being taught, what's being emphasized by those places of higher learning, training the next generation of pastors. That kind of lets you kind of know where Christianity is going. So you want to follow all of those. It doesn't even matter if it's got Bible College, seminary, Bible Institute in the title. I'm following them. I don't care if I agree with them, disagree with them. I follow them.

10:58 So those are something to start with. All right, But are you ready? Here we go. I'm excited. See you hear that? Rubbing my hands together? It's like a Now, am I rubbing my hands together? Oh? I can't wait? Or am I rubbing my hands together? Like? This is going to be so bad, I'm gonna make everyone take a trip to the liquor store before this is Oh okay, Now I never know, so I'm always like I'm almost almost like cautiously optimistic, Oh, this is gonna be good. We're gonna learn something. And then sometimes by the end I'm like, oh no, it's like ugh, I never know.

11:39 I always hope for the best. Here we go. We should again read God's Word and the Book of Psalms and Sami T three of Psalms and sam E T three. Come on, it's time to be honest. Class, It's time to be honest. If I play a sermon and the speaker has a strong British accent, versus I play a sermon for someone who has a strong Southern accent from the Deep South, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana.

12:26 I'm just naming places. Don't if they're not considered the Deep South. Don't blame me. I went to a public school. Okay, all right, to Texas. I don't like to be referred to as Texas as the South because we are our own country. We don't need anybody else. Okay, right, but you know what I'm talking a strong Southern accent. Now, come on, be honest with you, Be honest with yourself. Which one do you perceive to be more educated, more academically sound. Which one comes across is smarter. I look, the British accent just comes across the the European well not the entire European, but a British accent. I think that's fair to say. We could go through other accents in Europe, but okay, you get the idea. I think we just immediately, maybe at least from the American ear, they just sound more educated, more sophisticated, more knowledgeable, just from the accent itself, which once again always scares me because that demonstrates that a lot of our perception of what we hear is greatly influenced by a lot of factors that have nothing to do with the actual content of the messages. A lot of people when they would hear doctor j Vernon McGee with his accent, be like, this guy's an idiot. Well, he was very well educated. It's just his accent. So why do we do and which scares me because that means maybe we're sometimes there's something else influencing

13:58 how we perceive some Remember, we have to set aside all of those distractions. Doesn't matter how well spoken someone is, doesn't matter how well that they are, they do all the right things in communicating eye contact not being monotone. All of those things that can be very they can be very helpful, right, great storytellers, they say a great pacing. They don't talk too fast, they don't talk too slow, they don't talk too loud, but they don't talk too quiet. A lot of variation in the volume. All those things that they do, they get to the point they don't spend all the things I do wrong. Okay, they do them all right, But you can get pulled in and you're actually follow You're just following something or agreeing with something because the way it sounds. What we have to do, at least is Christians, and what we listen to is listen to the content, not the accent, not the speaking ability, not the lock thereof now.

14:56 But we have the same time, we have to be honest. Look, I was review i was listening to a sermon earlier, and I'm just gonna be honest with you. I'm just gonna be honest with you the way the person spoke, and i know i'm gonna sound ungodly, I know i'm gonna sound fleshly. Just kind of got irritated with it. After a while. It just bothered me, and I don't know if I can clearly articulate why. I don't know. If it's the way they just the way they came across everything about it, just like, oh okay, can I finished this? You know what? That's not godly, that's me. That's me. That's but I gotta be honest and come on. You can sit there and roll your eyes. You probably get irritated with me sometimes, right, I take too long to get to the point. I'm too repetitive. Maybe I'm too loud. Some people say I'm over dramatic. I cut myself off in mid sentence. I do that frequently. I'll be getting ready to say this and then just jump to something else. Yeah, my accent probably shows up at time times. So yeah, but all right, So let's I just as soon as I hear oh wait, this is here his exit, I know immediately how it can be perceived. All right, Let's go SA three.

16:18 The title of this sam a song or Sam of Esaf. Keep not thou silence, so God, oh not thy peace, be not still O God, Lo thine enemies make a tube mount, And they that hate thee lift have lifted up the head they take. They have taken crafty council against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, come and let us cut them off from being a niece, and the name of Israel may be no more than remembrance. Now let me just interrupt his reading right there, he's reading at a very good pace annunciation, which I don't do any of those things. I just like, okay, And the people are like, why did he just say okay? But please note the title of the sermon is the Church's Cry for Help. And I would just like to point out, so you have these uh, these enemies, they hate God, right, they've taken crafty counsel against your people, right, and consulted against and consulted together against your sheltered ones. And the translation I'm using it, look carefully. They have cut they have said, come, let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of is Rael,

17:52 of Israel may be remembered no more. Now I find it interesting that the title is the Church's cry for Help, when clearly this is identified that the individuals that are being attacked is the nation of Israel, and that the Confederacy of Nations wants Israel to no longer be remembered, not the Church. Now unless you just then say, well, whenever it says nation or Israel, we just to automatically call it the church. So I find that fascinating that that is. Look, there's a major divide in Christianity, like we kind of merge the church in Israel together or we keep them distinct and separate.

18:36 And I think we keep them distinct and separate for just just the only thing that makes sense hermoneutically right, it says nation, it says Israel. But yet the title of the sermon is the Church's Christ for help. Now is he going to make it a very big now and the sermon, let's be fair, he could make hey, this is about Israel, but we are going to apply the lessons to the church today. Now, now we could argue, is that is that going to work? So maybe that's what he's going to do. Time will tell. They have consulted together with one consent. They are confederate against the the Tabernacles of Edom and Ishmaelance of Mob and the Hagarens, Gable and Diamond and Damalek, the Philistines with the inhabitants of tire I should also has joined with them. They have hope and the children of Lot, going to them as unto the Midianites, as to as to Sisera, as to Jabin. At the brook of Kissong, which perished at Ender, they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Arab and like zeb He, all the princes of Zeba and as Zalmuna, who said, let us take to ourselves the houses of God and possession, Oh,

20:07 My God, Make them like a wheel, as a stubble before the wind, as a fire burneth a wood, as a flame set at the mountains and fire. So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name. Old Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled forever you. Let them be put to shame and perish, that men may know that Thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, are the most high over all the earth.

20:51 Amen. So Lord would help us, receiving like is to consider this, Sam we might tidally our thoughts. The churches cry for help. Okay, So a reading of the entire chapter, and I do like this right here he's articulating clearly. It seems his thesis. Now he's going to have to explain it. But it's the church's cry for help. Now again, he may say, this is about Israel, this is about what happened in Second Chronicles twenty Maybe he's going to do that. Then he may say, now, as the church in twenty twenty four or whatever year this was preached, here's what we can learn from it. Maybe that's what he's going to do.

21:38 I don't know. I always get nervous when a passage is clearly about Israel shows up in a sermon where the Church is in the title and not Israel is in the title. That's my own philological that's because of my own philological perspective on the subject. But let's see what he does. The Church is crying help. When we think of the Church of God is very presence on earth is a wonder. Who should never lose sight of that fact that the presence of the Church on the earth is a wonder. A wide speaks of the grace of God. Because it takes grace to bring sinners to Christ.

22:29 It's not something that happens to people naturally. It's not that there's anything wrong with the Gospel. It's not that Christ is not attractive. He indeed is the fadst of ten thousand to all who are right thinking and who can see clearly. But of course the problem is that the God of this world has blinded the eyes of those who believe. Not this is the turn and should be converted and healed, and say they're thinking as warmed. It's only God's grace renewing the heart and persuading and enabling people to close with Christ that enables people to come to them, and they are brought into the church, and so the churches build up. The church are a body of people who are called by grace. Okay, So I think what he's going to attempt to do here, it sounds like is that the church is a body of called out people, called out by God's grace to believe. So it's just a body of people. So then you could say, well, then by that definition, Israel was then a church because it was a body of people who were called to believe. I guess, I guess you could do it that way if you want. But to me, you've got a maintain the

24:00 distinction between the nation of Israel, and I think you have to maintain the distinction or just hermoneutically just stops making any sense. And again I've told everyone get a Matthew Henry commentary and read the Old Testament. Everything's the Church, the Church, the Church, and like, no, that's the nation of Israel, that's Judah, that's the Southern Kingdom, that's the Northern Kingdom, that's this. No. So I think that's what he's going to attempt to do. Now whenever we say the church. Now, I know there's major arguments about this and the world of Christianity. This gets into an argument about ecclesiology. But you know, when we say the church, there are those who just think of the Church more as an invisible body, right, a universal body made up of all people who believe. Right, So it's just a universal body. If you believe you're a part of the church. If you believe you're a part of the church, right, that's just an invisible body. You don't see it. It doesn't meet, it doesn't have a doctrinal statement, it doesn't do the Lord's it doesn't do it. But you're just a part of it. Now. The reason Protestants love that universal idea is because the Bible speaks of we all must be one they're supposed to be unity, well says, there's literally no unity in the visible church, and we don't agree on literally anything. Then we can say, but we accomplish the unity and this invisible body that well, we don't really know who's a part of it. Well, people who believe, but we will argue what does that person really believe? Does that person really believe? So we don't really know who's in it, and it's just made up of believers, but it gives us a sense of see, there's unity. It doesn't require any

25:30 actual unity. It's just because while all people are who believe are a part of it, then magically we accomplish the unity part, even though it doesn't really do anything because while the rest of us fight and argue. So there's that idea. Others believe within church Christianity that there is not the existence of an invisible body. That whenever the church refers to the Body of Christ, it's referring to a local assembly, an actual, visible, physical body, right, well, a group of actual people. It's not some mystical thing made up of people who are saved. I mean they're not really there yet. I mean they're just I mean they're just assigned that position because they're still living here on earth. But whenever it refers to the church, it's referring to a body of called out believers who physically meet. That the church is a is a physical institution. Now, so some really emphasize that then it must be a local congregation that's the body of Christ, not this invisible And so there's major, I won't say major fights over it, but there's clear lines drawn and clear differences in the history of Christianity over this. I have gone to schools who reject the invisible body, and I have gone to schools that clearly believe in the invisible body. Now how much impact that has You could have your own discussion about that. Let's see where he's going with.

27:00 But just please note this is a Saw eighty three where Israel and a nation is clear. Israel as a nation is clearly mentioned. But the sermon is beginning about the church, the Church, the Church. I find that just baffling to me. But why wouldn't you start with Israel since that's literally what the text literally says. Can let me read the words again. They have said, this is the confederacy of nations. The enemies come let us cut them off from being a nation that the name of Israel or israell if we really want to emphasize it may be remembered no more. It clearly identifies.

27:47 Let's continue. I forget thought that we may give thanks. If God has called you to himself, it wasn't you there anything special about you received mercy and being brought under the sound of the Gospel and of Christ by the Spirit applying the truth to your heart. And not only is it grace to bring sinners into the church, it's grace to preserve God's people in this world, to preserve them as believers within the church. For we have great enemies the world, the flesh and the devil. Now, whenever we talk about God preserving those in the church, I mean, are we saying preserve them spiritually?

28:41 Are we saying preserve them physically? Because Christians have a weird thing about this, right, Like, on one hand, God is the one who protects us. God is our rock, he's our defender, he's our shield, He preserves us. Nothing can harm us apart from God's will. And then churches want armed guards. If the church or Christians are protected by God and God's our rock, our shield. And you don't mean that spiritually, you mean that physically. Well, then why do we have armed guards and many churches want armed guards or deacons carrying guns. Why do many Christians have a gun to protect them in their home. Why? God's gonna protect you.

29:25 He's your rock, your shield deliverer. Why so it's like one thing we confess certain things, and I don't think we ever. Then take it, is he the one protecting and preserving? And isn't it interesting he protects and preserves until someone dies, And say, well, now it was God's will for you to go. So God only protects you until God's done protecting you. So then how do you know how long God's going to protect God will protect you until the time is for him not to protect you. So he may protect you today Friday, June the twenty first, tomorrow you may be mugged, murdered and killed because his protection runs out on June the twenty second, because that's when it was appointed for you to die. But if then that's the case, then why do you worry about locking your doors?

30:11 Why do you worry about protection and a gun or anything like that. I mean, those are questions I think that halfs. I always find it just and remember I say I cut myself off. I always find it interesting, just the logical, the logical inconsistency that I see in many Christians. And I'm not the only one to point it out. Remember I've told before the news story after one of the church shootings. It was a news story about how many churches now have got armed security. It may be they hire people or they have men in the congregation carrying guns. I haven't talked about a sermon here in the Dallas area, not well about two and a half hours from me, where the guy on radio was bragging, Hey, you come to our church and you pull out a gun, You're going to die, basically because I got men here with guns. I mean basically almost like saying bring it on. It was. It was really weird, and and that I tried to find that program, and I think the radio station pulled it.

31:11 The whole thing was just bizarre. But there was a news article where he was talking about churches having armed guards, and the photograph for the news article was all these people holding up their hands and on the screen it's like, you know, he's my refuge, my shield, my defender, and ever present help in times of trouble, right, and they're they're praising God. But the photograph has it's taken behind the congregation, so you can see them all what they're singing because the words are on the screen. They all have their hands up. And guess what's on everyone's hips? Guns? Guns, Everyone's carrying a gun. And so the author is kind of like he didn't have to say anything. Wait, God, your protector, helping defender. But you've got armed guards. So is he or isn't he? Does he preserve or does he not preserve? Now I'm not saying that I don't know what this church believes about the situation. The fact I don't even know if it's you know, where this church is located, they may have a completely different take. But here in the United States of America. I always find it interesting. So when he says God preserves and protects those in the church, protecting us from what physical harm? From what? From sin?

32:20 If he's protecting us from sin, then why do Christian sin? Is he protecting us from the devil? Well? If he keeps the devil completely away from us, well then we I don't need to be sober vigilant and looking out for the devil because God's going to keep him away from me, So so does God? Does God? Does God keep me away from does he keep sin away from me? Does he keep satan away from me? Does he keep my flesh away from? Like? What is God doing? I think that's a reasonable question. Reliable to self destruction through our own and dwelling sin, the world seeks to draw as away as the seat. Thanks be to God, whom he has begun a good work, and he will continue and complete until the day of Christ. The eternal security of God's people.

33:24 Now I do believe God preserves us eternally, Yes, because we're saved by an imputed righteousness. But see, it's always weird, like, well, we would self destruct, so God keeps us from self destruction. Well, what happens when we fall into sin? Where was God? Like, it's really weird, Like I went in, we talk about God's involvement and God's intervention and God protecting and God preserving and God doing this and God doing that. Well, then but their sin sin, sin, sin, sin, sin. So then do we then say, well, God decided not to protect that path. I mean, just go I've told you in the last few weeks the Christian Post have had so many articles about very well known pastors who have fallen into very very very grievous sins, very bad sins. So now what most Christians do is just throw the pastors under the bus and say, well, there probably weren't even Christians in the first place. We just throw them out of the Kingdom of God. Or maybe we how do we where is God? Like? Those are the questions. Whenever I ask those questions, people get mad at me. You ask way too many questions.

34:36 But these are questions that have to be asked. And again, now what I'm what I'm perplexed by again is we're listening to another sermon on Psalm eighty three, and it seems like we're going further and further away from psawm eighty three. Now I'm I feel confident he's going to circle right back around and get us right into Psaw eighty three. But all of his opening illustration and setting up his hypotheses is all about well, us, us, us, It's about us. Okay, it's not yet about about the people saw maighty three, the people in the saal Maty three who are actually offering up the lament, which was Israel is the reality of Greece. Let us get thanks.

35:19 Are you still placing on? Faithful? It's the grace of God in you and through you enabling you to do that. And so if you're still pressing on in your Christian life, that's God enabling you. Now we're right back to the God enabling you. What does God enable you to do? He only enables you to press on? Or does he enable you to fully succeed? Or does God for some reason don't want you to fully succeed. If he's enabling you, why would he not enable you to perfection? Well, nobody can be perfect. So then God's enabling lacks the ability. It's it's an enabling that will not get you to perfection, is it? Or is it only? Like I don't say the enabling is always So many times I hear these sermons. God's empowering you, God's strengthening you, God's enabling you. God's doing all of these things. But then it's like but but, but but but you can never be perfect and you never can be sinless.

36:21 Well, then there's a limit to his enabling. Why is there a limit to it? And again, if God's doing the enabling, and then if I fall, is it because I did not use the enabling? Well, why wouldn't the enabling then overcome my unwillingness to use the Oh, it just becomes so confusing to me. It's so like I don't I can't follow it sometimes. But what we want here is PSAW eighty three. What we want is saw maighty three. That's what we want. That's what we're gonna get. I'm confident, right? Are you confident? Right? You want you want to you want to put some money down right now? You want to? Bed betting is open right now? Do you believe we're going to get the Psalm eighty three right now and we're going to really understand the text?

37:06 Or do you believe this is going to just completely almost ignore Psawmity three is simply going to become a tool so that we can talk about us. What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? I'm going to be confident? Right? Maybe it's the Maybe it's the accent. See the accent sounds like this is going to get us the Psalm eighty three? Right? Maybe? All right, here we get we're going to find out. So it is God's grace that preserves the church. The weakness of the church often the sins which plague God's people as a body. There are real problems. It's difficult to remain faithful at times. And then there are the enemies of God.

37:54 And either in us sum we have a prayer which is very much a cry for help and the feast of the enemies of the church. It's a reminder two, the enemies of the church. And again is so did you not catch how confusing that guy. God's enabling you, God's protecting you, God's preserving you. But yet the church is filled with sin, and it's hard sometimes to remain faithful. Well wait a minute. If God's enabling, strengthening, preserving, and protecting, then why would it be difficult to accomplish anything. That's it's the double speak within christiandom that drives me crazy. But now, just please note saw eighty three and I was going to be about the enemies of the church. Didn't this the enemies of Israel? But okay, let's see where this is going to go. First, you let us some that we should know what God has done in the past. The biblical history is useful that Old Testament Church history is brought to the fore here and made and there is something which is used to be an encouragement and inform this prayer. And of course we can build and that some of God's dealings with the church in post Apostolic history, and think of how God has worked in

39:35 the past, and that encourages us, including in dark times when we may need to cry for help. If in it is also is it? Do you not find it? At least? Do you not struggle with this? If God's protecting and preserving and strengthening and enabling, then why do you ever find yourself in a situation where you need a grive for help? Did your protection break down? Like sometimes I just like I don't I don't understand.

40:17 I don't understand. Okay, all right, but he's still making it about the church, the church, the church. But he's he just turned the page in his notes. Did you hear that he turned the page in his notes? So I'm assuming he's now turning and we're going to actually get into the text. Let's see what we can learn here to Visa, there was a consciousness are the enemies of God surrounding the church? Now cry, keep not thou silence of God, hold not thy peace, and me not still God, for low thine enemies make a tune mount and to hate. Thee of lifted up the head. Well, if that was true in his stee don't we feel that way in our own d The enemies of God have certainly lifted up the head. There is a tumult that is so much opposition to God and his Christ in our own land. Surely we meet this prayer, our prayer one of the three things as we just briefly reflect on the sum this evening. The Church surrounded by our enemies, the Church protected by God.

41:32 His entire outline is including the church, the church, the Church surrounded by its enemies, and the Church protected by God. This is Israel surrounded by our enemies and Israel protected by God. Because God made a specific covenant with the nation of Israel, not with the Church. He made a specific covenant with Israel, and he fulfilled, He has, he has been, and will ultimately fulfill every covenant promise to the nation. The promise is made to the nation, are not made to the Church. There is a distinction.

42:12 The church is prayer. First of all, The Church surrounded by our enemies. And you'll notice the picture you have is of the Israel being encircled. That are okay, Now he finally mentioned Israel. He finally mentioned Israel. He finally used the word Israel instead of using the word Church. Finally. Right, that's a good thing. So maybe I see what he's going to do. Let's let's see. I'm going to be somewhat positive. Here. Many enemies that are mentioned from verse for onwards. And it's as if you can just draw our circle around Israel and there they are. She's surrounded and she has been threatened. There are many enemies, there are powerful enemies, and there is little Israel in the midst of them. Of course, it's not referring to the circumstances now. It's the circumstances of these days.

43:36 And it reflects the way it often is with God's people, that they find themselves confronted by many enemies and are plotting together against the Church. Who noticed that? How they have consulted against thy hidden ones Verse three, the taking crafty council together. They are those who are confederates, so they have conspired. You've got those who might not very naturally be friends with one another, and yet that hatred of God's people brings them together. Reminds you of how heroine pilot were reconciled in Jerusalem at the time of Christ's crucifixion. Of how you find the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who had little time for one another, along with the Herodians, bound together in opposition to Christ. So when you think of people, and even in our own land plotting, we might

45:08 say the downfall making life hard mean having no thought for the rights of Christ and God's people been threatening, perhaps even that if we would evangelize people are converted, who knows what may come of that. To be confronted with these challenges is nothing new, and we should recognize that those who oppose Christ and as people often are not content except they would utterly obliterate the Church. You got ut in verse four the nations had come, and let us cut them off from being a nation. That the name of issue may be no more than remembrance is under the way many are they would have no remembrance of the Church. And often he just goes right, Okay, I'm trying to follow.

46:28 Look, the question is when it comes to Psalm eighty three. Maybe I'll just put this question is clearly Psalm eighty three. No matter what he says, no matter what anybody else says, it's a lament for Israel, most likely happening during the circumstances as we read about them in Second Chronicles Chapter twenty. These are nations who come against the Nation of Israel. This is the nation of Israel lamenting to God. And however God intervenes. If if Second Chronicles twenty is the historical context, read Second Chronicles twenty and see how God intervenes, then is it not based on God's covenant that he has made with Israel. So then when we are going to apply this to us, we got to be very careful here, right. Is God going to intervene for us like he did for the nation of Israel. Go through all the times God intervenes for the nation of Israel, Go through all the different times.

47:25 Are we gonna get plagues to deliver us from some bad situation like he did for Israel? Is he gonna feed us with manna? Is he gonna part the Red Sea? Is he gonna do all of those things or those things specifically for the nation of Israel based off a covenant He made with them. Now the application we can come from that is God. If whatever covenant God, we are a part of the new covenant because we've been grafted in. But that's God doing things for us. Spiritually, those national promises are still to the nation of Israel. We can't take those national promises and make them ours. So what can be applied from Psalm eighty three, Well, what can be applied is we find ourselves in difficult situations and we can be honest to cry out to God in the lament that is applicable, which requires us to be honest, to be vulnerable, and to be truthful with our emotions and feelings and cry out to God. It allows us to be honest about our circumstances and not have to pretend that our circumstances aren't bad. We can acknowledge when our circumstances are bad, that's okay. That doesn't call into question our faith. Maybe we can take from this that we may know that his name alone is Jehovah Lord, and that he is the most high over all the earth. Maybe that's the main lesson everyone can take from this.

48:54 But we got to be careful to say Hey, as God helps Israel, here, God intervenes for us and protects And there's no you can't make that claim because God doesn't intervene that way on our behalf. No way, No, how can you say that He intervenes for us spiritually? He we are protected spiritually, we are preserved spiritually. There's a perseverance of the Saints in the sense that we are saved and we will remain saved for eternity. People have sought to obliterate any symblems of the Gospel and alarmed the church thing enemies.

49:47 And I always find it interesting that we're gonna somehow compare ourself to what's going on with Israel. Now, come on, I can't speak for what country he's in because I don't know what country is in. But here in the United States of America, you hear Christians like, Oh, their enemies are surrounding us. They want to wipe us out of existence. Oh, the church is just barely hanging on. They're gonna come take our bibles. And we're saying that on our podcast, on our sermon being broadcasted all over the internet. As there's a church on every street corner, there are Christian radio stations, Christian television stations. There's Christian books being sold everywhere. Bibles are available everywhere. You can have church Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You can have prayer meetings, you can do Bible studies. I can turn on this microphone and broadcast all day, all night, all weekend, all seven, seven days a week, twenty four hours a day, as long as I can keep talking. But but otherways, we're being surrounded by our enemies and they want to wipe us out of existence. Yeah, the enemies are so hard on us that you're broadcasting on the internet. I mean, come on, now, the Israel facing actual enemies who actually wanted to kill them. Are there people today who hate the Gospel? Yes? Are there are there people today who hate Christianity.

51:08 Yes, there's probably people out there, if given the ability, would take away our rights. But there's Christians who want to take away the rights of other people too, so we could reverse that. So I just don't know how this is turned into about the church. Friends, when we feel that way, we shouldn't be surprised. It often has been a lot of God's people. But what we must notice Secondly, is the church protected by God? You see, it seems that they're left in their own. And so you have this prayer, keep not thou silence, so God, hold not thy peace and be not still God. Obviously it appears that God seemed to be silent, he was holding his peace, He was still at least that's the way it seemed. So there's Israel surrounded by these enemies who are paying for our blood, as it were, seeking her utter destruction. And it seems as if she has left on her own. But you'll notice she has not left on her own. That's true God's people as individuals, and it's true of the Church never left on her own. He never abandons his people.

52:45 And that's brought out by what we have in verse three. How the Church are described as thy hidden ones, the lovely frees, the hidden ones. Does that phrase the sheltered ones, the hidden ones, the treasured ones, depending on your translation. That's in eighty three three. Does that describe us? Does that describe the church? Or is that describing Israel and its covenant relationship with God. I'm posing questions. Remember, I'm trying to get you up off the couch. I want you to really dig into Psalm eighty three. I guess the question today we're going to be left with is how do you apply this to us? What part is applicable? Are you good enough to be able to go? No? No, no no. That is clearly for Israel. And this is the lesson we can learn from.

53:43 This is what we can take from, because there's got to be a distinction here, right, Because what I want you to do to do is go to Second Chronicles twenty and see how God intervenes. If Second Chronicles twenty is the historical context for Psalm eighty three, what happens in that battle and Second Chronicles twenty and when God intervenes that way, does he intervene? Are you going to say that that it's guaranteed He's going to intervene for us whenever we face our enemies? Well, what happens when when when a church is wiped off the face of the earth by I don't know a storm or or a shoe, a gunman walks in and kills twenty thirty people like, so where where? Why doesn't God intervene like you did in Second Chronicles twenty? See is it describing what God did for them? But it's not prescribing how God is going to intervene for you. There is a distinction between God describing what he did for a covenant people whom he made a promise to, and that's one thing describing that. It's far different to take that and then prescribe that that's how God will act on our behalf. Are you sure those whom God has hidden, those whom God has placed in a place of safety, that's

55:13 the picture. He's taken them, and He's provided shelter so that they are hidden, so that they are out of harm's way. I think of Psalm twenty seven. Now the sam is saying he's unafraid, and he is rejoicing and meditating upon God. And the thing is he is there in a pavilion or the tent of God. For he in his pavilion shall be hide and evil days in secret of thy tent, Me hide, rock me wrayse.

56:00 There's God's people hidden with God, sheltered by God. At the same in Psalm ninety one, here that doth in the secret place of the Most High reside under the shade of Him that does the Almighty shall abide. We cry out for God to protect us and God is won who surrounds and who protects his people. And as we flee to him, as we look to him, as we pray, as as Samas did, and as we seek to remain in fellowship with Him, whether their thoughts focused on him, then we shall have that sense of his protection and his help even in the dark and difficult days. So we will get the same protection. I am struggling with this. So while he was talking, I decided to have a conversation with artificial intelligence because I'm like, you know, all right, So I so I asked, what is the significance of the phrase sheltered ones and Psalm eighty three three Right now, I know it's translated different ways, it says the phrase sheltered ones in Psalm eighty three three carries the significance in the context of the Psalm as a whole. In this verse, the psalmist is calling out to God referring to his people using the term sheltered ones. This term highlights

57:34 the idea that God's people are under the protection and care of the Almighty. Now this is how this is how he went after it. This is how the pastor that we're listening to went after it. Hey, hey, listen, if you, if you, if you believe in God, then you're under his protection and care. All right, Well, then how do we completely understand that? Because it goes on, the phrase sheltered ones conveys a sense of being under divine shelter or refuge of God, emphasizing the security and safety that comes from being a relationationship with him. Throughout the Psalm and other biblical texts, God is often described as a refuge, fortress, shelter for his people, providing them for protection, comfort, and peace. Again, if God is the one doing the protecting, why do then we need guns? Why do we need to lock our doors? God is protecting us?

58:15 Why don't worry about anything? So then how does that work? Do you need to protect yourself or do you not? Does God protect you? Does God not protect you? And how come you say God protects you if something doesn't happen? But then what do you do the minute it does happen? Then God wasn't protecting you? Why did God stop protecting you? Like? How do we understand this? Right? So he goes on to say, therefore, the significance of the phrase sheltered ones Asamiti three lies in the portrayal of God's people as under the protective wing of the Almighty, finding security and refuge in the presence amidst challenge, challenges, and enemies. So all right, So AI goes with this typical way most sermons are preached, making it about us. But I wasn't done with Ai. So I said, isn't the phrase referring to the nation of Israel? And then guess what AI did?

59:07 Yes, you are correct. I'm telling you I only want to talk to a theology to Ai. That's the That's the only thing I want to do. I don't want to talk to a tooth about theology to people. Because AI constantly tells me I am correct. All right, here we go, says yes, you are correct. And the context of Psalm eighty three three, the phrase sheltered ones is indeed referring to the nation of Israel. I know, it is so complicated to figure that out. All I have to do is after it reads sheltered ones, is just read the next verse where nation in Israel is literally used in verse four. So sheltered ones is referring to the nation of Israel. Okay, the text makes it abundantly clear. You don't even need to go to seminary to figure that out, but it says, yes, you are correct. And the context of Psalm eighty three, the phrase sheltered ones is indeed referring to the nation of Israel.

59:57 The psalm is a plea of God's protection four is against its enemies who are conspiring against them. The sheltered ones in this verse specifically denotes the people of Israel, highlighting their relationship with God as his chosen and protected nation. Throughout the Psalm, the Psalmist describes the various nations and groups that are plotting against Israel, seeking to destroy your overthrow Israel. In response to this threat, the Salmist turns to God, acknowledging him as the ultimate protector and the protector of Israel. By addressing the Israelites as sheltered once, the Psalmas symphasizes their unique status as God's chosen people under his divine care and relationship. Therefore, the phrase sheltered ones in Psalm eighty three specifically refers to the nation of Israel, underscoring their special relationship with God and the assurance of his protection and the face of adversity. It is about their covenant relationship with God. God intervenes on the behalf of Israel, protects, and provides in a way he does it for anyone else. That should allow you then to make more sense of the text. Let's listen to a little bit more of the sermon and then we'll wrap this up and go Proverbs eighteen, verse ten. The name of the Lord is a strong power. The righteous run into it in our sea

1:01:27 God's needs. Yeah, we run to God's name and we are safe. Safe from what. I'm safe from the wrath of God. I'm safe from hell. I'm safe from condemnation because in Christ, I am safe in His name. I come to him for righteousness. Are you gonna say I'm safe from every negative thing that can happen in life? What was I safe when I was being abused as a child. No, I wasn't. Was I saved from developing neurological issues and having seizures that you know could possibly kill me?

1:02:09 Nope, wasn't protected from that. I could go through lots of horrible stories. There's a famous pastor right now who's in all kinds of trouble you can read about in the Christian post who supposedly not only had inappropriate relations, but supposedly possibly was having relations with the girl's youngest at the age of twelve. Was she protected? Yeah, those are We don't like those difficult questions, I think, because sometimes we make these assumptions that we have that God has promised us something that I don't think reality demonstrates. This is about it.

1:03:01 God did protect them. He preserved them because he preserved the nation, because from Israel would come the Messiah. In the Messiah, I am protected from an eternity, separated from God. I am saved from my sin. I am therefore nothing can come against me spiritually speaking, in the sense of taking away my salvation in that covenant made with me in salvation. Is there a guarantee of protection from pain, suffering and death in this life? Absolutely not. There is no There is no guarantee of protection from anything like that.

1:03:52 In God's character, who he is and what he is like, he is our security, and as we run to him, we're safe. In the old days, for the people do if the enemy were seen in the horizon, they fled into the towns and they closed the doors. There was a castle. He went up to the castle, Edinburgh Castle. Still in castle, while They're there to be a refuge, to be a strong tower. Their safety, their security, God, the security of his people.

1:04:34 We entered into our chambers Isaiah twenty six twenty. We will hide herself there until the indignation be overpassed. Looking down into a bomb shelter, there may be trouble, but their security in God, the Church protect eat by God. You think of how the likes Avon and just I kept referring to that as a British accent. That's actually Scottish soneys. He said something about the castle wherever it was located. I was like, I'm ridiculous I refer to that as a British accent. There's I'm sorry. So yeah, I don't know why I refer to it as British accents. Clearly a Scottish accent.

1:05:26 Why did I do that? Because I'm from Texas, That's why, Okay. And the only accent that we recognize is legitimate is a Texas one. Okay, So I apologize for that. I got that completely wrong, okay, right, I don't know why I said it was British. It was Scottish. Okay, So I apologize for that. Someone I probably already got an email. Let me look at my email inbox. I probably already have an email. Someone going, you don't even know the difference between a Scottish a British accent. What is wrong with you? Right? You're probably right. Hang on, let me look at my email. Let's see see if I can apologize to people already here we go away. Ooh I've gotten Oh no, no, no, no, no, okay, I see I do have an email. I do have an email. Oh boy, hang on, it came on doing this. Oh no, okay. Election of the election of the non elect. Someone says, hope you are well.

1:06:17 If you get a chance, this sermon might be worth reviewing. All right, so thank you, Paul, Thank you Paul. All right, so good. Paul was not telling me that I confused a Scottish accent with a British accent. The bottom line is what I am not confusing is the identity of who this is about. It's about Israel. So this challenges us here and I'm just gonna stop right there. You can go listen to the rest of that sermon. The churches cry for help and you can look that up all right now, and it comes from Bethel Free Church. Bethel Free Church located in southwest Scotland, not England. Okay, all right, okay, so not in London, right, my understanding of Europe in the UK and England and in Scotland and okay, right, yeah, I'll get it all confused, all right now Now I feel foolish. Now I feel foolish, a right, but I apologize for that. The whole point about the accent was whether it's Scottish, British, wherever it is. It sounds so we can be greatly influenced by an accent. But in this case, I'm not being influenced by the accent because I just have a strong difficulty here. And my difficulty here is that he's taking whatever promises he believes is being articulated here about protection and preservation and help that clearly is for the nation of Israel.

1:07:51 He's applying that to us. And I constantly challenge this concept. You can't take some of these promises of protection and preservation and make them about us because it raises so many questions. And if we are saying that we have a certain promise that's not for us, you're going to leave people discouraged, disillusion disappointed, and possibly deconstructing because they're not going to understand. So there we have it. I went sixty minutes to determine that I was confusing a scotland An accent from Scotland, okay, with a British accent. I apologize, I apologize all right. In fact, I'm going to look something up here.

1:08:45 Hang on, hang on, I'm going to look something up here. Hang on, I'm looking something up. Hang on. Stay with me. Hey, oh I can't hang on, hang on, hang on, I'm almost there. Hang on, Just stay with me, hang on almost okay, Well, okay, I guess the correct way to say this hang on.

1:09:35 It says, well, well, there's a lot of things here about which English accent has the most similarity with Scottish, and there's certain dialects that I guess are similar. There are many accents within Britain, including all the Scottish ones. There is no one British accent. So there we go. I guess, so there is not really a British accent. I guess according to this. That's interesting, all right, So I would have to get into a whole discussion about accents and dialects and all of that. So I don't what's the correct way I should I should have just said this. The Scottish accent is very different for yours. So I don't know if I'm going to get people from from Europe who contact me and from other countries, I got to be very careful how I say it from other countries and say what are you doing? I'm gonna say, I'm an American. Don't you know about us Americans that we don't think anything else exists other than America. Okay, right there we go. That's that's that's pretty funny. All right, So a little bit of a little bit of humor at my expense. All right, thank you for listening. But the seriousness of Psalm eighty three is we got to be careful how we do that. I don't think that's the Church, that's Israel. And I think any promised protection of Israel is a promised protection for a covenant nation who God made very specific promises too. And

1:11:11 I don't think I can take those promises and apply them to me and look at Second Chronicles twenty to find out exactly how God if saw eighty three, if the historical setting of Saw eighty three a Second Chronicles twenty. What did God do in second chronicles twenty? And can I take that and say He's going to do that for us? All right? Thanks for listening. You can email me news I F at yahoo dot com. That's the news I f at yahoo dot com. This is the podcast that doesn't know the difference between what I refer to as a British accent and a Scottish accent. But according to the first thing I'll bring up on the internet, there is there are many different accents within the brit within Britain, including all the Scottish ones. There is no one British accent. So if there is no one British accent, can can I refer to them as all British accents? So then therefore it was I act correct? Was I more correct than I knew?

1:12:02 Or no? Am I just looking for something on the Internet to prove that I was right. If I look long enough, I'll find something to say, Hey, actually I was correct, but yeah, now I'm reaching. Thanks for listening, everyone, have a great day. God bless