Jan. 30, 2025

The Psalms vs The Church

The Psalms vs The Church

A discussion about how the church at large have misunderstood the Psalms.

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A discussion about how the church at large have misunderstood the Psalms.

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Thursday, January the thirtieth, twenty twenty five. It

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is currently ten forty one am Central Time, and I

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am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio

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located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, when you wake

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up on Sunday mornings, right, you wake up, you get ready,

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you eat some food, you get everyone dressed, you get

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in the car, and you drive to your church. When

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you walk into that church, when you walk into that building,

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what are your expectations? I mean, you're expecting something, right,

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I know, you expect that certain things will happen, right.

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I mean you you are expecting you're gonna sing some songs,

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You're gonna stand, You're gonna pray. There's gonna be some

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Bible reading. There's gonna be a sermon. You're gonna you're

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gonna meet some You're gonna, you know, see people that

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you know. You may shake hands, you may catch up

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with them, maybe there's some coffee down nuts. You've got

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certain expectations, but those expectations are more along what what

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you just kind of expect to happen. But don't you

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have some expectations about what you are going to receive,

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what you are going to get once you get there? Right?

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I mean, don't you have an expectation that I'm going

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to go into this building called a church and at

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some point, whether it's in a Sunday school class or

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whether it's sitting in a pew in the sanctuary, I

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am going to receive instruction in the Word of God.

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And I think this would be accurate. Don't you have

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the expectation that that instruction, that that teaching, that that

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pre is going to be accurate, It's going to be truthful,

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and it's going to help you learn and understand the

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text better so that you can grow spiritually. Don't you

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have an expectation, I mean, at a minimum, that what

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is being preached is accurate, true, and it's going to

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help you have a correct understanding of the text. I

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mean is that that has to be at least part

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of your expectation? Right? Or is that? I mean? Where

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do you rank? That is when it comes to church?

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Not only what what do you what do you expect?

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What do you kind of like this this is a requirement?

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I mean, is it a minimum requirement that you walk

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into church and you receive a correct teaching of God's

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Word so that you have a correct understanding of it.

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I mean, I would think everyone has that expectation. Everyone

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expect that, everyone kind of requires that. Like the reason

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I go to this church is because I get the

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right teaching of God's Word. Now, I'm going to throw

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out an idea here that is going to be very unpopular.

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I believe that for most of you, you should just

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get rid of that expectation. You should just get rid

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of that requirement because the way the sermon structure is

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set up is it actually will keep you further from

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the text. I believe sermons in most cases actually prevent

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you from having a right understanding of the text. It

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gives you a wrong understanding of the text. Instead of

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a sermon being worried about giving you a right understanding

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of the text, the sermon is more worried about making

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sure it's engaging, making sure it's interesting, making sure that

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you are moved emotionally, or that you are moved to

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do so. It's about application, it's about you. The sermon

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is more focused on the audience than it is on

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the text. The sermon is all about engagement and about

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being interesting so people won't be bored, so that they

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will come back next Sunday, because obviously you've got to

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keep people coming back, because you got to keep people giving,

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because if you don't have people coming back in people giving, well,

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then the church won't have enough money to pay all

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the bills it requires to keep the doors open. So

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it's kind of like it becomes this vicious cycle. The

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sermon has to be more focused on making sure that

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people like it so that they will come back, because

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everyone there, the pastor requires money to get paid. The

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church requires money to pay the bills, and so I

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believe it may be unintended consequences, but I believe the

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way the sermon is designed, it will actually keep you

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from the text. We are the enemy to understanding the text.

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Let me state it again. The sermon is the enemy

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of proper understanding of the text. I know we disguise

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it as oh no, no, no, we're worried about the

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in depth teaching of scripture. I know that's the way.

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May maybe we even convince ourselves it's true, But the

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sermon is think of it this way. The foundational problem

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of sermons is that the sermon is audience focused, not

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necessarily text focused. Now the pastor was a no, no, no, no,

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My focus is on the text. But reality is you

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go pastors go to the text and figuring out how

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they can preach that to the people. They can show

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the people why it's for them. It's all about application,

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and that ultimately destroys the meaning of the text. No,

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I know not everyone percent of you will not agree

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with my hypotheses, and that's okay. But I think I've

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been able to prove that over and over and over

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and all the sermon reviews that I have done, sermon

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review after sermony review, and you're like, what are you

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doing with the text? How many sermons have we reviewed

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on between Isaiah forty and Isaiah fifty five, And every

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single time, by the end of it, I'm yelling and screaming,

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going what are you doing? You've you've completely destroyed any

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proper understanding of this text. You've moved out the original recipients,

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You've moved us in. You've made it about us, us US,

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You've spiritualized it, you've allegorized it. You've done this, You've

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done that. You stop it. That's the whole reason we've

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been doing the work on Isaiah forty through fifty five.

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We've seen the same thing with even placing sermons artificial

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intelligence against sermons, and what have we discovered that over

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artificial intelligence is like, this is not a right handling

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of the text, This is a mishandling of the text.

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This is over spiritualizing, this is this, this is that

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this is not applicable, and all of those problems, and

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it becomes maddening. So we've talked about how pastors have

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done this between Isaiah forty and fifty five. I'm going

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to expand my hypotheses and I'm going to say that

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when you really break it down, that the Book of

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Psalms is at war with the Church. That the church

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consistently systematically mishandles, misupplies, misinterprets, and teaches the Psalms in

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such a way they actually mislead people and key people

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from understanding the Psalms. I think, for at large, the

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church's understanding of the Psalms is fraudulent, it is flawed.

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And if you go to church and listen to preaching

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on the Psalms, what basically you're you're not going to

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actually get the psalms. You're going to get a complete

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misunderstanding of them. Now, why are we talking about the psalms? Well,

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if you remember, I don't remember. I don't have the

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date in front of me. Some episodes back again, I

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would have to look. I had the sort of the

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Lord newspaper right here, sort of the Lord newspaper. This

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is from January third, twenty twenty five, right sort of

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the Lord newspaper. On the very front page, there was

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an article entitled or a sermon, it's actually a printed sermon.

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There was a sermon entitled what do you Do When

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trouble troubles You? Are you? And I just know even

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the title it's about you? What do you do when

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trouble troubles you? So the sermon was there to offer

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you hope and comfort and encouragement, because I think what

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people most expect and require and churches, they leave feeling better,

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they feel encouraged, they feel they have they have joy.

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They go for an experience. Okay, more than the text. Well,

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guess what this sermon is right here to provide you

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some hope, some encouragement, because what do you do when

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trouble troubles you. Well, after it gives this kind of introduction,

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offers some scripture. The Sord of the Lord newspaper tells

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me to turn to page twenty. You turn to page twenty,

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and then you have this section entitled how to get

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out of trouble? Okay, Well, in life you find yourself

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in difficulty. You find yourself and periods of pain and suffering,

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times of trouble. Well, how do you get out of

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this trouble? No, this is what they say. I'm quoting.

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I'm quoting from the Sort of the Lord, the sermon,

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this printed sermon. Know that God is most anxious to

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help How do you get out of trouble? When you

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start with You've got to know that God is anxious

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to help you. He's like, okay, I'm ready. You know

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he God is there. He's anxious to help you. He's

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ready to help you. He wants to help you. And

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what do they give us as scripture proof that God

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is anxious to help They quote Psalm ninety one fourteen.

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God speaks of the one who has set his love

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upon the Lord, and he and has known his name.

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Immediately he promised he shall call upon me, and I

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will answer him. I will be with him in trouble.

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I will deliver him and honor him. So what does

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the sermon do? Hey guys, are you going through periods

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of trouble well? Psalm ninety one fourteen. God is anxious

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to help you and all you have to do. If

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you will call upon him, he will answer you. He

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will be with you in trouble. He will deliver you.

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That take a Psalm a verse in the book of Psalms,

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and they make it about you, they make it about me.

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They immediately apply the Psalms to you, to your situation,

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to your trouble. But that don't stop there. Then they

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go down. It says, find and claim his promises. Then

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it reads, it is not enough to know that God

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can help and that we can refresh. It is not

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enough to know that God can help and that we

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can refresh ourselves with his promises. We must learn to

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wait upon him. And then it quotes Psalm twenty seven fourteen.

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He says, wait on the Lord, be of good courage,

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and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say on

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the Lord. And once again this is applied to us.

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It goes down a little further. It quotes Psalms sixty

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six thirteen through fourteen. The sermon gives us verses from

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Psalms from the Psalms multiple times to tell us what

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we are to do in times of trouble, and tries

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to give us promise, try to give us encouragement, try

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to give us hope. And if I was there on

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a Sunday night, and I'm like, thank you, some of

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you may be tired from today, you got the week

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in front of you, and you may have some burdens,

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and you may be tired, and you may have some trouble. Well,

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this evening for our Sunday evening message, I just want

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to do a time of a devotional study and we're

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going to look at some verses in the Psalms to

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bring you peace and to bring you comfort and to

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bring you hope. And after this sermon, people would come

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and go pastor thank you so very much. I feel

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so encouraged, I feel so blessed. You don't know how

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much this means to me. Thank you so much, and

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they walk out. Everyone is happy, everyone thinks it's great.

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The only problem is the Psalms are not properly understood

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because they were misupplied, and people were giving a false assurance,

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falseness of hope, and I get sick and tired of it.

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I get sick and tired of it that sermons are

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the enemy of biblical understanding, and that the church is

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the very place you don't want to go if you

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want to understand the text. You're like, hey, we want

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to understand the Bible, drive us the church. You better

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to go to the liquor store than go to the church. Okay,

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maybe that's a little bit of hyperbole. You get the idea, now,

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So I'm gonna take this idea, and I'm going to

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work on this a little bit here, and I'm gonna

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do it live. We're going to work through this and hopefully,

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hopefully this will be beneficial. All right. I think that

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there's a concept here when it comes to the Psalms

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that is often overlooked. I think it's overlooked. I don't

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have a percentage, but I think most of the time

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this concept is often overlooked by pastors, Bible teachers, Sunday

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school teachers, and Christians when it comes to the Book

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of Psalms. I think that there's a concept here that's

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constantly overlooked, which leads to this entire problem. The Psalms.

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I want you to hear this. The Psalms, like much

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of the Old Testament, they are rooted in God's covenant

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relationship with Israel. I cannot stress this enough. Most of

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the Old Testament, especially the Psalms, everything you're reading there,

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it is rooted in God's covenant with Israel. You cannot

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go to the Old Testament just read verses and forget

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God and his covenant with Israel. You can't just go in,

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take the promises, take everything and make it about you.

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It's not about you, that's about them, that's We've been

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How many times have I said this? And are my

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frustration with the sermon after sermon after a sermon, especially

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if from the sermons on Isaiah forty through fifty five

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or any Old Testament sermons, It's like, how did we

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how did we get there? They just just the pastor

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begins the sermon, and we're there it's about us, And

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it's like, how did this become about us? When you

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read the Psalms and you read the descriptions of God's actions,

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you read about God's interventions, and you read about God's promises.

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You must understand the descriptions of God's actions. You must

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understand the description of God's intervention. You must understand the

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description of God's promises. You must understand them within that

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covenantal framework. You have to understand it that way. This

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means that while the psalms offer great comfort, wisdom, and

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insight into God's character, they are primarily descriptive of God's

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dealings with Israel rather than a prescriptive guarantee for all

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people in all all situations. I want you to hear

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that again. The psalms offer great comfort, wisdom, and insight

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into God's character, but they are primarily descriptive of God's

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dealings with Israel rather than prescriptive guarantees for all people

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in all situations. In other words, when you go to

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the psalms, it is describing God and his relationship with

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Israel and the relation and in the connection of the

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Covenant promises given to them. It is describing that. It's

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not prescribing how God is going to do something for

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me or prescribing that these promises are for me. It's

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about them. I want you to consider some things here.

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For consider the Covenant context. I cannot stress this enough.

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Consider the covenant context. When it comes to the promises

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of protection, when it comes to the promises of deliverance,

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when it comes to the blessings, they are all tied.

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Let me state it again, when it comes to the protection,

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when it comes to the deliverance, when it comes to promises,

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when it comes to the blessings, they are all tied

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in the Book of Psalms to the Mosaic and Davidic Covenant,

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which were specific to Israel. So the promises, the deliverance,

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the blessings, everything, it is tied directly to the Davidic

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and Mosaic covenant given to Israel. You can't just go

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in and insert yourself into it. God's enters, whether in

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a battle or if it was protection from enemies, or

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if it was about national prosperity, they are direct responses

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to Israel's covenant faithfulness and or disobedience. These promises in

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the Psalms. If you go through the Psalms and you

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see promise after promise after promise, or descriptions of intervention

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or or blessing, or whatever the case may be, they

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align with the blessings and curses laid out in Leviticus

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twenty six and Deuteronomy twenty eight, where Israel's obedience leads

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to divine protection and provision, while disobedience results in judgment.

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So everybody wants to say, oh, the Psalms, but that's

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our the church's hymn book, that's our worship book. It

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describes God and Israel, not God in us. And it

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all must be understood in light of these covenant, especially

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the blessings and curses that are laid out Leviticus twenty

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six and Deuteronomy twenty eight and following. I've talked about

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this a million times, but sermon after sermon after sermon

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after sermon after sermon makes it about you, makes it

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about me. So you just the entire Old Testament. You

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just need to go to your and your Bible and

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you just need to put on above every page and

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the Old Testament covenants with okay, the context, covenant with Israel,

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Covenant with Israel, covenant with Israel, and then understand the

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promises the deliverance as being descriptive of everything working out

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within that context, within that economy, if you want to

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use that term, if you want to use the term

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dispensation within the dispensation of God's dealings with Israel. It

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is descriptive. It's not prescribing anything for you, because those

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promises aren't for you. Those promises were for Israel based

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off the covenant made with them. How do we not

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understand this? So the covenant context second thing to consider descriptive,

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not prescriptive. I've already emphasized this. The psalms describe how

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God interacted with this covenant people in a specific historical context.

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It's not that hard to figure out. The psalms are

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describing how God interacted with this covenant people in a

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specific historical context. They are not. Let me stress this again,

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they are not. If I was standing behind a pulpit,

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I would start pounding the pulpit. They are not universal

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promises to all believers in all times. They are are

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not universal promises to all people at all times. They

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are not. The psalms are filled with promises given to

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Israel based off the Covenant that He gave to them,

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not to you, not to me, not to the church.

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But Christians, look, I've seen it so many during COVID. Ooo.

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Look look at this psalm. Oh I remember I was

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placed as a guard on September of the eleventh, two

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thousand and one, when the world was in chaos and

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craziness was going on. I was placed to be a

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guard for the hospital there because we were worried of attack.

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So I was placed outside to be a guard and

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we had to search things. It was I mean, it

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was it was a stressful situation, right, And I remember

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someone walking towards the door and I was like, okay, stop,

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stop stop. So they came up trying to find out

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what they needed, what they wanted to Should I give

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them access to the hospital? What should I do here?

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Making a determination? And they were like, you know, yes,

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this is a horrible day. You need to read psalm.

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I can't remember, and they gave me some psalm as

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some form of encouragement. I wanted to scream, it's not

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for me, stop giving me a palm. What are you doing?

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I wanted to scream at it, but I mean, of course,

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I was just more like, you know, I got a

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job here to do. But it was so just frustrating.

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And Christians love to do that, Oh you're going through

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a difficult situation. Let's just rip a verse. Let's just

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grab some things from the psalms, who cares about what

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it's about. It is I get describing how God is

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interacting with his covenant people in a specific historical context.

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They're not universal promises. So this can explain why even

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among faithful Christians we have experiences of suffering, persecution, hardship, disease, death,

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financial ruin. In fact, all of those things are common

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despite the language and some of the psalms that seem

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to suggest absolute protection or absolute deliverance, our absolute intervention.

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So Christians we take them and apply them, and you

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know what that leads to. It ultimately leads to people

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becoming very disillusioned because they claim promises and then it

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doesn't happen. They don't can't figure out why, and it

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can lead to some really messed up things because if

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you go to the psalms and ohow, God's gonna deliver you,

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God's gonna protect you, God's gonna provide for you, well,

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really bad things can happen. If you want to go

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to the Christian Post today, you'll see an article about

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a number of charismatics Pentecostals who have been arrested. And

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why were they arrested because an eight year old I

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think she was eight years old. An eight year old

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girl died. Why did she die? Because she just needed

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some medical intervention, some medication. She would have been perfectly okay.

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But not to the charismatics. No, God's gonna intervene because

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we got this promise, and we've got this promise, and

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we've got this promise, and they take promises, rip them

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out of context, prayed for the girl, and of course

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their prayers were useless and the girl died, so they've

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all been arrested. Oh and after she died, they didn't

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even contact the authorities. They prayed for twenty four hours,

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say for God to resurrect her, and of course she

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wasn't resurrected. That's the nonsense that happens. And that's the

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extreme version. That's the extreme version. But there's a little

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bit of that built into Christianity because time and time

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and time you go to church and instead of getting

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the text, you're like, this is about you, this is

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about your problem. Oh, if you're going through difficulties this week,

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remember this psalm and remember this song. What are you doing?

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The psalms are in a covenantal context. You're not Israel.

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Those Covenant promises were not for you. They were for

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the nation of Israel. They fit in within a historical context,

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and then you see in the Old Testament God interacting

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with them on the basis of that content, of that

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covenantal context. Therefore, what you were reading in the psalms

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is it is describing. It is descriptive of how God

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interacted with his covenant people in that specific historical context.

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They are not universal promises. So that I stayed all

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of that, And even though I've already kind of given

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you some examples, let me just state it again one

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more time, just to make it very clear. The reality

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of life proves my entire point that the psalms are covenantal.

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They are descriptive. They're based off of covenant, and they

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are descriptive. If you read many of the psalms as personal,

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If you read them as personal, if you read them

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as somehow about you, if you read them as about

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somehow about us? Well you see almost as if there's

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unconditional promises, you almost expect an unwavering protection from harm,

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victory over your enemies, and physical deliverance in every situation.

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Yet reality shows the believers still experience suffering, loss and

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even death. The New Testament presents more of a nuanced

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approach to these subjects. But the Psalms, if you go

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in there, sounds like and you're just going to read

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them as like they apply to us. You're gonna be like, well,

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where's my deliverance, where's this? Where's God's gonna protect, God's

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gonna provide, God's gonna deliver, God's gonna do this, God's

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gonna do that. And you I've seen Christians do that

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countless times with the psalms, and even in churches that

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don't go that far, it is still preached as this

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is for you, This is for you, this is for you.

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Find comfort, memorize this, put it on your refrigerator, this

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is for It's not now. The psalms may give us

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valuable lessons. Some may say, well, then how do the

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psalms apply to us? Well, here's some possible ways the

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psalms could possibly remain valuable for us today. Because it

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reveals God's character, may reveal his faithfulness. How it's in

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many cases revelating his faithfulness to what his covenant promises

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to Israel. So we see God's faithfulness, we may see

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his justice, we may see his mercy. We may see

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his sovereignty now all of those so in other words,

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we see we learn about God, we learn about his character,

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we learn some of his attributes. It doesn't mean that

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those the way he acts and the exercise of those

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attributes and that specific historical context then becomes a guarantee

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that he's going to act in our historical context in

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the same way because he's acting in that way based

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off those covenant promises. But we can learn about his

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character and his attributes and the psalms. Some say that

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the psalms may teach us how to pray. Okay, now,

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this still would be a little bit of problem there,

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because many of the prayers. You've got to remember, those

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prayers would be focused on the covenant relationship God has

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with them. They can pray differently because they've been given

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specific promises. Could teach us how to worship, definitely can

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teach us how to lament, how to cry out to God.

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Some we could argue that many of the psalms are

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very our messianic psalms, so they point to Christ. That

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would be valuable for us, and I think we could

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do this. We could say that the psalms may speak

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of God as rock, refuge, shield, deliverer, as long as

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we understand that for us, for us, that all points

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to spiritual and eternal things. God is my rock and

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my refuge. Spiritually and eternally speaking, He's my rock and

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my refuge from the condemnation of sin, from the wrath

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of God. Right is Christ? Is that? Hey, he's my rock,

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my refuge. God is my rock and refuge in the

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sense that he provides. He provides his son Christ, who

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died for me. If we see it in a spiritual

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context now, and the only danger there is you're kind

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of over spiritualizing the Psalms, and you've got to be

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careful with that, right because in many cases it's talking

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about physical, material provision and deliverance for Israel. But that

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doesn't apply to us. So if we're gonna make it applicable,

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we'd have to see how it would apply to the

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original recipients and say, okay, well, God doesn't give us

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those same guarantees. But in Christ Jesus, I am declared

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to be perfect and righteous. Because of imputed righteousness, I

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am guaranteed that I will be in heaven. There'll be

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no more pain, no more suffering, no more death, he

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will ultimately be my deliverer. So in a sense he

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is my rock, he's my refuge, and he's my shield.

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But all in a spiritual way. You don't want to

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over spiritualize that you destroy the historical meaning. But if

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you're going to draw some meaning, that's what you have

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to do. So if you want to try to make

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it applicable, though, those are just some quick ways of

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00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:04.960
trying to do so. But you cannot forget all the

458
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:08.920
things that we've just mentioned, so we have to avoid

459
00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:17.599
a misguided application. I would argue, I think this is fair. Many.

460
00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:21.039
I think many is an accurate term. Many preachers and

461
00:31:21.079 --> 00:31:24.519
teachers take promises in the Psalms and then apply them

462
00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:31.079
directly to Christians today without regard for their covenantal context.

463
00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:36.119
What does this lead to? It leads to unrealistic expectation.

464
00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:40.319
It leads to disappointment, It leads to depression, it leads

465
00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:44.160
to discouragement, It leads to deconstructing. It leads to people

466
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:46.960
doing crazy things because they think they have some promise

467
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:54.480
in which they don't. So we could, if we want

468
00:31:54.480 --> 00:31:56.880
to be faithful, we would approach the Psalms and recognize

469
00:31:56.880 --> 00:32:00.119
that the Psalms reflect timeless principles such as God's care,

470
00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:06.240
but that the specific interventions described are not universal guarantees

471
00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:15.039
we have to get. Until we figure this out, the

472
00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:18.240
psalms are gonna continue to be abused and misused in churches.

473
00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:22.319
Now I know, I'm just screaming into the wind because

474
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:25.079
no one cares. Everyone's gonna go to church on Sunday,

475
00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:26.799
and if the Psalms are misapplied, they're gonna be like,

476
00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:29.519
hey man, that's far better than that idiot on the

477
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:33.279
Theology Situl podcast. I'm gonna take these promises and go

478
00:32:33.319 --> 00:32:36.240
ahead to build yourself up with a life of false

479
00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:39.839
illusion and hope and and be And as long as

480
00:32:39.880 --> 00:32:44.279
the illusion and the mirage works, then great, be happy.

481
00:32:44.359 --> 00:32:48.440
But when it all comes burning to the ground, you

482
00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:52.200
know why, because you didn't want to go to church

483
00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:53.799
to get the truth of the text. You wanted to

484
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:58.599
go to church to get a sermon. So I decided

485
00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:03.440
then to ask Ai a question. I asked artificial intelligence,

486
00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:08.759
would it be more accurate and would it be more

487
00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:14.440
correct to see the Psalms to say that the Psalms

488
00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:18.319
are about God and Israel, not about God and us.

489
00:33:18.759 --> 00:33:21.359
So I went to artificial intelligence. Would it be more accurate?

490
00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:24.160
Would it be more correct to say that the psalms

491
00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:27.039
are about God in Israel and not God and Us?

492
00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:30.799
Ai said yes, that would be a more accurate and

493
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:35.880
correct understanding. The psalms are fundamentally about God and Israel,

494
00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:42.160
not God and Us in a direct, personal or universal sense.

495
00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:47.200
They reflect God's covenantal relationship with Israel, his dealings with

496
00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:50.400
them as a nation, and his response to their faithfulness

497
00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:55.359
or disobedience. So Ai, even Ai is like, stop making

498
00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:57.759
the psalms about God and Us. It's about God in Israel.

499
00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:00.000
And I'm like, well, thank you. So then I you know,

500
00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:02.279
I need to know why. So Ai gave me the

501
00:34:02.359 --> 00:34:06.920
why why is this the correct view? So at least, look,

502
00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:09.360
everyone in the church is going to disagree with me.

503
00:34:09.719 --> 00:34:12.079
Pastors are going to disagree with me, but I don't

504
00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:14.800
really care. I would rather have Ai agree with me.

505
00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:17.519
I know that sounds ridiculous, but I almost would because

506
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:21.199
because I've seen all of the way these texts of

507
00:34:21.239 --> 00:34:25.119
scripture are constantly mishandled. But Ai gives me the reason why.

508
00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:27.719
Guess what? The first reason why that this view is right,

509
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:30.480
that the psalms are to be understood about God and Israel,

510
00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:33.000
not about God and Us. You ready for number one?

511
00:34:33.159 --> 00:34:35.199
I think it's going to sound very familiar because I

512
00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:40.840
just spent thirty minutes screaming this. Why is this correct?

513
00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:47.039
Why is this the correct view? Covenantal context? Oh wait? What? No?

514
00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:50.840
How could you think that, Ai? That would be crazy talk.

515
00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:55.639
The psalms were written within the framework of the Mosaic

516
00:34:55.960 --> 00:35:01.039
and Davidic Covenant. Wait. I just said that both are

517
00:35:01.079 --> 00:35:04.360
which are you ready for this? Both of which were,

518
00:35:05.079 --> 00:35:11.079
and this is put in bold by Ai, exclusive to Israel.

519
00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:18.239
Even AI knows that that these covenants, the Mosaicadivit Covenant,

520
00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:25.159
are exclusive to Israel. Many psalms are direct prayers or

521
00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:32.280
praises from Israel's kings, priest or people, reflecting national concerns,

522
00:35:32.760 --> 00:35:37.960
victory over enemies, land blessings, and temple worship. It is

523
00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:43.639
israel focus. It is about that covenant. So why is

524
00:35:43.719 --> 00:35:45.920
the psalms? If you're going to understand the psalms, they

525
00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:48.079
are about God and Israel. They're not about God and

526
00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:50.920
Us because of the covenantal context, which is what I

527
00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:56.039
just spent thirty minutes screaming about. Ai goes on to

528
00:35:56.039 --> 00:36:01.440
give a second reason. Historical and theological focus. The psalms

529
00:36:01.559 --> 00:36:07.679
recounts Israel's history and emphasizes God's faithfulness to his covenant people.

530
00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:12.480
They include prayers for deliverance from Israel's enemies, not yours,

531
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:18.280
blessings for Israel, not you, uh, These blessings tied to

532
00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:23.480
the land, not your house, not America, okay, And the

533
00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:28.960
role of the dividic King, not Trump. Things that are

534
00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:31.880
not promises. These are things that are not promised to

535
00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:35.880
the Church or individual believers today. These promises have nothing

536
00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:37.679
to do with you, have nothing to do with me,

537
00:36:37.960 --> 00:36:40.480
have nothing to do with America, have nothing to do

538
00:36:40.599 --> 00:36:44.639
with the church. They are about Israel in that context.

539
00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:51.000
So why is this view right? That the psalms are

540
00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:54.079
about God and Israel Because of the covenential context, because

541
00:36:54.079 --> 00:36:56.960
of the because of the historical and philological focus, and

542
00:36:57.039 --> 00:37:01.360
number three, because of the Messianic and Christ's fulfillment. Some

543
00:37:01.559 --> 00:37:05.960
psalms are prophetic Psalm two, Psalm twenty two, et cetera,

544
00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:09.800
and point forward to Christ as the ultimate fulfillment of

545
00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:13.440
Israel's So please no, even when it's even when it's prophetic,

546
00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:17.840
it's still in regards to Israel. I know we can, Oh,

547
00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:19.920
I know, reform people are gonna be like, no, it's

548
00:37:19.960 --> 00:37:22.719
not no, it's not. Israel's done. Okay, you can. You

549
00:37:22.760 --> 00:37:25.360
can throw Israel out all day long, go ahead, and

550
00:37:25.360 --> 00:37:27.519
then just turn the text into whatever you want it

551
00:37:27.559 --> 00:37:35.599
to be. But that context is to Israel. So even these,

552
00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:39.480
even these prophetic psalms, this is what Ai says, and

553
00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:45.000
it puts this in bold, are first about Israel, and

554
00:37:45.239 --> 00:37:50.039
it's Messiah. Did you hear that? Even Ai knows that

555
00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:53.360
when you read these prophetic psalms they are first about Israel.

556
00:37:53.519 --> 00:37:57.960
Puts that in bold, and it's Messiah, not directly about

557
00:37:58.039 --> 00:38:02.719
us as individuals or the church. Even the Messianic psalms

558
00:38:03.079 --> 00:38:07.079
is about Israel. How do we not get this? Oh,

559
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:09.039
because we need a sermon, and we got to make

560
00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:11.320
this sermon about us so that people will be like, oh,

561
00:38:11.320 --> 00:38:13.719
this sermon was applicable and the sermon was relevant, and

562
00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:16.760
the sermon made me feel good, and the sern gets okay, great,

563
00:38:16.840 --> 00:38:19.079
you've got you got a little bit of church. The

564
00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:23.320
only problem is church as usually the antithesis of actually

565
00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:31.079
studying the Bible. So how should we read the psalms?

566
00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:35.360
So Ai gave me all of those reasons. Why, Hey,

567
00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:38.920
it's better to say that the Psalms are about God

568
00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:45.159
and Israel, not about God and us. So how Christians

569
00:38:45.159 --> 00:38:47.360
should read the Psalms? This is this is Ai, This

570
00:38:47.480 --> 00:38:50.360
is not me, AI says. They tea that we should

571
00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:54.159
read the Psalms understanding. They teach us about God, his attributes,

572
00:38:54.760 --> 00:38:58.960
his sovereignty, and his faithfulness to his covenant. They teach

573
00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:01.159
us how to worship and prayer, which we mentioned a

574
00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:05.239
little bit. They model lament, that's what I mentioned, praise

575
00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.719
and thanksgiving, they do model all of that. They point

576
00:39:08.760 --> 00:39:11.679
to Christ, as we talked about. They do contain at

577
00:39:11.679 --> 00:39:14.239
times general wisdom and truth, but they do not give

578
00:39:14.280 --> 00:39:16.880
direct promises to individuals or the church in a way

579
00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:19.719
they did for Israel. So we may see some general wisdom,

580
00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:21.960
we may see some general truth, We may see some

581
00:39:22.039 --> 00:39:25.679
examples of praying. They point to Christ, and they teach

582
00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:28.039
us about God. There are some things we can get

583
00:39:28.079 --> 00:39:31.440
from it, but not direct promises. Not Hey, this is

584
00:39:31.639 --> 00:39:34.119
you're in a time of trouble, go to the Psalms

585
00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:43.079
and do what rip verses out of context? Ai. This

586
00:39:43.159 --> 00:39:47.280
is what Ai says. The Psalms are about God and Israel,

587
00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:53.039
not God and Us. We can still learn from them.

588
00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:56.079
May we may use them in worship and see Christ

589
00:39:56.159 --> 00:40:01.880
in them. We must not we mus not misapply them

590
00:40:02.440 --> 00:40:06.880
as if they are some personal guarantee. Understanding them in

591
00:40:06.920 --> 00:40:12.960
their original as Israelite context preserves their philological integrity and

592
00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:20.760
prevents distorted application. Once again, Ai, it's better than sermons

593
00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:24.000
and the church. I think that's kind of becoming the

594
00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:30.920
theme this year. So then I then at this point

595
00:40:31.119 --> 00:40:34.159
I realized, okay, Ai is seeing it the way I

596
00:40:34.199 --> 00:40:37.320
feel that we should. It's agreeing with my hypothesis. But

597
00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:39.639
when I gave it, I didn't ask it about my hypothesis.

598
00:40:39.679 --> 00:40:43.360
I just said, what's the correct way? Is the Psalms

599
00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:45.920
about God and Israel? About God and Us? And Ai

600
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:50.840
was emphatic, it's about God and Israel. So then I

601
00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:54.639
asked Ai this question. I said, wouldn't this correct? Wouldn't

602
00:40:55.159 --> 00:40:59.400
would not this correct approach basically nullify most sermons preached

603
00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:02.559
on the song and absolutely call into question the accuracy

604
00:41:02.599 --> 00:41:06.159
of most sermons on the Psalms. So I basically, Ai, look,

605
00:41:06.199 --> 00:41:08.760
if you if we go with the approach you are presenting,

606
00:41:09.039 --> 00:41:13.079
doesn't this basically nullify all the sermons we hear. This

607
00:41:13.159 --> 00:41:19.400
is what Ai says. Yes, adopting this correct approach would

608
00:41:19.559 --> 00:41:23.000
nullify most sermons preached on the Psalms and call into

609
00:41:23.079 --> 00:41:26.599
question the accuracy of how they are commonly taught. That

610
00:41:26.679 --> 00:41:30.039
is that's fascinating to me. It's like, yeah, if you

611
00:41:30.119 --> 00:41:34.039
understand the Psalms correctly, it basically nullifies all the sermons

612
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:38.599
you hear. And it's like, whoa, that's okay, But so

613
00:41:38.679 --> 00:41:42.320
I wanted Ai to tell me more. Ai said, this

614
00:41:42.360 --> 00:41:46.840
is because many sermons and teachings on the Psalms misapply

615
00:41:47.239 --> 00:41:53.559
them by treating them by treating them as a direct

616
00:41:53.679 --> 00:41:58.039
promise or personal assurance for all believers, without considering their

617
00:41:58.119 --> 00:42:08.079
original Covenental history, oracle and national context. Why most sermons

618
00:42:08.239 --> 00:42:11.320
Why most sermons on the Psalms are problematic? Please no,

619
00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:16.280
Ai even says most sermons are prob problematic? Why? Number one,

620
00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:19.880
they ignore the covenental context. Most sermons treat the Psalms

621
00:42:19.880 --> 00:42:22.199
as if they're written directly to all believers, rather than

622
00:42:22.239 --> 00:42:26.559
recognizing them as an expressive expression of God's relationship with

623
00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:30.719
Israel under the Mosaic and Dividic Covenant promises of protection

624
00:42:30.840 --> 00:42:34.679
prosperity or victory are frequently applied universally, even though they

625
00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:38.199
were national promises tied to Israel's obedience or disobedience. I

626
00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:44.840
cannot stress that enough. Even Ai knows this. Sermons at

627
00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:49.159
large ignore the covenental context. They may mention it, just

628
00:42:49.239 --> 00:42:51.079
giving it a little bit of lip service, and then

629
00:42:51.079 --> 00:42:55.239
they just move right along, and it's about you, you you,

630
00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:59.159
you you me, us wei me you, us wei me,

631
00:43:00.360 --> 00:43:08.360
Never them, never they, It's always us. Ai goes on

632
00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:10.840
to say why are most sermons on the Psalms problematic?

633
00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:14.679
Number two? They misapplied God's actions and promises. Many preachers

634
00:43:14.679 --> 00:43:19.360
take verses where God's promises God promises deliverance, protection, or

635
00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:21.719
success and teach them as if they apply to every

636
00:43:21.800 --> 00:43:25.760
Christian in every circumstance. This leads to false expectations, as

637
00:43:25.840 --> 00:43:29.559
reality shows that Christians do suffer, face danger, and experience

638
00:43:29.679 --> 00:43:34.840
loss even when they love and trust God. Another reason

639
00:43:34.920 --> 00:43:37.199
the sermons get it wrong so much. Number three, they

640
00:43:37.239 --> 00:43:40.679
turn the Psalms into self focused encouragement. Many sermons turn

641
00:43:40.719 --> 00:43:45.000
the Psalms into personal encouragement devotion and encouragement devotionals rather

642
00:43:45.039 --> 00:43:48.840
than thiological reflections on God's relationship with Israel. While the

643
00:43:48.920 --> 00:43:51.079
encouragement can be drawn from the psalms, they are often

644
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:53.559
preached as if they were written to modern Christians rather

645
00:43:53.599 --> 00:43:57.840
than ancient Hebrew poetry rooted in Israel's history. It's ancient

646
00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:07.800
Hebrew poetry written about is that's not about us. And

647
00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:10.079
many of these sermons, Ai goes, I'm not going to

648
00:44:10.119 --> 00:44:13.159
go through everything that says here, I'm skipping some. Ai says.

649
00:44:13.159 --> 00:44:15.440
One of the problems with many sermons is they failed

650
00:44:15.480 --> 00:44:21.599
to acknowledge the reality of life. If Psalm ninety one,

651
00:44:21.719 --> 00:44:25.480
for example, truly meant absolute protection from all for all

652
00:44:25.519 --> 00:44:28.360
who trust God, then no Christian would ever suffer harm

653
00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:32.199
or death. Yet the Apostles and countless faithful Christians throughout

654
00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:36.119
history suffered and died, proving that these psalms cannot be

655
00:44:36.159 --> 00:44:39.079
read as direct promises for all people at all times.

656
00:44:43.880 --> 00:44:47.039
So how should we preach them correctly? Ai says, We

657
00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:51.880
have to emphasize the original Israelite context. Isn't that crazy?

658
00:44:52.119 --> 00:44:54.159
We have to we have to recognize that the psalms

659
00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:59.360
are about God's relationship with Israel, not about individual believers. Today,

660
00:44:59.639 --> 00:45:04.599
even Ai knows that teach them a stillological reflection on

661
00:45:04.639 --> 00:45:09.639
God's character, show their fulfillment in Christ, and acknowledge their

662
00:45:09.679 --> 00:45:18.239
limitation for direct application. So AIS like, you know, the

663
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:20.840
church gets it wrong, over and over and over. AI

664
00:45:20.920 --> 00:45:22.320
goes on and say a lot of other things, but

665
00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:24.320
it would take you know, another forty five minutes to

666
00:45:24.440 --> 00:45:27.719
go through everything, but it it takes it all apart.

667
00:45:27.760 --> 00:45:30.079
So then at this point I was like, wow, okay,

668
00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:35.480
so my hypothesis all right, seems like that I'm onto

669
00:45:35.519 --> 00:45:39.199
something here. Okay good. AI is emphatic that it's not

670
00:45:39.280 --> 00:45:41.960
about us, it's about them. Okay great. So then I

671
00:45:42.039 --> 00:45:47.320
asked Ai a very this is more personal question. Do

672
00:45:47.519 --> 00:45:50.159
you think now I'm asking Ai to just give me

673
00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:57.760
its thoughts? Do you think the church at large would

674
00:45:57.800 --> 00:46:02.519
reject the correct preaching of the Psalms and the pastor

675
00:46:02.559 --> 00:46:09.559
would most likely find himself rejected by most Now I

676
00:46:09.599 --> 00:46:11.960
already feel like I know the answer, right, But I

677
00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:15.519
could some could argue, well, you're doing so from an

678
00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:20.000
emotional perspective, you're being hyperbolic. You can't there's no way

679
00:46:20.039 --> 00:46:23.320
you can be necessarily, you know, unbiased here, And You're

680
00:46:23.320 --> 00:46:25.880
probably right because I just feel like that over and

681
00:46:25.880 --> 00:46:27.519
over and over when I try to get to the text.

682
00:46:27.519 --> 00:46:30.079
Get to the text. Christians get ticked off. Christians get

683
00:46:30.119 --> 00:46:32.639
ticked off. They don't ever like to be challenged. It's

684
00:46:32.760 --> 00:46:34.800
like you just have to. I mean, I could go

685
00:46:34.840 --> 00:46:36.679
all through all of my issues with it, I mean,

686
00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:39.360
and all the sermons I've listened to could lead me

687
00:46:39.440 --> 00:46:42.320
to maybe a wrong perspective. So I wanted AI to

688
00:46:42.320 --> 00:46:45.920
give me its perspective. And here's what AI said. It's

689
00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:50.239
an emphatic yes. If a pastor were to correctly preach

690
00:46:50.320 --> 00:46:54.079
the Psalms, emphasizing their covenental context, their focus on Israel,

691
00:46:54.119 --> 00:46:57.639
they're fulfillment in Christ rather than universal personal promises, he

692
00:46:57.679 --> 00:47:07.519
would likely face significant rejection from the church. That's good news. Hey,

693
00:47:07.679 --> 00:47:10.840
if you preach the text right, you're gonna be rejected

694
00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:18.760
by the church. What ward, that's where we are. You

695
00:47:18.840 --> 00:47:22.360
go to church not to get an accurate teaching of

696
00:47:22.400 --> 00:47:25.719
the text because the church is designed for something different.

697
00:47:28.480 --> 00:47:30.920
Now here's why this is. AI gives me the reasons why.

698
00:47:31.000 --> 00:47:34.880
Number One, the church is desire for personal application. Many

699
00:47:34.960 --> 00:47:38.320
Christians approach the Bible looking for personal encouragement rather than

700
00:47:38.400 --> 00:47:44.239
seeking to understand its original meaning. No way are you

701
00:47:44.360 --> 00:47:47.480
telling me Christians just want to feel good. You're telling

702
00:47:47.719 --> 00:47:50.480
Christians just want it to be all about them. They

703
00:47:50.480 --> 00:47:53.239
don't really care about the original. Here's what Christians do.

704
00:47:53.440 --> 00:47:56.039
They want it to be about them. They want application,

705
00:47:56.320 --> 00:47:58.440
they want encouragement. Oh you know what else they want?

706
00:47:58.679 --> 00:48:04.079
They want confirmation of their already the theological system which

707
00:48:04.119 --> 00:48:08.280
they have adopted. Like if they if they're reformed, they

708
00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:10.760
only want sermons. It's going to give them the reform perspective.

709
00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:14.239
The text will always give them the reform perspective. If

710
00:48:14.239 --> 00:48:16.000
they're not reformed, it's always going to give them that.

711
00:48:16.239 --> 00:48:18.800
They want to go to church to get encouragement and

712
00:48:19.079 --> 00:48:22.800
just confirmation bias that hey, what I believe is right

713
00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:25.440
because everything I hear in church says that I'm right.

714
00:48:25.559 --> 00:48:28.519
They never want to be challenged because if the pastor says, well,

715
00:48:28.679 --> 00:48:31.719
let's challenge this theological perspective, oh, they're gonna get mad,

716
00:48:31.800 --> 00:48:33.760
they're gonna get ticked off, and they're gonna run to

717
00:48:33.840 --> 00:48:38.760
another church. I gets so tired of it all such

718
00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:50.079
a game. Christians approach the Bible looking for encouragement, looking

719
00:48:50.079 --> 00:48:54.320
for confirmation bias. That's all they want. They don't want

720
00:48:54.360 --> 00:48:57.639
the original meaning you start digging into the original meaning.

721
00:48:57.960 --> 00:49:00.000
Oh man, the Christians are going to be like, well,

722
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:03.880
well this is boring, this is too academic. No, I

723
00:49:03.920 --> 00:49:06.239
don't know. Yeah, I feel like I'm going to school

724
00:49:06.320 --> 00:49:10.280
and they I don't like it and it's making me uncomfortable. Okay, whatever,

725
00:49:10.599 --> 00:49:13.079
Just why why do we? Church is such a game

726
00:49:13.159 --> 00:49:18.480
in so many cases, Ai says, the ways the psalms

727
00:49:18.480 --> 00:49:22.679
are commonly preached. They're preached as personal devotionals and as

728
00:49:22.800 --> 00:49:28.519
direct promises for today, and this fits their expectation. People

729
00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:31.360
have this expectation, and so how do the pastors preach

730
00:49:31.360 --> 00:49:36.239
it to fit that almost as a devotional message, as

731
00:49:36.239 --> 00:49:39.960
a direct promise, as a source of encouragement, as hope

732
00:49:40.119 --> 00:49:50.360
to make you feel good today. This is what Ai says.

733
00:49:50.480 --> 00:49:54.360
A pastor who teaches the psalms correctly that they are

734
00:49:54.400 --> 00:49:57.840
about Israel and God's covenant dealings with them, not about us,

735
00:49:58.440 --> 00:50:07.599
would disrupt this deeply ingrained ex bacation. What's your expectations

736
00:50:07.599 --> 00:50:10.760
when you go to church? What are you expecting? And

737
00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:15.280
many in the congregation may feel the pastor is taking

738
00:50:15.320 --> 00:50:19.000
away their source of comfort. How many times do you

739
00:50:19.039 --> 00:50:22.639
hear chris Ah the psalms they give me so much comfort.

740
00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:32.840
They bring me so much comfort. What are you talking about?

741
00:50:38.559 --> 00:50:41.559
So why why does the church constantly do this and

742
00:50:41.840 --> 00:50:45.559
mishandle this? Well, why would the church reject a pastor

743
00:50:45.599 --> 00:50:49.480
trying to preach the Psalms correctly? Because the church desires

744
00:50:49.480 --> 00:50:52.920
for personal application. They want personal application to make them

745
00:50:52.920 --> 00:50:55.320
feel good, and they want personal application to give them

746
00:50:55.559 --> 00:50:59.239
confirmation biased to their philological team that they have joined.

747
00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:04.159
Number two the attraction of a feel good message. Many

748
00:51:04.239 --> 00:51:08.920
churches operate on encouragement based preaching, where sermons are designed

749
00:51:08.960 --> 00:51:13.760
to uplift, comfort and make the audience feel good. Preaching

750
00:51:13.800 --> 00:51:17.880
the Psalms correctly would mean explaining that number one, hey guys,

751
00:51:18.760 --> 00:51:23.360
all of these promises that don't apply to us, that

752
00:51:23.440 --> 00:51:27.599
won't apply to us. Number two, Hey, God's intervention that

753
00:51:27.639 --> 00:51:30.000
we read about here is not some promise of intervention

754
00:51:30.119 --> 00:51:34.800
for us. It's tied to Israel's covenant with God's covenant

755
00:51:34.840 --> 00:51:39.000
with Israel. Hey, guys, I know we're reading the Psalms,

756
00:51:39.039 --> 00:51:42.079
but let me remind you that life is marked by

757
00:51:42.199 --> 00:51:47.559
suffering no guarantee of physical protection, no guarantee of physical prosperity,

758
00:51:47.719 --> 00:51:49.800
and your life is going to be filled with pain, suffering,

759
00:51:49.840 --> 00:51:51.280
and death, and for some of you it's going to

760
00:51:51.320 --> 00:51:54.440
be worse than others. Now, see the minute a pastor

761
00:51:54.480 --> 00:51:56.840
preaches it that way, that he's going to end up

762
00:51:56.840 --> 00:52:00.199
in a clash with the expectation, not the band, to

763
00:52:00.280 --> 00:52:02.679
end up in how to make a musical reference, okay,

764
00:52:02.679 --> 00:52:06.079
the clash. I mean, you know, there's music and there's bands,

765
00:52:06.079 --> 00:52:08.639
and then there's the clash and once a right, never mind,

766
00:52:09.360 --> 00:52:10.960
you don't get it a right, all right, that's okay.

767
00:52:11.119 --> 00:52:14.719
So this would clash with the expectation of a feel

768
00:52:14.719 --> 00:52:18.800
good message making the pastor. This is what AI says,

769
00:52:19.119 --> 00:52:21.360
It will make the pastor. Are you ready what AI

770
00:52:21.480 --> 00:52:31.719
says very unpopular with many listeners. Hey, I's like, hey,

771
00:52:32.280 --> 00:52:34.960
don't do it the right way, You're gonna be unpopular.

772
00:52:37.719 --> 00:52:41.920
And then another reason the pastor preaching the Psalms right

773
00:52:42.039 --> 00:52:44.639
is going to be rejected, AI says, because of the

774
00:52:44.639 --> 00:52:48.880
popularity of misapplied theology. Many well known preachers and Christian

775
00:52:48.880 --> 00:52:51.400
books misapplied the Psalms by turning them into self help,

776
00:52:51.440 --> 00:52:55.079
success driven, or comfort based promises. People have been taught

777
00:52:55.079 --> 00:52:59.039
for decades that Psalm ninety one guarantees protection, Psalm twenty

778
00:52:59.079 --> 00:53:02.599
three guarantees revision and Psalm thirty seven to four guarantees

779
00:53:02.760 --> 00:53:09.039
desires fulfilled, even though these interpretations ignore the original context.

780
00:53:10.039 --> 00:53:14.480
A pastor who preaches against the widely accepted yet incorrect

781
00:53:14.639 --> 00:53:18.079
view risk being seen as this is what you're going

782
00:53:18.119 --> 00:53:20.239
to be accused of. Right, here's here's what you're going

783
00:53:20.320 --> 00:53:22.519
to be. If you preach the Psalms the right way.

784
00:53:22.679 --> 00:53:26.920
A pastor will be accused of your too intellectual, you're

785
00:53:27.039 --> 00:53:33.599
too pillological, or you just lack faith. See how do

786
00:53:33.679 --> 00:53:36.119
you know? If you've been preaching the Psalms right, you're

787
00:53:36.119 --> 00:53:39.920
going to be accused of being too intellectual, too thillological,

788
00:53:40.320 --> 00:53:54.360
or you just don't have faith, same tired attacks. A

789
00:53:54.440 --> 00:53:57.400
fourth reason a pastor is going to be rejected is

790
00:53:57.440 --> 00:54:03.960
because of institutional resistance and philological inertia. AI's going all

791
00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:07.280
in here, right. What does AI mean by institutional resistance

792
00:54:07.280 --> 00:54:14.280
and theological inertia? AI says churches often resist significant philological shifts,

793
00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:21.320
especially if they challenge long held but incorrect interpretations. See,

794
00:54:21.320 --> 00:54:24.960
if you're a pastor, you can't challenge anyone's interpretation. They'll

795
00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:27.920
get ticked off and you'll end up in a church split.

796
00:54:28.280 --> 00:54:30.519
They just want to be told what this is, what

797
00:54:30.639 --> 00:54:34.400
I believe. Just tell me I'm right, week after week

798
00:54:34.480 --> 00:54:39.280
after week. Never change anything. We never grow, we never explore,

799
00:54:39.480 --> 00:54:43.039
we never struggle. Just give me the same, tired, Just

800
00:54:43.159 --> 00:54:45.800
record a message and just play it all. Just stand

801
00:54:45.880 --> 00:54:49.800
up and say, guys, you are all right about everything.

802
00:54:50.199 --> 00:54:54.079
You're wonderful people. God loves you. God's gonna do this

803
00:54:54.159 --> 00:54:57.079
for you, and this for you. Go forth and be comforted.

804
00:54:57.239 --> 00:55:00.920
Just make it a five minute little self help speech

805
00:55:01.079 --> 00:55:03.280
and everyone will be happy. Oh they'll say, no, I

806
00:55:03.400 --> 00:55:05.559
want a church that preaches the Bible, until you really

807
00:55:05.599 --> 00:55:13.320
preach the Bible. Then they get ticked off. No theological shift, no,

808
00:55:13.400 --> 00:55:16.559
theilological struggle. No no, no, you can't do any of that.

809
00:55:16.639 --> 00:55:18.400
The church doesn't like to. So if you come in

810
00:55:18.440 --> 00:55:20.960
and say, hey, hey, I know the church forever has

811
00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:23.400
preached the Psalms this way, but we've done it wrong.

812
00:55:23.559 --> 00:55:25.760
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no no no, you're going

813
00:55:25.880 --> 00:55:32.559
to get in trouble. Pastors who challenge these traditional misapplications

814
00:55:32.960 --> 00:55:40.239
will lose their job, lose financial support, and be pushed out.

815
00:55:40.559 --> 00:55:45.960
That's what AI says. If you is this is hard

816
00:55:45.960 --> 00:55:48.840
for me to wrap my mind. Around. AI is telling me, Look,

817
00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:54.599
just listen to that. If you challenge the traditional misapplication,

818
00:55:55.440 --> 00:55:58.800
Ai says, look, if you go after the if you

819
00:55:59.000 --> 00:56:02.920
preach opposite to the misapplication. In other words, they are

820
00:56:03.239 --> 00:56:07.519
all wrong. They're misapplying the psalms. If you teach them right,

821
00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:10.000
this is what AI say is going to happen. You're

822
00:56:10.039 --> 00:56:13.880
gonna possibly lose your position, You're gonna lose financial support,

823
00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:18.159
and you're going to be pushed out. Even Ai knows

824
00:56:18.199 --> 00:56:24.760
the church will not tolerate it. Many church members and

825
00:56:24.840 --> 00:56:30.960
even fellow pastors will probably label your teaching as unnecessary

826
00:56:31.360 --> 00:56:37.440
intellectualism and that you are removing the power of God's promises.

827
00:56:37.519 --> 00:56:40.320
Of course, they're always gonna come. They're gonna come after

828
00:56:40.440 --> 00:56:43.559
you and make you sound like you're not the spiritual one.

829
00:56:43.679 --> 00:56:47.079
They're the spiritual ones, even though they're all mishandling the Psalms.

830
00:56:47.159 --> 00:56:56.559
But that's okay. They're the godly ones. Ai goes on

831
00:56:56.639 --> 00:57:00.639
to say the reality of rejection for teaching correctly. If

832
00:57:00.639 --> 00:57:04.559
a pastor consistently teaches that the Psalms are about God

833
00:57:04.800 --> 00:57:08.400
and Israel, not God in Us. If a pastor consistently

834
00:57:08.400 --> 00:57:11.480
teaches that the promises in the Psalms are not universal guarantees,

835
00:57:11.599 --> 00:57:15.840
but covenental realities for Israel. If a pastor consistently teaches

836
00:57:15.880 --> 00:57:18.320
that the ultimate fulfillment of the Psalms is found in Christ,

837
00:57:18.599 --> 00:57:22.559
not in personal success or protection today, then many Christians,

838
00:57:22.639 --> 00:57:27.960
especially those conditioned by certain philological systems, self help preaching,

839
00:57:28.039 --> 00:57:33.920
or devotional Christianity, will reject this teaching. This will lead

840
00:57:33.960 --> 00:57:38.639
to declining attendance, will lead to declining financial will lead

841
00:57:38.679 --> 00:57:42.800
to financial struggles, and will lead to pressure from leadership

842
00:57:42.840 --> 00:57:49.239
to return to popular preaching. Ay, I knows the church

843
00:57:49.360 --> 00:57:57.039
is just a business. It's a racket. You got to

844
00:57:57.119 --> 00:57:59.559
just follow. You've got to color within the lines. You

845
00:57:59.559 --> 00:58:06.800
gotta do what they tell you to do. So then

846
00:58:06.840 --> 00:58:10.119
Ai goes on to say, would a pastor be rejected?

847
00:58:10.400 --> 00:58:14.079
Most likely yes. If a pastor teaches the Psalms correctly,

848
00:58:14.440 --> 00:58:18.639
he will face resistance, criticism, rejection from those who prefer

849
00:58:18.679 --> 00:58:23.519
the misapplied, self focused version that dominates modern preaching if

850
00:58:23.559 --> 00:58:27.639
he remains committed to truth over popularity. However, if he

851
00:58:27.760 --> 00:58:31.000
remains committed to truth over popularity, he would be faithful

852
00:58:31.039 --> 00:58:33.559
to the scriptures even if it means loss. So, in

853
00:58:33.599 --> 00:58:35.719
other words, if you want to be faithful to the scriptures,

854
00:58:35.920 --> 00:58:39.559
you're going to endure loss. That is a depressing like

855
00:58:39.800 --> 00:58:41.840
that just makes me just want to give even Ai

856
00:58:41.960 --> 00:58:44.639
is like, hey, don't even bother, don't be faithful to

857
00:58:44.679 --> 00:59:01.559
the text, You're gonna lose everything. Now AI goes on

858
00:59:01.639 --> 00:59:07.320
to say a bunch of other stuff. Yeah, so we

859
00:59:07.400 --> 00:59:10.400
have we have an example of exactly what Ai saying,

860
00:59:14.039 --> 00:59:17.480
sort of the Lord taking verses from the Psalms, applying

861
00:59:17.559 --> 00:59:21.719
them to us, doing it the typical misupplied way. You

862
00:59:21.800 --> 00:59:26.880
go against that nobody likes you. This morning. What made

863
00:59:26.920 --> 00:59:28.199
me think of this is I was looking at the

864
00:59:28.199 --> 00:59:30.039
sermon's two point oh app one of the brand new

865
00:59:30.079 --> 00:59:33.199
sermons that was uploaded was on Psalm sixty one, and

866
00:59:33.239 --> 00:59:35.400
I was like, I wonder, Oh, I bet you that's

867
00:59:35.639 --> 00:59:37.639
sermon's going to be about us. I was going to

868
00:59:37.639 --> 00:59:38.920
review it, but I'm like, I don't know when to

869
00:59:38.920 --> 00:59:41.079
necessarily review it, because I know exactly what's going to happen.

870
00:59:41.159 --> 00:59:43.559
It'll be about us, us us us us us us

871
00:59:43.719 --> 00:59:46.599
us us us US. Now they may mention Israel, they

872
00:59:46.599 --> 00:59:51.119
may mention context, but almost inevitably it becomes about us.

873
00:59:51.800 --> 01:00:00.159
We are so narcissistic thinking. Everything is about us. But

874
01:00:00.199 --> 01:00:01.920
you can get really like, if you're going through a

875
01:00:01.920 --> 01:00:05.039
difficult time, you're going through trial, you're going through trouble.

876
01:00:06.320 --> 01:00:13.280
I remember, I'll never forget this. I was downstairs. I'll

877
01:00:13.280 --> 01:00:18.599
never forget this. I was downstairs walking around the living

878
01:00:18.679 --> 01:00:22.280
room dining room area. I had in my hands the

879
01:00:22.320 --> 01:00:25.519
Liturgy of the Hours, which is how the early Church prayed.

880
01:00:25.840 --> 01:00:28.199
I've talked about the Liturgy of the Hours forever. It's

881
01:00:28.280 --> 01:00:31.840
kind of mainly preserved within Catholicism, but it predates that

882
01:00:31.880 --> 01:00:35.639
even the but you know, and it's design that you pray.

883
01:00:35.920 --> 01:00:38.920
You basically you pray the scriptures of specific hours of

884
01:00:38.960 --> 01:00:42.199
the day, and if you participate in the Liturgy of

885
01:00:42.239 --> 01:00:45.079
the Hours, you pray all one hundred and fifty psalms

886
01:00:45.119 --> 01:00:48.719
every four weeks. Right. So, I was going through a

887
01:00:48.760 --> 01:00:51.079
difficult time at that period in my life. I was

888
01:00:51.119 --> 01:00:56.920
having crazy number of seizures, neurological issues. I was just

889
01:00:57.000 --> 01:01:00.760
struggling with so many things. Didn't think. I felt like

890
01:01:00.800 --> 01:01:06.000
nobody really understood. I felt alone, abandoned, I felt depressed,

891
01:01:06.079 --> 01:01:12.039
I felt discouraged, like my brain was just a mess.

892
01:01:12.079 --> 01:01:13.440
And of course, I mean that's what you know, when

893
01:01:13.480 --> 01:01:17.039
you're having seizures all the time. I mean, it's impacting

894
01:01:17.079 --> 01:01:18.719
your brain. I mean, I don't know if people truly

895
01:01:18.800 --> 01:01:21.599
understand what caeizures do to your brain, but it causes

896
01:01:21.639 --> 01:01:24.559
some problems, right. So I'm not saying my thinking was

897
01:01:24.639 --> 01:01:27.280
clear in any way. But I remember I was downstairs

898
01:01:27.280 --> 01:01:29.800
walking around with the Liturgy of the Hours, and I

899
01:01:29.840 --> 01:01:32.800
was trying to pray the psalms, you know, because that's

900
01:01:32.800 --> 01:01:34.719
what you're supposed to do in the Liturgy of the Hours.

901
01:01:35.280 --> 01:01:37.440
And I don't remember which psalms it were, but I

902
01:01:37.519 --> 01:01:39.639
just kind of I just set it down and I

903
01:01:39.719 --> 01:01:43.480
was like, and I know I'm gonna sound like an atheist,

904
01:01:43.480 --> 01:01:45.320
I'm gonna sound like an agnostic, but I was like,

905
01:01:45.920 --> 01:01:51.960
this is such garbage, because the psalms were talking about

906
01:01:52.280 --> 01:01:56.320
God will provide and God will deliver, God will do this,

907
01:01:56.559 --> 01:01:59.039
and God will do this. And I'm like, God, I

908
01:01:59.079 --> 01:02:01.000
don't need you to do all of that. I don't

909
01:02:01.039 --> 01:02:02.800
need you to do all I don't need you to

910
01:02:02.920 --> 01:02:05.239
part the red sea. I don't need food to come

911
01:02:05.280 --> 01:02:07.599
from heaven. I don't need you to defeat all the

912
01:02:07.599 --> 01:02:09.639
man to me. I just need some basic things and

913
01:02:09.679 --> 01:02:11.679
some basic things that I was hoping for at that time,

914
01:02:11.719 --> 01:02:15.639
that you know, maybe the you know, the VA will

915
01:02:15.639 --> 01:02:18.320
come back and declare me one hundred percent disabled, and

916
01:02:18.400 --> 01:02:21.280
maybe maybe somehow, God, you could just provide extra money

917
01:02:21.320 --> 01:02:23.400
so that I could pay off the house and and

918
01:02:23.559 --> 01:02:25.719
be done with my mortgage and not have to worry

919
01:02:25.760 --> 01:02:27.440
about that, because that's gonna even if I get one

920
01:02:27.480 --> 01:02:30.480
hundred percent disability from the VA, I'm gonna struggle with

921
01:02:30.519 --> 01:02:32.639
this house payment for who knows how many more years

922
01:02:32.639 --> 01:02:34.800
to come. And Lord, I don't know, maybe you could

923
01:02:34.840 --> 01:02:37.880
just take my seizures away. Maybe, and even if you

924
01:02:37.880 --> 01:02:40.559
can't do that, just again, just a little bit of

925
01:02:40.599 --> 01:02:43.119
financial I don't need that much, just a little bit,

926
01:02:43.280 --> 01:02:47.599
get one hundred percent disability, and just something miraculously shows

927
01:02:47.679 --> 01:02:51.000
up that could just pay off the house. That's it,

928
01:02:51.239 --> 01:02:54.039
and then I'm I'm free from it. I'm free from

929
01:02:53.920 --> 01:02:56.159
the struggle. And I because I don't know what I'm

930
01:02:56.199 --> 01:02:57.679
going to do, I don't know what I'm going how

931
01:02:57.760 --> 01:03:02.519
is this all going to work out? Right? But my

932
01:03:02.599 --> 01:03:05.920
seizures are still here, my neurological problems are still here,

933
01:03:06.320 --> 01:03:12.440
having some today to if I'm being honest, still making

934
01:03:12.440 --> 01:03:17.320
the house payment. Now, yes, I'm grateful that the church.

935
01:03:18.159 --> 01:03:21.239
You could say God has provided each month's house payment.

936
01:03:21.360 --> 01:03:23.679
That's great. Some say God works better that way than

937
01:03:23.679 --> 01:03:26.679
taking care of all your problems. I understand that. But

938
01:03:26.840 --> 01:03:28.559
if you look at the state of the church, you know,

939
01:03:28.639 --> 01:03:30.920
the church is about we're just waiting for the building

940
01:03:30.920 --> 01:03:33.280
to close, and then we don't you know, we don't

941
01:03:33.320 --> 01:03:34.880
know how all that's going to work. There's so many

942
01:03:34.920 --> 01:03:38.159
there's so many uncertainties still. So but if I was

943
01:03:38.199 --> 01:03:40.599
reading the Psalms, I would have it would have given

944
01:03:40.639 --> 01:03:42.119
me the idea that, well, God's going to do this.

945
01:03:42.159 --> 01:03:46.000
God go and it's like, no, I'm misunderstanding the Psalms.

946
01:03:47.519 --> 01:03:51.119
Those promises are not for me. It's talking about God

947
01:03:51.199 --> 01:03:53.920
in Israel. If I put it back in that context,

948
01:03:53.960 --> 01:03:58.199
then it removes that expectation or when you're going, when

949
01:03:58.239 --> 01:04:01.000
you're at the end of your ropeing. Okay, God, I

950
01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:02.559
don't need you to do all the stuff that you

951
01:04:02.599 --> 01:04:04.480
mentioned in the Psalms. I just need you to do

952
01:04:04.519 --> 01:04:07.760
it like the littlest part, just a little. I don't

953
01:04:07.800 --> 01:04:13.079
even need all of that doesn't work that way, does it.

954
01:04:14.079 --> 01:04:16.400
I mean, just think about the young girl who died

955
01:04:16.679 --> 01:04:18.760
I mean, just think about the young girl who died.

956
01:04:18.960 --> 01:04:22.440
Now it ticks me off. The charismatic parents not giving

957
01:04:22.480 --> 01:04:26.920
the child medication, but they were praying to God, they

958
01:04:26.960 --> 01:04:40.559
had faith. God let the eight year old girl die.

959
01:04:40.760 --> 01:04:44.239
I may hate their parents' theology, and I made it

960
01:04:43.960 --> 01:04:47.239
wiped off the face of the earth. I mean, I

961
01:04:47.280 --> 01:04:51.559
cannot stand charismatic theology. But do you understand how like

962
01:04:52.920 --> 01:04:55.480
they were literally praying to God with faith. Don't tell

963
01:04:55.519 --> 01:04:57.559
me they didn't have faith. They were believing so much

964
01:04:57.599 --> 01:05:01.199
they weren't even having doing medication or any medical intervention,

965
01:05:01.400 --> 01:05:08.320
and the child God didn't even honor their prayer. Because

966
01:05:08.360 --> 01:05:10.920
we have this expectation that God's going to do this

967
01:05:11.039 --> 01:05:13.480
or God's going to do this. And I think in

968
01:05:13.519 --> 01:05:19.440
so many cases we get these ideas from passages that

969
01:05:19.599 --> 01:05:28.280
had nothing to do with us, promises, not about us,

970
01:05:28.960 --> 01:05:32.239
about Israel and Covenant. And if you look at some

971
01:05:32.400 --> 01:05:34.519
if you if you go through the Psalms, almost inevitably

972
01:05:34.599 --> 01:05:37.039
you can say, Okay, how does this fit with the

973
01:05:37.079 --> 01:05:40.159
Covenant promises? What were the promises made in this covenant?

974
01:05:40.199 --> 01:05:42.320
What were the promises made in this covenant? What were

975
01:05:42.320 --> 01:05:44.719
the curses made? And you can almost probably make a

976
01:05:44.880 --> 01:05:48.000
chart saying, here's how the psalms line up perfectly with

977
01:05:48.039 --> 01:05:51.840
the covenantal promises or the threats of curses and judgments

978
01:05:51.880 --> 01:05:54.519
for disobedience. To say, part of the Covenant we can

979
01:05:54.519 --> 01:06:00.440
get into, you know, Abrahamic and Mosaicdavedic, someone referred to

980
01:06:00.519 --> 01:06:11.199
as the Land Covenant and Deuteronomy twenty eight. But I

981
01:06:11.320 --> 01:06:16.280
begin to realize, maybe you know now that kind of

982
01:06:16.360 --> 01:06:19.400
takes that can kind of take away then the comfort

983
01:06:19.480 --> 01:06:25.639
you may get from the psalms, Like, well, maybe I

984
01:06:25.719 --> 01:06:28.280
don't take that the way I have, and that can

985
01:06:28.360 --> 01:06:31.239
be depressing, that can be a that can be a

986
01:06:31.440 --> 01:06:36.639
crisis of faith for a little bit. And I definitely

987
01:06:36.679 --> 01:06:39.840
have experienced crisis of faith multiple times in my Christian life.

988
01:06:40.920 --> 01:06:43.199
But maybe it's those crisis of faith that pushes me

989
01:06:43.239 --> 01:06:46.480
towards a correct understanding of the scripture versus not going

990
01:06:46.559 --> 01:06:49.199
through the crisis of faith and living a delusional form

991
01:06:49.239 --> 01:06:52.280
of Christianity that may be more comforting, may make me

992
01:06:52.360 --> 01:06:55.280
feel a little bit better, but it's just a lie,

993
01:06:55.960 --> 01:06:59.960
it's a sham, it's a game. I'm sick of the game,

994
01:07:05.280 --> 01:07:11.599
the psalms versus the Church. Which side are you on? God?

995
01:07:11.639 --> 01:07:11.920
Bless