November 17, 2025 • 21 mins
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Welcome to the Westside church’s special Monday Morning Coffee podcast with Mark Roberts. Mark is a disciple, a husband, father and grand dad, as well as a certified coffee geek, fan of CS Lewis’ writings and he loves his big red Jeep. He’s also the preacher for Westside church.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
Hello, and welcome to the West Side Church's
special Monday Morning CoffeePodcast.
On this podcast, our preacher,Mark Roberts, will help you get
your week started right with alook back at yesterday's sermon
so that we can think througheach other and better work the
applications into our dailylife.
(00:27):
Mark will then look forward intothis week's final reading so
that we can know what to expectand watch for.
And he may have some extra bonusthoughts from time to time.
So grab a cup of coffee as westart the week together on
Monday morning coffee with Mark.
SPEAKER_01 (01:03):
And I certainly am ready to dive all the way into
the Psalms.
Let's do that Psalm thing.
Such a great place to be readingthe Bible.
Oh, it's gonna be a great week.
Let's get it all together andlet's get it started.
Grab your Bible, grab yourcoffee, let's grow together.
(01:26):
Yesterday I preached out ofEphesians chapter 4, but rather
than talking about what thechurch ought to be, talked about
how the church can teach us whatour family ought to be.
I hope that was helpful to you.
It was a different way of doingthings.
I heard a fella at the Minutethe Word conference use that
idea, and that sparked somethings for me.
Appreciated that very, verymuch.
Now, you know what's amazingabout Ephesians 4?
(01:49):
It does.
It does.
It flips that usual idea.
We often say, take God home toyour family.
Sure, that's true.
But Paul is saying what we do inGod's family, the church, can
shape how we live at home.
When we forgive freely among thechurch family, we get in the
practice of forgiving when thekids leave Legos on the floor
again and we step on them at twoo'clock in the morning, which
(02:11):
may be an opportunity to guardour tongues as well.
But when we encourage each otheron Sunday, we start ways, start
noticing ways to build up ourspouse at home instead of just
grumbling about who left the capoff the toothpaste.
When we're serving in the localchurch, we learn to serve at
home.
Yes, even when it is your turnto empty the dishwasher.
So here's the challenge thisweek.
(02:33):
Don't just take God home.
Take what you practice in God'sfamily and let it overflow into
your physical family.
A kind word, a gentleadmonition, a shared blessing.
These small habits can transformyour home.
And imagine if every homemirrored West Side.
Just think about that.
Kids would learn to love,spouses would learn to give, and
(02:54):
yes, even your family game nightmight be a little bit calmer, at
least at least until someonelands on boardwalk and the owner
starts singing the you'rebankrupt now song.
I trust you know what I mean.
That's the power of living asGod's family in the church and
at home.
Let's start that by taking onesmall step today.
(03:19):
Identify something you picked upfrom yesterday's sermon and put
that into practice in your hometoday.
Remember, that's what thepodcast is about.
Making sure that we don't leaveSunday's message in the church
building.
Once you've made a decisionabout what you'll do today with
your family, get your Bible andopen it to the book of Psalms.
(04:02):
One scholar said this and allthe rest of the Psalms that
follow Psalm 146 begin and endwith hallelujah, a word which
puts much of God's praise into alittle compass.
I like that.
This is a psalm that gives ussome direction in our worship to
remind us and to renew ourthoughts about that.
And I really think Psalm 146 isa wonderful psalm to prepare for
(04:23):
worship, kind of psalm that youcan mark in your Bible and you
can read during the time betweenBible class and worship to get
your mind where it needs to befor worship.
Let's work on the 146th Psalmand hold on to those ideas that
we've been talking about fromsavoring the Psalms, a lesson I
preached two weeks ago in the 9a.m.
hour.
We're thinking about what kindof psalm it is, and then we're
(04:43):
going to read it slowly andprayerfully.
Psalms we're reading this weekare not long.
Plenty of time to read them acouple of times, read them in
different translations.
Read it out loud.
Psalms sound differently when weread them out loud.
Get a feel for the psalm.
Let the psalm take you to theLord, and then even consider
praying the psalm.
And this psalm is very, very,very prayable, very much so.
(05:06):
So let's start with what kind ofpsalm is it?
And it is a hymn of praise.
It does not have the call forhelp that we would find in a
lament, but instead it's aninvitation to praise God.
And there's much here aboutpraising God in creation, what
God does for creation.
There's a little bit of a wisdomfeel.
We'll talk about that in amoment, but it is a psalm of
praise.
So it begins with a call topraise, verses one and two.
(05:28):
I'll praise the Lord as long asI live.
I will sing praises to my Godwhile I have my being, verse
two.
That's a very green verse forme.
I use green to mark beautifulpassages in the Psalms, and that
one is very green.
Then verses three and five talkabout the uncertainty of human
wealth, human abilities versusthe constancy of God.
(05:49):
One writer said, all humanobjects of trust, whether
outstanding or ordinary, theylack ability, continuance, and
reliability.
That is absolutely so.
Don't put your trust in princes,don't put your trust in man.
That's going nowhere.
And then verses six to ten coverGod acting.
And there's just a long list ofthe things that God does and who
(06:13):
God is.
He is the omnipotent creator,verse six.
He's the advocator of thehelpless, verse seven.
He's the provider, he's theemancipator, he's the giver of
sight, verse eight.
He's the uplifter, he's thelover of good men, he is the
protector of exiles, verse nine.
He's the judge of the evil.
He is the eternal king, verseten.
(06:36):
And we really need to grab on tothe eternal reign of God.
He is the king for always andfor all time.
We praise and honor him for whohe is and for what he does.
Our reading for Monday, Psalm146.
It's Tuesday.
It is Tuesday.
Let's get our Bibles over toPsalm 143, 12 verses in our
(06:58):
reading today.
The reading for Tuesday, Psalm143, and there will be a Zoom
call tonight, Westsiders.
Looking forward to thinkingabout this Psalm with you
tonight.
This is a psalm that seemed totalk seems to talk about a time
of depression.
And I think working throughthese verses maybe can help us a
little bit when we feeloverwhelmed, maybe thinking
(07:19):
there's too much going on inthis world.
I'm just down, I'm in despair, Ican't go on.
Psalm 143 is a psalm ofdesperation, and so you know
already that makes it a lament.
It's an individual lament.
David is going through some sortof terrible crisis here.
Now, some have tried to say thecrisis is sin, verse 2, and
(07:39):
sometimes it gets listed as apenitential psalm.
That's a special kind of lament,crying out to God for help with
sin, crying out for forgiveness.
But I would agree with somescholars, one of my favorite
scholars on the Psalms, DerekKidner, there's just not enough
there in verse 2 to decide thatthis is about sin in David's
life.
(07:59):
What matters here is that thereis movement in the Psalm, from
preoccupation with our owntroubles to finding and
following God's way.
That's one of the things that wewant to look for in the Psalms
always is we're looking formovement.
And so pay attention to that andsee what you see as you're
reading down through Psalm 143.
(08:19):
In verse 4, we get that heavynote of despair.
And then verse 5, I remember thedays of old.
This is not just nostalgia.
This is not just, oh, the goodold days were so much better.
This is thinking about what Godhas done to build faith and
(08:41):
foster more faith in what Godwill do.
And so beginning about verse 7,things begin to move towards
answering.
I'm waiting for an answer inexpectation an answer will come.
Some have noted that the temposeems to pick up in verse 7, and
I think that's probably right.
Verse 7, the solution is God.
(09:01):
David prays not for the removalof the problem, whatever that
is, but that God will act.
God is the one that will solvethis problem.
Verse 8 through 10 then hasthree times that David prays for
guidance.
Verse 8, the way I should go.
That's a prayer forunderstanding, the path of life.
And then verse 10, teach me todo your will.
(09:22):
That's a prayer aboutpriorities, life agenda.
Then verse 10 continues, I wantto be led.
Led me, let your good spiritlead me on level ground.
Level ground, that expressionthere is unique in all of the
Bible, but I think we understandexactly what the psalmist is
looking for.
And it is interesting here,verse 10, he says, I want to be
(09:43):
led by the spirit.
We shy away from that sometimes.
If a hymn says something aboutthat, sometimes people get a
little uneasy with that, and Iunderstand about that.
There's lots of mistakes aboutwhat it is to be led by the
Spirit, but it is Biblelanguage.
David says, I want to be led bythe Spirit.
And it's hard not to notice thechange in tone beginning about
(10:05):
somewhere about verse 8.
There's still some stuff aboutenemies, verse 9, but the real
emphasis now is on knowing anddoing God's will.
Let's talk about that moretonight in Zoom.
Looking forward to that already,Westsiders.
If you're not a member of theWestside Church, I'll see you on
the podcast tomorrow.
The reading, the reading forTuesday, Psalm 143.
(10:28):
Welcome to Wednesday.
It's Wednesday, and today we'rereading the 101st Psalm.
This is a royal psalm.
It's by the King.
It's about the King.
It's about his rule.
And that does mean this is awonderful place to learn some
things about leadership becauseDavid will talk a lot about
mercy and integrity and justicehere.
Woving, weaving, woving?
(10:49):
Is that yeah, what's the answer?
The answer, more coffee.
Weaving all of that togetherwith the idea that the godly
leader is the one that's doingGod's will.
Some have tried to make thisinto a lament.
I just don't think you can getthere from here.
It's a vow, a promise to live ina certain sort of way.
And it does have kind of awisdom note to it.
(11:11):
It sounds a little bit likeProverbs or other wisdom books
because, yeah, because God's wayis the way of wisdom.
So watch for the vow features,watch for the commitment that
David is making here.
And there's lots of wordrepetition.
Blameless, verse 2, 3, and 6.
In my house, verse 2 and 7,before my eyes, verses 3 and 7.
(11:32):
I think in my presence is whatthe New King James has there.
Destroy verses 5 and 8.
So lots of this, lots of thisbusiness where a theme is
emerging.
And I think the Psalm breaksinto two parts.
There needs to be truth in thelife of the ruler, verses 1 to
4, and then there needs to betruth in the lives of the
(11:53):
followers, verses 5 to 8.
And I do like that the psalmbegins with the life of the
ruler.
I will ponder the way that'sblameless.
I will walk with integrity,verse 2.
I will not set before my eyesthings that are worthless.
I will hate the work of thosewho fall away.
A perverse heart shall be farfrom me, verses 3 and 4.
Godly leadership understands theimportance of the heart.
(12:15):
The godly leader makes sure he'swalking with God first.
And then in verse 5, what aboutthose who are following the
godly leader?
They don't have any interest inslander and gossip.
Our society pays millions ofdollars for a tell-all book that
slanders somebody.
And then maybe 18 years later,after it moves to the court, the
(12:35):
author has to pay some damagesto somebody that was completely
and totally misrepresented orgossiped about.
Everyone's forgotten when thecase finally comes around and
all the appeals and so forth.
In the meantime, that poorperson's been slandered and
everyone thinks less of them.
No, godly people don't do thatkind of thing.
They practice purity andfaithfulness, the same thing
(12:56):
that they demand in theirleaders, they demand of
themselves.
And I think verses six and sevenreally sit down on that idea.
Now, this psalm does not have adirect messianic link, yet when
we think of David, and yes, thathe does not always live up to
the standard that he set, I willset, I will not set before my
eyes anything that is worthless,verse 3.
(13:17):
What are you doing on thebalcony, David, looking at a
woman who's bathing?
So when we think about David,and we think about how he did
not always measure up to evenwhat he himself knew the godly
leader should be, it makes uslong for leadership that can fit
the bill.
And of course, that is Jesus theChrist.
That is Jesus the Christ.
Isaiah the 11th chapter thatwe've read sets him forth as the
(13:41):
ideal king.
Psalm 101 makes us want thatking.
A reading for Wednesday, Psalm101.
It's Thursday.
We are headed towards the end ofthe week.
Hope it's been a good week foryou.
I've enjoyed being in this weekin the Psalms with you.
Psalm 131 is the reading forThursday, the 131st Psalm.
(14:01):
This is not a long psalm.
Plenty of time to savor this,read it several times, read it
in different translations.
This is a psalm of assent.
Say more about that probablytomorrow.
Psalm 120 is the first.
And this is a psalm ofconfidence or a psalm of trust.
Really, you're looking here atwhat it is to be a person who
(14:24):
submits to God and submits toGod's guidance.
Get verse 1, O Lord, my heart isnot lifted up, my eyes are not
raised too high.
Lofty eyes are a sign of pride.
And one writer said, it would beeasy to make this verse an
excuse to avoid the challengesof life.
But the sin rejected at thebeginning of verse one is pride.
(14:45):
And then the sin at the end ofverse one is presumption.
I do not occupy myself withthings too great and too
marvelous for me.
By the first of these, oneundervalues other people.
By the second, one overestimatesand overreaches oneself,
forgetting the Lord.
I think that's helpful in verseone.
We need some balance in who weare and what we need to be.
(15:08):
And then there is this wonderfulexpression, I have calmed and
quieted my soul.
And I really think all of thispushes forward the idea that
godliness is an inside outproposition.
We have to change from theinside out.
What we think of ourselves, whatwe think of other people, what
we think of God, what we allowto upset us.
We need to hope in the Lord,verse 3.
(15:30):
Psalm 131, that's our readingfor Thursday.
Hello, it's Friday.
It is Friday.
That makes your coffee extragood, doesn't it?
Loving me some Friday coffee.
Psalm 133 is the reading fortoday, the 133rd Psalm.
And I want to talk about unity.
(15:51):
Those of you who've been in myRomans class know that that is
the major theme of the book ofRomans.
And I have talked a lot aboutunity as we concluded that class
recently and worked through thelast section, the section
beginning about chapter 12,where Paul is really laying down
some practical admonitionsthere.
And by now you're thinking, Ithought we were reading the
Psalms, not reading Romans.
One of the things that I havesaid a lot in that Romans class
(16:14):
is that we just haven't done agreat job as brethren with
unity.
In fact, I kind of grew upthinking unity was bad because I
kept hearing a ton of sermonsabout wrong sorts of unity,
various churches that wereinvolving themselves in
interdenominational works andthe community and so forth,
uniting with false religion andtrying to pretend that
(16:36):
everything was just fine.
You can't do that.
That's not real unity.
It's not the kind of unitythat's being praised here in
Psalm 133.
But it does mean that sometimeswe're a little suspicious of
unity, and what we ought to dois want godly unity.
That's what Jesus prayed for.
For example, in John 17, it'swhat Paul wrote to the Roman
Church about in the book ofRomans, and it is what the 133rd
(16:57):
Psalm is all about.
Now, this is a song of ascent.
I mentioned yesterday that I'dsay more about that today.
And so I'll just go ahead.
These are the songs that weresung by the pilgrims as they
climbed toward Jerusalem on theway to the annual feast.
Thousands and thousands ofpeople would throng to Jerusalem
for Passover and for Pentecost,and they would sing these songs.
(17:18):
Just beautiful to hear groups oftens and hundreds singing these
praises of God on their way toworship.
And this is a song of David, butif it well, and you know the
headings are not necessarilyinspired and not necessarily
accurate because of that.
But if David wrote it, he had towrite this pretty early in his
life because there's not a lotof unity in his family, in his
(17:40):
household after the terribleevents of 2 Samuel chapter 11.
And some have said that thiscould be classified as a wisdom
song designed to teach the valueof unity.
So it opens with a blessing,verse 1.
It has two metaphors.
Unity is like an anointing,verse 2, unity is like the
morning dew, verse 3, and thenit concludes with a blessing at
(18:00):
the end of verse 3.
So the anointing here, preciousoil on the head running down on
the beard, on the beard ofAaron.
Remember, that would be like aperfume or like a cologne.
That's not a heavy, heavy kindof oil, you know, like olive oil
that would just be dripping allover him and making a mess.
This would be a lighter oil, andit would be consecrating him,
(18:22):
setting him aside, setting Aaronaside for his special work.
And all of the people would bedelighted to see that because
they needed the high priest, andthey were glad to have a high
priest consecrated to serve themand to bring them before the
Lord.
And then the morning dew inverse 3.
Now, Mount Hermon is nearly10,000 feet above sea level, and
it's known for being very lushand for being very green.
(18:44):
Now, what would it feel like inJerusalem, a place that hardly
gets any rain at all from May toOctober, if that kind of dew
suddenly fell?
That would be incredible.
A wet, lush morning.
Sometimes we get up in themorning and the driveway and the
sidewalks are damp and wet, andthe grass has got beads of dew
all over it.
(19:04):
We're getting into fall andwe're past that kind of season.
That'll happen in the spring.
But but you're familiar withthat kind of just wet day that
everything just feels extraalive.
And I suspect we'll see that, ofcourse, in the spring again.
So maybe maybe what we thinkabout is how excited we get here
in Texas when we get a snow day,because that's so unexpected.
(19:27):
Well, that's the joy of the dewsof Hermon falling on the
mountains of Zion.
Then the psalm concludes withthis wonderful blessing.
And there's discussion about forthere the Lord has commanded the
blessing.
There could be the temple, or itcould be where God's people live
in unity.
The reading for Friday, Psalm133.
(19:50):
That concludes the podcast thenfor the week.
Thanks so much for listening.
I've just received somewonderful feedback recently
about the podcast, and it justmeans so much.
Had a wonderful conversationwhen I was preaching in Houston
at the Kleinwood Congregation.
Wonderful lady there stopped totell me how much the podcast
meant to her, and it was helpingher and helping others, and
she's sharing it with others.
That kind of feedback andencouragement means a great
(20:12):
deal.
All the people who work on thepodcast, it doesn't just happen.
It doesn't just happen.
The people do lots to make allof this get done and get up on
the World Wide Web where you canget to it and all those things.
And we all, all of us,appreciate so much someone
saying, This is helpful to me.
I'm just very glad to do thepodcast and to be with you in
(20:35):
the Word of God each week.
So leave it a rating or review.
Tell somebody else about it.
It is, it is my joy to open thescriptures with you every day.
I'm Mark Roberts.
I want to go to heaven, and Iwant you to come too.
See you on Monday with a cup ofcoffee.
SPEAKER_00 (20:58):
Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ
podcast, Monday Morning Coffeewith Mark.
For more information aboutWestside, you can connect with
us through our website, justChristians.com, and our Facebook
page.
Our music is from Upbeat.io.
That's Upbeat with two Ps,U-P-P-B-E-A-T, where creators
(21:22):
can get free music.
Please share our podcast withothers, and we look forward to
seeing you again with a cup ofcoffee, of course, on next
Monday.
Hello, and welcome to the West Side Church's
special Monday Morning CoffeePodcast.
On this podcast, our preacher,Mark Roberts, will help you get
your week started right with alook back at yesterday's sermon
so that we can think througheach other and better work the
applications into our dailylife.
(00:27):
Mark will then look forward intothis week's final reading so
that we can know what to expectand watch for.
And he may have some extra bonusthoughts from time to time.
So grab a cup of coffee as westart the week together on
Monday morning coffee with Mark.
SPEAKER_01 (01:03):
And I certainly am ready to dive all the way into
the Psalms.
Let's do that Psalm thing.
Such a great place to be readingthe Bible.
Oh, it's gonna be a great week.
Let's get it all together andlet's get it started.
Grab your Bible, grab yourcoffee, let's grow together.
(01:26):
Yesterday I preached out ofEphesians chapter 4, but rather
than talking about what thechurch ought to be, talked about
how the church can teach us whatour family ought to be.
I hope that was helpful to you.
It was a different way of doingthings.
I heard a fella at the Minutethe Word conference use that
idea, and that sparked somethings for me.
Appreciated that very, verymuch.
Now, you know what's amazingabout Ephesians 4?
(01:49):
It does.
It does.
It flips that usual idea.
We often say, take God home toyour family.
Sure, that's true.
But Paul is saying what we do inGod's family, the church, can
shape how we live at home.
When we forgive freely among thechurch family, we get in the
practice of forgiving when thekids leave Legos on the floor
again and we step on them at twoo'clock in the morning, which
(02:11):
may be an opportunity to guardour tongues as well.
But when we encourage each otheron Sunday, we start ways, start
noticing ways to build up ourspouse at home instead of just
grumbling about who left the capoff the toothpaste.
When we're serving in the localchurch, we learn to serve at
home.
Yes, even when it is your turnto empty the dishwasher.
So here's the challenge thisweek.
(02:33):
Don't just take God home.
Take what you practice in God'sfamily and let it overflow into
your physical family.
A kind word, a gentleadmonition, a shared blessing.
These small habits can transformyour home.
And imagine if every homemirrored West Side.
Just think about that.
Kids would learn to love,spouses would learn to give, and
(02:54):
yes, even your family game nightmight be a little bit calmer, at
least at least until someonelands on boardwalk and the owner
starts singing the you'rebankrupt now song.
I trust you know what I mean.
That's the power of living asGod's family in the church and
at home.
Let's start that by taking onesmall step today.
(03:19):
Identify something you picked upfrom yesterday's sermon and put
that into practice in your hometoday.
Remember, that's what thepodcast is about.
Making sure that we don't leaveSunday's message in the church
building.
Once you've made a decisionabout what you'll do today with
your family, get your Bible andopen it to the book of Psalms.
(04:02):
One scholar said this and allthe rest of the Psalms that
follow Psalm 146 begin and endwith hallelujah, a word which
puts much of God's praise into alittle compass.
I like that.
This is a psalm that gives ussome direction in our worship to
remind us and to renew ourthoughts about that.
And I really think Psalm 146 isa wonderful psalm to prepare for
(04:23):
worship, kind of psalm that youcan mark in your Bible and you
can read during the time betweenBible class and worship to get
your mind where it needs to befor worship.
Let's work on the 146th Psalmand hold on to those ideas that
we've been talking about fromsavoring the Psalms, a lesson I
preached two weeks ago in the 9a.m.
hour.
We're thinking about what kindof psalm it is, and then we're
(04:43):
going to read it slowly andprayerfully.
Psalms we're reading this weekare not long.
Plenty of time to read them acouple of times, read them in
different translations.
Read it out loud.
Psalms sound differently when weread them out loud.
Get a feel for the psalm.
Let the psalm take you to theLord, and then even consider
praying the psalm.
And this psalm is very, very,very prayable, very much so.
(05:06):
So let's start with what kind ofpsalm is it?
And it is a hymn of praise.
It does not have the call forhelp that we would find in a
lament, but instead it's aninvitation to praise God.
And there's much here aboutpraising God in creation, what
God does for creation.
There's a little bit of a wisdomfeel.
We'll talk about that in amoment, but it is a psalm of
praise.
So it begins with a call topraise, verses one and two.
(05:28):
I'll praise the Lord as long asI live.
I will sing praises to my Godwhile I have my being, verse
two.
That's a very green verse forme.
I use green to mark beautifulpassages in the Psalms, and that
one is very green.
Then verses three and five talkabout the uncertainty of human
wealth, human abilities versusthe constancy of God.
(05:49):
One writer said, all humanobjects of trust, whether
outstanding or ordinary, theylack ability, continuance, and
reliability.
That is absolutely so.
Don't put your trust in princes,don't put your trust in man.
That's going nowhere.
And then verses six to ten coverGod acting.
And there's just a long list ofthe things that God does and who
(06:13):
God is.
He is the omnipotent creator,verse six.
He's the advocator of thehelpless, verse seven.
He's the provider, he's theemancipator, he's the giver of
sight, verse eight.
He's the uplifter, he's thelover of good men, he is the
protector of exiles, verse nine.
He's the judge of the evil.
He is the eternal king, verseten.
(06:36):
And we really need to grab on tothe eternal reign of God.
He is the king for always andfor all time.
We praise and honor him for whohe is and for what he does.
Our reading for Monday, Psalm146.
It's Tuesday.
It is Tuesday.
Let's get our Bibles over toPsalm 143, 12 verses in our
(06:58):
reading today.
The reading for Tuesday, Psalm143, and there will be a Zoom
call tonight, Westsiders.
Looking forward to thinkingabout this Psalm with you
tonight.
This is a psalm that seemed totalk seems to talk about a time
of depression.
And I think working throughthese verses maybe can help us a
little bit when we feeloverwhelmed, maybe thinking
(07:19):
there's too much going on inthis world.
I'm just down, I'm in despair, Ican't go on.
Psalm 143 is a psalm ofdesperation, and so you know
already that makes it a lament.
It's an individual lament.
David is going through some sortof terrible crisis here.
Now, some have tried to say thecrisis is sin, verse 2, and
(07:39):
sometimes it gets listed as apenitential psalm.
That's a special kind of lament,crying out to God for help with
sin, crying out for forgiveness.
But I would agree with somescholars, one of my favorite
scholars on the Psalms, DerekKidner, there's just not enough
there in verse 2 to decide thatthis is about sin in David's
life.
(07:59):
What matters here is that thereis movement in the Psalm, from
preoccupation with our owntroubles to finding and
following God's way.
That's one of the things that wewant to look for in the Psalms
always is we're looking formovement.
And so pay attention to that andsee what you see as you're
reading down through Psalm 143.
(08:19):
In verse 4, we get that heavynote of despair.
And then verse 5, I remember thedays of old.
This is not just nostalgia.
This is not just, oh, the goodold days were so much better.
This is thinking about what Godhas done to build faith and
(08:41):
foster more faith in what Godwill do.
And so beginning about verse 7,things begin to move towards
answering.
I'm waiting for an answer inexpectation an answer will come.
Some have noted that the temposeems to pick up in verse 7, and
I think that's probably right.
Verse 7, the solution is God.
(09:01):
David prays not for the removalof the problem, whatever that
is, but that God will act.
God is the one that will solvethis problem.
Verse 8 through 10 then hasthree times that David prays for
guidance.
Verse 8, the way I should go.
That's a prayer forunderstanding, the path of life.
And then verse 10, teach me todo your will.
(09:22):
That's a prayer aboutpriorities, life agenda.
Then verse 10 continues, I wantto be led.
Led me, let your good spiritlead me on level ground.
Level ground, that expressionthere is unique in all of the
Bible, but I think we understandexactly what the psalmist is
looking for.
And it is interesting here,verse 10, he says, I want to be
(09:43):
led by the spirit.
We shy away from that sometimes.
If a hymn says something aboutthat, sometimes people get a
little uneasy with that, and Iunderstand about that.
There's lots of mistakes aboutwhat it is to be led by the
Spirit, but it is Biblelanguage.
David says, I want to be led bythe Spirit.
And it's hard not to notice thechange in tone beginning about
(10:05):
somewhere about verse 8.
There's still some stuff aboutenemies, verse 9, but the real
emphasis now is on knowing anddoing God's will.
Let's talk about that moretonight in Zoom.
Looking forward to that already,Westsiders.
If you're not a member of theWestside Church, I'll see you on
the podcast tomorrow.
The reading, the reading forTuesday, Psalm 143.
(10:28):
Welcome to Wednesday.
It's Wednesday, and today we'rereading the 101st Psalm.
This is a royal psalm.
It's by the King.
It's about the King.
It's about his rule.
And that does mean this is awonderful place to learn some
things about leadership becauseDavid will talk a lot about
mercy and integrity and justicehere.
Woving, weaving, woving?
(10:49):
Is that yeah, what's the answer?
The answer, more coffee.
Weaving all of that togetherwith the idea that the godly
leader is the one that's doingGod's will.
Some have tried to make thisinto a lament.
I just don't think you can getthere from here.
It's a vow, a promise to live ina certain sort of way.
And it does have kind of awisdom note to it.
(11:11):
It sounds a little bit likeProverbs or other wisdom books
because, yeah, because God's wayis the way of wisdom.
So watch for the vow features,watch for the commitment that
David is making here.
And there's lots of wordrepetition.
Blameless, verse 2, 3, and 6.
In my house, verse 2 and 7,before my eyes, verses 3 and 7.
(11:32):
I think in my presence is whatthe New King James has there.
Destroy verses 5 and 8.
So lots of this, lots of thisbusiness where a theme is
emerging.
And I think the Psalm breaksinto two parts.
There needs to be truth in thelife of the ruler, verses 1 to
4, and then there needs to betruth in the lives of the
(11:53):
followers, verses 5 to 8.
And I do like that the psalmbegins with the life of the
ruler.
I will ponder the way that'sblameless.
I will walk with integrity,verse 2.
I will not set before my eyesthings that are worthless.
I will hate the work of thosewho fall away.
A perverse heart shall be farfrom me, verses 3 and 4.
Godly leadership understands theimportance of the heart.
(12:15):
The godly leader makes sure he'swalking with God first.
And then in verse 5, what aboutthose who are following the
godly leader?
They don't have any interest inslander and gossip.
Our society pays millions ofdollars for a tell-all book that
slanders somebody.
And then maybe 18 years later,after it moves to the court, the
(12:35):
author has to pay some damagesto somebody that was completely
and totally misrepresented orgossiped about.
Everyone's forgotten when thecase finally comes around and
all the appeals and so forth.
In the meantime, that poorperson's been slandered and
everyone thinks less of them.
No, godly people don't do thatkind of thing.
They practice purity andfaithfulness, the same thing
(12:56):
that they demand in theirleaders, they demand of
themselves.
And I think verses six and sevenreally sit down on that idea.
Now, this psalm does not have adirect messianic link, yet when
we think of David, and yes, thathe does not always live up to
the standard that he set, I willset, I will not set before my
eyes anything that is worthless,verse 3.
(13:17):
What are you doing on thebalcony, David, looking at a
woman who's bathing?
So when we think about David,and we think about how he did
not always measure up to evenwhat he himself knew the godly
leader should be, it makes uslong for leadership that can fit
the bill.
And of course, that is Jesus theChrist.
That is Jesus the Christ.
Isaiah the 11th chapter thatwe've read sets him forth as the
(13:41):
ideal king.
Psalm 101 makes us want thatking.
A reading for Wednesday, Psalm101.
It's Thursday.
We are headed towards the end ofthe week.
Hope it's been a good week foryou.
I've enjoyed being in this weekin the Psalms with you.
Psalm 131 is the reading forThursday, the 131st Psalm.
(14:01):
This is not a long psalm.
Plenty of time to savor this,read it several times, read it
in different translations.
This is a psalm of assent.
Say more about that probablytomorrow.
Psalm 120 is the first.
And this is a psalm ofconfidence or a psalm of trust.
Really, you're looking here atwhat it is to be a person who
(14:24):
submits to God and submits toGod's guidance.
Get verse 1, O Lord, my heart isnot lifted up, my eyes are not
raised too high.
Lofty eyes are a sign of pride.
And one writer said, it would beeasy to make this verse an
excuse to avoid the challengesof life.
But the sin rejected at thebeginning of verse one is pride.
(14:45):
And then the sin at the end ofverse one is presumption.
I do not occupy myself withthings too great and too
marvelous for me.
By the first of these, oneundervalues other people.
By the second, one overestimatesand overreaches oneself,
forgetting the Lord.
I think that's helpful in verseone.
We need some balance in who weare and what we need to be.
(15:08):
And then there is this wonderfulexpression, I have calmed and
quieted my soul.
And I really think all of thispushes forward the idea that
godliness is an inside outproposition.
We have to change from theinside out.
What we think of ourselves, whatwe think of other people, what
we think of God, what we allowto upset us.
We need to hope in the Lord,verse 3.
(15:30):
Psalm 131, that's our readingfor Thursday.
Hello, it's Friday.
It is Friday.
That makes your coffee extragood, doesn't it?
Loving me some Friday coffee.
Psalm 133 is the reading fortoday, the 133rd Psalm.
And I want to talk about unity.
(15:51):
Those of you who've been in myRomans class know that that is
the major theme of the book ofRomans.
And I have talked a lot aboutunity as we concluded that class
recently and worked through thelast section, the section
beginning about chapter 12,where Paul is really laying down
some practical admonitionsthere.
And by now you're thinking, Ithought we were reading the
Psalms, not reading Romans.
One of the things that I havesaid a lot in that Romans class
(16:14):
is that we just haven't done agreat job as brethren with
unity.
In fact, I kind of grew upthinking unity was bad because I
kept hearing a ton of sermonsabout wrong sorts of unity,
various churches that wereinvolving themselves in
interdenominational works andthe community and so forth,
uniting with false religion andtrying to pretend that
(16:36):
everything was just fine.
You can't do that.
That's not real unity.
It's not the kind of unitythat's being praised here in
Psalm 133.
But it does mean that sometimeswe're a little suspicious of
unity, and what we ought to dois want godly unity.
That's what Jesus prayed for.
For example, in John 17, it'swhat Paul wrote to the Roman
Church about in the book ofRomans, and it is what the 133rd
(16:57):
Psalm is all about.
Now, this is a song of ascent.
I mentioned yesterday that I'dsay more about that today.
And so I'll just go ahead.
These are the songs that weresung by the pilgrims as they
climbed toward Jerusalem on theway to the annual feast.
Thousands and thousands ofpeople would throng to Jerusalem
for Passover and for Pentecost,and they would sing these songs.
(17:18):
Just beautiful to hear groups oftens and hundreds singing these
praises of God on their way toworship.
And this is a song of David, butif it well, and you know the
headings are not necessarilyinspired and not necessarily
accurate because of that.
But if David wrote it, he had towrite this pretty early in his
life because there's not a lotof unity in his family, in his
(17:40):
household after the terribleevents of 2 Samuel chapter 11.
And some have said that thiscould be classified as a wisdom
song designed to teach the valueof unity.
So it opens with a blessing,verse 1.
It has two metaphors.
Unity is like an anointing,verse 2, unity is like the
morning dew, verse 3, and thenit concludes with a blessing at
(18:00):
the end of verse 3.
So the anointing here, preciousoil on the head running down on
the beard, on the beard ofAaron.
Remember, that would be like aperfume or like a cologne.
That's not a heavy, heavy kindof oil, you know, like olive oil
that would just be dripping allover him and making a mess.
This would be a lighter oil, andit would be consecrating him,
(18:22):
setting him aside, setting Aaronaside for his special work.
And all of the people would bedelighted to see that because
they needed the high priest, andthey were glad to have a high
priest consecrated to serve themand to bring them before the
Lord.
And then the morning dew inverse 3.
Now, Mount Hermon is nearly10,000 feet above sea level, and
it's known for being very lushand for being very green.
(18:44):
Now, what would it feel like inJerusalem, a place that hardly
gets any rain at all from May toOctober, if that kind of dew
suddenly fell?
That would be incredible.
A wet, lush morning.
Sometimes we get up in themorning and the driveway and the
sidewalks are damp and wet, andthe grass has got beads of dew
all over it.
(19:04):
We're getting into fall andwe're past that kind of season.
That'll happen in the spring.
But but you're familiar withthat kind of just wet day that
everything just feels extraalive.
And I suspect we'll see that, ofcourse, in the spring again.
So maybe maybe what we thinkabout is how excited we get here
in Texas when we get a snow day,because that's so unexpected.
(19:27):
Well, that's the joy of the dewsof Hermon falling on the
mountains of Zion.
Then the psalm concludes withthis wonderful blessing.
And there's discussion about forthere the Lord has commanded the
blessing.
There could be the temple, or itcould be where God's people live
in unity.
The reading for Friday, Psalm133.
(19:50):
That concludes the podcast thenfor the week.
Thanks so much for listening.
I've just received somewonderful feedback recently
about the podcast, and it justmeans so much.
Had a wonderful conversationwhen I was preaching in Houston
at the Kleinwood Congregation.
Wonderful lady there stopped totell me how much the podcast
meant to her, and it was helpingher and helping others, and
she's sharing it with others.
That kind of feedback andencouragement means a great
(20:12):
deal.
All the people who work on thepodcast, it doesn't just happen.
It doesn't just happen.
The people do lots to make allof this get done and get up on
the World Wide Web where you canget to it and all those things.
And we all, all of us,appreciate so much someone
saying, This is helpful to me.
I'm just very glad to do thepodcast and to be with you in
(20:35):
the Word of God each week.
So leave it a rating or review.
Tell somebody else about it.
It is, it is my joy to open thescriptures with you every day.
I'm Mark Roberts.
I want to go to heaven, and Iwant you to come too.
See you on Monday with a cup ofcoffee.
SPEAKER_00 (20:58):
Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ
podcast, Monday Morning Coffeewith Mark.
For more information aboutWestside, you can connect with
us through our website, justChristians.com, and our Facebook
page.
Our music is from Upbeat.io.
That's Upbeat with two Ps,U-P-P-B-E-A-T, where creators
(21:22):
can get free music.
Please share our podcast withothers, and we look forward to
seeing you again with a cup ofcoffee, of course, on next
Monday.
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