May 5, 2025 • 23 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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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to the Westside Church's special
Monday Morning Coffee podcast.
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 through itfurther and better work the
(00:24):
applications into our dailylives.
Mark will then look forward intothis week's Bible 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 (00:52):
Good morning, good morning.
Welcome to the Monday MorningCoffee podcast for Monday, May
the 5th.
I'm Mark, and I'm ready to talkabout daily Bible reading.
I'm ready to talk about a sermonyesterday based on a wonderful
hymn, and I am ready to do allof that while I'm holding a
great cup of Himalayan coffee.
Yes, you heard that correctly,Himalayan coffee.
I did not know they grow coffeein the Himalayans, but I found
(01:15):
that out when last week Iattended the SCA Expo in
Houston, the Specialty CoffeeAssociation.
It's a giant trade show forpeople who are in the coffee
business.
They own a coffee shop.
They own a commercial roasterThey own a cafe and they're
serving a lot of coffee.
I was able to get a ticketbecause I am doing some coffee
roasting and that got me in thedoor.
(01:36):
And once I was there, there wasall kinds of gadgets and
equipment and espresso machinesand lots and lots of people who
grow coffee and who areinterested in you buying their
coffee and serving it in yourcoffee shop.
And sure enough, as I'm trippingalong, there was a booth from
some folks in the Himalayans.
I could not believe it, but it'spretty good coffee and I'm
(01:56):
enjoying that cup this morningas I have my Bible open to 2
Samuel.
And as I think a little bitabout the sermon yesterday, wow,
don't think I have ever beforesaid, let's get started with
Himalayan coffee.
But whatever you've got, pourthat cup.
Let's get ready.
Let's get set.
Let's go.
Let's talk a little bit aboutyesterday's sermon about the
(02:19):
blood of Jesus Christ andparticularly the hymn, Where
Love Ran Red.
I have given some thought, as Imentioned yesterday, to how much
emphasis the New Testamentplaces on the blood of Jesus.
And sometimes peoplemisunderstand that and want to
know, what's the deal?
Why all this fascination andfixation on blood?
So yesterday's sermon gave me anopportunity to talk about that
(02:42):
and to work through that hymnbecause I always want us to sing
with understanding to know whatit is that we are singing.
And I would say this, there isnothing...
like being in the auditoriumwhen we work in a psalm
together, talk about that song,and then the song leader gets up
and we sing it together.
(03:02):
Live streaming is no substitutefor that.
You just can't get that watchingit later on the Facebook post.
It's just not the same.
And if you're trying to use astreaming service to substitute
for being physically present inthe auditorium, Don't do that.
Come to church.
Now, let me say a couple ofother things here to kind of
(03:24):
finish off the thoughts aboutwhy we think so much of Jesus's
blood and why we talk aboutthat.
First, sometimes people ask whyJesus had to die so terribly.
And it's a fair question.
How about death by firing squador lethal injection or even
something quick like theguillotine?
And I think there's a two-partanswer to that.
(03:45):
First, Jesus is a sacrifice, andsacrificial animals had their
lifeblood poured out.
The blood symbolized the givingof their lives.
So for Jesus to be oursacrifice, there will have to be
some kind of correspondencethere, some kind of pouring out,
and not Just a quick and cleanand even, dare I say it, easy
(04:06):
death.
Revelation 5 and verse 6, if youlook at that in your text, in
your Bible, picks up Isaiah 53and talks about the slaughtered
lamb.
Now, that's not slaughtered likemeat is prepared in a butcher
shop.
That's slaughtered like asacrifice.
And that's the emphasis on that.
Jesus' death is a sacrificialdeath.
(04:26):
But then secondly, Jesus' deathreminds us just how awful sin
really is.
There's nothing pretty about thecross.
Because there is nothing prettyabout sin.
Jesus sheds his blood.
He gives up his life.
He pours out his blood for us.
And the hymn, Love Ran Red,makes that point for us in a
(04:47):
wonderfully poetic way.
It's at the center of who weare.
The blood of Jesus is the centerof our Christianity.
And that is one of the reasonswhy the supper is so vital and
so powerful for Christians.
And I hope I hope that yesterdaythat helped your supper
observance, and I hope youhaven't forgotten it today
because we're all still runningon the power of Jesus' blood.
(05:12):
Now let's talk about daily Biblereading.
It is Monday and our reading forMonday is 2 Samuel chapter 22
(05:34):
verses 1 to 25.
Let me say a couple of things aswe get underway here in 2
Samuel.
Grab a little bit of coffeehere.
How about that?
A little Yeti in the cup fromthe Himalayans.
2 Samuel chapter 22 is part ofthis appendices that's at the
end of 2 Samuel.
And it contains some materialthat is out of order
chronologically.
(05:55):
We talked about that last week.
And what you're looking at hereis material that helps us
balance our view of David.
That is one slice, the AbsalomRebellion particularly, is one
(06:15):
slice of David's reign.
He reigned 40 years.
There's a lot more to David thanjust that.
The Bible has some specificreasons for reporting so much of
that material, but it iscertainly not everything to
David's life.
So this appendices, if you will,helps us see that David was a
spiritually-minded man.
He was a beloved king in Israel,and he cared deeply about God.
(06:39):
No, he was not flawless.
I understand about that.
You understand about that.
He did love the Lord.
He was a man after God's ownheart.
So after a lot of time spentshowing David's warts, it's fair
if 2 Samuel also shows us someof the good things and says that
at bottom, he was a good man whotried to do what is right.
(06:59):
Now, 2 Samuel 22 is repeated inPsalm 18, and we're going to
read both the psalm and thechapter this week.
So you're really going to get anintensive look at this psalm.
It is a psalm of thanksgivingwith a lot of royal references
to it, and it just oozes There'slots of military talk here.
There's lots of wilderness talkhere.
(07:21):
Probably this references thetime when Saul is chasing David
around in the wilderness.
That's a very rocky area.
And I love how David doesn'tsay, I was saved by my own
cleverness.
I was saved by the rocks and thecaves that I hid in.
I was saved by God.
And I say this a lot when we'rereading in the Psalms.
Past deliverances give usconfidence for the future.
(07:41):
And that is working here.
David looks in the past, and hesays, God took care of me, and I
know God's going to continue totake care of me.
I love the way that works.
And that reminds me to say, ifwe never give God any credit for
doing anything in our lives, wehave no past to look to to give
us confidence in the future.
So make sure that you're notjust praying and asking God to
(08:03):
do something, but that when Godcomes through, when God rescues
and saves and delivers andblesses, that we want to say,
thank you, God, and we want togive God credit for that.
I don't think the language hererequires a lot of discussion or
a lot of clarification.
The arrows in verse 15, that's afigure for bolts of lightning.
Habakkuk uses that figure thereas well.
(08:26):
And probably the thing to see inthis and to say about this is
that God doesn't just mosey overto help a little bit, maybe do
some negotiating, see if he canget some kind of compromise
worked out.
God comes with fire and smokeand weapons blazing, and he
smashes and crushes andthunders, and he destroys
David's enemies.
(08:47):
That's the imagery here.
And this last little sectionthen, beginning in verse 21 to
25, is where David says somethings about being innocent.
And please, please don't get ittwisted here.
David's not claiming that he isperfect by any stretch of the
imagination.
What he is saying here is thathe is loyal.
He is trying to do what isright.
(09:07):
He is on God's And I'm usingthat term loyalty a lot these
days, and I love that termbecause I think it carries more
freight than when we just sayyou're obedient.
I think people can be obedientsometimes without being loyal.
They haven't given their heart.
to what they're working in orwhat they're doing and so forth.
There are people who obey theirboss, but they're not very
(09:28):
loyal.
They talk behind his back.
Maybe they're sending resumesout to other companies because
they want to go to worksomewhere else.
There's lots about obediencethat can be done without real
loyalty.
David says, I'm loyal.
Look at 2 Samuel 22.
Be asking yourself, am I loyalto God?
That's our reading for Monday.
(09:49):
The reading for Monday, 2 Samuel22, verses 1-25.
Thank you.
It is Tuesday.
It is Tuesday, and today we'regoing to finish 2 Samuel 22.
We'll read verses 26 all the wayto the end of the chapter, verse
51.
2 Samuel 22, verses 26 to 51 isthe reading for Tuesday.
And I love how David goes from,you saved me because I'm loyal.
(10:14):
We read that yesterday in verses21 to 25.
Now, beginning in verse 26, hebegins to extend that idea to
other people.
If you'll act like this, Godwill be merciful to you.
You will save a humble people,verse 28.
You are my lamp, then verse 29,you lighten the darkness.
So God is saving David.
God is saving people who arelike David.
(10:37):
This is God.
His way is perfect, verse 31.
The word of the Lord provestrue, and he is a shield for all
those who take refuge in him.
Then the imagery returns to somevery military talk, some very
war kind of figures of speechand metaphors.
And we're at a time when peopleare backing away from that.
We don't want to sing onward.
That's offensive.
(10:57):
That kind of talk is the sort ofthing that people don't want to
hear.
But I want to say veryclearly...
In the Bible, there's a wargoing on.
That war is between God and thedevil, between light and dark,
between good and evil.
And if that war makes youuncomfortable, get ready to be
uncomfortable.
It is part of reality, and weare soldiers in that war.
(11:18):
We should not shrink back fromsaying what the Bible says, and
we shouldn't be embarrassedabout what the Bible says.
Maybe I've just spent too muchtime in the book of Revelation
preparing for the meeting that Idid last week with the Beaumont
Church and where I was talkingabout how to read Revelation for
yourself because of course,there's so much military and
battle imagery in the book ofRevelation.
But it's not just Revelation.
We put on the armor of God,Ephesians chapter 6.
(11:40):
And then here, notice verse 38,I pursued my enemies and
destroyed them, did not turnback until they were consumed.
I consumed them.
I thrust them through.
But then watch how that pairswith the action of God.
You, verse 40, you equip me withthe strength for battle.
You made those who rise againstme sink underneath me.
You made my enemies, verse 41,turn their backs to me.
There's a wonderful connectingtogether of human activity and
(12:03):
divine David always seems tohave that put together in his
praying.
I need you to do something, God,and here's what I'm doing to
give you something to work with.
I love that about David so much.
Let me point out one otherimportant emphasis here, verse
47.
(12:23):
We sing that song, by the way.
There's a wonderful hymn thatuses that line.
And I wonder sometimes if weknow all that's behind the idea
of the Lord lives.
The cry, Baal lives, would beheard in the Philistine camp
because the cry, Baal is dead,would be part of the seasonal
cycle.
When winter came and all theplants died and all the crops
(12:45):
went brown and leaves fell offthe tree and all those kinds of
things, the cry went out, Baalis dead.
And then in spring, when thingsbudded out and turned green,
Baal lives.
Baal died in the winter, wasreborn in the spring, part of
the immorality of the day whenthe fertility rites of the day
were to cause Baal to be reborn.
(13:06):
Baal is dead.
But here David says, God isalive.
God is the living Lord.
That's why he makes deliverancepossible.
Then the psalmist ends here.
David ends in verse 51.
Great salvation he brings to hisking.
and show steadfast love to hisanointed, to David and his
offspring forever.
(13:27):
Steadfast love is that term thatwe really lack a good English
word for.
It is chesed in the Hebrew, andI'm probably not saying that
right.
I hate trying to get off intooriginal languages, but we just
don't have a good parallel forthat in English.
It is the steadfast, faithfullove of God that he gives
(13:48):
because he promised he would.
That is the love of God thatDavid celebrates in 2 Samuel
chapter 22.
Let's see here.
What else should I say?
No Zoom tonight, Westsiders.
This is the first Tuesday of themonth, and the elders will be
meeting, so we will not have aZoom call and a Zoom Bible study
this evening.
But I'll see everybody on thepodcast tomorrow, on Wednesday,
(14:11):
when we'll transition over andlook at this material as it is
recorded for us in the 18thPsalm.
Our reading for Tuesday, 2Samuel chapter 22, verses 26 to
51.
Welcome to Wednesday.
Our reading today is Psalm 18verses 1 to 24.
The reading for Wednesday, Psalm18 verses 1 to 24.
Hope you're having a greatWednesday or that you have a
(14:33):
great Wednesday out in front ofyou.
Get some coffee and let's workon it.
And let's start by thinkingabout the 18th Psalm.
This is, of course, virtuallyidentical to the material that
we read in 2 Samuel 22.
And it's fair to say that if Godputs it in the Bible twice, that
doesn't mean we ought to skip itthe second time we see it.
That means it's extra important.
(14:54):
There are some minor differenceshere, probably to be accounted
for by noting that this psalmseems to have been edited for
use in the temple so thateveryone could sing it, everyone
could worship with it.
And right away, there is aslight difference.
Verse 1 says, I love you, OLord, my strength.
And the word for love here isvery unusual.
(15:15):
It is an emotional term, a termthat usually speaks of God's
compassion for his people.
This is the only place in theBible where it's used of human
love for God.
And it speaks of an intimacy inDavid's relationship with the
Lord.
And I just love how all ofthis...
Poetic language is powerful andoverwhelming and incredible
because God takes charge and Godcomes and delivers.
(15:40):
It's just wonderful.
And there is a couple of slamshere on pagan deities.
Verse 4, the cords of deathencompassed me and the torrents
of destruction assailed me.
That may be a reference to theunderworld, to Mott, the god of
death.
And then in verse 16, the oceanwas seen by pagans as a sea god.
In fact, Baal was believed tohave conquered the sea god
(16:01):
establishing his dominance asthe god of thunder and storm.
David takes a shot at both ofthese false gods, saying Jehovah
triumphs over the ocean and isthe real god of the storm, the
real god of thunder.
And then let me just add oneother thing.
This is not about the experienceof Job.
This is not answering everyquestion about why good people
(16:21):
suffer, why bad things happen togood people.
That's outside of this song.
It just celebrates God'sgoodness, God's salvation.
I was in need.
God delivered me.
Psalm 18 is celebrating God forhis answer to David's prayer.
The reading for Wednesday, Psalm18, verses 1 to 24.
(16:41):
Welcome to Thursday.
(17:11):
It says something about that acouple of days ago when we were
reading in 2 Samuel 22, but it'sjust an important idea to make
sure that that's in theforefront of our minds.
We want to be empowered by God,but we want to be empowered by
God.
to be cooperating with God indoing all that we can do.
(17:32):
And, of course, the key versehere again, verse 46, the Lord
lives and blessed be my rock andexalted be the God of my
salvation.
Only because God is the livingLord is deliverance possible.
An idol, the figment of yourimagination, cannot deliver.
People say foolish things likeworship the goddess within or my
God would never do this or myGod is this.
(17:53):
Hey, those are not real gods.
which is just a very nice way ofme saying they are not alive.
They cannot save.
We want the real God.
We want the living God.
We want the God who is our rock.
Remember, all of this drivestowards the idea of being a
(18:18):
person seeking after God's ownheart.
David glorifies God, nothimself.
David gives credit to God, notto David.
David praises God, not David.
That is the idea.
is a huge help when weunderstand that in being like
David.
(18:38):
The reading for Thursday, 2Samuel.
No, that's not right.
The reading for Thursday, Psalm18, verses 25 to 50.
I'll see you tomorrow, and guesswhat?
We're always in the Psalms onFriday, and we'll just continue
in the Psalms tomorrow.
We're in Psalm 18 today.
Just turn the page.
See you tomorrow on Friday.
(18:58):
We'll be in the 19th Psalm.
It is Friday.
It is Friday, and today we'rereading the 19th Psalm.
This is a marvelous psalm, oneof my favorites, because it says
that God is talking to you, andGod is talking to me.
Now, usually if someone says,God has spoken to me, we are
very suspicious of that, andrightly so.
(19:19):
But what the 19th Psalm says isthat God is speaking, and that
we need to listen.
We need to hear His message.
He speaks in two ways.
First, in verses 1 to 6...
He speaks through the power ofnature, through the power of
creation.
That everywhere that you look,you can see, both from the
nighttime sky and from the sunabove, you can see the sermon of
(19:42):
creation.
And every man hears that sermon.
Every person can see that sermonand deduce from that sermon that
there is a God.
It's important to remember,everyone can know something of
God, but probably more than justusing this passage.
And I understand...
Paul in Romans 1 makes thatobservation that everybody is
(20:04):
culpable before God because wecan all discern something of
God's nature from creation.
But even more than just lookingover at the atheist or if we're
going to answer questions aboutthe person in the deepest,
darkest Amazon who hasn'treceived a Bible, what about
them?
And we say some things aboutthey can still know something of
God and they should seek God.
What we really ought to say outof the first six verses is we
(20:24):
ought to tremble before themight and power of God.
The more you understand aboutthe stars, the more you
understand about our earth, themore you understand about the
sun, the more you understand thepower and might of Almighty God.
We must tremble before ourCreator.
And then, of course, in verses 7to 14, the psalm continues to
talk about the other way thatGod speaks to us, which is
(20:46):
through revelation, through Hislaw.
His law is perfect.
It is free from corruption anderror.
It has a practical effect.
It converts the soul.
It contains the testimony ofGod, the divine declaration of
what God has done, and it willhelp the simple.
Not the simpleton, not themoron, the person who has no
mental capacity, but the personwho is humble and who is
(21:08):
teachable.
They can learn the statutes ofthe Lord the duties that God
gives to us, His commandments,the regulations of life, so that
we will have a proper fear orreverence for God because we
know the judgments of God, thedecisions of the Lord as
revealed in His Word.
That is, the psalmist says, moreprecious than gold.
(21:31):
Think about that.
Somebody offered you a gold barfor your Bible.
Well, I'd probably trade them agold bar for my Bible because I
have lots of Bibles.
But what if somebody offered youa gold bar for all of your
Bibles and you could never readthe Bible again and you never
have any access to God's Wordagain?
You take that gold bar, you'vemade a very poor life.
(21:52):
God's word, verse 11, keeps usfrom sin.
And then the psalm ends, verses12, 13, and 14, by talking a
little bit more about how God'srevelation helps us.
It converts the soul.
It has a powerful effect so thatwe won't be involved not just in
presumptuous sin, known andevident sin, but even secret
sin, sins that we commit when wedo not know that we have
(22:14):
committed them.
David does not say ignorance isbliss.
It'll all be fine.
He says he wants to be rightwith God in every possible way.
Psalm 19, God is speaking.
Are we listening?
Our reading for Friday is Psalm19.
That concludes the podcast forthe week.
(22:35):
Thank you very much forlistening, reading the Bible
with me, and thinking aboutSunday's sermon.
If the podcast is helping you,please leave a rating or review
and tell folks about thepodcast.
So until next week, when we'llopen our Bibles together again,
I'm Mark Roberts.
And I want to go to heaven, andI want you to come too.
See you on Monday with a cup ofcoffee.
SPEAKER_00 (23:02):
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 P's,U-P-P-B-E-A-T, where creators
(23:26):
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 Westside Church's special
Monday Morning Coffee podcast.
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 through itfurther and better work the
(00:24):
applications into our dailylives.
Mark will then look forward intothis week's Bible 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 (00:52):
Good morning, good morning.
Welcome to the Monday MorningCoffee podcast for Monday, May
the 5th.
I'm Mark, and I'm ready to talkabout daily Bible reading.
I'm ready to talk about a sermonyesterday based on a wonderful
hymn, and I am ready to do allof that while I'm holding a
great cup of Himalayan coffee.
Yes, you heard that correctly,Himalayan coffee.
I did not know they grow coffeein the Himalayans, but I found
(01:15):
that out when last week Iattended the SCA Expo in
Houston, the Specialty CoffeeAssociation.
It's a giant trade show forpeople who are in the coffee
business.
They own a coffee shop.
They own a commercial roasterThey own a cafe and they're
serving a lot of coffee.
I was able to get a ticketbecause I am doing some coffee
roasting and that got me in thedoor.
(01:36):
And once I was there, there wasall kinds of gadgets and
equipment and espresso machinesand lots and lots of people who
grow coffee and who areinterested in you buying their
coffee and serving it in yourcoffee shop.
And sure enough, as I'm trippingalong, there was a booth from
some folks in the Himalayans.
I could not believe it, but it'spretty good coffee and I'm
(01:56):
enjoying that cup this morningas I have my Bible open to 2
Samuel.
And as I think a little bitabout the sermon yesterday, wow,
don't think I have ever beforesaid, let's get started with
Himalayan coffee.
But whatever you've got, pourthat cup.
Let's get ready.
Let's get set.
Let's go.
Let's talk a little bit aboutyesterday's sermon about the
(02:19):
blood of Jesus Christ andparticularly the hymn, Where
Love Ran Red.
I have given some thought, as Imentioned yesterday, to how much
emphasis the New Testamentplaces on the blood of Jesus.
And sometimes peoplemisunderstand that and want to
know, what's the deal?
Why all this fascination andfixation on blood?
So yesterday's sermon gave me anopportunity to talk about that
(02:42):
and to work through that hymnbecause I always want us to sing
with understanding to know whatit is that we are singing.
And I would say this, there isnothing...
like being in the auditoriumwhen we work in a psalm
together, talk about that song,and then the song leader gets up
and we sing it together.
(03:02):
Live streaming is no substitutefor that.
You just can't get that watchingit later on the Facebook post.
It's just not the same.
And if you're trying to use astreaming service to substitute
for being physically present inthe auditorium, Don't do that.
Come to church.
Now, let me say a couple ofother things here to kind of
(03:24):
finish off the thoughts aboutwhy we think so much of Jesus's
blood and why we talk aboutthat.
First, sometimes people ask whyJesus had to die so terribly.
And it's a fair question.
How about death by firing squador lethal injection or even
something quick like theguillotine?
And I think there's a two-partanswer to that.
(03:45):
First, Jesus is a sacrifice, andsacrificial animals had their
lifeblood poured out.
The blood symbolized the givingof their lives.
So for Jesus to be oursacrifice, there will have to be
some kind of correspondencethere, some kind of pouring out,
and not Just a quick and cleanand even, dare I say it, easy
(04:06):
death.
Revelation 5 and verse 6, if youlook at that in your text, in
your Bible, picks up Isaiah 53and talks about the slaughtered
lamb.
Now, that's not slaughtered likemeat is prepared in a butcher
shop.
That's slaughtered like asacrifice.
And that's the emphasis on that.
Jesus' death is a sacrificialdeath.
(04:26):
But then secondly, Jesus' deathreminds us just how awful sin
really is.
There's nothing pretty about thecross.
Because there is nothing prettyabout sin.
Jesus sheds his blood.
He gives up his life.
He pours out his blood for us.
And the hymn, Love Ran Red,makes that point for us in a
(04:47):
wonderfully poetic way.
It's at the center of who weare.
The blood of Jesus is the centerof our Christianity.
And that is one of the reasonswhy the supper is so vital and
so powerful for Christians.
And I hope I hope that yesterdaythat helped your supper
observance, and I hope youhaven't forgotten it today
because we're all still runningon the power of Jesus' blood.
(05:12):
Now let's talk about daily Biblereading.
It is Monday and our reading forMonday is 2 Samuel chapter 22
(05:34):
verses 1 to 25.
Let me say a couple of things aswe get underway here in 2
Samuel.
Grab a little bit of coffeehere.
How about that?
A little Yeti in the cup fromthe Himalayans.
2 Samuel chapter 22 is part ofthis appendices that's at the
end of 2 Samuel.
And it contains some materialthat is out of order
chronologically.
(05:55):
We talked about that last week.
And what you're looking at hereis material that helps us
balance our view of David.
That is one slice, the AbsalomRebellion particularly, is one
(06:15):
slice of David's reign.
He reigned 40 years.
There's a lot more to David thanjust that.
The Bible has some specificreasons for reporting so much of
that material, but it iscertainly not everything to
David's life.
So this appendices, if you will,helps us see that David was a
spiritually-minded man.
He was a beloved king in Israel,and he cared deeply about God.
(06:39):
No, he was not flawless.
I understand about that.
You understand about that.
He did love the Lord.
He was a man after God's ownheart.
So after a lot of time spentshowing David's warts, it's fair
if 2 Samuel also shows us someof the good things and says that
at bottom, he was a good man whotried to do what is right.
(06:59):
Now, 2 Samuel 22 is repeated inPsalm 18, and we're going to
read both the psalm and thechapter this week.
So you're really going to get anintensive look at this psalm.
It is a psalm of thanksgivingwith a lot of royal references
to it, and it just oozes There'slots of military talk here.
There's lots of wilderness talkhere.
(07:21):
Probably this references thetime when Saul is chasing David
around in the wilderness.
That's a very rocky area.
And I love how David doesn'tsay, I was saved by my own
cleverness.
I was saved by the rocks and thecaves that I hid in.
I was saved by God.
And I say this a lot when we'rereading in the Psalms.
Past deliverances give usconfidence for the future.
(07:41):
And that is working here.
David looks in the past, and hesays, God took care of me, and I
know God's going to continue totake care of me.
I love the way that works.
And that reminds me to say, ifwe never give God any credit for
doing anything in our lives, wehave no past to look to to give
us confidence in the future.
So make sure that you're notjust praying and asking God to
(08:03):
do something, but that when Godcomes through, when God rescues
and saves and delivers andblesses, that we want to say,
thank you, God, and we want togive God credit for that.
I don't think the language hererequires a lot of discussion or
a lot of clarification.
The arrows in verse 15, that's afigure for bolts of lightning.
Habakkuk uses that figure thereas well.
(08:26):
And probably the thing to see inthis and to say about this is
that God doesn't just mosey overto help a little bit, maybe do
some negotiating, see if he canget some kind of compromise
worked out.
God comes with fire and smokeand weapons blazing, and he
smashes and crushes andthunders, and he destroys
David's enemies.
(08:47):
That's the imagery here.
And this last little sectionthen, beginning in verse 21 to
25, is where David says somethings about being innocent.
And please, please don't get ittwisted here.
David's not claiming that he isperfect by any stretch of the
imagination.
What he is saying here is thathe is loyal.
He is trying to do what isright.
(09:07):
He is on God's And I'm usingthat term loyalty a lot these
days, and I love that termbecause I think it carries more
freight than when we just sayyou're obedient.
I think people can be obedientsometimes without being loyal.
They haven't given their heart.
to what they're working in orwhat they're doing and so forth.
There are people who obey theirboss, but they're not very
(09:28):
loyal.
They talk behind his back.
Maybe they're sending resumesout to other companies because
they want to go to worksomewhere else.
There's lots about obediencethat can be done without real
loyalty.
David says, I'm loyal.
Look at 2 Samuel 22.
Be asking yourself, am I loyalto God?
That's our reading for Monday.
(09:49):
The reading for Monday, 2 Samuel22, verses 1-25.
Thank you.
It is Tuesday.
It is Tuesday, and today we'regoing to finish 2 Samuel 22.
We'll read verses 26 all the wayto the end of the chapter, verse
51.
2 Samuel 22, verses 26 to 51 isthe reading for Tuesday.
And I love how David goes from,you saved me because I'm loyal.
(10:14):
We read that yesterday in verses21 to 25.
Now, beginning in verse 26, hebegins to extend that idea to
other people.
If you'll act like this, Godwill be merciful to you.
You will save a humble people,verse 28.
You are my lamp, then verse 29,you lighten the darkness.
So God is saving David.
God is saving people who arelike David.
(10:37):
This is God.
His way is perfect, verse 31.
The word of the Lord provestrue, and he is a shield for all
those who take refuge in him.
Then the imagery returns to somevery military talk, some very
war kind of figures of speechand metaphors.
And we're at a time when peopleare backing away from that.
We don't want to sing onward.
That's offensive.
(10:57):
That kind of talk is the sort ofthing that people don't want to
hear.
But I want to say veryclearly...
In the Bible, there's a wargoing on.
That war is between God and thedevil, between light and dark,
between good and evil.
And if that war makes youuncomfortable, get ready to be
uncomfortable.
It is part of reality, and weare soldiers in that war.
(11:18):
We should not shrink back fromsaying what the Bible says, and
we shouldn't be embarrassedabout what the Bible says.
Maybe I've just spent too muchtime in the book of Revelation
preparing for the meeting that Idid last week with the Beaumont
Church and where I was talkingabout how to read Revelation for
yourself because of course,there's so much military and
battle imagery in the book ofRevelation.
But it's not just Revelation.
We put on the armor of God,Ephesians chapter 6.
(11:40):
And then here, notice verse 38,I pursued my enemies and
destroyed them, did not turnback until they were consumed.
I consumed them.
I thrust them through.
But then watch how that pairswith the action of God.
You, verse 40, you equip me withthe strength for battle.
You made those who rise againstme sink underneath me.
You made my enemies, verse 41,turn their backs to me.
There's a wonderful connectingtogether of human activity and
(12:03):
divine David always seems tohave that put together in his
praying.
I need you to do something, God,and here's what I'm doing to
give you something to work with.
I love that about David so much.
Let me point out one otherimportant emphasis here, verse
47.
(12:23):
We sing that song, by the way.
There's a wonderful hymn thatuses that line.
And I wonder sometimes if weknow all that's behind the idea
of the Lord lives.
The cry, Baal lives, would beheard in the Philistine camp
because the cry, Baal is dead,would be part of the seasonal
cycle.
When winter came and all theplants died and all the crops
(12:45):
went brown and leaves fell offthe tree and all those kinds of
things, the cry went out, Baalis dead.
And then in spring, when thingsbudded out and turned green,
Baal lives.
Baal died in the winter, wasreborn in the spring, part of
the immorality of the day whenthe fertility rites of the day
were to cause Baal to be reborn.
(13:06):
Baal is dead.
But here David says, God isalive.
God is the living Lord.
That's why he makes deliverancepossible.
Then the psalmist ends here.
David ends in verse 51.
Great salvation he brings to hisking.
and show steadfast love to hisanointed, to David and his
offspring forever.
(13:27):
Steadfast love is that term thatwe really lack a good English
word for.
It is chesed in the Hebrew, andI'm probably not saying that
right.
I hate trying to get off intooriginal languages, but we just
don't have a good parallel forthat in English.
It is the steadfast, faithfullove of God that he gives
(13:48):
because he promised he would.
That is the love of God thatDavid celebrates in 2 Samuel
chapter 22.
Let's see here.
What else should I say?
No Zoom tonight, Westsiders.
This is the first Tuesday of themonth, and the elders will be
meeting, so we will not have aZoom call and a Zoom Bible study
this evening.
But I'll see everybody on thepodcast tomorrow, on Wednesday,
(14:11):
when we'll transition over andlook at this material as it is
recorded for us in the 18thPsalm.
Our reading for Tuesday, 2Samuel chapter 22, verses 26 to
51.
Welcome to Wednesday.
Our reading today is Psalm 18verses 1 to 24.
The reading for Wednesday, Psalm18 verses 1 to 24.
Hope you're having a greatWednesday or that you have a
(14:33):
great Wednesday out in front ofyou.
Get some coffee and let's workon it.
And let's start by thinkingabout the 18th Psalm.
This is, of course, virtuallyidentical to the material that
we read in 2 Samuel 22.
And it's fair to say that if Godputs it in the Bible twice, that
doesn't mean we ought to skip itthe second time we see it.
That means it's extra important.
(14:54):
There are some minor differenceshere, probably to be accounted
for by noting that this psalmseems to have been edited for
use in the temple so thateveryone could sing it, everyone
could worship with it.
And right away, there is aslight difference.
Verse 1 says, I love you, OLord, my strength.
And the word for love here isvery unusual.
(15:15):
It is an emotional term, a termthat usually speaks of God's
compassion for his people.
This is the only place in theBible where it's used of human
love for God.
And it speaks of an intimacy inDavid's relationship with the
Lord.
And I just love how all ofthis...
Poetic language is powerful andoverwhelming and incredible
because God takes charge and Godcomes and delivers.
(15:40):
It's just wonderful.
And there is a couple of slamshere on pagan deities.
Verse 4, the cords of deathencompassed me and the torrents
of destruction assailed me.
That may be a reference to theunderworld, to Mott, the god of
death.
And then in verse 16, the oceanwas seen by pagans as a sea god.
In fact, Baal was believed tohave conquered the sea god
(16:01):
establishing his dominance asthe god of thunder and storm.
David takes a shot at both ofthese false gods, saying Jehovah
triumphs over the ocean and isthe real god of the storm, the
real god of thunder.
And then let me just add oneother thing.
This is not about the experienceof Job.
This is not answering everyquestion about why good people
(16:21):
suffer, why bad things happen togood people.
That's outside of this song.
It just celebrates God'sgoodness, God's salvation.
I was in need.
God delivered me.
Psalm 18 is celebrating God forhis answer to David's prayer.
The reading for Wednesday, Psalm18, verses 1 to 24.
(16:41):
Welcome to Thursday.
(17:11):
It says something about that acouple of days ago when we were
reading in 2 Samuel 22, but it'sjust an important idea to make
sure that that's in theforefront of our minds.
We want to be empowered by God,but we want to be empowered by
God.
to be cooperating with God indoing all that we can do.
(17:32):
And, of course, the key versehere again, verse 46, the Lord
lives and blessed be my rock andexalted be the God of my
salvation.
Only because God is the livingLord is deliverance possible.
An idol, the figment of yourimagination, cannot deliver.
People say foolish things likeworship the goddess within or my
God would never do this or myGod is this.
(17:53):
Hey, those are not real gods.
which is just a very nice way ofme saying they are not alive.
They cannot save.
We want the real God.
We want the living God.
We want the God who is our rock.
Remember, all of this drivestowards the idea of being a
(18:18):
person seeking after God's ownheart.
David glorifies God, nothimself.
David gives credit to God, notto David.
David praises God, not David.
That is the idea.
is a huge help when weunderstand that in being like
David.
(18:38):
The reading for Thursday, 2Samuel.
No, that's not right.
The reading for Thursday, Psalm18, verses 25 to 50.
I'll see you tomorrow, and guesswhat?
We're always in the Psalms onFriday, and we'll just continue
in the Psalms tomorrow.
We're in Psalm 18 today.
Just turn the page.
See you tomorrow on Friday.
(18:58):
We'll be in the 19th Psalm.
It is Friday.
It is Friday, and today we'rereading the 19th Psalm.
This is a marvelous psalm, oneof my favorites, because it says
that God is talking to you, andGod is talking to me.
Now, usually if someone says,God has spoken to me, we are
very suspicious of that, andrightly so.
(19:19):
But what the 19th Psalm says isthat God is speaking, and that
we need to listen.
We need to hear His message.
He speaks in two ways.
First, in verses 1 to 6...
He speaks through the power ofnature, through the power of
creation.
That everywhere that you look,you can see, both from the
nighttime sky and from the sunabove, you can see the sermon of
(19:42):
creation.
And every man hears that sermon.
Every person can see that sermonand deduce from that sermon that
there is a God.
It's important to remember,everyone can know something of
God, but probably more than justusing this passage.
And I understand...
Paul in Romans 1 makes thatobservation that everybody is
(20:04):
culpable before God because wecan all discern something of
God's nature from creation.
But even more than just lookingover at the atheist or if we're
going to answer questions aboutthe person in the deepest,
darkest Amazon who hasn'treceived a Bible, what about
them?
And we say some things aboutthey can still know something of
God and they should seek God.
What we really ought to say outof the first six verses is we
(20:24):
ought to tremble before themight and power of God.
The more you understand aboutthe stars, the more you
understand about our earth, themore you understand about the
sun, the more you understand thepower and might of Almighty God.
We must tremble before ourCreator.
And then, of course, in verses 7to 14, the psalm continues to
talk about the other way thatGod speaks to us, which is
(20:46):
through revelation, through Hislaw.
His law is perfect.
It is free from corruption anderror.
It has a practical effect.
It converts the soul.
It contains the testimony ofGod, the divine declaration of
what God has done, and it willhelp the simple.
Not the simpleton, not themoron, the person who has no
mental capacity, but the personwho is humble and who is
(21:08):
teachable.
They can learn the statutes ofthe Lord the duties that God
gives to us, His commandments,the regulations of life, so that
we will have a proper fear orreverence for God because we
know the judgments of God, thedecisions of the Lord as
revealed in His Word.
That is, the psalmist says, moreprecious than gold.
(21:31):
Think about that.
Somebody offered you a gold barfor your Bible.
Well, I'd probably trade them agold bar for my Bible because I
have lots of Bibles.
But what if somebody offered youa gold bar for all of your
Bibles and you could never readthe Bible again and you never
have any access to God's Wordagain?
You take that gold bar, you'vemade a very poor life.
(21:52):
God's word, verse 11, keeps usfrom sin.
And then the psalm ends, verses12, 13, and 14, by talking a
little bit more about how God'srevelation helps us.
It converts the soul.
It has a powerful effect so thatwe won't be involved not just in
presumptuous sin, known andevident sin, but even secret
sin, sins that we commit when wedo not know that we have
(22:14):
committed them.
David does not say ignorance isbliss.
It'll all be fine.
He says he wants to be rightwith God in every possible way.
Psalm 19, God is speaking.
Are we listening?
Our reading for Friday is Psalm19.
That concludes the podcast forthe week.
(22:35):
Thank you very much forlistening, reading the Bible
with me, and thinking aboutSunday's sermon.
If the podcast is helping you,please leave a rating or review
and tell folks about thepodcast.
So until next week, when we'llopen our Bibles together again,
I'm Mark Roberts.
And I want to go to heaven, andI want you to come too.
See you on Monday with a cup ofcoffee.
SPEAKER_00 (23:02):
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 P's,U-P-P-B-E-A-T, where creators
(23:26):
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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