Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- Nehemiah 11-12 &b Ps 120-134
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. My name is Philip Thomas, Pastor of Journey here in Elgin, Texas. And this is our journey through scriptures. So we are ⁓ this is gonna the next couple ⁓ times are gonna be a little challenging. We're gonna throw in quite a few psalms. ⁓ but so today read Nehemiah 11 and 12. We're gonna go through Nehemiah 11 and 12, and then Psalm 120 through 134. Now they're not real long Psalms, but 120. through one thirty four. All right, so we've come off ⁓ the ⁓ the they're in the process of dedicating the temple and the city and ⁓ getting the city back in working order again. ⁓ you know, Nehemiah the remember Nehemiah kind of started off in third person, it kinda it kind of became more of just historical, here's what ⁓ happened, and then ⁓ we're going to hit in a moment. ⁓ or I guess in chapter 13, Nehemiah is is then back in third person telling telling the story. ⁓ but what we have ⁓ here in Nehemiah chapter eleven is the importance of the people coming back to actually dwell in the city of Jerusalem. ⁓ right. So you have a mixture of things going on here. You have people that have been in exile that are now returning. You have people that didn't go into exile. There is some tension there. ⁓ there's actually some different theological ⁓ things going on here. Some felt that the people who were in egg exile ⁓ you know, were were more ⁓ pure than the people who r remain behind because many of the people who remain behind intermarried with ⁓ many of the the tribes around there. ⁓ so there's there's lots going on. But one thing that is very important o obviously is the importance of the rebuilding of the temple, the importance of Jerusalem, ⁓ because all of that was a a reminder and a looking forward to the eventual Messiah. ⁓ you ⁓ one thing that we see happen is we've talked about Zerubbabel before. Remember he was ⁓ in exile ⁓ and then ⁓ the Babylonians and then the Persians actually allowed him to be kind of a governor So but Zerubabel was actually of the line of David. And ⁓ and so now it it didn't come to fruition that he became king or anything like that. ⁓ but but that that was a constant thought within the people's mind is is where is that next king going to come from that's from the line of David that will be the Messiah? ⁓ and ⁓ and you you see some elements of that. But that that's why it's important ⁓ when they're talking about all the people that are moving back into Jerusalem. They actually had people that would volunteer. in chapter eleven says, And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem. ⁓ and then they would draw lots for for who was going to actually live ⁓ in in the city. And so chapter eleven then just goes through ⁓ all the different people, the positions, ⁓ things like that where they will be dwelling. ⁓ Chapter twelve talks about the priest and the Levites. This is where ⁓ it talks about the priests and Levites who came up with Zerubabel, ⁓ and ⁓ and their different roles and things like that. And then Nehemiah ⁓ chat ⁓ verse ⁓ chapter twelve, verse ⁓ twenty-seven, ⁓ it says, Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out the Levites and all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate. the dedication with gladness, both with Thanksgiving and singing with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. So y there's a a big festival that is happening, a celebration. And ⁓ and that's where we've decided to insert Psalm one twenty through one thirty four. what you'll see is all of these Psalms, ⁓ again, we don't know exactly the time that these were written. Some of them ⁓ seem to be written ⁓ possibly by David, so obviously that wouldn't be in this time frame. ⁓ but they are all labeled song of ascents. So it appears that these were all within kind of one song book at one time, right? And that they were used for specific things. Well, the ascent, what is that? That is going up. ⁓ and and the temple was on the Temple Mount. And so you would have to ascend to go to the temple. ⁓ so the the celebration here and and all of these psalms are kind of about ⁓ who God is, what he represents, and the connection with the temple. ⁓ and so as they are ascending to dedicate the new temple and the new city and the walls and all that it is, ⁓ it's possible that these were some of the songs that were sung, ⁓ that some of the the ways that they worshiped God and remembered who he was. So again, these are pretty short, so I encourage you really, you know, if you want to skip Nehemiah eleven and twelve, I understand that it's just a bunch of names. ⁓ but Psalm one twenty through one thirty four, ⁓ really, really powerful. So Psalm one twenty says, In my distress I cried to the Lord and he heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given to you or what shall be done to you, you false tongued, sharp arrows of the warrior with coals on the ⁓ on the broom tree. ⁓ and then it d down at the end it says, I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. The the tension and the difficult times that the people are in, ⁓ but in that distress they cried to the Lord, ⁓ and he heard them, he delivered them, ⁓ even even though they're still in a tenuous spot. ⁓ Psalm 121, ⁓ I will lift my eyes to the hills from where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made the heaven and earth. When we need help, where are we looking? Are we looking to the Lord? ⁓ are we looking to him? hopefully so, because that is where our help comes from. ⁓ the end of that ⁓ verse ⁓ seven of chapter one twenty one, ⁓ the Lord shall preserve you from all evil, he shall shall preserve your soul, the Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm one twenty two. ⁓ I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Right. The joy of being able to return to the temple, be able to go into the house of the Lord. ⁓ do you have that joy, that joy of worshiping God, of being in his presence? twenty one, ⁓ unto you I lift up my eyes, O you who dwell in the heavens, behold as the eyes of the servants look to the hands of their masters, the eyes of the maid to the hand of their mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God until he has mercy on us. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud. This is that that you come to the Lord whenever you are struggling, when you are frustrated, when you are overwhelmed. Come to the Lord, ask him to have mercy. Where does the your help come from? Are you looking to the Lord? Psalm one twenty four. ⁓ the ⁓ if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel say now, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us, their waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul, and the swollen waters would have gone over our soul. Right? So recognizing that ⁓ how how God has intervened, how God has worked in your life. Psalm one twenty six. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, our tongue was singing, then they said among the nations, The Lord has done great things for them, the Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad. ⁓ how you know just recognizing ⁓ how God was present during the captivity, how he brought them out of captivity, how he used that situation and he was glorified through it all. ⁓ Psalm ⁓ one twenty seven, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he gives his beloved sleep. I love that it's basically ⁓ just give things over to God. ⁓ how many times do we just consume ourselves with worry and concern and and we We hold on to our burdens, but yet he is the one ⁓ who will build the house. If we try to build it ourselves, we labor in vain. Psalm one thirty one, ⁓ Lord, my heart my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty, neither do I concern myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever. I I love just the the humbleness here, ⁓ just that that simple faith of relying on God, that simple trust ⁓ that we that we put ⁓ in God. ⁓ then you you can continue to to read Psalm one thirty two. ⁓ you know kinda talks about the eternal dwelling with ⁓ with God in in Zion. ⁓ one thirty four is the blessing of of ⁓ it says, Behold how good and how pleasant it is is for brethren to dwell together in unity, right? That that the people are unified again, that they are together. ⁓ one thirty four, behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord, lift up your hands in the sanctuary, bless the Lord, the Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion. ⁓ so all of this is just a ⁓ thanksgiving, a a worship, and kind of as the people are ascending back to the temple and this the city is being revived again. Then the very the end of ⁓ Nehemiah chapter twelve, ⁓ verse thirty-one and and on ⁓ talks about the the Levites, the roles, the the people that are being put at the gates. ⁓ Nehemiah actually kind of The spiritual aspect is very important to him, so he puts together the Thanksgiving choirs and things like that to get them ready to to celebrate and to to give thanks for all that God has done. And ⁓ it said on verse forty three, also that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. The women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. So this is a wonderful time of celebration. All right. So ⁓ hang in there. I know this this can you know, go ahead and read Nehemiah thirteen, but then we're gonna go ahead and take out another large block of Psalms. ⁓ these are psalms of praise, ⁓ again that kind of flow from from praising God for for what he has been doing, how he has been faithful, how the temple is being rebuilt. So let's do Psalm one ⁓ four and one hundred seven. Then a a big chunk one eleven to one eighteen, one thirty five and thirty six, and then one forty five through one fifty. So one hundred four, one hundred seven, one eleven through one eighteen, one thirty five and thirty six, one forty five through one fifty. All right, and then read Nehemiah chapter thirteen. All right, so that's quite a few psalms to to read through, but ⁓ I I think you'll be blessed whenever you do that. ⁓ and we will ⁓ see you again on