Welcome to episode 198 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we walk through Psalm 73.  Today, we will explore the psalmist’s struggle with envying wicked people, focusing on: 

• The principle—The Just God Is Good to the Godly (v. 1) 
• The perception—Injustice Makes Godliness Seem Futile (vv. 2–14) 
• The perspective—The Just God Judges Wicked People (vv. 15–26) 
• The practice—Faith in the Just God Gives Stability in the Face of Injustice (vv. 27–28) 

Key takeaways: 

• The traditional view that God’s goodness is experienced in terms of prosperity, ease, and good health, and these belong truly to the “pure in heart” who maintain proper ritual observance and ethical behavior. 
• The problem is that the psalmist has not experienced the expected fruit or consequences of maintaining purity of heart. Instead, the wicked seem to have it now and have it all. 
• Those who reject God's ways appear to be rewarded rather than judged. 
• The real heart of the matter—the righteous person feeling that it has been to no end to keep his heart pure. 
• The truth is, both good and bad happen to everyone, but to the “pure heart” it seems that the wicked never experience the ailments the righteous suffer! 
• Sometimes godliness appears futile when measured by worldly standards 
• The ephemeral nature of the wicked's prosperity lacks permanence and substance when viewed from God's perspective. 
• Even if the wicked possess everything earth offers, they have nothing compared to the treasure of knowing God. 
• The goodness of God is not defined by the peace the wicked enjoy, nor is it denied by the affliction suffered by the pure in heart. 

Quotable: 

• Am I serving God for His benefits or for Himself? 

Application: 

• Identify your prosperity triggers.  What specific situations most challenge your faith when you observe apparent injustice? 
• Examine Prosperity Gospel Influences: Asaph's crisis partly stemmed from an assumed connection between righteousness and reward. Examine where prosperity gospel thinking might infiltrate your theology—the belief that faithfulness should always lead to visible blessing. 
• Our assessment of reality changes not when circumstances change but when we see them from God's viewpoint. 
• Nearness to God itself is good —not what God gives, but relationship with God Himself. 

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Welcome to episode 197 of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Psalms, covering chapter 21, a Royal Psalm. Today, we will cover:

- The victory of king David.

- The characteristics of the true king!

- The victory of king Jesus!

- What his victory has done for me!

Key takeaways

● The Lord who crowns with all strength and glory is worthy of all Glory.

● Because of His covenant, He has established us. And we are part of that covenant because we have trusted in the Lord.

Quotable:

● “What it means to me…. Is not that I am the king…. But because of the king of kings and Lord of Lords I can walk in His victory.”

● “It’s like the first ever post game press conference, where David gives credit to God!”

Application:

● As a believer in life’s successes you can have your post game interview and give credit to God, just like Kelvin Sampson, King David, and Jesus.

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Welcome to episode 196 of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Psalms, covering chapter 49, a Psalm of Wisdom. Today, we will cover:

- The wisdom shared in this psalm is universal, proverbial, and problematic.

- The wisdom shared demonstrates that humanity has a problem, they have been ransomed by God for a price they can’t pay.

- The wisdom shared shows the negative, meaning it is folly to be confident in mans ability to save themselves.

- True wisdom is faithful confidence in the Lord, who paid our ransom.

Key takeaways:

· The Main Point of this Psalm is to show “The Fatal Folly of Foolish Confidence.”

· Christ followers can walk in the “Firm Foundation of Faithful Confidence.”

Quotable:

· “Why would the psalmist phrase it as ransom if no one can pay it?”

· “The only one holding us ransom can also pay our ransom”

· “The only one who can pay an eternal punishment is the one who is eternal.”

· “The only one who can make us right is the one who is right.”

Application:

· You can only walk in Faithful confidence if you have faithful confidence.

· Because of Christ:

o We can now be confident in our righteousness.

o We can now confidently enter Holy places.

· Now we can walk in “Blessed Assurance.”

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Welcome to episode 195 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we walk through Psalm 66.  Today, we will explore the psalmist’s journey from trials to triumph, focusing on: 

• God’s Preeminence (vv. 1-2) 
• God’s Power (vv. 3-7) 
• God’s Protection (vv. 8-9) 
• God’s Purging (vv. 10-12) 
• The Psalmist’s Ritual Sacrifices (vv. 13-15) 
• The Psalmist’s Personal Sacrifices (vv. 16-20) 

Key takeaways: 

• All peoples of the earth, whether willingly or unwillingly, will “bow down” before the Lord, singing praise to His holy name. 
• Although people ought to praise God and be thankful, they actually do not do it. 
• The world should “shout with joy to God” and “sing to the glory of his name.” But it usually does not, simply because it is not aware of the many blessings for which it should be thankful. 
• The objective of God’s testing is to reveal and to develop the character He wants. 
• Unlike most of us, who make promises easily and then just as easily forget them, the psalmist intends to carry his religious resolutions and devotions through to the end. 
• The first benefit of prayer is simply that God hears. We have a vital relationship with Him as we pray, regardless of His answer. 

Quotable: 

• Having the Lord as one’s God is to expect discipline and correction, testing and refining. Can we praise God for that? 

Application: 

• Evangelism Application: Remember that every person already belongs to God, whether they acknowledge it or not—we're inviting them to recognize reality, not just join our religion. 
• Understand the Purpose Behind Testing 
• Testing Can Develop Our Character: Recognize trials as opportunities to demonstrate and develop faith. 
• It Can Refine Us: Embrace difficult seasons as God's refining process, removing impurities from your life. 
• Practice Costly Worship 
• Identify what "fat animals" might represent in your life—your best time, talent, and treasure 
• Evaluate whether your giving to God represents your "first fruits" or merely what's convenient 
• Practice Heart Examination Before Prayer 
• Self-Reflection: Develop the discipline of examining your heart for cherished sin before major prayer requests 
• Repentance: Confess and release known sin as preparation for effective prayer 
• Integrity: Align your private behavior with your public prayers to avoid hypocrisy 

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Welcome to episode 194 of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Psalms, covering chapter 32, a Psalm of Thanksgiving. Today, we will cover:

- The connection between sin and shame.

- The lies we tell ourselves, others, and God.

- The forgiveness of God.

Key takeaways:

We thank God for His Forgiveness!

· His Forgiveness Breaks the Shackles of Sin and Shame on my Spirit

· His Forgiveness is Accessible

· His Forgiveness Changes my view of things

· His forgiveness includes provisions and a guidebook for dummies

· His Forgiveness Covered what was previously covered when I finally uncovered

Quotable:

· “He is available to us! He is Easily Found!

· “I am not a grace Graduate!!”

· “Admit it we are all still a bit of a mess; that's why we need God's grace today as much as we needed it the first day we believed.”

Application:

And because I know I’ve been forgiven it changes my view of things!

· Instead of running from him …. I pray to him.

· Instead of lying about my sin…. I tell the truth about my sin.

· Instead of hiding from him …. He is my hiding place.

· Instead of cowering from him …. He is my protector.

· Instead of feeling the shame of sin ….. I am surrounded by shouts of deliverance.

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Welcome to episode 193 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we walk through Psalm 74.  Today, we will explore the psalmist’s reaction to God’s seeming disengagement: 

• The invocation (v. 1) 
• The complaint (vv. 2-11) 
• A confession of trust (vv. 12-17) 
• A final urgent plea (vv. 18-23) 

Key takeaways: 

• The question put to God in prayer is “Why are you so angry with us? Is it total anger that is going to last forever?” 
• Not only CAN God do all things; He has. He ordains and accomplishes whatever comes to pass. 
• As creator and king, the Lord is fully able to handle any challenge that confronts His people individually or corporately, so they must exercise faith by turning to Him in their predicaments and resting their case in His hands. 

Quotable: 

• By remembering the past, we can find faith for our present needs. 

Application: 

• It is a desperate thing to be without any word from God.  Fortunately, this cannot be said of us in our day.   No, our problem is not an absence of God’s Word or God’s teachers.  
• Our problem is that we do not value this Word.  
• We do not cherish it and study it.  
• We do not memorize its important passages.  
• Instead, we allow countless lesser things (like television) to take the Bible’s place. 
• Believers know that God is in charge and that God is good. So we inevitably return to those convictions, even amid great calamity, anchoring our hopes in God. 
• The Lord, in His goodness, does not spoil His obstinate people, but rather, in justice, He disciplines them when their actions and attitudes warrant it. 

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Welcome to episode 192 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we walk through Psalm 44.  Today, we will explore the psalmist’s reaction to a national tragedy: 

• God’s Deeds in Time Past (vv. 1-8) 
• The Present Distress (vv. 9-16) 
• A Faithful and Loyal People (vv. 17-22) 
• A Plea for Help (vv. 23-26) 

Key takeaways: 

• There is no mistaking Psalm 44 as a national lament. It surely is the response of a greatly troubled soul to an overwhelming national tragedy. 
• If king and people had been faithful to the covenant stipulations, then why was God not faithful to His covenant commitment to provide defense and deliverance? The root problem, in other words, is precisely the problem of the Book of Job, namely the problem of God.  The people have been loyal to God, and yet they suffer! 
• It was the essence of the Hebrew faith that the past could always be appropriated for the present. 
• The reason for and the purpose of suffering for the people of God find no resolution in this psalm. 
• Every child of God has likely been perplexed at times by the fact that the people of God may be called upon to undergo suffering for which there is no apparent explanation.   

Quotable: 

• Faith makes suffering bearable. 

Application: 

• Psalm 44, with its concluding prayer, points in the same direction as the Book of Job, namely that there is an immense mystery in God and His ways, but one must continue to trust and to pray. 
• Create a record of God’s faithfulness to you through good times and bad times and share it with others, especially your children. 
• What do we do when we have been walking faithfully with God, and yet He still allows bad things to happen to us? 
• Sometimes we suffer BECAUSE we follow Jesus, not in spite of it. At those times, it would be easier just to go along with the world. 
• Since the experience of Jesus on Calvary, we know that suffering, far from being a negation of God’s love, may be the deepest expression thereof.  Jesus suffered immensely for us...so much so that it almost beyond comprehension. 

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Welcome to episode 191of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Psalms, covering chapter 30, a Psalm of Thanksgiving. Today, we will cover:

- A congregational psalm for the dedication of the temple.

- The difference between adoration and confession.

- How easy it is to go from confidence in the Lord to self-confidence.

- That we are all in desperate need of God’s grace.

Key takeaways:

· God’s anger lasts a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime.

Quotable:

· “David’s death and Israels demise would not earn God praise, but Jesus earns God praise from the Grave.”

· “I exist so that you are PRAISED! ALL to the praise of your Glory!!”

· “David wrote this Psalm for the dedication of God’s temple! He just didn’t know his temple would one day be you and me!”

Application:

No matter where we remember that we praise God because

- His anger lasts a moment but his favor lasts a lifetime

- And his favor far more than we deserve!

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Welcome to episode 190 of Grasp the Bible. In this episode, we continue our study in the Book of Psalms, covering chapter 7, a psalm of praise. Today, we will cover:

- How our God is deserving of our praise because he is a righteous judge.

Key takeaways:

· Jesus is the truly innocent one.

· Jesus is the judge of the peoples.

· Jesus crushed the crown of satan.

Quotable:

· “If you are in Jesus we can make the same claim as David.”

· “In a way Jesus did the opposite of what David prayed for. David asks to be saved from his enemies because of his own innocence, but Jesus leverages his innocence to save his enemies.”

Application:

· Since we are innocent before God we can ask him to act against wickedness.

· We can worship God

o Because of His goodness in judging the wicked as Guilty, while judging us as innocent because of Jesus.

·

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Welcome to episode 189 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we walk through Psalm 92.  Today, we will explore some reasons to praise God: 

• A Resolution to Praise the Lord (vv. 1-4) 
• The Lord’s Great Works and Judgment on His Enemies (vv. 5-9) 
• God’s Provision for the Psalmist (vv. 10-11) 
• The Fruitfulness of the Righteous (vv. 12-15) 

Key takeaways: 

• Psalm 92 contrasts the Lord’s punishment of the wicked with His blessing on the righteous. 
• The psalmist made God his refuge and the experience was so great he could not keep from singing, nor from praising the Lord. 
• The God of the psalmist is an active God who intervenes on behalf of His worshipers. 
• Foolish people are blind because they choose not to see. The reason they do not know and will not praise God is that they do not want to know or praise Him. They actually hate Him because He is God, and they are not.  
• In the midst of wickedness, God comes as judge of the wicked and savior of the righteous.  
• There is no “injustice” in God. Surely, such a God is worthy of our praise. 

Quotable: 

• God will have the last word, and justice will be done. 

Application: 

• Our enjoyment of God is expressed in our praise of God, and when we praise God, we do indeed enjoy Him. 
• Belief in divine judgment and in the righteous imperative is an acknowledgment that divinely established boundaries of human conduct do exist. 
• Do we recognize God as the giver of the temporal benefits we enjoy? Or do we just take them for granted? Worse yet, do we boast of our accomplishments, our hard work, our victories (while blaming others, maybe God Himself, for our failures and defeats)? 
• The righteous have a fruitful future to anticipate and enjoy because, even in old age, they will continue to flourish. They do not just retire, but they continue to be productive in life. In fact, for the righteous person, old age can be the time when the long-term returns on the investment of a godly life are enjoyed.  

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