07 Psalm 143, the Seven Pentitential Psalms Apr 2
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07_PSALM 143, THE SEVEN PENTITENTIAL PSALMS APR 2, 2021 If you like having Bible study in your pocket and you have an iPhone or iPad why not leave a review? Search Bible study Evangelista in iTunes and tell everyone how you’re loving and lifting all you’ve been given. Here’s Sonja. If you like having bible study in your pocket and you have an iPhone or iPad. Why not leave a review? Search bible study Evangelista in tunes and tell everyone your how you're loving and lifting all you've been given, here's Sonja. Let's get social connect with me at Bible Study Evangelista on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. And now you can also find me on the number one Catholic app for iPhone and android; Laudate. Let's connect. And now, let's get some bible study in your pocket. 00:41 Psalm 143 is the last of our penitential Psalms or it could be 142, depending on your translation. It is a Psalm of David and it is for anyone who comes from a dysfunctional family, lives in a dysfunctional family, or created a dysfunctional family, and so that would really be all of us. And we are going to look at this dysfunction in light of the last psalm that we looked at which was Psalm 130 in which we talked about purgatory. And we talked about purgatory in the context of the suffering that we endure here on earth. We looked at temporal and eternal consequences for sin. And so this particular psalm we are going to look at some of those earthly consequences. What happens when we sin, what can happen. 1:38 This as I said is a Psalm of David and it is thought to have been written when David was pursued by his son Absalom. Absalom was the third of David's sons and his name actually means father of peace which is ironic because Absalom ended up being the instrument of strife throughout the rest of David's life, part of it. In 2nd Samuel we see he's described as the most handsome man in the whole Kingdom which is interesting because David was said to have been so very handsome as well. If you have children who have betrayed you or hurt you, or created strife in your family, then you're really going to relate to this particular psalm in this show. 2:29 So, Absalom he rebelled against his father and he was killed during the Battle of Ephraim’s wood. And so, I want to give you some background on this psalm because you'll understand what is coming out of David's depths in this Psalm once you understand the story. So Absalom he at an early age he moved with the transfer of the capital to Jerusalem and that's where he spent most of his life. He was the favorite of David his father and also of the people. He was handsome and it is said by the Hebrew dictionary or I'm sorry the Jewish encyclopedia that he had a love of pomp and he loved the royal pretensions and he captivated the heart of the people from the very beginning. So he lived in great style and he drove around in a chariot and he had 50 men that ran before him. 3:27 Now David had a whole lot of concubines and so not sure exactly whose mothers all of these children were. But Absalom had a sister named Tamar and she was raped by their half-brother Amnon who was David's eldest son. And after that rape Absalom waited two years and then he avenged Tamar his sister by sending his servants to murder Amnon who was drunk at a feast. And Absalom had invited all of David's Sons to this feast. And after the murder of Amnon Absalom fled to the area where his maternal 07_Psalm 143 The Seven Penitential Psalms 1 | P a g e grandfather lived. And it wasn't until three years after that that he was finally reinstated in David's favor and came back to Jerusalem to the Royal Court. 4:16 While he was at Jerusalem he sort of gathered a posse together and support for himself by talking to those who came to David for justice saying, “See your claims are good and they're right, but there's no deputed by the king to hear you.” And so maybe he was showing, or pointing out the flaws in the judicial system under David but he would say stuff like, “If only I were the judge of the land, then everyone who had a suit would come to me and I would give them justice.” 4:49 So, he sort of garnered the support of the people by both pointing out flaws in David's Kingdom, pointing out flaws in David himself and sort of puffing himself up before the people of the kingdom, and the people loved him. After about four years of that he declared himself King and he raised a revolt in the former capital and then he took his father David's concubines and slept with them. Now in that day to do something like that was to publicly, first of all, humiliate the king who was his father and secondly to publicly declare his usurpation of the throne. So he was claiming the throne for himself and he did that both in word but then also in this deed. 5:40 And so, he mounted a rebellion a military rebellion and David took refuge from Absalom’s forces beyond the Jordan. And David sent spies into the kingdom to kind of know and figure out what was going on and one of those spies advised Absalom in ways that would, that were contrary to what would actually help him. So he was actually working for David. And that gave David a time to prepare his own troops for the coming battle. He knew that there would be a battle over his throne. 6:19 Now this was important because God had told David that his throne would endure forever. And he had promised David special protection of his throne. Sometimes it's called a house. In fact in the Covenant that God made with David he told him that his house would endure forever and that is a euphemism, or metaphor for the dynasty. David's Dynasty would continue. So David would have known that whatever Absalom was getting up to that it would eventually would not come to fruition and he would not succeed. But David himself had to fight against his son who had claimed himself King, slept with his concubines and mounted an army to defeat him and to take over his throne. 7:07 And so, there was this huge battle in the wood of Ephraim and that's, we think that's probably west of the Jordan. And in that battle Absalom’s Army was completely defeated. And Absalom fled from David and his army and as he was riding his donkey he rode the donkey underneath a tree, and Absalom had this beautiful hair. It was long and flowing and probably curly as I would know because as he was riding under the tree the tree limbs caught his hair and pulled him off the donkey and he was left dangling from the tree. And he was still hanging there when one of David's men avenged a slight, or an offense, that Absalom had inflicted on him. 8:01 This Commander killed him while he was hanging from the tree by his hair with three arrows through the heart. And what happened previously was that Absalom had set this commander Joab's field on fire and then he put another Captain ahead of Joab. And so Joab was avenging that offense by murdering Absalom. And that went exactly against what David had commanded them. He told them, “You beware that none touch the young man Absalom.” 07_Psalm 143 The Seven Penitential Psalms 2 | P a g e 8:39 So, when David heard that Absalom had been killed, he was terribly, he was in terrible grief. He says, “Oh my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom would God I had died for thee O Absalom my son, my son!” And that's in 2nd Samuel 18. So, David withdrew in mourning until Joab went to him in what was called the extravagance of his grief and he basically said, “Look suck it up and fulfill your duty to the people.” You can read all of that in 2nd Samuel 18 and 19. But at that point then David's son Absalom was dead. 9:23 Now we have to back up actually even further to really understand the significance of what had happened because it was David's third son and now Amnon had been murdered by Absalom and Amnon had raped one of David's daughters Tamar and so you can see all of this crazy mess in this family. So where in the world did all of this strife come from and David's house? Well it's interesting that you would ask because the answer is in 2nd Samuel chapter 12. After David sinned with Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet went to him to confront him and he tells in the little parable of the rich man and the poor man and the Poor Man's lamb. And he says to David, “You are the man” and David confesses, and he admits all of his sin.