03 23. BIBLICAL EPIC for Week of June 10 PSALM (#3) OT-History OT-PROPHETS NT-PAUL Psa 88:1-9 1 Sam 17-18 Ezek 41-42 Eph 5 rown Psalm 88:1-9: O LORD, day and night I cry out to you. You have put me in the darkest depths. I am shut in. • 88:1-9. I Cry Out Day and Night Before You. This psalm is an individual lament and is the darkest psalm in the Psalter. Most laments let in a ray of sunshine, usually closing on a confident note; Psalm 88 is distinct from all the rest in that there is no explicit statement of confidence. Its presence in the Psalter shows that a believer can feel depressed and even have nothing good to say to God at the moment. It thus exemplifies a believer’s proper response in the depths of despair, when sometimes all one can do is pour out one’s heart to God and simply wait. The psalmist opens with an anguished cry of distress (vv. 1-2) and then recites his troubles, permeated with images of death (vv. 3-9). This section focuses more on the feelings than on the external circumstances. These despairing feelings, however, do not necessarily correspond to reality. Indeed, anyone genuinely singing this to the LORD, however miserable he may feel, can be assured that he is still expressing true faith. And yet these despairing feelings produce genuine pain, whether or not they correspond to reality. There is implicit faith present, however, for not only is the appeal being made to God “day and night” (v. 1), but the troubles themselves are in God’s hands (vv. 6-7). rown 1 Samuel 17: A Philistine champion named Goliath challenged the Israelites. David killed Goliath with a sling and a stone. The Philistines fled. • 17:1-58. David and Goliath. This chapter contains perhaps the most widely known story in all the Bible. Often it is relegated to simply a children’s story, but this story has far-reaching implications as we consider the story of God’s Kingdom. David is much more than an unlikely hero who happens to overcome a bully in his life. David is pointing us to what God’s anointed King will do to usher in God’s Kingdom. The setting for the story is that two armies are faced off against one another in a stalemate. The Philistines are camped out on the top of one hill, and the Israelites are camped out on an adjacent hill, and there is a valley between them. The scene is a perfect place for “representative fighting,” in which each army would pick a champion to fight on their behalf. Each army would win or lose depending on the success or failure of their champion. Of course, the Philistine champion is a man named Goliath, who stands nine feet, nine inches tall, and ever bit a most formidable foe. Everyone in Israel, including the king, is full of fear. Saul shows himself again to be a failure as God’s king in his refusal to face down Goliath. This is not what God’s anointed king looks like. But then young David arrives on the scene, on a seemingly innocent errand to bring bread and cheese to his brothers. When he hears the insults that Goliath is hurling at the people of God, he is incensed. He can’t imagine why this pagan bully is getting away with insulting the God of Israel. So David goes to Saul and convinces him to let him face down Goliath. Without any other volunteers, Saul sends David out to face Goliath. Because David was still a youth, he couldn’t wear the soldier’s armor that Saul tried to dress him in, and so David walks out to the giant without armor or a sword, armed only with a staff, a slingshot and five stones. With his first stone, David slays the mighty giant. Often when we read this story, our big take away is that just as David overcame the “giant” in his life, we can overcome the “giants” in our life too with God on our side. Now, at one level, that is gloriously true. But this story is showing us something even more gloriously true. The character we should most identify with in this story is not David. We are much more like the army of Israel, sitting on the sidelines, quaking in their boots before an enemy much greater than we are. And like Israel, we need a champion who will fight for us. And this is exactly what God has provided for us. Just as He raised up a king for Israel in David to slay the giant, God has raised up a King for us to slay an even greater enemy – Satan, sin and death. Against such enemies, we are powerless. But Jesus gained the victory. And like David, Jesus faced off this enemy in seeming weakness and humility. But because He entrusted Himself into the hands of God, He won a decisive victory over our enemies. And because He has won the victory, we get to share in that victory. Like the army of Israel, the triumph of our champion is a triumph for us. His victory over the enemy is our victory over the enemy. Notice that the army of Israel continues the fighting, chasing down an enemy on the run. But they are assured of victory because the decisive blow has already been made. In the same way, we still fight the enemy. We are still in a war against sin. But the decisive blow has already been made at the cross. We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory. Jesus has won the victory. This is the glorious news of what the story of David and Goliath is pointing us to. 1 Samuel 18: Jonathan loved David. Saul set David over the army but became jealous and tried to kill him. David married Saul's daughter Michal. • 18:1-9. David’s Success. At first everyone loves David. Saul takes him into his service; all of Saul’s officials (his potential rivals) love him; even members of Saul’s own family love him. Jonathan, who had relied on the Lord in his own victory at Michmash, has an especially close relationship with David, despite realizing at some point that David will supplant him as king. But as David’s success increases, Saul’s jealousy also increases. • 18:10-19. Saul Attempts to Kill David. Saul’s suspicion results in attempted murder. A “harmful spirit from God” rushes upon Saul so that he acts with abnormal behavior. As David tries to soothe Saul, the king tries to pin David to the wall with his spear. But the LORD is with David and protects him. David’s great military success breeds two responses: Saul “was afraid of him” (v. 15), but “all Israel and Judah loved David” (v. 16). Saul begins to plot David’s demise. He encourages David to fight for Israel, but he hopes to place him in great peril leading to death. • 18:20-30. David’s Marriage to Michal. After failing to give his oldest daughter to David for a wife, Saul offers his youngest. Saul appears magnanimous as he offers David a way to secure Michal as his bride through a heroic deed, but it is a trap. Saul hopes that David will die in his attempt to acquire 100 Philistine foreskins. But David and his men secured twice the payment required –further evidence of the LORD’s presence with David. As David’s stock ascends, Saul’s fear rises to an unprecedented level. From here on, Saul views David as “his enemy” (v. 29). ccusation Ezekiel 41: He measured the nave and the inner room. The side chambers were in three stories. In front of the Holy Place was an altar of wood. • 41:1-26. The Inner Temple. The temple structure is now described in detail, including both floor plan and elevations. The nave (v. 1) is the main hall of the temple (and is the same size as in Solomon’s temple). Ezekiel is guided into its interior but does not follow his celestial guide into the Most Holy Place (v. 4). Access remains carefully guarded and restricted. Verses 5-11 describe the three-story structure built into the temple’s walls. A building is located to the extreme west of the temple complex (v. 12), but no purpose is identified for it. The previous measurements are summarized in vv. 13-15a, while visual descriptions of the temple’s decorations and layout are described in vv. 15b- 26. The cherubim, carved on the walls in relief (vv. 18–20), are reminiscent of the cherubim woven into the fabric walls of the tabernacle (Exod 26:1, 31). The cherubim and palm trees are combined in the decoration of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:29, 32). Both images also evoke memories of God’s original dwelling place in the Garden of Eden. Ezekiel 42: He led me to the outer court. The north and south chambers are where the priests eat the offerings. He measured all the temple area. • 42:1-20. The Temple’s Chambers. Ezekiel is now led back to the outer court where various chambers of the temple area are identified. The functions of these rooms are for the use of the priests to prepare for the exercise of their duties (vv. 13-14). Finally, Ezekiel and his guide return to the place where they began, the main east gate to the temple complex (v.