Hey, Bible readers. I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. We covered seven Psalms today. One of my favorite parts about Psalm 43 is how David preaches the gospel to himself. He's struggling and he feels far from God, but he speaks reminders of the truth to his own soul in verse five. Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. David tells his heart and mind what to do. This is exactly the thing Moses told the Israelites to do in tough times, to remember who God is and what he has done. David is putting Moses' words into practice hundreds of years later. In Psalm 44, we see that David is even relying on the things God has done for his ancestors, not just himself personally, as a source of praise. He remembers that God is the one who grants victory, not a man's strong arm or sword or bow, especially since sometimes Israel didn't even take weapons to war at all. Remember back when Moses warned the Israelites against three kinds of sinful thinking?

One was fearful thought and two were prideful thoughts. In Deuteronomy 8, Moses addressed the second prideful thought by saying, Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers as it is this day. Again, David is doing exactly what Moses encouraged them to do. He's walking in humility, and it leads him to praise God. But right now, David is confused because God doesn't seem to be currently granting the victory he did in the past. From David's vantage point, it seems like God has not kept up his end of the covenant. So David's taking that concern to God himself. He has no idea what sin might be prompting God's silence on their behalf, and he asked God to come to their rescue. We don't get any indication if David's claim is right or wrong, whether there's sin to be repented of among the people or not. But the fact that this is written to be a corporate song is an interesting thing, because then when the people are singing it, it might prompt some individual reflection, which in turn might prompt some repentance from any unconfessed sins among the people.

By the way, the reason we know this song was to be sung corporately is because it has that little phrase at the top that says, To the choir master. Personal songs usually say something like, Of David or of Asaph. If you want more info on all this, we'll link to a short article in the show notes. And if you haven't been reading those little lines at the top, check them out. It's really interesting to read a Psalm in light of its intended voice and audience. For instance, Psalm 45 was written for a wedding, the King's Wedding, to be precise. This one wasn't written by David, but it's probably about David, or at least about one of his descendants. Even in the context of a wedding, the song still opens with praise of God. Unlike Psalm 45, which is for two specific people, Psalm 49 is addressed to everyone, all the peoples of the Earth. The Psalmist has one message for everyone, rich and poor, low and high, wise and foolish. And the message is this, You're going to die. It's basically a call to remember what matters in life because that will drive out fear.

In verse 5, he says, Why should I fear in times of trouble? He points out that God has ran someed his soul. So in the face of worldly oppression or even death, death. He can rejoice. And while Psalm 49 ends by focusing on death, Psalm 84 brings things back to focus on life, specifically the life of God's servant. The Psalmist says he never feels more at home than in God's house. When he's away from it, he feels weak. But when he's there, he feels alive. Verses 5 through 7 talk about strength. Verse 5 says, blessed are those whose strength is in you. And verse 7 continues, they go from strength to strength. There's a hint here that the overall context of verses 5 through 7 indicates something along the lines of, they go from you to you. I love that. It's like there's no other place to go but to the Lord. He's our home and he's our strength. The Psalmist values neerness to God above everything else, and he's even willing to serve in humble positions just to draw near to God. Psalm 85 is a corporate lament. It points to God's past faithfulness and asks him to bless Israel again.

One of the standout features of this Psalm is how much it calls on the character of God and the name of God. When God told Moses his name back in Exodus 34, A lot of the words he used to describe himself are the same words sprinkled throughout this poem. He forgives iniquity and sin, like in verse 2. He shows steadfast love and faithfulness, like in verses 7 and 10. He doesn't clear the guilty, like in verses 4 and 5. And the ending has some really beautiful imagery. Israel promises to let their faithfulness rise up from the ground and trust that God's righteousness will look down from the sky, and those two things will meet each other in a holy kiss. And we ended with the weird and wonderful Psalm 87, which is where my Godshot showed up today. It's easy to read this Psalm and miss what it's hinting at. This Psalm isn't just praising Zion or Jerusalem. It's obvious that God loves Jerusalem for sure, but it's pointing out something else about God here as well. The people it lists are all Gentiles. There's Rahab, which either refers to the Canaanite prostitute or more likely is a nickname for Egypt.

Then there's Babylon, a wicked city, Philistia, their enemy, Tyra, another wicked city. And it celebrates that those people are all welcomed in Zion. The Psalm points out Israel's unique relationship to God, but shows that he invites other nations to make a home among his people. And it closes with a celebration of singing and dancing in honor of the God who provides for his people and invites outsiders to be his people. I'm so grateful he adopts it's outsiders, not just insiders, because I'm a Gentile. But hey, all my springs are in him, too, you guys, because he's where the joy is.

If you've ever not wanted to read the Bible, raise your hand. Unless you're driving right now, hands on the wheel. But if that's relatable, you might like this month's bonus content for Recaptains. It's a bonus episode called What to Do When You Don't Want to Read the Bible. It's available to the Recaptains at the bonus content tier or higher. Recaptants Recaptions are God's way of keeping the lights on at TBR. The people like you who financially support TBR so we can help more people read, understand, and love God and his word. You can join the Recaptains at a variety of support levels, and you can adjust or cancel your membership at any time. Become a reCaptain today, or if you joined at a lower tier and you want this perk, just log in to your account and adjust your membership accordingly. Check out today's show notes for the link. He's where the joy is has become the true catchphrase of the Bible Recap family. You guys know it and love it.

And if you're curious to know where this phrase comes from and how my life has changed because of it, click the link in the show notes to hear a recent interview I did on WayFms Middays with Joy.