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Summary

We'll go to Matthew chapter 18, Matthew chapter 18, looking at verse 10, and actually this is we're going to back up, we're going to just go, we're going to start at the beginning of 18 where it says, it says, at that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So, we're going to, we're going to actually, before we look at the Doxology, we're going to back up just a little bit and look at that promise in beginning in verse 49, where he says, Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David. If you go to Revelation the first chapter, so it's the last book in the Bible, Revelation first chapter where where Jesus is revealing this to John, we'll look at we'll look at first verse 8 where Jesus tells John, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty, then let's jump down to 17. Let's go keep your hand here let's go to the very last book in scripture revelation revelation the last chapter of the last book revelation 21 verses one through five this is just amazing revelation 21 1 through 5 then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more and I saw coming and I saw the holy city the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying see the whole of God is among mortals he will dwell with them as their God they will be his peoples and God himself will be with them he will wipe every tear from their eyes death will be no more morning and crying and pain will be no more for the first things have passed away and the one who was seated on the throne said see I am making all things new the Lord God our shepherd will dwell with us amongst us absolutely no barriers for all eternity we can't even imagine how amazing and glorious that will be but we're promised that that is our eternal future and we are promised that what is to come is already now we don't have a future shepherd we are not future sheep we are sheep now and today and the Lord richly bless now and today even when we go through a valley we're walked through with the shepherd when we have our highest height highest height the Lord is there when we have our lowest lows the Lord is there because the Lord is with us always go to Psalm 23 again we're going to take a breath and we're going to read this together one more time thinking of who our shepherd is and who he is to us for us for his lives say let's read the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside still waters he restores my soul he leads me in right paths for his name's sake even though I walk through the darkest valley I fear no evil for you are with me you're raw and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you annoying my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long Amen you Heavenly Lord, we thank you so much for your word. So so when you are when you open your Bible to the middle and you find yourself at the book of Psalms that is not only at the center of the Bible, but it's also in the center of the books of wisdom books of wisdom in scripture include Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon so that middle section of your scripture prior to the prophet and after the Pentateuch and history that is where we find these books of what wisdom wisdom is living life the way that God intended in the books of wisdom we receive a bounty of living a righteous life we find righteousness written about talked about a lot in the books of wisdom we also see God in the books of wisdom we see God that he is holy he is righteous wise he is the just creator all of these themes are found within the books of wisdom it's interesting because you'll will hear in the in throughout the ages in the secular world and even within the Christian world some of you'll hear these comparisons made between the Israelites and Christians and those around them and and saying there are all these overlaps that you know well well the Christians have a story of creation but so does this culture and so does this culture and and really it's just a story and and it's just a way to try to explain things every culture has a creation story and so it's it's leading into this comparison comparison where where we compare the Bible as one of many ways to know God or one of many ways to show us how to live righteously but that that is in error it is an error to say that the Bible is just one more story in how we can live or how we can speak to be good people some overlap there is some overlap in wise sayings in the books of wisdom there might be some some some overlap between the books of wisdom and other cultures of the ancient near east but there's a major clarification that has to keep forefront for us in our minds and that wisdom wisdom is based on God's created order wisdom is based on God's created order all wisdom all truth belongs to God and he has given this to his people also biblical wisdom is different than all the other cultures and religions because it emphasizes one God it emphasizes one God God who is the source of all knowledge God who is the source of all understanding all that is right and wrong is according to God's wisdom and perfection whether we want to make comparisons or not we know that the source of all truth the source of all that is true is God and so everything everything we know everything we learn everything we do everything we say is is in accordance with the wisdom of God it's according to his wisdom according to his perfection and our right our righteousness our rightness is fulfilled in Christ for us wisdom books are filled with poetry and prose but don't let this stop you from loving the Psalms don't let this stop you from loving the books of wisdom and don't let it stop you or intimidate you from turning to the Psalms I know so oftentimes with the book of Psalms it is either oh I love the Psalms or oh my gosh I'm trying to get through the Psalms because it's it's very high high nature with with the writing it's very very high uh verbiage and and so it's we get lost or we can get lost um I personally am not one that sits down often with a book of poetry but Psalms are different the Psalms are different and so even if you do not uh excuse me even if you do not love poetry you can still love the book of Psalms and the books of wisdom um uh uh do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do so Okay, so this is so cool. I also know that there are times in my life when it is absolutely appropriate to to go to the book of Esther and it really speaks and then there are other times in my life when I would I would not understand what I'm supposed to get what I'm supposed to be led in from the book of Esther right does that make sense but in the book of Psalms as we turn to the Psalms maybe it's Psalm 23 that I need in this very moment maybe it's the first Psalm maybe it's the last Psalm maybe it's Psalm 119 speaking of God's word maybe it's Psalm 51 and I will full confession here Psalm 51 I go to a lot a lot but it's I think that one and this is a biased opinion that one just gets right to the heart of man and to the heart of God love Psalm 51 So I'm going to stop talking about it right now because I can't stop I love it So Luther also calls the Psalter the spirits summary of the whole Bible he says the Psalter should be precious to us if only because it most clearly promises the death and resurrection of Christ and describes his kingdom and the nature and standing of all Christian people it could well be entitled a little Bible since everything contained in the entire Bible is beautifully and briefly comprehended and compacted into a manual it seems to me as if the Holy Ghost had been pleased to take on himself the trouble of putting together a short Bible touching the whole of Christianity in order that they who are unable to read the whole Bible may never the last never the last find almost the whole sum comprehended in one little book the Psalter is the very heragon of books don't be scared of the book of Psalm we are going to have a great time going through this I hope and I pray that our study will open the book of Psalms for each of us for every single one of us and and that we will be able to weave it into our life of prayer into our prayer life because it is God's own word given to us that we get to recite to pray right back to him and we don't have to worry if we're eloquent when we pray we don't have to worry if we're getting exactly what we're trying to portray because we are praying God's own words to him and that's a beautiful thing that is a beautiful thing Gracious Heavenly Father, with thankfulness in our hearts, we come to your house.

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