Job 40:1-2a

The LORD said to Job: "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?

In other words, "Job, are you going to tell me how to run things?" That’s basically what He’s saying.

Job 40:2b-8

Let him who accuses God answer him!" Then Job answered the LORD: "I am unworthy--how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer-- twice, but I will say no more." Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm: "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

Whoa! This applies to today—if you really think about yourself. I’ve been there and done that. "Would you condemn me to justify yourself?" How many times do we get to the point where with whatever we’re going through or with whatever’s happening, we want to say, "Well, I’m justified and God’s not." There’s something—God has messed up, God has not taken care of this, God is not in control, etc. We tend to reflect it all on God and we never look at ourselves.

What Job learned through what’s going on here is that he had to examine himself. It’s centered on himself. God is in control. He is sovereign.

Skip over to chapter 42. God continues to talk to Job.

Job 42:1-3

Then Job replied to the LORD: "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. [You asked,] `Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

That’s a wonderful response that Job made to God that I would like to have in my life. I’ve been there and done that and I’ll probably get to it again. I need to stop and say, "Who do I think I am? And who is God?" When we get to Psalms, you’re going to have a chance to see that. You’ll have a chance to see that when you read enough Psalms and really look at them, you can praise God. No matter what’s going on in your life, the Psalms will help you worship and praise God and who He is.

Job 42:4-6

["You said,] `Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

So Job repented.

Job 42:12a

The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had…

You can read all that.

Job 42:16-17

After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.

Now that you’ve read Job, did God ever tell Job why he was suffering? No. At least it’s not recorded here. When we started out, I said that this was a book of suffering. We need to understand what suffering is all about.

Job is an older book. He wanted to know why he was suffering. So maybe it’s not anything new. But today, when we get into all kinds of scrapes, battles, wars, trials, and tribulations, we want to know why. "What’s going on? Why is this happening to me?" The Book of Job tells us, "Wait a minute. You don’t ask ‘Why?’" You ask, "God, how can you use this?" Then the New Testament Christian thanks God, praises Him for it, and looks to see what God can get out of it—how He is going to be praised, honored, and glorified. But we do what Job did. That’s our normal, human reaction. We need to look at it from God’s perspective. God said, "Who do you think you are? Where were you?" We are to be in the same type of mindset.

In suffering, we should concentrate more on and focus our thoughts and energies more on God than our sufferings.

Job is an outstanding book. I encourage all of you to read it.

Psalms

Honestly, how many of you have read Psalms at least once? OK, two. We can’t go through 150 Psalms, but I want to say enough about them such that during the year, you will not let three months go by without reading some Psalms. To me, they should be that much of an integral part of a Christian’s life. There is so much in there on applying what we do today. I don’t mean how to buy groceries, how to buy a car, or how to invest in the stock market. I’m talking about how to live. I’m going to try to show you that in what we read and study.

This morning, I’m going start with a personal testimony. Next week I’ll ask you for personal testimonies. That’s where you’re going to hear what Psalms does to you.

My wife and I moved to Tampa, Florida from St. Louis, Missouri. I reported to a manager who was "the manager from hell," the mother of all supervisors. This guy can top any story that you have about your supervisors. I guarantee it.

One day in his office, he got so mad, he literally turned over his desk and spilled everything. Then he made his assistant come in put everything back together.

One day he said to me, "Come here a minute. I want to show you something." He went over to the window, pointed to some homeless people on the street, and said, "Do you see those people down there?" I said, "Yes." He said, "You’re going to be just like them if you don’t start getting things done around here."

Do you get the picture? I could tell you more stories that you wouldn’t believe. Two weeks after I showed up for work, I was invited to lunch by some coworkers. They asked me, "Do you have any idea who you’re reporting to? Do you know about this guy? This is someone you don’t want to be around. You need to change jobs as quickly as possible."

I reported to him for about four years. Psalms (and Proverbs) got me through it. I was reading Psalms every day for months at a time. I needed Psalms to understand—and here’s what came out of it, it didn’t happen at first—God put me with this manager for a purpose. We just talked about Job. You look at things from either your point of view or God’s point of view. I said, "There’s something here, in this situation, that I am to do. God put me here for a reason and God put this manager over me for a reason." I did not want to get out from under him. I didn’t want to say, "Whoa. I’ve got to move. I’ve got to get out of here." I trusted God, "God, you know what you’re doing."

After a while, the manager would depend on me to go to lunch with him. I was about the only one who would associate with him. I would be sitting at my desk; he would get my attention and point to the door. That was his idea of, "Would you like to go to lunch, Carlton?" After a while, I blessed my food in front of him. I wouldn’t pray out loud, but I would bow my head in prayer. After a while, he got to know me and my faith. I think I asked him if he minded my blessing my food. He said, "No, go ahead." He got to the point where I’d bow my head and hear my silverware rattling or my glass clinking—he was trying to disrupt my prayer. That was him. That was what he was like.

Psalms got me through that.

<Question: Did your brothers sell you into employment or something? Ha ha.>

Eventually (2-3 years later) he started reading the Bible. He got to the point where Methuselah was 969 years old and he didn’t understand that. He asked, "How can you explain that?" I would explain it and nothing happened.

He went on to another job and I went on to another job. We stayed in contact. Every now and then, he’d call and we’d talk. It was kind of hit and miss for several years. One day I got a call and he told me he had cancer. I said, "How bad is it?" He said, "It’s pretty bad." I said, "Well, I’ll come see you." I got a chance to go to Tampa. He and I met at a restaurant. I went through the gospel again. He did not bow his head and accept Christ any of the times we were together. I don’t know whether he ever accepted Christ but he died three months later. I’m very anxious to get to heaven and see if he’s there. I hope he’s there. I hope somehow in his own way that he accepted Christ.

But he was unbelievable. God puts people like that with you to teach you things. The manager took me to his bank one time. He made me go up to the bank teller with him. He said, "I want to renew my CDs (Certificates of Deposit)." This was in the early ‘80s. They brought out three $10,000 CDs. Back then, to me, that was a lot of money. That was like a year’s salary for me. I said, "Man, this is unbelievable." He said, "I’m renewing them," and shoved them back to the teller. He said, "I’m going to be independently wealthy. I’m going to stand on my own two feet. I’m going to have anything I want. That’s where I’m going." That’s the kind of man he was. And, then, he died within six months of his early retirement (53 years old) and having achieved his goal of being independently wealthy. It did him no good.

I’ll tell you more later, but it was Psalms that got me through that. I was reading as much in Psalms as I could. I hope that you read five Psalms every day this past week. If you did, you saw some things. You couldn’t help but see some things.

I carry around a small New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs. It’s easy to keep this with you to read on a break, at lunchtime, or whenever.

<A testimony:

I was at the nursing home with my mother today. She fell and broke her pelvis a week ago. She’s on pain medicine and suffering from Alzheimer’s. She’s really not herself. A gentleman came around handing out small Gideon Bibles with New Testament and Psalms. My mother got one. I started reading it to her. She started reciting them as I was reading them. I didn’t even think she knew what was going on. She had memorized them a long time ago and was able to recall them verbatim.>

<Another testimony:

I had a really tough week at work. My boss was out and so I had to assume some extra responsibilities. Psalms were a great comfort this week. I credit God for getting me through. By taking the time every morning this week to read five Psalms and one Proverb, God blessed me.>

Psalms – Songs

A lot of the songs we sing are from Psalms. The words are taken from Psalms and set to music. You’ll be reading along and say, "Well, that sure does sound familiar." This is the Day that the Lord hath Made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. That’s from Psalms. You’ll see many, many more like that.

"Psalms" were songs. It’s another word for "songs." We sing to God. We express our praise and worship Him. We say who He is and what He is to us. The interesting thing about Psalms—and this is the bottom line—is that for some reason or another it’s all about praising and worshipping God but you’re the one who ends up being blessed. We tell God how great He is and how majestic is His Name and He blesses us. It’s amazing how it ministers to you that way. It is amazing. You’re sitting there, reading this, being faithful in your reading of Psalms, and God will give you a blessedness that you didn’t have before. You are blessed when reading a Psalm of praise going to Him! It’s something spiritual. It’s absolutely amazing!

Psalms – Structure

There are six or seven different ways to organize the Psalms. They are numbered 1-150, but there are a lot of ways to structure them. One way is by types of Psalms:

Royal: They anticipate Christ as King. 2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 89, 101, 110, 144

Alphabetic: They use some arrangement based on the Hebrew alphabet. 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145

Psalm 119 is the longest book of the Bible. It has one section of verses for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Penitential: These psalms breathe deep contrition for sin committed. 6, 25, 32, 38, 39, 40, 51, 102, 130

We saw this with David and his sin with Bathsheba. This was his expression to God of his sin.

Messianic: They preview the person and work of the coming Messiah. 2, 8, 16, 22, 45, 69, 72, 89, 110, 118, 132

You’ll see Christ on the cross and read about things he felt.

Imprecatory: All of these implore God’s vindication of His own people against godless persecutors. 52, 58, 59, 109, 140. Revenge

Hallelujah: These psalms employ the term Hallelujah, meaning "Praise Jah (Jehovah)." 111, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150.

Elohistic: They use the name Elohim for God. Others use the name Jehovah. 42 – 83

Note: Jehovah ("LORD" in most Bibles) is used in reference to God’s covenant name indicating His eternal love and promises to His people. Elohim ("Lord" in most Bibles) is used in reference to who God is and what He has done.

Ascent: They were recited or sung as the pilgrims went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. 120 – 134.

(Provided by Merrill F. Unger, New Unger’s Bible Handbook)

Here’s another way: look at Psalm 1. Does your Bible say, "Book One"? They will break it out into five books.

Book 1: Psalms 1 – 41
Book 2: Psalms 42 – 72
Book 3: Psalms 73 – 89
Book 4: Psalms 90 – 106
Book 5: Psalms 107 – 150

The reading of five a day like I explained to you is another way:

Day 1: Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91, 121
Day 2: Psalms 2, 32, 62, 92, 122
…
Day 30: Psalms 30, 60, 90, 120, 150

You can break them up by author. A lot of people think that David wrote all the Psalms. He didn’t. Some of them were written during the time of the Babylonian Captivity (Psalm 137). David wasn’t around at that time.

David wrote a lot of the Psalms. Asa wrote some of them. We don’t know who wrote others. They are anonymous. There were many authors.

No one knows when the 150 Psalms were first compiled together. Some believe it was between 500 and 300 BC.

The bottom line is that the Psalms are praise and worship. When you read them, they will give you a focus on God. They will take your mind away from your unbearable manager and put it on God. When that happens, your "troubles" will be put into the proper perspective. That’s why I implore, plead, and beg you to read Psalms. Read Psalms. The Christian life is much fuller and abundant if you’re reading Psalms.

For next week, try to read five Psalms and one Proverb each day. Share some of the things you see in Psalms with others.

Psalms 1:1

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

I will tell you that we can talk about every verse in Psalms. These are Psalms that you must meditate and dwell on. "Meditate" means you chew on it, like a cow chews cud. You just gnaw on it.

Blessed is the person who does not live his life based on the counsel, the advice, and propaganda the world puts out and who does not maintain the worldly attitudes of sinners.

Walking, standing, and sitting. Not much left, is there?

Psalms 1:2

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

The Hebrew word "meditate" there means, "to read aloud in a soft voice and chew on it." That’s the imagery behind the Hebrew word for meditate.

Isn’t "delight" a nice word? Don’t you like to be delighted? That’s what happens when you read the Psalms. You’ll be delighted.

Psalms 1:3

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

We started with the word, "blessed." Understand that this is not a reward. This is a result. This is what happens as a result—whatever he does prospers.

Psalms 1:4-5

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

There is a judgment coming for all sinners but it’s one time. It’s not all the time.

Psalms 1:6

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

I like that. I’ll tell you: the first 16 times I read Psalms, I didn’t meditate on it. I read it. But stop and think about it. "For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." That’s you. He will watch over you.

The Hebrew word for "watches" means "knows," or "personal, intimate knowledge." The Lord has a personal, intimate knowledge over the way you go and the way you live.

We can’t go through all the Psalms but I want to touch on some favorites. As you read, keep track of your favorites. I write down my favorites along with a little summary:

1 – Blessed is the man
2 – Greatness of God
8 – Greatness of God
9 – God is for eternity / His administration
17 – Call upon the Lord
22 – Prophecy of the Messiah, Savior
23 – God comforts us, me, you
44 – Where does God get His strength?
50 – Response of people to God
51 – Impact of sin on our lives
58 – God judges the nations
68 – Nations praise God
72 – All nations blessed through Savior
84 – In the presence of God
Etc.

Let’s look at Psalm 8, one of my favorites. Do you all know the song, "How Great Thou Art"? It isn’t word for word, but this Psalm is a lot like "How Great Thou Art."

Psalms 8:1

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

That’s a popular chorus today.

Psalms 8:2

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

Don’t miss that. We know that the New Testament says that children praise the Lord. Here it is in Psalms. Do you know how you are to praise God and worship? As a child. As an infant. You’re discovering things all the time. It’s exciting to go into the worship time and see and hear the songs and the Word of God spoken. It wells up in you to where you just want to close your eyes, meditate on it, and take in the fullness of what God’s doing in that setting.

Psalms 8:3-4a

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,

All of us have thought about this at some point or another. On a starry night, we look and see how great everything is, and say, "Well, I’m just a little, bitty nothing pip-squeak. How could God do anything for me?" That’s what this is saying. "What is man that you are mindful of him?"

Psalms 8:4b-8

the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

That’s from Genesis where God said that man would have dominion over all Creation.

Psalms 8:9

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Now what did you get out of Psalms 8? Does it make you happy, glad, sad, mad, upset, indifferent, or what?

You feel grateful. You stand in awe. That’s why you do this. You read the Psalms and it’s kind of like the world is in tune. Sin came along and got everything out of tune. Everything was in disarray. Your life is in disarray and out of tune until you get it back right with God. When you read the Psalms, you’re getting your heart back in tune with all of Creation that God has made. That’s what I think Psalms does for us. When we’re away from the Word and away from things like Psalms, our lives, the way we live and walk gets out of tune. It just doesn’t sound right. Things don’t go right. We come back in tune when we read this and say, "Oh. That’s what God intended. That’s what God’s purpose is. That’s what God’s Creation is." That’s what Psalms will do to you. They’re short and concise (except for 119). You read it and you’re blessed from it.

Look at Psalms 22. It is a Messianic Psalm. This is Christ on the cross. Even though it was written before 300 BC, it describes Christ.

Psalms 22:1a

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

How’s that? That’s what Christ said on the cross.

Psalms 22:1b-2

Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

This applies to me in my life when sometimes I don’t hear God. This author is expressing what I think. "Where is God? Why isn’t He responding to me?"

Psalms 22:3-8a

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him.

Does that ring a bell? You see a little glimpse of the cross there. There were people saying, "Well if he believes in God, let God rescue him from the cross."

Psalms 22:8b-13

Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.

Do you see why I thought of my supervisor when I read this? Can you all see that? I said, "Oh, that’s my boss!"

Psalms 22:14-16

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.

This is a good description of crucifixion.

Psalms 22:17-18

I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

Does this all sound strangely familiar? It’s almost verbatim for the things that happen during the crucifixion.

Psalms 22:19-20a

But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me. Deliver my life from the sword,

Do you see the turn around? This is what Psalms does. You’re identifying with the author of the Psalm you’re reading. You say, "You know, I feel exactly the same way. My manager is exactly like this—a bull carrying around its’ prey." And then you read, "But you, O Lord, my Strength." There’s a positive turn around on everything that was negative before. That’s why Psalms is so good. We can identify with it and at the same time, it turns us right around and we are blessed from reading it.

Psalms 23:1-3a

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

You all know this one.

Psalms 32 is good, too, but look at 42.

Some of your Bibles may show this as the start of "Book 2."

If you really get into it, you’ll see that the Psalms really follow along with the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Psalms is also broken up into five books. The themes line up too. Did we not just talk about Creation in Psalms (like Genesis)? Exodus is about deliverance. And it goes on. I stand amazed that it does that, but it does.

Some of you may also have something before chapter 42 that says, "For the director of music, a maskil (an instruction), for the sons of Korah (the Levites) who were temple assistants. The theme: A thirst for God when you feel lonely or depressed. Meditate on God’s kindness and love."

I’m telling you again: Psalms has to be a part of your life. I don’t know how a Christian can live without Psalms being an integral part of his or her life.

Psalms 42:1

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

You all have heard this song, haven’t you? This is one of those Psalms that is often sung today.

Psalms 42:2-3

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"

Sometimes you may feel like this at work. You may be the only Christian at work or at school. People say, "Where is your God now?"

Let me tell you a little story. You all know that I tripped over a speed bump and tore the ligaments in my chest while jogging. <Just how fast were you going?> Well, my new boss is an agnostic. He’s not an atheist but he’s not a believer either. Of course if you hang around me, you’re going to hear a few things. We were at lunch a few weeks ago and he asked me how I hurt myself. I said, "I was just running along, looking at this beautiful blue sky, praising God and saying, ‘God, thank you for the blue sky and the beautiful, green pine tr… WHAM!’" He said, "Well, see there. God was trying to tell you something. There’s something in your life." That’s how he came back. And I said, "You know, you’re right, Jerry. I think what He was doing was blessing you." Jerry said, "What? How do you figure that?" I said, "Well, you know I had to stay out of work for a week. That meant sick pay and it didn’t hit your budget in cost." "Oh…" is all he could say.

God will give you things to say. I never would have thought of that in a million years. Never. But that’s what came out while we were sitting there. It shut him up.

Psalms 42:4

These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

This is going to the House of the Lord. Coming to church this morning, my wife just had her hands up, singing, and praising the Lord. We had a good time coming to church this morning.

But this is what Psalms will do for you. It’ll pick you up out of that miry, earthly clay you’ve gotten yourself stuck in. God says, "Read these and praise me and you will be blessed." That’s what it does for you.

Psalms 42:5-6a

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

This is reflective—looking at yourself.

Do you see the contrast here? Even though I’m downcast and depressed, I will put my hope in God and praise Him. If you praise God in your worst time, guess what will happen to you, spiritually? You will no longer be depressed. It is physically, spiritually, and emotionally impossible to be downcast and praise God. You will be blessed. That’s what this author is saying and that’s what Psalms does.

Psalms 42:6b-7

My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon--from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

This is so good just to meditate on.

Psalms 42:8-11

By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me--a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?" Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

That’s the bottom line again. We praise and worship God.

Psalms 46:1-3

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah

"Selah" is like a musical pause.

Psalms 46:4-6

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

That’s kind of what’s going on in the Middle East right now—Nations in turmoil and so forth.

Psalms 46:7-11

The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

That’s a future coming of the Lord and the kind of conditions we have. We have that hope—that He will come, He will take care of things, He will judge the world, and He will be exalted above the nations in all the earth.

Psalms 100:1-5

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

This is so good.

By the way, there are 283 references to the Old Testament found in the New Testament; 116 of them are of Psalms (almost half).