Gilbert House Fellowship

THE PSALMS OF DAVID are often prophetic. We know this. However, we often overlook just how supernatural they are. This week, we focus on two of the most profound and stunning psalms in the Bible. Psalm 22 begins with a line quoted by Jesus on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It’s widely acknowledged by Bible scholars that the 22nd Psalm is a prophecy of the Crucifixion writte...

READING THE HEADLINES each day can cause anxiety, depression, and frustration at the plots and schemes of those who apparently feel qualified, if not entitled, to tell the rest of us how we should live. When the news is getting to you, remember these words: He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury, say...

GOD IS enthroned above the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. Failure to treat the ark with proper respect, according to the Law, cost a teamster his life. This week, we discuss the move of the ark to Jerusalem and a section of scripture in 1 Chronicles 13 that’s difficult for many to accept. Why was Uzzah killed by God for putting his hand on the ark to steady it? The answer: The ark was suppos...

DAVID ASCENDS to the throne in Jerusalem, and we recount the history of Israel, including some startling examples of warfare in the unseen realm, in the psalms accompanying our study this week.. First, we discuss the Jebusites and the city of Jebus, which apparently was the area around the stronghold of Zion, which is the City of David—the area just south of the Temple Mount. “Jebus” means “thresh...

DAVID’S FRAME OF MIND was apparently much better by the time he wrote these psalms, which are dated to about the time he was anointed king over all Israel. That took place at Hebron, but shortly thereafter he marched against the Jebusite city of Jerusalem and made that his capital city. We discuss the Jebusites, why we believe they were Hurrians (Horites), and why that’s relevant to our understand...

Genealogy was important in ancient Israel. It was how the Israelites kept track of the heads of the tribes and who was eligible for service in the Temple. It also debunks the idea that the tribes of the northern kingdom were “lost” after the Assyrian invasion of 722 BC. This week, we study the records of six of the tribes, the family of Saul, and the genealogy of the returned exiles. Then we move...

Our ancestors 3,000 years ago dealt with the same pressures and problems we face today. This week, after reading the Chronicler’s list of the descendants of Levi, we study four psalms that illustrate the frustration of God that His people do not listen; the despair that comes from feeling separated from God like the demonic spirits of the Rephaim (Ps. 88:10: “departed” = rephaim ); and the joy tha...

Remembering where we came from is the theme of this week’s study, three psalms of Asaph, a contemporary of David, that lament the trials of the faithful in contrast to the apparent success of the wicked. Although the unrighteous appear to prosper, Asaph remembers that envy of the arrogant is a stumbling block, and that we must remember the mighty works of God in saving not just his people, but eac...

GENEALOGY WAS important to the Israelites. It was the basis for determining who was eligible to serve in the Temple and who was worthy to sit on the throne. This week, we study the descendants of David, emphasizing his role as the progenitor of the kings of Judah, and then the tribes of Judah, Simeon, Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh that lived east of the Jordan River. In the middle of...

THE SONS OF KORAH were responsible for baking and gatekeeping in the Temple. They were also singers, and this week’s readings appears to be songs of lament and hymns of praise and joy. Psalm 43 is interesting in that it was probably part of the 42nd psalm originally, which appears to put the psalmist in the north of Israel—specifically in the region of Mount Hermon, which, spiritually speaking, wa...

GENEALOGY IS IMPORTANT in the Bible. It not only establishes Jesus as the descendant of David, and thus the rightful king, it also shows that he was fully human during his time on Earth. This week, we discuss the genealogies at the beginning of the chronicles, which scholars believe were written sometime after the Jews returned from Babylon beginning in 538 BC. —————— Get our free app! It connects...

THE PSALMS are filled with supernatural meaning that we often miss because we don’t have the worldview of the authors. This week, we dig into three psalms of David that appear, on first reading, related to his ascension to the kingship over all the tribes of Israel. They are that, but on a deeper level, we find references to the the unseen realm and those spirits who rejected God’s authority. For...

THE PSALMS we study this week are especially timely, coming as they do after a contentious midterm election in the United States. At the end of the day, regardless of how the vote turned out, God is still on His throne, and He, for one, was not surprised by the results. We also discuss a psalm not usually interpreted as messianic. Psalm 8 includes several verses quoted by the author of Hebrews: Wh...

THE DEATH OF SAUL and his three eldest sons triggered a power struggle among the tribes of Israel, as you’d expect anytime humans and politics are involved. The chapters we study this week summarize the 7-1/2 years that David ruled as king over Judah from the city of Hebron. During that time, the two youngest sons of Saul, Ish-bosheth and Mephiboseth, ruled the northern tribes from Mahanaim, east...

GOD IS our protector through the trials of life. That comes through in the psalms we read this week, all part of the group titled Songs of Ascents. These come from the period of David’s life between the death of Saul and his acceptance as king over all Israel. They are a reminder that while we will endure trials in this life, God offers us His steadfast love, forgiveness, and redemption. —————— Ge...

THE PSALMS OF DAVID give us a window into his heart and mind during the ups and downs of his life. This week, we discuss a psalm written shortly after the death of Saul in battle against the Philistines. We also look at a pair of psalms described as “songs of ascent,” two of fifteen so titled. Not surprisingly, we discover more supernatural depth and prophetic significance than we noticed our firs...

SAUL’S VISIT to the medium of En-dor is one of the more controversial chapters in the Bible. Does it prove that ghosts are real? We discuss the recent research that shows why the Hebrew word ôb, usually translated into English as “medium,” more accurately means “owner of a ritual pit.” This is a concept that can be traced back through the archaeological record to the ancient Hurrians (the biblical...

DAVID’S PSALMS are a window into his heart and mind, and those written while he was on the run from Saul are instructive, teaching us that even in our darkest hours, God has not forsaken us. We discuss these psalms, composed while hiding in the dry, dusty wilderness of Judah—possibly the site of the later fortress of Masada, or even further southeast, in the desert of Edom near modern-day Petra. E...

ABIGAIL IS a wonderful example of wisdom and diplomacy, who acted contrary to her husband’s wishes—but in his best interests. Nabal—certainly not his name, since it means “fool”—insulted the messengers sent by David to ask for some supplies after protecting Nabal’s flocks and shepherds in the wilderness. Abigail wisely put together a caravan of gifts for David and his men, which stopped David from...

WE GET insight into the mind of David this week as we read a collection of psalms probably written while he was hiding from Saul. We discuss similarities in the words of David and Job. Although their circumstances were different—David being persecuted by a man while Job was being tested by “the satan”—their hope in God in the midst of their trials is very much alike. —————— Get our new app! It’s f...

DAVID’S FLIGHT from Saul led both men to take desperate action: David sought refuge among Israel’s mortal enemies, first the Philistines and then the Moabites, while Saul ordered the slaughter of the priests of the tabernacle because they unknowingly helped David escape. The difference between the two men is highlighted by the incident in a cave at Ein Gedi, a site on the west side of the Dead Sea...

SAUL’S INSECURITIES were his downfall, the hole in his spiritual armor that led him to try to murder David rather than accept God’s will. We discuss the plot to assassinate David and his first wife Michal’s scheme to buy time for David to escape, and how the account of 1 Samuel 19 shows the influence of the pagan Amorite culture, with its veneration of the ancestral dead, on ancient Israel. Our sc...

THE STORY of David and Goliath is one of the best-known in the Bible. The contrast between the faith of David (in God), Saul (in his armor), and Goliath (in himself) is just one of the lessons to draw from the account. One of the interesting aspects of David’s battle with Goliath is the way the Masoretic Hebrew text, on which our English Old Testament translations are based, includes a big chunk o...

SAUL WAS a flawed man—indecisive, rash, and lacking in faith. Although Saul led Israel to victory over its enemies, mainly the Philistines and the trans-Jordanian kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, his insecurity and poor judgment led to God’s decree that the kingship would be stripped from his family and given to another. We discuss Saul’s foolish decision to offer sacrifices rather than waiting...

The story of Saul is a record of the transformation of Israel from a theocracy to a kingdom. The sons of the prophet Samuel followed in the footsteps of the sons of the former high priest, Eli, pursuing wealth and taking bribes. (Interestingly, they set up shop in Beersheba, located in the Negev in southern Israel. We need to do more study into the significance of Beersheba to figure out why they...