The Amazing Bible. Book Club

Book 2 of the Psalms ends with a praise unto the Lord, as does all the other books. Psalm 70 is a Psalm of David which is almost identical to Psalm 40:13-17. The second Psalm is anonymous, and it is a Psalm of an older person and his walk with the Lord, and Psalm 72 is a kingly Psalm which is celebration of the King of Kings and His eternal kingdom. That King is Jesus. (Matthew chapter 1)

These Psalms all reference worship of the Lord in the temple.  Most are celebration or praise Psalms, but the last, Psalm 69 is mainly a lament with some precatory towards David's enemies, but even this one ends with praise at what the Lord will do and who He is. In these Psalms, we see clearly that people from every nation and tribe, every people and tongue are called to praise the Lord, and...

These Psalms are all Psalms of David, and W. Robert Godfrey, in the book, "Learning to Love the Psalms," describes this section as commitment despite enemies. Many of these Psalms share the reason that David wrote them, and which specific enemies were after him. We learn there are valid reasons for being afraid, and even angry over injustices, but David continually trusted in the Lord.

In these Psalms, W. Robert Godfrey describes them as commitment in the face of sin. Psalm 50 is a Psalm of Asaph, a Worship Levite. The last three are Psalms of David. Psalm 51 is after his sin with Bathsheba, #52 after Doeg the Edomite told King Saul where David was, and Psalm 53 starts off "The fool has said in his heart there is no God." Thankfully, we have Someone who has taken care...

Today we start with Book 2 of the Psalms. According to W. Robert Godfrey in his book, "Learning to Love the Psalms," Book 2 can be described as The King's commitment to God's Kingdom. In this section we get great passages like, "As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs for You," and "Be still and know that I am God."

King David wrote the majority of these Psalms. There is a bit of Wisdom, Thanksgiving, Lament, Praise, Imprecatory, Confidence (In God not self), Celebration, Repentance, and of Jesus wrapped up in these 17 chapters. Even when David was scared or sorrowful, he knew who to cry out to, The Lord. So can we.

Here we see three types of Kings, the suffering King, the trusting king, and the victorious king. In Psalm 22 we see that Jesus quoted from this Psalm while dying on the cross. In Psalm 23 we see that the Lord is our Shepherd, and then Psalm 24 we see the King of Glory entering his city. Through these chapters we find that Jesus is also our Good Shepherd who died for us, our Great Shepherd who gui...

All of these Psalms are written by King David. Many of them are confidence Psalms, where David puts his confidence and trust in the Lord. We also see the difference between the wicked and the righteous. Psalm 16 is referenced by the Apostle Peter in his first sermon in Acts 2:25-35 and by Paul in Acts 13:35, and they say that David's body died and decayed, but the Lord Jesus did not because G...

These Psalms are located in the first Book of Psalms, "The King's Confidence in God's Care," which W. Robert Godfrey labels in his book, Learning to Love the Psalms. These Psalms are mainly written by King David, and they are Psalms of Praise, Imprecatory, Lament, Confidence, and Celebration. Some are personal songs and others are for the congregation. Over all, it shows that t...

In Psalms 1 and 2, we see both a personal Psalm and a corporate Psalm. In the first Psalm, a Psalm of Wisdom, we see what a righteous man looks like, and then in contrast we see that a wicked man is blown away by the wind. In the second Psalm, a Kingly/Messianic Psalm, we see a picture of Jesus and how His apostles quoted this Psalm to tell us about Jesus. These two Psalms are an introduction to a...

In chapter 42 of Job, we find that Job has heard from God and repents. He is called by God to pray for his three friends that caused him much heartache. He does, and God blesses him with twice as much as before his captivity/exile/sorrow. Job never got an answer to why the pain, but he did get a closer relationship with God.

In Job 38-41, Job gets what he asked for, a match with God Almighty, but it was not what he expected. God tells him to get his big boy pants on and answer God His questions. God begins with questions about Job's part in the creation of the universe, and moves to how does Job keep the world operating? The Almighty then asks Job how he directs the animal kingdom, and Job responds, "I will...

In chapters 32-37, Elihu speaks to Job. He is angry at Job and at all three of Job's friends, because he thought he would hear wisdom from them, but he was disappointed.  Like Job's three friends, Elihu had a "know it all attitude." He spoke out of anger instead of comfort or love, and he thought Job was at fault for his tragedy. Unlike the three other men, he was young, but ag...

In Job 3-31, Job's three friends think all of these bad things which have happened to Job are because of his sin, and Job says he is innocent. He cries out for someone to defend his cause.

In the first two chapters of Job, we see that Job was an upright man that feared the Lord. What we see, that Job does not see, is that Satan entered the Lord's presence and they discussed Job. Satan said that Job was upright and feared God because God had a hedge around him, but if God took his stuff away, Job would curse God. God allowed it, Satan did it, and Job stayed faithful. Then Satan...

In the book of Esther, we see God's providence even though his name is not even mentioned. Mordecai says to Queen Esther, that perhaps she is here for such a time as this. God fights for the Jews, and protects them from the enemy, Haman. Her Persian  name, Esther, means star, and God used her to continue fulfilling His promise to Abraham that his seed would outnumber the stars in the heavens....

In Nehemiah chapters 2-13, we see that Nehemiah not only helps in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but he also helps rebuild their spiritual lives to walk in obedience to the Lord. The Levites review God's mercy and grace throughout the history of Israel, and how the Jews continued to sin, but God was still faithful. We see a reverence for "The Book", and a renewal of worship unto...

In Nehemiah chapter 1 we see that Nehemiah has a heart for Jerusalem, and he prays unto the Great and Terrible God, who keeps His covenant and shows mercy toward those who observe His commands. He asks the Lord to hear his prayer, he confesses his sin and his father's sin, and then he reminds the Lord (and himself) of God's word and of His promises. In Nehemiah's prayer he quotes fr...

As we look at the book of Ezra, we find the first two groups of Jews who come back to Jerusalem and Judah after the exile to Babylon. Cyrus, King of Persia, grants permission for them to go back and rebuild the temple. The work gets started, but then pauses for around 15 years, but when Haggai and Zechariah come, they encourage the people to start it again. After it is built, Ezra comes with the s...

In Ezra 1:1-4 we see that Cyrus, King of Persia, makes a decree to send back the Jews to Jerusalem to help them rebuild their temple. We also take a look at the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah that declare this will happen after 70 years of exile in Babylon.

In 2 Chronicles chapters 33-36, we see the final Kings of Judah before the exile, and then how Babylon with King Nebuchadnezzar overthrows Judah, destroys the Temple and burns Jerusalem to the ground. Many people are taken into exile to Babylon, and then it ends with a glimmer of hope when the King of Persia, Cyrus overcomes Babylon. 

In 2 Chronicles chapters 25-32 we read about 5 different kings of Judah, all are descendants of King David and Solomon.  None were perfect, but Hezekiah did a great job at fixing up the temple, organizing the Priests and Levites,  leading in the Passover festival as well as worship, and it was his prayers with that of Isaiah that kept Judah from being taken over by the King of Assyria. There is po...

In 2 Chronicles chapters 17-24 we look at the reigns of the Kings of Judah, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Joash, as well as the wicked Queen Athaliah. We see that not one of them where totally good, but when they sought the Lord, God blessed them and their kingdom. This section ends with the King of Judah and its leaders stoning the prophet Zechariah in the Temple courts. Jesus talks of this...

In 2 Chronicles 10-16, we see the Kingdom of Israel is divided. The Chronicler focuses on the reigns of the Kings of Judah, and in these chapters we read about Rehoboam, Abijah, and Asa. As long as they sought the Lord their God with all their heart and soul, God blessed, but when they forsook the Lord, He forsook them. 

In chapters 1-9 of 2 Chronicles, we see Solomon's wisdom, his expanded kingdom, his fame and wealth, and his building of the temple. We also see the importance of the Levites, Priests, and music with regards to worship, and lastly we see that a true worshipper must humble themselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from their wicked ways and then God will hear from heaven and forgive the...