Psalms 93-94,96, 98-103, 105-106, 108

If this opening line doesn’t make you laugh I don’t know what will – ready? We’ve got twelve Psalms to cover today but just five verses! That said there are some highlighted verses from Psalm 93-94, 96, 98-103, and 105, 106 and 108 worthy of repeating and some of these include, PSALM 93 Ps 93:4 YAHAVAH on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. But we have talked about Him in comparison to such. Then there is PSALM 94 94:11-12 YAHAVAH knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. And verse 12 12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, YAHAVAH, and teachest him out of thy law; But we have discussed these things two also. There is Psalm 96 which uses the Name YAHAVAH 9 times in 13 verses but we have talked all about His Name, or there is PSALM 99 1 YAHAVAH reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. But we talked about this interesting fact in the past as well. Then there are these gems from PSALM 100 3 Know ye that YAHAVAH he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. PSALM 103 Ps 103:11-12 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. PSALM 105 rehearses the Nations history from Egypt and all that God has done for them but we have rehearsed such several times together in this study and PSALM 106:45 talks about how God repented but we have talked about that and what it looks like a couple of times. That leaves us with three chapters 98, 101 and 108 and from them 5 verses we will use today as the basis for our discussion. Lets begin with the first verses of Psalm 98 where it says, Psalm 98:1 O sing unto YAHAVAH a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. 2 YAHAVAH hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. 3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. From these passages we discover that YAHAVAH, in the eyes of the writer writing in that day, had done “marvelous things” and the Psalmist gives us two statements on the means that He had done those marvelous things, saying that they were by “His right hand” “His holy arm” That He . . . “has gotten Him the victory.” Obviously since God is spirit the use of His right hand and holy arms are anthropomorphic references to help illustrate that He acted to gain the victory. Of course we could also readily see that anthropomorphically God did have a right hand and holy arm in the incarnation of Himself so we have a lead in to what I believe is a prophecy. To add support to this idea the Psalmist adds, 2 YAHAVAH hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. 3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. What exactly did all the ends of the earth in that day see as the salvation God at work – The Liberation from Egypt and the plagues, The Red Sea parted, the River Jordan parted, A cloud by day, a fire by night, The giving of His Law from Sinai The water from the rock The manna from heaven The quail And of course endless victorious battles among nations far bigger and more powerful than them, including fights like the walls of Jericho falling, the Midanites being overcome by 300 men with clay jars and David felling Goliath. But let’s read his Psalm as again, with a Prophetic lens on our eyes as it clearly says, Psalm 98:1 O sing unto YAHAVAH a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. 2 YAHAVAH hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. 3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Obviously, as a prophetic reference, to say that “all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” is a way of literally referencing all the nations of the earth that have been saved from the peril of spiritual darkness, spiritual starvation, spiritual warfare and spiritual death and that among the world today He had “made known His salvation” at least to a great extent – in and through His Son. Now get this – the word salvation used twice in the text comes from the Hebrew primitive root; Yasha which means to be open, wide, free, safe; to defend and deliver, to , help, preserve, rescue, be safe, bring salvation, save, and “to get the victory.” But the actual word translated to salvation in these passages is Yeshua, the very name given our Lord and King. When we read these passages this way, they become absolutely prophetic and cause those who have realized it to possibly repeat the words of the Psalmist by saying, GRAPHIC Our God is victorious, and by His literal right hand, and holy arm has gotten Him the Victory in the world as YAHAVAH has made known His Yeshua, and His righteousness he has openly shewed in the sight of the heathen and He has remembered his mercy and his truth toward the true House of Israel as “all the ends of the earth have seen the Yeshua of our God.” There is an interesting biblical principle reiterated here when we consider the all of the victories God had for the Nation and all the victories He has had ever since is by the fact that He was present or with them in them and there is similar support that proves when God was absent the nation would languish and lose. Simply put: God present = Victory God absent - Defeat Of course, we begin to see the very hand and arm of God present in His victory over dead chaotic hollow elements in space replenished for good by Him for us. We had His presence in the very Garden with our first parents of course when they were living and unaffected by death followed by an absence and the end result of it in their lives - death. Isaiah 59:2 describes how sin got between the Nation and His presence, when he wrote, But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. That is an interesting way to describe the effects of sin in the Nation – that they served to “hid his face from them that He will not hear.” By now we know that among the Nation His presence and blessing was a conditional thing – He was present when they were obedient, a disappearing act when not. This caused Solomon to write in Proverbs 15:29 YAHAVAH is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. And it caused the Psalmist to ask (again, in that day), Psalm 10:1 Why standest thou afar off, O YAHAVAH? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? And of course, in another Psalm we read, Psalm 34:16 The face of YAHAVAH is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and YAHAVAH heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 18 YAHAVAH is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but YAHAVAH delivereth him out of them all. In the Old Testament, we repeatedly see all victories as possible when the Nation had Him with them but we also read about the losses when He was absent. Psalm 145:18 says, YAHAVAH is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. 19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save (Yasha) them. 20 YAHAVAH preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. Of course God was something of a tenuous tool of support for them because He would get angry with them, and pull back, and allow them to really suffer when they refused to do what He said. There was the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the suffering, the same food, the lack of water, the stinging creatures of death and He ultimately did not allow the Israelites to enter the Promised Land when they first arriee, due to their repeated lack of choosing to trust and follow Him. After the initial conquest of Canaan, the Israelites repeatedly failed to drive out the other inhabitants which ultimately led them to sinter-marriage, which led to them to worshipping their gods, leading to a generation that "did not know God" and by the time the Messiah arrived they were nothing compared to the Nation they once were. Looking back and due to their repeated sin of idolatry, the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and exiled its people with the Bible declaring that had God removed them from his presence. Then a couple hundred years later the Southern Kingdom of Judah was also conquered and exiled to Babylon due to its continued defiance of God's laws, even after being warned by His prophets. The Bible says God "hid his face from them" and gave them into the hands of their enemies. This is an ongoing theme – God entering, offering victory, and then hiding His face from those who refused to let Him in to reign. In a fascinating act of mercy and the fulfillment of His promises to them, it was when the Nation was most far-afield from Him, making his House a den of thieves, that He incarnated among them to show the very image of Himself amidst them. But even this, as Yeshua said looking out over Israel, How long I would have gathered you like a hen gathers her chicks but “you were not willing.” In creatures given freewill – listen – for God to be present and victorious, there must be willingness and allowance on our part for Him to work. It is in large part what makes Him an awesome God – He respects our desires and therefore victories in and through Him involve both parties and not just one – the first, YAHAVAH – always at the ready, always willing and us, again vessels where His presence assures victory but His absence assures defeat. In a fascinating act of mercy and the fulfillment of His promises to them, it was when they were most far from Him that He incarnated among them and physically revealed Himself amidst them as His own Son said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” This Son was His right Hand and His Holy arm and by Him all the ends of the earth have seen the Victory of God. This was even confirmed by Paul who said in his day to the believers at Rome Rome 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (And by the way, that is kosmos there, not age or region or area) CS Lewis once quipped "There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan". I better agree with Abraham Kuyper, a Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Neo Calvinist who originally said, "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!". Unfortunately, while Kuyper’s statement is much closer to the biblical reality, I maintain that while Christ has certainly had the victory over all things in heaven, earth and below the earth, claiming them His and ending all battles over them as CS Lewis did not yet realize, there remains and will always remain a realm over which God has not had the total victory nor reign as a Sovereign - in Man. In every other material realm Christ has had the victory, and by His victorious presence claims eminent domain and complete jurisdiction. But freewill creations, made in His image remain as independent as our first parents originally were and listen - this will always be. See, His victory, while meted out in the physical realm when “God was literally one of us and present with us” His victory, was ultimately spiritually manifest, because that is the Kingdom for which Christ died. Why not the material? LISTEN - that would require despotic reigning on God’s behalf for the simple reason God gave us human creations . . . freewill – something that could not be forefeited even in the face of God’s victory over sin, death, hell, Satan and every spiritual defect brought on by the fall. Just as it only took two in a perfect garden with freewill to defy Him and corrupt the physical realm, the whole world might even freely choose to allow Him to reign in them but it would only take one willful soul to ruin paradise. No, this physical realm, so long as human beings have choice while in it, will never become a heaven on earth – and God knew this. So, He gave us a Son. Himself. God with us – whose very material presence in this world guaranteed victory in the Spiritual realms but not here and not ever. In a classic confrontation between the wrongly accused Yeshua and Pilate, we read, John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Yeshua, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? 34 Yeshua answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? 35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? 36 Yeshua answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. This brings us to the other two verses from Psalms that play into our topic today about God’s presence equalling Victory and His absence equalling defeat. They are found in Psalm 101:2 and Psalm 108. In Psalm 101:2 we read I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. And Psalm 108:1 where King David is said to have written, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory Why these two verses? Because they directly describe a super paradoxical location in the multi-universe where I suggest that the living victorious God continues to wage war – within us. Frankly, I am not so sure that in this life the Victorious Christ has had the victory over our bodies, nor our souls – specifically our minds, wills and emotions. Because we are all human and are typically preconditioned by life and genetics with our own minds, our own will, our own set of emotions, and even our bodies - which all use to operate in the here and now, but it seems to me that the total victory over these elements of human beings is typically and at best limited. In other words, most of us – no matter how devout, determined or reformed, cannot fully control our bodies, minds, will and emotions. Our bodies will convulse, heat up, and get diseased no matter how fit or regimented our control over them. Same with our minds as thoughts from God knows were flood in without respect or invitation. It seems in the line of human characteristics, individuals can typically best control their will first, their bodies next, their emotions third and their minds last. Of course, with Christ reigning we have a source that can and will equip these faculties with strength and power, but the domain is always shared and therefore subject to defeat. For this reason a submitted life works on these elements in the lives of a believer, bringing them under control, but I suggest that God’s grace reigns over their deficits and the work of His Son brought God’s reconciliation to all of us in spite of them. That said, there is one paradoxical place where God has no say, no reign and no victory. I say that it is paradoxical because I am personally convinced that God can and does have an ability to win it over completely while we are still mortal and I we allow it. That place is in our respective individual hearts. Put it this way, God may not have reign over our complete mind while we are mortal, nor over our will, nor over our bodies or emotions – He may win one or more of these elements victoriously bringing them into His reigning power, but I suggest it was only in and through His Son where He could be called His only Begotten. A believer may have a submitted mind – I don’t. A believer may have a submitted will, body and emotion but all true believers have a submitted heart surrendered over to Him. For this reason the writers of scripture speak frequently about the heart, often as a representation of the individual themselves, often as the collection of all of their faculties. I tend to compartmentalize them because it seems far more realistic in our mortal experiences than to believe that our hearts are one with our other human characteristics. After years of investigating my intentions, my own person standing naked before my Maker, I am at a place when I think I can claim that He has conquered my heart by His presence within, that is, the presence of the Spirit of His Son given to all, whose purpose, according to the Apostle Peter is made plain when he wrote 1st Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit. Through the victory of Christ the whole human race is now living in a spiritual garden, with some of us seeking and striving to keep our direct relationship with God through the Spirit of His Son alive, thriving and producing fruit, while others freely elect to have their person (body, mind, will, emotion and hearts) on other things. There is no more fall. That has been repaired just like the dark elements at the creation of our heaven and earth – but there remains that one unconquered place within all of us that even God will not touch unless invited – our hearts. Christ’s work to bring us back into relationship with the Father is what caused Paul to write in Ephesians 2 beginning at verse 14 and speaking of Jews and Gentiles, Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the hatred, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. A person can and will fail in their body, mind, will and emotions while on earth – some more or less than others. But there is no grace given, no victory made, over a heart that is far from Him. For this reason YAHAVAH said to Israel through Moses right before he went away to die all the way back in the Deuteronomy 32:46 “Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.” This is the place the Living God want to reign – learning and knowledge is of value, knowing the scripture helps, but if the heart is not there, it won’t matter. Our heart condition will help renew our minds, and fortify our will, and restrain our emotional drivers, but without the heart condition right, these other facets are religion, developed through regimentation, restriction, habits and practices – the heart is either His and for Him or it is not. When Samuel spoke to the Nation it was not a speech aimed at their mind, will nor their emotions, but here what he said to them, 1st Samual 7:3 If ye do return unto YAHAVAH with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto YAHAVAH, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. We all know, even in the midst of some of our most egregious thoughts, acts and emotions what our hearts seek and want are the real us, the true self – we control and curate the conditions of it ourselves, and because of this God continues to seek and search and go to war over the heart conditions of those who, from the heart, allow Him in. Naturally, the right heart leads to right thinking when pursued, then ultimately better will, and controlled emotions, as the order is often listed in the text. King David said to His son Solomon in 1st Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for YAHAVAH searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. Did you know that when we face trials they are trials of the heart and nothing more? The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 7:9 Psalm 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. The longer I live the more I lean on God knowing searching and trying our hearts far more than our knowledge, wisdom, will, holiness or emotional stability. Why? It is the seat of our souls – our very person – and cannot lie nor feign. We control it unless we don’t – and when we don’t He has had the victory in our lives. The Proverbs speak often to the heart, for example Proverbs 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but YAHAVAH tries the hearts. And Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but YAHAVAH ponders the hearts. And Proverbs 15:11 which says, Hell and destruction are before YAHAVAH: how much more then the hearts of the children of men? So important is our personal heart conditions today that we cannot help but recall the prophetic words of Jeremiah who has God say, Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel (that is us by faith); After those days, saith YAHAVAH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And Jeremiah 32:40 where YAHAVAH says And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. This passage speaks to the ongoing victory God continues to have in the world of His human inhabitants. It was the victory that happened to the thief on the cross, and every soul reprobate in their lives through their bodies, minds, will and emotions. It is the heart in the least expected, the weakest in the world, and the ones few suspect. Let’s wrap our time up today on God having the Victory in places He resides and how that final battleground remains each individual human heart first, by reading the way the Prophet Samuel chose David to replace King Saul. It is found in 1st Samuel 16 starting at verse 1 and reads, 1 And YAHAVAH said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And YAHAVAH said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to YAHAVAH. 3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. 4 And Samuel did that which YAHAVAH spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? 5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto YAHAVAH: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely YAHAVAH'S anointed is before him. 7 But YAHAVAH said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for YAHAVAH seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but YAHAVAH looketh on the heart. 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath YAHAVAH chosen this. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath YAHAVAH chosen this. 10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, YAHAVAH hath not chosen these. 11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And YAHAVAH said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of YAHAVAH came upon David from that day forward. Because God told Samuel that He looked upon the heart and not on the outward appearance of a man, we know that from a very young age, before his mind, will and emotions got in the way, that a young David possessed a heart for God. We know this heart remained with Him throughout His otherwise mercurial life. We will pick up the topic next week. Questions Comments Prayer PSALMS READ 93-94,96, 98-103, 105-106, 108 (Twelve Psalms) November 16th 2025