Daily Bible Podcast: Understanding Means of Grace and the Judges of Israel

In this episode of the Daily Bible Podcast, the hosts engage in a lively discussion about baseball, specifically the Texas Rangers and the Dodgers, before diving into a detailed examination of the Book of Judges (chapters 3, 4, and 5). They discuss various judges, including Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, and Deborah, as well as the means of grace in the Christian faith. They compare the Catholic and Protestant perspectives on the means of grace and emphasize the significance of Scripture reading, prayer, and fellowship in experiencing God's grace. Additionally, they explore the cyclical pattern of sin, oppression, and deliverance in the Book of Judges, highlighting God's mercy and grace. The episode concludes with a prayer, urging listeners to prioritize their spiritual disciplines.

00:00 Introduction and Baseball Banter

01:20 Parking Woes and Game Plans

02:40 Understanding the Means of Grace

08:24 Diving into Judges: Othniel and Ehud

14:38 Deborah and Barak: Leadership and Victory

20:21 Concluding Thoughts and Prayer

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

Hey everybody.

2

Welcome back to another edition of

3

Rod: the Daily Bible

4

PJ: Podcast.

5

Rod: What's up, baseball?

6

PJ: What's up?

7

What's up baseball?

8

Rod: Yeah.

9

What's up baseball.

10

That's what's up.

11

I see that you're wearing

your Texas Rangers hat.

12

PJ: Yes.

13

They didn't win the other night, right?

14

They're one and one.

15

They won their, they

lost their first game.

16

Won their second game.

17

Oh, okay.

18

Cool.

19

Good.

20

Good for them.

21

And that's all they've played

so far as we record this.

22

Rod: The Dodgers right now, I could

tell you their score right now.

23

The Dodgers current game stats

tell you exactly what sounds,

24

you're Googling that on the fly.

25

I'm the biggest Dodgers

fan you've ever met, buddy.

26

I see you wearing the

Dodger jersey right now.

27

That's right.

28

Thank you Ape Kim for the hookup.

29

I'm still, I, I saw in my

closet today, I'm like, you

30

know what, it's baseball season.

31

PJ: Yeah.

32

Rod: I should wear it.

33

I, and it's funny 'cause I wore

it and I went to go visit a

34

friend for coffee this morning.

35

Yeah.

36

And I got myself in trouble.

37

Because he's oh, you're

wearing the Dodgers jersey.

38

How about that game that

happened the other day?

39

I'm like, oh, shoot.

40

You're like, it was a good game, right?

41

What did you, what you

should think about it?

42

About that one pitch.

43

I didn't know what to say, man.

44

I was like, yeah, good.

45

Bet you'll fly the flag.

46

I will, man.

47

I don't care.

48

Yeah, I care.

49

I'm one of the, I'm one of the

people Are you do or Die Dodgers?

50

That's what I always say.

51

Are you?

52

Yeah.

53

Actually I think I'm a home team

guy, so I think if you press me,

54

I would say I'm a Texas fan, but I

don't have a Texas Rangers jersey.

55

We need to remedy that.

56

I don't know.

57

I don't have the desire to do it.

58

Hey, we're gonna the Rangers game

as a church though June 13th.

59

We are.

60

And I, I'm really excited about that.

61

That was fun the last time we did it.

62

Yeah, we will.

63

Although I'm gonna show up at

a certain time to make sure I

64

don't have to pay for parking.

65

Yeah.

66

That seems shrewd.

67

That's that's wise.

68

This serpent.

69

I missed it by 10 minutes.

70

Yeah.

71

Okay.

72

So real quick.

73

My, my roof had an issue last year.

74

It was raining, it was leaking.

75

I had to get someone to come to

patch it up, yada, yada, yada.

76

So we ended up getting late to

this game and we pulled in, we're

77

pulling into the parking lot and

we see the guy taking the money and

78

we're like, okay, here's what it is.

79

And I don't know what the cost is.

80

It's like 35, 40 bucks.

81

Yeah.

82

Something like that.

83

Anyway, no big deal.

84

This is stadium parking.

85

We figured it.

86

So we go inside, pay the money, we

park, and as we get out of our van

87

and start walking toward the stadium,

all those people that were just

88

there guarding the entrance, are

packing up and leaving 10 minutes.

89

We missed it.

90

I could have gotten it for free.

91

All I'm saying.

92

So this time I might just park next

to them and just wait for them to

93

leave, and then I'll pull inside.

94

Can you guys go?

95

Yeah.

96

Whenever you're done, guys.

97

I'm ready to come inside.

98

PJ: Yeah.

99

Yeah.

100

But no, it'll be it'll be fun.

101

It'll be great.

102

The White Sox, it should

be a fun game to go to.

103

The White Sox are good, right?

104

No.

105

Great.

106

No, they were the worst

team in baseball last year.

107

Oh.

108

They set records for

losing games last year.

109

That's, that bodes well for us.

110

Yeah.

111

That's one of the

112

Rod: reasons why we were like,

yeah, let's go to that game.

113

Not like my Dodgers.

114

They're four L Your Dodgers are four L.

115

Yeah.

116

My Dodgers are funny.

117

I was following us back in

Brooklyn days, honestly.

118

Yeah.

119

Hey, unrelated question, but one

that I think is important In the

120

Christian vernacular, we talk about

something called the means of grace.

121

You are pounding the

table on this question.

122

Literally.

123

I have passion behind this question

because I think it's so important.

124

And I'm not sure that people

understand it, so I want you to

125

talk about the means of grace.

126

What are they, what does

the phrase itself mean?

127

I've even, the other day we had this

conversation with our leaders and

128

we were asking questions about some

of the Christianese that we use and

129

saying what do we mean by that word?

130

So let's talk about means of grace.

131

Can you please elucidate for the for

myself, elucidate, and our audience?

132

Yeah.

133

What are those?

134

How do we, what do we

135

PJ: take from those things?

136

Let's distinguish something

right off the bat.

137

I, if you ask somebody that question,

who is a Catholic, they're, you're

138

gonna get a different answer from what.

139

You're about to hear from us.

140

That's true.

141

The Catholic Church holds that

there are multiple means of grace.

142

In other words, the way that grace

is conveyed, hence means of grace.

143

The way that we receive grace the Catholic

church is going to include things like

144

the sacraments, baptism, the Lord's Supper

mass catechism, things like that, that

145

they would say, these are our means of

grace, whereby somebody receives grace.

146

And that's why they would

even argue if they're.

147

If they're honest with themselves,

that to really truly be saved,

148

you have to be a Catholic.

149

Otherwise you're not going to

receive the all the grace that you

150

need necessary to enter heaven.

151

Oof.

152

You may enter purgatory and

there's o other things about that.

153

Oof.

154

But that's what they argue.

155

Argue.

156

And you believe that?

157

No.

158

Good.

159

Not at all.

160

So for us as believers, we would

say the means of grace, first

161

and foremost primarily is we

receive grace through faith.

162

Faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

163

That is the means of saving grace.

164

But beyond that we do believe

that there are means of grace.

165

There are ways that we receive grace as

Christians, and we would say certainly

166

time in the word is one of those.

167

We would say time and prayer is

one of those I would even say.

168

That there is grace that we receive as

believers through our fellowship with

169

one another, one another through our

pursuit of godliness and sanctification.

170

Th these are all means of grace.

171

I would just distinguish them

as they're not saving grace.

172

Saving grace is not based on something

that we do in order to receive that grace.

173

Saving grace is simply our faith

in Christ is what we receive

174

saving grace through the means of.

175

Ongoing grace in our life.

176

Yeah.

177

That can be experienced as the, we

lean in more to the word, to prayer,

178

to fellowship, to participation with

other believers to growth in godliness.

179

Those are all ways that we can

receive grace from the Lord through

180

our pursuit of those things.

181

It's just not by going to church

and having a priest stand up and

182

say, I'm gonna convey this grace

upon you through this ordinance.

183

So then in terms of the

184

Rod: actual outworking of that idea.

185

And the concept seems biblical.

186

Does this mean then that I can.

187

I can enjoy more or less of God's

grace by my active and willing

188

participation in those things.

189

Is that what you're

190

PJ: saying?

191

Yes, absolutely.

192

And I, and let me explain you.

193

You probably have all can felt this at

some point in time when you feel like

194

you're in a season, you're going, man,

I just feel spiritually dry right now.

195

And you look at your life and you're

realizing I haven't been spending time

196

in the word, I haven't been praying,

I haven't been at church very much.

197

I haven't been, around

other believers very much.

198

And so I feel like I'm distant from the

Lord that we'll use language like that.

199

And I think what we're experiencing

there is we're experiencing a withholding

200

of some of the grace of God that does

come when we are pursuing him, the

201

intimacy that we can feel with God.

202

On the flip side, when we are spending

time in the Word and we're praying a

203

lot and we're around other believers,

and you feel like, man I just feel

204

like I'm really close with the Lord.

205

Lord these days.

206

I think that's an experience

of the grace of God.

207

That's that's more than the person

that's been neglecting those things.

208

Not in a salvific way,

but in a relational way.

209

I think there are different measures of

grace that we can experience as believers.

210

So

211

Rod: practically then, if I.

212

D do more things.

213

If I go to church more frequently, if

I read my Bible more consistently, I

214

pray, let's say I pray longer or I just

pray more consistently is it true then

215

that I would experience more of God's

216

PJ: grace trying to be brass acks here?

217

Totally.

218

Yeah.

219

And that's where it comes down

to the heart motive behind it.

220

If we're pursuing these

things, legalistically

221

thinking there's an equation.

222

If I'd add this, plus this

equals grace or equals closeness

223

with God, then that's not.

224

What we're talking about.

225

But the, these are all means

that the spirit uses in our life

226

to draw us closer to the Lord.

227

And I think that's where we receive

the idea of this additional grace being

228

worked in our life is through the spirit

working in our life, through the means

229

that he uses to make us more like Christ.

230

And that's gonna involve all

of these other things there.

231

So it's not

232

Rod: formulaic.

233

That's an important qualification.

234

It's not like you, you read your Bible for

30 minutes and you've acquired 30 minutes

235

of God's grace or something like that.

236

Totally.

237

Yeah.

238

It's not a one-to-one, but there is a, I

don't know, there's a mystical outworking,

239

there's a, there's an experiential

component of God's grace, as I think,

240

so as you work through these things.

241

Yeah.

242

That's huge.

243

And that's an important

part of what our faith is.

244

We're not free grace.

245

Theology people, we don't believe.

246

You just sit back and let

God happen to you, right?

247

And wait for him to change you.

248

We're not sitting back and just

saying, Lord, please change me.

249

And then.

250

Just hoping that he does it.

251

The Lord works through the

means that he has given us to

252

accomplish his saving purposes

and even his sanctifying purposes.

253

We believe that God is sovereign, but we

believe that God's sovereignly, ordains

254

means to his intended ends, and those

means for us are gonna be some of the

255

simple things that we tend to overlook.

256

The Bible reading and the prayer and the

going to church and singing everything

257

that he commands are means of his grace.

258

Even though a lot of them are

commands, they're commands, right?

259

But those commands are

the same thing like.

260

It's the same thing as if you

were to say, Hey, drink water.

261

Eat food.

262

Yeah.

263

Yes.

264

They're commands, but they're commands

that give us something as opposed

265

to simply take something from us.

266

A hundred percent.

267

Yep.

268

Yeah.

269

Yeah.

270

That's

271

PJ: good.

272

That's helpful.

273

Do you agree with everything I just said?

274

Yeah.

275

I would agree with

everything that you said

276

So we're gonna jump in, we're gonna

jump into the Daily Bible reading judges

277

three, four, and five is our thank you

for agreeing with everything I just

278

said, pastor pj, I appreciate that.

279

I did not say that.

280

I did not say that.

281

But you did though.

282

Before we get into chapter three you

pointed out that I failed to really

283

talk through the end of chapter two.

284

And chapter two really sets up.

285

Where we go.

286

And so end of chapter two, verse 16, the

Lord raised up judges who saved them outta

287

the hand of those who plundered them.

288

Verse 18, whenever the Lord

raised up judges for them,

289

the Lord was with the judge.

290

He saved them from the hand of

their enemies 'cause he was with

291

them all the days of the judge.

292

And then verse 19, but whenever the

judge died, they turned back and they

293

were more corrupt than their fathers

go going after other gods serving them.

294

Bowing down to them.

295

They did not drop any of their

practices or their stubborn ways.

296

And so this is the pattern

of the book of Judges.

297

God's gonna raise up judges.

298

And God's gonna see after the people

had the judges deliver them, that

299

they're gonna turn right back.

300

And that's why it says that they were

being tested by God with these judges.

301

God was testing them by saying,

I'm gonna give you deliverance.

302

Is it gonna stick?

303

And then when it didn't stick,

they were delivered over into

304

the hands of their enemies.

305

The Book of Judges is so hard for us

because you're gonna read through it.

306

We're gonna finish the book in a

matter of a couple weeks here maybe.

307

If that.

308

And it's gonna feel like it just flies by.

309

But pay attention to the

time markers in this book.

310

So many times they're delivered

over for multiple decades in

311

their period of suffering.

312

And then you'll have a judge raised

up and you'll read about this judge

313

and that judge will be a quick

flash on the plan pan story, but

314

that was multiple decades that they

were under the reign of the judge.

315

So pay attention to the time markers

in the book of judges, just to

316

get a sense for how much time is

passing during this actual book here.

317

Judges chapter three.

318

Then we get into the

initial situation here.

319

It says, these are the nations.

320

The Lord left to, to test Israel by them.

321

That is all in Israel who had not

experienced the wars in Canaan.

322

And so there's these that are left

behind here, the testing of Israel.

323

They fail the test and

it says there that they.

324

Lived among the Canaanites.

325

Verse five, verse six.

326

Their daughters, they took to

themselves for wives and they gave

327

their daughters to their sons.

328

This is a directly against the law of God.

329

This is Moses had given

them the clear instructions.

330

Do not do this.

331

You should not intermarry.

332

So chapter three, they're intermarrying.

333

Sure enough, that leads to the

propagation of false worship and evil.

334

Verse seven, the people of Israel did

what was evil on the side of the Lord.

335

That's a common refrain throughout

the book of judges there.

336

They're worshiping these false gods.

337

God gets angry, sells them

into the hand of Kush.

338

Yeah, that guy.

339

Yeah.

340

You wanna give that one a shot?

341

Pr I'm good.

342

Okay.

343

Yeah.

344

Hai.

345

Thyme King of Mesopotamia.

346

Anyways, he, it sells him into

the Mesopotamia King here and

347

they serve him for eight years.

348

So there's a time marker right there.

349

Eight years.

350

The first judge up is Othniel, and this

is Othniel, the son-in-law of Caleb.

351

And so Othal comes on the scene

and the spirit of Lord is upon him.

352

Notice verse 10.

353

He judges Israel, he delivers

Israel and the Lord land had rest.

354

Verse 11, 40 years.

355

So this is a quick story, but

we're dealing with almost 50 years

356

from verse seven to verse 11.

357

And that's something that we

need to to pay attention to.

358

Verse 12, then we get the next judge

up, one of the favorite judges of us.

359

And this is the not politically correct

judge situation because the people

360

of Israel, again, verse 12, did what

was evil on the side of the Lord.

361

And the Lord strengthened

lon, the king of Moab.

362

So now the Moabites come against

Israel because they had done what

363

was evil and they are captured by the

king of Moab, and they're subjected

364

to the king of Moab for 18 years.

365

Verse 13, God raises up another

judge, Ehud, the left-handed judge.

366

And this matters because.

367

God is gonna use Ahab to

go and deliver the people.

368

He's gonna go request an audience

with the king, and he's a left-handed

369

judge, which was un which was unusual.

370

So he straps a sword to his right

thigh, which would not have been

371

the place that a right-handed

soldier would've kept his weapon.

372

So probably when he's being searched

before going into the king, they're

373

searching his left thigh because that's

where the weapons would've been kept.

374

Not the le not the right thigh.

375

Ah, hood goes in.

376

He draws his sword after telling Eglin.

377

He's got a secret message, stabs

Eglin in the gut and it says Eglin.

378

Verse 17 was a very fat man.

379

Can't say that it says it in the Bible.

380

I'm not.

381

It's, this is what God's word says.

382

He's a man of substance.

383

He was a man.

384

Okay, it says very fat is what

it says there in verse 17.

385

You're translate it to today though.

386

They.

387

Say it differently.

388

I think maybe although the updates to

the e sv they could have changed it.

389

I don't think that was a change.

390

Can you imagine?

391

Oh, man.

392

And anyways, it says that the

fat closed over the blade.

393

Verse 22.

394

Oof.

395

And ah, hood was down a sword after that

one, probably a dagger more than a sword.

396

He escapes.

397

There's this somewhat humorous scene

of the servants thinking that the

398

king is in the bathroom, and then

they go in and they find him dead.

399

And this is what God does to deliver.

400

The people of Israel from the

hand of the Moabites there.

401

This is gruesome.

402

It is

403

Rod: gruesome.

404

And I don't know, this is one

of those explicit passages where

405

it seems like there's details

here that I don't need to know.

406

It's interesting, but I'm curious

as to why it's left in there.

407

And you could say it's

just historical recounting.

408

Maybe it is.

409

I don't know.

410

It's just, okay.

411

That's interesting

because this is memorable.

412

This is a part of the Bible that many

people who've read the Bible, they know.

413

Oh, that one, yes.

414

Yeah.

415

The very big king who's a

man of substance, and the

416

stuff came out after that.

417

That's interesting.

418

Why was that important to the

Lord to preserve that for us?

419

I don't know.

420

I'm curious about it.

421

Unless it's just the

422

PJ: humiliation of him, it, this is

part of God's glory over, over him is

423

saying, this is how humiliating this is.

424

You're the king of the Moabites,

but really this is your demise.

425

Yeah.

426

I, that, that's definitely true.

427

It is humiliating and maybe that it is a.

428

Simply that's true.

429

But notice verse 30

again, the time marker.

430

Moab was subdued that day under

the hand of Israel, and the

431

land had rest for 80 years.

432

And that's a long time.

433

And you think, man, things are going well.

434

Maybe we've turned the

corner in the background.

435

There's still the promises of the

Abraham and Covenant that are coursing

436

through the minds of the people now.

437

They're wondering when is

the full fulfillment of that?

438

Is that now?

439

Is that later?

440

What's happening here?

441

But they've got rest now from the

oppression, at least for 80 years.

442

But unfortunately, it's not gonna be.

443

An 80 years of that's gonna last any

longer than that because they're gonna

444

rise up and they're gonna do evil again.

445

But notice verse 31, it says

after him, this is after Ehud was

446

Shamgar, and Shamgar was another

judge just briefly mentioned here.

447

Kills 600 Philistines within Ox

Godde and he also saved Israel.

448

So this one's unique

because we don't find out.

449

When the Philistines attacked

or what happened, but it seems

450

like there was another hiccup

in Israel's obedience there, and

451

Shamgar was raised up in verse 31

452

Rod: or even how long it was.

453

So this is interesting because then you

start putting pieces together in terms

454

of the timing of the judges and the

numbers are hard to compute, at least

455

because some of these guys don't have.

456

Dates associated with them,

457

PJ: which is a challenge.

458

Yeah it's speaking of challenge

chapter four, we into a female

459

judge, judge Deborah, not Judge

Judy, but Judge Deborah close.

460

Judge Deborah, she's raised up by

the Lord because again, the people of

461

Israel did evil in the side of the Lord.

462

Verse one.

463

And the Lord gives him this time into

the hand of Jabin, the King of Canaan.

464

And he's going to oppress them

for 20 years, verse three.

465

And so Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of

Lapidoth was judging Israel at that time.

466

Couple of notes here.

467

Number one, she's not.

468

A pastor, right?

469

This is not the pastoral office.

470

And so those that will say Deborah was a

judge, so we should have female pastors.

471

It's apples and oranges there.

472

These are offices are

not one and the same.

473

And so for us to reach back and say

this is an example of a female pastor,

474

so we need to have female pastor, she

wasn't a pastor, she was a prophetess.

475

God used her to lead politically.

476

Militaristically, even you could argue

during the season for Israel, but I

477

don't think we can draw the direct

correlation between her and a pastoral

478

office to make an argument, to say,

this is reason why it's okay for us to

479

have pastors who are women, especially

in the New Testament, when we have

480

explicit instructions against that.

481

There's also signs here that we

get into, including with Barack

482

who of the fact that there was a

dearth of godly and strong men.

483

In the midst of Israel at this time,

Barack, she says to Barack, she

484

says, you need to go lead this army.

485

And Barack says, I'm not

going unless you come with me.

486

Which is not a sign of

bold, courageous leadership.

487

And then she even calls him out

for that and says, you know what

488

the Lord's gonna give victory, but

you're not gonna get the glory.

489

The Lord's gonna give Cicero

into the hand of a woman.

490

So I think even Deborah at

that point says, there's shame.

491

This response and the fact that there

aren't males that are present in

492

Israel to stand up and lead the people,

and God is instead using Deborah.

493

And Deborah is a faithful leader and

Deborah does great things for Israel

494

and she's commendable for that.

495

But here, this is a situation where

I don't think it's right for us

496

to say, look, Deborah was a female

leader in Israel, so we should

497

have female leaders in the church.

498

I don't think it holds water

to draw that connection there.

499

It's also hard to use the Book of

500

Rod: Judges as a template

for really anything.

501

Because it's so riddled with this.

502

Think about Israel's

history to this point.

503

This is not one of her high points.

504

This is a place where she struggles

and she's doing evil, and the

505

period of the judges is just.

506

It's difficult to say.

507

Let's take this as a template if

anything, and we're gonna say that

508

the template is that we should follow

the Lord's commands and do what he

509

says and not stray from those things.

510

I guess where the people might struggle

is that the prophet's role seems to be one

511

of the highest roles that God could give.

512

I.

513

Paul says later in the book of Ephesians

that the church is built on the foundation

514

of the apostles and the prophets, and

that he's given us now shepherds and

515

teachers, which seems like then, okay if

he's willing to give us women leaders who

516

fall into the highest positions that the

Old Testament afforded, why would he not

517

do that under the New Testament covenant?

518

PJ: Yeah and I think when we consider

profit, I think there are varying.

519

Classes of prophets because as we get into

the Book of Samuel, we're gonna find that

520

Saul finds himself among the prophets.

521

Now, this is a group of men or maybe

men and women who we don't know,

522

and they're not given a platform

in Israel in the sense of they're

523

not writing scripture either.

524

They're not writing scripture,

they're not authoritative in.

525

In that same degree, in that same sense.

526

So there are, there's a broad

category when we talk about prophet,

527

even that term can be applied

to a lot of different people.

528

So it simply says in the

text, she was a prophetess.

529

It's not, she was the

prophetess of Israel.

530

It's not that she's got a situation here

where she's prophesying to the people

531

of Israel the same way that Jeremiah or

Isaiah or any of the other prophets do

532

when they stand up and say, thus says

the Lord, here's my instructions to you.

533

I think we need to give room for the fact

that the word prophet, I agree with you.

534

There were some that God gave the title

prophet and that put them in a very

535

high position of authority over Israel.

536

But there were others that were

called prophets that didn't

537

have that same position either.

538

And I think that's what we're dealing

with, probably here with Deborah.

539

Rod: Helpful.

540

PJ: Anyways the story here is that

Barack is gonna lead the forces out,

541

and he's gonna go after Cicero here.

542

And Cicero is gonna flee and he flees

on foot and ends up in the tent of jail.

543

And jail is a woman who was not an

Israelite, but apparently feared

544

the Lord enough and or hated the.

545

Pagan king enough that she took

matters into her own hands.

546

She coaxes them into sleep

and she dispatches of them.

547

We will just leave it that way.

548

This is another gruesome death

that we find here in the book of

549

Judges and Jail is gonna be praised

for that and commended for that.

550

And that's really what chapter

five is gonna be about.

551

Deborah and Barack sing this

song of the Lord's Deliverance.

552

And and it says even insults some of

the Israelite in this chapter, in,

553

in verse 15 and 16, among the CLS of

Ruben, there were great searchings.

554

Why did you sit still among

the sheep folds and hear the

555

whistling for the flocks?

556

Where were you?

557

In other words, this is another

indictment against the situation

558

there in Israel that there were not.

559

Strong godly leaders and

warriors there to stand up.

560

Verse 24, most blessed of women be jl,

the wife of Hebrew, the Ken Knight of

561

the tent dwelling women most blessed.

562

So she's being praised here, recounts

what she did, and again, why the song?

563

Because the song was going to be something

that stuck with people and remind them of

564

God's faithfulness to deliver them even.

565

Yeah, to their own Shame by the hand

of JL into the future generations.

566

Which

567

Rod: reminds us why we sing today.

568

This is a biblical thing that we're

doing that generations of believers

569

have done from even the very beginning.

570

This is evidence that singing is meant

to be part of the Christian experience.

571

Certainly the believers experience in

general, but as a New Testament believer,

572

we have much more to sing about.

573

The enemy that's been defeated is

not a wicked king, but the enemy

574

of darkness and even death itself.

575

Jesus has.

576

Destroyed sin and death.

577

He has risen.

578

We now sing for reasons that are

far better and far longer lasting

579

than what they sang for here.

580

So as you prepare to go to church today, I

really hope you remember, or no yesterday.

581

Yesterday, sorry.

582

As you prepared to go to church next week.

583

I hope you remember this,

and remember to sing heartily

584

because of what God has done.

585

Yeah.

586

PJ: Yeah.

587

Let's pray and we will be done

with another episode, by the way.

588

Oh, one more time.

589

Marker there.

590

Notice end of verse of chapter five.

591

The lien had rest for 40 years again, so

the time markers are just passing on by.

592

As we get into the book, God

help us to, to process these

593

things, to understand them.

594

There's a lot here as, even as

Pastor Rod was saying, the book of

595

judges is difficult for us to draw

a lot of lasting principles out of.

596

And yet we do see your mercy.

597

We see your means of favor

and even grace towards Israel.

598

Even as we talked about at the beginning

of this episode, means of grace that

599

we experienced today, one of them

being spending time in your word.

600

And so God, we do ask that we would.

601

Prioritize that, that we would

not look at this formulaically and

602

think that if I do this, then it's

gonna automatically produce this.

603

But that this would be truly that

dynamic relationship that we enjoy

604

between you, where you draw us nearer

to you through our time in the word

605

and through our time in prayer to you.

606

God, I pray that we would spend

time reading your words, spend

607

time in the di daily Bible.

608

Reading and then be prompted to pray and

prompted to respond in prayer to you,

609

thanking you, acknowledging your truth.

610

Even bringing our questions to you and

saying, God, help me to understand this

611

because at face value I'm lost right now.

612

It's fair for us to be able to

come before you and seek that

613

guidance and seek that wisdom.

614

God, we thank you for our church and we

pray for a great week in front of us.

615

In Jesus name, amen.

616

Amen.

617

Keep in your Bibles.

618

Tune in again tomorrow for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

619

Go Dodgers.

620

Yeah.

621

I would agree with

everything that you said

622

bye.

623

Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

624

This is a ministry of Compass

Bible Church in north Texas.

625

You can find out more information

about ourChurch@compassntx.org.

626

We would love for you to leave a

review to rate to share this podcast

627

on whatever platform you happen to

be listening on, and we will catch

628

you against tomorrow for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

629

PJ: Yeah.

630

I would agree with

everything that you said