Hello, and welcome to the West Side Church's special Monday Morning Coffee Podcast. On this podcast, our preacher, Mark Roberts, will help you get your week started right with a look back at yesterday's sermon so that we can think through each other and better work the applications into our daily life. Mark will then look forward into this week's final reading so that we can know what to expect and watch for. And he may have some extra bonus thoughts from time to time. So grab a cup of coffee as we start the week together on Monday morning coffee with Mark.

And I certainly am ready to dive all the way into the Psalms. Let's do that Psalm thing. Such a great place to be reading the Bible. Oh, it's gonna be a great week. Let's get it all together and let's get it started. Grab your Bible, grab your coffee, let's grow together. Yesterday I preached out of Ephesians chapter 4, but rather than talking about what the church ought to be, talked about how the church can teach us what our family ought to be. I hope that was helpful to you. It was a different way of doing things. I heard a fella at the Minute the Word conference use that idea, and that sparked some things for me. Appreciated that very, very much. Now, you know what's amazing about Ephesians 4? It does. It does. It flips that usual idea. We often say, take God home to your family. Sure, that's true. But Paul is saying what we do in God's family, the church, can shape how we live at home. When we forgive freely among the church family, we get in the practice of forgiving when the kids leave Legos on the floor again and we step on them at two o'clock in the morning, which may be an opportunity to guard our tongues as well. But when we encourage each other on Sunday, we start ways, start noticing ways to build up our spouse at home instead of just grumbling about who left the cap off the toothpaste. When we're serving in the local church, we learn to serve at home. Yes, even when it is your turn to empty the dishwasher. So here's the challenge this week. Don't just take God home. Take what you practice in God's family and let it overflow into your physical family. A kind word, a gentle admonition, a shared blessing. These small habits can transform your home. And imagine if every home mirrored West Side. Just think about that. Kids would learn to love, spouses would learn to give, and yes, even your family game night might be a little bit calmer, at least at least until someone lands on boardwalk and the owner starts singing the you're bankrupt now song. I trust you know what I mean. That's the power of living as God's family in the church and at home. Let's start that by taking one small step today. Identify something you picked up from yesterday's sermon and put that into practice in your home today. Remember, that's what the podcast is about. Making sure that we don't leave Sunday's message in the church building. Once you've made a decision about what you'll do today with your family, get your Bible and open it to the book of Psalms. One scholar said this and all the rest of the Psalms that follow Psalm 146 begin and end with hallelujah, a word which puts much of God's praise into a little compass. I like that. This is a psalm that gives us some direction in our worship to remind us and to renew our thoughts about that. And I really think Psalm 146 is a wonderful psalm to prepare for worship, kind of psalm that you can mark in your Bible and you can read during the time between Bible class and worship to get your mind where it needs to be for worship. Let's work on the 146th Psalm and hold on to those ideas that we've been talking about from savoring the Psalms, a lesson I preached two weeks ago in the 9 a.m. hour. We're thinking about what kind of psalm it is, and then we're going to read it slowly and prayerfully. Psalms we're reading this week are not long. Plenty of time to read them a couple of times, read them in different translations. Read it out loud. Psalms sound differently when we read them out loud. Get a feel for the psalm. Let the psalm take you to the Lord, and then even consider praying the psalm. And this psalm is very, very, very prayable, very much so. So let's start with what kind of psalm is it? And it is a hymn of praise. It does not have the call for help that we would find in a lament, but instead it's an invitation to praise God. And there's much here about praising God in creation, what God does for creation. There's a little bit of a wisdom feel. We'll talk about that in a moment, but it is a psalm of praise. So it begins with a call to praise, verses one and two. I'll praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being, verse two. That's a very green verse for me. I use green to mark beautiful passages in the Psalms, and that one is very green. Then verses three and five talk about the uncertainty of human wealth, human abilities versus the constancy of God. One writer said, all human objects of trust, whether outstanding or ordinary, they lack ability, continuance, and reliability. That is absolutely so. Don't put your trust in princes, don't put your trust in man. That's going nowhere. And then verses six to ten cover God acting. And there's just a long list of the things that God does and who God is. He is the omnipotent creator, verse six. He's the advocator of the helpless, verse seven. He's the provider, he's the emancipator, he's the giver of sight, verse eight. He's the uplifter, he's the lover of good men, he is the protector of exiles, verse nine. He's the judge of the evil. He is the eternal king, verse ten. And we really need to grab on to the eternal reign of God. He is the king for always and for all time. We praise and honor him for who he is and for what he does. Our reading for Monday, Psalm 146. It's Tuesday. It is Tuesday. Let's get our Bibles over to Psalm 143, 12 verses in our reading today. The reading for Tuesday, Psalm 143, and there will be a Zoom call tonight, Westsiders. Looking forward to thinking about this Psalm with you tonight. This is a psalm that seemed to talk seems to talk about a time of depression. And I think working through these verses maybe can help us a little bit when we feel overwhelmed, maybe thinking there's too much going on in this world. I'm just down, I'm in despair, I can't go on. Psalm 143 is a psalm of desperation, and so you know already that makes it a lament. It's an individual lament. David is going through some sort of terrible crisis here. Now, some have tried to say the crisis is sin, verse 2, and sometimes it gets listed as a penitential psalm. That's a special kind of lament, crying out to God for help with sin, crying out for forgiveness. But I would agree with some scholars, one of my favorite scholars on the Psalms, Derek Kidner, there's just not enough there in verse 2 to decide that this is about sin in David's life. What matters here is that there is movement in the Psalm, from preoccupation with our own troubles to finding and following God's way. That's one of the things that we want to look for in the Psalms always is we're looking for movement. And so pay attention to that and see what you see as you're reading down through Psalm 143. In verse 4, we get that heavy note of despair. And then verse 5, I remember the days of old. This is not just nostalgia. This is not just, oh, the good old days were so much better. This is thinking about what God has done to build faith and foster more faith in what God will do. And so beginning about verse 7, things begin to move towards answering. I'm waiting for an answer in expectation an answer will come. Some have noted that the tempo seems to pick up in verse 7, and I think that's probably right. Verse 7, the solution is God. David prays not for the removal of the problem, whatever that is, but that God will act. God is the one that will solve this problem. Verse 8 through 10 then has three times that David prays for guidance. Verse 8, the way I should go. That's a prayer for understanding, the path of life. And then verse 10, teach me to do your will. That's a prayer about priorities, life agenda. Then verse 10 continues, I want to be led. Led me, let your good spirit lead me on level ground. Level ground, that expression there is unique in all of the Bible, but I think we understand exactly what the psalmist is looking for. And it is interesting here, verse 10, he says, I want to be led by the spirit. We shy away from that sometimes. If a hymn says something about that, sometimes people get a little uneasy with that, and I understand about that. There's lots of mistakes about what it is to be led by the Spirit, but it is Bible language. David says, I want to be led by the Spirit. And it's hard not to notice the change in tone beginning about somewhere about verse 8. There's still some stuff about enemies, verse 9, but the real emphasis now is on knowing and doing God's will. Let's talk about that more tonight in Zoom. Looking forward to that already, Westsiders. If you're not a member of the Westside Church, I'll see you on the podcast tomorrow. The reading, the reading for Tuesday, Psalm 143. Welcome to Wednesday. It's Wednesday, and today we're reading the 101st Psalm. This is a royal psalm. It's by the King. It's about the King. It's about his rule. And that does mean this is a wonderful place to learn some things about leadership because David will talk a lot about mercy and integrity and justice here. Woving, weaving, woving? Is that yeah, what's the answer? The answer, more coffee. Weaving all of that together with the idea that the godly leader is the one that's doing God's will. Some have tried to make this into a lament. I just don't think you can get there from here. It's a vow, a promise to live in a certain sort of way. And it does have kind of a wisdom note to it. It sounds a little bit like Proverbs or other wisdom books because, yeah, because God's way is the way of wisdom. So watch for the vow features, watch for the commitment that David is making here. And there's lots of word repetition. Blameless, verse 2, 3, and 6. In my house, verse 2 and 7, before my eyes, verses 3 and 7. I think in my presence is what the New King James has there. Destroy verses 5 and 8. So lots of this, lots of this business where a theme is emerging. And I think the Psalm breaks into two parts. There needs to be truth in the life of the ruler, verses 1 to 4, and then there needs to be truth in the lives of the followers, verses 5 to 8. And I do like that the psalm begins with the life of the ruler. I will ponder the way that's blameless. I will walk with integrity, verse 2. I will not set before my eyes things that are worthless. I will hate the work of those who fall away. A perverse heart shall be far from me, verses 3 and 4. Godly leadership understands the importance of the heart. The godly leader makes sure he's walking with God first. And then in verse 5, what about those who are following the godly leader? They don't have any interest in slander and gossip. Our society pays millions of dollars for a tell-all book that slanders somebody. And then maybe 18 years later, after it moves to the court, the author has to pay some damages to somebody that was completely and totally misrepresented or gossiped about. Everyone's forgotten when the case finally comes around and all the appeals and so forth. In the meantime, that poor person's been slandered and everyone thinks less of them. No, godly people don't do that kind of thing. They practice purity and faithfulness, the same thing that they demand in their leaders, they demand of themselves. And I think verses six and seven really sit down on that idea. Now, this psalm does not have a direct messianic link, yet when we think of David, and yes, that he does not always live up to the standard that he set, I will set, I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless, verse 3. What are you doing on the balcony, David, looking at a woman who's bathing? So when we think about David, and we think about how he did not always measure up to even what he himself knew the godly leader should be, it makes us long for leadership that can fit the bill. And of course, that is Jesus the Christ. That is Jesus the Christ. Isaiah the 11th chapter that we've read sets him forth as the ideal king. Psalm 101 makes us want that king. A reading for Wednesday, Psalm 101. It's Thursday. We are headed towards the end of the week. Hope it's been a good week for you. I've enjoyed being in this week in the Psalms with you. Psalm 131 is the reading for Thursday, the 131st Psalm. This is not a long psalm. Plenty of time to savor this, read it several times, read it in different translations. This is a psalm of assent. Say more about that probably tomorrow. Psalm 120 is the first. And this is a psalm of confidence or a psalm of trust. Really, you're looking here at what it is to be a person who submits to God and submits to God's guidance. Get verse 1, O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high. Lofty eyes are a sign of pride. And one writer said, it would be easy to make this verse an excuse to avoid the challenges of life. But the sin rejected at the beginning of verse one is pride. And then the sin at the end of verse one is presumption. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. By the first of these, one undervalues other people. By the second, one overestimates and overreaches oneself, forgetting the Lord. I think that's helpful in verse one. We need some balance in who we are and what we need to be. And then there is this wonderful expression, I have calmed and quieted my soul. And I really think all of this pushes forward the idea that godliness is an inside out proposition. We have to change from the inside out. What we think of ourselves, what we think of other people, what we think of God, what we allow to upset us. We need to hope in the Lord, verse 3. Psalm 131, that's our reading for Thursday. Hello, it's Friday. It is Friday. That makes your coffee extra good, doesn't it? Loving me some Friday coffee. Psalm 133 is the reading for today, the 133rd Psalm. And I want to talk about unity. Those of you who've been in my Romans class know that that is the major theme of the book of Romans. And I have talked a lot about unity as we concluded that class recently and worked through the last section, the section beginning about chapter 12, where Paul is really laying down some practical admonitions there. And by now you're thinking, I thought we were reading the Psalms, not reading Romans. One of the things that I have said a lot in that Romans class is that we just haven't done a great job as brethren with unity. In fact, I kind of grew up thinking unity was bad because I kept hearing a ton of sermons about wrong sorts of unity, various churches that were involving themselves in interdenominational works and the community and so forth, uniting with false religion and trying to pretend that everything was just fine. You can't do that. That's not real unity. It's not the kind of unity that's being praised here in Psalm 133. But it does mean that sometimes we're a little suspicious of unity, and what we ought to do is want godly unity. That's what Jesus prayed for. For example, in John 17, it's what Paul wrote to the Roman Church about in the book of Romans, and it is what the 133rd Psalm is all about. Now, this is a song of ascent. I mentioned yesterday that I'd say more about that today. And so I'll just go ahead. These are the songs that were sung by the pilgrims as they climbed toward Jerusalem on the way to the annual feast. Thousands and thousands of people would throng to Jerusalem for Passover and for Pentecost, and they would sing these songs. Just beautiful to hear groups of tens and hundreds singing these praises of God on their way to worship. And this is a song of David, but if it well, and you know the headings are not necessarily inspired and not necessarily accurate because of that. But if David wrote it, he had to write this pretty early in his life because there's not a lot of unity in his family, in his household after the terrible events of 2 Samuel chapter 11. And some have said that this could be classified as a wisdom song designed to teach the value of unity. So it opens with a blessing, verse 1. It has two metaphors. Unity is like an anointing, verse 2, unity is like the morning dew, verse 3, and then it concludes with a blessing at the end of verse 3. So the anointing here, precious oil on the head running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron. Remember, that would be like a perfume or like a cologne. That's not a heavy, heavy kind of oil, you know, like olive oil that would just be dripping all over him and making a mess. This would be a lighter oil, and it would be consecrating him, setting him aside, setting Aaron aside for his special work. And all of the people would be delighted to see that because they needed the high priest, and they were glad to have a high priest consecrated to serve them and to bring them before the Lord. And then the morning dew in verse 3. Now, Mount Hermon is nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, and it's known for being very lush and for being very green. Now, what would it feel like in Jerusalem, a place that hardly gets any rain at all from May to October, if that kind of dew suddenly fell? That would be incredible. A wet, lush morning. Sometimes we get up in the morning and the driveway and the sidewalks are damp and wet, and the grass has got beads of dew all over it. We're getting into fall and we're past that kind of season. That'll happen in the spring. But but you're familiar with that kind of just wet day that everything just feels extra alive. And I suspect we'll see that, of course, in the spring again. So maybe maybe what we think about is how excited we get here in Texas when we get a snow day, because that's so unexpected. Well, that's the joy of the dews of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. Then the psalm concludes with this wonderful blessing. And there's discussion about for there the Lord has commanded the blessing. There could be the temple, or it could be where God's people live in unity. The reading for Friday, Psalm 133. That concludes the podcast then for the week. Thanks so much for listening. I've just received some wonderful feedback recently about the podcast, and it just means so much. Had a wonderful conversation when I was preaching in Houston at the Kleinwood Congregation. Wonderful lady there stopped to tell me how much the podcast meant to her, and it was helping her and helping others, and she's sharing it with others. That kind of feedback and encouragement means a great deal. All the people who work on the podcast, it doesn't just happen. It doesn't just happen. The people do lots to make all of this get done and get up on the World Wide Web where you can get to it and all those things. And we all, all of us, appreciate so much someone saying, This is helpful to me. I'm just very glad to do the podcast and to be with you in the Word of God each week. So leave it a rating or review. Tell somebody else about it. It is, it is my joy to open the scriptures with you every day. I'm Mark Roberts. I want to go to heaven, and I want you to come too. See you on Monday with a cup of coffee.

Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ podcast, Monday Morning Coffee with Mark. For more information about Westside, you can connect with us through our website, just Christians.com, and our Facebook page. Our music is from Upbeat.io. That's Upbeat with two Ps, U-P-P-B-E-A-T, where creators can get free music. Please share our podcast with others, and we look forward to seeing you again with a cup of coffee, of course, on next Monday.