Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days (audio‪)‬ The Oxford Bible Church

We are Temples of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:19-20). He indwells us and reveals and transmits God's grace to us: “He (the Holy Spirit) will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine (including healing) and declare (communicate, transmit) it to you. All things (such as healing) that the Father has are Mine. Therefore, I said that He will take of Mine (healing) and declare (communicate, transmit) it to you” (John 16:14-15). He is our COMFORTER (com-fort = with-strength), and HELPER. He STRENGTHENS us within to help us stand firm and do God’s will, as Jesus said: “He (the Father) shall give you another Comforter (Helper), that He may abide with you for ever, the SPIRIT of truth; you know Him, for He will be IN YOU” (John 14:16-17). He wants to fill us and empower us for ministry (Acts 1:5, 2:1-4). We must cultivate a close fellowship with the Person of the Holy Spirit.

Hilary shares about the Person of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Counsellor, who lives in us (John 14:16-17), who enables us to receive God’s love, and to give our love to God: “the COMMUNION (fellowship) of the HOLY SPIRIT be with you all” (2Corinthians 13:14). He inspires and empowers our fellowship with God, and enables us to receive God's grace and to fulfil God's plan and purpose for our life.

We complete our study of Psalm 9, a Thanksgiving Psalm. v11 introduces the 2nd half of the Psalm with a parallel verse to v1, singing praises to the Lord, who dwells in and with His people (Zion), calling them to declare His deeds to all people.The basis for his praise, thanksgiving and declarations is God's justice that He performs on behalf of the oppressed and the humble, who call out to Him. In particular, He is the Avenger of innocent blood, who investigates every crime and hunts down the oppressor (v12, see also Numbers 35:33-34, Genesis 4:10, 2 Kings 9:26). God will remember and avenge the blood of His persecuted people. We discuss the avenger of blood and the cities of refuge in the Old Testament. All have sinned, and the Lord is the Avenger, who will hunt every man down until they pay in full for their sin, but God has also provided a City of Refuge for us - Jesus Christ, to whom we can flee for safety (Hebrews 6:18, Proverbs 18:10). Believers are those "who have fled for refuge to Christ" (Hebrews 6:18). In Christ we are saved from Divine Judgment. We discuss the danger of sitting on the fence as illustrated by the story of Joab killing Abner in the gates of Hebron (a city of refuge) in 2 Samuel 3.

Next David asks God to deliver him from those who hate him, who were seeking to kill him (v13), and it is significant that his main motivation for asking for deliverance was that it would result in God getting the glory (v14), which is a great example for us. If our prayers were motivated by the glory of God, we would surely see more answers. He then describes one way God's judgment works in this life - the law of sowing and reaping. Evildoers get ensnared in the same trap they set for others (v15,16). Haman built a gallows for Mordecai, only to be executed on it himself. God can created this universe to operate in a moral way, according to His moral and physical laws, so when people violate His moral order, it will come back to bite them. Moreover, sin carries its own curse, bringing darkness, death and destruction on the sinner. This can be seen as a judgment of God on sin, for God created and ordained things to work this way. "There is nothing that a wicked man does that is not against his own interest. He is continually doing himself harm, and takes more pains to destroy his soul than the righteous man does to get his saved unto eternal life." This is a weighty truth, so the Psalmist adds at this point: "Higgaion; Selah", which means meditate on this; mark it well.

Then David goes on to describe final end of the wicked at death and beyond: "The WICKED shall be turned into HELL (Sheol), and all the nations that FORGET God." The essence of sin is forgetting God, living as if there is no God, forgetting the claims of our Creator. Even nice people who forget God are wicked in His sight. Since they forget Him and push Him out of their thoughts, God will forget them – they will be separated from His loving Presence forever. This is their eternal judgment - God gives them up to their choice to be independent from God. Why does the sinner forget God? Because the thought of God (1) makes him afraid, (2) doesn't entertain him enough, and (3) makes it hard for him to carry on in sin. By contrast "the needy (those who know their need for God and depend on Him) shall not always be forgotten (He will remember them forever - they will eternally dwell in His Presence). The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever" (v18). Even if it seems like God has forgotten them, He has not, and soon He will manifest His grace to them, which will continue forever.

David finishes with a prayer for God to move into action and judge the nations for their own sake: "Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail (prosper in their evil ways). Let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O Lord (Divine judgments produce the fear of the Lord in people), that the nations may know themselves to be but (weak, frail) men (who need salvati

Psalm 9 & 10 have a close relationship, so much so the Septuagint treats them as one. The acrostic structure that begins in Ps 9 continues into Ps 10, linking them together. They also have similar terminology & themes. But each stands by itself. Ps 9 is a Thanksgiving Psalm, whereas Ps 10 is more a lament. The title of both Psalms, giving the key to their fulfilment, is 'the Death of the Son' which points to the work of Messiah, the Son of God (Ps 2:7), who was prophesied to become a Man, the Seed of the Woman, to take our sin and suffer death to save us, and then crush the enemy underfoot in His resurrection (Gen 3:15). In this way, He lays the basis for the salvation of those who receive Him, and for establishing His Kingdom on earth. In this way, Ps 9 continues on from the messianic revelation of Ps 8, and this connection is confirmed by the mention of the NAME of the Lord (9:2), as in Ps 8:1,9. Thus the death of the Messiah, the Son of God is the basis for the ultimate fulfilment spoken of in these Psalms.

Ps 9 is a Thanksgiving Psalm, but whereas thanksgiving is usually for the Lord's mercies, here it is mostly for His Righteous Judgments, that in a world full of wickedness and oppression, God will set things right, punish the wicked and restore the oppressed, and right all wrongs. David starts by praising God with all his heart, proclaiming all His wonderful works, rejoicing in His salvation and singing praise to His Name or revealed nature (v1,2). He then thanks God for how He'd fought for him in the past and will fight for him in his future battles, acknowledging God's Presence with him was the key to his victories, causing his enemies to retreat, fall and be defeated before him (v3). God had supported David in his cause; judging in his favour as the Judge of Righteousness, only because he had submitted to God and His cause (v4). Likewise, when we first submit to God, He gives us more of His grace (presence), so that when we resist the enemy, he will will flee from us (Jam 4:6-7). Then in v5-6 looks at the bigger picture and declares the future final judgments of the Day of the Lord, just before God’s Kingdom is established on earth. He uses the prophetic perfect tense to emphasise these prophecies are certain to come to pass. He announces the final destruction of the wicked, blotting out their name forever. Once God's Kingdom is established, the wicked and their earthly kingdoms will be forgotten, and the wicked will be blotted out of God's Book of Life. God's enemies, who'd destroyed many cities, will themselves be destroyed, so that they can no longer destroy others. Even their memory will perish. This will be fulfilled when all the kingdoms of this world will be destroyed at Christ's 2nd Coming, when He'll establish His Kingdom on the earth. By contrast with the reign of the wicked, the Lord & His Kingdom will endure forever; He'll judge the nations from His throne (v7). "He shall judge the world in righteousness" (v8) - in Acts 17:31, Paul quotes this verse, claiming it will be fulfilled by Jesus Christ: “He has appointed a Day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the MAN whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by RAISING Him from the DEAD.” This shows Paul understood the messianic nature of this Psalm, as revealed by its Title - that the Lord who will ultimately reign as King & Judge over the whole world, is Christ, the Son of God, who'll first become a man and die and rise again.

Then, David offers thanksgiving for the salvation of God’s people, who trust in the Messiah, who is a refuge for the oppressed, who call upon Him in times of trouble (v9). 'Trouble' is a rare word describing being in despair, cut off from all hope. Christ is also our Refuge from the Divine Judgment that we deserve for our sins. In His death, He became our Atonement (Covering), taking God's righteous judgment upon Himself, so that those who trust (take refuge) in Him are saved (as in the p

Matthew 13:45-46: “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one Pearl of Great Price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Peter looks at this Parable from 2 viewpoints (1): The Merchant represents those who are searching, and discover that Jesus Christ is the Pearl of Great Price, and are willing to surrender all they have to possess Christ. Only in Him is there PEACE in this world and HOPE in the next world. (2): The Merchant represents Jesus Christ, who loved us and came and gave His all (even His Blood) to purchase us for Himself, that we might be freed from sin and belong to Him forever.