Bible 911-Psalm 91:1

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Psalm 91:1 (KJV) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

This Psalm and verse has been a comfort to people in trouble for a long time. It took on a new roll when the terrorist attacked New York on 9/11. I know, I say a version of verse 5 and 6 when I go out in public because of the pandemic.

I view Psalms 90-100 (Book IV) as having been written by Moses. I can see teaching and encouragement in these psalms for a people who have come out of Egypt and years of bondage. Putting a psalm into a scriptural context helps me see the Father better and how He deals with us. This psalm could have been written after the Amalekite attack in Exodus 17.

For this Bible 911 series I focused on the “secret place” and the “shadow of the Almighty”. I believe the “shadow” refers to the pillar of cloud that shaded the Children during their forty years of wandering in a very hot desert. The secret place of the Most High God could be His Mercy Seat, that is part of the Ark. It was here that Aaron would put the blood of the sacrifice to roll back judgment for another year. The heavenly one is where Jesus put His blood when He finished His work and went to the Father.

Psalm 9:11

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Psalm 9: 11 (KJV) Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

“Sing praises to the Lord” is where I have stopped with this verse for years without thinking about the middle and the last part of this passage. Well, not today.

“Which dwelleth in Zion” should be a timestamp as to when David wrote this Psalm. David brought the Ark to his city built on Mount Zion in 2 Samuel 6. One reference made a big deal about the fact that Mount Zion is where the Temple is. True, but Solomon built that. Zion was the area, at one time, that we would call the City of David. This is not the Jerusalem of Jesus’s day but a smaller portion. Since Jerusalem is named before the division of the land I guess it is the area the Melchizedek had built up in Genesis. The city expanded as David bought the threshing floor to sacrifice to stop the destroying angel and Solomon built the Temple. David actually brought Goliath’s head here after he had cut it off. My guess is that was a warning of things to come.

The last part really caught my attention in this reading- “declare among the people his doings”. That sounds like God has always wanted His people to be evangelists. To some degree that was done as the people were exiled by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Remember, the Wise Men knew of the prophecy about the Messiah. If David wrote this it predates either of those dark times for Israel. I said “if” because experts always have much to say about things like that. I will say that style and grammar issues may have an answer in the fact that David had a special anointing of the Holy Spirit that was helping him. The point is that God has always wanted His people to tell others about Him.

A look at Psalms 9 and 10 are in order. These two psalms together are acrostic, or the Hebrew alphabet was used, in order, to start the verses. Verse 11 starts with Zain or the seventh letter in the alphabet. Yes, there is much controversy about this also. Another feature of this Psalm is in verse 16. The word higgaion is before the word Selah. The word is also in Psalms 19:14 and 92:3 where it is translated to meditation.

More Study – I mentioned Melchizedek, but look into Adoni-Zedek (Joshua 10) and Adoni-Bezek (Judges 1) and their relationship to Jerusalem.    

These are sites I used, hopefully, they will be helpful to you. Please cut and paste.

https://bible.org/seriespage/psalm-9

https://shalomfountain.medium.com/psalms-9-10-acrostic-7aa2a702e64b

https://www.easyenglish.bible/psalms/psalm009n010-taw.htm

http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/ote/v21n2/17.pdf

Ecclesiastes 9:11

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Ecclesiastes 9:11- I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.(KJV)

Time and chance-A devotion from Joseph Prince is what started this series. The study below is informative and is worth your time to read it. When I looked on Bible Gateway most translations used the phrase “time and chance” even though it may not be the best choice of words. The paraphrase Bibles did a better job in rendering this phrase. It was frustrating to actually see the word luck used. I have said, “It is bad luck to be superstitious.” Deuteronomy 8:18 does clarify this- “It is God that gives the ability to gain wealth.” To live in His blessings is better than always hoping for a miracle. I am, however, glad for both.

https://www.josephprince.com/meditate-devo/time-and-chance

Under the Sun-Solomon uses this phrase twenty-seven times in Ecclesiastes according to the NIV Bible. It is a novel way to talk about everyone that is living. Ecclesiastes 8:15 and 9:13 carry an uplifting message, while most are pointing to truths about laboring, toil, and evils done by men.

Solomon-He is a classic piece of fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. His great achievement was building the First Temple. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs are attributed to him. I have no doubt that several Psalms (probably unnamed ones) were written by him; #72 and 127 bear his name. Even with all of this knowledge he chose to do evil and built temples and altars for all of the wives he should not have married. The New Testament list him in the genealogy for “Joseph” found in Matthew, refers to his splendor, and when the Queen of the South came to him, the others refer to the temple he built and the Colonnade named for him in Herod’s temple.

Could it be that Ecclesiastes 9:11 was written by Solomon to describe himself?   

Thought Question

Consider the legacy Solomon left Rehoboam, how did he treat the people of Israel?

Bible 911

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My series, Bible 911, will be an opportunity to have fun in a Bible study. I will be looking at the ninth chapter in every Book that has one. Why? There are several personal reasons, but none of my reasons are because of warnings to the U.S.A., that Christians need to be in fear, angel or demon numbers, or any of the other things I found on the internet about this series of numbers. I know that the Holy Spirit was directing the numbering of the Word so there would be order, but to worship, the work of a Jewish rabbi and a French printer is a push.

The initial study has shown me interesting verses that cover a wide variety of topics. Yes, I looked at every chapter 9 and verse 11 in the Bible. Why, because I could.

I will say that the 911, 811, 711, 611, 511, 411, 311, 211, and 111 (New Zealand and others) phone numbers were created to be helpful for people in need and are an easy way to spread pertinent information. It is a shame that people have misused 911 to create false emergencies that send resources to non-emergencies, and to prank people and police departments. I hope and believe that our 911 responders will have wisdom as they answer those calls. Sometimes the caller is the problem and not who they are calling about. I was glad when they came to help me.  

The Ark-Almonds

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What do almonds have to do with the Ark of the Covenant Law? There are two connections, Aaron’s staff, and the Menorah or the Golden Lamp.

Numbers 17 tells the tale of God having had enough of the grumbling against Aaron and Moses (vs. 5). Aaron’s staff had leaves, flowers, and fruit of the almond tree on it. This was the sign that God had chosen him to be the leader. The staff was to be put back into the Ark as a sign for Israel.

Numbers 11 to 16 are part of the ten test times that Israel tested God. The story of the manna and the quail, the spies returning and complaining about the land. (I think the people planned to take everyone back to Egypt and conquer the nation. They were not going back as slaves.) The two that directly affect the staff are Miriam and Aaron (Chapter 12) complaining about Moses, and Korah (a close relative of Moses) the Kohath, and Dathan and Abiram (Reubenites or the firstborn) trying to take control of the camp (Chapter 16). By this time, the people had been trained as an army.

Exodus 25 gives the instructions for the making of the Tent of Meeting and the furniture associated with it; Exodus 37 gives the same information, but it seems to be the confirmation that it was done. Details of the Menorah are here. There is much symbolism associated with the branches, bumps, flowers, and lights of this lamp. The simplest truth about the lamp and its artwork is that it is an almond tree. The lamp was to light the area in front of it.

The almond tree is one of the first to bloom in the spring and is used to symbolize someone who is watching over things. The Menorah is a “watcher” that lights the way for those coming to it, or for those who need to see.

Jeremiah 1:11 and 12 is a play on words when Jeremiah sees an almond branch and the Lord says He is “watching over” His words and Jeremiah.

Ecclesiastes 12:5 also has an almond tree that is showing the start of the year and includes a grasshopper dying that represents the end of the growing cycle or season.

Genesis 28:19 has Jacob running from Esau and resting at Luz (Almond Tree) for the night. Because of the dream of the ladder to Heaven, he asks God to watch over him on this journey and take care of him. He then renames the place Bethel or House of God.

Jacob also uses branches of the almond tree in his ritual in Genesis 30:37 of putting peeled limbs into the water. The poplar and plane tree were abundant and very leafy, so the symbolism is possibly more important than the wood. I had read once that experiments had been carried out on this combination of things and nothing was noticed that would account for Jacob’s results.

The only time that the almond nut (not the tree) is the center of attention is in Genesis 43:11 when Jacob sends almonds to the man in Egypt (Joseph).