Good morning, everyone. Again, it's an honor to bring you God's Word today. It is Sunday, December 11th, 2022. We'll be continuing our sermon series titled The Faithful Outcasts, and we're going to see from today's sermon that it's actually normal for believers to be outcasts at times. With whatever nation we live in, whatever community we live in, there's been times where we have been outcasts. That's part of our normal reference point as believers, where because we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and his commands, which follow along the lines of the best of natural law, where we are against adultery, stealing, murder, and other types of mischief as well as idolatry, because the world is steeped in all of those things, we will stand out and we will be outcasts at times. Today is very fitting because we have a very active sermon today where we need to study and we have a number of Psalms to go through and as I've been speaking about with the book of Hebrews, this is not a lazy man's book, and that we need to study, we need to know the Old Testament references. And that's why the book of Revelation is destroyed, misinterpreted, especially today with the heavy dispensationalism, is because the Old Testament references are ignored or misinterpreted. So to my New Testament Christian friends, we definitely need to know the Old Testament to be true New Testament Christians. You won't understand what you're reading if you don't get the references. So we'll get into all of that today. I will break down every psalm in the next only eight verses of the book of Hebrews in chapter 1, we'll see how many references there are to the Psalms, and it's very fitting. So, we're going to get into all this today. So let's pray for God's guidance, and then we'll continue our sermon series to, again, focus on how you and I can adjust to really being outcasts as time progresses. in the West, in America, in Australia, in Italy, in France, Germany, any place that the gospel was spread. And we're seeing that there's a wholesale rejection of most of its principles. So let's pray and we'll ask God for guidance. I'll, of course, ask him for faithfulness. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for this day. We thank you that you are our great King. We thank you that you are the mediator of the covenant and just as important the administrator. We know Lord that you are at the right hand of the Father guiding all things. We know Lord that as bad as it seems that even the rebellious are in the palm of your hand and you will work things out to your glory. We thank you for this. Again, we thank you for this day. We're grateful that we can live and learn in relative peace. For now, when we worship on the Sabbath and proclaim your name We thank you, Lord, for the constant guidance that you've given us during these difficult times. We pray, Lord, that the Word, today's message, would reach who it needs to, again, based on your Word, to provide guidance and comfort and instructions on how we ought to live during these very troubling times. as far as the faith is concerned, Lord. I pray that you would keep my speech clean, my words would be pure, that I would only relate thoughts and doctrine that's faithful from your word, and that you would push me to the side, Lord. Let me be a vessel, again, to proclaim your word and proclaim it strongly, and more importantly, Lord, accurately. So we ask this and we ask you to bless the rest of our worship service. And we thank you, Lord, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen. So today we're continuing in the book of Hebrews, very important book. There's been a series of sermons that I've been preaching so you can adjust and understand the difficult times we live in, not go to some fake history or listen to supposed experts that don't know what they're talking about, but to go to the word of God. So we were reading the book of Judges and we went through a whole sermon series. If you didn't hear it, you should. It details what happens to a nation like ours in America or yours, those of you watching from Europe, what happens when a once faithful nation is destroyed because of its lack of faith and turning against the Lord who delivered them. So we see the meltdown of the Hebrew people in the book of Judges. They were given everything just like us in Europe and in America. We were given the land flowing with milk and honey. Our forefathers and mothers conquered the land, put in so much work, and now we are spoiled brats, degenerate And we think that chicken is grown in plastic and we go and pick it up in the supermarket or that fruit magically appears in the produce section. So we do so little today and have so much and we're so spoiled and so ungrateful that God is judging us. We're just like the Hebrew people in the book of Judges. And you could see the symptoms and the consequences of living without faith. So that's the book of Judges was about, showing the meltdown. So we have a real reference point. So even though we didn't live through this type of meltdown, God's people, as God's people, we've gone through this before, where a nation has collapsed. So if you want to understand it, go to the book of Judges, completely relevant and applicable for today. And then we went next to the book of Ruth, which is great because it's a study on how the faithful like you and I survived during that collapse in a Book of Judges scenario, because Ruth lived during the time of the Book of Judges. And even as the nation was melting down, we have Ruth and Boaz come together miraculously to continue the covenant line of the Lord Jesus Christ, for they gave birth to the grandfather of King David. So that's an encouragement. That's how to survive, covenant survival. And now, one of the things that's hurting most of us, myself included, is how do we go so quickly from people who stood against pedophilia, sex with children, sodomy, very disgusting practice, lesbianism, the queer stuff. How do we as people that were commended for being moral and being against these things, as well as mental illness, gender dysphoria is the technical diagnosis for it, which we now know is transgenderism, we stood against all these things. And we were commended for it, that even people who practice these things at least admitted it was a sin, just like someone who used to be a who was a drug addict or a drunkard. They admitted, yes, it's a problem. I'm doing the wrong thing. It is a sin. Well, now, when you speak against any of these evils, you are an outcast. You're on the fringe of society. You're open to lawsuits. You can lose your job. You're separated from your family. You're separated from many of these wacky, disgusting churches that will be destroyed. Remember the consequences of COVID, lockdowns, all these things. Even though it looks like evil authorities are doing it, God is allowing it. It's him allowing the judgment to continue. upon a degenerate and ungrateful group. Well, how do you and I function as outcasts? Well, that's what the book of Hebrews is about. It was written to the original group of outcasts who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we spoke about that in the first couple of sermons. This is part three in this series. And we explained that these people lost everything, family connections, jobs, much like we're losing today, and it was for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in their time, it was actually more difficult for them because the Hebrew people that believed in Christ, they were being separated from their group, but their group still held to many biblical teachings. In other words, they had a harder time because in the first century when Jewish believers or Messianic type believers, they believed that Jesus was the Mashiach, when they were being separated from the group, the group they were separating from wasn't like the group we have today. Today it's easy to be an outcast. There's not a lot of confusion. Like I said, if you stand against evil, you're an outcast. Well, in those days, The group they were separating from would have agreed with them that bestiality, sex with animals or sex with children is wrong. It's disgusting. They were being thrown out solely for their belief in Jesus Christ. So they had it much harder. Today it's easy for us because You're almost proud, you know, happy, joyous to be an outcast, not to be associated with the evil that's being practiced today that gets us thrown out of our families, communities, and churches. So they had it much harder in the first century because the dividing line wasn't as clear. So today we have it easy compared to them. So if we can learn lessons from them, From the first century, Paul's writing to this group of Hebrews, if we could learn from them to have courage, to be faithful outcasts, hence the title of the sermon series, it'll strengthen all of us. And again, I always want to be an encouragement, and I don't want to give you my opinion. I want to give you the word of God. So let's turn to our sermon outline. Today is part three in our sermon series, going to go through a lot of Psalms. I really had to do my homework. and a lot of documentation and a lot of references today from the Old Testament as I explained to you. So point number one. It is fitting that the writer of Hebrews would quote so many Psalms in the introduction of this letter. Even in the first century, believers were mostly attached to the book of Psalms. The Psalms are a prayer book for believers, an important historical reference. So today we're only working through to finish the first chapter of Hebrews, only verses 6 through 14, but we have at least a half a dozen Psalms in these verses. So if you don't know the Psalms, you don't get the references, you're going over the richness of the text, you're neglecting it. So this is not a time for laziness on my part or yours when it comes to parts of scripture like this. And again, this is why Revelation has been made a mess. Revelation, which was a beautiful and comforting book, for 1,500, 1,600 years has become such a mess today, simply because people don't take the time, including pastors and theologians, to go over the Old Testament references and to take them seriously. Well, we're not going to do that today. We will go over each psalm that's being referenced. So Hebrews 1, verses 6 through 14, we'll read it, and then we'll get into the breakdown. Now you have to understand, the book of Psalms, when Paul was writing this letter to the Hebrews to give them comfort, the Psalms were already around for over 900 years, almost 1,000 years, about 1,000 years, because that's when David reigned, 1,000 years before Christ. So it's an incredible book. And it had been with the people. I mean, we, many of us who actually bother to read our constitution, understand what a document of freedom it is far from perfect, but it did grant freedoms to the people. Well, that's only 200 years old, 200 and change is a thousand year old document. So the people had it for a long time. The book of Psalms has always brought comfort because when I read the book of Psalms, when you read it, you get to read an inspired prayer book. that those who went through every type of situation, you see, as they say, being a fly on the wall, a spy in the room, you get to see private prayers being expressed. You get to see God himself speaking back, talking back to the writers of these prayers. So if you've neglected the book of Psalms, it's something you need to look at. It's wonderful insight. We don't need to wonder, we don't need to go to men for guidance and comfort, we can go to God. And very importantly, I can see the struggles of a believer, of someone who is in God's covenant from a thousand years ago, and the themes and the concerns that the writers had are the same ones I have, because people don't change, and this wicked world doesn't change. So they made it through, and we will make it through, as bad as it looks today, because God is on our side. And the little people, if you've lost much, if you've lost money, you've been financially hurt, if you've lost relationships, but it's for being righteous by clinging onto Christ, then good for you, as Peter said. It's better that we suffer for righteousness' sake than to suffer as sinners. So that's the whole point of the book of Psalms. It's a wonderful reference. Point number two, very important, and I want you to remember this. I think we forget this. David being the author of many Psalms is also fitting, as he was an outcast in the house of Saul. This is why the name of this sermon series was chosen. All believers will live through a time of hostility relating to the reprobate. Saul, a covenant breaker, hated David because it reminded him of God's judgment. It didn't seem to make sense to you, the faithful outcast being a faithful outcast. David was a faithful outcast in the house of Saul. And if you remember, even though David brought Saul great joy and comfort in serving him, playing his harp as a young man, the only one who could take away Saul's horrible migraines, because Saul was evil and he was surrounded by evil and he had familiar spirits. Saul, when he was in trouble, Saul and David were both sinners. They were both men, both sinners, both mortal. But the difference was, when David was in trouble, he went to God. When Saul was in trouble, he went to the world system. Whether it was speaking to pagans or to witches or to people in the world, he took worldly advice. Where David, when he was in trouble, went to the Lord. When God confronted Saul and his sin, Saul doubled down and would reject God's advice, which he was getting through the prophet Samuel or Shmuel. David would not. David, when Nathan confronted him, David was broken. So we see it's the same thing with you and I. We don't hate the people. that have made us an outcast in our lives because they're just like us. The only difference between us and them, we're not superior in any way. We're superior in that we submit to the Lord Jesus Christ. Like David, when we're in trouble, we go to God. Our family and friends, when they're in trouble, they go to the world. And that's why they're being poisoned and deceived, both spiritually and physically. with the vaccines and the whole COVID scenario, and now they'll be poisoned by these new flu shots that have the same technology in it. But the point is, if you make worldly experts an idol, if you don't check the sources and make sure that they're being honest, never trust these people. If they hate God, they'll hate you. So David, it's great that Paul Being guided by God in speaking to the Hebrews. He knew what he was doing in the first chapter. He comes out guns firing ripping off all these riffing off these Psalms because people would know okay We can make it. We're first century Jews, Hebrews that came to faith. We're losing everything, but so did our great King David. He lost everything too. And look at our God, all this guidance we get from the Lord in the Psalms, all this comfort. So this is what's being, this is the aim. So we see that in chapters one and two, Angels in the Torah, God's laws is being pointed out. And as we saw in the first part of this book, the point is being made in this first chapter that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God himself in the flesh is higher than the angels that the people sometimes got caught up in worshiping in. And Paul being faithful goes to scripture. He doesn't bring human arguments. He brings the words of God to prove his point. So now here's where the work comes in. So you must understand the Old Testament references in the New Testament to be mature in the faith. In the first chapter of the book of Hebrews, roughly seven different psalms are referenced, and we'll go through them. So we're going to read the text, and then we'll read the psalm that's related to it. So I, of course, will tell you which one to look at before we do it. And we'll also have this in the PDF that will be coming forward shortly. So let's go to this beautiful book, beautiful book of comfort and guidance. We read the first part last week. Paul opens up about the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's talking about Torah and then the angels, but he wants people to focus on Jesus Christ now, the great Messiah. So he tells us, this is from last week, verses 1 through 5, so we have reference. who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. unto which of the angels said he at any time thou art my son this day have I begotten thee and again I'll be to him a father and he shall be to me a son and now this week's reading we'll go verse by verse and again there's verse six when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world he sayeth and let all the angels of God worship him you need to know this reference This is from Psalm 97 verse 7. So if you want to turn to Psalm 97, I'll give you a chance. We'll be in the book of Psalms. These are all of our Old Testament references for the New Testament today. So you won't get this reference in verse 6 if you don't understand where it's coming from. So we turn to Psalm 97, lo and behold, and what are we told? Beautiful Psalm. The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice. Remember these were sung in the temple and in the synagogue. Let the multitudes of Isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlighten the world. The earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the people see His glory. And here is our reference, Psalm 97 7. Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols. Worship Him, all ye gods. So this is where the quote is from. So our job is to worship the Lord, all the gods with a little g. and all the angels, the gods, those who have godlike qualities, supernatural, well, they're nothing. look to God for guidance, they're God's servants, so we don't worship angels. And even in Kabbalistic teachings and in the Zohar, we have the list of angels, angelology, the same corruption that was in Judaism is in Christianity now. And even in modern times, people are into their spirit guides, their angel guides, their messengers, having no idea what they're talking about. being very callous, actually speaking to demons many times. So the great angel is not Metatron the way the Kabbalah explains the Zohar explains All these ain't there is no there are no angels that do not worship God There is no angel as powerful as God Jesus Christ was not an angel. He was the Son of God and He's the one who leads his people So he's telling the people And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he sayeth, and let all the angels of God worship him. The angels worship Messiah. They worship the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. They do his bidding. So that's the Old Testament reference in the New Testament. And it goes on. Very intricate book. We need to know the references. And many of us, depending on the church we've gone to, they're not very faithful in reading the Psalms and quoting the Old Testament before the service begins, or in the beginning of the service, I should say. So we don't get these references. So verse six, Psalm 97.7. everything worships the Lord Jesus Christ, even the angels that serve God. They also serve the Son because the Father and the Son are one. Okay. Moving on to verse 7. And of the angels he saith, who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire? So this is a whole polemic, a whole argument for The Lord Jesus Christ and his power that these first century Jews had to realize Messiah had come and he's above all things. He's not just a man. He's not a great man. He's the God man God and man is one in the flesh. And he's both very God and very man without confusion. And they need to worship him. It's okay to worship the Messiah like we do. It's okay to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not idolaters, as our Jewish friends would say, and now our Muslim friends since the seventh century would say. So what is this in reference to? His menace is a flame of fire. Did he pull this out of the air, or where did he get this from? Well, in Genesis 3, chapter 24, we have the angels' reference when Adam and Eve were getting tossed out of the Garden of Eden. They're there, the flaming sword, the angels with the flaming sword. And for our study, turn to Psalm 104, Psalm 104. Reading up to verse four, this is where the reference comes from. This is a book that's being referenced. So I told you, I warned you, a couple of verses, a lot of homework to do, all these Psalms being referenced. So Psalm 104, this is Hebrews chapter one, verse seven. The Psalm reference is Psalm 104. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God. Remember, these were sang. These were songs for worship. Thou art very great. Thou art clothed with honor and majesty, who covers thyself with light as with a garment, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, who lay at the beams of his chambers in the waters, who make at the clouds his chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind, who make it his angels' spirits, his ministers a flaming fire." Psalm 104, verse 4. So that's our reference. So again, Paul is going to Scripture to show that the new covenant is legitimate because it's all based on the old covenant promises of what was going to happen and he's using scripture for his argument. Angels have always been below God and the way that they have been below the Father, they are now beneath the Son as his servants. So that's the gist of his argument. So again, can't have a lazy sermon this week. I needed to work this week. We see in verse 8 and 9, But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. When in the world Did God say this to the Messiah? When did he say this to his son? Right? Questions would be asked. Well, they would be familiar, many of them, and understand that the Psalms are messianic. And we see Paul's reference here. We have to go to Psalm 45 for verses 8 and 9 in Hebrews chapter 1, Psalm 45. So what's being spoken about? First, Verse 8, a scepter of righteousness, when we go to Psalm 45, and we'll read up to verse 6 for reference. So you see these are songs, I'm not making it up, the psalm itself will say it's a song. So your throne is forever. To the chief musician, upon Shoshanim, for the sons of Korah, Mashil, a song of loves. My heart is indicting a good manner. I speak of the things which I have made, touching the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness. And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. And here's our reference. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is the right scepter. So obviously it is not speaking of an earthly king because the king is being referenced as God. And this is what Paul is explaining. And then in Hebrews chapter nine, we're in the same Psalm, Psalm 45. Again, when we look at the reference, this is verse nine. Thou wast love righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, had anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. This is God speaking to God, God the Father giving all things to God the Son because of his faithfulness. So Psalm 45 verse seven. Thou lovest righteousness and hateth wickedness, therefore thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. So we see the messianic significance, why there's a messianic psalm. So moving on in Paul's argument, how the sun is above the angels, verse number 10, he tells us, And thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. And now we have to jump back to Psalm 102. Psalm 102 is our reference. Verse 25, we're told. Starting in verse 24 for a little context. I said, oh my god, take me not away in the midst of my days thy years are throughout all generations Of old has thou laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands So we see the son of god the promised messiah jesus christ of one and again above the angels and so beautiful that Hey, just go to Scripture. It was done from the beginning. This is one of the main tenets of biblical interpretation. Scripture interprets Scripture. We don't need to go to an outside book. The Bible will define and interpret itself. And you need that because so much has been lost over time we don't have. the historical references we need and nothing will make the Word of God clear like other sections of the Word of God. So if you have a text that's not very clear, you go to the texts that have been easily understood to help with that text. So here we have principles of exegesis being pointed out to us by the great preacher inspired by God, Paul. Now, continuing with our homework, we're now in verse 11. Now, verse 10, 11, and 12 all have references to this Psalm 102, so you could stay here. We're going to jump back and forth. So that's 25. Now, verse 11 in Hebrews, they shall perish, but thou remainest, and they shall all wax old as doth the garment. Jump back to Psalm 102. We see this in verse 26. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment. As a vesture shall thou change them, and they shall be changed. Once again in Hebrews, in verse 12. And as a vesture shall thou fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. This is in verse 27. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. So this is not just a clever argument from the mind of the writer of Hebrews. This is arguing from scripture. And as Christians, especially now being outcasts in our own congregations, in our own communities, by other so-called Christians that are now perverts, they support the whole LGBTQ community because they're either just perverted or cowards. We need to bring scripture to them. That's what we need to do. We need to use scriptural references. It's not my opinion that certain things are perversions. Now we can observe it from the dim light that men have been given and from natural law and from really following the science truly. that in our reality, practicing perversions destroys families and nations. And that's what we're going through now. Our society has fallen. It will be destroyed, continue to be destroyed. But I go to the Word of God. It's not my opinion. It's not any type of special intelligence I've been given. I go to the Word. What God says is wrong is wrong, and then we see it. We can observe it. It is objective. If you follow a perverted lifestyle, you would destroy yourself, your children, your whole line. So we need to bring scripture to these rebels. And that's exactly what was being done by Paul throughout his life, using scripture. Now, continuing verse 13. For this reference, you'll have to go to Psalm 110. In verse 13, something significant is said. But the witch of the angels said he at any time sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. That's a nice reference. Where in the world did it come from? Psalm 110, one of the most famous Messianic Psalms. No Jew even today denies that Psalm 110 is a Messianic Psalm. They'll dance away from the fact that it's the Lord Jesus Christ. This was always understood as a Messianic Psalm. And we're told right in the beginning, Psalm 110 In quotations were told in our faithful KJV Bibles It's a psalm of David. So, you know this from David the Lord said unto my Lord sit down at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool So the Lord Jesus is raining on high The rebels that you and I are looking at that are wreaking havoc in this world. So is Jesus and They'll all be defeated. None of them will be left in a position of power. And this is what's being explained in this psalm. God the Father is telling God the Son, your work of redemption is finished. Come sit next to me. You stepped into history physically to save your people. those who are part of the covenant that I've made with them, now that Jesus has done his work, he's on the right hand, the power hand of the Father, to do his, not only to be a mediator, but we said he's also a great administrator. He handles and rules all things. He's sitting there till the end of physical time, till his last enemy is defeated. The gospel will continue to triumph. You will have these hiccups in history where things don't look like they're going so well, but there will always be revivals, a rebirthing, a reformation where the Word of God comes to the front again. to the forefront. Unfortunately, a time of judgment and destruction precedes that. So we're going to have that again. Jesus is in control. No doubt about it. So that's Psalm 110. And we get to our last scripture reference as we end the first chapter of Hebrews. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? And you can go to Psalm 91 for this. But I'm going to use Psalm 103 verse 20 as a reference. Again, it'll all be in the outline. And the reason why is Psalm 103 shows us how the angels are servants of the Lord. That's what they're there for. So verse 20, bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. So the angels again is explicit a servants of the Most High that's all they are so we're not to worship angels or to serve angels now I make a lot of bold claims like many Jews would have understood this they would have understood the references We see that even today, as in the past, this is from the Jewish Virtual Library. Great resource. Again, all this will be documented. It'll be on the PDF later on. But in Jewish prayers, we have a reading of the Psalms. So in Jewish worship, after sundown, we have Ma'ariv, then Shaharit, and Mincha. So we have the evening of sundown service, And then Jews will come back in the morning, and they'll have their second service, the Shavuot, and then the afternoon, which is before the end of the Sabbath, the Mincha, and you'll have readings, daily Torah readings, and included in these readings are the, in the prayers, are the Psalms. And then in my Jewish learning, when it comes to the book of Psalms, so you see, I have a reference, Jewish people still read these books today, even if you're not. Remember, conservative Judaism is not conservative. The name's a misnomer. They've changed the faith even more from what the Orthodox practice, but everyone uses the Psalms. So this is actually a conservative Jewish website, My Jewish Learning, and this is by Rabbi Oroz and the Book of Psalms. These 150 Hebrew poems are central to Jewish prayer and the inspiration for countless forms of creative expression in Western culture. And he tells us in the article, the Book of Psalms is an ancient anthology of poetic prayers originally written in Hebrew. It is the first book of the third and final section of the Hebrew Bible known as Ketuvim. So remember, The acronym, the Tanakh, is Torah, Nevi'im, or the Prophets, and Ketuvim, the Writings. So the Psalms, of course, it's a writing, so it'd be contained in Ketuvim, the Writings. So that's what he's speaking about. So the English term title derives from the Greek Psalmos, meaning song accompanied by a stringed instrument. In Hebrew, the book is known as Tehillim, or Tehillah, in the singular, or songs of praise. a title that emerged as the preferred Jewish name for the collection during the first centuries. While we know very little about the origins of most psalms, the early book titles reflect the fact that these poems were used as liturgical materials in various ritual contexts in ancient Israel. To this day, the Psalms are a foundation of Jewish and Christian worship and an inspiration for many other forms of spiritual and creative expression in Western culture. In traditional Jewish and Christian sources, King David is routinely designated as the author of most or all of the Psalms. However, modern scholars view them as the work of many writers and editors over several centuries. So we know that, that they're not all from David. The book of Psalms itself says that not all the Psalms are from David. The anthology was fixed sometime during the first century. So I'm showing you, I'm giving a faithful testimony in that these Jews would be familiar with the Psalm references Paul is giving in the beginning of Hebrews. This is not something he's pulling out of the air because they were read and revered and people would read them or hear them in the synagogue, and they would understand what was being referenced. So I'm giving you a Jewish source and reference that they acknowledge the Psalms were known and used, and they understood that many of these are messianic. So this is not something that a Christian is making up. This is something that Jews acknowledge. There's a great article that this rabbi has written. So we see that David is the author of many of them. Contemporary scholars Adele Berlin and Marks V. Brettler suggested in claiming King David is the author of the Psalms, the editors linked these writings with an appropriate and well-known biblical figure to give the compilation greater stature as was done with other biblical books, including Proverbs ascribed to King Solomon and Lamentations ascribed to the prophet Jeremiah. In the book of Psalms itself, David is named as the author of 73 poems. Others are attributed to such biblical figures as Moses, the sons of Korah, and Asaph. Some 50 poems have no attribution at all. There are 13 psalms associated with events in King David's life. which are based in part on narratives from the book of Samuel. There, David is depicted as both a gifted musician and composer. In the book of Chronicles, he is described as a patron of the temple choir and as an instrument maker. In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, Western Christians, that's us, There are 150 individual Psalms. These are divided into five books, presumably to mirror the five books of Moses, which is true. There are also several smaller collections within individual books, some of which were likely used in different configurations for specific religious undertakings. For example, Psalms 120 to 134 all of which begin with the phrase, a song of ascent, may have been recited during ancient pilgrimages to the temple in Jerusalem. So I'll link this article so you could read it yourself in the PDF that will eventually be posted. But I'm showing you from their own sources that people got the message. And this is why it's such a brilliant and beautiful book inspired by God himself. How much work went into the book of Hebrews and then so many churches just read it quickly like it's a light devotional without going to the scripture references. Well, it's a time for mature Christianity to come back and we are going to suffer like David and it's fitting that these Psalms, so many of them attributed to King David, would be in the first chapter of Hebrews, as he was probably the outcast of greatest stature besides the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So you and I can find comfort in that. There is nothing weird in our suffering. There is nothing weird in us being outcasts. We go through this from time to time. And just like David and Saul, The people that are tossing us out of the churches, out of their families, they know we're right. They know it. And one of the reasons why they don't like us so much is because the same way David reminded Saul, Saul was reminded when he looked at David of how dirty he was and how he wasn't being faithful to the covenant. And David was. It's the same thing with the reprobate, those who are rejected in your church or in your own family, sometimes your own children, sadly. They hate you because you remind them that they're dirty and they need Messiah. And Messiah is above the angels and above all, and above all traditions. And we need Christ. So I'm praying I didn't bore you today. But we needed to do a lot of work and bring out these references. So I didn't lie. We had a light introduction in the first sermon series, not a lot of scripture. And some of you might have been saying, oh, no, is he turning into Joel Osteen? This is my Bible. I never read it. That's what you should be saying. But it's because now we're going to get heavy with the scripture references. And when we need to bring it out, we will. So all these will be documented for you. You'll have the list. Go through them. Let none of us, like I said, be lazy in reading this first chapter of Hebrews. It sets up the rest of the book. And we're getting comfort from the word of God. So just like these first century outcasts, in the 21st century feel blessed, feel honored to be an outcast for the Lord Jesus Christ. And as the title of today's sermon, as we said, he is the master of the messengers above all the angels. They all do whatever his will is. God bless all of you until we meet again next week. Let's close in prayer. Almighty God, the great and living God, the God who doesn't change, we thank you, Lord, that you have chosen us. We haven't chosen you, Lord, but you've chosen us. You've chosen to rescue us by the work of your son. We are so grateful that you sent your son to be an atonement. And because of that atonement, he's now the mediator of the covenant. We thank you, Lord, for the way your son takes care of us, the same way he took care of the first century outcasts. He's now taking care of faithful outcasts like us in the 21st century, 2000 years later. We thank you, Lord, that we have a document we can go through, that we can read it in black and white or on a screen nowadays, Lord. We could go to your word and we could find comfort that you have sustained those who have believed in you and that have been cast out of their communities and families, and that you promise, Lord, to sustain us as long as we're faithful to you. So we thank you for this, Lord. We thank you, we grant all of us peace for the rest of this Sabbath day of worship. And we always thank you in the name of our great king, the master of the messengers, the ruler of the angels, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Be well till we meet again next week.