Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 4 * BOOK 79
PART 3 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES – PART 4
Psalms 40 and 41
For those of you out in television—I trust most of you know by now that we tape four of these in a row. Then we put three months, or twelve programs, together in a little booklet, a video tape, a DVD, and so forth. So whenever you buy one of these products, you’re getting twelve programs. We also thank you for your response and your prayers and everything that goes with it.
All right, we’re going to keep right on now with our series in the Messianic Psalms. We are in Psalms 41. Then in the next taping, we’re going to jump up to the next Messianic Psalm, which I’ve picked out as Psalms 45. Now, like I said earlier this afternoon, that doesn’t mean there are not other Psalms that make a reference to Christ. But it’s not as graphically as these that I’m picking out. All right, Psalms chapter 41 and we got down as far as verse 7.
Psalms 41:7-8
“All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. (In other words, that’s the ridiculing crowd around the cross.) 8. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: (Anything to put scorn and rebuke upon him.) and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.”
I think that’s a reference to His death. They thought surely that since He was dead, He wouldn’t be bothering them any more. Because that’s what they really thought, you know. They thought He would just be bringing misery to Israel, because He was reprimanding them for their self-righteousness, for their religion, and for knowing nothing of faithfulness to the God of Israel. So they hated Him. And that’s always been that way. The Truth cuts deep, and people don’t like it.
All right, now verse 9. We’ve got a different subject to cover for a little bit. I imagine a lot of people do not realize that Judas was so completely foretold as he is here in this Psalm.
Psalms 41:9
“Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” Who’s He talking about? Judas! All right, now let’s do it scripturally. Let’s go back to John’s Gospel chapter 13. Because the beauty of Scripture is that it all fits if we’ll just take the time to find it. John’s Gospel chapter 13 and we’ll drop in at verse 10.
Now here, you remember, He was washing the disciples’ feet. And this is one time I know I have taught these verses a long time ago. And, you remember, when the Lord came to Peter—now I always qualify—I know they weren’t sitting on chairs like we do today. But had they been, and He came to Peter, what did Peter do with his feet? Boy, he just pulled them back under the chair, so to speak, and he says what? “You’re not going to wash my feet.” And then the Lord gave that classic statement, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.”
All right, now come to verse 9. I’m just picking up the flow here—get the picture of Jesus washing the feet of these twelve men. Just showing how that He was not above being their servant.
John 13:9-10
“Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. (And then Peter said, well, then give me a bath. And look at Jesus’ answer.) 10. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save (or except) to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but (What?) not all.” Eleven of you are. But the twelfth one, who was it? Judas. He wasn’t a believer. He was an impostor. He was a hypocrite.
He was a master at hypocrisy, do you know that? For three years the other eleven men never caught on to who he was. He could go right along with everything, with the ebb and flow, and nobody caught on that he was a rebel, until it was the night at the Garden. Jesus knew, of course, verse 11.
John 13:11-12
“For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. (One of you is not a believer.) 12. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?” And now, of course, He explains the whole idea of the servitude of even the Master. Verse 13:
John 13:13-14
“Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; (A humiliating task, if ever there was one.) ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Now there are some groups that still practice foot washing. I don’t condemn them for it. But I maintain that Paul doesn’t teach it in his epistles, so neither do I. But whatever. It was a lesson in humility. Verse 15:
John 13:15-16
“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” Now you know He’s referring here to His relationship between Himself and the Father. Verse 17:
John 13:17-18
“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (Now, here it comes.) 18. I speak not of all of you: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.” Where did He get it? Psalms 41—I’ll read it. You don’t have to turn back to it.
Psalms 41:9
“Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” All right, here is where Jesus is quoting it, now; and it becomes a reality. Now verse 19:
John 13:19
“Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.” Now this is the whole scope of all of Scripture. It is to give us an understanding of how miraculously it is the Word of God. We can believe it. We can trust it, because it proves itself over and over. And the Lord makes the point in verse 19—I am telling you that what David wrote in Psalm 41 is now becoming a reality. How did David know? By inspiration.
All the other points of Scripture prove everything, as I’ve been laying it out, I guess, for the last 15 years. That’s my joy. It is to show how what He wrote in Genesis we can believe today. It’s not just myths and stories and legends. It’s the revealed Word of God, and we can trust it. We can believe it. And the purpose of Scripture is to consistently prove itself. Now verse 20:
John 13:20
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him who sent me.” Well, now we’ve got to jump across the page to John 14 a minute, so we get the understanding of what Jesus is saying. Who is He talking about as giving Him understanding and He in turn serving? Well, it’s His relationship between Himself and God the Father.
All right, jump across the page to John 14, a well-known Scripture. But we’ve got to make the point. Here we have the proof, again, that Jesus is a member of that Triune Godhead as Paul calls it. Verse 1:
John 14:1
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God,…” Now, stop again. Who was God in scriptural terminology? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! The Triune God.
All the way through from Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created…” And then you come back to Hebrews chapter 1 where it was God, but He spoke through the Son. So we have that constant reference to a three-part Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yet they can be separately individualistic.
So now, when Jesus speaks of God, the Jews—especially those that had a semblance of faith—they recognized the Triune God.
John 14:1b-2a
“…ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2. In my Father’s house are many mansions:…” Now, I don’t think that’s speaking about heavenly mansions. I think it’s speaking about the apartments in the Temple complex that the priests enjoyed.
Some people don’t like that. They say, well, you’re taking my mansion away from me. No, I’m not taking anything away from anybody. Because, you know, we’re going to have something far more than just the mansions that Jesus is speaking of here. But anyway, He says:
John 14:2c-4
“…I go to prepare a place for you. 3. And if I prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”
All right, now let’s just do a little fun-hopping—what we’ve done before. Many of you will recognize these verses, but go back with me to Matthew 19. Remember what Jesus just said, “…that where I am, there ye may be also.” In other words, they’re going to be in close proximity again, as they were in those three years. And how much closer can you get than what you got in Matthew 19. Drop down to verse 27. You’ll recognize this scenario, at least most of you.
Matthew 19:27
“Then answered Peter and said unto him, (unto Jesus) Behold, we have forsaken all, (Our families, our fishing business, and our jobs—whatever the case may have been amongst the Twelve.) and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” What’s our reward? He’s not talking about salvation; he’s talking about reward. And, you know, this reward is something that Peter never forgot until his dying day.
Matthew 19:28a
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto that you, That ye which have followed me, (The Eleven. Now we know that He knew Judas is out, or would be. But He knew the Eleven would stay true to the end.) in the regeneration…” When the earth is made back as it was in the beginning, and the curse is lifted, and He’s going to set up His Kingdom and usher in all the promises of the Old Testament economy.
Matthew 19:28b
“…ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, (But it’s going to be on the earth. That’s why we got a little glimpse of the transfiguration. It’s going to be in Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. Now watch this, as this is the reward for those eleven men.) ye also (you eleven men) shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Well, now that should put up a great big red flag. How can eleven men hold down twelve thrones? Well, they can’t. So what are they going to do in Acts chapter 1? Appoint a replacement for Judas. Now that reminds me. I’m hearing it too often, where preachers are saying that Peter shouldn’t have gotten in such a big hurry. He should have waited for Paul to fill that twelfth apostleship. Ridiculous!
Come on you preachers, read Scripture. Go back to Acts chapter 1. And I know good men have made that claim. I won’t say who. I’m not up here to name names. But how ridiculous that highly educated men can’t read plain language. Acts chapter 1 and of course Peter’s in a hurry to fill the twelfth spot. He thought Christ was coming back as soon as the Tribulation had run its course. And you can’t have eleven men fill twelve thrones. So, he’s got to find a replacement.
All right, verse 21, we’ll do this quickly. Well, let’s go to verse 20. So Peter, too, knew the Psalms. And he says:
Acts 1:20-22a
“For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick (his office as an apostle) let another take. (Now here come the requirements.) 21. Wherefore of these men (That are gathered there in the upper room—120.) who have companied with us (That is Jesus and the Twelve.) all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, (Now watch it.) 22. Beginning from the baptism of John,…”
At the very beginning of His earthly ministry—it had to be someone who had become a believer way back then and had continued as a follower of Jesus and these Twelve men for the whole three years.
Acts 1:22
“Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up from us, (Back earlier in chapter 1 at the ascension.) must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.”
Now that’s plain language. What were the requirements to fill Judas’ spot? It had to be one of those 120 that were gathered in the upper room, who had become a believer during John’s ministry and had continued all the way until the resurrection and ascension and were still a viable follower. That was the requirement. Paul didn’t come until ten years later. And there’s nothing to indicate that Paul could have been saved during that three years.
Paul was saved on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9. Isn’t it unbelievable how they can twist the Scriptures and get away with it? I thought politicians were the only ones that could do that. But see, they lie. They tell it from the pulpit, and then people think – yep, that’s the way it was. No, beloved. You go back to the Book. And if they need to be helped, show them. There’s nothing wrong with that. Well, anyway, back to Matthew 19 and verse 28.
Matthew 19:28b
“…ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, (He’s now the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, ruling from Jerusalem. We’re going to be looking at that if we’ve got time enough when we get back to the next Psalms.) ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, ruling (in a government set up) the twelve tribes of Israel.” Well, those twelve tribes are going to be around whose throne? The Lord Jesus Himself.
Now, I just picture them in the mind’s eye. Here is the Lord and His throne, and around on a lower level will be the Twelve with their particular areas of responsibility. They’ll be in constant proximity with one another throughout the whole Kingdom period. And that’s what Jesus was talking about, of course, through Kind David here. Now remember, this is all as the Holy Spirit led David to write. So the Lord will have proximity with the Twelve all through the thousand-year reign.
All right, now I just covered verse 9 of Psalms 41, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, (which was the prophetic reference to Judas) who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” Now verse 10:
Psalm 41:10-11
“But thou, O LORD, (Now here, again, Christ is crying out to God the Father.) be merciful unto me, raise me up, (That is from crucifixion death.) that I may requite them. 11. By this I know that thou favorest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.” And what’s the proof of Satan’s defeat? Resurrection. Resurrection power is what destroyed Satan’s power over the believer.
You know, I had an interesting conversation. I shared it, I think, with a couple of my classes in the last week or two. We had a fellow who we’ve known a long time. He used to come to one of my classes here in Oklahoma. He’s been doing mission work over in Thailand, independently. He just uses his own income and goes over there and for six months does missionary work of various types. The last time he was over, a fellow worker took him along up to one of the most uncivilized tribes in northern Thailand. And for the first time in all my readings and everything concerning foreign missions, I have never heard the likes of this.
This tribe had no god. Now, even most uncivilized tribes have all these gods and so forth. This tribe had no god, no knowledge of God. But what do you suppose they knew? The evil spirits. So, they had all these fetishes hanging around in the jungle to ward off the evil spirits, but they knew nothing of a god. I’ve never heard that before. But isn’t it amazing how powerful Satan can be to the unenlightened.
But, you see, Satan can’t touch us with stuff like that. I don’t have to worry about demon attacks. We’re completely surrounded with the power of God, beloved. You don’t have to worry about some demon thing approaching you or controlling your house. No, we are completely surrounded by the power of Christ because of His resurrection. That’s when the satanic powers were broken, at least for the believer. All right, so verse 11 again. This is the guarantee.
Psalm 41:11-12a
“By this (His resurrection) I know that thou favorest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. 12. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity,…” Now, in view of the financial corruption, what have all these men lost? Honesty and integrity.
Now, I don’t like to get on a “bully pulpit.” I want to stay out of that stuff. But listen, what caused it? Well, you see, beginning with the sixties and the hippy movement, most of those people moved on up into the university circles and became professors and administrators. And what was the first thing they kicked out of Harvard and Yale and all the rest of them? God and Scripture. And, as I mentioned in an earlier program, atheism is becoming the popular religion of the time. Well, when you kick God out, what goes out with Him? Honesty and integrity!
I can remember a quote from one of our Founding Fathers. I don’t remember if it was Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson, one of those fellows. I’ll never forget it when I read it. He said, “If ever our republic departs from biblical principles, it will go down the tube.” And that’s it. If you cannot deal honestly, you cannot survive. I don’t care what society you’re in. Honesty has to be the bedrock of any form of government or whatever. And we’ve lost it. Honesty and integrity is unknown amongst those people, and we’re going to see the results of it. And why did we lose it? They kicked God out. Okay, that was all free for nothing.
Psalm 41:12
“And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, (Remember what we looked at last program? Why can we trust Him? Because He’s faithful. And why is Christ faithful? Because of His integrity. His honesty. His righteousness.) and settest me before thy face for ever.” Oh, my, a verse just pops to mind. And I asked the Lord again a little while ago, “Lord, give me every verse that You want given.”
Daniel chapter 7—now remember what the Psalmist just said. Verse 12, “As for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, (my honesty) and settest me before thy face for ever.” All right, that’s what made me think of this verse in Daniel. I’ve got time enough, so let’s look at it—Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. Oh, now remember this – how the Scripture fits again. How the Psalmist says the exact words that describe what Daniel is prophesying. It’s all prophecy. It hasn’t happened, yet. It’s still future, but it is coming.
Daniel 7:13
“I saw (Now remember, this is Daniel writing.) in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man (That’s Jesus the Christ.) came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, (I feel that that’s a picture of God the Son coming before God the Father.) and they brought him (God the Son) near before him.” Now look at verse 14 compared with Psalm.
Daniel 7:14
“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom (a Kingdom) that which shall not be destroyed.”
Now back to the Psalms for the few seconds we have left. All because of verse 12 and His resurrection power.
Psalms 41:12-13
“And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, (His honesty, His righteousness) and settest me before thy face for ever. (Exactly as Daniel pictured it—they brought him before God the Father, presented Him as the King of a Kingdom that’s going to include all the nations of the world. And then verse 13 is the capstone of it all.) 13. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.” He will never change. See, there’s not a word in here yet about Gentile promises. These are all promises made to the Nation of Israel. And, oh, that’s what people have to understand!