#~~~~# SELECT * FROM DAvidKanal WHERE Chan="UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg"
#~++~# UPdate DAvidKanal SET tsl ="1720109923" , tsc ="1720195923" WHERE Chan="UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg"
#~~~~# http://chegu.de/Ausgabe.php?URL=https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg
**40419
**?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
feed xmlns:yt="http://www.youtube.com/xml/schemas/2015" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
link rel="self" href="http://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg"/>
id>yt:channel:JydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/id>
yt:channelId>JydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2010-04-27T23:49:20+00:00/published>
entry>
id>yt:video:6EfdqnbjXNk/id>
yt:videoId>6EfdqnbjXNk/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Psalm 130 LYRIC (2023) Sons of Korah/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EfdqnbjXNk"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2024-02-22T04:27:59+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-27T08:41:26+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Psalm 130 LYRIC (2023) Sons of Korah/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/6EfdqnbjXNk?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/6EfdqnbjXNk/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Psalm 130 contains a simple but profound message. In the midst of a desperate prayer for salvation the psalmist hits upon the most fundamental fact of life. He cries out from the depths of despair, guilt and torment and yet he acknowledges that God is right to keep a record of our sins and to hold them against us. And indeed no one who remains in this plight cannot stand in the end. Such a person will suffer an eternal curse under the just anger of God. But this is not the way God has planned for mankind. Here the adversative 'but' is worth emphasising. This could be the case and God could justly hold our sins against us, but he has freely and mercifully forgiven us, if indeed we shall receive this forgiveness in repentance and faith from him. In the light of the New Testament we see that this forgiveness if offered through the atoning death of Jesus Christ who is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (prefigured in the Old Testament sacrifices). Because of this says vs. 4b God is to be feared. This might seem very strange to us that forgiveness should lead to fear. Is not the peaceful father-child relationship with God the culmination of biblical redemption? What place does fear play in this? If there is 'no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus' what is there to be afraid of? Can we not now come 'boldly before the throne of grace'? Through the blood of Christ that cleanses us from sin we may now indeed come boldly before the throne of grace; we now have access before God into a relationship of unparalleled intimacy. Before trusting in Christ we certainly had good reason to fear God since apart from Christ we were still under his wrath. But now Jesus has taken God's wrath away from us. Does this forgiveness in Christ therefore make the fear of the Lord defunct? Clearly this psalm teaches the opposite. The experience of forgiveness leads to the experience of the fear of God. How is this so? It is simply because forgiveness gives us direct access into the immediate presence of God. The very encounter with the infinite majesty of God that we have through Christ is the source of godly fear. The fear of the Lord is the experience of intimacy with transcendence. This in itself is a paradox since transcendence by definition involves being 'far above' and yet through Christ we are bought into a blissful and paradoxical tension of knowing the unknowable and relating intimately to the transcendent God. Through this profound reflection upon the forgiveness of God the psalmist declares that he is going to wait upon the LORD (an active expression of trust) and that he is putting his hope in God's word, that is, in God's promise of redemption and blessing (vs. 5). Both the intensity and the assuredness of the psalmist's expectation are beautifully expressed in the statement that he is waiting 'more than the watchman waits for the morning.' The night watch was a fearful time to wait through for the Jewish soldier. He might at any time be targeted by the enemy seeking to raid the city with a surprise attack. But as the watchman waited for the morning he was not waiting upon something that was uncertain. The sun always rises for the night watchmen and likewise God's blessing always comes to those who wait patiently and expectantly. The final section of the psalm is a call on the people of God to trust in God for their redemption. The redemption of God is 'full redemption,' that is, he will, in the end, save his people completely from their sins. For the Christian redemption is indeed a present experience but it is still very much in the future. The New Testament emphasises this in many places and it is easy to forget. Full redemption comes with the return of Christ and God wants us to look earnestly for this event ' 'lift up your heads for your redemption is drawing near' (Luke 21:28). We can tend to want everything now but the emphasis in scripture is upon then and indeed God may allow us to feel the curse of this life for a season so as to make us anticipate and long for the coming of Christ. This attitude of anticipation is hope and scripture teaches. That hope is born out of suffering (Rom.5:3,4). The object of Christian joy is also said to be the hope of Glory (Rom.5:2). This hope of glory comes from feeling the imperfections and frustrations of this present life (Rom.7:14ff). This is very much the case in this psalm. As the psalmist suffers in the depths his eyes are set firmly upon the hope of salvation from God. The prayer is both individual and corporate. Here the psalmist prays also on behalf of the people of Israel in the firm and assured hope that God 'himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.'/media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="280" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="9724"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:KPNcv10wQOQ/id>
yt:videoId>KPNcv10wQOQ/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 127/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPNcv10wQOQ"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2023-07-07T07:46:44+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-22T01:40:30+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 127/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/KPNcv10wQOQ?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/KPNcv10wQOQ/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>/media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="864" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="38848"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:8yUcC93khzU/id>
yt:videoId>8yUcC93khzU/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Psalm 1- Sons of Korah/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yUcC93khzU"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2022-09-19T09:22:23+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-22T16:55:25+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Psalm 1- Sons of Korah/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/8yUcC93khzU?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/8yUcC93khzU/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Psalm 1 is a series of beatitudes and woes very much like the beatitudes and woes of Jesus which make up the opening section of the sermon on the mount (Matt. 5:1ff; Luke 6:17ff).
The blessed life is conceived by one simple but profound spiritual activity: That of meditating upon the 'Law' of Yahweh. In other words the blessed man is preoccupied by reading, thinking over, and applying the scriptures.
The person who delights in the word of God and who meditates upon it will see the effects of that in their life. They will live life to the full and achieve all that God put in them to achieve.
The full track is available in the Sons of Korah App for our in-app subscribers.
You can download the App for free from your App Store.
Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fiveonline.sonsofkorah&hl=en_AU&gl=US
Apple App Store
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/sons-of-korah/id1489314821/media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="1429" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="94126"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:NXClQWk0EWc/id>
yt:videoId>NXClQWk0EWc/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 139/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXClQWk0EWc"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2022-08-17T06:55:39+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-29T10:39:55+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 139/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/NXClQWk0EWc?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/NXClQWk0EWc/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Psalm 139 is about the omniscience of God, that is, the fact that God is all-knowing and all-seeing. But it applies this fact not just in a 'spooky God-is-onto-you' way but as a comfort for God's people. The theme of 'God watching over his people' is a common one in the psalms and indicates God's love and care for his people. It stands alongside the shepherding metaphor also common in the psalms. But this psalm takes that theme to a new level. It speaks about God's knowledge of our thoughts and even the fact that God predestines the path of our lives. It celebrates the fact that God loves us so much we could not get away from him even if we tried. In the last part of the psalm, not included in our adaptation of this psalm, the mood turns to the condemnation of evil. And this is quite a natural movement even if it somewhat distasteful to those who prefer the sweeter sentiment of the first half of the psalm. The idea of God watching people goes two ways, and this also is common in the psalms. For God's people it entails safely and care but for those who set themselves against God it entails judgement. In this context the omniscience of God means that God sees their evil and will store up judgement for them unless they turn and repent. Hence naturally again the psalm ends with a cry to God to examine our hearts to see if there is any evil in us that we might be delivered from it./media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="1598" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="94356"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:wzlKxDvuvqQ/id>
yt:videoId>wzlKxDvuvqQ/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah - Isaiah 53/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzlKxDvuvqQ"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2022-06-23T03:18:56+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-22T04:10:25+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Sons of Korah - Isaiah 53/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/wzlKxDvuvqQ?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/wzlKxDvuvqQ/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>We almost never diverge from the Psalms with our compositions but there was one part of the bible that we could not resist. Isaiah 53, sometimes called ‘the servant song,’ is the perfect accompaniment to the psalms.
In its haunting lyrical-oracular style it celebrates the greatest thing that God ever did. It tells of the suffering servant, the man of sorrows, who is none other than Jesus Christ, the very incarnation of the one true God. The prophet sings of the sacrifice of God’s righteous servant in an event so singular that he wonders in the same instance who could believe that such a thing could ever happen. Whereas the psalms often lament the human condition, the song of the suffering servant presents God’s answer to this predicament: God himself takes on our suffering so that we can be clothed in joy. The act of God that Isaiah 53 sings of is what accounts for every turning point in the psalms. It is why, as Psalm 103 declares, “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” It is the reason why there is any praise and rejoicing in the psalms at all. That’s why we wanted to sing this song and place it beside the saddest of the psalms, Psalm 88. It is the work of the man of sorrows, Jesus Christ, that assures that, as Psalm 126 declares, our sowing in tears will return to us a harvest of joy./media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="2159" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="145365"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:kYr1_kl1uS4/id>
yt:videoId>kYr1_kl1uS4/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 37a/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYr1_kl1uS4"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2021-07-17T09:42:17+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-26T02:03:07+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 37a/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/kYr1_kl1uS4?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/kYr1_kl1uS4/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm that points to a remarkable possibility: we can live without worry. We can live without frustration. And we can live without fear. Of course, it is inevitable, due to our faltering faith and partial obedience, that we will experience these things. The point, however, is that we need not experience these things. It is our choice to worry. Worry arises from our propensity to want to control our fate. But it is not our role to exercise this level of control. That is God’s prerogative and when we try to take this role we live in uncertainty and we worry as a result. When we make our own way and live by our own agenda, we will also end up frustrated. We were created to live God’s way and for his agenda. God’s purpose can never be frustrated, and neither will we, if we live for that purpose. If our highest priority is God’s invulnerable purpose, and if our lives are in his hands, what could we possibly fear? What could really be a threat to us? Worry, frustration and fear must therefore be understood as symptoms of a deeper problem. They are symptoms of us taking God’s role. This is a serious problem because it denies God his prerogative as God over our lives. But, in this, we also deprive ourselves of the peace and joy that comes when we yield our lives over to God as we should.
Entrust yourself and your concerns to God. [Dr. Matthew Jacoby - Sons of Korah]/media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="573" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="24062"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:nFtSg9x2fLk/id>
yt:videoId>nFtSg9x2fLk/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah - Concert 2020/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFtSg9x2fLk"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2020-12-13T09:08:02+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-23T18:08:25+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Sons of Korah - Concert 2020/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/nFtSg9x2fLk?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/nFtSg9x2fLk/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>In May 2020, having had all our touring (international & local) cancelled, the band came together to record this special live concert. It was our effort to reach out to everyone who we would have been able to see in person, had the world not been hit by the global pandemic.
These Psalms speak powerfully to us, in such a time as this. We hope you enjoy and, more importantly, are encouraged as you take a musical journey through the Psalms with us.
SOK.
You can download the Sons of Korah App FREE from your app store. (Access to some content requires a small subscription).
Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fiveonline.sonsofkorah&hl=en_AU&gl=US
Apple App Store
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/sons-of-korah/id1489314821/media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="1345" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="61663"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:xBkk9gxDet0/id>
yt:videoId>xBkk9gxDet0/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 131/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBkk9gxDet0"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2020-09-01T08:42:13+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-22T03:48:24+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 131/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/xBkk9gxDet0?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/xBkk9gxDet0/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>/media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="595" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="36095"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:GEScYxxRxSA/id>
yt:videoId>GEScYxxRxSA/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Psalm 137 - Sons of Korah/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEScYxxRxSA"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2019-04-17T04:27:43+00:00/published>
updated>2024-06-11T21:31:07+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Psalm 137 - Sons of Korah/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/GEScYxxRxSA?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/GEScYxxRxSA/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Psalm 137 points back to the lowest period in the history of the people of God: the Babylonian captivity. Jerusalem suffered a cruel defeat under the Babylonian Army (605-586 BC). The city was laid waste and those who were not killed were taken into exile. It was a common practice of conquering nations in the Ancient Near East, to prevent against nationalist uprisings in conquered territories, to deport the large proportion of conquered peoples far away from their home land. The idea was that after some time their identity and faith would be lost as the people were assimilated into the foreign culture. Judah remained in exile for 70 years and in this time the flame of the covenant faith continued to burn. However the very experience of being in Babylon was a painful one for a people whose whole identity was caught up in their nationality, faith, and the glory of Jerusalem and the temple which stood at the centre of Jewish life.
The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army had been a devastating one. Read the book of Lamentations which is a vivid description of the destroyed city by Jeremiah who had warned the people many times before this event came. The defeat was a cruel one. Moreover it was bought about to the great delight of the neighbours of Judah, such as Edom, who applauded the cruelty. The Psalm, then, recalls the people's grief as they lived in captivity amidst the system of canals that spread throughout the Babylonian region (vs.1). Musical instruments were generally associated with rejoicing and so when the Babylonians asked for a demonstration of their renowned music ability they refused (vss.2-4). The gesture of putting away their instruments was symbolic of the fact that there is no joy apart from God. The vow to never forget Jerusalem was a vow of utmost piety and a gesture in defiance of the enemy's attempt to try and squash their faith by taking them so far away from their home. The psalmist turns his anger upon the Babylonian empire who did these things. The anger of the words that follow match the zeal of the writer.
The Babylonians did terrible things to the people of Jerusalem. Those who were not deported were killed ' this included children ' even those in the wombs of their mothers. This was prophesied by Hosea (if you feel brave you could read Hosea 13:16). The practice of killing infants in the ancient times represented the absolute destruction of a people. Progeny were seen as the continuation of a person's life so the destruction of children was like rubbing a person's name out from existence ' it was the worst of all curses. According to the principle of the Genesis 12:3, then, the psalmist, in his righteous indignation, declares the curse back on the heads of those who did these things.The Relevance of Psalm 137 for the Christian lies first of all in the spiritual solidarity that all God's people share. Abraham's children, said Jesus and Paul, are those who have the faith of Abraham. These belong to the great family of God. Psalm 137 remembers one of the most significant times in our history. The psalm carries an important lesson for us. Lest we are tempted to stray from the faith into which we have been called we should remember that there is no joy when we are far from God. But for the Christian there is an even deeper significance in psalm 137. Our promised land is heaven ' the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21) ' the new heavens and earth (Isaiah 65:17ff) ' the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:28,29; 14:15ff; 22:14). If we forget the Kingdom of God (and Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom of God ' Matt. 6:33), may God chastise us severely lest we become assimilated into the world and our identity and faith is lost. If we forget the New Jerusalem, that is, if we become satisfied with our life here on earth in captivity to the corrupt nature of our mortal bodies (Rom. 7:24b cf. Gal. 5:17), if our sojourn here (Hebrews 11:13; 1Peter 1:17) becomes too settled, if we are not continually longing for the coming of God's kingdom (Rom. 8:23), may God bring upon us such chastisement that we will be bought to our senses. The forces of evil in heavenly realms wage war against the Kingdom of God (Eph. 6:12). They delight in the downfall of the Christian and they work tirelessly to take us captive and to snuff out our faith and hope. But may God bring about their own downfall as he has said he will do. May God cut off the memory of the evil one from the earth and may that destruction be absolute. This is the way we understand the reflection and prayer of Psalm 137.
Matt Jacoby - Leader Sons of Korah/media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="603" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="56866"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:AUQ-1IJFwUI/id>
yt:videoId>AUQ-1IJFwUI/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Psalm 95 (Version 2)/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUQ-1IJFwUI"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2019-03-09T03:39:04+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-28T16:08:28+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Psalm 95 (Version 2)/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/AUQ-1IJFwUI?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/AUQ-1IJFwUI/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>The movement of Psalm 95 is interesting in the sense that it moves from a mood of exuberant praise to one of solemn warning. The first part of the psalm is a call to reverent joyful worship. Reverence is a key factor here since what is being highlighted is the greatness of God. The appeal to the grandeur of nature to elicit a sense of awe (vs.3-5) before God the creator is a common point of reflection in the psalms. Many psalms refer to God as the creator of the mountains and the sea particularly, both of these being amongst the more impressive features of nature. In the psalm it is pointed out that this mighty transcendent God who created the world in all its grandeur is the very same God who is our shepherd. This highlights a characteristic element of biblical spirituality and it defines the idea of reverence. The experience of reverence is essentially an intimate experience of the transcendence of God. It is the combination of intimacy with a God who is infinitely beyond our capacity to grasp.
The call to worship leads naturally to the exhortation in verse 8 to listen to God: "Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts." The connection between the solemn exhortation of verses 8-11 and the exuberant call to worship of the first part of the psalms is this: The true worshipper is the one whose heart is open to God. To draw near to God in a spiritual sense means opening our hearts to God's voice and being willing to trust him. If we are unwilling to listen to God and trust him then we express rebellion rather than worship. This rebellion was exemplified by the Israelites in the desert period after the exodus at Meribah and Massah (Exodus 15:22-17:7; Numbers 20). This account is the classic expression of rebellion and is often referred to in the rest of the Bible as an example of apostasy. The problem here was that the Israelites were simply unwilling to embrace the life of faith. They repeatedly expressed their preference to be back in slavery in Egypt rather than be on their journey with God. Hence they rejected God. As a result they were made to wander restlessly in the desert for the rest of their lives until a new generation came forth who would inherit God's promised land.
The Psalmist, as he sounds his call to worship, is thus calling for his worshippers to be genuine. It is possible to make outward gestures of worship while inwardly being in rebellion against God. The use of the biblical narrative here sheds light on how the psalms are intended to be used. There is an important sense of prophetic exhortation in the psalms ' such that is given to us to be sung and repeated for generation after generation. The events of biblical history are given to us to teach us and here this instruction, as in many other psalms, is made to be a part of the corporate worship experience./media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="475" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="44383"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:S0sO_9F4JL0/id>
yt:videoId>S0sO_9F4JL0/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Psalm 80 - Sons of Korah/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0sO_9F4JL0"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2019-01-26T03:39:47+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-22T05:26:31+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Psalm 80 - Sons of Korah/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/S0sO_9F4JL0?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/S0sO_9F4JL0/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Filmed in 2005 in our home town of Geelong Australia.
Psalm 80 is a communal lament probably occasioned in its original setting by the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC (2 Kings 17). The Assyrian capture of Samaria and the deportation of the people of Israel left the two small tribes of Judah in the south shocked and alone. Their brothers in the north were gone forever and the family of God's people was now but a tiny remnant compared to the glory of the past. God had bought in the Assyrians to destroy the northern kingdom for its sins. The writer of Kings explains saying, 'All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced' (2 Kings 17:7,8). This was a sobering event for the remnant that remained in the south and a solemn warning that rebellion and idolatry spell disaster. Aware that they are not a whole lot better than their northern brothers the people of Judah now cry out in the words of this psalm for God to save them from the same fate.The appeal to God as the shepherd of Israel is a reminder to God of his covenant love for his people. They were seeing the anger of God unleashed before them and in desperation they appeal to his mercy. The plea for God to make his face shine upon his people is a call for God's special loving favour to be shown again to his people. Restoration is what they called for. The original mighty nation that God had raised up from Abraham, pictured here as a vine, was now 'cut down and burned with fire.' The great covenant vision of a glorious kingdom of Yahweh that shone before the whole earth was being dashed to pieces before their eyes. Instead of being a light to the world the nation was now an object of scorn and ridicule.At the end of the psalm there is the plea that God would rest his hand upon the son of man at his right hand, the resurrected son of man. In its original context this refers to Israel as the firstborn son of God and the right-hand man of God among the nations.
But in the light of the coming of Christ, and from theological point of view particularly, this appeal can only have any weight if it is ultimately an appeal to the risen Christ. Christ became the representative of Israel in his life and death. His life is our righteousness and his death is our forgiveness. This applies now and retrospectively to any person in the past to whom the favour of God was ever shown. This was only possible, indeed, prayer itself was only ever possible, because of what Jesus did. His resurrection was the trumpet call of victory over judgement and therefore it is to the resurrected of Christ that we appeal for God to hear and answer our prayers. Verse 17 must therefore be taken as a Messianic reference. Israel was the son of God as also are we because Jesus was the firstborn of God who, through his death and resurrection legitimized us all as God's children.
This is therefore the strongest appeal of the whole psalm. All our appeals in prayer are made 'for Jesus sake' and 'in Jesus name.' To ask God to remember the Son of Man whom he raised up is an appeal such that God has bound himself to hear. We therefore pray that God would make this favour shine upon us for Jesus' sake.
Be blessed./media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="656" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="81963"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:Pz0hCnP1bjs/id>
yt:videoId>Pz0hCnP1bjs/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah - Instrumental/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz0hCnP1bjs"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2018-07-14T06:23:11+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-29T19:39:56+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Sons of Korah - Instrumental/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/Pz0hCnP1bjs?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/Pz0hCnP1bjs/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Here's a little bit of fun! This instrumental was filmed during our Netherlands tour in 2009. We've been so blessed with great musicians who all want to serve God's purposes with their gifts! Hope you enjoy./media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="223" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="19227"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:iOqMmx_592Y/id>
yt:videoId>iOqMmx_592Y/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Psalm 147a - Sons of Korah (2009)/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOqMmx_592Y"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2018-06-09T03:06:04+00:00/published>
updated>2024-06-24T07:32:10+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Psalm 147a - Sons of Korah (2009)/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/iOqMmx_592Y?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/iOqMmx_592Y/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>This is Psalm 147a, recorded when we were in the Netherlands back in 2009. A classic exuberant song of praise, Psalm 147, extols the character and greatness of God. A key idea of this psalm is that of a mighty God who is not impressed by the strength of man but who values, above all, joyful submission and trust. In the light of God's greatness the psalm call us to rest trustfully and securely in the strength of God. The psalm moves from reflection on the transcendent greatness of God to the intimate care and compassion of God. In each case the one makes the other more remarkable. The God who set the stars in place and created the world is the God who is irresistibly drawn to the plight of the needy. As he cares for his creation so too does he care for the everyday needs of people. The delight of God is to display his strength through the humble dependence of man. And therefore it is those who turn from their own strengths to trust him who are the ones who experience this surpassingly great power in their lives. The finishing picture of the psalm is of God directing the affairs of the natural world by the power of his word. In a final stroke of wonder the psalmist points out that this is the very same word of which his people are the custodians and bearers./media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="411" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="41957"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:NQQT7e8ZKhU/id>
yt:videoId>NQQT7e8ZKhU/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 148/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQQT7e8ZKhU"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2018-04-05T02:33:48+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-22T04:36:46+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Sons of Korah - Psalm 148/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/NQQT7e8ZKhU?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/NQQT7e8ZKhU/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Filmed in 2005 Geelong Vic Australia./media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="476" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="48601"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
entry>
id>yt:video:f-PYpyaGXYc/id>
yt:videoId>f-PYpyaGXYc/yt:videoId>
yt:channelId>UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/yt:channelId>
title>Psalm 93 - Sons of Korah/title>
link rel="alternate" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-PYpyaGXYc"/>
author>
name>Sons of Korah/name>
uri>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJydUVsPQLaBGN8yjJ_hXwg/uri>
/author>
published>2017-12-01T08:57:23+00:00/published>
updated>2024-05-22T08:15:56+00:00/updated>
media:group>
media:title>Psalm 93 - Sons of Korah/media:title>
media:content url="https://www.youtube.com/v/f-PYpyaGXYc?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390"/>
media:thumbnail url="https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/f-PYpyaGXYc/hqdefault.jpg" width="480" height="360"/>
media:description>Psalm 93 is the first of a group of Psalms (up to Psalm 99) that celebrate the sovereign rule of God over the earth. Like the rest of these psalms this is a psalm that expresses an attitude of reverence and awe. It brings us toward the kind of experience that Job came to by the end of the book that bears his name. In the face of the awesome strength and magnitude of the natural world the psalmist experiences something that words cannot do justice to. Hence only the language of the pounding seas will suffice to express something of what is felt here. In the ancient world the ocean was viewed not as we romantically view it today but with a great measure of dread. The great abyss of the ocean was the place where many lost their lives and was viewed as unfathomable as the sky in many ways. It was also seen therefore as a place of mystery. It is not hard then to see why the psalmist calls on the ocean to express what he feels about God. The experience of awe, that is, the fear of the Lord, is the experience of the unfathomable greatness of God and the infinite and mysterious nature of God's being. Riding on the will of God can make one feel as vulnerable as riding on the great ocean and yet the greatness of God is also felt in this Psalm to be celebrated as a person's greatest security. For the throne of God stands firm and cannot moved. The transcendence and immutability of God is seen here to be the anchor in a creation that makes man feel so miniscule and vulnerable. This video was filmed during a tour in the Netherlands back in 2009. Hope you enjoy it./media:description>
media:community>
media:starRating count="1574" average="5.00" min="1" max="5"/>
media:statistics views="201744"/>
/media:community>
/media:group>
/entry>
/feed>
++++ UPdate DAvidKanal SET tsc=1728109931 WHERE Cid="32378"
05.10.2024 08:32
01.01.1970 01:00
01.01.1970 01:00
Sons of Korah
1:: Psalm 130 LYRIC (2023) Sons of Korah
22.02.2024 04:27:59 22.02.2024 04:27:59 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Psalm 130 contains a simple but profound message. In the midst of a desperate prayer for salvation the psalmist hits upon the most fundamental fact of life. He cries out from the depths of despair, guilt and torment and yet he acknowledges that God is right to keep a record of our sins and to hold them against us. And indeed no one who remains in this plight cannot stand in the end. Such a person will suffer an eternal curse under the just anger of God. But this is not the way God has planned for mankind. Here the adversative 'but' is worth emphasising. This could be the case and God could justly hold our sins against us, but he has freely and mercifully forgiven us, if indeed we shall receive this forgiveness in repentance and faith from him. In the light of the New Testament we see that this forgiveness if offered through the atoning death of Jesus Christ who is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (prefigured in the Old Testament sacrifices). Because of this says vs. 4b God is to be feared. This might seem very strange to us that forgiveness should lead to fear. Is not the peaceful father-child relationship with God the culmination of biblical redemption? What place does fear play in this? If there is 'no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus' what is there to be afraid of? Can we not now come 'boldly before the throne of grace'? Through the blood of Christ that cleanses us from sin we may now indeed come boldly before the throne of grace; we now have access before God into a relationship of unparalleled intimacy. Before trusting in Christ we certainly had good reason to fear God since apart from Christ we were still under his wrath. But now Jesus has taken God's wrath away from us. Does this forgiveness in Christ therefore make the fear of the Lord defunct? Clearly this psalm teaches the opposite. The experience of forgiveness leads to the experience of the fear of God. How is this so? It is simply because forgiveness gives us direct access into the immediate presence of God. The very encounter with the infinite majesty of God that we have through Christ is the source of godly fear. The fear of the Lord is the experience of intimacy with transcendence. This in itself is a paradox since transcendence by definition involves being 'far above' and yet through Christ we are bought into a blissful and paradoxical tension of knowing the unknowable and relating intimately to the transcendent God. Through this profound reflection upon the forgiveness of God the psalmist declares that he is going to wait upon the LORD (an active expression of trust) and that he is putting his hope in God's word, that is, in God's promise of redemption and blessing (vs. 5). Both the intensity and the assuredness of the psalmist's expectation are beautifully expressed in the statement that he is waiting 'more than the watchman waits for the morning.' The night watch was a fearful time to wait through for the Jewish soldier. He might at any time be targeted by the enemy seeking to raid the city with a surprise attack. But as the watchman waited for the morning he was not waiting upon something that was uncertain. The sun always rises for the night watchmen and likewise God's blessing always comes to those who wait patiently and expectantly. The final section of the psalm is a call on the people of God to trust in God for their redemption. The redemption of God is 'full redemption,' that is, he will, in the end, save his people completely from their sins. For the Christian redemption is indeed a present experience but it is still very much in the future. The New Testament emphasises this in many places and it is easy to forget. Full redemption comes with the return of Christ and God wants us to look earnestly for this event ' 'lift up your heads for your redemption is drawing near' (Luke 21:28). We can tend to want everything now but the emphasis in scripture is upon then and indeed God may allow us to feel the curse of this life for a season so as to make us anticipate and long for the coming of Christ. This attitude of anticipation is hope and scripture teaches. That hope is born out of suffering (Rom.5:3,4). The object of Christian joy is also said to be the hope of Glory (Rom.5:2). This hope of glory comes from feeling the imperfections and frustrations of this present life (Rom.7:14ff). This is very much the case in this psalm. As the psalmist suffers in the depths his eyes are set firmly upon the hope of salvation from God. The prayer is both individual and corporate. Here the psalmist prays also on behalf of the people of Israel in the firm and assured hope that God 'himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.'
2:: Sons of Korah - Psalm 127
07.07.2023 07:46:44 07.07.2023 07:46:44 04.07.2024 18:18:51
3:: Psalm 1- Sons of Korah
19.09.2022 09:22:23 19.09.2022 09:22:23 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Psalm 1 is a series of beatitudes and woes very much like the beatitudes and woes of Jesus which make up the opening section of the sermon on the mount (Matt. 5:1ff; Luke 6:17ff).
The blessed life is conceived by one simple but profound spiritual activity: That of meditating upon the 'Law' of Yahweh. In other words the blessed man is preoccupied by reading, thinking over, and applying the scriptures.
The person who delights in the word of God and who meditates upon it will see the effects of that in their life. They will live life to the full and achieve all that God put in them to achieve.
The full track is available in the Sons of Korah App for our in-app subscribers.
You can download the App for free from your App Store.
Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fiveonline.sonsofkorah&hl=en_AU&gl=US
Apple App Store
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/sons-of-korah/id1489314821
4:: Sons of Korah - Psalm 139
17.08.2022 06:55:39 17.08.2022 06:55:39 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Psalm 139 is about the omniscience of God, that is, the fact that God is all-knowing and all-seeing. But it applies this fact not just in a 'spooky God-is-onto-you' way but as a comfort for God's people. The theme of 'God watching over his people' is a common one in the psalms and indicates God's love and care for his people. It stands alongside the shepherding metaphor also common in the psalms. But this psalm takes that theme to a new level. It speaks about God's knowledge of our thoughts and even the fact that God predestines the path of our lives. It celebrates the fact that God loves us so much we could not get away from him even if we tried. In the last part of the psalm, not included in our adaptation of this psalm, the mood turns to the condemnation of evil. And this is quite a natural movement even if it somewhat distasteful to those who prefer the sweeter sentiment of the first half of the psalm. The idea of God watching people goes two ways, and this also is common in the psalms. For God's people it entails safely and care but for those who set themselves against God it entails judgement. In this context the omniscience of God means that God sees their evil and will store up judgement for them unless they turn and repent. Hence naturally again the psalm ends with a cry to God to examine our hearts to see if there is any evil in us that we might be delivered from it.
5:: Sons of Korah - Isaiah 53
23.06.2022 03:18:56 23.06.2022 03:18:56 04.07.2024 18:18:51 We almost never diverge from the Psalms with our compositions but there was one part of the bible that we could not resist. Isaiah 53, sometimes called ‘the servant song,’ is the perfect accompaniment to the psalms.
In its haunting lyrical-oracular style it celebrates the greatest thing that God ever did. It tells of the suffering servant, the man of sorrows, who is none other than Jesus Christ, the very incarnation of the one true God. The prophet sings of the sacrifice of God’s righteous servant in an event so singular that he wonders in the same instance who could believe that such a thing could ever happen. Whereas the psalms often lament the human condition, the song of the suffering servant presents God’s answer to this predicament: God himself takes on our suffering so that we can be clothed in joy. The act of God that Isaiah 53 sings of is what accounts for every turning point in the psalms. It is why, as Psalm 103 declares, “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” It is the reason why there is any praise and rejoicing in the psalms at all. That’s why we wanted to sing this song and place it beside the saddest of the psalms, Psalm 88. It is the work of the man of sorrows, Jesus Christ, that assures that, as Psalm 126 declares, our sowing in tears will return to us a harvest of joy.
6:: Sons of Korah - Psalm 37a
17.07.2021 09:42:17 17.07.2021 09:42:17 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm that points to a remarkable possibility: we can live without worry. We can live without frustration. And we can live without fear. Of course, it is inevitable, due to our faltering faith and partial obedience, that we will experience these things. The point, however, is that we need not experience these things. It is our choice to worry. Worry arises from our propensity to want to control our fate. But it is not our role to exercise this level of control. That is God’s prerogative and when we try to take this role we live in uncertainty and we worry as a result. When we make our own way and live by our own agenda, we will also end up frustrated. We were created to live God’s way and for his agenda. God’s purpose can never be frustrated, and neither will we, if we live for that purpose. If our highest priority is God’s invulnerable purpose, and if our lives are in his hands, what could we possibly fear? What could really be a threat to us? Worry, frustration and fear must therefore be understood as symptoms of a deeper problem. They are symptoms of us taking God’s role. This is a serious problem because it denies God his prerogative as God over our lives. But, in this, we also deprive ourselves of the peace and joy that comes when we yield our lives over to God as we should.
Entrust yourself and your concerns to God. [Dr. Matthew Jacoby - Sons of Korah]
7:: Sons of Korah - Concert 2020
13.12.2020 09:08:02 13.12.2020 09:08:02 04.07.2024 18:18:51 In May 2020, having had all our touring (international & local) cancelled, the band came together to record this special live concert. It was our effort to reach out to everyone who we would have been able to see in person, had the world not been hit by the global pandemic.
These Psalms speak powerfully to us, in such a time as this. We hope you enjoy and, more importantly, are encouraged as you take a musical journey through the Psalms with us.
SOK.
You can download the Sons of Korah App FREE from your app store. (Access to some content requires a small subscription).
Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fiveonline.sonsofkorah&hl=en_AU&gl=US
Apple App Store
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/sons-of-korah/id1489314821
8:: Sons of Korah - Psalm 131
01.09.2020 08:42:13 01.09.2020 08:42:13 04.07.2024 18:18:51
9:: Psalm 137 - Sons of Korah
17.04.2019 04:27:43 17.04.2019 04:27:43 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Psalm 137 points back to the lowest period in the history of the people of God: the Babylonian captivity. Jerusalem suffered a cruel defeat under the Babylonian Army (605-586 BC). The city was laid waste and those who were not killed were taken into exile. It was a common practice of conquering nations in the Ancient Near East, to prevent against nationalist uprisings in conquered territories, to deport the large proportion of conquered peoples far away from their home land. The idea was that after some time their identity and faith would be lost as the people were assimilated into the foreign culture. Judah remained in exile for 70 years and in this time the flame of the covenant faith continued to burn. However the very experience of being in Babylon was a painful one for a people whose whole identity was caught up in their nationality, faith, and the glory of Jerusalem and the temple which stood at the centre of Jewish life.
The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army had been a devastating one. Read the book of Lamentations which is a vivid description of the destroyed city by Jeremiah who had warned the people many times before this event came. The defeat was a cruel one. Moreover it was bought about to the great delight of the neighbours of Judah, such as Edom, who applauded the cruelty. The Psalm, then, recalls the people's grief as they lived in captivity amidst the system of canals that spread throughout the Babylonian region (vs.1). Musical instruments were generally associated with rejoicing and so when the Babylonians asked for a demonstration of their renowned music ability they refused (vss.2-4). The gesture of putting away their instruments was symbolic of the fact that there is no joy apart from God. The vow to never forget Jerusalem was a vow of utmost piety and a gesture in defiance of the enemy's attempt to try and squash their faith by taking them so far away from their home. The psalmist turns his anger upon the Babylonian empire who did these things. The anger of the words that follow match the zeal of the writer.
The Babylonians did terrible things to the people of Jerusalem. Those who were not deported were killed ' this included children ' even those in the wombs of their mothers. This was prophesied by Hosea (if you feel brave you could read Hosea 13:16). The practice of killing infants in the ancient times represented the absolute destruction of a people. Progeny were seen as the continuation of a person's life so the destruction of children was like rubbing a person's name out from existence ' it was the worst of all curses. According to the principle of the Genesis 12:3, then, the psalmist, in his righteous indignation, declares the curse back on the heads of those who did these things.The Relevance of Psalm 137 for the Christian lies first of all in the spiritual solidarity that all God's people share. Abraham's children, said Jesus and Paul, are those who have the faith of Abraham. These belong to the great family of God. Psalm 137 remembers one of the most significant times in our history. The psalm carries an important lesson for us. Lest we are tempted to stray from the faith into which we have been called we should remember that there is no joy when we are far from God. But for the Christian there is an even deeper significance in psalm 137. Our promised land is heaven ' the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21) ' the new heavens and earth (Isaiah 65:17ff) ' the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:28,29; 14:15ff; 22:14). If we forget the Kingdom of God (and Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom of God ' Matt. 6:33), may God chastise us severely lest we become assimilated into the world and our identity and faith is lost. If we forget the New Jerusalem, that is, if we become satisfied with our life here on earth in captivity to the corrupt nature of our mortal bodies (Rom. 7:24b cf. Gal. 5:17), if our sojourn here (Hebrews 11:13; 1Peter 1:17) becomes too settled, if we are not continually longing for the coming of God's kingdom (Rom. 8:23), may God bring upon us such chastisement that we will be bought to our senses. The forces of evil in heavenly realms wage war against the Kingdom of God (Eph. 6:12). They delight in the downfall of the Christian and they work tirelessly to take us captive and to snuff out our faith and hope. But may God bring about their own downfall as he has said he will do. May God cut off the memory of the evil one from the earth and may that destruction be absolute. This is the way we understand the reflection and prayer of Psalm 137.
Matt Jacoby - Leader Sons of Korah
10:: Psalm 95 (Version 2)
09.03.2019 03:39:04 09.03.2019 03:39:04 04.07.2024 18:18:51 The movement of Psalm 95 is interesting in the sense that it moves from a mood of exuberant praise to one of solemn warning. The first part of the psalm is a call to reverent joyful worship. Reverence is a key factor here since what is being highlighted is the greatness of God. The appeal to the grandeur of nature to elicit a sense of awe (vs.3-5) before God the creator is a common point of reflection in the psalms. Many psalms refer to God as the creator of the mountains and the sea particularly, both of these being amongst the more impressive features of nature. In the psalm it is pointed out that this mighty transcendent God who created the world in all its grandeur is the very same God who is our shepherd. This highlights a characteristic element of biblical spirituality and it defines the idea of reverence. The experience of reverence is essentially an intimate experience of the transcendence of God. It is the combination of intimacy with a God who is infinitely beyond our capacity to grasp.
The call to worship leads naturally to the exhortation in verse 8 to listen to God: "Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts." The connection between the solemn exhortation of verses 8-11 and the exuberant call to worship of the first part of the psalms is this: The true worshipper is the one whose heart is open to God. To draw near to God in a spiritual sense means opening our hearts to God's voice and being willing to trust him. If we are unwilling to listen to God and trust him then we express rebellion rather than worship. This rebellion was exemplified by the Israelites in the desert period after the exodus at Meribah and Massah (Exodus 15:22-17:7; Numbers 20). This account is the classic expression of rebellion and is often referred to in the rest of the Bible as an example of apostasy. The problem here was that the Israelites were simply unwilling to embrace the life of faith. They repeatedly expressed their preference to be back in slavery in Egypt rather than be on their journey with God. Hence they rejected God. As a result they were made to wander restlessly in the desert for the rest of their lives until a new generation came forth who would inherit God's promised land.
The Psalmist, as he sounds his call to worship, is thus calling for his worshippers to be genuine. It is possible to make outward gestures of worship while inwardly being in rebellion against God. The use of the biblical narrative here sheds light on how the psalms are intended to be used. There is an important sense of prophetic exhortation in the psalms ' such that is given to us to be sung and repeated for generation after generation. The events of biblical history are given to us to teach us and here this instruction, as in many other psalms, is made to be a part of the corporate worship experience.
11:: Psalm 80 - Sons of Korah
26.01.2019 03:39:47 26.01.2019 03:39:47 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Filmed in 2005 in our home town of Geelong Australia.
Psalm 80 is a communal lament probably occasioned in its original setting by the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC (2 Kings 17). The Assyrian capture of Samaria and the deportation of the people of Israel left the two small tribes of Judah in the south shocked and alone. Their brothers in the north were gone forever and the family of God's people was now but a tiny remnant compared to the glory of the past. God had bought in the Assyrians to destroy the northern kingdom for its sins. The writer of Kings explains saying, 'All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced' (2 Kings 17:7,8). This was a sobering event for the remnant that remained in the south and a solemn warning that rebellion and idolatry spell disaster. Aware that they are not a whole lot better than their northern brothers the people of Judah now cry out in the words of this psalm for God to save them from the same fate.The appeal to God as the shepherd of Israel is a reminder to God of his covenant love for his people. They were seeing the anger of God unleashed before them and in desperation they appeal to his mercy. The plea for God to make his face shine upon his people is a call for God's special loving favour to be shown again to his people. Restoration is what they called for. The original mighty nation that God had raised up from Abraham, pictured here as a vine, was now 'cut down and burned with fire.' The great covenant vision of a glorious kingdom of Yahweh that shone before the whole earth was being dashed to pieces before their eyes. Instead of being a light to the world the nation was now an object of scorn and ridicule.At the end of the psalm there is the plea that God would rest his hand upon the son of man at his right hand, the resurrected son of man. In its original context this refers to Israel as the firstborn son of God and the right-hand man of God among the nations.
But in the light of the coming of Christ, and from theological point of view particularly, this appeal can only have any weight if it is ultimately an appeal to the risen Christ. Christ became the representative of Israel in his life and death. His life is our righteousness and his death is our forgiveness. This applies now and retrospectively to any person in the past to whom the favour of God was ever shown. This was only possible, indeed, prayer itself was only ever possible, because of what Jesus did. His resurrection was the trumpet call of victory over judgement and therefore it is to the resurrected of Christ that we appeal for God to hear and answer our prayers. Verse 17 must therefore be taken as a Messianic reference. Israel was the son of God as also are we because Jesus was the firstborn of God who, through his death and resurrection legitimized us all as God's children.
This is therefore the strongest appeal of the whole psalm. All our appeals in prayer are made 'for Jesus sake' and 'in Jesus name.' To ask God to remember the Son of Man whom he raised up is an appeal such that God has bound himself to hear. We therefore pray that God would make this favour shine upon us for Jesus' sake.
Be blessed.
12:: Sons of Korah - Instrumental
14.07.2018 06:23:11 14.07.2018 06:23:11 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Here's a little bit of fun! This instrumental was filmed during our Netherlands tour in 2009. We've been so blessed with great musicians who all want to serve God's purposes with their gifts! Hope you enjoy.
13:: Psalm 147a - Sons of Korah (2009)
09.06.2018 03:06:04 09.06.2018 03:06:04 04.07.2024 18:18:51 This is Psalm 147a, recorded when we were in the Netherlands back in 2009. A classic exuberant song of praise, Psalm 147, extols the character and greatness of God. A key idea of this psalm is that of a mighty God who is not impressed by the strength of man but who values, above all, joyful submission and trust. In the light of God's greatness the psalm call us to rest trustfully and securely in the strength of God. The psalm moves from reflection on the transcendent greatness of God to the intimate care and compassion of God. In each case the one makes the other more remarkable. The God who set the stars in place and created the world is the God who is irresistibly drawn to the plight of the needy. As he cares for his creation so too does he care for the everyday needs of people. The delight of God is to display his strength through the humble dependence of man. And therefore it is those who turn from their own strengths to trust him who are the ones who experience this surpassingly great power in their lives. The finishing picture of the psalm is of God directing the affairs of the natural world by the power of his word. In a final stroke of wonder the psalmist points out that this is the very same word of which his people are the custodians and bearers.
14:: Sons of Korah - Psalm 148
05.04.2018 02:33:48 05.04.2018 02:33:48 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Filmed in 2005 Geelong Vic Australia.
15:: Psalm 93 - Sons of Korah
01.12.2017 08:57:23 01.12.2017 08:57:23 04.07.2024 18:18:51 Psalm 93 is the first of a group of Psalms (up to Psalm 99) that celebrate the sovereign rule of God over the earth. Like the rest of these psalms this is a psalm that expresses an attitude of reverence and awe. It brings us toward the kind of experience that Job came to by the end of the book that bears his name. In the face of the awesome strength and magnitude of the natural world the psalmist experiences something that words cannot do justice to. Hence only the language of the pounding seas will suffice to express something of what is felt here. In the ancient world the ocean was viewed not as we romantically view it today but with a great measure of dread. The great abyss of the ocean was the place where many lost their lives and was viewed as unfathomable as the sky in many ways. It was also seen therefore as a place of mystery. It is not hard then to see why the psalmist calls on the ocean to express what he feels about God. The experience of awe, that is, the fear of the Lord, is the experience of the unfathomable greatness of God and the infinite and mysterious nature of God's being. Riding on the will of God can make one feel as vulnerable as riding on the great ocean and yet the greatness of God is also felt in this Psalm to be celebrated as a person's greatest security. For the throne of God stands firm and cannot moved. The transcendence and immutability of God is seen here to be the anchor in a creation that makes man feel so miniscule and vulnerable. This video was filmed during a tour in the Netherlands back in 2009. Hope you enjoy it.
16:: Sons of Korah - Psalm 77
26.02.2016 02:45:54 26.02.2016 02:45:54 03.07.2024 15:40:29 Psalm 77 is one of those remarkable psalms that begins in a place of felt alienation from God and moves to a place of triumphant praise. It is probably a cry representing the distress of the nation as a whole. It is a great example of a characteristic aspect of biblical spirituality that I address at length in my book Deeper Places (Baker Books, 2013). We see in this psalm, and others like it, that faith is cultivated in the tension between human reality and the divine promises.
In Psalm 77 the reality for the psalmist is that he feels that God has forsaken his people, probably because of external military oppression. The divine promises are implied in the historical precedents of the past. Here we see that faith neither downplays the seriousness of the prevailing situation nor does it lower expectations of what we can expect from God. Rather than seeking to resolve this tension between present reality and divine promise by dialing down either element of the tension, faith is actually dialing up both at the same time. It seems that what is happening here is that the Psalmist is seeking to provoke the faithfulness of God by strong appeals to the key covenant precedents. This is faith at work and it is profound and instructive.
The turning point of the psalm comes as the psalmist begins to reflect on the past acts of God. This is a classic case of the Hebrew idea of walking into the future facing backwards. Reflection on the acts of God in the past creates faith to face the future. The events being referred to here are of course those of the Exodus.
Sons of Korah is an Australian based band devoted to giving a fresh voice to the biblical psalms. The Psalms have been the primary source for the worship traditions of both Judaism and Christianity going right back to ancient times. With their unique acoustic, multi-ethnic sound Sons of Korah have given this biblical songbook a dynamic and emotive new musical expression. They endeavour to lead their listeners into an impacting encounter with this book that is often described as the 'heart' of the bible. From lamentation to songs of jubilant praise, from battle cry to benediction, from exclamation of awe and wonder to reflections of tranquillity and perfect wisdom, Sons of Korah provide a compelling portrait of the world and experience of the psalms.
17:: SOK Psalm 19
11.04.2015 03:25:54 11.04.2015 03:25:54 03.07.2024 15:40:29 Sons of Korah Psalm 19
1112336
2522123
