Dealing With The Devil (Part 2)

Introduction

This is a continuation of a study I'm doing on "Dealing with the Devil," based on a 30 day scripture plan I found by The Ruffled Mango.[1] In this post, I'm covering days 5 through 9—we're going to look at the parable of the Sower, the betrayal by Judas, Peter denying Christ, and Ananias and Sapphira's lies.

Mark 4:2-4: The Parabale of the Sower (pt. 1)

The Israelites lived in a agrarian society, so analogies to farming or taking care of livestock was the perfect way to explain things to them, and Christ utilizes this in most of His parables. In this case, He speaks of a sower (or farmer) who is sowing (planting) seeds. Plants, vines, and fruit have a long history in the Word—Matthew 7:15-20; John 15; Romans 6:21-22; Ephesians 5:8-10; Colossians 1:10; James 3:17-18; Galatians 5:22-23. From these passages we know this is related to our behavior.

Note that "seeds fallen to the way side" are seeds separated from the group. In the previous post, we determined that fellowship between Christians is crucial to our walk with Christ and warding off the devil. Another important understanding of "seeds fallen to the way side" is that these seeds are not where they are supposed to be and that makes them vulnerable. If they were in the garden (the proper place), there would likely be a fence and scarecrow protecting them from being devoured before even sprouting.

Mark 4:13-15: The Parabale of the Sower (pt. 2)

Later in the chapter, Christ explains the parable for us, so we don't have to do any guess work about what He means. He identifies the seeds as the Word and the fowl of the air as Satan. Essentially Christ is saying that when you sow the Word in an unprotected place, Satan will swoop in and steal that information before it can take root.

When I read these verses, I focused more on the applicaiton to protecting self than the question of if I sow seeds in the wrong place. The major concern that struck me was "what if I'm on the path?" Have you ever had a Bible Study or discussion about the Word and you dismissed it? Or maybe you read a few verses and by the time you got to the end you forgot what you've read? I felt like these were examples of me not being in the right place to cultivate the Word.

So, I asked my self, how do we create an envirnoment in our minds that ensures we aren't "on the path"? The following is what I came up with:

• Be mindful of what we allow to take up space in our mind
• Pray for retention of the Word
• Be intentional when reading the Word
• Be intentional when listening to the Word

Luke 22:2-4: Judas Betrays Christ

I knew Judas betrayed Christ, everyone knows that. However, I never noticed that the Bible tells us Satan entered Judas. There were three main ideas that I dwelt on after reading Luke 22:2-4.

What Does it Mean to be Possessed?

Hollywood has given us very interesting ideas of possession, albiet some passages in the Bible do warn of depravity due to possession. However, in each of the last three passages discussed in the post, you'll see evidence of Satan wielding control over someone and it doesn't look like a madman. Sometimes, people give the devil full access of their mind and body for lengthy periods of time, but in these cases it appears to be a single bad decision.

In cartoons, there's always the scene where an angel of God is on one shoulder telling the character to do right, while the devil is egging the character on to do wrong from the other shoulder. In real life, God gives us free will and each second of the day we are presented with choices. When we start choosing to listen to the devil more that God's Spirit, we are giving the devil control of our life. This is how he gains a foothold and is able to manipulate our actions.

Choose Your Friends Carefully

The passage starts off talking about Jesus' enemies, but that's not who Satan enters. Satan goes for the someone close to Jesus, someone in His inner circle. People in our inner circle see us at our best and our worst; they know our flaws and weaknesses. They know exactly the kind of information Satan needs to exploit us.

This is one reason he targets those close to us, but another reason is that they have our trust. We usually trust those closest to us to give us good advice, to keep us safe, and not to put us in compromising situations. This means we are more likely to go along with them. There are people I know that I would never travel with because even though I like them well enough, I have no idea what they will get into. My closest friends, however, I trust to share my values and not put me in an uncomfortable position. Because of this, I'm more likely to go on a trip with one of the latter over the former. So, Satan knows to get to me, he too has to come through the latter.

The saying "choose your friends carefully" rings true here. We want to surround ourselves with people who have our back, but more importantly, we want to surround ourselves with God-fearing men and women who are actively fighting off Satan's attacks.

Don't Let Satan Use You

Speaking of God-fearing men and women, we have to be that for our friends. Just like Satan used Judas, he can use us against our friends. When we find ourselves plotting for someone's downfall, that's an indicator that Satan is putting thoughts in our head. It's one thing to think someone should go to jail for a crime, but when we wish bad on people our of jealousy or spite, there's a problem. When we aren't happy for our friends' success or we're ready to tell their business to people we know don't like them, there's a problem. If we find ourselves in these situations or feeling like this, we need to take it to God immediately, because likely, Satan is in our head.

Luke 22:31-32: Satan Wants Peter

Satan didn't just go for one person in Jesus' inner circle. He also wanted to take Peter away from the faith. I see Peter's experience more like a Job experience, in the sense that Christ knew Peter had the faith to maintain their relationship.

Four things stood out to me in this passage: Christ already knew the devil's plan, Christ warns Peter about said plan, Christ prays for Peter's faith, and Christ aknowledges that He and Peter will be separated for a time.

God Knows All

God is omniscient; He knows all of His creations better than they know themselves. Since Satan is one of God's creations, this is true for him too. Satan can't outsmart God or catch Him off guard. This means He knows exactly which one of His children Satan is plotting against and exactly what test Satan will put before them.

God Warns Us

Because God knows what's coming, He often sends us a warning to help us avoid Satan's traps. There are at least three examples of this that come to mind: God warns Cain that sin is lurking before Cain kills his brother (Genesis 4:6-7); Christ sublty tips Judas off to His knowledge of the betrayal, which is in time for Judas to take a different course of action (Matthew 26:21-24); and Christ warns Peter that Satan is trying to get to him (Luke 22:31-32).

God Wants us to Succeed

Christ prays for Peter, telling us that He wanted Peter to win against Satan. What's interesting is that of all the things He could have prayed for, He prayed for Peter's faith. This tells us that the main factor in successfully defending against Satan's attacks is our faith.

God Knows We Aren't Perfect

Christ makes a point to note that Peter will be "returning" to Him. While this could be literal, since they get separated in the commotion, I have a feeling it's spiritual. Peter goes on to deny Christ three times, which is also a way of separating himself from Christ in it's own right. In doing so he's distancing himself from Christ, the way we may distance ourselves from Christ to fit in or enjoy things of the world. There's a real danger that we will put so much distance between ourselves and Christ that we won't be able to find our way back.

Yet, Christ knew Peter would regret His denials and find His way back. Christ didn't have to reveal any of this information to Peter, but by doing so, and by giving Peter a specific task to complete upon his return, Christ exemplifies His forgiving nature and love. When Peter fails, he isn't just left with the feeling that Christ is saya "I told you so." The last thing Christ said about the incident was "when you come back to Me." This means we can return and we will be forgiven!

Acts 5:1-4: Ananias and Sapphira Lie to the Holy Spirit

The final passage for today covers the fate of a couple that lies to the Apostles about a property they sold. They withold part of the proceeds they receive for an unknown reason, choosing to lie about the amount they sold it for. Interestingly, I think they very well have simply said, "We sold our property for x and we're giving you half"—or whatever portion they gave. The deeper issue here is that everyone else was giving everything they had, and this couple was not ready or willing to do the same. Regardless of the reason, we know that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corintians 9:7), so it would be better to give what you can with joy than to try to keep up with the joneses.

Like with Peter (from part 1) and Judas, Ananias and Sapphira let Satan guide their actions rather than God. These action (e.g., lying, greed, etc.) are easy to recognize as ungodly. When we have ideas that do not please Him, Satan has put them in our head and carrying out such an action is an offense to God himself, not just the person we hurt (or lie to in this case).

Conclusion

While the last verses focused more on Satan's stategies, these verses reminded me to watch myself. The main thing I took away from these verses was to watch myself and don't let Satan use me for his on purposes.

References

1. "June Scripture Writing Plan". The Reffled Mango; visited October 4, 2020

Would You Rather?: Betray or Deny

This post received a comment suggesting that this question should not be asked. I would like to clarify that the answer to this question is not to suggest that you should actually betray or deny the Messiah—though we do both in our lives whether we are ready to admit it or not—but to recognize the potential to do either in ourselves. To realize just how much like the people of the Bible we truly are. By understanding the motives and the possible reasoning behind their failures and identifying where we align with these motives and reasonings, the hope is that we can avoid their pit falls. I would also like to clarify that "equal desiring" means "equally not wanting" in this case, in other Would You Rathers it could mean "equally wanting."

Would you rather is a fun game to play, particularly when getting to know someone. A person is asked to choose between two things of equal desiring—making it hard to decide and opening dialouge as to why the person chooses the option they choose. Recently I stumbled accross several versions of "Would You Rather?: Bible Edition" and found the questions quite intriguing. I've decided to answer one every Sabbath. Let me know your answer to today's "Would You Rather?" in the comment section.

Would you rather betray Jesus or deny Jesus?

Answer: Deny

Backstory

Judas Betrays Jesus

Judas, one of the 12 disciples, makes a deal with the authorities to turn identify and turn over Jesus in exchange for money.[1]

Peter Denies Jesus

Peter, also one of the 12 disciples, denies that he knows Christ three times the night that Jesus is taken by the authorities.[2]

Rationale

Depending on how you look at it denying your friendship with a person can be a betrayal, but I think actions boil down to two factors: motivation and consequence.

Judas' motivation for betraying Jesus isn't explicitly given in the text. Some believe it was solely out of greed to get the 30 pieces of silver, others believe it was to "force" Jesus in to taking over the kingdom—remember many thought the Messiah would overthrow Rome and restore Israel to is David-era glory. Because there was money exchanged, I believe his motivation was greed (the love of money is the root of all evil!). Judas was ready to jeopardize his friendship with Jesus, the freedom of the disciples, Jesus' life, and all they had worked for, for a handful of silver. That is the Spirit of covetousness. When we stop caring what happens to those around us just because something seemingly benefits us, we're crossing a dangerous line. A large-scale, modern example of this is covered in The Devil We Know, a documentary about DuPont sabbotaging the water supply around the world in order to continue profitting from Teflon.

Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Matthew 27:3 NASB

Peter's motivation was likely fear. I imagine Rome had a "guilty by association" type of system, as many modern countries still operate this way. For instance, if you're at a party where drugs are present, you can be arrested too. If you have knowledge of a crime and don't report it, you're considered an accessory. By modern definition, the disciples would have been considered accessories to Jesus' "crime" and likely would have been arrested too. After Jesus was taken and made it clear that He wasn't gong to put up a fight, Peter and the rest of the disciples went into survival mode. In Peter's case, he sought to put distance between himself and Jesus to avoid the same fate. The most modern example I have of this (where its not just in jest) occurred in my family during my grandfather's era (so early 1900s). There was a portion of my family that was born light enough to pass for white and some of them chose to do so to reap the benefits of being white in the Jim Crow era. In order to do so, they had to deny everyone in the family who could not or would not pass.

Of course neither of these motivations are good, but Peter was forced into survival mode by a situation he had no control over. Judas created the situtaion. I feel that Judas was more deliberate in his action; he thought it out enough to approach the authorities, make the deal, and actually carry out the plan. Judas' actions were premeditated.

⁵⁶But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. ⁵⁷And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. Luke 22:56-57 KJV

The second aspect I mentioned was consequence. I had a friend once tell me he'd rather have someone intend to shoot him but miss than to have someone who loved him but accidentally shot him. In this way, we can have harmless intentions but create very harmful situations. The consequence of Judas' betrayal was the death of Christ. The consequence of Peter's denial was...nothing.

Judas' betrayal doesn't just end with Christ being captured, Christ is tortured and murdered. It doesn't end there either though. In the aftermath of Christ's death, Judas kills himself. Absolutely nothing good comes from his actions (well, minus the fact that we all have enteral salvation now but that was going to happen anyway). On the other hand, Peter eventually repents of his actions, and goes on to become a prominent figure in spreading the gospel.

Ultimately, we make mistakes all the time and in a way, each time we sin we betray or deny God. However, it is our motivation and our willingness to change that ultimately matter. So at the end of the day, I would choose to be a flawwed human who learned from my mistakes and caused little harm over a flawwed human that let my choices be the death of me and another person.

Which would you rather do?

References and Footnotes

1. Luke 22:1-48
2. Luke 22:54-62
3. I found many versions of "Whould You Rather?: Scripture Edition"; this question was found in a version made by Megan of Church Leaders

Most Likely To Betray You

Season 1 Episode 35

³Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. ⁴“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said.

“What’s that to us?” they said. “See to it yourself!” ⁵So he threw the silver into the temple and departed. Then he went and hanged himself. Matthew 27:3-5 CSB

Betrayal is always unexpected, and it always hurts. The Bible has many instances of betrayal, from sibling rivalries to Judas betraying Jesus. We spend a lot of time talking about the person who was betrayed and vilifying the betrayer, but what happens when we realize we have plenty in common the betrayer? The root cause of betrayal is always selfishness and we all fall prey to the temptation of selfishness. In this episode, let's talk about how we can avoid the pitfalls that lead to betrayal.

References and Footnotes

Another example of betrayal in the Bible is David's betrayal of Uriah (sleeping with Bathsheba then having Uriah killed).

Psalms 41-50

This post covers Psalms 41-50. Psalm 42 begins Book II of the Psalms. Many of these Psalms have prophetic messages about Jesus and nuggets of truth foreshadowing the New Testament covenant. There are also psalms for praise and worship, as well. Let's look at them!

Introduction

This post covers Psalms 41-50. Psalm 41 closes Book I of Psalms, with Psalm 42 being the first psalm of Book II.
Top

Psalm Summaries

Psalm 41

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David

Once again, we are told to help the poor. It's amazing how many times we are commanded to help the poor and yet, evangelical Christians are known to vote against policies meant to help the poor. This is contrary to what God has commanded of us; Jesus also tells us to take care of the poor in the New Testament (Matthew 25:34-40).

Psalm 41 also discusses the betrayal of a friend in comparison to the mistreatment we receive (as expected) from our enemies. This type of betrayal hurts much more than the injustices we suffer from strangers or enemies. I imagine it hurts God more deeply when His people betray Him (by succumbing to the devil) than when nonbelivers continue a sinful path. In this discussion of betrayal we find a Messianic prophecy (discussed below).

Psalm 42

To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Richard Lee

The theme of the psalm is thirsting for the Lord. The Word of God and life is often tied to water in the Bible (rebirth/baptism, living water, etc.). It is only when we partake of the living water that Jesus gives (salvation) that we can quench our thirst.

Not surprisingly, God constantly tells us His water is a "living water" (i.e., John 4:4, Jeremiah 17:13, etc.). God promises that when we partake in His water we will never thirst! Of course, before we can get to that point, we have to have an original thirst for God's water. In the New Testament, living water is defined as the Holy Spirit.[4][5]

In middle school, my science teacher asked "What is the only reason for life on Earth?" I gave God as the answer, but the answer she was looking for was water. If you follow the logic of science, sure you may need water to keep from being dehydrated, but if you never find God and His living water, you will not make it to life eternal. Although I didn't fully understand either answer at the time, I realize now that God and His living water is the best answer I could have ever given.

When we thirst for God, we seek Him out, which this psalm encourages. We are also to praise Him for His lovingkindness.

Psalm 43

Psalm 43 focuses on delivering God's people from unjust nations. Considering the era in which this was written, those nations were probably Moab, Egypt, Assyria, and Philistine. Of course, this is still relatable to us today. Nations today don't necessary behave uniformly or follow the lead of their leader (e.g., President Trump only has a 22% approval rate).[6] That makes it a little more difficult to envision unjust nations versus just nations. The passage makes much more sense when we think in terms of believers versus non-believers. As we approach the final judgment the world will become increasingly polarized along that line.

Psalm 44

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil

Psalm 44 reminds me of Job; the psalmist discusses the feeling of being separated from God, yet he doesn't seem to know why Israel is in that position. The psalmist argues that they have not turned away from God, which confirms a situation very similar to Job's. I'm sure many of us have gone through similar trials where we feel as though God has abandoned us. In response, the psalmist admits that God has been his strength, and asks Him to return to redeem the nation.

Psalm 45

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves

Psalm 45 is another psalm that contains prophecy (I'll focus on the prophecy aspects below). Most commentaries I've read interpret the psalm to be about a wedding—specifically the wedding of Christ and the church. This explains why people are bringing gifts. The psalm first gives us information on the king, followed by the bride, and closes with a blessing on their union. When we begin to learn about the bride, the command in Psalm 45:10 tells us that she is not from the kingdom she's marrying into. As such, there are also those who speculate that the psalm is about the marriage of an Israelite king (such as Solomon) to a foreign princess. This interpretation is problematic because the king is referred to as God (Psalm 45:6-7) and someone worthy of worship (Psalm 45:11).[6]

Psalm 46

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song join Alamoth

Psalm 46:1 is likely the inspiration for the song "Made Me Glad." This psalm is a great read when you are going through tough timss as it discusses God as our strength and refuge. No matter what's happening in our lives, we can trust that He will carry us through it. The psalmist uses the extreme of the the Earth being removed, which is also the language of Isaiah 13:13 and 24:20. The worst possible thing we can imagine is judgment day, and the das leading up to those days. I don't know how much the psalmist knew about the end or even the first captivity of Judah, but it something we can take comfort in, knowing that God will always take care of us.

Be still, and know that I am GodPsalm 46:10 KJV

One of my favorite quotes from the Bible is found in Psalm 46:10. Anytime I take a moment to stop, I think on God being God. My mind dwells on this automatically because I've witnessed so much of His awesomeness. I've shared some of my testimonies on the blog, but nature testifies of God all on it's own. Seeing the stars or thinking on how perfectly everything aligns on our planet reminds us of how small we are. We often try to take on our problems when we should give them over to God. God is our refuge.

Psalm 47

To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah

This psalm is one of praise for God as King of Kings. It exalts God as King of Earth and reminds us that as the divine King, God is in charge of the outcome of battles. He will always defeat His enemies, so His people will always be victorious.

"O clap your hands all ye people" from Psalm 47:1 has been made into a song. Many people have sung a song by this title, but it also appears as a single line in many worship songs as well. It is fitting that we have placed this line in so many songs when the psalm actually is a song of praise to exalt God. Another song that epitomizes the words of this psalm is "Every Praise" by Hezekiah Walker.

Psalm 48

A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah

This psalm focuses on the home of God, though it reiterates the hope we have in God and triumph of God's people over those who do not worship God.

God compares the fear and pain of the kings of kingdoms not under His rule as the pain of labor. This metaphor is also used in Matthew 24 and Isaiah 13 when discussing the end of time. I find this interesting for several reasons: from the the fall, Eve's punishment was pain in bringing forth children; a woman often symbolizes the church; a baby could be called the fruit of the womb; and the Bible constantly talks about the fruit identifying the tree.

Psalm 49

To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Thought Catalog

The first verse of Psalm 49 makes me feel like I'm in God's kingdom listening to one of the angels begin a royal proclamation straight from God. What's so beautiful about this introduction is that everyone is addressed. Regardless of a person's status in society, the message presented was meant to be heard. One of the reasons the message is for everyone is because in the end, everyone dies. Sure, our eternal fate may be different, but we all have to experience the first death (assuming we aren't part of the 144,000 who witness Jesus' second coming). No matter how rich and powerful you are, when your time is up, your time is up. Immediately after telling us who the message is for, the author prefaces that these are "dark" words (i.e., heavy and possibly uncomfortable to think about) and reveals that he was given these words through a parable—the most popular method of teaching used by Jesus in the New Testament.

An important point made in this passage is the worthlessness of money in comparison to our soul. In society, money is needed for everything, from luxury and extravagance to basic meals. This is why it's easy for people to think money can solve their problems snd make them happy. However, no amount of money can pay for the sins we commit. This is great news for those of us who have no money, but was probably disheartening to the rich and powerful who thought they could get away with anything. The only thing that can ransom us (re: pay for our sins) is Jesus blood.

While the passage is definitely cautious of money, it makes a point not to condemn money. Remember servants of God like Job, David, and Solomon were all wealthy. God blesses us with what He sees fit, so He just might make you wealthy. The important thing is not to get caught up in the riches. We are never to depend on the money to get us out of situations or to let it control your decisions. The passage reminds us that we can't take material wealthy with us when we leave, something my grandmother used to say on the regular. Essentially the passage is telling us to set our minds on Heaven, not on what makes us "successful" in this world.

There's also a popular church phrase that comes from this psalm. Growing up, people often used to say something like "let the words of my mouth and the meditation of the heart be on the Lord." It seemed like something someone came up with that simply caught on as a church saying; little did I know it's from Psalm 49!

Psalm 50

A Psalm of Asaph

A lot of us misunderstand the Old Testament; the laws seem so different from ours today that people often question the character of God because they've missed key points of understanding. I talk about this in general in other posts, but Psalm 50 addresses the topic of animal sacrifice. Animal rights activists would have a conniption if any of the world religions went back to practicing animal sacrifice, and most of us would think that was pretty weird and twisted as well. Yet, it was a major part of the Israelite's daily life.

Interestingly, God despised the sacrifices. He didn't want to see innocent animals constantly killed because we were messing up. From the beginning, God just wanted us to love Him, and as Jesus says in the New Testament, "if [we] love [Him], [we] will keep [His] commandments." One of the biggest problems back then is that the people lost sight of the relationship with God aspect and focused solely on laws and sacrifices. That's like marrying someone and instead of focusing on strengthing your relationship and building a future with that person, your focus is on buying presents and not cheating. If you love the person and build a relationship, you won't have the desire to cheat, and your presence will likely be present enough. However, if there's no relationship, that temptation to cheat will grow and grow, making it more likely that you do cheat.

Another thing I want to point out is that these sacrifices were also tied to eating flesh. All of the meat eaten by Israelites would have come from sacrifices. Thus, while fruits and veggies should be reminders of the Garden of Eden, meat should have be a reminded of sin and it's consequences.

Speaking of sin and it's consequences, the latter half of the psalm is a condemnation of wickedness. It speaks against being an enabler for evildoers. We often see people doing wrong, but we've taught to live and let live so we don't say anything. We allow, and by proxy of not condemning, endorse behavior that God abhors. It even explains that although God may not cut you down immediately for such actions, punnishment is coming for those who do not repent and change their ways.

Now consider this, ye that forget God,
lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.
Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me:
and to him that ordereth his conversation aright
will I shew the salvation of God.Psalms 50:22-23 KJV

Messianic Verses

Psalm 41:9

Psalm 41:9 references the betrayal committed by Judah that leads to the crucifixion of Christ. In the verse, the person shares his bread (or some type of food) with the betrayer. Breaking bread with someone is a sign of trust and friendship, so that makes the betrayal that much more devastating. Also, this specific reference is likely referring to the las supper in which Jesus informs the disciples that he knows someone is betraying Him. Although the person will betray Him, the rest of the passage goes on to claim victory of the enemies that the betrayer has aligned himself with. Although Jesus was crucified, as His enemies wanted, He rose from the dead victorious.

Psalm 45:6-7

Though the major focus is on Psalm 45:6-7, there are quite a few things that stand out as being prophetic in Psalm 45. Verses 6 and 7 make us aware that the king discussed in the passage isn't an ordinary king; since He is referred to as God, and subsequently declared worthy of worship (Psalm 45:11), this king must be Jesus. The apostles understood the psalm to be in reference to Jesus, as well. Hebrews 1:8-9 quotes these exact verses and attributes them to Christ. The church being the bride of Christ is an image depicted through out the Bible, and the marriage supper is discussed in Revelation 19.

Interestingly, those bearing gifts are all daughters from foreign (and pagan) nations like Tyre. Since women often represent churches in prophecy, I wonder if this is an allusion to the false churches and religions. After being brought low, perhaps they offer gifts to the king and queen hoping for reconciliation and redemption (though I think the wicked would already be cast in the lake of fire by the time of the marriage ceremony for Christ and the Church). Other passages in the Bible tell us that there will still be nations and kingdoms after He sets up His reign, the difference is that they will all be ruled by Him. Perhaps these are the people coming forth to offer the bride gifts.

The Meaning of Selah

Scholars are unsure what selah means; it appears frequently in Psalms and occasionally in Habbakuk, but no where else in the Bible. It is thought that the word was derived from Hebrew words meaning "to praise," "to lift up," and "to pause." Since the psalms are often prayers and songs, it is possible that selah was a musical instruction for performers.[2]

The Meaning of Maschil

The title of some of these psalms contain the hard-to-define word Maschil; it appears in the title of 13 psalms. Scholars aren't sure what the word means but believe it may be derived from a word that means "insight."[1] Many interpret it to mean "with understanding," while others believe it is a musical instrument or instruction.[3]

References

1. Holman Bible Publishers. Holman KJV Study Bible, pg. 938,940. 2014
2. "What does selah mean in the Bible?". GotQuestions.org; visited June 2017
3. "Maschil". Bible Hub; visited July 2017
4. John 7:37–39
5. "What did Jesus mean when He spoke of living water?". GotQuestions.org; visited August 2017
6. Matthew Henry. "Psalms 45 Commentary". Bible Study Tools; visited June 2018