Psalms 141 - 144 (with 2 topics)

Psalm 141 A psalm; said to deal with temptation:

 A. Part 1 (vv. 1-26) This 1st part only covers Jesus' discussion with the Samaritan woman (Samaria was described in Psalms 12 - 18 Psalm 13 1. Samaria): The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining & baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized now-- earlier He did, as we saw in Psalms 7 - 11 Psalm 10 5. Jesus baptized..., but His disciples. When the Lord learned of this, He left Judea & went back 1x more to Galilee. Now He had to go through Samaria. So He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to His son Joseph-- Gen 48:22 refers to the ridge of land Jacob had conquered; Gen 33:19 & Jos 24:32 refer to a plot of land that Jacob had bought (where He pitched His tent & built an altar). Jacob's well was there-- here & v. 12 are the only references in the Bible to Jacob's well; Abraham & Isaac had dug & named several wells (Gen 26); it was Jacob who was renamed Israel (Gen 32:28; 35:10), & Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the 6th hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, Will you gave Me a drink? (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to Him, You are a Jew & I am a Samaritan woman. How can You ask me for a drink? (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans). Jesus answered her, If you knew the Gift of GOD & who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him & He would have given you living water. Sir, the woman said, You have nothing to draw with & the well is deep. So, where can You get this living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob-- note that earlier she said she was not a Jew, who gave us the well & drank from it himself, as did also His sons & His flocks & herds? Above was mentioned the plot of ground bought, where He pitched His tent & set up an altar. This was the end of the account of his return from Paddan Aram, where he had acquired wife Rachel, etc. Gen 33:16-20 says he separated himself from Esau & went to Succoth, where He built a place for himself & made shelters for his livestock-- after which He arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan & camped within sight of the city (& bought the plot of ground mentioned). Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whosoever drinks the water I give Him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give Him will become a spring of water welling up (continuing through) to eternal life. The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water so that I won't have to keep coming here to draw water. He introduced spirituality this way: He told her, Go, call your husband & come back. I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had 5 husbands, & the man you have now is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true-- implying what she had said before was not. Sir, the woman said, I can see that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus declared, Believe Me, woman, a time is coming when You will worship the FATHER neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not (think you) know; We worship what We do know, for salvation  is from (has been for) the Jews. Yet guess what: a new time is coming & yea has come when the true worshipers (bonafide believers) will worship the FATHER in spirit & truth, for They are the kind of worshipers the FATHER seeks. GOD is Spirit, & HIS worshipers will worship in spirit & in truth-- not in pilgrimage, but consistently in fellowship from the heart. The woman said, I & some of us know & believe that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us. Then Jesus declared, I who speak to you am He.

 B. Part 2 (vv. 27-38) This part covers Jesus' teaching to His disciples about the hard sowing & the easy reaping. We saw in Psalms 110 - 113 Psalm 110 2. Contrast #9 B. about the sowing & reaping-- this is repeated here, but 1st we see the context, that Jesus spoke to His disciples after talking to the Samaritan women: Just then His disciples returned, & were surprised to find Him talking with a (any) woman. But no 1 asked, 'What do You want?' or 'Why are You talking with her?' Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town & said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ (Messiah) . They came out of the town & made their way toward Him. Meanwhile His disciples urged Him, Rabbi, eat something. But He said to Them, I have food to eat that You know nothing about. Then His disciples said to each other, 'Could someone have brought Him food?' My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of HIM who sent Me & to finish HIS Work. Do You not say, '4 more months & then the harvest'? I tell You, open Your eyes & look at the fields! There is no delay. They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws His wages, even now He harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower & the reaper may be glad & fellowship together. Thus the saying '1 sows & another reaps' is true. I sent You to reap what You have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, & You have reaped the benefits of their labor.

 C. Part 3 (vv. 39-42) Finally we see how God used the Samaritan woman in Sychar of Samaria! Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told everything I ever did.' So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them, & He stayed 2 days. And because of His words many more became believers. They said to the woman, 'We no longer believe just because of what You said; now We have heard for ourselves, & We know that this man really is the savior of the world.'