Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Book: Psalms

  • The Son-King, Set on Zion

    The Son-King, Set on Zion

    About this sermon

    The nations rage and the rulers plot against the Lord and his Anointed, but he who sits in the heavens laughs and declares, “I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” The early church saw this psalm fulfilled when Herod, Pilate, and the leaders conspired against Jesus, and the Father’s words at Jesus’ baptism echo it: “You are my beloved Son.” The rage continues today, yet Christ reigns securely, and all who take refuge in him are blessed.

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    Sermon transcript

    I’d invite you to turn in your Bibles if you’d like to follow along to Psalm 2 as we continue our new series through the book of Psalms. Psalm 2, let us hear God’s holy word. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs.

    The Lord holds them in derision. then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

    Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way. For his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Once again, dear ones, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. You may be seated.

    Once again, please do join me in prayer before the Lord. Gracious Heavenly Father, we do ask that you would enlighten us by your spirit through the word this evening. We ask, O Lord, that you would grant unto me, your unworthy servant, the grace to declare and proclaim and speak forth your word with clarity and precision and power. And we do pray that this word that we consider tonight, this portion of scripture, would indeed bear spiritual fruit in our lives that brings glory to your holy name. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

    The title of my sermon this evening is The Sun King Set on Zion. Well, dear ones, to enter into a study of the Book of Psalms is to enter into a literary, devotional, and theological sanctuary. A sanctuary that is pulsating with the presence of God. A sanctuary that is filled with rich spiritual sustenance for the pilgrim people of God.

    As any careful reader of the Psalms will notice, the Psalter is a collection of various individual poems, various individual Psalms gathered and organized into five books, perhaps in imitation of the five books of Moses. It is likely that the compilers of the Psalms intended for us to see Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 as introductory to the entire Psalter. Psalm 1 being a wisdom psalm or a Torah psalm with a focus on the individual and Psalm 2 being a royal psalm with a more corporate, national, and theocratic focus. Now I know I quoted this passage from Dr. Willem van Gemmeren’s commentary on the Psalms in my sermon on Psalm 1, but I think it bears repeating, as Dr. van Gemmeren says the following about the Psalms as a whole.

    He says, quote, in the 150 Psalms, the Holy Spirit has given us more than a book of Israel’s prayer and praise. The Book of Psalms is a cross-section of God’s revelation to Israel and of Israel’s response in faith to the Lord. He goes on to say, the book of Psalms is God’s prescription for a complacent church because through it he reveals how great, wonderful, magnificent, wise, and utterly awe-inspiring he is.

    If God’s people before the incarnation could have such a faith in the Lord, witnessing to his greatness and readiness to help, How much more should this be true among 20th century Christians? Or as the case is today, 21st century Christians. He goes on to say, the book of Psalms can revolutionize our devotional life, our family patterns, and the fellowship and witness of the church of Jesus Christ. To which again, I would say to Dr. Van Gemmeren, amen, brother.

    Now it’s always important as we study the various psalms to try to get a sense of their original setting, although many of the psalms we cannot fully or infallibly discern their setting. But in its original setting, Psalm 2 can be classified as a royal psalm. After all, its subject appears to be the anointing and coronation of a Davidic king, whether that be King David himself or perhaps one of his royal descendants. It’s interesting that some Bible scholars have suggested that perhaps this psalm was used in the liturgy at a royal coronation ceremony in the temple. Perhaps it was customary in royal coronation ceremonies to use this psalm. And that is certainly a possibility, though we cannot know that for certain. That’s somewhat speculative, but it certainly would make sense.

    In any case, in terms of its specific historical setting, it’s been suggested that Psalm 2 offers us a poetic reflection upon 2 Samuel chapter 7, which records God’s covenant with King David. Now, since the Davidic kings were types, pictures, if you will, of the coming Messiah, this psalm is rightly understood as a messianic psalm, a psalm which ultimately points to and is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ.

    In the introduction to his comments on Psalm 2, the great reformer John Calvin writes the following. He says, and I quote him, David boasts that his kingdom, though assailed by a vast multitude of powerful enemies, would notwithstanding be perpetual, because it was upheld by the hand and power of God. All this was typical, that is, it was a type, a picture. of Christ and contains a prophecy concerning the future kingdom of Christ. And I think, I find very helpful the study note in the ESV Study Bible introducing this psalm. It says, quote, at a time when the Gentile kingdoms that are part of the Davidic empire seek to throw off Israelite rule, this psalm recalls the promises made to the Davidic king at his coronation and notes that the Gentiles will find lasting joy only as subjects of this king. With its prospect of a worldwide rule for the House of David, the psalm also looks to the future when the Davidic Messiah will indeed accomplish this.

    In fact, the scope of such an accomplishment calls for a ruler who is more than a mere man. So with this background information in mind, let us turn our attention to this wonderful psalm and consider what we can learn from this portion of God’s word. And the first thing that I would have us, that I would draw your attention to is in the first three verses.

    Notice, beloved, the raging of the nations against Yahweh and his anointed king. The raging of the nations against Yahweh and his anointed king. It says, why do the nations rage? When you think of that term, rage, what comes to mind? Have you ever seen someone in a rage? If someone is in a rage, they are really, really angry. Their faces, a person who is undergoing a rage or in the process of raging, their face turns red, their eyes are glaring.

    And this is the picture here that we get of the nations. And the question, it’s a rhetorical question of course, why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? Who is it that is raging here? Who is it that is plotting in vain? What we have here described here in the first three verses is basically what could be described as a worldwide conspiracy. for it goes on and says in verse 2 the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us burst their bonds apart cast away their cords from us. Who is it that is raging against the Lord?

    And you’ll notice most English Bible translations, the word Lord is in all capital letters. That is an indication from the translators that they are translating the Hebrew word for God, Yahweh, which is God’s covenant name. It’s the name of the Lord that that reflects his special covenant relationship with Israel. And so they are raging against Yahweh, the true and living God, the covenant God of Israel.

    The New American Standard Bible translates verse one as, why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? As you might notice in the footnotes of the ESV Bible, that term rage could be understood as noisily assembled. This is like, picture a noisy assembly of these folks who are raging against the true and living God, the God of His people, Israel. They are raging against him. And it says that they plot, they are plotting against him. Now I believe there is a contrast that we’re meant to see here between the plotting of these raging nations and their rulers.

    There’s a contrast between that on the one hand and the blessed man who is described in Psalm 1 verse 2. The blessed man, described back in Psalm 1 verse 2, how is he described? Well, it says that his delight is in the law, or the Torah, the covenant instruction of the Lord, and on his law he what? He meditates day and night. That is the godly man, the blessed man, who meditates on the ways of the Lord.

    In contrast, the nations plot against the Lord. They don’t meditate upon or reflect upon the way of the Lord. They plot against the Lord. the Lord, they seek to throw off his yoke. Instead of meditating upon God’s law, as is the case of the blessed man in Psalm 1 verse 2, the wicked nations plot, they meditate upon how to overthrow the yoke of Yahweh and his anointed one, his Messiah, his chosen anointed king.

    You know, the nations of the world, if you study human history, one of the things that is a common theme throughout human history is wars and rumors of wars. The nations throughout human history have been warring against each other from time immemorial. But it’s interesting, the nations come together against what they perceive as a common enemy. And in this case, that common enemy is the Lord and his Messiah, his chosen anointed king.

    And so it says in verse two, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. The unbelieving nations of the world and their rulers cooperate together in their search to overthrow the sovereign reign of Yahweh and His anointed King, Messiah. Now, how does this apply and what applications can we find from this passage in our situation today, living as we do in this new covenant era? Well, it’s interesting that the early apostolic church saw an application of this passage in the cooperation of Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the Jewish leaders in conspiring together against the Lord Jesus Christ, and also in the Sanhedrin’s threats against the apostles. I’d have you turn to Acts chapter four, And let me just read and briefly comment on Acts 4 verses 23 through 28.

    And just to kind of set this passage in its context, Peter and John had been in the temple, and God had used them to heal a lame beggar. And then, of course, when the lame beggar was healed, that gathered a crowd. And what does Peter do? He preaches the gospel to them, and that’s recorded at the end of Acts chapter 3, and of course that upsets the temple authorities, the Jewish religious authorities, and so they drag the apostles, Peter and John, before the Sanhedrin, their council, and they threaten them. They basically command them, don’t you dare, don’t you dare preach Jesus and the resurrection in the temple ever again. And of course, as Peter responds, Peter and John answered them. If you look at Acts 4 verse 19, it says, but Peter and John answered them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge. For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

    For the man on whom the sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old.” Now, how do they respond after Peter and John are let go, and they go back to the other disciples and report what has happened? Well, notice what they do. They resort to prayer. It says, beginning in verse 23, when they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted up their voices together. In other words, they had a prayer meeting.

    They lifted up their voices together to God and said, sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, and you should recognize these words here, a quote from Psalm 2, why did the Gentiles rage? and the people’s plot in vain. The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city, there were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place, and so forth. And they asked the Lord for protection, and so forth. But you see, my friends, The apostles Peter and James in the early apostolic church saw in the raging of the nations against the gospel, they saw a fulfillment of Psalm 2.

    Dear friends, This raging that occurred in the first century in the context of the earliest apostolic church, in the context of Jerusalem and its temple, that raging continues today, even in the 21st century. You see, today, unbelieving peoples and their leaders continue to rage as they resist and oppose the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lands. There are multiple nations throughout the world today, beloved, where Christianity, biblical Christianity, is illegal, or at least it is strongly sanctioned and frowned upon. There are parts of the world today where it is extremely difficult to profess faith in Christ, where the nations rage against the gospel.

    Why is that? It is because of their rebellion against the true and living God. When sinners hear the gospel, there is something about it that rings true in their heart of hearts when they hear it. And if the spirit is not at work in their hearts, bringing them to faith in Christ through regeneration and effectual calling, they’re going to resist it. And indeed, if the claims of Christ are pressed upon them, they’re going to rage against it. That is our natural sinful fallen response to the claims of Christ who calls us to submit to him in faith and repentance.

    This universal spiritual conspiracy, if you will, of mankind’s hardened declaration of autonomy from God permeates every level of human society, and it even goes to the level of kings and rulers, as we see when you compare verses one and two. In verse one, the nations in general and the peoples in general are spoken of.

    Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? But then it gets more specific in verse two, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us burst their bonds apart and so forth. In other words, friends, this raging of the nations, this is not just a rebellion of the so-called common people. This is something that characterizes every strata and level of human society. Apart from the grace of God, Both paupers and princes will rebel against and rage against the rule of our sovereign God and his chosen Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is the goal of the nations in raging against the Lord? Well, look at verse three. Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. Again, to quote from Dr. Van Gameron, he says, the goal of rebellion is lordship.

    In the ancient Near East, there were lords, that is, suzerains and servants, vassals. The poet, excuse me, in hyperbolic language, portrays the kings of the earth as breaking away from their required allegiance to the king of kings. Chains and fetters refer to the manner the yoke of a cart or plow was placed on the neck of animals.

    Thus the yoke of God’s kingship is not merely rejected, it is insolently thrown off. It’s not just a passive rejection here. This is an act of rebellion, an act of throwing off of the yoke of Christ. What is it that we can learn from this, beloved? It should not surprise us when the unbelieving rage against and rebel against and seek to throw off the claims of Christ.

    There go I, but for the grace of God. There go you, but for the grace of God. It is only the regenerating and softening work of the Holy Spirit who enables us to see that Christ is indeed God’s chosen and anointed King. He is indeed the Son of God, the Lord incarnate, who is our risen, ascended, reigning King. But we learn here that rebellion against God and his Messiah, Jesus, is vain.

    Again, I remind you of what the psalmist writes in verse 1. And by the way, as we saw from that passage in Acts, the apostles ascribed this psalm to King David, even though David’s name is not mentioned in the superscription here of Psalm 2. It says, why do the nations rage and the peoples plot, what, in vain? in vain. Think of how senseless, how foolish, how stupid it is to plot against the King of Heaven, to reject the Lord Jesus Christ, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Rebellion against God and His Messiah, Jesus, is vain. It’s even laughable, ridiculous, as we will see in the passage that follows. One of the things, though, that’s interesting about the nations and the kings that are depicted as raging here is that they view submission to the heavenly king as a harsh slavery.

    They view his yoke as heavy, as harsh, as burdensome. But to those of us who’ve tasted the goodness of the Lord and the grace of the gospel, is the yoke of Jesus burdensome? No. Jesus, remember, says in Matthew 11, I know I quote this passage often, but it is such a powerful and important passage. Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you what? Rest, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The unbelieving nations and unbelievers in our lives often think that if they put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, their lives will become burdened down, bogged down with a heavy yoke.

    But those of us who’ve tasted the grace of God know that being a follower of Jesus does not place a heavy yoke upon us. Indeed, it removes our yoke because Jesus takes that burden of sin and guilt. He takes that burden off our shoulders. He frees us from that burden. He himself took that burden in our place for us on the cross. And so let us remember that our Savior’s yoke is gentle and easy, not harsh or cruel.

    But what is the Lord’s response to the rebellious nations? Well, we see that in verses four through six. And so let us, let me draw your attention to this next section of Psalm two, verses four through six, as we consider the Lord’s response to the rebellious nations.

    It says this, he who sits in the heavens does what? laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Now this is what the theologians would call anthropomorphic language, where human characteristics, human emotions are ascribed to God. God is pictured in heaven having himself a good chuckle, having himself a good laugh over the rebellion, the raging of these silly little people who rebel against him. God laughs at the scheming of the unbelieving nations. And I think the reason that this imagery is used is because, you know, though the nations in all of their power, even powerful kings and rulers rage against the Lord and seem to be so threatening against the Lord and against his people, we are to remember that this does not faze God. God is not up there on his throne, wringing his hands and saying, what am I gonna do about all these people? They’re just, they don’t like me. They’re raging against me. Oh no, what am I gonna do? He’s not like that.

    He sits secure on his throne. We need to remember this, brothers and sisters, especially as we, I think you would agree, that we live in an increasingly anti-Christian culture. We live in a culture and in a time where hostility toward the gospel seems to be on the rise and it seems to be more overt than it used to be. It’s always been there, of course. There’s nothing new under the sun. It seems more blatant, more in your face today. And sometimes we feel threatened by that.

    We feel like, well, what’s going to happen? What’s going to happen to the church? What’s going to happen to God’s people? What’s going to happen to the gospel? We see all of this, this rebellion, all of this raging against the Lord and raging against the truth of his word today. And we’re tempted to to get distressed and to be anxious.

    We need to remember that God is not fazed by this. He sits in the heavens and He laughs. He is secure on His throne. However the nations and their leaders may rage, God is still sovereign and Jesus is still on his throne. And we brothers and sisters are still on the winning side. And that is true, even if we should all be rounded up and sent away to concentration camps and persecuted unto the death, God forbid that that should happen. But even if that should happen, Jesus is still Lord and we are still the victors in him. God is in control. He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord that holds them in derision.

    And then what does he do? It says, he, verse five, will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. In other words, though you rulers and kings rage against me, my sovereign ruler, remains on the throne. I have set my king, my son king, I have set him on Zion, my holy hill.

    The reign of Christ is secure. And God will ultimately bring the nations into submission through his messianic ruler. That is the implication of verse six. Whether they submit to his rule willingly or by compulsion. I’m reminded of what the Apostle Paul writes of Jesus in Philippians chapter 2 verses 9 through 11. where Paul writes this in this wonderful passage about the incarnation and self-emptying of our Lord Jesus Christ, who humbled himself even to the point of death on the cross. It says this in Philippians 2, beginning in verse 9, therefore, God has highly exalted him. He has set Christ, in other words, on Zion, his holy hill. God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

    Even hardened atheists like Richard Dawkins will one day bow the knee to King Jesus. I pray in God’s sovereign mercy that such a man and those like him would willingly bow before it is too late, that they would be converted in sovereign grace. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing? But if that does not happen, he will still bow the knee to King Jesus. Everyone will stand before King Jesus. on Judgment Day, and they will confess that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Why? Because God has set His chosen and anointed King on Zion, His holy hill.

    My friends, God laughs at puny man’s sinful rebellion. His wrath will come upon the rebellious, those who persist in rebellion. Do not be among their company. Flee from the wrath to come. Flee into the arms of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Receive and rest upon Him and Him alone for your salvation.

    So we see the raging of the nations. We see the Lord’s response to their raging. And then we see Yahweh’s decree concerning the Messiah. We see that in verses seven through nine. Yahweh’s decree concerning the Messiah. Here, the Davidic king, recalls God’s decree. He says, verse seven, I will tell of the decree.

    The Lord said to me, what? You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Now let’s focus on verse seven. The Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you.

    Now putting ourselves in the historical context in which these words originally came, the Davidic king here is described as the son of God. And indeed, King David and his royal descendants were indeed sons of God by adoption and coronation. But here, of course, Christ as God’s son is not only a theocratic or a messianic king, but he is the divine eternal king. He is the eternal son of God.

    In what sense, then, does this apply to Jesus? After all, Jesus is eternally begotten of the Father. And yet this passage says, today I have begotten you, as if before today you weren’t begotten. What’s the deal here? Well, I would agree with Calvin that the language here applies to Jesus in terms of his historical manifestation as the Son of God, the messianic and also the eternal Son of God. In its original historical setting, This may be referring, verse 7, may be referring to the coronation of the Davidic king. But again, this is ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you see, Jesus was openly declared to be the Son of God on a number of occasions that we read of in the gospel accounts.

    One of those occasions was in his baptism. Another occasion referenced by the Apostle Paul in Romans 1 was his resurrection from the dead, which ultimately fulfills this language. Let’s turn, for example, to Mark 1 9-11. And you’ll notice in this passage, and I’ll be preaching on this in a few weeks, but just quickly, Mark 1 9-11, Mark’s account of the baptism of Jesus, you’ll notice some language that is reflective of Psalm 2.

    It says, in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove, and notice verse 11, and a voice came from heaven, you are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased. This language harkens back to Psalm 2.

    Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He was the Son of God from eternity, but he is openly declared to be Son of God by the Father at the occasion of his baptism. It’s a public declaration of his messianic sonship. And also, Romans chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, The Apostle Paul uses similar language, especially, we notice verse four, but let me read verses one to four. Romans 1, verses 1 to 4, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and notice verse 4, and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Jesus, again, He was and is the eternal Son of God, but He was declared in power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead. I believe it is in that sense that we, that verse 7 of our passage for this evening, applies to and is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ as He was publicly declared at His baptism and resurrection.

    He was declared in power and publicly to be the Son of God. So the father has coronated the Davidic king. And then what does he say in verse eight? Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage. The nations belong not to Satan, but to King Jesus. They are his by divine right as the Messiah. The ends of the earth, your possession. Here is the father’s grant of a worldwide dominion to his messianic son.

    Now this was fulfilled initially through, this is being fulfilled initially through the Great Commission and the conversion of the Gentiles. This reign of Christ is spreading as the gospel is spreading, as the elect are being gathered into the fold of Christ from the four corners of the earth through the proclamation, the church’s proclamation of the gospel. And so the reign of Messiah, his universal reign is being extended through the church and the church’s proclamation of the gospel and the discipling of the nations in fulfillment of the great commission. But this will ultimately be fulfilled at our Lord’s glorious future second advent. When Jesus returns in glory, all the nations will bow before him. And what is predicted in verse nine will occur.

    You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Break them with a rod of iron, iron being strong and a potter’s vessel being weak. I believe that if I’m remembering my studies correctly, kings would often display their power by breaking pottery as an expression of their power. Pottery is weak. The kings are strong. Well, our King, King Jesus, is almighty and he will break the rebellious nations by his power. God’s Messiah will bring wrath upon the rebellious and thus will silence the raging of the nations.

    That is what is being predicted in verse 9. So what is the conclusion? What are we to make of all of this? Well, this leads me to my final point based on verses 10 through 12. Heed Yahweh’s warning and invitation. We find here in verses 10 through 12, the Lord’s warning and invitation.

    Now, therefore, O kings, here the psalmist addresses these raging kings personally. These kings and rulers who rule over these rebellious peoples. Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. This is a solemn warning to those who rage against the Lord.

    Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Serve the Lord with fear. How are these kings and rulers to display the wisdom that they are summoned to in verse 10? They display it by turning from their raging towards service. Serve Yahweh. Serve the God of Israel. Serve the true and living God with fear, with reverent awe, and rejoice with trembling.

    This is not just a summons to these raging kings and rulers to grovel before the Lord and to be in constant, perpetual penance. No. The goal of turning from their raging to submission and service is that they might rejoice. Rejoice with trembling, yes, but rejoice nonetheless.

    There is a call of grace here in this passage, and that comes out especially in verse 12. Kiss the son. This son king, this consecrated Davidic anointed king, kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled. Especially rulers and kings needed to be reminded not to take for granted God’s patience. The Lord is indeed slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. But oftentimes that is misinterpreted, especially by those who do not face the consequences of their actions, as is often the case of kings and rulers, who are often above the consequences of sinful actions that the rest of us common folk are often subject to. And so there’s a special warning to them. His wrath can be kindled quickly. Don’t mess with him. Don’t mess with the messianic son. Instead, kiss the son.

    Here is a picture of submission. In the ancient culture, you would show your homage, your submission to your kings and rulers by kissing their hand or kissing their ring, bowing down and kissing the hand of the ruler was a sign of submission to the royal ruler.

    And this is what the nations are called to. They are called to repentance and submission in faith. to Yahweh and his chosen and anointed king. And though this psalm has focused on God’s wrath against the rebellious, it does end in a note of hope, a hope, a note of grace. Blessed are all, excuse me, blessed are all who take refuge in him.

    Stop your raging. Stop your plotting and scheming. Kiss the sun, submit to him, trust in him, take refuge in him, and you will be blessed. You will be blessed. Even you who have been raging, you kings and rulers, take refuge in the sun and you will be blessed. Indeed, all, whether you be a prince or a pauper, Whether you be rich or poor, male or female, whether you be an American or from another nation, wherever you are, whoever you are, all who take refuge in Christ are blessed with the blessing of eternal salvation.

    May you and I find our blessing in him and him alone. Amen. Let us pray. Our Lord and Father in heaven, we thank you that the rule and reign of King Jesus is secure. We thank you, O God, that you are indeed sovereign. Though the nations appear to be spinning out of control in their rage against you, we take comfort in knowing that you are sovereign, that Jesus is still on the throne, and that Satan and the world cannot thwart your sovereign plan and purpose. So help us, O God, to take comfort in this and to be a people of great confidence and hope as we take refuge in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the one who is the Messianic Son King. For it is in his name that we pray, amen.

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  • The Two Ways

    The Two Ways

    About this sermon

    Psalm 1 opens the Psalter by setting two ways before every reader. The blessed man avoids the counsel of the wicked and delights in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night, and he is like a tree planted by streams of water. The wicked are like chaff that the wind drives away, and the righteous are those who rest in Christ alone and are rooted in God’s Word.

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    Sermon transcript

    Please remain standing for the reading of God’s word. My sermon text this evening is Psalm 1. We begin our study and dive into the book of Psalms. The title of my sermon this evening is The Two Ways, Psalm 1. Dear friends, let us hear the word of God.

    Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

    The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever.

    Will you please join me in a word of prayer? Let us pray. Our Lord and Father in heaven, once again, as we come to your word, we are standing on holy ground. For your Holy Spirit has breathed out, has inspired all of Scripture for our instruction and edification. We ask, O Lord, that you would instruct us from this portion of Scripture this evening. We ask, O God, that you, by your Spirit, would constrain my lips that I might speak only that which is faithful to your word, edifying to your people, glorifying to your name, and conducive to the salvation of the lost. We ask these things in Jesus’ glorious name. Amen. You may be seated. There’s a number of key words that you can be listening for if you find that helpful to follow along in the sermon. Those words are listed in the sermon outline. The words are blessed, law, way, righteous, and wicked.

    Well, brothers and sisters in Christ, as you folks know, this is a season of the year when many folks are traveling the highways and the byways of our nation to visit family and loved ones. In fact, I know some of you here this evening have traveled a distance to come here and be with your families tonight. Well, when making such a journey, it is important to know how to get to your destination. It’s important for you to know the way to get from where you’re starting from to where you are heading towards. Now I would like you just for a few moments to imagine that you are living in a past time. A time before the invention of the GPS and a time before the virtual omnipresence of the cell phone. And I want you to imagine that living in such a time, you are going on a journey in your car and you get into the car and you head down the road towards your desired destination.

    But as you travel along that road, you come across an unexpected fork in the road. Now, what do you do? You’re not sure whether you should go to the right and follow that road or go to the left and follow that road. What do you do? You can’t. plug in your GPS, you can’t pull out your cell phone. Well, some of you are old enough to know what you would do in a circumstance like that. You would pull out a roadmap. Remember those? And you would consult your roadmap to discern, discover which road to go down in that fork of the road.

    Well, in a sense, my friends, the Bible, God’s word is like a roadmap. The Bible shows us the road. It shows us the way to Jesus Christ. And in showing us the way to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible shows us the way to eternal salvation through faith in Christ. But the Bible also indicates that there are ultimately only two ways or roads that anyone can travel in life. There is the way that leads to destruction, the way that our Lord Jesus described as the broad road. And in our passage for this evening in Psalm 1, verses 4 and 5, it is described as the way of the wicked. But by contrast, there is the way that leads to eternal life. Jesus described it as the narrow road.

    And in verse six of our passage for this Lord’s Day evening, it is described as the way of the righteous. And the author of this psalm describes a man, the blessed man, who walks in this way of righteousness. And we’ll consider the contents of those verses in a few moments. Beloved, for my sermon this evening we’re going to consider what the Holy Spirit through this psalm has to teach us about these two ways. These two contrasting ways which lead to two very different ultimate destinations. The way of the righteous and the way of the wicked.

    So friends, as we begin in earnest our consideration this Lord’s Day evening of the Book of Psalms, we start, of course, at the very beginning of the Psalter. We start with the entryway into the Book of Psalms, namely Psalm 1. Psalm 1 has rightly been described by scholars as the gateway into the entire Book of Psalms. In fact, both Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 are introductory to the entire Psalter. Psalm 1 being a wisdom psalm, which has a focus mainly on the individual, and Psalm 2 being a royal psalm with a more corporate, national, theocratic focus. To quote from the introductory article to the Psalms that is found in what used to be called the New Geneva Study Bible, today it’s called the Reformation Study Bible, it says the following, quote, Psalms one and two are the entryway into the sanctuary of the Psalms.

    And Psalms 146 through 150 conclude the book with a long doxology. Now since tonight’s sermon represents the beginning of a new sermon series, before we dive into the specific details of our particular passage for this evening, I’d like to offer you some introductory observations about the Book of Psalms in general. This is my first major point this evening as we consider some introductory observations about the Book of Psalms. And one of the things that you will notice about the Book of Psalms and about the various individual psalms is that what we have in the Book of Psalms is we have a collection of poems. The psalms are poetry. Well, thanks Captain Obvious for pointing out the obvious, you might be thinking. But I think, brothers and sisters, that that’s extremely significant.

    You see, why is it that the Holy Spirit has revealed His Word in the Psalter in the literary form of poetry? What does this teach us about how the Holy Spirit communicates to us through His Word? Beloved, I believe, among other things, that the observation that the Psalms are poetry, this underscores the truth that the Holy Spirit has been pleased to employ a wide variety of literary genres, that is to say, a wide variety of different types of literature to communicate His revealed Word to us. When God revealed his word to us, he didn’t just drop it into our laps in the form of a systematic theology textbook.

    Now some of us, like myself, I love systematic theology. That’s how my mind tends to think. I’m very much a linear thinker. I like to follow an argument from the beginning and develop it. and to its conclusion, but nevertheless, that’s not how God decided to reveal most of his word. Now, there are portions of scripture that are like that, like the book of Romans. The book of Romans is almost, even though it’s a letter, it’s almost a systematic theology in itself, and Paul weaves together his points in such an intricate, logical way, but God didn’t reveal the bulk of his word in that manner.

    Rather, he revealed his word in the form of a grand, unfolding, redemptive drama. A drama whereby the Holy Spirit utilized a wide diversity of literary forms. For example, the scriptures contain and include such things as historical narrative, The Bible contains large sections of history, redemptive history, showing God’s unfolding plan and purpose, working itself out in the history of his people.

    It also contains literature such as prophecies, It includes letters or epistles. It includes, of course, poetry, like we find in the Book of Psalms, and it includes words of exhortation, such as you find, for example, in the Book of Hebrews. In fact, some scholars, as an aside, some scholars believe that the Book of Hebrews, as well as 1 John, were actually sermons that were incorporated into the canon of Scripture. They are divinely inspired sermons. And then there, of course, is apocalyptic literature, that kind of weird, highly symbolic literature such as you find in the book of Daniel, portions of Ezekiel, for example, and, of course, the book of Revelation.

    Beloved, again, the Psalms are poetry, so we have to approach them as poetry. And poetry certainly informs the intellect, but poetry also touches the emotions and inspires the imagination. And I think it’s very significant that the Holy Spirit has chosen at least to reveal some of his word in the form of poetry. Another important observation as we enter into the sanctuary of the Psalms this evening, another important thing to observe about the Psalms is the five-fold structure of the Psalms.

    See, the Psalter is not merely a random collection of 150 individually inspired poems that were somehow thrown together, pieced together willy-nilly without any kind of plan or thought. Rather, friends, the Psalter is a book. More accurately, it is a collection of five books that show evidence of being carefully compiled. They are a collection that is structured by a compiler or perhaps a group of compilers to highlight certain themes and with a subtle but organized flow.

    I hope in the course of our study in the Book of Psalms to help us trace the flow of the Psalter and to see where the Psalter is taking us in terms of what we are to learn from it. Beloved, it is my conviction that not only were each of the 150 Psalms individually inspired, breathed out by the Holy Spirit, they certainly were. But I also believe that the structure of the Book of Psalms leads us to see that the Holy Spirit was also involved in superintending the final form and the final arrangement of the Psalter. To put it another way, not only its contents, not only the contents of the individual Psalms, but its canonical form, as the scholars would say, was inspired and superintended by the Holy Spirit. And finally, in terms of these initial observations regarding the book of Psalms, there are many themes, there are many truths, there are many points of doctrine and application that we can learn from the various Psalms. But I believe, beloved, as we study the Psalms, we will notice that undergirding all of the Psalter is a major theme, and that theme, I believe, is the theme of God’s reign, God’s sovereignty.

    In particular, his sovereignty as that sovereignty is exercised through his promised anointed king, the Messiah. Dr. John Walton and Andrew Hill suggest in their book introducing the Old Testament, it’s called The Old Testament Today, they say, quote, the book of Psalms was compiled to offer a theological perspective on the history of the Davidic covenant and the kingship of God. The reign of God, his kingship, his sovereignty as exercised through his Davidic king. This is the theme that undergirds all of the book of Psalms. And if this is the case, as I believe it to be, it helps to underscore the fact that the Psalms ultimately point to Jesus the Messiah, the anointed one. After all, as the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ is God’s chosen and anointed king. He is great David’s greater son.

    So as we dive into our particular psalm for this evening, Psalm 1, It is important to keep these things in mind. But as we dive into our text for this evening in particular, the first thing I would point out, and this is the second point in your sermon outline, if you’re following along with that, I first want us to observe the way of the righteous. The Way of the Righteous. This is described in detail in the first three verses.

    The psalmist writes, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

    Now as we approach this portion of scripture, which highlights the Torah, the law of God, and it could be translated or understood as covenant instruction, and the term Torah or law could refer to all of the scriptures and not just to the the legal portions of Scripture, such as you find in the books of Moses. But that issue aside, as we approach this passage of Scripture, we must be careful not to approach this passage and read it as Pharisees would, or Pelagians, or those with a mindset of works righteousness, as if the psalmist were describing conditions that we must meet in order to earn or merit God’s favor. Such would be a misreading of this glorious wisdom psalm, which is sometimes also described as a Torah psalm. We need to understand, first of all, that we are righteous, that is to say we are declared to be in the right with God by God’s grace alone, through faith in Christ alone, apart from our good works. This psalm, though it emphasizes the righteous and it emphasizes the Torah, the law, and emphasizes thereby obedience, nevertheless, this psalm is not a denial of the truth of justification by faith alone. Instead, beloved, verses one to three describe the characteristics and the basic lifestyle and orientation, if you will, of those who are true believers in the true and living God and in his Messiah.

    These are not conditions by which we can establish merit before God or somehow contribute to our salvation. And that is underscored by the word blessed. The righteous are characterized by a life of blessedness, and blessedness is a divine gift. It is not something that we earn or merit or deserved.

    The psalmist says, blessed is the man, the man who does what? Who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night.

    That term blessed, some have suggested that it could be translated, oh, how happy. Oh, how happy is the man. And that’s a fair translation as long as we don’t incorporate or read into that term happiness the kind of superficial notions of happiness that dominate our culture today. Today happiness depends on happenstance. It depends on circumstances. but this is something deeper than that.

    This is true blessedness. The man who avoids the things that are mentioned in verse one and who is characterized by the qualities mentioned in verse two is truly blessed by the grace of God. But someone might raise the objection and say, well, wait a minute.

    Isn’t it the case that the righteous often suffer? Isn’t it the case that even the Psalms, there are many Psalms that recognize the apparent injustice that is so prevalent in our fallen, sin-cursed world. There are numerous Psalms that recognize that oftentimes the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. How can such a man who suffers in such a way as that be described as righteous?

    If the righteous suffer trials or persecutions or afflictions or tribulations, then how can they be described as blessed? Well, beloved, the righteous, whatever their life circumstances may be, those who are righteous, again, by God’s grace, through faith in the promised Messiah alone, those who are righteous are spiritually blessed. They are spiritually blessed with a life that is rooted in communion, in fellowship with God, and a life that is thereby directed by God’s word, his covenant instruction. In other words, we believers in Christ have God-given meaning and purpose to our lives. Our lives are rooted in communion, saving communion and fellowship with the true and living God, and our lives are directed by His God-breathed, inerrant, infallible, inspired word. What greater blessing could there be than to have that? So many today, so many today don’t know that blessing. They are lost. They live rootless lives. They don’t know what the truth is.

    But we have the source of blessedness in the Holy Scriptures, including the book of Psalms that we can share with them. Now it’s interesting, verse one shows us first and foremost the attitudes, actions, and company that the righteous avoid. Before describing the blessed man, the righteous man, the one who is in the right with God by grace, before describing such a man positively, the psalmist first of all describes what such a man avoids in terms of dissociation, what he negatively dissociates himself from. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked.

    The righteous, the blessed ones, do not order their lives according to the advice, the counsel of the wicked. There’s a lot of people out there offering all kinds of advice. And sadly, there is a lot of ungodly, unbiblical advice out there. If you are in Christ and if you are a believer in God and his word, then by the grace of God, you will seek to avoid the bad counsel, the wicked counsel, the ungodly counsel of those described here as the wicked.

    So the blessed ones, the righteous ones, do not order their lives according to the advice or the counsel of the wicked. Also, the righteous make no common cause. They do not stand in the way of those who reject God’s law, as verse one goes on to say, nor stands in the way of sinners. They do not order their lives according to the advice of the wicked, and they make no common cause. They do not stand in the way of those who reject God’s law. In other words, the righteous strive not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. They do not participate with unbelievers in their wickedness, or they seek to avoid that. The righteous also avoid the fellowship of those who mock God and the ways of God. Blessed is the man who does not, what?

    Sit in the seat of scoffers. Now, some have noticed that there’s a progression. There seems to be a progression here. First, it talks about a man not walking in the way of the wicked. So you’ve got, picture a man walking, nor standing, you know, if you’re standing, you’ve stopped walking, you’re standing still, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. So some would see a negative progression here.

    And certainly if you start walking according to the counsel of the wicked, you might find yourself standing in the way of sinners, making common cause in their sin, and eventually you will be assimilated, if you will, into such a sinful lifestyle to such an extent that you sit down and have your company, your fellowship with those who mock God and who mock the word of God. And so perhaps we are to see a progression that the righteous, the ones who are in the right with God, seek to avoid. And so the psalmist kind of gets out of the way the negative characteristics of the righteous in terms of what they dissociate themselves from, what they avoid. But next, we notice that, we notice the positive actions and attitudes that the righteous seek to cultivate in verse two. Now, before we go on to verse two, I think I do need to make an important qualification.

    It would be a misreading of verse one of our passage for this evening if we read it to suggest that we believers must totally cut off all connection or relationship with unbelievers in our lives. I don’t believe that’s what the psalmist is getting at. Psalm one is not calling us to live a separatist Amish-like lifestyle. Rather, Psalm 1 is not advocating that we separate ourselves entirely from significant relationships with non-believers. Instead, it is counseling us to avoid spiritual fellowship with those who blatantly ridicule God and callously reject his word, lest they influence us and draw us to their side, if you will.

    But verse two goes on to show, in a positive sense, the attitudes and actions that the righteous seek to cultivate. This shows us the characteristics of one who is blessed by God, one who is in the right with God. It says, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. The point here is that the righteous seek to be grounded in God’s word.

    As I mentioned before in passing, that term law in the Hebrew, it is Torah. And typically when we think of the Torah, we think of the five books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy. And certainly that’s part of the law of the Lord. But again, that term Torah could simply mean instruction. covenant instruction. And in that sense, it could refer to any portion of scripture, not just the legal portions, such as you find in the books of Moses.

    But the point here is that those who are renewed by the Holy Spirit, who are blessed by sovereign grace to know the true and living God, they are characterized by a delight in the law of the Lord, and they seek to ground their lives in the word of God.

    They are characterized by an attitude of delight in God’s Word. And of course, from a New Testament perspective, a whole Bible perspective, if you will, where does this attitude of delight come from? I mean, we acknowledge, as the scriptures teach, we acknowledge and believe in total depravity.

    And the unregenerate man, the one who has not been born again by the Holy Spirit, has no such delight of soul in the Word of God. Now there are many unsaved people, unregenerate folks who are very intelligent and you can find among the world of Bible scholarship, you can find unbelieving Bible scholars who love the Bible as an intellectual source. They know it intellectually, they study it, and they even produce commentaries that you can learn some things from. I have in my library certain commentaries written by those who we would regard as unbelievers, who are perhaps more liberal in their theology, but sometimes they have intellectual insights into the scriptures.

    But do they delight in the law of the Lord, in the sense that the psalmist is speaking of? This is not just, this book is not just a source of intellectual entertainment. This is the Word of God. And if you’ve been born again by the Spirit, your spirit craves the nourishment that comes from the Word of God. Doesn’t mean that you necessarily always feel a desire or a craving for the Word, but there is a disposition of your soul that causes you to love the Word and desire to be grounded in the Word of God.

    I remember, insofar as I understand my own, if I could be autobiographical for just a minute, in terms of my understanding of how the Lord has worked in my own life, I believe, in looking back, that the Lord effectually called me to faith in Christ when I was a 15-year-old, when I was a teenager.

    I remember I had sort of a Luther-esque, if you will, conversion. I knew my sin. I knew I was not a good kid. I knew I needed a savior. I read a gospel presentation and the Lord opened my heart to trust in Christ for my salvation. I remember before that time, I certainly, I was in a church going family. I remember having an intellectual interest in the scriptures. I even remember when I was confirmed, I grew up in the Episcopal church and I remember my confirmation. Some family friends gave me a copy of the New Testament, and I remember as a young person that I sometimes enjoyed reading the New Testament.

    I found it interesting, but I didn’t delight in it. But when I experienced God’s forgiving, saving mercy, things started to change. All of a sudden, I wanted to know this book better. I wanted to know, I wanted to be better grounded in the Word because I realized that life comes from the Word. The Spirit uses the Word to bring us to new life in Christ and to nurture us in that life.

    Those who are blessed, they delight in the law of the Lord. And not only that, they seek to diligently feed upon the word. It says, and on his law, he meditates day and night. That doesn’t mean that the blessed man spends all of his waking moments thinking about the Bible or what have you. But there is a desire, not just to skim over the surface of the scriptures superficially, but to dig in. The term meditate, It has the, it creates in us the sense of chewing on it.

    God gives us his word, his Torah, including the Psalms, not just to read superficially, but to meditate on, to think about, to chew on. When you read the scriptures, do you chew on them? Do you mold them over in your mind? Do you think about them? May the spirit give us grace to make the word of God a priority in our lives and to meditate upon that word day and night. The consequences of following the way of righteousness, what are those consequences? Well, verse three describes those consequences.

    It says of the blessed man, he is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Here is the picture of a tree that is intentionally planted It is an arid setting here, but this tree has been planted where? By streams of water.

    If you plant a tree out in the middle of the desert, is that tree going to take root? Is it going to be nourished? Is it going to survive? No. It will wither away and die, but plant that tree by streams of water and that tree will sink down deep roots and will find a constant source of nourishment from that water.

    The picture here, this picture here is of the righteous bearing fruit because they are rooted in the word of God. The life of the righteous bears fruit, the fruit of good works and timely deeds, which benefit others because it is a life rooted in and nourished by God’s word. This is instructional to us, beloved, in that it shows us that it isn’t enough to be hearers of the word only where a hearer of the word can deceive himself or herself. We need to be doers of the word. By faith, we need to live out the implications of that faith in our lives, out of gratitude for God’s gift of salvation. A faith that does not produce the fruit of good works is useless, dead, as James would call it. Those who diligently pursue the way of righteousness also are characterized by perseverance because they are rooted in the word.

    It goes on to say, his leaf does not wither. His leaf does not wither. It perseveres. He continues to bear fruit, again, because he is rooted by streams of water. And Jesus, of course, is the living water. And he feeds our souls through his word. Furthermore, we read that the righteous prosper in their way because they are blessed by God. It says, in all that he does, he prospers. Now, again, we must not read prosperity theology into this text. That’s not what the psalmist is talking about. I believe that ultimately what this is talking about is spiritual prosperity, not necessarily material or physical blessings.

    So what do we learn about the way of the righteous, the way of the blessed? It is a life that is rooted in and nourished by living communion with the living God, and a life that is guided, directed, and transformed by the Word of God. But by contrast, and this is the third point in your outline, very briefly, In verses four through five in particular, we see the way of the wicked described. Look at verses four and then verse five. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. What’s the first thing we learn about the wicked in verse four in contrast to the righteous? What do we learn about those who are on the way of wickedness as opposed to those who are on the way of grace and salvation, the way of righteousness? Well, the wicked have no root. but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

    This was a familiar image in the context of the psalmist’s day. The psalmist no doubt had often seen the farmers out there threshing their grain. What happens when the grain is threshed? Well, They throw up the grain into the air and the wind comes along and blows away the chaff, the husk that covers the grain. And because the grain is heavier, it falls down to the ground and the husk, the chaff gets blown away.

    What a contrast. The righteous are described or compared to a tree, a tree that is firm, stable, rooted, nourished, spiritually nourished. But the wicked are compared to rootless chaff that get blown away. They are like chaff. The husks and straw gets removed from the kernel by threshing. The wicked have no root. They have no ultimate stability. They have no ultimate security because they have turned away from God. They do not know him. They do not accept his word. They are also described as utterly useless.

    And just as the chaff’s removal from the wheat by the wind serves to purify the wheat, so the removal of the wicked by the raging wind of God’s holy judgment serves to purify God’s people. That is the image here. In verse four, the wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

    And I believe that the psalmist in particular has in mind the wicked among the congregation of God’s visible covenant community. I believe that he in particular has those in view when we think about verse five, therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners, what? In the congregation of the righteous. The wicked will not stand in the judgment. What is the judgment that the psalmist is referring to? God’s judgment comes in many forms, in many ways, but there seems to be a particular judgment in view. Whether the psalmist has a particular historical judgment in view or not, this ultimately points us to the final judgment, when the wheat and the tares will be finally separated on that final day. Those who are in the way of wickedness will not stand in the final judgment because they have no root in God or in His word.

    And thus, the wicked will be ultimately excluded from fellowship with God’s people and will perish, as verse five tells us. This is instructive, beloved, because it is not enough to have a merely formal connection to a congregation of God’s visible people. As important as that is, as Presbyterians, we highly value the visible church and the importance of membership in the visible covenant community. But it is possible to be a formal, external member of Christ’s visible covenant community while at the same time being in the way of wickedness, at the same time being outside of a saving relationship with the true and living God. You and I, all of us, have to be in the right with God through personal repentance from our sins and personal faith, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as our very own Lord and Savior.

    And so, beloved, as we wrap up our consideration of this opening psalm to this glorious book of Psalms, we are confronted, and this is my final point, with the choice of a destiny, the choice of a destiny. It tells us, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

    Now, I understand that I’m addressing a congregation of Calvinists. Praise God for that. And we Calvinists, we get kind of nervous when the word choice gets thrown around. I want to be very clear. I’m not denying the bondage of the will. I’m not preaching Arminian freewillism. But I’m speaking here from the standpoint of human responsibility, not from the standpoint of God’s sovereignty. You know, the Bible does teach that God is absolutely sovereign, including sovereign in the salvation of his people, but man is also revealed in scripture to be completely responsible. So I want to speak to the matter of responsibility. And this psalm confronts us with our responsibility to understand which way we are on.

    And if you are finding yourself on that broad road that leads to destruction, oh, may the sovereign spirit of God convict you. May he turn your heart from darkness to light. May he open your eyes to see that your only hope of salvation is found in Jesus Christ and him alone, his righteousness and his alone.

    For God, we are told, knows the way of the righteous. Now you might say, well, wait a minute, look at verse six. Wait a minute, pastor, doesn’t he know about the way of the wicked too? Well, yes, God knows everything. He knows about the wicked, but the term know here is being used in a special sense. He knows the way of the righteous in the sense that, to quote from Dr. Willem van Gemmeren, that, quote, his knowledge, quote, is a deep commitment to, love for, and care for his own. This comes out in the New International Version translation, which translates it as the Lord watches over the way of the righteous. He watches over our way. He keeps us in the way. He blesses us with his favor.

    Now, of course, the ideal of righteousness is fulfilled in Christ and Christ alone, because he alone is the righteous one. And we are only righteous through our union with him. He is our righteousness, our redemption, our sanctification, and our wisdom. But having been united to Christ by grace through faith, God will implant within our souls an inner delight in his Torah, his covenant instruction, his word. And as we meditate on that word, as we chew on it, as we feast upon it, as we are nourished by the living streams that come from Christ, the living water, we are strengthened, our roots grow deeper, we are stabilized, we are built up.

    Which way will you choose this evening? Again, may God in sovereign mercy grant you the grace to choose the way of Christ, to trust him, to receive and rest upon Christ and Christ alone for your salvation. If you do, by his grace, you will be saved and you will be a blessed man or a blessed woman.

    Amen. Let us pray. Lord and Father in heaven, We thank you, O God, for this precious portion of scripture, the book of Psalms. We ask, Heavenly Father, that what we’ve considered tonight would stir up within us a desire to meditate upon your word, to be nourished by it, to be rooted and grounded in living communion with you, our living God, through the Lord Jesus Christ. May we be grounded in Christ. and in your word of grace to us in him. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • For What Are You Truly Thankful?

    For What Are You Truly Thankful?

    About this sermon

    David’s Psalm 65 was sung at the harvest Feast of Booths, just days after the Day of Atonement. It praises God first for atoning for his people’s transgressions and bringing them near to dwell in his courts, then for his power in creation, in history, and in deliverance, and finally for the abundant harvest he gives. Above every other gift, believers thank God for the forgiveness of their sins and the joy of dwelling with him.

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    Sermon transcript

    Psalm 65. I think we all know this is Thanksgiving week. I imagine you may already have some plans for Thursday. And I just want us to be thinking about that as we come into this season today. Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a harvest festival. It’s a day where people offer up thanks to God for what we have. And Psalm 65, just to give us a little bit of background here, this is a Psalm of David. It’s a Thanksgiving Psalm, and it was typically sung during the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths. And we need to note that that Feast of Booths happens only five days after Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. And that particular feast was a harvest festival.

    And they, who would participate in that, would live in booths for eight days. They would go down to Jerusalem, they would gather in that place and be there for eight days. And they would have lived in tents. Now I don’t know if you’re planning to do that Thursday or not. I’m not particularly going to be living in a tent, I don’t believe, on Thursday.

    But this is what they would have been doing. This is what they had done. And why did they do this? They did this to remind them of their travels, of being redeemed out of Egypt. to the land of Canaan where they would be brought home again. And so this was that remembrance of that time in the wilderness. And so what does David do?

    He gives thanks for a good harvest here. He is thankful for what God has done. but he doesn’t begin with that part of his thankfulness. And so we want to look at Psalm 65 here, and we want to look at it as a guide for us for giving thanks to God. And we’re gonna look at it under three portions, his grace, his power, and his generosity. So let’s turn to Psalm 65 and read his word. This is God’s word to us.

    Praise is due to you, O God in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed. O you who hears prayer, to you shall all flesh come. When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions. Blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts. we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple. By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness.

    O God of our salvation and hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, the One who by His strength established the mountains, being girded with might, who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

    You visit the earth and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty. Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow. The hills gird themselves with joy. The meadows clothe themselves with phlox. The valleys deck themselves with green. They shout and sing together for joy.”

    Amen. We’ll end our reading there. What a psalm of thanksgiving we have before us. And so I want us to think about it in light of what we have here. But again, not beginning with that part. David does bring that harvest sense in the end of the psalm, but that’s not where he begins. He begins with God’s goodness in providing us a forgiving grace. David said, Praise awaits you, verse 1, O God and Zion. To you our vows will be fulfilled. Why do we owe praise to God? Why is God worthy of our praise? Why are we to fulfill our vows in this sense? Because of good harvest?

    Is that what David is telling us here? Well, yes, in the broader context, that’s true. But that’s not the first reason that we are doing this. The reason is found in verse 2. What does verse 2 talk about? The God who hears prayers. He hears us when we pray to Him. And so King David wants us in verse 2 to point out and notice that it is to you, God, that all men will come. We have no choice but to go to Him. He is the only one who is there and he is whom we must turn to. And so we want to look at God’s forgiving grace shown in three different ways here in the text. First of all, we see God’s gracious goodness through his provision of atonement for sin. Look at verse three.

    When iniquities prevail against me, when iniquities prevail against me, Do you have that feeling in your life? Sometimes we think, when the iniquities, when our sin is upon us, we think our sins are too great and we can’t go to God because we feel like we can’t stand before Him.

    And our sins keep us in this place where we shouldn’t be. Because this is not what God wants for us. He doesn’t want us to be kept from Him. David wrote this, and as we saw in verse two, not that we would stay away from God, but that we would all come to God because of our sin. Our sins should not prevent us from going to God. They should instead drive us to God. They should press us to Him, seeking His forgiveness.

    And what I want us to notice here in verse three, there’s a subtle change in the words here. Notice when he first of all says this, David says, when our transgressions prevail over me. When he talks about me. So he’s been talking in the larger person, but immediately, in this sense, he’s very personal. And he says, this is about me. When transgressions prevail over me.

    And that’s what the Hebrew really says our, even our ESV translation here, doesn’t have the, our transgressions prevail over me. It says it’s all him, but in the Hebrew, that’s how this comes across. David switches out of us to me and that God will atone in this setting, this kaphar, to cover over, to pacify us, to make propitiation for my sins.

    And that’s what he does. He makes this a personal confession. It’s not the king speaking for his people now. It’s the king speaking for himself. And that’s what I must do. I must not speak for the people. I must speak for myself. That’s what you must do. not speaking for others, but speak personally.

    It’s not enough for us to participate merely in general communal confession of sins and do this as a body. It’s important that we do that, but each of us must confess personally between God and me. That has to be how I confess my sins and how I ask for forgiveness. Psalm 51, David said that against you and you only have I sinned. He speaks very personally when he talks about this.

    So maybe you have transgressions in your life, sins that are kind of overwhelming you. Somehow sin seems to be winning the battle in your life and you feel weighed down by your sins. Maybe there’s a very specific sin that you’re struggling with right now that you feel besieged by this sin.

    What are you going to do? How are you going to face that in your life? King David was saying, you’re going to go to God with that sin. You’re going to go to him because this is what he wants us to know. And don’t let that sin prevent you from going to God.

    In James, he talks about this. If you will draw near to me, I will draw near to you. And that’s the promise that God makes to us. And that’s what David wants us to know. You can go to God and he will come to you. He will forgive your sins. and you will be forgiven. That’s what the end of verse three says. You alone, he is saying to him, you will atone for our transgressions. And you notice that he goes back to the plural us. He goes back to that sense of us again.

    You see, your sins may overwhelm you, but I can tell you they do not overwhelm God. In fact, God Himself overwhelms, overpowers your sins. God forgives them as you come to Him, confessing them and asking for that forgiveness. And so we see God’s gracious goodness in that provision of an atoning sacrifice for our sins. God will do it. So what’s the second level of God’s gracious goodness here?

    Look at verse four. Blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts. We may separate ourselves from God. We may fall back because we think we’re unacceptable and God will not come to us. But God brings us back. That’s what he says here. He chooses you. Bahar is the Hebrew term here. It’s a selection. It’s Him selecting you out of His free, sovereign grace and chooses you, chooses me.

    He elects us, even as we see in Romans 8.30. Those He predestined, He also called. Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified.

    That’s the choosing. It’s a full choosing. Not getting you on the road, He takes you the whole way through. And that’s what we need to know, that God chooses us. God is the one who works in our hearts by the power of the Spirit to take what is dead and make it alive in Jesus Christ. God is the one who makes us turn away from our sin to Him. in repentance. God chooses us in this very thing. And not only does He choose us, not only does He bring us near to Him, He also makes us to, what does it say here?

    Dwell in His courts. Dwell in His courts. We are near Him, not just for a little while, not just for a moment, but we are near Him and remain near Him forever. We are chosen and we dwell in your courts. This is the picture of that perseverance and the preservation that God has for His people, that He works in us. And so we see His gracious goodness in that atoning sacrifice, in that bringing us to dwell with Him, And thirdly, verse four, the last part of that verse, it says, we are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. God’s gracious goodness brings good things to us.

    And of course, we need to realize the context here in the Old Testament, the sins of God’s people were dealt with at the temple. That’s where the sacrifices occurred. That’s where forgiveness was found. That’s where true goodness was for the people of Israel, in the house of God. That’s where everything was cared for. That’s where the sacrifice and the atonement was made. But is that really the truth for us? I hope we don’t live in that Old Testament place where we’re trusting in that. That’s not where our goodness lies.

    Our goodness lies in the final, once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross that we have forgiveness of sins. For the sake of Christ, God forgives the sins which overwhelm us. In Christ, He chooses us. By the gospel of Christ, He brings us near to Himself. And for the sake of Christ, He preserves us in the faith. These are the good things which come to us from the house of God. You and I, we are children. We are dwelling in the courts of God’s household. For the sake of Christ, we share the good things of the Father’s house.

    Once we have forgiveness of sins, once we see God smiling upon us with His love and His grace, once we know that God has chosen us and we belong to Him, we are part of His family, what should we be? We should be satisfied. We should be content. What more do we need when we have Christ? When we have this dwelling in the house, the grace of Christ is sufficient. for all that I need, and we’re to be thankful for that. So first and foremost, before any other kinds of things that we might give thanks for, let us with King David thank God for His merciful grace, for the forgiveness of our sins. Without that, We’ve got nothing, no matter what the world around us says it has. It has nothing, but we have Christ. And that, we can be truly thankful for. With that, we are filled. And it should be enough. So what is the second look of God’s goodness? It’s shown in His power. Shown in His power. Verses five through eight, there are three ways His power is shown to us here in this passage. First, God’s power is shown in nature. Look at verses 6 and 7.

    God established the mountains. The mountains are there not because of some fate or some evolution or some event. of that sort, they are there because God caused them to be there. God stills the roaring of the waves of the sea. All of creation is in his hands. The high mountains, the turbulent waters, the unpredictable seas, everything. is from Him and by His power and He controls it.

    The awesome displays of nature that we’ve seen are not just accidents. These are things that God has brought to be. And I think before the space age, these were probably the most incredible things. But in our time now, we can see to the tops of the Alps or the Himalayas. They can see how these things tower above us. Their hard, cold, remote, and frightening grandeur. We can see the change in the seas.

    When you see the globe of the Earth from a distance, it’s an incredible thing to see what is there. and yet God controls it all. Jesus Christ, we know, in that storm says, peace be still. And it’s immediately still. God is the One who controls the elements. So we see His goodness and His power through nature. Secondly, we see God’s power in history. We see it in history.

    Verse 7, the second part of that verse, David says that God stills the turmoil of the nations. Nations are fighting. They’ve been fighting for as long as there has been sin in the world. Clamoring and making noise and fighting back and forth. How many civil wars are going on right now have gone on and in God’s providence will continue to go on. God stills the turmoil of the nations. Why do the nations settle down? Why do they settle? Look at verse 8. Why do they settle?

    Because they who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of your signs. The world looks on and is in awe. Think about this. Remember when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt on their way back to the land of Canaan. The Canaanites heard the rumor of what God was doing for his people, and they got scared just hearing about what was happening. Scriptures will talk about their hearts melting and their knees knocking.

    And why was that? Because here was a true God that was unlike their gods. This God of Israel actually had the power to do something. not like their gods that were just blocks of wood and stone and lifeless. The God of Israel was an incredible God because He was a God who brought deliverance. That’s our third sense of His power, His power for deliverance.

    We saw that as they moved out of the land of Egypt. They had been brought down there and through all of the plagues and the miraculous things, God brings them out. And then what does he do? He conquers the land of Canaan as they come back in. He is the one who brings this about. And future beyond that, God delivers his people from Babylon.

    Think of the stories that we know where God destroys thousands of people in the armies. where Gideon and his foes, they were destroyed, not by Gideon, but by God. We have an incredible picture and the church, even in its New Testament times, as it goes through its persecutions, God is there. You read the book of Acts and you see how God protects and keeps his church in miraculous ways. He delivers us, and I would say God continued in history to show this, raising up men like Athanasius or Augustine or Martin Luther, John Calvin, just all kinds of people that God has brought up to protect and keep and save His church. Even such events as the Spanish Armada, I think, can be looked at as God’s deliverance of those who they were going to come in. Because you have the Reformed believers in England and the Netherlands who praised God and thanked God for showing His control in the storms that affected that Spanish Armada as it’s broken into pieces off the coast of Scotland. This is the God who has power and shows His goodness through deliverance. God is the one who answers the cries of His people. He’s the one who has these deeds of deliverance and the hope of all the ends of the earth.

    And when does this happen? Verse 8, the second part, this happens from morning till dawn. And it brings us joy from morning till dawn that we see how God is working to show His power. So we thank God, first of all, for His grace in our lives, that He forgives our sins and He makes us dwell with Him. And then we also thank God for His power in nature and history and for how He uses His power to deliver His people and advance His kingdom. Well, thirdly, we see God’s goodness as He shows His generosity, verses 9 through 13. David said that God cares for the land.

    Verses nine and 10, it talks about this. Verse, he waters the land. And you have to understand the land there. You know, here we get a lot of rain and we, you know, maybe think a little bit about are we gonna get rain or we’ve been without rain for a few days or weeks. But there, water is absolutely incredibly important in Israel. He waters the land in this incredibly dry and arid place. It’s a life and death issue. If you don’t have rain, if you don’t have water, things and people and animals are going to die. The rain from the clouds here is described as a river. And a river that comes from God’s holy place. What an incredible picture that David paints for us here. And here’s that picture.

    The farmer plows up his fields. When he plows his fields, the dirt is hard as can be, and it just stands up straight. There’s nothing to it but dryness. And then what happens? God brings the rain to fall upon that, and it softens up the furrows, makes the land receptive to receive seed.

    Now, I don’t know if there’s anybody but Bruce here who does a lot of planting. I don’t know if there’s any farmers, but when I was up in Canada, I had a dairy farmer who planted his fields. I knew what it was to see this process. And those farmers are totally dependent on God. There’s not enough water to water your fields, to bring these things to bear. You are trusting in God.

    And that’s what the farmer does. He does these things. He plants his seeds in that field, and then the Lord blesses it. The Lord causes it to grow, and the year is crowned with God’s lard, our bounty of harvest that comes. And then I love this presentation in verse 11 here. At harvest time, what do we do? We thank God for His great generosity in providing a good yield. And the picture we have here is of this cart. God is driving through here with His cart. And this cart is so full that it’s like things are falling off of it into the fields. And that’s how God provides the abundance of that crop to them. It’s as if God personally visits every field that’s there and he drives that car down that field and it just tumbles out onto those people’s fields for their abundant produce.

    And look at verse 12, even the grasslands of the desert overflow. Now, when we think of grasslands, we probably think grasslands here are not grassy until the rain comes. And so when David speaks of the grasslands of the desert, he means the dry regions in Palestine. And then when God brings that rain into these dry grasslands, that’s when he visits them with his blessing and the grass is produced and it brings this harvest of lush green grass to that place.

    And even the hills are happy about this. The hills are made happy. Look at verse 12, the second part here. The hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks. and the valleys are mantled with grain. They shout for joy and sing.”

    What a glorious picture of this. And I know in Israel, when I was there a few years back, to see this actually in place. It’s just a marvelous thing to see these settings because this property is barren without rain. It’s so dry, and yet when this is there, what incredible abundance of crops and animals are all brought into place.

    And it is for joy. It’s a shout for joy. We go to the store. We don’t have any concern whether anything’s happening out there in the farm fields and in those places. We just expect to go to the store and buy whatever we need. But in this world, everything.

    They needed to have this come together, all together, the hills and the meadows and the valleys. And it was the shout and to sing for joy to God because this was what was there. What a beautiful picture of what God does in showing his generosity to his people. So Thursday is Thanksgiving. And we’re going to thank God for his generosity in providing a good harvest, in providing us with the things we have in our life.

    But what if it had gone otherwise? For some people, they didn’t have a good harvest. What if God, through the weather, had destroyed the crops or they’d never come? What if the stores and produce stands and the places that we go to and expect to find food were empty? Would we still be thankful? We should be. Hopefully, we would be. How can we be thankful in the midst of the lack or loss of these things that God blesses us with? We find it in Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 17 says this.

    Though the fig tree does not bud, And there are no grapes on the vines, Though the olive crop fails, And the fields produce no food, Though there are no sheep in the pen, And no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength, He makes my feet He enables me to go on the heights. Even in the midst of these hard things. I would take this back to the end of verse 4. What does it say there?

    We are filled with the good things of your house. We’re thankful for the harvest, yes, but if God had not given a harvest, we would still be thankful to God for the good things of His house. We would still be thankful to God for that forgiveness of our sins that comes through Christ. We would still fulfill our vows that we made to Him. And so, we are to be thankful whether it’s good or not so good. We’re to be thankful for God’s mighty power in nature and history and how He has intervened and delivered His people in incredible ways, we’re still to be thankful for these things. But if God, in His wisdom, were to use nature and history to test us and to discipline us, if we were to suffer natural disasters or war or oppression or persecution, Would we still be thankful? And I hope we say yes for the primary blessing, the very first thing in which we thank God is the forgiveness of our sins for His grace in choosing us to dwell with Him in His courts. We are to be satisfied with the goodness of His house. It is enough. With God’s grace, We’ve got everything. Without God’s grace, we’ve got nothing.

    Let us offer our thanks to the one to whom all praise is due. Let us thank him for the harvest. Let us thank him for his awesome deeds in nature and history. Let us thank him for his deliverance. But most of all, let us thank him that he has brought us to himself. bought us through the work of His only Son, Jesus Christ. And for the sake of Christ, He has forgiven our sins. His Spirit works faith in us, and God the Father brings us to Himself. We will dwell in His house. He preserves us in faith. And with that, we are satisfied. It is enough. Let’s pray.

    Our Lord and our God, we come to a time in our culture where the world tries to be thankful and thankful for things, thankful for stuff, thankful for experiences, thankful for people. And yet Lord, those are good things and we should be thankful for them, but Lord let us be thankful for what you have provided in Jesus Christ. First and foremost, forgiveness for our sins, redemption from our sins, that saving grace of salvation that changes what is dead to being alive in Jesus Christ. Lord, if there is anyone here at this time who doesn’t know this area of thankfulness in their life, who hasn’t experienced salvation, Lord, show them how the rest of it is hopeless and only leads to despair, that it is only through the grace of Jesus Christ, coming to Him, repenting, and trusting in Christ alone for our salvation, that we will find what is truly good, what will truly satisfy. Lord, those of us who may get caught up in this time of year and dealing with all the things that are coming in the next days and weeks ahead of us, let us focus our hearts and our minds on what is truly worth thanking you for. that we would be truly satisfied, that we know the good things of your house, and that we dwell in your courts for all eternity. We thank you for that wonderful gift that we have through Jesus Christ, and it’s in his name we pray. Amen.

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  • Our Fortress

    Our Fortress

    About this sermon

    “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46 pictures the earth giving way and the nations raging, yet the city of God stands secure because the Lord of hosts is with his people. Christ is strong enough to shelter them from the storm of guilt and sin, to guide them through grief and sorrow, and to stay true when no one else does, so they can be still and know that he is God.

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    Sermon transcript

    You may be seated. Our text tonight comes from Psalm number 46. As you are turning there, I was reminded in looking at this psalm of fortress, of refuge of my siblings and I when we would play growing up in the 1980s during the Cold War. We would play in the yard, and whenever we saw a plane in the sky, we would point up and say, the Russians are coming. The Russians are coming. And we’d run into this little wooden fort that my father had built on the property. And we thought, we’re safe in here. These are only games that you can understand if you grew up during the Cold War. For us, it was play, but it was an expectation that trouble really could come at any minute. We were told that at any moment, there could be war. And as we look at Psalm 46, this is a psalm of shelter, of refuge.

    Where do you go when trouble comes? The news that comes from the doctor, or the nasty letter that comes from a neighbor, or worse, from a child or from a parent. Where do you go when you realize your guilt and your sin before a holy God? Where do you go? Let us listen to this psalm, often classified as a song of Zion. Zion is the hill where Jerusalem is, where God promised to dwell with his people. So as we hear from this song of Zion, let’s first go to the Lord in prayer.

    Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, Lord, we confess this is your word. May we sit under it. May we submit to it. May we hear it, understand it, but also love and live it. Lord, I pray that you would do your work through your Holy Spirit in the hearing and the understanding and preaching of your word. And this we pray in Christ’s name. Amen. Psalm 46. To the choir master of the sons of Korah, according to Elimoth, a psalm.

    God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though its mountains tremble at its swelling.

    Salah. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter. He utters his voice and the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Salaam. Come behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots with fire.

    Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. So long. The grass withers and the flower fades, but this the word of our Lord endures forever. Amen.

    The book of Psalms is arranged into five books. You will find their headings somewhere within the Psalms as you’re flipping through. The end of each book has some sort of a doxology, such as in Psalm 41, where it says, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. This is in book two of the book of Psalms. Book one is filled with songs of royalty, the songs of praise, the songs of David. Although trouble comes, there seems to be a sense of security. But the second book of Psalms has more psalms in which there are times of trouble that come. And in book two, Psalm 46, is my favorite psalm, not by David. If you notice, this was inscribed as a psalm written by the sons of Korah.

    Now, they may sound like a modern metal band, but this was actually, at the time, a sub-tribe of Levi. They were descendants of Moses’ cousin Korah. And these were a group of people that had descended from this cousin. And this cousin actually was known in the scriptures for having rebelled against Moses. And he and many of his clan were killed. In fact, they were literally swallowed up into the ground before they could damage God’s people. Others burned with fire. But some of the sons of Korah survived.

    Numbers 26.11 tells us that. And the amazing thing was these sons of Korah found mercy, though they were rebels.

    They found shelter in Israel from the wrath of Israel’s God, from whom they rebelled against. They were welcomed back into Israel and it was an act of sheer grace and they knew it. And then they ended up writing 11 of the Psalms, these descendants from this line, remembering their, as we may put it, ignoble beginnings. and how they were, in a sense, grafted back in, much like the Gentiles would be. And they worship the God of Israel, who is merciful to Korah’s descendants for no other reason than with God’s sheer grace.

    What an image. They sought shelter in God from the wrath of God, and they found it. They found protection in God. They were the most And yeah, so there was a strong confidence in which the psalm writer declares, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. If God shelters us in our greatest need, that is in forgiveness, in being reconciled to him, in grace, then what lesser thing should we fear? The word refuge in the psalm too is Interesting. The meaning of the word could just be a shelter or a place of peace in the midst of chaos, but often it is translated in the Old Testament just with the word hope.

    But it’s not in the way that we use the word hope today. It’s not like I hope that I get this or that for Christmas. It’s not like I hope that this wooden structure in our backyard would hold up in a bombing by the Russians. It’s not a wish. It’s not a desire. It’s a sure place of safety. Many times I like to read hope as our sure hope, because that’s the intention in which the word has been used. He is not a wish. God is not a wish. His promises are not a desire or wish. They are a secure and sure, safe place. Safe from what?

    Originally, for the sons of Korah, from God’s wrath, from his judgment. But here, the imagery of 46, they paint it with other pictures. Pictures of trouble that everybody in any age, in any generation, can relate to. Though it mostly comes under these two categories. And the first is, natural disasters. You see those in especially verses 2 and 3. These are what insurance companies used to call acts of God. And the ones pictured here you could easily label as things like earthquakes or tsunamis. And those are two things that are still quite surprising.

    We still don’t have a 100% accurate detection system for earthquakes, and when they’re going to hit, or for tsunamis, and when they’re going to strike. They strike often only with minutes or no notice. And if you’re near the coast and a tidal wave comes in, it is indeed a surprise with very little warning.

    It is a picture of unexpected and sudden trouble in a shaken world. And when you get to the second half of the psalm, the images are even more stark and terrifying. The second images are of war, of bow and of spears and things that fly in the air and cut you apart.

    You can’t help but be struck by the repetition then, in the midst of those acts of war, those acts of God, with the repetition of, we will not fear, though, though, though, though. There’s nothing that can follow the word though that seems to shake the confidence. of the songwriters here. I will not fear no matter if this or that or the other thing here happens.” And that is quite a statement of the people of God. God is a refuge in these images of disaster and natural disaster. He is more than that, in fact. But rather, that is a picture of the fact that God is a refuge in unexpected trouble.

    You don’t plan on earthquakes, but you can plan where to run to. You don’t plan for an act of war. But at a particular moment, you can plan where to run to escape when the bombs fall. You don’t plan for when the Russians attack. You just plan to run into little wooden forts, which actually would be a very terrible place to go.

    Many people had much better ideas of that in the 1950s. You may have known of your parents’ generation or somebody that in the 1950s was very popular to dig bomb shelters and then to put canned foods in there and stack them with foods to plan for a time of sudden trouble. And let me encourage you to do that, not build a bomb shelter, but to plan for times of trouble. I was a hospital chaplain. for a little over a year and I every day would visit hospital beds as a chaplain and I’d visit people who were not prepared and they had no refuge to run to in times of trouble.

    Many of them wanted to pray but for the very first time and they didn’t know how. Make sure that when you are lying in a hospital bed that you’ve had some practice. You don’t show up to the World Series and decide, I’m going to learn how to swing a bat. You don’t land onto Normandy and say, I think I’m going to open up the plans right as the door is falling open. You need to know what to do in times of trouble.

    I noticed unbelievers, in particular, would ask questions that really should have been wrestled with sometime in the past 80 years of their life, but they’ve never asked the questions, but decided to wrestle with it at that moment. but they didn’t have the word, the language, the study to do that in that time.

    How well do you know your scriptures? How well do you know prayer and how Christ taught it to us? How well do you know your catechism? Can you put the story into those categories when you were lying there or when you were in those times of trouble? We need to know exactly how God’s providence is a care for us, exactly how He is a shelter, the promises that He has for us before we end up there. Do you know where sin and misery come from? Do you know what your chief purpose is? People will ask, what is the meaning of life? Isn’t it wonderful that that’s the very first question in our catechism? That’s the first thing that we should have learned, learning the catechism growing up.

    We need to have the furniture in place for when trouble decides it’s going to come for a visit. One of my favorite stories that I’ve picked up in reading B.B. Warfield was a story that he had about talking to someone who was a soldier during the time of an earthquake in San Francisco in the early 1900s. It was about 100 years ago.

    And when this happened, there were soldiers that were stationed there and they were meant to keep the peace, but everybody was panicking. They didn’t know when the next Trevor was going to come. They didn’t know about who was going to be looting and if their safety was intact. And instead, Warfield’s friend happened to be there at his station and looked over and noticed that he and one other person were the only soldiers themselves, two, that were not panicking.

    And after he noticed that and they caught eyes, they addressed each other and his first question was, What is the chief end of man? And the soldier at the other end shouted back to him, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And so Warfield’s friend says, I know a shorter catechism, man, when I see one.

    100 years later, still true. Death was not the worst thing that could befall them in that moment. They knew their maker. They were not afraid to meet him. In fact, they trusted him in the midst of that moment that not a hair of their head could be touched except by divine permission.

    We read in Psalm 46, there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. What is the river? Because the picture at that point was of a sea that was raging. But they had alternate sources of peace and sustaining power. You think of the time of Hezekiah and the secret rivers that made their way into Jerusalem. There was another source for their sustaining power in that moment. It says, she shall not be moved. If your foundation is a mountain in the psalm, it’s going to be moved. If your foundation is the Lord in the psalm, it will not be moved. Why? Because God will help her when the morning dawns. With what?

    It says, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Do you know what Lord of hosts means? We actually just sang a hymn. that everybody knows. In fact, if you close your head, most of us would know most of the lyrics to, right? A mighty fortress is our God. Let me ask you, you sang a line, but do you know what it means? Lord Sabaoth his name. What does that mean? If you sang it, hopefully we can understand what it is. What’s another way of saying what Psalm 46 says? The Lord of hosts. Again, What is a host? We think of hosts as people that bring us into their home or the person that shows us our table at the Olive Garden. But host here is an ancient idea.

    It’s particularly speaking of the armies of God, particularly of his angels. As I was looking at different translations of this, I actually was kind of surprised. I don’t typically go to Eugene Peterson’s message, but it was the only one that had this line that I loved.

    It said, he rendered this, the God of angel armies protects us. And that’s the sense of the Lord of hosts is with us. Isn’t it striking that we only know the name of two angels in the Bible, and one of them is the head of God’s army, Michael, the archangels, the archangel. Angels are not these feathery, childlike statues that you pick up at your Hallmark store. They are warrior soldiers in the Bible. And that perhaps puts some flesh on saying the Lord of hosts is with us.

    The God who commands the armies of heaven is with us. The psalmist is saying we have this vague idea that God is somehow present with us. The psalmist is saying that for those who trust God, those who take refuge in him, the supreme general of an army of otherworldly beings is on your side. That’s why we have the imagery of he makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots with fire. How does God do that? With an army. That’s our sure hope. Not that God will ask Satan to please stop, but that he will utterly destroy him in pitched battle.

    To make an illustration, perhaps one of my more controversial ones, at least if we were in the South, if you’re looking at history and you ask the question, why did Lee surrender to Grant at the end of the Civil War. Why did the South lose? And it wasn’t because Lincoln and Grant were particularly persuasive people. It’s because there was another general whose name was Sherman who was destroying the line of supplies in the South. He said, war is cruelty. There’s no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over. That was his philosophy. And so the soldiers marched through, destroying the lines that were supplying Lee and his army. He had to surrender, Lee did, because his armies were decimated by a greater army.

    We are assured of God’s victory, not merely because God knows how to ask nicely. Psalm 46 pictures God in battle with the hosts of heaven, the armies of heaven, as they burned the chariots of the enemy with fire, just as he had buried the chariots of the Egyptians in the water.

    That’s the picture we’re given over and over again. Remember the episode when the armies of Egypt are marching and God’s people are fretting. They don’t know what’s going to happen. Remember Exodus 14, 10. It says, when Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted their eyes and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them. That’s probably what it actually is meaning in Psalm 121. We lift our eyes up. Where does our help come from? They’re not looking for the Lord to come. They’re seeing the army come towards them. Where does our hope come from? And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

    They said to Moses, is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you’ve taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not what we said to you in Egypt? Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians for it would be better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

    Not exactly a picture of faith, but Moses gives them a different narrative. from there he says Moses says to the people fear not stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord what he will work for you today for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again in verse 14 says the Lord will fight for you you have only to be silent what is Psalm 46 verse 10 say be still and know that I am God.

    I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. You will see it. He will do it for you. He is the one who has the power and not you. Why? Verse 11, because the Lord of hosts, the God of angel armies, the commander of the armies is with us. What does it mean then to be still the major application of this psalm.

    Of all the Bible commentators I’ve read, I must admit, I still think I like Elizabeth Elliott’s explanation the best. She didn’t write it in a commentary. She was just writing it about her life. And if any of you know her story, she’s the one who was married to Jim Elliott, who was killed in South America as they were attempting to share the gospel with a tribe there with unreached peoples in the Amazon. He was struck down. Of course, she stayed and then continued the work there. You may not know, later on, she remarried a man to whom she eventually had to hear the diagnosis of cancer and slowly watched him die from that cancer. And after experiencing those twin griefs, this was her song. She lived in Psalm 46, and she wrote, everything that has seemed most dependable has given way.

    Mountains are falling. The earth is reeling. In such a time, it is a profound comfort to know that although all things seem to be shaken, one thing is not. God is not shaken.” She went on to reflect that the be still part, she concluded that being still was simply to know that God was God. He was in charge and that was enough.

    What’s the application then of this psalm? Why is it here? Of course, this is a psalm of comfort for many throughout the history of the church. Martin Luther wrote, a mighty fortress is our God, based on Psalm 46. But let me make one further point. We see the God of Psalm 46, the one who is strong, who is in control, then good, most clearly in Christ. For Jesus, of course, is God. We know what God is like by looking to Christ. And I am thankful that Jesus is the God of Psalm 46, because if he was not, why would I ever run to him in the storms of life or in the midst of my sin or griefs of this world?

    Luke 8 records that incident in which they were in the boat and the storms come, and the disciples are freaking out as the people of God always do, whether the Egyptian armies are running after them or whether there’s a storm on the sea. And it says in verse 24 of Luke 8, and they went and woke him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing.

    And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased. And there was a calm. And he said to them, where is your faith? And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him? Who is he? He’s the God of Psalm 46.

    He uttered his voice, and the storm melted. He’s strong enough for any storm. Firstly, he’s strong enough to shelter you from the storm of guilt and of sin. He was for the sons of Korah, and they sing their praises. He is for us even today. Your sins are not greater than theirs. He is a shelter to escape the storming whirlwind of God’s justice against sin. He is a strong tower. The righteous run into him, and they are saved.

    It’s the language of the Psalms, isn’t it? That God is our refuge. And secondly, he is strong enough to guide us through the storms of grief and sorrow In the midst of the sorrows of this world, in the midst of the loss of loved ones, like with Elizabeth Elliot, whatever it is in our careers, in our lives, when everything is shaken, there is one who is unchangeable, unshakable, unmovable. And third, he is strong enough to be true when no one else is. When parents, when children, when spouses even fail, he is faithful. He will not be touched by the fire. He will not be touched by the flood. Neither will we. We are confident of him as a refuge, because our God is able.

    In a moment, we will sing our final hymn, because partly it has some lines in it that I love, where it says, be still, my soul. The Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide. In every change, ye faithful will remain. Be still, my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend, through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Let us pray.

    Heavenly Father, Lord, in the midst of all the storms, the ones that we create and the ones that come upon us from elsewhere, Lord, in the midst of all the things in our life, teach us to be still and know that you are God. Teach us Take refuge in you. Teach us that the refuge of Christ is enough from all of our sins, from all of our griefs, to know that you are God and that is enough. Lord, aid us in the midst of those times of anxiety to know that you are God and that the Lord of hosts is with us and the God of Jacob is our refuge. Lord, we pray all of this. in the name of Christ Jesus our Savior.

    Amen. You will open up your hymnals. We are preparing by singing number 532, Be Still My Soul. One other line in verse 2 that is particularly comforting is, Be still my soul the waves and winds still know his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.” Let us sing this as our confession of faith in our Savior, our refuge.

    Please fill my soul, the Lord is on your side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to your God to honor and pride. In every change, He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul, in hope as your heavenly friend. Through the pouring rain, Please fill my soul with your God-given grace, To guide the future as we have confess that not each day I love you still, at last. Be still, my soul, the ways and things to come. His voice could move them while he drowned them all.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • Radical Repentance, Real Righteousness

    Radical Repentance, Real Righteousness

    About this sermon

    After Nathan confronted David with his adultery and murder, David cried out in Psalm 51 for mercy, cleansing, and a clean heart. He came to see his sin as God sees it, first and foremost an offense against the Lord, and so he took the first true steps of accountability. Romans 3 shows how God can forgive such sinners and remain just, through Christ’s sacrifice, so believers confess their sins to God and to those they have wronged and rejoice in the God who loved them too much to leave them in their sin.

    More sermons from Psalms · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    We’ll focus our hearts this evening on Psalm 51, in which David cries out desperately for forgiveness and grace. Prior to turning there, however, we’ll turn to the situation, the telling of the situation which led to that plea for forgiveness. And then also another passage which explains how and from whom that grace and forgiveness comes, both why it is right for God to forgive him and for David then to seek it. So before Psalm 51, would you please open your Bibles to 2 Samuel, Chapter 12. 2 Samuel, Chapter 12. 2 Samuel, Chapter 12 is the confrontation of David and his sin through the Word of God as given through Nathan the prophet after the Lord had had sent Nathan to David, revealing David’s sin to himself and the severity of it. David, if you’ll recall, had taken another man’s wife and had indirectly murdered that man, even as he was out and fighting for David’s honor and glory as king. So 2 Samuel 12, starting in verse 1, this is the word of God. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said, There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.

    The rich man had a great many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he bought and nourished. And it grew up together with him and his children. He would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom and was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him. Rather, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.

    Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion. Nathan then said to David, you are the man.

    Thus says the Lord God of Israel, it is I who anointed you king over Israel, and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care. And I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these.

    Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with a sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

    Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household. I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight, Indeed, you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and under the sun. Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has taken away your sin.

    You shall not die. However, because by this deed, you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born to you shall surely die. We’ll end our reading of God’s word there at that point in this particular portion of it. Now please turn to the New Testament book of Romans, Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three.

    And we have one of the clearest and most potent explanations and declarations in all of scripture of why it is actually right for God to forgive those who, like David, seek forgiveness and grace from him. One of the great questions that Paul is dealing with as the book of Romans opens is, how can a God who is himself righteous actually be righteous in forgiving people who are truly guilty of sin? How can God be just? And Paul explains why and how and by whom God’s justice is established in the forgiveness of those who are truly guilty. Romans chapter one starting in, I’m sorry, Romans chapter three, forgive me, starting in verse 21.

    Once again, this is God’s word. But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed. For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

    Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also. Since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised by faith is one. Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be. On the contrary, we establish the law.

    And now turn please to our primary text for this evening, Psalm 51. Psalm 51, that great cry for grace and forgiveness and restoration, and also the confidence that David would actually have it from the Lord. The 51st Psalm. Once again, this is the Word of God. Psalm 51, for the choir director, a Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Be gracious to me, O God, according to your lovingkindness. According to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions.

    Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions. and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you desire truth in the inmost being, and in the hidden part you will make me know wisdom.

    Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be converted to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation. Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise.

    For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. By your favor, do good to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering. Then young bulls will be offered on your altar. We’ll end our reading of God’s holy word there. Let’s pray, brothers and sisters, for both the blessing of God on both the preaching and on the hearing of his word this evening. Let’s pray together.

    Our Father in heaven, how easy it is to take for granted the fact that even now in this very moment, we have audience with the true and living God. Oh God, you who know us far better than we know ourselves. You who know our sin far better than we know it. you who are gracious and righteous, far beyond our ability to fathom. We come before you once again this evening.

    We ask you by the grace and blessing of your spirit that our hearts would be quiet before you and still and eager to hear. And as was prayed earlier, not only to hear, but to do what your word would call us to this evening. We pray that the good shepherd would speak to us his sheep, and that if any of this evening here, if there are any who do not know Christ, O God, that the Good Shepherd would call that one or those ones into his fold. We pray, Heavenly Father, that you would make us more like our Savior than we were when we assembled this evening. We pray that we would love you with all the more of all that we are, and therefore love one another as ourselves. Please bless Please grant these things in our midst as we continue to worship you.

    We ask that your word now would be proclaimed in truth and that it would be received by your people with faith and love and an eagerness to put into practice what you would say to us this evening. Speak, O God. May we, your servants, your children, listen eagerly and attentively. We praise you in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

    If you’ve ever stood next to a very tall building, let’s say it’s a skyscraper, it’s easy to miss the magnitude of the structure that is in front of you if you’re standing too close to it. Young people, if you would, imagine that you are in a big city in America and you are standing right next to a big building in that city.

    In fact, you’re so close to it that you can touch it. You can see lots of little details in kind of the wall on the outside of that building. But what do you need to do if you really want to understand the massive nature of the building which is right in front of you? Well, you need to take a few steps back and you need to look up. And once you do, that building, which may not have meant very much to you just a few moments ago when you were so close to it, all of a sudden that building fills your entire field of vision. And the view is literally staggering. You might actually lose your balance and feel like the building is curving over top of you and about to fall on top of you. Because what you saw just a few moments ago, now you’re seeing in its full size and splendor. You’re really starting to understand the magnitude of what is right there in front of you.

    Brothers and sisters in Christ, there’s an irony about the blessing of our having such constant exposure to the Word of our God, to the freedom to worship as His people. Sometimes we can, in a way, be so close to the content of our faith that we miss its magnitude. In order to recognize the sheer magnitude and the glory of the faith that we are so often close to in terms of access to the means of grace, that we can sometimes be so accustomed to, it’s helpful to take a step back and to look up, as it were, and to see the gospel, perhaps even through the eyes of those who observe it from a distance and who may not like what they see.

    Exhibit A this evening is a psalm in front of us, Psalm 51. This is the kind of passage which, in some understandable ways, draws the anger of the unbeliever. I’ve had conversations with those who don’t know Christ who have made this kind of complaint, and it’s the kind of thing that in their minds keeps them distant from the faith.

    What angers them is the fact that God actually forgives someone like David, someone who has been, as we read from 2 Samuel, so desperately unfaithful and so despicably evil. And perhaps, while we immediately want to go to the depth of God’s grace, and we should, perhaps being so familiar with David’s story and David’s saga, and so close to his biblical writings in the Psalms, we’ve lost some necessary perspective regarding the severity of his sin. This is really bad, brothers and sisters. Think of what David had done as we read about it in 2 Samuel 12, which was a very brief but powerful summary of the treachery that David had acted out as king of Israel. Theft of a bride, another man’s wife, deceit, adultery, murder to cover it all up. It leads people to ask a very understandable question.

    Why should God be forgiving toward David, especially if this God claims to be relentlessly righteous? And how could David have the gall to bring himself to ask for that forgiveness? And on top of that, even if God could find it in his holy heart to forgive David, how can David ask God for renewed joy when he had willingly caused others so much misery, even to the point murder. Who does David think he is and what does David think he deserves? And then David writes in verse 4 that it is only against God that he has sinned. It seems as if David is oblivious to the obvious pain that he had caused Uriah’s family and indeed the kingdom of Israel as a whole when this sin became known. And as he goes on in the psalm, David actually asks God, as I mentioned, to restore his joy. It’s understandable why people would ask the question, why would you want to serve a God who can forgive stuff like that?

    Or perhaps you’ve turned that accusation inward with regard to your own sin. Have you ever had such a gut-wrenching glimpse of your own sin? that you don’t actually want to be forgiven. It’s not just that you think you don’t deserve forgiveness, but you think it would actually be wrong for you to be forgiven. Other people you can understand, they try their best, they have their bad days, but there’s something perhaps in your past or that you’re wrestling through in the present that makes you feel as if you not only are beyond God’s forgiveness, but you should be.

    To many unbelievers and to the believer utterly grieved by his or her sin, Christianity can sound like a free pass in the face of unforgivable evils. But as we look at our passage this evening, and as we combine the big picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the particular details of what David is describing, we find that the joy for which David’s broken heart cries, it’s not the self-centered happiness of avoiding accountability, but it is the Christ-centered glory of having truly understood the severity of one’s sins. and having actually done what that true understanding requires, and that is going to God for forgiveness. The very God whose law says that what was done was evil calls David to forgiveness and David responds.

    This evening, we’ll think about why that is right. For any of you who are taking notes and for whom it’s helpful, the rest of our time will be spent under three headings. First of all, facing our sin. Second, facing its consequences. And thirdly, facing our Savior. So facing our sin, its consequences, and then facing our Savior. First of all, facing our sin.

    Look with me please again at verses one and two of Psalm 51. God’s word says this. Be gracious to me, O God, according to your lovingkindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

    One of the things that we’re going to be increasingly feeling if this coming spring is anything like normal spring is thunderstorms. all of a sudden on a day that seems warm, and then all of a sudden a cool front comes in, or perhaps it works the other way, I’m not up in my meteorology. But we know that sometimes a thunderclap can hit out of nowhere, and it literally shakes us.

    And spiritually speaking, that is what has happened to David in 2 Samuel 12. David was moving along, apparently fine, at least in his own understanding, and then Nathan the prophet comes to him with the word of God, which was like a thunderclap in David’s soul.

    And the great king is left broken and shaken. He is utterly horrified at the sin that God’s word has revealed. And so David responds in confession. And theologian Sinclair Ferguson puts it in his sermon on this psalm, it’s as if David, in these opening verses, is ransacking his dictionary in the effort to find enough good ways, adequate ways, to express how horrified he is at his sin. Notice how many terms David uses to describe his sin.

    Again, verse one, be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions. Verse two, watch me thoroughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin. Verse three, transgressions again. Notice it’s in the plural. Verse four, I’ve done this evil in your sight. He’s all over the place describing his wickedness.

    David realizes now how deeply his sin runs, and so he cries out for a deep cleaning, a deep cleansing of his soul. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. Wash and cleanse, both of those verbs in the original Hebrew in which David composed them, they occur in a particular form of the Hebrew that is given to us for the sake of intensity. It’s a normal word, but a particularly intense form of those words. David is not requesting a mere shining up of his heart, just a once-over kind of cleaning. He knows that his soul needs deep cleaning.

    If you’ve ever run a vacuum cleaner or a steam cleaner on a carpet that you knew was kind of dirty, But little did you realize how dirty it can really be unnerving. As you look at all the crud that comes up as you move the machine over that carpet, you begin to think, wow, I was walking on that?

    In my bare feet? This is disgusting. I had no idea. or if you’ve ever seen or ever used a washboard for laundry, it’s this riveted board which allows you to put clothing on it and then to really scrub it hard over and over, vigorously pressing the soap and water into the clothing, back and forth over that hard, riveted surface until the stain is gone. That’s the idea here.

    David confesses that his heart requires almost a violent cleansing. is so dirty, it needs such vigorous cleansing power. As a result of Nathan’s work on behalf of the Lord, David is finally seeing his sin in the same way that God has already seen it. And what’s more, he’s realized that despite his attempts to cover his sin, God has, in fact, seen it. Verse four. Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Young people, we all need to remember this, and adults forget just as much. There are no secrets in our hearts from God. God sees everything in our souls, plain as day, as deeply as we may try to hide those things. God knows us. There are no secrets in our hearts.

    Sometimes, and we adults do this as well, maybe you have younger brothers or sisters or maybe you used to play this game where you put your hands over your eyes and you think, well, if I can’t see other people, they can’t see me. You can sometimes see children hiding in plain sight and their hands are over their eyes and they’re just shaking with excitement because they realize no one else can see them, only they’re very wrong. The logic that says, if I can’t see them, they can’t see me just does not work.

    And yet we sort of play that game with God in our sin. If we’re not thinking about what his word says about what we’re doing, well, then maybe God’s not paying attention. But David realized he is. He took his hands off of his eyes, and he saw his sin for what it is. We need to confess that sin to the Lord. There’s a natural reaction to that. We might think, well, God already knows my sin. That’s what David just confessed. God knows. Why do I need to tell him? Brothers and sisters, this is what it means to confess. That word means to say with. And David does.

    In other words, we have to see our sin the way God sees it, and then we have to say what God says about it. That’s what it means to confess. When it comes to our sin, we have to see what God sees, and we have to say what God says. And that’s really uncomfortable, and that can be really scary. But it’s not enough to simply acknowledge our sin. It’s when we say it to God, when we say and believe what He says about it, then we know, then we really start to feel our sin for what it actually is. sometimes it actually helps to confess our sins out loud, even if we’re alone.

    There’s something in making it audible. There’s something in saying it out loud that helps us really feel it for what it actually is. Verse three, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Having spoken it out loud, having confessed his sin, David is not merely acknowledging it. Yeah, I sinned. Yeah, I know. It was bad. He feels this in the depths of his soul. Once again, the word, the Hebrew word for no here is, it’s not just a factual awareness. David was not simply cognizant of his sin.

    He was crushed by it. My sin is always before me. It is always in my presence. It’s constantly on my mind and it’s pressing upon my heart. He knew what he had done. He knew that he could not escape the notice of the Lord. and he was no longer going to try. So, of course, this psalm leads us in the same way that Nathan led David.

    What are we hiding? What are we harboring? What are we holding in here and just not letting out to the Lord in confession? And it’s time in our souls to end the cover-up. Again, that’s scary. But be encouraged. Our sin has to be exposed if it’s going to be expelled. And that’s the freedom that God wants for us. Verse 6. Behold, ye desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part you will make me no wisdom.” Think of that. Truth in the inmost being. No shows, no hypocrisy. Sincerity way down deep as far as we go. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Uncorrupted honesty. A cleansed conscience. Wisdom way down deep to the level of what defines us. God delights in that.

    And David knows that it is only the work of God which can create such conditions in the hearts of sinners. And that’s what he cries out for in verses 10 through 11. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Again, that kind of confession can be scary and it’s certainly uncomfortable, but there’s a deep comfort involved when we are making that kind of confession and when we desire that kind of cleansing. In crying out for this renewal of spirit which only God can provide, in crying out that God would not take the Holy Spirit from him, David is actually demonstrating the Spirit of God’s work within him.

    The Spirit was producing within David’s heart what Paul would later call in the New Testament, a godly sorrow. A sorrow that leads to repentance. A sorrow that says, I’m not only sorry that I got caught, I’m sorry for what I did. I want to be free, not simply from the consequences of my sin, but from the sin itself. Lord, get it out. Cleanse me from my sin. How do we know that David is so sincere? Because it’s so easy to go through the motions. of confession. Friends, one of the most important ways in which truth in the inmost being is demonstrated, one of the most important ways we prove the sincerity of our confession of sin is, in fact, our willingness to face its consequences.

    Point number two in your outline, facing our sin’s consequences. As we read in 2 Samuel, David suffered for his sin. His family suffered, the kingdom suffered, his own son died. Our sins are indeed eternally forgiven in Christ. We know him. And at the same time, there are earthly consequences to face. There are the cause and effect realities of our sin. If we steal something from someone, we can truly be forgiven, even by that other person. And yet it might take a while to reestablish that trust that was once there. That’s part of the consequences of our behavior.

    If we were to read further into 2 Samuel, we find that David makes no protest regarding the consequences of his sin. He prays, he prays that God would spare the child. He prays, but he does not ultimately protest. And when the child dies, David accepts it.

    Our psalm shows us even more of David’s facing his sins consequences, particularly with regard to the people whom his actions devastated. And we might think that that just seems like the opposite of what’s going on here. After all, this baby dies, and David’s kingdom is devastated. And eventually, after Solomon, because of David’s sin, sin continues to rise within David’s household, or a rebellion comes up against him, and after Solomon, and his reign, David’s kingdom is split. It’s all stuff that David sowed in his own sin. And at first glance, it might seem as if David is ignoring the human victims of his sin. Verse four, against you and you only I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight. It sounds like he’s deliberately ignoring the other human beings whom his sin has savaged. But here’s what’s happening. Remember Nathan’s story. Nathan’s story that he spins for David is very much like the parables that Jesus tells in the New Testament.

    Nathan’s story and Jesus’ parables would play upon principles that the hearers would rightly hold dear and force the hearers to realize that their own sin violated their own personal convictions about what counts as sinful. Parables had a way of collapsing upon the people who find themselves going right along with Jesus, and then all of a sudden they realize, oh wow, he’s talking about me. David had to see his sin as a violation of principles that he held close to his heart. Principles like mercy, generosity toward the poor, hatred for theft, and even the love of an animal. David had been a commoner and David had been a shepherd. Nathan chose his story well. Nathan was hitting all the right and the rightful sensitivities of David’s soul.

    And when David realized that he himself was doing the very things which his soul despised, well, that’s when King David came undone. See, the similarities in all sin They boil down to this. It’s what David confesses in verse four. They are sins against the Lord. Deeper than David’s sense of his own morality, David rages against the outrageousness of what Nathan was saying. But deeper than David’s own sense of morality, where had David gotten such standards?

    From the Lord. who a millennium later would enter into human history and human flesh and call himself the Good Shepherd, who, unlike other of Israel’s teachers, was no thief. All sin is a violation of God’s holy law, and God’s holy law reveals God’s good, relentlessly righteous heart. All sin is an expression of what we call autonomy, literally self-rule. self-law. And that is why it is so easy to become self-righteous in our denunciation of other people’s sins. I can’t believe they would do this. I would never do that. I could never be guilty of such a thing as that. Meanwhile, they’re thinking the same thing about us.

    Even good and right hatred for sin can so easily become self-righteousness when we forget the standard which gives rise to that righteousness, and that is God’s own holy heart. And when we, as James enjoins us to do in the New Testament, take a look into God’s law, like a mirror, when we see what ought not be, not looking the other way at others, but squarely at ourselves, we see our sin for what it is. It’s self-law. It’s a refusal of God’s rightful reign over us and therefore a direct and treasonous attack against the King of Kings. And it’s only when we understand our sin as first and foremost and essentially an assault upon the Lord that we can truly understand its effects upon ourselves and others.

    David’s not avoiding his accountability to others. David’s taking the first true steps of accountability. before the Lord. Commentator Derek Kidner puts it this way, our bodies are not our own, and our neighbors are made in God’s image. It all goes back to God. We might say, but there’s no historical record of David confessing his sin to the people whom he hurt. Well, there’s a sense in which, yes, there is.

    And it’s our psalm this evening. In this psalm, David confesses his sin not only to the people he hurt, but to the entire kingdom that he failed. Yes, God is the one against whom we truly and ultimately sin. But as the book of James tells us, we are to confess our sins one to another.

    David is doing his duty here as king of God’s people. He is teaching his people that though he is a king, he is no higher than they in relationship to God’s law. The King of Israel must bow to the King of Kings. And here, David is leading by example in what it really means to confess sin, to really come clean after a cover-up.

    King David’s sin had massive public ramifications, and so he engages in mournful public repentance. Think of it, brothers and sisters. Every time the people of Israel took up this psalm in praise of God, or even privately meditated upon it in their hearts. Every time they sang it with family or when they sang it in public worship, every time this psalm was sung or even thought about, David’s sin was before them.

    A sobering reminder of the seriousness of sin, how great their hero had fallen, and how great the temptations were that faced the one who had such great power. Brothers and sisters, you and I must take those difficult steps of accountability, first to God and then to those whom our sin has hurt.

    But we rebel against that because it’s scary and we think, you don’t know what that kind of confession will cost me. You don’t know the trouble that it will cause. Will peace or prosperity gained by sinning and covering it up is no true peace and prosperity. Confession is hard and uncomfortable, but that difficulty is far, far better for us and for others than the devastation caused when we let sin fester and eventually metastasize in our souls. People of God, do not fall into Satan’s snare of silence.

    On the other side of the hardest obedience lies the greatest freedom. It’s hard to confess, but when we do, there is freedom, there is openness, and there is restoration through Jesus Christ. On the other side of the hardest obedience lies the greatest freedom. James tells us to confess our sins one to another, as I mentioned, and he says, do it for the sake of your healing. Confession of sin calls us off the path of future sin, and to be off that path is a tremendous blessing for us and for those whom our sin most directly affects, and indeed for the whole body of Christ. And rather than focusing on what it will cost us to repent, we ought to focus on what it costs Christ to forgive and to reconcile us to God and to one another.

    Point number three this evening, and our final point, facing our Savior. Facing our Savior. As I mentioned, David wrote this psalm as the public praise of the living God. And the Lord Jesus, in coming into this world, would take up this psalm, along with 149 others, in praise to God.

    Now think of what it meant for Jesus, the sinless one, to sing confessions of sin. The sinless one identified with us as sinners, and Hebrews 2 tells us he was not ashamed to do that. Jesus resented neither God’s relentlessly righteous law, nor those whose rebellion against it would cost him his life.

    Jesus sang this in all the other Psalms, not because he himself had ever sinned, but to express the depth to which he was willing to identify with us, to carry our burdens, to carry our shame, and to bear them upon that cross, not despite God’s justice, but as a demonstration of God’s justice.

    Again, from Romans 3, God put forth Jesus as a propitiation, a substitution by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time so that God might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

    Or Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, For our sake he made him, meaning Jesus, to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This is why John can say in 1 John 3, behold what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we would become the children of God. And how did that happen? By the unique Son of God taking upon himself our sin, our guilt, our shame, taking it to the cross, dying the death our sin earned. And then rising again, Paul says in Romans 1, for our justification, for our being declared righteous in God’s sight, though we are fully guilty, we receive Christ’s full righteousness by faith. And God, who does not make any mistakes and who cannot do anything unrighteous, declares us to be righteous in His sight by virtue of His Son’s righteousness as we receive it by faith.

    And as I mentioned in my prayer earlier, the Lord does more than even that. The Lord adopts us into his family, not only forgiven, but loved eternally as beloved sons and daughters. Back to the critics. or to any of us who have had that gut-wrenching glimpse at our sin to the point where we want God to stay away. We’re like Peter. At one point, when Jesus hauls in a miraculous load of fish, when Peter had been sarcastic and just basically obeyed out of a sense of sheer duty, not gratefully at all, Peter falls down before the Lord and says, depart from me, for I am a sinner. And Jesus goes nowhere. but rather he cleanses Peter and commissions him in his service.

    1 John 1.9, which we read in our call to worship.

    If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Notice the attribute of God that John chooses to emphasize in association with his forgiving us. John does not write, if we confess our sins, God is merciful and gracious to forgive us our sins. That is very true, but that is not John’s point. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just. He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins.

    Your relationship to the Lord, brothers and sisters. His forgiving your sins and giving you that deep cleaning that David is crying out for here in Psalm 51. This is not only the result of God’s love for you. God is too holy to overlook sin. Sin must be punished. If you’re a believer, God has poured out his wrath against you on his son. And so your forgiveness flows not only from the love of God, but from His justice.

    It would be unjust for God, the relentlessly righteous judge, to cast away anyone who comes to Him through faith in His Son. That’s how safe you are in Christ. That’s how loved you are, because it’s not as if God sits as a begrudging judge and says, oh, okay. It is the Father’s love that sent the Son into the world to provide this redemption so that you could call Him Father. This is why it is right and why it is just and necessary to make confession and to receive forgiveness. God forgives you for the sake of His glory. you are a display of His forgiving grace.

    And so to refuse repentance and the forgiveness and restoration that God promises upon it is in some ways to act like we are more righteous than God, that we have a better understanding of our sin than He does. Again, David says in verse four, against you and you only have I sinned. By the same godly reasoning, it is for God and for God only that we live. In the same way that sin is always essentially an offense to God, so our lives are always to be lived in order to serve Him.

    And Christ our King commands us to repent of our sin and to seek reconciliation with the ones whom our sin has hurt. Seeking forgiveness for our sin through Christ is not the ignoring of our sin’s seriousness. It is the truest acknowledgement of our sin’s seriousness. God knows our sin far better than we do. and he has made it a matter of his faithfulness and justice to forgive the sins of his people. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He applies to us the deep cleaning for which David’s broken heart cries out in our psalm.

    And when you receive that kind of forgiveness, how can you not rejoice? Verses 13 through 16. Then I will teach transgressors your ways. and sinners will be converted to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, oh God, the God of my salvation. Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. Oh Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare your praise. For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering.

    Having been justified, Our joy in God’s forgiveness is utterly justifiable. And having confessed and received forgiveness for our sins, having sought and worked hard for reconciliation with those whom we’ve hurt, our desire for others to know that same cleansing and forgiveness is not hypocritical. It’s holy because it’s the desire of God’s own heart. Verse 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise.

    If you know the Lord this evening, your Father has cleansed you from your sin. He has done everything that David asks for here. He’s blotted out your transgressions. He has washed you thoroughly. And you now stand before God, your Father, in clean white robes, radiant with the righteousness, the incorruptible righteousness of His Son.

    So make those confessions, first to the Lord, and then, as James says, to one another, where that confession is appropriate. the sin that we’ve done to others, that has affected others, we need to seek reconciliation. Exercise the affections of the new heart that God has given you, and rejoice in the faithfulness and justice of the God who loved you too much to abandon you to your sin. Let’s pray together.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • Feeling Boxed In?

    Feeling Boxed In?

    About this sermon

    David prayed Psalm 142 as a fugitive hiding from Saul in the cave of Adullam, boxed in with no one to take notice of him. With no way out, he poured out his complaint to the Lord and called him his refuge and portion in the land of the living. Believers who feel trapped by sorrow or circumstance bring the same cry to God, who hears and will deal bountifully with his people.

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    Sermon transcript

    and right now perhaps even there’s someone here or someone that you know that is experiencing deep sorrow and pain. Circumstances are not what we would want them to be and there’s nothing that we can do about it. We are feeling boxed in because we are boxed in.

    David finds himself in such a situation in Psalm 142. The Psalm gives to us a clue as to David’s trouble. He is hiding in a cave First Samuel 22 gives us the historical context. David is a fugitive. He’s hiding in the cave of Labdullam from King Saul, who is seeking to kill him. And in such a situation, there was only one thing he could do, and that was to turn to God. And Psalm 142 is his cry and prayer to God.

    And so I invite you to turn with me there in God’s word, Psalm 142. Let’s go look at that this evening. Hear God’s word. With my voice, I cry out to the Lord. With my voice, I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I tell my trouble before him. When my soul faints within me, you know my way. In the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see. There is none who takes notice of me. No refuge remains to me. No one cares for my soul.

    I cry to you, O Lord. I say, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

    As you look at this particular Psalm, we’re going to discover that in the midst of our troubles, God wants his children to know of his presence and his power, his love, and his care. Let’s go before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the reality of that which speaks. And Lord, we pray even now that as we come to it and put ourselves under its authority, Lord, that we may enable you to speak to the deep recesses of our hearts, that we might know that you are our God, that you do all things well, that you know our circumstances, our situations, and you promise to go with us. And it’s in Christ’s name we pray. Amen. In the midst of our troubles, God wants his children to know of his presence and his power, his love and his care.

    As we look at Psalm 142, Verses 1 and 2 present a harsh reality. Psalm 142 opens with David expressing aloud what is going on on the inside of his heart and in his mind. He says, I cry aloud to the Lord. Have you ever found that when you’re facing something that’s deeply troubling, that it’s good to talk about it with someone? Sometimes it’s only as we verbalize our thoughts, where there are people that like to journal, and as they write those things out, that we begin to connect the dots, so to speak, about what is really troubling us? How are we really viewing our present circumstances and situation? David lifts up his heart to the Lord. He’s crying out, he’s pouring out his heart to the Lord, and he prays out loud, even though he’s all alone in the cave.

    As we look at this particular psalm and as many psalms there is what we call Hebrew parallelism. It is a thing of Hebrew poetry where there is one line stated and then the same thought is repeated though in slightly different words to give added emphasis. So we might think he is trying to say the same thing twice but actually upon closer examination we realize that there is a richness, there is a development to the thought. This is found in many of the psalms and it is found here.

    Yes, David is in trouble. But why is he in trouble? David affirms that his trouble may have been caused by something that he has done. David recognized that he is a sinner in need of God’s mercy. But David also suggests that his trouble may come at the hands of another, namely Saul. And David thus complains that life is not fair. As we look at this particular psalm, as David is crying out, as he’s pleading for mercy, as he’s pouring out a complaint before the Lord, is David telling God anything that God doesn’t already know?

    Of course not. Are David’s words as he’s speaking about his circumstances, and literally he’s complaining, Are they lacking a proper respect for God in any way? No. David is not wasting his breath. He’s not complaining about his circumstances that in fact God has orchestrated. No, he’s not doing those things. David is pouring his heart out to the Lord. He’s holding nothing back and God is blessed to hear. and to listen to one of his children crying in the midst of their sorrow, in the midst of their feelings of despair, in the midst of his pain, the uncertainty of his future. Through prayer, David comes to realize that despite his feelings, which are very real, but despite those feelings, God’s presence is there with him in that cave. He is not alone. I remember in my own life, there’s been a number of times that God’s reminded me that I’m not alone, but I remember one in particular.

    It was when I was a college student. I was away from home. It was my first year at college at the University of Maryland, and I was working at the grocery store where I had a job late at night, and we were held up. It was very subtle, there was one person on register one and I was on register two and the person came in the line, both of them expressed registers and all of a sudden I felt this nudge in my side and I thought it was just someone’s elbow on their way out, but it wasn’t an elbow, it was a revolver. Unfortunately in terms of they went on their way, they didn’t get a whole lot out of the cash out of the drawers, but I went home that night, all alone, late, No one else was around. And that feeling of, you know, my life could have been over tonight. And what anyone had known, other than my parents, my family, anyone, and my roommate, anyone really cared. And yet I knew at that moment, it was as if God’s presence just flooded that dorm room to know that God knew. God cared. His presence was there. this heartfelt cry that David offers to the Lord. God gives to him an assurance of his presence. And then we go to verses three and four where David presents what is a clear and present danger.

    You know, David’s feelings of hopelessness and fear are not the result of an overly imaginative or overly active imagination. David was facing a very clear and present danger. Out of jealousy, King Saul was hunting for David’s life. No matter where David went, Saul pursued. And David was on the run. A bounty was on his head for information about his whereabouts. He was in hiding. He was trying to stay one step ahead of Saul and his troops.

    And at this point in time in David’s life, and particularly there in the cave, he was emotionally and physically exalted. He knew he was in danger of losing just his mental edge and his alertness. For David knew that everywhere he stopped there was someone who might give information but also there was someone if they actually cared for him might put themselves in danger. There’s a potential threat not only to David’s life but even to the life of anyone who gave him aid.

    And so here he is in the cave all alone without any friends with no means to protect himself. David’s troubles were real. Maybe you find yourself in troubles this evening, very real troubles, an abusive spouse, a ruthless coworker, a diagnosis of cancer. These are real troubles. Maybe you can relate to the words of the old Negro spiritual. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows or cares, but God knows. and God cares. And in the midst of our troubles, God wants his children to know his presence, his power, his love, and his care.

    Perhaps you’re familiar with a movie that was made called Taken, a 2008 film rather, Brian Mills, a former CIA operative, determines to track down his teenage daughter after she’s been kidnapped by human traffickers while on a trip with her girlfriend in France. In one gripping scene of that particular movie, he talks to his daughter’s abductor after he has retrieved a cell phone left behind. at the crime scene. Mill states his intent to seek and to save his daughter.

    And he tells one of the abductors, I don’t know who you are, I don’t know what you want, I can tell you I don’t have any money, but what I do have is a very particular set of skills. Skills that I’ve acquired over a long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

    The abductor coolly replies, good luck. And the rest of the movie is a pretty action-packed movie as Miller, who has only 96 hours to accomplish his task, urgently and skillfully weaves his way through language barriers, government, red tape, his way through the crime lord’s elaborate hierarchies to find his daughter. and after dispatching numerous thugs and villains, he finally finds his daughter on a yacht sold as a prostitute for a wealthy Arab businessman. She collapses as she falls into her father’s arms and she says, Daddy, you came for me. Bloody, beaten, but triumphant, Miller holds his daughter as he quietly says, I told you I would. In this same way, God jealously guards, pursues, and protects his children.

    In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 26, it states this, that Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all of his and our enemies. So even in the midst of a clear and present danger, We need not fear for if God is our God He promises to protect us, to be with us, to love and to care for us.

    As we move on in this psalm we look then there it is that God becomes the focus there in verses 5 through 7 of a sure and strong deliverer. David’s prayer moves from himself, his crying out, his need for mercy, his circumstances It moves from to begin to focus on the character of God and his promises. And beginning in verse 5, David begins to use the word, you, in crying out to God. He says, you are my refuge, you are my portion. God’s presence and God’s power had so invaded David’s heart, it had given him confidence in the midst of his troubles. Convinced of God’s love and care for him, David eagerly makes his request of God. David asked the Lord to meet his needs, to rescue him from those who pursue him and to set him free from his prison.

    Friends, I wonder at times do we have the same confidence in our God? Does we cry out to him and and open up our hearts before him that we begin to actually make petitions and requests that depend upon the character and the promises of God. His ability to provide and to protect us. Can we experientially say from the depths of our being and our walk with the Lord that there have been those times where our only hope has been the Lord and The Lord has proven himself faithful as we’ve cried out to him that God as we’ve sung is our refuge, that God is our portion, that God is our sure and strong deliverer, that God is our savior. John Newton wrote these words, found in a hymn, even in our hymnal, Though troubles assail us and dangers affright, Though friends should all fail us and all foes unite, Yet one thing secures us, whatever be tied, The promise assures us.

    The Lord will provide. No strength of our own and no goodness we claim, yet since we have known of the Savior’s great name, in this our strong tower for safety we hide. The Lord is our power. The Lord will provide. Why does God do this? Why does God provide and protect? Because we are such good people? No, not at all.

    We are sinners through and through, daily in need of His grace and mercy. But God is our sure and strong deliverer because we, by faith, if our faith has been placed in Jesus Christ, we are His children. His grace is sufficient for our every need. His power is made perfect in our weakness.

    We don’t often like to think of ourselves as weak and needy, but we really are. We would rather think of ourselves as, well, we’re pretty smart, we’re pretty strong, and we’re pretty self-sufficient. But such an attitude only reveals the level of pride that still resides in each of our own hearts and minds. For it’s only when we recognize our needs of how weak we really are apart from God’s grace, how needy we are, how unclean we are apart from the sanctifying work of God’s Spirit, that then we are unable to cry out to God, to ask God for His grace, to call upon the Holy Spirit as we truly cry out to Him in prayer.

    And the scripture encourages us in this. It says this in the book of Hebrews, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. But we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Psalm 142 begins with a harsh reality, a clear and present danger. It presents to us that our God is a sure and strong deliverer. And lastly, verse 7. a glorious victory.

    David sees his reality and it is harsh, it is bleak. He knows of the clear and present danger that he cannot control, but he’s also certain that his way that he is, where he is, is guarded by a sure and strong deliverer and through the eyes of faith he’s able to look forward to a glorious victory.

    Look there again, Psalm 142 where he says this, set me free from my prison that I may praise your name then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me. David’s circumstances had not changed and would not for many, many years. This wasn’t an isolated incident. But David does not view himself as a victim nor is he any longer feeling alone. He is experiencing the fellowship divine that is reserved for those who pass through the fire and the pain and the trials of suffering.

    You know, I shall never forget, as long as I live, of the faithfulness of the elders of Wallace Presbyterian Church in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., a church that I went to as a student at the University of Maryland. And after, under great trial and pain, they led that church out of their current association into a new one, namely Presbyterian Church in America, ultimately. But they did so because of the actions of the Association of Churches, we call it a Presbytery, who ordained a man who would deny the deity of Christ and be allowed to continue ministry in the pulpit. It’s a longer story than I have time to tell this evening, but here is the connection. The elders of that church, not just the pastor, Glen Connect at the time, but the elders of that church endured great trials in order to stand together as one and to lead, unitedly lead and love a congregation. It was not a battle that spilled over into a congregation. It was not something that they took in terms of great strides to point out, but it was that which they did in faithfulness to Christ. and for the sake of his people.

    And as I remember, you know, having started to attend that church, and I was the first Presbyterian church I’d ever attended in my life, I later then joined in 1982, and it was that church that encouraged and sought gifts of ministry and those sorts of things. And so it’s just remarkable just to see the faithfulness of those men and the continuing influence. of that church and even the subsequent pastors of my life. And I still recall the verse that I was given because each member was given a particular verse when they joined. And the verse that was given to me as a young college student was this, 1 Peter 4 verses 12 to 13.

    Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as if something strange were happening to you, but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.” The Holy Spirit has used that verse time and time again and has been pleased to use that, to apply that to circumstances and situations in my life.

    You know, Christ rode to glory, our road to glory with Him, that which awaits us in the future. For Christ, that road to glory went by the cross. And as his children by faith too, that path for us means that we join him on that road. The suffering we must endure in this life is not meant to discourage us, but to strengthen us and to deepen our faith in the character and the promises of God.

    This is the shared experience that we will have with all of God’s saints as we gather around his throne in glory. that throughout all of those things, God has preserved us by His grace to the praise of His glory. This is the testimony of the Word of God.

    The book of Isaiah, chapter 43, it says, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel. your Savior.

    Or the words of Job. Have any of us in this life suffered the way that that great man of faith did? And yet Job could say in the 29th chapter, but he knows my way, the way that I take and when he has tested me I will come forth as gold. And of course the words of the Apostle Paul. Even as they’re found on the front of our bulletin this evening, Romans chapter eight, the spirit helps us in our weakness.

    For we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And we know that in all things, that God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In the midst of our troubles, God wants his children to know of his presence and his power, his love and his care.

    Let’s go before the Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can cast all of our cares upon you for we know that you care for us. We thank you that you are God, that we are your people and Lord to the various circumstances that even tonight there may be those who find themselves in. Lord we pray that even in those things that you might be pleased by your spirit to give to all of us eyes to see and hearts to believe and lips that speak to you and turn to you that we might find you to be all the things that you say that you are and Lord that we might be found by you and therefore know that all is well and so it’s in your name we humbly pray. Amen. I invite you to stand with me at concluding hymn Hymn number 580, It Is Well With My Soul. Let’s stand together as we sing. attended my way.

    When sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lockdown has taught me to say, it is so. It is well with my soul. O Satan, Shabbat, if thou trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ has regarded thy blessed state, and has shed his own blood It is well, it is well with my soul. With my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. I sing of the praise of his glory It is still to the cross that I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well.

    Receive Christ’s benediction. now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with exceeding great joy. To the only God our Savior, be glory, majesty, dominion, and power now and forevermore. Amen.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • It is Good

    It is Good

    About this sermon

    “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” The psalmist can say this because he knows he needs to learn, and affliction drives him to God’s Word. Believers pursue the day when they can say the same, trusting the Savior who makes these words true in their lives.

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    Sermon transcript

    Please be seated. Once again, it’s good to be with you this evening to share in God’s Word together, and this evening I’m going to ask you to join me in Psalm 119. I’m going to read just one verse from Psalm 119, verse 71. Psalm 119, verse 71. I forgot to ask until 10 minutes ago what version of the Bible you use here, and so my reading will be of this one verse from the ESV. You know, sometimes you read the Bible and you say, yes. Sometimes you read the Bible and you say, what? This is a what verse? Psalm 119, 71.

    It is good for me that I was afflicted. that I might learn your statutes. Please pray with me. Oh Lord, we affirm with Paul that all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable. So make it profitable to teach us, to reprove us, to correct us, to train us in righteousness, that we may be competent, equipped for every good work for your glory and our good. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

    A few weeks ago, sadly, we all learned the name of a young man named Otto Warmbier. He was the college student, you might remember, who died after being released from captivity in North Korea. Hearing his story reminded me of a book that my wife and I actually read together on the road about a year ago by a man named Kenneth Bae called Not Forgotten. Kenneth Bae was an American who led prayer teams into North Korea, and he was arrested in North Korea, tried, and sentenced to a labor camp for 15 years. Later, he was released in late 2014.

    Now he was not treated quite as badly as Otto Warmbier apparently was treated, but he was questioned relentlessly. He was convicted unjustly. He was exposed relentlessly to North Korean propaganda. He was malnourished. He was forced to work in a labor camp, all without ever knowing if he would be freed at all.

    When you read the story of Kenneth Bey, you realize that he suffered, in the words of the psalmist, affliction. But he’s not alone, is he? We live in a fallen world, and we all suffer affliction. Sometimes it’s because of our sin. Sometimes it’s because of the sins of others against us. Sometimes it’s for reasons that we can’t even begin to grasp. Sometimes we suffer as Christians like everybody else does, and sometimes we suffer for our faith in Christ. The writer of Psalm 119 has suffered affliction. He reflects on it and he writes, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

    And our first reaction to that verse might be, what? How can he say that? How could a man like Kenneth Bae say that? How can you say that? This evening, what I want to do is look at two questions. What is he saying? And why is he saying this? And that will lead us to a third question. Can you say this? So what’s he saying? We learn very little about his affliction in this passage.

    If you go back to verse 69, we do learn though, he says, the insolent smear me with lies. These are rude. These are disrespectful. These are obnoxious people who have spread some sort of untruth about this man. This could be David. This could be David referring to challenges from before his kingship, when Saul was chasing him, or it could be David referring to challenges after he became king, when there were challenges from people like his own son, Absalom. We don’t know for sure, but we know the lies have been hurtful. We know the liars have threatened his rule, and they have threatened his life. So what is he saying? What is he saying about what has happened to him? He’s not saying the affliction was good. He’s not saying that. Again, why do we have affliction? Why do we suffer?

    The Bible’s answer is clear. It’s because of sin. Sin has entered the world, suffering has ensued, and we all suffer affliction. That’s what we understand as we go back to Genesis 3 and read what happens after the fall. We often refer to that as the curses, but it’s also a series, really, isn’t it, of warnings about what life is going to be like in this world.

    God speaks a warning to the serpent. He says, there’s going to be conflict between you and the woman’s offspring. We’re going to suffer spiritual affliction. God speaks a warning to the woman, you’re going to have pain in childbirth, you’re going to have conflict with your husband, there’s going to be relational affliction. God speaks a warning to the man, your toil will be painful, it will be frustrating, there’s going to be vocational affliction. And then God says physical death will come, which is the greatest affliction of this life.

    So we live in a world of sin, and there is affliction. And it is not good. One of my seminary professors, Jerem Barz, once wrote, we will never, no matter how much we search or however long we reflect, find a sensible or adequate explanation or excuse for sin. Sin, by its very nature, is against the structure of the universe, and therefore we cannot make sense of it. Sin is against the character of God, the Creator of all things. Sin is opposed to the way God designed the universe to be. Sin is contrary to the life God created us to live. And it’s contrary to our human nature as those made to be like God. We live in a world of affliction, and that affliction is not good. In and of itself, we never call affliction good. And so the writer is not saying the affliction is good. He’s also not saying the affliction feels good.

    He’s not saying that. C.S. Lewis. after his wife suffered and died from cancer reflected in this way. He said, it doesn’t really matter whether you grip the arms of the dentist chair or let your hands lie in your lap. The drill drills on. We know how that feels. Sometimes people you see, sometimes even Christians have a way almost of romanticizing suffering. They see something noble about it. They see something heroic about it. They almost seem drawn to it. There have been times when I’ve seen people reflect on the suffering of Christians, and I almost feel like people are jealous that the sufferer got to suffer in this way. Well, no. Affliction is affliction.

    It is not good, and it does not feel good. When your husband or your wife attacks you or abuses you for your faith, It’s painful, it doesn’t feel good in any way. When you lie awake at 3 a.m. wondering what’s gone wrong with your rebellious child, it’s painful, it doesn’t feel good in any way. When you stare at the wall while those chemotherapy drugs drip into you and your nausea and your exhaustion become all-consuming, it’s painful, it doesn’t feel good in any way. When you pour 30 years of your life into a company and you are unceremoniously dumped, it doesn’t feel good in any way. When you stand over the grave of a friend who is stuck closer than a brother, it doesn’t feel good in any way.

    There’s no romance here. There’s no nobility here. There’s no heroism here. There is a harsh reality of affliction. Affliction that is not good. Affliction that does not feel good. The writer of the psalm here is not saying the affliction is good. He is not saying the affliction feels good.

    But what he is saying is that the affliction is good for me. The affliction is good for me somehow. In some mysterious yet marvelous way, the writer says, it is good for me. That’s what he says. He said, it is good for me that I was afflicted somehow. Out of bad, good has come. Out of evil, righteousness has occurred. Out of pain, joy has arrived.

    As the writer writes, he has been able to arrive at the place of saying that. You know, it took me several years, but I’ve finally given in. And now when I drive someplace, I did it tonight. I plug in my Apple Maps or my Google Maps. I find my way when I don’t know my way. It’s really neat, isn’t it?

    This is where you want to go. This is how you get there. This is how long it’ll take to get there. This is how far you have to go to get there. When you suffer affliction, this is the map. This is the journey. This is where you want to go. You want to be able to say, it is good for me that I was afflicted. This affliction was good for me.

    Now look, he’s looking back. We all know that it’s hard to see this in the midst of the affliction. But he’s been able to reflect on the road he’s traveled. He’s been able to reflect on the distance he has come. And he’s able to say, it is good for me that I was afflicted. Where are you on that road?

    Are you still hurt by the way someone you loved has treated you? Are you still in physical pain from a debilitating condition? Are you still being hated because you love Jesus? Are you struggling to see or to say what the writer is saying here? That’s the destination you’re seeking. That’s what you want to be able to say, even through tears, maybe, even as you declare the reality and the pain of the affliction, you want to be able to say, it is good for me that I was afflicted. So how do you get there? Well, that leads to the second question. Why is he saying this? It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. You see, if we look at the second half of the verse, we discover why he can utter these words. First of all, he knows he needs to learn. He knows he needs to learn.

    What’s Psalm 119 about? The longest chapter in the Bible. It’s about God’s truth. It’s about God’s law. It’s about what God has revealed in the Bible. He uses words like commands and precepts and statutes. God’s law guides God’s people into God’s way. It was true then, it is true now. You say, well, we’re saved by grace, not by following the law. That’s true, but the law is still a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

    And the Christian life is a journey of learning more and more about God’s law, living more and more in God’s ways. That’s what we call sanctification, that lifelong process of growing more and more like Jesus Christ, putting off those things that are sinful, putting on those things that are honoring to God. That’s, if you are a believer in Jesus, what you want. You want to consistently, even constantly, learn what God wants you to learn in your life about following His wills and ways. He’s crafting you. He’s shaping you. He’s teaching you.

    Reminded of an old story from Billy Graham. talked about a friend who had lived through the Great Depression. And during the Great Depression, this man walked down the street one day and he saw some workmen working on the upper part of a church. And there was a triangular piece of stone that one man was on the ground working on. And the man walking down the street said to this worker, what are you going to do with that? And the man looked up and he said, you see that little opening up near the top? I’m shaping this down here so it will fit in up there.

    Graham says his friend realized that God was shaping him for heaven down here through the ordeal he was going through. That’s what God does to us and for us. That’s the heart that the writer of the psalmist wants us to cultivate, an understanding that God is shaping us through the things we learn.

    Again, why are we afflicted? Sometimes it’s sin in our lives. Sometimes it’s sin against us. Sometimes we don’t understand why we’re afflicted. In every case, you discover good in the affliction. when you see how God would teach you more and more of His ways through it. That’s the point of the writer to the Hebrews, isn’t it? In Hebrews 12, he says God is our Father who disciplines us. Why does He do that? Is He mean? Is He cruel? Is He vindictive? Is there no rhyme or reason to it?

    No. The writer says He disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Yes, it is painful, but the pain leads to a gain. You are trained in righteousness. You yield more of the fruit of righteousness in your life.

    That’s what you want. That’s what God gives. And so you can say, it is good. One example of this. Let’s say you’re in a job and you’ve got a supervisor who has it out for you. You’re criticized, you’re hassled, you’re inconvenienced, you’re treated unfairly. Maybe it’s because they know you’re a Christian. Maybe it’s just because they’re mean to everybody. You don’t know why. They’re just mean. Maybe you have no idea what’s going on.

    And finally, you’re fired. And you reflect. Yeah, your supervisor was wrong, but you weren’t faultless. You responded to evil with evil. You gossiped. You undermined the work of that supervisor. You held on to bitterness. And what do you do? You learn. And you get another job. And you’re better able to honor God there.

    Was the affliction good? No. Did the affliction feel good? No. But it was good for you because you learned more of how to follow God’s will and ways. Verse 72, the next verse says, the law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

    The writer learns. But there’s a second reason why he says this. He knows he needs to learn, but he also knows he needs to love. You see, so far, really what we’ve done is rather intellectual and analytical. You know, I need to know the law. I need to execute the purposes of the law. Okay.

    But the writer doesn’t just have an intellectual need here. He doesn’t need to just have some sort of intellectual understanding of why God might have brought this into his life. He needs some relational help, too. All through the psalm, focuses on the truth he wants to follow, but it’s not some abstract truth dropped from on high by some nameless, mysterious force.

    It’s the law of the Lord. It is good for me that I was afflicted that I might learn your statutes. You, God. You, the God of my creation. You, the God of my salvation. From my womb to this day, you’ve blessed me. You’ve helped me. You’ve given me mercy and grace. You’ve forgiven my sins. You’ve given me new life. I don’t hate you anymore. I love you now. You see, the writer enjoyed a relationship with God.

    And he was waiting for the fullness of that relationship that would be revealed only in Christ. Who said, I’m the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. Law is law, but what does the law express? It expresses God’s love for his people. The goal is not just conformity, it’s communion. He wants you to know His ways. He wants you to love Him more. And that is ours in Christ. In days of affliction, Jesus will mysteriously but marvelously enable you to know Him better and love Him more.

    This is what Kenneth Bay said after being released from North Korea. As I look back a year later, I realized that in North Korea, I learned God’s faithfulness, experienced his grace and witnessed his compassion in ways I had never imagined before. When I was weak, he was strong. He kept his word and his word was absolutely binding. As he promised, he never left me nor forsook me. Although I had moments when I was depressed and had lost hope, and I sometimes felt abandoned and forgotten by the world, God was there. Even when I doubted God’s promises, He was faithful. When I needed it most, He reminded me He was there.

    He spoke through scriptures and supernatural encounters. He truly is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yes, Kenneth Bay needed to learn some things, but he also needed to learn how to love Christ more. He needed to love God better. He needed to know the love of God better. And so with that perspective, he could say, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

    And so the last question. Can you say this? For just a moment, I want you to hold in your mind and heart the deepest and hardest affliction you’ve ever faced. Maybe for you it’s some sort of devastating, debilitating depression. Maybe you’ve buried a young child. Maybe you know the spitting hatred of a person who despises your faith. Maybe you faced physical abuse or emotional abuse or sexual abuse. Maybe you’ve been humiliated as you’ve left a job you’ve loved. Maybe you live even today with unrelenting physical pain.

    Where are you on the road? I know it’s a journey. When you’re in the middle of a journey, these can be very hard words for you to say, but God wants you to get there. He’ll help you to get there. You pray for this perspective. You pursue this perspective. Sooner or later, you realize you have learned more about God’s ways. You have been enabled to love him more.

    The affliction, again, does not feel good. The affliction is not good, but you see God’s amazing grace and somehow using it for good. Sometimes I know it’s three steps forward, two steps back. Sometimes it’s two steps forward, three steps back. But you journey on. You journey on asking God for the grace to be able to say someday, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

    You know where I need my map sap the most? Right here in Western Pennsylvania. Because you guys know Western Pennsylvania. You got to go east to go west. You got to go north to go south, right? You’re not always sure you’re on the right road. But if you’re in Christ, you’re on the right road. You might feel like you’re curling around in different directions.

    So you pray for God’s grace, for God’s mercy, for God’s help, for God’s peace, for God’s perspective. You go to one another, you go to other godly people to help you as you deal with the afflictions you face. And more and more you discover how God has used and is using and will use affliction to enable you to learn and to love.

    So my encouragement to you this evening is pursue it. Pursue it. Pursue the day when you can fully and finally say, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Would you pray for me and with me? Oh Lord, I need this. We all do. Take these few words from your word, bind them upon our hearts, make them true in our lives, that we may glorify you as we testify to your grace. Thank you for them and for the Savior who ensures that they can and will be true. We pursue it by your mercy. We pursue it with your help. Meet us in these things. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. Let’s stand together then and respond to God’s word with the words of hymn 444. Father, I know that all my life, hymn 444. Let’s stand and sing.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • The Joy of a Surrendered Life

    The Joy of a Surrendered Life

    About this sermon

    Psalm 23 calls believers to a life of total surrender to the Lord, their shepherd. Easter grows out of the Passover, when the blood of a lamb shielded Israel from the angel of death, and Christ is both the lamb and the priest who gives the blood of the new covenant. The sheep who surrender to him find contentment, because he supplies every need, and confidence, because he guides them in right paths and protects them even in the valley of the shadow of death. They celebrate the table he spreads before them and confess him as Lord all their days.

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    Sermon transcript

    Good morning. It’s my privilege to be with you again this morning and, Lord willing, in the evening as well. In a way, we have already done our scripture reading, but just for emphasis, we will still turn to Psalm 23. Psalm 23, we are using the Pew Bible, page 401. Begin to read. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil.

    My cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy We follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is the word of the Lord. Two weeks ago, we celebrated Easter. And as we know, the root of the Easter holiday are from the Passover. And you may know the Passover comes from the Israelites coming out of Egypt. That night, before they would go out, God had instructed them that each family would kill a lamb and put the blood on the doorpost. And when the angel of death would see it, he would pass over them. And that was to be a perpetual memorial that they would not forget God’s redemption for them. And it was during that festival that God was going to begin a new form of covenant, the new covenant in which we have been invited, that Jesus instituted a new Passover, and he himself being the very lamb.

    And so it’s appropriate to read a psalm like this in between the time from Passover and Pentecost, which you see coming, And we know that the Feast of Pentecost, which was also called the Feast of Tabernacles, was to be instituted when the Israelites get into the promised land. God leading them through the wilderness experience and then entering the promised land and having the first harvest. Pentecost was a harvest Thanksgiving festival, that as they brought in the ingathering of their harvest, they would dwell in tents, in booths, to commemorate their journey in the wilderness when they came out of Egypt. And so in a way for the church as well, after the resurrection, the church was still kind of like in the wilderness period until the coming of the spirit on the day of Pentecost. And within that period of the wilderness, the need for God’s shepherding and Christ himself, the great shepherd, being there with those early disciples appearing to them different times, again, captures the essence of this song.

    And we are in the same kind of pilgrim journey. having been rescued from our own Egypt, as it were, under the power of sin, and the fear of death, and the power of the evil one, on this pilgrim, heading toward our time of being gathered into the Father’s presence. That need for the great shepherd is ever present with us. And it is in that regard that I’m sharing on the theme of the joy of the surrendered life, And this theme is discussed under four words that all begin with C, contentment, confidence, celebration, and confession of a surrendered life, beginning with contentment. From the very first verse, the emphasis begins with the Lord. And so it’s all about what he does, much less of what we do. The Lord is my shepherd. He is the one that presents himself as the one who would rescue and save and deliver me.

    But as a sheep, I need to do the important thing of surrendering in response to his love. I am sure that every one of us here has seen a sheep. And even if you have not seen in real life, you have seen on TV or in books. And we know that shepherds guide the sheep to where they will go. I have never heard of a sheep that will wake up one day and say, oh, I’m tired of living in Youngstown in Ohio. I want to go to Sweetly in Pennsylvania. They never do that. Their shepherd guides them to where they go. In essence, the sheep surrender. all of their life to the shepherd. And that’s our calling, that God calls us to yield and surrender to him. And we will see the joy that comes with that.

    And David celebrates the contentment that comes with surrendering his life to the shepherd. He said, I shall not want Part of what brings contentment is the shepherd provides. He provides physically, he provides spiritually. And in talking about the physical provisions, David says, he makes me lie down in green pastures. Now think about a sheep or a goat or even a cow lying down in pasture. What does that suggest? They are satisfied. That’s why they are lying down. And I remember years when I was a little boy back in the village in Nigeria where I grew up. We never raised sheep, but we raised goats. And we were a farming community, subsistence farming. So people grew crops everywhere. So if you let your goat wander, they will eat your neighbor’s crops, and you’ll be in trouble.

    So especially in the summer months when crops are growing, we would tie them. And so with ropes, and then you take them out, tie them in the bushes where they will eat. And I remember in the morning, as I get the goats, holding them on both sides, they would be dragging me because they are eager to eat. But by the time I go back in the afternoon to bring them, all of them are lying down under the cool shades of the trees, signifying they’ve been satisfied. That’s the imagery David has here, that he makes me lie down in green pastures. He provides that which is necessary and adequate for me, that there is that level of contentment, that in the midst of every other thing, I could still find time to rest, rather than being busied around.

    He leads them beside quiet waters. Again, that brings contentment because unlike the big animals like cows or horses that can swim in waters, the smaller animals like sheep and goats don’t swim. And so they are afraid of water. And I remember again as a boy carrying a goat to the market to sell, and just a little puddle of water on the way, the goat wouldn’t step in it. You have to take it around. And so when you look at the land of Israel with hills and valleys and the streams coming down are very swift and noisy, those little animals will be afraid of going near. And so the shepherd will know where the waters are flowing gentle and quiet to take them to drink. David brings this imagery as to how the Lord guides and provides us in ways that will not be frightening, in ways that will not be destructive for us, but that which will bring joy, satisfaction, and delight.

    Not only does the Lord care about our physical lives, but He also cares about our spiritual lives, as verse 3 says, He restores my soul. You know, the word restore has the idea of rejuvenating, bringing to life, reviving. And if you’ve been a Christian for some time, you know that every one of us passes through periods of droughts in our spiritual lives, that we need some reviving. And the Lord is very eager to do that. Just to show us Some examples, the Psalmist in Psalm 119, verse 176, says something to that effect. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. In the same light, Job 33, Job 33 verse 28 to 30 says, he has redeemed my soul from going to the pit and my life shall see the light.

    Behold, God does all this oftentimes with men to bring back his soul from the pit that he may be enlightened with the light of life. God knows when to bring back our soul. When we are becoming dry and on the path of going astray, or even if we have gone astray, like the psalmist says, like a sheep, the Lord will bring us back and will bring the renewal, the spiritual renewal that we need. In Isaiah 41 verse 17, the Lord says, you know, when the poor and needy cry out for waters and there is none that will provide, say, I, the Lord, will provide for them. Maybe it’s a very important passage. Let me just quickly read that as well. From verse 17 it says, The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none.

    And their tongue is perched with thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them myself. As the God of Israel, I will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land fountains of water. So, It doesn’t matter where we are, whatever desert in our spiritual lives we are experiencing. The Lord expects for us to cry just like He said, they are fitted as seeking for water. And if we seek, we will find. And the Lord will bring the reviving and the renewal that we need as a good shepherd. This psalm also indicates confidence. We’ve talked about contentment, both in our physical and spiritual lives, but it also speaks of confidence. Confidence in the protective power of God.

    Confidence in his loving care that shields us. And part of that begins from verse three, which says, he guides me in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake. Now, literally, that phrase, paths of righteousness, could be translated as right paths. So it’s not primarily about righteousness in terms of moral quality, but righteousness as to that which is right for me. And it could include the moral quality as well, so that the Lord guides me to behave rightly, but it may also be in other areas. And I’ll share a personal testimony of, you know, when I went back after studying here in the U.S. for years, went back in 2009, and my city of where I live in Joss, which is at the cusp of where you cross from a predominantly Christian area into a predominantly Muslim area, and the Muslims were beginning to wage war against Christians, and so my city was right on the front lines.

    And I remember within those early days when we were kind of like the epicenter of Muslim violence in Nigeria, I had traveled with a student of mine on some research work. And as we were coming back into the city, I felt I had exhausted cash on me. Nigeria is pretty much a cash society. So I wanted to pass through the city center and get money from an ATM machine. And as I was approaching the city center, I just felt a very strong urge within me. You are going home. You don’t need money. Just go home. So I turned. I told my friend, my student, that we just go home. So I turned away and took a bypass, avoided the inner city, because I was living on the other side of town. And by the time we were getting closer to where we would get home at a major intersection, one thing we noticed that all this while, though a very big city of over 1.2 million people, there were very few people on the roads, mostly walking.

    And then as we got closer to home, where there were more people, we saw soldiers, roadblocks, and pedestrians walking with their hands raised, and we knew there was trouble. And by the time we got home, calls from friends let me know that at the city center was where the Muslims started killing people. And if I went that way, I would have been right in the midst of it. The good shepherd guides us in paths that are right for us. Secondly, he talks about, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. The good shepherd brings confidence because he knows the way. Again, when you look at Israel today, you may not understand this passage very well because it has already become a lot more like a desert.

    But the phrase valley of death, valley of the shadow of death, could also be translated as the valley of deep darkness. And there were areas of forest in Israel in those days that the forest could be very thick and dark. And just to bring to your memory a biblical passage that indicates that, think about Absalom. How did he die? His hair got entangled. when he was going through a woody area. You may not see much of that now, but it was the case. And so David as a shepherd knew that there were some of those times as he took his sheep through some of those valleys that were very thick with forest, the chances of animals or prey catching some of those animals was very high. And yet, as a shepherd, you have that thick club, he calls the staff, with which to fight those animals.

    And David, when he was about to face Goliath, gave a testimony of rescuing his sheep from both lions and bears. So he was talking about what he knew about. Life is fraught with dangers. Life is fraught with testing and trying times. And yet the good shepherd knows how to watch over us and to deliver us even from some of those dangers that we may not even be aware of. in encouragement to us in this light. Prophet Isaiah speaking to people of his time, and I believe God speaks to us through him today as well. Chapter 43 of Isaiah verse 1 and 2 says, But now, thus says the Lord your Creator, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.

    When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched. No, with the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, and Kursh and Sheba in your place. So God understands. He doesn’t promise that life will not be without any challenges. And that’s why we pass through the waters, you pass through the fires, you pass through the deserts, and all of those things, but he promises to be there with you that they don’t overwhelm you. That’s why speaking about the Israelites later on in Isaiah, the Lord says, in all the affliction, he was afflicted with them. He’s always afflicted with us.

    He’s there with us. And we see this in the New Testament as well. When he was speaking to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, he asked him, why are you persecuting me? He didn’t say, why are you persecuting my disciples? Why are you persecuting me? Because in all the afflictions, he’s afflicted with them. He carries them through so that they will not be overwhelmed. He carries us through as well. The celebration of the surrendered life. If it were contemporary literature, somebody, a critic, may say that here the Summit was having conflicted metaphors, talking about sheep and shepherds, and suddenly you are celebrating at a table. Do sheep eat at a table? Not necessarily. But it’s a very powerful imagery that, again, was very much common with the kind of life that people lived back then, and even is still common with the Bedouin tribes, where a clan head would have his own tent with his people.

    And a fugitive running comes into his tent, receives protection. And so whoever was pursuing him, is now kept out, only looking in without anything to do. God is that great chief that has spread his tent for us that when we come in to eat, we find shelter and protection. We find adequate provision. So he spreads the table. When he says he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies, the word translated as prepare has the connotation of arranging. It’s kind of like a lavish banquet. It’s not just a single meal. But he provides adequately that we have more than enough. And therefore, there is celebration here. And the anointing signify a welcome, but also a consecration for service. that if we overflow to others as well. God has provided that calling to share at his table as we do in the metaphor of the Lord’s table that reminds us of participating in this holy calling but also holy preparation for service so that our cup will overflow in reaching out to others as well.

    Do we have that understanding of this special anointing and consecration for service with His oil on our head through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we might overflow in service to others? Lastly, the confession of a surrendered life. It is not just enough to partake in that which makes life that is satisfying, that will generate contentment, that will generate confidence and celebration. But how do we respond back to so much grace, so much love that God shows? Here the psalmist says, surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life. First of all, making a proclamation of what God offers. Goodness refers to the essence of who God is. He’s essentially good. And he brings all of that into our lives, the way we test of his goodness in every facet of our lives.

    The word translated as loving kindness is the Hebrew word that has the idea of God’s covenant commitment to his people that never fails. That is what he calls us into. That even though we may be unfaithful, God remains faithful. That we will enjoy that covenant loyal love that never fails all the days of our lives is what God offers after the Passover. And in response to that, the Psalmist then says, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. committing to a whole life of yieldedness, a life of being completely surrendered and allowing God to take full control over his life. Would that be your response this morning? That in view of God’s great goodness, and great covenant love that we never fail. How am I responding to it? Am I responding in the same degree of covenant loyalty, a love to him that never fails, that when perhaps as humans living in a falling world, I trip and I sin, I remember that it’s not to continue on that trajectory.

    But as John says, as he wrote in 1 John 2, little children, I write to you in order that you might not sin. But if any sins, we have an advocate with the father that we can come back to him. A life of total surrender, yieldedness, celebrating the choice that God offers with contentment, with confidence, with celebration, and a true confession of faith. Shall we pray? Father, we thank you very much for this afternoon. Thank you for what you have done for us. That in your son, you provided a lamb who at the same time was the priest. That provided the blood of the covenant that shields us from the angel of death. In him, we find joy. if as a sheep we surrender to him as the shepherd. This day we pray, Lord, that you will help us to find that contentment, that confidence, that celebration of life, of abundance in you, and the confession of total surrender to you all the days of our lives.

    Thank you, Father, because we ask all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • Not to Us, O Lord

    Not to Us, O Lord

    About this sermon

    When Sennacherib’s envoy mocked the living God, Hezekiah spread the letter before the Lord and prayed that all the kingdoms of the earth might know that he alone is God. Psalm 115 sings, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and faithfulness.” The idols of the nations have mouths that cannot speak, and those who trust them become like them. The church in a hostile age confesses its weakness, claims God’s promises, and trusts the risen Lord, whose church the gates of hell cannot overcome.

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    Sermon transcript

    You’re looking this evening at Psalm 115, but I want to read first from 2 Kings 19. Notice that Mr. Hopp said that they were studying kings in Haiti. Good book to study. Just a brief introduction. Chapter 18 is also about how Sennacherib was threatening Israel, and particularly the Rab Cheka came up and had good many things to say about how Hezekiah should not trust in the Lord, but should give up and that the gods of other nations had not helped him at all. That’s somewhat repeated now in also in Chapter 19. I’ll read the 19 verses and then skip down to verse 32. This is God’s word.

    When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. Then he sent Elkanah, who was over the household with Shevna the scribe and the elders of the priest, covered with sackcloth to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos.

    They said to him, thus says Hezekiah, this day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection, for children have come to birth and there’s no strength to deliver. Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Reb Cheka, whom is master the king of Assyria, is sent to reproach the living God and will rebuke the words by which the Lord your God is heard, therefore offer a prayer for the remnant that’s left. So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. Isaiah said to them, that she shall say to your master, thus says the Lord, do not be afraid because of the words that you’ve heard with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

    Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land. Then rap checker returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libna. for he had heard that the king had left Lakesh. And when he heard them saying concerning Terqa, king of Cush, behold, he’s come out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying, thus you shall say to Hezekiah, king of Judah, do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying Jerusalem shall not be given over into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared?

    Did the gods of those nations, which my father’s destroyed, delivered them even goes on and Heron and res Respa, Reza and the sons of Eden who were in tell us are where’s the king of Haman, king of our pod, the king of the city of Shepherim and of Hannah and Eva.

    Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it and went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. Hezekiah prayed before the Lord. He said, Oh Lord, the God of Israel, who art enthroned above the cherubim, thou art God, thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth.

    Thou has made the heaven and the earth. Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear. Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see. And listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire so that they were not gods, but the works of man’s hands, wood and stone. So they’ve destroyed them. But now, O Lord, our God, I pray you deliver us from his hand. that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone, O Lord, art God. Skipping over then to verse 32.

    This is what Isaiah had to say, part of what he had to say. Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with a shield or throw up a mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.

    Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. When the men arose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead. So Zennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and returned home and lived in Nineveh, at Nineveh. And it came about as he was worshiping the house of Nishraq, his god, that Adram-Melech and Sheharza killed him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Arath. And Ezra-Hadron, his son, became king in his place.

    I’m going to turn over to Psalm 115. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory, because of thy loving kindness, because of thy truth. Why should the nation say, where now is their God? Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man’s hands.

    They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they cannot see. They have ears, but they cannot hear. They have noses, but they cannot smell. They have hands, but they cannot feel. They have feet, but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throat.

    Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them. Oh, Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. Oh, house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. The Lord has been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, the small together with the great. May the Lord give you increase, you and your children.

    May you be blessed of the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth he has given to the sons of men. The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. But as for us, we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord.

    Our Father and our God, we come this evening to the true and living God, to the one who is sovereign over all things. We come seeing the contrast between our God and the gods of the people, gods of the nations, the idols, which are false and which are not able to help in time of need. Help us, our Father, to see the difference this evening. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. That’s the way this psalm begins and ends. It is a halal psalm.

    I’ve spoken of this when I preached once before on Psalm 113. A psalm that is part of the group of psalms between 113 and 118, which are praise psalms used at the three great feasts of the Jewish year. Psalm 115 is part of the liturgy of Israel, which was the most used on those special occasions. The Jews of the old Testament had holy days such as the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

    As Christians, we have one holy day, namely Easter, and we celebrate it 52 times a year. On this New Testament holy day, I want to look at Psalm 115 as we spend some time thinking of why we as Christians should give particular praise and thanksgiving to our living God.

    Psalm 115 begins and by reminding us to whom all glory belongs. Not unto us, O Lord, but unto, not unto us, but to thy name give glory. Secondly, the psalm speaks of the idols of the nations and how worthless they are. The psalmist says that those who trust in idols, he speaks of those who trust in idols and of their outcome. And then the psalmist calls on Israel to trust in the Lord. And he speaks of the blessedness of that trust. And finally he ends with a call for us to bless the Lord and to praise him.

    Israel as a nation was always tempted to boast. Israel thought of itself herself as a special nation, one which deserves special credit and recognition among the other nations. Israel forgot that she was a very insignificant nation and she as would be nothing in the earth if it was not a nation that was chosen by God out of his grace and mercy to be as covenant people to God and to God alone belongs the glory and the honor, any glory and honor that that nation had. It is his name and not Israel’s name that is to be magnified.

    And so the psalmist rightly begins the psalm by saying, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name, give glory. And the psalmist goes on to give two reasons for giving God the glory, because of your loving kindness and because of your truth. This reminds us of Psalm 117, that shortest of all Psalms.

    Praise the Lord, all nations, laud him, all people, for his loving kindness is great towards us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord. Loving kindness is a word often translated set fast love, or it can be translated as mercy or grace.

    The NIV simply uses the word love. It emphasizes the favor which God shows his undeserving people. Truth has imbued something more than simply that which is not false. It has imbued covenant faithfulness. Out of love, God says to Israel, I am your God and you are my people. I’ve been struck in reading through the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, how many times that simple statement of the covenant shows up. I’ve actually thought about sitting down sometime and counting them. I don’t know exactly how many there are, but it comes up over and over again. I am your God, you are my people.

    That’s the essence of the covenant. The loving God is the one who makes promises. He gives his word to his people, and furthermore, he faithfully keeps his word. It is God’s loving kindness and his truth that makes Israel what she is. These are things that Israel could bank on. These are things in which Israel could rejoice in.

    The Psalmist then asked the question, why should the nation say, where now is their God? You find this same phrase in Psalm 79, 10 and in Joel 2, 17. It’s a question that’s asked when Israel has been destroyed by our enemies and God has allowed them to be deported. It’s a question asked when the situation of God’s people seems to be very desperate. Psalm 79 is said to be a lament over the destruction of Jerusalem and a prayer for help. It starts out, oh God, the nations have invaded thine inheritance. They have defiled thy holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

    And then in verses eight through 10 we read, do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your compassion come quickly to meet us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name, and deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.

    Why should the nations say, where is your God? Let there be known among the nations in our sight vengeance for the blood of your servants, which has been shed. We might envision then Psalm 115 as being written as a time of battle against Israel’s enemies. Israel’s not faring well and the nations are beginning to say, where now is their God? Where is the one in whom these people trust? Of what use is their God?

    And there is actually an account, which we just read earlier in the Bible, of where such a thing happened. It’s recorded in 2 Kings 18 and 19, and it’s basically recorded again in Isaiah 36 and 37. 2 Kings 18, we have an account of how Zennacherib and his Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem, and the Rabshakeh, that is the chief Assyrian official, cried out against Jerusalem and said, Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you saying the Lord will deliver us as any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria. Then he goes through a list of the gods of these other nations and he asked, have they delivered Samaria for my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands had delivered their land from my hand? that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand. None of these other gods have been effective. They trusted in them, but they failed to defend them. And so the Rabshakeh says, let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord. What was to be done in such a situation?

    Well, one thing that is to be done is to recognize just who is the God of Israel. The God of Israel is the one, as we read in this Psalm, verse three, who is in the heavens and he does what he pleases. He’s the sovereign God who rules over all things. He rules supreme. The other thing to be done is to realize that the gods of the nations are worthless. The Rab Cheka, in some ways, was very correct in what he had to say.

    The gods of the other nations are no gods, and they’re not able to deliver those who trust in them. They’re idols. They’re man-made gods, made of silver and gold, or carved out of wood. The psalmist heaps scorn on these idols. His greatest indictment is not on the idols themselves, but in the end, it’s on those who make them. He says those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them. The ultimate end of those who worship idols is that, you see, the worshipers become helpless.

    They are deprived of conscious life and existence as the idols that they make and bow down to. He really does make these idols out to be completely worthless and helpless as he describes them. They have mouths, they can’t speak, they have eyes, they can’t see, they have ears, they cannot hear and so on. Can’t even make a sound.

    There is, of course, that great passage in Isaiah chapter 44, verses nine through 19, which I won’t read this evening, but which describes the foolishness of idols. A man takes a piece of wood, takes part of the tree that he’s cut down to make a fire to cook his meal and to build his house with or whatever. And then he takes a piece of that tree and carves it, makes an idol and bows down to it. The psalmist, Isaiah, the whole Bible agrees. Idolatry is not just, it is not just foolishness. It’s deadening. It destroys men. It leads men to nothingness. It leads them to a total lack of meaning and to eternal destruction.

    In contrast, Israel is called upon in this Psalm to trust in the Lord, who is their help and their shield. Israel, the house of Aaron, high priest, those who fear the Lord, proselytes, in other words, converts to the Jewish faith, all of them are called upon in this Psalm to trust in the Lord.

    And as you know, that’s exactly what Hezekiah did. When the God of Israel was challenged, Hezekiah sent for advice from the prophet Isaiah, and Isaiah sent back the word saying, thus saith Jehovah, be not afraid of the words that you have heard, wherein the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. And when the king of Assyria sent a letter to Hezekiah, as we read, The king said, do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you. No, but none of the other gods have been of any use. Hezekiah took that letter to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord and pray. He prayed saying, Oh Lord, the God of Israel who are enthroned above the cherry of him, thou art God. Thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth, Thou has made heaven and earth. Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and hear. Open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see.

    And listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he is sent to reproach the living God. He acknowledges that the king of Assyria has been able to devastate the nations and the lands. And he has cast these other false gods into the fire because they were not gods, but men work of man’s hands. But now he asked the Lord to deliver us from this, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone, Oh Lord, our God. They’ve been asking, where are your, where is your God? Hezekiah says, act, show the nations just who is God, who is the true God. His situation seemed hopeless.

    Jerusalem was surrounded by armies of a world power. No other nation had been able to stop the advance of Sennacherib and his armies. Surely Judah and Jerusalem were no match against the Assyrians. Nonetheless, Hezekiah realizes that this situation, this is a situation where more is on the line than simply the existence of Judah as a nation and Jerusalem as its capital.

    He says that the words of Zennacherib are reproach to the living God. God’s name is at stake. His loving kindness, his faithfulness is being called into question. Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah telling him that Sennacherib was to find out that the God of Judah was not like the gods of other nations. The God of Judah is the sovereign God.

    And as you know, as we read, the angel of the Lord went out in the night and struck 185,000 of the army of the Assyrians. And Sennacherib had to return to his own land, a beaten man. To whom did the glory belong? Surely Judah couldn’t claim any to have beaten Sennacherib. The glory belonged to the Lord.

    Nations who trusted in idols fell. But ironically, Nishraq, the god of the Assyrian king Zanakarab, the one Nishraq which he worshiped, couldn’t save him. He was assassinated even as he was in Nishraq’s temple worshiping him. On the other hand, the nation that trusted in the Lord was rescued.

    It is the people of God who trust in him. who continue to say, as we read in verse 12 and following, I’ve got to find my psalm again. The Lord has been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, the small and the great. And it is those people who can confidently expect the blessing of the Lord. He will bless those who fear the Lord to small together with the great.

    May the Lord give you increase, you and your children. May you be blessed with the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. The response of God’s people is to declare that the heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.

    God’s people are to recognize that they have a calling to set forth the praise of God. And while they’re alive, that is while they’re on the earth, while they’re in this world, they are to bless the Lord. They are to showcase God’s covenant mercy and truth. They are to uphold his honor and the glory of his name. They are to say, as for us, we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever. Hallelujah, praise the Lord.

    Now when we read Psalm 115, we need to remember that Israel of old was the Old Testament church, and that the New Testament church is the new Israel, the new covenant people of God. We may not be threatened today by Assyria or Babylon or Philistia, but we are nonetheless in just as much an embattled position as Israel was. We are called upon to be God’s people in a hostile environment. We’re to serve the Lord as those who are in the world, but not of the world. And we are in a world which is opposed to the Lord, opposed to his people, and just as much opposed to the Lord and his people as they were in ancient times.

    What do we see when we look at the church of our day and age? Is there not much reason for alarm and concern? We need men like the prophets of old to be raised up to call people to covenant faithfulness. We need those who will encourage the people of God to stand firm, to trust in the Lord. We need to be reminded that the Lord is sovereign. He is in the heavens. He rules over men and nations.

    When we look at the Church of Jesus Christ, and even if we look at our own church, which is part of the OPC, we could perhaps be alarmed about many things. At the same time, there’s much reason for thanksgiving. We have a great heritage as a church. To a very large degree, we’ve continued that heritage and build upon it. But I think that it is possible at times that we boast too much. We tend to boast in who we are and what we have. we tend to think that we have done it. We think we’ve got a pretty good name and we’re quite proud of it.

    But we cannot boast of how great we are for what we have done. We must acknowledge how weak, how frail we really are. In the eyes of the world, we’re nothing. In fact, the world might very well ask us Where is your God? Doesn’t seem to be doing much with you. You don’t amount to much. Let’s acknowledge our weakness and frailty, but at the same time, we need to claim God’s promises.

    We know of the risen and ascended Lord, the one who has given all authority in heaven and in earth. We know that he has been given the rod of iron to rule the nations. We know of him who said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. We do not fight the NAC rep and his forces. We struggle rather against the wiles of the devil. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, as you read in Ephesians.

    And it is only then by taking up the full armor of God, by wielding the sword of the spirit, by being strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, that we know we will be victorious. And ultimately it is simply by humbly petitioning our God to defend ourselves, to defend us, to come to our aid. But in just as Hezekiah did, taking our cares to the Lord, our problems, telling them of those who are against us and letting him defend us. I think in the New Testament, in Romans chapter eight, we find a great expression of the truths of Psalm 115. In Romans 8, 31 to 39, what shall we say to these things?

    If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

    Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it’s written, for your sake we’re being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.

    For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creative thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    May that be our confession. May that be what we put our trust in. Let us pray. Our Father, we are surrounded by enemies. We are surrounded by those who also put their trust in idols. We pray, our Father, that we might not trust in that which is worthless, but may we trust in the living and true God, the one who is faithful, the one who keeps his covenant promises. And may we be able then to find victory in putting our sole confidence in him, in the finished work of Jesus Christ, in him who was raised and is seated at the right hand of God. Bless us, we pray.

    In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Let’s turn in closing to hymn number 68. I believe that is probably, that is really basically Psalm 115. Let’s rise to sing this. ♪ Come to us, O Lord of heaven ♪ ♪ Our lives to Thee will begin ♪ ♪ In truth and truth Thou dost fulfill ♪ ♪ The counsels of Thy sovereign will ♪ ♪ Thy power to all ♪ Yet Thou wilt speak and Thou alone ♪ Pledge Israel’s trust in God alone ♪ The Lord whose grace and power are known ♪ To Him your whole allegiance yield ♪ And He will be your help ♪ Hope and shield for those who fear him God will bless ♪ ♪ His saints have proved his faithfulness ♪ ♪ All ye that fear him and adore the Lord and preach to more and more ♪ ♪ Both great and small do Him confess ♪ ♪ You and your children He will bless ♪ ♪ If we will ever bless His name ♪ ♪ Praise ye the Lord, His praise proclaim ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • I Have Installed My King

    I Have Installed My King

    About this sermon

    Joshua 1 charges the new leader to be strong and courageous and to meditate on God’s law, for the Lord will give Israel the land. Psalm 2 asks why the nations rage against the Lord and his anointed and answers that God has installed his king on Zion: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” The apostles applied that verse to the resurrection, when God declared Jesus his Son in power. Psalms 1 and 2 introduce the Psalter, which was sung, and the nations are called to take refuge in the Son.

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    Sermon transcript

    Our first reading, Joshua chapter 1. Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now, therefore, arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

    Every place on which the sole of your feet treads, I have given it to you. just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the great sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory.

    No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you and will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people a possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you?

    Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying, and then we’ll stop there. Let us turn to Psalm chapter 1. Like I said, we will read Psalm 1 and 2. Here in the Word of God.

    How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. which yields its fruit, and its season, and its leaf does not wither. And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

    Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing?

    The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us tear their fetters apart, and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them, Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his fury, saying, But as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. I will surely let the decree of the Lord, tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession.

    You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way. For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him. So ends the reading of God’s Word this day. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, may all of us be those who are found to have taken refuge in You, and if any of us does not cause it to happen, for this is Your work, may we be found in Christ. In His name we pray, Amen.

    The University of Chicago has an amazing museum. The museum is called the Oriental Museum. Usually, for our ears, for some reason when we hear the word Oriental, we think it must be Asian. Well, the meaning of the word Oriental doesn’t necessarily mean Asian, although it certainly does mean that. It really just means Eastern. The museum that they have at the University of Chicago is the Oriental Institute, which is full of ancient Near Eastern artifacts. By ancient Near Eastern, let me just qualify what I mean by that. They’re the type of artifacts that would be found in the nations that surrounded Israel. Whether the Moabites, the Philistines, the Egyptians, all of these people who would have surrounded them.

    You can go into that place and you can see the pottery that they used. You can see the tools that they used. It’s really, really significant. You get an eye, a view into the ancient world that you don’t get in many places. One of the places that you can go in, one of the rooms that you can enter, is the Egyptian room. And they have something that is very significant, at least it was to me. They have an Egyptian room where they have an actual mummy.

    It’s a young woman, probably died when she was 30 years old. And the people, the curators of that museum have really reconstructed a lot of her life. You see, this woman, her name was Meres Amun, which means lover of Amun. This woman was a priestess in a temple, the temple of Amun.

    It is quite fascinating to go there. You are able to see the songs, at least writings of the songs that she sang. You are able to see the instruments, the stringed instruments that this woman would have played day in and day out. It really gives us a picture of what the ancient world was like. For, you see, it was covered with these kinds of temples. You would have looked at Israel And you would have looked at many of the other nations, and there would have been a lot of similarities. There would have been boisterous singing and playing of instruments in temples there. It is really something to see.

    Idols were everywhere. It is said of the city of Athens, ancient Athens, that it is easier to find a god than a man. What do they mean? It’s easier to find an idol than a man. As we read God’s Word in the Old Testament, We must be struck by how often there are descriptions of what Old Testament worship looked like. Think of David. Think of David just for a moment. After his kingdom is finally settled, he’s no longer running from Saul. He’s no longer running from his son. When his kingdom is finally settled, what does he do? He decides, I must bring the Ark of the Covenant into the tabernacle.

    And with each step that the Ark of the Covenant moves to get closer to Jerusalem, David’s city, they sing and they praise God. and they sacrifice with each step, as I said. Later on, just a generation later, Solomon builds the temple for the Lord. And even as his father did, so did Solomon, employ singers who would sing in the temple, choirs. It’s very possible that there was someone or some choir singing in the Old Testament temple 24 hours a day, taking shifts to do that, singing the Psalms of David, singing the songs of Asaph, singing the songs of Korah, those which are preserved for us here in God’s Word. There must have been a great amount of excitement in the people’s worship Imagine it.

    God has been good to our nation. He has placed his holy one upon the throne, King David. And just a generation later, God has been good to his promises. He has been faithful. How so? He has caused his own son, David’s own son, I should qualify. He has caused David’s own son to sit on his throne. Surely our God is good. But you see, Those two generations passed away, and those two times died out.

    And what are we to think of the boisterous singing of the people in the temple at that time? Surely they must have wondered, what is our God doing? Once upon a time, our fathers tell us, we had David, we had Solomon, but now those who are sons of David, they’re not faithful to the covenant. And it is especially in that time, generations later, when we must ask, What sets Israel apart from all of these other temples with priests and choirs and singers praising their God? Why is Israel privileged in some ways?

    Our nation, the Jewish nation, is more sinful than the people who surround us. sometimes i wonder if we take the psalms for granted in a sense because we are singing something that is ancient we are singing something that is so old i will never forget the first time i heard the quran read have you ever heard the quran read the holy quran the writings of the Prophet Muhammad.

    Now, don’t take this in any way as an endorsement for Islam. I’ve read the Quran, I think it is a book straight out of the pit of hell. But when it is read, it is very musical. It is sung. To read it is to sing it. Arabic. That language is just a window into the ancient languages. You see, that was written down in 600 AD. 600 years or so after Jesus comes into the world. There are some of us who read Hebrew. There are some of us in this room, more than just myself.

    But we don’t have that rhythmic, sing-song way about it. Maybe that’s been lost because of the time. But there are many scholars who argue very persuasively that to read the Psalms and the Old Covenant would have meant to sing them. To sing is to read. In fact, it’s very possible, and I believe it with everything in me, that all ancient languages were not spoken. They were sung. Wouldn’t that change how you read the Book of Job, if their arguments were songs that they were singing back and forth? back and forth.

    When we think of the Psalms, we must think about the way they must have sounded. We must just imagine it. But we must be taken back to our first reading. Our first reading was from Joshua chapter 1. What has happened? Moses is dead. Joshua is going to take over. The Lord has blessed Joshua in great ways. He is going to be a general of great proportions who is going to lead the people of God. And he is told that he must be one who meditates upon the word.

    If he wants to be prospered, if he wants to have success, then do not let this book of the law depart. from your mouth. Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth. Why from your mouth? Why not from your mind? Because ancient people did not read silently. To read was to read out loud. Well, how do you think Joshua did? Was he one who we could say truly meditated upon God’s law in such a way that God prospered him in all things? He did a great job, but he was a sinner like us. He was a man with feet of clay like us.

    What happens with the Gibeonites? God had told Joshua, you must not in any way ever, ever, ever make a pact with any nation that you’re going in against. If you make any pact with them, there’s going to be trouble. You must exterminate them. You see, Joshua is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ in that the Lord Jesus Christ purges heaven and earth. That’s what he was supposed to do.

    But because he did not consult the Lord, because he was not properly meditating upon God’s word, The Gibeonites come, who lived very close, and they said, we are from very far away. Won’t you have mercy on us? Won’t you go into a covenant with us? And they showed mercy to them, and they were duped. He did not follow what he was supposed to do. He did not do what God would have had him do.

    When is the one going to come who meditates upon God’s law day and night? Maybe David is the man. Maybe David is the one, the sweet singer of Israel. Could that be the one who would fulfill Joshua 1.8? I need only say the word Bathsheba And you know that that is not the case. So, David has passed. Generations of people have passed.

    And we find ourselves in the minds of the ancient singer. These ancient singers would have had all of the Psalms memorized. And they’re gearing up to sing them once again. and to sing all of the Psalms, those songs which were especially and particularly made for the temple period. He sings the introduction. But what is the introduction to the Psalter? Some people would guess it’s Psalm 1.

    That’s a very good guess. But it really is Psalm 1 and 2 as a unit. They hold together. They certainly work apart. But they come together as a unit in many ways. They are the introduction. Let me explain what I mean by this. If you have your Bible opened, look at what the first thing we see in Psalm 1. Blessed is the man. Look what the last verse of 2 says. How blessed are all who take refuge in him. Isn’t that interesting? The way that the idea of blessing kind of just encapsulates these two psalms.

    Isn’t it interesting that those who stand in the way of sinners, Psalm 1, perish, or perish in the way, 1 6. The same thing happens to those at whom God brings His anger in 2 12. They perish, or they perish in the way, other similarities, and other ways that these two Psalms weave back and forth in contrast and in similarity. Those who walk in the counsel of the wicked will join with the kings who take their stand against the Lord and his anointed, or his Messiah. By way of contrast, the righteous one meditates upon God’s law, whereas the wicked one plots a vain thing.

    Psalm 1 and Psalm 2. While the righteous one of Psalm 1 delights to be in subjection to God’s law, The kings of the earth, in Psalm 2, reject God’s law and they seek to be unshackled, unfettered from it. In Psalm 1, those who are judged are found to be like chaff. In Psalm 2, they are broken pottery to useless substances. As I said, Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 are sufficient on their own, but don’t you see just a few ways that they come together to introduce the Psalter? And we could take themes from these two Psalms and just find them weaving their way throughout the rest of the Psalms.

    So imagine what that must have been like to be a singer, gearing up, ready to sing that introduction again. Imagine what it must have been like, though, for those who come back after the exile from Babylon. Under Ezra and Nehemiah, they’re coming back into the Promised Land. and they’re going to sing these songs, probably by Ezra and Nehemiah. The Psalter was composed and given as we have it.

    You understand that the Psalms were put together piecemeal. Moses writes one, many of them written by David, but as God does great acts in redemptive history, the people under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit write about those acts and those become things to read slash sing in the temple worship service So imagine that Israelite ready to sing, but think of all the gods all around him.

    What’s so special about my God? When is my God going to act? When is he going to do these things? When is he going to bring one who truly meditates upon God’s law? When is He going to act and bring one who is like a wonderful tree? Psalm 1. Who has leaves that never wither. When is that going to happen?

    When is my God going to bless His people once again? When is He going to end the raging of these people all around us? When is He going to show that He laughs at all of the other nations and all of their gods when at this time it seems like we are indistinguishable from them? When will He put them in derision? When will God warn the kings of the earth that if they do not kiss the sun, He will destroy them? When will my God rise above all of the other gods and show Himself to be the true God and all of their gods to be false? When will he show that that Egyptian priestess, that she worships an idol, the imagination of man, a vain thing, and utter nonsense? When, oh when, will my God act as he says he will in this introduction to the Psalter? As we look at Psalm 2. You might see something of the structure of this psalm.

    There’s a lot of what we would call parallelism. Parallelism. Not perilous. A lot of parallelism. Often the way that Hebrew poetry works is you have a statement And then you have a further explanation of that statement. It doesn’t say anything new, but it further expounds the first one. Look at just the first verse. Why are the nations in an uproar? and the people’s devising a vain thing. Now, did Psalm 2, 1b add that much to the first one?

    No, it didn’t. It’s kind of an echo. Now, it may be the case that the leader of the singers in that time would sing the first part, and the people would sing the other part back to him. and it would go back and forth. It must have been amazing to listen to that at that time. Second verse, the same thing. The kings of the earth take their stand, the rulers take counsel together. Same thing. Echoing.

    Paralleling. it kind of continues on that structure until you get to verse 6, where it doesn’t really have that. The second part doesn’t so much add to it. But as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy hill. My holy hill is really expounding on what Zion is. It’s not saying what the whole verse. It’s not echoing everything there. If we read this with those kind of feelers, this verse can be a bit jarring. It comes out at us. And then the psalm pretty much continues shortly after that. Begins again.

    He said to me you are my son today. I have begotten you It is as if the person who wrote this psalm, which is probably David Wanted there to be an emphasis laid on this sixth verse as for me I have installed my king in When is God going to install His King upon the throne?

    Jesus Christ comes into the world and lives the life that Joshua failed to live and that David failed to live, because the Lord Jesus Christ is that wonderful tree of Psalm 1, and He is the one who rightly and perfectly and is able to meditate upon God’s Word. Psalm 1 is not a verse that tells us that you need to meditate upon your Bible every day. It’s not about us.

    This is about Christ, the One whose meditation upon the Word was so intense and so great that He embodies that Word. He is the Logos. He is the Word itself. When will the people come and kiss the Son? Well, isn’t it interesting the way that Judas chose to deceive the Lord Jesus Christ, to deceive The Lord Jesus Christ. Not that the Lord was deceived in any sort of way. I should say, to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was not surprised.

    He betrays the Lord with a kiss. Isn’t it this interesting that that action, which ought to be understood as that which brings blessing upon someone, kiss the son, lest he be angry with you, and you perish in the way? That one kissed the son, and God was angrier at him than anyone else. But he did that to fulfill what was written in the scriptures. That was his end. Though he took this psalm too literally with his deceptive ways.

    But when will the nations, when do the nations rage and plot a vain thing? Well it certainly is the case that we look at the nations and they are filled with idolatry and false religion and heresy of all types. But that’s not the way that the apostles understood this psalm. The way that the apostles understood this psalm about the people coming together and trying to cast off the chains of God so that they could have quote-unquote freedom, so that they might be unencumbered, so that they might be able to sin all that they want. When does that happen? According to the Apostles in Acts chapter 4, they use Psalm chapter 2 to talk about what happens with the nations coming together to seek to crucify our Lord.

    And they really did come together. We are told in Luke that Herod and Pontius Pilate were enemies. They did not like one another, they did not get along, they were stepping upon one another’s feet. But when they come together to fulfill Psalm 2, we’re told by the Gospel of Luke that they became friends that day and forevermore. That is the way in which the nations come together. The Jewish people, the Romans, Greek-speaking people, and others coming together to crucify Jesus But on the third day, all things changed. Everything changes. Why?

    Because you are my Son, and today I have begotten you. But when was Jesus begotten? What sense are we to make of Jesus being begotten? creeds say that Jesus is eternally begotten of the Father. And I want you to believe that. I remember one time seeing an Orthodox Presbyterian elder saying that the idea of Jesus to be eternally begotten of the Father, that that was an error or heresy. that the idea of the Holy Spirit eternally proceeding from the Father and from the Son, that that is an error, because it doesn’t have any scriptural warrant.

    I think it has much scriptural warrant. But Psalm 2, what’s it talking about? Is it saying, today I have begotten you? That is, speaking about the past, eternity past, and saying, today in eternity past, I have begotten you. It’s really significant, the idea of Jesus being eternally begotten. A begetting is an instantaneous thing. You’re in your mother’s womb, and you come out, there’s certainly some time in between, but you are unbegotten and you’re begotten in a moment. This is eternal begottenness from all eternity.

    We must compare that with the eternal death for those who rise up against the sun. Death happens like that. But the Bible speaks about those who are in hell as eternally in death. But that’s not what Psalm 2 is talking about. Try again. It’s talking about Jesus being born by Mary. That must be His begottenness. That must be what Psalm 2 is doing. It’s priming the pump for the life of Jesus. That certainly is worthwhile as well.

    But that’s not the way that the apostles understood this psalm and its fulfillment. Let me read to you the preaching of the Apostles, Acts chapter 13, 32 and 33. Listen for the way the Apostles understand this. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers that this He has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus.

    As also it is written in the second Psalm, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. You see, the Apostle is preaching the resurrection of the glorious Son of God. And whenever there’s preaching, it’s good to have a proof text. It’s good to be able to back up what you’re able to say, what you’re saying. And so they’re saying, they’re preaching, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection.

    Now here’s my proof text, Psalm 2. You are my son today, I have begotten you. Does it seem strange for us to think of the Lord Jesus Christ being told, today you have been begotten, today I have begotten you. When He’s eternally begotten of the Father. When He’s already born, He’s born by the Holy Spirit and by Mary. Unless there’s a new concept of birth being given. A new concept of sonship. Something different. Something that has never been known before. And that is what this is. Psalm 2 is a proclamation of Jesus rising again. The first fruits.

    And He is the firstborn over all creation, according to Colossians. But He is firstborn over all creation before His incarnation. But when Jesus comes, and He dies for sinners, and He raises from the dead, His resurrection is a sign of the new earth, the new heaven which is to come, wherein dwells righteousness, and He is the first one to be born into that atmosphere. So that we can say that Jesus, in His resurrected body, is not just Firstborn over all creation, that is the highest over all creation. But with His resurrection, He is the firstborn over new creation and the changed world which is coming and will come.

    And Psalm 2 proclaims the glorious session of Jesus at the right hand of His Father. For after His many deeds, His mighty works, His glorious resurrection, He ascends to the Father and sits at His right hand, so that all the angels might adore Him, and so that we might worship and praise Him, and so that He might conquer all the nations with the preaching of the Gospel, and so that He might bring an end to the final last enemy, which is death itself. And when he conquers death, when he comes to conquer, and he casts those people who will not repent into the lake of fire, then he will hand the kingdom back to his father as the one who has successfully ruled over all things, heaven and earth. He will come to destroy people like chaff and like broken pottery.

    But for those who know Him, for those whose life is hidden in Him, in His life and in His death, whose life is found in His burial and in His resurrection, there are pleasures for evermore. That wonderful tree is also the King of Heaven, who sits enthroned above, making the nations his footstool, and he reigns upon his throne in glory. He has partaken of the firstfruits of eternal life. That is to say, He not only is the Tree of Life, but He is the One who partakes of the Tree of Life, so that He has eternal life as the Resurrected One.

    And so shall we. And that wonderful tree appears for us at the very end of our Bible. In Revelation 22, there we read, 22, 1-2, Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. John is speaking here. The river of the water of life, bright as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. through the middle of the street of the city, also on either side of the city, the river, excuse me, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the fruit were for the healing of the nations.” Profound things. We see the fulfillment of Psalm 1, the fulfillment of Hosea, Chapter 14. We see the fulfillment of Psalm chapter 2.

    When, O Lord, will you show yourself, King? When, O Lord, will you install your mighty Anointed One? He has done so. But he has not done so in the Middle East. He has set his son in heaven in the Jerusalem which is above. In that Jerusalem which we shall soon see. As an ancient, as an old negro spiritual says, soon and very soon. We are going to see the king. Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king. Let us pray.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.