Do You Know Your Shepherd?

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.599 Excuse me, let's turn in our bibles and turn your attention to psalm eighty 2 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:30.539 this morning, Psalm eight zero. The Psalms are one way in which God 3 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:37.729 gives us words to express our hearts, and they are words that are good, 4 00:00:37.770 --> 00:00:41.609 they're true, these are models for us to grow in and learn, 5 00:00:41.649 --> 00:00:46.929 and in that God also is teaching us about himself. He tells us who 6 00:00:46.929 --> 00:00:51.359 he is, he points us, I'm not just to truths about to him, 7 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:57.280 but a piety, a way of living in life that is according to 8 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:00.280 him and according to his will. So let's give our attention to that now. 9 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:07.109 And Psalm Eighty, give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who 10 00:01:07.150 --> 00:01:11.670 lead Joseph like a flock, you who are enthroned upon the Cherubeam, shine 11 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:18.349 forth before Ephrian and Benjamin and Manassa. Stir up your might and come to 12 00:01:18.469 --> 00:01:23.180 save us, restore us, Oh God, let your face shine that we 13 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:26.099 may be saved. Oh Lord, God of hosts, how long will you 14 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:30.780 be angry with your people's prayers? You have fed them with the bread of 15 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:38.569 tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us an 16 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:46.090 object of contention for our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, 17 00:01:46.290 --> 00:01:49.920 Oh God of hosts, let your face shine that we may be saved. 18 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:53.239 You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations and 19 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:57.640 planted it. You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root and 20 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:02.590 filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars 21 00:02:02.709 --> 00:02:07.150 with its branches. It's sent out its branches to the sea and it shoots 22 00:02:07.229 --> 00:02:12.229 to the river. Why, then, have you broken down its walls, 23 00:02:12.509 --> 00:02:15.780 so that all who pass along the way pluckets, flute fruit, the bore 24 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:21.419 from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on 25 00:02:21.539 --> 00:02:24.780 it. Turn Again, Oh God of hosts, look down from heaven and 26 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:30.449 see and have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted 27 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:35.969 for the sun, whom you made strong for yourself. They have burned it 28 00:02:36.090 --> 00:02:38.449 with fire, they have cut it down. May they perish at the rebuke 29 00:02:38.569 --> 00:02:43.129 of your face. But let your hand be on the man of your right 30 00:02:43.210 --> 00:02:46.159 hand, the son of man, whom you have made strong for yourself. 31 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:52.960 Then we shall not turn back from you. Give us life and we will 32 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:55.960 call upon your name. Restore US. Oh Lord, God of hosts, 33 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:06.430 let your face shine that we may be saved. An let your face shine 34 00:03:06.710 --> 00:03:10.189 that we may be saved, let your face shine that we may be restored, 35 00:03:10.229 --> 00:03:15.979 let your face shine that we might be healed. And in a sense 36 00:03:16.060 --> 00:03:22.819 of judgment, the Psalm declares that they may perish, the enemies of God 37 00:03:22.939 --> 00:03:30.129 may perish at the rebuke of your face. When God's face shines on us, 38 00:03:30.129 --> 00:03:35.090 when he turns towards us in favor, things go well. We are 39 00:03:35.370 --> 00:03:39.370 under his protection, his power, we are under his salvation, and when 40 00:03:39.370 --> 00:03:45.000 he turns his face away, things go badly. We find ourselves alone, 41 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:49.759 we find ourselves desperate, we find ourselves under judgment, and this reminds us 42 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:54.039 that all the world turns, all of our experiences in life turn on this 43 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:01.110 thing, whether God is directed for us or against us. It's why many 44 00:04:01.150 --> 00:04:08.270 people add God's name to their their missions. They say God is for us 45 00:04:08.270 --> 00:04:12.939 or God is against you, and if that's true, then it's worth paying 46 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:16.379 attention to, and if it's not, it's blasphemy. But in the sense 47 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:19.660 of those words, we all come to understand the true of the psalm, 48 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:26.850 that the shining of God's face on us is a good thing, it's a 49 00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:33.370 blessed thing, it's it's everything. And so the question I want to ask 50 00:04:33.410 --> 00:04:39.399 you this morning and encourage you to answer by this Psalm, is do you 51 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:44.360 know your shepherd? This one in verse one, this person, Scott, 52 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:47.439 our God in Verse One, is called Oh, shepherd of Israel, you 53 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:54.709 who lead Joseph like a flock. This shepherd is not only like a pastoral 54 00:04:54.990 --> 00:04:59.269 shepherd, a shepherd of a small or even a large flock of sheep, 55 00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:02.709 but the imagery of a shepherd is often used in the Bible to describe the 56 00:05:02.750 --> 00:05:06.899 role of a King, David, for example, a shepherd over a sheep, 57 00:05:08.220 --> 00:05:12.819 over his sheep, eventually became a shepherd over a nation, and that's 58 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:16.860 who God is, shepherd of Israel, of a people, of a body, 59 00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:21.569 of a political entity, of a kingdom. He is a king and 60 00:05:21.730 --> 00:05:30.209 he shepherd's this flock. Do you know him? Do you follow him as 61 00:05:30.290 --> 00:05:36.759 he is? Before Our Lord was crucified outside of Jerusalem, he was received 62 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:45.279 into into Jerusalem the people waving palm branches and calling out Hosanna, blessed is 63 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:48.920 he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming of 64 00:05:49.110 --> 00:05:56.110 our Father David. Hosanna in the highest at these words that they spoke were 65 00:05:56.389 --> 00:06:01.189 most certainly true, but many did not understand what they were saying. They 66 00:06:01.269 --> 00:06:06.339 did not understand that the kingdom would come through the cross that they would crucify 67 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:12.779 him on. In just a few days later, Mark Records that event in 68 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:15.459 Chapter Eleven of his Gospel, and just a few verses before that, in 69 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:20.529 chapter ten, something similar happens. James and John Asked to sit on the 70 00:06:20.569 --> 00:06:27.290 right and left hand of Jesus when he enters into his glory, which is 71 00:06:27.449 --> 00:06:30.889 what the people in Jerusalem were expecting in that moment. You know what Jesus 72 00:06:30.930 --> 00:06:33.879 says to James and John as they asked this request to sit on the right 73 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:36.560 and the left hand? He says, you do not know what you were 74 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:44.240 asking. And what they didn't know was the same thing. The people calling 75 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:48.790 Jesus a proclaiming Jesus as he came into Jerusalem didn't realize that the kingdom would 76 00:06:48.790 --> 00:06:54.870 come through the cross, that the salvation, the brokenness, the turning of 77 00:06:55.029 --> 00:07:00.750 God's face to shine upon his people would come through the sacrifice of his own 78 00:07:00.829 --> 00:07:06.819 son. They spoke true words, but they didn't know what they were saying. 79 00:07:09.579 --> 00:07:14.980 And we are all here this morning, presumably to we're ship Jesus to 80 00:07:15.139 --> 00:07:18.290 lift up his name, to proclaim his name, to seek his grace and 81 00:07:18.410 --> 00:07:25.569 his wisdom his will. But do we understand what we are saying? Do 82 00:07:25.689 --> 00:07:31.560 We know our shepherd? Do we know who he really is? Let's turn 83 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:38.040 our attention now, in particular to these words in psalm eighty and consider who 84 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:44.079 god is, our shepherd and our leader in Christ. First, as I 85 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.910 mentioned in verse one, we're told that he is our shepherd, he is 86 00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:50.269 our king, and we hear more than that. We hear that he is 87 00:07:50.790 --> 00:07:55.949 he has authority. There is a call to be led and then hit the 88 00:07:56.790 --> 00:08:01.019 his authority is mentioned at the second half of verse one. You who are 89 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:07.620 enthroned on the upon the Cherubeam shine forth, those of you who have been 90 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:13.529 with us in our evening services, know what this is talking about. And 91 00:08:13.649 --> 00:08:18.170 Ezekiel, God has this in Ezekiel, in the book of Ezekiel, we 92 00:08:18.329 --> 00:08:22.050 read of this vision that the Lord's Prophet has, of the Lord enthroned on 93 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:31.000 these invisible, spiritual mighty creatures with wings and eyes and faces, these creatures 94 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:35.679 which surround the throne of God and revelation. They cry out holy, Holy, 95 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:41.190 Holy, is the Lord, these mighty magnificent creatures. He is not 96 00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:50.070 subject to them, but he sits upon them as his throne. He is 97 00:08:50.389 --> 00:08:54.309 enthroned upon them, he is enthroned above them. This reminds us that God 98 00:08:54.549 --> 00:08:58.659 is the Creator and the ruler of not only this world that we see, 99 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:03.620 but also the world that we don't see, the spiritual world with all of 100 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:07.539 its creatures that God has made. The scripture doesn't tell us tons about this, 101 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:11.769 but it tells us one thing very clearly, that God is enthroned above 102 00:09:11.809 --> 00:09:16.409 it all, and that's the one who is our shepherd, that's the one 103 00:09:16.490 --> 00:09:22.529 who has loved us before. Efre him and Benjamin and Manassa, stir up 104 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:26.159 your might and come to save us. So not only do we know that 105 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:31.360 God has authority and power to lead us, but he is also powerful to 106 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:33.039 do what he wants. The one that we call on, the shepherd that 107 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:37.710 we seek, is able to act. Sometimes we go to people in the 108 00:09:37.870 --> 00:09:41.870 in our lives and ask for help and they're not really able to help us. 109 00:09:43.590 --> 00:09:48.629 Whether you're looking for a bathroom at a place where it's closed, or 110 00:09:48.750 --> 00:09:52.779 you're looking for counsel for someone who doesn't know what they're talking about, or 111 00:09:54.059 --> 00:10:00.460 any number of things. There's often frustrations right in seeking resources where they aren't. 112 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:03.419 But when we go to God, when we go to this God, 113 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:07.809 this one who reveals himself in this way, we are never at a loss 114 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:13.370 because he's never at a loss. Stir up your might to come to save 115 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:20.210 us. Before Jesus is crucifixion. The people seem to understand this power of 116 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:26.159 God. They saw in Jesus the powerful promises of God and his healings, 117 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:31.840 in his the work that he did and is conquering over death itself and in 118 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:39.549 the resurrection of Lazarus, is command over the spiritual realms as he casts demons 119 00:10:39.629 --> 00:10:45.710 out of people. They saw this power and that's a good start, and 120 00:10:45.870 --> 00:10:48.669 we should recognize it too. When we go to the Lord and say is 121 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:52.259 in for we say in verse three, restore us, Oh God, let 122 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:56.740 your a face shine upon us that we may be saved. We should know 123 00:10:56.340 --> 00:11:01.139 in our heart of hearts that we are going to one who is capable of 124 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:07.210 doing those things. This is one thing is true about our shepherd. Another 125 00:11:07.610 --> 00:11:15.889 is that he desires to restore our fellowship with him. We interact, we 126 00:11:16.409 --> 00:11:22.799 relate, we live our lives in relationship with God, not as peers or 127 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:28.879 as equals or partners, but as sinners who have been saved by him, 128 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.789 people who are forever in death to his mercy, who forever owe him our 129 00:11:35.950 --> 00:11:41.509 obedience and our love. Is people who have been rescued out of a terrible 130 00:11:41.669 --> 00:11:46.500 pit of destruction and brought into new life with him. We are people who 131 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:52.500 have been saved. That's our relationship with him. God is powerful, not 132 00:11:52.539 --> 00:11:56.019 like a like a gumball machine. You know, you put in the quarter 133 00:11:56.220 --> 00:12:01.649 and outcomes the candy. He's not powerful like that. He is powerful as 134 00:12:01.769 --> 00:12:05.889 one who gives things to people that don't deserve them, who gives gifts to 135 00:12:07.049 --> 00:12:13.490 people who have not earned them. We see the brokenness of that relationship in 136 00:12:13.570 --> 00:12:20.600 the following verses, versus for in six, and then some after that as 137 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.639 well. The Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with 138 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:30.789 your people's prayers? You've fed them the bread of tears, given them tears 139 00:12:30.870 --> 00:12:33.950 to drink and full verse five. In verse six, we read that the 140 00:12:35.230 --> 00:12:41.669 world will shame them, enemies laugh among themselves at the people of God. 141 00:12:43.029 --> 00:12:46.179 In verses twelve and thirteen, we read that their walls are broken down, 142 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:52.539 their defenseless. You know like. Imagine a mighty a city that its walls 143 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:56.539 have fallen down, it's people are destroyed and people just kind of walk past, 144 00:12:56.700 --> 00:12:58.769 you know, like we do it ancient ruins. We say wow, 145 00:12:58.929 --> 00:13:05.289 how somebody wants to live there. Look at that unprotected, uncared for, 146 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:11.129 Walk Right in. In fact, it's so bad. In verse thirteen, 147 00:13:11.289 --> 00:13:16.919 when God's judgment comes upon his people, we read the boar from the forest 148 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:20.799 ravages it and all that move in the field feed on it. It's like 149 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:26.470 it's returning back into wilderness instead of a city that has been developed and built 150 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:33.110 and and resources constructed to build this place for God and man to dwell in, 151 00:13:33.269 --> 00:13:41.379 it's just falling down into the ground. It's because of that, it's 152 00:13:41.460 --> 00:13:46.700 because of that sin that we have this refrain in verse four and verse seven, 153 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:52.379 and then invert at the in verse nineteen as well verse fourteen. Look 154 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:56.610 down from heaven, look down from this place in which you are enthroned, 155 00:13:56.889 --> 00:14:03.529 and have mercy upon us. God is the shepherd of sheep that are sick. 156 00:14:03.529 --> 00:14:07.250 God is the shepherd of people that are broken, that are in need 157 00:14:07.370 --> 00:14:13.519 of healing. And you think of your life and the things that you need 158 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:20.480 right now. Are you seeking help from them in the Lord, in your 159 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:24.279 sins and the things that you've done? Do you seek his forgiveness or do 160 00:14:24.389 --> 00:14:28.590 you just try to work harder? If you're just trying to work harder, 161 00:14:28.710 --> 00:14:31.549 you're not seeing everything in the light of his face. You're not seeing that 162 00:14:31.669 --> 00:14:37.909 you need a restoration with him. If you feel your body breaking down, 163 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:43.820 if you feel your body falling apart, are you looking to him for? 164 00:14:43.860 --> 00:14:46.620 Yes, healing in this life, but even better, the resurrection of the 165 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:50.820 body and the life to come, a final, permanent state where things are 166 00:14:50.899 --> 00:14:56.649 no longer falling apart? Do you look to him from that? Do you 167 00:14:56.730 --> 00:15:01.649 look to him for your hope? When you think about the the the brokenness 168 00:15:01.649 --> 00:15:05.409 of relationships in our lives and our families and our churches and and other kinds 169 00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:11.440 of things, are we? Are We seeking His grace? Are we looking 170 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.840 to him for restoration of those things, for the communion of the saints? 171 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:20.629 When we think about enemies against God's people, are we? Are we simply 172 00:15:22.350 --> 00:15:24.509 looking at them at this horizontal level, or do we see them in the 173 00:15:24.590 --> 00:15:31.190 light of his face? Do we seek God's justice to be done, God's 174 00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:33.909 judgment to be done, God's guarding and protecting to be done, or do 175 00:15:33.990 --> 00:15:41.220 we try to handle all of these things on our own? The fact that 176 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:45.259 we need these things from God, and I want to emphasize this point, 177 00:15:45.379 --> 00:15:50.570 is not just because we're creatures and he's the creator, but it's also because 178 00:15:50.610 --> 00:15:56.570 we are broken creatures in need of a savior. We must go to him, 179 00:15:56.049 --> 00:16:00.490 we must seek him in His grace and ask that, by His grace, 180 00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:11.960 his face would shine upon us. A lot of people in this life 181 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:18.070 want to relate to God apart from their brokenness. If I could put it 182 00:16:18.190 --> 00:16:25.350 this way, sometimes we think of God as kind of like dessert. He's 183 00:16:25.389 --> 00:16:29.710 a really nice thing to have in our lives, but not really necessary and 184 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:33.860 maybe even better if I can do it by myself, if I can say 185 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:37.700 no thanks to dessert, then I know I've eaten more healthy or something like 186 00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:41.460 that. But if I get dessert, well then it's a little extra sweet 187 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:44.379 and Nice. All right. It's like we think of God is kind of 188 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:49.090 this plus right, this this extra benefit to our lives. We could do 189 00:16:49.129 --> 00:16:52.049 it without them, but it sure be nice to have him in another way, 190 00:16:52.129 --> 00:16:59.450 to in some ways, it seems like that's what the people were wanting 191 00:16:59.490 --> 00:17:02.720 in Jerusalem. That's what James and John Wanted. That's what many of us 192 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:04.480 want. We want to kind of do things on our own. But then 193 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:07.359 if, boy if, we could get God on our side, get this 194 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:15.710 extra boost, this extra plus. This doesn't, this understanding does not really 195 00:17:15.750 --> 00:17:22.309 account for brokenness, not really. It's not. It doesn't really account for 196 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:27.789 our deep brokenness in ourselves and the deep separation that is between us and God. 197 00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:37.420 We don't need God's favor just because our circumstances are hard or we need 198 00:17:37.500 --> 00:17:41.140 a little bit of his help, but because at the very deepest parts of 199 00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:45.970 us, our hearts, our minds, our wills, are broken and sinful. 200 00:17:45.970 --> 00:17:52.690 We need something deep and penetrating and perfecting and cleansing in us, and 201 00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:56.329 that's something only God can do, and without it we end up in these 202 00:17:56.450 --> 00:18:03.720 same conditions that are described here, broken, falling apart and returning to the 203 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:10.480 dust, to the wilderness. And so that's why our hearts and our prayers, 204 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:14.910 as we know our shepherd, as he truly is, as to we 205 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:19.789 should be calling out, shine your face on us that we might be saved, 206 00:18:21.670 --> 00:18:23.589 not shine your face on us that we might do a little better, 207 00:18:23.670 --> 00:18:27.700 or shine your face on us that might have a little pump up in our 208 00:18:29.099 --> 00:18:33.859 morality or a little better experience in our worship, but shine on us so 209 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:41.339 that we might be saved, saved from death, saved from destruction, saved 210 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:52.410 from ruin. We need our shepherd, and the way we need him is 211 00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:57.880 in His grace. We need him to turn to us, not looking at 212 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:03.160 our sins and punishing us for them, because that's what we are, were 213 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:07.960 sinful. We need him to look to us and to send and to forgive 214 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.910 our sins and draw US unto himself. We Need God, as our king, 215 00:19:14.029 --> 00:19:17.230 to be favorable to us. But how can we, how can he 216 00:19:17.430 --> 00:19:22.829 be favorable to us, unless our sins have been forgiven? Because our good 217 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:30.700 deeds can't bring us back in. Our good deeds can't save us. So, 218 00:19:30.819 --> 00:19:33.660 as we think of the grace of God, particularly from this passage, 219 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:37.380 they're two things that are helpful to notice and I think for our own lives. 220 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:41.890 It's the same way we can think about God and His grace to us 221 00:19:42.009 --> 00:19:48.369 in the past, his steady promises, his sure hand, his wondrous works, 222 00:19:48.569 --> 00:19:52.880 and that gives us confidence for the future that he will continue to be 223 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:59.960 those things as the God who never changes and whose love is steadfast. As 224 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.200 we look to the past, we see that particularly expressed in verses eight through 225 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:11.190 eleven. You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations 226 00:20:11.230 --> 00:20:14.549 and plants of that you cleared the ground for it, it took root and 227 00:20:14.630 --> 00:20:18.069 it filled the land. This is a wonderful picture of what we have in 228 00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:22.619 the exodus. I hope you all know, though, that the those stories, 229 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:26.940 that history of God's rescuing his people out of bondage and out of slavery. 230 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:30.859 Right, with ten plagues and a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, 231 00:20:32.099 --> 00:20:37.569 he vanquished Egypt. He made it known both to the people and to the 232 00:20:37.730 --> 00:20:42.369 Egyptians that he alone is God and he brought them out of that place and 233 00:20:42.529 --> 00:20:49.400 he cleared away the Canaanites and established them in the promised land. And here 234 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:56.480 that is described in a familiar picture of transplanting a plant. Perhaps some of 235 00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:59.880 you, hope, may hopefully all of you, have done this at some 236 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.920 point. Right, you've taken a plant out of one place, right, 237 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:07.109 you've dug it up out of the ground. You done you and then you 238 00:21:07.309 --> 00:21:11.230 go to another place and you clear the ground and you dig a new hole 239 00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:14.750 and you put it in and you water it and you pray and you hope 240 00:21:14.829 --> 00:21:17.670 that you're the process. What will on the print? Plant will grow. 241 00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:23.140 That's the process. That's how that's the image God uses here of his people, 242 00:21:23.779 --> 00:21:27.220 of Israel. He takes them like a vine out of Egypt, he 243 00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:34.089 clears the ground in Canaan and he plants them in. But notice what happens 244 00:21:34.210 --> 00:21:40.049 to God's plant. You know, we might say, boy, I sure 245 00:21:40.130 --> 00:21:42.210 hope it lives. Right, when we transplant a plant, we might say, 246 00:21:42.250 --> 00:21:48.079 well, I hope it gets really strong. Listen to what God's plant, 247 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:51.839 his people, does in verse ten. This is no ordinary vine. 248 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.359 It says it well, verse nine, end of Narsina says it took root 249 00:21:56.440 --> 00:22:03.349 and it filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade. Can 250 00:22:03.349 --> 00:22:07.750 you imagine looking out that, the image here, looking out on the Catalina's 251 00:22:07.349 --> 00:22:12.509 and seeing a giant vine covering them, shading them like the clouds do, 252 00:22:15.029 --> 00:22:18.380 even the mighty cedars, with its branches? It sends out its branches to 253 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:23.380 the sea, it shoots to the river. This is no ordinary vine. 254 00:22:25.619 --> 00:22:29.539 This is the vine of God. Right when God sets his hand to do 255 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:33.369 his work, when he establishes his people, he can take it from the 256 00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:38.089 smallest thing. Jesus uses the example of a mustard seed. Takes a mustard 257 00:22:38.170 --> 00:22:44.250 seed and can grow it into a giant tree. We find other similar images 258 00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:49.519 used here in scripture. Remember the Abraham was one man called out of the 259 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:55.799 Caldis, called out, who is not able to have children, nor was 260 00:22:55.880 --> 00:22:57.079 his wife, and God said, out of you, I will make you 261 00:22:57.160 --> 00:23:02.630 a people as numerous as the stars in the heavens. And he did. 262 00:23:03.910 --> 00:23:07.869 He filled them, he filled the world and even now the name of Jesus 263 00:23:07.910 --> 00:23:14.740 Christ is confessed all over the globe. Amazing, amazing, the Work of 264 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:18.420 God. This is what we think about God's work in the past as we 265 00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:22.660 pray in the present for hopes in the future. We look to him in 266 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:26.220 the things that he has to done. We remember, we remember, we 267 00:23:26.420 --> 00:23:30.930 remember. As we pray to him, we're not praying just throwing stuff up 268 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:36.809 into the air hoping something sticks. We are praying to the one who has 269 00:23:36.849 --> 00:23:44.799 been loving us for thousands and thousands of years, and the promises of those 270 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:49.200 to come are confessed here as well. Not only do we have the prayer 271 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:53.039 to turn again, Oh God of hosts, look down from heaven and see 272 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:57.069 have regard verse for fourteen, for this vine, the stock that you have 273 00:23:57.150 --> 00:24:03.630 planted, and for the son whom you have made strong for yourself. Who 274 00:24:03.750 --> 00:24:10.900 is this son that is suddenly declared in verse fourteen? Well, at one 275 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:15.059 level it's Israel, it's Joseph, it's this one that God has been leading. 276 00:24:17.259 --> 00:24:21.900 But this people, this nation, points to a very particular son, 277 00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:26.609 one who would be born out of Israel and Hood Woo, who would be 278 00:24:26.089 --> 00:24:34.650 made strong for God, even strong as God himself. You know who I'm 279 00:24:34.650 --> 00:24:38.839 talking about right when I'm talking about our savior, we're talking about Jesus, 280 00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:45.440 the son of God, born of Man, made strong to fulfill the law 281 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:51.759 where we did not, to conquer sin and death so that we could live. 282 00:24:52.869 --> 00:24:57.710 This son is talked about even more when we are reminded that he will 283 00:24:57.869 --> 00:25:03.230 give us life. In Verse Eighteen, when this son is comes, when 284 00:25:03.269 --> 00:25:07.019 he is made strong, when he does his work that he is set out 285 00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:15.180 to do, something happens to the people in this giant vine like way? 286 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:19.299 In Verse Eighteen, it says here's future look hopes. Right then, we 287 00:25:19.420 --> 00:25:25.930 shall not turn back from you. Give us life, and we will call 288 00:25:25.970 --> 00:25:32.289 upon your name. This is our hope, our hope is that Jesus, 289 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:37.400 the son of God, will come and will be strong for man in a 290 00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:41.839 way that we never were, and he will do what man failed to do. 291 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:47.519 He will change those hearts defiled by sin, broken by sin, causing 292 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:51.630 misery in this world, in such a way that we will now have life, 293 00:25:52.269 --> 00:25:57.950 and that life is wonderfully described as that which calls upon God's name. 294 00:26:00.430 --> 00:26:04.740 We seek him in his gracious relationship to us, so that we might continue 295 00:26:04.819 --> 00:26:10.259 to be in a relationship with him, continue to praise him, continue to 296 00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:18.299 call upon the name of our shepherd. Through this man, this son of 297 00:26:18.460 --> 00:26:22.250 man, the son of Israel, son of David, son of Abraham, 298 00:26:25.329 --> 00:26:30.210 God himself would save his people, and he did and he gave us life. 299 00:26:30.490 --> 00:26:34.079 When they sung this psalm, when they prayed to this prayer, they 300 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:38.799 were looking to something future, a future hope. We look on these things 301 00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:44.160 even as in the past, if we had sure things to hold with them 302 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:48.349 and the exodus about the promises and grace of God, how much more do 303 00:26:48.430 --> 00:26:52.029 we have now that this strong one has come, this son of God has 304 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:59.950 come and has rescued us from our brokenness? God has turned his face on 305 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:03.420 us. John tells us that when Jesus came into the world, it was 306 00:27:03.500 --> 00:27:07.299 like light coming into the world, light shining in the darkness, which the 307 00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:14.660 darkness has not overcome. Jesus isn't a plus, he's not a feather in 308 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:19.569 our crown, a little bit of extra glory from Man. He is our 309 00:27:19.609 --> 00:27:26.210 very life and he is our life after death, our life out of death, 310 00:27:26.369 --> 00:27:30.519 other life from death, and he does that by dying for us. 311 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:36.440 That's why Jesus says to his disciples, that's why Jesus says to James and 312 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:41.559 John, he must drink the cup of Wrath, he must die, he 313 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:48.869 must go into Jerusalem and to be crucified outside of Jerusalem, so that he 314 00:27:48.029 --> 00:27:55.309 might remove forever the death and Sin and evil that is in the garden, 315 00:27:56.750 --> 00:28:00.299 so that the walls might be built up, so that the vine might be 316 00:28:00.460 --> 00:28:07.819 established and we might have life with him forever. This is why the cross 317 00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:14.490 was necessary. Without it, the rebuilding, the shining and all the rest 318 00:28:14.529 --> 00:28:18.130 would be just a temporary fix, because the problem, as I've said, 319 00:28:18.289 --> 00:28:25.329 is from within, not from only without. If you have a problem on 320 00:28:25.369 --> 00:28:29.640 the inside, if you have a problem in your garden and you just make 321 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:34.759 nice new walls, it doesn't fix the problem. Jesus came in and fixed 322 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:42.670 the vine by uniting us to himself, and that's why this solution, this 323 00:28:42.869 --> 00:28:49.109 rebuilding, this shining of God's grace, is a permanent solution. By suffering 324 00:28:49.349 --> 00:28:55.670 and dying for the sheep and rising victorious over that death, our shepherd secured 325 00:28:55.710 --> 00:29:03.740 life for us. That's who your shepherd is. Do you know him? 326 00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:11.210 The Real Jesus, the real son of God? Is He just a bonus 327 00:29:11.329 --> 00:29:14.849 in your life, a nice thing to have? If so, you may 328 00:29:15.009 --> 00:29:19.289 not be following the real Jesus, but just a figment of your imagination, 329 00:29:19.490 --> 00:29:26.920 of a promise of the culture, an empty one. But if you recognize 330 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:32.200 that, apart from him, you are like this vine and that without him 331 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:37.759 you are lost. But in him, when the face of God in it, 332 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:41.789 when the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, shines 333 00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:45.269 upon us, it's like the sun shining on a plant. It gives it 334 00:29:45.869 --> 00:29:51.309 life. He gives us life and it allows us to say with hearts that 335 00:29:51.390 --> 00:29:57.940 understand Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 336 00:30:00.019 --> 00:30:03.859 Blessed is the coming of the Kingdom of our Father David. Hosanna in the 337 00:30:03.940 --> 00:30:10.450 highest. When God gives us life, we can call upon his name. 338 00:30:10.490 --> 00:30:15.329 Let's do that, and even now let's pray and ask for God to give 339 00:30:15.369 --> 00:30:18.609 us these things. Our Father and