Our God of Promise (Psalm 89)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.160 Ay Man, you may be seated. As we turned to psalm eighty nine 2 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:08.029 this morning. It's a rather lengthy psalm. It's fifty two versus long, 3 00:00:17.390 --> 00:00:19.910 and, knowing that I was just going to be with you just this one 4 00:00:19.989 --> 00:00:25.940 day, I thought Psalm Eighty nine this morning goes so well with Psalm Ninety 5 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:33.060 for this evening. So we'll see how these two psalms today really hang together 6 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:40.369 and rely upon one another. So, Psalm Eighty nine, listen, for 7 00:00:40.490 --> 00:00:46.409 this is the word of the Lord. I will sing of the steadfast love 8 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:53.079 of the Lord forever. With my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to 9 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:58.280 all generations, for, I said, steadfast love will be built up forever 10 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:03.200 in the heavens. You Will Establish Your faithfulness, you have said, I've 11 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:07.349 made a covenant with my Chosen One. I have sworn to David, my 12 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:15.430 servant, I will establish your offspring forever and build your throne for all generations. 13 00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:19.980 Let the heavens praise your wonders, Oh Lord, your faithfulness in the 14 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:25.500 assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies can compare to the 15 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:29.140 Lord? WHO, among the heavenly beings, is, like the Lord, 16 00:01:29.739 --> 00:01:34.170 a God greatly to be feared in the counsel of the Holy Ones and and 17 00:01:34.409 --> 00:01:40.810 awesome above all, who are around him. O Lord, God of hosts, 18 00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:45.290 who is mighty as you are. O Lord, with your faithfulness all 19 00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:49.280 around you, you rule the raging of the sea. When its waves rise, 20 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:56.159 you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass. You scattered your 21 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:01.709 enemies with your mighty arm. The Heavens are yours. The Earth also is 22 00:02:01.829 --> 00:02:06.310 yours, the world and all that is in it, you have founded them, 23 00:02:07.030 --> 00:02:09.509 the north and the south, you have created them. Tabor and Hermann 24 00:02:09.750 --> 00:02:15.780 joyously praise your name. You have a mighty arm. Strong is your hand, 25 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:23.259 high, your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your 26 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:29.060 throne. Steadfast, love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are the people 27 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:32.090 who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light 28 00:02:32.250 --> 00:02:36.810 of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your 29 00:02:36.889 --> 00:02:42.610 righteousness, are exalted, for you are the glory of their strength. By 30 00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:47.599 your favor, our Horn is exalted, for our shield belongs to the Lord, 31 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:53.599 our King, to the holy one of Israel. Of Old. You 32 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.879 spoke in a vision to your godly one and said, I have granted help 33 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:00.949 to one who is mighty, I have Exalted One chosen from the People. 34 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:06.189 I have found David my servant. With my holy oil. I have anointed 35 00:03:06.229 --> 00:03:09.710 him so that my hand shall be established with him. My arm also shall 36 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:15.060 strengthen him. The enemy shall not out with him, the wicked shall not 37 00:03:15.180 --> 00:03:20.979 humble him. I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who 38 00:03:21.020 --> 00:03:28.210 hate him. My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and 39 00:03:28.409 --> 00:03:34.009 in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand on 40 00:03:34.129 --> 00:03:38.409 the sea and his right hand on the rivers. He shall cry to me, 41 00:03:38.889 --> 00:03:43.280 you are my father, my God and the rock of my salvation, 42 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.400 and I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the Kings of the 43 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:53.840 earth. My steadfast love I will keep for him forever and my covenant will 44 00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:00.069 stand firm for him. I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as 45 00:04:00.150 --> 00:04:05.069 the days of the heavens. If it's children forsake my law and do not 46 00:04:05.150 --> 00:04:10.300 walk according to my rules, if they violate my statutes and do not keep 47 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:14.659 my commandments, that I will punish their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity 48 00:04:14.740 --> 00:04:19.500 with stripes. But I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be 49 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:27.490 false to my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter the word 50 00:04:27.610 --> 00:04:32.050 that went forth from my lips once for all. I have sworn by my 51 00:04:32.370 --> 00:04:40.480 holiness. I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever. 52 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:44.360 His throne as long as the sun before me, like the moon, it 53 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:54.110 shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies. But now you 54 00:04:54.230 --> 00:05:00.029 have cast off and rejected. You are full of Wrath against your anointed. 55 00:05:01.470 --> 00:05:06.699 You have removed the covenant. Renounce the Covenant With Your Servant. You've defiled 56 00:05:06.779 --> 00:05:12.939 his crown in the dust. You have breached all his walls. You have 57 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:18.220 laid his strongholds in ruins. All who pass by plunder him. He has 58 00:05:18.259 --> 00:05:23.329 become the scorn of his neighbors. You have exalted the right hand of his 59 00:05:23.449 --> 00:05:28.649 foes. You've made all his enemies rejoice. You've also turned back the edge 60 00:05:28.649 --> 00:05:32.089 of his sword. You have not made him stand in battle. You've made 61 00:05:32.129 --> 00:05:36.639 his splendor to cease and cast his throne to the ground. You have cut 62 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:42.399 short to the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. 63 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:49.509 How Long, O Lord, will you hide yourself forever? How long will 64 00:05:49.509 --> 00:05:55.829 your wrath burn like fire. Remember how short my time is for advantity. 65 00:05:55.870 --> 00:05:59.829 You've created all the children of Man. What man can live and never see 66 00:05:59.910 --> 00:06:04.980 death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of show? Oh Lord, 67 00:06:05.060 --> 00:06:10.699 where is your steadfast love of old which, by Your faithfulness, you 68 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:15.620 swore to David? Remember, Oh Lord, how your servants are mocked and 69 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:19.050 how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations with which 70 00:06:19.129 --> 00:06:24.610 your enemies mock, oh Lord, with which they mock the footsteps of your 71 00:06:24.649 --> 00:06:40.959 anointed. Blessed be the Lord Forever. Men and I'm in. As we 72 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:46.839 see this, eighty nine psalm is is rather long, isn't it? Fifty 73 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:51.350 two verses Long. Some came commentators even suggests that what we have here is 74 00:06:51.470 --> 00:06:57.550 not one song, but it's actually two psalms which have sort of been run 75 00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:02.339 up together. But it's not because of their length that they think you have 76 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:08.180 two psalms here side by side. There are psalms that are much longer than 77 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:13.779 the psalm eighty nine. The reason some suggest that there's is actually two psalms 78 00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:17.730 is because of how different this beginning of the psalm is from from how it 79 00:07:17.810 --> 00:07:26.810 ends as we read it. Did you notice that rather jarring turn this psalm 80 00:07:26.889 --> 00:07:32.120 takes about midway through. What I want us to see this morning is not 81 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:39.240 only does this singular psalm belong together, we'll see that this unity serves a 82 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:46.550 purpose and we're supposed to feel this tension this psalm creates as well. For 83 00:07:46.670 --> 00:07:48.430 you see, it's this very tension which brings us to our knees before the 84 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:54.870 Lord, like the Psalmist, and there causes us to further marvel that his 85 00:07:55.189 --> 00:08:00.740 steadfast love. So as we look at this psalm, we ought to be 86 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:07.379 aware of its setting, and not just as historical setting. I mean the 87 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:13.089 setting of this psalm within this salter, for the Book of Psalms is actually 88 00:08:13.129 --> 00:08:18.370 broken up into five books, and these five books offer a structure, they 89 00:08:18.410 --> 00:08:26.250 offer a direction within this salter, and our psalm this morning is the final 90 00:08:26.410 --> 00:08:31.200 Psalm of book three. Tonight we'll look at Psalm Ninety, the first Psalm 91 00:08:31.559 --> 00:08:35.720 of book for of the PSALTER. And if you look in your bibles between 92 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.840 Psalm Eighty nine and ninety, you should see a little title right. Book 93 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:46.309 Book for begins there. So why does this matter? What structure do these 94 00:08:46.389 --> 00:08:52.190 five books create? Will Book One is highly focused on King David. He 95 00:08:52.429 --> 00:08:56.940 is the Lord's anointed, and book one is written almost entirely by David himself. 96 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:05.100 Book two culminates at the end of David's life with David's final psalm, 97 00:09:05.299 --> 00:09:11.649 Psalm seventy two. That's a prayer for David's son, King Solomon. There 98 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:18.049 David is longing for the Lord to fulfill his promise that he will establish the 99 00:09:18.090 --> 00:09:24.440 throne of his son forever. And Book Three here now concludes in Psalm Eighty 100 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:31.120 Nine, which brings us not simply to the end of David's life but what 101 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:37.639 appears to be the end of David's household. This appears to be the end 102 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:43.309 of David's dynasty, the end of his kingdom, for this psalm ends with 103 00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:50.830 destruction. This psalm ends with confusion. And this terrible conclusion is all made 104 00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:56.340 all the more terribly because of where this psalm begins. This psalm, which 105 00:09:56.340 --> 00:10:03.980 will end in deep lament, begins in triumphant praise. Look at first one. 106 00:10:03.899 --> 00:10:11.370 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever. With my 107 00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:16.769 mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. This is a psalm 108 00:10:16.850 --> 00:10:22.919 that begins with eternal praise. I will sing forever, says the PSALMIST. 109 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:28.679 And why are these praises eternal, as verse two sets is, for I 110 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:33.320 said, steadfast love will be built up forever in the heavens. You Will 111 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:39.509 Establish Your faithfulness. The eternal phrases of the psalmist are in response to the 112 00:10:39.669 --> 00:10:48.350 Lord's Eternal Love and faithfulness. It's because God's love is forever in the heavens, 113 00:10:48.309 --> 00:10:54.059 which means it cannot be attacked, torn down, removed. It's fixed, 114 00:10:54.659 --> 00:11:00.100 it's certain. And how does the Psalmist know of the Lord's steadfast love? 115 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:05.370 How does he know of this eternal faithfulness? How would anyone of us 116 00:11:05.409 --> 00:11:11.009 know if God himself didn't reveal it to us? Is What he says in 117 00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:16.250 verses three and four. You have said, you have said, I made 118 00:11:16.370 --> 00:11:20.120 a covenant with my Chosen One. I have sworn to David, my servant, 119 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:24.960 I will establish your offspring forever and build your throne for all generations. 120 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:31.879 And these opening verses then introduce us to the theme the first half of this 121 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:39.789 song, the theme of God's Steadfast Love God's faithfulness, which is expressed in 122 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:48.500 his covenant with David. These two things characterize the joy found in this opening 123 00:11:48.539 --> 00:11:54.899 half of the Psalm. First, for shown that God's steadfast love and faithfulness 124 00:11:54.899 --> 00:11:58.419 is itself caused for praise. These opening praises begin by delighting in the Lord, 125 00:11:58.419 --> 00:12:03.250 who is himself the ruler of all things. He is the one who 126 00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:07.210 creates, he's the one who delivers. He is both mighty because he is 127 00:12:07.250 --> 00:12:13.450 mighty to save. Verse Thirteen says you have a mighty arm, strong as 128 00:12:13.490 --> 00:12:16.720 your hand, hi, your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation 129 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:24.919 of your throne. Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. God's kingdom is 130 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:31.750 characterized by his own steadfast, Certain Love, his certain faithfulness. But the 131 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:39.389 way he rules his kingdom is through steadfast love and righteousness. Verse One told 132 00:12:39.389 --> 00:12:43.230 us the Psalmist desire to sing of the love and faithfulness of the Lord. 133 00:12:43.230 --> 00:12:46.100 And now don't you hear how he's doing that very thing he desires to do 134 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:50.379 for our shield, verse eighteen. For our shield belongs to the Lord, 135 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:56.220 our King, to the holy one of Israel. As our shield, he 136 00:12:56.419 --> 00:13:01.009 is our resting place. As our shield, he is our defender, he 137 00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:05.169 is our protection, because our security is not found in what we can do 138 00:13:05.370 --> 00:13:11.529 for ourselves, but in his securing us. And then in verse nineteen, 139 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:18.200 as the Psalm begins to describe God's Covenantal promise to David. There's no division 140 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:24.320 taking place here at Verse Nineteen, as he now describes the promises God gave 141 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:30.110 to David. He's not contrasting these things with the Lord's power and majesty over 142 00:13:30.230 --> 00:13:37.429 all creation. He's uniting these ideas. The same steadfast love and faithfulness established 143 00:13:37.509 --> 00:13:43.419 in the heavens is now being established in David, and that's not a contradiction. 144 00:13:45.019 --> 00:13:48.179 They're one in the same sous of God is ruling over here and now 145 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:56.250 saying okay, David, you get this half over there. Don't you see? 146 00:13:56.289 --> 00:14:00.330 The way in which God will rule over the heavens and the earth with 147 00:14:00.490 --> 00:14:07.409 his steadfast love and faithfulness will be through David, through his anointed. His 148 00:14:07.450 --> 00:14:11.559 first nineteen says of old. You spoken a vision to your godly one and 149 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:15.240 said, I have granted help to one who is mighty. I Have Exalted 150 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:20.480 One chosen from the People. I have found David my servant. With my 151 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:24.029 holy oil. I have anointed him so that my hand shall be established with 152 00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:28.549 him. My arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not out with 153 00:14:28.629 --> 00:14:33.750 him, the wicked shall not humble him, just as the Lord Establishes Justice 154 00:14:33.870 --> 00:14:39.940 in the heavens, the Lord will also establish justice on the earth, and 155 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:46.659 he will do so through his servant, through David. Here we're drawn all 156 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:52.179 the way back to the imagery of Psalm. To David is the Lord's anointed, 157 00:14:52.730 --> 00:14:56.970 he's the Lord's Messiah. This Messiah will be the ruler over the nation's 158 00:14:58.009 --> 00:15:01.289 back in Psalm too, ver seven, I will tell the decree. The 159 00:15:01.409 --> 00:15:05.090 Lord said to me, you are my son. Today I've begotten you. 160 00:15:05.649 --> 00:15:07.960 Ask of me and I will make the nation's your heritage, the ends of 161 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.399 the Earth your possession. WHO's how similar this is to verses twenty six to 162 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:18.879 twenty eight of Psalm Eighty nine. He shall cry to me, you are 163 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:22.870 my father, my God and the rock of my salvation, and I will 164 00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:26.149 make him the firstborn, the highest of the Kings of the earth. My 165 00:15:26.350 --> 00:15:33.190 steadfast love I will keep for him forever and my covenant will stand firm for 166 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:41.259 him. The title given to David Here's not only Messiah or anointed. He's 167 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:48.539 also given the title son of God. He's given the title firstborn. How 168 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:56.210 is it the David could ever be considered firstborn? If you recall, David 169 00:15:56.289 --> 00:16:00.730 wasn't even the firstborn of his own house. He was the youngest of the 170 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:06.919 sons of Jesse. Now God declaring him firstborn doesn't refer to the timing of 171 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:12.879 his birth, refers to his position. To See, it's the firstborn son 172 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:18.269 who receives the father's inheritance, it's the firstborn who is in that primary position, 173 00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:25.990 and the crown of the king goes to the first born. The psalmost 174 00:16:26.070 --> 00:16:30.669 is recalling odd's covenant. So promises to David for God's promise to David and 175 00:16:30.750 --> 00:16:37.659 second and second Samuel seven is quoted almost exactly here in this palm. For 176 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:44.779 in Second Samuel Seven, what did God promise concerning David's offspring? So we 177 00:16:44.820 --> 00:16:48.889 find here in Verse Twenty Nine. I will establish his offspring forever and his 178 00:16:48.129 --> 00:16:56.169 throne as the days of the heavens. Second Samuel Warren's will happen if David's 179 00:16:56.169 --> 00:17:00.129 children disobeyed, when we find here in verse thirty if his Children Forsake my 180 00:17:00.210 --> 00:17:03.640 law, do not walk according to my rules, if they violate my statutes 181 00:17:03.680 --> 00:17:07.240 and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their transgressions with the 182 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:12.119 Rod, their iniquity with stripes. And Verse Thirty Three reminds us. But 183 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:18.029 I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness. 184 00:17:18.869 --> 00:17:22.789 I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from 185 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:30.299 my lips. Don't you here, then, the unconditional character of this promise? 186 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:37.140 God is the one making this oath, for even if David's descendants prove 187 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:44.690 unfaithful, God will not violate his oath. He will not lie to David. 188 00:17:45.849 --> 00:17:49.730 As verse thirty six says, his offspring shall endure forever, his throne, 189 00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:52.529 as long as the sun before me, like the moon, it shall 190 00:17:52.569 --> 00:18:00.319 be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies. The first half of 191 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:06.960 this psalm has been an incredible, joyful celebration of our God, who makes 192 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:12.670 promises, who keeps his word. Here God's steadfast love and his faithfulness are 193 00:18:12.829 --> 00:18:18.150 on full display. Our God is a god of promise, who who is 194 00:18:18.230 --> 00:18:22.549 faithful to his name, who is faithful to his word, and for the 195 00:18:22.589 --> 00:18:27.500 opening thirty seven verses of this Psalm, this fact of God keeping his steadfast 196 00:18:27.660 --> 00:18:33.259 love is marveled at. It is, it is rejoiced in, it's declared, 197 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:40.539 it's announced, it is it is joyfully proclaimed. The Joy and the 198 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:45.130 majesty that is ascribed to the Lord here, God's rule and his kingship is 199 00:18:45.210 --> 00:18:52.690 truly worthy of praise. That God enters into a covenant with David, through 200 00:18:52.690 --> 00:18:59.279 which he will bring peace to the nation's God's unconditional promise truly is worthy of 201 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:07.000 praise. He keeps his word, he does not lie, which is what 202 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:14.710 makes the things that come next so shocking. For thirty seven verses, God 203 00:19:14.829 --> 00:19:23.029 has been praised with very intentional language. Right Eternal, steadfast love set in 204 00:19:23.230 --> 00:19:30.220 the heavens forever? Or is his faithfulness like the moon? It shall be 205 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:36.740 established forever, a faithful witness in the skies. And then verse thirty eight 206 00:19:36.859 --> 00:19:48.130 hits like a sledgehammer. But now you have cast off and rejected. You 207 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:53.920 are full of Wrath against your anointed. You have renounced the Covenant With Your 208 00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:00.000 Servant. You have defiled his crown in the dust. You've reached all his 209 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:04.599 walls. You've laid his strongholds in ruins. All who pass plunder him. 210 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:08.829 He has become the scorn of his neighbors. You've exalted the right hand of 211 00:20:08.990 --> 00:20:14.230 his foes. You've made his enemies rejoice. You've turned back the edge of 212 00:20:14.269 --> 00:20:18.309 his sword you've not made him stand in battle. You've made his splendor to 213 00:20:18.509 --> 00:20:22.900 cease and cast his throne to the ground. You've cut short the days of 214 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:30.980 his youth. You've covered him with shame. After everything we've seen in the 215 00:20:32.059 --> 00:20:38.089 first half of this psalm, could you think of any words more unexpected than 216 00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:47.890 this? You have renounced the Covenant With Your Servant. What is it? 217 00:20:47.970 --> 00:20:53.119 The God has just been praised for his eternal word, his eternal steadfast love. 218 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:07.990 This psalm so quickly turns from phrase to lament. What did you this 219 00:21:08.150 --> 00:21:11.990 is not just a speed bump. Is Not as a slight de too her 220 00:21:11.029 --> 00:21:15.509 he's taking he's hitting a brick wall and a hundred miles an hour. The 221 00:21:15.630 --> 00:21:21.700 difference between the beginning and the ending of this psalm is drastic and we shouldn't 222 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:26.140 be so quick to sort of try and resolve this tension. I know you're 223 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:29.460 trying to do it right now. I would be too. Maybe you enjoy 224 00:21:29.460 --> 00:21:33.049 a good puzzle and good mystery. Your minds are already starting working on how 225 00:21:33.170 --> 00:21:37.529 this piece fits with that piece. The Stop for a moment, stop trying 226 00:21:37.529 --> 00:21:41.650 to fix the tension, because you first need to see that this tension is 227 00:21:41.849 --> 00:21:48.319 no accident. It's intentional. It's not like our author, for God's what 228 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.960 he just wrote before. The Lord has given us this tension and wants us 229 00:21:52.960 --> 00:22:00.119 to dwell within this tension for God's Love and his faithfulness. His promise to 230 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:06.190 David and his esteb as as descendants, his promise to establish his throne, 231 00:22:07.589 --> 00:22:11.549 his affirmations that he will not lie, all these things make the lament here 232 00:22:11.630 --> 00:22:18.539 at the end that much more shocking, that much more eye opening, not 233 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:22.700 just the differences that have taken place. Instead of David being the highest of 234 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:26.539 the kings of the earth with an enduring throne, we hear that both the 235 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:33.450 throne and the crown are cast to the dust. Instead of David's right hand 236 00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:37.329 ruling the seas and the rivers, it's the right hand of his enemies who 237 00:22:37.329 --> 00:22:42.250 are being exalted. Instead of the Horn of David being held up in victory, 238 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:52.160 the kingdom experiences humility, defeat shame. This is what the Psalm is 239 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:56.720 struggling with. The situation before Israel is her own defeat at the hands of 240 00:22:56.759 --> 00:23:03.509 the Babylonians, and this is the question that confronts all of Israel when faced 241 00:23:03.589 --> 00:23:10.190 with her own exile being removed from the Promised Land. Aren't they left wondering 242 00:23:11.230 --> 00:23:19.220 what happened to the Kingdom? What happens to God's throne? Nations rise and 243 00:23:19.460 --> 00:23:26.460 fall all the time in the balance of history. Great nations even shift. 244 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:30.130 Great nations will break and fall apart. But what is so devastating about what 245 00:23:30.170 --> 00:23:34.690 happens to Israel's not that she's just another nation, for to know other nation 246 00:23:34.809 --> 00:23:38.130 did the Lord Promise to defend, protect and defend her in this way? 247 00:23:38.170 --> 00:23:45.839 Upon no other nation did our Lord place his name and his presence. Israels 248 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:48.519 not just wrestling with the crumbling of her nation at the hands of her enemies? 249 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:53.559 What she's dealing with is her defeat at the hands of the Lord himself. 250 00:23:56.109 --> 00:24:02.910 And so what is so devastating about what happens to Israel is the height 251 00:24:03.069 --> 00:24:10.740 from which David's throne fell. Did you see this tension here in this psalm? 252 00:24:11.579 --> 00:24:15.420 This is none other than the Lord's anointed who has been driven into the 253 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:21.539 dirt. The son of God, Worthy of glory and power and praise, 254 00:24:21.779 --> 00:24:26.289 is now mocked in insulted. And the question before Israel is how can that 255 00:24:26.529 --> 00:24:30.930 be? How can God's wrath turn against his own? David, his first 256 00:24:30.970 --> 00:24:41.079 born. So we need to see in this language of fallenness, the language 257 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:48.519 of curse, and this language itself draws us back to a much earlier fall 258 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:55.109 and of far greater curse. You see, this catastrophic fall of David's throne 259 00:24:56.390 --> 00:25:02.509 calls us back to that very first fall into sin. This language here of 260 00:25:02.589 --> 00:25:07.619 God's son, God's first born, this very language is what draws us back 261 00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:12.299 to the person of Adam. The inheritance of this land reminds us of the 262 00:25:12.339 --> 00:25:18.740 Garden of Eden. There Adam was called to rule and to reign over creation 263 00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:25.089 as a son of God, as God's image bearer. The fall of David's 264 00:25:25.130 --> 00:25:30.730 throne, the failure and the curse upon Israel, calls US right back to 265 00:25:30.769 --> 00:25:34.920 the fall of Adam. For is in that first fall that the one who 266 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:38.839 had been created perfect and righteous and holy, with dominion over the creatures, 267 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:45.799 would return to the dust, didn't he? And when you see that this 268 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:52.869 ultimate tension behind this psalm begins in the garden, you also see that it 269 00:25:52.950 --> 00:25:57.750 begins to make sense. On its face, it looks like a contradiction, 270 00:25:57.789 --> 00:26:00.589 doesn't it? On the one hand God is faithful, on the other hand 271 00:26:00.630 --> 00:26:07.099 God is unfaithful. When we see Israel pointing back to Adam and how Israel's 272 00:26:07.099 --> 00:26:11.779 failure is like Adam's failure in the garden. Only then can we see what 273 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:18.650 this psalm is really looking forward to, notice how this lament ends in Verse 274 00:26:18.730 --> 00:26:25.930 Forty Six. How Long, Oh Lord, will you hide yourself forever? 275 00:26:26.089 --> 00:26:29.529 How long will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is, 276 00:26:30.250 --> 00:26:33.440 for what vanity you've created all the children of Man. What man can 277 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:37.799 live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of 278 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:45.519 show the problem facing that children of men, or it's as the children of 279 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:52.390 man, which in the Hebrew would be Adam. The problem facing the children 280 00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:57.509 of Adam is sin, that first sin which brought God's curse upon death, 281 00:26:59.430 --> 00:27:03.500 the curse of death, that first sin which makes us all born as sinners, 282 00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:08.099 born under sins guilt, born under sins power. What this psalm is 283 00:27:08.140 --> 00:27:12.700 truly struggling with is the reality of sin, the reality of death itself, 284 00:27:15.619 --> 00:27:18.049 and this is why Israel is brought to her knees. She was called to 285 00:27:18.089 --> 00:27:21.569 be a holy nation, she was called to dwell in the presence of a 286 00:27:21.609 --> 00:27:25.170 holy God in this Holy Land. Yet due to her sin, due to 287 00:27:25.250 --> 00:27:30.839 her failure, she was exiled, she was cast out. So sin and 288 00:27:30.119 --> 00:27:37.200 death are the problem. In fact, Sin and death is what seems even 289 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:44.160 to contradict God's eternal promises to David. What does God promise to David and 290 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:52.829 his descendants? An eternal throne, a kingdom that lasts forever, so that 291 00:27:52.950 --> 00:27:55.869 for God to be faithful to David, for God to establish a throne and 292 00:27:55.990 --> 00:28:02.700 a kingdom that lasts forever, this problem of death must be dealt with. 293 00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:08.859 Sin And death must be dealt with, and the solution to this tension can 294 00:28:08.900 --> 00:28:15.329 only be found when we recognize the tension for what it is. God has 295 00:28:15.450 --> 00:28:18.450 promised his steadfast love, he has promised his faithfulness, and yet sin and 296 00:28:18.529 --> 00:28:27.279 death remain and seem to contradict that promise. And so amazingly, don't you 297 00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:34.160 see how this psalm resolves this tension within the words of this Psalm itself? 298 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:41.200 Don't you hear the Gospel itself resonating within the difficult words of this psalm? 299 00:28:45.390 --> 00:28:49.789 Do you hear the Psalm, in both its praise and its lament, taking 300 00:28:49.829 --> 00:28:53.750 us directly to our knees so that we would see our need for Christ? 301 00:28:56.539 --> 00:29:03.660 God has promised to be faithful to his anointed. And yet the Lord's anointed 302 00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:07.940 is not ultimately David, it's not Solomon, it's not found in any the 303 00:29:07.980 --> 00:29:12.170 kings of Israel, who only brought further sin and rebellion and notely brought the 304 00:29:12.250 --> 00:29:19.410 curse and wrath of God. The Psalm is pointing US away from Israel's history 305 00:29:19.569 --> 00:29:26.359 of kings and drawing us to Israel's final king, for the solution to sin 306 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:30.599 and death itself is found in that offspring, the one promised to David, 307 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:36.119 the same one promised to Abraham, the same one promised even to Adam and 308 00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:41.230 to eve, an offspring who would right all wrongs, who would deliver from 309 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:48.150 death. The longings of this psalm are answered in no other way than in 310 00:29:48.230 --> 00:29:55.940 Christ himself, the true son of David, the true second Adam. So 311 00:29:56.059 --> 00:30:00.859 here we are shown our utter need for deliverance, delivers not only from the 312 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:04.740 sorrows and the pains of this world, delivers not only from sin and death, 313 00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:11.009 but deliverance from the wrath and the curse of God himself. His tension 314 00:30:11.049 --> 00:30:18.849 between God's oath of love and his curse against sin is resolved in Christ. 315 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:26.839 In Christ, the Lord will remain faithful to his promise to David. For 316 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:30.319 the one who promises an eternal throne to David is also the one who is 317 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:37.349 born into the Line of David, to be born under the law. Christ 318 00:30:37.390 --> 00:30:42.630 the LAWGIVER becomes Christ the law receiver. In Christ, the Lord of the 319 00:30:42.750 --> 00:30:49.299 Covenant Becomes the Faithful Servant of that covenant. In Christ, the true and 320 00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:53.220 eternal son of God, becomes the son of man, in order that he 321 00:30:53.220 --> 00:30:57.299 might be called son of God, in order that he might be declared the 322 00:30:57.380 --> 00:31:03.329 firstborn of all creation, not because of some temporal beginning to his existence, 323 00:31:04.049 --> 00:31:08.529 but because of his office. For Christ is the one who can came in 324 00:31:08.650 --> 00:31:12.450 fulfillment of Verse Twenty Five. There God says, I will set his hand 325 00:31:12.529 --> 00:31:18.289 upon the sea, his right hand upon the rivers. Christ come doing this 326 00:31:18.369 --> 00:31:22.559 very thing, ruling over the seas. He came, displaying his power, 327 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:26.720 his authority, as he walked on the waters and calm the storms, as 328 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:32.079 he healed the sick and raise the dead. Christ is the true son of 329 00:31:32.119 --> 00:31:37.309 David's, worthy of the throne. As Paul says in first or cautions one, 330 00:31:37.390 --> 00:31:41.430 Verse Fifteen, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn 331 00:31:41.470 --> 00:31:45.950 of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on 332 00:31:45.029 --> 00:31:49.339 Earth, visible and an invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or 333 00:31:49.380 --> 00:31:53.299 authorities, all things were created through him and for him, and he is 334 00:31:53.339 --> 00:31:59.420 be for all things, and in him all things hold together. And he 335 00:31:59.539 --> 00:32:00.970 is the head of a body, the church. He is the beginning, 336 00:32:01.009 --> 00:32:06.970 the firstborn from the dead, that on everything he might be pre eminent. 337 00:32:08.049 --> 00:32:15.490 In his earthly ministry, Christ's power and authority over creation were on full display. 338 00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:23.200 And yet what culminated his ministry? How did it end? It ended 339 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:29.880 at the Cross, for Christ also came not just to rule but to suffer, 340 00:32:31.109 --> 00:32:37.589 not to be served but to serve. As this psalm proclaims to us 341 00:32:37.630 --> 00:32:43.470 are desperate need for a savior, it also tells us what that savior must 342 00:32:43.509 --> 00:32:50.299 undergo. As the Psalm laments David being cast off, we're given a foretaste 343 00:32:50.339 --> 00:32:54.819 of Christ, who was truly cast off. As the Psalm depicts God's wrath 344 00:32:54.980 --> 00:32:59.450 turned against Israel, we get a picture of Christ upon whom God set the 345 00:32:59.569 --> 00:33:04.450 fullness of his wrath. It's Christ who was scorned. He's the one who 346 00:33:04.569 --> 00:33:10.289 was mocked, as the right hand of his enemies seemed to triumph. But 347 00:33:10.369 --> 00:33:15.880 this was not the final word for Christ, as his empty tomb shows us, 348 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:21.440 his suffering was sufficient, and it shows us that he was not suffering 349 00:33:21.559 --> 00:33:25.680 for his own sin, but for your sin and for mine, as he 350 00:33:25.799 --> 00:33:30.470 was raised on that third day. It shows us that his suffering was enough, 351 00:33:32.150 --> 00:33:37.430 for Christ's earthly ministry did not end in suffering, suffering and ended in 352 00:33:37.549 --> 00:33:45.500 victory through his suffering at the cross. The wrath and curse of God poured 353 00:33:45.500 --> 00:33:52.140 out on the Messiah is precisely where God's steadfast love and faithfulness are on full 354 00:33:52.220 --> 00:33:58.009 display, and we get a glimpse of this hope even here in psalm eighty 355 00:33:58.049 --> 00:34:04.049 nine. For this psalm does end with lament, it ends with confusion, 356 00:34:05.890 --> 00:34:09.000 but it also ends with this, these words in verse fifty two. Blessed 357 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:16.719 be the Lord Forever, Amen and Amen, so that even in the midst 358 00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:23.670 of Israel's uncertainty, even in the midst of suffering and confusion, even here 359 00:34:23.750 --> 00:34:29.710 we are taught how to lament, we're taught how to dwell within this tension 360 00:34:30.030 --> 00:34:37.190 of great praise and deep sorrow, were to find great comfort in this psalm 361 00:34:37.429 --> 00:34:44.780 of praise because of the Lord's Steadfast Love and faithfulness, and we're to find 362 00:34:44.820 --> 00:34:49.500 great comfort in this psalm of lament, for here we are shown our savior, 363 00:34:50.980 --> 00:34:54.570 who alone is mighty to save and mighty to undergo the curse that our 364 00:34:54.610 --> 00:35:02.610 sin deserves. And here we are instructed that, even in uncertainty, even 365 00:35:02.650 --> 00:35:07.840 in a world where God rules over all things to day by his power and 366 00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:15.440 might, we still live in a world of tensions, and I don't mean 367 00:35:15.480 --> 00:35:21.039 distresses or difficulties. We still live in a world will we face this fundamental 368 00:35:21.159 --> 00:35:27.949 problem which Psalm Eighty nine highlights, that image bearers of God return to the 369 00:35:28.070 --> 00:35:36.619 dust and to the grave. Isn't this tension even more real for believers? 370 00:35:37.659 --> 00:35:42.219 Don't we believe that Christ has conquered sin, that he has conquered death itself? 371 00:35:45.260 --> 00:35:49.820 When we look around, what do we see? A world filled with 372 00:35:49.980 --> 00:35:55.289 sin, a world filled with death. When we look inside ourselves, what 373 00:35:55.369 --> 00:36:01.289 do we see? People who are still filled with sin and who still die. 374 00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:08.639 This is the tension of psalm eighty nine. This is the real tension 375 00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:15.400 we face in this life, and what this psalm taches us is that lamenting 376 00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:20.949 is not a sin. Sometimes we can get pious and think that it's questioning 377 00:36:21.110 --> 00:36:25.789 God and to ask God why, or that asking how long is improper. 378 00:36:29.349 --> 00:36:34.820 But we see here that this is an absolutely proper response to uncertainty. God's 379 00:36:34.820 --> 00:36:39.940 Word itself guides our response in this very way. Rebellion is when we use 380 00:36:40.019 --> 00:36:45.380 such uncertainties to turn away from the Lord rather than to turn to him and 381 00:36:45.059 --> 00:36:52.849 trust in him, even while struggling with matters of God's faithfulness. Where does 382 00:36:52.969 --> 00:37:00.639 this psalmist go? Who is he addressing? He's addressing the Lord. He's 383 00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:08.960 addressing the Lord in confusion as well as in hope. So truly, we 384 00:37:09.199 --> 00:37:15.829 too can lament. Truly we can mourn sin and mourn death and mourn the 385 00:37:15.909 --> 00:37:22.150 tensions that we feel and experience between the Lord, our head, who is 386 00:37:22.230 --> 00:37:25.349 in heaven, glorious and reigning, and the struggles and sins and death we 387 00:37:25.510 --> 00:37:30.300 face in this life. But knowing that when we do lament, when we 388 00:37:30.380 --> 00:37:37.380 do cry out, we cry out to the Lord, we cry out in 389 00:37:37.539 --> 00:37:45.369 hope, we can trust that God here's even these prayers, for we are 390 00:37:45.409 --> 00:37:51.090 shown in Christ how God will restore all things. We may not understand the 391 00:37:51.250 --> 00:37:55.369 the particulars of this life, we can't always make sense of the uncertainties and 392 00:37:55.409 --> 00:38:01.519 the struggles, but we do see is Christ. In Him we find one 393 00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:07.719 who has conquered sin and death, and, as we are found in him, 394 00:38:08.519 --> 00:38:13.590 we come with the assurance that this life is not the end and that 395 00:38:13.710 --> 00:38:20.869 he will return. So, even in this season which celebrates the birth of 396 00:38:21.110 --> 00:38:27.780 Christ, we may still cry out, how long, O Lord, how 397 00:38:27.900 --> 00:38:32.099 long till you come back? How long till you restore all things? For 398 00:38:32.219 --> 00:38:37.820 this is ultimately the cry of faith. This is ultimately the cry of a 399 00:38:37.900 --> 00:38:44.530 people who are confident in God to both here that prayer and who will respond. 400 00:38:45.130 --> 00:38:47.769 Amen, let's pray.