Thy Cry of Faith (Psalm 3)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.759 Psalm three. Listen, for this is the word of the Lord, a 2 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.949 Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. Oh Lord, 3 00:00:09.550 --> 00:00:14.710 how many are my foes? Many are rising against me, many are saying 4 00:00:15.070 --> 00:00:19.550 of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, 5 00:00:19.750 --> 00:00:23.420 oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter 6 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:26.660 of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from 7 00:00:26.660 --> 00:00:30.780 his Holy Hill. I lay down and slept. I woke again, for 8 00:00:30.859 --> 00:00:35.619 the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people 9 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:41.530 who have set themselves against me all around arise. Oh Lord, save me, 10 00:00:41.810 --> 00:00:45.369 Oh my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. 11 00:00:45.570 --> 00:00:50.000 You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your 12 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:58.119 blessing be on your people. Amen, may be seated. I don't really 13 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:03.679 know how to say this. I'm a little embarrassed. I get to preach 14 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.189 in lots of different churches throughout Arizona, and for that I'm very grateful. 15 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:12.870 I know what it's like to be alone without pulpit supply, and to be 16 00:01:12.909 --> 00:01:19.659 able to fill this important job is is a great blessing to me and I 17 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:26.420 guess in my confusion, in my own forgetfulness, I had no idea that 18 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:30.659 when I picked psalm three, it was the last sermon that I preached in 19 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:34.290 this church. It was four months ago. If you don't remember, that's 20 00:01:34.290 --> 00:01:38.650 okay. It's going to be very, so much better for you if you 21 00:01:38.689 --> 00:01:44.810 don't remember. Had I known that I had preached that Psalm already, I 22 00:01:44.930 --> 00:01:51.680 would not have picked this. And yet I'm so glad for my my forgetfulness. 23 00:01:51.719 --> 00:02:01.709 This week is the heavy week to be faced with such shocking news as 24 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:06.950 we got this week, that a member of the OPC was responsible for such 25 00:02:07.030 --> 00:02:14.990 hatred and such violence. It's in that light that that I bring the same 26 00:02:15.030 --> 00:02:20.419 words to you that I brought four months ago, and yet I pray that 27 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:27.259 they are still fresh and new. And God's Word is ever a comfort to 28 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:34.330 us. We are living in a time when words are, in fact, 29 00:02:34.330 --> 00:02:38.370 very powerful. We have great abilities to reach the world with the words that 30 00:02:38.490 --> 00:02:44.009 we type and say. With the Internet and the connections that we share with 31 00:02:44.169 --> 00:02:49.719 one another, words can be spread with so much efficiency. It's like we're 32 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.680 living in the new age of the printing press. I get to teach history, 33 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:55.759 I teach I taught on the printing press this last week and the way 34 00:02:55.759 --> 00:03:01.590 it changed the world was was shocking and to tell my students that were kind 35 00:03:01.629 --> 00:03:06.789 of going through the same thing right now that you're living through experiences that humans 36 00:03:07.150 --> 00:03:09.389 have never had to live through before, in the way that words can spread 37 00:03:10.509 --> 00:03:16.699 so quickly and have such an effect. And yet what's happened with this type 38 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:23.219 of technology? Have our words gotten suddenly better? Have our words suddenly gotten 39 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:29.610 more encouraging or more uplifting? No, they've gotten worse. Through the veil 40 00:03:29.650 --> 00:03:35.169 of anonymity, words can be said without thoughts to the consequences of these things. 41 00:03:36.770 --> 00:03:43.439 Derogatory insults and put downs can be posted without fear and, as we 42 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:46.400 see from Psalms, psalm three, the more things change, the more they 43 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:53.240 stay the same. Long before cell phones, long before the printing press, 44 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:59.509 King David was mocked. He himself was undergoing great derision, he was being 45 00:03:59.550 --> 00:04:03.229 humiliated and through the words of King David, we see that he's experiencing something 46 00:04:03.349 --> 00:04:08.509 that that few of us have hopefully, ever had to really face or had 47 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:14.500 to deal with. He's dealing with enemies, not just rivals, not just 48 00:04:14.620 --> 00:04:19.300 opponents, but but people who are pursuing his life. The insults he endures 49 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:27.449 come not from unknown personalities but from flesh end bone enemies. And it even 50 00:04:27.490 --> 00:04:32.050 though his life is in jeopardy, it's not the sight of his numerous enemies 51 00:04:32.569 --> 00:04:38.370 that brings him the most distress. I mean, David has been in battles 52 00:04:38.449 --> 00:04:43.279 before. He's been in battles and he's won many victories. This is the 53 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:47.279 same David, after all, who struck down Goliath. But what really concerns 54 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:50.879 King David is not the enemies that he's facing, it is their words. 55 00:04:53.790 --> 00:04:57.189 Of all the things that his enemies were surely shouting at him and could have 56 00:04:57.269 --> 00:05:02.589 said, which one does David himself highlight? Which one stands out as being 57 00:05:02.709 --> 00:05:10.899 especially heinous? Did you notice what insult creates the greatest sting for David? 58 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:15.259 He says, oh Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising 59 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:20.180 up against me, many are saying of my soul. There's no salvation for 60 00:05:20.180 --> 00:05:27.370 him in God. It's not the soldiers, then, that are troubling him, 61 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:34.209 it's their taunt. There is no salvation for him in God. And 62 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:38.680 so, of all the things for David to be troubled by, why is 63 00:05:38.759 --> 00:05:42.160 he troubled by this accusation. I mean. This is the David who, 64 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:46.920 like I said, he's slay Goliath by the power of the Lord. At 65 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:50.990 this point in his life, David has already been annointed to be by God, 66 00:05:51.069 --> 00:05:55.750 to be the king. He's seen the Lord work in his life in 67 00:05:55.949 --> 00:06:00.430 removing salt so that David could be crowned. And what's more, at this 68 00:06:00.589 --> 00:06:06.420 point he's already received God's promise that God would build him a house. He's 69 00:06:06.459 --> 00:06:14.100 been told that he will be the father to an everlasting kingdom. And so 70 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:17.019 David has been blessed by God, blessed with a kingdom and blessed with the 71 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:24.209 promise of an eternal kingdom. Why would he, beat of all people, 72 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:30.810 be troubled by the accusation there's no salvation for him in God? Shouldn't he, 73 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:35.240 of all people, know that these words are just not true? And 74 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:41.160 yet with this psalm, we're not only told who wrote it, King David, 75 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:45.519 were also told when he wrote it. Verse One begins a Psalm of 76 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:50.910 David when he fled from Absalom. His son David, wrote this psalm then, 77 00:06:50.910 --> 00:06:56.189 during a dark period in his life. The David we find here in 78 00:06:56.230 --> 00:07:00.819 Psalm three is the David after his incident with Bathsheba. This is the David 79 00:07:00.860 --> 00:07:08.100 who stands guilty of adultery, guilty of the murder of Uriah. In fact, 80 00:07:08.100 --> 00:07:11.899 the reason David's son is seeking David's throne is because of his own sins 81 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:16.569 and his failure to execute justice. When Absalom Sister Tamar was violated by Amnun, 82 00:07:16.810 --> 00:07:23.649 David did nothing. So Absalom marched against his father in Jerusalem, forcing 83 00:07:23.689 --> 00:07:29.370 David to flee the city. David was driven from his throne, subjected to 84 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:34.480 great humiliation, and not by a foreign pagan ruler, but by his own 85 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:43.439 son. Absalom's rebellion must have crushed David, and it was while David was 86 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:46.910 fleeing the armies of Absalom, broken by the spiteful betrayal of his own child, 87 00:07:47.790 --> 00:07:54.230 that he sat down and wrote the words of Psalm Three. This is 88 00:07:54.269 --> 00:08:00.819 important. It wasn't while he sat on a throne with servants at his Beck 89 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:05.500 and call. It wasn't while lying in a comfortable bed with a soft pillow, 90 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:09.139 knowing that all was well with his family and among his people. This 91 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:13.170 psalm comes to us in the midst of David's most desperate and devastating hour. 92 00:08:16.689 --> 00:08:20.490 There was David, defenseless, covered with shame, with his head downcast, 93 00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:26.610 lamenting his many enemies, lamenting their terrible taunts that there's no salvation for him 94 00:08:26.610 --> 00:08:31.040 in God. And you see, what's so devastating about that taunt for David 95 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.519 is the thought that it might be true. I mean, if you just 96 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:41.750 compare psalm three to the psalm that comes right before it, the famous psalm 97 00:08:41.029 --> 00:08:48.830 too. Their placed right next to each other for a reason. PSALMTO likewise 98 00:08:48.950 --> 00:08:54.710 begins with enemies surrounding the Lord's anointed, just like in Psalm three. In 99 00:08:54.830 --> 00:08:56.580 Psalm two, verse two, the Kings of the Earth set themselves and the 100 00:08:56.620 --> 00:09:01.659 rulers take counsel together against the Lord, against his anointed, saying let us 101 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:07.500 burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. But in Psalmto, 102 00:09:07.620 --> 00:09:13.049 victory was granted through the Lord's anointed. The Lord Brings Victory and justice 103 00:09:13.330 --> 00:09:20.330 to the nations through the Faithful Sun. Now, therefore, O kings, 104 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:22.289 be wise, be warned. o rulers of the Earth, serve the Lord 105 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:26.840 with fear and rejoice with trembling. Psalm two, verse twelve says kiss the 106 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:30.799 Son lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his 107 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:35.679 wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are those who take refuge in him. And 108 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:45.190 yet here in Psalm three, immediately on the heels of that promise, it's 109 00:09:45.230 --> 00:09:52.389 not pagan rulers who surround the king, it's not the nations who plot together, 110 00:09:54.100 --> 00:09:58.100 it's members of David's own family, and not just any members of his 111 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:07.250 family, it's his own son. Remember the Lord's Covenant With David. The 112 00:10:07.330 --> 00:10:13.889 David would have a son who would sit on his throne forever. Absalom's rebellion 113 00:10:13.970 --> 00:10:20.370 is the for this thing from a fulfillment of that promise. David's flight from 114 00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:26.720 Jerusalem is in shame it it looks like a disgraced king, not like the 115 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:31.559 Lord's anointed ruler. The taunt that there's no salvation for him and God it 116 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:37.350 stings because it looks like, during these circumstances, it could be true. 117 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:41.190 These are not empty insults. There's a sense in which it rings true in 118 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:48.509 what David himself is is experiencing. And you look at how abruptly David Responds 119 00:10:50.299 --> 00:10:58.860 to these accusations. In verse three we have an abrupt transition. And notice 120 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:03.690 what's not here in the midst of insults, instead of excuses, instead of 121 00:11:05.529 --> 00:11:09.730 desire to argue against him and against these men. Rather, he addresses the 122 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:15.370 Lord in Verse Three. But you, oh Lord, are a shield about 123 00:11:15.450 --> 00:11:18.159 me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to 124 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:24.039 the Lord and he answered me from his Holy Hill. David knew how bad 125 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:28.720 things had gotten. Nobody had to remind him how much he himself deserved what 126 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:35.269 he was getting. And Still David forcefully proclaims, but you, Oh Lord, 127 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:39.669 are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. 128 00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:46.179 Don't you see? It's only when he's been stripped of everything that he 129 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:54.419 can make such a statement like this. Without the safety of city walls or 130 00:11:54.539 --> 00:12:01.610 palace gates, without the large armies of soldiers to protect him, without these 131 00:12:01.649 --> 00:12:07.970 things, David is able to see where his protection truly is found. That 132 00:12:09.129 --> 00:12:15.009 God himself is David's shield. And I love this imagery a shield about me, 133 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:18.639 because, even though it uses the imagery of a shield, that's not 134 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:24.480 exactly how shields worked in the ancient world. A shield could protect you from 135 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:28.279 one direction, it couldn't protect you from all directions. That's that's impractical. 136 00:12:30.110 --> 00:12:35.110 David is talking about this supernatural presence, the Supernatural Shield, the protection of 137 00:12:35.190 --> 00:12:39.789 the Lord who stands on all sides of him, the perfect safety that belongs 138 00:12:39.870 --> 00:12:45.700 to him, as he's encircled not by iron but by the very Lord of 139 00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:52.100 Heaven and earth. And yet how can David say this? He calls the 140 00:12:52.179 --> 00:12:58.220 Lord his shield. And yet how can he call the Lord His Shield? 141 00:13:00.610 --> 00:13:07.169 What has the Lord protected him from? Has he been shielded from shame, 142 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:18.279 from humiliation? Has he been shielded from the unnatural tragedy of his son becoming 143 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:26.879 his enemy? has been shielded from the consequences to his own sin and failures? 144 00:13:28.029 --> 00:13:31.750 No, the Lord has shielded him from none of these things. So 145 00:13:31.909 --> 00:13:35.750 why would David Call The Lord His Shield? What does the Lord protected him 146 00:13:35.789 --> 00:13:43.500 from about? The only thing you could say is his own death, because 147 00:13:43.500 --> 00:13:50.460 David has lost everything except for his own life. And this language of a 148 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:56.090 shield that it implies danger, it implies that you're in a battlefield, it 149 00:13:56.330 --> 00:14:00.370 implies that there's warfare going on. When David Calls God his shield, he's 150 00:14:00.370 --> 00:14:07.490 not describing a situation in the absence of tragedy, of opposition, he's not 151 00:14:07.610 --> 00:14:13.080 describing the absence of of great trials, the very imagery declares that he's in 152 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:16.919 the midst of great trials, for the Lord to be a shield and a 153 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:22.159 protector. But you see, David is confessing that even here, even in 154 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:26.389 the depths, even where his life is hanging on by a thread, even 155 00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:31.149 here, where it seems as though all is lost, things are not as 156 00:14:31.149 --> 00:14:39.740 they appear. He's not fragile, he's not broken, because he's not alone. 157 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:45.899 The Lord is his shield and more than that, David says, the 158 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:54.850 Lord is his glory. It's only when actual royal pomp and ceremony and when 159 00:14:54.889 --> 00:14:58.409 all that stuff can is wiped away, all the riches that David owned, 160 00:14:58.409 --> 00:15:03.129 all the earthly glory that he possessed, only when those things are gone can 161 00:15:03.169 --> 00:15:11.320 he truly say where his true glory is found. All those things are gone, 162 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:16.879 but his true glory has gone nowhere, because the Lord is his glory. 163 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:20.240 You, oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and 164 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:28.549 the lifter of my head. So where does this confidence come from? Why 165 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:31.549 is Davil David able to say these things in the midst of such sorrow and 166 00:15:31.990 --> 00:15:39.860 tragedy? The circumstances of Psalm three are almost a hundred eighty degrees different from 167 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:45.259 psalm to in Psalm two, of the Lord's anointed head victory. Here David 168 00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:48.779 is fleeing from his enemies. Where Psalm to look back upon the divided covenant 169 00:15:48.820 --> 00:15:52.330 where God promised a son to David who would sit on the throne forever? 170 00:15:54.129 --> 00:15:58.450 David now has a son who's seeking not only David's throne but also his life. 171 00:16:00.250 --> 00:16:07.120 The accusations which began psalm three attack that very promise. And yet David 172 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:11.240 spawns with confidence in the Lord. You, oh Lord, are a shield 173 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.320 about me, my glory, the lifter of my head. I cried aloud 174 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:18.559 to the Lord and he answered me from his Holy Hill. I lay down 175 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:21.789 and slept. I woke again, for the Lord Sustains me. I will 176 00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:25.509 not be afraid of my of many thousands of people who set themselves against me 177 00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:33.220 all around. Explains such such confidence and such fearlessness. Well, I love 178 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:38.379 how David's words here Echo and even more ancient covenant, Looking back beyond the 179 00:16:38.659 --> 00:16:47.330 dividic promise. David's referring back to that promise made to Abraham back in Genesis 180 00:16:47.450 --> 00:16:52.649 fifteen and the famous passage where God establishes his unconditional covenant with Abraham. We 181 00:16:52.769 --> 00:16:56.129 find these words in Genesis Fifteen, verse one. The word of the Lord 182 00:16:56.210 --> 00:17:00.850 came to Abram in a vision. Fear not, Abram, I am your 183 00:17:00.970 --> 00:17:07.160 shield. Your reward shall be very great. The Lord tells Abram. Do 184 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:11.559 not be afraid, I am your shield. David is echoing that very promise 185 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:15.910 when he says you, oh Lord, are a shield about me. He's 186 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:21.430 echoing this promise when he declares that he will not be afraid, because remember 187 00:17:21.430 --> 00:17:25.829 what else the Lord told Abraham in Genesis fifteen five. Look toward the heaven, 188 00:17:26.269 --> 00:17:29.710 number the stars. If you're able to number them, and he said 189 00:17:29.750 --> 00:17:33.539 to him, so shall your offspring be. Do you hear David echoing this 190 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:41.500 very same promise when he calls God the lifter of my head? Not only 191 00:17:41.619 --> 00:17:47.450 is David's posture likely gone from from one of dejection to confidence, from looking 192 00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:52.569 down to looking up, but the emphasis is on David's faith, which is 193 00:17:52.690 --> 00:17:56.650 being called to look up, to look up to the stars. And when 194 00:17:56.690 --> 00:18:00.319 he looks up at those stars he's looking directly at the promises of God, 195 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:04.000 the very promise he made to Abra Him. So that at the end of 196 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:11.400 Psalm three, the multitudes return, the wicked rabble once again surrounds the Lord's 197 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:15.829 anointed and once again likes him to despite how things appear from the outside, 198 00:18:15.829 --> 00:18:23.470 despite the accusations and the antagonism, salvation still belongs to the Lord. Arise, 199 00:18:23.509 --> 00:18:26.910 Oh Lord, save me, Oh my God, for you strike all 200 00:18:26.950 --> 00:18:30.660 my enemies on the cheek, you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation 201 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:37.220 belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people. So the ultimately, 202 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:41.490 this is a psalm about salvation, and David is answering the question. 203 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:47.410 Where is salvation to be found? The taunt that says there's no salvation in 204 00:18:47.529 --> 00:18:52.569 the Lord is the Taunt of utter blasphemy. It's the taunt of pure evil. 205 00:18:52.970 --> 00:18:56.240 It's Satanic, for it's the Taunt of Satan himself. To believe that 206 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:00.440 accusation is to agree with the enemy. To believe that is to stand with 207 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:06.599 the enemy in opposition to the Lord Lord. And this taunt is also answered 208 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:12.549 by the response of faith. It's the response of faith which says, with 209 00:19:12.670 --> 00:19:18.990 Verse Eight, salvation belongs to the Lord, because this is what faith looks 210 00:19:19.029 --> 00:19:26.259 like. Just as David himself looks away from himself, we two are called 211 00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:30.819 to look away from ourselves, just as David looks away from himself. We 212 00:19:32.019 --> 00:19:37.299 two are to look away from even David. What's evident from this psalm is 213 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:41.849 that David, the anointed servant of the Lord, is not the anointed servant 214 00:19:41.930 --> 00:19:45.849 of the Lord. This king of Israel is not the King of Israel. 215 00:19:48.049 --> 00:19:51.369 Remember, in Psalm too, where salvation is to be found, it's in 216 00:19:51.410 --> 00:19:55.599 the Lord's anointed. And Psalm two ends with the blessing. Blessed are those 217 00:19:55.640 --> 00:20:00.279 who take refuge in him, in the Sun, in the anointed, and 218 00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:07.000 so the triumph of Psalm too is immediately meant with the elements of psalm three. 219 00:20:07.390 --> 00:20:11.829 David, the Lord's chosen anointed, does not provide this refuge. Rather, 220 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:15.230 he himself is in need of refuge, and David trusts not in himself 221 00:20:17.029 --> 00:20:22.180 but in the Lord. The Lord is the one who promises deliverance. The 222 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:27.539 Lord is the one who secures salvation. For this reason, it has to 223 00:20:27.619 --> 00:20:34.619 be the Lord himself who is truly the Lord's anointed. How does David know 224 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:38.890 that salvation belongs to the Lord, even for a murderous king like himself? 225 00:20:41.609 --> 00:20:48.450 Don't you hear in David's words the very necessity of the cross? How does 226 00:20:48.490 --> 00:20:55.240 David know his own sin will not separate him from God. God's promise of 227 00:20:55.440 --> 00:21:00.319 Grace to Abraham and grace to David and to the rest is only possible because 228 00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:07.269 of the certainty of what God himself would do on the cross. Only on 229 00:21:07.390 --> 00:21:12.869 the basis of Christ's perfect atonement and righteousness could God promise such blessings of peace 230 00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:18.859 and life to his people. Jesus came to take upon himself the guilt and 231 00:21:19.339 --> 00:21:23.539 shame of our sin. Many rose up against him, and yet he did 232 00:21:23.619 --> 00:21:30.220 not retaliate. The very people who saw Jesus Perform Miracles mocked him and scoffed 233 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:37.690 at him. His own creation spat on him. His disciples abandoned and betrayed 234 00:21:37.769 --> 00:21:42.650 him. Though he was perfectly righteous, though he was almighty, he left 235 00:21:42.690 --> 00:21:49.200 himself without a defense and silently he suffered for the sake of his people. 236 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.559 And finally, upon the Cross, he exposed himself to the eternal wrath of 237 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:02.829 God. His hands were pierced with the guilt of his people, his head 238 00:22:02.869 --> 00:22:07.390 was covered with a thorny crown of shame. And therefore, by doing that, 239 00:22:07.470 --> 00:22:10.950 Jesus bore away the guilt of his people. And by enduring this, 240 00:22:11.069 --> 00:22:15.500 Jesus removes shame from his people. For you see, without Christ, such 241 00:22:15.859 --> 00:22:22.099 trayers for deliverance would amount to just wishful thinking. In Ye, because of 242 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:27.660 the work of Christ. Do you see how Jesus is your perfect shield, 243 00:22:30.170 --> 00:22:33.769 who protects you not from the trials and the torments and the losses of this 244 00:22:34.009 --> 00:22:41.450 life, but protecting you from eternal death, protecting you from the accusations of 245 00:22:41.529 --> 00:22:48.519 Satan, so that Jesus is your glory where the glory of this world would 246 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:56.039 fade and perish. The Glory of Christ is heavenly and eternal, and that, 247 00:22:56.200 --> 00:23:02.230 through the resurrection, Jesus is the lifter of your head. For we 248 00:23:02.309 --> 00:23:06.390 are called to look up, to look up from our own guilt and shame, 249 00:23:07.509 --> 00:23:11.390 to look up from our own sorrow and loss, to gaze with eyes 250 00:23:11.470 --> 00:23:18.019 of faith upon where Jesus is now ceded in glory. Its colossians three says, 251 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:19.940 if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above 252 00:23:21.019 --> 00:23:25.220 where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on 253 00:23:25.339 --> 00:23:27.089 things that are above that, on things that are on earth, for you 254 00:23:27.289 --> 00:23:34.210 have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God, so that, 255 00:23:34.250 --> 00:23:37.450 when Christ is your shield, what can disturb you or bring you fear. 256 00:23:38.410 --> 00:23:42.240 And when Christ is your glory, what can take that glory away from you? 257 00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:48.839 And when Christ is the lifter of your head, what can take your 258 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:53.519 eyes away from him? Truly, this psalm is a psalm for the people 259 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:57.630 of God. It's a psalm for those who find their hope and their life 260 00:23:59.069 --> 00:24:07.630 in Christ, and these heavenly words give expression to the confusion and frustrations of 261 00:24:07.750 --> 00:24:12.019 our own struggles. This is a psalm for you, when your own doubts, 262 00:24:12.180 --> 00:24:15.299 when your own trials, call into question the salvation of God, the 263 00:24:15.380 --> 00:24:21.539 goodness of God, the loving kindness of your Lord. For here we're shown 264 00:24:21.579 --> 00:24:25.369 the accusations of the enemy and reminded of that ancient accuser who would try to 265 00:24:25.410 --> 00:24:32.130 dissuade your confidence and your trust. And yet these words lead us away from 266 00:24:32.170 --> 00:24:37.849 such accusations, these words lead us away from from our own guilt and shame, 267 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:42.759 because in this psalm we are led to Christ and in Him we can 268 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:49.480 declare with David, salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your 269 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:53.230 people. Amen. Let's pray