4 addresses on 3 Psalms
ID
eb018
Sprache
EN
Gesamtlänge
03:02:24
Anzahl
4
Bibelstellen
Psalms 1, 22, 40, 84
Beschreibung
1. Psalm 222. Psalm 1
3. Psalm 84
4. Psalm 40
Automatisches Transkript:
…
Psalm 22
Und in der Nachtsaison, und ich bin nicht leise,
aber Du bist heilig, O Du, der uns die Gläubigen Israels besitzt.
Unsere Väter haben an Dich vertraut.
Sie haben vertraut, und Du hast ihnen geliefert.
Sie haben an Dich gekriegt, und wurden geliefert.
Sie haben an Dich vertraut, und wurden nicht verwechselt.
Aber ich bin ein Wurm, und kein Mann.
Ich habe Angst vor den Männern und den Menschen.
Alle, die mich sehen, lachen mich aus.
Sie schießen die Lippen aus.
Sie schütteln den Kopf, und sagen,
dass er auf den Herrn vertraut, dass er ihm geliefert wird.
Lass ihn ihm geliefert werden,
sehend, dass er in ihm glücklich ist.
Aber Du bist er, der mich aus dem Wurm genommen hat.
Du hast mir Hoffnung gegeben,
als ich auf meiner Mutter's Brust lag.
Ich wurde auf Dich aus dem Wurm gesetzt.
Du bist mein Gott, aus meinem Müttergehirn.
Sei nicht weit von mir, denn die Schmerze ist nahe,
denn es gibt niemanden, der mir helfen kann.
Viele Hunde sind vor mir gekommen,
starke Hunde von Bächen haben mich umgedreht.
Sie haben mich mit ihren Mäuern
als einen schreckenden und schreckenden Löwen aufgemacht.
Ich bin ausgepumpt, wie Wasser,
und alle meine Knochen sind ausgepumpt.
Mein Herz ist wie Wachs.
Es ist in den Mitteln meiner Knochen gemolken.
Meine Stärke ist wie ein Potschd ausgerüht,
und meine Zunge schlägt an meine Zähne.
Und Du hast mich in die Schmutz der Todes.
Denn Hunde sind vor mir gekommen,
die Versammlung der Wütenden hat mich umgedreht.
Sie haben meine Hände und meine Füße zerstört.
Ich kann all meine Knochen sagen,
sie schauen und blicken auf mich.
Sie teilen meine Klamotten zwischen sich,
und stellen Lächeln auf meine Rüstung.
Aber bleib nicht weit von mir, Herr.
Oh, meine Stärke,
helfe mich.
Verliere meine Seele vom Schwert,
mein Liebling, von der Macht der Hunde.
Save me from the lion's mouth.
When emergencies occur,
they often happen so quickly
that those immediately involved
are so busy reacting in the emergency
that there's very little time for reflection
while things are coming to a head.
And it's only afterwards
that there's time to consider
some of the deeper implications
of what has happened or what has been said.
And it's very rare
that there's the opportunity to consider
before the event,
during the event,
and after the event
the significance of something
that's very important.
In the mercy of God,
there has been preserved to us
scriptures which tell us very plainly
before the event,
during the event,
and after the event
of what was involved
when Jesus died at Calvary.
The Psalms in particular,
written about a thousand years
before the event,
tell us what it felt like
to the Lord Jesus.
Not only at that dark, stark moment
when he suffered for sins,
but in the events leading up
to his death at Calvary,
what it meant to him,
the perfect, sinless Son of God.
We often give thanks, don't we,
that we are glad
that we don't know what's just around the corner.
We often feel we couldn't really face up to things.
It's bad enough being involved in them at the time.
But if we were given advice in advance
of what was going to happen,
we would never be able to face up to them.
In his omniscience,
the Lord Jesus knew full well
not only what would occur,
but why it would occur,
and all the issues involved.
Now we'll be looking at some verses along that line.
It's well to note in passing
that the Gospels record the events as they occurred
and the comments of those who looked on.
In the New Testament epistles,
we are taught the deep significance
and the results of the death of Christ upon the cross,
the implications for him,
the results for him,
the implications for us,
the results for us.
And we can reflect 2,000 years later
upon all these things.
But we are looking tonight
at these verses
which describe to perfection,
again, let us say,
1,000 years in advance of the event,
words prophetically put onto the lips
of the Lord Jesus Christ,
what it would mean to him
to die at Calvary.
Now, we'll be looking
at one or two of the implications there.
But what we would like to do
is to go down these 20 verses
and the first half of verse 21
in the spirit in which the Holy Spirit
has included them in the canon of Scripture.
Now, there are two questions,
twice over we need to ask ourselves the question why.
One relative to verse 1
where the word comes in,
why, why hast thou forsaken me?
And there's another question arises
in the middle of verse 21.
And we would like to meditate just a little
on what the answer to those two questions are.
Certainly, we are obliged again
to the Holy Spirit for including
through the vessel Peter,
the lovely words,
the sufferings of the Christ
and the glory that shall follow.
And the first 20 and a half verses
are certainly on this line,
the sufferings of the Christ.
This is the evening of the seventh day of the week.
If the Lord doesn't come for us
tomorrow morning
will be the first day of the week.
The normal response of the committed Christian
is to remember him,
to remember their Lord and Savior
in the breaking of bread.
As we read these verses,
we may well need to consider again,
each of us as individuals,
am I a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do I really believe that Christ died for my sins
according to the scriptures,
that he was buried
and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures?
If I really believe that
and if there is no moral reason
which would prevent it,
my normal response should be to gather
with the Lord's people
on the first day of the week
and remember him in the breaking of bread.
And when we do so,
the way that we think,
what we say,
the way that we act
will be governed very much
by the way we have spent the previous week.
And in particular,
how we spend the Saturday evening.
There could be no better way
of spending the evening
on the seventh day of any week,
preparatory to the morning
of the first day of the week,
than in meditating on the sufferings
of our Lord Jesus Christ
in its many aspects.
Now, we hope to consider
one of these aspects this evening.
We cannot dwell too long
on the inspired heading,
but we can come to this, can't we,
the hind of the morning,
that which can be seen
in all its splendor
when the night is passing
and the morning about to break,
or that which we consider
on the positive side,
the blessing that arises
for those who have trusted Christ as Saviour,
has only accrued
because the dark night
of the suffering of Christ
has been endured.
My God,
my God, why,
why hast thou forsaken me?
Worth noting
that in that perfect life on earth
of the Lord Jesus,
in the communion that he ever enjoyed,
the way in which
he addressed his prayers
in the perfection of his manhood,
in the closeness of that communion,
was ever when stated to his Father
as such,
Father,
Holy Father,
Righteous Father,
my Father,
O Father,
when we come to the cross,
when he was carrying out
that which he had been bidden to do
for the first time,
as an indication
of his position
before his God in holy manhood,
he cries,
my God,
my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?
Now, I would just like to go down these verses,
not a verse at a time,
but a section at a time,
to consider this,
even a cursory reading of these opening verses,
can it escape the fact,
and we sang the hymn,
which is a meditation upon it,
the fact that he was absolutely alone,
alone in his life,
in the perfection of his humility and dependence,
alone, unique,
in the quality of his communion with his God,
while here upon earth,
unique in that display of practical righteousness
on every occasion,
and as we read the Old Testament books,
and as we consider
that one of the blessings promised to man
who was faithful to God and dependent upon God,
was that in time of need,
crying out to God
brought consolation,
respite,
relief,
salvation.
The psalmist,
in his deep extremity,
peeling into insignificance
compared with that which it ultimately foretold,
Christ upon the cross,
but the psalmist envisages a situation,
looking back at the history of the fathers of the nation,
disobedient,
failing,
weak,
unreliable,
and yet,
when they turned in a measure of contrition,
a measure of dependence,
and cried upon their God,
they were heard.
What must it have been like to the Lord Jesus,
knowing that,
that the history of that nation,
littered with examples of unfaithfulness,
and yet when they turned to their God,
knowing that they would be heard,
the Lord Jesus,
in his omniscience,
knowing that when his ultimate cry for deliverance would come,
that there would be this about it,
that the only one who deserved to be heard,
for his faithfulness,
would have to cry,
why hast thou forsaken me?
The fathers had been heard in their day,
and now the one who exceeded and excelled
their faithfulness and their obedience in every respect,
was the only one who would not be heard,
when he cried.
The question arises, why?
Well, we'll come to that.
The next section
tells us
that knowing
that he wasn't being heard,
even though he deserved, as far as he himself was concerned,
he deserved to be heard,
that he remained submissive.
In our own little way.
We know, don't we,
that if, where you work,
where you study,
where you live,
the more righteous you are,
the worse treatment you get,
and the harder it is
to submit to that before God
and to accept that this is the way that God would have it.
If in any little way we've known that in our own experience,
how much in the ultimate,
the Lord Jesus,
crying upon his God,
in whom he had trusted
all his days upon earth,
surrounded by the mockers,
turning to the only one
in whom relief might be found,
to be found alone,
forsaken,
abandoned,
alone,
submissive,
surrounded by mockers,
and even worse,
surrounded by enemies.
If we look at verse 12,
we'll see the graphic way
in which these enemies begin to be spoken of.
There are the bulls.
There is the lion.
There are the dogs.
There is the assembly of the wicked.
There is the lion's mouth.
This figurative way
of summing up
all those that were against him,
surrounding him at the cross,
may be taken, may be understood,
in a variety of ways.
I suggest one.
I'll be delighted to hear your suggestion.
The first one,
many bulls have come past me,
strong bulls of Bashan
have beset me around.
Bulls,
powerful,
majestic.
About a year ago,
I was staying with a farmer
who breeds bulls.
He was called
to inspect one of the bulls.
There was some defect, apparently,
something that the farmhand
wasn't very happy about,
and the farmer was called to see it.
And he invited me to accompany him,
but when we got close, he said,
I think it would be wise
if you stay outside the stockade,
and I readily agreed with that.
He said, but watch what happens.
He says, note,
he said, when I get inside,
he said, there's that powerful beast
in front of me,
and he says, the only way to approach it
is to engage it by the eye,
to look it full in the eye.
And he says, you'll notice
that it will return its baleful glare
or gaze at me eye for eye,
and he said, I will approach it steadily,
without rushing,
without any sudden movement.
When I touch it,
my touch will be gentle but firm,
and he said, I will speak to it,
and I will continue to touch it,
I will continue to look at it in the eye,
and he said, when I finished my inspection,
he said, I will retreat backwards,
and he said, I will keep looking at it,
and he said, I will get over the fence
continuing to look at it,
being careful not to engage
in any sudden movement.
And he did.
Some time after that,
I was reading this verse,
and I thought,
if you're faced with one bull,
you can do all that,
you can look it straight in the eye,
but if you're compassed about with bulls,
if you're absolutely surrounded by them,
you can only look at one at a time.
What must it have been like
for the Lord Jesus?
Absolutely surrounded by enemies.
Not one at a time,
but all at the same time.
The rulers of the Jews,
the Gentile civil authorities,
the military brigades,
the common people,
the traitors,
those who are merely interested
in a spectacle.
I think perhaps,
summing them all up,
that these powerful bulls of Bashan
might give us some little idea
of the Lord Jesus,
who in this situation
speaks of himself as so lowly,
so humiliated,
I am a worm and no one.
He speaks of dogs.
We read very often
of the dogs of the Gentiles.
He speaks of the assembly of the wicked.
Perhaps one way of describing
the rulers of the Jews,
the high priests,
the scribes, the Pharisees,
the Sadducees,
which term we select
for which company is secondary.
The primary thing is to consider
that there, at the moment
when he was bereft of comfort,
bereft of support,
alone, forsaken,
there was time to reflect
that all these round about,
surrounding him,
waiting to devour him
if they possibly could.
Very often in the scriptures,
Satan is referred to as the lion
waiting to devour
all those who oppose him.
One of the couplets
always opposed Christ and Satan
and here at that very moment,
when in dependence upon God,
seeking to do his will,
was the climax of Satan's opposition to him.
Well, may well be that there is
just a slight colour in these terms
and these beasts that are used
of the enemies that surrounded him
as strong bulls of Bashan.
If there is any doubt
as to the event
which is referred to,
verses 14 to 17,
is a most graphic description
of death by crucifixion.
It is worthy of note, of course,
that prophetically
this was looking on to a time
when there was an empire in charge of events
which didn't come into existence and prominence
until about 600 years
after the psalm was written
and only under the Roman regime
was death by crucifixion
the way of execution.
And even then,
and this is more telling to us,
even then,
upon those criminals,
from the lowest social order,
and even then for the most despicable of crimes,
the detail is horrific.
But even more than the physical detail
is the consideration that comes into verse 15.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
my tongue cleareth to my jaws,
and thou, thou hast brought me
into the dust of death.
Now this brings us
to one of the most necessary
but one of the most difficult considerations
when we meditate upon the cross of Calvary.
Circumstantially,
we have a record here
of what men did to Christ at Calvary.
The taking of him,
the abusing of him physically,
the decision that this is what they would do to him,
the manner in which it was carried out.
Circumstantially,
it is a record of what men did to him.
And yet,
in that unique solitariness,
the Lord Jesus attributes
what is going on
to the hand of God.
It's what men did to him,
but thou,
say they, have brought me into the dust of death,
thou hast brought me
unto the dust of death.
Now, it's here
that we come to a very necessary meditation.
Broadly speaking,
we can distinguish
when we are thinking of the sufferings
of the Lord Jesus Christ
between what men did to him
and what God did to him.
And we need to keep clear in our minds
this major distinction.
What men did to him,
he endured for righteousness sake.
And God's answer to that
will be the application of justice
and ultimately the condemnation of the wicked
on the basis of the death of Christ.
When we consider what God did to him,
we are caused to dwell
upon the fact
that when Jesus died at Calvary,
he was suffering at the hands of God
on account of sin.
And as a result of that,
the result of that
will be the flow of the mercy of God
and blessing for men.
It's worth saying that again before we move on.
That which Christ endured
at the hands of men
will be met by the justice of God
and those who perpetrated it
will be brought into condemnation.
That which God did to Christ
on account of sin
results in the flow of the mercy of God
and will result in blessing for men.
Now this answers the first question why.
Verse 1.
Why hast thou forsaken me?
It was on account of sin.
Verse 3 gives a partial answer.
Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest
the praises of Israel.
God desires to dwell
amongst the praises of his people.
He desires a response from them to him.
Before they can respond to him
and be at home in his presence,
they need to have their sins dealt with
once and for all.
Every claim of God
as to sin
must be fully answered.
Propitiation is necessary.
And as a result of propitiation
being made by Christ
in dying for sin,
the mercy of God can freely flow
and blessing result for man.
Isn't this why?
While when we first trust the Saviour
we rejoice in the forgiveness of sins,
as the days go by,
we find increasing need to meditate
on what was involved really substantially
when Christ died upon the cross.
And we come to this.
We need to distinguish
between what men did to him
and what God did to him.
Now, the paradox is this.
The thing that is perhaps difficult
to understand is this.
It was at that very time
when man did his worst
at the cross of Calvary,
it was that very time
when God took the occasion
to deal with him on account of sin.
There was nothing
in that spotless, pure,
perfect life of Christ upon earth
in the days of his flesh
that could answer to God as to sin.
His death was necessary.
The death of Calvary.
Not the death circumstantially,
wicked hands taking him
and crucifying and slaying him,
but God taking the occasion then
that his soul might be made
an offering for sin.
Now, as we read the psalm,
we've got our answer to the first question why.
God cannot look upon sin.
God cannot tolerate sin.
He is absolutely holy because of this.
If praise is to flow to him,
if there are to be those
who are the redeemed of the Lord,
it must needs be
that there's this once and for all
sacrifice for sin
which Christ gave at Calvary.
But having posed the question,
we need to meditate now
as to which kind of suffering
pre-eminently the psalm takes us.
Is it suffering at the hands of men
or is it suffering at the hands of God?
Now, I made a point
of reading as far
as the opening of verse 21
and not the rest of the psalm.
But if we look at that,
we'll see that in verse 22
there is a company brought to light
who are termed the assembly,
the congregation,
at least a prefiguring
of the assembly,
the church of the living God,
nearest and dearest
to the heart of Christ.
Verses 23 to 26,
an account of the blessing
that shall be enjoyed
and the response that shall be given
in and through and from
the nation of Israel
in the world to come.
Verses 27 towards the end
when we see the blessing
in which some of the nations
of the Gentiles shall be brought
as a result of their attitude
and activities towards
the nation of Israel
in their moment of deepest distress.
But taking the three groups
without even going into the detail,
we can see
that the result
of the sufferings of the Christ
in this way
results in blessing,
results in companies
being brought to light
which shall enjoy the presence of God
and the privilege of responding
to God in praise
and therefore
in confirmation of the suggestion
that here we have a picture
of what it meant to the Lord Jesus
to suffer at the hands of God.
Thou hast brought me
into the dust of death.
Now the first question why
comes in verse 1.
Why hast thou forsaken
or abandoned me?
The scripture has given us
the answer because
at that moment he was suffering
on account of sin.
But when we come
to verse 21
perhaps we can read it
in the way the more literal
translations guide us.
Save me
from the lion's mouth.
Thou hast heard me
from the horns of the unicorns.
The cry for deliverance
comes to a climax.
And when it comes to a climax
unlike the beginning of the psalm
there is now an answer.
Thou hast heard me.
Why?
If the first cry could not be answered
why is the second cry answered?
The first cry could not be answered
immediately because God
was taking the occasion
to deal with our Lord Jesus Christ
on account of sin.
But for the same reason
the second cry,
the climactic cry
save me from the lion's mouth
is heard because the work
had been done.
Having been brought into death
to deal with sin
to deal with Satan
to take our place
to bring glory to God
to answer every claim of God
upon sin
the answer is now possible
because the depths have been plumbed.
The death has been endured.
Sin has been suffered for.
And so the death of Christ
is followed by the resurrection of Christ.
Latter day theologians
attack the death
and all on the significance of the death
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not without note
that they also attack
the personal resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Without it we couldn't repeat
such sublime truths
as he was delivered for our offenses
he was raised again for our justification.
Or from his point of view
God raised him from the dead
and gave him glory.
The personal resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ
is vital to Christianity.
And it is because the depths have been plumbed
and his soul had been made an offering for sin
that the work had been completed
fully and to perfection
that the answering cry can now come
thou hast heard me
from the horns of the unicorn.
I like the way the psalm ends.
It shall come
while a seed shall serve him
it shall be accounted to the Lord
for a generation.
They shall come
and shall declare his righteousness
unto a people that shall be born
that he hath done this.
It's another climax.
Whatever the company of the blessed
whichever company of those
that have part in the first resurrection
those of the nation of Israel
brought into blessing
those of the saved among the nations
their cry is in absolute unison
it's his work
he did it
it's his alone
what other focal point can there be
for the praise of any of the Lord's people
than to be able to say
he did it
alone
he bear the cross
alone
its grief sustained
alone
he shall bear the glory
because alone
he did the work
if the Lord spares us
till the morrow
I trust that
at least some of the things
that we have been meditating upon tonight
will condition our hearts and our minds
and our response
as we meet together
to remember him.
Let us sing together
Psalm number 378
Lord Jesus, our Redeemer
what pains, what sufferings saw
were borne by thee in patience
to save us evermore
thy hands, thy feet, both wounded
thy soul in offering made
thy precious blood outpouring
wherewith our peace was made
for us thou wast forsaken
for us made sin by God
we think upon thine anguish
thy pain beneath the rod
we thank thee for thy sorrows
thy suffering and thy woe
though little, O Lord Jesus
our hearts those depths can know. …
Automatisches Transkript:
…
In turn please to the book of Psalms, Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous,
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
It is with good reason that the book of Psalms
is frequently termed the heart of the Bible.
In it often we see the heart of man at full stretch.
In them, in the Psalms, we have revealed to us the heart of God.
This is plainly so because they detail for us the responses,
the feelings, of those who here upon earth
are experiencing difficulties, disappointment, disillusion.
And in their present distress, very often it is evident
that there is only God that they can turn to.
Very often it is for this reason that we are brought to an extremity of soul,
in order that the only true supply of strength and solace might be before us.
And it is because of this we so frequently turn to the Psalms
because they mirror or parallel our own experiences
and we see in them things which strike a chord
with the way we feel at any given moment.
And in particular, it is in the midst of often painful experiences here upon earth
that those who seek to be true to God and faithful to God in an adverse world
learn lessons, learn more about themselves and learn more about God.
And it is for this reason too that in the ultimate very often
we are let into the secret of what it felt like for the Lord Jesus
to be betrayed, forsaken, misunderstood, abused, misjudged, misrepresented
and it is as we browse through the Psalms that we can have revealed to us
the pure thoughts of Christ himself.
Now, in looking at the Psalms which give us, perhaps we could sum up what we have said
by saying they give us the fruit of experience in going through a variety of circumstances
in company with God, that as we go through them
we begin to see that really it is not just one book, it is an omnibus of five books in one.
Bearing in mind that they formed originally part of the canon of Hebrew Scripture
we needn't be surprised to find that like the five books of Moses
the book of Psalms falls into five major sections.
The first 41 Psalms correspond in content, in summary form
they are very parallel to the first book of Moses, the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings.
The second book of Psalms from 42 to 72 correspond very much with the book of Exodus
the book which tells us about the people going out, being delivered from the tyranny of the oppressor
and going out towards the wilderness.
The third book of Psalms from Psalm 73 to 89 correspond with the book of Leviticus
and they tell us very much about sanctuary experience in wilderness conditions
what it's like to go into God, to draw near to God even while still in this world.
And the fourth book of Psalms corresponding very much with the book of Numbers
from Psalm 90 to Psalm 106 then the rest 107 to 150 following the pattern of the book of Deuteronomy.
Now as to structure that becomes more plain the more often, the more regularly we read the Psalms.
I was very much helped when I first began to read the Psalms
when a mature Christian advised me that in line with the first five books of Moses
the first book Genesis, the first book of Psalms is very much the seed plot of all God's major plans.
All the major things that God has to teach us are shown in the first book of Psalms.
The second book of Psalms like the book of Exodus is very much the Levite's guide, the major structure.
The third book like Leviticus is very much the priest's guide.
The book of Numbers the warrior's guide and the book of Deuteronomy the people's guide.
Now having set that out as the structure closely is of course Psalm 1 is at the beginning of the first book of Psalms.
And like the book of Genesis it gives us the beginnings of all that God has to show us.
And if what we've said about the book of Psalms as a whole is true and I'm sure it is
we will find the beginnings of an outline of what it means to be here in the world which hates God
and is opposed to God and what it means to feel along with God, what it means to be distinct and separate from the world.
And so we'll be looking a little at that.
Something to look forward to in our private studies if we start looking at the first 41 Psalms, the first book of Psalms.
We'll find that difficult days are described, difficult conditions, difficult circumstances
and the intensity of the feeling of any godly person who is determined to be true to God whatever else is going on
even if it means swimming against the tide.
And we'll be looking for some features of this in Psalm 1.
If we remember in the book of Genesis from the outset we get people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
who are evidently God's man in an evil day.
And this is the kind of thing that comes through also in the first book of Psalms.
Of course all the way through the scripture doesn't say man or woman.
It's said, it's put in the male case but it's just as difficult for a woman to be set for God in an evil world.
It's just as necessary for a woman to be here set for God and to be determined to be faithful to God as it is for a man.
And so while we say that the scripture is plain that it tells us about the character of a man for God in an evil day
it is just as plainly the moral character of a woman or a girl who is determined to be faithful to the God
who has provided such a saviour as our Lord Jesus Christ.
And so we come to Psalm 1.
If we want to follow through God's comment on the life of those faithful men in the book of Genesis
read God's summary of what he puts to their credit, puts to their account in Hebrews chapter 11.
Now we come to Psalm 1.
Now many of the Psalms have a heading.
Unlike the other books in the Bible the headings of the Psalms are part of the inspired text.
It's not an attempt at a summary by someone later on who's tried to be sympathetic with what is being said
and very often, very close to the mark, in the book of Psalms it is part of the inspired text
and therefore warrants greater merit, greater study than headings in any of the other books.
Now Psalm 1 does not have a heading and for a very good reason.
In all the other Psalms you have an opening statement in each Psalm.
Even if there is an inspired heading to the Psalm the first verse is very often a summary of the content of the Psalm
followed by an exposition of that which the first verse summarises.
But when we come to the first Psalm we find that it's not like that, not quite and for this reason.
The first Psalm in itself is a summary of the whole book of Psalms.
It's also an introduction to the first book of Psalms, the first 41.
It's also an introduction or a heading or a title to the first section of the first book of Psalms, the first eight Psalms.
So whether you take the first eight Psalms, the first 41 or the whole of the 150, Psalm 1 is an introduction and a summary
of all that God intends us to learn in the whole book of the Psalms.
Now again by way of an introductory study into Psalm 1 there are several ways in which we can get help
from Psalm 1 and many of the others.
We can look at it as it was actually written by David, like most of the other Psalms, written by David
and the experience that he gained of God and the knowledge he gained of himself
and the knowledge of what is according to God in very difficult experiences in this life.
That's looking at it actually.
Then again and excuse the term, we can look at it empirically.
In this sense it describes the sort of man, it describes the kind of man that God is looking for and speaking in a general way
without identifying a particular specific person.
That leads us on of course to say that while Psalm 1 is not specifically messianic,
I'll come back to that, there's no doubt it's true that there is no person ever lived upon earth
that exemplified the character that's described in Psalm 1 better or anywhere near as well as the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Now that's a little different to saying that the Psalm is messianic.
Some of the Psalms are evidently written with the intent that they describe in advance prophetically
things that could only be true of the Lord Jesus Christ when he came into the world,
when he lived in the world, when he went out of the world by way of Calvary,
when he was raised by the glory of the Father, when he was set on high,
his character as exalted, a Prince and a Saviour and his character as coming again to take up the reins of government.
Now there are Psalms which specifically foretell exactly the Lord Jesus Christ in one of those offices or characters.
But Psalm 1, I would again suggest, is not quite like that.
It tells us of the kind of person that God is looking for in a godless, faithless world, exemplified more fully in Christ than in anyone else,
but open to all those who here in this world set themselves for God and that is just a little different.
Now we've looked then at the Psalm actually. Historically that is.
We've looked at it in a general way empirically.
We've looked at it morally in the sense that Christ is the one who lives it out more fully than anyone else ever will or ever could.
But we can also look at it dispensationally.
This present age will come to an end when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again for his own.
He has said, I will come again and receive you unto myself.
And when he does, at that very moment, when he descends from heaven with a shout,
when the dead in Christ shall be raised and those alive in Christ shall be changed,
at that moment this dispensation comes to an end and then for a few years after that, probably just a little more than seven years,
there will be the opportunity for a small proportion of the nation of Israel to exhibit the same features that are listed in Psalm 1
as were seen perfectly in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ when he was here living the life of the perfect Jew.
And of course when we touch on scriptures like this, we cannot fail to see that in this short period before the coming of the Lord,
it's open to us as Christian believers to act morally in a way which lines up exactly with the things that are said in Psalm 1.
Now having said that, I'd like to go back to the second way of looking at the psalm, listing for us the features, the moral character of one who is set for God
in a difficult and disobedient world, particularly in the time when Christ the Son of God has been disowned and rejected.
And so we look at Psalm 1. It's not a bad thing, you know, when we are really keen to get into the detail of a scripture.
It's a good thing. Well, we're going to look at things negatively and positively. As an illustration of that, I might say in a negative way,
it's not a bad thing to get a scripture in its context before you examine the detail. Positively, I'll say it is a good thing, a very good thing,
to spend a little time, to stand back from the detail, see where it fits into the canon of scripture and then we'll get more sense from the text
when we look at it, as we hope to do now. Now, verse 1 has a negative outline. Verse 2 has a positive emphasis.
Now, that's fairly simply understood from the text. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly
and does not stand in the way of sinners and does not sit in the seat of the scornful.
Starts off by a reference to behaviour, the way that we live. The first thing that strikes me about this is the progress or regress of the movements.
Someone is walking, they slow down and they stand motionless and then they sit. You will have heard the term, if you don't go forward, you will go back.
It's the same kind of statement as this, isn't it? If those who are set for God are not intent on making progress, moral progress, spiritual progress,
if you don't keep going, it won't be long before you stop movement and you're standing still.
And it won't be long after that before you're no longer interested in making forward progress and you sit down and you're content where you are.
In a special way, those who have no thought of God give evidence of this.
Verse 1 is a summary of the ungodly. Blessed, talking about the man or the woman who's determined to live for God in a wicked world,
the psalmist starts off by saying there's blessing in swimming against the tide. Don't be too worried if you find yourself being different to the people that you live beside or go to school with or work beside.
There's something very much wrong if you find that you're a blessing for the godly, not walking in the counsel of the ungodly, not standing in the way of sinners, not sitting in the seat of the scornful.
The counsel of the ungodly. When we counsel, we think over our plans and we decide how we are going to do things.
The ungodly leave God out of their plans altogether. Now, may well be that due to embarrassment, due to convenience, due to the fact that it may be easier,
it is ever so easy that the first movement towards the slippery slope of spiritual decline is just to walk along, to keep the company, to do things in the company of those who aren't believers.
Oh, I wouldn't dream of doing the same as they do, but I might walk along with them, not really part of it, thinking myself quite different, but yet just going along with the tide.
Now, the ungodly not only take counsel and make plans without God, but what they do in their occupations when they are standing about is the way of sinners.
Now, when terms are put as simply and as starkly as this, perhaps it might make us think about the company that we keep.
Well-known phrase, we get like the company we keep. That's why it's imperative for believers to keep good company, the company of other believers with whom you are like-minded.
If not, if you walk along with the tide of the ungodly who counsel together without any thought of God in their hearts, wouldn't be long before we found ourselves standing in the way of sinners,
those who are content with their lot, leaving God out of their plans and ultimately sitting down in the seat of the scornful in their ease, enjoying the life that they've got, not only leaving God out of their plans, but scorning those who do.
Now, it's put in a very negative way, so it seems. Outwardly speaking, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
An old Bible word that fits verse 1 is to say that any who is determined to live a life which is according to God will live a life which is separate from the unbelieving world.
The first movement in living a life which is according to God is living a separate existence as far as possible, certainly morally, from the life of the world that hates God.
Now, if we turn, and I think it'll do us well to look at the verse, Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, the first phrase in Romans 12 verse 2,
be not conformed to this world. Don't allow your life to take its outward shape or form from the character of the world which cast Christ out.
Wouldn't have him as saviour and crucified him at Calvary. Some of us on Lord's Day afternoon were looking at other scriptures which spoke of the same kind of thing.
Leviticus 11 speaks of that which is cleaned according to God being that which gives evidence of the cloven hoof, an animal or a kind of animal which every step that it takes shows a clear line of demarcation in the imprint of its foot or its hoof upon the earth.
Now, this has its moral reflection and here it is in Psalm 1 that outwardly not going along with the tide, Romans 12 verse 2, first phrase, not being conformed to this world.
Now, we don't want to dwell too long on the negative side, but it's often very necessary. If you look again at 2 Timothy chapters 1, 2 and 3, we'll just make a brief reference to them and move quickly on.
The danger of going along with that which is evil. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 15, this thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
If you look in chapter 2, verse 17, their word will eat as doth a canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus who concerning the truth of word saying that the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith of some.
Chapter 3, verse 8, as Janes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Now, this is very much underlining the warning in Psalm 1, verse 1.
If you put the statements that are said about the pairs of individuals in 2 Timothy 1, 2, 3, if you look up your Bible dictionary in concordance and see the meanings of the words that are used in the build-up of their names, you'll find that this is the message from 2 Timothy 1, 2, 3, message for Christians just before the coming of the Lord.
Those who turn away from the truth before very long accept something which is not the truth and are ultimately found resisting the truth.
In other words, by going along with the tide and saying, well, they're very nice people, does it really matter what they believe, when something vital is at stake, unless we go along positively with the truth,
we'll find ourselves slipping away from it, accepting something which is not true and ultimately lining ourselves with those who are opposed to the truth.
Follow that up in 2 Timothy 1, 2 and 3 and see how it matches with walking, standing and sitting in Psalm 1, verse 1.
Let us move to the positive side in verse 2.
But, oh, one of the grand buts of Scripture, but, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Evidently chewing the cud, delighting in the law of the Lord day and night.
There is no substitute, is there, for regular, steady, imbibing, chewing over, meditating the truth of God as revealed in the Word of God, in the power of the Spirit of God, as that inner power to produce that which is according to God.
Well, let's turn again to Romans 12. Again, verse 2, but this time the latter part of the verse.
The first part, be not conformed to this world, your life should be different to the worldly people round about you, but be ye transformed by that inner power of the life which God has implanted by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove in a positive way what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things.
Anything that's according to God must come from the inside, and because God has planted it there, and it will only come out in a godly walk if there is at the same time dissociation from evil and going along with that which is good.
Well, we have to leave verses 1 and 2 there. Now, if verse 1 tells us about obvious external conduct which is easily seen in separation from that which is evil,
if verse 2 tells us about that inner life which comes out positively in a life that is well pleasing to God as a result of devotion to God, we can see in verse 3 the result of dependence upon God.
I'd like just to make a mental note, in verse 1, separation, verse 2, devotion, verse 3, dependence and the fruit of it.
Now, your mind, of course, when we read verse 3, will go to Isaiah 5, speaking of the nation of Israel, how everything was done by divine arrangement, that God chose the choicest location and the choicest vine,
and he planted it by his own divine arrangement, and by the way that he expected fruit he caused a vineyard and a wine press to be constructed with the expectation of fruit.
We can think also of the last chapter in the Bible, which looks on to a time upon earth when there will be an adequate response to God for all the work that he has done in the souls of men in order that there might be that with which he is well pleased.
And there we get the tree of life with 12 manners of fruit for every season.
Now, with that kind of general scripture in mind, when we turn to verse 3, we find this, he, the godly person, man or woman, who has said plainly that he or she wants nothing to do with the ungodly world which crucified Christ,
the godly person that draws his strength and every supply from God in meditating and in communion with his Lord day and night, we'll find that this is the one who is likened to a tree planted by the rivers of water.
Like Isaiah 5 about the nation of Israel, here about the godly person in an ungodly world, we find that it doesn't just happen.
A tree planted, there's intent, there's purpose, there's arrangement. It is done with specific intent. It is planted by the rivers of water.
If you compare the various translations available, you will get words like rivers of water, brooks of water, streams of water, in every case running water, living water.
If you compare the various scriptures that speak about water, where they are used symbolically, you'll find that where water, if you like static water, as a resource is referred to, it's usually speaking about the word of God.
If the water that is referred to is living, running, bubbling, springing up, flowing, it's usually an indication of the work of the Spirit of God.
Now, in line with that, there's no doubt that meditating upon the law of God as revealed in the scriptures can only be made good in our souls when it is in the power of the Spirit of God.
The tree planted by the rivers or brooks of water, there is an ample supply of all that we need to live according to God in a contrary world in the canon of scripture.
Do we believe that? It's useful, it's helpful, it's interesting to read other books, other things.
But fundamentally, the plumb line, the lifeline of the godly person is that which is found in the word of God.
Well, this is the way for fruitfulness. Dependence upon God as the sole supplier of all that's good for life results in this, bringing forth his fruit in his season.
Fruit, again, as a general term, tells us what God is going to get out of it. Tells us that there's something for God in the weakest, most isolated, most insignificant as far as the world is concerned,
the most insignificant believer in the world who sets themselves to live according to God. Now that's an encouragement, isn't it?
Fruit for God in his season.
In several of the parables, we find that there's this element comes in, the need for patience. Things that are worthwhile take time to develop.
We know that in our lives. We know that in our families. We know that in our studies. We know that in our jobs. Things that are worthwhile take time to build up, to learn, to express, to bear fruit.
And so it is, there is a season for sowing, there is a season for planting, there is a season for watering, a season for reaping, a season when there is fruit to be expected.
One of the difficult things in seeking to be faithful to God is to do the right thing for the right reason, with the right motive in the heart, and to be able to refrain from being impatient.
If we do the right thing in the right way for the right reason, we want immediate results. Well, God may grant us that.
But usually, there is the addition of a waiting time, waiting God's season, not mine, before something is seen to bear fruit.
Very often, we are told we have need of patience. Well, there is perhaps the suggestion here, the fruit in the season tells us that there is a need for what God is working to mature and come to fruition, rather than our setting our own timetable to it.
Well, there is fruit in the season, the leaf does not wither. Remember, the Lord Jesus had to curse a fig tree, and the leaf was there, there was no fruit, it was withered, fit for nothing else but the burning,
and the Lord Jesus had to give his comment on it, as he did for the nation of Israel in its then present condition, no fruit for God. Happy little word at the end of verse 3, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Read the blessing to the Nazarite in Numbers chapter 6. Read the happy little thing that is said about Gaius, mine host, in 3 John verse 2.
It's a happy little prayer that John prays. He says, I pray that you might prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers. Very good. If the outstanding thing about someone that we know well is that they are enjoying prosperity of soul,
and our prayer to God is that this might find a reflection in personal health too. Well, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper, the way to true prosperity.
There isn't much time, and there isn't much need, perhaps, to dwell on the detail of verses 4 to 6. If we want the subheading for this, I suppose we could call it the character and doom of the ungodly.
God gives his assessment of the godly, the kind of person that he is looking for in an ungodly world. Read Jude's epistle, and you'll get the sense of what it means to live in an ungodly world.
And the world that's described in the epistle of Jude is a description of the world that we live in towards the end of God's ways upon earth.
Well, verses 4, 5, and 6 then give a description of the end and the doom of the ungodly. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
A paradox, something very difficult to understand, is that at present the righteous always seem to suffer, the unrighteous always seem to prosper.
Thank God it shall not always be so. We live in an upside-down world at the moment, but that grand verse, Acts 17, 31, tells us that God has appointed a day in which he will rule the world in righteousness
by that man whom he has ordained, whereof he has given assurance unto all, in that God has raised him from the dead.
God's world, with God's man, the man Christ Jesus, in ultimate charge, will be a righteous world where the righteous are honoured and the unrighteous will be judged.
At the moment it's the other way around, because God's man, Christ, has been set aside and the ungodly are given the prime place.
We shouldn't be surprised. David shouldn't have been surprised in his day. We cannot be surprised now.
If those who seek to be true to Christ in an ungodly world seem to get the same kind of treatment that the Lord Jesus did in the days of his flesh.
This is why it's a picture of the godly in an ungodly world and therefore best and most fully demonstrated in the life of Christ here upon earth.
But the ungodly are like wheat and chaff. Remember what was said at the beginning of the Gospels?
When the master comes, he will gather the wheat into his garner and the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire.
Judgment. Judgment will be the ultimate portion of the ungodly, so why line yourself up with them at the present time?
When the judgment does come, the final judgment, the ungodly will not be able to stand.
You see, it goes back to verse 1. Standing in the way of sinners.
Why stand? Why align yourself with the sinners in a sinful world? Because the sinners won't stand in the day of judgment.
On the contrary, we who trust in Jesus as saviour, we have boldness in respect of the day of judgment.
For as he is, so are we in this world completely clear of every call upon judgment.
And then, just a little verse, verse 6,
The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Yes, the ungodly will perish. The godly will be honoured.
And in view of that, the godly man or woman is prepared, quite content, to leave things to God.
After all, that's what happened to the Lord Jesus.
There is a verse in Thessalonians which exhorts us to cultivate the same attitude as the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's due to be honoured. He will be honoured.
But he's content to wait until the Father says, this is the moment, this is the day.
And we are exhorted to wait with the patient waiting of the Christ.
In the addresses to the seven churches, a moment comes when much that bears the name of Christ
is going along hand in glove with the world, the address to the church at Pergamos,
but those who are looked at as overcomers, those who are determined, even in a minority, to be true to God,
they are given a special blessing while they wait for everything to be put right.
They are given the sense of the secret approval of the one to whom they are seeking to be true,
put, in a very picturesque way, in the sign of approval, a white stone.
Now, it seems to me that the last touch in this psalm says this to us,
if you are set here for God, if you are determined to live for God,
because in his wonderful mercy he has saved you,
if you've been encouraged and allowed and empowered to put your faith in Christ as Saviour,
he's coming for you soon, and while you wait for him, you can be content.
In the minority, knowing that the time when things will be put right according to God
will be at the moment that he has decreed, and the sense of his secret, private, personal approval
to those who are godly in an ungodly world is the promise that is held out.
Now, let us, as we look at other psalms from time to time, remember this basic lesson,
which is true of the first book of psalms and the whole book of psalms,
that while it may not seem so at the present time, it is a worthwhile thing
to live here according to God until the time when he puts his man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
in ultimate charge, when everything shall be seen in proper perspective. …
Automatisches Transkript:
…
Would you turn, please, to Psalm 84.
Psalm 84
How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee, Selah.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them,
who, passing through the valley of Baker, make it a well.
The rain also filleth the pools.
They go from strength to strength.
Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer.
Give ear, O God of Jacob, Selah.
Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
The Lord will give grace and glory.
No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Psalm 84 is located in the third book of Psalms, from 73 to 89,
and therefore corresponds with the third book of Moses, Leviticus,
the book of the sanctuary, the book of approach to God.
And this is fairly readily traced through.
Indeed, if you just turn back to Psalm 73,
and we trace through some of the threads that demonstrate this,
it can be easily checked out.
Psalm 73, verse 17,
I went into the sanctuary of God. 28, it is good for me to draw near to God.
Psalm 74, end of verse 3, the sanctuary.
Verse 7, thy sanctuary, the dwelling place of thy name.
75, verse 9, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
76, verse 2, in Solom also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion.
77, verse 13, thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary.
78, verse 54, he brought them to the border of his sanctuary.
60, the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men.
Verse 69, he built his sanctuary.
Psalm 79, verse 1, thy holy temple.
Verse 13, we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks forever.
We will show forth thy praise to all generations.
Psalm 80, verse 1, thou that dwellest between the cherubim.
The first three verses really of Psalm 81, then in Psalm 82, the opening part,
God standeth in the congregation of the mighty.
83, verse 12, the houses of God.
86, verse 9, all nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord,
and shall glorify thy name.
Verse 12, I will praise thee, O Lord my God.
87, verse 1, his foundation is in the holy mountains.
89, verse 14, the habitation of thy throne.
Verse 20, my holy oil.
Verse 35, I have sworn by my holiness, and so on.
So we can see that the whole mood of this third book of Psalms
relates to drawing near in a sense of the holiness of God
and yet with that serenity of heart and soul
that enables that welling up in praise and worship and thanksgiving.
Now, in about the center of this third book then, we have Psalm 84.
And again, the Psalm itself is replete with similar phrases.
We shall be looking at some of the detail, but a cursory glance right at the outset
shows in verse 1, thy tabernacles.
Verse 2, the courts of the Lord.
Verse 3, thine altars.
Verse 4, thy house.
Verse 10, thy courts.
And again, the house of my God.
Here then, we have a Psalm which tells us that it is possible
and that it is God's intent that there should be those upon earth
who are in right relationship with him,
moving on to the moment when they shall ever be with him,
but in the sense of all that he is and all that he has done for his glory and their blessing,
that they can be found independent as they move through this world
on their way to the house of God in the ultimate sense of the term
and the kind of thought that go through their mind
and give caliber and substance to the praise that they offer.
Now, we read the heading as well as the Psalm.
As always, in the Psalms, the heading is part of the inspired text
and we need to consider the detail of this before we go down verse by verse.
To the chief musician, it is consistent with its location in the third book of Psalms
that the Psalm is said to concern the chief musician.
Many individuals are referred to in the headings of the Psalms here and there,
but this heading, this introduction to the chief musician
is used more prolifically than any other heading.
In well over 50, about 55 of the Psalms have this as their heading.
No doubt, it is one of the major reasons why the book as a whole is called the book of Psalms,
the book of praises, the book of response to God
as a result of a sense of all that God is,
as a result of passing through experiences of this life,
pleasant and in many times painful, with a sense of the presence of God.
The chief musician used more than any other heading.
Carrying with it the thought, no doubt culled from the tabernacle system and the temple system,
with this thought in mind, that there is one appointed by God
not only as a conductor of the praises to gather the threads together,
but the one who is the originator of the theme,
the instructor of the singers,
and the one who coordinates all the praise that arises to God.
And something of this comes through in the heading of the chief musician.
Now, while this is true in a general sense,
and no doubt David and others throughout the Psalms
were impressed by this again and again,
it is when we take the prophetic aspect of the Psalms,
in general and in particular, that we begin to get a sense
that even in our day it is God's intent
that the praises of his beloved people here upon earth,
on our way home to him, should be filled with a sense
that there is one who is both the inspiration of the music,
the theme of the praise itself,
the object of the worship,
and the true minister of the sanctuary.
And of course that is a phrase which is used specifically of our Lord Jesus Christ
in Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 2.
So whether we take it as an indication in advance of conditions in the assembly,
whether we take it as a picture of that which will surely be true
amongst those who even in advance of the world to come in difficult days
are given a present sense of the praise that can arise
from those who are true to God
as a result of their going through difficult times
in company with the God who blesses them.
We can see that there is force in each of these things.
Going through this Psalm and the others which bear a similar or the same heading,
there is always the sense that praise is only possible
because a work has been done which has answered every claim of God
and consequent upon that and subsequent to it
in the sense of the completed work and the value to God of that work of redemption
that praise can arise to him.
Now we get that from this term to the chief musician.
It also comes through in this next little word, get it.
Of course most of us, myself included, have to rely on the scholarship of others.
We have the word of God, we have the spirit,
we have an unction from the Holy One,
we have a discernment, a spiritual discretion,
we have the mind of Christ,
we can read and hear what others have said,
we can use our spiritual judgement and we can get help.
We can filter out that which is according to God,
accept it, make use of it
and if there is anything that we don't happy to receive,
we put that to one side.
Now those who demonstrated themselves to be spiritual as well as scholarly
tell us that we can pursue two separate avenues
when we think of this word, get it.
There is no doubt that history records
that there was a musical instrument by that or a similar name
in the area round about Gath,
a location that David and others knew in times of persecution
and there is no doubt that David, the sweet psalmist of Israel and others
knew what it was to have balm provided and supplied to their souls in difficult times
as they played their musical instruments,
as they chanted their thoughts aloud to their God
and they went over their experiences
and the wisdom that they had gained from those experiences
even while they were on the run in times of persecution.
There is no doubt also that the word also has a derivation
connected with the wine presses of the same area,
that there was wine produced as a result of the crushing of the grapes.
What we can readily check is that the scriptures are consistent
in telling us that it is God's desire that true joy
should be experienced in the souls of those who know him.
It is wine that make of glad the heart of man,
the psalmist said in another psalm.
The Lord Jesus, when he gave those eight signs
that he was the son of God,
the first sign that he gave in Cana of Galilee
was that he turned the water into wine.
Not the waters of judgment but the spiritual joy
was that which he intended that his people should ever enjoy.
And so we come again as often in the Psalms
that there is no experience of life
that our God allows us to go through.
Whatever pressure is exerted upon us,
there is none without the intent
that we should learn something about ourselves
and something about our God,
which will allow us under pressure
to develop the spiritual qualities
that will be able to enter into the joy of the Lord,
which will give us and furnish us with substance
for praise in his presence.
To the chief musician upon Gitte.
A psalm for the sons of Korah.
Who were these privileged people?
What were their personal qualities?
What had they done to deserve the favor
of being found in the presence of God,
participating in the service of praise?
Scripture gives the answer.
They didn't deserve it at all.
They deserved nothing but condemnation and death.
When we read Numbers 16, Numbers 26,
we get the immediate impression
that here were those who were rebels,
opposed to the will of God
and those whom God had appointed to serve him,
rebelling in their day against the very idea
that Moses and Aaron should officiate
in the service of God
because God had said that they should.
A remarkable thing that Scripture records later
in 1 Chronicles,
that when the number of those
who were privileged to be in the number
counted as the people of God,
there is a reference to the fact
that there were children of Korah
who had been preserved
as a result of the mercy of God
being showered upon them.
And there they were taking their place
in the praises of their God
with the ever-present sense
that they were there not because they deserved it,
not because of any achievement of their own,
but because in the mercy of God
they had been preserved
as an ever-present witness
to the faithfulness of God to himself
that he would ever preserve the reminder
that none of us in any day or dispensation
can be found praising our God,
enjoying his presence
and communion with him
as a result of any works of righteousness
that we have done.
No doubt our thoughts inevitably go to Titus there.
Yes, not by any works of righteousness
have we been saved,
but according to his wonderful mercy.
Let us distinguish again as usual.
Mercy delivers us from what we do deserve.
Grace bestows upon us
something we could never deserve.
Well, we have been delivered
from the judgment of God
against our sins
as a result of his wonderful mercy.
Wherever this term,
and it comes into several of the Psalms,
there is an account of the mercy of God
delivering those who are in desperate need,
bringing them to himself
in order that they might enjoy
praising in his presence
the sons of Korah.
Well, having looked at the help
that we can get
from the heading of the psalm,
we can move into the detail of the psalm
and its sections
with this thought in mind.
If we've learned the lesson of the heading,
yes, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the true minister of the sanctuary,
of the true tabernacle
which God pitched and not man.
It's also true,
the same book of Hebrews records,
that the one who became positionally
a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death,
the true Benoni,
is the one who is also deservedly
crowned with glory and with honor,
the true Benjamin.
Sorrow entered into,
honor bestowed,
suffering because he was the only one
good enough to take it upon himself.
Honor and glory,
the only one who so deserves it.
And so we look at these twelve lovely verses.
Now, if we want to give some little sections to them,
they fall very readily
into three sets of four verses each.
We can look at the first four verses
and we can see an indication
of the privileges of the house of God.
We can look at verses five to eight
and we can see some indication
of what it means to make progress
in the things of God.
Verses nine to twelve tell us what it is
to be so dependent
and to see what God is doing
and to enjoy the sense of protection
under the hand of God.
Now, there's one very interesting parallel here
among others.
The order in which these three sections come
are in the same order
and they have a similar trend
as we get in 1 John 2 verses 12
to the end of the chapter.
We get an account there
of the stages of advancement
towards spiritual maturity
that God intends that we make
in our progress through the world.
That being brought into the family,
verse 12, 1 John 2, 12,
your sins are forgiven you
for his name's sake.
We are brought into the family of God
when our sins are forgiven.
After that, we are instructed
that the fullest, richest stage
of Christian maturity
is likened to that of fathers
in their families.
After a little while, we are instructed
that the health, strength, energy
and vigour applicable to the young man's stage of life
is something to enter into and go in for
on the way to that stage of fuller maturity.
But even those who are mere novices in Christ
are looked upon as little children
recipients of the instruction of God.
Now, we could well align those up with these
and say that verses 1 to 4
in delineating some of the privileges
of the house of God
give us some indication
of the qualities and functions of the fathers.
Verses 5 to 8
in this progress in the things of God
some of the things that might be a parallel
to the young men of 1 John 2.
And the protection under the hand of God
in verses 9 to 12
are things that even the little children
spiritually speaking
can ever enjoy.
Well, and so we look at some of these details.
How amiable, how pleasant are thy tabernacles
O Lord of hosts.
Some of us were looking last Saturday
at Psalm 22.
We were considering for a moment
what is involved in the statement there.
Thou art holy, thou that inhabitest
the praises of thy people.
The intent declared early in that Psalm
that God's desire has ever been
that he should be at home
dwelling amongst his people
and that they should be indulging
in praises to him.
And here we have a similar thought.
How amiable are thy tabernacles
O Lord of hosts.
What a pleasant thing it is
to be at home in the presence of God
and that God can enjoy being at home
in the midst of his people.
Now we learned in Psalm 22
that if that were to be achieved and enjoyed
it involved the abandonment
of the perfect man, the holy, subject,
dependent Son of God
and we shall see certainly
something of that coming through.
It's certainly indicated in what we've considered
the rebellious sons of Korah
could only be involved in the praise of God
as a result of the exercise of the mercy of God
because the claims of God have been fully met
and the mercy of God could freely flow.
Now when we look down to verse 3
we can see that there is this indication here
that the claims of God have been fully met.
If in verse 1 the tabernacles are there
if in verse 2 the courts of the Lord are available
it's because that which is according to the altar of God
the righteous, holy claims of God
have been fully met.
The authority and the majesty
and the power and the omnipotence
of God have been fully met
as he's able to say,
O Lord of hosts, my King, my God.
We in our day can ever be thankful
that because the claims of a holy God
as to sin and sins
have been fully met
and his mercy has been lavished upon us
that we can be found
indulging in the privileges of the house of God.
There is a longing indicated in verse 2
My heart, my flesh, crieth out for the living God.
It is right and common
that in the gospel we press upon the sinner
that there is a longing in the soul
that only God can fill and satisfy.
Do we often enough remind ourselves,
the saints of God,
that there is a longing in every soul
saint and sinner
that only God can fully satisfy.
Here we have it.
My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth,
for the courts of the Lord
my heart and my flesh
crieth out for the living God.
We are used to agreeing together
in 1 Peter 2
that the yearning
for the sincere mental milk of the word of God
is not only directed to the spiritual novice,
the babe in Christ,
it is a sober reflection
on the only proper attitude and way of life
for every believer.
He says, as newborn babes,
and it is the intent
and it is our present need
that we should have an ever ongoing longing
that our souls should be satisfied
and that the agency that he uses
is his written living word
in the power of the spirit.
And here we have an indication here.
My heart, my flesh,
crieth out for the living God.
As a newborn babe
continues to cry out
till he or she is provided
for that for which he or she yearns,
so it is with the one who is conscious
of the blessing and the privileges
of the house of God
that the cry goes out
and continues to go out
until the longing, the craving is satisfied.
Yea, the sparrow hath found in house
the swallow her nest for herself.
What do we learn
from the Lord's own lips?
Two sparrows sold for a farthing
and five for two farthings.
The relatively worthless sparrow
available at giveaway prices
sold by the pair or the five
and yet even the one thrown in,
the single solitary one,
God is ever sensitive
and yearning on his part
that the mercy of God
should be experienced and enjoyed
by individuals who are of no account
to the master builders of this world.
The worthless sparrow,
the restless swallow,
ever flitting about,
ever moving,
ever on the wing
here we have it, a home,
a resting place is found
for that which is contrary to its nature.
Well, the swallow a nest for herself
where she may lay her young,
even thine altars.
How severe the Lord Jesus ever was
in those who abused
the house of God of the day
for commercial purposes.
But however ready he was
to greet, to meet,
to endear himself
to individuals who were in need
and conscious of that need
that they should feel at rest
in his presence.
Come unto me,
all ye that labour
and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
The restless swallow,
find rest
in the presence of God.
You will see
that there is a promise,
there is a blessing available
in each of these three sections.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house.
There is blessing in being involved
in the privileges of the house of God.
The first four verses.
And we'll see in the other sections too.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house,
they will be still praising thee.
They will be ever praising thee.
They will be constantly praising thee.
A major occupation
in the presence of God
is to be occupied with his praises.
Judging from the world's
and the earthly point of view
I have often heard people say
Heaven is not attractive to me
I would be bored
with something going on
and on and on
whatever it would be.
Of course, conditioned by our environment
we can understand
that there are those who are bored
with the things of this earth,
this world, this life.
But the scriptures
have as a thread right through
the fact that God's intent
and the joy of the saint
is that God should be at home
in their presence and there with him
in order that they might be ever employed
in the praises of their God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house,
they will be continually praising thee.
Selah.
We are justified in splitting the psalm
as we do
because at the end of verse 4
and the end of verse 8
we get this little expression Selah.
Pause for meditation.
Think about that.
What do you think about that wonderful thing?
This is something of the thread that comes through
in this term Selah.
Where does this pause
after the consideration of the privileges
of the house of God?
The house of God in its fullest sense, I suppose,
is that which lies at the end
of the responsible pathway.
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever
using the language of the psalm.
But we aren't there yet.
We are on our way home.
We are pilgrims on the way home.
And so verses 5 to 8
consider the fact that while we are in the world
there will be things that we experience
in the world and from the world
that won't be pleasant.
But the secret all the way through
and these are difficult phrases
blessed is the man whose strength is in thee
that's straightforward
in whose heart are the ways of them.
Now the language here seems to be reflexive.
You can take it forwards, backwards
whichever way you like
and there's merit and blessing in it.
It certainly comes through to me
as both an underlying and an overriding principle
in the verse.
The thing that makes all the difference
to the experiences of life
is whether or not
when we go through them
it is with the desire
and with the fulfillment of that desire
that we are going through in the conscious sense
that God is with us in them
because we've brought him into the exercise
consciously by faith.
Now it's then that we get the full gain
of the experiences through which we've been brought.
It is fair comment, isn't it?
That we may have many experiences in life
without gaining experience.
Gaining experience
and the wisdom that comes from experience
is very much different
from merely having an abrogate of circumstances
that we've learned nothing from.
But here the psalmist
and we can put ourselves in the situation
that there are things to be learned about ourselves
and about our God, the living God
the one who has delivered us from so great a judgment
by his wonderful mercy
and this it is
which is commented on in verse 5
who passing through the valley of baker
the valley of tears
not so much a geographical location
a valley of tears
make it aware
the rain also filleth the pools.
Some of the experiences of life
make us really plumb the depths
the depths of disappointment
the depths of sorrow
the depths of humiliation
but there's strength
there's sorrow
there's joy
to be drawn from such situations
if we go through them
in communion with our God
and so the psalmist says here.
He also says
while we are going through the deep waters
there are the refreshing rains
even on the surface
as we go through them
that give us the assurance
that there is that being provided daily
which will be for our encouragement
and rich reward
and so we have the wells
we have the pools
whether it is the deep waters
of deep trouble
and the many angry tears at times
it would seem as far as human experience is concerned
we learn that in the relative shallowness
of many day by day experiences
if we've learned the great lesson
from the deep sorrows
and the much tears
we begin then to learn the other lessons
from apparently lesser experiences
there is a hymn of christian experience
not sung much
but perhaps most of us have heard it at one time or another
which considers all the deep troubles of life
things we learn from that
the rich joys at times
that test us in a different way
but there is a verse
that says something like this
and all the other days
that make my life marked by no special joy
or grief or strife
the humdrum days
the days that seem repetitive
where nothing much seems to be going on
perhaps there above all days
we might be tempted to lose the sense
that we need the company of the lord
in such mundane circumstances
yes we can see the need for his company
in the great crises of life
but let us learn from this
in what may appear to us as shallow pools
what may seem to be us
to be light showers for the moment
that there is that which we learn
in the tears that need to be shed in such situations
that joy can be learned in them
well when we get to the last few verses
9 to 12
the experiences of life
haven't made the psalmist change his mind
i like the unfinished sentence
a day in thy courts is better than a thousand
he doesn't say where in this particular sentence does he
he says a day in thy courts is better than a thousand
anywhere else that you could imagine
that's the voice of experience isn't it
or that we might have the experience
of communion with the lord
that means that after years of experience of life
and the things that come along to test and to try us
at the end of the day
we are just as convinced
that there's no other way we would have lived our life
there's none other than christ
that we would put our faith in
there's no other than the faith system of christianity
into which we would cast our lot
one of the greatest encouragement to me
is that believers
have no intention of changing their mind
about trusting in the living god
and his saviour jesus christ
after 50, 60, 70, 80 years of the experiences of life
than when they first trusted christ as saviour
evidently the psalmist felt exactly like that
behold oh god our shield
yes there's protection under the hand of god
i'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my god
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness
when i first trusted the lord
i was greatly impressed
by mature experienced christians
who were fully deeply involved in the service of the lord
able to do great things
and having been brought into the people of god
as a result of trusting the lord as saviour
i'm sure this was my attitude at that time
i'd be very happy sitting in the corner
in the back seat
not saying anything
not doing anything
just enjoying being there
well of course we all need to do that
the lord has things in mind for us
that we can but hardly imagine
when we first trust christ as our saviour
but here the psalmist doesn't lose the sense of this
i'd rather be a doorkeeper
and of course that was a place of great privilege and honour
it wasn't cringing in the corner in his case
he'd rather be in the house of his god
with the honour of that privilege
than to dwell
to be of some honour and place and force and respect
in the tents of wickedness
the lord god is his son and shield
his son
the source of all primary energy
directly or indirectly
or that we might have the sense in our souls
that as paul could say
my god shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by christ jesus
no desire for any other source of supply
no looking anywhere else for resources
because he is the alone source of supply
of all that is valuable
his son
and shield
well
whatever the energy
god in his grace provides us with
there will always be time
when we need the sense
of his protection over us
we are never of ourselves sufficient
as the apostles said
we are not of ourselves sufficient
our sufficiency is of god
the lord will give grace and glory
grace for the present
glory for the future
scripture says in more than one place
he giveth grace to the lowly
he giveth grace to the humble
he will
he will give grace and glory
he shall crown his work
by ushering us
and all believers
into the joy
of his glorious presence
and again
he finishes
as we must
with the sense of blessing
of those who trust in him
privileges of the house of god
bring their blessing
verse 4
making progress in the things of god
bring their blessing
verse 5
blessed is the man whose strength
is in thee
an ever present
sense of the protective hand of god
as an umbrella over us
brings blessing to the soul
oh lord of hosts
blessed is the man
that trusteth in thee …
Automatisches Transkript:
…
Will you turn please to psalm 40.
Psalm 40, verse 5.
Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done,
and thy thoughts which are to usward.
They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.
If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire.
Mine ears hast thou opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Then said I, Lo, I come.
In the volume of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart.
I'm not sure how long it will take to say what I have in mind,
so perhaps others might bear that in mind as they listen.
That all of us might pray that the evening as a whole
will present something that the Lord has in mind for us.
We've been singing and praying about that wonderful time
when the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world
by common convention,
in order that time might be spent in thinking of the occasion
and the significance of the occasion
of the incoming of the Son of God into the world,
it is commonly agreed that time is spent
at what is called Christmas
in thinking about when Jesus came into the world.
It doesn't really bother me whether it was the 25th of December.
It does bother me, and I think it's right,
that some time should be occupied
with thinking that Jesus did come into the world,
it's an historical fact,
and that we might ask ourselves the question why.
I've heard it said
there would have been no Calvary without Bethlehem.
I think I can see what people mean by that.
Unless Jesus had been born into the world
a babe at Bethlehem,
circumstantially, historically,
he could not have lived that life
and died that death at Calvary.
As to spiritual priority,
if pressed, I think I would be tempted
to put it the other way around.
Without Calvary, there would have been no Bethlehem.
In other words, it was for the express purpose
of dying at Calvary
that the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world.
Some of us have been looking at some of the Psalms
during this past week.
Here we have another one tonight.
And it speaks in a very graphic,
dramatic, poetic way
of that very event.
What was involved in Jesus coming into the world.
If you look at verse 6,
the phrase in the middle of the verse,
mine ears hast thou opened,
or mine ears hast thou digged,
if you check very, very carefully,
you'll find that that expression in itself
speaks to the careful student
about the incarnation,
God manifested in flesh
coming into the world.
There is another phrase
about the ear, Isaiah 50,
mine ear hast thou opened
morning by morning,
which speaks of the life on earth
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then if you look back into Exodus 21,
you'll find another time when the ear is referred to,
the bored ear,
and you'll find that that whole context
is about someone
whose love is expressed
to the uttermost,
the fullest, even unto death.
Very often,
when there are Old Testament writings
which refer to the time on earth
of the Lord Jesus Christ,
it tells us he came into the world,
he lived in the world,
and then he died
and left the world.
Now, these things are deeply significant.
If we are believers on our Lord Jesus Christ,
we need to bear in mind
what the scripture says.
It's God's will
that we should be saved.
Amen.
But it doesn't stop there.
It says it is God's will
that we should be saved
and that we should come to a knowledge of the truth.
In other words,
while being saved is a most wonderful thing,
to know that our sins are forgiven
and we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
but that having been brought into this wonderful blessing,
God's intention is
that we should make progress in the Christian life,
in Christian truth,
that we should mature
so that we can be better fitted
to understand what God is doing in the world
and that we might be fully equipped
to return to him
in the praise and worship that is due
and also that we might be in a better position
to tell others about him,
his beloved son.
Now,
this psalm
tells us a lot
about what it meant to God
and to Jesus himself
that Jesus came into the world.
Now, I just want to do
a little survey
verse 6
and
whether it's the rest of the meeting
or part of the rest of the meeting
to see how this worked out
and how it's quoted in the New Testament.
When Jesus came into the world,
it was for many reasons.
It was for the glory of God.
It was in order that God's standards
might be made plain
in the perfect life
of a man upon earth.
It was in order
that the sinfulness
and worthlessness of mankind
as a result of sin
might be demonstrated.
And it was in order
that we might understand
something of the wonderful love of God.
Think of such words
as what scripture tells us.
He that spared not his own son
but delivered him up
for us all.
That for this particular purpose
God sent his son
into the world
or again, the father sent the son
to be the savior of the world.
Now, many of these things were demonstrated
in the life of Jesus upon earth
but many of them
only came to light
only brought out into the open
as a result
of the death at Calvary
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is made plain
in verse 6.
Sacrifice and offering
thou didst not desire
burnt offering
and sin offering
hast thou not required.
Now, I hope
that none of us
especially believers
or unbelievers
will switch off
at the use of the word offering
and say well you're getting into
technical matters now
this is far too hard for me
I'm a simple soul
I trust that we are all simple souls.
But when we look at it
we will find some wonderful things
are said.
I remember being first of all
impressed
puzzled
and then
eventually thrilled
when I heard
this kind of language
used.
Christ
personally
is the center
of the universe of God
and the death
of Christ is the
foundation of
the universe of God.
A grand statement
sounds wonderful
and it is
but let us just boil it down
to see what it says.
God's thoughts
God's ideas
God's world
in the fullest
sense of the term
God's universe
has at it's very center
at it's focal point
the Lord Jesus Christ
the son of God.
We've all heard the cynic say
and over the next month
we'll hear it again and again
I like Christmas
but let's keep religion out of it.
Now whether said
in reality or in jest
it's the kind of remark
that people make.
They don't like to be reminded
that Christ
the spotless
pure
holy
sinless
son of God
is at the very center of Christmas
he is the one that Christmas
is all about.
If you leave Christ out of Christmas
you've lost the whole idea.
It's not only true at Christmas
it's true throughout the year.
If you leave Christ
out of the reckoning
let us go further
unless Christ
is at the absolute center
and the focal point
of our lives and everything
that we do
we've missed the mark.
Now that's a sobering thing.
But the next statement
is perhaps even more amazing.
If Christ personally
is the center
of God's plans and God's thoughts
none of them could have been
brought into being and established
apart from
the death of Christ.
Now it's when we start
delving into
scripture, our only authority
on these things
and we start thinking about this
inquiring
whether it is indeed fact
that God's plans
are based, have their foundation
and have their basis
and the treasure
is all there because of
the death of Christ
that we start getting into deep
waters indeed.
But we have help in the scriptures
and when we turn to verse 6
again these phrases
come out. Now
one thing is clear
in the term sacrifice
offering
burnt offering
sin offering
even a cursory glance
at Old Testament
scriptures tell us
that offerings and
sacrifices are
usually, not quite always
they are usually connected
with the death
of an animal.
Now it is not
without significance
that this
psalm which tells us
about the incoming
into the world of the son of
God
is the psalm has
its central thought based
upon the fact that
blessing that God
wants to lavish upon us can
only come in as a
result of the death
of a suitable offering.
Now when we look further
into it
I will have to take a few
short cuts tonight but
I would offer
you or challenge you
to check these things for yourself
and I'm sure you'll find
that they have substance
in scripture. Some of these
words themselves are shorthand
they are abbreviations
in verse 6
when it says sacrifice
it's an abbreviation
for something that is
detailed in the book of Leviticus
called the peace offering
when you get the next
word offering it's an
abbreviation for what
the book of Leviticus calls
the meal offering
the term burnt offering
is referred to
expanded in detail
in the same book and so
is the term sin
offering
it tells me this
while it's a
wonderful thing
to be able to sing
man of
sorrows
what a name
for the son of god
who came ruined sinners
to reclaim
wonderful truth
let us never diminish
that. Seek to diminish that
wonderful thing. If that was
all there was to it
it would be a wonderful gospel to preach
but once
we've been one for
Christ. If
you've never yet
believed that Jesus died
for your sins
and was raised again that you
might be sure that
nothing remained to be done
it would be a wonderful thing
but what you would find is
that being saved the holy
spirit god's spirit
indwelling within you would
point you to scripture after
scripture open out some of
the many treasures that scripture
has and you would see wonderful
things you hadn't seen
before. Now this psalm
which tells us
that Christ the son of god
came into the world
and came into the world
that he might die at Calvary
tells us
that there are many facets
many aspects
many treasures many
sides to this wonderful truth
blessing that has been
one for us many
ways in which rays of
the glory of god have been
shown because
Christ came
into the world to die
now just briefly
let us look at these
four major
offerings
four ways in which
Christ
is brought to light
take them in the
order in which they come
the peace offering
you will have noticed
that many
phrases in the bible many words
are taken up
in common english usage
and
a certain idea is
attached to them
even nowadays
when very very few people
read the bible for themselves
there are certain
phrases come in and are used
in everyday speech
for example
wheels within wheels
people use the term
no idea where it comes from
but it becomes part of the jargon
if you like
another term that is used
is the term peace offering
and
the idea that most
people seem to have
is that if
i tread on your
corns physically or
metaphorically i do something
to hurt you or offend you
and
i know i am going to see you again on
tuesday night
i feel obliged to buy
a box of chocolates on tuesday afternoon
and
you see me doing this
you say oh yes he offended so and so
on sunday night
he bought this for a peace offering
it would be nothing of the sort
if at best
it would be a trespass offering
because i defended you
i wanted to make reparation
i wanted to do something
to remove the barrier
between us to remove the hurt
the peace offering
is something much
better than that
now this is a good thing
to bring in first i am sure
god has
wonderful things to share
god has
wonderful things to say to you
about the lord
jesus christ
all his beauties
all his virtues
all the wonderful things that are
true of him
that you cannot even begin to understand
until you believed
that he died to be your saviour
it is as if you are standing
outside a treasure store
that someone
gives you the key
and said now there are some wonderful things
in there for you
but unless you use the key
open the lock
and go inside
you will never believe how wonderful
things are
you may have heard about them
you may have read about them
but until you are inside
there with them
part of it you will never really understand
them fully
now christianity is like that
those who are believers
on our lord jesus christ
have a wonderful advantage
among many
over unbelievers
you know what it is to be an unbeliever
you have trusted the saviour
and
now that you are inside
there are things that you understand
now you would never have dreamt of
before
if anyone here is not yet a christian
the christians
don't put themselves on the pedestal
just the reverse
but christians can say to you
we know what it is like
and we can tell you from experience
there are wonderful
things in christianity
that you will never understand
until you trust the lord
for yourself
now god wants us
to share in these wonderful
things, not only share
with each other
but to share with the lord jesus
and to share in gods very
presence
and this is what the peace offering is all about
god, christ
other believers
of all ages
from all walks of life
sharing together
in what christ has done
at calvary
now that's a good one for a start
god wants us to share
just to go back to this box of chocolates
a happier situation
would be
if i haven't seen you
for a long time
i see you tonight
and then
we say well
we can't just meet and part
in a few minutes
lets have a night together on tuesday evening
and if then
on tuesday afternoon
i buy a box of chocolates
because i know you like a particular kind
and then on tuesday night
we sit down and enjoy
them together
we are then sharing together
in something that we both enjoy
and something
where there is no barrier or cloud
to the fellowship and relationship
we have
let us put out of our minds
that a peace offering
is to put right some wrong
that it's to remove
some barrier
the peace offering says
there are wonderful things which god
and the lord jesus christ who is god
wants to share with us
let us share them all together
now this psalm
says jesus came
into the world
in order that he might die at calvary
that we might share
the fruits of that
wonderful victory
with him for that reason
he came into the world
for that reason he died
for that reason
he was raised from among
the dead for that reason
he's gone to heaven in order that
as a risen savior
he might share with us
and we might share with him
all these wonderful things
the next one that's mentioned
is a meal offering
this is the only
one of these four
which does not
refer to
the death of our lord
jesus christ
what it does
tell us about
is the perfect life
of the lord jesus
if
you go in for some bible
searching and i hope you do
you'll find
it's rare indeed
if ever
that you'll find a place
in the old testament
where a meal offering
is celebrated on it's own
usually
it's a burnt offering
and a meal offering
all together
now we haven't come to the burnt offering yet
we shall
but what we can
learn is this
in simple terms
then we'll go back to the type in the offerings
you'll never
fully understand
the life
of jesus
unless you are in the good
in the value
of his death
now that sounds like a conundrum
it sounds like a paradox doesn't it
something very difficult to understand
but you see
unless you know why jesus died
unless
you believed
that he died for you
unless you believed
that god raised him from the dead
that you might be sure
that all of your sins
are dealt with
you cannot have the spirit
gods holy spirit
is given
as a power
to dwell inside those
who trusted christ as saviour
and only then
can you read the gospels
and see fully
to understand
the things that jesus did
in his life
have you ever puzzled over
you believers
why it is
that you read things now
in the gospels
and you say well isn't that strange
i've read that many times before
but not until now
did i see the secret
that god was showing me
it's because
if you trusted christ as saviour
you have the power
inside you of the holy spirit
to guide you into all truth
now
in that simple way
we can understand
only if you are in the good
of the death of christ
if you trusted him as saviour
can you understand the sweetness
and the variety
of the things that god says
in the gospels about that wonderful
life upon earth
the technical way of saying that
is
that the burnt offering
precedes the meal offering
in a meeting like this
things need to be said
in a way
that the youngest present
can understand
but that's no reason at all
why other things
shouldn't be said
that will tax the mind
and the concentration
of the most mature
person present
so check it out
and see to your own satisfaction
why it is
the burnt offering and the meal offering
in that order
often come together
well
the sweetness
of the sharing principle
the fellowship and the peace offering
the perfect life
that demonstrated
that only jesus was good enough
to pay the price of sin
in the peace offering
and the meal offering
the burnt offering
there are greater issues
involved
in the gospel
than your sins
there are greater issues
involved in the gospel
than your blessing
there are greater things involved
in the gospel
than us
understanding what god
is doing
the greatest thing of all is
that jesus
came into the world
to live that
perfect life
and to die at calvary
in order
that the will of god
the plans of god
the mind of god
be brought into full effect
now this is perhaps
the highest aspect
of the gospel message
which we could never understand
until we trust christ
as saviour
but the burnt offering
if we study it
tells us that the lord jesus
came into this world
that having lived that perfect
life which is
the answer to what the meal
offering suggests
that at the end of that perfect
life his life was delivered
up and god was
one hundred percent
satisfied with the
sacrifice because jesus
is perfect
the will of god
gods plans
gods grand master
design
all based upon this
that central to his
course and the
price that had to be paid
was the offering of
the one who in every way
always did things
which pleased the father
the burnt offering
now when that's been said
and done i think
i can see why god
leaves this to the last one
that's mentioned here you know
when god gives a revelation
he starts
at his own end
starts with things that
satisfy him
things which are for his pleasure
and then when
that is satisfied
we find wonder of wonders
things are said
which mean that not only
is god fully satisfied
with all that's taken place
but wonder of wonders
we who deserve nothing
but judgment because
of our sins we find
that we are brought into
wonderful blessing and this last
one the sin offering
tells us just that
gods
plans
brought
finalized in the death of christ
much
blessing to share
much glory to shine
as a result
of the death of christ
these are all aspects of the full
gospel story
but then when that is all
said and done
not an afterthought
but certainly
secondary part of
gods wonderful plan
he himself being
satisfied with the death of christ
we find
there's provision
for you and i to be brought in
but only
because christ died
for our sins
some of us may be fearful
might say
in our minds
if the preacher knew
the kind of thoughts that go
through my mind
if the preacher knew the sort of things
i've done in my life
he wouldn't be saying that christ died
for me
we see gods master plan
and the wonder
of what he has done
and is doing
perhaps it
opens our eyes to the fact
that one of the wonderful things
that he's done
is to answer every claim
that he has upon us
because of our sins
and that through the death of christ
he has been fully satisfied
with every claim
that would otherwise
be outstanding against us
verse 7 says verse 8 says
i delight
to do
thy will oh my god
verse 7 says lo i come
he did
this was written a thousand years
before it happened
and yet it happened
that which god had
decreed took place
jesus came into the world
at bethlehem
he lived the kind of perfect
life that the meal offering
describes
he did everything all through
his life that pleased the father
as the burnt offering
would indicate
and then at the end of
that life he died
for our sins
now in verse
7 it says
lo i come in verse
8 it says i delight
to do thy will
oh my god
now it is
for this reason among others
that when we talk
about the offerings that
we say this is the psalm
of the burnt offering
this psalm
describes what it felt like
to jesus
to come into the world
to be here for god
for the pleasure of god
for the glory of god
that gods plans
might be secured
and that was a happy thing
for jesus to come into the world
to do and so he says
prophetically i delight
to do thy will
oh my god
turn now please to hebrews
chapter 10 where these
verses are quoted
hebrews tells us much
about the sacrificial
system known in
the nation of israel in the
old testament
and
in verse 4 it says
chapter 10 it is
not possible that the blood of bulls
and goats should take away
sins wherefore when he
cometh into the world he saith
sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not
but a body hast thou
prepared me
i will pause there
really
unless you have new
testament justification
for your
favorite interpretation
of old testament
things you are on shaky
ground
but if you are careful and you
look you will find
that the new testament
answers all the problems
you really need to solve
and
what i have said so far
up to now about psalm 40
is justified in
the light of hebrews 10
its speaking
hebrews says its
speaking about the coming
into the world of the son of god
when he
cometh into the world
he saith and then there is this
quotation from the verse
we have been looking at in psalm 40
same words
with a slight difference
very often
when new testament
quotations are given
of the old testament
they are slightly different
partly
because they are quotations
from the
greek version of the old
testament rather than the
old testaments translation
of the hebrew but often
and its of greater significance
that god by the
holy spirit is
putting the words and the quotation
in such a way
as not just to quote
the words that were recorded
but to explain
and interpret what was really
involved and so it is
that where in the
psalm itself it says
mine ears hast thou
digged the end of verse
5 puts that a body
hast thou prepared
me in other words
that is the justification we have
for saying that that expression
mine ears hast thou
digged was a poetic
way of representing
the fact
that if gods
will was to be brought about
gods plan secured
our blessing
made available
it was necessary for
jesus to come
into the world
now again after
further quotations and again
all major offerings
here the peace offering the meal
offering the burnt offering the
sin offering all referred to
verse
7 then says
lo I come in the volume
of the book it is written
of me to do
thy will
oh god
oh
you say
the writer of the epistle
to the hebrews
wasn't good
in his memory or his research
he's missed a bit out the psalm
the psalmist said
I delight to do
thy will oh my god
the quotation
doesn't quite say that
it says I come
to do thy will
oh god
if the holy
spirit
worked in the heart
and mind of
the one who wrote the book
of hebrews and
said now that's what you put in
that's what you change
and that's what you leave out
god the author
of the book must have
known what he was doing
now the reason is
quite clear if we look
at the epistle to the hebrews
verse 4
where we began reading
says it is not possible
that the blood of bulls
and of goats should take
away sins
verse 17 says
their sins and iniquities
will I remember
no more
the main point under
consideration in psalm
40 was god's
master plan god's
will god's pleasure
god's purpose
now the coming into
the world of the lord jesus
christ to do that
was a delight
to him wonderful
thing that he was given
the opportunity the privilege
the honor of coming
into the world a babe
in bethlehem in order
that he might live that lovely life
and that as a result
of the death that he would die
of calvary
but that the glory of god
might be established and
to do that was a delight
to him but when
we come to hebrews 10
it's a different matter
it's a matter of sins
a matter of going
into the distance and
darkness of calvary
and all its woe
and all its terror
and to endure the wrath of god
that your sins and
mine might be fully dealt with
that
was so abhorrent
to his holy soul
that
in anticipation of it
in the garden of
gethsemane he
said father if
it be possible let this
cup pass from
me not the cup
of the pleasure of
god and the glory of
god the cup
of wrath the cup
of sorrow the
cup of judgment
the cup of condemnation
which he endured
that sin might
be dealt with once and for all
and that those
who were sinners by nature
and by practice might
be brought into all the treasure
that the peace offering
and the burnt offering and
the meal offering tells us about
let us be impressed
by the orderliness
of scripture if we
examine the detail of chapter 10
we'll find that god's will
christ's work
and the spirit's
witness are all
focusing upon this
that this
vital matter
of dealing with sin
the root and sins
the fruit
might be dealt with once and for all
as a result of the
lord jesus christ coming
into the world and dying
at calvary
i've taken a little longer than i thought
i would i trust
that what has been said will
be the blessing of us all
whether believer or unbeliever
at this stage …