Rejoice in the Hope of the Kingdom
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 8 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Psalm 89; 2 Sam 7:4-17
For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
Note 2 Sam 7:4-17 - The promise to David.
A Maskil - “contemplation” NKJV (instruction). from root, “to understand, comprehend”
A song of instruction. Its contents are meant to help us COMPREHEND!
A psalm of MERCY and FAITHFULNESS.
1-4 Commit to the Covenant
1-4 Commit to the Covenant
faithfulness = truth. Heb. ’ĕmūnāh. Seven times reiterated in this Psalm: v (“in thy truth”). Bullinger, E. W. (2018). The Companion Bible: Being the Authorized Version of 1611 with the Structures and Notes, Critical, Explanatory and Suggestive and with 198 Appendixes (Vol. 1, p. 806). Faithlife.
1-2 - Singing OF God
3-4 - God speaking
Faithfulness
Steadfastness, truth, stability. We can DEPEND on Him.
This word is used liberally regarding the work of those who built Solomon’s temple and other various building projects throughout the United Kingdom period. 2 Kings 12,22; 2 Chron. 19,31
This word is mentioned seven times in this psalm! v. 1, 2, 5, 8, 24, 33, 49
Ethan commits to this faithfulness. He will sing of it forever.
The MERCY of God sung forever
Three words prominently mentioned: Mercy, Covenant, Seed.
Mercy
Not Justice or Righteousness (could validly be sung forever), yet Mercy.
Are we learning the mercy of which Ethan writes?
Covenant
Tom Holley - An agreement initiated by commitment and sustained with memory.
Not a contract! A contract by its very nature can be broken. God’s promises cannot.
Seed
God sows descendants. He promised David not a physical house, but a spiritual dynasty.
We are sons of David when we act like Christ.
5-14 - All Power in Creation and Might
5-14 - All Power in Creation and Might
The nature of God is put forth in order to prove that He fulfilled and will fulfill His promises.
Lord of the heavens - The heavens tell us about His power and faithfulness.
Lord of all matter - God has eternal resources with which to fulfill these promises.
Lord of the holy ones - He is held in reverence by the heavenly beings and his people, thus there is esteemed credibility.
“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like You, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Lord of armies - no one else can fulfill these promises. His faithfulness is all around Him.
Lord of the seas - (prophetically, the nations) - any issue that comes up, God can stop it.
Lord of governments - “Rahab” used here to describe the nation of Egypt as a whole. He scattered Egypt, and can scatter our enemies with His mighty arm!
Lord of all the earth - the earth in turn rejoices in His name!
Lord of all strength - There is no lack in his power and might!
Lord of justice and righteousness - He will make it right and fair for all!
Lord of mercy and truth - He will judge with mercy and the light of truth guiding all.
15-18 - His Saints
15-18 - His Saints
Happy are the people who hear the call of the Lord!
15 - ESV “Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,”
They rejoice in His name!
They are exalted in His righteousness!
The Lord’s power and strength becomes our own by proxy.
All by the nature of His good pleasure! This is what He WANTS!
17 - Psalm 75:10 “All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off, But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”
Our protection is the Lord’s! Our King/ruler belongs to the “Holy One” (qa’dosh) of Israel.
of God, as separate, apart, and so sacred, holy:
קָדוֹשׁ (qādôš), ADJ. holy, commanding respect, awesome; singled out, consecrated for.
19-37 - A Covenant with David and the saints
19-37 - A Covenant with David and the saints
19-29 Promises to David
19 - Formerly, you spoke to your “holy ones”.
1 Kings 11:34 However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes.
20 - Found and Anointed his servant/minister/advisor David
30-37 Curses for Unfaithfulness, Yet Covenant Not Broken
38-45 - You have Cast Off and Abhorred
38-45 - You have Cast Off and Abhorred
You have cast off and abhorred...
An answer to the promises from the last section. God promised these things, but this seems to be what has happened.
Most likely, this is prophetic, as there is no way the author lived to see the days spoken of (Solomon died 931 BC, Jerusalem conquered by Babylon in stages, beginning in 605 BC).
Ethan sees the future of what will happen to the dynasty of David.
The lineage of David continued but Jehoiachin was the last true heir of that line before the actual ruling of the dynasty was stopped by Babylon.
Ethan’s charges:
God rejected, refused his anointed. Renounced the covenant. Profaned his crown (David’s) by casting it to the ground.
Broken all his “hedges” (walls, shelters). Secure/fortified positions brought to ruin.
All who pass by plunder him. A reproach to his neighbors.
Raised up right hand of enemies. Made them to rejoice.
Turned back the edge of his sword, not allowed him to rise.
Made his luster stop, cast his throne to the ground.
Days of youthful strength shortened, wrapped up with shame.
Not ALL of these things literally happened to King David, but much of it did happen to his descendants! 2 Kings 25
The only thing that did NOT truly happen was in v. 39: “you renounced the covenant of your servant.”
Go back to 2 Sam 7:15-16; And remember Gen. 49:10!
But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
These are OLD promises. Promises that God ultimately kept in the coming of Jesus. Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:32-33; Acts 2:30-32
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
Indeed, Jesus sitting on David’s throne on the earth in Israel is a future impossibility. Speaking of Jeconiah: Jeremiah 22:30
Thus says the Lord:
‘Write this man down as childless,
A man who shall not prosper in his days;
For none of his descendants shall prosper,
Sitting on the throne of David,
And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ”
What we are to learn from this passage (and I believe the whole of the 3rd book of the Psalms) is to trust God just as much in the bad times as you trust Him in the good times.
46-52 - How Long?
46-52 - How Long?
God can indeed hide Himself forever if He wants to!
Man is short-lived; he cannot outlast God.
Since God has this capacity, does He have the capacity to abandon His people?
Where are God’s previous mercies?
The word occurs all over the psalms. Wisdom literature filled with the mercy/lovingkindness of God. Ethan then asks essentially, “where is your mercy now?” After all, He made this promise to David!
The psalm ends with almost a gasping plea: “remember the reproach of your servants.”
Followed with a triumphant statement of praise: Praise be to Yahweh for eternity!
Amen and Amen (“this is true”).
What can we make of such disjointed statements?
Some have claimed that this last verse is actually the end of the 3rd book of the psalms, and that may be so.
However, I cannot think, given what is said in this psalm, that the praise would have been completely absent from Ethan’s mouth. Note 89:5-14.
Here are the seemingly disparate issues we must somehow harmonize:
It looks as if God has broken His covenant.
Yet the audience must trust that He has not, and praise Him for his mighty works eternally.
Ethan’s faithfulness challenges ours.
In some ways, Ethan was called upon for more trust than we are. We have all revealed, and can read all the scriptures and understand that God had NOT broken His promises, but had maintained through His providence a way for His Son to come forth at the right time. God provided the seed in Jesus! Gal: 4:4
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
In some ways, it can never be as dark for us as it was for Ethan in this psalm. It can never be as dark for us as it was for the Davidic Kings when Babylon took Judah into captivity.
Why? Because we have the shining light of Christ in our hearts. We have the Kingdom. We have the relationship that God has wanted with humanity from the beginning. You need to be in that relationship this morning.
Do we “understand”?
Remember that this is a “maskil”. A song meant to help us understand. Hopefully we all can understand that we need to be right with God so that when the hard times come, we can trust Him, that He will accomplish what He has promised - NOT necessarily what I want, but what HE brings about - however that looks.