The City of God

“I just LOVE the Psalms!” often spoken, but…how many love all of them?

It’s easy to love the simpler ones—#1, #23, 100,…121...

Of course, Ps 117 “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!”

Called the Laudate Dominum (Praise the Lord) It does teach much, even though short and simple

Difficult to love the ones that make us scratch our heads a bit…like these of the sons of Korah

The bulk of our work is n vv 1-8

We’ll read the entire Psalm for context and use the end to cap the message

Yet another Psalm of of the sons of Korah

Once again, focusing on the greatness of God…

It is instructive to the worshipers who are there to worship

Also instructive to their behavior…what they do with their information

The Greatness of God

Great is Ga-dol; great, in the sense of remarkable, out of the ordinary;

In the Psalms often used to emphasize this God’s superiority over all other gods

In this Psalm several things are mentioned

He’s made known as a fortress

We’ve seen other mentions of similar parts of His nature in other Psalms

Often picked up by song writers, e.g., Praise the Name of Jesus by

Praise the name of Jesus, Praise the name of Jesus. He’s my Rock, He’s my Fortress, He’s my Deliverer. In Him shall I trust. Praise the name of Jesus.

He astonishes kings, putting them into panic

Shatters ships

Both of these appear to look forward to the end times or Millennium

The City of our God

Back up a couple Psalms, Sean preached on July 4th weekend Ps 46 4

Psalm 46:4 ESV

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

It was in the temple of Jerusalem where God met with His people

In worship, mediated by the priests in an elaborate system set up by God Himself

Feast, festivals, sacrifices, offerings, the execution of the Law of Moses

A quick history lesson

Early in the Exodus, the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, the priests, Levites and the entire system was established by God to format the system by which sins could be covered until such time as the law was completed and the final sacrifice—Jesus—was made

David gathered the materials and set things in motion, assigning roles and duties (for such as the Sons of Korah)

Solomon was the man who directed the building of the temple itself, at which time the worship went there instead of the Tabernacle (tent)

By direction of God, it was to Jerusalem the Jewish people went to celebrate the holy days of the nation

This in a culture in which gods were thought to be regional gods, sometimes dwelling on mountaintops

Gross underestimate of the God, though He met with His people in the temple, He was—and is—God over all the earth

Note last week’s message, Yahweh Elyon—God the Most High

The elevation is not the height of the city— ~2500’, but the status—it is the City of the Most High

It is the joy of the whole earth because it is home to the temple of Yahweh

Scripture is filled with reference about it; some point to the then-existing city, some to the yet-future city; some to the current dwelling place of God

Ps 46 4 “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.”

Appears to reference the city of Jerusalem then

Heb 11 10 “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”

Appears to reference the Heavenly City—the New Jerusalem

Certainly looking to the New Jerusalem is Rev. 21 2 “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

The city, as exiting was obviously a strong city; all the imagery in the Psalm indicate that, even with the command in vv. 12-13

The Eternal Nature of our God

Vv. 4-8 relate to the eternal nature of the city; if so the God of the city must also be eternal

That poses a couple problems

Jerusalem was destroyed—and the temple—once by the Babylonians—once by the Romans

Though the city now exists and thrives, there is no temple—though plans are in place to do so when certain conditions

So, we must look at this, at least in part, as the eternal city; and so the God of the city must be eternal

…and if that leaves any doubt, there’s Ps 48 14

Psalm 48:14 ESV

that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.

What Do We Do with all This?

Let’s take stock of why we love the Psalms

Certainly, some give us great solace; some, on the surface, give us a great wealth of information

…but how many of us take the time to read, and really dig into those that are not so simple to digest

With this Psalm, we can—MUST—first put ourselves in the position of the audience of the day…and look forward to Ps 48 12-14

Psalm 48:12–14 ESV

Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.

There were two things there

Look and see, examine the evidence

Tell the next generation

There were earlier commands about passing the Word of God down through the generation:

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 ESV

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

This is only a slight expansion of that command

To bring all this into the realm of today, when we don’t have the city of God present, may sound imposing BUT we can still follow the general instructions of vv. 12-14

We have the full counsel of the Word of God; read it; examine the evidence and be convinced

Requires prayer

Requires time

Pass the information on

Our kids

Our grandkids

Any other upon whom we can have influence

When we examine this Psalm in the light of the NT, we can…should…MUST…see not a physical city, but that which is to come

Our passage to the New Jerusalem depends on one thing…having that right relationship with Jesus Christ; recognizing Him as the King

Thought the Psalmist likely was not conscious of this it’s easy to see, in light of the full revelation

Jesus is the King; this quoted earlier:

Praise the name of Jesus, Praise the name of Jesus. He’s my Rock, He’s my Fortress, He’s my Deliverer. In Him shall I trust. Praise the name of Jesus.

Our Challenge for Today

To Know Christ

John 17:3 ESV

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Philippians 3:10 ESV

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

To Share Christ

English Standard Version (Psalm 48)

that you may tell the next generation that this is God,our God forever and ever.