The Love of Advent

Psalm 36 ESV

To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord. Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil. Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.

INTRODUCTION

The Ngorongoro Crater is a massive 10-12 mile wide, 102 square mile, hole in the ground in Tanzania that creates a natural habitat for all sorts of African animals.

It is believed that the crater formed when a volcano erupted and collapsed on itself sometime in primitive history.

The crater is a natural wonder. Something you look at and know that only God could do as the Maker and Ruler of all who is putting His majesty and wisdom and judgments on display in the realm of nature.

And if you were to go on some sort of exploration there, you would be astounded at the beauty you will find:

Black rhinos

Elephants

The densest population of lions on earth

Gazelles

leopards

Buffalo

Zebras

Timon and Poomba

There are even a host of pink flamingos that live on a shallow soda lake called Magadi.

If it sounds like some sort of safari heaven, that is certainly what the pictures make it look like.

There are literally pictures online of zebras and wildebeests strolling by about 2,000 flamingos and the beautiful ridge of the crater in the background.

It looks like some sort of animal heaven.

But here is the thing about the crater—right next to all that beauty, there is a lot of ugliness.

That lion population desires to feast on the flesh of the zebras and gazelles

The leopard will cut down its prey and drag its carcass into a tree and eat on the rotting meat for days.

Greedy poachers often travel into the crater in order to kill black rhinos and elephants for the thrill and the ivory.

The lion population is now considered at risk because of the greed of men who must have one more trophy.

There are parasitic plants like the “dodder.”

A vine weed that will grow over everything and swallow it up.

It looks like the ground shot up the ugliest, most bright green weeds it could muster and swallowed up all the beauty.

There are birds of death like the Griffon Vulture which looks like a turkey and a bald eagle had an evil, hairless baby.

There are spotted hyenas prowling around, waiting to chew on whatever is dead or vulnerable.

So you can see the crater possesses images of beauty and images of ugliness.

The crater is full of life and full of death.

It is full of jaw-dropping sights

It is full of things that make you want to look in another direction

Psalm 36 is kind of this way.

It is like the Ngorongoro Crater.

We will see the most beautiful and awe-inspiring picture of God’s covenant love for His people.

And we will also see the sinful, depraved state of the human heart.

We will see how God’s charity toward His people is above and beyond anything we could imagine.

We will see how humanity’s sin is more deceitful and deceptive than we can really fathom.

Two images in one Psalm.

And from it, we have a clear call to turn from sin and enjoy the transcendent love of God.

CONTEXT

The Psalm itself doesn’t really have a historical setting. Neither will the rest that we look at in this series.

They are general and could have been written by King David on a host of occasions.

But the picture it paints is clear:

Man’s wickedness is fearless in the wrong way. Man’s wickedness is flattering. Man’s wickedness is fraudulent. Man’s wickedness is failing. Man’s wickedness is formulating evil. Man’s wickedness is fighting against the Lord’s people. Man’s wickedness will face judgment.

But the love of God is like the beauty and life of the Ngorongoro standing out against the ugliness in the crater.

It is persistent.

It is perfect.

It is protecting.

It is providing.

And with it being Advent, we are eager to say that the love of God has come us in a Person.

Our goal this morning is to contrast the sinfulness of man and the love of God.

And then to be spurred on to a life of repentance.

And I hope to do all of this in around 30 minutes. AROUND!

That may come as a shock to your ears, but it is what I feel led to do.

I know I have been long-winded often this year.

You haven’t complained to my face one time.

This is month of brief sermons in the Psalms in my “thank you.”

That being said, I am already short on time, so let’s get to it.

PICTURE #1: THE EVIL OF HUMANITY (v. 1-4, 9, 11-12)

THE SET-UP (v. 1)

Most English translations, including the ESV, render this verse in a very confusing way.

It makes it seem like David is saying that sinners have a message in their hearts from sin itself.

The Hebrew reads somewhat like this:

“An utterance/oracle of transgression concerning the wicked is in the inner parts of my heart.”

Considering the original language, I think the NIV actually comes closer when it says:

I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked...

Psalm 36:1 (NIV)

This is David saying that God has spoken to him in his heart and given him a message about the sinfulness of wicked people.

God is a self-revelating God, meaning, He reveals Himself to humanity.

He does this in nature.

He does this through conscience.

He does this through His Word.

This Psalm is light from God. And it sheds light.

It sheds light on the wicked, foolish state of humanity.

It sheds light on the wonderful and great love of God.

It is like verse 9 says— “in your light do we see light.”

And what the light of God’s revelation will help us to see is these two contrasting images:

The fallen evil of people

The ferocious love of the Triune God

We start by looking at the evil of humanity.

I want to give you seven quick observations regarding the state of man.

1. Evil humanity FEARS not God (v. 1).

There is no fear of God before the eyes of wicked.

There is no fear of the Creator that stands in between them and sin.

They believe there is no accountability with God.

The end of verse 1 is actually quoted by Paul in Romans 3 as he strings together around 10 Old Testament verses in order to explain how sinful people are.

Romans 3:10–18 ESV

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

This is the state of humanity and it leaves them in a state of foolishness and folly.

For we know from Proverbs 1:7 that wisdom begins with the fear of God.

So if you do not fear God, you will be a fool.

You might be very smart. You might be knowledgeable.

But you will not be able to apply that knowledge and you will be left living unwisely. A moral fool.

Furthermore, Psalm 25:14 says:

Psalm 25:14 ESV

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.

So if you do not fear God, you are not only a fool, but you are God’s enemy.

2. Evil humanity FLATTER themselves (v. 2).

The wicked man tells himself that he is better than he is.

He lies to himself that his sin will never be found out.

When his conscience accuses the wicked woman, she says, “Well, at least I am better than other people.

And all of this self-flattery is so that they can continue on in unrighteousness, soothing their conscience with lies and autobiographical fantasy tales.

3. Evil humanity is FRAUDULENT with their words (v. 3).

People lie.

They will put words in your mouth and their own that were never there.

They say things about their past that aren’t true to make themselves look better.

They say things about the present that aren’t true to protect themselves.

They say things about the future that aren’t true to manipulate the people around them.

One of the greatest evidences of humanity’s guilt before God is the torrid trampling upon the 9th Commandment that happens incessantly around the globe at every waking moment.

The human tongue is a sledgehammer to the perfect glass of God’s law.

4. Evil humanity FAILS to do good (v. 3).

David says that the wicked man has ceased to act wisely and do good.

They lack of wisdom is fruit from not having a fear of God before their eyes.

And because they live as moral fools, they fail to do good.

They do not do what they know they ought to do.

The sins of omission.

God is just as wrathful toward these as the sins of of blatant transgression in our behavior—the sins of commission.

And Jesus suffered for these sins just as much.

5. Evil humanity FORMULATES wickedness (v. 4).

He sits on his bed and plots trouble.

He makes plans that put him on a path of evil. On a way that is not good.

He does not reject that which the Lord hates and is an abomination to Him.

He welcomes it. He embraces it. He has affection for it.

It is the opposite of the worshipful Psalmist who sits on his bed and plots praise.

Psalm 63:5–6 ESV

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

6. Evil humanity FIGHTS God’s people (v. 11).

In verse 11, David prays that the arrogant foot would not be able to trample him.

He asks God to spare him from the hand of the wicked coming against him and driving him away.

David’s prayer request reveals the inclination of those who dwell on the earth that oppose God and His people.

Because they are proud and arrogant and believe they are out of the reach of God’s scales of justice, they will attempt to oppress and harm the Lord’s anointed.

They will seek to slaughter the saints.

They will long to make martyrs of mighty men.

David’s prayer is a preemptive request for protection, but it is also a revealing word about the wicked of the world.

7. Evil humanity will FACE judgment (v. 6, 12).

Wicked fools may believe there is justice with God, but they are lying to themselves about their ultimate destination just as much as they are lying to themselves about their own goodness.

God’s judgments are too deep for us to fathom (v. 6)—our little brains can barely comprehend the responsibility of judging every soul who ever lived--but they are very real.

Matthew records Jesus promising to judge every human soul and separating sheep from goats—sheep going to everlasting life and goats going to everlasting darkness.

The author of Hebrews says that it is appointed for man to die once and face judgment (Hebrews 9:27…)

John’s revelation depicts the Son of Man judging every soul for every second of their lives and all who are enemies of God are sent to the lake of fire with Satan and death itself

Those who deny the clear judgment of evil that we see in God’s Word are hardening their hearts in unbelief toward the One who will ultimately judge them.

That is a dangerous game that must end today.

If you have ears to hear, please don’t disregard God’s clear and final word regarding eternal judgment.

A time will come when the evildoers will lie fallen and thrust down in eternal punishment, they will be unable to rise.

PICTURE #2: THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD (v. 5-10)

Now let us compare the ugliness of the crater with the beauty.

Let us contrast the evil of humanity with the love of God.

This is much like the first Psalm in the Psalter.

It compares the righteous man and the wicked man.

This is an even more stark contrast.

Here we have the wicked man compared with the righteous love of God Himself.

We had seven observations about the wickedness of man. Here are five quick observations about the love of God.

1. God’s great love is PERSISTENT (v. 5, 7, 10).

You see this in verses 5, 7 and 10.

“Your steadfast love” is the phrase each time.

The Hebrew word for love is hesed.

This is God’s loving-kindness.

This is the same loving-kindness that God wanted to be known by when He revealed Himself to Moses.

Exodus 34:6–7 ESV

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

This love is an expression of Himself, for He is love (1 John 4:16)

And as we will see in these verses, His love is not just a sentiment in His heart, but it is toward us.

He is rich in love toward His children.

He has promised Himself to us—obligated Himself to us and He fulfills that covenant obligation in love, willing and working for His good pleasure.

And He does this persistently. Steadfastly.

Without ceasing.

God never stops being good.

And He never stops working good in love for His children.

And this persistent, steadfast love is unlimited (v. 5)

It is extends to the heavens.

His faithful loyalty to His people stretches all the way to the clouds.

It goes on forever and ever like the sky seems to from our perspective.

This persistent love is precious (v. 7).

It is to be treasured and it should draw our attention as precious things tend to do.

We look upon the love of God the way a mother looks at her newborn baby.

Precious. Something to be held tightly.

This persistent love is to be asked for (v. 10).

David asks that God’s love will continue on.

The word “continue” means to draw out.

We want God’s love to be drawn out over the course of our lives and on into eternity.

David is saying, “Let it never end!”

2. God’s great love is PERMANENT (v. 6).

It is immovable.

His righteousness is like the mighty mountains, meaning—it doesn’t change.

God was perfectly righteous in eternity past.

He is perfectly righteous now.

He will be perfectly righteous forever.

And that means that the loving-kindness which He pours out on humanity is a righteous love.

It is unlike our love.

Our love can be fickle.

In some seasons we are more loving than others.

Our love can get mixed with sinful jealousy and frustration and agitation.

It is not like a mountain, but often like an anthill.

But God’s love is not like this.

It is like the mountain range at your favorite scenic stop in Southwest VA.

You can go year and year and be sure that it will still be there. Same as before.

And because of this, we can be sure that His righteous love and all of His other righteous blessings will continue to come to His sons and daughters who are upright in heart (v. 10).

3. God’s great love is PROTECTING (v. 6-7, 11).

We see this in two manners.

First of all, in verse 6, we see the common love that God has for all.

He preserves the life of man and beast.

With every merciful breath He allows, He is preserving the life of man and beast.

Believer and unbeliever.

All of humanity experiences this as God’s image-bearers.

Secondly, in verse 7 and in verse 11, we see how He protects His covenant people. His Church.

He pours out His loving-kindness on us and then welcomes us into the shadow of His wings and gives us refuge.

Refuge from sin.

Refuge from an accusing conscience.

Refuge from worry.

Refuge from hopeless grief.

Refuge from purposeless suffering.

Refuge from anything in this life that is too much to bear.

The Father loves to gather His children under His wings like a gentle, but fierce mother eagle seeing to the peace and prosperity of her little ones.

There, like David, we find hope that our enemies will not overcome us and will not be able to inflict on us the level of evil they believe they have the power to inflict.

4. God’s great love is PROVIDING (v. 8-9).

There are three examples of provision in this text and each time, God’s people are satisfied.

He provides a feast of abundance in His house. (v. 8)

The worshipping congregation of heaven will be satisfied.

And each week, we gather here and we get a preview and we feast on the Word and we are indeed satisfied.

He gives drink from His river of delights (v. 8).

He is the fountain of life.

All who drink from His grace by faith will be saved.

He gives light by His light (v. 9).

His Word and truth are a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.

Feasting, drinking and seeing.

The love of God provides fills us and relieves us and opens our eyes to the wonders of His Word and His works.

It does not leave the partaker empty. Not when it is truly received.

5. God’s great love came in a PERSON.

Earlier I said that God has revealed Himself in nature, in the conscience and in His holy Word.

These things are true.

This is the third question of the 1689 London Baptist Catechism.

Q: How has God revealed Himself?

A: He has revealed Himself in nature, in His Word and...

And this is the part I left out earlier so that it could have the proper spotlight here toward our ending:

In His Son Jesus Christ.

God has revealed Himself to us in His Son, Jesus.

He is the image of God invisible. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature.

He is the Word made flesh.

He was God in the beginning, was with God in the beginning.

If you have seen the Son, you have seen the Father (John 14:9)

And He is God’s great gift of love to wicked man.

In the words of Thomas Watson, when God sent His Son to earth, He put his greatest jewel in pawn.

Behold the love of God the Father in giving Christ to be broken for us. That God should lay such a jewel to pawn is to the wonderment of the angels.

Thomas Watson

And this was an act of love.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Every thing you have learned of God in Psalm 36 is true of Jesus.

And everything you have learned of God in Psalm 36 is proved by Jesus.

GOSPEL/REPENTANCE CONCLUSION

God’s Son was born of a virgin. And here is what we believe about Him.

Now this is the true faith:

That we believe and confess     that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,     is both God and human, equally.

He is God from the essence of the Father,     begotten before time;     and he is human from the essence of his mother,     born in time;     completely God, completely human,     with a rational soul and human flesh;     equal to the Father as regards divinity,     less than the Father as regards humanity.

Although he is God and human,     yet Christ is not two, but one.     He is one, however,     not by his divinity being turned into flesh,     but by God's taking humanity to himself.     He is one,     certainly not by the blending of his essence,     but by the unity of his person.     For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,     so too the one Christ is both God and human.

Athanasian Creed (5th-7th Centuries)

The one Christ is both God and human.

Therefore, He was a man without the sin nature that you and I were born with.

We bear the image of the first Adam by birth, but the one Christ is the 2nd Adam.

The 2nd Adam did not fail to keep God’s law.

He was perfect in every way and in every work. He never sinned.

And yet, the Second Adam died.

The first Adam was told he would die if he sinned.

But the Second Adam does not sin. Why does He die?

Because this is what He was born to do.

He is the gift given by God to die in the place of sinners.

He died as if He committed all of our sin that we have committed.

He died as if He was sinner like the first Adam.

And He absorbed all the wrath that should have been aimed at you and I for eternity.

And then the 2nd Adam rose from the grave to show that as God, He has the power over death.

Christ defeated sin and death.

This is the great message of Christmas.

And now, God, having revealed Himself, beckons you to come to Him through His Son.

To agree that your sin which slayed God’s Son is pure evil—just as Psalm 36 has shown us.

And you must turn from your sin and repent.

But it doesn’t stop there—for you don’t just turn away from sin, but you turn to Jesus in faith.

You trust in His death for you. You believe He rose from the dead. Your faith is in His saving work to cover your sin, make you righteous before God and to ultimately provide you everlasting life.

REPENTANCE MUST INCLUDE LOVE

But I want to close with this final exhortation.

And this really brings the entire Psalm to a needle point.

This is your one thing to remember.

The light of God’s oracle in this Psalm has revealed two things to us:

The evil of humanity—depraved and deserving of God’s judgment and wrath; destined to be thrust down forever.

The great love of God—persistent, permanent, protecting, providing—and revealed in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Having seen these two realities it is my great hope that you would repent this Advent season and trust in Christ, but understand this...

Your repentance must be laced with love.

YOUR REPENTANCE MUST BE LACED WITH LOVE.

The Lord God wants more than external response.

Imagine disciplining your child and then telling your child you love them and they robotically say, “I’ll be a better kid tomorrow.”

That would kind of break your heart, wouldn’t it?

Don’t you want more than that? Don’t you want a hug? Don’t you want affection? Don’t you want an obedience born out of true love for you?

If all our repentance tends to be is, “You are right God. I will obey now,” we will constantly be frustrated.

Christianity will just seem like behavioral modification—like all the other religions.

What makes biblical religion different is that it is based in the real-deal love of God toward us.

And our response must be one of true love in return.

We do not just stop sinning because of consequence or even conscience.

We stop because God is loving and does not deserve to be treated like an enemy by His creation.

He deserves to be loved.

Affection-based obedience from a humbled heart that is surrendered to Jesus as Lord.

This is what God wants.

***BAND RETURN***

So unbeliever...

Repent and believe today. Become a Christian. Follow Jesus.

Not to get out of Hell. Not to avoid consequence. Not to sooth your conscience. Not primarily.

But because you count this loving God worthy of love in return.

Believer...

If your motivation to not sin is anything other than love for God, you will probably find that sin kicking your tail all over the Peninsula more often than not.

Don’t sin because you love the God of love.

Christ made it simple--If you love me, you will obey me.

Turn to the steadfast love of God today and then live in it.

Because in the Ngorongoro Crater, when the lions come:

The zebra uses its stripes to blend into the crowd

The gazelle uses its speed and agility

The wildbeest kicks and jumps

Well Christian—when that Satanic Lion called the Devil comes for us, we simply hide ourselves in the great love of God.

Run to Him. Hide in Him. How precious is His love?