Fourth Sunday of Advent (Candlelight 2023)
Notes
Transcript
The One Who Brings Peace
The One Who Brings Peace
Welcome to Burr Oak for those who are visiting tonight. I am Pastor Ben and it is a joy to have you with us this evening. Tonight we are celebrating the Fourth Sunday in Advent. Our message tonight will be looking to the one who brings peace and the means by which that peace was bought. As we get ready to turn towards God’s word would you please pray with me?
PRAYER
Father you have again allowed us to come together today. Lord as we prepare to receive your word open our hearts and minds to understand it. Father may you present yourself to us today. For those that are sorrowful bring them comfort. For those that are fearful bring the courage. For those that harboring sin, bring them conviction that they might be able to walk in the freedom of the light of Christ. Father we ask your blessing on our message for today. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Tonight as we consider the topic of peace we are going to work our way through Psalm Eighty-Nine. If you brought your own Bible please turn there now. If you want to follow on your device please bring it up. If you want to use the blue pew Bible it starts on page 549. Or you can follow along on the screen.
Sing of the Steadfast Love
Sing of the Steadfast Love
1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. 2 For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” 3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: 4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
At the start of this psalm we are introduced to Ethan the Ezrahite. Do not let this confuse you with the Ezra of the second temple. Ethan was a contemporary of David and was considered to be a wise man. We know this because we are told that Solomon was wiser than Ethan.
31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
This Psalm is the only one that is credited to Ethan.
1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
Ethan begins by proclaiming that he will indeed sing of Yahweh’s steadfast love. This steadfast love is Yahweh’s hesed, his covenantal love. His love that is slow to anger, rich in mercy. A love that is grounded in the promise that Yahweh made with his people. The promise that was made? An everlasting kingdom. A Kingdom ruled by Yahweh.
No One Like Yahweh
No One Like Yahweh
As Ethan moves into his next section he walks the reader through why he can sing of Yahweh’s steadfast love. He begins by turning his eyes to what takes place in the heavens.
5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! 6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, 7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? 8 O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?
As we approach this section there is an aspect of Ethan’s writing here that we need to wrestle with. Who are the holy ones that are mentioned here? Our first reading may lead us to believe that Ethan is referring to the angels. While angels may be included in the terms holy ones. The real issue is what is meant by the phrase in verse 6.
6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
The phrase heavenly beings is better translated as sons of God. This term can tend to be one that causes much confusion in our day. In Ethan’s day these “heavenly beings” were believed to be the gods of the other nations. According to Michael Heiser, Ethan’s view would have seen these being as having a greater responsibility than angels who were messengers.
“In the ancient Semitic world, sons of God (Hebrew: beney elohim) is a phrase used to identify divine beings with higher-level responsibilities or jurisdictions.”
Heiser, Michael S.. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (p. 24).
If we understand this it means that Ethan begins his next section by proclaiming that Yahweh is greater than any other heavenly being. There is no god like his God. Ethan moves in his next section to proclaim that Yahweh’s greatness is not only demonstrated and seen in the heavenly realm, but in the physical realm as well.
9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. 10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. 12 The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
The heaven and the earth are yours everything is yours for you have founded them! This is Ethan’s exclamation. He names three things here that are again significant in his time that we need to understand. This Rahab that is mentioned is not the Rahab that hid Joshua and Caleb. Rather this Rahab is a creature and it’s name it the descriptor of it. Rahab in Hebrew means chaos and in the days of the Davidic Dynasty Rahab was understood to be a sea monster and was often used as a picture of the nation of Egypt. The other two names are both mountains. Hermon marked the northern boarder of Israel, and Tabor sat in the middle of the nation at the northern edge of the Jezreel Valley. The important thing to know about both of these places is that they were used for pagan worship. Mt. Hermon is where the temple for the pagan god Pan is is located. Tabor was the location of high point view of many of the battles that took place in the Jezreel Valley.
Ethan’s descriptions here proclaim that he can sing of Yahweh’s steadfast love, because despite the chaos, despite the blood shed, despite the wickedness of this life, Yahweh is over all things and all things must respond to him! Finishing out his exaltation of Yahweh in this section, Ethan proclaims that those who recognize Yahweh for who he is are blessed!
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. 15 Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, 16 who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted. 17 For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to the Lord, our king to the Holy One of Israel.
For those that understand the character of Yahweh, there is reason to give a festal shout. There is reason to praise his name. They are strengthen by his glory, they are protected by him. He has provided all they need, they can find rest and peace in him. Ethan continues in the next section to show us that this is because Yahweh is the keeper of his promises!
The Keeper of His Promise
The Keeper of His Promise
Ethan understood that the king that ruled according to Yahweh’s precepts would be blessed by Yahweh and that those blessing would extend to the kingdom and who resided in it as well. We see here that Ethan understood this to be David and his line.
19 Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said: “I have granted help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. 20 I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him,
This next section lists out several of the promises that Yahweh made with his people.
21 so that my hand shall be established with him; my arm also shall strengthen him.
He promised that he would forever be with them.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him; the wicked shall not humble him. 23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
He promised that the enemy would have no power over them.
24 My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
He promised that his steadfast love would forever be with them.
25 I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.
He promised that their kingdom would grow.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ 27 And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. 29 I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens.
He promised that he would be as a father to them and that their kingdom would last forever.
30 If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules, 31 if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, 32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, 33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness. 34 I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. 35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David.
He promised that when the people turned away, that he would pursue after them. That any discipline they recieved would be to bring them back into right standing with him. That he would never leave them or forsake them. But ultimately, Yahweh’s promise was that it would last forever.
36 His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. 37 Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
If this psalm ended here it would be so great. There is no one in the heavens or on the earth that is like Yahweh. He has kept his promises. Our trials and tribulations are kept at bay. It is easy for us to sing of his steadfast love. Yet, you would be surprised to find out that psalm 89 is not a praise psalm but a lament psalm. After all that Ethan has proclaimed up to this point he turns to his next section.
Covered With Shame
Covered With Shame
38 But now you have cast off and rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed. 39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown in the dust. 40 You have breached all his walls; you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
Ethan wrestling with the promises he trusts from Yahweh’s word, lives in a very different experience. There is not peace and prosperity. The walls have been breached, their defenses have been knocked down. As we continue in this section we see that Ethan’s experience is that of one that has gone from living in abundance to mockery and shame.
41 All who pass by plunder him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice. 43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword, and you have not made him stand in battle. 44 You have made his splendor to cease and cast his throne to the ground.
David the mighty warrior no longer can stand in battle. His sword is now ineffective. Devastation for the kingdom as the king now is covered with shame.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with shame. Selah
Do you get a sense for the tension that Ethan is wrestling with. He reads and understands one thing form Yahweh’s word, but his experience around him causes him to believe another. Lord your word says that if I live as you have called me to this is what I should expect. This is what I should experience, but all around me is something entirely different?
Many of us wrestle with this same situation today. And we can find ourselves asking the sames questions that Ethan asks in his next section.
How Long Oh Lord
How Long Oh Lord
46 How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? 47 Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man! 48 What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
Can you see the problem that Ethan is wrestling with here? My life is short, are all my days to be marked with strife and struggle? Where is the peace? Where is the abundance? Where is the blessing? Or as Ethan questions in verse 49.
49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
In Ethan’s day they covenant that they were under with Yahweh told them that they should be looking forward to the one that Yahweh would bring. As we read this psalm, we can see that Ethan very much has his eyes fixed on David. The once magnificent warrior king, the protector of Israel. Yet, his eyes are misplaced.
Even in the days of Jesus, eyes were misplaced, understanding was lacking in what Yahweh was really trying to accomplish.
11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.
Even after the resurrection the disciples still did not understand.
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
The Israelites so bad wanted for their promised warrior king like David to ride into town and lead a revolution against their Roman oppressors. Their eyes were so focused on this that they missed the bigger problem. They missed that the peace they were after was not the peace they really needed.
We now live in a time under the New Covenant, where we can look back at Ethan’s psalm and while we understand it to be a lament psalm, we can also see were it is prophetic in nature about Jesus.
Psalm 89:3 (ESV)
3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
Jesus is the chosen one in which the New Covenant is through.
4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
Jesus’ kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
Understanding Rahab to be a sea serpent, we know that Jesus crushed the head of the serpent.
12 The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
Mt. Hermon was the site that Jesus professed on this rock I will build my church and Mt. Tabor is believed to be the location of the transfiguration.
19 Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said: “I have granted help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
From Genesis 3 verse 15 all through the OT the prophets spoke of one who was to come. We can see that this one was Jesus. Even in the portion where Ethan is questioning where Yahweh is at we can see this pointing to the life of Jesus.
Psalm 89:38 (ESV)
38 ... you are full of wrath against your anointed.
At the cross Jesus took the full weight of Yahweh’s wrath.
41 All who pass by plunder him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice.
Jesus was plundered, he was mocked and scorned. Those against him believed that they had been proven right and they rejoiced at his death.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with shame. Selah
It had appeared to his disciple that his days had been cut short and everything that they had believed had been a lie. Why? Because their eyes had been misplaced. Their hearts desired a Messiah, but their minds were blind to what the Messiah was coming for.
The darkness of this world blinds our understanding. Yet, John tells us in the opening of his gospel that
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The peace that they were wanting was not he peace that the Messiah was bringing. They wanted worldly peace. They wanted freedom from oppression. What the Messiah was bringing was peace with God.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
The angels came proclaiming peace to all men. The peace they were speaking of was not of worldly peace, it was of peace between man and Yahweh, because the Messiah had come and was going to fulfill his purpose.
In many ways we still wrestle with the same things as Ethan. We read our God’s word, we believe what is written, but when it comes to our experiences we struggle. We often find ourselves relating to the closing statements of Ethan.
49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David? 50 Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked, and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations, 51 with which your enemies mock, O Lord, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
And when we are here the answer is the same as it was for Ethan and the disciples, correct the focus of our eyes. We need to check both our hearts desire and our minds understanding. We need to live in remembrance of the sacrifice and with joyous anticipation of Jesus return. Here is where we find peace amidst the struggles of this life. Jesus brought us peace with Yahweh with his first coming. His second coming will bring us peace in the here and now. May we turn our eyes to Jesus and find the peace that Paul states we can.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
END IN PRAYER