Psalm 118

Anny suggestions to improve the following sermon? where could I make the gospel message more clear? "What a blessing it has been to study the book of Psalms. I just speak for myself that preparing these has been a tremendous benefit to me. Today is our last day in Psalms this Summer before Mike begins taking us through the book of Philippians.

We are blessed to be Americans. Sometimes American culture is overconfident. People follow confidence. Thats why they call them con men. Confidence men. They gain your confidence, but to do that they have to exude confidence. People naturally gravitate towards confident people and will follow them. The world follows America in part because we exude confidence. Someone was explaining to me once that one reason Japanese and Korean cars are so much better than American-made cars is because their culture is not overconfident. In Kanban Japanese manufacturing, they will stop the whole line if one peon pulls a chord and says there’s a problem, and they do it. They’re rewarded for finding problems. He said Americans tend to point the drill and and say “yep, thats perfect” “Nailed it” first try. And that attitude suits the culture, because if they stop production, then they are just a headache. Overconfidence at every level.

My brother and I are 15 months apart. Always shared a room. When we were children, we were out with our mother at the doctor’s office. My brother was 5 and I was 6, so I knew everything pretty much. My brother’s name is Drew. Drew saw a this lady with red hair and lots of freckles. He immediately says “Look, she’s got Freakles.”. I just laughed. and said. “Drew. they’re not called “freakles” silly.” “They’re called “frackles!”. There’s nothing wrong with confidence, but we can be confident and wrong. I don’t want us to be wrong.

Revelation 7:9–10 CSB

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Where is the vast multitude from? Every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number. Remember the Abrahamic covenant? A people beyond number. Now that we know who the vast multitude is, lets turn to Revelation 19:1–8 to see what they have to say.

Revelation 19:1–8 CSB

After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, because his judgments are trueA and righteous, because he has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality; and he has avenged the blood of his servants that was on her hands. A second time they said, Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever! Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah! A voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all his servants, and the ones who fear him, both small and great! Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns! Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.

Friends, Psalms, the end of Book 4 and all of Book 5, contains all of the occurrences of “Hallelujah” up until right here at the very end of the Bible. Incidentally, Psalms is also near the very end of the Old Testament in the Hebrew order of books. There are many reasons that we won’t get into today, why reading the Old Testament in that order helps us understand the New Testament. But Revelation is absolutely referencing invoking the context of Book 5 of Psalms and God’s gathering of the saints in from out of the whole world. Israel back in from the ultimate Exile, exile from Eden.

Remember, in the first creation, God made the place, Eden, and then he made the people. In the New Creation, he’s making the people and then he’s making the place. Why is he doing it like this? Is it just because he likes the poetic nature of it? Not exactly. Its because You can take the people out of exile, out of Babylon, but it takes time to get the Babylon out of the people. We’ve talked a little about this this summer, The process of sanctification. Getting the Babylon out of the people. That’s why, even in Book 5, where the people have returned from exile, and Thanksgiving and Hallelujahs abound, there is still a collection of psalms right before the end, that are about life in exile in Babylon. Why? Because Psalms is about the New Covenant and the New Creation. And In the new creation, God is making the people before he makes the place, because he’s still getting the Babylon out of the people. Book 5.

Israel, The House of Arron, Those who fear Yahweh. These are the same. Gathering everyone in from all over the world. That recalls the Abrahamic covenant, remember? Another part of the Abrahamic covenant is God promised to make Israel a nation of priests. The priesthood of the believer. The house of Aaron is the priestly house of Israel. Its called the Aaronic priesthood. All the priests of Israel are descended from Aaron. The psalmist is using a device called Synonymous Parallelism. We can see each of these are parallel lines. All three are the same thing. This is revolutionary. Let Israel say, Let the House of Aaron Say, so Israel is a kingdom of priests,Let those who fear Yahweh say, so Israel is all who fear Yahweh. Not all Israel is Israel, Paul tells us. Believers are Israel because they belong to Jesus, the true and faithful Israel. And here we learn they are indeed a kingdom of priests as promised to Abraham. What do they say? His faithful love endures forever. He’s devoted to his covenant.

Why do the people need to be priests? Why is that important in this Psalm. Remember, this is a messianic psalm where the people are the King and the King are the people. Charles is England. They’re preparing to ascend the hill They’re gong to need to open the gates and enter the Zion in Psalms 120–134. The gates only open for the righteous. Its just like the priest going further into the temple. We’ll look at this more when we get to verse 19. Lets continue:

Have you ever been in distress because you were confined and you couldn’t move and all you could do was yell “help!”? Thats what this is. This is the Messiah. Can you think of when Jesus was ever confined to a place? The cross? the grave? Certainly there is no greater distress than than when you die and you’re so confined that your brain can no longer send signals to your body to move. Complete loss of control. The word here for distress refers to wanting to be free, but instead being tied up and constricted. Its literally “narrow straits”. The word is only used three times in the Bible. Thats including here. One of the other places its used is just two psalms back in Psalm 116:3 “The ropes of death were wrapped around me, and the straits of Sheol overcame me;”. So again, this is about the Messiah and just two psalms above, its associated with the distressing experience of dying. “Yahweh answered me. and put me in a spacious place”. God raised Jesus from the dead. God rolled away a giant stone. “give this man some space!” right? Friends, the resurrection of the dead is the hope of our salvation. We are new creation. New Creation. Resurrection. Eternal Life. Salvation. its One big idea. As God is gathering us as King-Priests from every nation, tribe, and tongue. He’s gathering us from out of the straits of death. He’s putting us back in control. We were put here on earth to bear God’s image. To represent and execute his rule and reign over creation as statues that declare to creation: “Yahweh reigns. don’t be afraid, o creation. His faithful love endures forever. His covenant with creation will always persist.” Go back and listen to the sermon on Psalm 96 for a discussion about the covenant with creation.

Yahweh is for me; I will not be afraid.

What can a human do to me?

Let that one sit with you for a minute. Yahweh is for me. I will not be afraid. What can mankind do to me? That’s a great verse to memorize. If you ever find yourself suffering with anxiety or fear. That’s a great verse to meditate on and repeat like a mantra. The way I memorized it is “The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?”. That word there “mankind” or “man” is the word Adam. What can Adam do to me? The word Adam also means ground, because that’s where Adam was taken from, remember “From dust you came; to dust you’ll return”? What can the ground do to me? What can the grave do to me? Resurrection. If God is for me, not even death can destroy me. Jesus says not to fear those “who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who is against us?” And in that passage Paul, who is certainly recalling this Psalm, is talking about yearning for the new body. For resurrection. Yahweh is for me. I will not be afraid. Verse 7:

Just as we shouldn’t fear man. The other side of that coin is trusting in man to save us. Fear and trust are two sides of the same coin. Similar logic is at play in both. If I appease man, he won’t hurt me. Thats fear. If I appease man, he will help me. That’s trust. Same logic. So, we don’t fear or trust humanity if God is for us and he is helping us.

Being surrounded. Again, this idea of being hemmed in. Constrained. Covered by a swarm of bees. Its distressing to think about. But again, Yahweh comes through for his anointed. The enemies of the Messiah are destroyed. It is good news that Jesus will destroy his enemies. Little child Jesus, meek and mild, right? Friends, our Lord is a warrior. It is not a safe thing to be on the wrong side of his wrath. Remember what we read about him in the first messianic psalm, Psalm 2:12 “Pay homage to the Son or he will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for his anger may ignite at any moment.” But then I love the last line “All who take refuge in him are happy.” What’s the refrain here? “In the name of Yahweh, I destroyed them”. Yahweh is zealous for his name. The idea of God’s wrath and justice is unsettling for some of you. Its uncomfortable. However, judges who just let murderers go free don’t have very good reputations. They don’t stay judges for very long. Will not the judge of the Earth do right? The destruction of evil. The destruction of the enemies of God is a good thing. It upholds the good name of Yahweh. There’s no charge you can bring against him, and you don’t want to be the accuser. That’s satan. He’s the accuser. And even he will be destroyed, there won’t be a place for accusations against God nor his saints in the Kingdom.

but Yahweh helped me.

Do you feel that? Do you ever feel like the world is pushing you. Oh, they just want to see Christians fall. They eat it up. The world takes delight in hypocrisy, because it affirms them in their own sin. They’re pushing on you to make you fall, because there’s nothing holding them up. Have you ever felt the peer pressure? My grandfather on my mother’s side was a preacher. Paw Paw Nolan. Before God saved him, he was a terrible alcoholic. Had a reputation for being a drunk. He did not come from a Christian family. In fact, his family were exactly the kind of people that liked to push hard against Christians and see them fall. He was an artist. Even until he died, he painted beautifully. That was a hobby that he shared with his father. After he became a Christian and surrendered to the ministry, his family disowned him. They didn’t want to have anything to do with Christians. But that was mostly due to his mother, and through painting, he was able to repair his relationship with his dad after some time. One weekend, he and his dad, my paw paw and great grandfather, went to an art fair and sold their work. They did very well. It was worth celebrating over. My great grandfather pushed my paw paw very hard. “Son, you’re so holier than thou, you can’t have one drink with me?”. He pushed him hard to make him fall, and he did. My grandfather drove home drunk, with my grandfather as a passenger, got them into a terrible accident and his father was killed. He later surrendered to the ministry and he really needed to feel the grace that he preached.

Jesus will never fall. You and I are pushovers. He is not. Yahweh is his help. And, if you’re trusting in Jesus, Yahweh is your help. We don’t have to give the world what they desire. Verse 14.

If you’re thinking, you might be asking, wait Jeff, if this is about Jesus, how has Yahweh become his salvation? Thats a great question. He is and isn’t talking about salvation in the same way we do. We have this whole theology of salvation that comes to mind when we use that word, and the salvation here isn’t less than that, but, in Jesus’ case, the parts of our salvation that wouldn’t apply, don’t apply. The Psalmist here is recalling the things that we’ve already talked about, resurrection. God raised Jesus from the dead. thats a kind of salvation. and its a part of our salvation in Christ. We’re raised with him as this New Creation that we now are. The defeat of the Messiah’s enemies. Thats a kind of salvation. Verse 15:

I will not die, but I will live

I mean, that’s the resounding theme of this Psalm isn’t it. Resurrection. Eternal life. “I will not diem but I will live”

and proclaim what Yahweh has done.

but did not give me over to death.

How did Yahweh discipline the Messiah? The whole dynasty is in view here, from David to Solomon, to Christ, to our life in Christ. Remember 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17. Thats part of the Davidic Covenant, that God would discipline the davidic king when he does wrong. We tend to read scripture as if things are happening at one particular time in a sequence of events, but very often, in the prophets and in the Psalms, that is not the case. Its a bit like a movie poster. A movie poster, with one picture, tells you about the whole story, but It might overlay still images from many different scenes from different parts in the movie onto this one 2 dimensional picture so that it hopefully of gives you an idea of what the movie is about. Thats kind of what’s going on here. The posters for the John Ford westerns are a great example. Look up the one for She Wore A Yellow Ribbon or Stagecoach. So, what we’re seeing here is fulfilment and faithfulness to the Davidic Covenant. Verse 19

and give thanks to Yahweh.

The gates of the righteous. These are the gates to the city of Zion. Its God’s city, so its God’s gate. Psalm 24 might come to your mind. We often read it on Palm Sunday. Psalm 24:7–10 “Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in. Who is this King of glory? Yahweh, strong and mighty,Yahweh, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in. Who is he, this King of glory? Yahweh of Armies, he is the King of glory.” Yahweh will come in. He’s the king. But also, the Messiah is the King, so he will come in. The gates open for the Righteous Messiah. So here we are, the people from verses 2–4 and we’re following the the King from 5 and on, and the gates are going to open for him. He will lead us in as we give thanks to Yahweh. His faithful love endures forever. His faithful love is his covenant love. We’ve already seen how The Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants are converging into this one man, Jesus Christ. Who is this king of glory? Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! The righteous will go in. We go in with Christ. Its his righteousness.

has become the cornerstone.

This is the day Yahweh has made;

Lets turn to a few places. Isaiah 28:14–18 “Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death, and we have an agreement with Sheol; when the overwhelming catastrophe passes through, it will not touch us, because we have made falsehood our refuge and have hidden behind treachery.” Therefore the Lord God said: “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable. And I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the mason’s level.” Hail will sweep away the false refuge, and water will flood your hiding place. Your covenant with Death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming catastrophe passes through, you will be trampled.”

Its prophesying the destruction of the enemies of the Messiah that are here in this Psalm destroyed. In the name of Yahweh, I destroyed them all. How are the enemies destroyed? The enemies that are destroyed on the cross. Its the scoffers who rule in Jerusalem. We’re told in Colossians that Jesus triumphed over them in his death. Irony of Ironies. They thought they’d gotten the upper hand, but the stone they rejected has become the cornerstone. They were overconfident. Oh yeah, no, our Pact with Death will definitely save us. Yeah, thats not how death works. This guy Jesus isn’t for real. Its definitely pronounced Frackles.

Lets look at Acts 4:8–12 “Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing here before you healthy. This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

That’s Peter Luke is writing about there in Acts. Peter loves to quote this Psalm. Lets turn to 1 Peter 2:4–9 “As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Isn’t that what we were talking about at the beginning of the Psalm, the People are the priesthood. Remember that, Peter is saying here that we’re becoming a house, built upon the cornerstone, Christ Jesus, in order to be a priesthood that offers sacrifices. A house, a priesthood, sacrifices. Just remember that when we get to verses 26–27 of the our Psalm. Continue with verse 6 of 1 Peter 2.

“For it stands in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame. So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected— this one has become the cornerstone, and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over.”

That’s also from Isaiah.

They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

So get that, We’re a chosen race, a royal priesthood (King-Priests), a Holy Nation, a people for his possession. This is the promise of Abrahamic covenant! He’s faithful to his covenant promises, through his Messiah. But why? to praise! Its what Psalms is all about. Its what every book in Psalms has been about. The name of the book is Praises, after all. And we’re here in book 5, and its time for the Hallelujahs. This is what Peter is tapping into. This is how he’s reading Psalms. He gets it. The New Testament authors understand and correctly apply the Old Testament. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different. Peter gets it. Through his messiah, Yahweh fulfills his covenant promises, revealing the depths of his praiseworthiness.

Lets continue. Verse 25 back to Psalm 118:

Yahweh, save us!

This was quoted by the people waving palms at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem before Passover, when he was to be crucified. They’re calling it freakles because they think Jesus is going to overthrow Rome. The Leaders of the city are saying, no, Its Frackles. They’re both wrong. Overconfidence abounds. Nevertheless, they’ve really seen real freckles, and They’re seeing prophesy fulfilled there as Jesus rides into Jerusalem.

Where is our confidence found? Is it in the unshakable cornerstone?

We’re a house. Remember what Peter said.

He called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light. This is where Peter is getting this.

Bind the festival sacrifice with cords

to the horns of the altar.

We offer sacrifices. Through who? the sacrifice himself, Jesus Christ.

Peter says that the reason for all of this is singular: so that we will proclaim God’s praises. That’s priority number one. If we get nothing else from a book called Praises. That’s what Psalms means, I would hope that it would be that we must praise God.

You are my God, and I will give you thanks.

You are my God; I will exalt you.

Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good;

his faithful love endures forever.

His faithful love. Thats covenant love. Thats covenant devotion. Through his Messiah, Yahweh is fulfilling his covenant promises, revealing the depths of his praiseworthiness.