Peace Now, and Peace Forever

Psalm 85 NIV

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. You, Lord, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger. Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us your salvation. I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants— but let them not turn to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.

Introduction: Imagine a time you were most at Peace.

We often have moments of peace, often they feel short-lived or don’t feel complete. This is where the Psalmist is.

16 - We Have Some Peace.

For the Psalmist Peace is related to their relationship with God.

Story of Israel - Last Week Andrew talked about Hope, before the exile. God was allowing Israel to go into exile. All Shalom/Peace taken away. Now a partial return - It feels like some peace, but not full peace. This Psalm is a request for the fullness of Shalom.

As we read through Scripture, we discover that God too feels anger, hurt, and betrayal when we behave poorly toward him and toward others. Israel’s and Judah’s refusal to keep his commandments and honor the covenant he made with the Jewish people resulted in God removing his protection over their nations so that they would fall to the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires. As we read in the Psalms and in Isaiah, however, God’s anger is short-lived when compared with his love and compassion (Isaiah 40:1–3; Psalm 85:1–2).

- Not sure exactly when the Psalm was written but vs. 1 - 3 gives me the impression that the return from exile is beginning, So there is gratitude for the restoration of peace with God, and peace as a nation, but it is not in its fullness - verses 5 - 7.

We can experience moments of peace, but not the fullness of peace.

Freshman Bible Class - Feeling a sense of wholeness as we studied the Life of Christ. - Yet, life has not always felt full....

- In Youth Group a kid that wanted to bully me all the time.

It is easy for our circumstances to dictate peace

- Difficulties and Challenges that are not wholeness - Financial, Relational Conflicts, Addictions or self-destructive patterns, mental distresses, anxieties, fears, World Conflicts, Sicknesses, Diseases, Loss of loved ones.

In Philippians 4:7, we read about a peace that surpasses all understanding, which comes from God’s love. Imagine going to a carnival full of flashing lights and loud noises, but right in the center, you find a quiet space. That’s like God’s love; even amidst chaos, we can have a calm center where peace reigns!

vs. 10 - 11 tells us...

17 - God’s Love Brings Full Peace.

We find peace first, when we find peace in our relationship with God.

Just like Andrew’s “Yet, You are our Father” brings hope, we can remember God has shown the Loyal Love - Hesed in the Past and restored their peace. Would His Loyal Love restore them to full Peace?

“The psalmist was not only interested in the land, but more importantly in relationship with God. The iniquity that once hindered relationship was now taken away. (David Guzik, study guide for Psalm 85, https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/psalm/psalm-85.cfm).

- A Marriage of sorts - Where God will bring together Love and Dependable Truth (Righteousness) Together. How is God going to honor his love, and not ignore that people have sinned against reality?

- Marriage between righteousness and peace - How, if the people are not righteous?

Hundreds of years after this Psalm was penned we get the answer to these conundrums

- The answer is Dependable Truth and Righteousness will have a different source - It will be surprising, and it will come not from earth, not from humans, but from heaven.

- Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection is where the marriage of God’s love and Dependable Truth. - We learn that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. and that the book of Hebrews was tempted in every way as us, but was without sin. He both expresses God’s love, and lived a completely righteous live. - He is the righteousness that looks down from heaven, that vs. 13 will go before the Father and be the path towards peace with God.

On the cross, Jesus takes up all of our selfishness, greed, jealousies, pride, sin as a representative of humanity to receive the punishment we deserve from God, and as the representative of perfect obedience to God gives us his righteousness before God. God’s love, truth are satisfied so we may have peace with him.

Romans 5:1 NIV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

As we observe the second week of Advent, we recognize that salvation has already come for us through Christ, and we celebrate that we can now live in peace with God while also looking forward to the final act of redemption he will bring to the world when Christ returns one day to establish his kingdom on earth.

- So we can have peace with God now in a world of Chaos, but in Advent we are anticipating Christ’s coming again. That is where we see the fullness of peace will be restored for the entire world.

So....

18 - How Can We Find Peace?

- It begins by first finding your peace with God by receiving his love trusting Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins

- Ultimately we will not have the fullness of Peace unless we first find it in God.

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” - Augustine

In the Bible, we see how Jesus calmed the storm. His disciples were afraid, but He spoke peace over the raging waters. That’s how God’s love works in our lives too—it can calm our internal storms. Just picture walking through a storm with peace in your heart because you know you’re surrounded by love.

Remember how sometimes, when we were kids, we would find our favorite cozy blanket and wrap it around ourselves? That’s a little taste of God’s love. It wraps us in warmth and security. When we have His love, we have peace, just like when we feel safe and snuggled up with our blanket on a chilly night—nothing can shake us!

2nd - Be people of peace - Sharing the peace of God, and living out the peace of God.

One of the Jobs of a Leader is to be a calming presence in the midst of uncertainty.

- How can you be that calming presence in our world. We will not have the fullness of Peace across the planet until Jesus comes again. But the Church is called to be Salt and Light. A foretaste of that peace until then. To give a glimmer of peace to a world in Chaos. The only way we can do that, is if we have the Restorer of peace residing in our hearts and minds.

Conclusion:

https://skitguys.com/videos/the-peace-in-the-chaos