Psalm 68 - Paths of Victory
Notes
Transcript
Yesterday morning at 2:41 a.m. at Headquarters, General Jodl, the representative of the German High Command, and Grand Admiral Doenitz, the designated head of the German State, signed the act of unconditional surrender of all German Land, sea, and air forces in Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force, and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command.
These are the words of Winston Churchill… speaking on the 8th May - VE day. We commemorated the 80th anniversary earleir this year. He went on.
The German war is therefore at an end…. the whole world was combined against the evil-doers, who are now prostrate before us. Our gratitude to our splendid Allies goes forth from all our hearts in this Island.
We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing; but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead
Churchill’s speech focuses on two things… the great efforts of the allied forces…. and the great defeat of the Nazi enemy. Without one or the other… there may have been no VE day. We recoil from the thought of war, of course, and rightly so - it is a horrendous thing.
But, in time of war, there can be…
no victory without the defeat of your enemies.
No joy without overcoming your foe.
No freedom without the over-through of tyranny.
The two things must always go together.
And the same is true of the work of God through Jesus… we’re happy to talk about the victory of God aren’t we? We sing about it in our songs…
“Up from the grave he arose (we sing) with a mighty triumph o’er his foes”.
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, (we sing) worthy is the King who conquered the grave.”
“Crown him the Lord of life (we sing) who triumphed o’er the grave”
In the Psalm’s too, God is pictured as a conquering, victorious King… (including in this Psalm before us today). We like to talk about the victory of God…. but there is no victory without defeating his adversaries…. so, uncomfortable as we may initially find it, we need to speak about God utterly defeating his enemies. That is the victorious tone of this Psalm…
BREAK OFF
To continue the battlefield analogy…. we have to get our bearings and learn the terrain (or the background) to this Psalm to understand it, two things to know….
The setting and the story
The setting and the story
First the setting - when was this Psalm written to be used? We can’t be sure but many believe it was composed to be used…. to be said or sung… by King David as the Ark of the Covenant was finally brought into Jerusalem. You can read that back story in 2 Samuel chapter 6… that’s the famous incident where David dances with joy before the Ark with all his might..
And understandably so… becuase that arrival of the Ark is (in a way) a kind of culmination…. a kind of rounding off of the big story of the Bible untill that point. It’s then, with the Ark in Jerusalem that God then makes those great and famous promises to David (in 2 Samuel chapter 7) that a King from David’s line will reign on his throne FOR EVER AND EVER - the promise that points to Jesus.
At this point in the big story of the BIble it’s as if the story which began in Egypt - centuries before - with God’s people as slaves… rescued out of Egypt…. taken to mount Sinai - given the law - wandered in the desert in their disobedience… finally drawn in to the promised land… defeating their enemies given rest… given a King after God’s own heart… who finally makes it to Jerusalem his holy city… with the Ark (which of course contains the law and is a symbol of God’s presence)…. there, at last in the city.
So look out, throughout the Psalm for links back to the Exodus…. and the great journey of God’s people that began there and ends (or ends in a way at least) in the promised land… with God’s people…. in God’s holy place… enjoying God’s blessing. (remember that phrase - we’re coming back to it….)
All of this, of course, calls for celebration… but all of this victory…. only happens with the defeat of God’s enemies.
BREAK OFF
We’ve reached our first heading - first thing to notice today… we see….
1. Joy in God who defeats his enemies
1. Joy in God who defeats his enemies
Read from verse 1
1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
2 May you blow them away like smoke—
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
In fact, more literally, that first verse reads… “God arises and his enemies are scattered”. There is total confidence here. God can, God has, God will defeat all enemies.
Read on v3
3 But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
And so you see you have both themes… there is Joy and victory for God and his people… but only because his enemies are defeated. Victory only comes through defeat of enemies.
What a fearful thing to be an enemy of God… The question which bubbles immediately in our minds MUST be - what am I? What are we? Are you a friend or an enemy of God?
This language of sharp division between God’s people and God’s enemies is painted in more stark terms - just cast your eye down - v15…
15 Mount Bashan, majestic mountain,
Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,
16 why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign,
where the Lord himself will dwell forever?
Mount Bashan lies East of the Jordan… outside the land… it stands in contrast to Mount Zion (Jerusalem) where God reigns. DO you see the division…. victory for God’s people, with the defeat of those who oppose God.
There’s more of these pictures of victory - that’s the women rejoicing and singing their songs while enemies flee in haste - v11.
Thats the almighty scattering rival Kings - they all fall down and are scattered around like snow - v14.
BREAK OFF - NEXT POINT
But it’s not just victory or defeat… these are quite general terms… the picture is sharpened further - we’ve reached our second point….
2. Thanks to God who saves his people
2. Thanks to God who saves his people
- cast your eye down (v19)
19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
20 Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,
See it’s not just victory or defeat… it’s Salvation or Judgement.
God’s world has been spoiled by sin… spoiled by those who turn away from him and enact wickedness… and so remember this…. it is GOOD that God defeats evil…. it is GOOD that God crushes his foes… it is GOOD that God judges sin.
We’ve said it before but it bears repeating - God doesn’t judge sin IN SPITE of being good… he must judge sin BECAUSE HE IS GOOD. Who wants a God who does care about evil?
In God’s great victory over evil…. there are also those who are rescued from evil. In God’s great defeat of sin… there are sinners who find refuge… AS God takes the spoils of war, there are also those he shares those spoils with.
You might say, Oh this sounds barbaric, this sounds very OT, I’m more of a NT person, I’m all about love and peacec ansd stuff - NONESESNE! - This is the message of the Gospel.
What has God come to do through Jesus? He has come to defeat… to vanquish…. to utterly humiliate the forces of evil… AND in doing so he has come to rescue… to save his people - all who will humble themselves…. all who will acknowledge him as their rightful King…. all who will bow before Jesus. Is that you? Or are you just playing around with spiritual things. Do not find yourself on the wrong side of God.
And not ONLY becuase his people find rescue from judgement… but because his Kingdom, when it comes in all it’s fullness will be a place of such blessing.
So, thirdly
3. Praise for God who defends the vulnerable
3. Praise for God who defends the vulnerable
We read on now (so far we’ve only spring boarded around the Psalm off of verses 1-4) so look now at v5…
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Here is a picture of the heart and character of God… and here is a foretaste of God’s Kingdom.
It is a Kingdom where the mighty and proud are pulled down and defeated yes, but it’s also a Kingdom where the weak and humble are lifted up.
God - as a faithful father cares for the orphan.
God - as a faithful husband of his people, cares for the widow.
God - as a generous provider sets the lonely in families.
In one sense this is a picture of the future Kingdom of God… But WE - the church…. those who have acknowlegded God as King… we have a tsask to begin RIGHT NOW to lvie out these very kingdom values…
We must care for those who are orphaned… adoption of the unloved and unwanted by Christian parents is, it seems to me, one of the great pictures of the Gospel.
We must care for those in our midst who are truly vulnerable… it’s great to see some of the widows of this congregation upheld by others.
We must care about families… honour marriage… these are God’s structures for flourishing…
We must care about community - about the lonely - there is an epidemic of loneliness in our nation, so the statisticians tell us.
We are to be an outpost of the Kingdom within the enemy territory of the world because we are those who offer Praise to God who defends the vulnerable…
ILLUSTRATION?
Next (no 3) this psalm is full of…
4. Awe before God who guides and provides
4. Awe before God who guides and provides
We read on - v7
7 When you, God, went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 You gave abundant showers, O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.
10 Your people settled in it,
and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.
Here we are deep in the language of the Exodus story. As David looks back there is great AWE before God… (v8)
Before God the One of Sinai…. The memory of that Awesome mountain that only Moses could ascend… remember these words? this is Moses before that mountain… Exodus 19:16-19
16 …there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
Here is the memory of a scene which inspires AWE. But there is also the unexpected paradox… the earth shook (back to verse 8)
Before God, the One of Sinai (but the Psalm goes on) before God the God os Israel.
The God of Sinai, the Holy One of power and might is at Sinai for a reason… he’s there in all his glory because he is also the God of Israel….
The high and holy one… is also the merciful one….
The awesome powerful one…. is also the personal and relational one….
The God of GLORY is also the God of COVENANT….
He has made a way to save a people for himself… to have a people for himself…. AND (even more than that) he guides and provides for these people….
They only made it to Sinai in the first place becuaswe this gracious Lord guided them - he went before them in pillars of cloud and fire to light and show the way….
And then in that desert wilderness, despite their sinful grumbling he provided for them - water flowed from rocks for them - see the language here in the Psalm? it speaks of rain (v8), abundant showers (v9), refreshing (v9).
The same gracious provision is ours if we trust in Christ. The God who saves us by grace also graciously shines the light of his Word before his to guide us in wisdom, in this journey, this pilgrimage of life. And he has blessed us abundantly to sustain us daily.
And yet, lest we treat him too casually… this gracious provider is also an awesome in Holiness. The Christian life is a life of AWE before our God who guides and provides.
ILLUSTRATION?
So we have seen the God who defeats his enemies… who saves and judges… who defends those vulnerable who belong to him… who graciously guides and provides. And of course you can imagine all of these being in David’s mind as he writes this Psalm and as it is sung as, at last, centuries after the flight from Egypt God’s people are now safe - their journey (IN A SENSE) completed… in Jerusalem… with the Ark - the presence of God - there with them. The end of an era…. in a sense.
God has saved Israel… and protected Israel…. and provided for Israel….. and graciously forgiven Israel….
You can picture the worship and celebration - look at v28
26 Praise God in the great congregation;
praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.
27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,
there the great throng of Judah’s princes,
and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
There are all the tribes of Israel… But the question comes… is the kingdom just for Israel? Will God deal graciously only with this old covenant people. Or is there more to come… a greater ingathering… a fuller celebration… and bigger response?
Fourthly, and finally… there is…
5. Response from many who submit to God
5. Response from many who submit to God
Read on v29
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings will bring you gifts.
Kings (plural)…. not Kings of Israel but the Kings of the NATIONS. You see that - read on v31
31 Envoys will come from Egypt;
Cush will submit herself to God.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth,
sing praise to the Lord
And to understand this we need to go futher back…. further back into Israel’s own past. Not merely back to the Exodus but back further still… back into Genesis… back beyond Joseph…. back beyond Jacob and Isaac… to Abraham - the founder, the Father of the nation.
What is he promised? Well he’s promised God’s blessing - we see that in abundancve here. He’s promised his offspring will be a great nation - we see THAT in abundance here - they are a nation called by God, grown by God, saved by God, and planted by God in their own land.
But there was, of course, a third promise to Abraham… that God’s blessing, which began with his descendents, will one day expand and etend to all nations and all peoples.
The arrival of the Ark into Jerusalem WASN’T the end of the story… it was, of course, just a staging post on the way…
Becuasex one day a Son of Abraham… the Seed of Abraham… a true and faithful Israelite would come… in him would be all the fullness of God - God in all his awesome justice… God in all his gracious kindness.
And this Son of God…. this Jesus… would come in all fulfilment of THIS Psalm. He would come to defeat God’s enemies. Satan and all his minions knew just who he was… and recoiled in his presence… people were saved, and healed, and cleansed, and released from evil powers….
But then, in the most unexpected place of victory - a cross which looked like defeat…. when Satan thought he had won…. Jesus would finally defeat the powers of evil.
The Apostle Paul wrote of that Jesus….
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
As the great song says…. Becuase of Jesus - Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered.
And that Psalm Apostle Paul would quote from this very Psalm in his letter to the Ephesians saying….
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
In other words the victory parade first pictured here in Psalm 68 is fulfilled in and by Jesus. He has won the definitive victory over sin, satan, suffering and death. He now parades in victroy and like a King returning from war many will come and submit to him… and recieve the blessings and bounty of his victory.
RIFF - who are you, friend or foe? proud opponent (of God) or humble servant (of God?)
Let’s pray
