The Lord Sends

Unfortunately this doesn’t work in the political arena. It may be that the enemy of my friend is still my enemy. If Hamas was to attack ISIS, our enemy, yet still try to destroy Israel, that would not make them our friend.

From God’s point of view, this phrase stands. God has enemies. Those who oppose God’s enemies are his friends. God is in battle against sin, Satan, the world, and self-centered people. Those who trust Jesus will find God’s approval when they battle the same enemy.

However, our enemies are not necessarily God’s enemies. One reason is that we often fight against what God wants. We don’t like the messenger or the message if it goes against what we want to do.

In this case we violate another axiom. The friend of my friend is also my friend. If we do not love those whom God loves, then we are in battle against God.

With this in mind, I am going to make an assumption this morning. I am going to assume God’s friends are your friends and God’s enemies are your enemies.

I am going to assume that you want to battle against the sin in the world, Satan and the flesh, this self-centered part of us that battles God.

This battle can be tiresome. We are inundated by the opinions of people in this world.

First, let’s look at how Jesus responds to his enemies.

Jesus rules

Jesus rules while surrounded by his enemies.

We fight our enemies by entering into the space where Jesus rules.

We fight our enemies by entering into the rest that God provides for us through Jesus.

Psalm is 110 is all about Jesus. God has spoken and placed Jesus in a position of authority. Jesus determines who will go to heaven and who will not. We don’t make that decision, Jesus does.

Those who go to heaven are those who trust Jesus.

John 3:16 ESV

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

Jesus has the right to say this because God has put Jesus in charge.

Jesus has God’s full support.

Psalm 110:2 ESV

2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!

2 The Lord [Jehovah] sends forth from Zion your [Jesus’] mighty scepter.

The scepter was a rod that was a symbol of power. Just as uniforms with special markings denote the rank and authority of our police or military, so the scepter, this rod, was a symbol of a ruler.

Psalm 45:6 ESV

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

Hebrews 1:8 ESV

8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

In this verse, God is promoting Jesus. He is not sending out his own scepter. God is not describing his power, though he has power. He is affirming and supporting the rule of Jesus.

Jesus has enemies. I am assuming that Jesus’ enemies are your enemies. He is fighting Satan, sin, and the false teachings promoted by this world.

Jesus is surrounded by enemies.

As the scepter comes out of Zion, another name for Jerusalem, we know that her enemies surrounded David’s Israel. Not much has changed. Today, Israel is surrounded by enemies. We are blessed that we are on good terms with Canada and Mexico. Israel has never had it that good.

Yet, even today, Jesus is surrounded by those who doubt, scoff, reject and fight him.

What do we do when enemies surround us?

It’s hard. If we are in constant battles with people who don’t share Biblical values, we find it easy to avoid conflict. If we are trying to do what is right and find people fighting us at every turn, we are tempted to compromise or quit.

What does Jesus do when his enemies surround him? Jesus continues to do what God call him to do.

Jesus rules!

Rule in the midst of your enemies!

In other words, Jesus is going to do what God has called him to in spite of any who disagree or oppose him.

We are so fickle. If we are doing something, even if it is right and good, and someone says something against it, we second-guess ourselves. “So and so said they didn’t like this. Maybe we need to stop, reconsider and go a different path.”

Or we often hear this. “I know this would be the best and it is the right thing to do. But we might offend (fill in the blank) and we don’t want to offend anyone.

What if that person is standing in the way of the Lord? What if they are upset because you are following Jesus? Are you going to back down? The answer for many of us is, “Yes… I don’t want to offend!”

We want people to like us. So we conform our lives to what they want. We try to please our critics.

Jesus is going to continue to rule in spite of the enemies that surround him. Jehovah has his back. Jesus is going to go forward. He is going to rule in the midst of his enemies. He loves people, but he loves the Father even more. Standing up for what is right is not a call to callousness or rudeness. Rather, it is a call to do the right thing in the right way and accept the fact that you may have enemies when you do what is right.

If we trust Jesus, we bring ourselves under his authority. He is ruling us.

Jesus cannot rule us if we are being ruled by other people. Are we inside this circle of enemies or are we outside the circle among the enemies of Jesus?

If this Psalm is all about Jesus, verse 3 describes how God wants us to live under the rule of Jesus.

Psalm 110:3 ESV

3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

Those who are under his rule

Offer themselves freely

Psalm 110:3 ESV

3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

We cannot legislate or force people to offer themselves.

It has been said that the Emperor Constantine forced all his army to be baptized. Modern scholars say that never happened, but even if it did, forced baptism would not bring personal faith and a free decision to offer oneself to God.

What a great trait for a person to have.

So often we have to twist arms and force people to serve God. What a wonderful place it is when people freely give themselves to serve the Lord.

Those who are living under the rule of Jesus are freely giving themselves.

I have a strong personal conviction that I am not going to twist arms to get people to serve God. Some people don’t respond unless they are made to feel guilty.

We have a lot of holes to fill in this church. We would love people to step up to help with youth. We have had some do so. We need help in the exchange. We have lost workers over time and need some more help. Ann and Fran have stepped down after eleven faithful years of service in preparing the senior dinner. Judy Ireland is just not able to carry the load. We would love to have someone step up and step in. We would love to see more people join this church to help us in decision making and in filling important positions. We want to reach out to meet needs in our community. It takes people to step up to do what God wants us to do.

I believe it is my responsibility to let the needs be known, but if Jesus is speaking to you about serving him, you need to freely respond. I have seen that people with a heart and passion for a ministry who freely respond have more success and a greater spiritual impact than those who decide to do something because someone forced them to do it our just out of guilt. If your guilt is produced because you are being disobedience, we can’t help that. But if your guilt is simply a response to filling a hole that you have no passion, no gifts, no desire to really do, than that may help in the short term, but in the long term it is not what Jesus wants. He wants willing people.

Offer themselves in holy garments.

Psalm 110:3 ESV

3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

In the New Testament we find that God makes us righteous. He takes our sin from us an puts it on Jesus.

In the Old Testament we find that putting on righteousness is a mindset that says, “I want to do what is right before God. I want to treat people as God wants me to treat them and be a person of integrity.”

Job 29:14 ESV

14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.

Isaiah 61:10 ESV

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Titus 2:11–12 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

Ministry is not a job. What we do for Jesus is a spiritual ministry. None of us are perfect, but he wants us to serve in a righteous and holy way.

I have been blessed by the hearts of those working on the front of the church. They have the skills of carpentry. They are doing what they are doing because they see Jesus in this project. They are not doing it for the church as an organization. They are doing it for the church that Jesus rules and bought with his blood. Every nail that is pounded, every board that is cut, is done with the realization that they are doing it for Jesus and are doing it out of love for people who have had difficulties walking into this building. It’s a joy to be around workers who are freely giving themselves to the Lord and are working in a holy manner.

Those who live under the rule of Jesus do so freely. They also do so with a sincere desire to do what is right.

Offer themselves with youthful vigor

Psalm 110:3 ESV

3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

The Hebrew is hard to translate. If you look a multiple versions, they really differ here.

The womb of the morning is early morning. Dew shows up early. Youth signifies an early start.

From early morning, when the dew is on the grass, those under the rule of Jesus will give their best.

Young people will serve God.

Older people will give the strongest part of their day to God.

We used to sing the song, “Give of your best to the master. Give of the strength of your youth…” That old hymn reflects those who live under the rule of Jesus. They give their best to him.

Old timers used to go to church with suits, ties, and their best dresses. When one asked why they said, “We want to give our best to Jesus.”

Over time many who gave their best to Jesus became critical of those who didn’t dress as they did and though they gave their best in dress, they became self-righteous towards others and did not give their best in love.

Those who live under the rule of Jesus do so willingly, righteously, and give their best strength to honor him.

This is how Christians live in the midst of the enemies of Jesus.

We are to love our enemies, but follow Jesus.

This verse reminded me of another verse. If Psalm 110:2 tells us that Jesus rules in the midst of his enemies, then we can rest in Jesus as we face our common enemies.

Rest

Psalm 23:5 ESV

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

That does not sound like a depressed person. David is telling us that when Jesus is ruling, we are resting.

When surrounded by our enemies, we are not out fighting people. We are sitting at a table. We are welcomed. Anointing a guest’s head with oil was a sign of welcoming them.

Our cups are overflowing.

If Jesus rules in our lives, we can rest under his rule in the assurance of his protection. His rod and staff bring us comfort. We don’t have to convince the enemy or those who fight Jesus. We trust Jesus so we can rest in him.

If anyone should be depressed, it should be the enemies.

Psalm 110:5–7 ESV

5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. 7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

The “Lord” in verse 5 refers to Jesus. He is going to win the battle. We trust him. We follow him. We serve him. We eat with him. We fight with him against our enemies. We also win together.

If God has appointed Jesus as ruler and we submit to him, Jesus is going to win. We will win because he wins.