Untitled Sermon (14)

English Standard Version Psalm 45

45 TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO LILIES. A MASKIL OF THE SONS OF KORAH; A LOVE SONG.

1 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

I address my verses to the king;

my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

2 You are the most handsome of the sons of men;

grace is poured upon your lips;

therefore God has blessed you forever.

3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,

in your splendor and majesty!

4 In your majesty ride out victoriously

for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!

5 Your arrows are sharp

in the heart of the king’s enemies;

the peoples fall under you.

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.

From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;

9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;

at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:

forget your people and your father’s house,

11 and the king will desire your beauty.

Since he is your lord, bow to him.

12 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,

the richest of the people.

13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.

14 In many-colored robes she is led to the king,

with her virgin companions following behind her.

15 With joy and gladness they are led along

as they enter the palace of the king.

16 In place of your fathers shall be your sons;

you will make them princes in all the earth.

17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

Jay and Rachel, it is a great blessing to be a part of this day with you! Jay the passage that has been coming to my mind this morning as I think about this day and the last months of your life is, “you have turned my mourning into dancing.” That is how God works, he turns our mourning into dancing, first he makes us dance after we have been forgiven of our sin. Then he makes us dance after we feel the terrible consequences of living in a fallen and sinful world. Today our God who gives and who takes away is giving you a good gift.

Rachel, today as think about you I have been thinking about, , “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.” Rachel God has made you good in Christ, and because of that you are a good gift, in fact you are the favor of God in the flesh. I am so thankful that we got to travel with a team this year to Indonesia. It was a joy to see what a kind hearted, joyful, woman you are. I kept thinking what I think now, which is this dear sister is going to be great for this dear brother.

I want to speak for a moment to 6 others who are involved in this wedding. I want to speak to the children of Jay and Lynn. Annie, Emiline, Hudson, John Mark, Porter, and Samuel. I want to tell you a story. This story happened over 35 years ago. A young couple named Grant and Lois, a young couple with three kids went out for a long bike ride. Grant and Lois were going to bike for two weeks, so they left their three kids with their aunt. On one of the first days of their bike trip something very awful happened, a drunk driver hit Lois on her bike. In just a few hours Lois died. So her husband Grant was left alone, with three kids, Brook was the oldest, Jon was the middle, and Christy was the youngest. Little Christy is now my wife. A little while after Lois died, Grant sent a letter, a 14 page letter to a single missionary lady in Rwanda named Esther. He asked her if she would come back to Canada and marry him and raise his three little children. You know what she said, she said, ‘No!’ She was very happy being a single missionary lady in Africa, so she wanted to stay. But a little while she got cancer and had to come home to Canada to go to the Doctor. While she was home she started dating Grant, then she married Grant, and then she became a new mom to my wife Christy. Today she is so much a part of our family that we named our first born daughter after her, Jordana ‘Esther’ Fullerton. Annie, Emiline, Hudson, John Mark, Porter, and Samuel, you have gone through a very terrible tragedy, God has allowed something very, very sad to come into your tender lives, that pain may stay with you for your whole lives, but you know what, God is able to work all things together for good, and I want you to know that I think he is doing you good today, by giving your daddy a wife and by giving you a new momma who loves you and wants to care for you.