Joy To The World
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Ps 98
A Psalm.
1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
9 before the Lord, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
Intro
Intro
Using the most widely known Christmas carol as an entry point into asking: Why should we rejoice this Christmas season?
Christmas is all about joy but why?
how does this joy correspond to all the real failings we see in us and others and in this world?
how does the birth of Jesus cause us to have joy inspite and because of our situation?
Isaac Watts - notable scholar and author
said songs were hard to sing as a teen, challenged by his dad to do better, wrote new bridges (lol), wrote new hymn each week for two years, became popular
wrote this hymn based on psalm 98 in 1719
original tunes multiple
Handel - messiah 1741
125 mill people
Lowell Mason
found Watts poem
combined it with tunes from Messiah
became a Christmas carol
Psalm 98
Psalm 98
Immediate context - trilogy of psalms of worship for Israel
Ps 98 looks back to God’s salvation of Israel and rejoices in his kingship in the present and trusts in his promises to judge righteously in the time to come
It the exemplary psalm (a psalm) because it reveals the exemplary character of God as Saviour, King and Judge
The expectation of God from his people
Mary’s echoes (Lk 1:46-55 )
Joy to the World , the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, allusion to Lk 2:7
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
The expectation of God as Saviour, king and judge is ultimately and exemplarily fulfilled in Jesus. He saves his people from their sins, he is the king of the world, and he is coming back to judge the world and to reunite his people with him physically
Hence, we sing Joy To The World When The Lord is Come
When the coming of Christ to the earth was first announced, it was not with sad sonorous sounds of devil spirits driven from the nethermost hell, but with the choral symphonies of holy angels who joyfully sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men;” and as long as ever the gospel shall be preached in this world, its main message will be one of joy. The gospel is a source of joy to those who proclaim it, for unto us, who are less than the least of all saints, is this grace given—that we should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.* The gospel is also a source of joy to all who hear it aright, and accept it, for its very name means “glad tidings of good things.” I feel that, if I am not able to preach to you as I would, yet am I thrice happy in being permitted to preach at all; and if the style and manner of my address may not be such as I desire them to be, nor such as you will commend, yet it will matter but little, for the simplest telling out of the gospel is of itself a most delightful thing; and if our hearts were in a right condition, we should not merely be glad to hear of Jesus over and over again, …
Three fold division
vs 1-3 Rejoice because God is Our Saviour, In the past
vs 4-6 Rejoice because God is Our King, in the present
vs 7-9 Rejoice because God is our Judge, in the future
Rejoice - God is Our Saviour
Rejoice - God is Our Saviour
Ps 98 1-3
1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
A new song - not new in terms of novelty but in the joy and strength of your expression - renewed joy (same Psalm sung)
We cannot plumb the depths of what God has done enough for our worship to become stale. The intricacies of his glorious saving work is apt fodder for new understanding, and his ongoing work (his mercies are new every day)
In response to his work in the past; he has done marvellous things
Salvation is the marvellous work: the root is victory. Which means to save/salvation for the friend, and defeat/conquest for the enemy. It covers both parties but with different consequences
Marvelous - supernatural things. Things which can only be accomplished outside the boundaries of human capabilities and expectations. Things that would only be accomplished by God
When Israel stood facing the uncrossable Red Sea, and looked back to see the advancing Egyptians with their chariots and horses and archers, when they reached the limits of human endurance and ingenuity, and they cried out to the Lord, he stepped in to save his people with a marvelous work. He parted the Red Sea, the waters collected to either side and stood still like two curtains drawn back, and the people of God crossed the sea on dry land, their clothes and sandals not getting wet, and reached the other side, and just as the sea stood still for them, it collapsed back onto the pursuing Israelites, then they realized and sang with joy, the right hand (strength) of the Lord and his holy arm (the beauty of his character) has defeated our greatest foe.
And so, two thousand years ago, God did a marvelous work in the town of Bethlehem
God came down in the flesh to be born as a poor baby boy. God with Us
Mary looked into her newborn’s eyes, and remembering what the angel had told her, you shall call his name Jesus
God is salvation
He would be the saviour come to fight the battle that we could not win on our own, an insurmountable foe; sin and the barrier it erected between God and man
Mt 1:21
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
And this battle was marvelous, not just in its origin but in its conduct. It would overthrow the expectations of the people waiting for their saviour. He would take upon himself the sins of the people, carry them to the cross, and die to pray the price of all of our sins, past, present and future. And then just as unexpectedly, he would rise again to show that sin and its handmaiden death had both been defeated and would no longer hold any power over the lives of the people it had made captive.
“Love’s redeeming work is done;
Fought the fight, the battle won.”
As Moses triumphantly sang of the enemies of the chosen people, “the depths have covered them,” so can you say of your sins, “There is not one of them left.”
They have gone down into the depths, and the Red Sea of Christ’s blood has drowned them, and so he hath gained a complete victory over all the guilt of sin
His right hand and his holy arm has worked salvation for those who put their trust in him
Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
Ps 98:2-3
2 The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
What is also marvelous, supernatural is not just the means of this salvation but in the revelation of it.
It has been made known, it is proclaimed clearly in the gospel preached day in day out through the Word of God
It has been sent to the ends of the earth, the joyful news that sin has been defeated by Jesus Christ and that salvation is available to you, regardless of your race, background, class. Jesus Christ died for all people and he is able and willing to receive all people
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
When our forefather Adam and Eve sinned against God and fell, their punishment, the curse extended to all people and all lands. But to as far as the curse is found, to the very ends of this world, the Gospel will be proclaimed telling the people in the languages they understand, that they need not fear sin and death anymore. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. All the ends of the earth has seen the salvation of our God in Jesus Christ
Rejoice - God is Our King
Rejoice - God is Our King
Ps 98:4-6
4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
Israel praised God for his salvation in the past, and they rejoiced in his kingship over them in the present.
They acknowledged his rule as they went into his temple with music and praises (psalms) set to the sound of the lyre and harp.
They acknowledged that he was king and Lord of all the earth, and all earth were meant to acknowledge his kingship int he present even thought in reality maybe only they did
That same word, joyful noise, is in the prophecy of Zech 9:9
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
It was the prophecy fulfilled when the saviour, Jesus Christ, rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the people laid out their welcome as their King strode into town
But alas, that adoration was all too brief and not the pattern of his earthly life.
Jesus is king from all eternity. His kingdom is established by right - he has the right to rule over all creation because he is God
But the battle against sin, for God to be with us, required that the king would be like one of us
Phil 2 6-8
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
we read about kings incognito
imitating a commoner, snipers probably watching every step
always the refuge of removing their disguise in trouble
But he did not come in disguise, he came truly in flesh and blood to become one of us
And though, at any time in his ministry, he could have commanded the myriads of angels in perfect obedience to their master to protect and watch over him, he choose to forego the advantages of his deity, his right, to truly become like the least of us, to experience life like we experience, to face the frustrations of a fallen world just like we do
And in his obedient, chosen humiliation, not only did the world reject him, but his own people rejected him. This is not the king we want
So, they jeered their king, who stood before them in a tattered royal robe, bloodied, bruised, a crown of thorns on his head, spat upon and cursed by the very subjects he had the right to rule over
But undaunted he went to the cross, because he was fighting for them, a battle they could not win, unknown to them. For he fought not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities and powers of darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the universe.
And on the cross, his hands and feet nailed to it, the title that was his by right became a cause of mockery: Here is the king of the Jews
And the king of all creation died that day, the God man but he would not stay dead.
This king, the God who is man, would win the victory over sin, death and the devil, vanquishing them on the field of battle by the proof of his resurrected life. The man who had overcome sin through perfect obedience, the God who had defeated once and for all the forces of evil to redeem his people
So, he has claimed what is his by right through the force of his accomplishments that began that Christmas night in Bethlehem
Phil 2:9-10
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
So he is the king today of the earth, king over every human being, whether you acknowledge him or not. That is immaterial to the reality of his rule over you.
But this king, who has the right to demand your obedience, to force your allegiance by the strength of his arm and the holiness of his character, even today has an immeasurable reservoir of patience, waiting, appealing to those who are his foes on this earth, men and women, to come to him, to trust in him, to receive the cover of his protection, and to accept his kingly rule.
2 pet 3:9
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
And so the force of his kingship is stayed by the mercy of his patience.
Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.
So he waits for you, we dont know for how long, but he waits. But for those of us who already belong to his kingdom, we rejoice because he is our true, gracious, saving king, and he is on our side, and he has fought for us, and he continues to fight for us.
Rejoice - God is our Judge
Rejoice - God is our Judge
Ps 98 7-9
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
9 before the Lord, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
Rejoice because God has saved us in the past, God is our king today, and God is coming to judge the earth in the future.
CS Lewis book - surprised by the joy at awaiting God’s judgement
As Christians, we are deeply aware biblically of our own sin and the condition of our own heart
Though we are no longer guilty of sin, that awareness of our fallen nature makes us see ourselves as the defendant in a courtroom by default
The Jews were different, they saw themselves as on God’s side as His people
so they saw themselves as the plaintiff, bringing their case for justice to be met
their problem was that they needed to know the right people on earth for justice. Class and poverty were barriers
The parable of the unjust judge
In that light, the Psalms talk of joy at God’s coming judgement
But we are also right to ask “Is that to be joy really?” Before the God who knows not just our actions, but our deepest desires, thoughts and motivations
When we are laid bare, and the ugliness of our fallen hearts are brought to the surface, what right do I have to seek justice without bringing condemnation on myself?
When I accuse someone of robbery, what about my covetousness? What about my lust? My jealousy? My murderous anger
The finger that is pointed towards someone else will turn back on me. The plaintiff will become the defendant, the accused.
This conundrum - my need to be vindicated truthfully while receiving mercy, for I myself am no better than anyone else. How can it be solved?
Ps 85:10
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Where does it meet? Where does our demand for justice and mercy come together? Only at the cross. Only in the shed blood of Jesus Christ can we find refuge for our own sins, and know that our desire for justice will be met.
The problem of my sin, the guilt of my rebellion against God, the finger of the accuser needs to be removed, the accusations silenced before I have a claim to a portion in the joy of God’s judgement. And that only happens at the cross, where my guilt is thrown away, the shame of my sins cast out because Jesus’ blood has paid the perfect price to redeem my from my sins.
Rom 3:25-26
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Col 2:13-14
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
So now we once again have the opportunity to be the plaintiff, bringing our case to Jesus, to ask and wait for his judgement
We long, as do all people, for righteousness and equity (fairness). For things to be right in this world.
And what hope does anyone for that need for justice and fairness to be met in this world? In the midst of all the evil and wickedness that goes unanswered, or are not wrong by the world’s standards?
What hope do the unseen and unheard victims of heinous crimes have when faced with the barrier of corruption and class and the silence or the ignorance of those who make the rules? When you dont know the right people, when you dont have a voice? When you are considered to be on the wrong side of history or expendable to the whims of politics?
What hope do the victims of the evil perpetrated in this century (the wars, the holocaust) have of ever getting their vindication? For their cries of justice to be heard and acted upon?
Justice delayed is justice denied - death, time, history
What prevents anyone from just snapping and saying I am going to take things, vengeance into my own hands?
“I’ve been back to places where people have had their mothers and daughters raped and their fathers’ and brothers’ throats slit and their homes burned to the ground, and if I look them in the eye and say to them, ‘You just need to love your enemies. There’s never going to be a judgment day. There’s never going to be a day in which everything is put right. We don’t believe in that, but you just need to not retaliate. You need to live at peace,’ they’re going to say, ‘Oh, there’s no judgment day? There’s no God who’s ever going to stand on the earth and make everything right? Fine. I’m going to get my gun and go do it myself.’ ”
And the Psalmist says “Rejoice, in your unfair circumstances, in your suffering, in your oppression, because the Lord is coming to judge the Earth”
He is coming to set things right. He is coming to seek account for every act of evil and wrong perpetrated on this world
And that account can only be provided either by the blood of Christ or by his judgement
Even the most heinous crime can be covered by the unaccountable riches of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice
OR it will be accounted for by the eternal fire of hell, for all those who are not on the side of Christ, the ruling king and sovereign judge of all
Sin and death and Satan has been defeated at the cross. They flail about in this world, under notice of extinction, till the time when the Lord decides “That’s enough.” And he comes to throw sin, death, the devil into the lake of fire, closing the book on their record of crimes, and vindicating the cries of all those who were oppressed by them.
In God’s economy, justice delayed is not justice denied but it will be justice magnified because evil will face its prosecutor, the righteous King. He doesnt overlook the weak and needy, he is not swayed by the wealth and power of the oppressor, his laws do not have a statute of limitations, for cases to expire. Every evil will be held to account in the court of Christ
Rev 19:11-16
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
When he comes to make things right, to judge the world with righteousness and equity
That is the hope of God’s people, for he comes.
And not just our hope
Ps 98:7-8
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
All creation is waiting, singing, expectant with joy that their Creator is coming to make things right
Rom 8:19-21
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
When the curse of sin came into this world, the earth was set in conflict against the men and women who inhabited it. The soil frustrated its tiller, animals broke out against their masters, and enmity came between the earth and those who were set to rule it.
And so this state of fallenness makes creation groan, because its potential is frustrated, its purpose denied because things are not right in this world.
But when sins and sorrows no longer grow, then no longer will thorns infest the ground.
Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary The Chorus of Nature (98:7–9)
that nature will not come into its own until man himself, its proper master, is ruled in righteousness and equity.
In the new earth, where righteousness and equity is found under the rule of Jesus Christ, when evil has been accounted for and vanquished, the ground will once again bring forth abundance without toil, the animals will no longer wage battle against man, the lion and the lamb will lie together.
The beauty of creation will once again come into its intended focus, no more pollution, no more extinction. Just harmony for men, women and all creation under the righteous rule of king Jesus.
And together they will sing
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
Conclusion
Conclusion
This Christmas season, lets rejoice and sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things
The baby boy of Bethlehem, the one we have come to adore, has brought us immeasurable joy
Because he has saved us
Because he is our king
Because he is coming to judge the world and make things right.
That’s our our hope - for he comes, and he is coming soon
Christmas has brought Joy To The World