Lord of Lords and King of Kings

Lord of Lords and King of Kings Psalm 66 (NIV84) For the Director of Music. A Song. A Psalm [of the Resurrection] 1 Shout with joy to GOD, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of HIS name; make HIS praise glorious! 3 Say to GOD, “How awesome are YOUR deeds! So great is YOUR power that YOUR enemies cringe before YOU. 4 All the earth bows down to YOU; they sing praise to YOU, they sing praise to YOUR name.” Selah 5 Come and see what GOD has done, how awesome HIS works in man’s behalf! 6 HE turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot— come, let us rejoice in HIM. 7 HE rules forever by HIS power; HIS eyes watch the nations— let not the rebellious rise up against HIM. Selah 8 Praise our GOD, O peoples, let the sound of HIS praise be heard; 9 HE has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. 10 For YOU, O GOD, tested us; YOU refined us like silver. 11 YOU brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. 12 YOU let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but YOU brought us to a place of abundance. 13 I will come to YOUR temple with burnt offerings and fulfil my vows to YOU— 14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble. 15 I will sacrifice fat animals to YOU and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. Selah 16 Come and listen, all you who fear GOD; let me tell you what HE has done for me. 17 I cried out to HIM with my mouth; HIS praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD would not have listened; 19 but GOD has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. 20 Praise be to GOD, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld HIS love from me! Have you ever felt let down? Have you ever been disappointed by people? Have you ever experienced dejection, sadness? Have you ever been disillusioned? How do you deal with this disillusionment, this feeling of being let down, this failure of others that causes you to be down in the dumps? It is not a trivial topic. It happens when we lose perspective. It often happens when we are ill-informed of or when we question what truly matters. It happens when we just do not know how to understand a particular situation or incident. More often than not people draw God into their despair. So often we people or circumstances hurt us we project our pain on God. How often do we hear arguments like the following: “A god who can’t stop discrimination, or illness, or unfair people has no right to my devotion or my faith?” Or, “a god who allows cruelty is not acceptable. I can’t believe in a god like that.” Friends, all people experience bewilderment when life doesn’t run as smoothly as we believe it should. Today I would like to suggest to you that if we understand God and the way He operates this world better, it will help us to get through the times we experience the darkness of despair. This is what Psalm 66 is all about. We find 39 references to God in Psalm 66. It wants to put life in the perspective of God’s action. Psalm 66 reminds us that there were times in Israel’s history that they were caught in impossible situations. For instance: Jacob and his offspring we boxed in by a terrible famine until God provided a solution by sending Joseph to Egypt. Joseph was trapped in an Egyptian jail until God came to his rescue through a fellow inmate. The Israelites didn’t see a way out of slavery in Egypt until God responded to their plea by summoning Moses to go back to Egypt. Moses tried every possible avenue to convince the pharaoh to let his people, and they were all dead ends until God’s final solution came into effect with the Passover. All of these things caused Israel at some stage in their history to despair. But then God intervened and altered their future forever. Listen to the response of the Israelites in Babylonian exile when they realised that God has intervened on their behalf. “When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:1–3 (NIV84) Only when you have experienced such a situation, and things have changed for the better in a way you never expected, can you fully appreciate how these people felt. And if you have experienced God’s intervention in your life and understood what HE has done then you would clearly remember your feelings of relief and gratitude. Joseph did. Jacob and his sons did. The Israelites in Egypt did. Moses did. The Israelites in Babylonian exile did. And every single time when they grasped what God did, they spontaneously witnessed to God’s greatness and they humbly submitted to God in sheer, boundless worship. Their gratitude just poured out of them: “Thank you, thank you, thank you, God.” Friends, Psalms 66 is filled with this kind of a memory. It is not a personal. It is not individual memory. No, it recalls the shared, foundational memory of Hebrew slaves escaping through the parted waters of the Red Sea. It is the memory of a young nation moulded by hardship during 40 years of sojourning in deserts as they entered the promised land through the parted waters of the Jordan River. To Israel these scenes of rescue and arrival are not simply events in the past. No, it includes the liberating realities of GOD’S intervention in the present moments of their lives. It is as if the assembly of GOD’S faithful were once again at the parted Red Sea and the banks of the parted Jordan River: “Come and see what God has done: HE is awesome in HIS deeds among mortals. HE turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot” (66:5–6). These memories are so vivid that they drive the psalmist to exuberant praise: “Make a joyful noise to GOD, all the earth; sing the glory of HIS name; give to HIM glorious praise” (66:1–2). Friends, Ecstatic excitement comes upon the psalmist at the very thought of what God has done: “How awesome are YOUR deeds! Because of YOUR great power, YOUR enemies cringe before YOU” (66:3). The psalmist then shifts from exhorting all the earth to sing, to the claim that they already are doing so: “All the earth worships YOU; they sing praises to YOU, sing praises to YOUR name” (66:4). Unlike Psalm 66:1, this verse is not a command but a description. So, we can say that Psalm 66 reminds us of the truth that GOD rules all nations and the HE deserves the worship of all nations (66:1–4). It reminds us that GOD turned the sea into dry land to bring about the final stages of the Egyptians exodus (66:5–7). It reminds us that GOD tested Israel’s resolve in the desert (66:8–12a). It witnesses that GOD brought the new generation who was willing to put their thrust in HIM into the Promised Land (66:12b). It recollects that GOD gave them the Tabernacle as worship centre and the joy of worship (66:13–15). It recalls that GOD protected them in the land just like HE promised HE would. Friends, all these truths fuel worship as they produce prayer, praise and faith in the king and the people (66:13–15). The temple is the focal point of this realization that GOD deserves praise for establishing Israel and Israel’s worship in the midst of real historical events. When we read Psalm 66, we glimpse a soul lost in wonder, love, and praise because he has learned that he can trust God. When people learn to trust God, everything changes for them. Trust builds a relationship that cannot be broken. This is why David in Psalm 62:8 (NIV84) challenged his people to put their trust in God: “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.” This is why Jesus according to John 14:1 (NIV84) encouraged His disciples with these words: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in GOD; trust also in ME.” When the Philistines seized him at Gath David testified according to Psalm 56:3-4 (NIV84) “When I am afraid, I will trust in YOU. In GOD, whose word I praise, in GOD I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” Friends, this attitude reminds me of Jesus’ message according to Matthew 10:28 (NIV84) “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the ONE who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” So, what should be do? How should we live? Friends, according to Solomon in Proverbs 3:5 (NIV84) we should learn to “Trust in the LORD with all our heart,” and learn “not to lean not on our own understanding.” People who have learned that they can trust GOD put their trust on display through their thankful acts of worship. In the Psalms we often taste the gratitude of a people who realise that they can trust GOD because HE “has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip” (66:9). We feel the extravagance of a heart so overflowing with song and thanksgiving that it sees GOD’S divine intention for creation as if it were already fulfilled. Since the very beginning of Christianity Psalm 66 [In the Septuagint Psalm 65] was interpreted as referring to the Pascha. Most Greek manuscripts of this Psalm add a single word to the supplemental inscription “anastaseos” [of the resurrection]. This tiny addition to the text testifies that since the second century Psalm 66 was sung on Resurrection Sunday. Friends, the “works” of GOD being celebrated in this psalm, originally, and for which we give thanks to His name, has also something to do with GOD’S accomplishing of our redemption in the final Passover mystery, that through the blood that poured from Jesus’ wounds we are saved. When we listen to this Psalm, we should include this unfathomable truth as part of our worship, that through the death and Resurrection of Christ our Lord, GOD brokered our salvation. These are the “works” of GOD celebrated in the Divine Liturgy: “Having in remembrance this saving commandment and all those things that have come to pass for us: the Cross, the grave, the third-day Resurrection, the Ascension into heaven, the sitting at the right hand, and the second and glorious coming—Your own, of Your own, we offer unto You on behalf of all and for all.” To which the congregation responds, of course: “We praise You, we bless You, we give thanks unto You, O Lord. And we pray unto You, O our God.” Friends, Psalm 66 reminds me of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus at the end of his Messiah. It reminds me of what my response should be towards the Father and Jesus. And He shall reign forever and ever Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah Halle-e-lu-jah. For the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Yes, the Lord God omnipotent reigns. The kingdom of this World has become, the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And He shall reign forever Jesus shall reign forever and ever and ever. King of kings, forever and ever and Lord of Lords. Halleluiah, halleluiah. In Jesus’ prayer recorded for us in John 17 Jesus twice referred to the fact that He gave His disciples the words that GOD has given them and that they accepted them. These words from GOD enable believers to persevere in their faith. They do so because GOD’S WORD teaches them that they can trust GOD – even when they are hated and persecuted. How does singing Psalm 66 or Handel’s Hallelujah help us to live in God’s broken, bleeding world? Friends, it helps us to find true perspective. Our lives are also an invitation to all around us to come and listen and to come and see what God has done for us through Jesus. There might be some sceptics who would claim that it does not help at all. If anything, they argue, singing the hymn adds to the problem, because it leads us to substitute a feeling of piety for shouldering our responsibility as citizens of creation who need to get to work. But there are others, though, many others, who can attest that the singing songs like Psalm 66 and Handel’s Hallelujah are keeping their hope in GOD’S future alive. They witness that these songs revitalise their visionary capacities. It reminds them of a world worth striving for. And in doing so, it empowers them to live their faith day by day. Undoubtedly, hymns and spiritual songs have often fuelled and sustained social movements for justice and equality, just as they have also been a source of comfort in times of crisis and grief. We should be part of this group. For this group, friends, Psalm 66 witnesses about the passage from death to life, for the enemies of the human race are sin and death. It is from these that Christ has set us free, restoring us to eternal favour with God: “HE set my soul in life and does not let my footsteps falter. For YOU, O GOD, have tested us, YOU have smelted us like silver. YOU have brought us into a trap; YOU laid affliction on our back, and caused men to lord it over us. We passed through fire and water, but YOU have brought us back to life.” Friends, this is our testimony today as well. With David we can witness: 1 Shout with joy to GOD, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of HIS name; make HIS praise glorious! 3 Say to GOD, “How awesome are YOUR deeds! So great is YOUR power that YOUR enemies cringe before YOU. 4 All the earth bows down to YOU; they sing praise to YOU, they sing praise to YOUR name.” Selah 5 Come and see what GOD has done, how awesome HIS works in man’s behalf! 6 HE turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot— come, let us rejoice in HIM. 7 HE rules forever by HIS power; HIS eyes watch the nations— let not the rebellious rise up against HIM. Selah 8 Praise our GOD, O peoples, let the sound of HIS praise be heard; 9 HE has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. 10 For YOU, O GOD, tested us; YOU refined us like silver. 11 YOU brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. 12 YOU let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but YOU brought us to a place of abundance. 13 I will come to YOUR temple with burnt offerings and fulfil my vows to YOU— 14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble. 15 I will sacrifice fat animals to YOU and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. Selah 16 Come and listen, all you who fear GOD; let me tell you what HE has done for me. 17 I cried out to HIM with my mouth; HIS praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD would not have listened; 19 but GOD has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. 20 Praise be to GOD, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld HIS love from me! Yes, Psalm 66 calls us to dare to put your faith in God our Redeemer. Remember, just like God rescued Jacob’s offspring, Joseph, Moses, the Jewish slaves in Egypt at the Red Sea, the young nation Israel at the banks of the River Jordan, HE rescued you and me, through the blood of Jesus. Therefore, rejoice, rejoice, our LORD in King! Proclaim HIS greatness. Show HIS grace. Display HIS loving-kindness wherever you go. Amen.