Sing the Lord has come! Joy to the World

Joy to the World!

Why should the world be joyful? Because the King has come. We sang The King is Coming which tells the the King is coming in the future. So which is it? Has the King come or is the King coming? Advent is a season of double anticipation. First, we anticipate the celebration for our King’s first coming as a babe in a manger; born to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins and set in motion the unfolding of the Kingdom of God. Second, we anticipate Jesus’ Second Coming as the the King of Glory to reconcile all things to God and to completely establish God’s sovereign and righteous Kingdom on earth. We’ve already anticipated his second coming in song. As we begin our reflection on God’s word this morning, let’s take a moment to celebrate his first coming in Song. Let’s joyfully sing together the first stanza of . . .

Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord has 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

Our carol, Joy to the World, is Issac Watt’s paraphrase of Psalm 98

This psalm is a Royal Psalm because it emphasizes Yahweh as King. However, Watt’s Joy to the World does not celebrate King Yahweh, but rather King Jesus. Was Issac Watt’s right in seeing Jesus in this Psalm? While there are many ways to illustrate that this view is appropriate, I will do so by briefly answering the question . . .

Did Jesus see himself in the royal saving role as expressed in Psalm 98?

Specifically, did he see himself as King Yahweh in the flesh? I will highlight only two stories that indicate Jesus did see himself as Yahweh in the flesh. The first occurs in the calling of the disciple Nathanael in John chapter 1. Many of you will recall the story. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Here I image Jesus cracking a huge smile and responding with a bit of a chuckle in his voice, . . . “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”(John 1:46–50, NIV)

The point I want to make here is that Jesus completely accepted Nathanael calling him the Son of God and the King of Israel, even though Jesus’ response implies that Nathanael’s understanding of how Jesus would fulfill those roles was not complete.

The second story occurs in John chapter 8. Jesus is confronting the Pharisees on a number of issues. Finally, the Pharisees ask “Are you greater than our Father Abraham?” Jesus replied, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad . . .. Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him . . . .” (John 8:57–59, NIV) . Your will recalled that . . .

“Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”” (Exodus 3:13, NIV) God said to Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you. When Jesus said “before Abraham was born, I am. The Pharisees knew was clearly saying, I am God, I am Yahwah, I AM who I AM. That’s why the Pharisees were ready to stone Jesus for blasphemy.

Taking these two stories together, I propose that Jesus saw himself as King of Israel and as Yahweh himself.

In John 12:47 Jesus said, “I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. Combing this with Jesus’ understanding of his identity as Yahweh on earth it seems evident that Jesus pursued his first advent as Yahweh’’s mission to save the world.

Consequently, Watt’s interpretation of Psalm 98 from the point of view that the saving work of King Yahweh and the saving work of King Jesus are the same thing appears consistent with Jesus’ own assertions concern his identity and his mission.

Viewing the Psalm, as Watts did through the lens of Jesus, we see these two royal identities merging together through the Psalm.

We will spend the balance of our time together considering how those roles unfold within the Psalm and the responses the King Yahweh and King Jesus require of us individually and as a Church Family.

Slide: Sing a New Song to the Savior

Sing to the LORD a new song!

The first thing to notice is that statement is a command it. It is not a wish or a suggestion. A new song is commanded response to the marvelous things that the Lord has done. The psalmist points out three marvelous divine saving actions. The first of these actions is that

“ . . . his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” John Calvin points out that this simple means that the salvation that God created for his people is completely from within himself, without the use of anything or any process that is outside of himself. His right hand and his holy arm both are symbols for God’s own power. Therefore, God’s salvation flows completely from his initiative and his power alone. We are more helpless than we think. The Scriptures make it clear that we are totally dependent on God for our eternal salvation. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44, NIV). Likewise, we totally dependent on God’s daily deliverance. Psalm 68:19 says, Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. (Psalm 68:19, NIV) We think we can save ourselves in our daily life, but if it were not for our Savior who daily bears our burdens we would be lost. The Hebrew word translated salvation here means to “save from ruin, destruction, or harm.” It can also be translated as victory. Our salvation the victorious salvation of King Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “Death has been swallowed up in victory, Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting . . . . But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, the Father victoriously saves us from eternal death. And, as we obey his commands of Jesus, we are victoriously save on a daily basis from the things that seek our ruin, destruction, or harm. The apostle John wrote in his first letter, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:3–5, NIV) . In his second divine act . . .

“The Lord has made his salvation known.” The Hebrew word translated salvation in this verse means to preserve from harm, “rescue from any intolerable situation or great danger from which the person is unable to save himself or herself”[1] The Hebrew translated made know means to make information known to someone particularly by instruction. The prophet Micah speaking of the future rule of the Messiah wrote, “Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Micah 4:2, NIV) God made his salvation known first through the Law, then through Jesus in his first coming, and finally it will be fully known when King Jesus returns and completes that instruction. The third marvelous divine actions is that the Lord . . .

“. . . revealed his righteousness to the nations.” The Hebrew translated “revealed” means to reveal in the sense of making information public that was previously secret or known to a few.” Jesus fulfills King Yahweh’s plan to make his salvation known.The Apostle Paul captured this in letter to the church in Ephesus when he wrote, “In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:4–6, NIV)

Why did King Yahweh show work this marvelous, victorious salvation?

Psalm 98:3 tells us it is because King Yahweh remembered his love and faithfulness to Israel. Our God a covenant keeping God, he makes promises and he keeps them. King Yahweh kept his promise not simply because he was bound by them, but also because he genuinely loves his chosen people Israel and he loves us in the same way. Just as he kept his promises to Israel, Our Father keeps his promises to us. The word translated “have seen” has the sense of being present in the experience so as to see something. Consequently, the nations (gentiles, us) are not just passive observers of God’s salvation, but active participants in it. God fulfilled his covenant promises both to the Jews and the Gentles in Christ Jesus. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16, NIV) . In response to great a salvation, we are commanded to sing a new song the Lord who saves us.

How do we sing a new song to the Lord

Cultivate a deep joy eternal salvation that God by his own power provided for us through Jesus Christ. We can do this by meditation on Passion narratives in the Gospels

Matthew 26:36 - 27:66

Mark 14:32 - 15:47

Luke 22:39 -23:56

John 18:1 - 19:38

Ask the Lord to give us the joy in our eternal salvation that we desire, believe that he will do it, and be persistent in our pursuit of that joy.

Literally sing - songs we know and songs we just make up.

Let’s sing the second stanza of Joy to the World together and tweek it make it more personal.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns

Let me my songs employ

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy

Repeat, repeat the sounding joy

4. Cultivate a deep joy for the daily deliverances that God provides for us. Again we can use hymns and spiritual songs to help us. As I was preparing this sermon and reflecting on the Lord kept in my mind all week the hymn Moment by Moment.

Refrain: Moment by moment I’m kept in His love;

Moment by moment I’ve life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Stanza 2: Never a trial that He is not there, In what trail am I experiencing his presence?

Never a burden that He doth not bear, what burden is he helping me to bear today?

Never a sorrow that He doth not share, what sorrow is the Lord sharing with me?

Moment by moment, I’m under His care. how am I experiencing that I am under his care moment by moment?

We learn to sing a new song by cultivating deep appreciation for our eternal salvation and what it means for us now and for eternity. And, we learn to sing a new song by being attentive to how God is helping us, delivering us, rescuing us, and saving us every day.

Having command from us a new song in response to the saving power of the Lord at work in our lives, which all the ends of the earth have seen,

Slide: Shout for joy before the King!

We are commanded to shout for Joy before the Lord, the King

.Notice all the action that takes place we are in the presence of the LORD, the King.

We shout; we burst in to jubilant song, we make music with stringed instruments, with trumpets, and with singing. We blast the ram’s horn or the shofar. The shofar was used to signal the troops in battle, it was also used in the coronation of Kings (as it connected with King Yahweh here). Most importantly for us it was used to announce the Day of Atonement. This was the day when the intentional transgression of God’s chosen people were banished by the slaughter of 1 goat for a purification offering and then high priest would lay his hands on the live goat’s head and confess over it all the sins of Israel, then the goat was led away into the wilderness as a visual symbol of the Lord removing the sins of his people from them. The prophet Isaiah foresaw that in the future the Messiah would perform the role of the scapegoat and carry the sins of the people. He wrote, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6, NIV). In death of Jesus on the cross Jesus fulfills this scapegoat role as Isaiah predicted. Paul sums it up like this: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:25, NIV) .

James Boice in his commentary on this section of the Psalm 98 wrote: “The most striking feature of this stanza is something we have seen before and will see again, the desire of the psalmist that the worship of God be joyful and above all, loud.” Boice follows up with this question and comment, “Should the worship of God’s people be any less exuberant today? Should we be quiet when we have come to know him who is the great King above all kings and the great Lord above all lords? Shame on us for all lackluster worship and all halfhearted praise.” [2] When think of our own worship individual and corporately where we would we fall on the exuberance scale? If we sense we come up with less exuberance than is commanded by the Scriptures, might our exuberance be increase by cultivating a greater joy in our eternal salvation and greater attentiveness and joy in God’s daily deliverance in our lives as individuals and as a church?

We happen to have a shofar with us today. I have asked Mark to make a blast on the shofar as it might be heard on the Day of Atonement. Then we will sing the third stanza Joy to the World in celebration of King Jesus our scapegoat.

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

Slide: Let Them Sing Before the Lord!

At this point the Psalm takes a turn from the language of command and the language of aspiration and hope. In response to this marvelous, victorious salvation that all the end of the earth has come to experience there is a longing that all of creation both humanity and nature will join in the new song! For the King is Coming! King Jesus is coming to finish the redemption of all creation that he set in motion during his first advent. The psalmist looks forward to that day and says, “Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and peoples with equity - that is to say King Jesus will judge fairly, with integrity and truth. The prophet Micah looked forward to that day and he wrote, “He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Micah 4:3, NIV) The Lord gave the Apostle John a vision of that day which he describe like this “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:1–5, NIV)

Issac Watts took all of that in and said, this calls for a new song!

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

[1] Myers, A. C. (1987). In The Eerdmans Bible dictionary (p. 904). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

[2] Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 42–106: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 799–800). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.