The King in His Beauty

Big Idea:

Tension: What can God’s people look forward to when the King reigns in righteousness?

Resolution: That he is also a priest.

Exegetical idea: When the King reigns in righteousness, God’s people can look forward to the fact that he is a priest.

Theological idea: When Jesus comes as King, he will also come as Priest.

Homiletical Idea: Jesus is not only your King, he is also priest.

Outline

Introduction: When will Jesus come and make things right?

A King Will Reign in Righteousness: The first thing that we see is that there will come a King who is coming to reign in righteousness. Undoubtedly this is is a reference to the coming of Immanuel (Isaiah 9:6-7). The King, the Messiah is going to come. And we believe that the King himself has come. That king is none other than Jesus. He is the truly the King, and he truly has authority. He is the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. The King who is coming to rule and to reign. He is sovereign and reigning. He is the King. He will rule over all things. And he will come to judge the sinners. Part of the King’s job is to judge sinners.

No longer will the fool be called noble - This is why we see down in vs. 5 that the fool will no more be called noble. No more will what is wrong be called right. No longer will what is foolish be called noble. Now what does it mean to be foolish? Well, the following verses tell us foolishness.

mouth: Speaking folly/he utters error/he ruins the poor with lying words. Ps 14:1 says that the fool says in his heart that there is no God.

heart: Heart meditates on iniquity/he plans wicked schemes

practices: He has evil devices

leaving the hungry unsatisfied/ he denies the needy justice/ depriving the thirsty of drink

Foolishness is a failure to love God. If true love of God was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, then foolishness is in the heart, it’s in the mouth, its in the hands. in other words, it is a total failure to love God. But it’s also a failure to love the neighbor. Look at what we see in vs. 6-7, they leave the craving unsatisfied, deprives the thirsty of water, it denies the needy when when their plea is right. Foolishness is a failure to love God and love people.

By contrast, the “noble person” will stand on his nobility. Notice here, the noble person he plans noble things and he does “noble” things. Just like foolishness is in the heart, the mouth, and hte hands, so is nobility. When there is a wise person, a noble person, they will be noble on the outside, and they will be noble on the inside. And that is how they will stand.

And what verse 5 tells us is that every foolish person will be known for who they are. And every noble person will be known for what they are.

Let me give you an example. If there is someone who is spending all their time and money gambling down at the horse race track, shooting up heroine in the stands, and when he comes home he’s not loving his spouse, he’s not spending time with his kids, he’s yelling at his dog, he spends all his extra time at the bar, he is constantly calling in sick to work and not going to work, I think everyone who is here would agree, “Yea, that guy is a fool.” And God’s going to bring that out in the end for everyone to see. But let’s say there is a guy who has everything looking well on the outside. He’s climbing the ladder at work, his wife is always happy, his kids are always obedient, his dog always always comes when he calls, but at night after every one else is at bed he’s messing around on his computer, he’s hushing his wife whenever she brings up a complaint, he’s distant when his kids are around. That person is also a fool. And both are going to be found out.

This is the repeated theme of the Bible, that sin will be found out (Mal 3:17; Lam 4:21-22; 2 Pet 3:10)

Now let me ask you, what will become evident on that day for you? That secret heart thought you nurture, that gossip that you spread, that judgment that you cultivate, that bitterness you feed, that unforgiveness you harbor, that failure to love your spouse, that anxiety, that hopelessness you thrive on, that folly and foolishness and sin, don’t you think that’s going to be found out? That arrogance and pride you pretend isn’t there. That anger that you water and plant. Do you really think God doesn’t see that? Do you really think that you can escape when nobody else does?

transition: Here’s the good thing, Jesus is not only coming as the King of righteousness, he is also coming as the priest.

The Shelter in the Storm

The Priest-King - Melchizedek - King of righteousness. Here we see that the Coming King is not only the King who reveals the sins of his people, but also he is coming as the king who is the priest. ANd we see this because of the word play that is happening here. You see the word - “king” is the Hebrew Word melek, and the word “righteousness” is the word tsedeq. So teh King of Righteousness is called the “Melchizedek” and this is clearly referencing the earlier King, Melchizedek, teh King of Jerusalem. And this King Melchizedek, was not only a King, he was also a priest. He was the priest-king. And all the other kings of Judah and Israel tried to be like this Melchizedek. But there was only one who came as Melchizedek, only one priest-king wh0o would come, namely, Jesus Christ.

And Jesus Christ is the King who will be our priest. And while most priests would offer a sacrifice, this King offered himself. In other words, in order to pay for our sin, Jesus interposed his own precious blood. He put himself in the way of hte wrath of God so that we might be redeemed (Hebrews 9:11-13). He has come as the King of righteousness, the true Melchizedek, the great high Priest who once and for all has purchased your salvation at the price of his own blood.

A shelter, hiding place, streams of water, shade for a rock (Ps 32:5-7 ) This is why we see here in 32:1, that this king-priest is a “hiding place from teh wind, a shelter from teh storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.” This is itself referencing Ps 32:5-7, where forgiveness of sins is called “shelter from teh storm” this is exactly what he is for us. This Priest-King is our shelter, he is our forgiveness, he is our rock, a place where we can run to. So if you have felt called out by this sermon, if you have felt grabbed by the Word of God, run to this shelter, run to this rock. This is why in the next chapter, in 33:17, God tells the people “Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty.{

The heart will be changed - And not only this, but look at vs 3-4, the heart will understand and know, the tongue will learn to speak, the eyes will see, the ears will hear. In other words, there will be regeneration, heart change. Not only does this priest-King save us by forgiving us our sins, but he saves us by protecting us from repeating our sins. In other words, we don’t have to be fools any more. Let him teach you to no longer walk like a fool. Stop living this way. Be noble. he has been so good to you, hes’ been so generous to you, he’s been so loving to you, won’t you respond in repentance?

Take Heed

Run to this shelter, run to this rock:

I love the third verse of the song Rock of Ages, by Augustus Toplady:

Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.

Don’t be a fool: Jesus is going ot return. So sto pbeing a fool. Stop living with a loveless heart. Stop pretending that everyone doesn’t know. Stop pretending that God won’t see. Knock it off. Cut it out. God’s going to return, and on that day there’s not going to be anything hidden. But come now, come while you can, come and wash your hands of your vices, come now come and take up your cross and follow him. Start reading your Bible, start listening to God’s Word, start praying, start coming to Bible study, start coming to church. Cultivate a love for God. Stop being a fool.

Confession - True genuine, heartfelt confession. Is there something that is burning on your heart? Confess it to the Lord. But maybe you need to confess it to your spouse, or a friend, maybe to your kids. After all, James 5 tells us to confess our sins to one another. Listen, Psalm 32 tells us that “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away”. Do you feel that way? Don’t keep silent. Ask God for forgiveness, and ask others for forgiveness.