King of Glory
Notes
Transcript
PRAY
King of All!
King of All!
Oh how our world needs to hear this and believe it!
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
For too long have we lived without fear of this fact!
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
Politicians lie and argue and scramble for power,
all the while
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
Commanders and Kings and military leaders line up their troops, strategise and manoeuvre, cut off supply lines, and all the while
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
CEO’s and shareholders plot and scheme and exploit and buy and store up for themseleves, when all the while
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
We ourselevs keep the best for ourselves and dismiss the great need of those who suffer or are in need around us, when all along,
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
For our politicians, the mitlatry commanders, the CEO’s, we ourselves consider this world to be ours,
as if it owes us something.
As if we can control our portion of it,
as if it’s ok to do so at the expense of others,
to capatalise on our advantages,
to abuse our powers,
to benefit ourselevs from our wealth,
to turn a blind eye to the injustices as if we established the earth,
as if we founded it all -
humanity ?- Kings of all?
When all along
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
The waters and the seas represent the chaos and unknown,
the darkness and mystery of nothing,
It’s as if the Psalmist,
King David is saying,
did any of you bring anything into existence from nothing,
from chaos, from darkness, from the seas, the waters?
Not a thing!
Even the greatest scientists of our time who claim to be so wise,
cannot still answer how creation began.
Where did it come from.
No one can fathom the origin of things.
Theories of creation,
big bangs,
anti-matter,
black holes,
Whatever may or may not be right about those things - no-one can fathom what initiated any of that?
It is a fearful thought, darkness, waters, nothing
- who brought life from the unknown?
And even if Science could explain it - could any of them create it from nothing?
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
Oh how our world needs to hear this and believe it!
William Paley - an English clergyman wrote a book in 1802
demonstrating that creation itself is proof that there is a creator God.
he makes the analogy of pocket watch being found in the dessert by a nomadic tribe that knew nothing of modern technology.
They could hardly look at it and think it grew all by itself with out a watchmaker - a designer.
Intricate,
regular,
ordered,
beautiful,
It seems ludicrous to see how incredible and intricate our world is and to think there was no designer.
No creator,
No,
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
And we must not miss the significance of this.
God created, everything, and everyone - but that is not the point here,
The point here is that it all ‘belongs’ therefore ‘to the Lord!’
The earth IS the Lords
If it’s good he can enjoy it.
If it’s bad he can destroy it.
It IS his.
God is King of the Universe! – Full Stop, End of Story.
He is King of All
The trees belong to Him,
the mountains,
the streams,
the clouds,
the animals,
the grass,
your garden,
your house,
your i-phone,
your car,
your money,
your children,
your spouse,
your friends,
your company,
well basically, You belong to God! (whether you like it or not, and whether you believe in God or not)
How different our world would be if our emplyers,
our politicians,
our military world leaders
lived in this knowledge..
How it should affect
our rights,
our possessions,
our business practices.
Our view of those less fortunate.
Always striving to own a bit more, control a bit more,
When it’s all the Lords.
to dominate the corner of a particular market ,
when corners of markets belong to God already?
Do we strive to climb over others in life when others belong to God?
When we concede that God owns everything and everyone,
then loving our neighbour becomes a much more important task than we presently think.
And sharing all we have becomes much more logical.
It’s not suprosing that in the OT law of God
he instituted year of jubilation every 7 years,
a way of reminding everyone that all belonged to God.
A year when the land would be allowed to rest and all debts would be cancelled - slaves would be freed.
It is not yours - it is mine says the Lord.
Oh how our world needs to hear this and believe it!
How sad that it hasn’t,
how sad that we in our own mini worlds also so often fail to live in this truth!
It raises the question,
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
While this Psalm doesn’t explicitly point out the judgement of those who have stood against his truth - most Psalms that begin with this reminder of god’s ownership and soverightly over all creation do.
But the implication is the same!
If this is the Lord almighty - King of all,
then who on earth - literally can come near him!?
I know if I spent time getting my head around this king of All God - I ought to fear his very existence, let alone the thought of coming near to him!
If I were him - looking at all that this humanity he had created had become -
Looking at world politics,
military campaings,
multi-national companies aims,
each individuals attitudes,
I’d wipe it out and start again.
But there is perhaps hope
King of Salvation!
King of Salvation!
This Psalm is probably a collection of liturgies
which would have been called out
by the priest in the temple of God at Jerusalem
and responded to by followers of God who would come on mass pilgrimages to the temple,
to seek favour and blessing from God - and present the sacrifices for foreignness..
And so the Priest begins as the worshippers start to climb the hill up to the temple gates,
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
We better think twice about approaching his temple gates is to be their response!
‘What have we come here for’ they ask each other?
‘Who can stand before such a God’.
Who can expect such a God to even consider a person like me.
Why would such a creator help us defeat our enemies in battle.
And the priest confirms their hesitancy,
calling loud over the whispers and footsteps of tiered pilgrims.
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
But the people of God know this call, this song.
They know this Creator.
They know what he requires of them,
they have heard and learnt of this One and only God.
They know their scriptures. They know that he is the..
King of all,
but also the King of Salvation
So they call back to the priest in the temple
in one voice using the words of v4-6
Let’s do it now - I’ll call v3 - you all respond with 4-6
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.
They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.,
They are not saying anything clever.
The clean hands is a reference to being innocent of crimes.
Much like we would say today, my hands are clean.
I’m innocent of any crime.
I’m a good citizen of the earth, of my community.
I follow the laws and regulations of
God and those in authority.
And so claiming a pure heart simply means that their lives are full of integrity ‘to the heart’.
They don’t just put on a front to others or in public,
so that they ‘look like’ followers of God’s standards and laws.
They are convicted by a desire and an attitude that ‘rejoices in’ following God’s laws.
They don’t go to church on Sunday and then not
mention or think about God for the rest of the week.
They don’t claim the title of follower of God
(a Christian we say today),
but then not study and learn from God’s bible so that they can be sure to know Him well.
INSTEAD they do delight in God’s word.
They do delight to serve Him and others.
They do delight in their hearts to live in the presence and blessing of God.
It is a joy to them, to worship and serve God.
Is it a Joy for us to worship and serve God with every area of our lives?
Those who can come before God are also those how put no trust in idols v4.
It again is a simple statement.
we can approach God when we realise there is no other hope!
no other way, no other gods,
no other options to avoid his judgement.
For he alone created and owns all.
Perhaps you have searched this life for answers,
for comfort,
for peace - you may find it for awhile,
this world offers us plenty of idols that satisfy temporarily,
relationships,
mindfulness,
money,
But if you want to find the only true hope,
we must approach this King of All with a commitment to reject all others.
PAUSE
But what they and I are not saying - is that we need to be perfect!
By no means.
Otherwise - as we've said - Who can approach the Lord of All
They love God and so their lives can reflect ‘a desire’ of integrity to the core,
a desire to find salvation and hope in God.
but, like us, they know they still fall a long way short of that awesome creator God.
Which is why they must include v5
They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God their Savior.
The point is clear,
that in the seeking and desiring to have cleans hands and a pure heart,
they are still found guilty in practice.
– even though their lives are full of integrity, they are far from perfect.
They often fall into selfishness, and greed like us,
even if it is not what characterises them.
But if we seek God with all our heart
- God will freely bless us, vindicate us, save us!
In simple terms,
It means our only hope is to seek god in all integrity,
and in him we will find salvation.
Hope.
And he is truely a great hope.
For he is also the
King of Glory
King of Glory
So we know who God is,
we know who is able to stand in his holy presence.
The pilgrims, followers of God now stand at the great doors of the temple.
And now, God’s people are full of anticipation.
They have declared they are saved by God, vindicated by his will,
and they have approached with integrity.
they have declared that the awesome power and might of God is on their side,
And so the people continue declaring together their call and response with the Priests.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Preist
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
People
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
This is nothing short of a battle cry,
and call to stand, to lift your heads all people everywhere!
The KING OF GLORY is Coming!! Get ready!
Who is this King of Glory we are repeatedly asked?
Strong and mighty,
mighty in battle,
He is the Lord Almighty…
Why…HE is the King of Glory!
It is with an antitude of seeking God’s vindication,
striving to live with a pure heart,
and with the anticipation of the King of Glory meeting them at the temple,
that they would entre the gates and then give their sacrifices to God for the forgiveness of their sins.
It’s almost the unsaid problem with this Psalm.
If God is good and created all,
then even in striving to live with a pure heart we need vindication.
But how can we have it?
How can God overlook our sin?
How does even seeking God make us fit to come to him?
Well in reality it doesn’t.
Something bigger is going on here
For the King of Glory did come eventually.
The promised saviour of all.
Jesus the King of glory entered our world,
and sacrificed himself.
He not only had an attitude of seeking God with a pure heart,
he actually had a pure heart!
His hands literally were clean!
And so his spotless righteousness is offered to us
and he takes our sin upon himself in his death,
his sacrifice on the cross.
We are vindicated!
We are blessed!
Completely.
We inherit his perfectly pure heart.
For Jesus is the perfect fulfilment,
and the perfect anticipation of this psalm.
He is both the one who can ascend the mountain of the Lord without need for vindication,
and he is the one who is the anticipated King of Glory to come!
He provides the solution to every human being that has forgotten that god is King of All.
He is the one who can forgive our own rejections of God.
he is the one who will come again in in the future in glory,
This Psalm saw the coming King of Glory as they awaited the Saviour Jesus.
It also foresaw the final fulfilment fo Jesus Second coming - still in our future!
Are we ready for Jesus the King of Glory today?
have you sought him with a pure heart,
asked for his forgiveness?
Not a perfect heart
- but a heart that earnestly acknowledges our rebelion against Him, and yet seeks his vindication and blessing - casting off all other idols of hope?
If you have then we now sing this Psalm with great joy!
The King of Glory has come, it started on the cross,
The king of Glory is here,
He lives in every true believers heart,
Ask him in if you haven’t already,
The king of Glory will come again
to face his final and mighty battle, defeating all evil in the world.
are we ready for him?
Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
PRAY