Tawa Baptist

Hope

Scripture: Isaiah 9:1-7

Video Link: https://youtu.be/oXUHz7nTtHE

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • High hope
  • Just hope
  • Certain hope
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Kia ora whanau and good morning everyone.

Today is the first Sunday in Christmas Advent. As I mentioned earlier in the service, advent simply means coming. Christmas Advent is a time when we look back to Jesus’ first coming to earth 2000 years ago as a baby in a manger. It’s also a time when we look forward to his second coming in glory.

The first Sunday in Advent is traditionally associated with hope. Hope is when we believe something good is going to happen in the future. In keeping with the theme of hope, our message today focuses on Isaiah 9, verses 1-7…

9 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.  3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Hope is a powerful thing. Believing that something good waits for us in the future can give us real energy and strength to deal with difficult circumstances in the present. Of course, anything that is powerful is also dangerous and so we need to be careful not to misplace our hope.

Handling hope is a bit like flying a kite. You can’t fly a kite on a calm day. A kite rises against the wind. And it will only rise as high as you let it. The trick is, holding onto the string, so you don’t lose the kite of your hope altogether.

Three things I see in this passage from Isaiah 9. The hope on offer here is high hope, just hope and certain hope. First let’s consider Isaiah’s high hope.

High Hope:

As many of you know, we are planning some renovations to the north wing of our church auditorium. Before any of the physical work is done we toss around ideas and put plans on paper. These were discussed at the recent church meeting. Once we are agreed on the plan, work can proceed.

The first part of renovating any existing building is demolition. The basic foot print of the north wing isn’t going to change but the builders will need to do some demo to gut the place, before rebuilding a new layout and installing new toilets and so forth.     

Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet. The prophets give a theological interpretation of historical events. In other words, they tell us what’s happening in history from God’s perspective. The prophets put God’s plan on paper basically.

Generally speaking, the prophets (like Isaiah) preached messages of judgment and hope. Judgment is like the demolition phase of the rebuild. Things have got so bad in Israel that God can’t just plaster over the cracks anymore. He has to gut the building and install a whole new layout.

Isaiah 8 is essentially a message of judgment. In chapter 8, the prophet foretells how the Assyrians are going to overwhelm Israel in a flood of war and violence. Isaiah interprets this pending invasion as an act of God’s judgment on Israel. The Assyrians are being employed by God to do the demolition.

But after judgement comes hope. Isaiah 9:1-7 is a message of hope. After the tidal wave of Assyrian devastation, God will restore the people of Israel. First the demolition and then the rebuilding. The bigger picture, the longer term plan or vision is to remodel the nation of Israel and make it better than before.

The people need to know the message of hope. They need to understand the longer term improvements God has planned in order to make sense of the pending demolition.

If we didn’t tell you about the renovations, we are planning for the north wing, and you just turned up one Sunday to see the crèche and toilets in ruins, you would be shocked and upset. But since you know the ultimate purpose is to improve that area, you will be better able to cope with the temporary inconvenience.   

Now in using this metaphor I don’t mean to minimize or downplay the effects of the Assyrian invasion of Israel. The Jewish exile was obviously far worse than demolishing a few rooms. Many people lost their lives and others became refugees. So our building renovations are not really the same thing in terms of impact on people.

The point is, if you know the suffering you are going through is for a higher purpose, you are better able to handle it. Isaiah pitches his message of hope high because the judgment is so severe.

Verses 1-2 of Isaiah 9 talk about a reversal of fortunes for the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, in the region of Galilee. Previously they were in gloom and distress. But the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.   

The northern parts of Israel, around Galilee, were the first to be attacked by the Assyrians. Isaiah is saying, they will be the first to see the light of a new day. Isaiah was right but it did not happen in his lifetime. The nation had to wait centuries.

Matthew, in his gospel, pointed out that Jesus is that light. Jesus started his ministry in Galilee. From Matthew’s gospel we read…

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali; 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 9 continues the theme of the prophet’s high hope for God’s people. In verse 3, Isaiah talks about how God will enlarge the nation and increase their joy. God will make them prosperous again.

In verse 4 we see another one of Isaiah’s high hopes for the future, where the prophet says: 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.

‘The day of Midian’s defeat’ refers to the book of Judges chapter 7, where Gideon defeated the entire Midianite army with just 300 men. Gideon did not do this in his own strength but through God’s strength.

The oppressor of Isaiah’s day was not Midian but Assyria. The Assyrians were the dominant world power. No one of that time seemed to question Assyria’s invincibility, except Isaiah. The prophet saw history from God’s point of view and so he could foresee a day when Assyria (the oppressor) would be defeated.

In New Zealand, at the moment, we are not facing imminent threat from a world super power, like Assyria; at least not that we are aware of. But we have been invaded by the Covid virus, as has every other country in the world.

I’m not suggesting that Covid is God’s judgement on the world, not in the sense of punishment. But the pandemic is certainly testing us and showing us what we are made of. It is a very trying and revealing time.

We have heard reports in the news over the past couple of days that a new variant of the virus is emerging around the world. It is unclear when we will finally emerge from this pandemic. While we don’t know what the immediate future holds, we believe nothing is too difficult for God to handle.

From history we know that pandemics seem to come round every 100 years or so. Then they go again. Viruses are like world super powers I guess. They rise and fall. Ultimately, God is in charge, not Covid. In the meantime, we still need to do everything in our power to protect our neighbours from the spread of the virus.      

Verse 5 shows the prophet’s high hope for peace: 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.

Not only does Isaiah imagine a day when the Assyrians are conquered. He also dares to imagine a day when war is done away with for forever. That day has not come in its fullness for us just yet. But it will eventually. God’s vision for the future (and our high hope) is heaven on earth. Life without war and without sickness or disease.

Isaiah’s message of hope is not only high, it is also just.  

Just hope:

As anyone who has done a tour of our parliament buildings (here in NZ) knows, the Beehive had new foundations laid. These foundations have base isolators which allow some movement in case of an earthquake. They make the building strong. The underground carpark at Wellington hospital has the same sort of foundations. 

For peace to be resilient, for peace to stand and not fall when the earth moves, it needs to be based on a foundation of justice.

As I keep saying, the prerequisite to peace is justice. In order to have peace, we don’t prepare for war. Rather we support wise leaders who work for a just and fair world. Hope for peace, without justice, is misplaced and fragile, like a building without base isolators in an earthquake zone.

Or to return to our kite metaphor; hope for peace, without justice, is like a kite without a tail; it is unstable and won’t fly.

And so we come to Isaiah 9, verse 6, made famous by the songs we sing at Christmas:  6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isn’t it interesting how, so often in Scripture, God’s purposes in history are associated with the birth of children. Truly his strength is made perfect in weakness. [1]

We can’t be sure how the Jews of Isaiah’s day understood this verse but we know that Christians down through the centuries have seen the birth of Jesus in Isaiah’s prophecy.

The titles of honour ascribed to this leader, this king, are too lofty and too grand to apply to any earthly king. They are divine titles. Indeed, this verse seems to be talking about God himself, as commander and chief.

They say that in the game of drafts you only need to think 1 or 2 moves ahead, but in the game of chess you need to be thinking 4 or 5 moves ahead. One of the jobs of a king is to make good decisions. A king needs to be like a good chess player, thinking several moves ahead, playing out all the various scenarios in his mind.

The Hebrew term for Wonderful Counsellor literally translates wonder planner

The phrase wonderful counsellor then refers to a king with the wisdom & foresight to design and develop extraordinary plans & policies for the ordering of the public life of his people [2]

As the word wonder suggests the vision and planning of this architect king are awe inspiring – the king’s wisdom leaves people gob smacked in amazement.

In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham & Sarah with a message of high hope. The Lord says that Sarah will give birth to a son. Sarah laughs at this, because she is well past child bearing age, so God says…

Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? [Meaning, is anything too difficult for the Lord?] At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son.”  

The Lord’s plan here is truly amazing in its scope and level of difficulty. Yahweh, the wonderful counsellor, is planning to redeem the entire creation through Abraham’s offspring and he is going to do this by making it possible for a 90-year-old woman to give birth to a son.

Isaac’s birth was a miracle of resurrection. Isaac’s birth demonstrates that nothing is too difficult for God. Even when it seems like all hope is lost, God can make things new.  

It should be noted however, that while Abraham and Sarah did see the birth of their son Isaac, they did not live to see the complete fulfilment of God’s promise. Their hope and ours is realised in the birth of Jesus. When we consider how Jesus makes good on God’s promise to Abraham, we begin to marvel at the Lord’s planning.  

The term Mighty God refers to God’s power. It goes hand in hand with wonder planner. Nothing is too difficult for God. But the term Mighty God also carries the nuance of military commander or warrior.

We don’t get the image of Jesus as a warrior so much in the gospels but the book of Revelation does portray Jesus as a mighty warrior who slays evil dragons and horrible beasts.

We may prefer our Jesus more domesticated, more meek and mild. But he is the Lord of hosts, the commander of legions of holy angels. Jesus uses his power to conquer sin and death, to establish justice and restore peace. He is the Prince of Peace.

These divine titles, in verse 6, are all different ways of saying the same thing. This ideal king will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness forever.  

So our high hope for peace is based on the firm foundation of wise and just leadership, the kind of leadership demonstrated by Christ.  

In a geo-political sense, that peace is not realised yet. But in a spiritual and personal sense, peace with God is available to us through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

Certain hope:

Not only is Isaiah’s message of hope high and just, it is also certain. It is not the kind of hope that hinges on luck, like maybe someday winning Lotto. Nor is it the hope that depends on your own skill and hard work, like possibly becoming an All Black or a Black Fern.

The future described in Isaiah 9 is a certain hope because it depends on God; it is based in the Lord’s will and purpose. As verse 7 tells us: The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Zeal is an intense, passionate enthusiasm or energy to get something done. The zeal of the Lord is not just a sudden short burst though. God’s zeal is long and deep. It is patient and tenacious.

There’s a quote in the movie Catch me if you can, which captures the idea of zeal quite nicely: Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse wouldn’t quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he turned that cream into butter and crawled out.

The second mouse had zeal.

Now, to be quite clear, the Lord is not a mouse and he hardly needs to struggle. But if a mouse can have the zeal to churn cream into butter, then how much more can the zeal of the Lord accomplish?

The zeal of the Lord is not a violent force, like a hurricane or a tidal wave or an earthquake. Nor is God’s zeal like an obsessive compulsive worrying. There is a gentleness and calmness to God’s zeal which is lovely and winsome.

In thinking about the certainty of our hope and the zeal of the Lord to accomplish things, I’m reminded of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Gerard was born in 1844 into an Anglican family. He was an excellent student, winning a scholarship to Oxford University. [3]

At the age of 21 he went through a moral and spiritual crisis and came out the other side a confirmed Catholic. Two years later he joined the Jesuit order and in 1877 was ordained a priest.

He loved writing but for seven years Gerard fasted from writing poetry – he gave it up. He only started writing again when asked by one of his superiors. Verse came flooding out of him.

Although Gerard Manley Hopkins was actually quite brilliant he wrestled with a feeling that he was a failure, as a teacher, a priest and as a human being. He felt that no one really understood him. Self-doubt, imposter syndrome, loneliness, despair. Perhaps some of you can identify?    

Like many deep feeling Christians, Gerard longed for God’s presence. There were times when he felt abandoned and neglected by God. These times, when his hope of a more intimate connection with God was disappointed, were agony.

I would like to think that Gerard Hopkins made the connection that most of the great prophets were poets. And most of them suffered during their own life time and probably thought they were failures too. I guess none of us know the significance of our life, in the course of history, from God’s perspective.

While he was alive, Gerard’s poems had a small audience, just himself and God. He did not enjoy fame or fortune or even good health. Gerard died in 1889 of typhoid fever. He was still relatively young, just 45.

His poetry may never have been known to world except for the zeal of the Lord.

It wasn’t until 1918, 29 years after his death, that a friend, Robert Bridges, prepared Gerard’s collection of poems for publication. His verse spoke to the heart of a generation who were disillusioned with God after four years of World War 1 and the start of a flu pandemic that killed even more than the war did.

I tell you this true story, about Gerard Manley Hopkins, to make the point that our hope in God is certain. It does not depend on our feelings. God is still present, even when it feels to us like he is absent. And his purpose is still at work, even after we have died.

Sometimes life doesn’t make a lot of sense. Sometimes we struggle to find any meaning or purpose in our suffering. There is a certain mystery to this life. We are not given all the answers, at least not this side of heaven. But that’s where faith and hope in God come to our rescue.  

We don’t have to have it all figured out. Whatever it is you have been through, whatever it is you are going through currently, whatever it is you are dreading, God has got this. He’s got you. He understands you completely and he can give your life meaning beyond the grave.    

Conclusion:

Isaiah’s message of hope for God’s people is high and just and certain. The zeal of the Lord is able to achieve far more than we can imagine.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears… 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

Let us pray…

Eternal God, we thank you for your wonderful plan to redeem our suffering and restore your creation. Save us from misplaced hope. When times are tough, give us the perspective to see the good future you have planned for those whose hope is in Christ. We thank you for Jesus’ advent and we look forward to his coming again in glory. Amen.   

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • How do you define hope? What does hope mean to you?
  • Why does Isaiah follow a message of judgment with a message of hope?
  • Reflect on / discuss the ways Jesus fulfils Isaiah 9:1-7.
  • What is God’s vision (our high hope) for the future of human history? Are you able to imagine what that future will be like?
  • What (or who) is needed for peace?
  • On what does your hope depend? What makes our hope certain? 

[1] Refer Barry Webb’s BST Commentary on Isaiah, page 69.

[2] Walter Brueggemann, Names for the Messiah, page 7.

[3] Refer Terry Glaspey’s book, ’75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know, pages 218-220.

Tawa Baptist

Psalm 87

Video Link: https://youtu.be/EwqMR_FqM8I

Structure:

  • Introduction – Zion is…
  • An international community
  • People who know God
  • Citizens of Zion
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Kia ora whanau and good morning everyone.

Where were you born? Wellington? Auckland? Christchurch? Tauranga? South Africa? Ireland? America? Fiji? Australia? China?

In New Zealand culture, one of the first things people will ask you is: where are you from? I quite like that. It speaks of connection and origins and belonging. It says you are not alone. You are part of a community that is longer and older and broader and deeper than you can possibly be as an individual.

Today our message focuses on Psalm 87, one of the psalms of the sons of Korah. Psalm 87 is a celebration of the city of Zion, the place we are born spiritually. From Psalm 87, verse 1 we read…      

1 He has founded his city on the holy mountain. 2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are said of you, city of God: 4 “I will record Rahaband Babylon among those who know me—Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush—and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” 5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.” 6 The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” 7 As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

In a nutshell, Psalm 87 is telling us about Zion. From a physical and geographical point of view, Zion is another name for the city of Jerusalem.

But from a relational and spiritual point of view, Zion is an international community of people who know God.

An international community:

Most of you have probably heard of the organization, doctors without borders. Doctors without borders is a medical humanitarian network which transcends national and political boundaries to reach people affected by armed conflict, epidemics and other health crisis.

Doctors without borders are not concerned so much with geographical or cultural divides. They are more interested in our common humanity and meeting people’s medical needs. 

The sons of Korah, who wrote Psalm 87, are like worship leaders without borders. As much as they love the geographical city of Jerusalem, they are equally interested in what God is doing in creating an international community of people who know Him.

We find this international community in the centre of the psalm, in verse 4, where the Lord God himself says…

“I will record Rahaband Babylon among those who know me—Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush—and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”

Rahab is poetic way of referring to Egypt. The curious thing here is that, in ancient times, Egypt and Babylon were the two arch enemies of Israel.

The Lord is saying that, at some time in the future, Egypt and Babylon (the enemies of Israel) will turn to Him (God Almighty) and be friends with Israel. All part of the same international community, worshipping without borders.   

Philistia is the land of the Philistines. The Philistines, as we know, were a thorn in the side of the Israelites. They were Israel’s close neighbours but they didn’t get along.

The people of Tyre were also close neighbours to Israel, only they weren’t as aggressive as the Philistines. The people of Tyre were wealthy merchants. I guess we could say their motto was: ‘make money, not war’.  

God is saying the Philistines and the people of Tyre will also be part of this international community of worshippers without borders.

Then there is the nation of Cush. Cush is the old school name for the country we know as Ethiopia. Warwick prayed for Ethiopia earlier in the service. Cush (or Ethiopia) represents those countries (like New Zealand) which are a long way away (geographically speaking) from Israel.

The nations listed in verse 4 are not an exhaustive list. They are a way of representing all the nations of the world, whether they be enemies to Israel or trading partners. Whether they be near or far.    

None of those nations were worshipping Yahweh, the God of Israel, at the time Psalm 87 was written. And so, in the context, it is incredible to hear that these pagan nations will come to know the Lord and worship him.

This thought challenges the false notion that people’s salvation is a historical accident. The country or tribe or family you happen to be born into need not determine your eternal fate.  

This idea (in verse 4) also challenges our deeply held prejudices. Who is it that you don’t like? Who is that you consider an enemy? Is there anyone you think won’t make the cut as far as God is concerned? That may be exactly who God has in mind to include in his holy city.

To some extent, at least, the church universal (made up of Christians of many different nations and cultures) is the fruit of God’s plan. We, who believe in Jesus, are part of an international community of worshippers without borders, all citizens of a spiritual Zion.

But we do not have a monopoly on God. God’s grace may be deeper and wider and more far reaching than we imagine. We cannot limit God in any way. We can only wonder, who else might God want to include in his holy city?

People who know God:

The thing about this international community of worshippers, the thing they share in common, is they all know God. What then does it mean to know God?

Well, when the Bible talks about knowing God, it usually means more than just mere head knowledge. It’s not a virtual knowing, like being friends with someone on Facebook or following them on Instagram.

The kind of knowing that is in view here is the deep knowing that usually comes through suffering and trust.  

Three times in three verses we read: This one was born there. Meaning these people from other nations (near and far) were born in Zion. I don’t think the psalm is saying they are physically born in the city of Jerusalem. This is poetry. The birth is a spiritual birth.

We are reminded here of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, where the Lord says to Nicodemus: “I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.”     

To know God is to be born again. That is, to experience a profound awakening; one which opens your eyes to the goodness, the grace and the love of God. A change inside that causes you to yearn to be close to God.

James Tissot was a French artist of the 19th Century. He was raised as a strict Catholic but his heart wasn’t really in it, at least not at first. As a young man he dedicated himself to painting beautiful women who were dressed in the latest fashions of the day. He was, shall we say, a bit flirtatious and lived the high life. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

When James Tissot met Kathleen Newton, she became his model and the great love of his life. Sadly, Kathleen died of consumption just six years later. James was heartbroken.  

After that he returned to Paris and found himself in a church one day. He was there for work, not worship. But when the priest raised the communion bread during mass, Tissot experienced a vision that changed his life.

The painting of his vision (known as Inward Voices or The Ruins) shows a bloodied but still luminous Jesus comforting two poor souls in the rubble of a crumbling building. In the painting Jesus is showing the scars in his hands to prove that He is with them in their suffering and that He died as a sacrifice for their redemption. [1]

The vision James received was the polar opposite of the life he was living. It was a completely different image from the ones he normally painted. And yet, at the same time, it spoke to his deepest hurt.   

There’s no fixed formula for being born again in Christ. None of us knows how the Spirit might move in our life. We don’t all get a vision like James Tissot did. But usually, in order for the transformation to happen at a deep enough level for it to stick, being born again involves suffering and the Holy Spirit.

James Tissot suffered deeply when Kathleen the love of his life died. And then the Holy Spirit gave James a vision of Jesus’ compassion in comforting those who are hurting and powerless to save themselves.

This vision was the catalyst for James Tissot being born again. From that time on he went from being a citizen of Paris to being a citizen of Zion. Part of the international community of people who know God, through Christ.

James Tissot stopped painting beautiful ladies in fancy dresses and made it his mission to paint every scene from the gospels of Jesus. It took him ten years. One of his most famous paintings is the view from the cross.

Most artists, when they paint the crucifixion, show us Jesus on the cross. But Tissot switched it around and showed the crucifixion scene from Jesus’ perspective. This is what James imagined Jesus saw as he hung on the cross. Being born again gave James Tissot a whole new orientation.

To be born again is to become a citizen of Zion. Not a citizen of the earthly Jerusalem in the Middle East, but rather a citizen of the international community of peoples who know the living God. We come to know God through faith in Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Citizens of Zion:

When someone is born they are issued with a birth certificate and their name is entered in the register of citizens for that country. Normally your birth certificate states the city in which you were born. It is a legal requirement.

Twice in Psalm 87 we read that the Lord himself records or registers the names of those who are born again into Zion… 

In verse 4: “I will record Rahaband Babylon among those who know me…

And in verse 6: The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.”

This is like saying God will make it official. The Lord will write the names of those who know him in the book of life, so they are fully legitimate citizens of heaven. There are no second class citizens in Zion. Everyone who knows the Lord has the same privileges and responsibilities as a natural born citizen of God’s country.

The book of Hebrews picks up this idea where it says of those who have accepted Christ by faith…

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all…

In verse 2, of Psalm 87, we read that 2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion…

The gates of an ancient city were the place of entry. They were a symbol of security in that they kept enemies out. They were also a symbol of justice in that disputes were often settled in the presence of the elders at the city gate.     

On one level verse 2 is a poetic way of saying, God loves the whole city of Jerusalem, not just the gates.

On a deeper level, Christians see in verse 2 a possible reference to Jesus, who called himself the gate for the sheep. For those who believe, Jesus is the gate or the entry way to Zion. Jesus is also the mediator of justice, the one who reconciles us to God so we can become citizens of God’s city.

The point is: entry to Zion is not automatic. We come to know God through faith in Jesus; that is by trusting Jesus and following his way. God loves the gates of Zion. To know God is to love Jesus.  

Conclusion:

Psalm 87 finishes with the words…

7 As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”

In the original Hebrew this verse reads like an instruction for the international community of worshippers. Sort of like when the sermon is finished and the leader says, ‘and now we will sing our closing hymn…’.

It is essentially a response of praise for what God has said he will do. None of us deserve to be citizens of Zion. None of us deserve to have our names written in the book of life. We can’t do anything to repay God. All we can do is say, ‘Thank you Lord. I accept. Here’s my offering of praise for your grace’.

A fountain is a spring or an outpouring of water. A fountain, in a dry land like Palestine, is a source of life and refreshment and cleansing. (It’s not just a decoration.)

All my fountains are in you, is an acknowledgement that apart from God we have no good thing. Zion, the city of God, is the source of all that is life-giving and good. Zion is a blessing to the world.

I began this sermon by asking, where were you born?

Let me finish with the question, where were you born again?

Do you know God, through Jesus? Are you a citizen of Zion?

Let us pray…       

Father God, your grace is longer and deeper and broader than we can fathom. Thank you for Jesus, through whom we are able to know you. May Jesus be real for each one of us personally, and for all of us collectively. Help us to know you better, both in times of suffering and times of comfort. Inspire our praise with your vision of an international community of people who know you and worship you, without borders. Through Jesus we pray. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Where were you born, physically/geographically? What was your home town like?
  • What is surprising/significant about the nations listed in verse 4?  Who else might God want to include in his holy city?
  • What does it mean to ‘know God’? What does it mean to be ‘born again’? Have you been born again? How did this happen for you?
  • Why does God register the names of those who know him?
  • What is an appropriate response for those who know God and have become citizens of Zion?
  • Take some time this week to look at and reflect on one or two of James Tissot’s gospel paintings. Ask God to show you something new about himself.

[1] Refer Terry Glaspey’s book, ’75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know’, page 201.

Tawa Baptist

Psalm 84

Scripture: Psalm 84

Video Link: https://youtu.be/T0b7x_uOo7Q

Key Point: God is our home

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

A question for you. Who came up with this quote?

“One road leads home and a thousand roads lead into the wilderness”  

[Wait] Apparently it was C.S. Lewis, from his book The Pilgrim’s Regress.

Today’s message is based on Psalm 84. Psalm 84 is about the road that leads home to God. From verse 1 we read…  

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. 8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob. 9 Look on our shield,O God; look with favour on your anointed one. 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

God is referred to more than 20 times in the 12 verses of this psalm and references to God’s dwelling crop up about 10 times. The main idea seems to be: God is our home.

A home is different from a house. A house is a building but a home is a place of belonging and connection, a place of sanctuary and refuge, a place of comfort where we can let down our defences and be ourselves.  

Home, in the best sense of that word, meets the needs of our soul. When we are away from home we ache for it.

God is our home:

During the 19th Century, Elizabeth Browning wrote this poem…

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Elizabeth Browning wrote this sonnet for her husband Robert Browning. It is about her love for him, a love which is multifaceted and which she hopes will transcend death. Their love is not just physical, it is spiritual.

Elizabeth Browning’s poem is an expression of deep, heartfelt feeling. It is unrestrained and unashamed, her heart on the page. Robert is her home.

As well as being a poet, Elizabeth Browning was also a campaigner against slavery and human trafficking. She was an advocate for those who had lost their home through injustice.

Elizabeth Browning’s poem parallels the feeling of the poet in Psalm 84. Psalm 84 reads like a love poem, only the author isn’t writing for their husband or wife. They are writing for God and in particular his presence symbolised in the Jerusalem temple.

From verse 1 we read: 1 How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.  

When the psalmist describes God’s dwelling place as ‘lovely’, he doesn’t just mean how nice or pleasant. The sense is more like, ‘How dear to me is your dwelling place. I love it so much’.

But it’s not primarily God’s house that the psalmist holds dear. It is the one whose presence is found in the house; it is God himself that the psalmist longs for. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. In other words, my whole being aches for you God. You are my home.

Or as Elizabeth Browning would say: How do I love you [Lord]? Let me count the ways. I love you to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.

Verse 3 provides an image full of warmth where it says: 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

If even sparrows and swallows can make a home in God’s temple, then how much more does the psalmist belong. The psalmist knows God is his home.   

Sparrows and swallows normally mate for life. They are loyal to their mate. Perhaps the psalmist is intimating that he worships only one God and he is loyal to the Lord his God for life.

Sparrows don’t generally leave home. They tend to stay in the same place pretty much all their lives, if they can. In contrast, swallows tend to travel long distances in migration. The image of the sparrows and the swallows suggests that both those who have never left home and those who have wandered far and wide can find a home with God.

As verses 4 & 5 say: Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

These verses might be saying, whether you stay at home with God, like the sparrow, or whether you travel a long way to draw near to God, like the swallow, you are blessed. 

Some people grow up in a Christian family. They go to church all their life and never stray far from the Lord or his people. They are blessed, they are fortunate. Others don’t start life knowing about God or going to church. They may learn about God’s love and become followers of Jesus later in life. They may have further to travel but they too are blessed.

And then there are those who, for whatever reason, spend time in the wilderness, when God seems a long way away. Maybe the wilderness wanderings are of their own making, like the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable. Or maybe the wilderness years are not their choice, like a forced exile. Either way, there is strength and blessing for those whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

My great-grandfather served with the New Zealand expeditionary forces in Egypt, Turkey and England during the First World War. He was overseas for around four years during which time he kept a diary of his experience. Nothing too deep, more of a record of what he did each day.

In those times, over 100 years ago now, troops were transported by ship, rather than plane. Each day, on the boat ride home, Albert had only one entry; the number of miles the ship had travelled that day. Albert’s heart was set on home. He’d had enough of war and couldn’t wait to get back to New Zealand.

This is what it is like for those in Psalm 84 whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. They can’t wait to get back home to the Jerusalem temple, the special place of God’s presence.

You may recall, the heart in ancient Hebrew thought refers to a person’s inner life, their mind basically. And a pilgrimage is a special road trip or journey to draw near to God. Ancient Jews tended to make literal pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the various religious festivals, like Passover and Pentecost.

Going a little deeper though, to have one’s heart set on pilgrimage is to have a mind-set or an orientation directed toward God. Or to say it another way, to set your heart on pilgrimage means to have a highway in your mind to God.

So, for example, when something goes wrong the first thing we think to do is pray and ask God to lead us in accordance with his will. And when something goes well, the first thing we think to do is thank God for his grace. And when we have some spare time, our preference is to spend that time enjoying God, looking for signs of his presence, like divine finger prints on the day.          

Verses 6 & 7 describe what it is like for those whose hearts are set on pilgrimage: 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

My grandfather was a well driller. He did all sorts of drilling but his main work was putting down water bores for farmers and whoever else wanted one.

Drilling water wells is something life giving for people and stock. Once a well is put in place it is fairly permanent. You can’t really take the water well with you when you leave the farm. A water well is a lasting legacy. 

The Valley of Baka (in verse 6) is thought to be a dry and arid place. The road back home to God’s presence is not easy in places. Drawing close to God through pilgrimage may feel tiring and dry and inhospitable at times. But those who believe that God is their home make what would otherwise by a dry journey a place of springs.

For Jewish pilgrims of old this may have meant digging physical wells in dry places. For the followers of Jesus (Christian pilgrims) this equates to being a blessing to God’s world. As we journey through this world we are to dig wells, or leave a life giving legacy, for those who follow after us.   

Jesus’ life and teaching (recorded in the gospels) is the deepest well, with the purest water. But there are other wells we can draw from too.

Perhaps the point of application for us is: how might we dig wells in dry places as we journey through life? We do this by sharing the gifts God has given us.

Elizabeth Browning’s poetry is a well for those who take the time to dip into it. C.S. Lewis’ writing is a well for those who read his books with thoughtfulness. The people who paid for and built this church auditorium have left us a well to gather around for worship. The musicians who wrote the songs we sing in church have left wells for us to be refreshed by as we sing their songs.

When you dig deep in giving your time and love to someone else, particularly a child or a young person, you are digging wells of refreshment which they can draw from long after you have gone. Our Deacons do quite a bit of spade work too, in the form of careful decision making to help our congregation both in the present and the future.

What gift has God given you to share? What kind of well (or legacy) can you leave for those who come after you?       

Verse 7 says of these pilgrims: They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

You know when you are on a long hike through the bush or up a mountain, there comes a point when you feel a bit weary. Then, as the end gets closer, you find a second wind. The hope of reaching your goal spurs you on with new strength and a vigour you did not know you had.

Zion is another word for the city of God. Ancient Jews probably thought of the earthly Jerusalem as Zion, God’s holy city. For Christians though, Zion refers to the heavenly Jerusalem. To appear before God in Zion is a way of talking about returning home to God.

We belong with God. God is our home, our sanctuary, our refuge, the one with whom we can be ourselves.   

In verses 8 & 9 the psalmist offers a prayer to God, saying: Look on our shield,O God; look with favour on your anointed one.

The phrase anointed one refers to the king of Israel, the leader of God’s people. The king is also referred to as our shield. In ancient times it was the king’s job to protect the nation, and that’s why he is called a shield. The psalmist is asking God’s favour or grace for the king because when the king is supported by God the whole nation prospers.

In Greek ‘anointed one’ translates as Christ and in Hebrew as Messiah.

For Christians, Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah, God’s anointed one. Jesus is our king and our shield. We look to Jesus for leadership and protection.

What we find though is that Jesus does not necessarily protect us from military or political threat. Rather, Jesus protects us from the power of sin and death, bringing us home to eternal life with God.

Verse 10 reads: Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Psalm 84, was written by the Sons of Korah. The Sons of Korah were Levites, part of the tribe of Levi (nothing to do with denim jeans by the way).

In ancient Israel, God appointed the Levites to serve in his temple. The Levites were not authorised to make sacrifices like the priests. Instead they did things like, being on door duty and singing in the choir.

The Sons of Korah were most likely descended from the same Korah who led a rebellion against Moses in the wilderness. Korah was killed for his disobedience when the ground opened up and swallowed him whole, in Numbers 16. But some of his descendants survived and were appointed by David to lead the temple music. [1] It is a lovely story of redemption.

I imagine the descendants of Korah felt some shame because of what their great, great granddaddy did. But God did not hold it against them. The Lord bestows favour and honour.

Some listening to this may carry a sense of shame because of what someone else in their family has done. Let me say to you, God does not hold the actions of your parents or your grandparents against you. We cannot deny the past but we are free to follow a different path from our forebears.

Verse 11 says: For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

To say that God is a sun means that God is the source of all that is life-giving and good. And to say that God is a shield means that God is in fact our King, our protector, our security.

Being blameless, in Hebrew thought, means to be whole or wholehearted. Not two faced but having integrity, so that what you say is one with what you do. Not behaving one way at church on a Sunday and then a different way at home or at school or at work the rest of the week.    

Being blameless then is not about being perfect and never making a mistake. Being blameless is about being the real deal, the genuine article. Not being phoney, not being a chameleon.

In the Marvel (movie) universe, Thor was blameless (in the sense of being wholehearted), while Loki was two faced. And in Jane Austin’s Pride & Prejudice, Mr Darcy was wholehearted, while Mr Wickham was not.   

The Sons of Korah are not faking it. They are wholehearted in their musical worship and in the walk (or rhythms) of their daily lives.

Verse 11, where it talks about God not withholding any good thing, reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7 where the Lord says…

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

This is in keeping with the idea that God is our home. Jesus wants us to understand that God is a loving Father who knows how to give good things to His children. It does not necessarily follow that we will always get what we want though.

The 19th Century German artist, Caspar Friedrich has a painting called, “Wanderer above the sea fog”. It shows a man standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking a rugged landscape shrouded in fog. The wanderer cannot see a clear path ahead but he looks quite relaxed. One gets the sense he will find his way home through the fog.

The band U2 have a song called Walk On. It is about home and exile, among other things. Bono has a line in the song where he sings: Home, hard to know what it is if you’ve never had one.

That line resonates. Our collective sense of home has been severely eroded. In the developed world homes are ripped apart by domestic violence, separation and divorce. Hundreds of thousands of kids grow up without any sense of security or any idea of what a functional home life looks like.    

And in other parts of the world people are forced to flee their homes because of war or famine. Literally millions of people are displaced through no fault of their own. Hundreds of thousands of kids grow up in refugee camps.

Home, hard to know what it is if you’ve never had one.    

I’m not sure what you feel when you hear me say, ‘God is our home’. Maybe you feel confused because you’ve never really experienced anything approximating a real home. Or maybe you feel angry because you had a home once but then it was taken from you.

Or maybe you feel hopeful because you are looking forward to that day when you will finally be at home with God, in Zion. 

In another part of that same song by U2, Bono sings a line pregnant with hope: We’re packing a suit case for a place none of us has been. It’s a place that has to be believed, to be seen.   

Our eternal home (with God) is a place that has to be believed to be seen. We can’t really imagine it yet. The best we can do is trust God.

Psalm 84 finishes with another beatitude: Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Trust is more difficult for some than others. If you have been let down or betrayed by those close to you, or had your home ripped out from under your feet, then you may find it hard to trust. Trust is a gift from God.

Most of you are here this morning (or listening to this on-line) because you do trust God, or at least you want to trust him, even if it is a struggle at times.

I believe trusting God is worth the risk. We all have things that go wrong in our life and reasons not to trust. But a lot of things go well also, or at least are not as bad as they might have been.

Conclusion:

The journey home to God requires us to make a choice every day to trust God. We have to believe that God will guide us through the fog. Trust is the foundation on which our home is built.

The good news is that we do not make the journey alone. Jesus gives us his Spirit to guide and help. In John 14, the night before his crucifixion and death, Jesus said to his disciples…

“Do not be worried and upset. Believe in God and believe also in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you.”

Let us pray…

Father God, you are our home. Help us to trust you regardless of the changing circumstances of our lives. Be our sun and our shield. Guide us and protect us. When the way home is dry, give us strength to dig deep and leave wells for those who follow in our steps. Make us a blessing to others and bring us into your presence with honour and joy. Through Jesus we pray. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • What is the difference between a home and a house? What was your home life like growing up?
  • What might the psalmist be wanting to convey by using the image of sparrows and swallows? Which bird to do you identify with more, the sparrow or the swallow? Why?
  • What does it mean to have your heart set on pilgrimage?
  • What gift has God given you to share with others? What ‘well’ can you leave as a life-giving legacy to those who come after you?
  • How do you feel when you hear the phrase, ‘God is our home’? Why do you feel this way? What did Jesus have to say about home? 
  •  Take some time to look at and reflect on Caspar Friedrich’s painting “Wanderer above the sea fog”. Alternatively, listen to the song “Walk On” by U2. Do either of these pieces of art resonate with your experience? How? 

[1] Derek Kidner, 49-50

Tawa Baptist

1st Corinthians 1:1-18 – Dan Cuttriss

Intro

Jazz music is awesome.  Complicated, free flowing and soulful the Jazz musician must be the master of many facets of music. Beautiful complex solos, incredible feel and dynamics and interesting bending of melodic rules is all part of what makes some good Jazz great to listen to.

But sometimes, Jazz can be hard to listen to. It can get too “wordy” too complicated. As if the musician has learnt how to break the rules of the musical language too well and the result is un-coherent and un-melodic to the untrained ear. It might make perfect sense to the trained jazz musician but to your average Jo, it sounds like nonsense…

This is like the Corinthian’s picture of God that Paul is responding to in His letter. In chapter 1:18-31, Paul describes how what seems like God’s foolishness and weakness is actually Strength and wisdom. Like how the seemingly un-melodic nonsense of a Jazz virtuoso is actually an impressive grasp on musical theory and skill, Paul unpacks the truth behind what the world is reading into God and His plans.

First Corinthians is a letter from Paul to the young churches in Corinth. Mostly house churches, the early Corinthian Christians were in need of some correction and encouragement. In Chapter 1 after some greetings and housekeeping Paul launches into a marvellous and succinct description of what it means to be Christians following a powerful God in a world of unbelievers.

18 For the message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God’s power. 19 (A)The scripture says,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
    and set aside the understanding of the scholars.”

20 (B)So then, where does that leave the wise? or the scholars? or the skilful debaters of this world? God has shown that this world’s wisdom is foolishness!

21 (C)For God in his wisdom made it impossible for people to know him by means of their own wisdom. Instead, by means of the so-called “foolish” message we preach, God decided to save those who believe. 22 Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom. 23 As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles; 24 but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For what seems to be God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

26 Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. 27 God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. 28 He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. 29 This means that no one can boast in God’s presence. 30 But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God’s holy people and are set free. 31 (D)So then, as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.”

Through the wordy Greek to English translation of an excited Paul, we can glean some key messages about God and His people from this passage;

  • The different responses that people have to the message of the cross
  • The power and wisdom of God
  • The upside down way that God achieves His purposes

Fight or flight.

Often When faced with a challenge, something scary or given a big fright; humans respond with either fight or flight. To fight is to stay and defend yourself, push back and try to stop or eliminate the threat. Flight is to run, to put distance between yourself and the threat.

Often it is not as clear as a fist fight with an adversary or a full-on sprint from a foe, but in one way or another we do these things.

I came home recently and when I walked through the door I could hear Charlotte (my flat mate) talking to a young girl from youth group. They were in the Kitchen baking and I overheard one say to the other “should we give him a fright??”.

Uh-oh

Big mistake, nobody gives ME a fright. Not in my own house!

So I crept slowly down the Hallway and burst around the corner to the kitchen yelling loudly. My flat mate jumped. And the young girl screamed… and fell over backwards and landed on the floor on her butt. An unsuccessful attempt at a flight response. She wouldn’t appreciate me showing the video that I have of it as it would be embarrassing for her to be identified. I wouldn’t do that to you, don’t worry.

In Verse 21-24, Paul talks about the two responses he sees when people are faced with the Gospel message – the truth of the cross. Like being faced with a threat and fighting or flying, the Gospel can produce two responses: in verses 21-24 Paul says…

21 For God in his wisdom made it impossible for people to know him by means of their own wisdom. Instead, by means of the so-called “foolish” message we preach, God decided to save those who believe. 22 Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom. 23 As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles; 24 but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

Like either fighting or flying Humans either want to see proof, “show me powerful signs!” “If that really happened, and God is real then heal my sore leg!”

Or, some people demand a logical explanation for every aspect of the gospel.

The Bible is full of examples of the Jewish people asking for signs, for miracles to show that the claims of Jesus are real. In Matthew 12, the pharisees have been doing what they do best and are questioning Jesus, trying to trip Him up and interrogating Him. When none of the question-traps work, they outright demand a sign. Jesus refuses.

That wasn’t going to work. Countless times in the Old Testament, we see the nation of Israel following God as He performs amazing miracles and yet they still turn from Him. God splits the ocean, provides food from heaven, opens a rock and provides water, and leads Israel to Him on a mountain to offer them a covenant and they still decide that they will make a golden cow to worship.

How much more can God do for them? What sign would have to hit them on the face for them to be God’s and God’s alone? If there is a way to know God and understand His being, demanding signs and miracles doesn’t seem to work.

“Greeks look for wisdom” Is referring to the Greek population in Corinth asking for some proof, some logical explanation that confirmed Jesus was the Son of God. The Greeks thought they were smart. And they were. Countless smart Greeks came up with smart things that are still in use today. Ancient Greek mathematicians, philosophers and astronomers have influenced the world in big ways. Like I was taught in year 10 mathematics with Mr. Lucas, Pythagoras and his handy little theorem has been essential for me in studying to become an electrician. To demand a logical explanation makes sense and we do it every day in small ways.

I’ve met both types of these responses to Jesus in my life, I’ve even had both responses myself. They both seem to make sense, like a fight or flight, it seems logical to the human mind to take care in discerning the truth and testing someone’s claims. But when it comes to the gospel, when it comes to the gravity defying claims of Jesus ,“the son of God”, being crucified to save the world. There is no sign or logic that can quite explain it or contain it.

“we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles;”

A king that wears a crown of thorns, a Jew – crucified now kind of the world? You’re joking. The promised Messiah, killed by the Romans? Beside thieves? I wasn’t born yesterday!

“A stumbling block to the Jews and nonsense to the gentiles. But, to those who are saved, it is our saving power! “

How then are we to make sense of the good news of the cross?

“18 For the message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God’s power.”

Paul is saying that the message about Christ’s death only makes sense when we are being saved. It is only in the action of being reconciled to God; and, feeling loved as we join His family – that we can begin to understand the cross. It is only through our experience that we can fully grasp the gravity of the cross. Like explaining being in love to someone, it’s hard to understand without feeling in, without experiencing it.

You can learn about the historical events of Jesus’ crucifixion all you want, but until it becomes real for you, until it becomes personal and relevant you will not understand it.

“…but for us who are being saved it is God’s power.”

When you have felt low and unworthy or not good enough and then felt the presence of Jesus, then the cross makes sense.

When you have been living life that feels empty or pointless and you feel the call of God to join Him in His mission, then, the cross makes sense. It becomes our lifeline and comfort, our protection and power.

While both responses, demanding signs or logical reason, are valid, it is not how someone gets to know God. It is through joining Christ that His sacrifice becomes our comfort and purpose, it becomes, as Paul puts it – God’s power.

God’s triumph of wisdom over the world’s wisdom

On the screen is a picture of some Formula 1 race cars. Formula 1 cars are fast they can go up to 290kms per hour… through a corner! The world’s top 20 drivers race for up to two hours at un-paralleled speeds. You’d be hard pressed to find a better car or a faster driver outside the formula 1.

Imagine, if you will, that it’s race day in a formula 1 grand prix…

The crowd is full of people, the cars are doing warm up laps, ripping around the race track. Multi-million dollar cars are burning thousands of dollars’ worth of fuel and rubber as they fight to be the best, the fastest on the track. All the stars are there, wearing expensive suits and fancy dresses. The cars are lined up, aero dynamic and spaceship looking, but there is a spare space at the back in the starting pack – and then the last car rolls in… a small 1994 Toyota starlet

The race begins and flying into first from last is the mystery driver in the small economic 1990’s hatchback with automatic windscreen wipers and optional air conditioning. After a few laps, the starlet is lapping the pack of cars and wins by a country mile. It would be unheard of! The world’s best drivers in the world’s fastest cars – beaten by a newcomer in a dinky little Toyota.

This is what Paul is saying God has done in verses 25-28…

“25 For what seems to be God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

26 Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. 27 God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. 28 He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. 

25For what seems to be God’s “foolishness” is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God’s “weakness” is stronger than human strength.

The choices that God makes, to our human brain, might seem odd or foolish. The people He chooses, His timing or His plans can appear illogical as we understand the world. Paul’s terms “God’s foolishness” and “God’s weakness” are not references to some hidden chink in God’s armour or a secret Achilles heel. This is Paul putting words to the views of the world, Paul is saying that even the things of God that the World views as foolish and weak are actually examples of God’s greater wisdom and power.  

Paul uses this great mirroring set of attributes in verses 27-28 to highlight the way that God is wilfully “hamstrung” and still comes out on top.

  • God chose what the world considers nonsense to – shame what the world considers wise
  • God chose what the world considers weak to – shame the powerful
  • God chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing to – destroy what the world thinks is important.

Like a random driver showing up in a small, slow car and beating the world’s best and fastest, God is choosing the un-assuming option and winning anyway. God’s people are not called to be the best and brightest, the most handsome or the richest. God purposely chooses those who are marginalised and uses what the world considers nonsense, weak, low and despised. God doesn’t do this just to flex his muscles, it is not a brag like “I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back”.

 The following verse spells out God’s reasoning –

so that, “no one might boast in the presence of God”.

God chose to use people that the world doesn’t hold in high esteem to prove that the things that humanity values are nothing compared to His power.

The wise, the powerful the high-born – these are the things that we often put on a pedestal and chase after. But God dismisses the things that we see as important and achieves His purposes with the marginalised, the poor, the un-loved and the broken.

Like winning the formula 1 grand prix in a Toyota starlet and silencing the fast cars, God makes sure that nobody can boast in their strength or wisdom as it simply pales in comparison to God.

This is not to say that the whole church is only full of low-born, weak and foolish people, quite the opposite. The church has the power of God, the power that triumphs over death. This is what God has done in His victory on the cross. He has disarmed what the world views as power by defeating it in the most bizarre way – crucifixion.

In another letter… to another church – the Colossians, Paul plays with this idea of Christ’s victory on the cross.

 14 He [Jesus] cancelled the unfavourable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. 15 And on that cross Christ freed himself from the power of the spiritual rulers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in his victory procession.”

Jesus’ walk from His trial to the hill where He was crucified was abusive and humiliating. Soldiers and the crowd alike spat on Him and yelled at Him. The crown of thorns on His head and a sign of Jest above Him, Paul realises that this is not a sad crawl to death, but a triumphant march to victory.

In the mess of what the world called most powerful, of what humanity fears most – death, God’s plan is fully realised as He defeats death in the person of Jesus, a humble Jewish carpenter from Nazareth.

The God we worship is powerful. The God we worship is supreme – these actions are not the actions of a foolish weak God, just the opposite! Who are we to ever doubt that He can use someone to do His work? Who are we to doubt that God can use someone we know or don’t like? Who are we to think that God can’t use us?

I have felt many times in my life like there must be someone out there that God could use that would do a better job than me, there must be someone who would stuff up less, complain less and wake up on time and be slightly more handsome. But that is not a concern for our God who triumphed on the cross. We do not limit God, there is no power in the world that comes close and no person or situation that God cannot use for His good purposes. Paul’s realisation that he is sharing with the church in Corinth is so relevant to today. Today our self-esteem is fragile as we navigate the waters of advertising, social media and our western competitive life. Reading this message, we can be assured that God is no stranger to the foolish standards that the world holds and God is no stranger to exposing them. If you are to know one key thing from this passage it should be that God can use whomever He chooses to achieve great things, whether you are a formula one car or a Toyota starlet or anywhere in between, please know that God can and will use you if you accept His offer to be part of His upside kingdom. The God we follow has defeated death on a wooden cross – He can use you to spread the good news of His kingdom and He can use us as His hands and feet to love the world.

While the world still judges the church and the work of God through their own lens, they still see the un-coherent cacophony of Jazz free style, but to us in the know we understand that this is the work of a master composer and he weaves together the melodies of our lives in unassuming but perfect ways.

The message of the cross is huge and, while confusing to others, it is our power and comfort through Jesus. As Paul reminds us – nobody has power or wisdom that even comes close to God and as such we don’t need to worry about being the best. Instead we must have confidence in the God we follow, we must trust that this (sometimes seemingly un-coherent) plan of God is actually more than we could ever do.

Whoever wants to boast, must boast of what the Lord has done.

Let’s pray:

Lord, thank you for your wisdom that surpasses understanding. Thank you that you invite us into your story to be a part of your kingdom.

Use us to bless your world. We pray that your will be done.

In the power name of Jesus,

Amine.

Tawa Baptist

Psalm 27

Scripture: Psalm 27

Video Link: https://youtu.be/B5kaW-5Epto

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Confidence in the Lord (1-3)
  • Sanctuary in worship (4-6)
  • Seeking God’s face (7-12)
  • Conclusion – Hope for this life (13-14)

Introduction:

Kia ora whanau and good morning everyone.

Some things in life we can control but most things we can’t. We cannot control things like when we are born, the choices other people make, the weather, the traffic, the past, the future, earthquakes, who you fall in love with, and cats. (Definitely can’t control cats.)

But we can usually control our self. Things like our mind-set, what we eat, who we hang out with, how we spend our time and how we treat others.

Alongside this sits our values. Not everything in life is of equal importance to us. Basic needs like oxygen, clean drinking water, food shelter, faith and family are generally more important than things like TV or the cricket score or what other people think of us.

There is an overlap between what is important and what we can control. Given that we have limited resources; it makes good sense to focus our time and energy on the intersection of those things which we can control and those things which matter.

For example, having an income is important, up to a certain point, because money is useful for providing your basic needs. But your overall health and well-being is more important than having loads of money. So we have to find a work life balance that allows us to provide for ourselves and our family without destroying our health or our relationships.    

Today our message focuses on Psalm 27. In this psalm David is faced with many things he can’t control. Mainly, what others are saying about him and the way they are treating him.

David wisely uses his energy to focus on the intersection of those things which are important and which he can control. The thing that matters most to David is his relationship with God. And, although David can’t control God, he can control himself. So that’s what he focuses on, the way he relates with God.

From verse 1 of Psalm 27 we read…

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked advance against me to devourme, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. 7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Saviour. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. 13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Psalm 27 shows us David’s focus; the intersection of what matters to David and what he can control. Psalm 27 gives us a picture of how David handles himself in his relationship with God.

There are four parts to Psalm 27:

Confidence in the Lord,

Sanctuary in worship,

Seeking God’s face,

And hope for this life.

First let us consider David’s confidence in the Lord.

Confidence in the Lord:

If you magnify a dust mite it looks quite terrifying. But when you look at a dust mite in perspective your fear dissolves. In reality a dust mite is about the same size as a single grain of salt, very small.

Sometimes our problems can feel bigger than they actually are. The more we think about them, the more anxious and overwhelmed we become. If that happens a change of perspective can help. 

In verses 1-3 David shows us how he handles fear and the threat of violence, by focusing on the Lord. Focusing on God gives David a better perspective on his problems. Next to God, David’s enemies are small, like a grain of salt or like dust mites. Verse 1 reads…  

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

In saying the Lord is my light David probably means God is the source of all goodness. Light dispels darkness and fear. Life flourishes and thrives in the light. Light gives true knowledge and perspective on our situation. Light enables us to see the way we should go. The Lord is David’s light and salvation.

Salvation refers here to David’s physical safety. David is confident that God will intervene to save his life. To say the Lord is the stronghold of David’s life means that God is David’s protection and security.

In verse 3 David says: Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

As king of Israel David had some pretty big threats to deal with. He had lots of enemies who literally wanted to kill him. David’s psalms are peppered with complaints about his enemies. David does not ignore or deny the difficult reality of being king. Rather he keeps things in perspective by choosing to focus on the Lord and his heart is not afraid.

As I keep saying, the heart in ancient Hebrew thought refers to a person’s inner life. Our mind, emotions and will. Our decision making faculties basically. David’s heart (or mind) is confident of God’s help and protection.  

So how do we do this? How do we focus on the Lord?

Sanctuary in worship:

Well, David seeks sanctuary in worshipping God. Verse 4 reads:One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Then in verse 5: For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

And in verse 6 David goes on to say: at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.

‘House of the Lord’, ‘dwelling’ and ‘sacred tent’ are a reference to the special place where God was worshipped. Where the ark of the covenant was kept and God’s holy presence resided.

God’s temple hadn’t been built yet. That didn’t happen until David’s son Solomon came to the throne. But the point here is that David wants to be close to God’s presence. There is sanctuary in worshipping God, in giving our whole focus to the Lord.

I am reminded here of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5: Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

To be pure in heart is to will one thing. The one thing David asks for. The only thing he seeks is God’s presence. David probably wrote this psalm when he was on the run, either from Saul or Absalom. Hiding in a cave and away from Jerusalem, David longed to go to church and worship God.

You know the first couple of weeks in lockdown aren’t too bad. On-line church is a change but the novelty soon wears off and I find myself itching to get back to regular gathered worship. It’s not the same singing songs in your lounge at home.

Religious rituals, like Sunday church worship, support our faith and our life. They give us a fresh perspective. They take our minds off ourselves and redirect our focus onto God. Without regular Godly worship the dust mites in our lives start to look like scary monsters.  

I’m reading a book on art history at the moment by Terry Glasbey. The book includes a chapter on Gian Lorenzo Bernini, arguably the greatest sculptor of all time.

Bernini was a devout Christian. He went to church every day. As an artist he had a gift for entering into the emotions of others and conveying moments of spiritual experience.

One of his famous altar pieces, in the Corona chapel in Rome, depicts a moment of spiritual ecstasy for St Teresa of Avila. St Teresa was a Spanish nun. In order to avoid an arranged marriage Teresa entered the convent at the age of 19. At first life was difficult for Teresa. She didn’t enjoy convent life much. But eventually she got the hang of it.

One day, while in worship, praying and singing a hymn, Teresa experienced an overwhelming sense of God’s love flowing through her whole being. God’s presence was so real and tangible that she felt consumed by his love and exalted into a state of ecstasy. These mystical experiences happened a numbered of times for her.

In her journal Teresa describes one vision in which an angel repeatedly pierced her heart with a spear. In Teresa’s words: “The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease, nor is one’s soul then content with anything but God”.         

It might seem strange to us that Teresa described God’s intimate presence as an intense pain but it makes sense. God is love and intense love feels like pain.

Teresa, like David, longed for God’s presence and wanted nothing more than intimacy with God. God meets us in surprising ways. There is sanctuary in worship. But it’s not the same for everyone.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Seeking God’s face:

In verses 7-12 of Psalm 27, David’s tone changes as he lifts an intense, heartfelt prayer to God: 7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Verse 8 is fascinating. David’s heart (or more accurately) his mind tells him to seek the Lord’s face. We have many voices inside us don’t we. They are not audible voices, they are silent, like thoughts with feelings attached.

There is the voice of our conscience, guiding us. The voice of the critic, scolding us. The voice of pride puffing us up, the voice of temptation misleading us, the voice of fear holding us back, the voice of some desire buried deep in the unconscious and the voice of wisdom.

Each of these voices sound similar at first and so it can be confusing discerning which is which. Sometimes we might think God is speaking to us when in fact it is actually some latent desire wanting an audience. We have to test the voices against God’s word in Scripture and by talking with wise and trusted friends.       

David hears a voice within himself. My heart says, ‘seek his face’. Perhaps that is the voice of wisdom. Or perhaps it is the voice of David’s inner most desire. What does it mean then to seek God’s face?

Seeking God’s face is a way of describing prayer. You see, Christian prayer is different from pagan prayer. In pagan prayer the worshipper is trying to control God, trying to leverage him into doing something with many words and sacrifices and other grand gestures.

But with Christian prayer we are not trying to control God, we are seeking to commune with him. Yes, we do ask God for certain things when we pray. Jesus said, ‘Ask and you shall receive’. But the asking Jesus had in mind here is for those things that are in line with God’s will and purpose.

So we are not trying to bend God to our will. Rather we are seeking to align ourselves with God’s will. This means being honest with God about what we want but at the same time being willing to relinquish what we want in order that God’s will be done.

Jesus sought the face of God in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before he died. Jesus said, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.’ He prayed that three times. Once he had reconciled himself to God’s will, in prayer, he was able to face the cross.

When you are apart from someone you love, you seek their face. You just want to be there in person with them, up close and personal, because there is no substitute for presence. That’s why, when we are in love, our thoughts are peopled by the person we love. We can’t stop thinking about them.  

To seek God’s face is to desire to be close to God, to enjoy his presence and commune with him in an intimate way. In seeking God’s face we are valuing the giver, more than his gifts. Teresa of Avila sought God’s face in prayer and praise, and God touched her heart.

David gives us another clue about what it means to seek God’s face in verses 9 & 10 where he says: Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Saviour. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

The face reflects a person’s feelings: happiness, disappointment, sadness, anger, guilt, triumph, love. A face that smiles in acceptance and approval is a thing of true beauty. But the face that turns away in an expression of rejection and disappointment is a source of great pain.

In verses 9 & 10 David is seeking assurance that the Lord accepts him. On the one hand David does not take God’s acceptance for granted, for he prays that God will not reject him. But at the same time David is confident that God will accept him. Verse 10 is not saying that David’s parents have rejected him. The point is, God’s love for David is even greater the love of a father and mother.

At this point I am reminded of another famous artist, Rembrandt, who painted The Return of the Prodigal Son. After wasting his father’s inheritance on wild parties and a reckless lifestyle, the younger son (in Jesus’ parable) came to his senses and returned home, seeking his father’s face.

Rembrandt captures the moment when the repentant son is received by his father. The main focus of the painting is the expression on the father’s face, reflecting love and tenderness and warmth. To seek God’s face is to return to God and feel his acceptance and embrace.

To seek God’s face is to want to please God and to know that God is pleased with you. And so another facet of seeking God’s face is asking for his guidance. In verse 11 David says: Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

In other words, show me God how you want me to handle the situation I find myself in. I cannot control my enemies. I can only control myself.

Lead me in a straight path means, make it plain to me Lord what the right thing is to do. I want to come out of this with a clear conscience. I want to be able to sleep at night. I don’t want to imitate the behaviour of my enemies.

Lead me in a straight path probably also means remove the obstacles from my path. Don’t let me trip up or fall over the edge. When we are going through a difficult trial we don’t have the same resources to cope. Our fuse is a bit shorter. So if something doesn’t go right we don’t have the energy to respond with our usual grace. When we are fatigued we need the path to be relatively smooth and straight forward.  

God did indeed lead David in a straight path. When it was in David’s power to kill king Saul (who was hunting him) David did the right thing and saved Saul’s life.       

Seeking God’s face also means asking God for protection and for justice. In verse 12 David says to the Lord:  12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

Ancient Israel did not have the same legal system that we do today. The courts had no lawyers to prosecute or defend and no judge (in the modern sense) to ensure fair procedures.

The witness played a dominant role in bringing accusations and evidence. The testimony of a witness put one’s status in the community in question. Two false witnesses left the innocent with no recourse but to appeal to God and seek sanctuary at the shrine. [1]

David was being falsely accused by men who wanted to kill him. In seeking God’s face David was going to the highest court of appeal there is. He was asking God for justice.  

David uses his energy to focus on the intersection of those things which are important and which he can control. The thing that matters most to David is his relationship with God. And so David seeks God’s face.

Conclusion – Hope for this life:

Psalm 27 finishes with David addressing us, his listeners, saying: I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.

To ‘wait for the Lord’ means to actively put your hope in him. To trust that God will provide a better future, despite the difficult present.

Waiting is hard, especially when you have to wait without knowing. With no end in sight you are blind, you have nothing to hold on to. At the beginning of a crisis you are carried by your adrenalin. But adrenalin wears off after a day or two and fatigue sets in. You have to keep things simple and do less in order to conserve your energy for what matters.

David had no idea how long his exile in the wilderness was going to last. Would it be two more days, two more weeks, too more years. There was no telling. And what shape would he be in when it was all finally over. These things take their toll. David kept it simple, he didn’t overthink it. David told himself it would end well.

Since the resurrection of Jesus, Christians have comforted themselves with the hope of heaven after we die. The suffering (or exile) of this life is relatively short by comparison with eternity. But David is more optimistic than that.

David has hope for this life too. He believes he will see God’s goodness (his justice and mercy) ‘in the land of the living’. David believes God will vindicate him and restore him before he dies.

As it turned out David’s hope was not in vain. He did see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. David was restored and lived to see God subdue his enemies.

Let us pray…

God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.

Amen.    

Oh Lord, you’re beautiful. Your face is all I seek. For when your eyes are on this child, your grace abounds to me. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • What matters most to you? What things are within your power to control? What do you need to focus on? What do you need to leave with God?
  • Why is David so confident when his circumstances are so dire? How might we live in this sort of confidence?   
  • When (or where) do you feel closest to God? How do you feel when God is close to you?
  • What does it mean to seek God’s face? (Discuss / reflect on the different aspects of seeking God’s face.) How might we do this?
  • Can you recall a time in your life when you had to wait without knowing? How did you feel? What was helpful for you in that experience? What was the outcome? What strength (or wisdom) can you draw from that experience? 
  • Make some time this week to seek the Lord’s face.

[1] Refer James Mays commentary on the Psalms, page 131.

Tawa Baptist

Psalm 34

Scripture: Psalm 34

Video Link: https://youtu.be/_dk_5R3ViuI

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Worship for the weak
  • Wisdom for well-being
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Kia ora whanau and good morning everyone.

Those of you who have done a basic first aid course will recognise this acrostic:

DRSABC (or Doctors ABC). D reminds us to check for Danger. R tells us to seek a response from the person who is injured. S stands for Shout in order to get help. A is for clearing the Airway. B means helping the patient with their Breathing, should they need it. And C stands for Circulation. If there is no pulse, then start CPR or better still get hold of a defibrillator.

Today our message focuses on Psalm 34. This song of David is an acrostic poem. Each verse begins with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. So the first letter starts with the Hebrew equivalent of A, the second verse with Bet, then Gimel and so on. But the acrostic is lost in translation for English speakers.

Psalm 34 is a song (or rather a whole alphabet) of thanksgiving to God, based in David’s experience. From verse 1 we read…

1 I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. 8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. 21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Broadly speaking there are two main parts to Psalm 34, worship and wisdom. Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, said: “The first ten verses are a hymn, and the last twelve a sermon.” First the singing, then the sermon.

David’s worship of God is based in his personal experience of God saving him. Likewise, the wisdom David shares is also born out of his experience. First let us consider David’s worship.

Worship for the weak:

In verse 1 David says, I will extol the Lord at all times. Extol means to praise highly or enthusiastically. Extol is praise on steroids. It is part of a cluster of words like glorify and exalt which are associated with worshipping God in community with others. David’s worship is both personal and public.

David’s worship is mindful of others. He is thinking about the less fortunate, for he says: let the afflicted hear and rejoice. This is not a psalm for those who have it altogether. This is a psalm for those who are weak and in a vulnerable position.

They say, evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. David has found bread (in the form of God’s help) and he is letting others know about it.

From verse 4 David speaks, from his own experience, of God’s deliverance. David says, I sought the Lord, and he answered me; …he saved this poor man out of all his troubles. To seek the Lord and look to him means to pray, to ask God for help.

So what was it that the Lord delivered David from? According to the title of Psalm 34, David wrote this song when on the run from king Saul. From 1st Samuel 21, verse 10 we read…

10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” 12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?” 22 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

Clearly David was in a desperate situation, one which called for desperate measures. For fear of king Saul, David tried to find refuge with his enemies in Gath. But he didn’t feel safe there either so he pretended to be insane to save himself.

The thing I find interesting here is that David prayed and kept his powder dry. He relied both on God and on his own cunning. Wise as a serpent, and as innocent as a dove.

It is similar with us. When we find ourselves in dire straits we do everything in our power to help ourselves and we pray, trusting God with the things we can’t control.

For example, if you are sick you pray for healing and you go to the doctor. Or, if you want to stop the spread of a contagious disease, you pray to God and you get immunised. We rely on God and science, because we know that God gave us the science but, at the same time, science is not always enough by itself. 

In verse 4 we read that God delivered David from all his fears. Fear and anxiety is a normal part of life for human beings. Fear is a bit like pain. It feels unpleasant but it serves an important purpose. Fear is part of our built in warning system; it is designed to protect us.

The problem is if we let our fears get out of control, if we don’t learn to calm our fears, they disable us. David managed his fears by using his street smarts and by praying.

If you have been blindsided by circumstance on a semi regular basis. If you have had the rug pulled out from under your feet, at random times and through no fault of your own, then you will be well acquainted with anxious fear.

As some of you know one of our daughters was seriously ill in hospital recently. She is recovering now but for a while we were under constant siege from our fears. One thing that helped me to manage my fear was this simple prayer: 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy.

I lost count of the number of times I prayed that prayer. It is a refuge for me. It is simple, which is what you need when you are stressed, and it puts fear into perspective by magnifying the Lord and his mercy.

With this prayer we are not telling God what to do. We are not trying to micro manage God. Nor are we making any claim to our own righteousness. This prayer leaves the door open. It lets God be God. What form the Lord’s mercy may take is up to God.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy is a prayer for emergencies. I’m not sure it is the best long term solution. At some point we all have to pour out our heart before God but when you can’t afford the luxury of doing that, asking Jesus for mercy gets you through.

In verses 7-10, of Psalm 34, David describes the refuge he finds in God. He says, ‘The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.’

The angel of the Lord is a mysterious figure in the Old Testament. We are never quite sure who this angel is. Some see the angel as one of God’s elite heavenly soldiers (sort of like a Navy Seal or SAS type angel). Others wonder if it is the Lord Jesus himself.

The point is, the angel of the Lord protects those who fear the Lord. The kind of fear that is meant here is not terror or anxiety, it leans more towards reverence and respect. To fear the Lord is to care more about what God thinks than what anyone else thinks. To fear the Lord is to listen to God and obey him.    

Verse 8 is quite famous: Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

To taste the Lord means to experience his goodness, his faithfulness and his love. If you have never eaten chocolate cake before, then it doesn’t matter how much someone tells you about the ingredients, you can’t know how good it tastes until you actually put it in your mouth. So it is with God. We can’t know how good God is until we taste his grace.

The sixth Century Christian monk, St Columba (of Iona fame), died while copying out the psalms. These were the last words he wrote: …lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

The idea here is that even the lion, the apex predator, the greatest and most self-sufficient of animals, may sometimes go hungry; but the weak and afflicted, who depend on God, lack nothing. In God’s kingdom it is not survival of the fittest. Faithful dependence on the Lord is the currency of God’s economy.

As you heard earlier, the first part of Psalm 34 is worship, while the second half is wisdom; what David has learned from his experience.

Wisdom for well-being:

From verse 11 David starts his sermon: Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days. What follows is David’s wisdom for well-being.

The first piece of wisdom here is about living a morally sound life, both in word and deed. Be honest and do good.

Peace (in the sense of abundant life) doesn’t just happen by itself. Peace requires effort. Peace is something we seek and pursue. Do the mahi, get the treats. It is not enough to simply avoid evil. We must actively look for ways to promote the well-being of others. Justice and mercy are the prerequisites to peace.

In verses 15-17 we read that God is attentive and responsive to the cry of the righteous but he is against those who do evil. The word cry is repeated.

Human beings may cry out for a variety of reasons. We may cry out in anger at some injustice. Or we might cry out in pain or grief at some hurt or loss. We might also cry out in fear when we get a sudden fright or, conversely, we might cry out in joy when something good happens.

A cry might contain words which make sense, but more often a cry is inarticulate and spontaneous. Either way, God notices the cry of the righteous, like a parent notices the cry of their child. It is impossible to ignore.

What David is getting at here, is there is wisdom in crying out to God. Crying out to God is essentially the heart of prayer. You see, God isn’t just listening to the words we say in prayer. He is also listening to the feeling (or pathos) behind those words.

This means that when we have no words, when we are holding on by a thread, God gets our meaning. God hears and he understands perfectly.    

Verse 16, which talks about the Lord being against those who do evil, may grate with our sensibilities. We might not like the idea that God is for some people and against others. Perhaps we suspect we are not righteous.

I believe God is for the well-being of everyone. But promoting the well-being of everyone requires God to be against evil, because evil undermines everyone’s well-being.

Verses 21 & 22 help to shed light on the goodness of God. Verse 21 indicates it is not God who slays the wicked, rather it is evil which slays the wicked.

Or to put it another way, the wicked eventually become victims of their own injustice. The wicked condemn themselves by their own actions. Like someone sawing off the branch they are sitting on.

Verse 22 assures us that, ‘No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned’. To take refuge in God means (among other things) to repent and do good, to throw ourselves on his mercy. When we do that God is quick to forgive.

The Lord will rescue his servants and the foes of the righteous will be condemned. Knowing that God is just and that there is an ultimate reckoning, is a tremendous comfort to God’s people. It gives us strength to endure. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And so we come to one of the most comforting verses in Scripture: The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

To be broken hearted and crushed in spirit are probably two ways of saying the same thing. The broken hearted feel incredibly sad and the crushed in spirit feel heavy with defeat. Their hope is smashed and their vitality (or energy) is gone.

The heart in Hebrew thought is a way of describing a person’s inner life, our mind, our emotions and our will; our decision making faculties basically. To be broken hearted is to feel undone on the inside and to lose all desire.

Spirit has to do with relationship. A person’s spirit is their capacity to relate or connect in meaningful ways with others. Your spirit is sort of like the wifi of your soul. When you are crushed in spirit, your inner wifi is broken and you just don’t have it in you to truly connect.

Having a broken heart goes hand in hand with being crushed in spirit. Are you broken hearted? It hurts doesn’t it. Are you crushed in spirit? It feels heavy doesn’t it. The good news is, God is close to you, to comfort and restore.

To the broken hearted Jesus says: Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. And to the crushed in spirit Jesus says: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In verse 19 of Psalm 34 David writes: The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;

One time we were invited to a 60th birthday party and there were photos on display. The older photos, taken when this person was younger, were in black & white, while the more recent photos were in colour. In all the black & white photos this person had long hair. But in the colour photos they were bald.

Having a good sense of humour they joked that this proved that colour photography causes hair loss. It doesn’t of course. That’s not a very scientific deduction. Correlation does not prove causation.

David will not accept any simplistic formulas which say that all suffering is due to sin. Just because bad things happen to you, it does not necessarily follow that you are being punished. Correlation does not prove causation. David knew from his own experience that bad things sometimes happen to good people. But David was also confident that God delivers the righteous in the end.  

As Jesus said: Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Conclusion:

Verse 20, where it says, he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken, reminds us of Jesus on the cross. In the gospel of John chapter 19 we read what happened after Jesus died…

Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 

34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water…  36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”

Suffering is part of the fabric of this life. We can’t avoid it. Sometimes we get what we deserve, but more often we don’t. Jesus was a truly righteous man, more righteous than anyone who has ever lived, and yet he suffered a great deal. When we suffer for doing what is right we stand in solidarity with Jesus.

Let us pray…

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Who did David have in mind when he wrote Psalm 34? Have you ever been in a similar situation?
  • How did David manage his fears? How do you manage your fears?
  • What does it mean to taste and see that the Lord is good? How would you describe your experience of God’s goodness?
  • Discuss / reflect on the various gems of wisdom David shares in verses 11-22 of Psalm 34. How might we apply David’s advice in our own lives today?
  • What does it mean to be broken-hearted and crushed in spirit? What difference does it make knowing God is close when we are broken-hearted and crushed in spirit?
  • Reflect on / discuss the connections you see with Jesus in Psalm 34.
Tawa Baptist

Zacchaeus

Daryl shares a contemporary story of Zacchaeus based Luke 19: 1-8

The crowds were thickening as the time for the Passover drew near. The
roads were full of pilgrims as they made the journey up to Jerusalem for the
festival. Family groups, wives, husbands and children, many with lambs in
tow, ready for the sacrifice. Others dependant on the markets in Jerusalem to
supply their offering. All headed to Jerusalem to remember God’s saving work
of old, delivery from slavery, from foreign rule.


It must have been so exciting, to have lived in those times of God’s breaking
in on Israel’s behalf, I mused. Not like the time we experienced now, the
might of Rome all around us.


I smiled at the irony of it, God’s promised land might be our home, but the
harsh glare of Roman rule was our lot and I was knee deep in it.
Sometimes I wonder about joining the pilgrims, I am Jewish just like them but
perhaps that is where my closeness with my fellow people stopped and
started. I was too well known to hide in the crowd and in the fever of the
passover, a collaborator with Rome like me would be easy picking for some
Zealot keen to put their knife to work. Even with all the extra Roman guards
who were sent to Jerusalem at the time of the Jewish festivals to make sure
no one started an uprising, there would be no safe place for me in the city,
especially if I wanted access to the temple.


I did find myself longing though for something different from my lot. I chose it
long ago and for many years I had no problem, there was no doubt I was
good at what I did. It was no mean feat to hold the post of Chief Tax Collector,
in a busy place like Jericho for as long as I had.


Herod the Great was the one who really put this place on the map when he
negotiated it from Caesar Augustus. Herod spared nothing in the scope of his
building projects, he really wanted people to see him, to show off to Caesar
and gain more political might. His palace was amazing, befitting a king,
massive and beautiful, with huge pools. The aqueducts he had built to service
the city with water. The might of Herod’s rule seen in the Hippodrome built in
the ancient part of the city, the extravagance of it and all for play.
No one wanted to get on the wrong side of Herod, ruthless as he was, but he
certainly knew how to get things done. Making sure people like me extracted
every denarius of tax due, so his many lavish building projects throughout the
land, not just here in Jericho could tell the story of his might as King. It was a strange system where he was allowed to call himself King, but he was very much under roman rule and required to extract massive tax from the people
back to Rome.


Yet he still managed with a bit of cunning, to name things after various roman
gods, and Caesars, so he could carry out his expansive building projects and
so make his name great too. Sometimes I used to ponder the injustice of it all.
I lived as one of the fat cats at the top of the tree, yet the vast majority of
ordinary people did all the work, the manual hard work of farming, fishing,
traders, running stands in the markets, importing products and selling them to
the minority of us who had the money to buy them. We had huge numbers of
slaves at our beck and call, ready to do whatever we commanded them, and
no choice or freedom would be theirs.


The ordinary people didn’t get to experience the luxury that Herod had, he
built it on the backs of people like me. I ran the system that funded the
Roman rule and allowed rulers like Herod and his offspring to succeed. I
tendered the tax amount I would take from the citizens of Jericho and its
surround, from traders who came through. I ran the team of tax collectors,
they all answered to me, I had to pinch myself to believe it sometimes. I was
just a short little guy, nothing to look at, but I made the most of the opportunity
given and really had risen above my status in life. I was one of the Elite, or
the rich ones in Jericho. Not that I came from money or even that I gained
real honour from my role as Chief Tax Collector, but I had the voice of the
important people that mattered. I knew from the years of service who was
growing and selling what and the elite tolerated me. They needed to or the
might of the roman system would come swinging and we all understood that.
My gang of tax and toll collectors did the hard graft and I got the reward of
their work. No one wanted to pay their tax, but it didn’t take that much to
make sure I got my share. No one could stand against the might of the
Roman rule. The peace of Rome they called it, a very polite way of saying the
Emperor gets this tax to fund the expansion of his empire and his lavish living
for him and his mates. The ordinary people paid a collection of their crops as
tax or money if they were traders or workers. Rome always made sure
everyone knew who was boss. The ordinary person often living hand to
mouth. Only just enough to survive, always having to graft out their living.
Still I couldn’t complain, I may not truely fit anywhere, hated by the Jewish
people I truely belonged to, since I aligned myself with Rome and extracted
the hash level of tax it required to keep its empire running. Tolerated by Greek
and Roman elite, obviously not one of them, but living among the wealthy elite of the city with all the luxury a man could ask for and more. I had made plenty over the years, Jericho was a wealthy place, a nice place to live I
thought, with its tropical climate.


I overheard the murmuring of the slaves as they stood off to the side. I liked
to keep an ear out for what was happening in their world. They had many
connections among the slaves of other elite families and it was always helpful
in my line of work to hear who was and wasn’t doing well and why this might
be. Information and knowledge was key in a role like mine, I couldn’t afford
any affront to Rome. I was intrigued as I overheard them speak of a Rabbi
known as Jesus, from the province of Galilee. I had heard rumours of him for
a few years now. The Jewish rulers in Jerusalem were up in arms over him.
They had even sent parties of officials out from Jerusalem to visit him in the
rural areas. I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was, but if the flash cats from the
temple were heading down to see him, then it must have been some fuss he
had been making. They didn’t like to put themselves out from the pretty tidy
life they had created for themselves in Jerusalem.


They made it very clear I had no place in God’s kingdom, as one who
supported Rome, and enforced the payment of taxes. But I didn’t see how
they were much better, they too lived as elite people, a ruling class, at the top
of the tree so to speak and from what I heard they were often in collaboration
with Herodian officials and Pilate to make sure they had their place in the sun.
The servants were earnest in their discussion, they knew not to draw
attention to themselves least they get told off by the senior house keeping
servant. Yet despite some strong shushing I found it easy to cast an ear to
their conversation. I didn’t hear all the conversation and nor did I want to call
out a servant and officially ask for a full account least I draw unwanted
attention to myself. But it did sound like this Jesus had healed a blind man
begging on the roadside out of town. Caused quite an uproar by the sounds
of it. I can imagine the merchants cursing, it was hard enough to move goods
at this time of the year with the crowds heading for Jerusalem and the
Passover. If this Jesus was healing people then the road would be
impassable, the thong of people who gathered would be impossible to shift.
Still, I suppose with more people to sell more goods to, there’s more tax for
my men to collect. I would need to up the level of staffing or I would easily
miss out on some revenue.

It was a nice evening to pass the time with a good wine and the sun slowly
setting, it was a truly beautiful picture. I found my mind kept getting distracted
from the beauty of my section and the setting of the sun, to the servants discussion. Still I didn’t imagine it would bother me for too much longer. Jesus time would be short lived if he continued on towards Jerusalem at Passover
time. Even with the crowd, between Herod, Pilate and the Jewish leaders
they kept a strict rule on things, any teacher who incited the people against
Rome would end up toast. It was a fine balancing act on all sides, the
Romans allowing what they saw as our strange temple system and hordes of
pilgrims travelling the country at the time of the festivals to Jerusalem, to
celebrate and give their offering. If they didn’t allow it then experience said
the people would come anyway and rebel and when you did allow it if an
individual or groups voice became too strong and incited the people to uprise,
then it was a difficult thing to put it down. But at least you had a better idea of
where the threat was and a sizeable garrison to quickly put them to the
sword.


I wondered if the peasant teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, knew that he had made
such a fuss among the Jewish rulers. If he wasn’t careful they would pick him
off before the Passover, least he try to build any opposition that would
embarrass local leaders and cause a response from Rome.
Healing the beggar wouldn’t allow him any privacy, the crowd would continue
to point him out, and bring the sick before him from all around.

As I took my morning stroll through the streets, I could see the crowd was
heaver than normal, I had my servant push on ahead to find out what was
happening.
Intriguing I thought, as he reported back to me. All these people at this time of
the morning, all to see the Rabbi Jesus. I wondered what he looked like, did
one who could heal the blind man look different from the rest of us. The
crowd were very vocal, talking and pestering one another about his healing of
the blind man.
I found myself wanting to see what he looked like and then a plan began to
form. I had no chance been the little shorty I was to see him over the crowd,
so I would run on ahead. It had been years since I had run anywhere. Anyway
it was not proper for a man like me to run.
But if I wanted to see this Jesus, I needed to get ahead of the crowd blocking
my opportunity. My heart was thumping in my chest like crazy and even in the
cool of the morning the sweat quickly formed. My servants wide eyed look
reminded me that what I was doing was not what was expected of me. He
was forced to run along with me, but was obviously more attuned to such activity than I was. Soon I was out in front of the crowd and then I saw the gnarled sycamore fig tree, a bit short and squat like me. It had been years
since I had climbed a tree, but its big branch reached out over part of the road
and it would provide me a perfect vantage point to see what was so special
about this Rabbi Jesus and even some cover from the heat. My servant tried
to stop me but I brushed him aside and he had the good sense to just wait at
the base of the tree. It was a welcome relief to pause in the branches of the
tree. Slowly I could see Jesus and his followers walking up the road, the
crowd continuing to press closely on all sides.


Imagine my surprise when he got below my vantage point and called me by
name out of the tree. Inviting himself for the night to my place.
I found myself coming down out of the tree with much more poise than I
thought possible and soon I was standing there in front of him.
Everyone knew I was a tax collector and he, Jesus, a Rabbi. The mutterings
of the crowd were inescapable, building in pitch. Part of me smiled at the
outrage of it all.


I half expected Jesus to realise his error and withdraw his request but he
remained steadfast and soon along with his followers we were on our way to
my place. I enjoyed the conversation as I walked along together with him and
his followers.


I and others understood the scandal of Jesus invitation, to come under my
roof and enjoy my hospitably was to welcome me and accept me. It was most
unusual for a Rabbi concerned with ceremonial cleanness like they usually
are, to even have the time of day for me, a tax collector, a collaborator with
Rome. But this didn’t bother Jesus, it was like we had known one another for
a long time.


I soon came to understand more of who he was and welcomed his invitation
to follow him. Imagine me a tax collector hosting the long awaited Messiah,
the Son of David, King of Israel, in my place. It felt so good to be in the middle
of God’s redemption. I felt so liberated by his acceptance, his welcome into
the family of God.


The reciprocity of grace was soon at play and I gladly declared to Jesus that I
would give half my fortune to the poor and if I had wronged any then I would
pay back four times the amount.
Some might see me as trying to bribe my way into the kingdom and God’s
favour, but Jesus knew it was out of thankfulness for the salvation he had
already declared mine.

His words startled me, and not just me I suspect, as he declared me a true
son of Abraham, that salvation had come to my house.
I smiled as through the noise I could overhear the wonder in my servants
voice, never had we hosted such a party as this.

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by
the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He
wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see
over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see
him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him,
“Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So
he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest
of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and
now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody
out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this
man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to
save the lost.”


The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Lk
19:1–10.

Tawa Baptist

Praise – by Elaine Barnett

While we have been in lock-down we have been able to participate to some extent in worship, on-line. We are grateful for this service, it encourages our faith and reminds us that we are part of a local group of God’s people, part of his church. So why should we return to meeting in one place on a Sunday morning?

The book of Hebrews tells us not to give up meeting together, but to do this to
encourage one another. On our own it is easy to become cold in our love to the Lord, even discouraged. We need each other to help maintain our faith and our relationship with Jesus. We need to do something together. What? Sing! There is something about singing in a group that unites us. So, on a Sunday morning when we meet to worship the Lord we sing – together. What do we sing?

“God is enthroned upon the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3)

No doubt this is the basis for our song, “Jesus we enthrone you, we proclaim you are King”

Praise recognises that glory belongs to God, and we give him the place reserved for deity by raising our voices in his honour. So the purpose of our morning service is to give glory to God.

There is no “order of service” in the Bible but we have a few hints about what might have taken place. One example is in 2 Chronicles 19:25-31. Hezekiah was a good king who brought his people back to the worship of the Lord. This involved a rededication of the temple, so he arranged a service to do just that. It was a joyous yet orderly event with musicians and singers, and everyone bowed their heads to acknowledge the greatness of the Lord. At its conclusion, Hezekiah and the whole congregation knelt down as an act of homage to the Lord as their king.

1. Praise to God because of who he is
2. Praise to God for what he has done and is still doing

So, praise is a confession of what we believe. We sing our faith.

Who is God? We have read Psalm 95. He is the great King above all gods. We need to remind ourselves and others about this because we live in a culture that imagines the God it wants, endorses the pluralism that says “all gods have their rights” and there is even a degree of paganism that returns to the old gods. Others believe, or say they believe that there is no God. So we need to be confident in our praise.

The Apostle John had a glimpse of the heavenly realm. In Revelation 4 he describes the praise to God because he is the Creator, the God of the universe. We sometimes sing.

God and God alone is fit to take the universe’s throne

But we praise God for what he has done. The Israelites praised him for their redemption from Egypt and his care of them on their journey to the Promised Land. What about us? The Apostle Peter tells us that we are to “declare the praise of him who brought us out of darkness into his marvelous light”.

In John’s vision of heaven, the Lamb, Jesus is praised because he has redeemed us by his blood. We owe him our praise for this. It is not so much that we benefit, our thoughts and praises are centred on him. It is not primarily about me, it’s about Jesus.

You restored me to health and let me live
In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction
The grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praises
The Living, the Living, they praise you as I am doing today.

Hezekiah had no understanding of life beyond the grave, but as long as he lived he would sing praises to the Lord. Praise is the sound of life!

We sing “It’s your breath in our lungs and we pour out our praise to you only”. Each of us has something to praise God for. More than this, if we belong to Jesus, not only do we have physical life but we have eternal life, the life that fits us for heaven. So we have a special reason to praise the Lord. Singing praise to God is a witness to the world of our faith. Perhaps it will encourage others to join in.

But is praise from our lips enough? No, worship involves our whole life. We should take note of the words of the prophet Micah who told us that the Lord requires us to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. This is total worship.

Tawa Baptist

Refuge

Scripture: Psalm 31

Video Link: https://youtu.be/SWSD7lHAypQ

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Lament (9-13)
  • Refuge (1-6) & (14-18)
  • Celebration (7-8) & (19-24)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Kai ora whanau and good morning everyone.

During lockdown one of the families from our church wrote some riddles on the footpath outside their home to spread a bit of light and laughter. Here’s one of their riddles: Q: Why are frogs always happy? A: They eat whatever bugs them.

I like what this family did. To me it was an act of loving their neighbour; putting a smile on people’s faces during a stressful time.  

Today our message is based on Psalm 31, written by king David. Psalm 31 is a bit intense in places, so we need to remember to smile from time to time along the way. From verse 1 of Psalm 31 we read…

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God. 6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the Lord. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. 8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. 9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. 10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. 11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbours and an object of dread to my closest friends—those who see me on the street flee from me. 12 I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. 13 For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life. 14 But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” 15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. 16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. 17 Let me not be put to shame, Lord, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and be silent in the realm of the dead. 18 Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous. 19 How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you. 20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them from all human intrigues; you keep them safe in your dwelling from accusing tongues. 21 Praise be to the Lord, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was beset like a city under siege. 22 In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. 23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. 24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Have you noticed how some movies are non-linear? They don’t start at the beginning and move through in chronological order. Instead the plot line jumps around, backwards and forwards.

The 2017 film Dunkirk is an example of a non-linear story line. It is hard to follow at first, because the scenes are not in chronological sequence. But ultimately that makes the story more interesting. Like a mosaic (formed of broken pieces) we see how everything fits together in the end. The messed up order reflects the chaos the British soldiers went through at Dunkirk.  

Psalm 31 is non-linear. It doesn’t unfold in chronological order. One moment it is dark and intense and the next moment it sounds notes of joy and celebration. This non-linear approach reflects the chaos that David went through.

To give some clarity, I see three threads running through Psalm 31. Lament, refuge and celebration. Psalm 31 takes these fragments of lament, refuge and celebration and arranges them in a non-linear fashion. This curation speaks to our experience, how the circumstances of our lives seldom unfold in a neat and ordered way.  

Lament:

What do these songs all share in common?

I don’t want to talk about it

Candle in the wind

I don’t like Mondays

Sunday bloody Sunday

By the rivers of Babylon                              [Wait]

They are all songs of lament.

Here’s another riddle for you…

Q: What did the grape do when it was stepped on? A: It let out a little wine. 

A lament is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. It comes from the Latin word for weeping and wailing and moaning. Lament is what the grape did when it was stepped on.

Lament is the opposite of denial. Lament is about facing and naming the truth of what we are feeling. Lament is like lancing a psychological boil so the infection can drain out. The purpose of lament is emotional cleansing. Verses 9-13 of Psalm 31, at the centre of the psalm, form the core of David’s lament.

9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. 10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.

David tells God how he is feeling using words like distress, sorrow, grief, anguish, groaning, affliction and weakness. His whole self, body & soul, is affected.

What do these people have in common? (and this is not a joke by the way.)

Winston Churchill, William Cowper, Abraham Lincoln, Vincent Van Gogh and John Kirwan. [Wait] That’s right, they all lived with depression.

David’s lament, in verses 9-13 of Psalm 31, appears to be describing the experience of depression. We may tend to think of David as bullet proof. He was a brave war hero and one of Israel’s greatest leaders. And yet it is obvious, from many of the psalms he wrote, that his soul was often downcast and in turmoil.

Depression can be thought of in a variety of ways. Firstly, we might think of depression as a loss of energy and motivation. David talks about his strength failing and his bones growing weak.

When the battery on my laptop is running low the machine switches to ‘power saver mode’ to conserve energy. Depression is sort of like a power saver mode for our soul, when our emotional and mental battery is running low. Depression is telling us something about ourselves.

But that analogy is inadequate really. We are not machines. Unlike a laptop, which feels nothing, we human beings do feel the loss of energy. Depression comes with unpleasant feelings. Sometimes the dull ache of sadness and other times a more intense emotional pain, similar to being burned or cut.

Fear, anxiety and terror may also accompany depression. The fear attached to depression usually has to do with not being in control. Depression is that horrifying sensation that you are falling slowly into a dark, bottomless pit.

Depression has all the hallmarks of an internal hell. Unrelenting pain, threat of violence, fear, loss of freedom and enjoyment, loneliness, alienation from God and people, misplaced shame and guilt, together with feelings of condemnation and despair.  

In verses 11-13 we see something of the hell David finds himself in where he says…

11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbours and an object of dread to my closest friends—those who see me on the street flee from me. 12 I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. 13 For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life.

From this we learn that David’s enemies have been bad mouthing him. They have been telling lies about him with the consequence that David feels prejudged, misunderstood, alienated and alone.

In today’s terms, it would be like suffering at the hands of social media trolls and cyber bullies. If they had the internet back then, people would have been posting really bad things about David on Facebook and Instagram so that David thinks even his closest friends have bought into the rumours and lies about him. 

Depression usually involves a loss of perspective. We may think we are seeing clearly but we are not. Depression hijacks our imagination, so that we begin to think the worst all the time.

Our mind plays tricks and we imagine people are having a crack at us when they’re not. Or we think no one cares about us and that the world would be better off without us, when in fact we are loved and appreciated and needed far more than we realise. David’s enemies are real but the idea that his friends and neighbours want nothing to do with him is probably false.   

For all the reasons mentioned above, depression has a corrosive effect on our sense of hope. Hope is the ability to imagine a good future. If you can’t imagine a good future, you will soon lose your joy, your energy and your motivation.

Despite the corrosive effect of depression, hope can be restored. Hope is like your liver. It grows back. Even if they cut out half your liver it will heal itself. The key to giving hope the chance to grow back is managing your thought life. Stopping yourself from going down the track of thinking the worst all the time.

The law of gravity says that, ‘whatever goes up must come down’. It is the opposite with the human soul. The law of the human spirit says that, ‘whatever goes down must come up’. Taking care of your soul is a bit like taking care of your garden. Think about carrots. They have to grow down before they can come up.

Those who sow in tears will reap with joy. Or, as Jesus said, Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.  

In JK Rowling’s Harry Potter stories, the villain is referred to by most as ‘he who shall not be named’. But Harry, the hero of the story, has no qualms in naming his enemy and freely calls him ‘Voldemort’. Harry does this because when we can name our fears, they lose much of their power over us. 

As I said before, lament is about naming the truth of what we are feeling and finding a healthy way to express our pain. When we can name our anguish we become less afraid of it and we are empowered. Naming our demons gives us a feeling of having some control in our own lives and that helps to restore hope.   

David was quite open and transparent about his mental health. We may not have the gift of putting our feelings into words, like David did, but that’s okay. David’s words can give voice to our feelings.

If we find ourselves in the crucible of depression, we can read Psalm 31 (and others like it– e.g. Psalms 39 & 88) as our own lament and know we are not alone. We are in good company.  

David has a number of weapons in his arsenal against depression. We’ve heard about lament. Now let’s consider refuge. 

Refuge:

If you are in a storm, the best thing to do is to find shelter. Get out of the wind and rain and find a safe, warm refuge. But what do we do when the storm is raging inside us? Well, we seek refuge for our mind. Seeking refuge is about looking after ourselves. 

Depression, at its worst, tends to be a 24-7 thing. Chronic depression doesn’t take a day off. We can’t be lamenting our troubles all the time, it’s too exhausting. At some point we need to come up for air and find some respite, some shelter from the storm.

One of my favourite poems is by James Norcliffe. It goes like this…

I’ve no idea whether

my uncle is a spiritual man

I only know that life

has battered him

as a fish is battered

and fried him

as a fish is fried

and rubbed salt

into all his wounds

but that when I say

how’s the world

not bad he’ll say not bad

and could be worse

just said with his mouth

looking elsewhere

papering himself

around with a warmth

that could steam windows 

(You know the way the windows in your car steam up on a winter’s night when you are bringing fish & chips home for dinner.)

I love that last line, papering himself around with a warmth that could steam windows. It speaks to me of someone who has suffered a great deal and found refuge on the inside. He has found a way to insulate himself from the storm.

In verses 1-6 of Psalm 31 David seeks refuge in his mind by praying to God.

Prayer is about communicating with God. Talking to him and listening to him.

Going a bit deeper though, prayer is about creating a refuge or a sanctuary for ourselves in God. When we pray, out a desire to be close to God, we paper ourselves around with a warmth that could steam windows.

From verse 1 David writes…

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.

Rock, refuge, fortress, these are all terms which express sanctuary or security.

There’s a James Bond film called Quantum of Solace. When Daniel Craig was asked what does ‘Quantum of Solace’ mean he replied, a quantum is a tiny amount (the size of an atom) and solace is another word for comfort. So a quantum of solace means small comfort.

The movie is basically about revenge; getting even with your enemies. The point is: there is little comfort in seeking revenge.

David does not seek refuge in the thought of taking revenge against his enemies. He does not take matters into his own hands because, as a soldier, he knows there is little comfort in violence. Best to leave vengeance to God.

Q: Why can’t you trust atoms?

A: They make up everything. 

From verse 15 we read…

…deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me…

17 Let me not be put to shame, Lord, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame… 18 Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

Clearly, David does not feel able to trust the people around him because they make up everything (they lie), but David does trust God. David takes refuge in the righteousness and justice of God. David finds hope in the knowledge that God will not tolerate evil indefinitely. David looks to God to put things right.

Jesus used David’s words, in verse 5 of Psalm 31, on the cross. This was the last thing Jesus said before he died: Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. It is an expression of trust. Jesus was subjected to injustice but he trusted himself to the righteousness of God.

Like David, Jesus was a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief. One aspect of Jesus’ suffering included being forced to wear a crown of thorns on his head. Anyone who has suffered sustained mental torment will appreciate the significance of that.    

Not everyone experiences major depression, but everyone suffers eventually, one way or another. What is it you take refuge in? How do you find shelter from the storm?

Some people find refuge in things which are ultimately harmful to them, like alcohol or illicit drugs or romantic liaisons. Most people though find refuge in more benign pursuits, like a hobby or sports or watching movies.

Over the years I have found a great deal of meaning by nurturing a belief in the goodness of God. Contemplating the Scriptures has been a refuge for me.

But God’s goodness isn’t just found in the Bible or in singing worship songs. God’s goodness can be found in many ordinary places, like cooking a meal or losing yourself in a good novel or walking the beach with your dog or just hanging out with friends.

These more ordinary pleasures can serve as helpful distractions, providing a kind of Sabbath for our soul. We have to make room for fun and enjoyment. We have to remember to celebrate.

Time for another joke: Two TV aerials got married. The reception was great.  

Celebration:

In verses 7-8 of Psalm 31 David celebrates God’s answer to his prayer by saying…

7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. 8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

Part of David’s lament had been the way he had felt so alone and isolated and misunderstood. In these verses David celebrates the fact that God listened to him and understood. God knew the anguish of David’s soul. Being listened to and understood makes David feel loved.

If you know someone who is going through depression then simply being there and listening, without judging, goes a long way in helping. You don’t have to try and fix the depression. But you can walk through the valley of the shadow of death with them, so they know they are not alone.

Those words, you set my feet in a spacious place, are significant. David had felt like he was under siege, surrounded on all sides and cut off from all help. That is often how it feels for people in the depths of depression. Like you are hemmed in and don’t have any options. Like nothing is ever going to change and it will always be this way.

But that is not true. That’s just your mind playing tricks on you. There is a way through and things can get better. David found a way through. God put David’s feet in a spacious place, where he no longer felt like he was under siege. Where he had options.

In verses 19-24 David continues his celebration of God’s goodness.

Verse 19 reads…

19 How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those… who take refuge in you.

Notice here that the good things are stored up, for those who take refuge in God. In other words, the best is yet to come. There are good things waiting for you in the future. So hold on, don’t give up.

Verse 21 reads…

21 Praise be to the Lord, for he showed me the wonders of his love [hesed] when I was beset like a city under siege.

David is looking back here, at his time of anguish (when he felt like he was trapped), and he is reflecting on the fact that it was actually through the difficult times that God showed him the wonders of his love.

Depression itself is not an expression of love or hesed but it does have the potential (in hindsight) to open our eyes to God’s love. When we look back on the hard times we see the ways God stuck by us and was loyal to us through thick and thin.  

Psalm 31 ends with these words…  

24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

You know, the last thing you feel like when you are depressed is being strong. Telling someone to be strong when they are in the pit of despair is a bit trite, even cruel. But that’s not David’s intention here.

David is speaking as someone who has been through it himself. He’s saying, I know it’s tough but it is worth it. Hang on to your hope in the Lord.

Derek Kidner wisely notes that verse 24 could also be translated: he shall strengthen your heart. So the thought here is not that you have to summon resources you don’t have. The idea is that God will give you the strength you need as you need it.

Conclusion:

Depression is not a destination. It is a journey through darkness. Psalm 31 gives us tools for that journey. Pour out your pain in lament before God. Take refuge in the Lord’s goodness and look forward to that time when you can celebrate God’s love in a spacious place.

Let us pray…

Loving Father, be with those who are struggling with their mental health at this time. Comfort them and give them strength sufficient for each day.

Be with those also, who are supporting loved ones who are struggling. Give them wisdom and understanding as they walk alongside.

Lord have mercy on us all. Set our feet in a spacious place once more that we would praise you. Through Jesus we ask. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • What is lament? How is lament different from denial or distraction? Why might we practice lament?
  • What are some of the symptoms and/or effects of depression? How might we know if either ourselves or someone else is depressed?   
  • How can we help ourselves if we are depressed? How can we help others who are depressed?
  • What does it mean to find refuge in God? How might we do this? Where do you find refuge?
  • When you look back on the hard times you have been through, can you see ways in which God showed hesed/loyal love to you? What did God do? 
  • What do you need most at this time? Lament, refuge or celebration? Take some time this week to give your soul what it needs.
Tawa Baptist

Psalm 36

Scripture: Psalm 36

Video Link: https://youtu.be/HYK-TE2dACc

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Prophecy (1-4)
  • Praise (5-9)
  • Prayer (10-12)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Kai ora whanau and good morning everyone.

Tell me, what do these things all share in common?

The Screwtape Letters, The Problem of Pain, The Great Divorce, The Abolition of Man, The Four Loves and The Magician’s Nephew. [Wait]

That’s right, they are all books written by C.S. Lewis.

Clive Staples Lewis was a wonderful servant of the Lord whose writing continues to bring light and clarity to our thinking about God.

In his book, The Great Divorce, Lewis says: There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to him and bad when it turns from him.   

I quite like that quote. It sums up our reality as human beings. We depend on God for our goodness and indeed for our very lives. Lewis’ words here remind me of Psalm 36, the focus of our message today.   

The title of this Psalm reads: ‘For the director of music. Of David, the servant of the Lord’. There are only two psalms which describe David as the Lord’s servant. This one and Psalm 18. 

From verse 1 of Psalm 36 we read…

1 I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. 2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. 3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good. 4 Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong. 5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. 10 Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. 11 May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 See how the evildoers lie fallen—thrown down, not able to rise!

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

David, the servant of the Lord does three things in this psalm: prophecy, praise and prayer. As the servant of the Lord David knows the truth about humanity, he adores God’s goodness and he prays in faith.

Prophecy:

In popular culture a prophet is thought to be someone who predicts the future. In the Bible though a prophet is someone who communicates God’s message. He or she sees the truth of the present situation and speaks that truth to the people; how the people respond shapes their future.

Broadly speaking, the prophets of the Old Testament gave two kinds of messages: messages of judgment and messages of hope.

Those who were proud and had turned away from God tended to get a message of judgment. You’re on the wrong track, change your direction in life before you end up destroying yourself.

While the humble poor, who were suffering oppression, tended to receive a message of hope. Keep looking to the Lord and trusting in him. He will deliver you and restore you.     

Messages of judgement and hope are not either / or. They are both / and. They go together. There is hope in God’s judgement. When we return to God we are saved.

C.S. Lewis was somewhat of a prophet during the 20th Century, although he probably would not have seen himself in that way.

In his book, Mere Christianity, Lewis writes: No man knows how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good.

Lewis goes on to say: ‘Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of an army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — [Jesus is] the only complete realist.’

Psalm 36 begins with David giving a prophecy. Verse 1 reads: I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Sometimes prophets are called Seers because they have the God given ability to see into a person’s heart. David’s message, from God, is not a prediction of the future. Rather it is a vision of what goes on inside an evil person. David knows the truth about humanity and it is not pretty.

In some ways the human heart is like a loaded gun waiting for the wrong circumstances to pull the trigger. I remember my systematic theology lecturer, saying: ‘Christians should be the least surprised by sin’. When people do bad things we should not be shocked by it.

We should not look down on the wicked nor think of ourselves as too good to commit evil. That potential is within each one of us. Those who think they are not capable of evil are like the person C.S. Lewis described as never having offered any real resistance to sin. 

David knows his potential for evil and he knows what it is to suffer at the hands of evil doers. That’s probably how God gave him the insight.

There’s a scene in the movie Shawshank Redemption where Andy, a wrongly convicted prisoner, approaches the boss of the prison for justice. The prison boss won’t help Andy and so Andy says to him, ‘How can you be so obtuse?’

To be obtuse is to be insensitive or hard hearted, lacking compassion. The wicked are obtuse, they are deluded. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. The boss of the prison is like that; he does not fear the Lord. 

Usually the term ‘fear of the Lord’ means having reverence and respect for God. But in Psalm 36 the word fear leans more towards terror and being afraid for your life.

There are basically two reasons why a person obeys God. The first reason is because they love God and want to please him. But if a person does not love God they might still obey him just to save their own skin, because they are afraid of what God will do to them if they don’t act justly. 

Obviously, the ideal is to obey God because we love him. But God is gracious enough that he will still accept the person who obeys him out of fear. However, God will not accept the person who neither loves him nor fears him. The wicked are so obtuse that they don’t even fear God, much less love him.

In verse 3, David says the wicked are deceitful and they fail to act wisely or do good. In the Bible, wisdom is not about being brainy or super smart and intelligent. Wisdom is about doing the morally right thing, the good thing.

Being a Christian is not easy. There are times when it is frustrating and difficult and confusing and humiliating and painful and a whole list of other unpleasant things. But don’t let that put you off. It’s not all bad and it is worth it in the end. In the meantime, it helps to be very clear in your own mind, about why you are a Christian.

Perhaps, like me, you started the Christian journey from a place of fearing the Lord and wanting to avoid hell. That’s okay. We all have to start somewhere. It is better to fear the Lord than ignore him.

But fear of the Lord by itself is not enough; it won’t get you through this life. At some point you need to grow in your love for the Lord. And the only way I know of growing in your love for the Lord is to focus on his goodness and to enjoy his love for yourself.

In verses 5-9 of Psalm 36, David praises God for his goodness and love.     

Praise:

In his book, Reflection on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis writes about praise. He says,

I thought of praise in terms of compliment, approval or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise…

We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment… It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

Lewis is pointing out here the relationship between praise and enjoyment. God does not need our praise. He is not insecure or vain. We praise God because we have experienced his love and we enjoy him. We can’t help but praise him. 

It’s like when anyone in our family sees a rainbow and has to tell the others. Or when the surf is going off and you just have to tell your mates to get out there and catch a wave. Or when you hear a really good joke and need to share it. Praise is essentially the expression of enjoyment. Praise liberates joy.

In verses 5-6 of Psalm 36, David liberates some joy when he praises God by saying: Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep.

The first thing we notice here is the spaciousness of God. God is not small or stingy. He is roomy and generous. The love and faithfulness of the Lord is sky high – it has no limits. His righteousness is as solid and dependable and unmissable as the highest mountain range.

I remember waking up at Aoraki Mt Cook and looking out the window at Mount Sefton, on a beautiful cloudless blue sky day. It was spectacular. I couldn’t stop looking at the mountains all around us. That’s what God’s righteousness is like. It is awesome and beautiful and impossible to miss.

Once again our friend, Mr Lewis, clarifies things when he writes: We may ignore but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with him. He walks everywhere incognito. (Letters to Malcolm)

God’s justice is like the great deep. The great deep refers to the ocean.

Like the ocean, God’s justice is a powerful force that cannot be manipulated or controlled by human beings. God’s justice has hidden depths. There is a certain mystery to it. God’s justice is teeming with life and it feeds us, it supports our life. God’s justice is also patient, turning rock into sand. 

Returning to verse 5, the word translated as love is actually hesed. (My apologies for not pronouncing it correctly.) Hesed is steadfast love, loyal love.

Hesed is not just a feeling. It is an action. Katherine Sakenfeld, who did her PhD on this subject, outlines the three main criteria of hesed. [1]

Firstly, the action is essential to the survival or the basic wellbeing of the recipient – so it’s a big deal.

Secondly, the needed action is one that only the person doing the hesed is in a position to provide – given the circumstances no one else can do it.

And thirdly, hesed takes place in the context of an existing relationship.

Unlike human hesed which is limited, God’s hesed (his loyal love) is unlimited, it crosses boundaries reaching to the heavens. This is like saying, ‘No one and nothing is beyond the reach of God’s love’.  

In the gospels, Jesus crossed boundaries in a righteous way, extending divine hesed to people he did not know. In doing that he transformed their lives and created a special kind of relationship with them.

When Jesus healed the man born blind on the Sabbath, that was hesed.

When Jesus delivered a man from a legion of demons, that was hesed.

When Jesus protected the woman caught in adultery, that was hesed.

When Jesus forgave the man who was paralysed and then healed him, that was hesed.

When Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner, that was hesed. 

When Jesus died on the cross to make us right with God, that was hesed.

Verses 5-6 are about the greatness of God, while verses 7-9 are about God’s care and providence. Or, as verse 8 puts it, People feast on the abundance of your house.

The image here is one of joyful celebration. In his book, The Weight of Glory, Lewis observes how ‘the sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal’.

Christians readily see connections in these verses with Jesus who identified himself as the light of the world, the bread of life and a well springing up to eternal life. 

Verse 9 of Psalm 36 is beautiful poetry, full of mystery. It says: in your light we see light. I’m not sure these words are fully knowable but, given the context, light suggests joy along with purity, clarity and truth.

Possibly C.S. Lewis had verse 9 in mind when he wrote: I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen – not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. (Is Theology Poetry) 

It is the light of God’s goodness and love which helps us to trust the Lord and to see what is right. 

Exuberant praise welling up out of enjoyment of God is one thing, but David (like us) was living in a fallen world. The Lord’s servant still had to contend with the difficult reality of wicked men who sought to do him harm. And so Psalm 36 moves from prophecy to praise to prayer.

Prayer:

Here’s another little gem from Lewis: Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.

This is something I have found to be true in my own experience. I imagine that after David had killed Goliath, it may have been tempting for him to stop relying on God. I expect a victory like that would make most young men a bit cocky, a bit over confident. But not David. He does not turn away from God in pride. 

The secret to David’s success is that he relies on God all over again, every day, as if nothing had yet been done. We demonstrate our reliance on God through prayer. That is, by asking for his help daily.

David’s prayer in verses 10-11 of Psalm 36 is this: Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. 11 May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

Once again the Hebrew word for love, in verse 10, is hesed. David is asking God to support the righteous and the upright in heart. Righteousness indicates right actions in one’s relationships with others, while uprightness of heart refers to one’s inner life being true or without pretence.

The upright in heart are like the pure in heart. They are the same on the inside as they are on the outside. They don’t pretend to be something they are not.  

David stands in solidarity with the righteous and upright in heart when he asks God to protect him in verse 11. David wants God’s love (his divine hesed) to set the agenda for his life, not the power of proud men. 

Verse 12 is a statement of faith: See how the evildoers lie fallen—thrown down, not able to rise! David is voicing his confidence in God’s ability to protect him. His faith is not blind or unfounded. It is based on his experience of God helping him in the past.  

We, who are Christian, may feel a bit uncomfortable with David’s prayer. He was a soldier, having to fight for his life. Most of us know nothing of mortal combat. We may have occasional fantasies of violence against our enemies, when we feel angry or afraid, but we know this is wrong.

Jesus taught us to love our enemies and to pray for their well-being, not their downfall. So what are we to do with David’s prayer?   

Another word from C.S. Lewis on prayer may help us here: We must lay before God what is in us; not what ought to be in us.

The psalms are unapologetically honest. They reveal what is actually in the psalmist and not necessarily what ought to be in him. Our prayer life needs to be honest, otherwise it loses its power.

If we are not honest with God we risk resenting him or, even worse, becoming obtuse and deluding ourselves. The upright in heart are honest with God, even when their truth is difficult to say.      

Please hear me on this. Honest is not careless. We still need to keep our prayers respectful, remembering that God loves us and wants the best for us.

Conclusion:

There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to him and bad when it turns from him.   

So the question for each one of us is, which way are we facing?

Are you looking to the Lord, feasting on his goodness?

Or do you have your back to him, pretending he is not there?

Jesus shows us the goodness of God. He shows us what it looks like to be made in the image of God, what it is to be truly human in the best sense of that word.

When we look to Jesus, when we build our life on his teaching and follow his example, we become good.

Let us pray…

Father God, we thank you for your love and faithfulness, your justice and mercy, your grace and truth. Give us a vision of yourself, in the face of Jesus, that we would reflect your image and enjoy you forever. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Do you have a favourite C.S. Lewis book or quote? What is it and why do you like it?
  • What do you think C.S. Lewis meant when he wrote: No man knows how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good?
  • Why did you become a Christian? Is your reason for being a Christian the same now as it was when you started your journey of faith?
  • Discuss / reflect on the relationship between praise and enjoyment. Why do we praise God?
  • In what ways is God’s justice like the ocean? In what ways is God’s righteousness like a great mountain range? What does David mean when he says, “God’s love (hesed) reaches to the heavens”? What are verses 5-6 telling us about God?
  • Why does David pray? Why do you pray? Why is it important that we keep our prayer life honest?
  • Take some time this week to contemplate the various ways Psalm 36 connects with Jesus.

[1] Katherine Doob-Sakenfeld, Ruth, page 24