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[0:00] It's nice to see you all out this evening. I've got a few notices here. The prayer meeting on Wednesday at 7pm, the prayer meeting and Bible study, led by David Kenyon.

[0:14] And next Lord's Day, all being well, 11am and 6pm, and the preacher is Reverend Robert Dale. Well, that's this morning. There's a retiring offering for the congregation's benevolent fund at the close of both services today.

[0:32] And then I have this announcement to make about the appointment of elders. Following the recent process to elect new elders, the following received the necessary votes from the congregation.

[0:47] Mr. David Kenyon, Mr. Jonathan Kenyon and Mr. William Kenyon. The Kirk Session has consequently judged that those elected are duly qualified for office.

[0:58] And all have now intimated their acceptance of the office. Therefore, the Kirk Session agreed at its meeting on 22nd April 2021, that the ordination to the office of Mr. David Kenyon, Mr. Jonathan Kenyon and Mr. William Kenyon will take place at the close of the morning service on Sunday 9th May 2021.

[1:20] If any member of the congregation has any objections to the life or doctrine of any of those appointed to the office of elder, he or she should give prior notice to the minister or the session clerk of their intention to raise such an objection.

[1:38] At date, it will then be appointed for the Kirk Session to meet with such a person in order to hear their objection. These are all the notices.

[1:50] Now, we'll go to worship God together. And we'll start by singing in Psalm number 98. Psalm number 98. And that's verses 1 to 4.

[2:02] Psalm 98 on page 129. Verses 1 to 4. O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he has done.

[2:13] His right hand and his holy arm the victory have won. Psalm 98, verses 1 to 4. Psalm 98, verses 1 to 5. Psalm 98, verses 1 to 5.

[2:24] O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he has done.

[2:39] His right hand and his holy arm the victory have won.

[2:56] The life he played his saving work and gave it to be known.

[3:14] To all the nations of the world, his righteous next is shown.

[3:32] And all the nations of the world, have seen what God has done.

[3:51] Our Lord to raise deliverance by his right hand and the Lord.

[4:11] The name of the Lord, O holy earth, shall gladly have rejoice.

[4:29] May you sing and be prepared, to live with the pure voice.

[4:50] We thank you, Lord, that we are gathered here once again. And that we have the opportunity of praising you.

[5:01] Not perhaps entirely in the way we would like to do so. But we can indeed praise you from the heart. And we ask that you would accept our praise.

[5:12] And we pray that it might be genuine and sincere. And not just something that is happening around us. Or happens by habit. But that it is something genuine to us and meaningful.

[5:25] So that we may enter into the spirit of these psalms that are being sung. And we pray that we may honour you in our hearts. As a great God and a wonderful God.

[5:38] As a wise God and a gracious God. And that we may indeed worship you, therefore, in spirit and in truth. We commit ourselves for our time together into your good hands.

[5:52] We pray that you would be at work in our hearts and minds. Inclining us to a proper spirit enduring worship. And enabling us to take in what is said. To reflect on it.

[6:03] And to see what practical things it can teach us. And we ask that in this way your word might speak to us and encourage us. To walk in your ways more fully.

[6:16] We thank you for what we have already enjoyed of your presence this morning. Through the word and through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And we pray that mindful of that we may be grateful to you in our worship this evening.

[6:30] And that we may have this note of joy and thankfulness for all the blessings already received. And may we also be expectant of further blessings.

[6:43] So we commit ourselves to you now. In the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Now we've got a short reading from the Old Testament.

[6:55] And it's from the book of Psalms. And it's Psalm 100. The book of Psalms. Psalm 100. And it says here a Psalm for giving thanks.

[7:15] Make a joyful noise to the Lord of the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God.

[7:28] It is he who made us. And we are his. We are his people. And the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving.

[7:39] And his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever. And his faithfulness to all generations.

[7:53] May God bless to us this reading. Our next Psalm is Psalm number 2. Verses 7 to 12.

[8:06] In the Sing Psalms version. And that is on page 2. Psalm 2. On page 2. At verse 7. The king then solemnly declares.

[8:17] I will proclaim the Lord's decree. Today your father I have become. You are my son. He said to me. Now the earlier part of the Psalm speaks.

[8:28] Of the way in which the nations are conspiring against God. To throw off the states. But God laughs at them. He thinks their ideas. Their efforts are ridiculous.

[8:39] Because he has appointed a king over them. And then what we've got here. In this verse. Is the king speaking. And he tells the decree of his appointment.

[8:51] So here we've got Jesus telling. About how he was appointed king over his people. From all eternity. And I think you recognize the New Testament tone.

[9:02] Of especially verse 8. As we sing these words. So Psalm number 2. At verse 7. Psalm number 2.

[9:38] As we sing... A king... As me... As we sing... And for your heritage...

[9:51] If a king...

[10:04] such there might a potter's child. Thou therefore things to which so time new judges of the area be here, with reverence come and serve the Lord, under with joy and trembling fear.

[10:44] Hey, hold me to the royal Son, lest you in love and sign our trust.

[10:59] For swiftly that means and never is, lest thou all who in Him trust.

[11:16] Now we've got a New Testament reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians. We're going to read in chapter 2 from verse 11 and continue into the following chapter, a few verses.

[11:30] Ephesians chapter 2 and at verse 11. Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision, by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands.

[11:53] Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

[12:10] But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

[12:49] And He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near. For through Him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father.

[13:00] So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself, being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

[13:28] In Him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

[13:54] When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

[14:09] This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

[14:21] We'll just read to there, and may God bless to us this reading. Now we'll again go to join together in prayer. Our gracious God, we come to you to commit our nation into your care.

[14:43] We realize the immense problems that there are amongst us today. The ongoing moral problems where your truth is undermined, and the weak lady of rest is done away with, virtually, and where the family, as it has been constituted, has been virtually destroyed, and in other ways as well, people are acting in a way contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures, and indeed, contrary to common sense.

[15:17] And we realize too, the immense suffering that people endure, those that are strangers amongst us, that are seeking asylum, and are badly treated by the authorities, and not adequately cared for.

[15:32] And we ask Lord, that in the midst of all this terrible suffering and unrighteousness, you would yet be at work, and that you would restore some degree of sanity to our governments, and that you would enable people to see the reality of the downward path on which they have caused our nation to embark.

[15:54] And we think particularly of the COVID business at this time, that has disrupted so many people's lives, and we commit to you, those that have particularly suffered through it, those that have got long COVID, and are still suffering the symptoms of it, those that are still ill through it, hospitalized particularly, we remember those that are anxious over the sick, and we especially think of those that are deprived of visits to those that are unwell.

[16:26] And we ask Lord, that in the midst of this suffering, your people might be specially active, and that they might have something positive to say, and something positive to do, that might enable them to help wherever that is possible.

[16:44] And we ask that you would be at work then to deliver us from this in due course, and to give wisdom in all the steps that are taken to diminish the effects of this terrible scourge.

[16:57] We pray for those that have suffered, and are suffering economically because of this, and those that are under stress because they are not able to socialize with others, or meet up with friends and family.

[17:10] And we realize that for some people this is a very acute problem, and we ask that you would be at work in such circumstances to bring the necessary relief to those that are in economic or emotional distress.

[17:26] We think also of the elections forthcoming to the Scottish Parliament. We pray that Christian people may be able to reflect upon their duty in this respect, and be able to act wisely, and in a responsible fashion.

[17:42] And we ask too for any candidates who profess to know you, that you would uphold them, and enable them to give a clear witness to where they stand, and we pray that none may compromise their faith with a view to gaining political advantage.

[17:58] And we ask that any that may be elected to Holyrood, we pray that they may be able to continue their testimony in high places, and that despite the obvious difficulties that the Christian testimony brings to them, we pray that they may be persevering in this, and that they may know that there are indeed many Christian people that are supporting them in their endeavours.

[18:22] So we pray that something positive may come out of these elections, and that we might have people over us that are not only people prepared to serve, but prepared to serve under the guidance of the rules of the Scriptures.

[18:40] We remember the royal household, and we pray for the Queen and her family. We commit her in general terms to you, but in particular in view of the COVID situation that affects them as it affects others, and in particular the recent bereavement.

[18:58] And we ask that she may know the comfort of your presence, and the upholding that comes from looking to the promises of your word, and that you would grant that her faith may be strengthened, and that it may be expressed in situations of sadness and bereavement.

[19:14] And we commit the whole family circle to you, praying that they may learn lessons from bereavement, and acknowledge that the day is coming when they too must leave this world.

[19:25] And we ask that you would be at work to incline their minds to think about spiritual things, and to think realistically about their situation, that they may learn to look to the Lord, and to rest upon Him for their salvation, and so have hope of eternal life.

[19:43] And we think of the nations of the world in general, and again there are many things that we might pray for, and again we think of the COVID situation, and realize that there are many nations worse off than we are, and there are not just the COVID, but there's problems upon problems, areas where there is been poverty, and lack of resources, and poor medical facilities, and general exploitation of the poor and needy, and added to that there is this plague, and there's areas of the world where there has been hostility and warfare, and added to that this plague, and we realize the multiple difficulties of many nations, and commit the rulers to you, asking that there might be no exploitation exploitation of the limited resources that are available to help at a medical level, and we pray that the richer nations may have some degree of compassion on the poorer nations, and share the resources as evenly as it is possible to do in these circumstances, communities, and we think particularly of the situation in India, and the immense suffering that there is there, and the lack of resources, and ask that you would so guide the minds of people that they may make some adequate response, or some sort of response, that may help the situation there, and relieve the distress of the millions that are suffering from COVID in that nation, and other nations too, where it hasn't reached to any great extent yet, we thank you for this, and pray that you would keep it at bay, and we think also of the trouble spots of the world in military terms, the unrest that there is in many places, and we ask that there too you would make your presence felt, so that you might be seen to be a God of peace, and we ask that you would give wisdom to those that rule the nations, that they might not act in a selfish fashion, simply trying to build up their own corner, as it were, but they might act responsibly, seeking the good of all the nations of the world, and we pray again for areas of poverty and need, where the poverty is caused perhaps by natural disaster, but also because of corruption and bribery, and the misappropriation of funds on the part of government officials, and other officials as well, and we ask Lord that you would be at work to reduce this injustice, and to grant that people may recognize the need to treat the poor and needy fairly, and we pray that you would be at work in every agency that is directing its effort in that direction, and we ask for all evangelical agencies that are at work in any caring capacity, or that are looking for justice for those that are deprived of it, and we ask that you would give to them the necessary resources that they may be able to continue in their work and expand it, and we pray that these resources might be used wisely, and that as well as material help being brought to them, or social stability, or whatever, we pray that the word of your truth might come to them with the power of your salvation.

[23:05] So we commit the whole world into your care, for you as it is, and ask that you would show yourself to be a great God doing gracious things in general. Now Lord, we ask you to accept these prayers, and to be with us now as we continue our service, and as we wait upon you, we pray that we may sing your praise with a glad heart, and look to your word with a humble spirit, because we ask this in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

[23:35] Amen. We're going to sing now in Psalm number 86 on page 114.

[23:47] Psalm 86 on page 114, verses 8 to 13. Lord, among the many gods, there is none to rival you.

[23:58] Deeds that others may perform never match what you can do. Psalm 86, verses 8 to 13. Psalm 86, verses 8 to 13. For the mother may be lost, there is none to rival you.

[24:21] Deeds that others may perform never match what you can do.

[24:33] For the nations you have made will come near and praise your name.

[24:47] You alone are all your needs trained to you and stand in faith.

[24:59] to teach me to teach me order without time from your truth may not depart so that I may fear your name in me a devoted heart.

[25:26] Lord, with all my heart I will praise your name unceasingly for your love to me is great from the grave you rest to me.

[25:52] Now we're going to look at Psalm 100.

[26:05] Psalm 100, the Old Testament Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth Serve the Lord with gladness Come into his presence with singing Now, this psalm is familiar very familiar to many of us and I suspect that we see it as one of the many psalms that invites us to sing praise to God and it's a psalm about worship and gratitude and thanksgiving and so it is but you know I think if we just see it as that we really are missing out on something and I want to try and go behind the obvious meaning of it and look at it and perhaps we might see a wee bit more depth to get a bigger picture of what this psalm is all about and I would like to suggest that if we just see it as a psalm appropriate for giving thanks then we're really missing out we're missing out on a whole dimension of it we might see it's like looking at a beautiful view but only seeing it in black and white when we can see it in colour and that's what I hope we'll be able to do this evening not looking at this and seeing it in black and white but seeing it in colour as it were now what meant a lot came to mean a lot to me and opened up the meaning of the psalm for me was this the structure of it now you may not remember your

[27:48] English grammar very much if you were taught it at school but there's the first person and the second person and the third person the first person is when we speak about I we me us the second person is when you speak about you your and the third person is when we speak about he she they his her theirs and so on and we've got these three persons involved in this at times it speaks in the first person at times in the second person and at times in the third person and it's when we recognise that and the way in which they interrelate that we'll understand better the place that this psalm occupies in the unfolding of God's plan and purpose now look at the the second person addressed two people you you and most of the psalm at the beginning is commands make a joyful noise and that you see means you do this you do this make a joyful noise serve the Lord come into his presence know that the Lord enters gates all of these are commands addressed to you that's the second person you do that you do that you do that ok but then you see we've got also the first person we we and we've got it here it is he who made us we are his sheep we are his people we are the sheep of his pasture so here are people talking and saying we have this experience and you have to do that and then there's a third person too and that is he know that the Lord he is God he made us his steadfast love endures forever he is good his faithfulness to all generations so we've got first person second person third person in other words we are speaking to you about him we are addressing you about him and I think if we do justice to that we'll understand things better now let's just unwrap that a wee bit

[30:15] I think if we're going to identify these three parties it's really quite simple but let's make it clear obviously he is God that's the one that is being spoken about or more specifically it's the Lord that is being spoken about here know that the Lord he is God and in verse five the Lord is good and you'll notice or at least you should notice in your Bibles that these words Lord are written in small capital letters and that's something which in the Old Testament is frequently done and it indicates the word that used to be translated Jehovah and generally speaking nowadays it's referred to as Yahweh but it isn't the normal word for Lord and that's why it's written in a different way from the normal word for Lord it's written in these small capital letters and whenever you see these in the Old

[31:20] Testament you should remember that this is really the word Jehovah it's not just a general description of God a supreme being a deity or something like that it's very specific it's the God Jehovah the God of Israel the God who made himself known to his people it's the God who has revealed himself in the Old Testament that is being spoken here the God of Israel as I say so he is the one that's spoken of in the third person we are speaking to you about Jehovah then who it is that constitute the we who are speaking here and I think you'll recognize that it's God's people who are speaking here more specifically in Old Testament terms it's the people of Israel that are speaking here he made us well I dare say other people could say that about their God but he goes on to say we are his and that suggests some sort of unique special bond between the

[32:24] God of Israel Yahweh Jehovah and the people who are speaking it's the covenant people of God that are speaking here it's those that he's entered into a special relationship with it's those that he's chosen as his own and taken to be his those for whom he acts on whose behalf he is always acting in the world and so he says we are his we are his people and the sheep of his pasture we are under the care of God we know him feeding us we know him directing our paths we know him leading us in paths of righteousness we may tend to go astray like sheep but here he is directing us in his ways and caring for us like a shepherd does his flock so we are the people that have known the privileges of God and the covenant relationship which is revealed in the Old Testament and they're speaking from that perspective they're speaking from the inside and saying we know this

[33:34] Jehovah that we're speaking to you about and we have a special relationship with him and we are his and under his pastoral care and that lesser leads you that we're speaking to talk about here and that obviously means those that aren't Israel it's the Gentiles that are spoken of here those that aren't in the Jewish sphere of things all the earth is what it says here that's what's in mind here there's no limitation here all those that don't have this relationship they are being addressed the nations in general the Gentile nations as distinguished from Israel so you see what we've got here is this we've got the people of God speaking to the Gentiles about their God and we've got the people of God inviting the Gentiles to partake of their privileges and to come to know this

[34:37] God as their God the Jews the people of Israel are speaking to the Gentile nations inviting them to enjoy covenant blessings that's what we've got here and I think if we see it in that light we recognise that this psalm is really quite an important one because of the truth that is being expressed here and I just want to underline the importance of it by making two points about it this is an outworking of past promises this is an outworking of what God had said previously in the days of Abraham this is the outworking of something that the people might well sometimes forget and others might think it was unrealistic but God had made very clear promises to Abraham chapter 12 of Genesis I will make you a great nation so that you will be a blessing in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed and in chapter 18 of

[35:45] Genesis speaking about Abraham all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him and in chapter 22 speaking to Abraham again in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed so these are promises given to Abraham of blessing coming through him blessing coming through his offspring to the nations in general and a couple of comments about that firstly it isn't very specific how is blessing going to come it doesn't say now we looking back know find what it means but it doesn't tell us and it isn't to my mind at all obvious what he's talking about that there's a general idea sketched out but in Genesis there's no great details sketched in and it's a very general thing that's been spoken of there and then again

[36:45] I might comment also that it doesn't seem that in the course of Israel's history this was likely to be fulfilled now I do know there are indications that it would be fulfilled but there are also grave difficulties in the way of seeing it fulfilled for example the known hostility between Israel and the surrounding nations Israel had to drive out the heathen from Canaan Israel were fighting in their earlier days and remitting battles with the Philistines and the Moabites and the Ammonites and the Midianites around them hostility conflict that was the keynote of the relations and I would think that in those days the way that the people of Israel saw the surrounding nations was enemies and the characteristic relationship one of hostility and indeed of mutual hostility and you get a man like Jonah told to go and preach to the heathen and he refuses to go and why does he refuse to go because he doesn't want

[37:55] God to show mercy to them and that seems to me the attitude of a man typical of a nation that has lost sight of the fact that Israel has to be a blessing to the nations they don't want God to bless the Gentiles that seems to be the attitude here and given the ongoing hostility you can see that you could understand it at least to some degree and here in the midst of that sort of situation there comes this message you people that have known his pastoral care you folks that believe yourselves to be his people you go and invite the Gentiles to enjoy the blessings that you are enjoying invite them into covenant blessings and it seems to me that that's what makes this so important this is filling out the picture filling out the picture of how blessing is going to come it's not going to come through military might by Israel crushing the other nations and bringing them into subjection to their kings it's not going to come about by commercial enterprise whereby they're brought within the economic sphere of the Jewish people it's not going to be brought about by cultural exchange whereby the culture of

[39:12] Israel is going to pervade the culture of the nations is going to be brought about by spiritual transformation by the Gentile peoples being brought in to enjoy the covenant blessings that have been exclusively those of Israel so it is an outworking of the promises previously given past promises it's an outworking of that because it takes them up it gives a wee bit more detail and it reinforces what God has God's purpose for them in the midst of times when it seems to me they were not highly valued these promises because of the situation that Israel found itself in so that's what makes this important it's the outworking of past promises but it also is an anticipation of future fulfilment now we're coming to the New Testament obviously here because the psalm sounds like

[40:14] New Testament psalm doesn't it all the nations being invited to sing praise to God that's what mission is all about that's why missionaries have been going abroad for centuries now trying to fulfil this great idea of inviting all the nations to sing God's praise and that's very much a New Testament emphasis so how is this an anticipation of future fulfilment well you know I'm very interested in Matthew's gospel in this connection particularly the way in which Matthew describes mission he tells the twelve apostles when he sends them out on a mission go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and he says to the Canaanite woman who came asking for help and she of course was a

[41:14] Gentile not a Jewish person he says I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and you see at this stage it's quite remarkable that Jesus is not embracing the vision that Sam 100 has he's not saying now is your time to go out and call the nations to sing God's praise he's saying you have to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel he is taking up part of Sam 100 we are a sheep but he's saying you are a sheep but you're wandering sheep you're straying sheep and he sends out his disciples to call them back to God's ways so he doesn't take up this vision of Sam 100 initially but indeed we might say it doesn't seem to work with that vision very well but of course that was only one stage of Jesus teaching because the latter stage which is the big stage that matters for us because it's relevant today is where he says all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations so there he's saying now is the time not any longer to confine yourself to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that was important that needed to be done first but now that that task has been done and now that I've died and risen again this is the big task before you you've got to go and make disciples of all nations and that word nations is generally translated

[42:49] Gentiles and for myself I can't see why it isn't translated Gentiles here because I'm pretty certain that that is what Jesus has in mind he's counteracting countermanding his previous instructions he's saying in effect you know I told you not to bother with the Gentiles and go to the lost sheep of Israel but now the circumstances are different a new age has dawned through my death and resurrection there's a new age of blessing and now's the time to go and make disciples of all nations now's the time when you say to them all people that on earth to dwell sing to the Lord with cheerful voice now's the time for that sort of mission and so what we've got here is as I say an anticipation of future fulfilment just as it took up the promises to Abraham so it speaks about their fulfilment in the work of our Lord and it reminds us of that fulfilment he was the offspring of Abraham his lineage as described in Matthew 1 is directly from

[43:53] Abraham he is the offspring that was spoken of it's in him that all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed and it's obvious now the way in which that blessing is going to come it's going to come through the preaching of the gospel to all nations and so he's saying to them I am the offspring of Abraham in me blessings are going to come to all nations and now is the time when we say all people that on earth do dwell sing to the Lord with cheerful voice so that's why I think this is of such importance it's something that takes up an important part of God's promise and unfolds it to some degree and keeps it real before people's minds and it anticipates the greater thing that is yet to come namely the giving of our Lord and the bringing of the gospel to the Gentiles in general so what's what's the usefulness of that for us well I don't want to be too theoretical about this but to me it helps us to grasp the relationship between the

[45:01] Old Testament and the New Testament it helps us to grasp the relationship between Jew and Gentile in the purpose of God now that's a debated area and evangelicals can easily fall out about that area of thinking and I don't want to be too specific and I don't want to be too dramatic about it not too dramatic about it but just to say that in general terms I think this is the way that we have to see things here are the Jewish people and they're inviting Gentile people in to embrace the covenant promises that they have formerly enjoyed it's not the case of the Gentiles being a fresh start and the church being founded then it's a case of the Gentiles being brought in to what was already there and enjoying the privileges of the Jewish people I think if you get that big idea right it'll help us in working out the details of Jew and Gentile and how they relate to each other and I think it's a useful way of thinking of things

[46:09] I was minister you may know most of you will know that I was ministering in Gavon Hill at one stage in Glasgow and there was a Jewish man that was a member of the congregation there and occasionally he would stand at the door and welcome people and it wasn't his regular job but occasionally he had to do it and he did it and one lady who was very interested in Jewish mission work thought that was wonderful because it was a picture here is the Jew inviting the Gentile into the Christian church and that I think is quite a telling way to look at things because that's what Psalm 100 is all about it's the Jew inviting the Gentile into the Christian church now this is also the way that Paul thought about things as we read in Ephesians chapter 2 he says to them remember that you and he's speaking obviously to the Gentiles you were at that time separated from Christ alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world so that quite plainly was the general experience of the

[47:21] Gentiles up till that time but what are they now in Christ you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ he has made us both one you're no longer strangers and aliens but you're fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God that I think is the way we have to see things here the Jewish people are inviting the Gentiles in to enjoy blessings and that's the way we have to see the relationship between Jew and Gentile well I hope that will be useful to anybody that thinks about these questions but you may say ok well that's alright but it doesn't happen nowadays ok in the first days of the Christian church that would be the case the Jewish people did invite the Gentiles in but now the Gentiles have taken over haven't they well just I used to think that too of course until recently but this is the thing that changed my mind have you ever been convicted of sin by such words as these all sinned and come short of the glory of God there is none righteous no not one did you never feel the need of a saviour when you heard the words the wages of sin is death but the gift of

[48:42] God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord did you never see how fully Jesus was the saviour through such words as these he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities by his stripes we are healed did you never feel called to him through the words come everyone who thirsts come to the waters and he has no money come buy and eat without money and without price or did you never feel the call to a new life through the words of Moses come with us and we will do you good for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel every one of them written by a Jewish person the Jews are still inviting the Gentiles into the kingdom today into covenant blessings today they're doing it through the word when the word comes to us almost all of the Old Testament and the new were written by Jewish people they're still speaking to us they're still doing what

[49:46] Psalm 100 tells us every time we read the scriptures virtually we're hearing the Jews saying all people that on earth to dwell and they're talking about their own experience we are a sheep come and join us in enjoying these blessings it happens today salvation is of the Jews we shouldn't underrate that and I think this should give us a special interest in Jewish people well that's all that I want to say about that aspect of things because here is the big picture as I see it not just a nice psalm that speaks wonderful words about giving praise to God but a psalm that takes up an Old Testament thought develops it and prepares the way for its fuller New Testament revelation a psalm that gives us an idea that helps us to keep our thinking right in regard to Jew and Gentile and that challenges us every time that we hear a Jew speaking to us in the scriptures whether we've responded to the Jewish invitation to join them in knowing the covenant blessings of God

[50:51] I just want to finish off this by just opening up briefly this idea of thanksgiving and praise most of the psalm we've pretty well touched on already we've said a wee bit about knowing the shepherd and his people and so on and I just want to end it all by just bringing out the main ideas that are laid out here in regard to thanksgiving because we traditionally do have a thanksgiving service after the communion and it's not inappropriate that perhaps we should conclude our services of today on that note of thanksgiving there's exuberance that's here make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth it's something loud it's something coming from the heart it's something that isn't pressed from us by habit or something that we do out of a sense of habit or duty there's something spontaneous about this a joyful noise noise it's not just a loud noise it's a joyful noise it's not just the cheers of a football crowd when their side has scored a goal or something like that there's more content to it there's more spirit in it than that it's something that's got content because we say come before us with singing it's not an empty noise that we have to make it's something that has got structure and content in it because it's singing that we've come before him with but it's the spontaneity of this and the natural joy associated with it that's important serve the

[52:47] Lord with gladness come into his presence with singing the spontaneity and the inwardness of this is what is stressed here and that's the way our worship should always be and I do acknowledge that why should I say this when we're not even meant to sing aloud in church and you may think it inappropriate to do so and okay I accept that bit but nonetheless I'll say it when we're able we should really give thought to this how our praise sounds in God's sight would people say they're really responding to an invitation to shout loud to God with joyful songs or would they get a different impression of what we're trying to do in our worship it's something to reflect on now so that when we do open up and are able to sing we might think about it now I know it's very easy to say well we're not gifted musically and that may be so or it may not be so but I don't think that that's just the point that I'm making it's the quality the spiritual quality that is important here it's not some singing that's stirred up by some external means it's a sort of praise that's stirred up by internal means by the spirit's work in our hearts by the thought of blessings received and that's the way that I would like to end it let's try and make sure that in our worship we express ourselves as well as we can making sure that it's something spontaneous that comes from the heart how do we improve our singing well I'm not too interested in improving singing but how do we improve our worship that's different you can improve singing by all sorts of means but it doesn't necessarily mean you're improving your worship so we're really concentrating on how can we improve our worship that's the thing and the answer is by cultivating the spontaneity that will produce exuberance because we're carried away at the wonder of the things that we have been experiencing in God's goodness and grace so it's a vivid awareness of all that he's done for us and a consciousness of the greatness of his grace towards us when that is vividly felt our hearts will respond and will indeed be responding to this invitation that is given all people that on earth to dwell sing to the

[55:31] Lord with cheerful voice may God bless to us his word well we're obviously going to sing the psalm in conclusion and we're going to sing it from the old version that is from the Scottish Psalter on page 362 all people that on earth do dwell sing to the Lord with cheerful voice him serve with mirth his praise forth tell come ye before him and rejoice and of course mirth doesn't quite mean what it means nowadays and anyway I've been told that young people nowadays don't even know what mirth is anyway so it's joyfulness with cheerfulness that's what mirth means ok let's sing the whole of this first version of Psalm 100 all people on earth do dwell all people that on earth do dwell sing to the Lord with cheerful eyes of the great he did us going we have his fault he g 미 and for his skin you we we and turn and his gates with praise.

[57:53] Come, roach with joy, his foes unto. Praise the Lamb and bless his name always.

[58:11] For it is he with soul to do. For while the Lord our God is true, his mercy is forever sure.

[58:41] His truth that all times firmly stood, and shall from age to age endure.

[58:58] Now let us pray. We thank you, Lord, for the fellowship we have enjoyed today, for the word that we have heard, for every positive influence of your spirit on our lives, and for the influence of others upon us as well.

[59:18] Everything that does contribute to our spiritual growth, we thank you for it. And we pray that we may keep it in mind, so as to benefit from it in the days that lie ahead of us, and so that we might cultivate a grateful spirit, and a humble heart, and a joyful attitude, as we count our blessings, and see how much you do for us.

[59:41] We pray that you would be with us as we go our different ways, and that you would take us to our homes in safety, and be with us there. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, and now, and forever.

[60:12]  Amen. Amen. Amen.