[0:00] You're listening to the sermon podcast of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee. To learn more about us, visit our website at gracereformed.org.
[0:11] And now, today's sermon. David, in writing this psalm, if you'll notice, verse 0, the introductory, is a psalm of David.
[0:21] David is writing this as a parody to a famous story that most likely was known to Israel and the surrounding nations about the god, Baal.
[0:34] David takes this story and he flips the script to expose its utter nonsense and lack of truth. You can read the sarcasm in how he includes words and phrases to point out the connections between the song and the real story of what happened.
[0:53] This type of writing even happens today. Some of you might be aware of a famous writer and singer. His name is Weird Al Yankovic.
[1:03] And in the 90s, I've heard a couple laughs. I appreciate that. In the 90s, he wrote a song called Amish Paradise as a parody to Coolio's Gangster Paradise.
[1:16] And I'm sure I have some people in here that could stand and sing that for me, apparently. The song is about an Amish man who praises his simple life in contrast to the narrator of Gangster's Paradise who laments his dangerous lifestyle.
[1:35] So this is how Coolio's song starts. Weird Al Yankovic decided to twist this and make the opposite from a scary life to a bland life.
[1:57] And so he wrote, As I walk through the valley where I harvest my grain, I take a look at my wife and realize she's very plain. But that's just perfect for an Amish like me.
[2:09] You know, I shun fancy things like electricity. There's definitely some humor in pointing out the absurdity of the original and then you connect it to the humor of the second.
[2:22] And David is very much doing this in his psalm. In the song that he writes for the nation of Israel. The psalm serves as a polemic of the pagan beliefs held by many of the neighboring nations.
[2:36] It mocks the pretentious and demonic entities that they have chosen to worship. To create a contrast. So David's song is not just a polemic with a parody, but it also has a flair of very important two essential qualities.
[2:54] Which are these, which we're going to look at in depth today. It's first of all a prophecy about Jesus as the Messiah. And secondly, it's an apology for Israel against the other gods.
[3:08] This is something we do today. We will look at what's influencing us and our faith. What's surrounding us as a people. Things like atheism or Mormonism or Muslims. And so at times we will preach and write and think as a reflection of what could be encroaching on our faith.
[3:25] In comparison of what is false to what is true. So David is using a psalm to describe what is surrounding them at the moment. What is attacking Israel.
[3:37] So what famous story is David writing against or writing as a parody? It's called the Baal Cycle. The Baal Cycle tells the story of Baal's conflict with the sea god, Yom.
[3:52] He defeats Yom and Baal rises to power over chaos and death. The translation that we're referencing right now was found about in the 1920s.
[4:03] But it's written on clay tablets that was dated back to the 1500 BC. And it's thought that it's actually the older version of a oral tradition that was passed down.
[4:17] Israel would have been very aware of this type of oral tradition. It was plagued with them for hundreds of years as they would travel around. They would continue to bring the gods of Baal with them.
[4:29] And as soon as they even leave the wilderness, you remember this story. They leave, sorry not the wilderness, but they leave Egypt. And Moses leaves them there at the bottom of the mountain. He goes up. What do they do?
[4:40] They create a golden calf to worship. You can call it Baal or Baal. Most of you are used to Baal. I'm used to Baal. We're going with Baal because that's how my dad used to say it. So, ode to my dad. What was the very first commandment given to Israel as Moses comes down with the tablets?
[4:59] As he sees them worshiping Baal. You shall have no other gods before me. When we think Baal, sometimes we only think of an idol or the golden calf.
[5:15] And that doesn't really have any power other than the power we give to it, right? The power over our lives. The power over the Israelites' lives. But turn with me to Matthew chapter 12. This is not how Jesus understood Baal or the New Testament writers.
[5:28] If you want to understand this before we go into Psalm 24, we have to understand the context and the significance of the one, the parody, but also the apologetic of warning the nation of Israel of falling back under these gods.
[5:43] Jesus, to not hide the punchline, Jesus believed Baal to be a real being exposed, or sorry, to be a real god.
[5:55] And he exposes him to be Satan, the devil. Look at Matthew 12, 25. He's dealing with these Pharisees. They're questioning his power. They're questioning where the power source comes from.
[6:07] And they're accusing him of having a power source that is not from God because there's no human who could ever power or harness such power. And so it has to come from something nefarious.
[6:18] Look at verse 25, Matthew 12, 25. Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
[6:28] And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, so Beelzebub, this is the common, it's a compound word.
[6:42] It literally means Prince Baal. By whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. So Jesus is saying, if I'm using Satan's power to cast out Satan's people, this is a problem.
[6:56] This is a division. And he makes the connection that Beel, who they understood is basically the prince of the gods in the Old Testament, is a real entity and a real power. And this might be a new thought for some.
[7:09] But Beel isn't just a golden calf or a fake god made up by some Egyptians so they could have something to worship other than God. Beel was understood to be a real god, and according to Jesus, the prince of the demons.
[7:22] This is mentioned in all three of the gospels except for John. So this psalm of David in particular, Psalm 24, was given to help Israel turn their eyes off of this God and the other gods and to look to Jesus, the coming Messiah.
[7:40] This is even why in Israel's time they didn't want God to be their king anymore. They wanted a physical present king. They wanted the power of the king. And so their hearts kept turning to what they could see and what really helped them in the temporal.
[7:56] So let's learn the original story of Beel before we jump into it and compare it to the psalm. Beel is using really propaganda to lure the nation of Israel away from the true God and to worship him.
[8:12] He completely manipulates the story and twists it upside down. We're probably not familiar with that. We don't ever see this in any of our debates or politics.
[8:23] So this might be new for some of us. Or maybe not. Here's a summary of the Beel cycle I found helpful. It says this. Beel first faces a conflict with Yom, the sea.
[8:35] He was currently the king reigning over the gods and is head of the council, Nahar, the river, described as a prince. Beel rebels against the high God and his son who governs the divine council and is victorious.
[8:51] He follows his victory in ascending to the throne of the council as a prince with the construction of a massive palace to represent his greatness and power.
[9:02] Finally, as almost an epilogue, he has a final grudge match with Mott, death. And once victorious, victorious, I'm sorry, once victoriously establishes himself as the lord of the underworld and the dead as well.
[9:20] So this is a pretty powerful story that he is now the high God. There is none above him. He governs the gods in the heavens and he now has the power in the earth.
[9:34] Now does this story sound oddly familiar to you? Turn with me to Isaiah 14 because it does have a tense of familiarity to it.
[9:45] It's the reverse of what actually happened to Satan. Oh, morning star. Satan attempted to overthrow and take the seed of God and yet he was cast down.
[10:01] Listen to Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 12. How you are fallen from heaven, oh day star, son of dawn.
[10:15] How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low. You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high.
[10:27] I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high.
[10:40] And then what actually happens? But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. You want the opposite direction. But we learn here soon, the only power that this fallen cherub has is to govern the underworld, is to govern the dead.
[11:01] The place of the dead, Sheol. With this story in mind, and we'll talk a little bit more about Sheol here in a minute, with this story in mind, I want us to read David's psalm and see how he creates this polemic and this parody pointing to the worshipers of Baal and the nations around them who worship Baal and who tell of this story and he then contrasts it with the truth and points us towards Jesus, the faithful king who actually reigns over all.
[11:30] So the psalm is actually broken down into three sections and I've titled them these three sections if you want to put these in your notes or in your scripture, but they all are all about Christ and we'll see this here in a minute.
[11:43] So here's part one, which we deal with verses one and two. And part one is this, Jesus as supreme. Jesus as supreme. Here's a psalm of David 24.1.
[11:56] The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. Now that phrase there, those who dwell therein, are about those who have died.
[12:10] David is reminding the worshipers that it's not only those who are alive on the earth, but those who have passed away and are now in, Abraham talks about when he dies, he goes to be with his people in Sheol.
[12:20] Remember that we talked about this in Peter. Sheol is the Hebrew version of Hades. This is not where the lake of fire is, but it is in the underworld. It is in the earth.
[12:33] And so he says, those who are on the earth and beneath the earth, they belong to him. Death cannot separate us from God's power. This becomes an important because of Baal.
[12:46] Satan is the Lord of the dead. This is often a psalm that is read reminding us at a graveside that even though we have died, we have not been separated from our God. We'll come back to this in a minute.
[12:59] As we read verse two, I want you to see how David flips the script here, and he's going to use some Hebrew words on purpose. Yahweh doesn't wrestle with seas and rivers to prove his power over them.
[13:11] He doesn't have to battle them. He controls them because he created them. Look at verse two. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
[13:23] Now, we don't see it here in the English, but in the Greek, it's important to understand that the word being for seas is yom. And who is it that Baal defeats?
[13:35] Yom, the god of the sea. And guess what the rivers Hebrew word is? Nahar. Oh, David knows exactly what he's doing.
[13:48] Baal fought them and had a mighty war and a mighty battle and defeated them. And Jesus is the one who creates and says, ha, I don't need to fight them. I own them. As a matter of fact, I build upon them.
[13:59] They are subject to me. Remember in Genesis chapter one and verse two, it's described this way. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep.
[14:10] It sounds like chaos, right? There's no structure. And by the word of Jesus, what happens? Structure, creation comes in. I love it how the end of verse seven, it says, and it was so.
[14:24] There was no war. There was no battle. Baal wants to draw people in to see, look how powerful I am. Look how strong I am. And David takes the two gods he defeated and said, yeah, well, I was the one who structured them.
[14:42] Baal tells of how he won in overpowering. David says, God is the creator and does not need to overcome.
[14:53] Case closed. But he's not done. Now David moves to Baal's palace. So he's already humiliated his victory. Now he's going to walk up to the palace and say, let's talk about this victory palace that you now own.
[15:08] So this is part two of Psalm 24. It's Jesus is righteous. He says this, Psalm 24, three. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place?
[15:23] We're turning to the Baal cycle. Remember what Baal does after defeating the other gods. This is what it says. He follows his victory and ascending to the throne of the council as a prince with the construction of a massive palace to represent his greatness and power.
[15:40] But here there's a quick contrast because Baal, if he didn't actually create victory over the gods, this palace is now meaningless. He isn't the most high.
[15:51] He isn't the supreme god. Therefore, this temple is worthless because it's no longer a representation of his power. Not only is this so-called palace powerless, but he is not even allowed.
[16:07] He is no longer allowed to be in the presence of the most high. Why? Because Baal no longer meets the requirements to be in his presence.
[16:18] There is an interesting contrast, and it's a humiliation contrast, that David's going to make here. Because if you look at verse 24, he says this, He who has a clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear what is deceitful?
[16:40] Is that not a shot right at the Baal cycle? He's saying, those who want to believe in this lie, this parody, this reconstruction of history, will not have a pure hands, will not have a pure or clean heart, and they will not be allowed to be in my presence.
[17:02] Satan, according to Isaiah, was in the presence of God. He was beautiful and powerful. But it's interesting is he is going to be replaced by dirt people. He is going to be replaced by people made of clay and have no power in contrast to who he is.
[17:19] And so David is describing those who ascend to the most powerful palace, those who belong in the presence of the Holy One, is not the ones who demonstrate power by defeating through war, but listen to this.
[17:34] It's those who have perfection. Look at verse 24. Look at verse 24, verse 5 of chapter 24.
[17:46] He will receive blessings from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation, such as the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of God of Jacob.
[17:59] Selah. Selah means to pause for a moment and contemplate. That is definitely a moment of contemplation. Who is going to be able to ascend to God, according to this psalm?
[18:15] He says you have to have clean hands and a pure heart. Dear church, do you know why we confess our sins every week? Because there is none righteous. You shouldn't read this psalm and think, all right, now I have found out how to make it to the most high God.
[18:31] He's more powerful than all other gods. He's the creator God, and I definitely want to be on his side, and I want those blessings that he's talking about. But we have a problem.
[18:43] Because as I read his commandments, let's just talk about covetousness. How well have you done this week? Coveting something that does not belong to you.
[18:53] Have you loved God with all your heart this week? Well, you do not have clean hands and a pure heart. You will never ascend to his holy place.
[19:07] Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Paul tells us how we are to seek the face of God, and how is it that we can receive this righteousness from the God of our salvation.
[19:24] 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4, I do find it interesting that Paul himself jumps in, describing the works of Satan, the works of Baal. He says this, as we are proclaiming the gospel, 2 Corinthians 4, 4, For in their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
[19:51] Again, Paul calling Satan the God of this world, blinding people from seeing the gospel. But notice how the words of the gospel is what? The image of God. We know this psalm is about Jesus, because Jesus, who John tells us is the creator, and sustainer of the world.
[20:09] We also know this psalm has to be about Jesus, because as we keep reading in Psalm 4, 5, we learn he is the righteous man who God's face is in. He is the image of God.
[20:19] Listen to this, verse 5. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus as Lord. With ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
[20:39] So, the way in which we come into the presence of the Holy One is through the glory of God, and that glory is only in a person, a human God-man named Jesus Christ.
[20:53] Christ. So, we ascend the hill by seeking Christ. It's so natural for our flesh to think, oh, if I do enough, if I'm strong enough, if I correct enough, if I clean enough, and the psalmist is very clear, it's not partially, mostly, better than others.
[21:14] I can find a million people that I'm better than, but God does not care, because he requires perfection. And so, he's pointing us towards Jesus. Satan attempted to take the throne and be the one in power by force.
[21:30] And David does it in contrast, and he says, the weakest of the world, those of clay and dirt, they will ascend to the highest and sit with the king. Why?
[21:42] Because they ride the train of Christ's works, not their own. And this leads us to the third part, where Baal will be overpowered, and his palace will be plundered.
[22:01] So, the third part will be Jesus as warrior. I'm going to try and keep myself under control, but this next section is amazing. So, here we go.
[22:13] It really is a pivotal point in the story of Baal's rise to power and the Baal cycle, and it becomes a very important part in the psalm as well as he's exchanging this message.
[22:25] So, going back to the Baal cycle, so you can understand why David wrote the psalm the way in which he did, is this. As the conflict escalated towards violence, this message, so the war hasn't happened yet, this is still part of the beginning of the Baal cycle, a messenger shows up and arrives from Yam and Nahar, these gods, and they demand Baal and his followers to submit.
[22:49] You are out of line. This rebellion needs to stop. You need to submit. Upon their arrival, the other gods, seated on their thrones, literally bow down, tucking their heads between their legs in submission.
[23:04] They don't want to be overthrown, so they submit to Yam and Nahar. This prompts Baal to deliver a passionate, motivational speech.
[23:16] Lift up your heads, oh you gods. Just think of freedom. We are not going to be defeated. He gives his halftime motivational speech, and afterwards he goes and he slays not only the messengers, but he kills Yam and Nahar.
[23:39] But that phrase, it's a mockery because this motivational speech that so-called Baal gave, oh David uses it. Oh yes he does.
[23:51] Listen to verse 7. So Psalm 24 7. This is the assault on Baal's palace in the underworld. Lift up your heads, oh gates, and be lifted up, oh ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.
[24:08] Oh there's an ode. There is an ode. Because it's not Baal who comes in through the gates as victorious. Who's coming through the gate? It's the king.
[24:19] Being this is a parody, the gates that David is referring to are the only gates that Satan has control over at this moment. If you look at Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14, the Hebrews tells us that he is the ruler of death.
[24:32] He still controls Sheol. This is what it says, Hebrews 2 14. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death.
[24:46] That is the devil. We cannot be held in the grave anymore. So why was David prophesying that Jesus, from what it sounds like, Jesus is coming to Hades in the Psalms.
[24:59] He's standing at the gate of Sheol. And because those who would rise as king to the holy ones, they can't get to the holy place because they don't have what's required.
[25:14] What's required in order to be in the presence of the holy one? Righteousness, a pure hands and a clean heart. We talked about this several weeks or several months ago when we went through 1 Peter 3.
[25:28] The underworld from the Old Testament is used by different words and different means but it has different levels than caverns. Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus where it says that there's a great expanse between the two of them.
[25:43] There's a conversation that's happening. But the way in which Revelation uses this, if you turn to Revelation chapter 1, is that it's locked up. Those of us who die are locked up and held there.
[25:57] And there's all this imagery at times that scare us because we don't understand it. But the psalmist and the Old Testament prophets are prophesying about Jesus' defeat and overcoming not only death but the one who holds the power of death.
[26:13] Look at Revelation 1.17. He says this, When I saw him, I fell at his feet though dead. But he laid his right hand on me saying, Fear not.
[26:25] I am the first and the last and the living one. I died and behold I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and Hades.
[26:39] Whoa! What a powerful picture. How did he get the keys? By means of death. This is why he tells them, I am alive but I am the one who died.
[26:53] God, look with me real quickly. I am going to have you look at a bunch of passages because I want you to connect all this together or you can write them down and look at them later. Look at Matthew chapter 12 and verse 29. Jesus told the disciples that he was going to come to the house of Baal and bind him up and take his power and then it says and plunder his house.
[27:14] Well what is in the house of Baal? According to the Old Testament, what is in Sheol? What is gated up there? It is the believers who have put their faith in Christ but yet not have received the righteousness of Christ because Christ has not come yet.
[27:28] So they're in paradise but they're held in death, not in the lake of fire. And so he says this, Matthew 12, 29, or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man?
[27:43] Then indeed, he may plunder his house. Just for the sake of time, you can write this down. This is Psalm 68, 18. A beautiful, beautiful psalm speaking of this very prophecy.
[27:57] But as he plunders the house, as he's at the gates and he's stealing the keys and opening it up, what is he doing? Psalm 68, 18 tells us. You ascend on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men.
[28:12] Paul uses this very same psalm to encourage the church as they are gathering together around the gospel and to come together in their unity. And chapter four is all about the unity of the church.
[28:24] In Ephesians chapter four and verse eight, this is what Paul says, preparing the church to use the power of the Spirit. He says this, therefore it says, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men.
[28:39] In saying he ascended, what does it mean that he had also descended into the lower regions of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascends far above all the heavens.
[28:52] Remember, this is where Baal wants to be, that he might fill all things. And what is it that Paul is saying he's filling all things? He's fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 24 and the prophecy of Psalm 68.
[29:04] And if you want to have some fun reading later today, go read Psalm 29. I had to choose between 24 and 29, so I went with 24. When Jesus ascends in his death to the lower regions of the earth, remember when he tells the rich young, sorry, he tells the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise.
[29:23] When he descends into this place, he is there to do one act, and that is to dethrone and to pull back the power and set us free and give us the righteousness that is required that we might ascend to the Holy One.
[29:39] This is Colossians 2.15. This is a powerful verse. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.
[29:52] Remember this verse when you read the Psalms. Who is this king of glory? He is the Lord, the warrior. The next few verses in the Psalm are used as a question and answer time, almost like a catechism.
[30:07] And there's a twist in the story. How is it that Jesus triumphed over Satan to take the captives over Baal in this story?
[30:20] He was transported there by a very strange method. No one saw coming. How was Jesus gonna show up to set captives free?
[30:32] And Jesus hinted at it. It's a fascinating story. He told his disciples the story of Jonah. Remember this? And he says, just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish, so must I spend three days, and he says, in the heart of the earth.
[30:51] Now, what is interesting about the picture is this. Not only of where Jesus was going, but a picture of what was happening. What did the fish transport to Nineveh? It transported what?
[31:02] The deliverer. Because what did Jonah do? He went and proclaimed victory. He proclaimed the gospel to these people. And what did it do to them? It set them free. It says that Jesus was transported through the means of death to Hades.
[31:20] Now, he wasn't preaching the gospel that they might be saved. They were already in faith. He was there to set the captives free. So Satan and his armies literally delivered Jesus to Hades without knowing it.
[31:35] I love this verse. Write it down. Underline it. This is 1 Corinthians 2.8. They put Jesus into the fish. They put Jesus into the heart of the earth.
[31:47] Victory. The guy is gone. Man, we are not going to be judged anymore. He's dead. And yet, that was the very vehicle needed to one, bring us forgiveness, but two, set us free.
[31:59] Look at this. This is 1 Corinthians 2.8. None of the rulers of this age understood this. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
[32:10] They wouldn't have put him there. It became their demise. He bound them and plundered them. Turn to me one last passage before we finish up the Psalms.
[32:22] This is 1 Peter 3. Going back to the story we looked at a few months ago. Peter uses this story not as a song or a psalm, but as a reminder of Christ's victory for those of us who are suffering.
[32:35] When we look around the world and there's a lot of crazy chaos about to come our way, and we can wonder, where is this King of glory? What is he doing? And why is our world in chaos?
[32:46] This is what Peter writes to remind them of the prophecy fulfilled. 1 Peter 3.18. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.
[33:02] There it is, right? How are we going to ascend to the Holy One? We can't do it. We must be brought there. Being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.
[33:19] So he's there to proclaim what? Victory. You tried to stop me, and I won. Because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons were brought safely through the water.
[33:36] This nefarious beings, Baal, the god of the demons, many of them were captured and thrown into this prison, and Jesus goes down and proclaims victory.
[33:48] This idea, this parody, comes out in the song. Imagine Jesus standing at the gate. He is victorious and he wins.
[34:01] They do not recognize Jesus because they did not expect a man to be coming to the gate in the spiritual realm. But a man shows up. The Messiah.
[34:11] They were maybe Baal or Zeus or some other god, but not a man. So he comes to the gate in verse seven. Psalm 24, seven. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift up, and be lifted up, O ancient doors.
[34:27] The king of glory may come in. So they're standing at the gates asking these questions, and they're not quite sure who he is. So they respond back on the other side of the gate.
[34:38] Who is this king of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. What does Colossians say?
[34:51] He victoriously defeated death. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.
[35:02] Again, who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the king of glory.
[35:13] Not Baal. Baal's not the Lord of hosts. Remember what the psalmist often describes Yahweh as? The God of gods. The Lord of hosts.
[35:24] What is he there to do? Well, if you back up and look at the previous parts, he's there to bring the captives free. So David is taking a psalm, using it as a polemic and a parody, and also reminding us of a prophecy that a Messiah is coming.
[35:42] Don't trust these other gods. They want you to make sacrifices to them. They want you to live in fear of them. They want you to try and earn their favor. They're going to use a false lying power.
[35:54] They're going to make promises to you. And in the end, what power do they have? Let me show you who has the real power. Not only the power to destroy you, but in the end, a power to save you, to plunder you from death, and to bring you upon the righteousness of the king so that you might be in the holy place.
[36:20] This is why the language of Jesus being the supreme righteous warrior who defeated death and has not commissioned this task to anyone else is an important part of the gospel.
[36:34] You see, Satan is still creating propaganda and attempting to lead the world astray. He may not be using the old clay tablets anymore. That had its purpose and meaning. Have you ever noticed how trends come and go in our world?
[36:49] Remember, he's not all-knowing. Well, that didn't work. Let's try this ruler. Let's try this new technology. Let's try this new tactic. But you'll notice at the end, it's always pointing in the same direction.
[37:01] Take our love and affection and trust off of God. Not completely. If he can just get it a little bit, he's happy. Take it off of God and put it on anything else. At the time of Israel, it was the gods.
[37:13] I think in our day, for America, their tactic is not to believe in gods that we think are mythical, but to believe in nations and power and money and health and sex and wealth.
[37:26] The moment we can no longer say, hallelujah, all I have is Christ, is at that moment, you know you have replaced the king of glory with something false and deserves to be mocked.
[37:40] And what's just the point of the psalm? No one would ever really say if they look at their life today and say, I don't worship another god.
[37:52] That is ridiculous, John. That's fine. Just see where you spend your time, energy, and affection and it will tell you where your heart is.
[38:04] And this is why every week we preach the gospel and we come back to the mercy and grace of our God. He doesn't give us one chance or two chances. Do you understand in Hebrews 2 when it tells us that in a time of need we can come to him to receive mercy and grace?
[38:17] There is a time limit on that. It's called eternity. Because one day when we will no longer need it, we will live in his grace. We will live in his mercy. We will be transformed into his image.
[38:28] You can never outrun God's mercy and grace. This is why it's a fight every day that we wake up to ignore the propaganda of the evil one and to constantly turn back to the truth of our king who is the creator and conquered all death.
[38:42] So no matter how scared we might be, no matter what you think is going on in the politics and the world around us, as chaotic as it might seem, who is this king of glory?
[38:55] What a great phrase. He is mighty in battle. He is undefeated. He is the king of hosts. Let's pray.
[39:06] Our Father, we are so thankful that in our frailty and weakness as clay people, you don't require power from us, but you empower us. You don't require us to be perfect, but you clothe us with Christ's perfection.
[39:23] Father, help our faith, our belief. We so struggle to not believe. Lord, give us strength through the means of grace this morning, through the reading, preaching, singing, and now the table, that our souls would be refreshed and that we would taste and see anew that you are good.
[39:41] In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for listening to the sermon podcast of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee, where everyone is in equal need of grace.
[39:52] To plan a visit or to learn more about us, visit our website at gracereformed.org. to learn more about us, visit our website at gracereformed.org. to learn more about us, visit our website at gracereformed.org.