Psalm 21, to the chief musician, a psalm of David.
The king shall have joy in your strength, O Lord, and in your salvation.
! How greatly shall he rejoice!
You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.
Selah.
For you meet him with the blessings of goodness.
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
He asked life from you and you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever.
His glory is great in your salvation.
Honor and majesty you have placed upon him.
For you have made him most blessed forever.
You have made him exceedingly glad with your presence.
For the king trusts in the Lord.
And through the mercy of the Most High, he shall not be moved.
Your hand will find all your enemies.
Your right hand will find those who hate you.
You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger.
The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath.
And the fire shall devour them.
Their offspring you shall destroy from the earth.
And their descendants from the sons of men.
For they intended evil against you.
They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.
Therefore you will make them turn their back.
You will make ready your arrows on your string toward their faces.
Be exalted, O Lord, in your own strength.
We will sing and praise your power.
The word of the Lord for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Please be seated.
Isaiah 40 tells us that the grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord stands forever.
In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel who ministers in the presence of God himself.
Says that the word of God shall not be void of power.
May it be so.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit will please make clear.
Illumine your word to your people today, Lord.
And to all that you have brought close enough to hear of the glory of Jesus Christ.
The Savior of sinners.
Lord, we ask that you will please apply your truth to our lives, Lord.
In a way that no preacher ever could.
In a way that our own minds could never conceive.
We pray that you will make our hearts tender.
Break up the hard soil.
May the gospel of Jesus Christ be implanted in our hearts.
And in the hearts of everyone that you redeemed and purchased by your blood.
All those that you are drawing near to yourself.
Please do this for your glory alone we ask.
Amen.
Well, empathy means to undergo something or to feel something with another person.
When a person we are watching is in discomfort, we feel discomfort with them.
When a person we are watching is disappointed, we respond to make things better.
Think of how you have experienced this.
Your team was all watching your coach at halftime.
Or maybe your class is all watching the teacher.
And as kids, you have to watch your parents and respond accordingly.
When they are happy, when they are rejoicing, when they are walking through the house whistling or singing and humming,
then everyone's emotions seem to rise with them, don't they?
Well, in ancient Israel, under the old covenant, we see a very important principle that is still true for the kingdom of Christ.
As goes the king, so goes the kingdom.
In Psalm 20, the psalm from last week, remember the king was low because all the people gather around and they wish for the king to be lifted up by God.
As the king goes, so will we all go.
And now, in Psalm 21, the king is rejoicing.
And all the people will rejoice with the king.
So, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ and dear friends, who God has put you close enough to listen,
the question I invite us to wrestle with together as we walk through Psalm 21 is this.
Why does this king rejoice?
Why is it that this king rejoices?
I have three reasons that I see here.
The first, and we know the king is David.
It's a psalm of David.
He rejoices, first of all, because God answered his prayer.
God answered David's prayer.
Psalm 20 is the king and the people bringing their prayer before the Lord.
And Psalm 21 is how God has responded.
The occasion of Psalm 20 was the king and the nation preparing to go to war.
Now, the occasion of Psalm 21 is the king celebrating on the other side of the battle.
Celebrating the victory that God gave him once it's been accomplished.
It's a prayer that the king is singing in front of God's people.
It's from the lips of the king, but it's directed to God.
The whole thing, it's a prayer.
And the king is referring to himself in third person.
Notice how both the intro and the outro, so verse 1 and verse 13, if you could take a look,
they set the theme of the whole psalm.
They state what is true of God.
And the tense, the verbs, the tense of the verbs is very important throughout this psalm.
Verse 1 and verse 13, intro and outro, they both use the present tense.
Look at verse 1, the king shall have joy, he shall have joy in your strength.
And in your salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice.
And then he goes in to rejoice throughout the whole psalm and continue to pray that.
And verse 13, he says, be exalted.
Right now, in this moment, present tense, be exalted, O Lord, in your strength.
We will sing and praise your power.
The people are joining and praising the power of God.
There's a direct connection between Psalm 20 from last week, right before this.
You'll want to keep an eye at that one, and Psalm 21.
In Psalm 20, verses 4 and 5, they wish,
may the Lord fulfill all your petitions and grant your kings according to his heart's desire.
Do you see that in Psalm 20, verses 4 and 5?
Notice how that's answered now in Psalm 21, verse 2.
You, God, have given the king his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.
The prayer has been answered.
That's why the king's rejoicing.
One more example.
Look at Psalm 20, verse 7.
This is the great central part of this passage of this psalm.
They say, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
And look at Psalm 21, verse 7.
It concludes,
The prayer has been answered.
Their trust in the Lord has not been disappointed.
And so Psalm 21 sings of God's faithfulness.
We put our trust and our faith in God.
We underwent the battle.
And we came out on the other side, praising the Lord victorious.
He's done it again.
Well, now the body of this psalm has two parts.
They can be divided by the tense as well.
The first part is in the past tense.
Looking back on this battle they just came through.
It's what the king witnessed God do.
Look at verse 3.
For you meet with him the blessings of goodness.
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
He asked you for life and you gave it to him.
Length of days.
Verse 5.
His glory is great in your salvation.
Honor and majesty you have placed on him.
Verse 6.
For you have made him most blessed.
You have made him exceedingly glad of the joy of happiness with your presence.
And literally verse 6 is saying you have brightened the king.
You have made his face glow with the countenance from being in the presence of God.
And this is an allusion to what God did to Moses.
God brought Moses in a special way into his presence.
As the mediator between God and the people.
And Moses came back glowing.
His face brightened from being in the presence of God.
And that's what King David experienced.
And declares to the people.
God is faithful and he was with me.
I was in his presence all the while.
And it's his joy.
It's his joy to look at this God.
And celebrate his strength.
And his faithfulness to answer prayer.
It's what God has already done.
And what King David witnessed God doing that he declares back to the people.
So this king rejoices because God has answered prayer.
And because he has gotten to witness with his own eyes what God is faithful to do.
He asked it.
God did it.
And now he thanks God.
God.
Even these first few verses are an important point of application for us.
We are to bring our request before God.
We are to ask God to minister through his word.
And open our eyes to what he is doing.
The spiritual advancement of his kingdom.
And to trust him.
And his faithfulness.
And his power and his strength to do it.
And by trusting him and walking with him in that way.
Through the spiritual battle.
We enjoy his presence.
Our face is brightened by walking with God.
But it doesn't stop there.
We are then to gather with his people and tell of God's goodness.
Bear witness to God's faithfulness.
Share with one another.
And through the hardest times.
Some of you have been through maybe the hardest week of your entire life.
These past six days.
We are to bear witness of God's faithfulness.
Time and time again.
One of our dear brothers has been a great example and a model to me.
There are a little bit over 30 households in our congregation.
And there's 30 or 31 days in each month.
So he prays for each one of you.
One day of the month.
Another great example from the Puritans.
From this brother.
From many of you.
From my wife.
Is to write down what we're praying for.
Keep a prayer journal.
Why?
Because we forget so quickly, don't we?
But you start looking back and you say, whoa.
We prayed for this a month ago.
Two months ago.
Look at this amazing answer to prayer.
Not the way we would have imagined it.
But look how faithful God is.
And then we move into Psalm 21 mode.
And we praise God.
We tell one another.
We don't let it go unnoticed.
God has been faithful.
Look what he has done.
Another good example is to encourage in your household and yourself devotionally.
Let's pray for one person or family in the congregation.
One of our relatives.
Some know the Lord.
They need prayer.
Some don't know the Lord.
They need prayer too.
Let's bring that to God.
And then let's pray for his kingdom.
Someone else that comes to mind from work or school.
And let's thank the Lord when he is faithful.
Well, there's one other reason why this king rejoices.
Starting at verse 8.
And if you're like me, it's a bit of a twist.
It catches you by surprise.
Let me summarize what he rejoices for next this way.
The king rejoices in what God will do.
It's in the future tense.
What God will do in the future is hunt down and utterly demolish God's enemies.
Those who seek to destroy God.
And the king rejoices and calls God's people to rejoice in that coming judgment of God upon all the enemies of God's advancing kingdom.
And he rejoices in this.
Look, we are not more compassionate than God.
We need to align our prayers to scripture.
Not the other way around.
So a lot of these verses, I don't want you to take my word for it.
I want you to study it carefully in light of all the scripture.
And you're going to hear me pulling in some of the folks that have more credibility than I do.
But that's what the king rejoices in.
He trusts in what God is still to do.
Look at verse 8.
Your hand will find all your enemies.
There's not going to be an enemy that gets to stay hiding behind a tree or behind a rock.
You oppose yourself to God.
He will come and find you.
Verse 9.
God shall make them as a fiery oven in the day or the time of God's anger.
There is a day in the future, a time that's coming.
And it's the wrath of the Holy Creator God poured out against all who have rebelled against him.
Augustine.
Thou shall make them on fire within by the consciousness of their ungodliness.
You notice verse 9.
He says,
You shall make them as a fiery oven.
They themselves will be burning, said Augustine, with the fire within them that's lit by the consciousness of ungodliness.
Charles Spurgeon.
They shall not only be cast into a furnace of fire, according to Matthew 13, 42,
but they shall also be their own torment.
The reflections and terrors of their own consciousness will be the internal torment of God's enemies in hell.
That's the end of Spurgeon's quote.
Verse 9 goes on to say that the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath.
And the fire shall devour them.
The wrath of God.
God who is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything.
God who is eternal, immortal, all-powerful, holy, pure.
His wrath will swallow up, consume everything that's impure.
There's no place to hide from the wrath of God.
His sin will destroy sinfulness.
One commentator said,
It's like the picture in this Psalm 21 of a furnace where the fire is extremely hot and the heat,
it's striking upon them from all sides, from above, from below, from all about, on all surfaces.
And the door to this furnace is closed.
There's no getting out of it.
And there's no cool air coming in.
Amen.
In verse 10, he says,
Their offspring you shall destroy from the earth,
their descendants from among the sons of men.
There's a day when evil men and evil women will not walk on the earth any longer.
There will be no place for wicked sinners in the new heavens and the new earth.
There will be no future descendants for those who rebel against God.
Verse 11,
For they intended evil against God.
They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.
They put all their chips, they put all their weapons in a different kingdom,
thinking that they will be right in the end.
And God's kingdom is the one that will prevail and will stand at last.
The plots to stand against God will all fail.
Verse 12,
Therefore, God will make them turn their back.
As we've seen, this could be language of retreat,
turning and running away, fleeing from the advancing kingdom.
Or it could be language of utter submission.
Put your nose in the dirt like Joshua made the enemies and come step,
put the toe of your sandal on the back of their neck.
You will make ready your arrows on your string toward their faces.
The Bible doesn't get any more violent than this language of the holy God
unleashing and aiming his wrath against sinners.
Their faces looking at him defiant.
Just as our faces looked at Christ on the cross,
spitting in his face,
the holy God, just and powerful,
he makes ready his arrows on his string toward the faces of his enemies.
Matthew Henry commented,
Those who might have had Christ to rule over them and save them
will think of how they rejected him and made him their enemy instead.
That of itself will be enough to make them for eternity a fire inside of themselves.
Brothers and sisters, dear friends,
if by God's mercy he's causing you to hear this warning now,
it's because he's loving and compassionate,
and his grace is for you now.
Because there is a time coming for God's wrath against sin to be poured out.
When God's will is set,
it's his eternal decree and God is unchanging.
When his will is set to destroy sin,
all of God's attributes follow in accordance.
God's will is set against sin.
So his omniscience will seek out the object of his anger,
his providence.
It sharpens the sword of his wrath.
His almightyness lifts up, so to speak,
the full reserves of his arsenal,
and it heaves it down
with fierce power to crush his enemies.
God's will is set against sin.
So what hope do sinners like you and me have
of escaping God's wrath?
We have no hope of salvation on our own.
There is no ransom for people like you and me
from the holy God
except that it be given freely by the holy God himself.
And this he has done by giving his own son, Jesus Christ.
Amen?
Now we need to see what happens in Psalm 21
as the king rejoices in God's salvation.
I'm going to point this out to you
by looking at the first and the last psalm once more.
Psalm 21 verse 1 and verse 13.
As the king rejoices in verse 1,
that's how the psalm begins.
He begins by singing alone,
looking forward to rejoicing greatly in God's salvation.
Verse 1,
the king shall have joy in God's strength.
And in God's salvation,
how greatly he shall rejoice.
But notice how now the nation
that witnessed God deliver their king,
when the people heard their king rejoicing
on the other side of the victory,
they echo back with him.
In verse 13,
Be exalted, O Lord,
in your own strength.
Look at the next word.
It's in the plural.
We will sing and praise your power.
So what happens as the king rejoices
in God's great salvation
is that the rejoicing spreads.
The rejoicing of the king
is shared with his people.
So Psalm 21 ends
with all God's people together
with the king,
exalting,
singing,
and praising God
for his strength and power.
What a great scene
to picture this in ancient Israel.
But the good news gets even better.
The rejoicing gets shared
by even more people.
And this Psalm 21 itself
points us toward this.
Would you look at verses 4 and 6?
Psalm 21 verse 4
speaks of the king
having length of days
forever and ever.
Now it's possible
that this is royal hyperbole.
In other words,
we love how it is
under King David
who is under God.
May this never stop.
David only lived to age 70.
He did not live forever and ever.
What about verse 6?
You have made the king
most blessed forever.
Was David blessed forever?
The promise of verse 7
is that David would never be moved.
This was not fulfilled historically.
David did fall.
He fell to sin publicly,
greatly,
late in his reign.
He was not steadfast personally.
David was moved.
And David's line
very quickly lost the throne.
And what about
the complete annihilation
of the enemies of the king?
Did that ever happen?
Well, you could say
on one level
King David and King Solomon
extended the borders
and God was faithful
to all he promised to Israel.
But some of God's enemies
were married to King Solomon.
So there's no way
it could have been fulfilled
under David and Solomon.
And after them
it doesn't get any better
for national Israel.
Their reign was not long lasting.
So Psalm 21 forces
God's people
from every generation
to look forward
to an even more
final fulfillment.
Psalm 21
was given to God's people
to help us celebrate
the victory
of the Messiah.
The coming king.
The occasion of Psalm 20
you remember
it was the king
preparing to go to war.
And in Psalm 21
it celebrates
how that prayer
was answered.
The promise
that the mission
would be accomplished.
The battle
would be won.
The victory song
would be sung.
Psalm 21
would have encouraged
our Lord Jesus
as he knew
he was going into battle
for his people.
he would be victorious
on the other side.
He would get to receive
all of these promises.
He would get to sing
Psalm 21
on the other side.
Psalm 21
begins with the king
singing alone.
Looking forward
to rejoicing
in the deliverance
God would give him.
Think of this
from the lips
of Jesus Christ
the king of kings.
Trusting this promise
of verse 1
the king
the Messiah
the anointed one
of God
shall have joy
in God's strength
oh Lord
and in your salvation
how greatly
Jesus Christ
shall rejoice.
According to his
divine nature
our Lord Jesus
knew that his
victory and dominion
would be inaugurated
spiritually
at his resurrection
his ascension
and his session
at the right hand
of God Almighty
in heaven.
He also knew
that the total surrender
of all of God's enemies
those who oppose
his advancing kingdom
would be
consummately completed
at his return
to earth
the great day
on which he will judge
the living
and the dead.
And since there was
no army
around King Jesus
as he prepared
to go to battle
for you and for me
there was no
faithful soldiers
around him
to sing their part.
it would have been
God the Holy Spirit
who would have
reassured Jesus
of God's faithfulness.
The Holy Spirit
would have reminded
Jesus of all
that God the Father
promised he would
do for him
his anointed king.
Brothers and sisters
please pray for me
as I proclaim
Jesus
God our Savior
to whoever
has an ear to hear
may he be magnified
in his power
as we hold him up
crucified
for all who will
come to him
according to his
divine nature
being all knowing
our Lord Jesus Christ
knew he would have
a crown of thorns
pressed onto his head
in just a few hours.
Oh but the Holy Spirit
certainly would have
reminded Jesus
of the great truth
like we see in
Psalm 21 verse 3
Jesus God
will meet you
Messiah
with the blessings
of goodness
God will soon
set a crown
of pure gold
upon your head.
Think of when
Jesus turned to
his followers
and he reassured
of how good
the ministry
of the Spirit is.
He knew this
firsthand.
The Holy Spirit
is a good advocate.
He's your good counselor.
He's your faithful minister.
The Lord Jesus
received his ministry
personally
and it was in
the Garden of Gethsemane
where the Lord Jesus
agonized
so intensely
according to his
human nature
and surely
Christ's knowledge
of Psalm 21
verses 8 and 9
added
and multiplied
this agony.
Look at verse 8.
Think of this
as Jesus would
pray it in Gethsemane.
Oh God
on their own
my people
can only hate you
so I must
put myself
in the place
of your enemies.
I must put myself
in the place
of those
I will purchase
with my blood.
God's mighty hand
must first
come against me
instead of them.
I must become
the substitute
for these
God's beloved enemies.
I must endure
the torturous
punishments
they deserve.
God's all powerful
right hand
must crush
and slay me
instead of them.
how fierce
the anger
of the holy
God
against the sins
of his creatures.
Surely
that's why
Jesus in the garden
prayed in Luke
22 42
Father
if it is your will
take this cup
away from me
nevertheless
not my will
but yours
be done.
And that's what
our Lord Jesus
Christ did
as the old hymn
puts it
death
and the curse
were in our cup
O Christ
t'was full
for thee
but thou hast
drained
the last
dark drop
tis empty
now for me
that bitter cup
love
drink it down
now blessings
draft
for me.
Think of how much
weight
of sin
our Savior bore
all the worst
sins that you
and I
have committed
against him
plus
all of the
vilest deeds
of all those
who are his
from every single
generation.
Think of the
weight of that
like
a hundred thousand
tons of gross
concentrated evil
all of that
dropped
on his
holy
undefiled
body
and under
that weight
our Lord Jesus
labored
to breathe
and he knew
like Psalm 21
verse 9
my battle
on the mount
of the skull
will be the time
of God's anger
against the sins
of my people
in order to save
them
God must first
make me
a fiery oven
to save my beloved
God's wrath
must swallow up
my flesh
first
the fire
of God's justice
must devour
me
to pay for the
sins
of my church
this is what
our Lord Jesus
underwent
to redeem
his people
in just a few
moments
after praying
in the garden
God the son
would drag
his cross
up Calvary's hill
and he would
be nailed to it
and he would
be lifted up
silent
bleeding
the lamb
of God
foretold
of old
the pure
sacrifice
required by
the just
creator
the giver
of life
would die
oh but
Christ could
preach to himself
even as he hung
on the cross
like Psalm 21
verse 4
this king
promised by God
from long ago
asks God
for life
and God
gives it to him
length of days
forever and ever
because soon
our Lord Jesus
though now he's
lifted up as a
spectacle
a failure
a shame
and disgrace
despised
rejected
abandoned
mocked
forsaken
soon
he could preach
to himself
verse 5
his glory
will be great
in God's salvation
honor
and majesty
God will once again
place upon
Jesus Christ
and it was in the
garden where
our Lord Jesus
Christ could find
that strength
by the ministry
of the Holy Spirit
to endure
this torturous
cross
he could trust
that he
the Messiah
shall have
joy
in God's
strength
oh Lord
and in God's
salvation
he will
again
greatly
rejoice
God the Holy Spirit
reminded Jesus
of the joy
set before him
and empowered
by the Holy Spirit
Jesus set his face
like flint
and he went
to fight the battle
Hebrews 12
2 says
that Jesus Christ
the author
and finisher
of our faith
for the joy
that was set
before him
endured the cross
despising
the shame
and he was
risen
and glorified
seated at
God's right hand
having accomplished
his mission
having won
the victory
so that he
could share
his great
rejoicing
with you
that he purchased
with his own
blood
so that you
could sing
of God's praise
you could sing
of God's
great salvation
well if you're
like me
you're thinking
well how do I
know whether
I'm one
that he
saved
that he
purchased
with his
blood
how do I
know
come to
Jesus
go to him
he is set
forth
freely
for you
if you
come to
Jesus
it's because
his spirit
is drawing
you to him
the spirit
is drawing
you to him
because you
belong to him
he is the
good shepherd
and his sheep
know his voice
the good shepherd
calls his sheep
by name
and they
come to him
and they
follow him
follow
Jesus
psalm 21
began with
the king
singing alone
but it ends
with all those
who know his
voice
exalting
singing
and praising
God
for God's
strength
and power
so you
who know
Jesus
who love
Jesus
who even
wonder
is Jesus
for me
praise God
for his
great salvation
and trust him
that he is yours
by his free
grace
alone
we too
can sing
verse 13
be exalted
oh Lord
in your own
strength
not by anything
we've done
or added
it's your
strength
to save
sinners
like you
and me
we praise
God
dear friends
do you see
how king
Jesus
rejoices
to save
people
like you
and me
he made
himself
low
but now
he is
risen
and he's
singing
rejoicing
and his
holy spirit
is poured
out
and his
holy spirit
is calling
all who
will walk
to Jesus
to repent
to believe
him
to trust
him
to know
how good
he is
the holy spirit
calls you
in the words
of the hymn
that we'll sing
in just a moment
arise
dear child
arise
shake off
your guilty
fears
the bleeding
sacrifice
Jesus Christ
in our
behalf
appears
before the
throne
your surety
stands
your name
is written
on his
hands
the father
hears him
pray
his dear
anointed
one
he cannot
turn away
the presence
of his
son
the spirit
answers
to the
blood
and tells
you
you are
born
of God
our God
is reconciled
his pardoning
voice
you hear
he owns
you
for his
child
you can
no longer
fear
with confidence
we now
draw nigh
and
father
abba father
cry
oh
praise
God
who
rejoices
to save
people
like you
and like
me
through
King
Jesus
God's
son
by the
power
of the
Holy
Spirit
if the
Holy Spirit
has applied
God's word
to you
don't leave
today the
same
pray
you don't
need a
priest
you don't
need a
mediator
Jesus
is your
priest
Jesus
is your
mediator
come
straight to
him
know that
he has
made it
possible
for you
to be
reconciled
and adopted
into God's
family
safe
secure
in him
forever
oh but if
he's such a
loving God
how could
you go on
living the
same
follow him
and he calls
us to do
that with
his church
if you
don't have
a place
to call
your
spiritual
family
we would
love to
talk with
you
and answer
any questions
you have
and let
the Holy
Spirit
do that
work that
only he
can do
let's pray
that he
will do
just that
for his
glory
please pray
with me
father
thank you
for this
great
salvation
that you
have
accomplished
and that
you
apply
salvation
is yours
from beginning
to end
that no
man
no woman
no boy
no girl
may boast
salvation
is for
God's
glory
alone
by the
work of
Jesus
Christ
the
King
of
Kings
applied
to us
by God
the Holy
Spirit
please do
this
powerfully
Lord
to those
that you
purchased
with your
own
blood
amen