Hi, everyone. My name is Dan. I served as an elder here at Watermark for a while. I have the privilege of sharing God's word with us today.
To remind us where we are in today's preaching series, we are praying through the Psalms. Each week, we're choosing a different Psalm, a different theme to pull out of that Psalm, spending some time to understand it, and mostly trying to see how it might help us to pray and therefore improve our prayer life and our relationship with God.
Our day-to-day relationship with God is generally through speaking. God speaks to us through His word in the Bible, and we speak to God in prayer.
In the Psalms, allow us to see this back and forth in both directions. Today, we'll be looking at Psalm 118. So I'm going to ask Iris to come up and read it for us first, and then we'll dive deeper into it. Thanks, Iris.
Good morning, Watermark. Today's scripture reading is taken from Psalm 118. Please follow along your Bible. If you don't have a Bible, please do still grab them from the front of the stage or at the back near the door. Our passage is on page 479 in the church Bible. Page 479.
Hear then God's word to us today.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Let Israel say, His steadfast love endures forever.
Let the house of Aaron say, His steadfast love endures forever.
Let those who fear the Lord say, His steadfast love endures forever.
Out of my distress, I called on the Lord.
The Lord answered me and set me free.
The Lord is on my side.
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
The Lord is on my side as my helper.
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
All nations surrounded me.
In the name of the Lord, I cut them off.
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side.
In the name of the Lord, I cut them off.
They surrounded me like bees.
They went out like a fire among thorns.
In the name of the Lord, I cut them off.
I was pushed hard so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my song.
He has become my salvation.
Glossons of salvation are in the tents of the righteous.
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
The right hand of the Lord exalts.
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord.
The righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord's doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we pray, O Lord.
O Lord, we pray.
Give us success.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.
You are my God.
I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
For his steadfast love endures forever.
Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word.
Amen.
Thank you, Iris.
Thanks for sticking with us through those 29 verses, guys.
It was a bit of a longer passage today, but today's psalm, Psalm 118,
is one of the more popular psalms in the Bible, whether you know it or not.
It has verses that are extremely well known.
They've been quoted many times over in songs, other parts of the Bible.
You may recognize some, as Iris was reading out.
For the Jewish people at the time of Jesus, it was a regular tradition to sing this psalm
at big national Jewish celebrations, such as the Passover and other festivals like it.
For Martin Luther, our great hero of the Protestant Reformation,
this was apparently his favorite psalm.
As he quotes,
Although the entire Psalter and all of Holy Scripture are dear to me
as my only comfort and source of life,
I fell in love with this psalm especially.
Therefore, I call it my own.
When emperors and kings, the wise and the learned,
and even saints could not aid me,
this psalm proved a friend and helped me out of great many troubles.
As a result, it is dearer to me than all the wealth,
honor, and power of the Pope, the Turk, and the emperor,
essentially the world.
I would be most unwilling to trade this psalm for all of it.
Verse 17 was also said to be one of his life mottos.
He had inscribed it on his wall at one point in his life.
I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord.
Even with such a glowing review from someone like Martin Luther,
this psalm was written a long time before him.
And while his testimony is encouraging,
we shouldn't just take his word for it.
We should go back to the time it was written,
well before Jesus even, a few centuries in fact,
to understand it for ourselves.
It is a rich and complex passage.
Our focus on prayer means we won't have time
to look into every aspect of that complexity,
but with God's word we can always challenge ourselves
to go deeper and wider.
What was it saying to the audience back then?
Whether you are a Christian or not today,
why is it relevant to us?
What does it have to say to us?
How does it point us to the gospel,
to the good news of Jesus?
And in particular, how can it help us in our prayer life?
We'll see a psalm that encourages us to follow Jesus
in giving thanks and praise to God.
For though hardship comes,
God has and will deliver us.
First things first,
I think it's pretty obvious.
This psalm is a psalm about thanksgiving.
These are the first and last verses in the psalm after all.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
And right in the middle of the psalm as well,
verses 14 and 15.
The Lord is my strength and my song.
He has become my salvation.
Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous.
If we can picture it in our minds,
the psalm actually depicts this thanksgiving liturgy,
or like a ritual worship procession to God.
The psalmist is leading a procession of Jewish believers,
making his way from outside the temple,
to the temple gates,
into the temple sanctuary,
and finally ending at the temple altar,
as you see in verse 27,
to provide an offering of thanksgiving to God.
We might assume,
given that it's a psalm about thankfulness,
that it was all smooth sailing,
peaches and cream, as they say.
But what is interesting
is the fact that in and around these verses,
it is obvious that that is not the case.
There is much talk of hardship and suffering,
as we see in some of these verses,
crying out to God in the midst of great distress.
So the thankfulness here doesn't seem to be related to good times.
Rather, it seems to be related more to difficult times.
And these difficult times are really difficult times.
Niels preached a few weeks ago on Psalm 23,
and pointed this out to us,
that sometimes the psalms can feel not quite for us,
in some literal sense,
because the events are likely bigger
than anything we would ever have to deal with.
Look at the first half of each of verses 10 to 12, for example.
Verse 10, the first half says,
All the nations surrounded me.
Verse 11,
They surrounded me,
surrounded me on every side.
Verse 12,
They surrounded me like bees.
This is a royal psalm.
The psalmist is a king.
We're not sure who exactly.
It could be King David.
But either way,
the events recounted here,
are by a king who has been in a great battle,
against other nations,
other armies.
He is in a position of authority and power,
and dealing with a scale of things,
that almost none of us will ever have to deal with.
In verse 12,
when it talks about bees,
I don't know if you've ever been stung by a bee before.
I have.
It's not fun.
If you've ever seen a swarm of bees,
or a footage of beekeepers making honey,
they have to wear these huge suits,
to protect themselves,
from the sheer volume,
and the ferociousness of the bees,
that can sometimes attack them,
defending their hive.
Back in the times that this psalm was written,
while they may have had some thicker clothing,
they wouldn't have had those protective suits.
They certainly wouldn't have had antihistamine tablets,
if they had a bad reaction to the bee stings.
A swarm of bees could literally be deadly.
So it is with this king in battle.
He is overwhelmed by a swarm of nations,
attacking him from every side.
He is literally facing death.
The situation is hopeless,
and he is failing in his role.
As we see in verse 13,
he says,
I was pushed hard,
so that I was falling.
He is right on the edge.
How can this be a psalm of thanksgiving to God?
Why is the king thankful?
Well, we see that in spite of his great difficulties,
and overwhelming opposition,
the king was eventually victorious.
Not because of what he did,
but because of what God did.
That is why he is thankful.
Because God gave him a great victory.
God delivered him from his overwhelming enemies,
as we see in the second half of those verses.
Look at how they play out on the screen.
He is giving thanks and praise
to the one who not just helped him in his distress,
but did the full saving work in victory.
The deliverance is such wonderful news
that the king cannot help but give thanks to God.
And as Niels also highlighted a few weeks ago,
as the people's representative,
the king's victory is the people's victory too.
That is essentially what this psalm is about.
You can kind of split it into two main ideas.
The first idea is a picture of the king's testimony,
giving thanks and praise
at what God has done for him and for his people.
And the second part can be seen as this same king
leading his people to respond in the same way to God.
We see a kind of back and forth
between the king and his people in this psalm.
In verses 2 to 4, it's essentially,
if you look at verses 2 to 4 in your Bible,
it's essentially a universal call from the king
to all people to acknowledge God's steadfast and eternal love.
Israel, mentioned in verse 2,
are the native Jewish people.
The house of Aaron, in verse 3,
are kind of the priestly class in their community.
And those who fear the Lord, in verse 4,
are all other true believers.
Then in verses 5 to 18,
the king's thanksgiving testimony
recounts God's saving work from his distress.
And then the end of the psalm,
verses 19 to 27,
the king's people themselves
then respond and join the king,
giving praise and thanks to God
for what he has done.
And how much more wonderful for us in Jesus.
In this psalm, it's obvious the theme of deliverance
links to Jesus as well.
Take a look at verse 26 with me.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
If we know the gospel accounts of Jesus' life,
we know that this is what the crowds shouted
at Palm Sunday.
In all four gospels,
as Jesus was entering Jerusalem
for the national Passover festival,
the Jewish people at the time
were clearly proclaiming the expectation of Jesus
as the coming Messiah and king.
And they were referring back to this psalm
when they were doing it.
See on the screen,
Jesus even directly claims the verse for himself
later in Matthew 23.
Or take verse 22, for example.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
Another well-known verse.
Initially referring to this king
in the psalm
who was ultimately lifted up by God,
Jesus later implies
that he is that very stone being spoken about.
And Peter repeats that message
in Acts.
The builders are the religious leaders
at the time.
The rejected stone is Jesus.
The builders,
the leaders rejected Jesus.
He suffered on the cross and died.
And God raised him from the dead
three days later,
establishing him as the foundation
or the cornerstone of God's kingdom.
I think it adds weight too
if we think about the fact
that the king in this psalm
was powerless to save himself.
Only God could save him.
And Jesus,
being in very nature human,
was made powerless
to save himself.
There are so many parallels.
In the same way the psalmist king
relied on God through victory
and was delivered victorious,
victorious,
so did Jesus,
who submitted to God
even to death
and was delivered victorious
over death and resurrection.
In the same way
the people in the psalm
were able to enjoy
the king's victory
over his enemies,
so we are able
to enjoy Jesus' victory
over sin and death,
a victory we are powerless
to achieve ourselves.
In Christ,
this is every bit
a psalm
of victory for us
as it was
the king's people
back then.
And we are also led
by Jesus
in response
of thanksgiving too.
We'll get back to that
a bit later.
But isn't it amazing?
It's all tied together.
The Old Testament,
the New Testament,
and fulfilled
in Jesus' death
and resurrection.
Now that we hopefully
understand the psalm
a little better,
what does this all
have anything to do
with our prayer life?
Well, I think it highlights
a few things.
Firstly,
as we've touched on already,
what do we need more
than anything in the world?
I wonder if you've noticed
the fact that
in the psalms in general,
the focus of the prayers
in the psalms
are not necessarily
on the material things
that people might need
at the time,
but it's often deliverance
from hardship,
from suffering,
from enemies.
Asking a simple
chat GPT query
shows that there are
over 400 references
to deliverance
or deliverance-related themes
in the psalms.
And there are,
and there's 150 psalms
in the Bible.
Material blessings
are referenced
about 40 times.
I don't know how accurate
those numbers actually are,
but I think they'd generally
be pretty accurate,
and the idea is still there.
In our prayers,
I think,
me included,
we so often pray
for the practical things
we need,
like health,
work,
school,
family.
These are good things,
don't get me wrong.
But in the psalm itself,
so in the psalm itself,
we see the king
and his people
praying for what they need
materially,
but what we have,
but what we need
more than anything
in the world
is what we already have
in Christ,
deliverance from sin and death.
We don't have to work for it.
We don't have to study for it.
We don't have to try harder.
We don't have to prove
ourselves worthy
one little bit.
If we are in Christ
and we have accepted
his gift of salvation,
we already have
deliverance from sin
and a restored relationship
with God.
That is what we need most.
Just think about
how miraculous it is,
really,
if you are a Christian
in the room today,
that you have the beliefs
you do.
Given what your background
might have been,
the world we live in today,
it is pretty miraculous.
If we were to look
at our prayer life,
how often are we
giving thanks to God
for what he has done
for us in Jesus?
Does your prayer life
look like Psalm 118
with this much giving thanks
and this much asking
for what we need?
Or if we are honest,
is it more like
this much giving thanks
and this much asking
for what we need?
Now these questions
are not meant to condemn us
by no means
or make light
of some of the really,
really hard things
that some of us
have to deal with
in life.
The tone of this passage
is of encouragement,
is of celebration.
God wants us
to be thankful here
and respond to him
like that.
But I do also think
there may be levels
of truth here
in that for all of us
in our prayer life.
Secondly,
what about
when times are really hard?
like Simon shared
a little bit
before in his testimony
and feeling thankful
does not come easy.
While we saw
in verse 13,
for example,
if we read it carefully,
it is actually alluding
to the fact
that this extreme suffering
the king is facing
to the point of breaking,
of falling over,
it's actually God's doing.
God is not part
of our good times only.
He is in control
and he is in our hard times
as well.
Our worst times even.
If we are going through
really hard times
right now,
I'm really sorry
about that.
And as Christians,
we cannot escape
the fact
that God is in that
as well.
Honestly,
this topic could take
a whole sermon series
in itself.
Kevin preached about it
a couple of weeks ago
from Psalms 42 and 43.
So I can't do it justice
in just this short section
of the sermon.
But I do think,
partly,
the psalm would encourage us
to try and give thanks,
sorry,
to give thanks
that Jesus rose from the dead
and has ultimately delivered us
even in those really hard times.
The big deliverance
that changes everything
has already happened
even if we don't experience
it fully now.
I'm sure there were actually
people in Israel at the time
who were suffering greatly.
Bereavement,
sickness,
yet the king
encourages them
to join with him
in celebrating
their deliverance
which towers
over all of that.
We do also know
from scripture
that God has given us
the Holy Spirit
to help us.
We do know
he is gentle
to not break us.
We don't have to try harder
or just grin and bear it.
He has initiated with us.
Come to us.
He is present
right here with us
in this moment.
He is for us,
guiding us,
helping us,
leading us.
He is declaring
the truths
of his gospel to us
by the power
of his Holy Spirit,
allowing us
to give thanks
in the midst of hardship.
Thirdly,
with respect
to our prayer lives,
I think there is
actually an exuberance
and a joy
in the thanksgiving
that we see
in the psalm
that is quite unique.
It's wonderfully unique
to the psalms,
in fact.
We can learn from it.
I mean,
just look at some
of the verses
from the psalm.
The king and his people
are overjoyed.
And here's an interesting
point, I think.
In the same way
the king is thankful
to God
for his deliverance
over enemies,
I believe Christ
was thankful to God
for his own deliverance
over death as well.
To be clear,
we have no record
of Jesus' words
as he came out
of the tomb.
That's true.
But if we're right
to read the psalm,
the king and the psalm,
as a type of Jesus figure,
and the kind of suffering
he went through
as foreshadowing
Jesus on the cross,
then I think
we can assume
that the king's great joy
and thankfulness
at being delivered
will also affect
how Jesus must have felt
when he came out
of the tomb.
Why would the first half
of the psalm
point to the cross,
but the second half
have nothing to do
with the resurrection?
Jesus fully submitted
himself to humanness.
He was fully human.
He trusted his father
as he physically died.
That his father
would raise him
three days later.
And for three days
he was fully separated
from God.
Fully separated
from God.
In the depths of hell,
powerless to save himself.
Can you imagine
how Jesus felt
when God actually
raised him
three days later?
Yes, he trusted God.
But when the stone
was rolled away
and he stepped out
into the day,
can you imagine
how he felt?
He must have felt
unbelievable.
God, you did it.
That is amazing.
Praise be to you alone.
Can we have this same reaction
about our salvation?
In a small way.
I think recently
of the football
world cup winners.
Just unbridled joy
and ecstasy
for the team themselves,
for their fans,
their people.
And for us,
it is not a one-off
every four years.
It can be every single day.
How joyful
and exuberant
are we
about our own salvation
and deliverance
when we pray?
Fourthly and lastly,
with respect
to our prayer,
are we praying
and worshipping
together?
Not just on Sundays,
but during the week
as well,
as a regular pattern
of life.
Here we see
the Jewish people
praying and giving
thanks together.
We do have
corporate prayer
once a month
and we should do that
where we can do that.
That's an obvious one.
But it doesn't have
to be just that.
It can be CG,
it can be smaller groups,
husbands,
fathers.
Are you leading
and encouraging
your families
in doing the same
out of thanksgiving
to God
for what he has done
for you?
This is something
I myself
was really challenged
about when preparing
for this sermon.
I don't think
I do this very well
at all.
But if it is
something we see
of Jesus,
then it is likely
something we should
try and replicate
in our own life.
Just think about
when someone shares
a powerful testimony
of what God
has done in their life,
like Simon did
earlier today,
delivering them
from some sin
or some difficult
situation.
It builds our own
faith.
It builds our own
love for God.
It gives us
courage to bring
our own distress
before God,
to pray with confidence,
not to pray
and not fear,
as the king
and the psalm
himself did.
There is communal
thanksgiving
for what God
has done
for the individual.
Baptisms also
probably provide
the best picture
of this idea.
When we go up
these days
to the rooftop,
we are communally
overjoyed
at what God
has done
for the person
being baptized.
I actually think
it's probably like
when we are all
the happiest,
right,
together as a group.
And so we should be.
That is the kind
of picture we see here.
A huge celebration
together
at how God
has delivered us.
We should give
thanks together
more often.
So let's try
and get really
practical now.
Let's try and look
at an example
prayer
and try and put
this all together.
Let's see how
this goes.
Imagine someone
who is going
through a really
difficult time
at work.
I know,
predictable example
in Hong Kong,
but it's something
I assume many of us
are dealing with
right now.
Our usual prayer
may sound
something like this.
Dear God,
work has been
really difficult
lately.
My workload
is increasing.
My manager
doesn't seem
to appreciate
the extra effort
I'm putting in.
I'm worried
about my future
at the company.
Please provide
some relief
from the workload.
Please provide
some wisdom
to navigate things.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Honestly,
it's not a wrong
prayer.
I'm not saying
it's a bad prayer.
It expresses
a dependency
on God.
It brings
our request
to Him
as we should.
It's not bad.
But what if
we try
and apply
some of the
truths
from Psalm 18
in this example
as well?
Thankfulness.
How might
our prayer
change a little bit?
Well,
let's see.
Dear God,
thank you
for you
are good.
Your steadfast
love for me
endures forever.
Thank you
that through
Jesus Christ
you have already
given me
the greatest
gift I could
ever receive.
whatever happens
in my life
cannot take
that away.
But work
has been
really difficult
for me lately.
I need help.
Please provide
opportunities
for relief
and to work
well.
Give me wisdom
and patience
and integrity.
Love for those
I work with.
Help me to be
thankful here
in spite of
the difficulties
and the painfulness
of the situation
even if it remains.
And may my joy
be not found
in success at work
but in belonging
to Jesus.
Thank you
for you are good
and your steadfast
love endures forever.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
I know
it's kind of cheating
I've just added
like a lot more words
to the prayer
and you know
quoted from the psalm
etc.
I get it,
I get it.
Alright?
But do we see
the difference?
Our greatest
deliverance
has already
been accomplished
which doesn't
remove our
daily needs
but it does
change the heart
the focus
the practical
words
of our prayers
to be more
focused on
deliverance
versus our
practical needs.
I think it's
something we'll
be able to try
later on
as we get
together in
groups and pray.
So let's
come into
close.
If you are
a Christian
today
may the words
of this psalm
encourage all
of us to
follow Jesus
in his example
of giving
thanks and
praise to God
for though
hardship will
come
God has
and will
deliver us.
If you are
not a Christian
today
please take
this as an
opportunity
to consider
the person
of Jesus
for yourself
what the
Bible has
had to say
today
about who
he is
and what
he did.
What he
has done
for you
through his
death
and resurrection
is what
you need
most
deliverance
from the
eternal
consequences
of your
sin
which is
death
and an
eternal
relationship
with God
in its
place.
This is
a gift
freely
given to
you
if you
accept
Jesus
as your
Lord
and
Savior.
Please
consider
doing that
today.
Don't let
another day
go
without
doing
that.
I'd love
to chat
with you
about it
after the
service
as well.
Let me
finish in a
quick prayer
and then we
will pray
together.
Father,
thank you
for these
words.
I pray
that by the
power of
your Holy
Spirit
you may
have
removed
me
and
anything
that was
from me
or of the
world
from this
sermon
and brought
Jesus to
the forefront.
Brought the
beauty
of the
gospel
and the
deliverance
from sin
and death
that we
have
experienced
in Jesus.
May your
name be
glorified.
Thank you
God
for you
are so
good to
us.
your
steadfast
love
endures
forever
before
now
and in
the
future
as well.
In
Jesus'
wonderful
name
I
pray.
Amen.