WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:26.420 Heavenly Father, we come as your people, as the people who make up the beachhead in this hostile world. 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:34.179 And people who are kingdom outposts in this land of exile. 00:00:36.760 --> 00:00:38.179 We long for you. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:41.520 We long for our homecoming. 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:56.320 We come as we are once again because it's in the forgiveness and peace we have in Jesus that we have a taste of home. 00:00:56.420 --> 00:00:56.920 Amen. 00:01:03.260 --> 00:01:05.740 So cleanse us again, Lord, this evening. 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:10.900 Recalibrate us again. 00:01:12.740 --> 00:01:16.700 Align ourselves to your kingdom priorities and purposes. 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:27.359 Remind us of the voice of our Lord, our King, Jesus. 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:36.040 Speak to us from your word. 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:37.040 Amen. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:44.540 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:01:45.300 --> 00:01:45.660 Amen. 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:49.160 Let's turn to Psalm 120. 00:01:49.159 --> 00:02:14.680 Psalm 120. 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:16.260 Read it out loud for us. 00:02:16.260 --> 00:02:18.780 A Song of Ascents. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:24.500 In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:30.300 Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:36.780 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:41.939 O warriors' sharp arrows with glowing coals of the broom tree. 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:49.539 Woe to me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar. 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:55.180 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. 00:02:56.099 --> 00:03:00.699 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. 00:03:00.699 --> 00:03:08.299 So we just finished an epic journey through Psalm 119. 00:03:09.819 --> 00:03:16.039 And right on the heels of that poem about God's word, we start another beautiful collection, 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:21.780 probably the most famous collection in the Psalter, called the Songs of Ascent. 00:03:23.079 --> 00:03:26.599 The Hebrew, no one really knows what that means precisely. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:29.579 There are several kind of viable, plausible options. 00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:36.140 The word ascent is a translation of a Hebrew word that sometimes means stairs or steps. 00:03:37.260 --> 00:03:40.680 And it refers to some kind of upward movement. 00:03:41.480 --> 00:03:47.260 So our first option is that it's based on the early Jewish rabbinical tradition, 00:03:47.860 --> 00:03:54.740 because Ezekiel chapter 40, verse 26, describes seven steps up toward the temple. 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:58.500 And then Ezekiel 40, same chapter, a few verses later in verse 31, 00:03:58.500 --> 00:04:01.580 it describes another eight steps leading up to the temple. 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:03.780 So if you add them up, it's 15 steps. 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:08.080 There's 15 psalms in this collection. 00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:15.920 So some of the Jewish scholars think that these are psalms that they recited as they ascended to the temple at each step. 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:18.360 So that's one option. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:23.600 It's suggestive, but I think it's a little too creative of a hypothetical reconstruction to be true, 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.500 since scripture never says anywhere that there were 15 steps. 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:29.560 It's like two sets you added up. 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:37.660 And then a second explanation is that a song of a sense, it refers to a poetic technique or device. 00:04:38.280 --> 00:04:42.620 It's a kind of a terraced structure, almost like a staircase effect. 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:46.160 So where every stanza is tightly tied together thematically, 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:49.139 and each stanza provides kind of the footing for the next. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:52.340 So it does, as you're reading each of the psalms in this, 00:04:52.660 --> 00:04:55.899 it has that kind of a ascending staircase effect. 00:04:55.899 --> 00:05:01.339 I do think that has something to do with this title, the collection, 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:03.459 but I don't think that's the primary meaning, 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:09.060 because whenever a superscription of a psalm uses the word song to describe it, 00:05:09.179 --> 00:05:12.539 like a song of something, it indicates the psalm's theme, 00:05:12.799 --> 00:05:16.159 and not its poetic technique or style or type. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:18.279 So for example, Psalm 30 says, 00:05:18.539 --> 00:05:21.439 a song of at the dedication of the temples. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:23.979 That's the content, what the psalm has to do with. 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:28.120 Or it says in Psalm 45, a song of love. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.020 Or Psalm 92, a song for the Sabbath. 00:05:31.400 --> 00:05:34.960 So following that pattern, when it says songs of ascent, 00:05:35.780 --> 00:05:38.360 a song of ascent, I think it has to do with the theme, 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.980 the content of the substance of the psalm and not to its style or form. 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:44.360 And so that brings us to the third option. 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:50.379 And I think my favorite option is that in Ezra chapter 7, verse 9, 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:54.080 Ezra's return from the Babylonian exile to Jerusalem, 00:05:54.460 --> 00:05:58.340 back to Jerusalem, is described using the same word, ascent. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:05:59.560 It says, 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:14.180 And this fits the consistent theme of all the psalms in this collection, 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:19.920 because they all have expressed some kind of longing for Jerusalem and for Mount Zion. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:21.620 It's the dwelling place of God. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:24.960 And because of the fact that the temple was on a mountain, 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:27.759 and also because, for theological reasons, 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.120 in scripture, you never go down to Jerusalem. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:32.200 You always go up to Jerusalem. 00:06:32.460 --> 00:06:33.900 You always go up to the temple. 00:06:34.020 --> 00:06:35.540 You never go down to Jerusalem. 00:06:36.100 --> 00:06:38.220 And because God is above, we are below. 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:39.620 And in order to come to God, 00:06:39.700 --> 00:06:42.939 we need to start from a place of humility and lowliness and weakness. 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:45.399 And so because of that, 00:06:45.459 --> 00:06:50.219 I think that's probably the primary meaning of this collection, 00:06:50.740 --> 00:06:51.439 Songs of Ascent. 00:06:52.219 --> 00:06:57.939 Psalmists are describing that longing and ascent to God's dwelling place. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:01.199 And in order to reflect that substance, 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:05.199 I think they used a poetic style that also ascends. 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:09.019 So I think it's probably the last combination of the last two meanings. 00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:14.419 So I'm really looking forward to going through the collection. 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:19.199 With that aside, let's go right into the psalm, verses 1 to 4. 00:07:19.939 --> 00:07:23.319 It first describes praying for God's deliverance. 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:26.159 And then in verses 5 to 7, 00:07:26.219 --> 00:07:28.399 it describes longing for God's dwelling place. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.279 And really the main point of this psalm is that 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:33.620 as people of peace among peoples of war, 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:38.819 we are to live as exiles longing for God's deliverance and dwelling place. 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:41.879 So first, let's talk about praying for God's deliverance 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.299 and then we'll talk about longing for God's dwelling place. 00:07:45.099 --> 00:07:46.259 It says in verse 1, 00:07:46.659 --> 00:07:49.439 In my distress I called to the Lord and He answered me. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:52.259 So that first verse has two parts. 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:53.959 First, the psalmist's prayer, 00:07:54.219 --> 00:07:55.539 In my distress I called to the Lord. 00:07:55.859 --> 00:07:58.120 And then the Lord's answer and He answered me. 00:07:58.599 --> 00:08:02.159 And then verses 2 to 4 unpack these two parts of verse 1. 00:08:02.820 --> 00:08:06.600 So let's, first we find out more about the psalmist's distress in verse 2. 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:10.939 Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. 00:08:11.260 --> 00:08:15.420 So it seems like the psalmist has been a victim of some kind of malicious slander. 00:08:16.260 --> 00:08:17.280 Maybe his enemies. 00:08:19.200 --> 00:08:22.960 And second, we find out about how exactly the Lord answered him 00:08:22.960 --> 00:08:24.780 during his prayer in verses 2 to 3. 00:08:24.779 --> 00:08:34.000 So this echoes the phrase deceitful tongue from verse 2. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.740 But who is the one that's addressing the slander here? 00:08:38.839 --> 00:08:39.959 It's a little ambiguous. 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:43.740 Is it the psalmist or is it God who is saying this 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:46.480 to the people of deceitful tongue? 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:51.720 So verse 2 is a curse formula 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:54.720 that's well attested throughout scripture. 00:08:55.420 --> 00:09:00.980 So for example, Eli says to Samuel in 1 Samuel 3, verse 17, 00:09:01.560 --> 00:09:03.300 What was it that God told you? 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:04.960 Do not hide it from me. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.720 May God do so to you and more also 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:11.080 if you hide anything from me of all that he told you. 00:09:11.779 --> 00:09:15.340 So another example of that is when Jonathan is promising to David 00:09:15.340 --> 00:09:18.460 that he will for sure let him know 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:20.720 if his father Saul is bent on killing him. 00:09:21.620 --> 00:09:25.040 And he swears this way in 1 Samuel 20, verse 13, 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:29.019 The Lord do so to Jonathan and more also 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:31.860 if I do not disclose it to you and send you away 00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:32.820 that you may go in safety. 00:09:33.040 --> 00:09:34.519 So that's kind of the formula. 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:39.280 May God do so to me and more if I don't do such and such. 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:42.660 Or may God do so to me and more if what I've said is false. 00:09:42.659 --> 00:09:48.199 And so it's kind of like how a modern person might say, 00:09:48.259 --> 00:09:50.559 I swear to you on my life that this is true. 00:09:52.219 --> 00:09:56.500 That standard curse formula invokes God to punish the false, 00:09:56.719 --> 00:10:00.039 I guess, swearer and add even more to his punishment. 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:03.139 So in light of that background, 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:06.559 it seems that the subject of verse 3 is God. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:10.000 It seems that the slanderer swore 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.459 that he is telling the truth about the psalmist. 00:10:12.619 --> 00:10:13.779 He's saying, you know, 00:10:13.839 --> 00:10:15.179 May God do so to me and more 00:10:15.179 --> 00:10:20.000 if this psalmist is not this, you know, crook or whatever. 00:10:20.459 --> 00:10:23.179 And he invoked a curse upon himself. 00:10:24.839 --> 00:10:26.299 But he wasn't telling the truth. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.059 He was lying. 00:10:28.619 --> 00:10:30.500 And so God is now answering the slanderer 00:10:30.500 --> 00:10:32.219 according to the curse that he brought upon himself. 00:10:32.220 --> 00:10:34.220 What shall be given to you? 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:37.100 And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:40.300 And God answers the question himself in verse 4. 00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:43.700 A warrior's sharp arrows with glowing coals of the broom tree. 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:47.000 And then in verse 5, 00:10:47.300 --> 00:10:49.200 the psalmist laments that he's a soldier 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.879 and are dwelling in Meshech and among the tents of Kedar. 00:10:52.800 --> 00:10:55.840 And that he mentions that these people hate peace. 00:10:56.259 --> 00:10:58.160 And that even when the psalmist speaks of peace, 00:10:58.259 --> 00:10:59.019 they are for war. 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:02.299 So Meshech and Kedar are actually quite far 00:11:02.299 --> 00:11:03.679 from each other geographically. 00:11:04.340 --> 00:11:07.939 So it's not physically possible for the psalmist 00:11:07.939 --> 00:11:10.000 to be dwelling in both places at the same time. 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:13.000 So he's not being literal but figurative. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:16.519 He's using these Gentile cities symbolically 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:19.460 to represent a place of his exile. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.319 And interestingly, both Meshech and Kedar 00:11:23.319 --> 00:11:26.139 are famous for their military power 00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:28.679 and in particular for their archers. 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:32.519 So in Isaiah chapter 21, verses 16 to 17, 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.899 God promises to bring the glory of Kedar to an end, 00:11:36.460 --> 00:11:38.340 assuring his people that, quote, 00:11:38.439 --> 00:11:41.480 the remainder of the archers of the mighty men 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:43.399 of the sons of Kedar will be few. 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:47.039 And then similarly in Ezekiel chapter 39, verses 1 to 3, 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.000 God declares that he will oppose Meshech 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:50.500 and drive them out and says this, 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:53.399 I will strike your bow from your left hand 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:56.000 and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:00.080 So this context kind of fleshes out what's going on in verse 4. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:05.280 So an unbelieving and hostile people have slandered the psalmist, 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:11.040 shooting deadly arrows of slander, deceit, aimed at him. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.460 But God, the divine warrior, has promised 00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:16.940 that he will answer in kind with a warrior's sharp arrows 00:12:16.940 --> 00:12:18.540 with glowing coals of the broom tree. 00:12:19.400 --> 00:12:22.080 The roots and stems of this broom tree 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.160 were used in ancient days as charcoal 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:27.740 because it burned for a while and retained heat for a while. 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:30.179 So it was the ideal weapon of choice 00:12:30.179 --> 00:12:32.259 for setting things on fire in war. 00:12:33.439 --> 00:12:37.240 And Psalm 64 is actually a helpful comparison 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:40.240 because it describes the wicked in verses 3 to 4 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:42.659 as those who wet their tongues like swords, 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:45.079 who aim bitter words like arrows, 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:47.379 shooting from the ambush at the blameless, 00:12:47.459 --> 00:12:49.059 shooting at him suddenly and without fear. 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:52.479 But then later in that same Psalm 64 verse 7, 00:12:52.579 --> 00:12:52.919 it says, 00:12:53.239 --> 00:12:55.699 But God shoots his arrow at them. 00:12:56.119 --> 00:12:57.159 They are wounded suddenly. 00:12:57.319 --> 00:13:00.239 So I think that's basically what's going on here. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.699 God will give the slanderers a taste of their own medicine. 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:05.199 The divine warrior will intervene 00:13:05.199 --> 00:13:07.479 and rain down his sharp arrows and burning coals 00:13:07.479 --> 00:13:08.859 on the archers of Meshech and Kedar. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:11.739 And so that's God's answer to the psalmist, 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:13.219 prayer for God's deliverance. 00:13:13.939 --> 00:13:15.319 And then in verses 5 to 7, 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:18.199 we see the psalmist longing for God's dwelling place. 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:23.480 Given the hostility and persecution that he experiences, 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:26.340 the psalmist longs to be at home with God. 00:13:27.660 --> 00:13:28.140 He laments, 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:45.259 If you seek to love God, 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:47.900 with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:53.539 if you seek his peace in your life and in the world, 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:57.620 then you know this unfulfilled longing, 00:13:58.459 --> 00:14:01.659 living in this world as an exile, as a sojourner. 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:06.039 And like the Israelite exiles longing for Jerusalem, 00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:07.279 the dwelling place of God, 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:09.419 we long for the dwelling place of God, 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:10.379 the heavenly Jerusalem. 00:14:10.379 --> 00:14:14.340 And so 1 Peter 2, verses 11 to 12 says, 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:19.299 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles 00:14:19.299 --> 00:14:21.939 to abstain from the passions of the flesh, 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:24.019 which wage war against your soul. 00:14:24.659 --> 00:14:27.059 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable 00:14:27.059 --> 00:14:29.299 so that when they speak against you as evildoers, 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:32.659 they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 00:14:32.659 --> 00:14:34.740 So our situation is similar, 00:14:34.959 --> 00:14:37.819 even though we live in the fulfilled new covenant era. 00:14:38.439 --> 00:14:40.740 The people of this world still speak against us. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:43.120 They still aim their deadly arrows at us. 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:45.399 But we are nevertheless to honor God 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:46.980 by conducting ourselves honorably 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.240 and giving them no grounds for their slander. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:55.360 And as Jesus said to His disciples in John 16, 32 to 33, 00:14:55.500 --> 00:14:57.500 Behold, the hour is coming. 00:14:57.680 --> 00:14:59.759 Indeed, it has come when you will be scattered, 00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:01.759 each to his own home, and will leave me alone. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.480 Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 00:15:05.019 --> 00:15:06.919 I have said these things to you, 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.019 that in me you may have peace. 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:12.000 In the world you will have tribulation. 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:14.840 But take heart, I have overcome the world. 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:18.120 In the world we still have tribulation. 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:20.600 In the world we still have war. 00:15:21.060 --> 00:15:25.159 In the world we still have lying lips piercing us. 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:27.360 And in the world we still have sin, 00:15:27.560 --> 00:15:28.779 our sinful flesh to deal with. 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:30.820 But in Christ we have peace, 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:32.299 because He has overcome the world 00:15:32.299 --> 00:15:33.779 through His death on the cross 00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:35.080 and His resurrection from the dead. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:37.980 And so we were once separated from Christ, 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:40.220 alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.200 the strangers to the covenants of promise, 00:15:42.539 --> 00:15:44.399 having no hope and without God in the world. 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:45.680 But then now in Christ Jesus, 00:15:45.680 --> 00:15:46.840 who once were far off, 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:49.259 have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:15:49.660 --> 00:15:51.860 For He Himself is our peace. 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:54.399 This is Ephesians 2, 11-16. 00:15:54.780 --> 00:15:56.160 Who has made us both one, 00:15:56.280 --> 00:15:57.740 and has broken down in His flesh 00:15:57.740 --> 00:15:59.240 the dividing wall of hostility, 00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:01.200 by abolishing the law of commandments 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:02.420 expressed in ordinances, 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:04.740 that He might create in Himself 00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:06.500 one new man in place of the two, 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:07.580 so making peace, 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:09.920 and might reconcile us both to God 00:16:09.920 --> 00:16:11.259 in one body through the cross, 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:13.180 thereby killing the hostility. 00:16:13.179 --> 00:16:17.500 It's in Christ that this war among Jews, 00:16:17.579 --> 00:16:18.819 between Jews and Gentiles, 00:16:19.059 --> 00:16:22.739 that's in view here in this Psalm 120, 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:26.000 is brought to an end. 00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:29.299 It's in Christ that Gentiles and Jews are reconciled, 00:16:29.359 --> 00:16:31.519 and it's in Christ that we are reconciled to God, 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:34.120 because Christ Himself is our peace. 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:38.019 And as people of peace among peoples of war, 00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:42.240 we are to live as exiles longing for God's deliverance 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.080 and dwelling place.