WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 And if you weren't here last week, the context of why we're looking at Psalm 24 is we're 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:09.599 doing a series on the Psalms where we're looking at different Psalms and our series is called 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:11.419 Songs for Life. 00:00:11.419 --> 00:00:14.320 And I didn't come up with that title so I can say this, but I think it's a great title, 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.500 whoever came up with it. 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:20.519 Because when you call the Psalms Songs for Life, you're assuming that these Psalms have 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:25.320 a relevance that goes beyond the fact that we sing them on Sunday morning as important 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:26.320 as that is. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:32.079 And these Psalms actually speak to the human experience in all of its diversity. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:35.159 There was a pastor named Eugene Peterson who wrote a book about the Psalms. 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:40.480 He also wrote the Message Bible, but he opened his book about the Psalms like this. 00:00:40.480 --> 00:00:45.760 He said, people look into mirrors to see how they look. 00:00:45.760 --> 00:00:49.480 They look into the Psalms to find out who they are. 00:00:49.480 --> 00:00:53.439 And I don't know if you've ever had this experience, but if you really read the Psalms in the 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:59.119 midst of your own joys and sorrows, you may find that when you come to the Psalms, you 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:04.039 find words to describe feelings that you have that you didn't know how to describe. 00:01:04.039 --> 00:01:09.920 It speaks to the whole human experience from joy to sorrow to sadness to love and fear 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.039 and pain. 00:01:12.039 --> 00:01:17.280 And so when you look at the Psalms, there is a real sense in which we really do see ourselves, 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:20.159 who we are and who we were meant to be. 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:25.640 And when we look at Psalm 24, I think part of what Psalm 24, in connection with that, 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:30.239 assumes, is that as human beings, we were made to worship. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:32.280 As humans, we were all made to worship. 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:36.400 And if you're here long enough, you'll hear us make reference to the fact that we believe 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.159 that whether you're worshiping God or not, we're all worshiping something. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.039 We all choose to place our hope in something. 00:01:42.039 --> 00:01:46.799 And our claim this morning is that we should be worshiping our maker, our creator, the 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:48.840 God of Jesus Christ. 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:55.320 And I have to say, when we come to Psalm 24, the hard part about preaching it is, it's 00:01:55.320 --> 00:01:56.760 almost three different stories. 00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:59.640 What you have in Psalm 24 is three different pictures. 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.280 And when you read them through, I don't know if you caught this when you read it, but you'll 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.040 probably get a sense for this now that you're paying attention to it. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:10.080 It's hard to figure out what actually connects the three different pictures in Psalm 24. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:13.719 So maybe I should just preach three sermons this morning and we could really get the full 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:14.719 effect of it. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:20.879 But what I'm actually going to do in my great mercy will be to, I want to suggest that what 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:27.360 does connect these three stories in Psalm 24 is that each one tells us something about 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:32.039 the God that we worship in such a way that it actually changes. 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:35.599 It doesn't affect just our view of God, but it also changes the way that we live our lives 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.680 or that we should live our lives. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:42.060 So all I want to do this morning is look at these three pictures and say what each one 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:46.599 of them says about our God and how that changes the way that we should walk out these tours 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:48.400 on Sunday morning. 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:52.199 So the first picture is in verses one and two. 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:55.080 And what this picture tells us is that our God is great. 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:58.199 Or as I told the kids a few minutes ago, our God is big. 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:00.800 He's really big. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:01.800 He's great. 00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:02.800 And you see this in the first two verses. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:09.319 He says, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:12.400 And so in this image, David is taking this 10,000 foot view. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.239 He's imagining you taking all the way to the top of the earth where you can see the curvature. 00:03:16.239 --> 00:03:23.000 And he's saying everything that you can see with your eyes on this world belongs to God. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:25.560 It's his. 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:29.039 And not just the land, but the creatures that are in it and the people that are in it. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:33.039 There's a real sense in which everything here is God's. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:37.120 And the reason that David says that he can make this claim is in verse two. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:41.759 He says it's his because he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:43.159 rivers. 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:45.319 And it's his because he made it. 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:46.719 That's a fair claim. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:48.280 If you make something, it belongs to you. 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:51.080 And that's why God can say this whole world is his. 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:56.719 And if you've been a Christian for any length of time, what I'm saying is it's not new information 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:58.759 that this world belongs to God and that it's his. 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:02.560 And we tell our kids he holds the whole world in his hands. 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:06.800 But you know, it's one thing to say, I know that this world belongs to God. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:10.560 There's another to know that and to believe it in such a way that actually changes the 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.160 way that you live your life. 00:04:13.160 --> 00:04:18.319 And that's the harder part, but it's the more joyful part. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:23.680 One way one way that it changes the way that we understand our world is that it this is 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.480 a truth that we can tell our fears. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.759 And Jesus does this in Matthew chapter six. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:34.720 There was a time in Jesus's ministry when he can see that his disciples are anxious 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:39.640 about really simple but fundamental things like where is our next meal going to come 00:04:39.640 --> 00:04:44.120 from and where are we going to get our clothes and they're traveling around with Jesus. 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.880 So these are, you know, it's not like they know where the next meal is going to come 00:04:46.880 --> 00:04:49.080 from actually. 00:04:49.080 --> 00:04:55.880 And what Jesus tells them is he says, go look at the flowers. 00:04:55.880 --> 00:04:57.920 If you're feeling anxious, go look at the flowers. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:04:59.480 This is Matthew chapter six. 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:04.080 He says, look how God has clothed the flowers in splendor. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:05.079 He takes care of them. 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:08.120 And he says, and it's a logical argument. 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:14.399 He looks at his disciples and he says, if that's how God closed the grass in this beautiful, 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.599 like these beautiful flowers that are the prettiest things we've ever seen it, that's 00:05:17.599 --> 00:05:21.919 how God takes care of the grass, which is here today and gone tomorrow. 00:05:21.919 --> 00:05:24.680 Don't you think that God will take care of you? 00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:29.279 And then he says, that's what, and he ends up by saying, oh, you have little faith. 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:34.839 And what Jesus is telling his disciples is when you're convinced that this world actually 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:40.000 belongs to God, that is something that you can tell your fears and anxieties about the 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.799 future because there is so much we don't know about tomorrow. 00:05:42.799 --> 00:05:45.759 And we probably know less than we think we do. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:50.079 But at least we know that this world is his and he takes care of it. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:53.959 And it's like, you know, maybe if you remember when you were a child and you were afraid 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:58.599 of the dark, you may have been afraid and you may have stayed afraid. 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:02.480 But the one thing that gave you comfort was knowing that mom and dad or grandma and granddad 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:03.879 were in the next room. 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:10.680 That's what Jesus is saying, like, know that God, he's not on some galaxy three light 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:11.680 years away from us. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:13.439 Well, he is actually. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:16.320 But he's also right here with us and he takes care of this place. 00:06:16.320 --> 00:06:17.920 That's something we can tell our fears. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.879 But also this fact that the world is God's also gives us a deep sense of responsibility, 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:23.760 doesn't it? 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:28.680 Because the world doesn't belong to us and nothing in this world in the truest sense 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:30.319 belongs to us. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:33.759 You know, one of the first words that a child learns is mine, right? 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:38.279 I mean, I have seen a two year old viciously rip a toy out of another two year old's hands. 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:41.000 I see it quite a bit, actually. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.240 We learn mine and even when you grow up, you don't care about toys anymore, but you keep 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:46.240 that word mine. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:47.680 And it's my money. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.039 It's my house. 00:06:49.039 --> 00:06:51.959 It's these are my gifts. 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:57.079 And you know, we can use the word mine, but we have to realize that in the most fundamental 00:06:57.079 --> 00:07:02.439 sense, everything that we have is God's and it's a gift that God gave us and Psalm 24 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:06.479 pushes back and he says, is there anything in this world that you can actually say is 00:07:06.479 --> 00:07:07.479 truly mine? 00:07:07.479 --> 00:07:10.319 And the answer is no, it's all God's. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:14.599 And now I'm not suggesting the next time somebody walks into your house and they compliment 00:07:14.599 --> 00:07:18.319 you on how well decorated it is, you don't say, well, thank you, but you know, this is 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.279 actually God's house, right? 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:22.919 That would be like a weird form of legalism. 00:07:22.919 --> 00:07:27.559 But the point is, when as Christians, we say something is mine. 00:07:27.559 --> 00:07:29.959 We mean something different than the rest of the world means. 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:36.119 What we mean is when we say it's mine, we mean God for a season has given me stewardship 00:07:36.119 --> 00:07:38.599 over this part of his creation. 00:07:38.599 --> 00:07:42.639 And while it's mine, he has asked me to take care of it. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.719 And it's not just our money. 00:07:45.719 --> 00:07:47.359 It's not just our house. 00:07:47.359 --> 00:07:48.359 It's also our gifts. 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:53.480 I mean, some of us are good singers, some of us are intellectual, some of us are wise, 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:57.160 some of us are strong. 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:01.600 Some of us may look at ourselves and not see much that's praiseworthy, but God has nonetheless 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:03.680 given us gifts. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:08.199 And all of those gifts are things that we're called not to say this is mine and how can 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:09.280 I benefit from it? 00:08:09.280 --> 00:08:14.280 Our first question is, how can I use this to serve the Lord and to serve my neighbor? 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:19.359 And no one described this better than Jesus whenever he tells the parable of the talents. 00:08:19.359 --> 00:08:23.719 There's a story where Jesus says there was a man who goes on a journey. 00:08:23.719 --> 00:08:27.839 And before he goes on a journey, he gives three of his servants different amounts of 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:29.759 money. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:33.279 And he tells the servants to take care of the money while he's gone. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:39.559 And when he comes back, two of the servants, by coincidence, the two of the servants that 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:44.399 he'd given the most money to come back to him and they have invested his money and done 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.119 it to do more things. 00:08:47.119 --> 00:08:51.559 And then one of the servants was, he just buried his money and he didn't do anything 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:52.919 with it. 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:59.759 And Jesus uses that parable to tell us that God has given all of us all kinds of gifts. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:01.919 And we're called to steward that well. 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:08.919 And just as a side note, what I also love about that parable is we're not all called 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:11.399 to be the greatest world changers. 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:14.919 There are some of us were actually just given fewer talents. 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:16.799 But God says, use what you have. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:19.319 Use what I've given you and do wonderful things with it. 00:09:19.319 --> 00:09:22.079 Okay, so anyway, that's verses one and two. 00:09:22.079 --> 00:09:26.159 God, this world is His and that changes the way that we live in our world. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:27.279 He is great. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.919 The second thing this chapter tells us is that God is good. 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:34.919 And you see this in verses three and six, three to six. 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.599 So you come to verses three to six and it's a different image, right? 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:42.800 And what you're imagining is this is someone who is about to go worship at the temple in 00:09:42.800 --> 00:09:47.720 Jerusalem and they're asking themselves heart questions before they do that. 00:09:47.720 --> 00:09:52.200 And the questions are this, who can ascend to the hill of the Lord, which is where the 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:57.399 temple was, and who shall stand in his holy place? 00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:00.680 And those are very specific questions, which in one sense are not relevant to us because 00:10:00.680 --> 00:10:04.440 we don't go worship God at his temple in Jerusalem. 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:10.320 But they're pointing, obviously they're pointing to much more heart questions like who in the 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:13.880 most general sense, who has the right to stand before God? 00:10:13.880 --> 00:10:17.480 And what do I need to do so that I can worship Him? 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:19.520 What can I do to draw near to Him? 00:10:19.520 --> 00:10:21.480 And that's where the connection is made with us. 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:26.120 And it's an important question, but what I want you to notice is how these verses, as 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:30.280 much as they talk about who we should be, they're also telling us something about who 00:10:30.280 --> 00:10:33.200 God is. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:36.759 Think about all the answers that God could have given to that question, who can ascend 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:37.759 this mountain? 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:43.120 I mean, he could have said, if you want to ascend this mountain, you need to be wealthy 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:45.879 so that you can bring costly sacrifices. 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:50.080 Or if you want to ascend this mountain, you need to be a great man, you need to be powerful, 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:51.240 you need to be a president. 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:54.840 Or if you want to ascend this mountain, you need to be successful in your job, you need 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.600 to prove that you're one of the top people in your career, so you're worried that you 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:02.440 come up here or that you make good marks. 00:11:02.440 --> 00:11:05.520 And there are places in this world, aren't there? 00:11:05.520 --> 00:11:09.760 There's quite a few places where that is the standard to get into the room. 00:11:09.760 --> 00:11:11.760 And if you don't have it, you'll never get into the room. 00:11:11.760 --> 00:11:15.520 And a lot of us will never get into the rooms like that. 00:11:15.520 --> 00:11:19.520 But that's not God's standard for entering into His holy place. 00:11:19.520 --> 00:11:20.520 What does He say? 00:11:20.520 --> 00:11:24.560 Not the powerful, not the wealthy, not the wise, but who? 00:11:24.560 --> 00:11:29.320 He who has clean hands and a pure heart. 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:34.800 And when we read something like this, we automatically want to say, where do I fit into this? 00:11:34.800 --> 00:11:39.480 But let's just step back for a minute and say, isn't that beautiful that the God of 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:43.680 this universe, what He cares about is not how much money you have or how powerful you 00:11:43.680 --> 00:11:46.160 are or how successful you are. 00:11:46.160 --> 00:11:50.480 What He cares about is your heart. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:55.280 And not just are your hands clean, but is your heart clean. 00:11:55.280 --> 00:11:58.040 And then He goes on to talk about what He wants from His worshipers. 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:02.559 He says a true worshiper is someone who does not lift up his soul to what is false. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:07.159 So a true worshiper doesn't worship other gods or other things that we act like are 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:09.799 gods like money or sex. 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:13.399 And then finally He says a true worshiper is someone who doesn't swear deceitfully. 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:18.759 So God says what I'm looking for in my people is someone who is just as truthful in their 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:23.480 workplace as they are in the sanctuary. 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:28.240 And again, all of that points to the fact that this God that we want to worship is a good 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:29.240 God. 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:31.240 He is good and He's holy. 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:36.120 And you may read this list of what it takes to enter into the holy temple. 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:41.879 You may say, God may be good, but this is not good news for me because my heart is not 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:47.159 pure and I get carried away sometimes loving other things in this world more than I love 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:48.159 God. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.879 And that's the case for all of us, right? 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:55.759 We believe as Christians that all of us are sinners and there are fundamental sinful flaws 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:59.279 in each one of us that make us impure. 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:04.840 But not once in this Psalm, you may have thought it did, but not once in this Psalm do you 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:12.519 find God saying that He is not merciful. 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:17.480 Think about the fact that the person who wrote this Psalm about how holy God wants us to 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:26.519 be is also the person who in Psalm 51 cries out to God and says, God, have mercy on me. 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:31.279 David was so convinced about how sinful he was that he says, I don't just need to be, 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:34.560 you know, I don't just need to be washed a little bit. 00:13:34.560 --> 00:13:38.480 I need a new heart. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:47.000 And the temple was the very place in Jerusalem where you would go if you needed your sins 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:48.440 atoned for. 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:53.879 And so it may feel like there's a tension between how perfect God is calling us to be 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:55.720 and his mercy. 00:13:55.720 --> 00:14:02.559 But the way that this connects is that God's mercy is the fact that he, well, he died for 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.720 us and he covered our sins, but he doesn't want to leave us there. 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:11.799 He wants to renew our hearts so that what we find in Psalm 24 can be true of us so that 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:18.799 day by day God is cleansing us so that we do have more pure hearts every day. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:21.120 As Christians, we believe in God's goodness. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:25.759 We believe that God's mercy is part of his goodness. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:28.399 But that mercy doesn't mean that these verses no longer matter. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.719 Part of God's mercy is that he doesn't leave us. 00:14:30.719 --> 00:14:33.000 He changes our hearts. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:38.079 So that's why we can sing this Psalm still. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:42.920 I remember one time, this was just a radical shift in my mind. 00:14:42.920 --> 00:14:46.720 I remember being in a Bible study one time and there was a much older woman. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:51.360 I won't tell you how old she is because I don't, well, I don't want to say an age and 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.360 then tell you that you're old. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:59.920 Anyway, an older woman than myself and she was saying that for her whole life as a, she 00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:01.680 became a Christian in her early 20s. 00:15:01.680 --> 00:15:07.080 And for her whole life, she struggled with gossip and she just day after day, year after 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:08.080 year, year after year, year after year, year after year, year after year, year after year. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:09.400 She prayed that God would help her. 00:15:09.400 --> 00:15:13.560 And it wasn't until she was into her 60s that she felt like she could finally look back 00:15:13.560 --> 00:15:17.400 and say, this sin has been conquered in me. 00:15:17.400 --> 00:15:20.960 And that was revolutionary for me because when I became a Christian, I thought I was going 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:24.520 to be completely purified right then and there. 00:15:24.520 --> 00:15:27.400 And God did justify me right then and there. 00:15:27.400 --> 00:15:32.400 But then the whole rest of our lives is crying out to God saying, God, would you give me 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:38.600 a clean heart because I know that a clean heart is good and I want that and I want to 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:40.879 be near you. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:44.959 So let me make this just a little bit more specific before I go on to my next point. 00:15:44.959 --> 00:15:48.959 If you have found yourself struggling with a particular sin this past week, whether that 00:15:48.959 --> 00:15:56.840 be greed or gossip or lust or anger, there's always a temptation to come to a chapter like 00:15:56.840 --> 00:16:02.120 this and say, I can't be near God because I'm just too unholy. 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:06.399 I can't even cry out to him. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:12.519 But remember that the same David who understood how holy God was also knew that he could cry 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:17.679 out to him and ask him, make Psalm 24 true of me. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:21.639 Make me into a worshiper who can come into your presence. 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:27.279 There was an old preacher named St. Augustine a long, long time ago and he described this 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.279 perfectly. 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:31.440 He said, this was a prayer he gave to God. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:36.720 He said, God, command what you will and give what you command. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:44.640 In other words, God, command me to be holy, but also help me to be holy. 00:16:44.640 --> 00:16:46.440 Don't leave me alone in this process. 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:50.960 And that's what we have in God as a God who calls us to be holy, but who we can cry out 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:54.160 to in mercy and who will help us. 00:16:54.160 --> 00:16:56.960 Okay, so now we're coming to our last section. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:02.360 So God is great, he's good, and then finally he's close. 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:06.600 And we see this in the last four verses. 00:17:06.600 --> 00:17:12.559 The last section of this Psalm imagines like a particular literal day in the history of 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:13.559 God's people. 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:15.799 At least this is what most commentators think. 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:19.680 And this was the day whenever the Ark of the Covenant for the first time was brought into 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:21.000 Jerusalem. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.720 You may remember the story whenever it was brought in and David is dancing around the 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:28.640 Ark, he's so excited and he gets in trouble with his wife about it, but that's a different 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:29.640 story. 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:35.039 Anyway, so the Ark comes into Jerusalem and a lot of people think that this Psalm was 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:43.640 sung every year after that to reenact that joyful moment when God's Ark comes into Jerusalem. 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:49.880 And the reason the Ark was so significant was because, well, the Ark was this chest 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:57.000 that was made just after the Exodus and it was into it, they put the physical 10 commandments 00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:58.960 that God gave Moses. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:05.920 But the reason it meant so much to God's people was because this is where God's presence 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:08.620 dwelt among his people. 00:18:08.620 --> 00:18:14.360 So after the Exodus, when God's people were traveling around the wilderness, they would 00:18:14.360 --> 00:18:17.680 set up a giant tent around the Ark. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:24.039 And Moses would go into that tent and it was at the Ark that Moses would talk to God. 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:30.440 So this may seem a bit foreign to you, but after David died, so that was long before 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:34.200 David, after David dies, his son Solomon builds the temple. 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:37.880 And in the center of the temple, he puts that very same Ark. 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:41.440 And the room that that Ark is in is a room called the Holy of Holies. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.519 And every year, the chief priests would go in and that's where he would make a tomet 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:47.480 for the sins of the people. 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:53.440 And what the Ark meant in the mind of the people, if you were living in 800 BC in Jerusalem 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:57.880 and you were just an average citizen, you would look up at the temple mountain and the 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:03.360 comfort you would take from looking at that temple is knowing in there is the presence 00:19:03.360 --> 00:19:04.680 of God. 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:07.000 And that means that God is close to us. 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:10.039 He's come to be with us and he's present with us. 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:13.799 And I mean, presence is a big deal in the human experience, right? 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:17.839 I mean, if you've ever known someone who's suffering, gone through a trial, maybe they've 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:22.599 lost a loved one or they've lost a job, you know that sometimes what people want more 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:26.639 than anything else is not someone who can explain their suffering or someone who can 00:19:26.639 --> 00:19:28.319 tell them it'll all be better. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:31.159 But what we want is someone who just will be present with us. 00:19:31.159 --> 00:19:35.359 And that's why you'll hear sometimes people say, the best ministry you can give to someone 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.359 who's suffering is a ministry of presence. 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:40.680 Just be with them. 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:42.599 And certainly that's true of the Ark. 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:46.759 I mean, God looks down at the Exodus. 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:49.839 He looks down at his people who are suffering in slavery. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:54.719 And he tells Moses, I've come down because I've heard the cries of my people. 00:19:54.719 --> 00:19:59.639 So we see that God is a compassionate God who comes down in his compassion to be present 00:19:59.639 --> 00:20:01.599 with his people. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:07.159 But the Ark's ministry of presence was more than just, you know, God saying, I've come 00:20:07.159 --> 00:20:08.439 in solidarity with you. 00:20:08.439 --> 00:20:11.079 I've come just to be with you and you're suffering. 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:13.879 The presence of the Ark wasn't just presence. 00:20:13.879 --> 00:20:15.439 It was powerful presence. 00:20:15.439 --> 00:20:16.879 It was a presence that could do something. 00:20:16.879 --> 00:20:19.439 And so, you know, what does God do in the Exodus? 00:20:19.439 --> 00:20:22.159 He rescues his people and he takes them out. 00:20:22.159 --> 00:20:26.199 And through the Ark, he leads them in the wilderness to a promised land and he makes 00:20:26.199 --> 00:20:29.720 them into a new nation. 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:34.799 So and you see that captured in this passage that when the people saw the Ark, they didn't 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.559 just see, here is God with us. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:39.480 They say, here is the powerful God who's with us. 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:44.400 And I want to just read the scene carefully because it's such an interesting scene. 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:48.799 So what we have here is the Ark has come to the gates, either the city of Jerusalem 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:52.360 or somewhere deeper in Jerusalem. 00:20:52.360 --> 00:20:56.880 And the priests are carrying the Ark and look at what they shout out. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:02.799 They say, lift up your heads, O gates, that the King of glory may come in. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:07.559 And you know, they're saying, here is the presence of God with us. 00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:12.319 Open the door so that we can come in and look at the response of the gatekeepers. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:16.599 The gatekeepers say, who is this King of glory? 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:21.279 And the priests respond in verse eight, the Lord, Yahweh, strong and mighty, the Lord, 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:22.919 mighty in battle. 00:21:22.919 --> 00:21:27.319 Now and that keeps going for a few verses and on the face of it, it seems totally absurd 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:32.240 because here you have the priests bringing the literal presence of God into Jerusalem 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.599 and the gatekeepers won't let them in. 00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:38.399 And it's like the gatekeepers have been given a very specific list of who can come in and 00:21:38.399 --> 00:21:43.000 King of glory isn't on the list, so they're not going to open the gates. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:44.919 But that's not what's happening. 00:21:44.919 --> 00:21:45.919 This is a song. 00:21:45.919 --> 00:21:48.319 It's a song of praise. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:54.480 And like the poetic effect of the gatekeepers asking for more information about this King 00:21:54.480 --> 00:22:00.759 of hosts is that it gives the priests more of a chance to praise how great this God is. 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:04.319 So it's like they're with joy, they're shouting, who is this King of glory? 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:08.119 So the priests can say even more about how great he is. 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:15.759 And the gist of what the priests say is this King of glory is a warrior. 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:17.079 He's mighty in battle. 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:19.319 He's a champion of battles. 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:23.799 And that meant, again, not just that God was present with his people, but that presence 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:26.039 made a real difference in their lives. 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:29.119 Because if you could look up at that temple and see that that was where the presence of 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:33.359 God dwelt, you knew God is with us and he is powerful. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:37.479 This is the big God who made the whole world and he's with us. 00:22:37.479 --> 00:22:44.039 And now if I could summarize about 400 years of history in one sentence, I would say sometime 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:49.240 after this, the Israelites rejected God and they walked away from him. 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:57.439 And because of that, God removed his presence from among the people and the ark was lost. 00:22:57.439 --> 00:23:01.399 And so there's this tragedy that marks the end of the Old Testament where God's presence 00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:04.800 is not with us in a very real sense. 00:23:04.800 --> 00:23:09.920 And then you get to John, the book of John chapter one in the New Testament. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.440 And John describes Jesus like this. 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:18.120 He says, the word, which was God, became flesh. 00:23:18.120 --> 00:23:20.360 In Jesus, the word became flesh. 00:23:20.360 --> 00:23:29.000 God became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us and we have seen his glory. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:35.720 So in the Old Testament, the ark was the glory of God dwelling among his people. 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:40.599 And John says that when Jesus came, he's reflecting back on Jesus. 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:46.640 He said, when Jesus came, once again, God's glory dwelt among his people and we saw it 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:48.480 with our own eyes. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:52.759 That's why the Gospel of John is a great book to read if you're looking for something to 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:54.839 pick up. 00:23:54.839 --> 00:24:00.799 But in the New Testament, there's all these illusions to the fact that once again, God 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:03.000 has come to dwell among his people. 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:08.559 And if that's true, if there's this connection between the ark dwelling, which is God dwelling 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:13.159 among his people and Jesus, which is God dwelling among his people in the New Testament, what 00:24:13.159 --> 00:24:15.879 does Psalm 24 tell us about Jesus? 00:24:15.879 --> 00:24:16.879 That's my question. 00:24:16.879 --> 00:24:19.619 I'm getting to a close here. 00:24:19.619 --> 00:24:25.079 It tells us that Jesus is a warrior, that everything that's true of Psalm 24, all of 00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:29.799 these descriptions are true of Jesus, that he's the King of glory. 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:35.599 He's the Lord, strong and mighty in battle, which may seem kind of counterintuitive when 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:39.399 you read the story of Jesus and his life ends in tragedy. 00:24:39.399 --> 00:24:45.439 He goes to a cross. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:51.080 But as Christians, we believe that's not the end of the story and that even though Jesus 00:24:51.080 --> 00:24:57.200 looked like the unwilling sufferer who pays the penalty for our sins, he went to the cross 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:59.840 to be victorious over sins. 00:24:59.840 --> 00:25:01.920 And he is strong and mighty in battle. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:04.480 And it's not just that he was strong and mighty in battle at the cross. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:09.360 And this is where I want to land. 00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:15.200 Jesus as a warrior who is present with us tells us that when we walk out these doors this 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:22.840 morning, Jesus, strong and mighty and in battle and a warrior is present with us in our hearts 00:25:22.840 --> 00:25:26.120 through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:25:26.120 --> 00:25:31.880 Paul says in Ephesians, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:36.720 against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.799 in high places. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:41.720 And that's a lot of evil. 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:49.640 But the hope that we have is the hope that God is close to us in Jesus Christ. 00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:55.079 Not just so that we can battle the world outside of ourselves, but back to that idea of God's 00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:59.000 holiness and us wanting to draw near to Him even though we're sinners. 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:04.039 We need God to conquer our own hearts and to subdue the sin that's within us. 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:09.480 And whenever Charles Spurgeon, the old Baptist preacher was talking about this passage and 00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:17.279 about how Jesus is the warrior that's foreshadowed here, he says, believers worship the Lord Jesus 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:22.680 because of his conquest in them, inside of them. 00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:26.720 Since the arrows of their natural hatred are snapped and the weapons of their rebellion 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:33.400 are broken, what victories grace has won in our evil hearts. 00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:38.240 So the hope we have this morning is not just that he's great, he is great. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:42.400 And it's not just that he's good, but it's also that his greatness and his goodness have 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.039 come to dwell in us. 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:47.599 And they change our hearts so that when we walk out these doors on Sunday morning, we're 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:51.120 different people because of what Jesus has done. 00:26:51.120 --> 00:26:52.599 Let's pray. 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:58.200 Heavenly Father, we praise You for Your Word and we praise You that we can read something 00:26:58.200 --> 00:27:00.720 written 3,000 years ago. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:03.599 And it can still speak to us because You're the God who never changes. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:08.039 And we thank You for Jesus and we pray that You would remind us and take hope in the fact 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:10.000 that He dwells in our hearts. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:11.200 In Your Son's name we pray. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:39.279 Amen.