Well, as you heard the psalm read, and I deliberately read it quite slowly, I wonder what ideas came into your minds.
! If you know Handel's Messiah, you will have recognised verses 7-10.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, for the King of Glory may come in.
You may even have found yourself singing along in your minds, something I usually do if texts from the Messiah turn up.
And because it's from Handel's Messiah, you will know that many Christians have connected these last verses with Jesus.
They have something to do with Jesus, although exactly what may not be immediately clear to you.
What is said about him? It is said that he is the King of Glory.
He is the Lord of Hosts. He is a good fighter, he wins battles.
And the gates and the doors are addressed again, get up, lift yourselves up, and be lifted up, and open to allow him to enter.
He comes in, he enters the city as the head of a mighty conquering army, the Lord of Hosts.
So this is clearly a psalm which is celebrating the victory of God, and God's King, and the accomplishment of God's purposes.
And this victory provokes wild celebration at the gates of the city as the people cheer him on.
Thinking about entering a city, particularly this city, the city of Jerusalem, and being cheered on, may have reminded you about the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Accepting the praises of the people, and telling off those who wanted his praises to be silenced.
And so we have thoughts of battle, conflict, victory, triumph, and connecting with Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, his death and resurrection.
The hymn says, ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp, ride on to die.
But to begin at the beginning, with verse 1, this verse tells us that the earth belongs to God.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
The world and all those who live on it.
Every single person or creature.
Every single type of person or creature.
Including those persons or creatures that are purely spiritual.
Including the angels.
All belong to him.
Well what on earth does that mean?
And how can the psalmist say it?
If you watched the news last night, I try to avoid watching the news, but if you did watch the news last night,
did the world that was portrayed look and sound like a world owned by God?
Did the people on the news behave as though they belonged to God?
As if they owed God anything?
So is the psalmist completely nuts when he says this?
When he says that the earth belongs to God?
Well what sort of world did he live in?
See I think that people sometimes think about these ancient poets,
I mean this writing is around about, probably about 3,000 years old,
as rather naive.
And if not stupid, nobody who wrote this could be stupid, it's too beautiful.
But if not stupid, at least ill informed.
After all we know so much better now.
We know for example that the way in verse 2 that God made the world is the way that is described here.
It says he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
But we know better don't we?
Our scientists have told us that that's not right.
So the psalm must be wrong.
Right?
And he didn't have the mass communications we had.
And he didn't know about places like Iraq and Gaza.
He didn't see film from those places every night on his TV screens.
Of course it's not his fault.
But when we get the news, it accentuates to us how badly things have gone wrong with this world.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
And what on earth is God doing about it, if that's true?
If you think a bit further, you will remember that the psalmist did have a life expectancy rather less than ours.
He did leave much closer to creation than we do.
He had much less protection against sickness.
He had no painkillers.
Or very rudimentary ones.
Infant mortality would have been high.
And when the harvest failed, there really was nothing to eat.
It didn't just mean food prices going up.
There was nothing that would come between him and drought.
Or pestilence.
Or disease.
There was no NHS.
There was no drugs.
And if anything, he had more reason to understand than we did.
How often the world doesn't work the way it should.
But he is not persuaded by that fact to deny God, his creator, the worship and adoration, which is his due.
And neither is he persuaded to deny the fact that the world in which he lived was created by God.
In fact, historically, it's only in relatively recent years that the idea of suffering a natural disaster has been taken as a reason to suggest that actually the God of the Bible can't be who the Bible says he is.
It's only in the last 200 to 300 years that that idea has really taken off.
In the days and weeks following the earthquake in Haiti a few years ago, there were newspaper reports.
I don't know if you remember them.
The Times seemed to want to do this.
Almost every day for about a week, there were reports of miraculous or seemingly miraculous deliverances of people.
There were reports that the churches, those which hadn't been destroyed, were full.
The temporary camps that people had made for themselves were places of song and praise to God, as well as places where people were mourning their losses.
And beginning to think about how to put their lives back together again.
They turned to the God who made them, and having worshipped him, they asked for his help.
They wept for their losses and found comfort and strength to pick up the pieces of their lives and begin again.
And this would not be possible unless the earth is the Lord's.
This is simply not possible in a world without God.
This psalmist is looking back to ancient history.
He's looking back to the creation of the world.
He looks back, remembering Genesis chapter 1.
God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.
God called the dry land earth.
And the waters that were gathered together he called the seas.
And God saw that it was good.
And you remember at the end of the account of creation, God looked at all that he had made, and saw that it was very good.
And the point here isn't really how God made the world, or when he made the world, or how long it took him.
The point is that God did make it.
The point is that when God made it, it was perfect.
It was ideal.
It worked.
And God pronounced it very good.
Enter the first man and the first woman.
Enter the serpent, Satan the deceiver.
And soon after, the first disobedience.
And soon after, sin, death, suffering, alienation, guilt, shame, the flu virus, as one example, and conflict.
But this psalm is a rejoicing, a celebration about a God who has not let go of his world.
Who has not allowed his enemies, the enemies and our enemies, to have the last world.
Because this psalm remembers two mighty acts of God.
The first one we've touched on is creation.
The second one is redemption.
This God is called Yahweh.
That's why the word Lord is in capital letters.
And when you read in the Psalms, that word Yahweh, what you are reading is a memory of hundreds of years of God being involved with his people.
Beginning when God called Abraham out of Ur, in northern Iraq.
When he promised that he would make him of his descendants into a great nation.
When he promised that from the seed, the descendants of Abraham, there would be blessing on the whole world.
400 years later, 500 or so years later, when he called out of slavery in Egypt, the people of Israel.
When he delivered them miraculously from the hand of Pharaoh.
Fighting a battle that they could not possibly fight and win.
All of this memory, all of this history is concentrated here.
It's taken as read by the writer of this psalm and by the original readers.
They have this wonderful salvation, this wonderful history of God being with them to look back on.
And so this psalm celebrates both.
God isn't simply a creator.
But he is concerned for his people.
He is active on their behalf.
And he will be active on their behalf again.
The third section of the psalm.
I'm going back to the second section after I've dealt with the third.
It reminds us of the historical setting in which the psalm was written.
It's written celebrating the return of the ark of God.
And the bringing of it up to Jerusalem.
And putting it very briefly, the ark of God is simply the centre of the worship of God.
It's a wooden box.
Inside the wooden box are the stone tablets of which God had written the law.
The rod, I think, or may get this bit wrong.
The rod of Aaron which budded.
Above the box are two carved figures of angels, cherubim.
And above them is the mercy seat.
It's just a space.
And it's the space where God made his presence known.
It's where the high priest could enter once a year having made atonement for the sin of the people.
It's the central symbol that they had.
That God is present with his people.
And what had happened was that, very foolishly,
they had taken the ark onto the battlefield.
Because they thought, we're bound to win.
God's with us, we're bound to win.
Superstition rather than faith.
God had not promised them this.
And they had no business moving the ark from where it was.
And what happened was they got heavily defeated by the Philistines.
The ark was captured and taken off to Ashdod.
And from there, there is a most extraordinary series of events,
which I haven't time to go through,
whereby the ark, in effect, doesn't allow itself to remain in captivity.
And the Philistines end up returning it.
But it was stuck in a barn.
King David defeated the Philistines completely.
And united Israel under his rule.
And the first thing he did after he had done that
was arrange for the ark to be brought to Jerusalem.
A statement that his victories had been given to him by God.
And that the true king was God.
And this is the setting for this psalm.
As they bring the ark to the gates of the city.
Massive gates.
Lift up your heads, O gates,
and be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the king of glory may come in
to take his rightful place
at the centre of the kingdom.
To take his rightful place
where all they come
to worship him.
Which poses a question,
the question that verse 3
asks us.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
What about holiness?
What sort of people
who come into his presence
and worship him?
Can anyone
stand before God?
What about you?
If you want to reach this God,
how would you do it?
Do you have clean hands?
Do you have a pure heart?
You might have washed your hands.
But clean hands are about your deeds.
They're about what you've done.
Have you always acted rightly?
Have you always acted fairly?
Is there no one
that you have not wronged?
Do you have a pure heart?
Your thoughts?
You do?
You're sure?
The Bible tells us that
the human heart
is rotten to the core.
The psalmist did not think
that he could screw himself up
to the last pitch of goodness
that he was capable of
and present himself
before this God
and be accepted
and nor should you.
In fact,
if you have any idea
that this is a way
in which to come
into his presence,
it means that you've never
really understood
what he is like.
And because the earth is his
and because you are his,
you are accountable
to him.
And you need to come
in the way that he says
you can come.
In fact,
you need to be grateful
that he has provided
a way
for you to come
at all.
The Bible's ultimate answer
as to how we can
come before God,
how we can stand
in his presence,
is very simple.
It's very clear.
You come by faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you come to him
in repentance and faith,
you receive the promises.
That are made
in verse 5.
You will receive
blessing from God.
You will receive
righteousness
from the God
of your salvation.
You will receive
as you
repent of your sin
and trust in the Lord Jesus.
You will receive
the gift of his
Holy Spirit.
You will receive
new life.
Described in the Old Testament
as a heart of flesh
to replace
a heart of stone.
A heart of flesh
on which
God by his Spirit
will write his law.
And we will give you
the ability
by faith
to substantially
keep the law.
As we stand
knowing that Jesus
has died
in our place
and taken the penalty
that is due
for our sin,
we can truly
stand and say
because of Jesus
we are counted
righteous
but only
because of Jesus.
There is also
a hint
of the final day
of history here.
Writing of Jesus
Paul says this
God has highly
exalted him
and bestowed on him
the name that is
above every name
so that the name
of Jesus
every knee should bow
in heaven
and on earth
and under the earth
and every tongue
confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord
to the glory
of God
the Father.
You see this
coming
of this box
there is no magic
in the box.
It's only as
God led
his presence
that there was
anything special
about this box.
If you've seen
Harrison Ford
Raiders of the Lost Ark
try and forget it.
It's not helpful.
It's a symbol
it's a sign
that God
is with his people.
It points
to the reality.
The reality
was in
Jesus Christ
who
John says
in chapter 1
of his gospel
tabernacled with us
he presenced
himself with us
he was God
made man
he was God
presence
in the midst
of us.
And he having
died
and having
risen
and having
ascended
he is still
present with us
by his spirit.
That's the reality
to which this
psalm points.
That's what's
worth celebrating.
If these people
were excited
and a box
coming to the
gates of their
city
how much
more excited
should we
be
about the
reality
of Jesus
Christ
the Son
of God
making himself
present
in our lives
as we trust
in him
and as he
forgives our
sin.
How exciting
is that?
How worth
celebrating
is that?
Appearing
before God
is not
optional
for those
who want
it.
It is
inevitable
for all
people.
The day
will come.
You better
be ready.
Isaiah
at a low
point in
Israel's
history
longed for
the reality
of God's
presence.
The ending
of human
suffering and
misery.
He longed
for the day
when those
who ignore
and disobey
God would
be put to
shame.
Prophet Isaiah
He prayed
this,
Oh that you
would rent
the heavens
and come
down,
that the
mountains
might quake,
at your
presence.
From Isaiah
64.
As we look
out at the
world as
Christians we
echo that
prayer.
Things are
still all
over the
place.
Things are
still not
right.
I was
reminded,
a friend of
mine was
sitting on
the jury
of that
poor woman
that was
murdered.
Eleven
weeks of
her life
taking up
in deciding
whether the
three people
in the
dock were
innocent or
guilty.
we echo
this prayer
but we
take comfort
and we
rejoice in
the realisation
that God
already has
come.
And that
by his
coming the
world has
hope and
you have
hope.
And if you
are conscious,
if you are
here today and
you are
conscious that
you are
seeking him
or he is
seeking you
but he is
not, you
have that
sense that
he's not
quite there,
if you are
putting up
doors and
gates and
other barriers
to his
coming into
your life,
take them
down.
Open up
those gates
so that the
king of
glory may
come in.
let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.