Alston Road Church of Christ Podcast

Series: Psalms (Worshipping God)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Turbulent storms come upon all of our lives. These are really challenging because you can never predict when they will come. It might be a tough day, month, year, or decade. It can hit whenever.

When we are experiencing peace, this realization can cause us to live in fear. And as we all know Star Wars: fear can lead to some bad stuff. This fear of tragedy, of losing peace, of losing people, our health or lives, it leads to misplaced desires. We hold onto this world and its desires and we quietly lose our direction and priorities... because of fear. Fear is quite dangerous! Psalm 27 is a song that reminds us of how to deal with these dangerous fears. It reminds us of what our real concern and desire needs to be. Let's notice verses 1-3 together.

The Lord Is My Light and Salvation (vs. 1-3)

David says the LORD is his light, his salvation, and his stronghold. When everything is dark, he lets me see. When there is no way out, he saves me and makes me feel safe. So, you know what I have realized? Everyone is always spending this time wringing their hands, but with God as my light and salvation, who should I really be afraid of? When evil people come at me like hungry animals ready to devour me, I know - whether it's sooner or later - they will be the ones to fall. Even if there is an entire army encamped against me, I can be confident.

This recent situation where Ruth came early and was in NICU for 18 days helped me come to the same realization. Those first two weeks were really wild - and yet, in the midst of it, because God is our light and because his people are so kind to us, we felt like we were able to find firm footing... No matter what comes our way God can enable us - to get through it one step at a time. If we seek him, he will shine light on our path. If we run to him, we will find him to be a refuge. The words in this book are so comforting.

Note that God is not the genie who snaps his fingers so that David never encounters enemies. Rather, the LORD is a light, salvation, and stronghold while enemies assail him. We get in trouble when we start seeing God in the wrong way.

So, allow David to encourage us: when God is caring for us, let's not "wait for the other shoe to drop." It will drop, but if we are on the side of the LORD that is nothing to fear. If we let ourselves be afraid, we all know how that leads us to start thinking about our possessions, our health, our energy, our time. We start obsessively protecting our peace and quiet by hoarding everything we have. Or we overindulge to quiet our anxiety. Let's not go down that path. The Lord is our light and our salvation, what do we really have to be afraid of? Humbly recognize that evil days will come, enjoy the peace when God gives it, and seek his refuge when he takes it away.

One Thing I Seek (vs. 4-6)

David is saying here, "Enemies may attack, but I won't be afraid, because here's what I am really concerned about and seeking after: I want to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life." Now, think about that. In David's day, the house of Yahweh was a tent. And David wasn't a priest, so he wasn't allowed in. Rather, David was a king who probably had a pretty awesome palace. So, where is this desire coming from?

It all starts with Eden. In the beginning, God walked in a garden called Eden or Paradise and Adam and Eve were permitted to live there in God's garden. Everything was full of holiness, life, and joy there, so they were forced to leave when they sinned against God. God put cherubim with a sword on the East at the entrance to prevent anyone from coming into the garden. And though Eden was a real, literal place on our planet, you can't find it here anymore, can you? It has been taken back into heaven.

When God gave Moses the pattern for the tabernacle, it was designed to look similar to the garden of Eden in many ways. And God said in this time that he would walk about with his people in and through this tent. Through this tent- this house of God- God was saying, "I want what we had in Eden again!" And David is here saying: I want that too!

But there was a problem. Just as cherubim guarded the way into Eden, cherubim were depicted on the veil that separated God's throne from the people. Through the veil, God was saying, "Yeah, but we can't right now."

And David is saying that this is the one thing he wants: to dwell in your house all my days. Though David had a nice palace, he knew it was far more valuable to be able to look upon the LORD's beauty and to inquire of him. Though he had many mighty men, he knew that in Yahweh's house there is perfect security. And there - without fear - David would be able to sacrifice, shout with joy, sing, as I make melody to the Lord. Just as with the Exodus, the reason the Lord set them free from Egypt is so they could come to his mountain and worship him. This is why David wanted to live in God's house, this is why he wanted to be free from fear of his enemies.

What is it that we want more than anything else? What do we desire to have? Where do we desire to be? I hope we can see that there is no better place than the Father's house, his temple. There's security, joy, and there is the LORD. When everything goes bad, where else could we turn? When everything is good, who is a greater joy? Who is more beautiful?

Before Jesus died, he assured the apostles: there are many rooms in my father's house. When Jesus died, the veil with the cherubim was torn. The way into the Father's Eden-like presence is open. When he comes again, he will take us to that new "temple." But we have a challenge: we have mansions here, can we set our eyes on a room in his house? We have many splendors here, will we desire nothing more than to look upon him? We have a lot of entertain­ment here designed to please us, will we desire nothing more than to kneel and sing before him?

The New Testament authors said that in between now and that great day, we together are the Lord's house, his temple. When we come together to give him honor and glory, see it as a rehearsal for that great day. Let's make this our one thing — our priority, our joy. If we do not love this now, we will not love it then.

And so, David is not concerned about scary things, he just wants to line in the LORD's house. And now he's going to say, "I'm not distracted, I'm seeking your face." But now notice what has driven him to this focus.

Desperate Pleading (vs. 7-12)

False witnesses have risen up against him, enemies are breathing down his neck, and he is concerned the LORD is angry with him. In Hosea 5 God said he would be like a lion tearing Judah apart until they sought him earnestly. Suffering was meant to help them desire God's face more than anything else.

Do you know when we sing and make the most meaningful melody in our hearts to the Lord? Do you know when we realize that the LORD is a light and a stronghold? When we realize that we want to live nowhere but in the Lord's tent? When we want nothing but for him to let us in? When stuff like that happens. When we are weak. Somehow, when we are at our weakest, we can be enabled to better lean on God. Somehow, when we are at our weakest, we can be our strongest. (Cf. 2 Cor 12)

But that is only if we will seek the face of the Lord when foes on earth and foes in the heavenly places come against us. There are just a lot of other comforts and splendors we can seek when our heart is full of many troubles, aren't there? There's drinks, pills, games, Netflix, delicious food, shopping therapy-all kinds of things to distract us from the pain for a couple of hours. They take away the opportunity to cry in our closets before the Lord. I think it will help me cope, but if only robs me of the opportunity to be strong in the LORD.

If we want to be strong in our weakness, seek his face. But don't stop there. Note vs. 11. So many want the salvation of God without the teaching and direction and correction of God. Let that not be us.

Concluding Hope (vs. 13-14)

Let's long to be led by him and to see him and to dwell in his house forevermore. Life is full of so many troubles, and we wonder where God is. He has said, "seek my face," And we are looking, longing. Verses 13-14 give a final comfort.

Eden and much of the goodness of the LORD is invisible to us now... But now the cherubim is gone. Through Jesus' sacrifice, we have a way in. John and Ezekiel saw visions of how - one day - God's city will come out of heaven to reside with us again. In that day Ezekiel saw that the whole world would be like Eden.

We will see the goodness of the loins in the land of the living. But we must wait for the Lord. And that takes strength and courage. Be strong. Do not be afraid. Set your hope on Jesus. He will give us our heart's desire and bring us to his Father's house.

Series: Psalms (Worshipping God)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

If you want to know what a church believes, we might think that we should just listen to the sermons to find out. But, it has been stated that this is not a very accurate gauge of what the community believes; rather, we need to listen to the songs that are sung - then we will really know the heart of the church. Whether right or wrong, songs have a powerful way of speaking truth into the deepest parts of our hearts, and that power should be wielded with great respect.

 As I have studied Psalm 24 lately, I have been wondering what this church would look like if the whole community here sang this Psalm and all truly embraced its vision of God, his people, and his city? I believe it would cause us to have an exalted view of God. I believe this exalted view of God would wake many of us up - as it has me - to the holiness required to ascend God's holy hill. I believe it would cause many of us to treat him less casually. I believe it would cause some to realize that their high view of themselves and their low view of God is not welcome here. I believe it would cause this community to become a true sanctuary of humility, of holiness, and of joy in our Lord. But, that would only be true if we all really deeply believed this Psalm. So, let's look at this Psalm and consider the ultimate upshots of singing and believing a Psalm like this. Notice Psalm 24:1-6

Who Shall Ascend the Hill of the Lord? (vs. 1-6)

David starts this Psalm by proclaiming that the earth and everyone and everything in it belongs to the Lord - Yahweh. Why? Because he made it all. And when everything was covered by dark, chaotic waters, he lifted the dry land out of the water and made the earth to rest upon these same waters. Now, we are told that this very same God has a hill, a place where he dwells and works from. In the days of the Old Covenant, it was Jerusalem. For us, it is the New Jerusalem that will one day come out of heaven. Now, imagine this great God - the LORD - who created, founded, and owns every person and everything. He dwells atop this great hill at a holy place. And every time we see this place in its full, final form in Scripture (Ezekiel 40-47, Rev. 21-22), this place is amazing. It is full of beauty, purity, peace, life, and joy. Best of all, the Lord is there. The question David asks in this Psalm is this: who do you think can make the trek up that hill to the Lord’s holy place?

Now stop. The fact that this Psalm doesn't end right here and instead actually gives an answer should be amazing to us. Who is going to ascend that hill? No one! We cannot go up God's hill to God's city to God's house. And yet, there is a generation, a group, a circle who is allowed: "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully." Esther feared that she would be killed when she went into the presence of the king, yet she was given permission. Similarly, it is this person who God will bless and allow. It is this person who will receive the declaration of righteousness and innocence — permission from the king to enter. If I am reading this right, I love the way that is worded. It isn't: the person has always met these qualifications will enter. It is: the person who currently meets them will receive the blessing, will be declared guilt-free and given permission to ascend.

So, let's ask the questions of ourselves a few questions. Are our hands clean? Are our hearts pure? Do we lift ourselves up to what is false? This is a picture of idolatry. Many gods make false promises: money, power, sex, popularity. Do we give ourselves up to these gods? Do we swear deceitfully? Do we make promises we don't intend to keep? Do we say things in ways to give people a false impression of who we are?

Imagine we were called to make that trek up the Lord's holy hill today. Do we fit in the group going up? Is there anything on our hands or in our hearts that would prevent us from ascending? If so, why don't you fix that? Could anything be more important? Confess it to a brother or sister. Make it right and clean your hands now! We must fix this now, because, in reality, the Hebrew writer says that we are supposed to consider ourselves as at that city, the heavenly Jerusalem right now. Ho, we don't yet have every sense of the promise-the heavenly Jerusalem hasn't come down out of heaven yet-but we are supposed to envision ourselves as already at its gates.

Thank the LORD for his mercy. If we turn, he forgives and gives us the blessing to ascend.

Let the King of Glory Come in (vs. 7-10)

A complete shift of focus happens in the rest of this Psalm. Before, he encouraged the congregation to consider if they were worthy to ascend the hill of Yahweh, but now he encourages Jerusalem, the holy city to welcome the King of Glory into their gates. Notice verses 7-10.

Some think that the event that occasioned David's writing of this Psalm is when David had the Ark of the Covenant brought to Jerusalem. You can see why this makes sense. The first time they tried to bring it, wrath from the Lord struck Uzzah down because they did not handle it properly. But the second time they did it right. Everyone was there and full of rejoicing. There was shouting, singing, and dancing as the Levites played loud music to welcome the king of Glory 'into the city.

I believe that is the first key upshot of this section: to stir the community, the city to open their gates and welcome their king in. Would the king of glory be welcome in our community? That sounds like an easy question, but I assure you-with what many churches become - it isn't that simple. Would we really welcome the king of glory here?

Jerusalem thought they would. Jerusalem was built and designed and prepared for this one task; and, yet, that city chewed up and spat out every prophet that came in the king's name, and they even killed the king himself. They liked the idea of the king's return, but they never liked the reforms he brought.

Really rest on this question: would we welcome him? If he came in looking like a man named John Doe and placed membership here, as we got to know him, would we recognize him? Would we see the difference? Would we like the difference? Would we have eyes and ears enough to as John and me to permanently step down so we could hear him preach?

I hope we can see that we are nothing if we would not welcome him fully. We aren't a nice place or a sweet community. Is this a Yahweh-centered community that wants nothing more than to be a city built completely around-not around what our flesh wants, not around riches, not around entertainment - but around the king of Glory? If that's our aim in all we do - to be a community that would welcome him - we are on the right track! If that isn't what we want for ourselves or this community, not even what we want to learn, let me encourage you: whether you are 177 or 70, please know you are not welcome here.

I believe the second thing this section is meant to accomplish is to stir the city, the community to see that the King of Glory is the LORD of Hosts. "The LORD of Hosts" or “Yahweh of Armies.” You know, I don't think about God much with that picture - he is Yahweh who commands heavenly host upon host, army upon army. He is a powerful commander who is strong and mighty in battle. And when he comes into a city, his entourage, his armies accompany him. David is saying," HE is the king of glory!"

Did you catch that? King David says "the King of Glory is Yahweh of Armies." Imagine living in a city, a country, a political atmosphere where the human king actually urged the nation to this realization. When successes are accomplished and battles won, the king comes back to the jubilant city and then he "turns around with the rest of the city to chant, The LORD of Hosts - not I - he is the king of Glory!" It is our hope to live in a city, a Kingdom on a mountain with a government like that where the king and God rule as one with no conflict. Jesus is preparing a place for us in the temple of that city - the Father's house - right now.

Conclusion

But who is worthy to ascend such a hill to such a city to such a God? Those whose hands are clean and heart is pure; those who don't lift themselves up to false gods or deceive others themselves. Does something stand before us and that trek up God's holy hill today?

This Psalm began by declaring that the earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord. Maybe the secret to becoming the person who can ascend starts with the humility that comes from recognizing whose hill we are ascending. Everything we see, everything we have, every person we come in contact with and tree we eat fruit from is HIS. May we live with humility that recognizes the grandeur and generosity of our king of Glory. If we do, we are assured: we will receive permission to ascend.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Mike Stringer

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Max Casada

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Buc Chumbly

Series: 1 Samuel (The Coming King)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

God had given Israel victory over the cruel Ammonites, Saul had been established as king, and the people had committed to return to the Lord. The future was finally starting to look bright for Israel. But sin and foolishness ruined it all.

The Story (1 Samuel 13)

• Two years later, the armies of Israel had lost the confidence they had earlier. They were in an all-out panic. Men were hiding in caves and holes. They were opening tombs and jumping in wells and cisterns. Some even jumped in the Jordan River to swim to the other side. Israel’s men were scared speechless. Why?
• When Saul was anointed king, it was the Philistines that God especially wanted him to conquer. But Saul wasn’t going out against them, so Jonathan attacked and defeated an outpost with his men. Israel was excited. They gathered to Saul and were ready to deal the fatal blow to the Philistines. But when the Philistines heard what happened, they were mad. They gathered an army ready for an end times battle — 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore. Can you imagine an army like this? So when Israel saw them, they ran for the hills, holes, cisterns, and rivers.
• Anyone left with Saul was trembling. But Saul waited as he was supposed to. See, Samuel had told him to wait 7 days at Gilgal — Samuel would come, offer sacrifices to Yahweh, and tell Saul the game plan for this battle. So Saul waited. And waited. Seven days passed and there was still no sign of Samuel. Meanwhile, the troops with Saul kept scattering so that he was left with only 600 men against an innumerable host. Finally, Saul felt he couldn’t wait any longer. God and Samuel had their way, but if Saul didn’t do something soon, there wouldn’t be anyone left to fight the Philistines! So, Saul offered the burnt offering on his own (only priests were supposed to do this).
• No sooner than Saul finished, Samuel showed up. “What have you done?” Samuel asked. Saul excused himself, “What did you expect me to do? The people were leaving, the Philistines were on the verge of attacking, and you didn’t show up when you said you would, so I forced myself and offered the sacrifice.”
• Can you see the disappointment on Samuel’s face? “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of God. Don’t you realize he would have established your kingdom forever? But not anymore. God sought out a man after his own heart to lead his people—” and then Samuel turned around and left. Just like that, Saul lost his right to be king. Kids, God is gracious, but that is how fast you can ruin your life. Samuel and God had left Saul, and now he had to face the biggest army anyone had ever seen on his own with 600 men. And the 600 men didn’t even have swords or spears —just sharpened farm tools. Raiders from the Philistines started ravaging the land uncontested. No weapons, no prophet, no God.

The Story (1 Samuel 14)

• And so, Saul went back home to sit underneath a pomegranate tree. And, whether this was ignorance or intention, when God rejected Saul, he sought out a priest rejected by God (grandson of Eli, son of Phinehas), grabbed the ark of the covenant, and together they playacted like God was with them. There’s a lesson here - when we mess up bad and sin, there’s a temptation roll around in the mud: surround ourselves with more rejects, act like God is with us, and call those who are actually righteous a bunch of posers.
• But Jonathan couldn’t sit under a pomegranate tree and watch God’s people suffer any longer. He grabbed his armor-bearer and sneaked over to the Philistine outpost nearby without Saul’s knowledge. I love Jonathan’s words. “It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” “Here’s how we will know the Lord is with us: if the Philistines say, “come here” - then the Lord has given us victory! But if they say, “wait there” then we will hold back.”
• When the Philistines saw Jonathan, they started joking. “Hey, look! The Hebrews are starting to come up out of their holes! Hey, you! Come here - we wanna show you something!” Come Jonathan and his armor-bearer did. And when they attacked, they killed 20 men in their first strike. The Philistines panicked. They had no clue what hit them. Imagine what it would be like to see, feel, and hear tens and tens of thousands of troops and their horses panicking. The earth started trembling.
• When Saul heard the Philistines panicking and realized Jonathan was the cause, he rallied the troops and charged into battle. Even the men who were hiding rallied. The Lord rescued Israel that day.
• And yet, though, God was ready to wipe out their enemies, the defeat of the Philistines was small. See, Saul got excited a made a rash vow, “Cursed be the man who eats food until evening comes and I am avenged on my enemies.” Well, naturally, the men grew exhausted and were unable to continue fighting. Three things resulted from this foolish curse.
  1. Jonathan didn’t know about the vow. So when he saw honey on the ground, he ate it and unknowingly cursed himself and brought sin on Israel.
  2. When the men told Jonathan about his father’s curse, Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land with his vow - we would have had a great defeat today if the men could have eaten!”
  3. When evening did come, the men were famished. They pounced on the animals and started eating the meat with the blood in it — which was a big sin in the Law (God said in Leviticus he would “cut off”/kill people who did this).
• So how would Saul deal with the chaos his vow caused?
  1. First, it seems he did the right thing with the men’s blood eating. He built an altar and told the men to stop sinning. “Bring your animal here and drain the blood.”
  2. Second, when he discovered that there was more sin in the camp, he vowed again, “Wherever the sin is - even if it is in Jonathan - the sinner will die!” Well, it turned out to be Jonathan. When Jonathan explained how he ate honey without knowing about his father’s curse, Saul replied, “May the Lord do to me even more, you will surely die, Jonathan.”
• But the army rescued Jonathan from Saul. “He has worked with God to bring salvation today!” And thus, when Israel had the Philistines in their most vulnerable position and could have destroyed them, this is how it all ended - with sin and foolishness. And there continued to be hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. 

CONCLUDING APPLICATIONS

There is such a mixture of good and bad here. What are we meant to learn from this chaos?

1. The faithless are concerned about numbers and appearances; the faithful are concerned with whether or not God is with them.

• What would you do if there were tens of thousands of trained warriors on the other side and you have an army, but they are quickly dwindling? Do you trust numbers, or do you trust God? I think we can tend to sympathize with Saul. Saul obeyed for seven days, then he panicked and disobeyed. But what did Samuel expect? Saul couldn’t sit around looking like a weak leader. What Saul did was natural. It is natural to say with Saul, “God’s law is good until real life happens — then you need to start getting creative.” How easily we can forget - how easily leaders forget - that there is a crown more powerful than them.
• Yet, when Jonathan had only one person with him, he said, “It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” Jonathan’s imaginative faith is so inspiring. He put himself in a tough situation trying to do what was right, not knowing if God would work for them but knowing God could work for them.
• Once he knew, he charged with his armor-bearer… while Saul sat under a tree with a rejected priest. Jonathan did this because God’s power spoke louder than the numbers.
• We may sympathize with Saul, but God didn’t sympathize with him. Why is faith is so hard here?
  1. 13:8-9  — Saul saw and acted based on what he saw rather than on what God said. Sometimes we can get way too connected to the facts and the numbers before us and forget that God can work with or outside of the facts. If the 12 apostles would have obsessed over the math, we wouldn’t know Jesus today. 2nd Corinthians 4:18, “Look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. The things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
  2. 13:13  — Saul thought more about how he could affect the outcome of this one battle right now more than about how - if he would obey - God could establish him and his family forever.
     • Can’t we do that too? In the heat of the trial or test, we only think about the outcome we want right now, but we forget that if we will slow down, trust, and obey God’s ways, he will bring us and our families safely through every trial that could ever come against us. 
     • Let’s take a cue from Jonathan. We don’t have to know what God will do or how everything will play out — we just need to do God’s will and have the courage to say with Jonathan, “God can save by many or by few.” This isn’t blind optimism, it’s love for God’s people and faith. Who knows what God could do with our courageous acts of love, with scary attempts to use our gifts, with uncomfortable words with our neighbor about Jesus, with this difficult work or project to help God’s people. Let’s not be defined by our sensitivity to how things look, but our awareness of God’s awesome power to work through us if we will let him. We simply don’t know what good God could bring. “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”

2. Fools act rashly and give more attention to their own instructions than to God’s law.

• Why did Saul make this rash vow? It seems like the best explanation is that he is trying to force God’s hand to be with them. What do you do when God’s prophet has left you and you know nothing you are doing is pleasing to God? Call for a fast. And pronounce a curse on anyone who disobeys your pious orders. Then, when your harsh rules are broken, condemn those who were not as righteous as you in keeping your made-up rules. 
• Aside from Saul’s reasoning, there’s something not right here. When the men pounced on the meat and ate it with blood, Saul rectified this sin against God. When Jonathan unknowingly ate before the fast was over, he called for the death penalty. If the sin of eating blood that Saul led the men into can be rectified by repentance, how much more should Jonathan’s unintentional breaking of Saul’s rash vow and curse be able to be rectified with repentance!
• This is a mess. This reminds me of how Jephthah’s rash vow led to the death penalty on his own daughter. This sounds like the days of the judges - except that there is finally a king in Israel, but everyone is still doing what is right in their own eyes.
• There isn’t much to say here except this: this sort of chaos is exactly what happens when God’s word becomes small in our eyes and we start trying to forge out own path with our own ideas and rules. The confusing thing is this: Saul sounds super religious/pious when he calls for Jonathan’s execution over breaking Saul’s made up law. Notice verse 44, “May God do so to me and even more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.” 
• Brothers, sisters: if we want to be right with God and we want him to give us success, we need to see God and his word as massive. We need to know him, his word, trust him, and obey him. We don’t need to make up pious rules or philosophies and then strictly enforce them upon others. This looks super pious, but it only harms God’s people. 

Finally, there’s this curious tension throughout the text: Saul sinned, God will no longer be with Saul to perpetuate his kingship, and yet God still saves Israel on this day. Furthermore, the end of chapter 14 tell us that Saul continued fighting Israel's enemies successfully. This shows us two things:

3. Historical success is not a good gauge for covenantal status with God. Saul’s men ran from him, so it looked like God wasn’t with him when he was; then Saul had victory later, so it looked like God was with him when he wasn’t. We can and should learn from both challenging and successful times, but appearances and historical success is not a good gauge of our relationship status with God. It’s tough though - because if we do use our success as a relationship gauge, it makes us feel like we have a measure of control over God.

4. God can abandon a person or leader without abandoning everyone. If you ever feel like you are surrounded by faithless people and led by faithless fools, take courage: God can still work his purposes. He can still be with the congregation. I love Jonathan’s courage to see that. He doesn’t stop trusting the Lord despite his father’s lack of faith. It’s tough to work for God’s kingdom when you have no way to talk to God, no prophets to help, and no leaders with faith. And yet, no matter how foolishly or faithlessly everyone else is around you, God can still do great things through people who have faith to make Jonathan’s words their own. “Come, let us go over the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”

Series: Psalms (Worshipping God)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

• If I told you that the message of this Psalm was, “he is crowned with glory and honor” — who would you naturally think this Psalm is about? Probably the God of Israel. But the shocking message of this Psalm is that God has crowned humans with glory and honor. Read Psalm 8.
• Don’t get David wrong though. He didn’t write this Psalm to exalt or praise humans. He wrote to exalt God. Notice how this Psalm is bookended in verses 1 and 9. “Oh Yahweh, our ruler, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” David wrote this Psalm to help us appreciate how awesome God is for exalting humans to such a high position in his created order.
• What is that position? That’s what we want to appreciate this morning. Not only will this help us appreciate another aspect of our identity, but it will help us understand our hope too. So we can better praise God for his kindness to us.

Psalm 8: God uses weak things to accomplish his purposes

• In this Psalm, David brings out shocking contrast: God’s name is majestic in all the earth; yet, he is so majestic because he uses such weak things to accomplish his purposes. David gives two examples of this.
  • 1. Verses 1-2: God does not use mighty rulers to silence his enemies, he uses infants and babies to do that. One way this is seen is in Jesus’ life: when Jesus’ enemies denied and criticized him, children were the ones who saw the truth and silenced them by crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
  • 2. Verses 3-8: (where we will focus) God uses weak humans to rule the works of God’s hands. But, what is so impressive to David about that?
• When he looks at the sky, the moon, and the starts - he sees them as the direct work of God’s fingers. Do you remember when you used to look at the universe from the perspective? I remember when every day, sunset, thunderstorm, starry sky, wild and beautiful animal appeared to me as an amazing wonder prepared by God.
• Here’s why that perspective is important: when David sees the massiveness and wonder of God’s creation… he is suddenly struck with awe. Awe for God yes. But even more, awe for God’s care of us and awe that God would put us in charge of it all.
  • He says in verse 4, “What is man?” Think about it. What are we? We are skin and bones. I am weak, shameful, sinful. I was made from a bunch of dirty and when I die I will become dirt. I am a bag of dirt!
  • And yet, we have been made just a little lower than the Elohim - the spiritual beings. We have been crowned with glory and honor. Not only do we have dominion over all animals everywhere, verse 6 is pivotal: we are given dominion over the works of his hands and all things are put under our feet. David thinks back  to Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image…” and let them have dominion over “all animals” and over “all the earth.” God made so much that is big and beautiful — and he gives us dominion over it all.
  • It is fascinating to me: God has all power and wisdom, yet he’s decided to share and delegate authority to spiritual beings and to humans. Truly, he is majestic!

Everything Is Not Yet Under Our Feet

• And yet, look at verse 6 again. Is this something that is true now? When mosquitoes bite people and millions die from diseases - do we have dominion over the works of God’s hands? When, in 1931, floods in China killed millions, and in 2010, over 300,000 were killed in earthquakes in Haiti — can we say all things are under our feet? When, as happened this week, a thunderstorm causes a Christian friend’s car to hydroplane — killing him and taking him from his family — can we say then that al things, all powers, even death are under our feet?
• If you said, “No,” you are in agreement with Paul and the writer of Hebrews. In fact, in the way the NT authors quoted and alluded to this text and texts like it, they clearly tell us that the dominion and authority this text is talking about is reserved for our future experience of eternal life when we reign with Christ in the resurrection in the world to come.
• Notice how Paul points to the future fulfillment of this text in 1 Corinthians 15:22-28.
  • See powerpoint chart.
  • Vs. 22-23 — Here’s his point: Sin and death ruined Adam and everyone after him. But Christ is a new Adam creating a new humanity. All in Christ will be bodily raised in the end as Christ was. What will happen then? Notice vs. 24-28.
  • Christ will destroy every rule, authority, and power. Notice how Psalm 8:6 is present throughout the text (see powerpoint underlining). 
  • Now, what some say is this: “this means Psalm 8 wasn’t talking about humans, it is talking about how Christ will have dominion.” I don’t think that is what Paul is saying about Psalm 8. I think Paul is respecting the original context of humanity having dominion; however, Paul’s point here (and the rest of the NT) is that Jesus is the first new human to have what we who follow him will one day have. Jesus is the first human to conquer and have dominion over all the earth. 
• Even if you aren’t sure that this is the idea of 1 Corinthians 15, this is exactly the idea of Revelation 3:21, “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” 
• Notice also how the Hebrew writer says this plays out in Hebrews 2:5-9. 
  • There is a world to come and angels are not the ones who will have control over it.
  • Psalm 8 testifies that everything will be put in subjection to the feet of mankind/humans — nothing of God’s creation will be outside our control!
  • Yet, we don’t see that picture as true now, do we?
  • (see powerpoint underlining of pronouns)
  • But, we do see Jesus who was lowered to our position for a little while (beneath angels), but then - because he suffered and was obedient - he was crowned with glory and honor and exalted above angels. **Jesus has been perfected and has become and is becoming the first human to have the glory and honor humans were always meant to have.
• John Piper summarizes this well in his “Look at the Book” series on Psalm 8.
  • God created man to have dominion.
  • Man was ruined by sin and death.
  • Jesus as the representative man deals with sin.
  • In him we [will SK] regain dominion over the creation.

Four Ways This Responsibility and Hope Impacts Life Now

1. This helps us appreciate dominion as some of the stuff of salvation and eternal life (2 Timothy 2:10-12). 

• If we fall in a pit and someone embarks on a dangerous rescue mission and dies in the process of rescuing us, we would say, “They saved me.” But why would we be so glad?
  • Because we aren’t dead in the pit. Removal of negative circumstances.
  • Because life as it was supposed to be before the pit can be restored to us (with a newfound appreciation for our lives too). Restoration of living in the real world.
• We always talk about how Jesus died to save us - as we should. He saved us from sin, punishment, death, and hell. But what have we been saved to? What is the substance of the eternal life that we are promised? What kind of life is being promised and restored to us? This is what Psalm 8 is pointing to: dominion over everything.
• 2 Timothy 2:10-12 points to this as well. Why does Paul work so hard to make sure the elect obtain salvation? Because: the result is eternal glory, life with Christ, and reigning with Christ. What a great hope - everything that overpowers us and ruins life in this world will be put under our feet in the world to come.

2. Knowing this reminds us to pay closer attention to the authority and responsibility we have now (cf. Luke 19:11-23 and 1 Corinthians 3:8, 12-15).

• We see this in the parable of the minas in Luke 19 and the parable of the talents, don’t we? In the parables, workers are given a certain amount of money to use while the master is gone, and then their future responsibility is determined based on how faithfully and effectively they used what they were responsible for. “Because you have been faithful in very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.”
• The same is true for us. It is so easy for us to say, “Well, I’m just a human, just a dirtbag, what can I do?” We may only be dirtbags, but we have all been given time, money, abilities, situations, and responsibilities. How lame would it be if we focused on how much others had, but how little we have. We are stewards of what we have been given. Our hope is to reign with Christ in the future world - but who would give us great responsibility and great possessions if we aren’t faithful with the little we have now?
• So, how are we doing at carrying out our responsibilities? At home? In the church? At work? Are we glorifying God with the abilities, resources, and authority we have been given? How are we treating the people and animals who are under our care? If we rule well, what great hope we have!

3. We are reminded that this path to glory and honor was pioneered by a path of suffering (Hebrews 2:9-10).

• Notice Hebrews 2:9-10. Jesus was only crowned with glory and honor after he proved his obedience through suffering. One of the harsh realities we have been reminded of with Ruth’s NICU stay recently is that we have to conquer by the same path.
• If we want the crown, we have to carry a cross. Why is suffering and testing always a qualifier to the crown in Scripture? It proves our willingness and humility to be subject to the head of all even when we can’t make sense of what is going on. It shows trust. I’m willing to make an employee a manager when I see that - even in stress - they humbly follow my policies. If we want the crown, we must carry a cross — endure.

4. We are reminded of how majestic Yahweh our ruler is (Psalm 8:1,9).

• When we see that dirtbags like us have been and will be given so much, it doesn’t simply make me see myself in a different light, it makes me see our God in a new light too. How gracious, generous, and trusting is our God?
• Seeing this makes me go back to Psalm 8:4 and say, “What are humans that you are mindful of us?” It makes me say, “O Lord, our lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”

Series: N/A

Service: Sun PM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Berry Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Berry Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore