Sermons | Cities Church

So this is sermon four of six in our series entitled: “We Are Cities Church,” the goal of which has been to communicate who we are, especially now that we’re in our tenth year, and have gone from being a church planted to becoming a church rooted right here on 1524 Summit Avenue.

Back on September 8, Pastor Jonathan began this series with a message on our church’s mission, in which he said: “Our mission has always been, and will always be, to make disciples of Jesus” because that is what Jesus tells us to do. And when it comes to what we mean by making disciples, we mean making “joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life.”

Now, what do those joyful disciples look like? What are their defining traits? Four things…

As joyful disciples of Jesus we are Jesus worshipers, joyful servants, generous disciplers, and welcoming witnesses. 

And two weeks ago, Pastor David Mathis preached on that first one, Jesus Worshipers. Last week, Pastor Jonathan preached on the second one, Joyful Servants. And this week, if God allows, I’ll preach on the third, Generous Disciplers. Let’s pray and ask him to do so.

So, we — as joyful disciples of Jesus — are Jesus worshipers, joyful servants, and, now, generous disciplers. To which, you might question, what is a generous discipler?

Well, I’m glad you asked.

Here’s my definition: A generous discipler is someone who gladly and purposefully seeks to help other Christians follow Jesus.

You like the definition? Good. But, what’s with that, “other Christians” part? “A generous discipler is someone who gladly and purposefully seeks to help other Christians follow Jesus.” Why not just “other people?” Why limit it to Christians? I mean, don’t we want to help those who are not yet Christians to begin to follow Jesus as well? 

The answer is yes — emphatically, yes! We most certainly want to help those who are not yet Christians to begin to follow Jesus because that is what Jesus commands us to do in Matthew 28:19 — a passage we recite at our commission each and every Sunday — where he says, “Make disciples of all nations.” That is, make people who, though they previously had not been followers of Jesus, are now followers of Jesus. And that process of — making those who, though previously had not been followers Jesus, are now followers of Jesus, sometimes referred to as “evangelism” or “witnessing” — is what we’re going to drill down on in next week’s sermon, our final defining trait — welcoming witnesses. 

But the focus for this morning’s sermon is, assuming that we do in fact make disciples, what we should then do with them, once we’ve made them. That is, after we’ve shared the gospel with someone, and they’ve received Christ, and they’ve been baptized in his name, are we just to then say, “Alright, well, see you in eternity?” I mean, yes, Jesus calls us to make disciples. But is that all he calls us to do?

See Jesus has more to say to us in Matthew 28 about this process of discipleship. He says,

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;”

Do you see the transition? 

Make disciples, baptize them; and then teach them.

Make disciples, baptize them; and then show them how to live. 

Make disciples; and then, we might say, gladly and purposefully seek to help them follow Jesus.

It is that portion of the equation, that helping of current followers of Jesus to continue to follow Jesus, that we are focused on this morning as generous disciplers.

And so, with that, I want to turn your attention to the text, Acts chapter 20. And I’ve got two things that I want to show you here from this text this morning. Two methods, if you will, for helping other Christians to follow Jesus. 

First: Christians help other Christians to follow Jesus by speaking the word of God to them.

Second: Christians help other Christians to follow Jesus by living the word of God before them.

You want to help other Christians to follow Jesus? Then speak the word of God to them and live the word of God before them.

We’ll focus first on speak.

1. Speak the Word 

Acts chapter 20, beginning in verse 17, for some context,

“Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.”

The “he” there is Paul. So Paul is in Miletus, and while there, he sends for the elders of the church in Ephesus, saying, “Hey, come join me over here.” For some perspective, this is not like a quick trip out to a friend’s house. That’s like a 2-4 day journey on foot that he’s just called them on. 30 miles as the crow flies, but more like 60 when it comes to all the twists and turns on the path to get there. But despite that distance, these elders in Ephesus hear the request, and they come.

Verse 18,

“And when they came to him, he [Paul] said to them: You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia…”

So he’s calling them back to the time they had spent together in Ephesus. And he’s summing up his activity while he was there as, verse 19,

“…serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house.” 

Now, Paul had spent nearly three years with those believers back in Ephesus. Three years! And what had he been doing throughout those three years? Among other things, he had been, verse 20: “Declaring” and “Teaching.” Mouth open and speaking to these Ephesian Christians. And what had he been speaking to them about?

Well, he had been speaking to them about, “…anything that was profitable...” See it there, in verse 20?

“…declaring to you anything that was profitable…”

Now, at first glance, that makes it sound like Paul had been casting the net pretty wide in terms of things to speak to these Ephesians, right? I mean, anything that was profitable? Like, really anything?

But just compare that somewhat vague statement with another statement of his, down in verse 27. Because while in verse 20, he says, “I did not shrink from declaring to you…anything that was profitable.” Look down with me to verse 27. In verse 27, he says almost the exact same thing. Almost. Verse 27,

“…for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

Now, do you think Paul means us to read those two things as separate bodies of content? Like, “I didn’t shrink back from declaring to you anything that was profitable, nor did I shrink back from declaring to you the counsel of God?” Are those two things separate? Or, are they synonymous — the one clarifying the other? 

I think we could paraphrase Paul’s words here as, “Elders of Ephesus, verse 20, you remember how ‘I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable’ that is, verse 27, how ‘I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.’” 

See, because the fact of the matter is, if you’re in search for the body of words that can most profit a person’s soul, in search of the corpus of truth that can most bring true soul-level benefit to a person, then you need not look further than to all the words that God has already spoken.

And Paul is telling them, “Remember, I didn’t hold back a single word that would’ve been profitable for you. For, I didn’t hold back a single word that God has said.” The whole counsel of God.

How do you gladly and purposefully seek to help another Christian follow Jesus? First, you speak the words of God to them. And all the words of God to them. You hold not one of them back.

Why the Whole Counsel?

Now, at this point, someone may argue: “Time out, that was Paul. Of course, he discipled others that way. He was an apostle. But look, I am not an apostle. I am an average, run of the mill Christian. Isn’t it enough for me to simply seek to help other Christians follow Jesus by speaking portions of God’s word? Like, can’t I just share with them the parts of God’s word that are especially comforting? Most encouraging? Or least likely to upset them or convict them about areas of needed change in their life? I mean, this book has some hard sayings — just take the gospels: Jesus talks about Hell, and the fact that some people are going there. Jesus talks about crosses and how we must take up ours to follow him.  Jesus talks about sexual sin and how it’s better to pluck out our eyes than take part in it. Jesus says we can’t serve money. Jesus says we can’t live for the praise of others. Jesus says he alone is the way, truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him. Are we really to speak those words when seeking to help another Christian follow Jesus?”

Well, what did Jesus say?

Make disciples, baptize them, and “Teach them to observe all that I have commanded.” And he gave that commission not just to Paul. Nor just to the professionals. But to all who would claim to follow him — including you and me.

Brother and sister, are you obeying Jesus in this regard? Who in your life right now needs you, needs you, to speak the words of God to them — even those that are both most difficult for them to swallow and most profitable for them to hear?

So, Paul had spent three years speaking God’s word, all of God’s word, to the Ephesians because he knew that that was what Jesus has called his followers to do. And because he knew God’s word was not going to be the only word the Ephesians were going to hear.

What’s at Stake?

Look with me down in Acts 20:29-30. See it there with me. He says,

“I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” 

See what Paul had were eyes to see the battle going on in the world for words and how each and every one of the Christians around him who he was seeking to help follow Jesus were living in the midst of that battle. And every day, following his departure, there were going to be twisted things like lies, deceptions, and half-truths reigning down upon them from all sides. From within, “among your own selves” and from without, “fierce wolves out there.” Each with the aim to hit and puncture and sink into their souls, so as to draw them away from Christ and toward the wolves instead. 

Now, just think for a moment — is our world any different than that? I mean, consider someone you know from this church. Someone who is just a bit younger, a bit further behind in their faith than you. Maybe they’re in your community group, or your life group. They’re likely here this morning, maybe seated near you right now. Now do you have eyes to see the battle for words that that person lives in? Do you have eyes to see that that person, a half-hour-or-so from now, is going to walk out of this place, get in their car, and go home? And tomorrow, they’re not going to come here. They’re going to go to work, or school, and then maybe the gym, or the store, or to see a movie, or to enjoy a concert, or to visit a friend, or to spend time with a family member, or open a book, or turn on a screen, or pick up a magazine. And as they do, ask yourself: how many words out there are they going to see and hear between now and next Sunday? And how many of them will be twisted — laden with lies, fanged with falsehoods, aimed at leading that person not to Christ, but away from him? A hundred of them? A thousand? 

Are there any words you might be able to say to that person this week to help them keep following Jesus, rather than turn away from him? Is there any way you might be able to, gladly and purposefully seek to help them follow Jesus by speaking the word of God to them this week?

Paul knew what Jesus had called him to. Paul knew the battle his fellow Christians were in. That’s why he spoke. And that’s why we should to. 

So, as generous disciplers, we want to gladly and purposefully seek to help other Christians to follow Jesus. And the first way we want to do that is by speaking the word of God to them. The second way, is by living it out before them. 

2. Live the Word 

Go back with me to verse 18,

“And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia.”

And you know, its interesting — the church at this time was neither rich nor powerful (least not in terms of how the world measures those things). Even still, this was the Apostle Paul. Surely someone in Ephesus has got a nice guest house somewhere outside the city for Paul to stay in, right? I mean, “Paul, get yourself set up somewhere out of the riffraff of commoners and townsfolk. Get somewhere cushy and secluded. You got important stuff to do, to read, to write. You can’t afford to be interrupted by all these nobodies.” Right? Wrong.

Paul did in Ephesus just the same as he did in every other city he visited — he lived among the people. Rubbed shoulders with commoners.

“You yourselves know how I lived among you...”

“Okay fine,” we say, “but at least Paul impressed these commoners while he was there, right? Showed them he was a cut above the rest — how strong, how intelligent, how skilled he was right?”

Wrong again. Verse 18,

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews.”

Humility, tears, and trials. I mean if Paul was trying to impress, then clearly, he failed. Good thing he wasn’t. He let his tears fall. His humility show. He bore the marks of trial not because he was trying to impress anybody, but because he was living in response to God’s word.

Tears

His tears were there because God’s word had told him that he should love people and care about their souls. His tears were there because God’s word has told him what happens to souls if deceived by twisted things and led away from their Savior. His tears were there because God’s word had shown him that the loss of a person’s faith deserved them. He was not aiming to impress people, but help people to follow Jesus. And so he let his tears fall in the process.

Trials

Likewise, Paul’s trials were there because God’s word had called him to the front lines of battle. His trials remained there because God’s word had assured him that the battle was well worth fighting no matter how heavy or tiresome they got. He was content to have his trials there and to show the marks of them to others because God’s word showed him that in times of trial, his weakness showed most, and God’s power shined greatest — and that was a good thing. 

Humility

Finally, his humility was there because of God’s word, not his skill. God’s word, not his eloquence. God’s word, not his work ethic. God’s word, not man, was able to guard these followers of Jesus so that they kept on as followers of Jesus even in the midst of the battle. He says, verse 32,

“And now [that I’m leaving, and false teachers are coming…] I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give to you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” 

What enabled three years-worth of humble service to the Ephesians? The fact that he knew the power for his ministry was not in himself, but in God through his word.

Brothers and sisters, go back to that young man or young woman who you had in your mind just a bit ago. The one who is just a bit younger, a bit further behind you in their walk with Jesus.

What if you were to begin discipling them today? 

What if you were to begin gladly and purposefully seeking to help them follow Jesus by speaking God’s word to them, and living God’s word before them, this week? 

And what if, after you kept at it for three years, they were not impressed by you?

Like, what if, as you discipled them, there came moments when you didn’t have the answers, but were willing to seek them out alongside that person? 

And, what if, as you discipled them, it became apparent that even you are not yet totally sanctified, but are hoping to grow in sanctification alongside them? 

And what if, as you discipled them, there were no fireworks, and no fanfare, and no accolades, but instead, a thousand little moments, filled with the unimpressive and ordinary stuff, of speaking God’s word to that person, and living God’s word out before them?

What if you did that? Well, then you would then be doing exactly what Jesus has commanded you to do. Making disciples, and then helping them to follow Jesus by teaching them to observe (to live out) all that he has commanded them. 

Cities Church, you can do this. You can help others to follow Jesus. 

With Bibles open, you can speak the word. 

With front doors open, you can live the word. 

With the desire to impress behind you, and humility flowing out from among you, and even with trials raging all round you, and tears welling up within you —You can help others to follow Jesus. 

And one last, quick word before we close. Cities Church, not only can you do this, but you can do so generously. 

Do So Generously

Verse 35, final word,

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Do you see it? Jesus said, that it is more not less, but more blessed — more happy, more joy-producing, more delight-inducing — more blessed to give than to receive. 

To give than to withhold. To give and expend yourself for the good of others, rather than preserve yourself the supposed good of self. 

We don’t want to be begrudging disciplers. We don’t want to be exacting disciplers. We don’t want to be duty-driven disciplers. Jesus tells us we should want to be generous disciplers because it is not less, but more blessed to give. 

The Table

Now, what brings us to the table this morning is the fact that Jesus did not call his disciples to himself begrudgingly. He did not teach them his word disinterestedly. He did not cover up, but unfolded his life before them. And on the night he was betrayed, seated among his disciples, he invited them generously — take and eat, this is my body given for you.

This table is Jesus’ table. A fellowship meal for all who profess faith in him.

“We are Cities Church” means that we take our orders from Jesus, which he gives to us in the Bible. 

We are who we are and do what we do because of what he says. 

That’s most basically what it means to be his church. We are a band of his disciples — and a disciple, most fundamentally, is a follower or an apprentice. 

We are apprentices of Jesus, and a couple of weeks ago we saw that means we get our mission from Jesus. Jesus tells us what we’re supposed to do: as his disciples, he sends us out to make more of his disciples.

Since the very start of our church a decade ago, that’s been our goal. Our mission statement has been a direct quote spoken by Jesus himself in Matthew 28:19, “make disciples.” That’s what he said, and so that’s what we’ve been about; that’s what we’re still about — except that now we just want to say more. 

When we say “make disciples” we mean “make joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life.”

And when we talk about disciples, we have in mind a fourfold calling that we find in the New Testament. First and foremost, #1, a disciple of Jesus is a Jesus-worshiper. Pastor David Mathis showed us this last week and Wow, it was good!

We are Jesus-worshipers, Pastor Mathis showed us. 

Jesus Is Super Clear

And today we’re looking at a second part of our calling: We Are Joyful Servants. 

And I’ll be honest with you: this is a softball sermon. And here’s why: There are only two places in Scripture where Jesus just says straight up: Hey, look at what I’m doing, now you go and do the same thing.

Now Jesus doesn’t need to tell us this plainly to imitate him because, again, that’s what a disciple does. To be a disciple, or an apprentice, is to follow your master, and that goes for everything about your master. So in all of Jesus’s life and character, we should follow him and conform our way of being into his way of being. But for some reason, Jesus wanted to be super clear about two ways in particular that we should be like him, one is in John Chapter 20, but the first we see here is in John Chapter 13. 

Seeing John 13:15

Go ahead and look at verse 15 here. John Chapter 13, verse 15. You’ve already heard it read, but I want you to see this again. Verse 15 — Jesus says:

“For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”

So there’s no mystery here to what Jesus is saying, but I just wanna make sure we’re all on the same page. The first thing he says is: “I have given you an example.” And what’s an example? It’s something to imitate. And then Jesus spells it out even more. He says the purpose of the example is … “That you should do just as I have done to you.”

See what I mean when I say Jesus is being super clear? 

He says Here’s an example, do what I do. 

And if we are truly his disciples it means that we’re gonna say Okay! I’m in.

Are you in? We wanna do what Jesus says!

If we’re onboard, then it means two things:

1. We’re gonna focus on the example of Jesus

2. We’re gonna figure out how to do what Jesus does

1. Focus on the Example of Jesus

When Jesus mentions his example in verse 15, he’s talking about something he just did, which goes back to verse 1. So I’m going to take us back to verse 1, and here’s what I’d like to do…

Instead of just giving you some bullet-point observations of Jesus’s example here, I want to us to try and imagine the scene. Jesus gives an object lesson here. He does a thing that his disciples see, so I want us to try to see it too. I’m gonna ask that you try to use your imagination here as I tell you a story, okay?

It had been a crazy week for Jesus (kinda like when we have a crazy week, except this was much crazier). Jesus started the week by coming to Jerusalem. It was the Jewish Passover and the city was packed, but Jesus didn’t just enter the city by foot, like he normally does when he enters cities, but this time, he found a young donkey to ride into town, and as he rode it, crowds, who heard he was coming, lined the streets and threw down palm branches, and they said “Hosanna!” (Which is Aramaic for Hooray! Hooray!) “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

And Jesus’s disciples are excited. They had just seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead! Jewish people were believing in Jesus! This is big, and Sunday to Wednesday is a blur! Greeks are now seeking Jesus, and Jesus says his time has come!

There’s some confusion among the people (and the disciples) about this, but Jesus is locked in.

And then it’s Thursday night. Jesus is having dinner with his 12 disciples, and he knew something nobody else knew: At this dinner he knew that within 24 hours he’s going to be brutally killed, and everything about everything will change. 

And he’s with these men, these men who he’s spent everyday with for the past three years. Can you imagine how well he knew these guys? They were his friends and he loved them. And now he’s at the table and he’s looking at them, full of love, and he knows how all of this is gonna play out.

He knows about Judas. He knows what Peter will do. He knows all the others are gonna run. There will be so much pain. But he also knows he’s going home. Jesus knows that the Father is happy with him, that the Father is going to honor him and exalt him, and make him shine. The Father has given Jesus preeminence over all things, and Jesus knows it. Jesus knows who he is. He knows where he’s going. And if we could see with our mind’s eye what Jesus was seeing in that moment, it’s blinding light. It’s unspeakable, blazing joy. He’s the freest of kings.

But then Jesus gets up from the dinner table and he takes off his nice shirt. And he goes and gets a towel (and it was probably a damp towel — you know we always look for damp towels for things like this).

He ties the towel around his waist, fills a basin with water, he kneels down, and he takes the feet of one of these guys, and he’s starts washing them. I don’t need to tell you how gross feet are. The water turns brown, and Jesus is wiping these feet with the towel around his waist. This man created Jupiter. He spoke the oceans into existence and now he scrubs the toes of men, and Peter didn’t want him to. Peter said No, Lord, not you. You’re never gonna wash my feet.

And Jesus said, Peter, if you don’t let me wash your feet, you’re not with me. 

And it was an amazing moment. Peter said, Fine! Wash my feet! And my hands! And my head!

Peter says I am so with you — but he wasn’t that with him, because Jesus is about to tell Peter that he’ll deny him. Jesus knew Judas was about to leave dinner early to betray him.

Jesus knew everything and he washed all the disciples’ feet. And when he finished, he took off the towel, now soaked, and he puts back on his nice shirt, and he goes back to his seat at the table, and all the guys are looking at him, and he says: “Do y’all understand what I just did?” 

And of course they didn’t really understand.

So Jesus tells them, “You call me your Teacher and Lord, and you’re right. That’s who I am.” These guys already recognized that Jesus is the one they’re supposed to imitate.

So Jesus says, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”

And I think we just need to sit in this for a second. This was the most amazing dinner in human history. How could you be one of these disciples and ever have dinner the same way again? 

This was an unforgettable dinner, for these disciples and for every disciple of Jesus who has come after them.

Jesus gives us an example. He demonstrates how he wants us to be. And we need to figure that out. 

2. Figure out how to do what Jesus does.

We need to figure out how we do what Jesus did. I don’t think Jesus means that we should literally wash feet — I mean, you can — but it’s more than that. Jesus wants us to be servants. That’s the name we’d put on his example. That’s what he’s demonstrating by washing feet.

He wants us to be servants like him, and if we’re keeping his example in mind, to be a servant like Jesus means three things:

1. We serve at a cost.

I want to start here with the cost of serving because there is a real cost … because we’re talking about real serving …

It’s serving, not partyin’.

It’s serving, not keeping your hands clean from the grit and grim of difficult things — Jesus had to change his clothes!

Serving does not mean finding your happy place. Everything does not go perfectly. That’s what makes it serving!

William Carey and Sacrifice?

I love the legacy of William Carey. He was an English Christian who served as a missionary in India from 1793–1834. He’s considered to be the father of modern global missions, and he was a Calvinist Baptist. William Carey is my guy. 

And toward the end of his life, he made this famous quote about all the work and ministry he had done. He said, “I never made a sacrifice. Of this I am certain. It was no sacrifice. It was a privilege.”

In the 41 years that William Carey spent in India he had to rack his brain everyday to learn and translate several local languages and dialects. He experienced frequent illness, including malaria and dysentery, often without good medical care.

In 1807, he suffered the tragic death of his wife after she got sick. And of and on, over four decades, he faced constant opposition from Hindus and Muslims and he struggled at times with loneliness and isolation.

William Carey made a sacrifice. 

There was a cost to his serving. Now what he means by “I never made a sacrifice” is that the end reward is so good it eclipses the cost. Like after a mother has given birth to her child (Jesus uses this example). Once the baby is born, it’s just joy! — so much joy that you’re not even thinking about the intense pain that you were experiencing five minutes ago, which was painful (I’ve been in the room a few times!) But the reward eventually transcends the cost — that’s what William Carey is saying. But there’s still a cost, and while you’re paying, it’s not a party.

Troubled in Spirit

It is amazing that in this narrative of Jesus serving we’re reminded constantly of what these disciples are gonna do. Judas’s betrayal is mentioned in verse 2, then again in verse 11 and verse 18, and the whole passage is about Judas from verses 21–30, and then this chapter ends with Jesus foretelling Peter’s denial. All of this in this chapter about Jesus serving —  do you think Jesus was giddy about all this? You think Jesus would say none of this hurt? That there was no cost?  Is that what we see when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane? 

Already here, at this last supper, John tells us in verse 21 that Jesus was “troubled in his spirit.” And John knows, because, remember, John was sitting right beside Jesus! There was a cost here.

Brothers and sisters, if we serve like Jesus we serve at a cost too. 

And so if I could say so gently, when it comes to serving, some of us need to stop trying to be more spiritual than Jesus — don’t ignore the cost; count the cost. And then tell Jesus he’s worth it.  

#2 — to be a servant like Jesus means …

2. We serve from freedom. 

There’s something here we need to clarify: Jesus was a servant, we’re called to follow his example and be servants too — but servants of who exactly? 

Are we servants of Jesus or servants of others?

And the answer is both. And that might be obvious to you, but I think it’s important how this comes through in the text. Jesus doesn’t use a lot of servant language in the Gospel of John. The first time he mentions us being servants is one chapter before this one, in Chapter 12, and then there’s a few key places in Chapters 13, 15, and 18, and in all these uses — every time Jesus talks about us being “servants” — he’s talking about us being his servants (see 12:26; 13:16; 15:15, 20; 18:36). We serve him.

And of course we serve others too — that’s the whole point of our passage today — when Jesus says “you should do just as I have done to you” he implies “you should do to others.” In verse 36 he repeats the same idea and says, “just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

So yes, we serve others, but there’s an important connection here we need to see: it’s that we can never serve others the way Jesus served us unless we are first his servants. 

“You Are Serving the Lord Christ”

Our calling is to serve Jesus first, and then as his servants, following his example, serving him, we serve others.

And I love the way Paul captures this in 2 Corinthians 4:5 — this is a verse to memorize. Paul says about his ministry:

“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

This is profound. Is Paul serving Jesus or others? He’s serving both, but it’s even more than that: because in Paul’s serving of others, he’s actually serving Jesus too. Paul serves Jesus by his serving of others, and in his serving of others he’s serving Jesus.

William Carey translated the entire Bible into six different Indian languages. He translated part of the Bible into at least 29 different languages and dialects. Which was painstaking work. He would have spent hours and hours hunched over his desk, laboring by candlelight, serving, but get this: he wasn’t merely serving the people who would read his translations, but he was serving Jesus! So finally, we have the whole Bible in Bengali! Here, Jesus, it’s for you.

Hey mom and dad, when you feel at your limit with what you can give your children, and you wonder if it’s ever gonna do any good, remember that you’re not merely serving your kids in what you do, you’re serving Jesus in serving your kids. Here, Jesus, this 10,000th PB&J, it’s for you.

People at work — employees — when you’re tired at work and you’d rather be a hundred other places, you can work heartily for the Lord, not men — because “you are serving the Lord Christ”(see Colossians 3:23–24). Here, Jesus, this report, this project, these tasks, it’s for you. 

We serve Jesus first!

And get this: serving Jesus first is the only way we can serve from freedom. 

The Freedom of a Christian

Serving from freedom means that our serving is not constrained by anything. It’s not forced by some desired result, but it’s willingly! 

Serving from freedom means we serve because we want to, not because we’re trying to get something. And the reason Jesus is the only one we can serve this way is because Jesus is the only person who loves us purely by grace.

We don’t have to earn his favor or score points — he’s already given us his favor! We have all the points! And he has given them to us not because of what we’ve done — it can never be because of what we’ve done — but it’s all because of his grace.

The grace of God is a life-changing discovery. Just ask Martin Luther. 

Back in the early 1500s, Martin Luther read the Bible and was transformed by the gospel of God’s grace. We are saved not by our works, but by God’s grace through faith in Christ. And there were a lot of people who did not like that, and one reason was because they said:

Hey, if people know they’re saved by grace, not by the good works they do, then they will stop doing good works. We have to tell them that their works earn their salvation, so they’ll keeping doing them.

And in the fall of 1520, Luther published a small treatise called The Freedom of a Christian (still is an amazing book!). And Luther argues that the gospel demolishes that way of thinking. He says the gospel implies two things:

1) A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. 

2) A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

This is what the gospel does. First, it means we’re free!

Luther says salvation by grace means “every Christian by faith is exalted above all things so that nothing can do the Christian any harm.” He writes, 

As a matter of fact, all things are made subject to [the Christian] and are compelled to serve him in obtaining salvation. Accordingly Paul says in Romans 8, “All things work together for good for the elect” and in 1 Corinthians 3, “All things are yours whether … life or death or the present or the future, all are yours; and you are Christ’s …”

He just rejoices! He says:

The cross and death itself are compelled to serve me … This is a splendid privilege and hard to attain, a truly omnipotent power, a spiritual dominion in which there is nothing so good and nothing so evil but that it shall work together for my good … Christians are the freest of kings!

It’s amazing, brothers and sisters, how free we are in Christ! Ultimately we are untouchable! All by the grace of God, not because of what we do.

But then, how does that affect what we do? How do we kings and queens treat one another? 

Luther says that because we are so free in Christ, all we care about is divine approval and therefore we are freed to serve. Luther writes, 

[The Christian] ought to think: “Although I am an unworthy and condemned man, my God has given me in Christ all the riches of righteousness and salvation without any merit on my part, out of pure, free mercy, so that from now on I need nothing except faith which believes that this is true.” …

Behold, from faith flows forth love and joy in the Lord, and from love a joyful, willing, and free mind that serves one’s neighbor willingly and takes no account of gratitude or ingratitude, of praise or blame, of gain or loss. For a man does not serve that he may put men under obligations. … 

But as his Father does, distributing all things to all men richly and freely, making his sun rise on the evil and on the good, as his Father does, so also the son! 

[The child of God, the Christian] does all things and suffers all things with that freely bestowing joy which is his delight in God, the dispenser of such great benefits.

Brothers and sisters, we serve from freedom, and do you see that it’s when we serve from freedom that we serve with joy?

That’s the third and final point. To serve like Jesus means …

3. We serve with joy. 

We serve with joy — because our salvation is secure in Christ.

Because my salvation is secure in Christ, I don’t have to serve you to get Jesus to love me. I get to serve you because Jesus loves me. 

Do you see? Because we are so free, our serving one another is not a have to, it’s a get to. 

We serve as the overflow of our joy in God — joy we have by grace! That’s why we are joyful servants.

Serving with joy is not an add-on — it’s just what makes sense in light of what God has done. And it is the example of Jesus. 

Jesus knew who he was, he was free, and he knew the cost, and yet the Book of Hebrews tells us that “for the joy set before him, he endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). 

Still a cross, still a cost, 

But joy he found beyond the pain, 

Joy that carried him from loss to gain.

That’s what brings us to the Table. 

The Table

At this table each week, we remember this dinner that we’ve talked about. We remember the sacrifice of Jesus for us — that Jesus, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved us to the end. 

The bread and cup represent the death of Jesus, which means, they represent his love. And when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are resting in his love. This is why this Table is for Christians. This remembrance is for those who have put their faith in Jesus. 

If you’re here this morning and you’ve not yet done that, you can just pass the bread and cup to the person beside you, but don’t pass on the moment. If you’re not a Christian, today is the day of salvation. Today you can trust in Jesus. You can just pray, simply: 

Jesus, I can’t save myself — I’m sorry for trying. 

I believe you died for me, you are raised from the dead.

I trust you. Save me.

You can just pray that, or something like that. You can rest in the love of Jesus this morning too.

The pastors will come, let us joyfully serve you.

Last Sunday, we began a new six-sermon series called “We Are Cities Church.” We’ve been through some distinct seasons in almost ten years as a church, and now find ourselves on the front end of a new one. You might summarize our first five years, from founding to COVID, as a time of being planted. And from early 2020 until last summer, as a time of becoming rooted. 

Last fall we talked about coming into a new season of growth in the life of our church, and as part of this last year, the pastors have given time to revisiting who we are and what we’re called to as a church.

Last week Jonathan said, “If you’ve been around Cities Church for a while, we don’t expect that you’ll be surprised by anything you hear. If you’re brand-new, we’re excited for you to meet our church, and if you’re semi-new, we hope this might fill in some gaps for you.”

Jonathan finished the sermon last Sunday by introducing a fresh expression of our stated mission as a church:

Our mission has always been, and will always be, to make disciples of Jesus. That’s what Jesus tells us to do. And when it comes to what we mean by making disciples, we want to make joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life.

This morning, and the next three Sundays, we’d like to flesh this out — in particular, we want to introduce a new fourfold way of capturing what we mean by “joyful disciples of Jesus”:

• We are Jesus worshipers.

• We are joyful servants.

• We are generous disciplers.

• We are welcoming witnesses. 

Until now, we’ve talked about our threefold calling as worshipers, servants, and missionaries. Now, we’d like to take that same pie, and cut it into four slices, instead of three — and add some adjectives. So, next Sunday, we’ll focus on joyful servants. Then, in two weeks, generous disciplers. And in three weeks, welcoming witnesses. 

But this morning, we begin with what is first and foremost, and what remains most unchanged and totally untweaked from day one to year ten: we worship Jesus.

We have it on the back doors, with no plan to remove it: We worship Jesus. We love one another. We seek the good of the Cities.

If you want to know what’s the first thing to say about Cities Church, it’s this: we worship Jesus. For outsiders who ask, Who are those people? And for insiders who ask, Who are we? There is nothing more fundamental than we worship Jesus.

So let’s ponder what each of those three words carries for us. What do we mean by “worship”? And what’s significant about that “we”? And why do we say “Jesus,” and not just “God” or “the Father” or “the Trinity”?

And as we do that, we’ll make some connections to the passage we just read in John 12:20–26. Let me give you three reasons why our first and foremost calling is to be “Jesus worshipers.” Let’s start with the word worship.

1. God made you to worship.

Not just us, but you. This is very personal, and all important. If you don’t realize this about yourself, much of your own life will be confusing, and if you do know this, and own it, then far more of your life, and your thoughts and your desires and impulses, will make sense.

God made you. You were created by him. You do not simply exist. You are not matter plus chance plus time. You have a Creator, who had designs in making you, and the overarching design is that your life reflect the worth and value of the Creator. In other words, God made you to make much of him, and (good news!) that through enjoying him, and expressing your heart’s satisfaction in him through words and deeds. 

Or, we might say it this way: God designed you to worship him — in body and in soul. Not only are your eyes and ears, and lips and tongue, and arms and legs, and hands and feet designed to display the value of God in his created world, but also your mind and heart were made to glorify him. God gave us brains and emotions that we might think true thoughts about him, and experience fitting feelings about him, and in doing so, glorify him.

In other words, God wired us to be worshipers. To be human is to have a heart that worships. You will worship someone, or something, or yourself. And the problem with humanity, called sin, is not that we cease to worship but that we turn from God to worship other things. Sin is worship gone wrong. Romans 1 diagnoses our condition like this:

…what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

The 17th century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal put it like this:

There was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present. But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.

In John 12, some Greeks, seeking to fill the infinite abyss, come to Jerusalem to worship. Look at verses 20–22:

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

So, some Greeks show up in the capital city of the Jews. They have come to worship, John says. God made them to worship, and they are seeking. Their hearts are restless, and who knows how far and wide their restless hearts have led them in their quest to find the only one who fills the infinite abyss. 

And now they are very close. They have come to Jerusalem, of all places. In fact, in making this request to one of Jesus’s disciples (the one with the Greek name Philip), they are even closer to the end of their quest than they could have imagined.

Come Hedonistically

Let’s make something clear about worship, about these Greeks coming to Jerusalem, and about us gathering here together this morning. Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

“Draw near” is the language of worship. With hungry souls, we draw near physically to this building — or for them, to Jerusalem — but most importantly we draw near in our hearts and minds, that is, in our attention and focus. We turn our minds and hearts, and our words of praise and postures of worship, to God. And Hebrews 11:6 says the kind of drawing near that pleases God is the kind that not only believes he exists but that “he rewards those who seek him.” He fills the abyss. He satisfies the soul. He feeds the hungry in spirit. 

God is pleased by those who take their longing, restless, aching, thirsty souls and draw near to him for satisfaction. He is pleased by worshipers who draw near, starved for him. Worshipers who come hedonistically. The heart of worship is satisfaction in God. And the praises we offer, and hands we raise, in worship on Sunday, and the words we speak and lives we offer all week, these are not mere expressions of hearts satisfied in God but, as C.S. Lewis says, they are the appointed consummation of our joy in God. Our emptiness, and his filling, lead us to fullness of joy in worship. We worship not just because we’re satisfied but to be fully satisfied.

God made you to glorify him by enjoying him forever. Or, we might say, God made you to worship.

2. God made us to worship together. 

These Greeks do something very natural by coming to a designated place of worship at a designated time of worship. They “went up to worship at the feast” in Jerusalem. Not only do they personally long for God, and want to know him and appreciate him and praise him, but something in them longs to gather with others to worship together. The Creator is worthy not only of individual, private acknowledgement and reverence, but corporate, public praise and worship.

Corporate worship is a public act. The God-given human longing is not only to worship God in our hearts privately, and in our homes privately, but we want to gather with others to declare our praise together. We were made for corporate worship.

In corporate worship, we hear together God’s word read and taught and preached, and we respond together in praise, in thanks, in song, in prayer, and at the Table, and in the giving of our finances, and in giving our attention and effort to strengthen each other in our common faith.

And in it all, remember the essence of worship: satisfaction in God. Our lives as individual worshipers seek satisfaction in God, and we gather in corporate worship to seek our satisfaction in him together.

God made us to glorify him by enjoying him together.

3. God made us to worship Jesus.

I said earlier that these Greeks speak better than they know when they say to Philip, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” They have come to Jerusalem to worship. They have come seeking the true God, and to fill the infinite abyss in their souls. And apparently, these worshipers hear about this Jesus, and they are intrigued. They’d like to meet him. 

So, they approach the disciple with a Greek name. And Philip tells Andrew (another Greek name), and they ask Jesus about it — and Jesus pivots in a way no one is expecting. And we hear no more about these Greeks after this. Their coming, and their inquiring after Jesus, signals something for Jesus. Look at verses 23–24. Jesus answered them,

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Now, where in the world did that come from? Simple yes or no, Jesus: some Greeks are asking to see you. You willing to see them? And Jesus says “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” What’s that?

First, what is this “hour”? So far in the Gospel of John we’ve heard several times that it’s not yet been “his hour.” 

At the wedding feast at Cana in John 2, they run out of wine, and Jesus’s mother comes to him, and he says, “what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). 

And in John 7, Jewish officials are seeking to arrest him, but John reports, “no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come” (John 7:30). 

And again in John 8:20: “no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.” 

But some Greeks arrive in Jerusalem, to worship at the feast, and they want to see Jesus, and now he says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Greeks have come to worship. That is, Gentiles, the nations, the non-Jews are here, like the magi, and they’ve come to worship.

It's a signal. Some Greeks are here for worship, which means Jesus’s climactic hour has come. The prophecies are coming true! The nations are coming to worship Israel’s God. So the Messiah, then, must be drawing near to the moment when he will complete the work the Father sent him to do. His hour has come to go to the cross.

This, of course, is not the answer they were expecting — the disciples or the Greeks. However, their wish to see Jesus has not been rejected but redirected. It was an admirable wish, deeply so. They came to Jerusalem to worship, and they asked to see Jesus. They are on the trail — and if they remain in Jerusalem, they will soon see the most important sight of him, crushing as it at first will be. 

If you want to see me, Jesus says, my time has come to be seen, to be lifted up, to be “glorified” — which will not mean leading a charge to overthrow Rome and seize the crown, but it will mean laying down my life. Like a grain of wheat, I give myself to die first — then I will bear much fruit, among Jews and Greeks.

These Greeks who have come to worship, will indeed see him, and get a sight far greater than they could have anticipated or imagined — far more horrible, and far more wonderful. They will witness the depths of his humiliation that will prove to be the very height of the glory of the one who truly is Israel’s long-promised heir to the throne, as shocking and unexpected as it will be.

And as they see him — in his divine and human excellencies, united in one person, and culminating in the cross and its aftermath — they will have all they wished and more in the request they made expressing the deepest longing of every human heart.

The desire to see Jesus was far more profound than these Greeks could have guessed. They wished for amazement in the presence of someone great. And what they got instead, at the cross, anticipated the heavenly vision the apostle John would receive while in exile on the isle of Patmos.

In John’s vision, in Revelation 5, none in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, is at first found worthy to open the scroll of God’s divine decrees of judgment (for his enemies) and salvation (for his people). Sensing the weight and importance of the moment, John begins to weep — perhaps even wondering if his Lord, the one who discipled him, the one to whom he’s dedicated his life as a witness, is not worthy. One of heaven’s elders then turns to him, and declares, Revelation 5:5,

“Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Having heard this, John turns to look — and what does he see? Not a lion. He says in verse 6:

“I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes . . . .”

We might wrongly assume this was a disappointment, that John, hearing “Lion,” experienced some letdown to see a Lamb. But that is not how John reports it. This Lamb is no loss. The Lamb is gain. The one who was just declared to be the only one worthy is no less the Lion of Judah. He is also the Lamb who was slain. 

The Lion became Lamb without ceasing to be Lion. He did not jettison his lionlike glories, but added to his greatness the excellencies of the Lamb. He is a Lamb standing — not dead, not slumped over, not kneeling, but alive and ready — with fullness of power (seven horns), seeing and reigning over all (seven eyes).

And so it will be for the worshiping Greeks in John 12 who wished to meet Jesus. Whatever disappointment they experienced in the moment in not having their immediate request fulfilled, and whatever devastations they endured on Good Friday as they watched in horror, it all changed on the third day. Then their desire was answered beyond their greatest dreams — not just to see Messiah, but God himself, the very Lion of heaven.

And not just divine, but the added lamblike glory of our own human flesh and blood, and that same blood spilled to not only show us glory but invite us into it — Jew and Gentile, Greek and Barbarian.

Which leads to that last question we asked at the beginning: Why, as a church, do we say “we worship Jesus,” and not just “God” or “the Father” or “the Trinity”?

One, worshiping Jesus is not at odds with worshiping the Father or “the Trinity.” No one is happier when we “worship Jesus” than the Father (and the Spirit!). And no one’s happier for us to “worship the Father” than Jesus, our mediator. 

Here in John 12 alone, Jesus speaks of himself being “glorified” — which will mean, among other things, his being exalted to the place of worship. And then he prays in verse 28, “Father, glorify your name.” Then the voice comes from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” So, who’s being glorified, worthy of worship, Jesus or the Father? This is a glimpse of the back and forth we find throughout the New Testament.

But why would we say Jesus, and not the Father? There is a special fitness in humans worshiping the God who became human, and died as human, and rose as human, and lives forever, as human, for our eyes to see, and ears to hear, and words to praise and eternal lives to exalt. Jesus is the litmus test of true worship.

We were indeed made for God — with an infinite abyss only God can fill, with a restlessness of soul satisfied in nothing less than the divine. And even more particularly, we were made for the God-man — for the greatness of God himself who draws near, in our own flesh and blood and circumstances, in the person of Christ. The lionlike greatness of God in his divine glory is sweetened, deepened, and accented by his lamblike nearness and human excellencies.

So, we exist to glorify God by enjoying Jesus together forever. We exist to worship Jesus.

See and Savor Jesus

As we come to the Table, let me ask a practical question: What is currently fueling or draining your ability to see and savor Jesus?

You exist to worship Jesus. What’s helping that? What’s blocking that? 

As we receive these emblems of his body and blood, and so encounter him in faith, and nourish our souls in him, let’s consecrate ourselves afresh to him.

This is our first and foremost calling: “we worship Jesus.”

So today we’re starting a new sermon series that’s gonna go on for the next six weeks, and the title of the series is: “We Are Cities Church.” The goal is simply to tell you who we are.

The reason we wanna do that is because, going back to last year, the pastors recognized that God was bringing our church into a new season, and so we took that as an opportunity to hit pause and begin a process of re-clarifying our mission and vision as a church. We wanted to get down to the foundations and ask, in a fresh way, who has Jesus called us to be and what does he want us to do?

So this series is about that — and if you’ve been around Cities for a while, I don’t expect that you’re gonna be surprised by anything you hear … if you’re brand-new, I’m excited for you to meet our church … and if you’re semi-new, I hope this might fill in some gaps for you. 

Today I’m talking about our mission and we’re gonna be looking at Colossians Chapter 1, verse 28. We’re gonna focus on just this one verse, and I’d like to ask you to do whatever you gotta do to get this verse in front of your eyes. 

Father in heaven, thank you for the Holy Scriptures, and thank you that we have them! In our hands, we have your very word to us, breathed out by you. Your word is “more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb” — and we know that your word is for our good. So, by your Holy Spirit, we ask, speak to us, in Jesus’s name, amen. 

Colossians Chapter 1, verse 28. Everybody look at verse 28.

Verse 28 starts with the word “him” — Paul is talking about Jesus:

“[Jesus] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

Now when it comes to the mission of our local church, there are at least three things we learn here from the apostle Paul, and #1 is this …

1. Know the play you’re running. 

So when I was a kid I played a little football — I didn’t play a lot of football, just a little  — I pretty much peaked in 8th grade. But that’s when I played for the Four Oaks Middle School Cardinals, and I was the starting quarterback (and the only reason I was the quarterback, I think, is because I could say “down, set, hut” in the deepest voice). Because it really didn’t matter who the quarterback was. We ran an I-Formation and every play I was either giving the ball to Melvin, my tailback, or to Jason, my fullback.

We ran a true smash-mouth offense and it worked. All we had to do was get at least 2½ yards every carry, and we did most of the time. We were pretty good, but we were good not because we had the best talent, but because we knew our game. We knew the play we were running.

And I think we see the same thing in the example of Paul in verse 28. We’re gonna look closely at verse 28, but first let me back up a second and show you how we get there.

Paul’s Mission Strategy

Before verse 28, in verses 24–27, Paul says that God has given him an assignment for the sake of the church. God has called Paul to make “the word of God fully known” (verse 25). What used to be a mystery is now out in the open (verse 27) — and it’s “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 

Now remember Paul is saying this to the church at Colossae. Paul is saying to this Gentile church that an amazing thing has happened: It’s that Christ is in you, Gentiles! Christ, the Jewish Messiah, is a global Savior. He’s not just the hope of Israel, but he is the hope of all nations — Jesus is for everybody from anywhere who trusts in him.

And when you trust him, you become united to him — His Spirit lives inside of you and you become so joined to Jesus that all of his benefits as the Son of God become your benefits: you are declared righteous before God; you are forgiven for all your sins, you are adopted as a child of God with a future. And you have the hope of glory, which means, you will be with God in his joy forever.

God has sent Paul on a mission to make that known! That’s verses 24–27, and then in verse 28, Paul tells us what he does because of this mission. I think we can call verse 28 Paul’s mission strategy. 

And if you’ll bear with me for a minute, I want to explain a little distinction between the idea of “mission” and “mission strategy.” 

Think about it like this: A mission is what you’re sent to do; and a mission strategy gets into how you do it.

Now we know as a church that our mission is to make disciples of Jesus. This is what Jesus has sent us to do. He tells us this in Matthew 28, the Great Commission, that because he has all authority over all things, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” That’s what we’re called to do as a local church and it’s non-negotiable.

And now when it comes to how we do that — when it comes to our strategy — we’re supposed to learn from the apostle Paul. This is how the New Testament is set up: in the Gospels we have the life of Jesus and his commission to us; in Acts we see that commission happening and the gospel advancing; and then in the letters we get into the details of gospel transformation and practice.

“Christ Clear for Christlikeness”

Look again at what Paul says in verse 28. Because of Paul’s mission to make the word of God fully known — to witness to Jesus and make disciples — he has a simple strategy. It’s a straightforward action-purpose. He does an action for a desired purpose.

ACTION: Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom.

PURPOSE: So that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Do you see that? Action-purpose. 

Paul is saying I preach Jesus for the purpose of making mature Christians.

Or another way I think we could summarize Paul’s mission strategy is to say: 

Make Christ clear for Christlikeness. 

Now there are more details and tactics when it comes to how we work this out, but I want you to see that this is the basic strategy — for Paul and for us. For our mission to make disciples of Jesus, the most important thing we can do is show people Jesus, and the highest goal we could aim for is that everyone become like Jesus.

And it’s not complicated. One of the things I love about this strategy is that we don’t have to be superstars to do it. All we need is 2½ yards every carry — we just need to know the play we’re running. It’s been the same play we’ve been running since the very beginning. 

Back on January 18, 2015, in our very first church service together, I preached this verse, Colossians 1:28.

In that first sermon, I highlighted two things: I called it our work and our goal. I said our work is to proclaim Christ and our goal is for us and others to be complete in Christ.

Christ clear for Christlikeness — same thing. That’s the play we’ve been running, that’s the play we’re going to keep running. Church, know the play. 

Here’s the second lesson from Colossians 1:28 …

2. Remember Jesus is the ultimate difference-maker.

1928 was a rough year for the St. Louis Cardinals (we got swept by the Yankees in the World Series and we’ve had hard feelings ever since), but ’28 was a great year for moms.

Because in July of 1928, a man named Otto Rohwedder from Iowa, finally debuted this machine he had spent years inventing. It was a power-driven, multi-bladed bread slicer. 

And it was shocking. It could take an entire loaf of bread, and in seconds, it could make a beautiful block of perfectly identical bread slices each about an inch thick. It was incredible, and of course what do you do with bread like that? You bag it, distribute it, and sell it.

Within two years, bags of pre-sliced bread were in grocery stores all over the country, and the first major brand to do this called itself Wonder Bread. And there’s no doubt how big a deal this was. 

You may not realize this, but your life has been impacted by the bread-slicer. You have never had an experience with bread that was not affected by this machine. This doesn’t mean that you always eat pre-sliced bread, but it means that if you’re not, you know you’re not. Like, if you want unsliced bread, you intentionally have to go out of your way to make that happen. The bread-slicer was a difference maker. 

Centered on Jesus

And in the same way, but on a more cosmic, ultimate level, Jesus is a difference-maker. Here’s what I mean: ever since Jesus came into this world two-thousand years ago, nobody has been able to think about God or this world the same way. 

Now this doesn’t mean that everybody believes in Jesus, but it does mean that you cannot ignore him. 

You either believe Jesus to be who he says he is, OR you have to come up with some theory that denies him (and those theories have been attempted since he was actually on the ground here). 

So there have always been only two options: you either believe Jesus OR you don’t believe Jesus — and if you don’t believe Jesus then you know you don’t believe him. You intentionally do not believe him.

Whatever you do, you can’t ignore Jesus — the magnitude of his claims and reach of his impact are both too great. Nobody has changed the world like Jesus has and said the things that Jesus said. So you can’t side-step him. Everybody must make a decision about Jesus.

And because this is true, it makes sense that our mission strategy centers on him. It’s him we proclaim.

And look, I’ll tell you, the pressure is always to make it about something else. We’ve felt that here at times over the last ten years. You’ve probably felt it in your relationships, with your friends and family and co-workers.

I was having lunch with a friend last week over at Macalester and we were brainstorming the idea of starting a Bible study on campus, and he said Well, you know, the thing is with college students is that they just wanna talk about the issues. “The issues.” And I get it, but here’s the thing: Jesus is real.

We can get to the issues, but the question that every thinking person has to deal with first is Who is this man? Who is Jesus?

So we talk about him. What we need is to see him and keep seeing him, and to show him and keep showing him — first and foremost, beginning, middle, end. Everything absolutely comes back to Jesus Christ. Who do you believe he is? 

Jesus is the ultimate difference-maker, and so Paul says, Him we proclaim. 

Sweeping and Building

And then Paul explains more of what that means. He says it means that he warns everyone and he teaches everyone with all wisdom. Warning and teaching. 

That word for warning is sometimes translated “admonish.” It’s the idea of putting things in order, or clearing things up. The word “teaching” is the idea of positive construction. It means we’re building something. And there’s an important dynamic between these two. 

It reminds me of when I was a kid … my dad used to bring me to his job sites and pay me to sweep the floor. And there was a little bit of a process involved. The first thing I had to do was get rid of all the big leftover material, and then I got the broom, and the whole idea was to make the place ready for the next subcontractor, so that construction could continue. Because, see, something was being built.

And this happens when we proclaim Christ. Sometimes the reality of Jesus means that people (including us!) need to do some sweeping. I wrote an article for you two weeks ago called “The Vital Unmasking” and it was about the Holy Spirit’s ministry to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It’s that if we’re trusting in false saviors, we need them to be exposed, right? 

No alternative to faith in Jesus ultimately works, and if you’re not trusting in Jesus, you’re trusting in an alternative. We need the Holy Spirit to convict us of that (which he can do even right now; you can ask him to do that). If you’re here this morning and you know you’re not a Christian, you are trusting in some kind of fake savior and that doesn’t end well. The proclamation of Jesus warns you. He’s the only way.

Sometimes we’re sweeping, but then we’re also building. We’re seeing Jesus, and then we’re seeing all of life in the light of Jesus. We’re learning how to build the house of our lives on the rock, because the rain will fall, the floods will come, and wind will blow, but our house will stand because it’s founded on the rock. That’s a big part of what we’re doing in our Sunday morning classes and in The Cities Institute (mark your calendars, November 1). We’re building, teaching. 

This is our strategy: Make Christ clear. 

It really does all come back to him. Jesus is the ultimate difference-maker. 

Third thing we learn from Paul for our mission strategy …

3. Aim for Christlikeness from the heart.

This is more on the purpose, the goal. Paul says we proclaim Christ “so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” That means to be complete in Christ, to be grown-up in Christ. Paul is talking about Christian maturity — true Christlikeness.

And I wonder what you think when you hear the word Christlikeness? What does it mean to be Christlike?

If you’re like me, you probably think that to be Christlike means to act like Christ. It’s about what we do, how we behave. I used to think that, and to give credit where credit is due, the writings of Dallas Willard have really helped me here. 

Willard pointed out something so obvious that it feels crazy to think we could miss this — He points out that Jesus teaches that the heart is the center of the human person. Jesus says that our sinful behaviors flow out of our hearts. That’s the problem. 

So then, when we imagine Christlikeness, how can we imagine anything less than our hearts being transformed? 

Willard says conformity to Christ must arise out of an inner transformation. The main goal, then, of Christlikeness, is not that we act like Christ, but it’s that our hearts become like Christ’s heart. 

I don’t want to just appear like Jesus, but I want my heart to be like Jesus’s heart, which means my thoughts and my feelings and my dispositions and my choices become what Jesus’s would be if he were in my shoes, because they’re flowing from my heart which has been made like his. 

This is heaven. Does anybody want heaven? In heaven, we will be transformed to be like Jesus, not just in how we look, but in our truest self.

And get this: how God effects that transformation is not by just zapping us and making it happen out of nowhere, but it’s a work that he is doing now, a little bit at a time, by the Holy Spirit. 

And we want it. For this we toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within us. There is grace-fueled, Holy-Spirit empowered effort to reach this purpose, for all of us, for everyone. For me and for you. That’s the purpose of making Christ clear. Christ clear for Christlikeness. 

It’s like what the Scottish pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne said (in his 20s). He prayed, “Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be.” We want to be as Christlike as is possible this side of heaven.” Christlikeness from the heart.

Joyful Disciples of Jesus

Now imagine that … Take a second here and picture yourself being more Christlike from the heart. If you are that kind of Christlike, how are you? What are you like? … picture yourself.

Now I would bet that a lot of you have just pictured yourself as having less fun and being more serious.

Now why do we think that?

Did you not know that God is happy?

In his presence there is fullness of joy. At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. We have the glorious gospel of the happy God! And if we are made to be more like him, doesn’t that mean that we will be happy, too?

The Bible teaches that God in his essence is love, and therefore, joy. “This is the my beloved Son in whom I’m well-pleased!” — the Father says of Jesus, This is my eternal Son I love, in whom I delight! 

This means that joy is deeper than the universe. We came from joy, and headed back to joy, and that means the more Christlike we become, the more joyful we become. 

This is so fundamental to being a disciple of Jesus, and it’s so important to our church, that we want to be more explicit about this in how we talk and what we do. We want to be and make joyful disciples of Jesus.

What’s New and Coming

This is a new way we want to start talking about our mission. Our mission has always been, and will always be, to make disciples of Jesus. That’s what Jesus tells us to do. And when it comes to what we mean by making disciples, we want to make joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life. 

That’s why we make Christ clear for Christlikeness. And over the next four sermons, we’re going to tell you more about this. There are four aspects to being joyful disciples of Jesus. It means …

We are Jesus worshipers.

We are joyful servants.

We are generous disciplers.

We are welcoming witnesses. 

That is who Jesus has called us to be and then to multiply — That is Cities Church.

Now we come to this Table.

The Table

The Lord Jesus Christ is everything to us, and he has given us this Table to remember him together each week. The bread represents his body broken for us and the cup represents his blood shed for us, and when we come here to eat the bread and drink the cup, him we proclaim. We are making Christ clear to one another — we are saying that Jesus is our hope. We have been saved by him, and we adore him. And if that’s your story this morning, we invite you to eat and drink with us.

Last week, we were doing some work on our basement bathroom, getting ready to host a family of seven. A couple days before the family flew in, we were putting some final touches on the paint and installing a nice vintage mirror Faye thrifted and a couple cute shelves when she noticed that the mat in front of our kitchen sink was unusually wet — like, not the 4-year-old-spilled-her-water-wet, but wetter than that. We hung the mat out to dry and put it down again that night and went to bed. 

The next morning, the same thing. And we noticed that our flooring was beginning to swell and warp. We were dead tired from all the work downstairs, our seven guests were coming in 24 hours, and we now have water coming from we-know-not-where. Well, we now know where — some combination of a dysfunctional dishwasher and a badly configured drain pipe. They ultimately had to rip out the floor, and the sink and part of the wall, the pipe, the dishwasher, a number of our cabinets in the process. 

So we’ve had some low moments this week (tired moments, discouraged moments, wrestling-with-God moments). To be clear, this kind of low is light and momentary compared with what some of you are suffering right now, but we’ve had our low moments, and I’m sharing about them with you because I was stumbling through them while I was preparing to preach these verses — and they ministered to me deeply. And as they ministered to me, I prayed for you — because we all have low moments of various kinds, and so we’re all regularly in need of reviving.

And while the low moment for Israel here was a severe judgment (likely exile), this really is a psalm and a prayer for all our low moments in the Lord. We’re going to look first at our need for revival, then at our hope for revival, and lastly at the fruit of revival. 

Our Need for Revival

Like I mentioned, the central prayer of Psalm 85 is this prayer for revival, for restoration. Verses 4–6:

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

Israel experienced these cycles in the Old Covenant. God would show up with stunning mercy and rescue them from their enemies, like he did in Egypt and at the Red Sea (and then dozens of times after that). Then they would eventually grow comfortable and complacent and start chasing after idols again. Then God would judge them to humble them and lead them to repentance. That’s where we find them here, praying in another valley of judgment. 

And, by God’s grace, they’ve woken up and come to their senses (at least these Sons of Korah have), and so they pray: Restore us again, O God. . . . Revive us. . . . And there’s remarkable faith and power in these prayers. They could have just prayed, “We know we’ve sinned against you, so forgive us,” or “Comfort us,” or “Let us back into the land,” but no they prayed revive us, restore us — literally turn and give us life. Do something inside of us that we can’t do in ourselves. Awaken our weak and wandering faith. Burn away whatever’s keeping us from you. Stir our hearts into flame again. Start a revival right here, between our lungs. 

And they asked him to do something impossible like that because they knew he works those kinds of miracles in human hearts. He’s not just sovereign over forests, thunderstorms, and elections, but he’s sovereign over fears and feelings and faith. The apostle Paul knew this about God and had a painfully low moment, and so he says, 2 Corinthians 1:8–9:

“We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” 

The God over your low moments is a God who raises the dead. Of course he can get you through this. Of course he revive your dull and struggling heart. So pray bigger prayers, prayers like this one, Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Revive my sleepy heart. Revive my aching heart. Revive my wayward heart.

IS GOD ANGRY WITH ME?

Now, before I say more about this reviving God and our hope in him, the question I wrestled with more than any other this week was whether we should still pray verses like verses 4–5:

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

Put away your indignation toward us!

Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

Will you not revive us again. . . .

Does God still get angry with us like this? When we go through low moments in faith, moments of serious trial or doubt or temptation, is God angry with us? Are we tasting indignation in those moments? And there’s three things I want to say to you.

First, if you believe in Jesus — if you’ve been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone — there is therefore now no condemnation for you. Your days of wrath are over. God has already put away his wrath and indignation, once for all, by crushing his Son in your place. We don’t have to wake up and wonder if we’re going to live under wrath today. 

If we belong to Jesus and live in him by faith, we’re living all day, every day under the Father’s grace and mercy and love.

He’s not angry with you like that anymore — I hope you can believe that. He loves you like a father or mother loves a child — even more than good fathers love their children. In Christ, his love doesn’t waver, and his mercies are new every morning. They’re new today. 

Now that’s not to say that our sin doesn’t displease him. It does. And this is the second thing to say here: even beloved, forgiven, no-condemnation children can grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). And so God still disciplines us, like any good Father would, and that discipline is often very painful. But that pain is never wrath. It’s fatherly love. It’s not punishment. It’s a keeping pain, a refining pain. Our low moments, in Christ, are all acts of love meant to lead us to more of him. 

That being said, and this is the third thing, if you’re knowingly persisting in some sin right now, verses like this should make you tremble. Unrepentant sin makes him very angry. It fills him with righteous, violent wrath. Israel’s exile was an awful judgment against their unbelief — and it’s now, here in Psalm 85, a merciful warning to us about what happens when we won’t walk away from sin. Those who are his will never taste his wrath — never — but those who pretend to be his while living in sin have every reason to fear. 

If that’s you, you should pray, “Put away your indignation toward me! Will you be angry with me forever?” Give me faith to finally believe and repent and walk in the light! Give me eyes to see Jesus for who he is — Lord, Savior, and Treasure, a Treasure far more valuable and satisfying than anything sin has ever done for me. And give me courage to finally put my sin to death by your Spirit.

The Hope of Revival

Okay, so we’ve felt Israel’s desperate need for revival here. They’re languishing in exile — spiritually, relationally, emotionally. They’re feeling the consequences of God’s anger, and they know he’s right to be angry. Their suffering isn’t injustice. So what can they appeal to? What can they possibly say to the God they’ve sinned against? They have nowhere to stand now — nowhere but mercy. Verses 7–8:

Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

and grant us your salvation.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints. . . .

We know how wicked we’ve been. We know we don’t deserve your forgiveness and comfort, but we’re asking for it anyway, because we know who you are. You’re the God of steadfast love. You’re the saving God. And so even while our lives are anything but peaceful — even while wars rage and our enemies make our lives miserable — we trust that you will speak peace to your people, your saints. 

Where does that confidence come from? They can have this kind of confidence, despite how far they’ve strayed from God and how much they deserve his judgment, because this God has revealed himself to be a certain kind of God. At Mount Sinai, God passed by Moses and declared to his people, Exodus 34:6–7 (and we hear these verses all through Psalm 85): 

“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. . . .”

He doesn’t have to be that way with sinners. He would have been totally just to just wipe us all out. But that’s not who he is. Even when he was obviously angry with Israel (and, again, he was right to be angry), the psalmists here knew he would speak mercy again (to those who were truly his). And they knew this, in part, because he had done it so many times before. This is verses 1–3:

Lord, you were favorable to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

You forgave the iniquity of your people;

you covered all their sin. Selah

You withdrew all your wrath;

you turned from your hot anger.

You restored. You forgave. You covered. You withdrew your wrath. You turned away your anger. In other words, we’re not asking you to do something that you haven’t already done for us. And we’re not asking you to be anyone other than who you’ve always been. We’re asking you to be who you’ve been and do what you’ve done — again. 

And when we look back, we have so much more to say than they did, don’t we? Our past is even better than their past, because we know Jesus. They could remember what God did in Egypt, and the wilderness, and Canaan, but we have Bethlehem and Calvary. We can pray:

“Jesus, you came into our world, born in a manger. For our sake, you were obedient to the point of death on a cross, you were pierced for our transgressions, you were crushed for our iniquities, you were wounded so that we might be healed, you were poor so that we could become rich. You suffered, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. And three days later, you rose to conquer death and give us life.”

The Sons of Korah couldn’t say that yet, so they said: You restored. You forgave. You covered. They would have died to pray the kinds of prayers we get to pray, the prayers we pray every day — in Jesus’s name.

And yet you, some of you, you still doubt God’s mercy. You don’t want to doubt his mercy (and you might not even admit that you doubt it). You don’t want to feel all the guilt and shame you carry around with you. And yet — for a hundred different reasons (in your mind, and in your story, and in your family) — it’s so hard to believe he’s like this. I hope this prayer makes that kind of mercy feel possible again. 

Israel had utterly rejected God for the millionth time, they knew they deserved what they were suffering — and they still knew God would be merciful to them. Even now, you will speak peace to your people. I hear God leaning in, through these verses, to say to some of you, Beloved, how much more do I have to do to prove my mercy? God loves to revive the undeserving, yes even you, because he loves to show mercy — it’s who he is.

The Fruit of Revival

We’ve looked now at the need for revival — then and now. We’ve looked at our hope for revival: the merciful God, who raises the dead. With the time we have left, I want to look briefly at three fruits of this kind of revival. When God works this spiritual life and resolve in a people, what happens next? I see at least three kinds of fruit here.

1. JOY

First, this kind of revival fuels our joy. This is a pretty wild way for sinners to pray, really. God, we’re suffering right now because you’re angry with us. And you’re right to be angry with us because we’ve rebelled against you — blatantly and persistently. But we’re asking you to forgive us anyway, and not just forgive us, but to make us really, really happy. “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” 

How can they pray like that! How can they sin like they have and then turn around and ask for joy? Because they know that God wants them to be happy. That’s the only way to make sense of this verse: We believe you’ll be willing to revive us because we know you want us to rejoice in you. And he does! That’s the kind of God we have. It’s literally too good to be true, but the holy God of the universe is personally, sovereignly, and eternally invested in making you happy. Has anyone known a god like this? He doesn’t just want an obedient people — he’s not looking for slaves who will do what he says — no he wants his people to be as happy as humanly possible in him.

And, notice, they pray specifically for a joy in God. “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” In other words, this isn’t the kind of rejoicing we did when the plumber fixed our leak this week. Don’t get me wrong, we were all kinds of happy that the floor was dry, and we were thankful for dear William and the good work he did, but this is different. Yes, God promises to provide relief and establish peace for his people, but they don’t only rejoice in him for what he does. He is their exceeding joy. We heard this last week, in Psalm 84, didn’t we?

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O LORD of hosts!

My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God. . . .

A day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

Find the best circumstances, in the most beautiful place on earth, with the very best people, and they’d a thousand times rather be with God. Happiness, as Pastor Jonathan told us, is getting to be with Jesus. Jesus himself says, John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” In other words, I want you to be as happy as humanly possible — joy to the full — like I am.

So, as we pray for God to revive us, we’re looking for more than relief from suffering, or reconciliation in a relationship, or freedom from temptation. We want greater, fuller joy in him. God wants you to be as happy as you can possibly be, and you’ll only find that much joy in him.

2. FAITHFULNESS

Joy isn’t the only fruit of this God-wrought revival, though. There’s a second fruit, and it’s hiding in verse 8:

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, 

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, 

but let them not turn back to folly. 

Restore us, O Lord, and then don’t let us to turn away from you again. The root Hebrew word for turn back is actually used several times in this psalm: You restored the fortunes (verse 1). You turned from anger (verse 3). Restore us again (verse 4). Will you not revive us again? (verse 6). And then verse 8 (the Hebrew listeners would have heard this word repeated), “but let them not turn back to folly.” You’ve turned and restored us in the past, Lord. We want you to turn back and give us life — and then don’t let us turn back to our sin. Our faithfulness to God is a second fruit of this revival.

Again, this is how far his mercy reaches. He not only forgives us and satisfies us, in Christ, but he also preserves our faith in him and works obedience in us. He has plenty of power to keep us from turning. And so when he gives new faith, or when he revives weak or wandering faith, that faith always produces new life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Where, in your life, are you being lured back into folly? What besetting sins tempt you to turn away from this mercy? Ask God for a revival with resolve — a resolve to reject all the temptations of folly and embrace how he’s called us to spend our short lives here before glory.

3. GLORY

And that leads us to our third fruit: glory. When God revives us like this, we experience greater joy in him and we turn away from sin and temptation (to greater faithfulness) — and so glory fills the land. These are three great fruits of revival: our joy, our faithfulness, and his glory. This last one may be the most encouraging thing I saw all week. Verses 8–9 again,

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

What does that mean? If God gives this kind of revival, and unleashes this kind of joy in us, how would his glory “dwell in the land”? What are the Sons of Korah imagining here? There’s no indication here (that I can see, anyway) that they’re looking for pillars of fire or mountains of smoke. No, I think they’re mainly imagining God’s glory in and among his people. They’re thinking of all the evidences of his presence and power in their relationships, their families, their neighborhoods and workplaces. God will be glorified when his people live out their faith in obedience with joy. “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you . . . and that glory may dwell in our land?” Because when your people are satisfied in all that you are for us, you look great — you get the glory.

And this is what we want to happen in these Cities. We want this to happen all over the world. We want this glory to fill the whole earth as the waters cover the sea (a sensitive picture for us after our water issues the last couple weeks). But that’s what we want — we want glory streaming down and swelling up to fill everything we see and know, and that happens through our faith-filled rejoicing in God. 

The Kiss at the Table

When the Sons of Korah kneeled down to ask for mercy, they sang one of the most beautiful pictures in all of Scripture, verse 10,

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; 

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

It’s beautiful because it’s scandalous. When it comes to sinners, how can righteousness and peace ever meet, much less kiss? God is perfectly righteous — he never does wrong, excuses wrong, or overlooks wrong — holy, holy, holy. And we’ve all sinned, even this week, even this morning. And any sin, even one, against a holy God deserves the fullness of his wrath in hell. It would be evil for God to simply speak peace over our wickedness. And this brings us to the table. 

Righteousness and peace meet in Jesus. They come together, like two massive beams, at the cross. And they don’t just meet — they don’t just reluctantly agree to work together for a couple years — no, they kiss. There’s no tension or distance between these two, not when they meet in this God, in this gospel. They kiss, for all who believe, beneath the broken body and poured out blood of Jesus. Because of Jesus, God’s not angry with you anymore. He stands ready to forgive you, to revive you, and to fill your hearts to bursting with joy, all for his glory.

Do y’all know why people go to the State Fair? … Because they want to be happy.

Y’all know why people don’t go to the State Fair … Because they want to be happy.

We were at the fair last night, and it won’t be the last time we go. I tend to enjoy the fair. I love that it’s called the “Great Minnesota Get-Together” — because it does that. We live in a day when there’s so much division; it’s amazing that we can still be brought together … for food on sticks. We all love the food! We at least have that in common, right? 

We actually have a lot more in common than that. In fact, did you know that the longing of every single human heart is basically the same? 

Every human being, most fundamentally, desires to be happy. This is without exception — and you don’t take my word for it! This is the repeated observation of the world’s greatest philosophers all throughout human history. 

Those who have thought most deeply about humanity and what we really want, they all agree that the ultimate motivation for everything we do is our own happiness, whether that means going to the fair or not going to the fair. We might do different things, but those different things each have the same goal. We all want to be happy.

I know that about you. I know you want to be happy.

And this morning, if you’re willing, I’d like to tell you how you can be happy. We see it here in Psalm 84. And it’s straightforward. 

Three different times in this psalm the word “blessed” or “happy” is used. Right away, I want you to go ahead and see this in verses 4, 5, and 12:

Verse 4, Blessed (or happy) are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!

Verse 5, Blessed (or happy) are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Verse 12, O Lord of hosts, blessed (or happy) is the one who trusts in you!

These are beatitudes like in Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. The psalmist is telling us the way to supreme blessedness. He’s saying: Hey, here is real happiness! Happiness is found in three ways.

And that’s what I want to show you in the sermon: Three truths about what happiness is. We’re going to look at each one, but first let’s pray:

Father in heaven, this morning we gather here in your joy. Would you shine upon us? Speak to our hearts. Show us your glory. In Jesus’s name, amen.

In Psalm 84, we learn …

1. Happiness is getting to be with Jesus.

Again, we see this in verse 4, and the keyword in verse 4 is the word “house” — “Blessed are those who dwell in your house …” 

Just listen to how many times this idea of “house” is repeated in Psalm 84. The word “house” is in verse 4, but look at verse 1,

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!” 

Then verse 2,

“My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord.”

And the word “courts” and “house” are mentioned again in verse 10. 

“Altars” are mentioned in verse 3. 

Then verse 7 mentions “appearing before the God in Zion.” 

Different words are used but it’s all the same idea. The theme here is the presence of God, and at this time in Israel’s history, God’s presence would have been in the temple. The temple was an actual building built by King Solomon in 950BC — and it was the focus of Israel’s worship because within the temple, in the holy of holies, is where the ark of the covenant stayed, and that represented the presence of God. So when the Israelites thought about God’s presence they thought about the temple.

So for us, in Psalm 84, we should think:

God’s presence = the temple; The temple = God’s presence.

But now why is Psalm 84, all of a sudden, focusing on this? 

84 in Context

Okay, well remember what we’ve seen in the previous psalms, going all the way back to Psalm 73. From Psalm 73 to Psalm 83, they’re all Psalms of Asaph — Psalm 84 is a psalm of the Sons of Korah — but if we were to go back and look at the Psalms of Asaph, from 73–83, we’d notice that the theme is God’s judgment on Israel through their enemies. Psalm 73, the first psalm of Asaph, starts with Asaph reveling in the presence of God. In Psalm 73, Asaph says to God,

“I’m continually with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. … For me it is good to be near God.” (vv. 23–24, 28)

The nearness of God is my good — Psalm 73! But then after 73 it’s judgment, judgment, judgment. Israel has rebelled against God, and God judges them by allowing their enemies to triumph over them.

And that was the actual experience of the first readers of this psalm! Remember the individual psalms were all written at different times, but the Book of Psalms was compiled and organized later in Israel’s history when they were in exile. Israel had experienced judgment. The temple, the place of God’s presence, had been destroyed.

In 587BC — just 363 years after the temple was built — the Babylonians, enemies of Israel, came into Jerusalem and demolished the temple. And that’s when God sent Israel his prophets who told of a newer, greater temple that would come in the future (see Ezekiel 40ff). 

And so talk of the temple here in Psalm 84 is meant to be partly a memory of what the temple was. It’s nostalgic. Psalm 84 is put here so that people in exile would read this and think: Wow, those who got to be at the temple were so lucky. 

Psalm 84 is partly about the memory of what the temple was, but it’s mainly about hope in what the new temple will be. This is really important. The topic of the temple in Psalm 84 is pointing to the hope of its restoration. One day God will dwell with his people again. That’s the message here.

Story of the Temple

And this is where we begin to see one of the most central messages in all the Bible: it’s that God will have a people for himself in his presence. God’s people in God’s place.

That’s what the Garden of Eden was. Adam and Eve were God’s people, created in his image to reflect his glory in the world. They lived in God’s presence and were meant to enjoy and expand his presence. But then, because of their sin — what happened? They were exiled from the Garden, banished from God’s presence. 

Then later God chose Abraham, and he told Abraham that he would bless him and make a nation come from him. Then there’s Isaac and Jacob, and Jacob becomes Israel, and he has 12 sons, and they all end up enslaved in Egypt, but God raises up Moses to set them free. Israel becomes a nation, and God leads them out of Egypt as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and God says he’s going to bring them to his own mountain where he’s going to be with them (see Exodus 15:17). And he told them to build the tabernacle where he would meet with them. In Exodus 29:45, God says,

I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

See the point? This is God with his people. The tabernacle was temporary until Solomon built the temple. But the temple was also temporary, because it was destroyed. Now a “Second Temple” was built around 518BC. Herod the Great later renovated that temple around 20BC and it was glorious. It was beautiful, but even that was still temporary. And when Jesus came to Jerusalem, he said as much.

What Jesus Says

Do you remember what Jesus did when he came to the temple? 

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 2, Jesus comes into the temple and turns over tables and wrecks the place. He says, basically, You’ve got it all wrong. And the Jews asked Jesus how he could presume to make such a judgment. And “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’” (John 2:19). 

And the people are confused by this. What in the world is he talking about? It’ll take decades to rebuild this temple. But then John tells us that Jesus was speaking about “the temple of his body” — wait a minute, John. Do you mean Jesus is the temple? Do you mean that Jesus is the presence of God with his people?

Yes, that’s exactly what John means. Because Jesus is the Word of God made flesh to dwell among us. And Jesus did. Remember what Jesus told the woman at the well in John Chapter 4? He said that now the place of worship is neither here nor there, but the place of worship is me. Jesus said it was himself. Jesus says: I’m the temple. I’m the way to God. I’m the place where God dwells. 

Jesus is who the physical temple had been pointing to this whole time. Therefore, Jesus is the ultimate vision of Psalm 84. 

“Blessed are those who dwell in your house” means “Blessed are those who are in God’s presence” which means Blessed are those who get to be with Jesus.

Those are the ones who are happy. Happiness is getting to be with Jesus. 

The Greater Happiness

But, are any of us with Jesus right now?

No.

Now, we know people who are. Kayla is with Jesus right now, but we’re not. Jesus and the “church triumphant” are together in the heavenly dimension, but we’re here, in this world, and that’s why Jesus has sent us his Spirit. His Spirit is our Helper. His Spirit is the minister of hope who lives inside us as the “down-payment” of that greater happiness that is to come. 

So, what does that mean about happiness now?

I love dogs. Not all of us do, I get it, but a dog is my favorite animal, and I enjoy a good dog video. For some reason, I get a lot of dog videos in my feed. The other day I saw this video of a dog in a living room, and on the TV there was a cooking show zoomed in on a pan frying bacon, and this dog was standing at this TV, licking the screen. The dog was licking the bacon on the TV screen — and I thought: “Is that like joy in God in this world?”

We know there is a greater future happiness, but is our happiness now just like a screen version of what will be?

No, because of the Holy Spirit.

Because of the Spirit, our bodies become temples (see 1 Corinthians 6:19), and when we gather together like this, the Spirit is here and active in our midst, and there is real happiness in this. We are not licking a screen. It is possible for us to experience sublime happiness in God in this world because of his Spirit, but even the highest experience of happiness in this world is only a faint foreshadowing of the happiness that we will know when we get to be with Jesus. I mean to really see him … to stand beside him. When, as Revelation 21 tells us, 

Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Real happiness is possible here, but it is only a small, real taste of the fuller happiness to come when we get to be with Jesus. According to Psalm 84, happiness is dwelling in God’s house — happiness is getting to be with Jesus. Fact. 

2. Happiness is wanting to be with Jesus.

This is verse 5:

“Blessed (or happy) are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.”

The keyword in verse 5 is “highways.” It’s the idea of journey and direction. It means you carry in your heart the reality that you’re not yet where you’re meant to be, but you’re headed there, and you want to be there. 

Verse 5 gets at the level of desire — and Psalm 84 is loaded with desire language. Just look at this:

Verse 1, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!” — that’s an assessment. The psalmist is saying that God’s presence is lovely. It’s desirable. 

Verse 2: “My soul longs, yes, faints.” “My heart and flesh sing for joy” (or literally, cry out) — this is not a moderate desire. This is not just some thing the psalmist does on the side as long as other things don’t conflict. The psalmist is positioning his entire life in pursuit of this thing he cannot live without. 

He wants to be in God’s presence so badly that, in verse 3, he envies the birds, and in verse 10 he says it’s better to spend just one day in God’s presence than to spend a thousand days somewhere else. …

Now, a lot of times, a thousand is better than one. Do you want me to give you a $1,000 or $1? But see, in verse 10 it’s not the same currency. The psalmist says it’s better to have one day with God than a thousand days anywhere else. And he’s not done in verse 10 …

Would You Rather?

Any of you like to play party games? I think the best party games are conversation games, and there’s a ton of them out there. Do y’all know the game “Would You Rather?” You ask a question with two options and the person has to choose — Would you rather have the power of flight or the power of invisibility? 

And sometimes there’s a dilemma …

Would you rather get a paper cut every time you turn a page or bite your tongue every time you eat?

Would you rather never go to the state fair ever again or be forced to go all 12 days every fair for the rest of your life?

These are questions that help us get to know one another. We learn what we really care about, our values — that’s what we see in verse 10. 

The psalmist says,

“I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

Now a doorkeeper is a lowly station. Think about it: you’re always right on the edge. You’re making a way for everyone else to get in, but you have to stay put at the door. It would be more comfortable to dwell somewhere. Because then you’re kicked back and relaxed. You have a seat.

You put those two things beside one another — opening doors or sitting relaxed — sitting relaxed is better. But those are not the options here. It’s not the action that makes the difference, it’s the place. 

The psalmist says he’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. He’d rather be lowly and last in line in God’s presence than to be esteemed and comfortable among the wicked.

This is another assessment. He is telling us what he wants. And church, oh that we would want Jesus the way that this psalmist just wants to be near God!

Desire As the Difference-Maker

I can tell you that one of the biggest problems of Christian witness in this country is that too many so-called Christians don’t really want Jesus. We know this exists, but I think it would still be shocking to us how many people claim the name of Christ when it’s convenient, but they’d trade him in with a snap for the trifles of this world. “You want power? Popularity? Influence? Do you want to be liked?”

Whenever we find that there is no “Christian backbone,” it’s because there is no Psalm 84:10-desire.

What do we really want? Do we want Jesus? 

Or do we, like Demas, in love with this present world, really just want other things and we try squeeze Jesus in? (See 2 Timothy 4:10)

See, it’s one thing to know the fact of happiness — it’s getting to be with Jesus — but do you want the fact? Do you want him more than comfort, more than success, more than being liked? Church, Jesus is worthy of our wanting!

See, a big part of the real happiness possible in this world is in the wanting it. Are the highways to Zion in your heart? You’re not home yet, but you’re headed there, and you wanna be there!

That makes a difference in life. It means when you go through the Valley of Baca you make it a place of springs, verse 6. That’s a desert land. It’s where things are difficult, and there’s not a lot of fruit. But even there, you have living water, and you know you are going to be with him. Happiness is wanting to be with Jesus. 

3. Happiness is trusting that Jesus wants to be with you. 

This is verse 12:

“O Lord of hosts, blessed (or happy) is the one who trusts in you!”

This is not a generic trust, but it’s trust in God as he has revealed himself. This is trusting, verse 11, that God is our sun and shield, that he bestows favor and honor, that he does not withhold anything good from those who walk uprightly — that is, his people who trust him. God is good and he does good. That’s the basis of this trust. And the psalmist is even more specific in verses 8–9.

“In Jesus’s Name”

Most of Psalm 84 is all statements; verses 8–9 are the only petitions. The psalmist is asking something of God, verse 8: “O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!”

Now in verse 11, the psalmist says that God is our shield. Here in verse 9, he is asking God to behold his shield, who is the anointed. Do you see that?

In that first line of verse 9 he says: “Behold our shield, O God.” …

Then he restates that same petition in the second line of verse 9. “Behold our shield, O God” as in “Look on the face of your anointed.” 

And the anointed one, in the Book of Psalms, is the Messiah. The psalmist is asking God to hear him, to help him, by looking at the Messiah, in reference to the Messiah. This is the Old Testament way of praying “in Jesus’s name”!

We don’t generically trust God, and we don’t generically pray to God, but we trust that God is good and we pray that God does good through the Messiah Jesus. Jesus is the one through whom we experience God’s favor and blessing. All the goodness that is mentioned in verse 11, and all the goodness that we could hope for from God, comes to us through Jesus. That is what we are believing when we say in our prayers “in Jesus’s name.” We’re saying, 

Hear me, Father! Do good to me! By looking at your Son! Jesus is my shield. He is my security! He is my trust! And all your promises to me are Amen in him!

In Psalm 84, Jesus is the one the temple is pointing to, and Jesus is the object of our trust. Happy is the one who trusts in Jesus.

What Jesus Desires

And there’s more.

You know, a lot of times when we think about our faith, we think about it from our perspective. We think about our faith in Jesus from our side of faith. But I think it’s also important to know that Jesus, on his side of our faith, he’s not indifferent to us. 

Now, if he was just an idea — if Jesus was just a set of truths and guidelines — then of course that doesn’t have any relational reciprocity. But remember Jesus is real. He’s a person. We have a real relationship. We want to be with him and he wants to be with us.

Can you believe that? … Some of us can’t. … But don’t brush this aside. 

Listen, I can show you a conversation that Jesus has had about you. In the Gospel of John again, Jesus was praying to God the Father, and in John 17 he says, 

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (v. 24)

Jesus has a desire. He wants something. He tells the Father that he wants us to be with him. You! Jesus wants you to be with him where he is, in his glory, in the fullness of his joy. 

And he wants you to know that he wants you to be with him, which is why he put this in the Bible. 

And this really is vital to happiness in this world. It’s central to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s love poured into our hearts (Romans 5:5), and when Paul prays for us in Ephesians 3 he prays that we would have the Spirit’s power to know the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:17–19). The power of God in us means we know the love of Jesus.

It’s true, in the most profound way … Jesus loves you.

And trusting him to love you is happiness. Blessed are you if you can sing: 

Jesus loves me, this I know,

For the Bible tells me so.

Happiness is trusting that Jesus really means it when he says he wants you to be with him. 

The Way to Happiness

We all want to be happy, we have that in common. And Psalm 84 shows us the way of happiness:

Blessed are those who dwell in God’s house!

Blessed are those in whose heart are the highways to Zion!

Blessed are those who trust in God!

Which means …

1. Happiness is getting to be with Jesus.

2. Happiness is wanting to be with Jesus. 

3. Happiness is trusting that Jesus wants to be with you.

Lord Jesus, everything that you have said is true. We’ve talked a lot about you in Psalm 84, and now I want to talk to you. Because you know every heart in here. You know all the details of everything we’ve got going on. And Jesus, Master, would you create in us a greater happiness in you? By your Spirit, here in this world, make us to comprehend more of your love for us. Deepen our joy, in your name, amen.

As a kid, my favorite part about school was recess. Don’t get me wrong, I liked school. I liked learning. But I liked playing even more. Now, when it came to recess, my friends and I almost always ended up deciding between one of two games to play together — football or kill the carrier. These two games are very different from one another.

In football, you have an even amount of people on both teams — half who are trying to tackle you, half who are trying to block for and defend you. Now, one team may end up with bigger kids than the other team, or faster kids than the other team, but the numbers themselves are always an even split: Six on six. Seven on seven. And so on.

Kill the carrier is different, because in kill the carrier the moment you pick up the ball, everyone on the field is your enemy. The kids to your right, to your left, in front of you and behind you, each one of them has one object in mind the moment that ball touches your hands — kill the carrier, which is now you. And within a matter of seconds, that object is typically accomplished as you find yourself flatly pressed to the ground, face to the dirt, and anywhere from 10-15 of your closest friends smothered on top of you. 

My vote was always for football. Because being surrounded by enemies did not make me feel strong. Did not make me feel at peace. But made me feel vulnerable, and weak, and in need of much help. 

Psalm 83 is a Psalm about a people surrounded by enemies. A people in need of much help. A people whose enemies did not mean to merely smother them, but annihilate them and wipe them from the face of the earth. Which is why Psalm 83 begins as it does:

“O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!”  

Following that initial cry for help, we’re going to see the Psalmist do three things. First, he’s going to provide the reason he’s asking God for help. Then, he’s going to make his request to God — “God, this is how I’m asking you to help us.” Lastly, he’s going to explain his hoped-for result. “God, this is what I want to have happen as the result of you answering my prayer. Reason for God’s help, request for God’s help, result of receiving God’s help. Let’s pray and ask God to help us.

Alright, so what is the reason for the Psalmist’s cry for help? What’s the reason he prays: “O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!”? We’ll start with verse 2:

Reason for Prayer

“For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.”

Notice the vertical dimension of these words. The problem, first and foremost, is that these people are enemies of God. It’s first a vertical problem. “Your enemies (O God) make an uproar; those who hate you (O God) have raised their heads.” 

And right off the bat, we might wonder, “What could possibly lead to such insanity?” For a people to “raise their heads” against God. We get that imagery, right? “Raise their heads.” Like a rebellious child to his parents, or a defiant soldier to his captain. It’s a posture of opposition. Of insolence. And, in this case, insanity. Like a bunch of toy soldiers lining up against a sixty-ton tank. What could lead to such insanity? 

Hate. Hate could cause a people to do something like that. And I fear that we are going to miss the significance of that word here in verse 2. I fear that because of our immersion into a world that daily disregards and defies God, that we’ll simply skip over that word “hate” without even batting an eye. Brothers and sisters, don’t miss the outrage of what’s being communicated here. 

This Psalmist is saying these people hate God. “Those who hate you have raised their heads.” There is no greater evil in all the world than the evil expressed in that short phrase — “hate God.” And if our jaw is not ready to drop upon seeing those words (hate God), then we need to recalibrate to reality. What this verse is saying when it comes to the God who made this world, and upholds this world, and loves this world, and gave up his only Son for this world, these people hate him. 

There is nothing more dark and evil than that in all the world. Nothing. I mean, you might be able to find someone who hates your habits, hates your stuff, hates your politics, hates your morals, maybe even hates you — and yet not one of those hates, not one of them, holds a candle to the human hatred of God himself. There is no worse condition in all the world than having a heart that hates its Maker.

Hatred for God’s People

Now, it follows, that if a certain people hates God, they’re going to hate the people who worship God as well. So verses 3-8 should come as no surprise — flowing from the fount of hatred for God is a hatred for God’s people. And, as we see, it is a united hatred.

Look with me at verse 3,

“They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones.”

Again in verse 5,

“For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant.”

Their shared hatred for God and his people leads, as it were, to a cooperative effort. One aimed at total annihilation. Verse 4,

“They say, ‘Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!’”

Total annihilation. Entire nations, linking arms, bound for the blood of God’s treasured ones, and as much blood as possible. 

Now, to get a sense for the scale of this mounting opposition, the Psalmist lists the names of these enemy nations in verses 5-8 — Ten nations in total. And if we had more time together this morning, we could go through each one of these and note the backstory of the tension between these particular nations and God’s people. As it is, we don’t have time for that, and the backstory is not really the main point here anyway. The main point is this: Israel, God’s people, are surrounded.

See if you were to take a map of the world at this time, position Jerusalem (the Land of God’s people) right in the center, you could plot out these other nations and come to find that they form a ring all round Jerusalem. Enemies on all sides — that’s the point. God’s people, in other words, have nowhere to run. Nowhere to turn. Nowhere to go, except to God who rules over all. 

So, that’s what the Psalmist does. He goes to God. Lays out the reason for his alarm, and makes his request to God. 

Request

Beginning in verse 9, we can see that the Psalmist’s request is founded upon the pages of history — all the times in which God’s people were in need, and all the times God came to their rescue. Specifically, he cites two scenes from history — both from the book of Judges.

The first one involves Midian. You see it there in verse 9?

“Do to them as you did to Midian.”

To which we might ask, “What did God do to Midian?” Well, he embarrassed them is what he did. He not only defeated them but humiliated, embarrassed them in the process. See God’s people at that time had an army of 22,000 men. That’s a good size army, don’t you think?  Well, God didn’t. Instead, he whittled that army down to a tiny remnant of only 300 men. He then equipped that army for battle against mighty Midian with clay jars and trumpets. He directed them to then go and surround Midian in the middle of the night, smash a bunch of the jars, blow a bunch of trumpets, make a really loud noise and hold their torches up in the air. They did it. Guess what happened?

Midian’s mighty soldiers woke up in a panic, and assuming their fellow comrades all round them to be the enemy, grabbed their swords and starting killing each other. Midian was routed that day. Their four leaders — Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah, and Zalmunna (you can see their names listed in verse 11), were killed as well. Midian was not only destroyed that day, but humiliated in the process.

The second story involving Canaan, and its king Jabin and his leading commander Sisera (you can see their names listed in verse 9), is very similar. Not only was their army routed in battle, but their commander Sisera, (valiant warrior as he was) turned tail and ran from the battle in fear. He sought shelter in the home of a woman named Jael. He asked her for water and protection, just as a child would ask his mother. She brought him in, gave him some milk, covered him with a blanket, and then sunk a tent peg into his skull. Canaan, Jabin, and Sisera was not only destroyed that day, but humiliated in the process.

Now, the Psalmist, looking out at the enemy nations all round him, and recalling those two scenes from history, says, “God, do to these enemies what you did to Midian and Canaan and Sisera. Destroy them, and even humiliate them in the process.

Request Rooted in Nature

Now, the Psalmist’s request continues for a few more verses, but the background on his request changes a bit. No longer flowing from the pages of history, but from what can be seen in the realm of nature. 

Verse 13,

“O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.”

If you’ve ever seen an old western movie, you know the image he has in mind here, right? I used to joke with my brother and sister about this because we watched a lot of old westerns with my grandpa when we were growing up. And always, always, there was a scene, where one guy is staring down another guy, it’s quiet, tension is peaking, and then this lone tumble weed drifts across the plain between them. That’s the picture here, “turn these enemy nations into something akin to lone, worthless, bone-dry tumbleweed blowing aimlessly out of focus.”

Chaff, similarly, as the unused part of a plant after harvest, dries out, breaks up, and is carried away in the wind. “God,” says the Psalmist, make them like that. Take, what feels to us, like an immovable and impenetrable enemy, and, “poof,” blow them away.

Still in the realm of nature, verse 14 takes things up a notch.

“As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!”

Notice: “May you pursue them with your tempest…” God, set your sights, lock in on our enemy, and set a fire blazing upon their heels.

The Psalmist clearly wants God to go after this enemy. He wants him to be the one to take down this enemy, and, as we noted in the pages of history, to even do so with a sort of flair that humiliates them in the process. 

But the question we want to ask is, “to what end?” What does the Psalmist actually want as the result of God’s intervention? 

At first, it appears he wants two very different, even contradictory, results. And we might wonder, “How is this going to work?” How does one possibly pray for both of these seemingly contradictory results, in the very same Psalm?

Result of the Prayer 

Look with me first at verse 16. The Psalmist prays, “Fill their faces with shame,” (that’s that bit about defeat leading to embarrassment that we’ve been talking about). “Fill their faces with shame,” like embarrassment, humiliation, dishonor. 

But observe the intended result,

“Fill their faces with shame that they may seek your name, O Lord.”

In other words, make them to see the foolishness and futility of their actions. Awaken them to their own darkness and depravity. Allow them to become so broken and burdened that it brings them to their knees, casts their eyes down to the ground, leads them to cover their faces with shame — “we’re sinners.” But do so, O God, in such a way that there, on the ground, and in their shame, these wayward souls begin to feel a tug upon their hearts — one like they’ve never experienced before. A pull that cries, “Go to God, you rebel, bring your shame and sin to him.” Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord.” 

Now what does it mean to seek God’s name? Well it means to seek God’s character. Seek God’s nature. Seek God for who he is as, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty” (Ex. 34:5-7). 

To seek the Lord is to seek him for mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, and joy. Just as the Psalms have been saying all along:

Psalm 27:8,

“You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Psalm 40:16, “May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!”

Psalm 69:6, “Let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.”

Psalm 105:3-4, “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”

The Psalmist’s prayer in verse 16 is rooted in the reality that, as we see in Paul’s speech in Acts 17: God is the one who “Made the world and everything in it, (and who is the) Lord of heaven and earth… (and) who gives to all mankind life and breath… (and who) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth…that they should seek (Him), and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.”

It is rooted in the reality that God the Son says to all mankind, Matthew 11,

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

It is rooted in the reality that even now, from heaven, God the Son calls,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Rev. 3:20).

“Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord.”

It is a glorious prayer. A prayer with an intended result that befits the nature of God. And it is not the Psalmist’s only hoped for result. The Psalmist, as we said, seems to pray here in not one but two very different directions toward two very different results. 

See how verse 17 reads a bit different:

“Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace.”

Condemnation before God

The image here, in contrast to verse 16, is one in which the nations do not end up repenting. They do not end up seeking God, but die in their disgrace and sins. That’s what it means to be “Put to shame and dismayed forever.” Forever offers no second chances. Forever offers no hope of a change in the future. “Put to shame and dismayed forever.”

This is a prayer for condemnation. And, we might ask, what gives the Psalmist the right to pray this way?

Well, to begin, the Psalmist knows that some people will in fact die shaking their fist at God. The Psalmist knows that. Some people will never repent, but will instead die shaking their fist at God. What he doesn’t know is whether that’ll be the case for these particular people from the enemy nations round him, or not. Will they end up seeking God or will they not? The Psalmist does not know.

Yet, this is where we need to lean in. What the Psalmist does know is that if, if, these people for the enemy nations round him do, in fact, never end up repenting and instead die in their sins, die shaking their fist at God, then they must not be allowed to get away with it. 

In other words, the Psalmist does not pray, “God, cause these people to seek your name. But if they don’t, would you just ignore that fact? Could you just turn a blind eye to their sin? Would you be willing to just overlook their rebellion against you?”

The Psalmist does not pray that, and he does not want that, and the reason he doesn’t is actually the key to unlocking this whole thing. See, because more than anything, highest in priority in terms of the Psalmist’s request, is not ultimately that these enemies would be saved, nor ultimately that these enemies would be condemned, but ultimately that one way or another, they would know, they would know, verse 18: That God alone, whose name is the Lord, is the Most High over all the earth. Not them. Not some other god. But God alone, whose name is the Lord, is the Most High over all the earth.

See, because here’s the thing: When people live their whole lives hating God and hating his people, they live as walking, talking proclaimers of fake news: “God isn’t all that great.” “God isn’t worthy of our time.” “God is like chopped liver compared to the treasures this world has to offer.” And in doing so, they defy God’s glory and drag it through the mud. And when they die that way, they appear, at least from the perspective of the world, to have gotten away with it. They, not God, appear, in the eyes of the world, to be the ones who are most high over all the earth — after all, they were even able to defy God and get away with it.

Were the Psalmist to pray, “God, call these people to seek your name. If they don’t, just let ‘em be” it would be akin to praying, “God, either get your glory through saving these people, or, simply allow them to go on trampling your glory throughout all eternity. Allow their apparent victory over you to suggest your glory and worth which they’ve defied isn’t all that great after all.” As it is, the Psalmist does not pray that and does not want that, and neither should we. 

Now, should we “Desire all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4)? Our God does, so we should as well. 

Should we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? Of course. Jesus tells us to in Matthew 5:44.

Should we also seek to share the good news with our enemies in hopes they’ll turn from their sin and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness? Of course — that is our commission from here till the day God takes us home. 

But should we ever desire that those who die hating God, get off the hook for their rebellion against him? No.

See, the truth of the matter is that one day, when the lights go out and the curtain falls, Jesus is going to come again to judge the world, and when he does, every knee is coming down.

“Every knee [will] bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11).

Every man and every woman will know, they’ll see it for themselves, that God, not man, but God alone, whose name is the Lord, is the Most High over all the earth.

And on that day, God will get the glory he deserves from every single soul.

From those who in their life repented and turned and sought God — God will be glorified in the fulfillment of their salvation. From those who did not, in their life, end up repenting or turning or seeking God — God will be glorified in their just condemnation. Their reception of the only punishment terrible enough and long enough to prove the glory and worth of the one whom they have spurned — Hell for all eternity.

Our ultimate prayer as Christians should always be, “God, no matter what, get your glory.”

Our ultimate prayer should always be, as Christians, “God, hallowed be your name!”

The deepest desire within all of our hearts should be that God’s worth and God’s glory and God’s splendor would be held high in our world and throughout all eternity.

We pray for our enemies. We pray, “God, save our enemies.” God humble them so that they seek you while you may still be found. And behind that prayer, undergirding that prayer, is “God, no matter what, get the glory you deserve in this world. Get your glory no matter what.”

The Table

Now, what brings us to the table this morning is the reminder that each and every one of us in this room this morning were born enemies of God. We were born, Romans 1:30, “haters of God.” And yet, as Romans 5:8 tells us, “God show[ed] his love for us in that while we were still sinners [still haters of God], Christ died for us.” Christ died for his enemies. You and me. This table represents his broken body and shed blood for the sake of his enemies.  

Because that’s what this table represents, if you’re here this morning and you’ve trusted in Jesus, we invite you to take and eat with us. If you’ve not put your trust in Jesus, we ask that you’d let the elements pass, but we pray you would, in this moment, receive Jesus, and his death for you.

One of the great things about the Psalms (and one of the reasons we do a summer series through the psalms) is because you can drop in on pretty much any psalm and find something immediately helpful.

Y’all ever done that before? You ever “dropped in” on the Psalms? Maybe you need a word from God, you need some encouragement from the Scriptures but you’re not exactly sure where to go to, so you basically close your eyes and pick a random place in the psalms — a “Psalms drop in.”

A lot of us have done that before, and the reason we go to the Psalms is because these are prayers and poems and songs, and they’re about God. Over thousands of years, the people of God have come to this book for help and perspective. Most of the time, reading a Psalm is like running down hill — But that’s “most” of the time, not all the time. 

Psalm 82 is different. 

I spent most of last week perplexed by this psalm, and I’m tempted in the sermon to spend too much time telling you why. There are all kinds of questions here that send us in different directions — and if we were doing a Bible study, we’d walk through each question, we’d weigh the different interpretations, we’d wrestle for the right meaning, but this is a sermon, and we are in worship, and so I want our main question to be: What do we learn here about God? 

Despite some of the interpretive questions, what truths about God and reality can we be sure this psalm is affirming? I have three:

1. God reigns over everything.

2. God will judge all moral unrighteousness.

3. God will get his global glory.

Each of these truths are clear in Psalm 82 and they matter for how we live. So we’re gonna walk through each one, but first let’s pray:

Father in heaven, thank you for the Holy Spirit who illumines your word to our hearts. He gives understanding to the simple, and we confess that we need the power of your Spirit in these moments! Send him, we ask, in Jesus’s name, amen. 

1. God reigns over everything. 

Look at verse 1:

“God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment…”

Right away we’re asking: What is this “divine council” and who are these “gods”?

You don’t see this on every page of Scripture, but the reality is always there, and every now and then we see glimpses of it, that in the presence of God, at least at certain times, there is an assembly of supernatural beings who are involved in the affairs of this world. Sometimes these supernatural beings are called little-g gods; sometimes they’re called sons of God; categorically, they’re angels.

They’re close to God and privy to his will, and they’re active in how his will plays out in the world; but the main thing we should see here is that God is over them. He has a place in their company, and that place is judge. God is judge over all creation, which includes the spiritual realm. 

And this is where we might need to stretch our imaginations. 

God Over the Material World

We believe, and we say all the time, that God is sovereign. God is in control.

“God has decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to a pass” (3.1). 

We believe that, and most of the time when we think about the arena of God’s sovereignty — where God’s sovereignty plays out — we think about this world and the stuff that we can see. And we should think that. It is a right and wonderful thing to apply the sovereignty of God to this material world. More of that, please.

Earlier this week I was coming back from some church planting meetings in Atlanta, driving to the airport at night, and I’m pretty dependent on Google Maps. I need my phone to tell me where to go. Well you know when you get close to an airport, they have way-finder signs that make it pretty much dummy proof. So I see these signs, I’ve seen them before, but my phone is telling me to do something different than what the signs are telling me. 

And here’s the deal: I’ve not left myself a lot of time. I have a very thin margin for error, and now I’ve got to decide to follow the signs or follow my phone. 

Well, I went with my phone. Bad choice! I was headed to the wrong place. I must have made a glitch when I plugged things in. And by the time I fix that and loop around, it adds half an hour, and now I’m sweating. Then I started to think about how missing my flight would torpedo the rest of my week. So I go from sweating to spiraling, but then the Holy Spirit ministered to me and I remembered the sovereignty of God.

Even if I miss this flight because of my human error, God is looking after that. He’s looking after me. He reigns over every detail, even over glitches in our material world. Well I ended up making my flight because it was delayed, because there was another glitch somewhere else. God knew the whole time.

And the examples like this are endless. And sometimes it goes well for us, sometimes it stays difficult, but we should remember that God is active and in control over the world as we see it. We should apply the fact of God’s sovereignty to the material world in its details. But, it doesn’t stop there. 

God Over the Spiritual World

Reality is material and spiritual. There is the seen world and the unseen world — and the unseen world, although it’s unseen to us, it’s just as vast and just as active as the seen world, and some of it is set against us. Paul says in Ephesians 6,

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Now most of the time our senses are aloof to this. It’s out of sight, out of mind — and we don’t even think about it. But behind everything we see, there are unseen spiritual influences and forces. There’s no doubt that as I’m driving to the airport, trying to figure out where to go, the enemy has an agenda to harm me. There was a whole spiritual realm that was doing stuff — and it’s like that all the time, and honestly if we could see more of it, I think it’d be too overwhelming for us. We don’t have the capacity in our fallen bodies to process it, but look, here’s the comfort for us: all of these spiritual beings, good or bad, every supernatural force in existence, reports to God.

This is why Yahweh is called the Most High God. He reports to nobody. There is no one above him and no one equal to him. He reigns over everything. 

Even in the spiritual realm, among all the unseen commotion, God sits in the highest place. Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ — he is the one who ultimately calls all the shots and every created thing answers to him.

Psalm 82 tells us this.

2. God will judge all moral unrighteousness.

We see this in verse 2, and it gets at a major question in the psalm. We know in verse 1 that God is sitting over these spiritual beings and he’s holding judgment. God speaks that judgment starting in verse 2, but who is the judgment against? 

I think this judgment is against Israel, but God is speaking that judgment in the presence of this divine council. And there’s a handful of reasons why that’s the case. I won’t get into them all. But go ahead and look at verse 2 and see what God is saying. Verse 2, God says: 

How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; 

maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 

Rescue the weak and the needy; 

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

The Connection to Psalm 80

This is all moral behavior that God expects of Israel. We see this in other places in the Bible and we also see that Israel failed here. And the reason these things are brought up in Psalm 82 is because it’s meant to be a response to Psalm 80, verses 18–19. (Remember that oftentimes the psalms are put together on purpose. Each of the psalms are connected to the ones around it, and that connection is part of the message.)

Back in Psalm 80, verse 18, there’s a petition. The psalmist prays, on behalf of Israel: “give us life, and we will call upon your name!” Verse 19, the very last verse of Psalm 80: “Restore us, O Yahweh God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!” 

And then Psalm 81 and 82 come after Psalm 80 as a reply. In Psalm 81, which we saw last week, we see that God is eager to save, but the problem is the people’s disobedience. Look back at Psalm 81, verse 10. God says, 

“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.”

Look at verse 13. God says: “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!” 

That’s when God says he would subdue their enemies. That’s when God says he would feed them “with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (verse 16). See the problem?

The Jelly Roll Dilemma

The reason Israel has experienced the judgment of exile instead of blessing is because they have disobeyed God (see Deuteronomy 28). They’ve rebelled against God’s will. And they would be absolute fools to ask for God’s blessing and deliverance but continue to disobey him. That’s the point here. It’s what we could call the ‘Jelly Roll dilemma.’

Y’all know that country song, “Need a Favor?” It goes: 

I only talk to God when I need a favor

And I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer

So, who the heck am I, who the heck am I

To expect a Savior, oh

If I only talk to God when I need a favor?

But God, I need a favor

Israel needed a favor too, but they weren’t living right. They were not listening to God. And that’s actually the main thing God wants. God wants our obedience. He wants our hearts. This is a consistent theme in Scripture, and I want to show you this.

God Desires Obedience

So heads up: I’m about to read a lot of verses, but try to hang with me. I want us to track a theme here in Scripture:

1 Samuel 15:22,

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”

Psalm 40:6,

“In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear.” 

Jeremiah 7:22–23,

For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Everybody see that theme? 

God isn’t concerned with the stuff that we might ‘give’ him — what we could call our sacrifices, the ways we might go through the motions of devotion. Instead, God wants our hearts: “To obey is better than sacrifice.”

Obedience Is Showing Mercy

Okay, but now how does that obedience look? 

Well get this: there are other places in Scripture that contrast obedience to sacrifice but the word “obedience” is not used, it’s just described. Listen to this:

Proverbs 21:3,

“To do righteousness and justice is more pleasing to Yahweh than sacrifice.”

Isaiah 1:11,

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says Yahweh; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.

But, verse 16:

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

Do you hear how obedience is being described? 

Micah 6, verses 6–8 — we call this the ‘micah-drop’ passage — the prophet Micah says:

With what shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 

7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

He’s talking about sacrifices. Is it those things that please God?

Verse 8:

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does Yahweh require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

In short, obedience to God means loving your neighbor. Obedience to God means we show kindness, especially to those in need. Our obedience to God is displayed in moral righteousness.

Disobedience Displayed

So, if that’s obedience, then disobedience is the opposite of that.

And that’s what Psalm 82:2–4 describes. 

Israel’s disobedience to God was displayed in the way they harmed others (or in the ways they simply chose not to help!) — unjust decision-making, favoring the wicked, oppressing endangered children, neglecting the rights of the afflicted and destitute, looking the other way from the weak and needy.

Israel had been doing all of this moral unrighteousness in defiance of God’s word, and yet they’re asking God to bless them! Look, I’ll tell you, I would not want to be standing anywhere near Israel in this situation. God does not bless them in response to their unrighteousness, he brings judgment. God’s answer to the petition of Psalm 80:19 is to call them to account for their evil with Psalm 82:2.

God Bless America?

And there’s a takeaway here for nation-states. When we read the Old Testament and we connect the dots from ancient Israel to our present day, sometimes the connection is straight to the church, the people of God, to us. 

And sometimes the connection is to nation-states, to countries. And one lesson here for our country is that before people start praying “God Bless America,” they should get America clean with righteousness and humility. 

What I’m saying is this: we should never expect God to bless this country as the laws of our land promote slaughtering babies and mutilating children and destroying families. 

God demands moral righteousness in his created world. And of course God expects this from us as a local church and as Christians — God help us! — but beyond us, God demands moral righteousness from every created thing, from people who together call themselves a nation to every single individual to ever exist. God demands moral righteousness and every morally unrighteous act will be accounted for.

Verse 8 says, “Arise, O God, judge the earth.” That means whole earth and every part. No unrighteousness gets swept under the rug. None is ignored. God’s judgment is coming. God will judge all moral unrighteousness.

Psalm 82 tells us this. 

3. God will get his global glory.

This is the last half of verse 8. I’m not going to go into verses 6–7. I wrote an article about that on Friday. But look at verse 8. The psalmist concludes:

“Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!”

Judgment and Nations

God’s judgment and inheriting the nations — we should ponder here how these two things are related. We know judgment has been the theme of Psalm 82, but now the psalmist says that God will inherit all the nations! Where’s that come from?

Well, for one, the nations are a big part of the next psalm, Psalm 83, and in Psalm 83 these nations have set themselves against God and his people. The nations are scheming to destroy God’s people and subvert God’s plans, and here Psalm 82:8 sets us up for that. We’re reminded here that actually all these nations, all people groups everywhere, they belong to God too. God will have them. 

Psalm 82 says that, but there’s even more going on. God’s judgment and inheriting the nations is a combo we’ve heard before. This is how the Book of Psalms begins, way back in Psalm 2. I think Psalm 82:8 is meant to send us back to Psalm 2. It’s a reminder.

The Psalm 2 Key

In Psalm 2, verse 6, God speaks and says:

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

This King is God’s Messiah, and in verse 7 the Messiah himself speaks and says:

I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

So God’s Messiah — the King appointed by God who is also God’s Son — the nations are his heritage. In other words, the Messiah will inherit the nations (just like we read in Psalm 82). All people groups everywhere are his, and he sits over them as judge.

So Psalm 2, verse 10 issues a warning:

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 

11 Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 

12 Kiss the Son [or honor the Son], lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 2 is the key to all the rest of the psalms, and it’s really simple. There are only two outcomes in life: God’s judgment or God’s blessing. 

And it all has to do with what you do with God’s Messiah, Jesus. 

If you reject Jesus, then you die in your sins and face God’s judgment. 

If you take refuge in Jesus, then you will be blessed — forgiveness of sin and life with God forever. 

Invitation and Evidence

And the invitation is to take refuge. That’s the invitation in the Psalms and in the whole Bible, and it’s an invitation to all peoples. All peoples everywhere, take refuge in Jesus. Trust him!

And get this: they will. In God’s providence, for the glory of his Son, he will be worshiped by those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. God will get his global glory. 

And we’re evidence of that. 

I felt this in a special way a few weeks ago on vacation. My family was at one of our favorite places in the world — Topsail Island, North Carolina. I grew up going to this beach, and I love it. And one of my favorite things to do is just to look out at the vastness of the ocean. You look out and realize that on the other side of that line is Africa. I’m standing on the edge of the continent, a long ways from Jerusalem. And yet here I am, worshiping Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God says, “The coastlands shall hope for me!” (Isaiah 51:5). And that’s me. And I feel it. I am such a Gentile. I’m a Philistine, and the son of Philistines. And I’m saved … because in the sovereignty of God, by his grace, I trust in Jesus Christ. 

God is getting his global glory through us, and he will get his global glory — worshipers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. 

Psalm 82 tells us this, and that’s what brings us to the Table. 

The Table

How is it that by faith in Jesus we are freed from God’s judgment?

It’s because Jesus has taken that judgment for us. That’s what he did when he died on the cross. 

When Jesus died, he sacrificed himself for our sin. He took all of our moral unrighteousness and in our place he absorbed the judgment that we deserved — and when we put our faith in him, when we take refuge in him, we’re forgiven and free. We are blessed forever. 

You can receive that blessing right now, you can be saved from the judgment of God, if you trust Jesus. Turn from trusting in yourself, put your faith in Jesus Christ.

And for those of you who have trusted in Jesus, we who are part of his global glory, let’s come to this Table and give him thanks.

The bread represents his broken body, the cup represents his shed blood, and when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we’re saying that indeed Jesus is our hope. If Jesus is your hope, we invite you to eat and drink with us.

Growing up, there was a fairly limited list of shows I was allowed to watch. One of those shows was called “Superbook: Bible Stories.” 

If you were to watch a few episodes of it, you’d notice that each one had essentially the same story arc: It opened in the normal life of a boy named Christopher, who at some point (along with his friends) would open a magic Bible and be suddenly transported into whatever Bible story they had opened to. Then, for most of that episode, they would be immersed in the world of that Bible story as they walked through the terrain, and interacted with the events and characters of that story. Then, unexpectedly they would be transported back to their normal world.

Now that’s a pretty common story arc: think the Narnia books, or another classic like the Magic Tree House series. It’s just a great story arc! In part because of the adventure of discovering and exploring a world previously unknown. But also, because these journeys into another world would always have a lasting impact on the kind of boy Christopher was becoming back in his “normal life.”

Similarly, this morning, we get to enter into the world of Psalm 81 which gives a vivid snapshot into times and places distant and foreign to us, and yet God in his wisdom intends for this Psalm to shape who we are becoming here and now. And so let’s ask for His help before we enter Psalm 81. 

Father, we come here as your children. Rescued and adopted — and on a journey of ever-increasing satisfaction in you. And you will complete what you began in us. Would you meet us this morning, wherever we’re coming from? Whatever we’re bringing in with us — work in our hearts, by Your Spirit and through Your Word, we pray, in Jesus name, amen.

If you’re looking for a way to orient to Psalm 81, there are three main scenes that we’ll focus on:

1. A joyful song

2. A tragic story

3. A hope-filled invitation

Scene 1: A Joyful Song

If we were transported into the context of Psalm 81, we would likely be greeted with the sights and smells of feasting and festivals. In fact, it might be helpful to imagine something like an ancient version of the state fair. The time of the year would be around early October, and it was a month filled with essentially back to back feasts and festivals. According to God’s instruction in the book of Deuteronomy: At the beginning of that month (known by them as the new moon) they were to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets. This lasted 10 days leading into The Day of Atonement, which was the day at the center of the book of Leviticus — On the day of atonement, Israel would remember God’s mercy in atoning for or covering the sins of his people.

Then, about a week later, they would begin the Feast of Tabernacles — also known as the feast of booths or what we might call tents. This took place in the middle of the month (or their “full moon”) and that feast lasted about a week. Its focus was on remembering God's faithfulness and provision to the Exodus generation in the wilderness (hence the tents).

And Psalm 81 was a song, especially for this season. We see that in verse 3 with the mention of the trumpet, the new moon, the full moon, and the feast day.

So imagine this: we’re making our way through this ancient festival … We’re seeing crowds of people mingling, the smells of good food, the sounds of children playing and laughing … Until it’s all drowned out by the blast of a trumpet — think of the same kinds of trumpets as Joshua used in Jericho, but in this case, the trumpets called God’s people to gather to worship. And as they gather, the instruments play, and God’s people begin gladly singing together. 

And the song itself begins with a call to worship. The psalmist is singing, and instructing them how to sing at the same time. It’s kind of like the old song,

“Come now is the time to worship.”

God instructs his people in what their worship should look like. And central to that instruction is joy.

“Sing aloud to God our strength, shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song: sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp” (Ps. 81:1-2).

This corporate singing was meant to be a time of shared gladness and expressions of joy. Joy in God and in their common identity as God’s people. This was an essential rhythm of their covenant renewal, a regular reminder of the happy reality of their identity as God’s people and of their commitment to Him as their God.

We know that joy isn’t the only tone we see in the psalms. The Lord, in his wisdom, has given his people a wide range of psalms. There are songs of grief and lament, songs of repentance, of reverence and awe — all of which help us faithfully navigate the full range of our human experience, but the common thread, and most dominant tone of God’s singing people is joy. And we see that tone here.

God is the author of joy. He has created our capacity for it. And He created music and singing both for expressing that joy, and for deepening and cultivating it. God spread His joy throughout the world through a joyfully-singing people.

In light of that, it is right and helpful to ask ourselves: Does my singing reflect the reality that God is my greatest joy? Is my heart impacted by the astonishing truths that my mouth is singing? And to whatever extent that isn’t the case, it’s important to ask, what is holding me back from God’s call to joy-filled worship?

Whether it’s a lack of joy … or distractions, or fears and insecurities … whatever the hindrance, singing is an opportunity to search our hearts, surrender our affections to God, and to trust Him to shape our joy.

Spurgeon commenting on these verses says,

“It is to be regretted that the niceties of modern singing frighten our congregations from joining lustily in the hymns. For our part we delight in full bursts of praise, and had rather discover the ruggedness of a want of musical training than miss the heartiness of universal congregational song.”

In other words, our singing doesn’t need to be polished, but it should be full of joy.

God commands not just our actions here, but also our affections. We are not helpless bystanders in our pursuit of joy. God’s gift of singing is not only for the downstream expression of our joy, but also upstream as a habit that grows and deepens our joy in Him. Our singing cultivates our joy in God.

One example that’s helped me see this in a new light was my grandmother. My grandma passed away the week before my daughter, Elsie, was born. She had a deep love for Jesus, and she loved to sing. In her final years, she had a long decline both physically and cognitively. Eventually, her dementia had progressed beyond recognizing her children and grandchildren, and she spent most of her time bedridden. And yet, long after her mind could explain to you the deep joy that she had found in Jesus, she would often sit in her bed, holding a hymnal she could no longer read, and with a peaceful gladness, she would sing the hymns that had been engrained in her over a lifetime of praise with God’s people. Even then, her song continued to testify to her all-satisfying God, and I am convinced, that it continued to deepen her joy in Jesus.

That image has helped shape what “finishing well” looks like to me, and it especially comes to mind when I sing “Jesus Loves Me” with Elsie at bedtime. It also gives a glimpse of the deep significance of our singing together week after week.

And so God calls his people to sing for joy. And as they do, God speaks to them in the song as it transitions to an oracle, or a word from the Lord. And as God speaks he begins to recount the tragedy of Israel’s disobedience. And this leads us into our second scene.

Scene 2: A Tragic Story

So imagine: now we’re transported from the festival into the wilderness to join the Exodus generation.

Verses 6-7a,

“I relieved your shoulder of the burden;

your hands were freed from the basket.

In distress you called, and I delivered you…”

God first recalls his past redemptive work in rescuing Israel from slavery. Notice how vivid these descriptions are. Commentator Derek Kidner says,

“Instead of abstractions such as oppression and redemption, we read of shoulder and hands, burden and basket.”

For 400 years Israel’s day-to-day reality was back-breaking, soul-crushing slavery in Egypt. They had bruised shoulders, blistered hands, and heavy baskets. But then God stepped in to that reality. The Exodus was one of the most epic “But God” moments of the Old Testament: God heard the cries of his people, and he came to their rescue. God showed both his great strength and his commitment to Israel. God rescued his people.

Then God continues to show not only what he rescued them from, but what he continued to do for them afterward — God did not drop them off in the wilderness and say “figure it out.” He did not leave them to fend for themselves. He took them under his wing, his care, his provision, and, his instruction.

God’s instruction is especially highlighted here: God himself instructed his people and his commands were a means of grace to them. This took place, most notably, at Mt. Sinai (which God refers to in verse 7 as “the secret place of thunder”). Mt. Sinai was where God gave his law to his people. And verses 9-10 also allude to that event. Verse 9,

“There shall be no strange god among you;

     you shall not bow down to a foreign god.”

This echoes the 1st and 2nd commandments in Exodus 20:3-5.

Psalms 81:10,

“I am the Lord your God,

 who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

This echoes God’s preface to the 10 commandments in Exodus 20:2.

God makes himself clear to Israel through his commands. In them, Israel is meant to see who God is and what he expects from them. He is their God and so His word is their Law. He holds out his commands and says “Listen to me!”

God’s command to listen is the most repeated exhortation in this psalm. God is not just looking for mouths that sing to him, but also for ears that hear Him and obey. Verse 8,

“Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!

   O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

Verse 11,

“But my people did not listen to my voice;

    Israel would not submit to me.”

Verse 13,

“Oh, that my people would listen to me,

that Israel would walk in my ways!”

God calls Israel to listen and obey. But instead his people respond with stubborn and obstinate hearts. And we see that clearly displayed with God’s mention of Meribah in verse 7.

The name “Meribah” means “quarreling” or “strife” — and it was a place in the wilderness that Israel passed through in Exodus 17, near the beginning of their journey through the wilderness, and then again in Deuteronomy 20, near the end of their journey. And both instances were complete disasters.

Imagine, God had just miraculously delivered them out of Egypt, with great displays of power in his plagues on Egypt, and in parting the sea, and then swallowing their enemies in that sea. God then leads them through the wilderness in a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. He has already made bitter water sweet for them to drink, and given them manna from the sky for them to eat. And their response, in Exodus 17, when they get to Meribah and can’t find water is to say: “is the Lord among us or not?” And then to turn to Moses (ready to stone him) and ask “did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us with thirst?” But God, in his patience and mercy, still gives them water from the rock.

That was the first encounter with Meribah. Then we fast forward to Numbers 20, near the end of their time in the wilderness. At this point, not only had they received God’s law at Sinai — his teaching, his instruction — but also decades of God patiently leading and training his people. Think 40 years of God’s discipleship for his people, and they come up on Meribah again as if God saying “here’s your chance, show me that you’ve been listening.” And instead, they turn again to Moses and through gritted teeth say: “why have you brought us into this wilderness to die?”

And this time, even Moses fails to listen, ignoring God’s clear instruction to speak to the rock. Instead, he hits the rock twice and as a result he too doesn’t make it to the promised land. The whole scenario at Meribah is like the bookends of a 40 year train-wreck of God speaking, and Israel ignoring every word.

Despite God having proven himself over and over they refused to listen to him and walk in his ways. They did not see God’s instruction as the blessing that it was — and threw it off as an unwelcome constraint. They wanted God’s benefits, but they did not want his rule. They wanted the water from the rock, but rejected the source. And it brings us to God’s judgement in verse 12,

“So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.”

There is a scary, Romans 1, kind of giving them over here. God gives them over to the stubbornness and depravity of their own hearts as if God finally says, “okay, have it your way.” Not just freedom from Egypt, but “freedom” from God’s rule … Unhindered in pursuing their own desires, and following their hearts, but it did not result in any satisfaction, but rather, a downward spiral into ruin.

And that should sound familiar to us because it’s the lie that Satan tries to sell us all the time. Follow your heart, and your desires. Don’t let God’s commands hinder your pursuit of satisfaction. In other words, God has no authority over you: You be God. It is self-idolatry, advertised as progress and human flourishing.

It is the very opposite and perversion of “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me.” God makes it clear that a life of disobedience will result in judgement and it’s reiterated in verse 15,

“Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever.”

But even in the middle of His judgement … Don’t miss God’s lament for Israel here. There is a sad tone of missed opportunity. Verse 13,

“Oh, that my people would listen to me,

that Israel would walk in my ways!”

God’s heart is to bless his people. And he longs for his wandering people to return to Him.

Now, you might be wondering: wasn’t this supposed to be a joyful song? Why does it have such a tragic ending? It feels like the beginning and the end don't belong in the same song. “Sing Aloud,” “Shout for joy,” and “Sound the tambourine” doesn’t seem to fit with “I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own counsels.” At least, until we zoom out and recognize that this was a song sung by a future generation. And once we are transported back to that festival context the tone of this Psalm shifts from a tragic story to our final scene…

Scene 3: A Hope-filled Invitation

As they sang this Psalm together, they heard not only God’s cautionary tale but also his invitation. The tragic story of their fathers did not have to be their story. Instead of following in their fathers’ steps of stubborn hearts and disobedience, God was inviting them to trust in Him to satisfy them. Verse 10,

“Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”

It’s a beautiful image of our hunger met by His provision, of our longings and His satisfaction. Just like the infant is satisfied by his mothers milk, we were made to be satisfied by God. It’s not ultimately the water from the rock that we long for, but the rock Himself. It’s not just the blessings that we want to be satisfied, but the source. And so behind the mouth that sings and the ear that listens is a heart that loves God above all else, turning to him to be satisfied. And God is both ready and eager to satisfy those who come to Him. 

And we’ve already seen in this psalm, two means by which he satisfies his people: Through his word as we listen to it and obey, and through our joy-filled singing. But I would like to briefly mention one more. And that is just to ask Him.

Make it a regular part of your day to ask God to give you more of himself. That by His Spirit and through his word, you would grow in an ever deepening satisfaction in Him. That he would guard your heart from competing loves and disordered desires. And likewise, pray bold and specific prayers that take God at his word, and that deepen our heart’s dependence on Him for satisfaction. God delights in answering those prayers.

Verse 16,

“But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,

     and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

The psalm closes with more imagery of feasting as God invites his people to come and be satisfied by Him. And that brings us to this table.

The Table

The Old Covenant feasts were a shadow pointing forward to a greater reality. God’s Old Covenant rescue of Israel from Egypt was a shadow pointing forward to a greater rescue: God becoming a man to rescue his people from sin and judgment. Jesus, dwelt among us, took on our sins, and died in our place to rescue us from the judgment we deserved. And now the risen Jesus invites us to come to Him and be satisfied. Jesus says,

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Let’s pray.

And so Father, as your children, rescued and redeemed, we come eager for more of you this morning. Help us be a joyfully singing people. Help us be a submissive people that listen to and obey your word. Work in our hearts, by your Spirit and through your word, to grow us in ever-deepening satisfaction in you. We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.

We continue to work through Psalms that are connected with Asaph. This section started in Psalm 73 and goes through 83. There have been themes of lament and remembrance (often connected with the lamenting). This Psalm is also categorized as a corporate lament. But there are a couple unique elements to it, including it’s description of God, and it’s description of Israel.

 The basic structure of the psalm is this:

• v.1-3 - Appeal for God to Hear and Save

• v.4-7 - A lament of God’s current anger toward his people

• v.8-13 - A lament of God’s protection being removed from his people

• v.14-19 - Appeal for God to See and Save

As we walk through this Psalm we are going to do a couple things. We will be looking at several larger chunks of scriptures to help fill out the context that brings this Psalm together. We are also going to walk through this Psalm mainly through the lens of what we learn about God. So as we walk through the outline just mentioned, we are going to focus on three things. In the first section we will look at the Description of God. In the next two sections that are the main lament, we are going to look at the Love of God. And in the last section, we are going to look at the Answer from God.

Let’s pray.

Father, show us a glimpse of your glory this morning. Give us understanding, encouragement, and confidence in your love for us as we spend time in your Word together. 

1. Appeal for God to Hear and Save (verses 1-3).

He opens by saying “Give ear” to our cries. He wants God to hear them out in their trouble and he addresses God in three different ways.

1. “Give ear…O Shepherd of Israel.”

This is an important theme for Asaph. Psalm 23, which is of David is probably the most famous Psalm regarding the Lord as a shepherd for his people. But in this series of Psalms related to Asaph, this is a theme he returns to again and again.

Psalm 77:20,

“You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”

Psalm 78:52,

“He led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.”

Psalm 79:13,

“But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever.”

Psalm 80:1,

“Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.”

This is more than just a good illustration, there is an enduring likeness the Psalmist sees between us and sheep. The illustration might be the most acute as Israel was led in the wilderness, but there are several enduring realities from this analogy.

We like sheep, are dependent on God, on our Shepherd to guide and lead us. We like sheep, are weak and need to be protected and defended. We see that this theme of sheep and a shepherd further carries on into the new testament. Jesus sees the crowds as sheep without a shepherd. Pastors are called to shepherd the the flock of God, under the chief Shepherd.

This illustration wasn’t just for God’s guidance throughout the wilderness, it is relevant to how we approach God even today.

So the Psalmist first appeals to God, the shepherd of his flock, to hear the cry of his sheep. And he carries the metaphor through the whole Psalm as he talks about us being fed by God, and for him to restore them and turn them back. God our Shepherd, Guide us back to you, we need your help.

2. The Lord God of Hosts 

Verse 3,

“Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!”

Verses 4, 7, 14, and 19 all describe God as the God of Hosts. God is the commander and leader of the armies of heaven, of the hosts of heaven, God almighty is a similar description. God has power and authority to change the situation, to rescue at any point he pleases to.

And we know his authority is not limited to the heavenly realm. Every week in the commission at the end of our service, we are reminded “that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to [him].”

God of angel armies, restore us and save us, make your face to shine upon us.

3. “[The one] who is enthroned upon the cherubim

Verse 2,

“You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.”

He brings to mind the Ark of the Covenant, specifically the top cover of it, where God dwells and speaks to his people. This is bringing an image of authority and power, but also several other things…

It conveys God’s Holiness and Presence. The ark was guarded very carefully because God’s Holy presence was there, and it needs to be kept separate from a sinful people.

It also is where the cloud and pillar would rest when he would speak with Moses. He is described as enthroned upon and among the cherubim, because that is the place where his voice was heard.

It conveys God’s Glory and Goodness. He asks God to “shine forth.” Show us your glory and power as you come to the aid of your people. He is an enthroned king who rules with power and authority. He is: The Lord of Host who is enthroned upon the Cherubim. These often are seen together in scripture.

And if he is enthroned, there is a seat there that He hears and speaks from, and it is called the mercy seat.

Exodus 25:17–22, God instructs Israel,

“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 

The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.”

The Lord God almighty, the Lord of hosts, the Shepherd of Israel — this God hears and speaks to his people from above the mercy seat. 

The Psalmist pleads,

“Hear us, let your glory shine forth, stir up your might, come to save us, have mercy on us! Come and answer us from the mercy seat.”

One possibility on why he mentioned Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin is that he may be recounting what it was like when God led Israel through the wilderness. When they were on the move, these were the three tribes that would follow directly behind the ark as the camp moved out. They were also the offspring from Rachel, and were given great blessing from God.  

So the Psalmist addresses God as the Lord of Host, who is enthroned upon the Cherubim, who is also the Shepherd of his flock, Israel.

2. Lament of the current destruction (verses 4-13).

He mourns the current treatment and circumstance of God’s people using two illustrations. He continues the description of Israel as a flock, and he also describes Israel as a nurtured vine. And in the midst of this, he address God with two questions.

1. How long will you be angry with your sheep?

Psalm 80:4–6,

“O LORD God of hosts,

how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

You have fed them with the bread of tears

and given them tears to drink in full measure.

You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,

and our enemies laugh among themselves.”

Up to this point God’s favor has been removed, he has removed his provision from them, his face is turned away from them.

Their food and drink is their tears. No green pastures, no still waters. Their neighbors and enemies are hostile towards them, and mock and ridicule them. No comfort from the protection of God rod and staff. No meal prepared for them in the presence of their enemies.

This is an especially bitter scenario, that God is described as having turned his face away even from the prayers of his people. This could be a description illustrating how silent God has been to answer them, or could be related to the nature of their prayers.

They pray insincerely. Psalm 78:36–37,

“But they flattered [God] with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.”

He is poetically describing that God has not answered them, with favor and provision. God’s response has been a lack of sustenance and an object of contention and conflict with our neighbors. “We have asked to be saved, and…” Verses 5-6,

“You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us an object of contention for our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves.”

So that’s question 1, how long will you be angry with your flock?

2. Why have you removed your protection from your vine? (Only psalm)

Psalm 80:8–13,

“You brought a vine out of Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared the ground for it;

it took deep root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

It sent out its branches to the sea

and its shoots to the River.

Why then have you broken down its walls,

so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?

The boar from the forest ravages it,

and all that move in the field feed on it.”

He recounts God’s special care for his vine. And as he moves from one description to the other, he is appealing not to their worthiness, but to God's love.

God’s love is on full display here.

Isaiah gives us another detailed description of God’s extraordinary love for his vine, and also an explanation for why it is being destroyed.

Isaiah 5:1–7,

“Let me sing for my beloved

my love song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

He dug it and cleared it of stones,

and planted it with choice vines;

he built a watchtower in the midst of it,

and hewed out a wine vat in it;

and he looked for it to yield grapes,

but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem

and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

What more was there to do for my vineyard,

that I have not done in it?

When I looked for it to yield grapes,

why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you

what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge,

and it shall be devoured;

I will break down its wall,

and it shall be trampled down.

I will make it a waste;

it shall not be pruned or hoed,

and briers and thorns shall grow up;

I will also command the clouds

that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts

is the house of Israel,

and the men of Judah

are his pleasant planting;

and he looked for justice,

but behold, bloodshed;

for righteousness,

but behold, an outcry!

The rhetorical question lands hard. Against all odds, this vine bore bitter, sour grapes. It had everything going for it and still it bore bad fruit and acted wickedly.

Not only did he provide every possible thing necessary for the vine to bear good fruit, but God went even farther for his flock and for his vine.

The refrain that appears through out the Psalm borrows language from the Aaronic blessing,

“Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!”

Here is what the Lord commanded Aaron and his sons to do, Numbers 6:22–27,

“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

The LORD bless you and keep you;

the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

God commissioned a whole group of men to bless the people of Israel, and remind them of the favor and grace and peace He is ready to give them.

Not only did God lavishly care for and provide for this vine, but he even commission Aaron and his sons to proactively speak a blessing over the people, and ask for His favor so that He would come and bless them. Just in case they are slow to ask for themselves, God sent out a group of people to ask on their behalf, so that He could come and bless you even if you were slow or reluctant to ask yourself.  

This is going the extra mile to say the least. This has been fresh for me this week.  Each night I pray this blessing over my children swapping in the name of Jesus at points.

What has been fresh is to remember: God gave us these words for us to use on behalf of others so that he may bless them. The vivid image of them being spoken to a God who hears, and answers from the mercy seat. His answers flows from His love and mercy, not from our worthiness. The Lord of Hosts, who is enthroned upon the Cherubim, above the mercy seat, hears me speaking back to Him the words he gave us!

But we see, despite all of this, the vine only bore wild fruit. With everything going for it, it somehow managed to bear only wild, sour fruit. The vine was a delight in God’s eyes, and when he came looking for justice he found bloodshed; when he came looking for righteousness, he found none.

A few years back my wife made a fairy garden in one of our big planters in the back on our deck. We planted a few small plants in there but one day a sunflower seed sprouted. We staked it, weeded around it, it was just starting to bloom, then one morning we woke up and it was gone…a squirrel, proportionally the equivalent of a wild boar, destroyed that flower.

In the end, I felt what the psalmist wants God to feel, don’t let your vine get totaled, destroyed. 

What was all the work for?

3. Appeal to God to See and Save (verses 14-19).

Verse 14,

“Turn again, O God of Hosts! Look down and have regard for this vine,”

He appeals to God to not let all his work get ruined, all his care go to waste. Have mercy on us and restore the works of your hands. You love your flock, you love your vine. You have led it in the past, you have planted and cared for the vine. Take notice of the destruction to your vine, bring back your sheep, give us life that we may call upon your name. Let your face shine that we may be saved.

And if God were to look on his people, two things would happen. The turning of His face is both terror, and salvation.

Terror for those who take advantage of the vulnerability of the vine.

Verse 16,

“They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your face!”

Back to the squirrel who demolished our sunflower plant… When I see the squirrel, it’s over for him, the games up. The wicked and the wild bore had their moment, but when God’s face turns, it’s over. The enemy can only do what it is granted for a season to do. Terrified, the wicked flee at the turning of His face toward them… Salvation for the vine that he once again smiles upon. With God’s face come his attention, with God face comes his strength and energy, with his face comes his glory and favor for His people.

As God’s favor goes, so it all goes. When God’s favor is on his people, no circumstance can hinder them. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”.

His favor can rescue us from trial, or make us prosper through trial. His favor can be seen through trial.

Exodus 1:8–12, after Joseph died,

“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.”

If God is with his people and his face is towards them, then they will be alright.

The prayer for God to hear, to see, to turn his face towards his people has been answered again and again for his people, and has ultimately answered through God sending Jesus.

And God’s ultimate answer is Jesus.

Jesus is the man of God’s right hand who came to save his people. The Son of Man that God has strengthened to provide salvation.

The psalmist asks, Psalm 80:17,

“But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!”

Psalm 2:7–9,

“I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

Psalm 110:1,

“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand,

until I make your enemies your footstool.’”

They were looking for salvation to come from a king, whether that was David, or Solomon, or the long list of kings after them. And that hope was fulfilled in Jesus who is the king who will reign forever and is the man of God’s right hand.

And isn’t it interesting that so many people do that same thing today? With all of our self-expression, self-discovery, self-sufficiency, self-worship. Yet so many people are still looking for one person to save them. Whether that be a president, or a king, or some other leader.

This testifies to how we are made.

They look (and we can look) to the wrong person to save us from the wrong things. What we really need is Jesus to save us from our sin. The true savior for the true problem. Jesus is the son of man with God’s favor on him to rescue his people.

Jesus is the true vine, that bears good fruit.

Israel failed to be the vine that brought blessing to the nations. Jesus picks up this theme in John 15. The Father all along has been the vinedresser, the owner of the vineyard, but what is new is that Jesus declares is that HE is the vine.

John 15:1–5,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

The true vine is not those who are connected to Israel, the true vine is those that are connected to Jesus. Jesus takes it upon himself to be the vine that bears good fruit for the blessing of Israel and ultimately the blessing of the nations.

We get it wrong, when after Jesus saves us, we then look to ourselves, or the church to be the vine, and not to Jesus. You cannot do it on your own, or you will fail again and again like Israel. The branches must depend on the vine to supply them with sustenance. The sheep must depend on the shepherd to lead them.

Both metaphors have ongoing relevance. Nor, can you look to the church instead of Jesus.

The church is Christ’s body, and is an amazing blessing, and a place where a bunch of branches hang out, but Jesus is still the vine. When we look to the church to be everything Jesus should be for us, we will always find something wrong, or something missing, and we won’t ever be satisfied.

But it’s because we have looked to it to be the vine instead of Jesus.

Jesus is the true vine, and by being connected to Him, He will ensure that we bear good fruit instead of bitter fruit. He saves us and supplies us.

Jesus is the God who sits enthroned on the true mercy seat in heaven. He hears and speaks from there, seated at the right hand of the father in heaven. He has made full, complete atonement for all who take refuge in Him, any who will abide in him, in His love, in His grace, in His forgiveness. We need not be shy to ask him for help for apart from him we can do nothing. We need not fear bringing messes to him, He answers from His throne of mercy.

There has never been a time where He answered you because you deserved it. It’s not: “sometime I earn it, and sometime I don’t.” You NEVER earn it, it’s ALWAYS Grace.

When we ask for him to see us, shine on us, revive us, save us, it is according to his steadfast love and mercy. God answered his people before Christ, He answered his people with Christ, and he continues to answer his people through Christ.

Forgiveness and help is not granted because we deserve it, but because God opens wide his arms and says come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden.  So come to him, undeserving as your are, believe in the king of heaven, who has all authority in heaven and earth, and sits on the mercy seat. Ask Him to shine on you.

Let’s pray,

Father, if there are any who do not know you this morning, would you let them see your glory and goodness, that you came to rescue us from ourselves, to give us life forever with you. Father, we ask that you would bless us, and keep us, would you make your face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. Would you lift up your countenance towards us, and give us peace. We ask this through the merit of Jesus on our behalf, Amen.

The Table

This table reminds us that we now can have confidence to enter into the true Holy places in heaven, where Jesus sits because of His blood that was shed for us.