His Name is John (Lk 1:57–80) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Details matter. Several years ago when I had been out of town for a few days, I tapped out a nice “goodnight” note on my phone to Karen before I retired for the evening. I’m sure it included appropriate emojis. I hit the send button. All was well. But a few minutes later I got a note from one of our pastoral interns. “Pastor Phil, I think you meant to send this to Ms. Karen. But my wife and I really enjoyed it!” I’m sure they did!

I had good intentions with my note but missed one important detail: paying attention to clicking on my wife’s name before I sent the note.

Most of us have had the experience, especially before the prevalence of GPS devices, of asking for directions, nodding that we understood the turns and forks in the road, and then following carefully, only to end up in the wrong place. One detail left out of the directions or one detail missed in following steered us onto the wrong path.

Details matter.

We miss details but God doesn’t. His Word takes details seriously. The Old Testament gave a detail for discerning false prophets. If one utterance failed in their prophesies then they were false, and not to be heeded. Just imagine the weightiness felt by Isaiah and Malachi in the many prophetic oracles that they delivered. Every detail counted. For if they were only right 50% or 75% of the time, why should anyone believe them? If they were correct 80% or 99% of the time, then what of the missing details? Would that not bring into question their truthfulness in everything?

Luke knew this, so he recounts the prophetic and angelic details to make an eternal point. We can depend upon the details in God’s promise of salvation through Jesus Christ. How do we know that God is dependable? Our text helps us to see His dependability in the details by the celebration and declaration in this passage.

I. Celebration

Luke 1–2 contains a lot of celebration and rejoicing. The reason, of course, is not to just have a pleasant emotional outburst—though nothing is wrong with that—but as an affirmation of believing what God has declared, we celebrate.

Zechariah failed to celebrate because of his unbelief. But not Mary. She believed God’s word spoken through the angel and rejoiced. So did Elizabeth, John the Baptist in the womb, and Mary at their visit in Elizabeth’s home. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth “exclaimed shouting loudly,” while in-utero John “leaped with extreme joy.”[1] Then Mary sounded off with her song of praise, magnifying and rejoicing in the Lord.

So the birth of John that would go before the Messiah “in the spirit and power of Elijah,” brought cause of celebration. Notice the diverse ways to celebrate.

They celebrated God’s mercy. Elizabeth and Zechariah’s neighbors and relatives came with excitement at news of the old couple welcoming their baby. They “heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.” As observers looking into their lives, they recognized God’s merciful hand at work in giving them a son. But they didn’t know the greater mercy at that point, given to them as well, that this son would own the distinction of being called “the prophet of the Most High,” who would “go before the Lord to prepare His ways.” John’s later message of repentance declared the mercy of God to forgive sinful people. In mercy he taught that his baptism of repentance would be superseded by a baptism with the Spirit and with fire through the Messiah who followed him (Luke 3:7–17).

So they treated this birth as they might have done with others in their small village of priests and their relatives. They came to celebrate his circumcision as part of the covenant people of Israel. Obviously, they had already talked among themselves and decided that surely the baby would be named Zechariah after his father—a not unusual practice. I can imagine that a few of the older ladies had already sewn a large “Z” into blankets and baby [...]

Two Joyful Testimonies (Luke 1:39–56) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

On some occasions I hold an immeasurable joy deep in my heart. As a pastor, there will be a member that will give me a heads-up on some wonderful news: a marriage proposal, a long-awaited pregnancy, a new job borne out of prayer, a special recognition or honor, a call to a pastorate. And I have to sit on that kind of news, waiting until that member goes public. In those settings joy bounces around my inner being until the time it’s made known.

While good news is meant to be shared, its timing is important. One must not announce a marriage proposal until the bride has accepted! Those knowing the details beforehand feel a depth of joy as they wait until others share that joy.

That’s something of what we find in this familiar story of Mary’s visit with Elizabeth. Both held good news in their hearts. And yet here was no ordinary joy that others could claim from time to time. Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age—joyous enough—but she bore a special son prophesied by Isaiah and Malachi as the one that would prepare for and announce the arrival of the Messiah (Isa 40:3; Mal 3:1; 4:5–6). No other mother in human history could make that claim. That’s a lot of joy held in the heart!

And then there is Mary, a teenage girl from the obscure village of Nazareth in the region of Galilee that had just encountered the angel Gabriel who announced to her the best of the good news. She would conceive in her womb by the overshadowing work of the Holy Spirit, and carry for nine months the Son of God that would be given the throne of David and rule over an eternal kingdom. At that point, no one else on the face of the earth knew what God had done in the virgin’s womb. No one. Yet she held that best of good news with intense joy in her heart.

Within days of the virginal conception, Mary came to Elizabeth’s home some 80–100 miles and three to five days journey away. As soon as Mary offered her greeting, joy exploded, as these two women became the only two people living on the earth that knew what God was doing. Certainly, they didn’t understand everything happening, as Luke bears out, but they understood that the promises of God made centuries earlier to redeem a people for Himself were being answered. God had sent His Son as Savior and Lord. Mary and Elizabeth knew that joy while the rest of humanity waited for the good news to be unleashed like a joy-filled torrent that would change the human race, undo the effects of the fall, and restore image-bearers in a renewed world.

That’s the context for “two joyful testimonies” that we consider. Here’s what they discovered. God accomplishes the needed by doing the unexpected. The story is not about Mary and Elizabeth but about the God that accomplished man’s greatest need in the most unexpected way. What happened when they saw what God had done? For that matter, what happens when we see and believe what God has done? Let’s think about it together.

1. Converging joys

In an ancient culture dominated by men with women crushed under the arrogance of supposed-male superiority, God made known His eternal plans to two ladies: one old and barren, but now with child; the other young and a virgin, with child by the Holy Spirit. Luke’s record serves notice that God doesn’t countenance the prideful ways of mankind.

We’re accustomed to those governing us knowing things that the rest of us don’t. So leaks drift out to get the pulse of public opinion on whatever it might be. Tell-all books later inform us of what we didn’t know. Those kinds of things don’t meet with joy.

But here we see joy happening so fast that it is recorded in God’s Word for us to ponder as we think of the hearing of the “good news” of Jesus Christ.

Act on God’s declaration: While Zacharias wallowed for a bit in unbelief, Elizabeth and Mary both acted by faith on the divine declarations given through the angel Gabriel. We see this in verse 39. “In those days Mary ar[...]

Son of Mary. Son of David. Son of God. from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

The competition for the greatest birth announcement has hit a fever pitch. It’s an interesting time when among the first 5 thoughts the expectant mother has when seeing the + sign is, “How will I tell my friends and family?” Soon thereafter, they start pinning, scrolling, googling, etc. In a moment of serious exegesis post–Turkey, I skimmed an article this week entitled, “20 creative birth announcements that will break Instagram.”

So the expectant wife and husband hire the guy or gal with one of those long white lenses. Unfortunately, since you can only afford 30 minutes, you have to carefully coach your husband on his dramatic role. You both practice your pose in the weekend ahead of the shoot. You then guilt your graphic design friend into turning that picture into a work of Internet art.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think expecting a baby is something that should be casually mentioned in the same way you tell the mailman you’re going out of town. I would question other things if you were that stoic about the matter.

However, the Pinterest competition is an exercise in futility. No one tops Gabriel. He’s the king of birth announcements. Though Mary’s not exactly pregnant just yet, it’s so certain she might as well be. Our text is about Gabriel informing her of this reality.

The glorious theological truths of this text come to us in the form of a narrative, so that’s how we’ll approach it. Note first,

I. Gabriel Greets

Verse 26 places us in a certain spot. So, we need to imagine ourselves here. It’s the sixth month. Now this isn’t June, but refers back to Elizabeth’s conception story concerning John the Baptist in our previous text. In verse 24, Luke notes that for 5 months Elizabeth kept herself hidden.

So, Luke’s not locating the story in a particular season of that year, he’s locating it in relationship to the previous story. If Luke were a film, along the bottom of the screen you might read: Six Months Later.

What happened? God acts. The angel Gabriel was sent from God. While there are various characters in this text, it’s important to point out here at the outset that what follows is the result of God’s hand. Gabriel’s not gone rogue; God sent him. One common difficulty with this passage is to elevate the role of––or point the spotlight on––the supporting characters within the narrative. And I think Luke carefully makes clear: this isn’t about Gabriel or about the one he greets. God set this scene.

Nonetheless, one of the supporting actors is this angel, Gabriel. This is the same angel who appeared to Zechariah a few months prior (last week for us). As Pastor Phil mentioned last week, the book of Daniel includes this same angel. He’s about as recognizable as the angelic get.

God sends Gabriel to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. You’ve heard of Nazareth, but it’s entirely likely Luke’s readers wouldn’t have. It’s under a hundred miles north of Jerusalem,[1] but really is more like a village than anything else. Some even dispute the use of the word “city” as a translation.

And that’s likely why Luke includes of Galilee in his description. I used to live in a small town called Sparta in Middle East Tennessee. But when I’m telling people that, I usually say something like “it’s halfway between Nashville and Knoxville” or “Have you heard of Cookeville?” If they have, then I point them to the smaller town of Sparta. That’s what Luke’s doing. They know Galilee, so he writes, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. This would be an unexpected locale. If there were a highway to heaven, many wouldn’t have thought it’d pass through Nazareth. Certainly few would expect to be touched by an angel there.

In the previous text about Gabriel visiting John the Baptist’s soon–to–be parents, Zechariah is a priest in the middle of a worship service at the most holy of places in Jerusalem. This week’s setting is much les[...]

Why You Should Study Luke’s Gospel (Lk 1:1–4) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Well, the last thing that most of us would want to hear is someone insisting that we study something. I’ve had that happen to me from time to time. A person has a particular interest, maybe some scientific or mathematic oddity, or some peculiar aspect of Old Testament sacrifices or questionable detail of eschatology, or some theory about James the son of Alphaeus or details regarding Philip the evangelist’s daughters. “You need to study that!”

Right!

Don’t count on it. Study, for me, while I enjoy it, still can’t be counted as mere leisure if it’s done properly. To study implies that we get below the surface, that we probe the subject to grasp its meaning and intent, and that we leave no stone unturned. Study is hard work. It requires time. It taxes our minds and imaginations. It demands that we search out sources and trace ideas and theories until we arrive at a clear understanding of our subject. Don’t count on me to do that with a mathematical oddity or some peculiar OT sacrifice. It just doesn’t move me; it can’t hold my attention.

But the Gospel of Luke is a different story. I want to study it because in it I find the words of life. Here is Luke’s account of Jesus Christ’s story. Here is the gospel of Christ written in one of the four Gospels of Holy Scripture. So it calls for my digging, investment of time, research, memorization, meditation, discussion, note taking, reading, rereading, and application. That application leads me to worshiping Christ, believing the gospel, repenting of sins, living the Christ-life, setting my hope on gospel promises, loving His people, declaring His good news, guarding my heart, and expecting His return.

Yet I don’t want to take this journey through Luke alone (I know that Matt is traveling with me!). I want you to join me. While Matt and I might take a more intense look at the Greek, considering the grammatical structure, read more from what others have written on Luke, we ask that you study along with us. We want to ask you to read and reread this Gospel. If you would, add a chapter of Luke each day to your daily Bible reading so that you read it through each month—giving you six or seven extra days each month for when things get too hectic. We want to invite you to memorize portions of this Gospel so that you hide God’s Word in your hearts—I’m working on the birth narrative in my own devotional time. We want to ask you to read the notes in a study Bible or a good commentary, if you have either, and to consider doing a journal of your study in Luke. We want to ask you to meditate on what you read and jot down insights or applications or questions or doctrines that you want to recall. We encourage you to talk with others about what you’re learning. Most importantly, we want you to read and study and pray through Luke so that you see Jesus Christ with fresh eyes and glory in Him.

As followers of Christ, we’re to be students of Scripture, and that includes studying Luke’s Gospel to know more clearly the way of Christ. But why should we study Luke’s Gospel? Let me identify five reasons for studying Luke found in his opening preface.

1. The obvious reason—Luke’s Gospel is God’s Word

But we might say, so are Nahum and Obadiah. They are part of the 66 books of the Bible, 39 OT and 27 NT that comprise Holy Scripture. These books don’t just contain God’s Word, as the neo-orthodox would say, but they are the Word of God. These books written by ordinary people were inspired by the Holy Spirit in an extraordinary way so that we hold in our hands God’s Word (but more on that inspiration later).

Yet out of the 66 books only four are called Gospels. That’s a unique genre in Scripture. By genre we mean a particular type of biblical writing unique from the style of others. So we have historical genre, prophetic genre, wisdom genre, etc. But Gospel genre is unique in that we have in those four writings wha[...]

God is There (Psalm 139) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

A distant God is not much of a concern or threat. We can keep him at bay so that we can continue to indulge in whatever might fancy our imaginations. If he’s distant then we need not worry about facing him or dealing with his demands. Sometimes that distance comes out philosophically, other times it comes out practically in the excuses we rattle out to avoid dealing with the revelation of God.

The 2nd century heretic Celsus could philosophically admit God to be “uncreated, eternal, invisible, impassable, incomprehensible, infinite . . . encompassed by light, beauty, spirit and indescribable power,” as penned by Athenagoras, a contemporary Christian [Bruce Waltke and James Houston, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary, 520]. But he could not and would not admit that God had come near in the person of Christ. He considered such a view to be “superstitious” and the claims concerning Christ as the God-Man as lacking credibility. His philosophy stripped of biblical revelation led to practical denial of Jesus Christ who came among us to redeem us from sin.

Yet on the other hand, while a distant God is not of much concern to those philosophically indifferent to the very idea of God, a distant God is also not of much help to those in need. For those who come to grips with their sin or who feel the weight of separation or who live with the angst of loss or who seem shrouded in darkness or who live with constant opposition, a distant God offers nothing to remove the dark cloud hanging over the whole of life.

Only when we realize that whatever the circumstance, however insurmountable the barrier of sin that God is there can we live consciously in His presence with freedom and joy. A distant God doesn’t really affect us. But the God who has come near in Christ calls for us to know Him and live through Him. Because God has come near in Christ we must live each moment with Him in view. That’s where this psalm helps us. It teaches us to think rightly about God so that we respond rightly to Him. How do we see that in this psalm? Let’s think about it together as we consider that God is there.

I. God is there, so think rightly about God

This psalm of David provides one of the clearest explanations about the nature and being of God found anywhere in Scripture. One can imagine that its lofty poetry arose when the psalmist pondered his circumstances in light of God’s revelation. He knew that God had made Himself known in Creation, through theophanies to his ancestors Abraham, Jacob, and Joshua, and even quite personally as the Lord his Shepherd, Rock, Light, and Salvation. Now he thinks of God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence as the foundation for worship, holiness, and perseverance.

1. Omniscience—God’s personal and intimate knowledge vv. 1–6

Bruce Waltke and James Houston translate verses 1–6 with its vivid explanation of Yahweh, the great I AM, in the bluntness of real life language and experience:

I AM, you search me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you consider my thoughts from afar.

My going out and my lying down you discern,

you are familiar with all my ways.

Surely, before a word is on my tongue,

I AM, you know it completely.

Behind and before—you hem me in;

you have laid the palm [of your hand] upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

It is too high; I am unable to scale it [The Psalms as Christian Worship, 534-536].

David gives thought to God’s omniscience, that He knows all things. But he shows us that omniscience is not simply Deity filled with encyclopedic knowledge. It’s personal knowledge not generic information. It’s the intimacy of God acting with mercy and grace in our need. It’s knowledge that declares, “God knows you intimately. Everything about you, what you think, where you go, what you say, and what you experience, God knows before it happens, when it takes place, and how it affects every deta[...]

Psalm 121 from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

We have something of a problem this morning. Our text is about a helper, but most of us don’t need help. Or so we think.

I remember 12 or so years ago helping lead a Youth Retreat. The one leading the singing stopped in between songs and asked the 40 or so teenagers in the room, “Does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for?” What followed is probably what you’ve experienced quite a few times. It’s what we call deafening silence. But what the Worship Leader did next is what sticks with me. He quipped, tongue firmly in cheek, “No needs? Great!” He’d made his point; we sang the next song.

“I can do it” kicks off in the crib. From there, it merely picks up steam. When men open the box, they stick out their chests and throw aside the instructions. A friend might call offering help in a busy season. Unfathomably, though moments before you told your spouse that you’re completely overwhelmed, you reply, “Thank you so much. That’s kind of you. But we’re ok.”

Further, we applaud this brand of autonomy. One of my favorite Tony Allen moments from his time with the Grizzlies was in January of this year. The Grizz were playing the Golden State Warriors, the best team in the NBA by a long shot. The bad guys are up by 24 in the second half. Finally, in the fourth quarter the coach brings in Tony Allen and sticks him on Steph Curry. Little by little, the Grizz chip away at the lead. After scoring 30 points in the first 3 quarters, the so–called “Warriors” scored 13 in the final quarter. The Grizz won in overtime. But the moment I remember––that’s pertinent––is when one of the TV mics picked up Tony Allen in that fourth quarter. Allen’s shutting down one of the great shooters in the history of the NBA, almost by himself. Though teams often double–team Curry, the TV mic picked up Tony yelling over and over, “I don’t need no help.”

And he didn’t. And everyone loved it. And, of course, it’s fine on the court.

But if you’re always thinking, “I got this” and those who surround you think more highly of you if you “got this” then your notions of self–sufficiency can get out of control. You can convince yourself that in all things you have no need. And the culture, even church culture, might applaud you.

I’m not saying we need more entitled whiners. There are plenty.

But this is a text about help. And if you think you don’t need it, it has almost nothing to say to you.

Note first,

1. Who is my Helper?

This Psalm is one of the Psalms of ascent. The Pilgrims, some assert, sang these Psalms as they traveled to Jerusalem. While they might not have been composed for that purpose alone, they include themes traveling pilgrims would find helpful.

And few of these ascent Psalms are as clearly about a journey as this one. But this journey is not safe. This is not download the audiobook, hop in the air–conditioned SUV, and turn on the cruise. This is more like hiking the Appalachian trail if it were located in the Middle East. There are no travel blogs; no spruced up rest stops. On this journey, you’re braving the elements. This is a dangerous trip.

Psalm 121 will detail much of this. The Psalmist begins, I lift up my eyes to the hills.

Last Sunday morning, as I was getting ready to preach Psalm 67, I told Jim I was looking forward to studying 121 this week. And in something of a side comment he said, “You know there’s a good bit of debate about verses 1 and 2.” I think the look on my face made clear to Jim I was completely unaware. I’ve always had an assumption about the interpretation of these verses. Debate over 121? No way.

But Tuesday afternoon after I read my first commentary, I alerted Jim, “Guess what? You were right.”

Now, the debate doesn’t affect the application of the Psalm. Not in the least bit. And it is yet another thing we can’t know for certain unless we were sitting next to the Psalmist while he was writing it.

But the debate is essentially over which direction the pilgrim is head[...]

Psalm 67 from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

In suburbia, memberships matter. In certain circles, the question is what country club you are a member of. If you’ve got small kids in the city, you might need a place for them to burn off some energy. So maybe you’re a member at the Zoo or at My Big Backyard or the Children’s Museum. You’ve got that membership card and you waltz right in.

People are members of all kinds of groups. That’s to say nothing of being a member at a gym or in a professional organization. But I want to begin today talking about being a member at Costco. Belonging there, as with most other memberships, comes with certain benefits. I know a guy who went back three times once for the sample of piping hot spinach ravioli. But, in listing benefits, the samples merely scratch the surface. It’s access to bulk, access to lower prices, etc. All you need to do is wave your card at the door. This is quasi–exclusive. The folks without a card have to stand outside. You get the benefit of belonging.

The Old Testament Israelite experienced something of this, though they paid no fees. Though there were thousands of different places he or she could be born, belonging to the nation of Israel meant they received the blessings of being God’s people. This began with Abraham, to whom God said, And I will make of you a great nation. A number of years later, in Exodus 19, God told those people, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. Though the whole world was his, these people were brought into a particular relationship with the Lord. In mercy, God chose them. The promises to Abraham came true. I read this week in Deuteronomy 10:22, Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

Those Israelites didn’t have to purchase a membership; he or she just had to be born to particular parents in a particular place. If they were an Israelite, they belonged to an exclusive people. But this exclusivity was not just like the memberships we mentioned above; their belonging was for more than their own benefit.

Note first,

1. God blesses His people

Verse one ought to sound familiar, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us. This is nearly identical to the blessing we find in Numbers 6 that Aaron’s sons would speak over Israel, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Aaronic blessing was a central aspect of Israelite liturgy. It’s the kind of thing we’d frame and rope off in DC. In fact, the earliest archaeological discovery from Jerusalem that we have including the name Yahweh is a silver amulet with this priestly blessing.[1] They date it to the seventh or sixth century B. C.

As we read the Old Testament, we note the blessing’s fulfillment. We already mentioned how they increased in number. As they increased, we see time and time again the other nations subjugated for Israel’s benefit. Food grew overnight. God blessed and kept them. His face shone upon them.

But you probably see a couple differences between the Psalmist’s rendering and the priestly blessing from Numbers. For example, rather than the Lord bless you, in Psalm 67 it’s May God bless us. Nonetheless, when you read verse 1, you think of Numbers. That would’ve been even more so with the Israelites.

The Psalmist, and those who sang with him, asked the Lord to be gracious to them, to bless them, and to make His face to shine upon them. While they’d experienced God’s graciousness; this Psalm asks for more. In that era, to ask the Lord to bless you would be mainly in regard to good harvests, peace, children, flocks, etc. While they’d experienced a measure of this; the Psalmist wrote a song asking for more. The other phrase, one we might not use regularly, is make his face to shine upon us. The Lord’s shining face would be something of God’s good favor on his people. Again, while they’d woken[...]

The Fool and God (Psalm 53) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Recently, Dan Brown best-selling author of Da Vinci Code and other novels stated that the emergence of artificial intelligence will eventually eliminate the need for what he terms, “an exterior god.” While meshing together Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as similar religions, and oddly claiming, that they all loosely share “a gospel,” he predicted, “Our need for that exterior god, that sits up there and judges us . . . will diminish and eventually disappear.” Instead, “We will start to find our spiritual experiences through our interconnections with each other” [Matt Drake, “God to be Replaced by AI: New Religion to be Created by Computers, Dan Brown claims,” Express, 10/13/17].

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

But Dan Brown is nothing new. He just happens to have a massive platform to express his ideas while making tens of millions of dollars in the process.

Most people around us wouldn’t go as far as Brown’s comment about God disappearing. They may tolerate the concept of the God of the Bible and in some strange ways appreciate that we have a spiritual/theological framework that holds our society and culture together. But that doesn’t mean that they follow this God through Christ or build their lives on the revelation of the gospel. Are they any different than Dan Brown?

Jesus told a little parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24–27) that helps us to see that there’s not a gulf between Brown’s shocking statements and the average person who sees no need for the gospel or kicks the can down the road to looking at eternity. The wise man, Jesus said, “built his house on the rock,” so that when the rains fell and floods and wind crashed against it, the house “did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”

But of the one who hears the story of Jesus and His good news “and does not act on them,” He describes as “the foolish man who built his house on the sand.” The rain, floods, and winds “slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Only two types of people exist in the worldview of Jesus: the wise and the foolish. The wise build their lives on the gospel; the foolish do not. No comfortable middle exists.

Yet all that Jesus did in that parable was to repeat the truth of Psalm 53. Without Christ we remain in our sin living as fools who act as though there is no God. But the point of it is not to leave us in folly but to direct us to deliverance provided by God. The common lot of humanity necessitates the uncommon act of God’s grace in Christ. How does this psalm address the human condition and God’s grace?

I. Humanity at rebellion

If Psalm 53 sounds familiar that’s because it is a virtual repetition of Psalm 14. The only difference to speak of is found in the superscript and in verse five. Otherwise, we’re looking at the same psalm. Both psalms are attributed to David, which may give us a hint that early in his life David saw the folly of human sinfulness widespread. He saw the same later on so that his message didn’t change. He adds this one as a Maskil or a contemplative, teaching psalm. So the message of humanity at rebellion against God is unchanging, and it is something that we need to regularly think upon lest we become complacent with the revelation of God in Christ.

1. Analysis of the fool

We may find it off-putting in our day to hear such stark language, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Yet what do we call someone who, despite hearing about God the Creator and Redeemer, just rocks along in life as though the living God doesn’t really make any difference? He or she may have lots of academic titles, plenty of accolades for accomplishments, and even a track record as a nice person. But if his/her life is not established on the Creator and Redeemer then the declaration of David and later Jesus is, that person is a fool.

Now, we must understand that by fool, the psalmi[...]

Confession and Brokenness (Psalm 51) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Some days begin with surprises that bring joy. Other days so affect us that we can barely move. The latter describes Monday. Who would have thought when retiring on Sunday night that we would wake up to the shocking news that a gunman had killed nearly sixty, including a graduate of Union University from just down the road, and injured over five hundred more spectators at a Las Vegas’ concert? The news dumbfounded us—and still does. One question over and over seems to be on everyone’s mind and tongue: “Why did he do such a horrible thing?”

While theories continue to expand to give the killer’s demented rationale for the horrific actions of Sunday night, one thing is certain. The killer knew no restraint from his impulse to sin. What he did came out of the core of his being. The darkness of sin that affected everything about him burst forth like a broken dam holding back a raging river. With no restraint he did the unthinkable.

The pictures from Las Vegas give us a clearer glimpse of evil—more specifically—the potential fruit from an unregenerate heart. While that certainly doesn’t imply that every unbeliever walks the road toward becoming a mass murderer it does make clear that within the human heart lies the capability of committing any sin known to man.

The Genevan Reformer John Calvin states it well: “We have no adequate idea of the dominion of sin unless we conceive of it as extending to every part of the soul, and acknowledge that both the mind and heart of man have become utterly corrupt” [Calvin’s Commentaries, 5:291]. Calvin simply parrots Paul who quotes from the Psalms and Isaiah. “There is none righteous, not even one; . . . there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom 3:10–18).

Yet, the confession in Psalm 51 is not written by an unbeliever but one who knew God intimately, even called a man after God’s heart (1 Sam 13:14). Sin’s power to do all manner of evil lurks even among the regenerate so that we must learn to live with brokenness over sin and repentance from it. “The best of men,” wrote William Plumer, “need to be warned against the worst of sins” [Geneva Series: Psalms, 565]. David, who had walked with God for years, who gave us so many psalms of worship that expand our understanding of God, fell prey to horrific sin. The superscript of this psalm identifies the narrative in 2 Samuel 11–12 as its background, when David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, and probably some other men to make it appear just as part of war, to cover his tracks. Numb to the weightiness of his sin, David continued in spiritual stupor until the prophet Nathan uttered those stinging words, “You are the man!” This psalm follows that confrontation. Psalm 51 numbers chief among the seven penitential psalms [Derek Kidner, TOTC: Psalms 1–72, 189].

Christians through the centuries have found healing and joy through the message in this psalm. Here we discover with renewed confidence in the power of the gospel, broken, sinful people find mercy in the Lord. How are sinful people brought back to joy in the Lord? Let’s think about it by considering how brokenness leads to repentance and restoration follows repentance.

I. Brokenness leading to repentance

When we succumb to sin we feel paralyzed. Despite knowing the grace of God we struggle to approach Him for grace. That demonstrates a sense of brokenness regarding our sin. For broken people do not presume upon the grace of God but rather long for it.

1. May broken, sinful people approach God?

This psalm shows us the basis for approaching God when under the[...]

A Mighty Fortress (Psalm 46) from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.

The mighty army of the ancient Assyrians mowed down the northern kingdom of Israel, crushing their defiance and carting them off into exile. Judah stood in the crosshairs. King Sennacherib began meticulously snatching up one Judean city after another—Gath, Libnah, Lachish, Hebron—aiming for the prize, Jerusalem. Hezekiah, Judah’s king, grew desperate. He begged Sennacherib to accept his gifts and leave him, as he cut off the golden doors of the temple and plundered its treasuries as well as his own to convince him. But that wasn’t enough for the world-conquering Assyrian king. He wanted the prize to himself.

An emissary from Sennacherib called the Rabshakeh stood outside the wall of Jerusalem, calling out to Hezekiah to give up. To heighten the reality of how small his forces were compared to Assyria’s, the Rabshakeh told him that if he had 2000 men that he could put on horses, that they could ride with the Assyrian king’s massive army that lay outside Jerusalem’s walls. He reminded the listeners that Sennacherib had defeated Samaria, Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, and others. None of the gods of those nations could deliver them from the hand of the Assyrians, so the Rabshakeh taunted, “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria’” (2 Kings 18:29–30).

After a brief reprieve, as the Assyrians fought with others, the Rabshakeh returned to taunt again and to call on Hezekiah to give up and not trust in the Lord God. But the king laid out his petition before the Lord, admitting his and Judah’s total inadequacy to repel the advance of the Assyrians. “Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God” (2 Kings 19:19). And the Lord God answered!

While we cannot be absolutely certain, the opinion of John Calvin in the 16th century and more recently, Alec Motyer, among others, is that the background for Psalm 46 is found in this story of deliverance. Yet while it may point to that historical event as its basis, it spans a much wider scope for the people of God. In a sense it is a repeated story for God’s people in every age. God is a refuge in every age and through eternity for His people. The more we learn this truth, the more that it sinks into the depths of our hearts for daily life, then the more ready we are to face whatever befalls us while living in this fallen world. Psalm 46 calls us to confidently see God as our refuge in every trouble. Yet we struggle, so often, to rest in Him. What does the psalmist teach us about the Lord as our refuge and strength? The psalm breaks into three stanzas and so we’ll follow that pattern, as we look closer.

1. A Refuge

If we’re to trust the Lord then we need to know Him, and we need to understand how He has revealed Himself to His people. Commonly in our country, when things go awry with weather or terrorist events, talk of trusting God seems natural among those who otherwise make no mention of Him. Yet apart from knowing God through Jesus Christ, having taken refuge in the crucified and resurrected Son of God, we cannot know God as our refuge in time of need. We must not look at this psalm as some kind of generic prescription for national woes. It’s a message to the church that gives comfort and courage in its most difficult times. The Reformers certainly saw it that way.

Martin Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” is based on this psalm, his favorite. Luther regularly faced opposition, threats, assaults, and a host of fears. He had to live in hiding as a knight in a castle for over a year to escape the immediate threat of death. The Roman Catholic Church sought him, as did Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. So to his friend Philip [...]