Sunday, March 28, 2021 AM

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March 29, 2021

Michael Dirrim Pastor of Sunnyside Baptist Church OKC "Call Upon the Name of the LORD Whom you Praise" Part 7 Sunday March 28, 2021 AM

05:17: Alright, good morning. Good to hear all the activity.
05:22: Hopefully everyone's had a good Sunday school hour this morning. We want to welcome you to Sunnyside Baptist this morning.
05:28: If you're visiting, we're especially glad that you're here with us to worship with us today. We'll get started with a few announcements this morning as everyone gets seated.
05:38: Looking ahead to our upcoming activities for the week. Come back this evening for our evening service at 5 .30
05:46: here at the church. There is truth group for the young adults in the congregation after the service.
05:53: That's happening tonight. And then Wednesday dinner at 5 .45 for the whole church.
05:58: You're welcome to attend there. 6 .30 Bible study and prayer and tag for the kids.
06:04: And this week is passion week. So Palm Sunday today. We've got Good Friday this
06:10: Friday coming up. There will be a service for Good Friday at 6 .30 here at the church along with the
06:16: Lord's Supper. And then Easter next Sunday. No evening service next
06:22: Sunday. And also because Mrs. Roberts is going to be out of town. There will not be Children's Church next
06:28: Sunday. Kids will be in here during worship as well. This week's fighter verse comes from Philippians continuing in chapter 2.
06:37: Philippians chapter 2 verses 12 through 13. Therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed.
06:45: So now not only as in my presence but much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
06:52: For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
06:59: We still have the need in the nursery as far as nursery workers are concerned.
07:07: I'm going to leave that out there. I thought I had heard that maybe that was still filled but it's still in the bulletin. If you are interested in helping out in the nursery please contact
07:15: Marla Hovarder for the Sunday school hour. We're also still doing Operation Christmas Child stuff.
07:22: So for April donate yo -yos jump ropes and then small puzzle sets.
07:28: Again we want to try and get something that can fit inside of a shoe box. But we're doing that throughout the year so it's easy to gather those things rather than all at the very end of the year.
07:39: A few announcements in the bulletin regarding some craft needs for tag. And then we also want to it's open to the church but a wedding shower for Hannah Horner and Daryl Hamilton is going to be coming up on Saturday April 17th here at the church.
07:56: The time exact time is still to be to be determined but they're registered at Amazon and they would love it if you could attend there.
08:05: And then lastly on April 24th here at the church from 8 a .m.
08:11: until 11 a .m. there's gonna be a church workday. The exact projects are still to be determined but be on the lookout for more information there.
08:20: So April 24th church workday. Any other announcements before we get started this morning?
08:28: All right well we are going to have a time of preparation and prayer this morning and then after we're done with that Michael will open us in prayer.
09:29: Heavenly Father we praise your name today. Who you are and what you do is thoroughly completely eternally good.
09:44: Here on this day as we remember the triumphal entry of our
09:52: Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the fulfillment of your promises entering in to Jerusalem to declare the good news of the kingdom.
10:05: And here we are today so many generations past and we give you the praise and we give you the glory for advancing the fame of your name and the good news of your son
10:21: Jesus Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit throughout the world.
10:32: And here we are named and numbered among the
10:39: Gentiles who have been blessed with the light of Jesus Christ that even this far off land in this far distant time that we too join with the choir to sing
10:56: Hosanna to the son of David to pledge our allegiance to the
11:05: King of Kings the Lord of Lords to do our part in the song and the praise and worship of the
11:16: Lord. We do not do this by our own merits or in our own strength.
11:23: Heavenly Father we look to you for these things. We need your grace. We need your understanding.
11:33: We need your Holy Spirit. Help us to worship you today.
11:42: Fill our view with the excellencies of your son
11:47: Jesus Christ. We ask for these mercies all in the name of your son one with whom you are well pleased.
12:00: Amen. Well good morning
12:05: Sunnyside. What a beautiful day the Lord has made on this
12:12: Palm Sunday. And there are some folks we haven't seen for some time that have joined us today.
12:18: So you be sure to welcome them back into the fold live and in person.
12:25: If you don't know who they are they're sitting over on this side of the they're about halfway three -fourths of the way back.
12:31: So if you would stand with me and read the call to worship together.
12:38: This is from Psalm 61 1 through 4. Hear my cry,
12:48: O God. Listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth
12:54: I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
13:02: For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
13:08: Let me dwell in your tent forever. Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings.
13:16: Our first song is going to be hymn number one. Joyful, joyful we adore thee. And you sing from the heart because it's a great day to be joyful.
16:48: Our scripture reading this morning is from 1 John. A little book close to the back of your
16:54: Bible. John wrote the gospel that we might believe that Jesus is the
17:00: Christ the Son of God and in believing have life. And he wrote this letter that we might know that we have life.
17:15: Chapter 2. 1 John. Through verse 17.
17:35: I'm going to start at verse 1. My little children,
17:43: I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the
17:52: Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
18:05: And by this, we know that we have come to know him. If we keep his commandments.
18:13: Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar.
18:21: And the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word in him, truly, the love of God is perfected.
18:33: By this, we may be sure that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
18:47: Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning.
18:55: The old commandment is the word that you have heard. And at the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you.
19:08: Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
19:14: Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
19:24: Whoever loves his brother abides in the light. And in him there is no cause for stumbling.
19:31: But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going.
19:41: Because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.
19:55: I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
20:02: I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the father.
20:14: I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
20:21: I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.
20:35: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him.
20:47: For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the father but is from the world.
21:03: And the world is passing away along with its desires.
21:10: But whoever does the will of God abides forever.
21:20: Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for your apostle John who recorded these words for us, that we may be encouraged, that we may be strengthened, that we may learn to walk in your will and your ways, to further your kingdom, to share
21:41: Christ and to bring you glory and honor through your son, the
21:52: Lord Jesus. In his name I pray. Amen. You may be seated.
21:58: Thank you. Our first next song will be through HMA 73, or Hymns Modern and Ancient, Black Hymnal 73.
22:14: And then the next will be hopefully the handout that you picked up for the cause.
22:23: And we will sing the first and second chorus, third and fourth chorus, fifth chorus, twice.
22:31: If you didn't follow that, I'll repeat it. So let the earth resound.
22:45: Let the earth resound with songs of praise to the
22:51: Father's power and blood. For the one who set each star in place chose to set his own.
23:07: His victory, yet whose mercies never cease.
23:14: As the tapestry of history tells the story of his praise, resound praise to you.
23:46: Still before the sight of a father's sacrifice, and revealed the depths of love divine in the face of Jesus Christ.
24:02: For the life of good begins, and the death is at your knee.
24:13: We remove the rebel's punishment, and we resound with songs of faith.
25:48: For the cause, and we'll sing the first and second verse of the chorus, the third and the fourth in the chorus, and the fifth in the chorus, twice.
25:57: This is a Gettys piece. I know many of you remember. The kids ought to remember this.
26:03: We sang this in children's choir. For the cause of Christ the
26:14: King, we give our lives and offering. Till all the earth resounds with history, with speech to show.
26:38: But many see, and many believe, as we proclaim the name of our
26:55: King. For our nation, the age of crucifixion.
27:43: For life and myself, take up my cross and follow the song.
28:33: We proclaim the name of our
28:42: God every day. For our creation, every nation.
29:04: Nation, every creation. God's salvation through the
29:11: Son. Let's go to the
29:46: Lord and pray together. Father, I thank you for bringing us together on this day and this place for this purpose, to praise you, to glorify you, to respond to the truths of your word in a way that would be honoring to you and fitting for our submission unto you.
30:11: Lord, we pray for grace. I pray that we would hear your word and rejoice in it.
30:17: I pray that we would receive your word and that we would be the amen of your will on earth as you desire it to be in heaven.
30:29: Lord, we ask that you would bring great joy to our hearts today as we consider the worthiness of your
30:37: Son, Jesus Christ. That especially on this week of all weeks, no matter what kind of bad news is declared over and again, that we would respond with good news.
30:53: That our refrain would be, praised Christ, for he is indeed worthy.
31:00: And we pray these things looking to you, humbling ourselves before you as little children in need of their father's guidance, as hungry beggars in need of your bread.
31:14: We pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. I invite you to open your
31:23: Bibles to Psalm 117. Psalm 117.
31:29: The title of the sermon is, Praise the Lord, all the nations. Praise the
31:36: Lord, all the nations. We see there at the end of this small little chapter, the refrain,
31:47: Praise the Lord. The same at the end of Psalm 116. The same at the end of Psalm 115 and so on.
31:55: This is indeed the key phrase, the key word of, yes, all the
32:02: Psalms, but especially here in what is known as the Great Hallel. Psalms 113 through 118.
32:10: The great hymn that was sung by the Jews around Passover time. The hymn that undoubtedly
32:18: Jesus and his disciples sang after their last supper. So this hymn is full of reflections upon God's goodness and grace.
32:28: Anticipations of celebrating the feast of Passover together. These Psalms were composed and compiled by those brought back from the exile, who have gathered back in Jerusalem, rebuild the walls and the temple in anticipation of the coming of the
32:44: Son of David, in anticipation of the Messiah. Because God had promised that there in that place among those people, he would forge a new covenant.
32:55: They live in hope and they sing these songs and they keep the feasts and they believe.
33:05: Psalm 117, though it is small, is part of this great hymn and we rejoice in this word.
33:15: If you would stand with me, I'm going to read the entirety of the Psalm. This is the word of the
33:26: Lord. Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Laud him, all you peoples, for his merciful kindness is great toward us and the truth of the
33:39: Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord. This is the word of the
33:45: Lord. You may be seated. Today is
33:58: Palm Sunday. Is this still on the calendar, by the way?
34:09: Some calendars, it's still there. Some calendars, they've dropped it off. What's so important about Palm Sunday?
34:17: We read the story in the
34:22: Gospels that Jesus, as part of the preparation for the
34:27: Passover week, sent his disciples to secure a colt, a donkey, for him to ride.
34:36: In fulfillment of prophecies in Zechariah, he rides upon the donkey into Jerusalem.
34:44: He starts on the other side of the Mount of Olives and he's heading towards Jerusalem. And the people immediately understand what he's doing.
34:56: They see the picture of Messiah promised so long ago. They know the timing that Daniel gave.
35:02: It is the season for a Messiah. They know it's time. Surely this Jesus of Nazareth, with all of his wonders and all of his powers, certainly this must be
35:10: Messiah. So they sing. They sing refrains from the great
35:16: Hillel and honor Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah on this
35:23: Passover week. Luke 19, we can read the story of what we call the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, verse 37 and 38.
35:41: Then, as he was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise
35:52: God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen. Saying, blessed is the
35:59: King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, glory in the highest.
36:09: People have been laying down their coats along the ground, paving the road for their emperor to enter the city.
36:18: They had but poor pavement to offer. They had but poor tribute to bring.
36:24: They cut down the palm branches, a sign of independence and revolution from their
36:30: Maccabean days. But they bring the palm branches, a sign of their solidarity as Israelites.
36:36: And they come and they wave the palm branches in honor of their Messiah. They don't know what kind of deliverance is coming.
36:47: They don't know what kind of power is going to be revealed. They don't really know what kind of Messiah he is yet.
36:54: So they're all about just half right. But they do sing this praise to Jesus from Psalm 118.
37:05: They're thinking about the great Hillel. It is Passover week. And they honor him and they call him
37:11: Messiah. They call him the King that God has sent. And the religious leaders present rebukes
37:18: Jesus for allowing them to do that. Telling him, you quiet them down.
37:25: They shouldn't be saying that of you. And Jesus said, if they were quiet, the rocks would cry out. Even the stones would cry out praise if they were silent.
37:34: Of course, he's quoting from Habakkuk, a passage that rebukes corrupt religious leaders.
37:41: That probably didn't settle them down at all. But he's in this parade.
37:49: These Israelites are excited. Messiah is here. And he's coming to Jerusalem and he begins the descent.
37:56: The winding descent down the slopes of the Mount of Olives. He's heading into the
38:02: Kidron Valley. And then he's going to wind his way back up the slope of Mount Zion into the
38:09: Eastern Gate right there into the temple. And as he begins his descent, he looks upon the city of Jerusalem.
38:19: And he begins to weep. He begins to weep.
38:27: Not for his own suffering. Not for his own crucifixion that is on the horizon.
38:34: And he knows it's coming and he's been talking about it. But he weeps because he knows what's going to happen to Jerusalem.
38:40: And he says it in detail. That armies are going to come and besiege them and build ramps around them.
38:46: And these armies are going to destroy Jerusalem. And not one brick will be left upon another.
38:51: And the horrendous slaughter that's going to occur moves him to tears. So Jerusalem, if you only knew the things that make for peace.
39:03: That they would not repent. They would not come to him as chicks would to a mother hen.
39:09: They would not turn to the good news of the Messiah. In fact, they would soon reject him and crucify him on a hill outside Jerusalem.
39:20: And he says now the things that would make for peace are hidden from your eyes. Judgment is set.
39:26: He declares judgment as he enters into Jerusalem. But the parade continues.
39:33: And the climax of the parade is the temple itself.
39:40: When Jesus comes into the temple, he looks about at all that is going on. And he sees a great deal of activity.
39:45: Why wouldn't there be? It is Passover week. It is crampacked. This very large and spacious temple grounds.
39:53: It is crampacked with people. Crampacked with their livestock. And the tables of the money changers.
40:00: And Jesus begins to clean house. He begins to flip tables.
40:06: And send livestock scattering. People begin to flee the disturbance.
40:13: Jesus is cleaning out the temple. He begins to make room and space in the temple.
40:21: All of a sudden it is not as crowded anymore. All of a sudden there is a whole lot of room. Why is
40:27: Jesus making room in the temple? Why is he clearing out all the clutter and the mess of this apostate second temple
40:36: Judaism. That is turned away from the truth of the scriptures. Why is he making room? Why is he doing this act of judgment?
40:44: He tells us. He doesn't leave it to us to guess. He tells us what he is doing with his live action parable.
40:55: He says. Verses 45 and 46. He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold it.
41:02: And saying to them. It is written. My house is a house of prayer.
41:08: But you have made it a den of thieves. The den of thieves quote is from Jeremiah.
41:15: Judgment upon the religious leaders back then. Who also lost their city and their temple.
41:21: But here he says. My house is a house of prayer. The full quote is from Isaiah 56 -7. He says. It is written.
41:26: My house is a house of prayer for all nations. For all nations.
41:34: Isaiah 56 is a very hope filled chapter. It begins to talk about the foreigner.
41:41: And the children of the foreigner. The children of the Gentiles. The descendants of the nations.
41:47: It talks about the eunuch. These were not the ones who were allowed to come into the temple and worship.
41:53: And feel that they were close to God. No. They were kept at arm's length.
41:59: Especially. Especially in the time of Christ. They had erected physical barriers.
42:04: And put up signs. It says. No Gentiles allowed. You keep away. But in Isaiah 56.
42:11: What is promised. It is promised. That the Gentiles. And the eunuch.
42:17: Would come into the temple. And find acceptance with God. And the house of the
42:25: Lord. Would be a house of prayer for all nations. So Jesus comes into the temple. And he begins to make room.
42:32: Why is he making room? He is making room for the nations. And that parade would continue.
42:40: In the language of the Old Testament. The nations would stream. Will stream upwards.
42:48: Into Jerusalem. Jesus would say. As he cleansed the temple.
42:53: Destroy this temple. And in three days. I will raise it up. That week he was crucified upon the cross.
43:02: And he was raised the third day. And into his temple. Who comes? Jew and Gentile.
43:09: Living stones. Christ is building a new temple. Full of the nations.
43:17: Palm Sunday is an amazing day. A day worthy of honor. That we praise the
43:23: Lord. And rejoice in the hope of the gospel. And it is a day. That should not be a surprise at all.
43:30: In the story of the Bible. Especially when we read passages like Psalm 117. Psalm 117.
43:38: Points us. Toward the scale. Of the resurrection.
43:45: Palm Sunday points us. Toward the scale of the resurrection. What's going to happen?
43:51: Oh the nations are going to come. To the Lord. Because of the death and resurrection.
43:57: Of Jesus Christ. So when we read in Psalm 117. That the nations, the Gentiles. Are to praise the
44:04: Lord. And to laud him. Because of his grace. And his truth toward them.
44:11: We recognize something here. In this Psalm. That we see elsewhere in the scriptures.
44:18: The fact of the matter is. The horizon of grace. Marks the dawn of praise. The horizon of grace.
44:25: Marks the dawn of praise. Everywhere grace goes. Praise rises. Those who are sitting in darkness.
44:33: At long last upon them. A light dawned. Coming to know who Christ is. His praise rises.
44:39: Well in Psalm 117. Having set the. The theme of Palm Sunday.
44:49: What do we have here in Psalm 117. First of all the nations. Are called to praise in verse 1. The nations are called to praise.
44:56: And in verse 2 tells us. The nations have cause. To praise. Psalm. 117 is so small.
45:06: That sometimes in the ancient manuscripts. It's appended to Psalm 116. It's just 2 verses.
45:11: Tack it on to the end of 116. But it's scope. Is so expansive.
45:17: It has rightly been given it's own number. And this. Is a call to worship.
45:23: A call to worship most excellent. It is 5 stanzas long. But in just these 5 brief stanzas.
45:30: We are transported across. All of. Culture and time. The doctrines of creation.
45:37: And the incarnation. And eschatology are all glimpsed. We are told of a transition.
45:42: Between the old and new covenant. And all of this. All of this.
45:47: And the worshiper is. Ably instructed in the ways of praise.
45:54: There's a lot packed in. To this Psalm. But notice how. The nations are instructed.
46:01: How the worshippers are called. To give honor. And glory to God.
46:07: Two instructive words. Praise and laud. We have been.
46:13: Talking about that word praise. For quite some time. It is the Hallel and Hallelujah. Hallel is a.
46:21: Very common word. In the Old Testament. To praise the
46:26: Lord. What does this mean? The word means to clarify. In boast.
46:33: To clarify. In boast. At its heart is a word. Which it depicts.
46:39: Making color clear. Through light. So the one who praises.
46:47: The Lord then. Is as the prism. Which refracts light. Into its many colors.
46:54: Those who are made in God's image. And filled with the light of his glory. Are to make clear.
47:00: The myriad colors. Of his excellencies. And not just the Jews. But the
47:06: Gentiles too. All the nations are to do this. Praise and laud.
47:15: Laud. Laud and honor. How often do we use the word laud? Hardly at all.
47:21: What does this word mean? When God paints. An especially beautiful sunset.
47:27: Often one of us in the family. Will come running inside. And say hey everybody. You've got to come see this.
47:34: And we stop everything. We're doing. Because you've got to go then. To see the full effect.
47:41: And we go out and see what God has done. That is the meaning of laud.
47:46: It means to stop everything. With a loud voice. You see in our English.
47:52: The connection between laud. And loud. Laud. Very close. So what are the nations.
48:02: The tribes. The Gentiles. The peoples. What are they being instructed to do?
48:08: What are they being called to do? They're being called to worship God. By putting everything else on hold.
48:15: To loudly make God's glories clear. Just stop whatever we're doing.
48:22: And let's make the glories of God. Clear. By boasting in who he is.
48:29: And both these words. Praise and laud. Were present on Palm Sunday. We read them. In Luke 19.
48:38: In verse 37. Then as he was drawing. Then as he was now drawing near. To the descent of the
48:44: Mount of Olives. The whole multitude of the disciples. Began to rejoice and praise God. With a loud voice.
48:51: For all the mighty works they had seen. See. There it is. Praise.
48:57: And laud. They were both present in this. Parade that winded its way up.
49:03: Into Jerusalem. So this is the exaltation that is compelled.
49:12: But all of it. Is called of. From the Gentiles and the peoples.
49:17: All of you give praise and laud to God. And notice that there's no exception then. Certainly the
49:25: Jews are called to this. But if all the nations. And all the tribes are called to it as well. That means there's no exception allowed.
49:32: There's nobody left. Out of these groups. These identifiers. Hallelujah.
49:39: Is for everybody. That's the command. The compulsion of everyone.
49:45: Made in God's image is this. To praise the Lord. But everything that has breath.
49:52: Praise the Lord. Psalm 150 says. Everybody should be praising the
49:58: Lord. Hallelujah. Shall be the watchword of the nations. And the shibboleth of the tribes.
50:05: Hallelujah. Calling upon us all. Yes. Nations rage and people plot.
50:12: To no avail. They pursue rebellion as leaves upon the wind. But they all belong to Christ. They are his as vessels.
50:19: Either of judgment. Or as vessels of mercy. But they belong to him.
50:26: And all kings. And all magistrates. Should bow the knee. And kiss the reigning right hand of Jesus Christ.
50:33: And find refuge in him. Everybody is called to this.
50:40: No nation. And no people. No culture. No tribe. No community. No clan.
50:46: No neighborhood. And no family. None of them have a right.
50:51: To believe what they want. Or to think of God as they please. Or to worship according to their preferences.
51:00: Though all the nations worship. Gods of stone and wood. They are compelled. To turn to God from idols.
51:08: To serve the living. And true God. And God who sent forth his son.
51:14: As the savior of the world. The world affords not one drop of his blood. To waste. The throne room.
51:22: Worthy is the lamb. The new song. They sing a new song. Saying you are worthy to take the scroll.
51:30: And to open its seals. For you were slain. And have redeemed us to God by your blood.
51:35: Out of every tribe and tongue. And people and nation. And have made us kings and priests to our
51:42: God. And we shall reign on the earth. With what did he get? One from everyone? A nice representative demographic.
51:50: A token individual. From everyone. So that all is equitable. No. Statistics end with grace.
52:01: Revelation 7. Verses 9 and 11. Same group. After these things I looked. And behold a great multitude.
52:07: Which no one could number. Of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues.
52:13: Standing before the throne. And before the lamb. Clothed with white robes. With palm branches in their hands.
52:19: See where the parade ends up? On Palm Sunday? Where did the
52:24: Palm Sunday parade end? And crying out with a loud voice.
52:30: Saying salvation belongs to our God. Who sits on the throne. And to the lamb. Spurgeon comments on Psalm 117.
52:48: He says this. He would call them a people. Who were not a people. And her beloved who was not beloved.
52:55: We know and believe. That no one tribe of men shall be unrepresented. In the universal song.
53:00: Which will ascend to the Lord of all. Individuals have already been gathered. Out of every kindred.
53:06: And people and tongue. By the preaching of the gospel. And these have rightheartedly joined. In magnifying the grace which sought them out.
53:14: And brought them to know the Savior. These are but the advanced guard. Of a number which no man can number.
53:21: Who will come ere long. To worship the all glorious one. So when we make disciples.
53:29: Of all nations. We teach them. To praise and laud.
53:36: Their Lord and Savior. Jesus the Christ. All nations are called to this.
53:43: To praise and laud. We have far too much. Praise and laud of the self.
53:50: We have far too much. Praise and laud. Of the self.
53:56: Amongst the tribes. Too much clarifying. Of the self.
54:01: Too much everybody hold up. And pay attention to the self. The clarifying and halting.
54:08: Amongst the tribes. In the name of the self. Is not honoring to God. We are to abandon idols.
54:14: For the one. And true living. God. All nations are called to praise.
54:22: And the nations have cause. To praise. Notice the magnitude of their salvation.
54:28: Here in the psalm. The magnitude of their salvation. In verse two.
54:35: For his merciful kindness. Is great. Toward us. And the truth of the
54:41: Lord. That endures forever. What is the expression.
54:49: Of their salvation. We have the words. Merciful kindness and truth.
54:55: What is the expanse of it. Well we see that it is great. And that it endures forever. This is a magnificent salvation.
55:04: Yes the nations are called. To praise. But they have every reason to do so. In reflection upon.
55:10: The nature of the salvation. That is being. Presented to them. In the person and work of Jesus Christ.
55:19: This is not. Poor pittance for beggars. This is not. Some righteously forced.
55:27: Decorum for inmates. We are not to despise. The riches of God's goodness.
55:34: And forbearance and long suffering. We are to remember. It is the goodness of God. It is the kindness of God.
55:42: Which leads us. To repentance. What is the expression.
55:54: Of this salvation. We have merciful kindness and truth. Translations vary. Sometimes it's just mercy and truth.
56:01: Sometimes loving kindness and truth. Covenant faithfulness. And truth.
56:09: What are these words. That go together. So often in the scriptures. Well they are the.
56:15: Names of my. Two oldest sons. Little names of my two oldest sons. Chesed and Emeth.
56:23: Chesed and Emeth. What does Chesed mean. It means that. God loves.
56:30: Because of who he is. He has set his love on you.
56:36: Because of who he is. And not because of who you are. And thus we often translate this word.
56:43: Grace. Grace. What about the word
56:49: Emeth. Fundamentally it means truth. As it is translated. But it is truth.
56:55: With God. Being faithful to his word. Keeping all of his promises.
57:04: Because of who he is. And not whether we have. Kept up our end of the bargain.
57:12: Chesed and Emeth. Mercy and truth. Grace and truth. God had revealed himself.
57:18: Full of grace and truth. To the Israelites in many portions. And in many ways.
57:24: Throughout their generations. God had shown them that he was a God of grace. And a God of truth.
57:29: But here. These two aspects of God's goodness. Are presented to the Gentiles.
57:35: To the nations. To the tribes outside of Israel. And then they are called.
57:41: To praise and laud. God. For his grace and his truth. And these things could not be ignored.
57:52: Not when his grace. Is great. And his truth is forever.
57:58: These are too. Massive. To be ignored. We read that his merciful.
58:06: Kindness is great. His mercy is great. His grace is great. What is this word?
58:12: Great. It means strong. It means prevailing.
58:19: We read in Genesis. Chapters 6 through 8. That the earth was filled up with violence.
58:28: And we read that the waters. Of the flood. Prevailed. Prevailed. Over the highest mountains.
58:38: That word is used. Prevailed. Over the highest. Mountains. And those sin abounds.
58:49: Grace. Much. More abounds. Grace. Prevails.
58:58: The grace of God says to sin. Depravity. The devil.
59:04: Death. And the grave. Let my people go. Grace abounds.
59:13: Grace prevails. So the nations give praise. To God.
59:19: And the truth of the Lord endures forever. And forever. It remains. And this does not mean that the words of God.
59:26: And the promises of God get old. And manage to stick around. It means that God's plans.
59:33: And God's promises. What God says is as fresh. And as new. And as sharp.
59:39: And as clear as the day he said it. That's what that means.
59:49: So these great. And prevailing mercies of God. And these enduring promises of God.
59:56: They are presented to the nations. Presented to the tribes. And this is.
01:00:02: Their great cause. For. Praising God.
01:00:08: And lauding God. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the only
01:00:17: Savior for the world. There is one name. Under heaven given among men.
01:00:25: Whereby we must be saved. And that is the name of Jesus Christ. For here in Psalm 117.
01:00:32: Not only do we see the magnitude. Of our salvation. That we have cause to praise. But we also have the manifestation of our
01:00:38: Savior. Let's pay attention to.
01:00:44: The way that God uses pronouns. Verse 1.
01:00:51: Praise the Lord all you. Gentiles. Do you see it? Laud him all you.
01:00:58: Peoples. Why do they say it like that? Because they are a bunch of Jews.
01:01:05: And they are in Jerusalem. On top of Mount Zion. And they have been gathered back there.
01:01:12: To be faithful to the Lord. In anticipation of what he is going to do. They have been brought back out of the nations.
01:01:18: And boy they have seen a lot of the nations. And now they are calling upon the nations. Where some of their cousins.
01:01:25: And relatives still live. And they are pointing outward. And they are saying. Hey you
01:01:31: Gentiles. Hey you Peoples. Praise Yahweh.
01:01:36: Laud the one true God. So you see the pronoun you. They are pointing at others.
01:01:42: Now watch this. Verse 2. For his merciful kindness. Is great toward us. Well how does that work?
01:01:54: Doesn't that seem a little odd? All you nations out there.
01:02:01: You should praise and honor God. For how much he loves us. That doesn't sound exactly.
01:02:11: The best reason to be giving them. And yet it is most natural.
01:02:19: To the story of salvation. Given to us in the scriptures. It does seem odd.
01:02:28: For this psalm to compel the Gentiles. To look at God's prevailing merciful kindness. Towards the Jews and give praise to God.
01:02:33: Yet we read. In Galatians 3. That the scriptures had preached the gospel.
01:02:39: Before hand to Abraham. For seeing that the Gentiles would be justified by faith. And the gospel.
01:02:45: That the scriptures preached to Abraham. Is listed this way. That all the families of the earth. Would be blessed in Abraham.
01:02:53: And his seed. The seed singular. Meaning Christ. And so it is.
01:03:00: From the queen of Sheba to Nebuchadnezzar. From Naaman to Darius the Mede. And from Rahab to Ruth. We have all kinds of examples.
01:03:07: Where the Gentiles looked upon. God's prevailing merciful kindness.
01:03:12: Wrought upon Israel. For there they see the shadows. And the types of Christ. And they receive the promises of the
01:03:18: Messiah. And then they believe. In God's everlasting truth. And they praise the
01:03:24: Lord. All of this. In a muted scale.
01:03:32: But fully realized. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The whole point.
01:03:40: Mind you. Of looking at Israel is to see the Savior. The whole point.
01:03:45: In scripture. Of looking at Israel. Is to see the Savior. When the religious leaders.
01:03:53: Of Jesus' day. Looked at the scriptures. To see themselves there.
01:03:59: Jesus said. You're looking wrong. You look at Israel.
01:04:04: To see the Messiah. To see Jesus Christ. And so watch what happens in Psalm 117.
01:04:11: The Gentiles the peoples. The nations and the tribes. Are called to praise the Lord. And to give him. Lord why? Because God's grace and truth.
01:04:19: Are so revealed. In Israel. But wait. This is shadow.
01:04:26: This is old covenant. Where is the substance? Where is the new covenant? Well it is no small matter for us then to read.
01:04:35: In John chapter 1. That the word became flesh. And dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory.
01:04:41: Glory is of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace. And truth.
01:04:48: Verse 17 says. For the law was given through Moses. But grace and truth.
01:04:53: Came through Jesus Christ. So where do the nations look? And where do the tribes look?
01:04:59: For so great a salvation. That they would praise the Lord. And laud and honor God.
01:05:05: We look to where God's grace and truth. Are revealed. And that is none other than Jesus Christ.
01:05:12: The fulfillment. Of everything God ever said or did with Israel. This is the point of the
01:05:20: Palm Sunday. Parade. You know. The people who were really excited.
01:05:26: About Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah. They got their palm branches out. Here's the second Judas Maccabee.
01:05:31: He's going to lead us in another revolution. They were ready. Here's the
01:05:37: Messiah. He's going to kick out the Romans. He'll deliver us from our physical oppression.
01:05:43: Because after all. Physical oppression is the most important thing. To be worried about. They didn't get it.
01:05:49: They were half way there. But the point of the Palm Sunday parade. Is not resolved or revealed.
01:05:57: Until Jesus Christ dies upon the cross. And is raised from the dead. And he begins to explain it all.
01:06:03: On the road to Emmaus. This is what it means. This is what it looks like.
01:06:10: It's hard. It was hard for people. In Jesus' generation. To understand.
01:06:16: Even decades after. Paul is writing in Romans chapter 15. He's trying to explain.
01:06:23: How all of this works. Romans chapter 15 verse 8.
01:06:29: And following. Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant. To the circumcision. For the truth of God.
01:06:36: To confirm the promises made to the fathers. Right? The gospel is to the
01:06:41: Jew first. And then also to the. Gentiles.
01:06:47: So first of all. Jesus becomes a servant to the circumcision. For the truth of God. To confirm the promises made to the fathers.
01:06:54: If they wanted to know how the promises are kept. Where do they look? Jesus. Verse 9.
01:07:00: And that the Gentiles might glorify God. For his mercy. Might praise him for his grace.
01:07:06: As it is written. For this reason I will confess you among the Gentiles. And sing to your name. And again he says.
01:07:12: Rejoice oh Gentiles with his people. And again. Praise the Lord all you
01:07:17: Gentiles. Laud him all you peoples. Psalm 117 verse 1. And again
01:07:25: Isaiah says. There shall be a root of Jesse. And he who shall rise to reign. Over the
01:07:31: Gentiles. And him the Gentiles shall hope. This is very.
01:07:38: Good news here in. Psalm 117. So it becomes and so it shall be.
01:07:50: And we are part of this. And we rejoice in this. But here we are so many generations. Past Palm Sunday.
01:07:56: Still part of the parade. Here we are from the nations. And from the tribes.
01:08:02: And what are we doing. But streaming up into Zion. Streaming up into.
01:08:09: The heavenly Jerusalem. Who is our mother Paul says. Being constructed by.
01:08:15: The handiwork of Jesus Christ. Into a living temple. We are living stones. Those who were once not a people.
01:08:22: But now a people. Those who were once not beloved. But now beloved. So it becomes and so it shall be.
01:08:28: Yes the earth will be filled. With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea.
01:08:34: Good news on. Palm Sunday. Even better news next week. Let's pray.
01:08:42: Father we thank you for the time. You have given us in your word today. I pray that you have been honored. I pray that you would help us to.
01:08:49: Praise and laud you. For all that you have done. In our savior
01:08:55: Jesus Christ. I pray that he would. Be our joy. This season.
01:09:01: What I pray that you would give us. Just a clear sense. Of your grace.
01:09:08: This week. That you would. Bewilder us in holy ways.
01:09:18: So that we would hold our tongue. When it comes to. Complaining. That you would lose our tongue.
01:09:24: When it comes to praising. For you are worthy of all this and more. We pray these things in the name of Christ.
01:09:31: Amen. Amen and amen.
01:09:37: Would you stand. As we sing our song of benediction. This will be from. Hymns modern ancient number 72.
01:09:45: It's a great song. Oh. Oh.
01:10:26: Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.
01:10:35: Oh. Oh. Oh. I. Oh.
01:10:56: Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.
01:11:09: You're reaching out to every heart that seeks
01:11:15: You. Your light will shine in all the earth, bringing grace and a great salvation.
01:11:27: I'm king of the ages, almighty God, perfect love, ever just and true.
01:11:40: Who will not fear You and bring You grace?
01:11:46: All the nations will come to You. The day will come when
01:11:57: You appear and every eye shall see
01:12:03: You. And we shall rise with hearts ablaze with a song we will sing forever.
01:12:14: I'm king of the ages, almighty
01:12:19: God, perfect love, ever just and true.
01:12:32: Who will not fear You and bring You grace? All the nations will come to You.
01:12:43: May the love of the Father and the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
01:12:50: We are dismissed. Amen.