Book of Psalms - Psa. 21, Vs. 7-13

All righty. Can you hear me? Okay, I feel like maybe this needs to come up just a tad. Alrighty. Good morning. Good morning Finster. Glad to have you here today. I hope you know all the answers Finn. Cuz I'm gonna ask the questions Who made the world pin.

He got it he's one for one. It's pretty good. Hi, so we got a bunch of kiddos in here today, that's great. Love it. Oh. My second question. Well, my second question is Who raised from the dead. Jesus he's a genius.

This kid knows all the answers. What is today? What is what's the special day today? Easter. He knows all the answers Winston. Wow, you packed your own Easter eggs. That's fantastic. All right. Well now.

Now we're gonna get started with Sunday school. That's a good commentary there Winston, I appreciate it. Oh, he was giving a deep deep a deep theological discussion on the sovereignty of God.

Yes.

Hahaha. Oh Yeah.

Psalm 20 as a Prayer for the King Going Into Battle

All right. Well, we are gonna be in Psalm chapter 21. We're gonna try to finish the Psalm. Hopefully we will because I really want to get to Psalm chapter 22. I wish I had been starting Psalm chapter 22 this week on the heels of Ben's sermon from last week because Ben sermon from last week was an excellent picture of The death on the cross.

And.

Psalm chapter 22 Gives us a glimpse into what Jesus must have been thinking about While he was on the cross. But we are in Psalm chapter 21, so we didn't quite get there as fast as I had hoped. Here's what I want to just kind of frame.

Like what's going on and kind of do a quick recap?

Just to.

Catch some of y 'all up who may not have been here last week. Psalm chapter 20 is a letter or is a prayer by the king. For a king It's David basically talking to his king God, but it's also a letter or a prayer That he would hope His people would pray for him.

It's a prayer in preparation of battle. That's what Psalm chapter 20 is a prayer for preparation of battle. So here's my first question. What was Jesus's battle? When did it start? Okay, so that's a good answer when he went to the wilderness May have been a start.

It's definitely the start of his ministry, right? He's he is.

Baptized and.

We hear the father say this is my son in whom I'm well pleased. The very next verse says he was led up of The spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan. So that's definitely depicts a battle. But did his battle start there?

Let me ask it this way.

What?

Did Jesus come to do. Okay, so he came to die for our sins to be risen to go back to the father to reunite us with our God.

But.

In order for that to work, what did he have to do? He had to sacrifice his body. Ah. There it is. We had. He had to live a perfect life. So when did Jesus's battle actually start? From birth. Right like from the moment he got here he had to battle against the forces of evil to live a perfect life never once sinning until he gets to.

Basically the culmination of that battle, which is the final fight scene really of him hanging on the cross and.

So.

Chapter 20 is a prayer for a king who's going into battle. It's the prayer for David a prayer. He would hope his his people would pray for him. But David is often a picture of Jesus. So if it's a prayer for Jesus.

When might this prayer be prayed if he's about to go into battle. Anytime before he goes into battle so it might from the perspective of if this is Jesus. It might be a prayer for him going to the earth.

Think of it that way because it's it's about him going into battle and Jesus came and battled from childbirth all the way through his adult years and. The cross is really the culmination of that battle.

Thanksgiving for Victory and Covenant Mercy in Psalm 21:7-8

So if that's chapter 20 a prayer for a king going into battle. Chapter 21 as we started last week is a prayer or a A prayer of thankfulness for the victory in that battle, right? And so I'm I'm gonna quickly read through without all the discussion on the first few verses.

The King shall joy in thy strength. Oh Lord and in thy salvation. How greatly shall he rejoice. Thou has given him his heart's desire and has not withholding the request of his lips. Salah. For thou prevent is Tim with the blessings of goodness now set us to crown of pure gold on his head.

That's one verse that I want to recap one more time. The word prevent us means that goodness Preceded him right blessings of goodness went before Jesus and while it was in front of him because it was in front of him he could use that as something to prevent him from doing sin.

He could focus on that as opposed to the distractions and so. This word prevent us has a lot to do with the battle that he has been fighting staying righteous through temptation. The blessing of goodness that was before him prevented him from giving in to sin.

He asked life of thee and thou gavest it him even length of days forever and ever. His glory is great in thy salvation. Honor and majesty has thou laid upon him. For thou has made him most blessed forever that has made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

That's where we stopped last week. Now. This depicts victory right like this is like yes, he wins the battle so it would seem as if If we're looking at this from Jesus's perspective, it would seem as if this is post cross.

But what's interesting is the next verse says for the King trusteth in the Lord. And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved now. Hold on. We read that and we read it from the perspective of victory and we go oh He trusted in the Lord, right, but that it doesn't say he trusted.

It says he trusteth so there's like this continual trusting and.

And.

He has established the victory Right. He has won. There's no doubt. This is a a prayer of victory a prayer of thanks like the battle has has been won by the king, but There's something about it where it's not quite yet over and so the word trusteth here means Basically what you'd expect to trust in to have confidence in to be bold but there's another definition that really lets, you know, the level of trust that he's describing here and That is to feel safe or be careless.

Like that's an interesting Twist to it, right. So why would you need to feel safe if there was? Nothing to feel Protected from right like we feel safe when we feel protected, right? Jesus David, especially since this is David Saying these words.

He definitely feels protected or safe in The power of his God, but he's a picture of Jesus Jesus feels safe And he is careless with his safety. It's it reminds me of like my kids we go out Side at night my kids won't do it by themselves.

It's terrifying for them, right? But if I go out there, it's no big deal. Daddy. It's just stark. I'm not even scared. You know, like they'll say that kind of thing but if I go tell Matt Abbey Kate or even Maddie my oldest hey go walk down to Matt and Emily's house if it's dark man, she'd be like Can I take the car or something?

I don't want to I don't wanna walk in the dark, but if I'm out there No problem. Why because Daddy's there. So it's safe. They're careless almost they don't really even think about dangers when I'm out there.

That's how Jesus was all The time because of his father like he was he was always safe because he was always connected to the father. He was never fearful in other words There were some times When he had to confront fear wasn't like he was never tempted to fear.

All right, like think of him in the Garden of Gethsemane. He does not want to go to the cross his flesh wants to keep him from doing that. So he asks the father there's any way let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but I'd be done.

So like he submitted to the will of the father in the times when he was tempted to fear. But this word trusteth it really carries a connotation of carefreeness like it's just No big deal. No big deal because I've got daddy with me, right?

So that's verse 7 the king trusteth in the Lord Jesus being the king the Lord his father or David being the king and God his father. There's a parallel going on in a lot of these Psalms. The next part of that verse says and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.

Now that implies that something may try to move him. So there's still an enemy. There's still something there that might would try to oppose him. It's not going to succeed because the victory has been won.

He's he's king. It's established. There's no getting around it. And the word for mercy here is has said I think I said that right we'll see. But it means goodness kindness faithfulness, but it also means reproach shame.

It's weird that it has all those definitions. What's happening is that it's two sides of the same coin. It is goodness kindness faithfulness in the face of the exact opposite reproach and shame. This is a very Interesting word because it means all these things but the same the the Hebrew scholars suggest that It's not just a feeling of affection.

Right. So this has said mercy is an action and we kind of go. All right. Well, we've heard that a thousand times, right? Like we've heard.

Love is.

An action it's a verb. It's it's not just a feeling and so that's pretty familiar to us. This takes it a little step further. It Describes it scholars describe this as an act of loving mercy. That is owed due to a covenant relationship so in other words God owes this mercy.

How does that work? He's not indebted to man by any means. It's because of the covenant between God and man though. So God is bound by his own word to have merciful love toward man. How do we know it's a requirement?

Well, there's actually a verse where it very much makes it sound like a requirement type mercy or a requirement type love. You'll find that in Micah chapter 6 verse 8. It says he hath showed thee. Oh man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee?

There's the requirement. Well, here's what he requires but to do justly and to love mercy. And that word there is has said and to walk humbly with thy God. So like this is a required mercy. It can be required of God to man.

But.

It's described in Psalm 21 as Has said when describing God's mercy towards man. So like God is required to give it. Why. Well because of the covenant relationship, but I don't want us to just reduce this to a dutiful Merciful love like like God has to do it just because it's his duty.

It goes beyond that because we have to remember that It would have been just for him just to send everyone to hell it would have been absolutely Oh like more than okay. It would have been Righteous for him to send everyone to hell because of sin.

But it was before the covenant was made with man that God planned to take on this this contractual Relationship and he knew that man would break the covenant and therefore He had to he took it a step further.

He could be not owed this like in other words He he could have said well, the covenant relationship is broken now. I don't owe this mercy but he put a stopgap in there for man by having his son be the one to take the punishment and So all of that was planned by God so it goes way beyond duty because it's not just a call of duty.

He created the concept of the call of duty and then bound himself to that concept. So what you might say is God chose out of pure agape Oh love which is undeserved favor to contractually bind his merciful has said love To it or a dutiful owed mercy.

He bound that on to man for as long as Jesus his son keeps the Covenant. So, how long is that you hadn't run out yet, right an infinite being made an infinite sacrifice to satisfy an infinite debt and bind his infinite loving mercy to the debtor.

Like it's forever. Did you can't get it off of you and God is bound by a contractual relationship to show that mercy like it's owed to his son Jesus first and foremost. So David even before Jesus's fulfillment of that covenant transaction He understands God's infinite mercy and therefore David can't be shaken.

He's the one that's writing the psalm, right? He can't be moved because he understands that God's mercy supersedes his own ability.

To obey.

So he will not doubt he will not fear he will not lack confidence. Instead he will be careless and immovable in the mercy of the Most High. Now Jesus does obey. All right, Jesus obeys perfectly and understanding the infinite mercy that his father is capable of.

He holds fast to his own obedience asking his father every single moment of every single day to empower him to do so and. The two of them are working in tandem hand in hand to meticulously overthrow the enemy.

The father perfectly trusts the son to follow his every command. The son perfectly trusts the father to give such commands. Consistently and clearly. He enters enemy territory in a very vulnerable state as a baby born in a manger.

He he trusts the parents that the father chose for him. He trusts the teachers that the father guided him with and. Then he begins his work of obedience and he battles the forces of darkness. From childhood all the way through his young adult year years.

And finally on the cross he finishes the work of redemption to vanquish the enemy. Losing his own life in the process. Pretty crazy, huh? But here's what happens in that process. He activates God's infinite mercy as the reward.

That mercy of course extends first to him and he is raised from the dead despite having had all of our sins placed on him. He reclaims his throne next to his father in heaven and also in man's heart and The father extends to us through the son that infinite mercy as well.

It has said Mercy that contractual it's owed. It's owed to the Sun and the Sun gives it to us. That's pretty wild. Because we're in him, right. So that's all in verse 7. Lots of good stuff there in verse 7.

Here's verse 8. Thine hand. Shall find out all thine enemies. Thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. What I love about. This idea of the has said mercy like that's coming from the father.

But the father and the son are working together to battle the forces of darkness and to vanquish the enemy and to bring that Infinite mercy to man and you can kind of see that picture playing out verse 8.

They basically blatantly says they're working together. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies. That's God the father's hand. All right. Thy right hand shall find out all those that hate thee who's the right hand of God the father?

Jesus he's at the right hand. He is considered the right hand of the father. So now you have the father and the son working together.

To.

Eliminate the enemy, but wait a minute. Didn't they already do that? Didn't they already have victory? Not quite see. Jesus has overcome sin and has not Fallen to temptation. He's lived the perfect life.

He is now receiving the crown of glory like you have not messed up once kid all that's left for him to do now is Die and put the stamp of approval from the Lord Onto it and to basically say, all right, I have completed the work, right?

There's still something else that has to be done. He's got to die to make all this Be complete. Notice how this is written. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies. Thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.

So there's still enemies out there, right? There's still there's still something to be accomplished. The battle is won, but the war isn't over until the enemy is completely vanquished. So what we're actually seeing here is a lot like what Kings have done Throughout all of human history when a king is victorious and he claims the throne.

What is his first act of King? There's always a first act. That's right. He eliminates all Potential enemies. So what we're seeing here is Jesus has overcome sin. He has lived the perfect life and now he's at the point victorious.

I've run the race. It's time to eliminate the enemies. He will do that through his work on the cross because at that point it seals it all like there he hits. He at that point will have paid a sinner's death without actually being a sinner and There is nothing that the enemy can do to overcome it at that point.

So like this is a really cool psalm to show this. This battle that Jesus has fought prior to the cross and what's really neat about it Is if you think about psalm chapter 20 psalm chapter 21 and then psalm chapter 22.

Chapter 20 is a prayer for a king going into.

Battle.

Chapter 21 is a prayer of thanks for winning the battle. But chapter 22 is Jesus's thoughts on the cross like that's him sealing the victory.

Of course.

Not just through his death but also through his resurrection which you'll you'll get a really good picture of in psalm chapter 2 because it It starts off with the words that Jesus says on the cross, you know, why have thou forsaken me my God my God?

Why thou forsake forsaken me and then at the end you see he has not been forsaken.

And.

So at the end of a war you eliminate the enemy and By the way, this is why this is why you have What seems like such a lopsided war going on in Israel right now where Israel is just pounding the enemy over and over and over and over again and You have to understand Israel's history to understand the motivation behind it.

Israel has a history of not Eliminating their enemy. They have a history a long Long history of leaving a remnant of their enemy and Now they're going out and trying to completely eliminate any semblance of an enemy.

Which they had been told to do thousands of years ago for the first time it may look like Israel is actually trying to learn from their history and We look at that and we go Shame on them like it is overkill.

It's too much. Well, it definitely feels that way and it's okay to feel that way like oh my gosh. It is not a good. I'm not I'm not saying this is this is wonderful. Keep going Israel, you know, what I'm saying is There are two sides to that.

It is okay for us to pity. The side that's losing as men. It is okay for us to pity the loss of life. The way Spurgeon says it is we can mourn the loss of life and pity the enemies of God as men. But we cannot pity them as enemies of God so I think there's an important distinction there because It's sad to see people die.

We don't celebrate that. There's not something to celebrate there. We can feel bad for them in their demise but if they have brought God's judgment upon them, it is just for the Lord to exact judgment and Vengeance is his.

So you say well then why is Israel doing this right? Well God May be using Israel to judge that people just as God has used that people to judge Israel in the past. I mean, it's all God like God is sovereign it none of this surprises him.

It is good for the enemies of God to be vanquished as Devastating as it is that men are dying in the Middle East. So long as Israel's enemies are alive. Here's a reality. They are a threat to Israel's safety period.

Their women and children have been tortured and killed and will be so again if they do not totally eliminate the enemy. Will it work? No. Why won't it work because we know the end of the story right we know that the enemy is going to rise up in the end times and Israel will be completely surrounded.

It may be this very act of war that's going on. That will cause enemy to gain new enemies. It may did I say Israel? Thank you. It may cause Israel to gain new enemies. Through the pity that they feel for Israel's current enemy and that may be the very thing that God uses to raise up the nation's against Israel and Then God has to step in and save Israel at the end.

Us included it may end up being that America rises up against Israel we know that they are surrounded in the end times and so it's a very a Very delicate situation. Don't forget that Israel has that history.

We can't fault them from trying to learn from that history. But we better be careful about which side we choose. Because while one of those nations claims to serve the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the other one sets itself against that same God thereby making themselves an enemy.

What kind of enemy well the kind that will be found by his right hand anyone who chooses to join in on the hatred for the Most High will be found by his right hand and It is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of a living God.

And if you want to know how fearful Look at verse 9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger in the time of thine anger. Now, what does that sound like to you guys? What do you think of when you hear thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger?

Does it does sound like a description of hell for sure? Oh. One more note, by the way. What do we do with things like the war in the Middle East like how should we respond with lots of prayer praying for both sides.

That God would turn hearts and minds To him because it's war is never a Pleasant thing to witness. There are times when God calls people to war and There's always winners there's always losers and the winners lose too.

Because you end up losing people. So what we should be doing is we should be praying for both sides. To come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because even the side that is claiming to follow the the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob they have missed the whole point like His son is the the one they need to follow and they will come to that knowledge eventually.

But right now they just don't know it. There's blindness there. So there is as much blindness on their part as there is on the other side. So we we've got to pray for both sides because Both sides are gonna experience being the enemy.

It looks like this a fiery oven it's really seemed like it's really interesting phraseology here because When we think of the anger of the Lord we think of things like fire, right we think of hell. We think of brimstone.

But what does fire need to grow. Right. So but without fuel. It's gonna burn out real fast, right? So fuel is What we typically think of the thing that grows fire now, you're right it needs It needs fuel and oxygen.

The oxygen actually makes it burn hotter.

The fuel.

Is I don't know all that we got Colin here. We should have him break down all of the science about it because he could probably. But hey I'm pretty good at building fires and I know I Can tell by looking at the fire and how much smoke we're getting and stuff if it needs oxygen or if it needs more fuel.

Or if it has too much fuel and on enough oxygen and stuff like that. But fuel is what you use to grow that that fire. What is the fuel. For God's fiery wrath, what would cause God's wrath to grow.

Sin.

Pretty simple, right? That's what God's anger consumes, right? So like a fire it needs fuel. It has to consume something and God's anger consumes sin. So the more fuel a fire receives the the hotter it will burn.

Therefore the more sin that a human commits. The more fuel he heaps on God's consuming fiery anger. Think about what that means if that sin is stuck to the man committing it. Then in God's time of anger the man will burn like a fiery oven.

But let's pause to think about this for a second. We are enjoying God's infinite mercy because we belong to him. Where does that sin go? Where does our sin go on the cross? It's placed on who? And the more sin we commit the fire the hotter that fiery anger must be to consume it all.

See Jesus endured the wrath of God. That fiery anger he endured it from his father. The scripture tells us it pleased the father to bruise the son the Lord. This is the next part of that verse the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath and the fire shall devour them.

So that verse all together thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger. These are God's enemies. The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath and the fire shall devour them. So who's going to be swallowed up in God's wrath?

Enemies of God, right. So if you are not an enemy of God no wrath for you, right? Because you instead receive God's infinite mercy. The fire will not devour you will not be consumed. Who in this psalm is not God's enemy in the psalm here who wrote this?

The king right. David who does David picture? Are either of those God's enemy? No, so David will not suffer God's wrath. He will not experience the fire. But interestingly enough Jesus will suffer God's wrath.

He will be touched by the fire. Yet he is still not God's enemy. Therefore Though he's experiencing it. He will not be swallowed up. He will not be devoured. So he is going to experience Essentially what the enemies of God experience.

But he won't be consumed. Everyone else will be I it's. It's an interesting Picture in my mind. Anyway, it it I Remember this cartoon. There's this cartoon about Elisha the prophet and you know the story about Elijah calling down fire from heaven and The the prophets of Baal are trying to do the same and nothing happens.

There's this really cool cartoon. You probably still find out on YouTube where it shows this it's a like a super short cartoon like 20 seconds long something like that and you see all the false prophets of Baal jumping around and dancing around and and Trying to call down fire and nothing.

And so then you see a little Elijah pour water like they just pour water on his sacrifice and Then he he bows his head praise and just this like sonic boom of fire comes down. It's almost comically. And then it's completely gone.

Like nothing is left and All of like everybody's standing there all the little prophets of Baal Are standing there like with their eyes blinking like they would in a cartoon like oh my soul what just happened, you know.

That's how I feel like this is going to be like only there's nothing comical about it. Like it's going to be Devastating When God's wrath consumes the earth when it consumes the enemies of God and I imagine it's gonna be like that where if you were to zoom way out and Just look at the earth from afar.

You would see the ball of earth and you would see this sonic boom of fiery Wrath coming from an infinite source just. And there's nothing left Except Jesus standing there and all of his followers behind him and like the flames going around them or something.

You know like Jesus taking the hit But not being consumed and all of us being shielded by him behind like that's the picture I get. When we think of what God's infinite mercy saves us from. It is wrath and fire of the hottest sort reserved only for God's enemies.

I Can't even imagine it. Romans 5 10 says for if we when we were enemies. Think about that if we were when we were enemies We were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much more being reconciled.

We shall be saved by his life. We were in that position. We were considered an enemy with God until Jesus did what he did like. We were gonna get that fire. It wasn't like I'm speaking from the human perspective, of course because from God's perspective.

He was always gonna save us. It was the plan before he even created us. But from our perspective we were in the line of fire. It was gonna happen and Jesus stepped in front of us. Verse 10 their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth.

I mean The wrath of God Isn't just going to consume the enemies. It's going to consume the very work that they have done. The work of the enemy is undone by the work of the Son. The Father's wrath will be directed on the earth and all the sin contained therein.

But those in Christ will be shielded from his anger when the all-consuming fire destroys the earth the fruit or the works of the enemy will be destroyed with it and Look at the next part of this verse and their seed from among the children of men.

So not only will the works of men Or the works of the enemy be destroyed. The Genesis of any potential future enemy will be destroyed along with it. There will remain none that can hold a grudge against the righteous Holy God zilch nada like not even people left to tell the story of how this unjust thing happened because We were just men and he is God and it's just unfair.

Like that won't happen because there will be nobody left to say that only God's people only God's friends and family members will remain. Anyone who hates God and who would attribute? Improper characteristics to him like unjustness or unfairness any of that would Would just disappear.

Spurgeon said and this is this is a pretty wild quote. I like to quote Spurgeon often He said their posterity following in their footsteps shall meet with a similar overthrow meaning the enemies. So the enemies children and their grandchildren everything.

Their posterity following in their footsteps shall meet with a similar overthrow. Till at last the race shall come to an end doubtless. The blessing of God is often handed down by the righteous to their sons as almost an heirloom in the family while the dying sinner bequeaths a curse to his descendants if Men will hate the Son of God.

They must not wonder if their own sons meet with no favor.

Like.

Whoa those who love God Bequeath a blessing to their children in the form of teaching them to love God. Those who hate God bequeath a curse to their children and their children will meet with the same Fiery fate as their parents.

That's terrifying. And Think of what Kings have done as a picture of this throughout all of human history when they take the throne. When they overcome the enemy the war is not over. They go and say, all right now go find.

Whoever's left whoever's related to the enemy all of his sons and grandsons anyone who might try to claim the throne and usurp my authority wipe them all out. And as the king. He was always considered just to do it as a man is king here on earth.

It was always considered and as brutal and as terrible as this seems. The king when he won the victory it was expected. He was seen as weak if he didn't do it he was seen as as. What's the word I'm looking for unwise.

Like if you didn't go eliminate your enemy and any semblance of your enemy you were weak and unwise. You were just inviting it up an uproar and a Revolution later on for your kid or your grandkid if not you.

So as humans that concept was always considered the right thing to do once you win. Like that is it's not just the right thing to do. It's a must even if it's unpleasant, it's a you have to do this and.

So.

That was always a picture of what God will do when he comes back it was always a picture. Why has that changed over time. Man becomes increasingly sinful increasingly not in tune with what God's methodologies are and His man God.

No, but God uses man as a picture of himself time and time again. David was one of those men as the king so verse 11. For they intended evil against thee they imagined a mischievous device. Which they are not able to perform.

Let me ask you this question. How do you and I know who our enemies are? How can we identify an enemy by what they do, right? Whatever it is. They do we can tell if they're our enemy or not. Because they could say nice things to us, right and By the words of their lips, they might say something nice to us to our face.

But they might go and do something to undercut us to harm us to slander us Somewhere else so by their actions we can tell that there are enemy, but God knows his enemies by what they intend. God knows his enemies even before they do a thing.

He knows their heart. He knows what they imagine to do. Even if they are unable to perform the sinful acts of rebellion that they imagined to do if they desire to do it the king Knows and he passes judgment right there.

So they don't even have to Tell another soul that they hate the king. They don't have to tell another soul that they will someday mount an uprising. This king is able to see their heart and know if they are his Friend or foe and if they are his foe he is able to eliminate them past judgment and do so justly and Righteously because he knows and he's never wrong about what is in their heart.