Reading the Psalms as God’s Gift to Us

Good morning people a couple of quick housekeeping things We were looking at the bulletin today and I discovered

I have the wrong number of grandchildren listed that we actually have nine grandchildren of some older document that I was trying to cut and paste and Wasn't smart enough to remember how many grandchildren we have.

So anyway, that's one housekeeping event different one I've had a bronchitis the last couple weeks.

Hopefully, I'm well had it been an antibiotics just finished the antibiotics Presumably I'm not contagious.

But if I cough Just pray for me. I guess that's a rule on that terms of the message today

What I'd like us to think about as we look at a passage like some 48 is what do we do with a passage of scripture that we read through it and kind of Shrug our shoulders and say ho -hum.

What does that? How does that connect up with me in my life? You know, here's something that's clearly an

Old Testament passage and it's maybe somewhat of a strange passage

Exalting the city of Jerusalem that you know, what do we do with passages like that?

So that's partly where I'm trying to go in this message. It's To see these

Psalms as God's gifts to us to see all the Bible as God's gifts to us Even as we read through the

Bible, hopefully you have some plan to read through the Bible on some kind of a regular basis that Sooner or later, you're going to come to strange passages of scripture that you're really not quite sure.

Why is this there? What are we supposed to learn from it? And I think part of the answer to that is that God is writing this to People over thousands of years of history

He's writing it to people all around this world people whose life experiences are very different from ours here in the

US So that he's writing for the broad Scope of the world the broad scope of time and even for us that passage is a scripture

That are less meaningful to us at one period of life may suddenly become more meaningful at a different period of life

You know, so just seeing the sovereignty of God even in how he's given us the Bible fairly thick book and Even this thought of trying to read through the entire

Bible, you know, that's kind of a challenge I think especially if you've not grown up in the

Christian faith But anyway, and the focus of today's message is particularly on the

Psalms But thinking more generally of all of God's Word I want to begin with this thought of the importance of reading the

Psalms. How do you read a book like the Psalms and I want to begin just by encouraging you to read the

Psalms on a regular basis to See, this is part of God's Word as far as I'm concerned

It's both the prayer book of the Bible and the song book of the Bible Now the disadvantage of the song book part is there's no tunes to it

So that some of these you read the historical title there at the beginning and it refers to some

Song that was presumably known by people at the time it was being written But we have no clue today what those tunes were so that you know

There's a song book, but we don't quite know the song we don't know the tunes and some of you are familiar with different approaches to the

Psalter where they try to maybe Work it out in some way that it kind of lines up as poetry in English more clearly than it does in Regular translations so we can begin to sing it that if you're going to sing something.

This is my interest I'm not musical but my understanding is it needs to have a certain meter to it, you know

Especially if you're going to try to sing Line it up in different verses and a hymn that kind of thing

So if you're like me You need all the help you can get to stay on track spiritually and here's the book of Psalms a gift to God Prayer book and a hymn book and and so for us to see this is one of God's gifts to us

Slightly different thought I want us to think about for a moment and this is developing a balanced spiritual diet

When I was a child in public schools, I learned about different food groups I didn't learn a lot but learn a little bit as fruits and vegetables and protein and all the other different parts of the food chart there and the point of this kind of Classification is to remind us that if we are going to grow up and to be healthy and strong we need a balanced diet

Physically and I still believe that's true even today but the focus

I want us to think about today is a balanced spiritual diet and That as far as I'm concerned different parts of God's Word serve different purposes, you know here

We're kind of in back of my mind thinking the food groups there's fruits and vegetables and all these other kinds of things and that as we think about God's Word to remind us that as far as I'm concerned the four

Gospels serve a different nutritional purpose than Paul's epistles and Both of them are different from historical narrative like a book of Acts or an apocalyptic book like the book of Revelation and these are all different from Old Testament law

Old Testament prophets Old Testament historical books and So on and Psalms and Proverbs each of these are different genres is one literary word

We could use but they also serve different spiritual nutritional purposes So here's the thought that's in my mind if we're going to have a balanced spiritual diet

We need some kind of regular exposure to all these different parts of God's Word You know, it's like in terms of physical food.

You don't just eat all vegetables for one meal and have a different meal It's going to be all fruits different meal.

It's all going to starches different meal different proteins that's not how we normally eat we kind of ideally combine different things in a given meal and Guess what on a regular basis?

We need to combine different parts of God's Word and the part that's most on my mind today is the

Psalms and To see that the Psalms serve a specific purpose in God's Word again.

It's kind of a combination book prayer book kind of thing But also as we're reading through the Psalms as far as I'm concerned our emotions we're kind of all over the board in terms of emotions day -to -day time moment by moment even sometimes and If we read through the

Psalms we discover words for whatever we might be feeling at a given point in time

You know that the Psalms just give us words for our Emotions that a lot of times

I don't have a lot of imagination a lot of times I can have a feeling and not know how to put it into words and a lot of times the

Psalms can be helpful to that can help us find words and That kind of thing so in terms of this idea of a balanced diet

This is why I think we need to be on a regular reading through scripture some kind of plan or that kind of thing

My wife and I happen to use Robert Murray McCheney's Bible reading plan Those of you familiar with it one advantage of it is we're reading different parts of God's Word every day so that just that exposure to The broad sweep of scripture and for us to do that with a book of Psalms in particular so that Just to see the different Parts of God's Word And I think we also have the advantage of different time slots during our day and week when we can focus on different parts of God's Word That I think many times it's hard for us to find time to read anything from scripture on a regular basis

But here's some I'm going to mention three different opportunities. We have three potential opportunities at least and For the each of us need to be reading

God's Word Individually in our own personal walk with God call it our quiet time individual time with the

Lord whatever we call it and that Again, there's no substitute for regular individual

Bible reading for those of us who are married Especially if we're married to a Christian spouse that ideally we'd find some time together to connect up where we would do ideally two things read something from scripture and pray together and again ideal world

We would do that every day My wife and I happen to be retired 77 going on 78 so I am retired and It's our schedule is more flexible than some of your schedules

But I think in an ideal world for us to try to connect up with our spouses whenever we can two goals reading something from scripture and Praying together and I and the goal is thought right here

It's not one let's be legalistic and try to come up with some legalism and scare everybody scare ourselves.

That's not the goal but the goal is simply to say Try to ask

God what he would want you to do as a married couple if you're married applies to you if you're not married doesn't quite fit, but Anyway, there's that plan and and again

I'm gonna appeal for a place for the Psalms somewhere my wife and I have what we call family devotions and Our schedule is more flexible in some of yours do it right after breakfast whenever we can some days

It doesn't work out didn't work out today had to go to church early today other days, there's other early things doesn't always work out, but it does work out whenever we can and There's no legalism.

There's just you know, here's a plan whenever possible. We're going to allocate some time there and third possibility is if you're married and have children and The children are still at home to see that as an opportunity to either gather together as the entire family or maybe it's just one parent going off with a maybe even just one child at a time or something and Maybe reading something quick praying

But to have something on a regular basis. So here's Again, my appeal

I want you to read the book of Psalms three potential slots individual personal devotions

Family devotions if you're married family devotions if you have children at home who are there living with you all kinds of flexibility

Even this past week. My wife was suggested. Maybe we should do something slightly different in our personal family devotions, you know

So there's time to kind of reevaluate and kind of see what fits us best at this point in time

Can't do it every day do it some days I can't do it every day do it once a week or you know kind of whatever and again

The bottom line is to focus on the book of Psalms see what fits your schedule

And again to see the book of Psalms as a key book in our lives that It's something that fits us in all kinds of different situations

It's a book in a book of scriptures James gonna read a verse from James 5 13

He's talking about different scenarios in our lives James says is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray is anyone cheerful. Let him sing Psalms This is what the King James says with a new

King James says let him sing Psalms and other translations Just say let them out praise

God, you know that kind of thought that the Greek word there is Salmo which is

P S a L then it continues on a little more and it's the verb form for singing

Psalms and and what are Psalms answer Psalms are items of praise and The thought is that we praise

God in all kinds of different situations read through the book of Psalms some Psalms are

Positive we're exalting in God's goodness kind of some other Psalms are laments

That here's a time. It's a difficult time in our lives. We're crying out to God for his help either individually or Corporately, there's individual laments.

There's corporate laments So that we're crying out to God. So it's we're praising

God We're recognizing God's greatness even in times of situations that are not always easy.

So we're looking to him for his help So that just to see the Psalms as a part of God's Word New thought learning to read poetry

I'm a dedicated math and science person. This is how I grew up that when

I was in high school, I Basically one goal in life that was to become an engineer.

I like math and science Maybe it wasn't engineering maybe some other area of science who knows what?

Went to case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio A Year after I left there it became part of case

Western Reserve University and it's basically a pre -engineering program so that this is a kind of person that I am and During that year there

God led me in a different direction changed colleges changed majors changed everything Ended up going to Gordon College pursuing a very different kind of lifestyle in terms of academics at least and so that I've learned to read literature and poetry out of my interest in reading the

Bible This these are not natural interests of mine That I'm more of a math science kind of person

But I know that God has revealed himself through the Bible and the Bible is not a scientific textbook

It's not a math book. It's different from either of those. It's what I'm going to call literature and part of that literature is

Psalms and Poetry in particular so for us to see Just how important poetry is to God so we need to learn more about that Scholars estimate that between one quarter and one -third of the

Bible is written in poetry One quarter to one -third of the Bible is written in poetry

Which to me is kind of a surprising thought but there it is so that and in a lot of our newer

Bible translations It's often typeset as poetry. So we see it's not just prose that kind of goes from one margin to the other but it's kind of arranged in stanzas and Verses that kind of thing so that you know, this is poetry and if we're going to read it

Understand it properly. We need to learn how to read poetry There's an area pastor

Not too far less than an hour away. Maybe an hour away. I don't know recently written a crossway book and the subtitle of the book is a devotional guide to selected poems of George Herbert So he's looking in particular poems by Christian Poet George Herbert and he's talking partly about poetry in general

So that's what I've been reading more recently, but also poems by this Christian of a century or two ago

George Herbert So just to see how God has revealed himself not only in scripture through poetry, but even through Christian leaders and Poetry so that but that is kind of an introduction.

I want us to look at Psalm 48 and to see that The message for today.

How do we take a poem? Psalm 48 is a poem believe it or not and it's

Superficially kind of a strange poem. It's talking about things that I'm gonna assume for argument's sake

We don't normally think about how great is the city of Jerusalem? It's not one of my natural thoughts day by day and maybe it's not in your life either but here it is and that's what this

Psalm is talking about the greatness of the city of Jerusalem and how

God wants us to appreciate that and to reflect on that and to see that this is

Not the only truth in scripture, but it is one truth that God is devoted one particular

Psalm to So Psalm 48 describes a theme of joy

Quest for joy. The author is looking for something special. He's looking for Joy, it's a hymn of praise to the city of Jerusalem, which is described here as the city of our

God Psalm 48 is actually one of half a dozen so -called songs of Zion That where people are reflecting on the city of Jerusalem But not simply, you know, this isn't like a tour guide kind of thing.

This is Reflecting on this city of Jerusalem Because it has a special place in God's Revelation a special place in history.

There's lessons there that God has for us So for us to see this and to appreciate it that just to review a little history that King David is the one who

Shortly after he became he was king of the southern area of Judah first and then he later became king of northern kingdom southern kingdom and Kingdom of the

United Kingdom of Israel and Shortly after that he decided he was going to make

Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom political kingdom spiritual kingdom So that and he was doing this for three reasons one reason it's on the border between Benjamin and the tribe of Judah so it in one sense really didn't belong to either tribe

Jerusalem was also in David's time unconquered territory So as an opportunity to make a fresh beginning and make a new capital without any past history

That would be a hindrance to him third reason. It was on kind of a rocky hilltop

Mountain of some 2 ,500 feet not very big terms of mountains as they go but still a more strategic place a place with some natural protection to it so that This would be the new capital of the people of Israel God had also promised back in Deuteronomy 12 verses 5 to 7

Which was written I know four or five hundred years before David's time This is what

Deuteronomy 12 says verses 5 to 7 You shall seek the place where the Lord your

God chooses out of all your tribes to put his name for his dwelling place For there you should go there

You should take your burnt offerings your sacrifices your tithes the eve offerings of your hand the vowed offerings your free will offerings the firstborn of your herds and flocks and There you shall eat before the

Lord your God and to rejoice in all that To which you have given your hand you and your household in which the

Lord your God has blessed you so at first it seemed that this Chosen site was the city of Shiloh city in the tribe of Ephraim located in central

Israel Shiloh had been a central meeting place of God's people ever since the time of Joshua and their entrance into the promised land

For example, we can read in Joshua 18 1 now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and Set up the tabernacle of meeting there again.

This is a time at their original entrance into the promised land Under Joshua's they'd left

Egypt. They'd wandered around the wilderness for 40 years They'd arrived in the promised land and they immediately went to Shiloh in the center of the country

Cut in the tribe of Ephraim if you know where that is Some of you may remember the story of Samuel and how as a boy he was

Dedicated to serve in the Old Testament tabernacle under Eli the priest All this took place when the tabernacle was located at Shiloh Shiloh was the center

Religious center of Israel right up to the time of David his choice of Jerusalem as a new capital

We also some of us know the story of Solomon building the original temple as we're told in first Kings 816

Is what that verse says since the day that I brought the people out of Israel out of Egypt I've chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house

That my name may be there, but I've chosen David to be over my people Israel And by implication

God chose Jerusalem to be the city of the great king So for dating this psalm psalm 48 that we read a few minutes ago.

It's clearly after the time of David David is Dedicated this city to be the capital of both politically and religiously of the people of Israel It's after the time of Solomon Solomon to build the temple some 48 makes a reference to the temple

So it's after that time and I'm gonna date the temple just maybe 9 60s 950

BC something like that. So we're most of a thousand years before Christ and from that time on Jerusalem is the earthly city that Is the key place in Old Testament redemptive history?

It's a key place in Jesus ministry in the New Testament so that here's the city of Jerusalem So here's psalm 48 is is celebrating the city of Jerusalem want to share something

Years ago when I was a seminary student myself I can remember I was preaching on a psalm happened to be

Psalm 32 and at about that same time I was studying Hebrew in seminary.

So I was trying to use my new skills in Hebrew and all that so that The Problem I had with some with Psalm 32, especially as I looked back on it

Was I preached Psalm 32 like I was preaching to an Old Testament audience?

Psalm 32 includes these words opening words words of Psalm 32 Blesses he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered

Blesses a man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit. There's no deceit

So what is Psalm 32 referring to? Answer it's referring to Christ But you know in my preaching of that psalm as I look back at it

I really didn't see that very clearly. We need to see that Christ is a theme of all of Scripture Not only

Psalm 32, but I'm gonna argue Psalm 48 and all of Scripture that Christ is the theme and All of Scripture is interconnected.

It's all coming ultimately from the same person It's coming from God himself

God through his spirit is inspired all of Scripture So in one sense that has a similar theme now granted

There's a bunch of different human authors and it's written over I don't know 1 ,500 years of time bunch of different human authors so that it comes from different perspectives

But in one sense, there's a unified single perspective and that's

God's revelation to us That it's the same theme from start to finish.

God is a God of grace. God is a God of giving Whatever it takes to bring people into a right relationship with him and from a

New Testament perspective We know that whatever it takes focus is on Jesus Christ but that's there was that same hope in the

Old Testament time that You know, we could read those verses in Psalm 32

Blesses he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blesses the man to whom the Lord does not Impute iniquity in his spirit.

There's no disease. How does that take place? The ultimate answer is through Christ But Christ isn't mentioned in Psalm 32 or he's not mentioned as clearly as we see him in the

New Testament He is mentioned in the Old Testament, but not as clearly So for us to see those connections to see that God is at work in all of scripture including

I'm gonna argue Psalm 48. That's the one we're gonna look at today But to see that God is at work in all these different Psalms and all the strange passages of scripture my impression

I like reading through the Bible in a year or something like that One problem with some plans is you start in Genesis 1 1 on January 1st and you kind of gradually work your way through the entire

Bible and this is my impression You correct me if you think I'm wrong as you get to a certain past certain portion of scripture

Maybe you're still in the Old Testament law or who knows where you are and you start to feel anemic

You you're not having a balanced diet of different parts of God's Word you're just kind of bogged down in Old Testament law and different sacrifices and sacrifice for this that and the other thing and And it doesn't feel particularly relevant and I think that's partly a

Appreciation of you know for each of us we need to get the big picture of scripture and a lot of times

We're looking at little isolated portions of scripture There's a question if you're reading a novel or watching a

DVD and you tear out one page out of your novel and say I'm Gonna just focus on this one page

Or you're looking at a DVD and you're looking at a 10 -second clip Can you make sense out of that little portion of a novel that little portion of a

DVD? You're watching 10 seconds worth. Can you understand the big picture what's going on from some little glimpse like that?

I don't think so. You know, I think the only way to make sense of scripture I've shared this with my students before this two ways

You need to read scripture one way is you need to read it quickly and get the big overview Second way you need to read it slowly so you can see the the truths that are there in that specific passage of scripture and if you don't have that big overview kind of Section of Understanding what's

God doing in all of scripture read back Genesis? Here's creation and here's the fall and other things are happening

We need to see that's part of the storyline and that even these strange things about all these different Sacrifices in the book of law all that this is part of God's plan

So that we need to see how it all fits together need that big overview Same time we need to slow up and just kind of camp out on a passage of scripture and see what's there

It's like putting a jigsaw puzzle together ideally, there's a place to look at the puzzle box because the box normally has the

Big picture of what you're trying to put together when you're putting the jigsaw puzzle together same time

There's a place to look at each individual piece of that jigsaw puzzle and try to see what's distinctive about this piece

Where in the world does this piece fit into this thing? That's an Pictured on the box of this jigsaw puzzle.

So we need both the big overview We also need to camp out individually in terms of these little details so I'm going to share a couple principles for interpreting passages of scripture like the

Psalms My view of preaching is that ideally you learn how to study the Bible by listening to how your pastor preaches or in this case your guest speaker how

I Share and how I approach scripture. I want to share a few principles just to begin with first principle already talked about this that We need to be thinking in terms of poetry if we're looking at a psalm like Psalm 32

It's poetry guess what poetry is different from prose it's different from regular

Writing it's something different. So we have to kind of shift gears a little bit second interpretive principle especially for books

The Old Testament is that these books often require a sense of where we are Theologically in the flow of biblical or redemptive history in order to give them the proper theological context

Psalms are about halfway through the Old Testament Not only you know If you're trying to find the book of Psalms and where he's kind of open your

Bible in the middle and maybe the book of Psalms Is about there, but it's also happens to be about Midway along Old Testament history a lot of the

Old Testament stories you're familiar with guess what? they've already taken place before the Psalms are written and there's a good number of Old Testament books and stories that take place after the book of Psalms and guess what all the

New Testament Story of Jesus story of Paul everything else in the New Testament is long after The book of Psalms we're looking for some broad generalizations

Here's two dates time of David's about a thousand years before Christ time of Abraham and So on is about 2 ,000 years before Christ his third day

Time of Moses not quite 1 ,500 BC, but there abouts so that you know

Here's just a few days just to kind of give you a sense whenever you're reading scripture any passages scripture

My mind you need to kind of know. Where are you? historically in terms of What's happening in terms of the

Bible or the Bible storyline that kind of thing and for us to see that in the

Old Testament? It's Part way along and it's also assuming whatever has taken place prior to that and it's also a lot of times in God's perfect plan and How God's written scripture it's looking ahead in anticipating or alluding to or preparing the way for prophesying different things and still to come so if we look at the book of Psalms it is

Looking ahead to Christ and the New Testament realities associated with his life death resurrection and the new life that is ours through him

Third principle we need to see Christ in the gospel in the Old Testament Even though these themes are not presented as clearly as we see them elsewhere in scripture main themes

Christ in the gospel are present virtually everywhere and His resurrection

Time after his resurrection he's meeting with his disciples in the upper room There in Luke 24 verse 44.

This is what Jesus says These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you That all things must be fulfilled that were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and then he says specifically the

Psalms Concerning me so he's focusing on three different sections of scripture the law which is beginning of the

Old Testament and maybe even some of the historical books and the prophets and the prophets

Include both the so -called former prophets that we don't often think about as prophets and the later prophets

Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel and so on as well as the minor prophets so that and then the

This is the Psalms the Psalms sometimes is used Generically to refer to the poetry the poetic sections that may include

Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon that kind of thing so that Jesus is saying

All of scripture Old Testament law the prophets of Psalms is talking about him

So for reading through the Psalms and you know, if we take a passage of scripture and make it too narrow Maybe we don't quite see

Christ there, but if we kind of give it a little Flux, we should see Christ somehow there

So that's my goal even as we look at Psalm 48 is to see that this is talking

Preparing the way for Christ and our love for him our appreciation of him Want to shift gears want to look specifically at Psalm 48 for the next few minutes

Psalm 48 divides itself up into four sections first section is verses 1 to 3

What's so special about the city of Jerusalem verses 1 to 3 celebrate the beauty of that city?

Verse 1 begins great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. So it begins by focusing on God and Specifically the city of our

God so that we're reminded of at least three realities God's greatness

Consequently how appropriate is to worship and praise him and that this worship Originally took place especially in Jerusalem, which is described here as a city of our

God Notice final two words in this opening sentence our God Great is the

Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God is talking about God Psalm is written in the hope that we have as believers

Psalm describes the hope of an Imagery of a city specifically the city of our

God And as the psalm progresses we see this clearly refers to the earthly city of Jerusalem Verse 1 continues on and tells us about in his holy mountain

Which is the mountain on which Jerusalem is located mountain of some 2 ,500 feet as I mentioned before Verse 2 continues on beautiful and elevation the city of the whole earth is

Mount Zion on the sides of the north city of the great king Notice this phrase joy of all the earth

So we can catch a glimpse of God's bigger plan of how Jerusalem is intended eventually to serve all the nations

Ultimately all the nations will share in these privileges The theme of Jerusalem being the praise of all the earth

Doesn't really take place in any significant way in David's time or even anywhere throughout the

Old Testament And we could even wonder how much it took place in Time of Jesus own lifetime that by the time we get to the book of Acts We begin to see guess what the gospel is spread all the way from Jerusalem to the city of Rome That's the theme of the book of Acts You know, we see the spread of the gospel, but that does not take place in Old Testament times does not take place within the original author original readers of some

Psalm 48 so it's partly looking ahead there's more to what

God's telling us in Psalm 48 than simply the story of the earthly city of Jerusalem there at the time following King David and King Solomon the building of the temple

Verse 3 goes on to tell us what makes Jerusalem so great. God is in her palaces

He's known as her refuge God is the God who takes the initiative and he's the one who makes himself known even more amazing

God is like a fortress and Protects his people from all evil

There's no evil in glory We turn to the book of Revelation Day will come when all the problems that we have we had a bunch of prayer requests and different problems

And I'm sure there were unspoken prayer requests that were not mentioned publicly that all these problems will someday be over So we're looking ahead to that but we in the book of some

Psalm 48 we see that God's providing a place of protection for his people there in the city of Jerusalem Also notice this some verse 2 reminds us not so much that Jerusalem is a great city, but as we're told here.

It's this City of a great king The focus on Psalm 48 is not on the greatness of Jerusalem.

It's really on the greatness of God Here in these opening verses reminded the amazing realities of God God is both present everywhere

And at the same time present in special ways at special times Theologians often describe

God as being omnipresent Which means that God is present everywhere?

Imagine in your life a time when you don't sense God's presence at all You just sense a lack of God's presence and all guess what

God is still present there even though you don't sense it but is there's also that God allows his presence to be

Manifest in certain ways in special ways certain times There's a verse in the

Bible about how well That where two or three are gathered together in God's name guess what

Jesus is present there Matthew 18 20 so that there's times and places where God is present in special ways and one way where God allowed his presence to be present in a special way is in the temple there in Jerusalem and Specifically in the broader city of Jerusalem So if you were an

Old Testament Saint guess what ideally three times a year you go up to Jerusalem, and you'd offer sacrifices and If you're too far from Jerusalem think of Daniel.

He's way over in Babylon that kind of thing He opens his window toward Jerusalem.

He prays toward Jerusalem God has promised to be present in Jerusalem in a special way and we see that Mentioned here in this song verses four to seven

Constitutes the second major section of this psalm and developed this theme of God's protection for his people

Remind us how even his enemies recognized God's greatness and consequently the security of Jerusalem For behold the

Kings assembled they passed by together. They saw it. They marveled. They were troubled They hastened away fear took hold of them there and pain is a woman and birth pains

So when you break The ships of Tarshish with an east wind so here's some parts of this are hard for us to understand

Was this reference to Tarshish? proper location of biblical

Tarshish Is not clear But what is clear is that the city of Jerusalem and its connection with God was known far beyond the land of Israel It's hard to know exactly what the historical reference of these events are

Kings assembled they passed by together. It's this is my exaggeration It seems that Jerusalem has

Foreign enemies around it more often than not and seems to be defeated more often than not as we read through Old Testament history, but to see that God is still there

God is still at work if there's one city that God has been concerned about Historically more than any other city historically has been the city of Jerusalem So we see that from the

Old Testament we see it in Jesus life we see it in elsewhere in the New Testament Next couple of verses verses 8 & 9 continue this theme of tribute to Jerusalem City of Jerusalem was important to be as God was present there in a special way

Verse 8 says as we have heard so we have seen in the city of the Lord of hosts in the city of our

God God will establish it forever Here's the word forever Psalm is obviously looking head to more than its immediate

Old Testament realities Was God present forever there in Jerusalem? What about the story of the

Babylonian captivity? What about the destruction of the New Testament temple there in?

8070 when it seemed that God had somehow forsaken his people so that and Yet, you know the broad

Brushstroke picture God is there forever and part of that means God's talking about more than just that earthly city.

He's talking about symbolically Jerusalem and all that it represents verse 9 introduced a new thought

Jerusalem is important because God's temple is there We've thought Oh God and your loving -kindness in the midst of your temple

This is the one of the themes of the Bible God is takes the initiative to be present with his people

See the first temple is the Garden of Eden That this is a place where God was present where God often walked with First man and woman

Adam and Eve in the cool of the day as we're told there in early chapters of Genesis We also see that God took the initiative to have his people build this

Old Testament tent like Tabernacle they're traveling out of Egypt headed to the promised land wandering around the wilderness for decades and they're to build a tabernacle a place where God would be

Somehow dwelling there in a special way see the same thing in Solomon's construction of the

Old Testament temple and again both the tabernacle in the temple have a certain Construction and in the very center of it is this

Holy of Holies and there is this Ark of the Covenant and there's mercy seat and there's chair of them are kind of looking at the mercy seat and The invisible

God is somehow using that as his footstool Where he is present in a special way among his

Old Testament people Then outside the Holy of Holies is a holy place this is where the priests come and they light the menorah and keep that burning and Put the show bread they burn incense and they come in once or twice a day to worship

God and behalf of God's people and then outside that Holy of Holies is the altar of Sacrifice and this reminds us that the only access we have into God's presence is

A need for a sacrifice in these various Old Testament sacrifices we can read about throughout scripture that these serve the purpose of looking ahead and saying you know these goats and bulls and Rams and all this that ultimately that really doesn't change our status before God but it is symbolically looking for something that does and That's something that does is ultimately the gift of Jesus Christ so anyway, here's that Temple just a detail or two about the temple that The temple

Solomon built there in Jerusalem is significant location of it Second Chronicles 3 1 has an interesting detail about the temple in Jerusalem Now Solomon began to build the house of the

Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah Where the Lord had appeared to his father David at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornian the

Jebusite so you remember how David had fallen into sin and part of God's judgment was the judgment on the people of Jerusalem there and that David stopped that judgment by offering a sacrifice at this specific location where God showed him this

Place of where Ornian the Jebusite was threshing wheat and so on so we see that described there and It's a kind of on the northern

Area of Jerusalem there's this tongue of land that kind of just out from Kind of another part of the main part of the city of Jerusalem, and this is where is described as Mount Moriah Location of Mount Moriah's mentioned one other place in Scripture It's in Genesis 22 verse 2 where God said to Abraham Take your son your only son

Isaac on whom you love and go to the land of Moriah and offered Him there as a burnt offering as one of the mountains of which

I will show you so in Abraham's day. This is just abandoned land so to speak

By the time we get another thousand years after Abraham This is the city of Jerusalem by the time we get another thousand years

We're into Jesus lifetime and so on so that what was kind of just a barren mountaintop in Abraham's time is where Solomon builds a temple and We think of Jesus earthly life in the city of Jerusalem he's

Jesus is crucified. I'm gonna say something like maybe three tenths of a mile from the temple there in Jerusalem you know, so it's that same area that Figures so importantly into God's plan of redemption.

So here's this idea of Jerusalem as a focus of God's presence down through history God had preserved the city of Jerusalem time and again is an earthly illustration of his concern and For how he's at work eternally

Foreshadowing the heavenly new Jerusalem. So there's some Significance there gonna read the remaining verses of this psalm verses 10 through 14 that conclude this psalm

Verse 10 according to your name. Oh God So is your praise to the ends of the earth?

God is even now preparing a people for himself from every tribe and tongue and people group even in places like Iran That's in our news today, or we have a daughter who's in Bulgaria You know all these strange places that we don't even hardly think about from one

Year to the next that God is at work all around this world country of Ukraine All kinds of tragedies around the world.

Guess what God is at work all around this world verse 10 continues your right hand is full of righteousness and Can we find a clear reference to Christ and his righteousness that can become ours through him here in Psalm 48?

I think this is it your right hand is full of righteousness. How does God's hand get full of righteousness?

Answered through his son Jesus Christ and through his shed blood through his obedient life through his death for us

Continues on verse 11, but Mount Zion rejoiced that the daughters of Judah be glad because of your judgments

One purpose of today's message is to help us rejoice in God and what he's currently doing and will do in the future

God has a great plan for this world. He's at work in this world Just as he was at work in Old Testament, Jerusalem verse 12 walk around Zion Go all around her counter towers verse 13 mark well her bulwarks consider her palaces in other words

Think of the physical city of Jerusalem if that will help you more to understand the

Jerusalem to come That you may tell the generation following Verse 14 for this is our

God our God forever and ever he will be our guide even to death The time we get to verse 14 the earthly city of Jerusalem has disappeared and the final verse focuses on God alone the earthly city of Jerusalem and verses 12 and 13 with all its wonders

Towers and ramparts and citadels his preparation for knowing more of God himself

So we need to see this story of our amazing God and we need to tell it to our children

Not simply our children, but to all those around us as this verse reminds us He will be our guide even to death

So sometimes we're more aware of death. I think my wife and I are getting older I'm 77 going on 78 how we think different times

How much longer does God have for us here in this earth and how do we plan for the future and you know our health isn't quite as strong as it used to be and But here's this thought

God will be our guide even to death that will never outrun or out distance

God's love for us Regardless of what situation we might be in God is our

God Notice also this reference to our God in the final verse of the psalm same expression we saw in the opening verse

Sprackling reminds us that we're talking about today focuses on a hope that's ours as believers

We can see this as a reminder to share the gospel message with others. They may tell the next generation

This is our God our God forever and ever he will be our guide even to death

What I want us to do in the remainder of time is to look at this emphasis in the city of Jerusalem Into the broader sweep of biblical history, so you see something of how to apply the psalm to our daily lives

Application of the psalm is not to go out and buy an airplane ticket to Jerusalem and go and visit what remains of the temple site

Many of you know that Solomon's original temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and Old Testament times 586

BC and then after 70 year gap second temple was built there

This was later remodeled and enlarged by Herod so we can almost call it

Herod's temple This is the temple at the time of Jesus in the

New Testament. This was destroyed by Romans in AD 70

Helen I had the amazing privilege years ago a once -in -a -lifetime experience of going to Visit the land of Israel see some of the sites that are there

Jewish temple is no longer there and it's been replaced by the Muslim Dome of the

Rock Mosque But the key to understanding Psalm 48 is to remember that our joy

Both in biblical times including when the psalm was first composed as well as today

Our joy is not in a physical city It's not in some building that used to be there

But it's in what that city and that temple represents. There's something clearly symbolic here

Before Solomon built the Old Testament temple as one of the wonders the ancient world God already had already instructed his

Old Testament people to build a tabernacle and we see the different instructions giving and given in Scripture for that So that the temple

Symbolized God's presence and the important thing is not the physical building there

But it's what it represented it represented God's presence So as we read

Through this theme of God's desire to have fellowship with his people Early on the story of the story of Adam and Eve in the

Garden of Eden I would walk with them in the cool of the day and even after their sin He still promised that I would put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed

He shall bruise your head. You shall bruise his heel that Christ would ultimately be Triumphant and the purpose of God is to have fellowship with his people

God is seeking out a people for himself all around this world. That was true in the time of Psalm 48

It's true today We turned a New Testament and there's clearly

Focus is not on the earthly temple. The focus is on Jesus Christ Time of his birth we can read

Matthew 1 23 Behold the Virgin shall be with child shall be our son. They will call his name

Emmanuel, which is God with us So for living there in New Testament times time of Jesus where we find

God's presence Not so much in the temple building but in the person of Christ so that that's there's a shift here in God's plan that Christ is ultimately the personification of God here in this present world and even after his death and resurrection we connect up with God through his spirit and his spirit connects us with Christ connects us with God the

Father and it takes place through his spirit. This is why the day of Pentecost is so significant when

Jesus was here on earth. He had a physical body. He'd be in one place at one time

But if we think about the gospel as it spreads across this world Is Jesus still going to be present only in one place at one time?

No, Jesus Physically dies in terms of his body He's raised into new body

But and he's presently Seated at the right hand of the throne of God But he's also present in my life your life ever the lives of every person

So that this is another reason we don't need to go to Jerusalem to be close to God Whether we're close to God depends on what's in our heart today and in particular

Whether we're placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that's the ultimate thing that gives us access into the presence of God so that we're looking at God's presence it take place through his spirit and It takes place in a special way where believers are gathered together.

We could Read this already Matthew 18 20 4 2 or 3 are gathered together in Jesus name

Jesus says I'm there in the midst of them So that Jesus is present individually in our lives.

He's present. We're gathered together He will also be present in an even more special way in the future thinking of the new

Jerusalem that God will prepare a people for himself and there be this new

Jerusalem John writes in Revelation 21 to then I John saw the holy city,

New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband her loud voice from heaven saying behold it

Tabernacle of God is with man. He will dwell with them. They shall be his people God himself will be there with them and be their

God Revelation 21 10 John says carried me away

In the spirit to a great and high mountain shown me the great city the holy Jerusalem Descending out of heaven from God.

So it's ultimate Fulfillment of Psalm 48 is the new heavens and new earth and the new

Jerusalem in particular So that and again, the theme is joy and intimacy with the

Lord of how God is a God who goes At great length to reach out and to bring people into fellowship with himself

One commentary I was looking at in Psalm 48 Concluded with these words this

Psalm invites us to walk To walk about Christ to consider well the beauty the safety and the love of God that is ours in Christ and to take heart in the midst of a dangerous world the focus of Psalm 48 is not narrowly to think about Old Testament Jerusalem, especially

Jerusalem and temple that no longer exists but to focus on what it's symbolically pointing ahead to Namely the person of Christ.

So if you're not excited about Christ reading this Psalm Afraid you haven't understood it as you should

It usually takes the new birth to truly rejoice in Christ today it takes

God to open our minds and hearts and eyes and ears to see the

Specialness of God and how he's at work in this world and desires to be at work in our lives another commentary concludes the church can sing this

Psalm with the Triumphs of the gospel in mind and with an eye to the final victory of a new heaven and new earth that Psalm 48 kind of Initially can feel kind of distant to us

But it should be something that reminds us the greatness of God and how God is at work in this world proper application is

Old Testament passage of Psalm 48 for the original Old Testament audience Was create a fresh longing and desire for God's presence as it was symbolized there in the

Old Testament city of Jerusalem particularly Old Testament temple That is a picture of God's presence on earth, especially during Old Testament times

Proper application of this Psalm for New Testament believers Including those of us living here in this present church age is to create a fresh and deeper longing for the presence of Christ Where we long for him with the same passion and intensity we see pictured here in this

Psalm God's Old Testament people Regarding the temple in Jerusalem. We should have that same excitement in our lives today

Serve a great God never doubt that never question that Application is today's message is to pursue a quest for joy by looking to God and specifically to the person of Jesus Christ In the presence of his

Holy Spirit and how he's at work in this world In order to have hope and encouragement that you need in your life today in the coming week

We're no longer looking for a physical building in a specific geographical location We're looking for a living relationship

With a God who chose the Old Testament Jerusalem and for a time allowed his presence to be present there in a special way

God is calling all of us to a life of faith. This earthly city of Jerusalem was

Not the joy of the whole earth as some as the Psalm verse 2 tells us

Except to those who are God's people God's people saw something special there and it's the same way that Jesus is not the joy of all the earth to many people today, but it can be as The day of Christ is coming when he will return

Be a time of great celebration but even now We can begin to experience

Jesus Christ present within us. God so loved this world He gave his only

Son whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life Psalm concludes

God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever Question is will you be part of this happy throng?

Pictured for us in Psalm 48 of eager worshipers of God who desire and delight in him

Do you find your hope and security in your relationship with God even now?

Both of you know where a prayer Lord we prayed for each of us that you give us a fresh love for you

We see a sense of excitement in this Psalm 48 we pray that we would have that same sense of excitement in our walk with you day by day

Lord, we commit ourselves into your care minister to each of us There's one here today who doesn't know you as Lord and Savior even today would be that day of salvation