Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: Sing of His Love

29 June 2008

 

Scripture reading: Psalm 13.

Sermon text: Psalm 89:1-18.


Introduction


“Faithfulness.” “Love.” “Forever.” These words remind us of wedding days, joyous events, and fulfilled promises. If you’ve experienced this kind of love, you know how you can’t keep it to yourself. Your friends know something wonderful happened, even before you tell them. Eventually — inevitably — you must tell someone that you’ve experienced love beyond imagining.


As believers in God through Jesus Christ, we know we have experienced the love of God in our lives. We know that His love caused God to give His only begotten Son, Jesus, that whoever believes in Him may have everlasting life. We know that in His love, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with us, comforting us and guiding us in our lives until that day our faith is made sight. We know that God will express His love for us in a glorious eternity through our resurrection and His remaking of heaven and earth.


Fortunately, God’s people have sung of His love for centuries. Today’s passage comes from Psalm 89. While this psalm contains a lament later in the chapter, it opens with a hymn of praise to God’s eternal love, expressed through His faithfulness to His people. If God has delivered you, tell someone. If you’re waiting on deliverance, God’s faithfulness guarantees He will work in your life to bring you to joy and peace in His love.


Sermon


The passage we study today divides into 3 sections, each beginning with a description of God’s faithfulness to His people and to His creation.


First, the psalmist wrote, “I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.” Every culture expresses its joy in music. If even the pagans can sing, imagine how we believers should sing of God’s love!


The psalmist said he would sing of the “steadfast love of the LORD.” The Hebrew word for “steadfast love” (hesed), often translated “mercy” in the King James, stands for a covenant love between God and His people. This means that God will act for His people because He has promised He would. On Mt. Sinai, God and Israel entered into a covenant in which He promised to protect His people and provide for them in their lives. The books of Moses, the Pentateuch, overflow with tales of God’s provision for His people.


This brings us to God’s faithfulness. God’s faithfulness is mentioned 4 times in the passage today. Have you ever thought of the meaning of the word, “faithful”? The definition I found reads “loyal, constant, and steadfast.” God remains unquestioningly loyal to us even in times of distress and disobedience. God demonstrates constant love for us; His love never fails or falters. God remains steadfast; He never wavers on His love for us. St. Paul would later write to his protege, St. Timothy, that “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).


For this reason, the psalmist can proclaim, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” Remember that all the pagans surrounding Israel thought their gods lived in the heavens. Unlike the pagans, God’s people know that He has “established” His rule beyond what we can see and, by His faithfulness, constantly watch over His people.


The psalmist remembered one expression of God’s love in verse 3. The psalmist remembered God’s covenant with David, in which God promised, “I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.” The southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin never revolted against David’s family. While the northern kingdom of Israel endured constant turmoil as one dynasty followed another, the southern tribes enjoyed the consistency of a legitimate dynasty.


We know the ultimate expression of this covenant came with the Son of David, Jesus Christ. As St. John wrote in the Revelation, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (11:15). St. Paul told the Philippians, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (2:10:11).


In verse 4, the psalmist turned his attention to God’s faithfulness as expressed in creation. When the Jews saw no other reason to praise God, they praised Him for His work in creation.


The psalmist called on the heavens to “praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.” Again, we see the psalmist emphasize God’s faithfulness. The angels in heaven knew God’s faithfulness in a way unknown to humans on earth.


What about the pagans? Could they see their gods listening to the heavens praising God? The psalmist declared, “For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD, a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?” These rhetorical questions both would receive a common answer: No so-called pagan god could claim the power and majesty of God, the Creator of heaven and earth. No other so-called god could claim to love His people as expressed in creation. God needed no other beings to complete Himself, but He created a wonderful universe for the benefit of humanity.


God’s might fills the Old Testament. As the psalmist recalled, “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” To the Jews, the sea typified the chaos of the Gentile nations. The Jews knew that God ruled the sea, even down to the terrible creatures within it (“Rahab” here stands for a sea monster).


Lest someone think that God rules only the sea, the psalmist proclaimed, “the heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.” God rules over all creation, not only part of it. While other nations’ gods would each rule over only a small portion of creation, the God we know rules over all, from the north to the south, from the heavens to the earth to the sea. God’s “mighty arm” rules over all creation.


Lastly, God reveals His faithfulness in His provision and protection of His people. In verse 14, the psalmist turned to God’s rule over His people: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.”


Have you ever thought of the responsibilities of a human king? This week, I watched a movie about Henry VIII, king of England. Most people who know anything about Henry VIII think of his 6 wives. However, most people fail to realize his greatest fear: a repeat of the civil war his father had won. Henry feared that a daughter as his heir would cost England its independence if the daughter married into another royal house of Europe. The decisions he made — both for good and for bad — often revolved around allaying that fear.


In our case, we can praise God because “righteousness and justice” characterize His rule. God always makes the right decisions on behalf of His creation, because He is infinitely good and wise. God does not have to guess the future of His creation, because His omniscience guarantees His knowledge of what is best for us. God also works in perfect justice, because He knows our every action.


Fortunately for us, God has voluntarily limited His perfect justice toward His people through “steadfast love and faithfulness.” Do you see the pattern? Because God loves us with a covenantal love, He gives us mercy rather than justice. God faithfully demonstrates mercy in our lives. As we read in another psalm (130), “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”


We should never forget that we all deserve justice. We all deserve punishment for our sins. However, in His faithfulness, God sent Jesus to give us redemption from our sins through His crucifixion and victory over sin and death through His resurrection. When we confess Jesus as Lord, believing God raised Him from the dead, we receive mercy from God.


When we receive this mercy, we can join the psalmist and others “who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted.” We can sing to God because of His forgiveness and His provision in our lives. We can sing to God as we walk (meaning to live habitually) in the “light of His face,” meaning we enjoy His favor. We find ourselves “exalted” day by day as we live righteously before God, enjoying the benefits of righteous living as we avoid the consequences of sin and bring blessings to others.


We also realize that God protects us as we live in righteousness: “For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted. For our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.” Does this mean we will never experience pain or suffering? Of course not. It does, however, mean we will never face the prospect of enduring more than what God deems good for us. God’s love for us compels Him to prepare us for eternity, and He will do whatever is necessary to prepare us for eternal life in His presence.


Do you sing to God because of His covenant love for you and His faithfulness in protecting and providing for you? When did you last sing at the top of your voice because God had provided for you in trials? When did you last tell someone else that God had wondrously protected you in times of danger? The psalmist couldn’t contain his joy at God’s presence in his life. We, too, must expect God to provide for us and then praise Him when — not if — He lives up to His covenant love for us.