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If you would take your scriptures
and turn with me to Psalm 18. This 18th Psalm shows what the
Messiah was coming to do. It lays out the plan for the
incarnate son of God. It provides a picture of the
one sent by God to save the people unto himself. The more I thought
about it, the more I realized this was the perfect view of
what the Christmas story represented. In the first 19 verses, we saw
the Messiah as the rejected prophet. He was sent into the world, as
John 118 says, to show the father. He was sent to help his people
place their hope and trust in his father. In verses 20 through
31, we saw this child coming as the royal priest of heaven.
It was through this royal priest that we learn of our Lord's authority,
activity, and ability to prepare our way into this glorious salvation. Let's turn now to this Psalm,
Psalm 18, verses 32 through 50, and learn of the child as the
returning king. So if you will give ear to the
reading of God's word, Psalm 18, 32 through 50. It is God
who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes
my feet like the feet of deer and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war
so that my arms can bend a bowl of bronze. You have also given
me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand has held me up.
Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarge my path under me
so my feet do not slip. I have pursued my enemies and
overtaken them. Neither did I turn back again
till they were destroyed. I have wounded them so that they
could not rise. They have fallen under my feet.
For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued
under me those who rose up against me. You have also given me the
necks of my enemies so that I destroyed those who hated me. They cried
out, but there was none to save, even to the Lord, but he did
not answer them. Then I beat them as fine as the
dust before the wind. I cast them out like dirt in
the streets. You have delivered me from the
strivings of the people. You have made me the head of
the nations of people I have not known will serve me. As soon
as they hear of me, they obey me. The foreigners submit to
me. The foreigners fade away and come frightened from their
hideouts. The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let the God
of my salvation be exalted. It is God who avenges me and
subdues the people under me. He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me. You have
delivered me from the violent man. Therefore, I will give thanks
to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name.
Great deliverance he gives to his king and shows mercy to his
anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore. May God add his
blessing to the reading of his word. Let us pray. Father, you have been so gracious
to your people. You created this world in which
we live. You made us as the crown of your
creation. You provide everything we need
to live and grow. You allowed us to reproduce and
carry on our race. You did all of this, even though
we rejected you and tried to do everything ourselves. In this
Psalm, we look at the morning. You reiterate your promise to
us to be our God and guide us through our life on this earth.
You show us. this through the Christmas story.
So open our ears to hear and to grow in all this Christ child
represents in his name. We pray. Amen. We come to the last of Psalm
18. Our text this morning is 32 through
50. How does all of this fit with
the incarnation? This particular passage concerning
the returning King is the final chapter of the incarnation. Jesus
came as the Christ child. He came with a divine purpose,
and that was to save the people for his father, to populate a
great divine kingdom. He was given a human body, and
in the body grew and became the savior of men who would hear
and believe this great message of hope. This child faced the
corruption of this world of sinful men and completed his task bringing
salvation all who would hear and believe in him. He was rejected
by mankind. In general, he was mailed to
Calvary's cross. Even in the face of their rejection,
he gave his life as a ransom for all who would repent and
turn to him. Because of his holiness and purity,
he defeated sin, Satan, and death to give life to his people. He
has taken his place at the Father's side to speak to his people. He is, as we saw last week, in
verses 20 through 31, the royal priest. He came into this world
to do for mankind what they could not do for themselves. He lived
the perfect life. We saw there were two aspects
of his perfection, his passive and active obedience. His passive
obedience was his willingly going to the cross and giving his life
on behalf of his people. His active obedience was his
living out his life in perfect obedience to the law. It was
through this activity that he earned his authority in heaven.
He is responsible as the high priest to carry out the plan
of God in regards to man's place before the father. He met the
demands of God's justice on the behalf of his people on the cross.
He shows his allegiance to God's law by his willingness to take
the sins of his people upon himself on that cross, then giving them
his righteousness for their belief and trust in him. It is this
Messiah, this one who comes in the name of the Father, that
has the ability to carry out this great plan of salvation,
the greatest activity of Jesus. And this is wonderful. It is
the dispensing of his grace. Nothing stands higher than that
for us. No other in the history of mankind
has ever claimed to be able to do this and then backed up by
that claim by changing the hearts of millions over centuries. Jesus
alone can save. As we come to the last section
of this psalm, we come looking at the last aspect of why God
sent the Christ child into the world, those 2000 years ago.
Jesus came as prophet and priest, but ultimately he came to be
the king. Not just any king, but the one and only king of
kings and Lord of lords. First, we see he came to reclaim
the kingdom of God, to take from the masses a fallen humanity,
a people to serve him. Second, we find he also came
to rule the people of God, to guide them in their worship,
to show them the one and only way to please him. Third, we understand he came
to restore all that was lost in the fall, to bring back to
the father a people to glorify and honor him as their creator,
to return the home of mankind to its first glory. This section
begins with the idea of the reclamation of God's original purpose for
mankind. God created man to serve and
worship him. That was one of the creation mandates. Because
of the sin of man in the fall, that purpose was delayed. Sinful man cannot accomplish
that goal. There's nothing you can do to
save yourself. But God never intended that his
purpose would be waylaid. He wanted man to see that he
could not on his own do what he was called to do. He wanted
to make sure that as man came to the final goal of this purpose,
fellowship with God himself, he understood it only happened
by divine help. You can't do it on your own.
This is the message of the incarnation. Jesus came into the world taking
on the flesh and blood of mankind in order to do for men what they
could never do for themselves. He came with a promise that all
who would recognize their need of this divine help and place
their hope and trust in this son, this God man, would be enabled
to come into and complete this purpose of building a new kingdom. Jesus was sent into the world
in the infant in Bethlehem to reclaim the purpose of God in
the creation of mankind. In this passage is the picture
of the battle that is engaged in with the commission Christ
gives his disciples at his ascension. This is also seen as his coronation
as king of the church. The first thing to consider is
the resource required to accomplish this task. Verses 32 through
34. It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet
of deer and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to
make war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. What is
the source of strength needed to reclaim the kingdom? It is
God himself. Let us confirm this concept.
Isaiah 45, 1 through 5. This passage shows clearly the
sovereign power of God. This is what the Lord says to
his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to
subdue nations before him. Isaiah is speaking of Cyrus,
the Persian king, who was to come to the throne of Babylon
150 years later. And Isaiah, the prophet of God,
delivers a message to this pagan king. He tells him that he, God,
will give him the power to subdue nations. Now he's talking about
someone who's going to live 150 years in the future. He will be able to strip kings
of their armor. He will open gates other kings
could not open. He tells Cyrus, I will go before
you and will level the mountains. I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron. He promises him that he will
uncover treasures hidden in the darkness. He will show this pagan
king where to find riches lying in secret places. Why does he
do this? so that you may know that I am
the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by name." He does
this for Jacob, his servant, Israel. He tells Cyrus, all of
this will come to him. It will be the strength of God
that this pagan king will accomplish all he does. And you realize
this, this pagan king, he doesn't even acknowledge God in doing
it. In Psalm 18, we see it is God that is the source of power
in Christ our King. We see Christ receiving this
power, knowing its source. He says, it is God who arms me
with strength. Because Christ knows where his
strength comes from, he also understands his way is made perfect
by the same God. He declares, God makes my way
perfect. Jesus also recognizes his strength
and enables him to do some amazing things. He is made to be swift
and able to stand in high places. The idea is that God has given
to Christ the ability to go over those hard places where other
men would faint and to do it with great speed and confidence.
See what it did in Christ Jesus. Jesus came into this world to
do for men what they could never do for themselves. It had been
proven that man on his own could not live the perfect life. Adam
was the perfect representative of mankind. He was placed in
a garden with everything he could ever have needed. Everything
was provided and he failed. Jesus was given the strength
of God as he took on the flesh of Adam. He faced the same temptations
Adam faced. But he did it in a wilderness,
in a desert, not in a garden with everything he needed. He
had no comforts and provisions to call upon. He used the resources he was
given, the word of God, and he defeated his tempters. God sent
Jesus to live the perfect life for you. to fill all the requirements
of the law on your behalf, to take his perfect life and use
it to pay the price required for your sins. He did all of
this, and he did it swiftly, and he did it with strength.
This was a gift from God to you, and it began with that small
infant in the manger. You see in these verses that
grace. He trains in my hands for battle. My arms can bend
a bow of bronze. Christ was prepared. He was prepared
by God to fight for you. And his strength is your salvation. In looking at this from a messianic
light, we also have to consider the relief God gives. Verses
35 and 36. You have also given me the shield
of your salvation. Your right hand has held me up.
Your great and your gentleness has made me great. You enlarge
my path under me so my feet did not slip. God gives him his shield
of faith. His victory. We see it in the
divine side of Christ that led his humanity to victory. This
is a victory that is of the most utmost importance to your salvation.
Jesus went to the cross in your place. He took your sins and
guilt to that terrible hill of Calvary and there paid the price
for your sins. He won this war on Calvary's
cross. God sustained him in this battle.
It was God sending his angels in the garden of Gethsemane that
gave him relief in his struggle with his human nature and allowed
him to say, not my will, but your will be done. God did stoop
down. He stooped down and took Christ
from that grave and placed him at his right hand. How much more
greatness could he have been given? The kingdom was earned
by Jesus on the cross. That kingdom is his in covenant
theology. We understand from Genesis 3.15,
that Christ would come and he would win the battle for the
reconciliation of his people with his defeat of Satan on Calvary's
cross. The road to God is open. You can go down that road. It's
open for you to move and carry your life through. Jesus is that
way. Jesus is the way, the only way.
Nothing can stop those from coming into the kingdom who come through
Jesus Christ. The relief is secured. It's yours. The growth of his kingdom cannot
be stopped. We have seen the resource and
the relief given in this pursuit of man's reclamation. We must
also consider the responsibility. Verses 37 and 38. I have pursued
my enemies and overtaken them. Neither did I turn back again
till they were destroyed. I have wounded them so that they
could not rise. They have fallen under my feet."
The resource is God. The help to establish came from
God. But the responsibility rests
clearly on the shoulders of the man, Jesus Christ. David is clearly
in all of this talking about his personal victories. However,
as he speaks by the Holy Spirit, he's speaking of Christ. Paul
in 1 Timothy 2 makes it clear, Jesus does not take pleasure
in the souls of those who are lost. His desire is that every
man would hear and believe the truth. He wants all men to respond
to his gospel message and be saved. He wants them to willingly
bow their knees and confess with their tongues that he is their
Lord. And this is a big one. For those who refuse to hear
and believe on Jesus Christ, he will execute judgment against
them. The words of these verses show
the results. To all who reject him, they will
be crushed. They will be destroyed, never
to rise again. That means they will experience
eternal death. He has already fought the battle
with sin, Satan, and death, and He won. He conquered them. They fell at His feet, but there
are men that will not hear and will not believe that truth.
They are men without hope. Please, my friends, do not be
like them. Believe on Jesus and live, for
He is the only resource you can call on for eternal life. There's
no other. What is the result of all of
this? The result of this reclaiming are sweet words to all who believe
on Jesus. Verses 39 through 42, for you
have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued
me under those who rose up against me. You have also given me the
necks of my enemies so that I destroyed those who hated me. They cried
out, but there was none to save them, even the Lord, but he did
not answer them. Then I beat them as fine as the
dust before the wind. I cast them out like dirt in
the streets. God gave the strength. God gave
the victory. God decreed. He laid out the
plan. He confused the enemy. He brought
them to destruction. They cried out for help, but
could find no champion. They even called to the Lord
himself, but the Lord didn't know them. He would not hear
their cries. The result was the total destruction
of the wicked and evil people of this world. In 146 BC, Roman
forces captured the city-state of Carthage. I don't know if
you remember the history or not, Carthage was their great enemy
in the early parts of the Roman Empire. It gave them all kinds
of things. You may remember Hannibal taking
the elephants through the Alps to attack them from the rear.
They despised Carthage. Carthage had been that longtime
enemy that they wanted to get rid of. They wanted to send a
message to all their enemies, so they completely destroyed
the city. They plowed the ground so that there was nothing left
but dust and mud. This is the picture we have of
what will be the final results of all who oppose Christ. He
says, then I beat them as fine as the dust before the world.
I cast them out like dirt in the streets. Could this apply
to anyone other than Christ? Could it be true of any other
victory than that of Christ on Calvary's cross? I don't really
see how. Jesus Christ came to reclaim
lost humanity. He did this through that babe
in the manger. He brought relief to all of God's
people that all God had chosen and led them to victory with
him. God was his resource, and his results were a sure and great
victory. We saw the defeat and its accomplishments
by the power and plan of God through Jesus Christ as the king.
From this victory comes the rule of the king. Again, we see the
resource that carries this victory into a kingdom. God delivered
him, made him the king, and gave him all power and authority.
Verse 43. You have delivered me from the
strivings of the people. You have made me the head of
the nations of people I have not known will serve me. The
resource is God again. He gives the strength and the
victory. He speaks of people he didn't know coming under his
rule, the Gentiles. It had always been the father's
plan to redeem a people unto himself. These people were to
come from all nations and tribes of people. Christ rules the kingdom
of men redeemed from the sinful race of humanity. What is the
sign of this new kingdom? Verses 44 and 45 says, as soon
as they hear of me, they obey me. The foreigners submit to
me. The foreigners fade away and come frightened from their
hideouts. The sign that will overwhelm this new kingdom will
be obedience. We also see that fear will come
into the hearts of all who refuse to hear and believe. They will
come cringing in fear. This is always the reaction of
the gospel. The apostle Paul shows our work
in this. Second Corinthians two verses 14 and six through 16.
Now, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ
and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place.
For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are
being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we're the
aroma of death leading to death and to the other the aroma of
life leading to life. As members of this kingdom, our
purpose is to spread the good news of this kingdom and its
wonderful king such that those who hear and believe know life
and those who do not know death. These are the only reactions
to the truth, either fear or obedience. Those who are a part
of this kingdom through the grace of God are given a new heart,
a new spirit. They are rekindled in their life. Their eyes are open to see their
sin and to recognize the resource given in Jesus Christ. In seeing
their sin and their need of a savior, they come forth to place their
hope in him and in him alone. they see him as their king. We
look at the reputation of this king. What is the rule of this
king based on? Verse 46, the Lord lives, blessed
be my rock, let the God of my salvation be exalted. The declaration,
long live the king, comes direct, is derived from this verse. This
verse shows that David was looking past his life and his rule to
that of another. He was looking forward to the
reign of the Christ. The Lord lives. He comes, as
Spurgeon says, in possession of underrived, essential, independent,
and eternal life. We don't serve one who is inanimate. We don't stand before one who
is imaginary. Our King, our Lord, our God is
not dead. He comes fully possessing immortality. Raise your voices. With long
live the King of Kings. Do it because you see your immortality
and pledge yourself anew every morning to him. The rule of this
king is to be eternal. The word for rock suggests he
will stand immovable and solid. He will be praised. He will inspire
great confidence. His reputation will be upheld
by God. His rule comes founded on his
commitment to God. He will be exalted as no other
ever has or ever will be. David, speaking of this Messiah,
this one who will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords says,
exalted be my Savior. What are the results of the rule
of this great King? Verses 47 and 48. It is God who
avenges me and subdues the people under me. He delivers me from
my enemies. You also lift me up above those
who rise against me. You have delivered me from the
violent man. We see that this one who is made
king will be the Lord omnipotent and he will live and reign forever. He will be blessed and exalted
as the God who saves. By him, his people will be avenged
of those who persecute them. They will be given their place
in his kingdom. Their enemies will fall and his
throne will be established in their hearts. If you learn, If
you learn to trust in God and in this glorious plan of redemption,
he has established through this great king he sent in this world,
this king we celebrate as the babe and the manger. The results
of his rule are found in God. It is the plan of God that some
men are rescued from death and others passed by and allowed
to perish. It was the plan of God that Christ would be lifted
up and would draw his people unto him. It was the plan of
God that hell would be enlarged to accommodate the sinful. The
results of the rule of this King is grace and justice perfectly
administered according to his plan. This great King, this great
King comes with the resources of God's grace and mercy. He
comes upon a divine reputation as a perfect administrator of
his justice and grace. The results of the perfect implementation
of his grace and justice in this world. Boy, should we all not
rise up and shout with joy? We're here by the grace of God.
We're held in his hands by the grace of God. This psalm comes
to an end with a picture of restoration. Verses 49 and 50. Therefore,
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises
to your name. Great deliverance he gives to
his king and shows mercy to his anointed, to David and his descendants
forevermore. The resource in this new kingdom
is its people. God establishes this kingdom
among the people of the earth, people from every nation, tribe,
and language group on the face of this world. How has he done
this? Through Jesus Christ. He sent
Jesus to be a man to pay the price men could not pay. Jesus
lived the perfect life and died on Calvary's cross. He was raised
from the grave to eternal life. He was made to be the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. Does this really apply only to
Jesus? Is this only applicable to David?
The Apostle Paul, writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit,
explains Romans 15, verses eight through 10. Now I say that Christ
has become a servant to the circumcision of the truth of God, to confirm
the promises made to the fathers and that the Gentiles may glorify
God for his mercy as it is written. For this reason, I will confess
to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name." And again,
he says, rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people. Paul says this
is talking about Christ, talking about him as the king and king
over a kingdom with Gentiles a part of it. That is made clear
throughout scripture. We find it in 2 Samuel 22, 50.
Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to your name. We also find it in Deuteronomy
32, 43. Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his
people, for he will avenge the blood of his enemies and render
vengeance to his adversaries. He will provide atonement for
his land and his people. This shows, this shows the double
sense of this psalm. First, as a testimony of David
as king over Israel, and then as Christ as the king over his
church. The results we find in all of
this is clear. The king, Christ, is over the
kingdom of God and he is victorious. He will return to this earth
and gather his people, his kingdom to himself. His victories will
all be gathered to him as the gifts they were of God's mercy
and grace. His grace is extended to all,
to all who hear and believe on him and his works. God shows
His unfailing kindness to this king. He shows it to all who
come in His name. He returns together you as is
subject to Him. He comes to take you to a place
prepared for you. He comes to take you home to
be with He and the Father in perfect fellowship forever. He
restores your place with God. My friends, what this psalm teaches
about Jesus as prophet, priest, and king It's very important.
Very important to a full and complete understanding of the
Christmas story. Jesus Christ was sent into this
world. He came from God. He came into the world just like
all other men enter it. He came to be their substitute.
He to do for them what they could never do. To do for them what
Adam failed to do in the Garden of Eden. This little child. born in a stable wrapped in strips
of cloth and laid in a manger, was destined to be the projected
prophet of Israel, the royal priest of heaven and the king
of his church. It all began with his birth when
God came down and took on flesh and blood and committed himself
to save the people to himself out of the mass of sinful humanity. Dear one, I ask you, have you
experienced the grace of God? Have you seen your sin and the
gulf it is placed between you and your God? Have you recognized
the hope offered by God to all who have seen their sin and hopelessness?
Have you seen Jesus Christ? Have you accepted his message
of forgiveness and hope? Have you received his offer of
grace and let him speak for you before God? Have you understood
his place as your guide and bowed before him as your king? If you
have not, then I would call you to humble yourself before him
this day, repent and confess your sins. Open your heart and
believe his message. And you can know the love and
confidence he gives to all who call on him as their Lord and
Savior. Let's pray. Glorious God, almighty Lord,
we come this day with thankful hearts for the gift of your son,
Jesus Christ. You sent him into the world as
your word. The word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory
of the one and only who came from you full of grace and truth. He came making himself nothing,
taking on our very nature, being made in our likeness. He did
this to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. He came
to bring us justification. He justified us through Christ's
works and freed us from the bondage of sin and set us free to follow
him. He did this so we would not have
to do it ourselves. Thank you, Father, in Christ's
name.
The Returning King
| Sermon ID | 22251914202031 |
| Duration | 33:16 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Psalm 18:32-50 |
| Language | English |
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