00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
It's amazing to think that God
has given us his revelation of himself in such a simple, down-to-earth
thing as a book. Let's turn to Psalm 48, which
will be our passage for today. Psalm 48. A wonderful, encouraging psalm,
and I trust that each one of us will be encouraged as we meditate
on it together. Psalm 48. Great is the Lord and
greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain,
beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth. Mount Zion
in the far north, the city of the great king. Within her citadels,
God has made himself known as a fortress. For behold, the kings
assembled. They came on together. As soon
as they saw it, they were astounded. They were in panic. They took
to flight. Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind you shattered
the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we
seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our
God, which God will establish forever. We have thought on your
steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your
name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your
right hand is filled with righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the
daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. walk about
Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation
that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. Amen. Now I think that we all understand
that one of the most incapacitating things in life is fear. We talk sometimes about phobias,
you know, there's that Greek word phobia, for those of you,
phobos in Greek, which we bring into English via the word phobia,
and we have all kinds of phobias. Sometimes it's just a nuisance
that makes our life a little bit inconvenient, but sometimes
it is a debilitating problem. For example, we have claustrophobia. It's a fear of confined spaces. Something that I'm very familiar
with, having five women in my house, is arachnophobia. That's
a fear of spiders. with four daughters and a wife.
I often get called upon to deal with a spider. There is another
kind of phobia called agoraphobia, fear of crowds. Or acrophobia,
fear of heights. There is astrophobia, fear of
stars and space. How about this one? Have you
ever heard of pteromirhanophobia? That's a fear of flying. aircraft. And there is mysophobia, a fear
of dirt and germs. But that's just by way of illustration
and introduction that I talk about all these things. The reality
is that very often in life we all face circumstances that we
feel are too much for us. There are things that make us
afraid, things that make us depressed, things that make us unhappy.
Something that I think we lecturers hear quite often about is a fear
of the workload and a fear of the work and a fear of exams. But that's something that makes
one a bit uncertain. If you're a student, you feel
there's this great amount of work and you don't know how you're
going to cope with it. Another one that is common to
most of us is concern about finances. How am I going to pay my rent? How am I going to pay my study
fees? How am I going to feed my family? Another fear that we deal with
is the fear of enemies and difficult people. Sometimes in our churches
we find situations of conflict. that create for us great uncertainty
and great fear. Sometimes it is difficult relationships
with people we love even. And we can think of many other
situations and tasks for which we feel ill-equipped. These things
create fear in us and uncertainty. Now this psalm is written to
encourage us not to be afraid. It was inspired by a particular
act of deliverance in the life of ancient Israel. And it is
a meditation on the power of God in the midst of His people,
protecting them and defending them. So let's look at the psalm
together. We begin with verses 1 to 3,
which are a call to praise. God is to be praised for His
presence in Zion. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised. Now, He is not praised here for
His character as such, but for what He is to His people. And
it is expressed in a celebration of Mount Zion. Look at verse
1, it says, His holy mountain, verse 2, beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of the whole earth. Mount Zion in the far north,
the city of the great king. And here the psalmist celebrates
Jerusalem, Mount Zion, as a kind of a mountain city, which makes
a very good fortress. Many ancient cities, they were
either built on a mountain or they had some sort of fortress
built on a mountain right next to the city. We find this even
in Pretoria. There are some hills around Pretoria.
If you know where the University of South Africa is, UNESA, opposite
that is a very tall, high hill. It's called Fort Klaperkop. And
there in the time of the Anglo-Boer War, the Boers built a fort on
top of Fort Klaperkop. You can go and see it today.
And they built a number of forts around Pretoria for protection. And so Jerusalem was also built
on a hill, and it provided good protection. You might remember
how even after the Israelites had possessed the land, Jerusalem
remained a Canaanite stronghold. And when David saw it with his
soldiers, he said that one would have to use a special route to
go up and capture that ancient city. And he even offered a reward
for the one who captured the city. And then Jerusalem became
the pride of God's people because of its elevation. It was high. It was protected. It was powerful. But notice that the power is
not simply because of the geographical location and position of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Mount Zion, is to
be celebrated because God is within her. It is Mount Zion,
the city of the great king. Within her citadels, God has
made himself known as a fortress. Even the greatest natural protection
is not always very sufficient. That Fort Cloppercorp that I
mentioned never served as much of a protection for the Boers
during the Anglo-Boer War. It was easily taken by the British. Mount Zion is celebrated because
God has made Himself known in her midst as the fortress of
His people. And right here I want to move
straight on to our position as Christians living after the coming
of Christ. Because Christ is given to us
as one who reigns over all things. And just as the Old Testament
people of God celebrated God in their midst as their fortress
and their protection, so we too, as the New Testament people of
God, celebrate Christ in our midst as our power and our protection. Let's look briefly at a couple
of New Testament passages. Luke 1 verse 74. Let's turn to
that together. Luke 1 verse 74, the song of
Zechariah celebrating the deliverance to come in Christ. And he praises
God, he says that we, being delivered from our enemies, might serve
Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him
all our days. See, this is what the coming
of Christ accomplishes for us, that we can serve God without
fear. And then let's look at Ephesians
chapter 1 from verse 19. Paul prays that the Ephesian
believers will know what is the immeasurable greatness of God's
power towards us who believe, according to the working of His
great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from
the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, And above
every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in
the one to come. And He put all things under His
feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which
is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. And
so we might ask ourselves, over what does Jesus have power? In short, he has power over everything. Does he have power over sickness? He most certainly does. Does
he have power over finances? He most certainly does. Does
he have power over relationships? Absolutely. Does he have power
over the rulers of our country and the rulers of our world?
He does. Does He have power over nature?
Yes, He does. He sustains all things by the
word of His power. And Christ is the one who has
power over all these things, has been given to His people,
to the church, so that He should exercise His power for our sake. And so as the people of the Old
Testament could celebrate and say, within her citadels, God
has made Himself known as a fortress. So we can say within our midst,
Christ is revealed as the head over every power that can be
named in this age and in the one to come. He is ours to protect
us and defend us and enable us to serve God in holiness and
righteousness without fear all our days. What a wonderful celebration
we have as the people of God. But now the psalm moves on to
speak about a particular act of deliverance in verses 4 to
8. We read, Behold, the kings assembled. They came on together. As soon
as they saw it, they were astounded. They were in panic. They took
to flight. Trembling took hold of them there. Now, if we read the Old Testament,
we will find that there are a couple of events from Israel's history
that may be referred to here. We think of 2 Chronicles chapter
20, where the Israelites were attacked by an alliance of Moabites
and other nations. And you will remember how Jehoshaphat
the king called the people to pray. And then they were called
to stand and to praise God. And the enemy was defeated. Perhaps
that is what is being referred to. We might think of 2 Kings
19, which speaks about Hezekiah and the Assyrian army, when they
came and they surrounded Jerusalem and they besieged Jerusalem,
and they made the people afraid by the things that they said.
They sent a letter to say, God has sent us to attack this city. And Hezekiah took the letter
to the prophet Isaiah, and it was laid out before God. And
the next day, the angel of God put to death 180,000 of the Assyrian
soldiers. We are not sure exactly which
event it is, but it is a historical event in which a number of kings'
armies came against Jerusalem, and they were defeated. Look
at the way the event is described in verse five. It says, they
saw, they were astounded. And in Hebrew, these are just
short words that describe the action very fast. They saw, they
were astounded, they were in panic, they took to flight. Julius Caesar was a great Roman
general, and he conducted many wars. especially in the area
that was called Gaul, what is now France today. And Caesar
was very proud of his achievements. And he wrote, perhaps you have
heard those famous words, veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I
conquered. But here we have, they saw. They were astounded. They panicked. They took to flight. That is
what happens when the people of God, the enemies of God, attack
the people of God. They see. They're astounded. They panic. They take to flight. And there are two pictures that
are used to give expression to what happened. In verse 6 it
says, trembling took hold of them, anguish as of a woman in
labor. Now those of you here who are
fathers or mothers will understand. I'll speak about it from a father's
point of view. When you know that your wife
is pregnant and about to give birth, You are watching the signs. And you are ready to take her
to a hospital at the first sign of labor. Because you know that
when those labor pains come on, there is no turning back. Those
labor pains come and they continue until the child is born. And
they can be very painful. This is what happened. Trembling
took hold of them. They couldn't do anything about
it. They couldn't escape from it. And in verse 7, by the east
wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish. Ships of Tarshish
known to be very strong ships. And yet, by the power of God,
they can be shattered as a ship is wrecked on the rocks. Very powerful description of
a particular deliverance that the people experienced. But notice
how the psalmist moves on to a theological reflection on what
the people had experienced. In verse 80 says, they say, as
we have heard, so have we seen. In the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God, which God will establish forever. It
is as though the psalmist says now, our parents told us about
the power of God. God instituted among His people
certain memorials, sometimes physical memorials, like the
stone Joshua set up. Sometimes it was feasts and ceremonies,
like the Feast of Passover. So the children would say to
their parents, Daddy, what is the meaning of this feast that
we are celebrating? And the father would say, my
child, that is because God brought his people out of Egypt. We heard
about it. We've heard about the doings
of God in the past. But the psalmist says, as we
have heard, so have we seen. We heard about it in the past.
We knew it simply as something in our minds. But now we have
experienced it for ourselves. Now it is not a report that somebody
else gave us of something that God did in the past. Now it is
our own experience of God's deliverance in our midst. And there is a very important
application for us here, brothers and sisters. I trust that you
have heard about God's acts of deliverance and His power exercised
in the lives of other people. Perhaps you have heard from your
parents about God's mighty acts of deliverance in their lives.
Maybe you have read biographies. I remember reading about Adoniram
Judson and listening to to his biography, missionary to Burma. And he began his work in Burma,
translating the Bible into the language of the people. But after
a short time, he was arrested. And for 18 months, he was in
prison, threatened, in danger of dying. And it was only the
hard work of his wife that kept him and his fellow prisoners
alive. And yet, if you go to Burma today, you will see the
heritage left as a result of the work of Adoniram Judson.
God did a mighty work through him that still continues today. Perhaps we have heard and spoken
about, we know missionaries. I think of Charles Woodrow who
works in Mozambique. And really, perhaps you know
him, he has some real stories to tell. One night, before he
was due to go back to America for furlough, he was arrested
because somebody laid a charge against him. He had to sleep
the night in the police station. Many stories about how God brought
about deliverance in his life. We read about the biblical characters,
Paul and Silas in prison in Philippi, singing praise to God when they
are in chains. But brothers and sisters, can
we say, as we have heard, so have we seen. As we heard about
their experience, so we have experienced the presence and
the power of God in our own lives. What we hear from other people
must become a reality for us. The work that we struggle with
is not simply a cause for complaining, but a cause to lift up our voices
to heaven and say, God, rend the heavens and come down. Enable
me to persevere. Enable me to understand your
word which I'm struggling with. Our struggle against sin. Dr. Bryan mentioned bosom sins in
his prayer. It's a struggle. Each one of
us knows the struggle against sin that clings to us. But can we say with the psalmist,
as we have heard, so have we seen. We have read about the
apostle Paul and how he was transformed from being a legalist and a murderer
into the apostle of grace. Have we experienced that same
power in our lives, overcoming the sin that is within us? What about the work of evangelism,
preaching the gospel? Can we speak about those who
are hardened in sin and whose lives have been changed by the
power of God? Those who rejected Christ and
have come to bow to Him. as Lord and Savior. We have here
an invitation not to theologize, but to trust God for his victory
in our own experience. In verses nine to 11, the psalm
moves on to a meditation on God's steadfast love. And here the
psalmist meditates on the character of God We have thought on your
steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. Now, something
that the ESV, the English Standard Version, has introduced, which
is actually very helpful, is that it translates the Hebrew
word chesed with the English steadfast love fairly consistently. In the King James, it was always
loving kindness. But that word hesed is one of
the most precious words in the Bible. It speaks of God's covenant
love, the fact that God loves us, not because we deserve it,
but because He, out of His own character and being, has chosen
to love us. And this is what the psalmist
meditates upon and celebrates. We have thought on your steadfast
love, oh God. We think about these things that
happen to us, and God, it causes us to lift up our hearts and
think about who you are. that you did these things for
us, not because we deserve them, but because you are a God who
is full of compassion, loving-kindness, faithfulness. And so, God, we
think about these things, and we think about you. But notice
how the meditation spreads. As your name, O God, so your
praise reaches to the ends of the earth. In verse 9, it was
in the midst of your temple. In verse 10, it is to the ends
of the earth. Your right hand is filled with
righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the
daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. And brothers
and sisters, we need to take our experiences of deliverance
and use them to reflect on the character and the love of God. Think of, I think it's Joseph
Addison, he says, When all thy mercies, O my God, my rising
soul surveys, transported with the view I'm lost in wonder,
love, and praise. When worn with sickness, oft
as thou with health renewed my face, and when in sin and sorrow
sunk, revived my soul with grace. When we meet together as a church,
informally perhaps, We need to meditate on God's love. How often
are we given to complaining, given to complaining about the
things that we find difficult? But we should use the opportunity
to meditate on the love and kindness and the love of God. When we
sit with our families at the dinner table or at devotion,
to share together. This is how I've experienced
God intervening in my life. Let's talk about God, our Father,
and celebrate His character together. This is what we need to do in
response to this psalm. We have thought on your steadfast
love. We meditate. We speak about it. But finally, The Psalm ends off
with an exhortation to take note of what God has done in verses
12 to 14. Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers, consider well her ramparts, that you may tell
the next generation that this is God. Our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. He will be our guide even to
the end, as the NIV puts it. You see, the hearers of the psalm
are exhorted. Now, come. Come and walk with
me around the city. Let me show you this big wall
that we have. See how strong it is. See how
difficult it will be for the enemies to get over this wall
or through this wall. Come with me and look at this
tower here. See how we can put our archers
in the top of that tower and they can shoot arrows on the
enemy if the enemy surrounds the city to besiege us. Just
look at the strength that we have. But understand that the
strength does not come from the walls. It comes from God. This God is our God forever and
ever. He will guide us to the end. Brothers and sisters, come with
me and look at the walls of the New Jerusalem. Look at her ramparts. Look at her towers. Look at Jesus Christ dying on
the cross. He's the picture of helplessness. He's the picture of one who can
do nothing to help himself, let alone anybody else. But what
does Paul say about him dying on the cross? Paul says in Colossians
chapter 2 that on the cross he made a public spectacle of his
enemies, the devil, the demons. He put them to shame by His death
on the cross, so that Satan cannot come to you with an accusation,
because you will overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. Look at the resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Can you raise the dead to life?
Can you raise the dead? Do you know anybody who can raise
the dead? But the power that God gives to His people is like
the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when
He raised Him from the dead. That is the power that is ours. Who can stand against it? Look
at the ascension of Christ. Look, ye saints, the sight is
glorious. See the man of sorrows now. From the fight returned victorious. Crowns become the victor's brow. There he is, seated at the right
hand of God. Who can stand against Jesus? See how He poured out His Holy
Spirit, that the very third person of the Trinity should dwell within
us, to give us power to know God, to overcome sin, to live
for Him. Think about how God brought you
to a knowledge of Christ, and how He has changed your life
since then. And then say with me, This God
is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to
the end. Friends, I bring you good news
today. God does not purpose that His
children should be nervous, quivering, defeated, depressed, despondent,
and discouraged disciples of Jesus Christ. His resurrection
and ascension must make a difference to us. Just like those disciples
after Jesus' death were hiding away for fear of the Jews, but
after the resurrection, after they knew Jesus was raised, and
after He had ascended and poured out His Spirit, Peter stood up
on the day of Pentecost and he addressed the people. And when
he was arrested later by the Jewish authorities, He said,
judge for yourselves whether it is right to obey God or man. We face daily issues that make
us fearful, depressed, or just plain unhappy. And we must ask
ourselves, why do we feel like that? Isn't it because we are
often We feel so powerless to do anything about our circumstances. And so the psalm reminds us that
we need to rise up in the strength of the Lord, to take control
of ourselves and our circumstances and commit ourselves to God. Sometimes God will work a mighty
victory in a miraculous way. Other times he will give us victory
in the midst of those circumstances. Let me end by two illustrations
showing both of these experiences. There's a church in New York,
I understand, where the weekly prayer meeting was a very important
gathering for the church. And there came a time when relatives
or friends of some of the church members were kidnapped. There was great concern about
these people who were in the hands of kidnappers. And as the
church came together, they said it was like giving birth in their
prayers, praying that God would intervene. And the next day,
miraculously, those people were released by the kidnappers. Another example. with a different
sort of an ending, but which illustrates God's power. Some
weeks ago, as we were leaving home to go to the church where
I preach on a Sunday morning, my wife received an SMS from
a very close friend to say, I have breast cancer. And yet in that very SMS, she
said, but I know. God is in control of every cell
and every brain. Now in the weeks that have followed,
she has undergone surgery. The cancer which she thought
was only grade one and very insignificant turned out to be grade three
cancer. Although we trust that that has all been removed, she
still has chemotherapy lying ahead of her. And yet her testimony
throughout is, God is in control. I am trusting in God. And in
the midst of those very trying circumstances, she is in effect
able to say, this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to
the end. Let's pray together. Oh God, we thank you that you
give strength to your people. We thank you, Father, that you
have not left us to fend for ourselves, to trust in our own
strength, in all the various circumstances that we face in
life. Father, we confess that we have
many challenges and many enemies. And we do sometimes battle and
we become fearful and afraid, depressed. We thank you God that today you
have encouraged us from your word. You have reminded us that
glorious things are spoken of Zion. It is the city of God and
in her midst God dwells to be her fortress and to protect her
and defend her. We thank you, Father, that you
have set Christ in our midst, the one who is ruler over all,
to protect us and defend us, and to be our guide even to the
end. Lord Jesus, we thank you that
your power is revealed not only in strength, but even more in
our own weakness. We pray, Lord Jesus, that you
would help us in the midst of our weakness, to experience and
trust in and rely on your power and your strength. Lord, we ask
for your grace. Forgive us our sins, forgive
us our lack of trust. Help us with our unbelief that
we may truly rest in you and trust in you. We ask this for
your name's sake, amen.
God's Power in the Midst of His People
| Sermon ID | 43015514500 |
| Duration | 37:08 |
| Date | |
| Category | Chapel Service |
| Bible Text | Psalm 48 |
| Language | English |
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.