The New Testament reading for today is Mark 2, 23-28. Mark 2, 23-28. The sermon text will be Psalm 92. Psalm 92. Let's go now to the reading of God's Most Holy Word. Mark 2, 23. The Word of the Lord. One Sabbath, He, that is Jesus, was going through the grain fields. And as they made their way, His disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to Him, Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? And He said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him? How he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar, the high priest, and he ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for any but the priest to eat. And he also gave it to those who were with him. And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Let us go now to Psalm 92 and our sermon text, Psalm 92. The title of this psalm is a psalm, a song for the Sabbath. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work, at the work of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep. The stupid man cannot know, the fool cannot understand this, that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever. But you, O Lord, are on high forever. For behold your enemies, O Lord, for behold your enemies shall perish, all evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox, you have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies. My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of God. They still bear fruit in old age. They are ever full of sap and green. To declare that the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." So far the reading of God's most holy word. May He add His blessing to the preaching of it this morning. The title of this psalm is very important. It is a psalm, a song for the Sabbath. And while it is true that this psalm may well be sung on any day of the week, we will soon see that this psalm is particularly fitting for the Sabbath day. This psalm moves the worshiper to exalt the Lord. It compels us to exalt the Lord by giving Him thanks and praise. We are to exalt the Lord by remembering His marvelous works, His work of creation and His work of redemption. We are to exalt the Lord by considering His righteous judgment of the wicked and that grace that He has bestowed upon the upright. Indeed the upright will flourish in the Lord forever and ever." So this psalm does acknowledge all of this and it gives glory to God. As I have said, this psalm may well be sung on any day of the week, but it is particularly fitting for the Sabbath day, for the Sabbath day is designed for this. The Sabbath day was made to be a day to reflect upon God, His marvelous works, the abundant life that is found in Him, and to give Him thanks and praise. Truly this is a song for the Sabbath, for the themes of this psalm are to be the themes of our heart always, but especially on the Sabbath day. Truly, one of the saddest things to witness in the Church today is the neglect of the Sabbath day. It is sad, for God is disobeyed and dishonored by His people when they neglect the Sabbath. But it is also sad because God's people miss out on something truly good and beneficial when they neglect the Sabbath day. God instituted the Sabbath at the time of creation. Even before sin entered the world, Adam was to work six days, rest from his labors and worship on the seventh day, an imitation of his Maker. The Sabbath day signified God's eternal rest and it was an invitation to Adam to enter that rest by keeping the terms of the covenant that God transacted with him. So the message was, work faithfully and enter into rest. The Tree of Life and the Sabbath day both functioned in this way. They called to Adam to advance beyond his natural condition. The Sabbath called Adam to enter into God's rest through obedience. The Tree of Life called him to lay a hold of eternal life by keeping the terms of the covenant that God had made with him. Adam failed, this we know. He broke the covenant and the way to the tree of life was cut off from Him and from all of His descendants, but the Sabbath day remained. I want you to think of that for just a moment. The Sabbath day remained even after man's fall into sin. And so after man's fall into sin, the weekly seventh-day Sabbath functioned in two ways. It functioned as a perpetual reminder that Adam failed to enter the rest that God had offered to him. So in this way the Sabbath day condemned. Every seventh day the people of God, the faithful, were to rest and to worship. And there was in that a reminder of what Adam came short of. He did not enter into that eternal and consummate rest, but failed in his breaking of the covenant that God had made with him. But the Sabbath day also communicated that rest, eternal rest in God, was by God's grace still available. After all, the people of God were still to observe this Sabbath day, and so there was this message. The Sabbath rest of God, the eternal rest of God, is still available. And so in this way, the Sabbath brought hope. Israel was to honor the Sabbath day and to keep it holy on the seventh day. Why were they to do this? Because our salvation at that time when Israel was a nation under the Old Covenant, our salvation still needed to be earned. And so the message was work six days and thus enter into rest. That was the message of the seventh day Sabbath. And the work of redemption was yet to be accomplished and so the people of Israel and the patriarchs before them were to keep the seventh day Sabbath holy. And what were they to do on that seventh day? How were they to honor it and keep it holy? One, we know that they were to rest from their ordinary labors. Two, we know that they were to assemble together. This is what Leviticus 23 means when it calls the Sabbath day a holy convocation. So the Sabbath day was a day to cease from ordinary labors and it was to be a convocation. It was to be a day for assembling with the people of God. And three, they were to worship the Lord and to give Him thanks. to consider His marvelous works in creation and also redemption. The psalm that we are considering today proves this point. This psalm, Psalm 92, was written for the Sabbath day. This psalm, Psalm 92, was to be on the tongues of the people of God on the Sabbath day. These themes that are presented here in this beautiful psalm were to be the themes of the people's hearts on the Sabbath day. And dear brothers and sisters, The Scriptures are so very clear that the Sabbath is still to be kept holy by the people of God today. I would like for you to consider briefly these five points which prove that the Sabbath day is permanent until the consummation. One, remember that the Sabbath command was given not to Abraham or to Israel originally, but to Adam. The Sabbath was not only for old covenant Israel therefore, but for all humanity descended from Adam. Just as marriage was instituted and given to Adam and is therefore for all humanity, so too the Sabbath day. was instituted at the time of creation. It is for all of humanity and it is permanent. It is to remain until the fulfillment of the Sabbath sign. Two, when the Sabbath command was delivered to Israel formally it was not grouped amongst the ceremonial laws unique to that nation but was positioned at the very heart of the Ten Commandments which are a summary of God's moral law applying to all people in all times and places. Yes, it is true there are some things ceremonial and unique to Old Covenant Israel found within those Ten Commandments, but the moral and unchanging law of God is at the heart of those ten words. The first four commandments are about the worship of God and the fourth is about the time of worship. God is to be worshipped and one day out of every seven is to be set aside as holy for rest and worship. This law is abiding for it is rooted in creation and it is moral. Three, the thing symbolized by the Sabbath, namely eternal rest in God, is not yet here in fullness, and therefore the Sabbath must remain. I wonder, do you understand what I'm saying here? If the thing signified by the Sabbath day is eternal and consummate rest, and if that is not yet here, then the Sabbath must still remain. It is still a sign of that eternal and consummate rest that awaits us. Stated differently, how could the Sabbath pass away if what it signifies, namely eternal rest in God, has not yet come? 4. Though it is true that the Sabbath remains, it is also true that the Sabbath has changed. The legal strictness imposed upon the people of Israel regarding the Sabbath has been removed. And the day has also changed. The day is no longer the seventh day but the first. So the pattern of six and one remains but the day has changed and there is a very good reason for this. The Sabbath day has moved forward because the accomplishment of God's plan of redemption has moved forward. The Christ has come. And unlike the first Adam, He accomplished the work that the Father gave Him to do. He earned the salvation of God's elect. He won the victory. He Himself has entered into rest, being seated now at the Father's right hand. And we have entered into His rest spiritually as we await the full and final consummation of all things in the new heavens and earth. In the meantime, we are to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy, but the Sabbath is to be kept on the first day, or the eighth day, and not the seventh, for the work of redemption has been accomplished by Jesus the Christ. And so we work not to enter rest, but out of the rest that God has secured for us. In other words, for those who live under the covenant of grace, our work, that is to say our obedience, flows out of the work that Christ has done on our behalf. 5. The New Testament teaches that the Sabbath day remains for the new covenant people of God. Christ did not throw the Sabbath away. in His earthly ministry and in His teaching, but taught us how to properly observe it. I read from Mark 2 at the beginning of the sermon in order to show that very thing. Christ spoke of the Sabbath so very often and never did He obliterate it or abolish it or throw it away, but He constantly stripped away all of the man-made rules and regulations that Israel had imposed upon the Sabbath day to show what its true meaning is and He Himself even claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. And so in Christ's teaching we see how we are to truly observe the Sabbath day. He is Lord of the Sabbath. He governs it. He is the one who shows us and teaches us how it is to be observed even under the new covenant which He Himself has instituted by the shedding of His blood. So Christ did not throw the Sabbath away, but taught us how to properly observe it. The apostles of Christ and the early church did not abandon the Sabbath, but kept it on the first day, which is called the Lord's Day. And in Hebrews 4.9 we are explicitly told that a Sabbath-keeping remains under the New Covenant. Listen carefully to what Hebrews 4.9 says, So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. And if you follow along with the argument being developed in Hebrews, and if you carefully consider the Greek term, which in the ESV is translated as Sabbath rest, you will see that the writer to the Hebrews is teaching that a Sabbath keeping remains for the people of God. The word there in the Greek is It refers to a special religiously significant period for rest and worship, a Sabbath rest, a period of rest. So then in Hebrews 4, 9 what is the author saying? This period of rest, this practice of resting one day out of seven remains for the people of God. He's writing not to Old Covenant Israel but to the New Covenant people of God. He's saying this remains. This feature is still present under the New Covenant. We are to keep the Sabbath day. That is the teaching of Hebrews 4 and verse 9. A Sabbath day remains under the New Covenant for the people of God. We are to worship God always, but one day in seven is still to be set apart unto Him as holy. So when we come to Psalm 92, we are not only to ask, What did the old covenant saints do on the Sabbath day? What was on their minds and what was on their lips? No, we are to go beyond this and we are to ask, what are we to do on the Sabbath day? What should be on our minds? What should be on our lips? where a Sabbath keeping does in fact remain for the people of God today. And Psalm 92 will be a great help to us as we seek to align the themes of our heart to the themes of the Sabbath day. I want for you to notice four things in Psalm 92. One, the Lord's Day Sabbath is a day for giving thanks and praise to God. Two, it is a day for contemplating the marvelous works of God. Three, it is a day for gaining perspective. And four, the Lord's Day Sabbath is a day for celebrating the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus. In verses 1-3 we see that the Sabbath day is a day for giving thanks and praise to God. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, the text says, to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. Not only is it right to give thanks and praise to God, but the psalmist says that it is good One, it is good to give thanks to the Lord for His kindness, and to praise His Most Holy Name, for this is right. It is wrong to live in God's world, to enjoy His blessings, and to fail to give Him thanks. But it is right, and it is therefore good, to thank Him for His loving kindness and His tender mercies. Perhaps you have noticed this, that sometimes it is easy for us to forget to give thanks to God. But the Lord's Day Sabbath is to be a weekly reminder of this fact, that we are to come before our God and we are to offer up to Him thanks and praise, for it is right. Two, it is good to give thanks and praise to the Lord, for this is pleasing to God. It is always pleasing to God when His people give Him thanks and praise, but it is especially pleasing to Him when His people give Him thanks and praise on the Sabbath day, for He has set this day apart for this very purpose. It is a day for thanksgiving. It is a day for worship. And three, it is good to give thanks and praise to the Lord because it is also good for us. It is good for the human soul, for we were made to worship our Maker, and indeed our hearts are kept healthy and pure when they are filled with gratitude towards God and kept from all covetousness and discontentment." So it is good to give thanks and praise to the Lord because it is also good for us. It is good for our soul. Yes, we should give thanks to God always, but especially on the Lord's Day Sabbath. When we come into the house of the Lord and when we hear the call to worship read, it should remind us that this is a day for thanksgiving. It is a day for praise. Truly it is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to His name, for He is Most High." That is what the Lord is called at the end of verse 1, He is Most High. And I say what a marvelous name for God this is, He is Lord Most High, He is Creator of heaven and earth, none may be compared with Him. And what a fitting name for God and especially on the Sabbath day for on this day we do assemble together to give praise to God who is sovereign over all. And we are to be reminded of that fact when we enter into this place to give Him thanks and praise. In particular, we are to thank Him for His steadfast love and faithfulness. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High. Verse 2, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night. God's love is not like our love, brothers and sisters. Our love ebbs and flows, is sometimes hot and other times cold, but God's love is steadfast and constant, for God is love. God hates with perfect hatred all that is evil, and He loves with pure love all that is good. In His mercy and grace, He has determined to set His love on sinners such as you and me, having washed us clean by the shed blood of the Messiah. And His love is steadfast. God does not change His mind. He is faithful to His people and to keep all of His promises. The Lord's Day Sabbath is a day to remember this and to give God thanks and praise. This we are to do morning and night, the text says. In other words, this we are to do all day on the Sabbath day. The day, that is to say the whole day, is to be set apart as holy unto the Lord. And no, this does not mean that we are to spend the whole day with the church and corporate worship, but it does mean that the whole day should be regarded as holy, that is, set apart as unique unto God. Our Confession captures this idea when it says in Chapter 22, Paragraph 8, aforehand, do not only observe a holy rest all day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, but are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship and in the duties of necessity and mercy." And so, brothers and sisters, the Lord's Day, Sabbath, is a holy day. It is not a common day. It is a day to rest from our ordinary work and recreations, but it's also a day for worship, both public and private. We are to honor this day, we are to keep it holy, and this will require thoughtfulness and preparation. To prepare for the Lord's Day Sabbath, we must take care of business during the other days of the week, and thoughtfulness is also required. When planning activities besides corporate worship on the Lord's Day, we should ask, does this activity serve the purpose of the day? or does it detract and distract from it? Did you hear that, brothers and sisters? When we are trying to decide what to do on this day, the Lord's Day Sabbath, we should ask ourselves, does this activity serve the purpose of the day, or does it detract and distract from it? The Lord's Day Sabbath, all of it, is, among other things, a day for offering up thanksgiving and praise to our God. This we are to do in our minds and hearts, this we are to do in prayer, this we are to do in our conversations with one another, and this we are to do through song. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre." We sing when we assemble, brothers and sisters. But we should also sing when we are alone and with our families. God's people have always been a singing people. Yes, we are to pray, but we are also to sing. And perhaps you have noticed that singing engages the emotions and expresses the heart in a way that plain words do not. Have you ever thought of this? Human beings can sing. We have that It's a marvelous capacity, isn't it? To be able to not only speak and to communicate with one another and to communicate with God. That itself is a marvelous thing. But we can also sing. We can change the pitch of our voices and we can sing together even in harmony. And certainly God gave us this ability to, among other things, give Him praise. And so sing, brothers and sisters, sing every day, but especially on the Lord's Day Sabbath, for this is a day for thanksgiving. It is a day for praise. Secondly, the Sabbath day is a day for contemplating the works of God. So it is a day for thanksgiving and praise, but it is also a day for contemplation. We are to contemplate the works of God. Look at verses 4 and 5. For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your work. At the works of Your hand I sing for joy. How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep." The Sabbath day is a day for contemplating the works of God. You know how life goes, I'm sure. On the other days of the week, the other six days, our heads are often down and our eyes fixated upon our work. And yes, we should be disciplined to contemplate the works of God on those days too. But the Sabbath day was made for this. On the Lord's Day Sabbath we are to cease from our work so that we might contemplate God's work. And this song for the Sabbath day encourages us to do that very thing. It is a day when we are invited to lift up our eyes from our worldly work and recreations. And no, worldly does not here mean sinful by the way, but earthly and common. We are to engage in worldly work on the other six days, meaning earthly and common work. But on the Lord's Day Sabbath we are to fix our eyes on God's work. And God's work must be considered in three ways. One, we must contemplate God's work of creation. So lift up your eyes on the Sabbath day and consider the world that God has made. Indeed it is true the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. And so look up from your work, look up from your recreation, cease from it on the Sabbath day and consider God's work of creation. Read God's world book on the Sabbath day and give praise to God as you do. Two, we must contemplate God's work of providence and preservation. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and now He upholds it. God governs this world. He is accomplishing His eternal decree and He is upholding life, all life, yours and mine. All of this He does according to His will, and through Jesus Christ the risen Son. For He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him, and He is before all things. And in Him all things hold together." So there is a reference to God's work of providence and preservation. Not only did God create the heavens and the earth through the Son, but He now upholds the heavens and earth. He preserves them through the risen Son. And so when you contemplate the works of God on the Sabbath day, do not forget about God's work of providence. Enjoy creation, but think, our God is right now in this moment holding everything together. He is keeping everything together, keeping this world going. It's marvelous to consider. The next breath that you take, brothers and sisters, is a gift from God. He has given it to you. He created you, but He is also preserving you. Contemplate that on the Sabbath day. Three, we must also contemplate God's work of redemption on the Sabbath day. Yes, Adam and Eve were to keep the Sabbath day holy in the Garden before sin entered the world. When they kept the Sabbath they were to contemplate God's work of creation and providence. And yes, they were to look forward to the rest, the eternal and consummate rest that God had offered to them in the covenant of works. But this rest must be earned by them. So no, they did not contemplate God's work of redemption on the Sabbath day, for redemption presupposes sin. But Adam and Eve and all of the faithful who descended from them did contemplate God's work of redemption on the Sabbath day, beginning with that first proclamation of the gospel and the curse that was pronounced upon the serpent in the words, �I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise So at that moment the Sabbath was imbued with new significance. Man fell into sin and death but by God's grace eternal rest was still available. It was available not through the work of man but through the work of God in the accomplishment of our redemption. When Adam kept the Sabbath day on the seventh day he was reminded of what he came short of and he was also reminded of the gracious promise of God concerning a Redeemer. This was true for all of the faithful who honored the Sabbath day from Adam to Christ. They were reminded of what Adam came short of, but they were also reminded of the redemption that had been promised. And as God's redemptive purposes unfolded in human history, the people had more and more to contemplate regarding God's work of redemption. Once God called Abraham and transacted that covenant with him, there was more to contemplate on the Sabbath day. And once God led Israel out of Egypt through Moses and entered into the covenant with them, there was more to contemplate on the Sabbath day. And when God set David on the throne and transacted a covenant with him, there was even more to contemplate on the Sabbath day. Ever since man's fall into sin, the Sabbath day has been a day to contemplate the works of God, His work of creation, His work of providence, and also His work of redemption. But think of how blessed we are, brothers and sisters, to live on this side of the accomplishment of our redemption by Jesus the Christ. Yes, all of the faithful living before Christ were able to contemplate God's work of redemption on the Sabbath day. They were able to do so through the promises, types, and prophecies that were uttered to them prior to the arrival of Christ. But they knew so very little compared to what we know. How exactly God would accomplish our redemption through the Christ was mysterious to them. But for those living after Christ, the mystery has been revealed. We can see with perfect clarity the work that God has done, for Christ has accomplished it. It is finished. And we have His Word, and we have His Spirit. What exactly our eternal Sabbath rest will be like is mysterious to us still. I wonder, brothers and sisters, do you know what the new heavens and earth will be like exactly? I don't. The Scriptures tell us some things, but it's hard for us to imagine what they will be like. So we rest and we worship on the Lord's Day Sabbath and it causes us to think of the new heavens and new earth, that eternal consummate rest that awaits us. But there's a bit of mystery there, right? What will it be like? Well, we know some things, but we do not know it with perfect precision and clarity. But when we look back and contemplate God's work of redemption, that we can see with perfect clarity. Our redemption in Christ has been accomplished. The work of our redemption has been done, and we are to contemplate it on the Lord's Day Sabbath. For He has risen. He has risen indeed, right? As I was writing this portion of the sermon, I was struck again by how tragic it is that Christians today are taught that there no longer remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. It is truly tragic. Think of what these Christians are missing out on when they neglect the Sabbath day. They have gotten ahead of themselves. They have stopped observing the Sabbath day before entering into eternal rest, the eternal rest of which the Sabbath is a sign. And when they do, they miss out on something truly wonderful, an opportunity to contemplate the work of God in creation, in providence, and in redemption, and to delight in His power and in God's wisdom. Indeed, the Sabbath day is a day for singing these words, "'For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your work at the work of Your hands. I sing for joy. How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep.'" Thirdly, the Sabbath day is a day for gaining perspective. I've used this little phrase here, gaining perspective, to sum up all that is said in verses 6 through 9. There we read, the stupid man cannot know, the fool cannot understand this, that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever. But you, O Lord, are on high forever, for behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish, all evildoers shall be scattered. Stated differently on the Sabbath day, we are to consider in a positive way God's eternal rest, and how those who take refuge in the Messiah will enter into it and enjoy God's eternal rest forever and ever. But in a negative way, the faithful of God must also remember that the wicked will not enter into that rest, but they will be judged. As I have said, the Sabbath day cuts in both ways. When we observe it, we remember the rest that is to come. It is the rest that Christ has earned and has entered into and secured for us. But when we observe the Sabbath day, we are also reminded that we have not yet entered into this rest, and the wicked will never attain it." Verse 6 says, the stupid man cannot know, the fool cannot understand this. The word stupid here is not being used as an insult, but to describe the one who is foolish or senseless. The stupid man is the man or woman who is blind to these spiritual and eternal realities. He is the fool who lacks understanding. And what does the fool not understand? The fool does not understand that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever. As I have said, the Sabbath day is a day for gaining perspective. And here is the perspective that the people of God must gain and maintain as they sojourn in this world. The wicked will sometimes prosper. Evildoers will sometimes flourish. You see it all the time. You look around and it's troubling, is it not, to see those who are wicked prosper while those who are righteous and faithful seem to suffer? But they will soon come to an end, this psalm reminds us, and they will be doomed to destruction forever. Therefore fret not yourself because of evildoers, nor be envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb." That is Psalm 37, 1 and 2. Just a month or so ago, the grass was green on the hills surrounding our town. Do you remember it? It wasn't too long ago. But I remember how quickly the transition came. After just a few days of hot weather, that green grass withered. It seemed like it only took a moment. And so it will be with the wicked. And we are to learn this lesson, brothers and sisters. Do not envy the wicked when they prosper. Learn this lesson, young people, please, I am pleading with you. Do not be fooled by the rich and famous. They will soon go down into the grave. And if they are not in Christ, they will be tormented forever in hell. And so do not envy them therefore, do not be enticed by them, do not be afraid of them, but instead fear the Lord and honor Him. Go the way of the righteous, who, though they may suffer in this world, will flourish in God's house forever and ever." We are to gain this perspective, brothers and sisters. And I am saying that the Sabbath day is a day for this. It is a day for gaining and maintaining this perspective. For on this day we remember God's eternal rest, how mankind has failed to enter it, but that God has graciously provided a way for us. And that brings us quite naturally to the last point of the sermon. The Lord's Day Sabbath is a day for celebrating the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus. Now this last point does overlap a bit with the point that was made earlier regarding the contemplation of God's work of redemption on the Sabbath day, but it's not exactly the same. Here I wish to be even more specific. On the Sabbath day we are to remember that our salvation has been earned by Jesus Christ, God's anointed King, and we are to look forward to the full and final enjoyment of our salvation in the new heavens and earth. Look with me at verses 10 through 15. They speak concerning these things. In verses 10 and 11, we are reminded that our salvation is accomplished by God's anointed and victorious King. There we read, but you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. You have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies. My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. This is kingly language. Can you hear it? These are the words of a king of Israel, perhaps David, speaking of the victory that he has won over his enemies. His horn is exalted like that of the wild ox. This means that he is powerful, he is victorious. He says that the Lord poured fresh oil over him. This is the language of anointing. David was anointed as king of Israel and the Savior of God's people would be anointed He would be the Anointed One, the Christ, or the Messiah. And this Anointed King of God has, we read, seen the downfall of his enemies and has heard the doom of his evil assailants. In verses 10 and 11, the victory of God's Anointed King is contrasted with the doom and destruction of the wicked as described in verses 6 through 9. So the wicked, though they may prosper momentarily, will be destroyed in the end. and they will be destroyed by this Anointed One of God. That is the message being communicated here. And so who is this Anointed One? Well, typologically, He is King David, or some other king of Israel who descended from Him. But ultimately, the Anointed King is Jesus Christ, the promised Son of David. When Zechariah gave praise to God concerning the birth of his son John the Baptist and the arrival of Israel's Messiah, he said this, blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David and so I am saying yes David was anointed as king of Israel yes David's horn was exalted like that of the wild ox yes David won the victory over all of his and Israel's enemies but David did not earn our salvation David did not defeat sin, Satan, and death, but we know that his Son would, Christ Jesus the Lord. And that is what this psalm is about ultimately. It is about God's victorious King, whose horn would be exalted ultimately over all of God's enemies, over all of God's people's enemies. It is about God's King, His anointed King, who would, in fact, win the victory fully and finally for God's people. And it is because Christ has won the victory that, now read verse 12, the righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age. They are ever full of sap and green to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Here in these verses, the flourishing of God's people is contrasted with the doom of the wicked. The wicked flourish for a time, but in the end they wither away. They are like that green grass that sprouts up momentarily, but soon it is brown. But God's people, those made righteous through faith in the Redeemer, what do they do? They flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar. What a contrast to the seasonal grasses which cover the hills of Israel just as they cover ours. The wild grasses are green, but only for a very short time. The heat of summer consumes them. But the palm and the cedar are ever green. The palm bears fruit even in old age. The cedar is ever full of sap and strength. And where are these trees said to be planted? They are planted in the house of the Lord. They flourish in the courts of our God. And what do they do there? They give glory to God, declaring that the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Again, this must be interpreted on two levels. One, we are to think of the kingdom of Israel under David. It is right for us to consider the way that the righteous did prosper in David's victorious kingdom. In those days the righteous flourished in the house of the Lord in the courts of God that is to say in the tabernacle and later the temple. But that king kingdom and tabernacle were prototypes. of a much greater king, kingdom, and temple that was to come. It is Christ who is the victorious king. His is the kingdom of heaven, and the temple wherein the righteous will flourish forever and ever is the new heavens and earth which He has secured by His shed blood and His resurrection from the dead." Stated succinctly on the Lord's Day Sabbath, we are to remember and celebrate God's anointed and victorious King, and what it is that He has earned for us, that is eternal life in God's eschatological temple, wherein we will rest in Him for all eternity, offering up to God the fruit of praise, declaring that He is upright, He is our rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Brothers and sisters, I am pleading with you, as your pastor, to keep the Lord's Day Sabbath holy. Set this day apart for rest and worship. From morning to night, make this song the song of your heart. Give thanks and praise to God on this day. Contemplate God's marvelous works. Gain perspective and celebrate the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus. For He is risen, He is risen indeed. Let us bow for prayer. Our Father in heaven, We thank you for the gift of the Sabbath day and for all that it signifies. When we gather for worship on the Lord's Day Sabbath on this first day of the week, we are reminded of many things. Adam's failure, but more importantly, Christ's success. Father, we are reminded also that consummate rest awaits us, and we long for that day, O Lord. And so, Father, I do pray that the Lord's Day Sabbath would be a blessing to this congregation, that your people would be refreshed as they come into your house to offer you thanks and praise, that we would gain perspective, that we would be built up so that we might serve you in the other days of the week, O Lord. Bless us corporately as we honor the Lord's Day Sabbath. Bless us also individually as we go our separate ways and as we return to our homes and spend time with our families. Oh Lord, help us to even be mindful of the Sabbath day then. Father, may we give you honor on the whole of this day for your glory, but also for our good. We know that this day was made for us. It was meant to refresh us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, O Lord. We pray that it would do that very thing. We say all of these things in Christ's name, and all of God's people say, Amen.