Holy Is He | Sermon on Psalm 99

Lord for the picture that it is intended to be of your son and his bride and I pray for these dear couples Lord that you would bless their marriage is not only with the joy of love that they share and cherish but but Lord that you would bless them with the opportunity to be a testimony of the great love between your son and his bride and that we Lord would honor him by how we treat one another and whether we would seek to exalt him first and foremost in our marriages and we thank you Lord in Jesus name Amen amen thank you well today is not only my wedding anniversary but as was mentioned earlier by Ian it means that another year is coming to a close and that a new one is about to dawn and at this time of year people often take the time to reflect and to think about where things are at in their own life and how things are doing these reflections often prompting resolutions many of which are not followed through but it is still a good and important to have these times of reflections in our lives not only for us as individuals but but also for us as a church also for the church overall it is still a profitable thing to consider are there any concerns or issues things we need to be wary of in regards to a church and as a church what what trends in our culture pose a threat to the church again even to our church you know when Bruce ware was here for the Men's Conference a couple of months ago the first thing that he said when he came up to this pulpit as he was introducing a text of isaiah 6 he was talking about in the church today there is a rush to divine imminence to the neglect of divine transcendence now just what did he mean by that what what he said was very significant but it's important to understand what is it that he said well divine transcendence is this idea this doctrine that God transcends over his creation that he is far above it that he's completely into of it that he is self-sufficient that he has no need of it that he's wholly different from him divine imminence has this idea of the nearness of God that he is among his creation that he is present within it that he has interaction with his creatures and so simply put we can think of transcendence as the farness of God and imminence as the nearness of God and so when Bruce ware was saying that in the church today there is a rush to the divine eminence to the neglect of the divine transcendence what he meant is that we are quick to see God is approachable we are a quick and hurried to see God is one who was there for my needs as someone who who with whom I can relate but at the same time we often forget or neglect or minimize his majesty we don't think as highly of his glory as we should we fail to recognize that God is and wellzyn unapproachable light that he is not like us that he is in fact Almighty God now this is to say that not to say that transcendence and imminence are opposites that they compete with one another that that God either has to be one or the other no not at all we we must be though careful in our thoughts that we do not place one above the other that we do not overemphasize one it's in a neglect of the other and I agree with dr. ware that that the church in our culture today has been guilty of doing that guilty of emphasizing God's nearness while minimizing his farness consider the songs that are sung how many focus on God's glory how many focus on those who are singing in their feelings consider the sermons that are preached across this land how many focus on what God will do for me rather than what I must be doing for God or consider the activity within churches today how many focus on social events or meeting felt needs as opposed to being on Christ mission David Wells said in his book God in the wasteland we have turned to a god that we can use rather than to a god we must obey we have turned to a God who will fulfill all our needs rather than to a God before whom we must surrender our rights to ourselves he is a God for us for our satisfaction not because we have learned to think of him this way through Christ but because we have learned to think of him this way through the marketplace and he uses that term marketplace in his book too as a reference to the consumer based mentality of our culture he then adds these words in the marketplace everything is for us for our pleasure for our satisfaction and we have come to assume that it must be so in the church as well and so we transform the God of mercy into a God who is at our mercy he went on to say that church today has an infatuation with the love of God but an embarrassment at His Holiness I think he's right again that's not to say that his love and his holiness are in competition nor is it to say that one is better than the other certainly the Bible celebrates both but if we are not too careful if we put an emphasis on God's love to the neglect of His Holiness if we put an emphasis on God's eminence to the neglect of his transcendence we put ourselves in a dangerous path a path that not only leads to a misunderstanding not only leads to a misrepresentation but in the end a dishonouring of God himself it leads to a casual treatment of God a lack of holy awe familiarity with God a cominis when we think of God it it leads to a lack of gravitas when we approach him particularly in worship I I saw this several years ago I was watching a sermon from a conservative evangelical church the text was on Exodus chapter 3 in the burning bush and in the introduction of the sermon the preacher as he was introducing the message all of a sudden that guitar that was next to him sort of lit up on in flames they weren't real flames it was some sort of special effect and and so as he was speaking he notices this guitar and he he comes over to it and he starts warming hands over it and say god is that you and then there's this voice over the speaker yes it's me and then he begins to carry on with these jokes and familiarities as if he is talking to a buddy in a bar at a football game after a couple minutes of this he ends the conversation by saying well god is that it and then he blows out the flame made me mad couldn't believe it's all a big joke he's laughing people are laughing but you know when I think Moses was standing before the bush I don't think he was laughing and I certainly don't think he blew out the flame was a much different atmosphere when that event took place now I don't envision something like that happening here but if we are not careful we can forget who it is that we sing to when we gather together we can forget who it is that we pray to if we are not careful we can forget just who it is who is speaking to us from his word if we are not careful we can treat God with this casualness this cominis even disrespect and again if we are not careful we too can lack gravitas or the seriousness which is appropriate in approaching a transcendent God and so as we look to the new year I think it is good for us to take a moment this morning to remind ourselves of what it means that God is holy that he is holy and again as Alex mentioned we'll be looking at Psalm 99 to learn that we need to be doing homage to the holy so please turn with me to Psalm 99 and I know that Alex read it earlier but I think it would be good to read it once again to draw us into the text the psalmist writes Yahweh reigns let the people tremble and by the way I'll be reading from the new American Standard not the ESV actually I like the SV well the Lord reigns at the people's tremble he is enthroned above the cherubim let the earth shake let the Lord is great in Zion and he is exalted above all the peoples let them praise your great and awesome name holy is he the strength of the king loves justice you have established equity you have executed justice and righteousness and Jacob exalt Yahweh our God and worship at his footstool holy is he Moses and Aaron were among his priests and Samuel was among those who call on his name they called upon the Lord and he answered them he spoke to them in the pillar of cloud they kept his testimonies in the statute that he gave them o Yahweh our God you answered them you were forgiving God to them and yet an Avenger of their evil deeds exalt Yahweh our God and worship at his holy hill for holy is Yahweh our God o Lord open up our minds and hearts to understand these words and open up my lips that I may speak only what is true and only what rightly represents you so then in the end we would honor you as you so rightly deserve and understand just what it means that you are holy we pray this in your name Amen now as we look at this Psalm I'm sure by now it is apparent there's a repeated phrase holy is he and verse three holy is he in verse five holy is the Lord our God in verse nine this three full declaration not only reveals the theme of the psalm but it also shows to us the psalm structure because each of those lines ends the stands out within the psalm there are three stanzas in this psalm each emphasizing a different aspect of God's holiness in regards to the Psalms setting and purpose the occasion for this all notice in verse two the psalmist mentions Zion that's a reference to the city of Jerusalem or often to the Temple Mount itself within Jerusalem and then in verse five it says worship his footstool and footstool is a common reference to the Ark of the Covenant and then in verse nine it says worship at his holy hill were holy hill in scriptures a reference to the Temple Mount and so we've seen these references together with the commands to exalt God and to praise him that this Psalm the occasion of this Psalm was temple worship that this song was written as a hymn to direct the people of Israel as to how they were to approach a holy God how they were to do homage to the holy and for us brothers and sisters is the same we are to do homage to the holy as we approach him particularly as we gather together and here in this Psalm we're going to look at three aspects of his holiness and the first is given in verses 1 to 3 it is to extol the XTO L extol God for his majestic holiness in verses 4 and 5 it is to exalt God for his moral holiness and then in verses 6 through 9 it is to esteem God for his merciful holiness those are the three aspects of his holiness that are mentioned here now before we dive into the text specifically it is helpful and important for us to remind ourselves what does the Bible mean by this word holy what does holy mean both the Greek and the Hebrew words have this idea of belonging to the sphere of the sacred that is to be completely separate to be completely set apart to be set apart from the common or the ordinary many theologians have identified two distinct ways that God has set apart or holy the first they referred to as his majestic holiness that is his separateness from creation and the second is his moral holiness that is his separateness from sin and that is the one we often think of when we think of this idea of God is holy that he is perfect that he's without sin and that of course is true but that really is only a part of the whole idea of holiness holiness really really is this idea that God is distinct from its creation in every way that he is unique from it that he is he is utterly set apart from it it is the other nough subcommittee far above us and it's God's majestic holiness where the author of Psalm 99 begins and look with me again at the first stands in verses 1 to 3 where the poet extol Tsar calls us to extol God for his majestic holiness verse 1 says the Lord or Yahweh reigns that the peoples tremble he's enthroned above the cherubim let the earth shake the Lord or Yahweh is great in Zion and he has exalted above all the peoples let them praise your great and awesome name holy is he and note here those first few words a simple phrase he begins the song by saying Yahweh reigns it's the same way he began Psalm 93 and Psalm 97 and in those Psalms he then went on to talk about God's glory and and that we should rejoice but here he has a different follow up statement here he says let the peoples or the nation's tremble and then he follows that with this picture where he describes that the Lord is enthroned above the cherubim let the earth shake and that's a picture he's focusing attention I believe on the Ark of the Covenant because it is on the top of the Ark of the Covenant which we find the mercy seat and surrounding that mercy seat one on each side were these two cherubs now when I say cherub don't think of the pudgy little angel that you see in Hallmark cards or or what are those called precious moments not this cute little little creature that you want to squeeze their cheeks or that shoot arrows cherubs and scripture actually fierce do you know who the two angels were who were set in front of the Garden of Eden with flaming swords they were not Precious Moments figures they were the cherubim cherub beam by the way just to her abreu plural for cherub cherub beam Ezekiel chapter one these fierce creatures that were were otherworldly with with animal-like faces and could dart to and fro like lightning those were cherubim as described later in x-z kiyul chapter 10 these were frightening creatures and among the most fearsome creatures that God created and here there's a reference to God being enthroned above them again a picture of the mercy seat where the mercy seat was above God would come and Shekinah glory would be above the mercy seat above the cherubim and in response to this the poet then says let the earth shake and so here in this very first verse is a forceful declaration by the psalmist that Yahweh is in control that everyone shake with fear that all humanity tremble in awe let even the earth quake in terror but why why should those mere words that very statement produce such a response why should the truth that God is sovereign prompt such a reaction well look at the next verse he tells us why because Yahweh is great in Zion verse 2 because he is exalted over all the nations verse 3 holy is he why should we tremble why should it be a fearsome thing that god is the one who rules over all because He is God because he's not like us he exists on a different level he he is far above us in an infinite way in fact notice the emphasis here on the above 'no sub he is above the cherubim he is great in Zion he's exalted above the peoples and that word exalted literally means lifted up all this tells us that God is above and that he's far above and the psalmist again emphasizes this point in verse 2 by using the poetic device known as a key Azzam which is where the second line of the verse is reversed in its word order in comparison to the first a literal translation of verse 2 would be this Yahweh and Zion is great and exalted is he over all the people it's a pointing to the end of the first line in the beginning of the second on his greatness on his exaltation on his above nasaan his far above 'no stand then even the idea that it says in verse 3 that we are to praise his great there's that word again and a word that can be translated as terrifying fearful again there's this this focus and emphasis in just a few words on the supremacy of God on the absolute power of God on the exaltedness of God on the above nosov God the transcendence of God we could say over the entire universe and while that very true should cause all of us to tremble with awe instead humanity seeks to bring God down to make him more relatable to make him more palatable to make him more approachable more like us and what's worse this type of attitude has found its way into modern Christianity books like The Shack which presents God in quotes as more palatable more relatable more approachable more vulnerable more like us the monitor Church in America says yes God is above but only slightly above God is high but just just a little higher god is great but but just a tad greater it's just like David Wells says we've turned God into or we turn to a God that we can use rather than a god we must obey Paul said as much in acts 17 when he was addressing the Athenian idolaters and he told them in acts 17 verse 24 that God who made the world and all things in it since he is Lord of Heaven and Earth does not dwell in temples hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all life breath and all things you see they had a mindset or a concept that that gods had needs but Paul says very clearly God is self-sufficient the far above God has no need of us he's not some slightly more advanced being that requires our service or our attention or our worship he's beyond us he's independent of us he's transcendent over us he is greater far greater than what we can imagine I mean I mentioned this before but it's a it's a it's a fact that just astounds me every time I think about it that the Sun puts out more power in one second than 2-billion nuclear power plants would put out in a year and there are hundreds of billions of those things in the universe and they were brought about by a simple phrase let there be light Bible says that in him all things hold together do you know how many atomic interactions take place just in an area the size of your pinky nail it's beyond what we could count it's beyond what could be calculated and God holds up sustains all of those interactions across the universe have you ever tried to follow more than two conversations at one time now some of you moms I know are really good at this but I'll bet you couldn't handle more than five or six imagine a being who can comprehend interact predict understand and even control every thought word action at all times not just among the humans on the planet earth but among all created beings at all times at all moments in all history god is great he is far above us far far above us we don't think about this enough we don't consider enough the holiness of God that he is set apart he is not like us now before he said wait a minute Bible says we're created in His image well certainly there are some ways that we are like him he is not like us he is far transcendent above us let me think about Exodus 20 remember God people of Israel brought before Mount Sinai God is speaking to them directly do you remember the scene did their violins playing and this sort of sweet aroma just passing through and these gentle breezes and people were just basking it in all this is great love hearing from you Lord you remember what it was going on there the mountain was taking smoke and fire and God's voice is booming out it was so terrifying the people said to Moses Moses we don't want to hear directly from God anymore you go talk to him and you tell us what he says was terrifying Isaiah chapter 6 I say his vision of Yahweh on the throne whole temple was filled with smoke there are these being the Seraphim crying out and it is so loud that the temple foundation is shaking and they're crying out holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory it was a vision so jolting one commentator wrote this as we visualized the scene we feel the raw edge of Terror at being where Humanity dare not go where revelation chapter 4 the Apostle John the scene that he views in heaven of the throne room of God you remember that scene again there's the there's this Lightning flashing from the throne these otherworldly creatures circling about crying out holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 10:31 it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God and then later says in verse 12 29 our God is a consuming fire and this brothers/sisters this is why the psalmist says let all the peoples tremble let the earth shake now some in our culture today might say well wait a minute that's the Old Testament God I mean you're reading from the Psalms right this is a book in the Old Testament that's the god of Wrath and and judgment it's different now what about Jesus what about the manger what about the Christmas story well you see when we really understand the majestic holiness of God that is what makes the Incarnation so profound when we really comprehend the transcendence of God that is what makes the manger scene so astounding but I'm getting ahead of myself we're going to come back to this when it comes to the God of the Bible let us remember there's no change in the nature of God from the old to new testament or from the better yet the first to the second Testament there's no difference in fact the one who Isaiah saw on the throne john 1241 tells us was the son of god or revelation chapter 4 is not speaking of the past and speaking of the future or the author of Hebrews when he spoke of God is a consuming fire wasn't writing to Old Testament Saints he was writing to New Testament believers and going back to Psalm 99 in verse 3 in response to the majestic holiness of God he says let them praise your great and awesome name let us extol his great and awesome name let us speak highly of him and we need to stop here for a moment and ask ourselves do we do that do we extol him do we speak highly of him what kind of God do you portray when you share the gospel do you are you tempted to bring him down a little bit make it more relatable more palatable more understandable more approachable on our level I remember I remember seeing a sermon title one time Jesus is my homeboy really is that what the psalmist depicts here is is being with God like hanging out with my buddies yes Jesus came to earth as a man yes the son of God became like us in order to save us but he's not our homeboy he's the lord of the universe when the Apostle John saw the glorified Christ in Revelation chapter 1 if you remember how he responded was he fell at his feet as a dead man after Jesus call nor aging see in mark chapter four with just but a few words do you remember how the disciples reacted they get up and Jesus you're my pal I just love being with you here on this boat do you remember what they did it says literally mark 441 that they feared a great fear why they knew who was with him in the boat is this the Jesus you speak of yes his first visit was in a manger but his second will be with a sword in addition to extolling him when proclaiming the gospel outside of the church we must also consider how do we extol him together inside of the church when we sing to him what do we sing and how do we sing it when we pray to him how do we approach him yes Jesus Christ gave us access to the throne room but remember it is still a throne room when his word is read or preached how do you respond are you attentive are you like the one that God speaks of in Isaiah 66 verse 2 that the one that he looks to is the one who trembles at his word you know our see sproule said people in awe never complain that church is boring brothers sisters we must extol God for his majestic holiness in Psalm 99 then goes on to tell us in the second stanza to exalt God for his moral holiness take a look at verse 4 with me the strength of the King loves justice you have established equity you have executed justice and righteousness and Jacob exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool holy is he now why the first stanza focused attention on how God is completely apart from us in his being the second stanza focuses attention on how God is completely apart from us in his character look again at verse 4 and this first line is proven difficult to translate the new American Standard has the strength of the king loves justice or as Alex read from earlier in the ESV it says the king and his might loves justice the NIV says the king is mighty he loves justice and while the exact wording is a little difficult that the essential meaning is clear that that the king who here is a reference to Yahweh the king King Yahweh has power and he uses that power to bring about justice the word justice has the idea of a right judgement they just measure a morally correct decision and the key question here is why why would God use his power to bring about justice again this righteous judgment is not something that he merely tolerates not something that he is obligated to do but notice there in verse 4 he loves justice he loves a righteous judgment he appreciates right decisions and actions and to this the psalmist adds in verse 4 you have established equity equity is a synonym its root meaning is to be level to be straight to be smooth in a moral sense it describes a character that is level and straight and smooth that has integrity that is irreproachable that has no aberration and then by way of parallel look at the first line or third line scuse me of verse 4 where he says you have executed justice and righteousness justice here being the same word he used in the first line righteousness again another synonym that means rightness or justness and so taking together these three lines in verse 4 emphasize God's moral holiness not only in how he feels about what is right and just but the very fact that he uses his power to establish what is right and just and the poet further stresses stresses this point by employing yet another key Azzam another time where he reverses one line in comparison to the one before it and here we see it in lines 2 and 3 which literally read you have established uprightness justice and righteousness and Jacob you have executed and he does that to draw attention again to this idea of uprightness of Justice that that God is focused these very things and if that wasn't enough to make the point we were able to read the Hebrew we would find that he also intentionally inserts the pronoun you into verse four two times now why say this is a matter of emphasis is that normally Hebrew verbs like many languages contain the subject within the verb so then to add a pronoun is actually being repetitive you yourself and he says here in this text you yourself have established uprightness you yourself have executed justice Ness and righteousness he's making a Phatak point here that God and God alone is the one who loves justice who has established it who has executed who has defined it he is morally holy and that's why he ends in verse five just like in verse three holy is he holy is he he defines what is right but we by nature violate it don't we he loves what is good but we by nature love what is evil we are corrupt he is not we have all sinned and sinned a lot I might add he has not not even once and so again we're confronted with the fact that that God is very different than us separate from us unique unique in his character in the first stanza God's holiness calls for a response and in the second stanza it calls for a response as well look at the beginning of verse five exalt Yahweh our God and worship at his footstool holy is he now notice we see that word exalt again we saw it in verse two and the word exalted we'll see it again in verse nine and as I said a moment ago it's literal meaning is simply to lift up it literally means to lift up something but when it says to exalt God it's not saying that that we are the ones who lift him up to his position rather it's an expression of our need to honor him recognizing the position he's already in but how do we do that how do we exalt God do we lift him up well indication is given them the very next line in verse five it says worship at his footstool now that word worship is an interesting word it literally means to bow down or to prostrate oneself so if you take these together and you think about it that's a picture in the ancient Near East Kings would as they sit on the throne they would have a footstool there are pictures of this reliefs etc that show this where they'd sit on a throne that have a footstool and when you approach the king you would bow down so that your head came down to the footstool below the Kings feet and that's the picture here we lift up God by lowering ourselves we exalt him by humbling ourselves we do homage to the holy by bowing our hearts before him in humble service and awe after referring to this Psalm David Wells said this again in his book God in a wasteland in the church today we're such aw is conspicuously absent and we're easy familiarity with God has become the accepted norm for providing worship that is comfortable and consumable we would do well to remember that God is not mocked it is true that the New Testament encourages a bold confidence and our access to God through Christ holiness and by his work but in our confidence we must never be careless of the purity of God or the requirements he has established for his people I'm reminded of Isaiah's response in Isaiah chapter 6 do you remember what he did after picturing that scene Christ on his throne how did how did Isaiah respond oh god the son I I I'm so inspired I'm gonna sing a song I must sing a song about my desire to to show my affection to you and how you can help me and after that it I'd like - can we take a selfie so that I can put my this event on Instagram I mean was that the tone how did Isaiah respond he says woe is me I'm undone I'm destroyed I'm I'm ruined it's over for me I'm I'm a dead man because I've seen Yahweh the king of hosts the Lord of hosts and why did he say that what drove him to that utter despair he's standing before God I mean what a privilege and what an honor and yet here he is cowering in fear he said it's over for me why well the very same breath he uttered these words I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among the people of unclean lips same thing happened to Peter on the day that Jesus had them throw the Nets back into the water in the Sea of Galilee remember all night they had been fishing caught nothing they were tired brought the boat back into Shore Jesus preached then he had them take the boat out and he said Peter throw the Nets down throwing on right side of the boat Lord we've been fishing all night but because you tell us to do it we will throw the nets down what happened pull it up so many fish what did Peter do ha let me get my camera selfie moment right we would have done that what did he do Lord depart from me I'm a sinful man why did he say that he knew who was there and he knew he was holy and he knew he didn't deserve even to be in his presence just like Isaiah you see when someone has been given a glimpse of God's moral holiness their first recognition will be their own sinfulness and this will lead them not to exalt themselves but to to lower themselves just like Peter just like Isaiah just like John in Revelation chapter 1 their worship service will not descend into some music concert where the goal and focus is hype and emotion instead the worship service becomes just that a worship service a service with people bowing their hearts humble and grateful praise to a holy God to save sinners that's what a person who has seen and experienced the holiness of God the moral holiness will do and listen not only will the people see God's moryomaru holiness also see their sinfulness that people will also make every effort to run from that sin first Peter 1:15 says like the Holy One who called you be holy yourselves in all your behavior Peter says because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy beloved in your struggle with sin consider this in our struggle with sin we need to consider this I'm convinced that to the degree that we understand and experience God's moral holiness it is to that degree that we will pursue it ourselves the better we understand what it means that God is holy the more motivated we will be to pursue it ourselves if you're his child his seed is in you abides in you that's why John says you will not sin why because you're gonna want to be like your father and listen Satan works hard to distract us because if he cannot keep us from heaven he will do everything he can to keep us from holiness he will bring distractions temptations persecutions enticements hardships all these things to divert our attention from knowing God and especially from knowing God is holy and so ask yourself are you entertaining anything that has become a hindrance to you seeing his holiness and his glory are you pursuing holiness in all your behavior not just most areas but in all how much time do you devote to His Word to reading memorizing meditating praying through it is there anything that is distracting you from lifting up Christ by lowering yourself ask the spirit to give you insight into your own hearts up to this point it's all 90 not shown us to do homage to the holy first by extolling God for his majestic holiness and then by exalting God for his moral holiness and thirdly it's going to show us a steaming God to esteem God for his merciful holiness we find this in the third and final stanza which interestingly enough is half of the poem take a look with me again at verse 6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests and Samuel was among those who call him his name they called upon the Lord and he answered them he spoke to them in the pillar of cloud they kept his testimonies in the statute that he gave them O Lord our God you answered them you are forgiving God to them and yet an Avenger of their evil deeds exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill for holy is the Lord our God now here the song takes an interesting turn he mentions three men Moses Aaron and Samuel and question is why are these three particular individuals brought up what is it that they share in common and how do they fit within the theme and focus of this song well the link between them is what the poet repeats twice in verse 6 do you notice there what is it that he says took place they both what called on him Samuel called on his name they called upon the Lord and by this the psalmist means not simply that they prayed not simply that they called out him but the context and the idea here is they called out in intercession they prayed for others and we see that by a reference to this idea that Moses and Aaron were among the priests that word priest is inserted there intentionally Aaron was the first in the priestly line Moses was not a priest formerly he was a prophet Samuel was not a priest formerly he was a prophet and a judge now why are they referred to as priests what is it that priests were responsible to do what was their function in the Society of Israel they were to be those who went to God on behalf of the people right they were the ones that assist in the sacrifice they were the ones that were to go into the Holy of Holies and offer once a year in the Day of Atonement Yom Kippur they were to offer sacrifice on behalf of the people and that is what the connection is here between these men they are all and we don't have time to go through all the passages but there are several examples where each of them make particular in a set intercession directly to God on behalf of the people in fact it was Sammy who said in 1st Samuel 12:23 far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you and so the length they shares that they were well known intercessors for the people and the question is though ok well how does that fit in the psalm well the focus in the stands is not on the fact that these men interceded the focus is on the fact that God responded notice twice it says verse 6 I believe in verse 7 for sorry verse 7 verse 6 and verse 8 it says you God answered them first line of verse 7 he spoke to them first line of verse 8 you answered him and then comes the kicker in the next line in verse 8 you were a forgiving God to them and here's where we come to an astounding revelation for if if it was not enough to be confronted with the majestic holiness of God it's that if that was not overwhelming enough and if it was not amazing enough that we were also confronted with the moral holiness of God here we find that this perfect exalted distinct independent supreme self sufficient far superior the God is so far above the heavens so far above the earth so far above creation so different from all things created this all-powerful God who reigns over us this morally perfect God who judges sin and notice the reference in verse 8 that he's an Avenger of their evil deeds this majestically and morally God is also morally holy God is also holy this God knew again he can't stand stints in perverse talks about that sin is an abomination him I mean it makes him want to puke makes him want to throw up he's so repulsed by wickedness he's so pure evil cannot even be in his presence this is the same God who listens to those who intercede for his people he answered them he answered them and that's why in verse 8 notice the psalmist II he directly addresses God it's as if he can't believe what he's riding o Yahweh our God you answered them this Fionna I can imagine that you would respond that you would go beyond that and even forgive Psalm 113 verse 5 says who is like the Lord our God who is enthroned on high but who humbles himself to behold the things in heaven and on the earth and it's at this point one could say the New Testament adds a fourth stanza it's found in Philippians 2 you know these words beginning in verse 5 have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men he what humbled himself he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross brothers and sisters this this is where the farness and nearness of God meet this is how a transcendent God is also an imminent God this is how a morally holy God can forgive sinners this is how a majestically holy God can dwell with his creation for again you see if we don't rightly understand or appreciate his imminence we don't rightly understand or appreciate it until we understand and appreciate his transcendence do you realize his imminence does not lower him it doesn't lower him to our level it doesn't reduce him to being our buddy or homeboy or pal instead of lowering him his merciful holiness actually does the opposite it exalts him that's why Paul goes on to say in verse 9 of Philippians 2 for this reason God highly exalted him and bestowed on in the name which is above every name so that the name of Jesus every knee will bow at his footstool and every tongue will confess extol exalt at what brothers/sisters Jesus Christ what brothers and sisters Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father that is the fulfillment of Psalm 99 all the nations will tremble all the peoples will bow down and that's what we're called to do in the last verse of the psalm again he repeats exalt Yahweh our God and worship here he says at his holy hill and then he ends with this holy and notice he changes it a little bit he doesn't say holy as he as he did in verse 3 and verse 5 he says holy is Yahweh our God you see speaking thereof relationship you always his personal name our God is a personal reference and that relationship only comes one way it comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ it comes by faith in the transcendent one who became the imminent one and if you would experience the nearness of God you must cry out to him for mercy and forgiveness it says in this Psalm that he will hear that he does forgive but it also says he's an Avenger of evil deeds if you do not seek his mercy if you do not see is forgiveness than judgment awaits the Bible says that the Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth so honestly and genuinely cry out for mercy and genuinely and honestly confess that you are a sinner in need of a savior we all are put your trust in him commit your life to Him the Bible says to repent and believe that means to desire to turn from your sin and put your trust in Christ that that means to surrender yourself and commit yourself to him be willing to follow him the rest of your days it means to understand that salvation only comes through the work of Jesus Christ and faith in that work alone it comes no other way through no other person and no other effort you're not a Christian then come now and bow before this holy God lower yourself and He will lift you up he will give you eternal life Bible says very clearly if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart god raised him from the dead you will be saved and some of you have heard those words many times but perhaps have never truly responded to them don't put it off God is not a being to be trifled with he is one of her gifts he is one who is near but don't forget he is one who is perfectly holy and he will respond to your sin he has responded by sending his son but if you don't put your faith on him then he'll respond directly to you so please please put your faith in him today and then brother and sisters we have a message to share don't we it's the same one we have a God is far above us infinite creator of all the universe who sustains each and every one of us and every breath every heartbeat that we take that same God we have sinned against and that same God will come in judgment unless we put our trust in him we cry out for mercy and forgiveness it's a great message that we have it's one that we celebrated this Christmas season at least many did but many did not so brothers and sisters as we come to a close again think about what what God is like this so utterly unique so utterly perfect so utterly distinct so utterly powerful supreme supreme not just in his above Ness not just in his more perfections but also in his love and mercy does this God not deserve our utmost affection and reverence and loyalty and worship doesn't he so as we enter 2019 let's remember who it is we serve let's remember as we gather together each Sunday who it is we worship and let's remember as we go about our daily lives who it is we represent and so what I'd like to do now is for you just to take a minute and reflect on the psalm reflect on the things that we've talked about these wondrous truths ask the Holy Spirit to help you see in your life how you can do homage to the holy how you can extol him for his majestic holiness how you can exalt him for his moral holiness and how you can esteem him for his merciful holiness so just take a moment now in silence then I will close us in prayer and then we'll sing one more song together Oh Lord forgive us for those times we have not treated you in the manner that we should that we've not reminded ourselves of your greatness your glory your majesty and your your perfections your sinlessness I'll forgive us at the times that we have treated you casually taking you for granted forgiving that forgive us Lord for times we've perhaps said or sung things that weren't accurate that didn't rightly depict you or rightly honor you where we thank you thank you that though you weren't thrown down high yet you stoop you humble yourself to even consider us and more than that to hear us and more than that to forgive us and more than that to die to send your son to die for us and we are grateful I ask Lord that you might open our eyes and then understand our own hearts Lord and show us areas in our lives that Lord require attention that require us to reflect on your holiness and how that should affect that particular area of our life I pray for any here Lord who do not know you or that they would bow their hearts before you and faith trust in your son and Lord for those of us Lord that you have granted eternal life that we would honor Christ and how we live that life and we pray in his name amen well scripture quotations taken from the new American Standard Bible copyright by the Lockman foundation [Music]

Channel: Calvary Bible Church

Views: 204

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Sermons, Christian sermons, Bible, Bible sermons, Free sermon, Sermons on the bible, Preaching sermon, Exposition, Bible study, Calvary Bible Church, Burbank church, Burbank Christian church, Calvary Bible Church sermon, Calvary sermons

Id: dt2T_vMAT0A

Length: 55min 33sec (3333 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 30 2018