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You Are My Son

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THE TEXT

“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me,‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel'” (Ps. 2:7–9).

THE SONSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST

Psalm 2:7-9 is probably one of the busiest intersections in all of Scripture. It is quoted or alluded to many times throughout the New Testament. Here David reveals to us the great irony that one of his own descendants will be actually be the eternal Son of God. This sonship is an eternal sonship, not something that came into being at a certain moment in time. Therefore, the sonship of the Son of God is unlike anything that we have ever known or experienced. The Son is the eternal Son of the Father, whose being is a revelation of God’s eternal self-giving love.

THE DECLARATION OF THE SONSHIP

God the Father announced that Jesus was this eternal Son at both his baptism and his transfiguration. And in both instances the proclamation that Jesus was God’s Son was accompanied by the declaration of the Father’s love for his Son.

And then again, we see the revelation that Jesus is the eternal Son of God at his resurrection, when he became the firstborn from the dead, and at his ascension to heaven, where he is seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus’ life corresponded to the Father’s announcement, showing that he was the eternal Son.

TODAY

So when is the “today” of Psalm 2? The answer is yes. There isn’t one moment when the Son was begotten, because the Son was eternally begotten. What we have are multiple moments throughout history when the eternal sonship was revealed in the life of Jesus Christ.

GIFTS

And one of the things that Psalm 2 reveals is that being God’s Son means that you have a Father who intends to give you certain gifts, like victory over all your enemies (including death itself) and an eternal inheritance.

YOUR SONSHIP

But here is the amazing part, in Rev. 2:26-27 we see because Jesus is the Son of God who became a man and joined himself to us, we can be placed inside of Jesus by faith. And when we are untied to Jesus through faith, we receive sonship as well. This means that the declaration of the coming of God’s eternal Son is the declaration to you that you are now children of God. What Jesus has you have.

And so you have victory over all your enemies (including death itself) and an eternal inheritance. And this is why the declaration that a Son is born in Bethlehem is good news for you. It means that you are a child of God, waking up on Christmas morning with a pile of gifts from your Father that you didn’t deserve. But they are yours because you are his. And you live inside his eternal love.

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Great David’s Greater Son

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INTRODUCTION

The season of Advent is often painted in the dark hues of solemnity. Advent is a season of waiting, hoping, longing. But this longing, as our fellow saints of the Old Testament demonstrate, need not have too much starch in the collar. The expectation of Israel was jovial, and thus gilded with glistening gold and silver, clothed in royal red and priestly white, vigorously dancing.

THE TEXT

“LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob…” (Ps. 132:1–18).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This not a Psalm of David; rather it is a Psalm about David. As one of the Psalms of Ascent, it would have been sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for their holy feasts. The first stanza of the Psalm is a petition for the Lord to remember David and all his afflictions, but more specifically his restless desire to build a house for the Lord and the ark (vv.1-5).

The second stanza is a meditation on the worshippers and the sanctuary being made ready for joyful worship at the Lord’s footstool (vv6-9). We then come to the hub around which this Psalm turns. The worshippers petition God––for David’s sake––to not turn away the face of the anointed (the Messiah/Christ). The Lord’s response is that He will by no means turn away from what He swore to David: “Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.” David’s children, in light of this promise, are called to keep that covenant, and evermore shall David have an heir  (vv10-12, Cf. 2 Sam. 7:12, 2 Chr. 6:10).

The reason for this arrangement is that God has chosen Zion as His resting place (in answer to their request of vs 8). Because God rests in their midst, blessings abound: bread for the poor, garments for the priests, boisterous songs from the lips of the saints, a fruitful King––from David’s line––Whose lamp won’t be extinguished, Whose enemies will be brought to shame, and Whose crown will never tarnish (vv13-18).

GABRIEL’S WORD TO MARY

When the angel Gabriel is sent to Mary that she would bear the Messiah, it is framed in terms of God’s promise to David  which we find in poetical form in this Psalm. Gabriel comes to a virgin, espoused to a man named Joseph who was of the house of David (Lk. 1:27). The angel informs Mary that she had found favor with God (Lk. 1:30), she would conceive and bring forth a son who would be named Jesus (Lk. 1:31); this son would be great, and what the Lord swore to David in Psalm 132 would be fulfilled in Mary’s son (Lk. 1:32). Her son would eternally reign over the house of Jacob, and would rule over a never-ending kingdom (Lk. 1:33).

In short, the tidings which Gabriel brought were royal tidings. To put it another way, the prayers of godly saints––epitomized by the poetic words of Psalm 132––for God to restore Israel by fulfilling His oath to raise up from David’s line a king to David’s throne were being answered by the Son of God becoming a Son of David.

CHRIST CAME TO BE KING

Israel is not right except a Son of David is sitting on the throne. As Trufflehunter the Badger would tell you, any other arrangement is how you get a hundred years of Narnian winter, presided over by White Witches.

King David was a remarkable king particularly for his zeal for the worship of God. He longed to restore the Ark of Covenant to Zion. He danced like a fool when it finally was brought to its resting place. His life’s goal, which he vowed to perform, was to build a house for the Lord, a house in which true worship of the Living God might be done.

David swore to build a house for the Lord, and then the Lord swore to put a son of David on the throne. So when the Advent of the promised Christ is given, we should not be at all taken aback when the language is that of a King. Christ came to be a King over Israel, and the scope of Israel’s borders were now global. As that wonderful line from the carol puts it, he was “born a child and yet a King.” The story of the Old Testament was God calling the patriarchs, then Moses, then David to build a house for God. The Patriarchs were a house of people. Moses erected a tent to be a dwelling place for God’s presence amidst His people. David made preparation for God’s temple to be a house of praise, and his son Solomon executed that task of building a glorious temple for the God who filled heaven and earth.

With the coming of Christ, the Son and rightful heir had come to inherit the household. So the coming of the Christ child is not quaint. It is not a squishy message of how sweet and innocent babies are. It is not a cutesy story of human brotherhood. It is a flag planted on this world, claiming it all for the rightful King. The true king has returned, and winter meets its death.

FROM AFFLICTION TO CORONATION

So note the progression of this Psalm. David in affliction to great David’s greater Son’s coronation. A coronation which spills over, like a plate of Christmas cookies, with blessings. A kingdom, ruled by an eternal King. A horn which buds. A King Whose enemies are defeated.

This is why Advent is not a moment for dour pseudo-piety. These weeks leading up to Christmas morning are days of longing. Longing for a King. Yearning for the worship of Jehovah to fill the earth. Making a ruckus so that the whole world, which rightly belongs to Christ, might hear and heed and come into the household of God.

Our awaiting the Lord’s coming is marked by hope. And true, evangelical hope is certitude. It isn’t a nickel in the fountain, not a make-a-wish, not a wing and prayer. Our longing for deliverance is to be marked by joyful worship.The reason we rejoice is that God has sworn to David, and in Christ that promise of God’s kingdom come to earth commenced its fulfillment. Now, after living and dying and rising, Christ is seated on the Father’s right hand; and, as Gabriel promised Mary: of His kingdom there shall be no end. The King has come to set things right. After all, He wears both priestly garments and royal robes. Your sins are forgiven, your enemies defeated.

But Christ too, like a true son of David, came first in affliction and humility. Like David, who was zealous for true worship of Jehovah, Christ was zealous for the house of God and by Him we now offer acceptable worship to the Living God. But Christ’s earthly humiliation, which began at Bethlehem, is now exaltation. The horn of David blossoms in the house of God (Cf. Lk. 1:68-69).

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The Sure Incarnation

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INTRODUCTION

This Psalm has three layers to it. The first is the one on the surface. David recounts a deliverance from one of his many trials, and his response of praise. The second layer is that David’s sufferings reflect the common plight of Israel as whole. Her history of exiles and returns, persecutions and deliverances, separation from and the reunion with Jehovah lie just beneath the surface of David’s story. But as we go deeper we see that David’s story, which is Israel’s story, is really the Messiah’s  story.

THE TEXT

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD… (Psalm 40).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the midst of his distress, David waited for the Lord, crying out to Him; God heard his plea and brought him out of the pit (vv1-2). This deliverance springs forth into songs of thanksgiving, and fortifies his faith in God, rather than trust in man (vv3-4). This song of praise rehearses God’s marvelous works, which are innumerable (v5); and this gratitude for past mercies is the bedrock for present faith, which understands the true nature of sacrifice and offerings: obedience. The call to obedient service is pictured by the bond-servant’s ear being pierced (v6, Cf. Ex. 21:6).
Now, though he is king of Israel, David comes to the command of the Lord as a bond-servant would obey the master’s will with joyful delight (v7; Cf. Deut. 17:18-19). As king, he is steward of God’s law, and will preach righteousness in the congregation, without skipping a part (vv9-10).
Having presented himself in grateful service to the Lord, and obeyed the Lord’s command, he asks of the Lord a two-fold request: withhold not tender-mercy and let God’s lovingkindness and truth continually preserve him (v11). The reason for this request is “innumerable evils” (echoing God’s innumerable marvelous works in verse 5) surround him, and his iniquities abound to the point of despair (v12). Thus, he makes a plea for deliverance from all evils inward and outward (v13).
The prayer goes on to request the undoing of his enemies; that shame and desolation would come upon them (v14-15). While those who seek God as their salvation shall be vindicated, and thus their love breaks forth in song: “The Lord be magnified (v16).” The concluding verse highlights David’s humility, and his boasting in the truth that God thinks about him; the end of the psalm echos its beginning: waiting patiently for the Lord (v1) while petitioning God to not tarry (v17).

OBEDIENCE IS TRUE SACRIFICE

This psalm draws a contrast between David’s response to God’s law with Saul’s famous very pious disobedience. In 1 Samuel 15:22-23, we’re told of how Saul’s kingdom came to be doomed; this is how it came to be that David was anointed as king of Israel (1 Sam. 16:13).
The nub is that obedience to God’s Word was more important than vainglorious exhibitions of spirituality. Saul made sacrifices to seem very spiritual; but he disobeyed the primary task he’d been assigned. The Psalm reiterates this, that sacrifices aren’t what please the Lord in the first instance. Obedience, from the heart, is His delight. So as king, David knows that deliverance is of the Lord for those who delight in His law and obey it by glad trust in God’s will.

MESSIAH IN OUR MIDST

In Hebrews 10, we find a large portion of this Psalm (vv6-8), cited. We don’t typically think of Hebrews as being a book for Christmas messages, but the underlying doctrine of Christmas is God sending the Messiah in the flesh. This is the point made in Hebrews. Christ coming in a human body was a set aside the sacrificial system, because His body was offered that we might be sanctified once for all (Heb. 10:10).
David anticipates that when Messiah came, He would do so in a human body. At first blush, however, Psalm 40 and its citation in Hebrews 10 seem at odds with each other. The hebrew refers to having His ear pierced (or dug open) as a bond-servant (Ps. 40:6); but Hebrews (10:5) cites the LXX, which renders it, “a body hast thou prepared for me.” What are we to make of this? As with most of these seeming contradictions, we don’t need to make them enemies, because they are friends. As a servant, Christ obeyed by taking to Himself a body. Further, He came when told, obeyed by becoming the fulfillment of the entire sacrificial system.

NOT A DISEMBODIED INCARNATION

The doctrine of the incarnation is not an insignificant one. Man, left to his own imagination, tries to grab hold of all the stuff, or tries to escape stuff. At Christmastime, we celebrate the Incarnate Lord. God made flesh. The Logos manifest unto us. Heaven come to earth.
Earth is to be redeemed. Creation is to be saved, not discarded. Our bodies are planted like seeds, only to spring forth at the resurrection into everlasting glory. The pagans sought to escape from the material world through their vain imaginations. Still others sought to hold onto the world.
One is too thick. The other too thin. What we teach is that Christ came, in the flesh, to redeem creation, and thus ultimately to resurrect the whole thing into greater glory.
The practical application of this is do not shy away from all the gifts…and fudge…and wrapping every imaginable food in bacon…and more fudge. Recognize that all these gifts and blessings are shadows of the blessings which they will become in the resurrection.

FEET ON A ROCK

Christ, our Messiah, came to set your feet on a rock. He came, as the bond-servant king so that you might no longer be facedown in the mud of your sin, but stand erect and bold, fearless before the face of man and face to face––without any shame––with God Himself.

This cannot happen without God coming in the flesh, proclaiming in the midst of the congregation the righteousness of God. He came into our midst, as was foretold. And this is the ground of our salvation. This is the only place to find firm footing for faith. The Son of God became a son of man so that He could die in place of sinful man, and that you might also be risen with Him to a glorified earth. An earth which will be “more real” than this one. So celebrate with the stuff––here in the shadowlands––knowing that in Christ it shall all be made more itself at the resurrection.

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Psalm 123: Obedience and Vindication

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INTRODUCTION

This psalm contains a marked contrast between the eyes of faith, which look to the Lord, the God of heaven, and the blind eyes of insolent unbelief, which see nothing as they ought to. Unbelief and pride are the chains that anchor the soul to this earth, such that the entire globe becomes the great ball in their ball and chain. From this benighted position, they heap abuse on the faithful, who feel it acutely.

The Text

“A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud” (Psalm 123).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the previous psalm, David lifted up his eyes to the hills, with this serving as a metaphor for lifting his eyes to God. Here the psalmist lifts his eyes again, but does so directly to the one who dwells in the heavens (v. 1). Just like servants looked closely to the hands of their masters or mistresses, for any slight indication that they might want something, so our eyes are fixed on the Lord our God (v. 2). Now this looking is two-fold. The servants do it so that they might be prepared to obey at an instant’s notice. But the desire here expressed also is so that the Lord might have “mercy upon us” (v. 2). In the next verse, the need for mercy comes pouring out. Why do we need God to show mercy? Because we are “exceedingly filled with contempt” (v. 3). We are despised. Our souls are filled to overflowing with scorn from those who are fat and sassy, from those who are haughty and proud (v. 4). God, please vindicate your servants now.

DIRECTED BY A MERE FINGER

The picture comes from male and female servants both. In the ancient near East, it was customary to have servants on constant stand-by, and to have them available to respond instantly to whatever the master or mistress desired, with that desire expressed with something as slight as the merest movement of a finger.

There is obviously eagerness to obey that is being expressed here. An additional possibility is that the servant is in disfavor for having done something wrong, and the servant is looking for the slightest indication that he is forgiven. This fits with the petition that follows—“have mercy on us.” But in any case, the desire to obey and the desire to experience God’s vindication in the face of our adversaries’ contempt are two desires that are woven closely together. It is not possible to earnestly yearn for God to deal with their disobedience toward us while continuing to be indulgent toward our disobedience toward Him. It doesn’t work that way.

EXCEEDINGLY FILLED

The ungodly, who have no eyes, look on us with contempt. We, who have eyes, look to the God who dwells in heaven. Our eyes look to the heavens (v. 1). A servant’s eyes look to his master’s hand (v. 2). A maiden’s eyes do the same (v. 2). Our eyes wait on the Lord our God, desperate for mercy. Our eyes see, but they do not yet see deliverance. We can see what is actually going on, and one of the things that appears to not be going on is a divine intervention on behalf of those who see what is going on.

And one of the things we can see is that the people who can see nothing nevertheless look down on us with disdain, contempt, arrogance, and an invincible ignorance. But they are at ease. They are content with their cosmic stupidity, and in their better moments they sometimes feel sorry for us.

CHRIST OUR ONLY WISDOM

The Lord Jesus was entirely obedient throughout the course of His entire life. When He was tempted in the wilderness, the new Israel suffering for forty days there, He stood firm, unlike the older Israel (Matt. 4). He learned obedience through the things that He suffered (Heb. 5:8). Throughout the course of His ministry, He did nothing but what He saw His Father doing. “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19). So the Son had His gaze fixed on His Father’s fingers. He was, always and everywhere, poised for obedience.

And He also looked to God for mercy—for just this sort of mercy. He, whose name is Wonderful, was born into a race of moral idiots. He was the Wisdom that spoke the galaxies into existence, and He was harangued by Pharisees, who called him a glutton and a drunkard, and demon-possessed, and these were men whose ethical obtuseness was oceanic. He walked the earth as a model of heavenly perfection, and in response they spit in His face (Matt. 26:67), pulled out his beard (Is. 50:6), jammed a crown of thorns on His head (Jn. 19:5), and yelled taunts at Him, on the level of neener neener, while He was on the cross (Matt. 27:42). Jesus modeled this perfectly for us—He, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross and despised the shame (Heb. 12:2).

We find it tedious when we have to put up with someone whose IQ is five points lower than ours, or if we are driving behind someone who is driving five mph slower than he ought to be. How long, O Lord? is our lament. We believe that we are monuments of towering charity whenever we cut anyone two degrees of slack.

And so what we need is this. As believers, we are exceedingly filled with contempt. We need to pray the way this psalm prays, and we must do it without becoming the kind of people the psalmist is praying about.

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Psalm 122: Christ our Jerusalem

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INTRODUCTION

This psalm is not exactly a pilgrimage psalm, but is more like a psalm that anticipates great rejoicing upon arriving at the destination of the pilgrimage. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates . . .” (v. 2). Whether or not the pilgrimage has already occurred, the focus of the psalm is on arrival.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand Within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded As a city that is compact together: Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, Unto the testimony of Israel, To give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, The thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, And prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good” (Psalm 122:1-9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

David’s heart rejoices at the prospect of true worship. When someone invited him to go up to the house of the Lord, he was glad (v. 1). The pilgrimage is to Jerusalem, and he anticipates the moment when their feet are within the gates (v. 2). That is the moment when the pilgrim band would assemble themselves together to make their ascent up to the Temple. But remember that David is here speaking with the eye of faith. David was the one who had just recently captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5:6-7), and the Temple would not be built until the time of Solomon, David’s great son. And yet, David can speak of Jerusalem as already built, and as compact together (v. 3). There are the distinctions of the various tribes (v. 4), and yet the testimony offered is that of all Israel (v. 4). The two things mentioned that they offer up to God are testimony and thanks (v. 4). They can rejoice because true judgment is found in the thrones of the house of David (v. 5). The reference to thrones in the plural might be a plural of majesty or dignity, or it is also possible that members of the royal family (2 Chron. 19:8). In the phrase “the house of David” is teaching his people to remember him. So then, pray for the peace of Jerusalem—because those who love Jerusalem will be prospered (v. 6). Peace and prosperity are mentioned together, within Jerusalem’s walls and palaces (v. 7). For the sake of those on pilgrimage with him, David will pronounce the benediction of peace (v. 8). He seeks the good of Jerusalem because the house of the Lord is there (v. 9).

TESTIMONY AND THANKSGIVING

Martin Luther pointed out that when these pilgrims arrived at their destination, their intention was to offer up their prayers and their thanksgivings. They would give a testimony to the goodness of God, and they would render their thanksgiving to Him. Sacrifices are not mentioned here. It is not that there is anything wrong with sacrifices, but that is not the emphasis here.

PROSPERITY AND PEACE

The key note is always the truth. This is what Israel testifies to. We give thanks to God for the certainty of His judgments, and this is the express reason given (v. 5). We render thanks because of the presence of the thrones of judgment. Then, right after this, the pairing of peace and prosperity comes in for mention twice (vv. 6, 7). Peace and prosperity are therefore not ends to be pursued, but are rather are the result of caring about something else much more than peace and prosperity. Pursuing peace for its own sake breeds wars, and pursuing prosperity for its own sake breeds mammon-grubbing idolatry, and then poverty.

THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL

The people of God are one great ocean, and our individual communions, or denominations, or churches, or . . . tribesare simply distinct waves on the surface of that great ocean. All who trust in Christ alone for their salvation are our brothers and sisters, and the unity beneath all of us is immense. Different Christian churches are not isolated from one another, as though we could be collected in different buckets. You can easily distinguish one wave from another one, just as you can tell one bucket from another. But the unity shared by the former is what we are dealing with.

All the different tribes give a united testimony, and it is the testimony of all Israel (v. 4).

The presence of tribes does not mean the absence of unity. That only happens if you define unity as “no tribes.” If you have had much interaction with Roman Catholic apologists, they will often point out the fact that Protestantism is inherently fractious, and has something like 25K denominations. That misleading figure likely comes from a book called World Christian Encyclopedia, but if you drill down to identify actual tribes, you will find that the Orthodox have 19 traditions, the Roman Catholics have 16, and the Protestants have 21. If we tossed in the Anglicans, we have another 6. And among Protestants, we have a lot more inter-tribal unity than they do elsewhere.

CHRIST OUR JERUSALEM

When we are invited to come to the house of the Lord, our response should be one of gladness. When we are invited to come to the house of the Lord, we have been invited to come to Christ. When we come to Christ, He brings us to the Father, and He brings us to the Father in the power of the Spirit. Not only so, but He brings us to Himself together with all the rest of His people.

The metaphors of Scripture do not displace one another, like they were billiard balls. Rather, they can be layered, one on top of the other. Christ is the road to Jerusalem. Christ is the house of the Lord we come to in Jerusalem. Christ is married to His bride, the new Jerusalem. Christ is always all, and in all, and through all.

If we have Him, then we have a true testimony, and we can give thanks. If we have Him, then we are given the gift of true peace and true prosperity.  And only there.

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