Psalm 48 Sermon Notes

Psalm 48

A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah.

Sermon Notes

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Beautiful For Situation

September 10, 2017

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

         These Psalms keep accumulating glory. They redound to the glory of God. In this Psalm, the Psalmist praises the holy city, Zion, as the site where God is worshipped and revealed.

         He paints a picture of the glory of the city so that we see the glory of God in the midst of her. He intimates that the city and the temple and city of the great king would last forever and thus the glory of God in her would last forever.

EXEGESIS

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

Our God is great in all the earth. In ancient times, God promised Israel a homeland. He would grant them an inheritance of His choosing. This was the land that God promised to Abraham. And God reiterated those promises to Isaac and to Jacob.

God is Our Refuge

When you look around at these outer walls of stone, this beautiful and safe sanctuary, these pews of worship, these fellow soldier saints, this stronghold keep, we should remember that these are all just memorials of the Lord.

They represent His beauty, His majesty, His strength and might. For God is our refuge and strength, our everpresent help in time of need. He breaks the bow and chariot. He rides forth in glorious victory. And all of you, who are in Him, ride with Him to victory. If God is for you, who can be against you? For nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ.

Bible Reading Challenge

Join these ladies and our church in taking the Bible Reading Challenge. https://www.christkirk.com/biblechallenge/

Read the entire Bible from Sept. 11, 2017-May 31, 2018. 

It will greatly benefit you, your family, and your church. 

It will honor the Lord.

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Psalm 47

Clap Your Hands

9/3/2017

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

         We continue our march through the Psalms in the 40s. God has revealed Himself as the true and Sovereign King. As we look at these Psalms in light of God’s revealed will in Jesus Christ, we see how these Psalms apply specifically to Jesus.

         Jesus is that greater David, the One who gained victory over His enemies. David did so in Israel, defeating His enemies beneath His feet, through the power of the sword. Thus, David would never build the Temple. For the Temple is not built with the power of the sword but with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

         Thus, it behooved God to bring Jesus, who with a Word, cast out demons and subdued the Earth. The Church now is that inheritance of the Earth, through which God subdues the Earth, through the homely means of fallible preaching. 

The Excellency of Jacob

Everyone loves an inheritance. For the most part, an inheritance is a blessing, a reward, that you neither worked for nor deserved. It is given for the mere pleasure of the giver. The testator leaves inheritances as he sees fit. 

          "I bequeath the upper 40 acres to my beloved son, John. May the ground return 30, 60 and 100 fold.  And I leave the ¼ acre black swamp to my money grubbing cousin Henrich. May he swim there often!"

The Bible says that God has chosen our inheritance. We might be nervous at the reading of the will. Are we the beloved John or the despised Henrich? But our Father in Heaven is gracious beyond compare. He neither treats us as we deserve nor fails to amaze us in His abundant blessings.

Our inheritance is the life among the saints and the saints themselves. You have a new family in Christ. Look around at the Excellency of Jacob. We have inherited fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, all the children of our God who is in Heaven. Jesus has become our elder brother and in Him, we have become heirs of all things.

Accepted by God

Many of us grew up in a tradition that put a high value on accepting Christ. By this, we meant receiving Jesus into our hearts as Savior. And while it is good to submit to the Savior, Jesus, the really, really good thing is what Jesus does for us. He accepts us.

         The Bible says that God makes us accepted in the beloved. Did you hear that? God accepts you. This is much more important than us accepting God. God is doing just fine without us. But the fact that He accepts us because of the perfect work of His Son, Jesus Christ, is a reason to jump and shout and praise our God with a song of triumph. We are accepted as His beloved children. Only a God who has your best interests in hearth would take folks like us and make us acceptable. But thanks be to God that He has done so.