Sunday, June 5, 2011 pm
STUDIES IN PSALMS
In Judah God Is Known
Psalm 76
a.
God is known in Judah and Israel –
i.
Clearly the psalmist
speaks of Jehovah God.
Though the word used here is from the Hebrew, Elohiym.
ii.
God ought to be known!
The heavens declare glory –
Psalm 19:1, Psalm 8:3 – consider the work of His fingers and be humble.
Romans 1:20 – speaks of His invisible attributes being seen in the
creation
iii.
If anyone ought to know
Him it ought to be His people. Hosea
5:4 was an indictment against Israel and Judah.
Written just a few years before the events we have attributed to
this psalm He notes of the priest and where they had led the people,
“They do not direct their deeds, Toward turning to their God, For the
spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the Lord.”
How well do we know God? One of
the great descriptions of our relationship with God and Jesus is that we
know Him. The idea being
more than mere acquaintance, but that we actually have a relationship
with Him. There is a very
real sense in which we can call Him our friend (with proper reverence).
Phil. 3:9 speaks of Paul knowing Him (Jesus).
1 John 2:3-4 associates knowing Him with keeping His
commandments.
iv.
Today, we the church,
are His people. IT is a
spiritual relationship – Heb. 12:22-24 – we are described as “the
general assembly and the church of the firstborn who are registered in
heaven…” A study of Hebrews
yields that this is contrasted with Israel of Mt. Sinai.
v.
Matt. 5:16 – It is up to
use to introduce God to others.
b.
It is the place of His
tabernacle – His dwelling place.
i.
The use of the word here
does not mean that the tabernacle Moses erected was still the place.
It is simply a description of where God dwells and shelters His
people. The actual word
indicates a cover or a place where one is hidden and thus protected from
discovery by the enemy.
ii.
Notice also the mention
of Zion – a reference to Jerusalem, but most often with spiritual
implications.
iii.
Concerning the
tabernacle – there is something to be said of the better tabernacle.
Today it includes the church.
Hebrews 9 gives a comparison between the tabernacle of Israel
erected in the wilderness and the spiritual tabernacle which is a part
of the New Law put into effect with the better sacrifice of Jesus and
with better promises. We
know that God had something better in mind when He gave instructions for
the tabernacle. Those better
things included the church.
In fact, that tabernacle was looking toward the church.
c.
He defeated their
enemies.
i.
While certainly our text is best
sustained by the battle mentioned above, throughout Judah’s history God
delivered His people.
Jerusalem was spared on more than one occasion.
ii.
An interesting
observation is this: in 2 Kings 19 where we read of Jerusalem’s siege by
Assyria and Sennacherib, we find in vs. 14-16 that Hezekiah takes the
blasphemous letter of the enemy to the house of God and there spreads it
and then prays, “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwell between the
cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the
earth…Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and
see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which He has sent to reproach
the living God.” NOTE: How
deliverance of Jerusalem actually begins at the house of God with
prayers. Certainly something
for us to ponder.
iii.
The comfort for us is
our confidence that with God on our side, we can overcome our enemies.
Romans 8:31, 37, 2 Cor. 10:4-5,
etc.
a.
Vs. 4-6 are descriptive
of the actual battle.
i.
Vs. 4 makes reference to
mountains of prey – this would describe strong nations (such as Assyria)
that preyed on weaker nations and people.
Often mountains were associated with such (either men or
nations).
ii.
Vs. 5 speaks of the
stouthearted being plundered and having sunk into sleep.
Soldiers could not use their hands (to fight) – all of this fits
the battle we have been discussing.
Who can fight the angel of death? NONE!
In their sleep, 185,000 soldiers died.
iii.
Vs. 6 notes that it was
at God’s rebuke that both chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep
– useless to engage in battle.
If God on this occasion destroyed some of their “weaponry” it
would be devastating to the Assyrian forces.
WE know He could (cf. 2 Sam. 10:18, Ex. 14:27-28, etc.)
iv.
This is God’s doing!
With Israel and Judah, at His will, He could deliver them – often
supernaturally.
Vs. 4, “You are more glorious and excellent.”
The NASU uses the word,
“resplendent” which means to have a brilliant shine or appearance.
It is akin to glorious in the KJV, NKJV.
Vs. 6, “At your rebuke, O God…”
What God speaks takes place
b.
Vs. 7- God is to be
feared –
i.
We often appeal to the
goodness, compassion, grace and mercy of God – and we should!
Such are the predominant side of His person (i.e. our ONLY hope).
ii.
But let us NEVER forget
to properly reverence Him and to be aware of His expectations of us.
He WILL punish the ungodly.
He demands that we render due regard to Him.
He is described as a jealous God.
He is a JUST God, meaning He MUST judge all man by the same
standard – either you obey or you don’t.
Justice demands punishment.
Romans 11:22 speaks of the goodness and severity of God.
Matt. 10:28- fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul
Heb. 12:28-29 – with reverence and godly fear, He is a consuming fire
2 Cor. 5:11 speaks of the terror of the Lord.
iii.
Who may stand in your
presence when once You are angry?
NONE!
Heb. 10:31 says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.
Habakkuk 2:20 says, “The Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
This “silence” is more than quieting the voice.
It is a reverent acknowledgement of Him.
c.
Vs. 8-9 – He caused
judgment to come from heaven – again, appealing to the battle we have
referenced, is there any doubt that this was the finger of God?
2 Chron. 32:20-22 says that the Lord sent an angel who cut down
every mighty man of valor, leader and captain in the Assyrian army.
He delivered the oppressed of the earth. KJV- the meek of the earth,
NASU – the humble of the earth.
d.
VS. 10 – The wrath of
man shall praise Him. With
its remainder God will gird Himself.
The point being that God’s response to the wrath of foreign, worldly
armies exalted Him. This
occurred in at least two different ways:
i.
God was able to
demonstrate His glory by divine defeat.
And thus, His people, in this case Jerusalem, would praise Him.
IT sent a message to the world.
Again, 2 Chron. 32:22-23 says that Jerusalem was saved and many
brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and presents to Hezekiah.
ii.
His divine retribution
against Sennacherib resulted in Judah’s repentance (for a time).
a.
Vs. 11 - Make vows to
God and pay them – we DO make vows to God.
i.
In context, when you
consider how Israel had just fallen to Assyria and now Jerusalem is
saved because of righteous Hezekiah, there is a REMINDER that when you
make a promise to serve God, you ought to keep it.
Bear in mind the former history of Judah: Like Israel, it was
filled with rebellion against Him.
Promise after promise had been broken by them.
Perhaps, the psalmist is saying, “This time, YOU BETTER BE
SERIOUS!”
ii.
When we make vows, we
ought to keep them.
Psalm 50:14 says, “Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the
Most High.”
Ecclesiastes 5:1-6 clearly calls upon us to, with integrity, pay our
vows before God.
Jesus said that our word ought to be our bond, Matt. 5:34-37 – let your
‘yes’ be ‘yes’…
iii.
Do we take our vows
before God seriously?
1.
When we become a
Christian it is a vow of faithfulness.
2.
When we are united in
marriage it is a vow for life to be separated only by death.
Contrary to society, the Bible is clear about what God thinks of
divorce – Mal. 2:16. In
fact, the marriage vow is so sacred, that God allows its dissolving for
only one cause – unfaithfulness – Matt. 19:9.
And in such cases, only the innocent party has the right to
remarry.
b.
Vs. 11b - Let all bring
presents to Him. We need to
come before Him with gifts, but not in our traditional sense.
This means that which we give to Him is godly and belongs in
heaven (cf. lay up for yourselves treasure – Matt. 6:19).
c.
Vs. 12 – HE is awesome
to the kings of the earth – He is in power and must be reverenced as
such.
The KJV reads, “He is terrible to the kings…”
The NASU reads, “He is feared by the kings…”
Considering the occasion, can you imagine how the fear of God would have
been etched in the hearts of the Assyrian army, and other nations
surrounding Jerusalem. The
text of the battle indicates that Sennacherib simply gets up the next
morning and leaves. No more
bragging or threats. Just
humiliation and a realization he is no match for God.
When he returns home he is assassinated by his own people (2
Chron. 32:21).
This again is typical in describing the distinction between reverence
and fear. They are related.
May our fear turn to reverence for Him – 1 John 4:18.