Psalm 118

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0:00 For the season of Lent, we're going to be following the Lectionaries, though, the church, like four generations, has produced this order of readings that go along with every Sunday. Some Lectionaries actually have readings for every day. And then they've evolved slowly over the centuries, really. But the core of them has remained the same. And our little corner of the church has a

0:31 Lectionary that they follow. There's a one-year format or a three-year format. For the season of Lent, we're going to take the lead readings that they have laid out in the lecture in the one-year format and pick. They always assign an Old Testament, a New Testament reading, a Gospel reading, and a Psalm. And if you're interested, I can share the whole list with you or send you the link. But I'm just probably, I'll usually pick one of those. And this morning, I want to look

1:01 at the Psalm that they assigned, which is Psalm 118. I read a section of it for our call to worship, but I want to look at a different section that they assigned for this morning for us. So Psalm 118, and it starts at verse 1. The section they assigned is 1, verses 1 through 13. So I'll read it first, and then we'll go back and look at it. I'll give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His steadfast

1:32 love endures forever. Let Israel say, His steadfast love endures forever. With the house of Aaron say, His steadfast love endures forever. Let those who fear the Lord say, His steadfast love endures forever. Oh, out of my distress I called on the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper. I shall

2:07 look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. All nations surrounded me in the name of the Lord. I cut them all. They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side, and in the name of the Lord I cut them all. They surrounded me like bees. They went out like a fire among thorns, and in the name of the Lord I cut them all. I was pushed hard, so I was falling, but

2:37 the Lord helped me. Let's pray for a second. Hey Lord, thank you for this word. Come down through your faithful generations. May it inspire us to faith this morning in you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So it starts out with this like refrain, and I like that, well remember the Psalms first of all are some of the

3:11 most a contextual content we have in the scriptures, meaning we know the least about the context that these words come out of almost anything. Job is pretty a contextual too. We don't really know when Job was around, right? But the Psalms, you know sometimes they're ascribed to David, and that might mean David wrote them. It might mean that David took credit for them, right? As a

3:41 king, someone else wrote it, he said I like that, that one's mine. Some of it sometimes you can read, you can read into the content of the Psalm and assign it to little sections of David's life, but really part of the reason that these Psalms are so hard to pin down specifically is because they seem so liturgical. There's exactly 150. They're arranged more according to usage than content or even structure. They have some words in the Psalms in the Hebrew that

4:15 don't appear anyplace else in the whole story of Scripture, which can make them really tricky to translate because so much of how we translate Hebrew is on context and how the word is used in other situations. Because of this though this liturgical nature, this 150, there's some of the most consistently used texts in the history of our people. You know some studies show that in the first century the first step of school was to memorize all 150 Psalms. This is why when Mary says her magnificat so many of her words are

4:50 actually words of the Psalms because as a young girl she would have memorized all 150 Psalms. Some scholars think they can see how some of the Psalms were used in particular ways or times of worship where they were in the temple when they would use this. Some of the Psalms you can see that would be responsive. So in this Psalm 118 you can see how this would be used liturgically in a church where the rabbi or the Levite might say, oh give thanks to the Lord for He is

5:21 good in His steadfast love and doers forever. And then He would say let Israel say and the group might respond back His steadfast love and doers forever. And then He might say let the house of Aaron say His steadfast love and doers forever. There's a tradition in the Christian church that says it's in the Latin Lexarandi, Lex Kredendi as you say and worship so you believe. And so much of what the church of Israel has believed over generations is reinforced by the

5:54 way they interact and worship and this Psalm has been the common thread. Right? For as long as we have written history. So that these are poetic and liturgical but nestled inside of them is the truth of faith that has carried people in every nation under every king through every situation unbroken back to the first ones. The truth of faith is buried in the Psalms. They're beautiful. And you can get them inductively just by reading them and the truth will

6:30 settle in you or as we will this morning you can look at it a little bit more explicitly. So the first thing here is outside of any context the Psalmist feels safe to say that the Lord is good. And the Psalmist can say that because this is true objectively apart from any person's individual circumstance or experience God is good. Which means that in spite of anyone's experience of life

7:04 no matter how bad or evil no matter how unfair or unjust. A bedrock truth of the people the church of Israel the people of Christ is that God is good. It's an initial point of departure that's worth remembering and starting with. One time I had a friend she was new in a lot of service work and she was like

7:37 taking on mission work she believed in and it was the first time she had really done that and she was a person probably of multi-faith more than any particular phase. She has to get coffee and when she got coffee she was asking hey how do you doing work you believe in how do you avoid burnout just getting too tired. And I told her a couple of things I said you got to have comrades in it that

8:08 believe what you do. You got to have something going on besides the work that you're doing. I said but the one that motivates me the most is to know that my story whatever circumstance I'm living in whatever story I'm living out fits in a larger meta narrative that I'm a part of that the world and scope of history is not limited to me but I play a role in a much larger story in a larger meta narrative and she said that sounds cool what's your meta narrative.

8:40 I said oh I'm so glad you asked. My meta narrative always starts with there is a God and that God is good. This is a bedrock where people it seems simple but it's worth saying out loud there is a God and that God is good regardless of any circumstance or situation. His steadfast love and dew is forever this is a key Hebrew word it's kesad it shows up all over the place in the Old Testament

9:14 the kesad of God the covenant faithfulness the dead fast love of God this is not an emotion but this is a prerogative look God that is demonstrated in action dead fast love unmovable love faithful through generations God's steadfast love endures for Israel for the house of Aaron even for those who fear the Lord remember that that the role of Israel was never exclusivity but servitude it was

9:48 always the role of Israel was not God loves Israel at the expense of the rest of the world or to the exclusion of the rest of the world but God loves Israel for the sake of the rest of the world that all the rest of the world might be Israel might find God through him and so this gets it says Israel God celebrates steadfast faithfulness the house of Aaron and the Levites and the priesthood smaller and then boom big out to anyone who fears the Lord let you let them say it's steadfast love endures forever

10:21 it's coming to faithfulness endures forever now what's interesting okay that's a great little preamble man we're reminded that there is a God and he is good and his love endures forever then the very next sentence is a little bit in Congress if you if you look at it honestly his steadfast love endures forever and then verse 5 that number is small my eyes are getting old out of my distress I called on the Lord and the Lord answered me in time wait a minute

10:55 let Israel say is steadfast love endures forever let the house of Aaron say let all his good Lord say oh and out of my distress what is the Psalmist doing in distress if God has steadfast love that endures forever in spite of any circumstance through any situation of course it's worth saying God's steadfast love does not mean you will not find yourself in distress

11:28 your distress also does not mean God is not good God's steadfast love endures forever God is good his love endures forever and you will find yourself in distress take a minute what distress might you identify

11:58 you got some distress right as we're alive the Psalmist said out of my distress I called on the Lord and the Lord answered me and set me free

12:28 it's like a it's a easy path for preacher to take that and say God will fix your distress don't worry about it right just pray and God will fix your distress that would be an easy I mean it would be like technically accurate but

13:05 lacking depth Bob and we know the gospel is simple and deep so I feel like this next couple phrases unpack that a little bit the Lord is on my side wait out of my distress I called the Lord the Lord answered me and set me free now the Lord is on my side I will not fear what can man do to me well there are a lot of things man could do to you sawness right I mean we have kids in middle school

13:43 they're all in the other room now so we can talk about them they middle school kids are acutely aware of what other people can do to them is it interesting little microcosm isn't it like they have such a incubated ecosystem where all the little things are there and there's potential for embarrassment or fame right there's there's potential for isolation or camaraderie there's potential for

14:18 success and failure all of these things are available man can do a lot to us that's not just for middle schoolers that's where all of us it just gets more complicated and complex because we add money to it but it's the same man can do a lot to us in your distress there are things to risk but it's worth playing out to attend and I think that's what the psalmist is implying here what can man

14:55 do to me the Lord is on my side if my helper I shall look on triumph and those who hate me and this is I mean this is a church move but it makes it no less a appropriate and helpful when I said when I thought what can man do to me the next thought I had is Jesus on the cross like a man puts their head to it they can kill you Jesus on the cross hanging there look at them and says forgive them

15:29 Lord for they don't know what they are doing there is some confidence in Jesus about the steadfast love of God that even at the extreme end of what man can do to him he is not afraid he does not feel he recognizes that God is still his helper what can man do to him apparently not enough to get him to abandon the steadfast love of God or to or to suggest that God is not good though his

16:04 circumstances are in deep distress the Lord is on my side my helper I shall look in triumph on those who hate me it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes I don't think that we should in your distress your distress may be your work situation is in a bad spot your distress may be you don't have the energy

16:37 to go out of bed your distress may be you don't have the money to do the things you can't control the kids you can't control the spouse your distress could be a lot of things and I don't think this when he says when the psalmist says is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man I don't think the psalmist is saying don't have to men at all meaning if you need work network right trust men to help you find things if you if you need work on relationship with

17:15 parents or with spouse seek out help in those things the psalmist is not saying men are of no help but the psalmist is saying when you are in distress remember that the steadfast love of God is your blood grab of support and your place of hope and God may help you through people but people are not as reliable as the God is for you in your distress pursue reasonable advocates for help but in

17:51 your distress call upon the Lord and seek wise counsel because the Lord is steadfast in love and of course is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes I mean if we are putting our hope in our government these days we

18:24 are to be pitied it has shown us falling and fullness right it does not mean that we abandon the princes to their own devices but when Jesus is offered by pilot an opportunity for a way out he says I'll pass my lot with the steadfast love of God over the deliverance of pilot it does not mean that he abandons or suggests or endorses lawlessness he doesn't say kick off all authority but

18:58 he just says my hope is in the steadfast love of God not the deliverance of princes and this is true for your distress as well whatever it may be injustice encountered on the streets in the workplaces right injustice encountered in banks and tax wherever your distress is we pursue wise counsel but we put our hope in the God who is good and steadfast love endures forever and then

19:34 this almost says I love this all the nations surrounded me in the name of the Lord and I cut them off I love to like confidence I won't seek to remind you that the God of the scriptures is not just passionate meaning that as though the love the steadfast love of the God of God is harmless it's not it takes

20:05 sides the steadfast love of God always takes sides with God's people with those who fear the Lord all throughout the short scripture this is true the steadfast love of God is on the side of God and God's people so I love this and the steadfast love he says all the nations surrounded me and came against me I cut them off at causing you have agents of distress in your life I want to encourage you that

20:40 God is one who defends you you don't have to be you don't have to be a your map but you also don't have to worry about exacting your own vengeance or revenge because your God is your helper he says vengeance is mine I will repay and it comes out in the in the this almost talking about the character of God because he says when they surrounded me in the name of God I cut them off they

21:10 surrounded me like bees they went out like fire among them in the name of the Lord I cut them off I was pushed hard from falling but the Lord helped me the Lord is my strength I love that they didn't give us this but this is the last thing the Lord is my strength and my song he has become my salvation this one is little threads that comes throughout all the story of scripture throughout people it's arguably the first thing they wrote down the reason people argue that is because it's the oldest form of Hebrew in the text it comes as part of Miriam song when they're celebrating deliverance from the Red Sea

21:41 the Lord is my strength and my song he has become my salvation it's a song of praise for God delivering his people from enemies you though God is good you will find yourself in distress but I want to encourage you your God is one who defends his people so when you find yourself in distress you don't have to you can come to God and ask them to do what he does defend you with steadfast

22:13 love be wise look to men build alliances with princes as they benefit as they benefit you but remember that your hope is in the love of God the steadfast love of God I think it can be difficult sometimes to look at our places of distress

22:47 hi we have these like we bought our house ten years ago now little more than ten years ago and we bought it from the bank in 2010 it was foreclosed on which was a good deal for us but it had been vacant for a year and the person before that loved plants there were all these like plants throughout the whole place man in which was cool because we have to landscape but what I've learned over the ten years is it means there's a little bit of a battle between me and

23:18 the yard all the time because like I love the plan so I don't want to just like rip them out there and have nothing but also I feel like a little bit like I'm keeping the things at bay like like I'm like pushing back these vines over here and I'm like and I'm taking this annual thing well yesterday when when you go into our driveway on the left hand side we live on this kind of busy street on Bumbi and there's this like big green bush thing there's like several of

23:53 them right on the left hand side of our driveway and it's pretty big and they have pretty green leaves and and every once once a year about they put out little white flowers little tiny little white flowers and it gets pretty woody the bush it's like taking it this big around and when we moved in Megan's dad and her stepmom came down and spent two days with us just going through the yard because they've been a year overgrown with all these plants right

24:26 and her dad pruned this bush for us and I learned something about that bush picking up the branches one the branches get pretty meaty two they have some nasty thorns on them which you got to watch out for you know that was 10 years ago in my distress I have not looked at that bush for 10 years I mean because it is not a problem I want to deal with I don't exactly I have no

24:59 idea what the plant is called I don't exactly know how it's supposed to look like I don't know what it's supposed to look like so I feel like I don't really know how to prune it it's right along Bumbi and there's a wall next to it so there's like some trash underneath it because this road kind of picks up people's trash you know I can imagine it being a place for things to hide because there's a lot of leaves that blow the leaves up underneath there it's just not something I want to deal with and so in my distress for 10 years I have just

25:30 kind of looked the other way and yesterday I did it time yeah I got in there I mean I'm I got some wounds on my hand from it but I pruned it and it looks better and everything on that side of the house is gonna do better now there's a plumere book that I really love there right and now I could do some ground cover cut it back a little bit 10 years y'all with a book in my yard that I didn't want to

26:02 deal with look lenses the season to look at your places of distress is very easy to just look the other way at the place of the threats in your head and your heart in your life and your pocketbook in your house in your marriage with your kids is very easy to just not look at the places of distress but y'all we have a God who is good his steadfast love endures forever do you realize that his

26:35 said the past love endures forever imagine his steadfast love through creation his steadfast love calls the world into existence his crowning achievement of humanity said fast love propels it through the fall when he says we don't need you said fast love pushes them out of the garden and imagines us a solution his steadfast love incarnates the word in the person of Jesus his steadfast love endures through the crucifixion his steadfast love pushes the incarnated God through the tomb and out into resurrection the steadfast love

27:07 pushes the resurrected God up into ascension and pushes the great spirit the primordial spirit of God down in among us his steadfast love has the thread that holds all humanity from creation to today and is available to you you can handle your places of distress because the steadfast love of God is your helper this is the season this is why we have friends so you and I can like in our distress look at some places with some help and everything will do better

27:44 when we do here I have some wounds but those heal and life is better when we are pruned let me pray hey Lord teach us to rely on your steadfast love in the face of distress remind us this morning good Lord that you love us and you will

28:19 defend and rejoice with us walk with us now Lord towards our places of distress and teach us how to call out to you and then Lord set us free in Jesus name of Christ