Psalm 149 - Salvation

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0:13 The rest of us we're looking at Psalm 149. We're continuing in these assigned Psalms from the electionary as we make our way towards the new year. This is the first Sunday in November, so we'll have lunch. The first Sunday in December, we'll have a big Christmas lunch, so plan to stay after church that day. We'll set up a nice table and do a nice fun Christmas lunch, we'll probably decorate Christmas trees like we've done in the past that day, so plan to stick around. But until then, until the last Sunday in November, we're

0:46 going to keep going through these Psalms that the electionary assigns for us, which means lots of people throughout the world are looking at these texts together. And Psalm 149 is the one that they assigned for this week. It's the second to last Psalm. And it's a little tricky. I was doing some research on it. It feels like it's in two parts. This one particularly they have trouble figuring out the context of because it's like celebration and then some judgment stuff.

1:17 And the second, the first half is like celebration and the second half is judgment. So it's a little bit weird, but let's look first at the beginning of it. Psalm 149, the beginning, praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly. Let Israel be glad in his maker. Let the children of Zion rejoice in their king. Let him praise his name with dancing and making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. So there's like three verses in a row of the Psalmist going,

1:50 hey, everybody should be really excited about God. Everybody should be really happy with God. Everybody should be like jumping around and praising God, which I mean, okay, right? We should. But like it's interesting that the Psalmist launches right in and is like, yes, please be happy and praise God. And right here in verse four, they have three verses where they're really pumped about what God is doing. And in verse four, they finally kind of say what God has done.

2:24 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He adorns the humble with salvation. So the Psalmist has three verses of why we should be happy. And then he says, he takes pleasure in his people and adorns the humble with salvation. I don't know what it feels like, quite what it feels like to know God taking pleasure in us.

2:57 But maybe you've had someone that matters. Let you know that they're proud of you. Maybe you've had that experience where you realize, oh, I really care what this person thinks of me and they think well of me. Maybe you've had that experience. Maybe a boss has said something to you. Maybe a spouse has said something to you. Maybe a parent has said something to you.

3:30 I can remember moments for me where I heard, wow, this is a really good job. I'm impressed at this and it hit me enough that I saved it. Right? I can remember moments where someone said to me, hey, whatever happens, I trust you completely. And so I make the decision because I trust you and it hit me really well. And I can't remember situations where people saying,

4:03 hey, I'm really proud of what you've accomplished here and it hitting me and saving me. I think I've gotten little tastes of what it might feel like to have the God, what does it say the God takes pleasure in me? I feel like I've had little tastes of what it might feel like to have the God take pleasure in me. But the psalmist is saying this is worth celebrating. And then the next party says,

4:36 he adorns the humble with salvation. Let the Godly exult in glory, let them sing for joy on their beds. And I was like, I was thinking about this idea of salvation. This year, this school year, I've been doing chapel messages at our school in Sanford every week.

5:06 It's not a lot, but it's not nothing either. In the morning, there are starting at 8.30 to about 9.30 or 10, there are four lower school chapels. So two grades at a time. Fourth and fifth graders first, and then second and third graders, and then kindergartners and first graders, and then preschoolers. Back to back to back to back. And then I drive to a different campus

5:37 and then do an upper chapel, which is sixth grade through 12th grade. That's like 300 middle schooler and high schoolers and a chapel message there. The interesting thing is like more than half of these kids don't have a church that they go to. And especially at the upper school, at the lower school, it's the same, but the chapel message is so short. You just give them the quick gospel. But the reason I'm telling you this is because as I was reading this song, this idea of God give salvation,

6:12 came up a little bit in the upper chapel this last week. And I realized I needed to do something to wrestle with. Why might we need salvation? What might we need to be saved from? And so when I saw it in this song, I thought, that's worth us thinking about for just a minute. What do you need to be saved from?

6:42 Just really practically. I mentioned that they have trouble figuring out the context of Psalm 149. That's because it's all happy and salvation. And then it switches at verse six. Let the praises of God be in their throats and two edged swords in their hands. So the best guess is on Psalm 149 is that they're celebrating victory after a battle.

7:14 That they've had enemies. Remember Israel in the time of the kings had some really existential enemies, you know? People that wanted to come in and burn their town and kill all the people. Like Israel had some real enemies. And so we could imagine that God was accomplishing salvation from their enemies. And it might be that that's all the Psalm is talking about. It's just like it's for them in that context, the Israelites celebrating that God beat back all their warlike enemies. But there is context for salvation

7:46 being something broader in the Psalms. The first place or one of the key places for that is in Psalm 132. In verse 16. Yeah. So in Psalm 132, he's talking about the priests and he says that that the priests in verse 16,

8:16 he says her priests, Israel's priests, I will clothe with salvation and her saints will shout for joy. Then I will make a horn sprout from David. The priests with salvation, what I'm trying to say is that the Psalmist has this idea first that Israel's army needs salvation from its enemies, but they use already in the Old Testament an idea that there's something broader and bigger that we need salvation from, that you need salvation from,

8:46 that the people of God need salvation from, that there is a salvation that God offers that is more than just deliverance from your enemies. I think it's like fullist in Luke. I mean, it comes a lot in the New Testament, but looking at Luke chapter 19 is where it comes in maybe the clearest, Luke chapter 19.

9:20 Jesus is talking to Zacchaeus. So we could go a lot of places to think about how Jesus talks about salvation. But look at how he does it. Remember the story of Zacchaeus? Where Jesus was like coming into a town and there's a lot of people. And Zacchaeus is this like turncoat who's working for the occupying country, collecting taxes from his national people,

9:51 but he wants to see Jesus. And he's like kind of trying to jockey for position in the big crowd to be able to see Jesus. And Jesus recognizes him probably because he's been through there before and he knows the region pretty well. And he knows this is one of the chief tax collectors. He has a sense of Zacchaeus. And so he calls Zacchaeus down in front of everyone. It's like I'm coming to your house, get ready. Which is a big deal because the rabbi to go a tax collector's house wouldn't happen.

10:21 And so Jesus is like doing some kind of big move to eat with Zacchaeus. And the story goes, he goes to his house and let's look at verse, four. So Zacchaeus ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus where he was about to pass by. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him,

10:52 Zacchaeus hurry and come down. For I must stay at your house today. So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw at all the Pharisees and the people, they all grumbled. And he has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. And Jesus said to him,

11:23 today salvation has come to this house since he is also son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and save the lost. So in what sense does salvation come to Zacchaeus' house? Why does him giving the stuff away clue Jesus in that salvation has come to his house? What is Zacchaeus saved from, really? He's not saved from an opposing army.

11:57 He's not even saved from being a tax collector. This is the crazy thing Zacchaeus, when Jesus walks in, Zacchaeus says he's going to give away half of what he has to the poor, which is a lot. And then he says anybody that I've defrauded, I'll give back fourfold, which is also a lot. I don't know what Zacchaeus has left. So this is like a kind of a remarkable act of justice and generosity, but Zacchaeus doesn't then say,

12:30 and I'm going to quit being a tax collector. He doesn't say, I'm going to sell my house and follow you. He doesn't become the next of the 12. So he's not saved necessarily. He does not removed from his whole experience of life. What might Zacchaeus actually be saved from in the moment?

13:01 It's like if giving away all the money is evidence that he's rescued from the enemy, what might Zacchaeus's enemy have been? It's not an opposing army. There's something that Zacchaeus, there's something that Zacchaeus was looking for

13:31 that he's rescued from when Jesus comes to him. What might Zacchaeus have been looking for that Jesus can give him? It would have been a big deal for this rabbi to come to Zacchaeus's house.

14:01 Like everybody was crowding around trying to see Jesus coming through. Like clearly he had a whole group of people following him and everybody, all the powers that be were looking to him and in front of all the powers that be and everybody that followed him, he picked out Zacchaeus and said, Zacchaeus, I'm coming to your house today. Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector, but like a regional tax collector, like a tax collector of tax collectors.

14:34 Maybe what Zacchaeus was looking for was like recognition, like, I mean the dark side might be he was looking for power, but the upside might be he was looking for a significance. Purpose, value to be worth something.

15:04 And this would explain why he's so good at being a tax collector, why he's a tax collector of tax collectors because he's doing everything he can to get more power, more prestige, more recognition in order to pump up his sense of worth and value. And Jesus in one move changes that. So that he divests himself of everything he's encouraged and Jesus doesn't just say, oh, generosity has come to this house today. He doesn't just say justice has come to this house today,

15:37 though both of those things have, right? To give away half of what he had is clearly generous. To repay everybody he's defrauded fourfold times is high sense of justice, but what Jesus puts his finger on is not generosity or justice, but salvation. He says there's something that Zacchaeus needs to be saved from, rescued from, an enemy that is against him to steal, kill, and destroy. And if we're kind of deducing from the story

16:07 for Zacchaeus, the enemy could be this need for purpose and significance and power. And Jesus in one move says, let me give that to you. I'll rescue you because these things are an enemy. They won't actually give it to you. You'll feel like you have power when you take all the money, but you'll have to defraud people in order to get more because no matter how much you accumulate underneath you, you won't feel secure.

16:38 You'll think you'll be significant by being a tax collector, but you'll have to become a tax collector of tax collectors because there's always somebody ahead of you and above you. Always somebody looking down on you to make you feel less significant, less important. And so Jesus says, I can rescue you from that enemy. You see, yes, you need salvation from death. It's the enemy you can't solve, but the salvation that the soul must found is more present and proximate than just the end time.

17:10 The end time is important. I'm looking forward to the life to come, but I have found that I need salvation now. That I have all little ways that I have enemies coming against me, little idols I have propped up and serve that are tyrants, all the way back in the Psalms.

17:42 The people of God figured out, holy smokes. This God will save us. What might you need saving from? The thing about rescue, about salvation,

18:14 is that it's something that's done to you. Salvation is like there's an actor outside of you that comes and saves you. Right? Zacchaeus didn't figure it out.

18:45 Zacchaeus didn't defeat his enemy of what was it? Greed or inadequacy or? Zacchaeus didn't defeat his enemy. Jesus came in and offered him an alternative that he immediately recognized was better. Jesus came in and with attention and hope and generosity, generosity of spirit in front of everyone.

19:17 Gave Zacchaeus the thing he was hust hunting for all these other places, public affirmation and the ability for purposeful living. Jesus came in and rescued him. Salvation needs a savior in it. It needs someone doing the work. All the way back in Psalm 149, the people of Israel not only recognized that they needed a savior but that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of creation and life was the sort of God

19:47 who would bother to rescue people. And so he'll rescue you. He will. You are someone who needs saving. Not just from death but because you have all these little places and other things that are bad masters. It's just what we do.

20:22 The Psalmist recognizes that God saves, which is really great. And he saves Zacchaeus and he'll save us. But the Psalmist doesn't stop with saving, right? Keep going. For the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He adorns the humble with salvation. So then the Psalmist says, so then let the godly exalt in glory.

20:52 Let them sing for joy on their beds. I don't know why on their beds maybe because they're relaxing. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands. The commentary I was reading was suggesting this was kind of like a battle axe. I thought maybe it was like a long broad sword instead of a scimitar where it's just sharpened on one side that was sharpened on both sides. But they suggested it was more like a battle axe that's sharpened on both sides that's coming through and wielding destruction. Tough.

21:26 And the two-edged swords in their hands to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron to execute them with judgment written. This is the honor and glory to the ones. So this is kind of brutal and sometimes people would be like, this is a different sort of God than the god we serve now because he's telling Israel to go work vengeance on the nations with a two-edged sword. But you have to remember the nations are coming against Israel as well.

21:57 Like the nations are trying to kill Israel. And Israel is whoever wants to align with God. Always been that way. Anybody could align with Israel. Remember there were Egyptians who left Egypt with the Israelites because having seen the provision of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they joined up with them. When Solomon dedicated the temple there he said, may all the nations come and praise you. There's always been ways for people to become Israelite. Israelite is a commitment God makes to people and he extends it to their children, but it's not a nationalist connection.

22:30 It's a covenant connection where God commits to people and anyone is welcome into that covenant. So God's people on earth have nations coming against them. This is the thing and God is not happy with enemies coming against his people. His love, the love of the God of the story of creation and life of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of Christ and the church is not the story of a benign love. It is for everyone, yes, but it is not dispassionate.

23:02 Such that when there are those who come against his people, God not only rescues his people but defends them. So you can know the ones coming to steal and kill and destroy you, not only will God rescue you from them, but he will defend you from them because he is not okay with enemies hurting his own.

23:40 This is important for me because when I recognize that God loves me to the degree that he says vengeance is mine, when he is bothered by those that come against me enough to exact vengeance upon them, his love for me is real

24:13 and unique and distinct to me. And the Psalmist is saying that the invitation of this God is so generous that not only does he defend us from our enemies, but he will allow us, invite us to join in the defense.

24:43 This means we can be agents of justice in the world. Think about the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus, actively, without Zacchaeus asking for it, moves towards him. And the movement of Jesus towards Zacchaeus rescues him from the enemy that has besought him,

25:16 that is on all sides of him, where he is defrauding and robbing and stealing and posturing. He is doing everything he can and Jesus comes in and breaks that system. And then not only does he rescues Zacchaeus, so now Zacchaeus has identity, purpose inside of him, so securely rooted that it gives him the capacity to be generous. He is no longer hoarding for his future, but trusts the God that he can provide for him,

25:47 so he is not having to hoard for himself, right? That God will provide for him, so he is generous, he is merciful. But not only that, now he is allowed to be an agent against the very thing that had destroyed him. His generosity, his mercy, becomes, like Jesus says in other places, a light unto the nations, so that all now, tax collectors might look at Zacchaeus and go, holy smokes. And Zacchaeus' light of generosity and mercy and justice wages war against the hoarding and the manipulation

26:22 and the injustice happening amongst tax collectors. So he takes like a two-edged sword to the enemy that has been destroyed him, so that your God rescues you really right now from the enemies who and he equips you to not only be passive, rescued, sheep, but active agents of generosity, mercy and justice in the world. This is very cool. No wonder the psalmist is saying, let's all stand up and praise the God, because his salvation is so complete

26:57 that he rescues us eternally, vanquishes our enemies and invites us to join in the vanquishing, of putting them down. This makes life way more fun. Way more fun. This makes life way more fun. When you start with humility, as the psalmist says, recognizing you need to be saved.

27:28 Jesus comes in and rescues you and puts you to work. Not bad. It's a pretty good way to live, you know? I like these psalms at the end of the year. Let's pray that we could be people like Zacchaeus who receive the salvation of the Lord Jesus. Hey, Lord. Thank you for the faith of the psalmist from thousands of years ago and the preservation of your time in Zacchaeus's home. Lord Jesus might you enter each of our homes with salvation today.

28:04 That we might join with the psalmist and Zacchaeus and be agents of your justice, mercy, generosity, even vengeance in the world. We trust you, Lord, together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.