“Exalt
His Name”
[Psalm
99:1-9]
December
13, 2020 YouTube
The angel, Gabriel, came to the Virgin Mary and said, “And
the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with
God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most
High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no
end’” (Luke 1:30-33, ESV).
And the author of Hebrews, writes, “But of the Son he
says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is
the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your
companions’” (Hebrews 1:8-9, ESV).
On this third Sunday of Advent, we remember that this
Baby, Jesus, Whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, is a king. He is the Eternal King of the Kingdom of God
that is coming among us.
As we consider Psalm 99, we consider the Kingdom of
God. We see that God blessed Israel –
and blesses all His people. Therefore,
He is worthy of praise.
“The
LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let
the earth quake!”
The
psalmist begins by telling us that the Lord God – this is YHWH here – that most
personal Name that God gave to Moses to tell the people Who God is – this is
the God Who sits upon the cherubim.
We
will remember that on top of the Ark of the Covenant there were statues of
cherubim, so the idea here is that this is the God of the Holy of Holies in the
Temple. This is the God Who led His
people out of Egypt and gave them the Promised Land. This is the Almighty. This is the God Whom Isaiah met:
“In
the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the
seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he
covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy,
holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’
“And
the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the
house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a
man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for
my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’” (Isaiah 6:1-5, ESV).
To
come into the Presence of God is to shake – to tremble – to recognize that God
is Holy and we are not – that we are unworthy – unable to offer up anything to
God but our sin – as Isaiah cries out.
To rightly understand Who God is and His Power – on our own – is to be
wholly undone, shaken, and trembling.
Though
we ought to take God with all serious, through Christ, we are His adopted sons
and daughters – we are in a different relationship with God and can come before
Him boldly:
“Since
then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the
Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect
has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw
near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help
in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16, ESV).
This
is the God of Israel Who reigns from Zion – Jerusalem.
“The
LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your
great and awesome name! Holy is he!”
All
the people of the Lord are called to exalt Him – to praise Him for Who He is
and all He has done for the people and each individual. God, the Holy God, chose a sinful people to
make His people – a people He would send His Son to be born in human flesh for. All of this, the Holy God was under no obligation
to do. Out of love for us and His Glory,
God chose Israel and also chose a people to be His people.
We
will remember that Israel was surrounded by enemies – just as God had said, the
descendants of Israel would be surrounded by the descendants of Ishmael, and
they would be at war with each other.
But God protected Israel from total destruction by her enemies.
Even
we who believe in the Savior Who has come are protected by Him, the same One
God of Zion, so we will never totally fall away.
Jesus
warns, “And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be
saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. And
then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’
do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform
signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I
have told you all things beforehand” (Mark 13:20-23, ESV).
The
devil and his angels will try to deceive those who believe in Jesus, but they
will never succeed. Even though we
continue to sin and have need to repent daily, we will never totally fall away,
because the God Who has saved us is Holy and no one can take us out of His
hands or nullify His salvation of us. We
are forever in His Kingdom, and He is our Father, Christ is our Brother.
“The
King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed
justice and righteousness in Jacob.”
The
only way for a person to be right with God is for a perfect human to live a
perfect life according to the Law and then take on the eternal punishment for another
human’s sins. Jesus is the only One able
to do that. Our King loves justice. He has satisfied justice and saved us for
Himself and brought us into His Kingdom of Righteousness and Justice.
Our
response is to praise God for Who He is and worship Him – to devote our lives
to His service and to godliness.
“Exalt
the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!”
If
God had done nothing more than send His Son to be our Savior, we would have
every reason in the world to worship Him and given thanks to Him for all of His
blessings to us – to Israel and all of us who believe.
But
there is more, is there not? You are
alive – breathing. You can read this
sermon – or see or hear it. You can eat and
drink and have shelter of some sort. You
can understand what is being said. You
can react to it in right or wrong ways.
You can get around to some extent – or in some way. It would be easy to think of things to give
thanks for round the clock. And ultimately, all these things are given to us by
our Holy God – the perfect, sinless God.
So, He is to be worshipped – we are to show His worth in everything we
do.
“Moses
and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon
his name. They called to the LORD, and he answered them. In the pillar of the
cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave
them.”
God
chose people throughout history to serve Him in positions of priest – a position,
which is now, eternally held by Jesus.
God used Moses and Aaron and Samuel – among others – to bring the Word
of God to His people. They prayed and
God answered. God always answers and
will always do what is right and good for all those who love Him.
God
spoke to them in a number of ways – through the burning bush – through the
cloud that led the Israel through the wilderness – and through His Word – the
testimonies and the statutes. God gave
us His Word so everyone would always know Who God is and what He has done to
make the way to be right with Him – the way of salvation. And so, we are also to keep the testimonies
and statues that He has given us.
If
we believe in God, our Savior. If we
believe that He is the Holy and Almighty, the Only Way to salvation – being
made right with God, then we are to be a people who pray to God and wait on His
answer. We are to be a people who read
His Word and obey the things He has told us to do. And why wouldn’t we?
Jesus
says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV).
“O
LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an
avenger of their wrongdoings.”
Our
God answered His people then and He answers our prayers now. God forgave them for their sins when they
repented then, and God forgives us for our sins when we repent now. However, our sins must be avenged. God cannot just say, “Oh well, all is
well.” Since God is Holy and Just, sin
must be punished – even if we repent, there is a debt that must be paid. And that is why Jesus had to die. He had to be born to keep the Law, and He had
to die to pay our debt for not keeping the Law.
Paul
says, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people
everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the
world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given
assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31, ESV).
We
must strive not to sin, because it is wrong.
It is an offense against God. But
Jesus has paid the debt to God for all the sins that everyone who ever believes
will ever commit. That should not make
us lax, as though sin doesn’t matter.
Rather in thankfulness, it should make us all the stronger in our
efforts not to sin, because our sin merited Jesus’ suffering for us.
As
Simeon prophesied to Mary and Joseph at Jesus’ bris, “And Simeon blessed them
and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and
rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will
pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be
revealed” (Luke 2:34-35, ESV).
God
has made a covenant – an agreement – a testament – between Jesus and all those
who will ever believe in Him, and we are assured through this covenant that we
will always be with Him forever in His Kingdom, forgiven, loved, and at peace,
so we ought to show our love for Him and worship Him now, as He deserves.
We
are assured of always being with Him:
“What
then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He
who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also
with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against
God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the
one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all
the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’
“No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I
am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord” (Romans 8:31-39, ESV).
“Exalt
the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is
holy!”
When
we exalt the Lord, we recognize and confess that He is to be held in highest
honor and known for having all power. We
worship Him as He commands, and we know Him as Holy.
Sometime
after Jesus’ birth, magi – who were Gentiles – followed the star to where Jesus
and Mary and Joseph were staying. They
recognized Jesus as King. The understood
that He is worthy of worship.
“Then
Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the
star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search
diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I
too may come and worship him.’ After listening to the king, they went on their
way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them
until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the
star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they
saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then,
opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and
myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to
their own country by another way” (Matthew 2:7-12, ESV).
As
we look forward to celebrating the remembrance of the birth of God in human
flesh, let us remember that God has given us myriad blessings – no matter how
dark it may look on any given day or how many complaints and aggravations we
have – He has done for us more.
And
let us remember that we have a covenant with Jesus – He has saved us and will
bring us into His everlasting kingdom where we will worship Him forever in
joy. Let us begin today by exalting the
Lord as He so richly deserves.
Let
us pray:
Almighty
God, we thank You for loving us and sending Your Son to live and die to save us
and bring us into a kingdom of His own preparing. Help us to recognize all the blessings You
have showered upon us. Help us to hold
fast with assurance to the covenant You have made. And send the Holy Spirit with power that we
would worship You with all that we are.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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