West Park Baptist Church

Psalms

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Advent 2020 – Psalm 24:1-10 (Dec. 21)

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? 

Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. (Psalm 24:3, 7, ESV)

When you read the Psalm for today, it’s helpful to picture King David leading the Ark of God back into Jerusalem and into the Temple. The streets are full of people following David, worshipping the Lord who created and owns all the world yet wills to dwell among His chosen people.

 Yet, David muses, who can enter the Lord’s most holy place? It can’t be just anyone casually trying to get close to God. Only those with pure hearts and hands can enter God’s presence. In other words, such a person not only has to get the actions of worship right but the motives and heart to do them for the right reasons. 

I talked about this passage with my wife, for I didn’t know just how to think of this passage in relation to Advent. I don’t want to write anything contrived, but then she mentioned a great illustration. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, had a unique opportunity to enter the holy place of God, and his heart was judged as impure. When the angel Gabriel told him that he and his wife Elizabeth would bear a son in their old age, Zechariah scoffed and doubted. God shut Zechariah’s mouth to discipline him for his unbelief. Deceit and impure obedience won’t be tolerated. 

Wow! So, what can any of us do? If Zechariah, who was called blameless before the Lord, could be struck mute for his unbelief, what can we expect when we ourselves go before the Lord? 

After Zechariah’s son John was born, he worshipped God for fulfilling His word. Zechariah had gone through his time of discipline and responded with humility toward the Lord. He prophesied in Luke 1, speaking to his son:

[76] And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
[77] to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
[78] because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
[79] to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:76–79, ESV)

Zechariah learned by experience that God is faithful to the covenant promises He makes. God sent the Lord of glory (Psalm 24:7) into the world, His own Son, to open the way to God. As Zechariah prophesied, the Lord Jesus entered the world like a sunrise on people trapped in darkness. He brought salvation, light, and even peace. 

The greatest of all blessings is having God in your life, present with you, to guide you, save you and give you peace. David recognized this as he sang Psalm 24. Do you recognize this? Jesus came to bring you back to God. Like those outside the gates cried out, I’ll echo in close today, “Let the King of Glory in!”

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Advent 2020 – Psalm 146:5-10 (Dec. 14)

This weekend I talked with an older man serving as a volunteer at a local community event. He and I were both wearing masks, and I asked him how the community responded to the Christmas event we were there to take part in. Attendance was down by more than half of previous years, but the turn in the conversation came when the man referred to his mask and said, “I think we’ll have to wear these things for the rest of our lives. I’m getting old, and I know this virus is bad, but I don’t know how much other bad stuff is still heading our way.” 

I felt the man’s pain. I think we’re all facing the unknown future this Advent, and it’s a bit frightening at times. In our brief talk I asked the man if he attended a church anywhere. He shared that he’d been burned in a church in the past and that since then he and his wife had never gone back. Now, churches aren’t the answer to our life problems, but they should be places that point us back to the living God. Ultimately my conversation with the man got cut off, but if there’s one thing he needs, and that I need, and that we all need – it’s the only true and living God to meet us where we are and help us. 

The first Advent of Jesus was all about that, and while today’s scripture in Psalm 146:5-10 isn’t a typical Advent text, it points us to the God who bends down to help His people. 

Verse 5 calls us to trust in the Living God. There’s only one Ruler and Power who makes everything and everyone and sustains it all. That’s God Himself, and there is no other. Blessed is that man who knows the Lord! 

Verses 7-9 pile up the descriptions of needy people: oppressed, hungry, prisoners, the blind, bowed down, sojourners, widow, fatherless. Each of these categories are desperate people. Pay attention to that pattern: God runs to aid helpless, needy people. He longs to identify with those most in need. 

That’s why we read: “the LORD sets prisoners free; the LORD opens blind eyes; the LORD lifts up; the LORD loves; the LORD watches over; the LORD upholds.” All these actions teach us that the Lord God is trustworthy, compassionate, powerful, and good. 

But what of the evil we face? What of the organized powers that align against the oppressed? The LORD will bring to ruin the way of the wicked. God Himself will deal with the wicked, making those who hate Him and hate us face ruin. 

So, blessed is the man whose help is the God of Jacob – the only living God. No matter what comes, if God is your help, you can confidently look to the future. If God is your help, you are free to rejoice!

When you meet people like that man I met, please tell them about the living God who can be their Help. And remind yourself of who your God is today.