Baptist Christian Church

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Psalm 48

Psalms 45-48 celebrate God’s reign over the earth.  In Psalm 45 we learned God has anointed the King Who reigns in Jerusalem with His bride, which pictures Christ and the Church for us today.  Psalm 46 asserts that God Himself is our Mighty Fortress pictured in the city of Jerusalem with its splendid Temple, walls and gate.  Psalm 47 reveals the Lord Most High and His reign over all the earth.  And, Psalm 48 calls upon us to survey magnificent Zion and marvel over the great city of God!

Psalm 48 is the climax of this grouping of Psalms which celebrate God’s righteous reign over the earth.

Pilgrims would come to Jerusalem to pay homage to Yahweh during the Feast of Tabernacles. 

The F.O.T. commemorated the provision of God for the Children of Israel during the Wilderness

Wanderings.  Psalm 48 calls upon its readers to envision themselves standing at the foot of the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem, being invited to “Walk around Zion,” observing that great city and celebrating the God who rules over them both.

Let us come to survey this great Celestial City so we may worship and celebrate the God Who Reigns there! 

1. A Celebration of Glorious Mount Zion in Verses 1-3
   1. A Theocentric City—”Great is the Lord…The City of our God” The Lord is great therefore the city is holy.  God’s presence in the city endues it with a very special character.  The City does not inform us of Who God is, rather God informs us of what the city is and shall be.
      1. Illustration:  The 1939 film “Wizard of Oz” was an adaptation from L. Frank Baum’s children’s fantasy novel entitled; “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” written in the year 1900.  Mr. Baum himself was a political reporter in the 1890’s while living in South Dakota.  Over the years, many have speculated that Baum’s work in “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was essentially a political allegory…—Genevieve Carlton 
      2. Application:  Unlike the Wizard of Oz, the Great King’s power and influence is not an illusion.
   2. A Supreme Entity—” Beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.”-Psalm 48:2 NIV.  The Hebrew word for “north” is actually the word “Zaphon”.  This mountain is identified in Ugaritic and other Canaanite myths as being the dwelling place of the storm god Baal-Zaphon.  The Canaanites believed this particular location was where the god Baal-Zaphon assembled at the top of the mountain with the other gods.  In the Baal Cycle of stories from Ugarit, Baal sends a message to Anat, goddess of war, bidding her to come to him: in the midst of my mountain, the divine Zaphon, in the sanctuary, in the mountain of my inheritance, in the pleasant place, in the hill I have conquered. The concept of the “gods” dwelling atop mountains was very common amongst the ancient peoples of the near east.
   3. Explanation:  The Israelites also believed their God Yahweh dwelled on the mountain, except the mountain upon which Yahweh dwelt was Zion, the city of Jerusalem…Here, the Psalmist employs the word to imply that Yahweh’s position as the highest God of all the gods.
   4. Application:  When was the last time we took a pilgrimage to Mount Zion to behold the Great King of the City?   
2. A Celebration of Indestructible Mount Zion in Verses 4-8
3. A Celebration of the Congregation in Verses 9-11
4. Take a Walk Around Zion in Verses 12-14—Pilgrims were invited to walk around the city of Jerusalem and “count her towers…consider her ramparts” in verses 12 and 13.  And following the meditations of the great John Owen, we shall consider 5 great ramparts which we have in the New Covenant:
   1. The Great Rampart of Christ as King of the Church and Zion
   2. The Great Rampart of God’s Innumerable Promises—
   3. The Great Rampart of God’s Watchful Providence Over the Church—
   4. The Great Rampart of God’s Presence—
   5. The Great Rampart of God’s Covenant— 

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Psalm 46

If I were to ask you about Martin Luther most people would rightly associate Luther with the Scripture text of Romans 1:17— “The just shall live by faith”.  But one often overlooked element of Luther’s life and testimony is the key role which the Psalms played in his salvation.  Luther taught the Psalms for many years and loved them dearly.

Luther said, “We sing this psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends his church and his word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh and sin.”

Perhaps no other Psalm captures the intensity, severity and hope of the Great Protestant Reformation than the 46^th.

Let us come unto this great poem to be strengthened in our confidence in the Lord whilst we are fraught with many dangers on every side, so we, like the early Reformers of the Church may persevere in faith for the kingdom and glory of God!

What was it about Psalm 46 that stirred such great faith and works from the Reformation Christians?  In our study, we will consider several key points that will hopefully help us to live as faithful believers in a contemporary church desperately in need of Reforming!

1. A Mighty Fortress is Our God in Verses 1-3 & 7
   1. God Himself is the Mighty Fortress—Just as the Hebrew text and Luther says in the hymn, God alone is our refuge and fortress, He Himself and no other. Nothing or no one else in heaven or on earth can protect like God.
      1. The Glasshouse of Riches
      2. The Glasshouse of Self-Reliance
      3. The Glasshouse of Relationships — Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also; The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still; His kingdom is forever.
   2. God is a Fortress in Even the Most Unfathomable Catastrophes in Verses 2-3.
      1. Application:  Elizabeth Elliot endured the death of not 1 but 2 husbands.
      2. When unimaginable calamities hit us in the face we must be reminded of the Psalmists words in verse 10—“Be still, and know that I am God.”  When we rest our fledgling souls on God alone, He will infuse our hearts with His strength so we may endure. 
2. The City of God in Verses 4-7—Whilst verses 1-3 emphasize God alone is our refuge, verses 4-7 show us the City of God is our defense.   
   1. Dual Imagery—
   2. Historical Setting—
   3. Application:  
3. The Lord of Hosts in Verses 8-11—This stanza does not look to the past as the previous one did but rather looks to the future whereby God will defeat all armies and establish His eternal kingdom in righteousness.
   1. God as Conqueror in Verse 9.  The peace which God says He will bring is not because He will sign treaties with His enemies but rather God will pound His enemies into submission.
      1. Illustration—After his victorious conquests of Italy and other places, the emperor Vespasian’s campaigns were commemorated on a medal which pictured the goddess of peace holding an olive branch in one hand and a torch setting fire to armor on the other.  The olive branch represents negotiated peace.  The torch and destroyed armor represent imposed peace.  Both are peace, but it’s the imposed peace pictured in Psalm 46.
      2. “Be Still and Know that I am God”—This phrase does not necessarily mean to lead a quiet and contemplative life in the midst of our emotional defeats. Like Elizabeth Elliot suggested it can be used like she did; but this needs to be nuanced slightly.  Rather, this Psalm is saying we need to lay down our arms and surrender to God and His perfect will for our lives.  God’s peace is available to us through the work of Christ upon the Cross but it will not always be available to us.  If we don’t surrender and lay down our weapons now we will be met with the justice of God upon the battlefield and we will not stand.  We can meet Him today at the Cross and make peace with Him on His terms.
   2. Who is this “Lord of Hosts”? — “Hosts” refers both to the armies of Israel but also to God’s heavenly hosts, the armies of heaven.  Here we have another dual meaning.  The name for God usually found in the 2^nd book of Psalms is “Elohim”. But here we have Yahweh.
      1. Illustration—While Elisha was at Dothan, that city was surrounded by BenHadad and the army of the Syrians.  They were attempting to capture Elisha and one morning Elisha’s young servant saw the many horses and chariots positioned around the city, he was afraid and cried to Elisha “Ohmy lord, what shall we do?” in II Kings 6:15. Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing; Were not the right man on our side, The man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he, Lord Sabaoth his name, From age to age the same, And he shall win the battle.
   3. Who is this “God of Jacob”? — Jacob was a trickster and schemer as his name implies.  The great Alexander Maclaren wrote “The Lord of Hosts is the God of Jacob.  More wonderous still, the God of Jacob is the Lord of Hosts”
      1. Conclusion:  Is this your God? —As He was the God of Luther, Elizabeth Elliot and St. Augustine?—Is the God Who is a Mighty Fortress your God?       

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Psalm 44

“God never sleeps” wrote the Scottish commentator Murdoch Campbell in his notes on Psalm 44.  You may remember after the prophet Elijah mockingly hypothesized that the gods of the Canaanites failed to respond because they were asleep in 1 Kings 18.

The Psalmist of Israel imagines that Yahweh is asleep in verse 23:

“Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!”

Remember in Mark 4:35-41—

It was the Lord Jesus sleeping amidst a terrible storm that caused such panic for the disciples. 

Also, it was the thought of God sleeping which is the occasion for the writing of the 44^th Psalm.  And, in our day when it seems as if God is not answering our prayers we, like the Psalmist and the disciples on the Sea of Galilee can become frightened and despairing.  

Have you ever felt as if God wasn’t hearing your prayers?  Perhaps you are like the Israelites in this Psalm and you know you have done nothing that would make God turn a deaf ear to you and yet it seems as if God is not there, it seems as if God is sleeping.  Let us awaken to the reality of Who God is and what He is doing in times when we feel as if He is sleeping!

We are not given a historical context for the writing of Psalm 44.  But apparently, the Israelites had recently suffered a serious military defeat on the battlefield.  It’s during times of our defeat at the hands of our enemies when we may feel as if God is asleep.

1. God’s Past Deliverance in Verses 1-8—The psalm opens with a glance at the past history of the nation and the acknowledgment that, from the first, every victory which they had won had been won not by their own strength, but by the immediate hand of God. This was, it might be said, the perpetual lesson of their history. They did not rise upon their Egyptian masters, but God bowed the heart of the monarch and the people by his signs and wonders, till they thrust them out in haste. At the Red Sea they did not turn to fight with the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh; they were but to stand still and see the victory of Jehovah. When they came to Canaan, their first exploit was not a feat of arms, for Jericho fell by a miracle…The Jewish host with a better faith believed that in every battle an invisible Captain led them and knew that, whenever they conquered their enemies, it was because an invisible arm gave them the victory.—J.J. Stewart Perowne  
   1. The Jewish people were keenly aware their many victories in the past could be attributed to God alone.  The Psalmist calls to remembrance a 2-Fold victory:
      1. The Distant Past—In verses 1-3.
      2. The Recent Past—In verses 6-8. 
      3. Application—
2. The Perplexing Present in Verses 9-25—This is another anticlimactic Psalm.
   1. A Painful Reality—In Verses 9-10, we see the phrase “but now”.  In view of God’s mighty acts in the past why is God not working that way now?
      1. In Verses 17-18—The Psalmist says they were doing everything right according to God’s Word and yet they were defeated.
      2. In Verses 20-21—The Psalmist specifically says they had not done any sinful act to incur a reason for their defeat at the hands of their enemies…and yet they were defeated nonetheless.  What in the world do you do when you do everything right and nothing wrong and you are defeated?
         1. Doing everything right in church yet defeated…
         2. Doing everything right by children and yet defeated…
         3. Doing everything right by your spouse yet defeated…
         4. Doing everything right at your job and yet defeated…
      3. In Verse 22—This verse is quoted by St. Paul in Romans 8.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Rom. 8:35–37).  The people of God suffer innocently.  It’s one thing to suffer because you are bad (sinful)…but its altogether a different kind of suffering to suffer because of doing good.  Christ, Paul and the early Christians served God faithfully, yet they faced death all day long because of just that.   
      4. Final Take-Away:  It would be easy to say that Christians suffer for their sins but that’s not what Psalm 44 and Romans 8 teach us.
3. A Redemptive Hope in Verses 22-26—In simple terms, in a nutshell the Psalmist says “Lord, you helped us in the past, we are asking you to help us now.  But you are not helping us, even though we have done nothing to keep you from helping us.  So therefore, help us”.  There are at least 2 closing points which help us with the problem of suffering in this Psalm:
   1. When God’s People Suffer for Righteousness we must remember its “for your sake”.  In other words, we suffer for God’s sake.  Jesus mentions this in Matthew 5:10-1
   2. When God’s people suffer for Righteousness we must remember our final deliverance will also be “for the sake of your steadfast love”.  In other words, God’s gracious covenant will have the final word in our destiny and NOT the defeats we face at the hands of our enemies.  The love of God for us infinitely outweighs any defeats we receive in this life.  No enemy, however great can separate us from God’s love:  “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us…For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:18 & 38-39)
   3. Final Application:  Perhaps the most perplexing thing about all this is that it is slaughtered sheep who will ultimately conquer the world.  They will conquer because God is actually in control of all human history bringing His sovereign will to pass, His hesed “steadfast love” is unfailing and God Himself is the Only One Who has the final say so in what happens to you!

God is not asleep in Psalm 44 and He does not need to awaken.  We are the ones whom God is awakening to His omnipotent sovereign power over all things and He is calling us to trust Him for the greater reality of His kingdom work unfolding!

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Psalm 41

Book 1 contains Psalms 1–41, and this means that we have come to the last psalm of Book 1 with this chapter. The other books contain Psalms 42–72 (Book 2), Psalms 73–89 (Book 3), Psalms 90–106 (Book 4), and Psalms 107–150 (Book 5).

Psalm 40 ends with the thought that the Psalmist is “poor and needy” in verse 17.  Notice that Psalm 41 begins with “blessed is the one who considers the poor”.

And this leads us into 2 great themes of this Psalm— “blessing and mercy”.  The word “blessed” occurs 3 times.  1, 2 and 13.  Then mercy is found in verses 4 and 10.

The Lord Jesus alludes to this great Psalm in Matthew 5:7 when He says “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”.  And then in Matthew 25:34-36, Christ gives an exposition of blessing and mercy when He says “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me”

Let us come as poor and needy sinners seeking to receive mercy so that we may give mercy to our fellow human being thus being blessed and being a blessing to others!

This great poem is rich in truth regarding mercy and blessing.  As we study this passage pray God will open your heart fully to its precious message!

1. Blessed are the Merciful—Notice that the first book of Psalms has begun and concluded with blessings.  There is a 2-fold blessing:
   1. We need to show compassion to the weak. —We are a blessing to others!
   2. We need to ask God for His mercy to be bestowed upon us because we are weak. —We receive God’s blessings!
   3. David petitions his enemies for mercy because he said he had been merciful to them. 
   4. If we have lived lives of mercy towards others…we should expect to be treated mercifully ourselves by some…but many other times we should expect to be treated mercilessly. 
   5. We have no right to ask for God to be merciful to us if we are not merciful to others.  
   6. We receive the greatest blessing when we are merciful to others.  And we are a blessing to others when we are merciful.
   7. There are at least 7 blessings we receive from God when we are merciful to others in verses 1-3— The Lord will “deliver him in times of trouble,” “protect him,” “preserve his life,” “bless him in the land,” “not surrender him to the desire of his foes,” “sustain him on his sickbed,” and “restore him” to health.
   8. How can we ever hope to extend mercy to others and be blessed? —Be in union and communion with the God of Mercy!
   9. Notice the personal care and interest provided for us by God—Its not just general although God does that too.  But God is specific, when we are sick He comforts, when we are discouraged He lifts us up, when we are not sure what decision to make, He gives us guidance! 
2. A Plea for Mercy in Verses 4-10—What we need to understand is that even if we are merciful to others we still have no right to expect God’s mercy because the very essence of mercy is that it is undeserved.  God shows mercy to those who should receive the exact opposite—wrath!  When David asks for mercy he is doing so from a position of believing himself to be a sinner in verse 4!
   1. The word for “mercy” suggests not mere physical healing but rather body and soul, both spiritual and physical healing!
   2. Our great enemies the world, the flesh and the devil do everything but extend mercy to us:
      1. Jealous Enemies in verse 5
      2. Two-Faced Enemies in verse 6
      3. Condemning Enemies in verses 7-8
         1. Suffering is the nature of humanity—”Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7)
         2. Suffering develops Christian character —”Suffering produces perseverance” (Rom. 5:3)
         3. Suffering is for the Glory of God—Perhaps the greatest test of our love for God is when we feel as if we are suffering unjustly…will we still love God even though we are suffering?
         4. Be Very Careful with making someone think they are suffering because God is punishing them! —That is the opposite of mercy and we forfeit God’s blessings for us and others this way!
      4. Backstabbing Enemies in Verse 9
         1. Christ quotes this verse 9 in John 13:18 concerning the betrayal of Judas.  To be a “back-stabber” is the opposite of being merciful and we circumvent God’s mercy and blessings when we do that!
3. The Results of Mercy and Blessing in Verses 10-12
   1. Grace
   2. Being raised up
   3. Vindication
   4. God delights in us
   5. Our enemies will not triumph over us
   6. Being upheld by God
   7. Sitting in God’s presence forever. Truly, Jesus was right when He said “Blessed are the Merciful for they shall obtain mercy”
4. “Amen and Amen” in Verse 13—This Psalm ends with a crescendo of praise!  Books 1, 2 and 3 all end with the phrase “Amen and Amen”.  Book 4 ends with “Let all the people say, Amen! Praise the Lord” and book 5 ends with a double Hallelujah or “Praise the Lord”—What a fitting finale!
   • Psalm 1 shows us the faithful root themselves in Scripture
   • Psalm 2 reveals the victory of David and the final victory of David’s greater Son Jesus Messiah
   • Psalm 3 and 4 teach us to meditate on God and His Word Morning and Evening
   • Psalm 6 and 32 tell us God is willing and able to forgive sins
   • Psalm 7 reveals God’s justice and Psalm 8 His Majesty 
   • Psalms 9, 20, 24, 35 and 40 all speak of deliverance from enemies and the perseveration of the people of God in trouble 
   • Psalm 14 exposes the most foolish person in all the world
   • Psalm 22 shows us how to suffer victoriously 
   • Psalm 22-24 are all Shepherd Psalms
   • Psalm 27 says God is our Light and Salvation 
   • Psalm 28 tells us about the kind of prayer God answers
   • Psalm 29 reveals God’s Glory
   • Psalm 30 gives us the God of Joy
   • Psalm 31 tells us God is our Refuge 
   • Psalm 37 affirms we can rest secure in God no matter our circumstances
   • Psalms 38 and 41 show us that God is our help in sickness 
   • And therefore, we say:

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.