Mexborough Baptist Church Sunday 18th July 2021
We begin our time together today with the words of Jesus when he was asked, in Matthew 22:36-39, which was the greatest commandment. Jesus replied: '“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”' We express our love for God in our first song 'I Love You Lord and I Lift My Voice' click on the link
We express our love for our neighbour by showing them respect and care, and this is going to be especially important in the next few weeks as restrictions are lifted. Whatever our thoughts and feelings at this time, we can be certain that Jesus is our Prince of Peace as our next song reminds us - 'You are the King of Glory' click on the link
Prayer
King of Kings, we love to sing praises to you. We rejoice in you, our maker. We exalt you, our King. We praise your name, for you delight in your people. We do not deserve to come into the presence of the Holy God of the Universe but you have crowned the humble with victory, you have lifted up those who are bowed down, you have clothed us in your righteousness. We come before you with confidence, not based on ourselves, but based on your love. Let your praises be in our hearts and on our lips. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Holy Lord, everything we need is found in you. We think of people in the floods in Belgium, Germany and Holland, especially those whose loved ones have died or are missing, and those who have lost homes and possessions. We think of those who are ill at home or in hospital or in care facilities. We think of the bereaved and those missing loved ones.
For those who feel broken, bring restoration.....
For those who feel weak, bring strength....
For those who weep, bring joy.....
For those with doubts, bring faith.....
For those who feel shame, bring freedom....
For those who feel burdened, bring rest....
For those who feel anxious, bring peace.....
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Family Corner
This week we're beginning a new series looking at some of the Psalms. Okay, what are psalms? Here's a video which answers that question click on the link
The last psalm in the book, Psalm 150, encourages us to praise the Lord with all kinds of instruments. So get out your keys, tambourines, pots and pans and sing along to this song click on the link
Lisa is going to read for us now Psalm 24...
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Saviour.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – he is the King of glory.
Our next hymn is based on the last few verses of the psalm - 'Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates' click on the link
Thank you to Enid who is now going to share with us her reflections on this psalm....
The writer Leonard Griffith, in his book 'Reactions to God', says: "THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE BIBLE, GOD SPEAKS TO MAN, THROUGH THE PSALMS, MAN SPEAKS TO GOD."
I have had the book a few years now, and those words made me want to read Psalms, a book in the Bible I had always thought was boring. I knew Psalm 23 of course, it's a great Psalm - The Lord is my Shepherd. Another of my favourites is Psalm 139, but I discovered that the Psalms are full of questions from the Psalmists. People who actually dared to ask God why things happened, e.g. Why Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts? Why have you rejected me?
Along with these cries for help, there are many Psalms giving thanks to God for his love and mercy, praise and wise thoughts. However, all the Psalms are personal human expressions and emotions and, perhaps more than in any other part of the Bible, they record real feelings and raw emotions and many of the psalmists find that they get an answer to their questions too!
What we will look at today is Psalm 24. We look at verses 1 - 6. "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it: for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." So it begins with the Psalmist praising our God of creation, establishing that the earth is indeed the Lord’s, the world he has made, and all who live in it belong to Him. The Psalmist acknowledges the majesty of the creator. But then he goes on to ask a question. "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?" How may anyone of us approach Creator God? He has qiven an answer. "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false – he will receive blessings from the Lord and vindication from God his Saviour. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob." Now we have to stop and think because it gives us a problem. Clean hands? Pure heart? Doesn’t tell lies? Doesn’t ever do anything wrong? How can we approach Lord God? Not one of us can claim to be in this situation, having clean hands and a pure heart, for we all know, as we are told in Romans 3 v 23, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." So what does qualify us to receive blessings and vindication from the Lord?
But, before we read the next part of this Psalm of David, I will explain the context in which it was written. Traditionally it has been associated with King David's re-location of the Ark of the Covenant, when it was brought into the tent that David pitched for it in Jerusalem. It symbolised the very real presence of God among them. The Ark contained the Ten Commandments which gave us the standards to live by. It contained an opah of Manna reminding the people of God’s provision for them in the wilderness. It contained Aaron's rod that budded – a reminder of God’s mighty renewing power. This celebration recorded here would have happened again when the Ark was placed behind the curtain in the holy place in Solomon's temple too. It was the understanding that God was in their presence when the Ark was in position and the people could openly worship and praise God because He was with them. David is recording the celebration the people felt at this exciting time. There would have been a large procession with singing and music while accompanying the Ark, and this Psalm was composed for a chorus of voices. Look at the next verses 7 – 10 on our screen. The people at worship, approaching the tent, would be singing verses 7 and 9, "Lift up your heads O you gates; and be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." Then the priests guarding the place of worship respond in verses 8 and 10, "Who is this King of glory, the Lord, Strong and Mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." We can almost hear the sound of this choir singing praises. Don’t we all love singing choir-style in two parts and praising God in song?
So back to our earlier question of the Psalm – how can we approach God with clean hands and a pure heart. The Psalm produces the answer. "HE THAT HATH CLEAN HANDS AND A PURE HEART, WHO HATH NOT LIFTED UP HIS SOUL TO AN IDOL OR SWEAR BY WHAT IS FALSE" (v 4). He must be the perfect person. This Psalm 24 is showing us even now, there is only one person in all history who fulfils those conditions. Jesus. He alone is worthy to approach the presence of God. Leonard Griffith writes, "At the cross Jesus won the victory over sin and death that qualified him to enter heaven and to open the scroll and break its seals (Revelations 5)." Jesus won that victory for us, on our behalf, in our place.
Before I finish, I want you to recall something I said near the beginning. Jesus, while he was in agony, dying on the cross, shouted out the first verse of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus the man, in his pain, now knew at this moment what it was like to feel separated from God, feel forsaken by God, and He cried out. Yet we know that in the Gospel of John ch 3 v 16 we read, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Hallelujah! We don’t have to stand by as disqualified spectators and simply watch the triumphal procession that approaches the presence of God. Our Lord takes us with him in the procession. In John ch 16 v 26-27 it says, "In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God."
I personally have not realised the implication of that verse before. So I will repeat it. "The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." Wow, Hallelujah again!!
A fitting prayerful response to Enid's reflections on Psalm 24 is the song 'Create in me a clean heart.' As we move into the week ahead of us, may this be our prayer. Click on the link
Benediction
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:22-23). And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen.
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