Series:
Psalm
Title:
Christ teaches us to Glory
Text:
Psalm 34: 1-4
Date:
February 1, 2014
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
In the
heading of Psalm 34 we are told this is « A
Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove
him away, and he departed. »
It was
well-known David was God’s choice king of Israel. So Saul tried to kill David
to keep the throne for himself. When
Christ came in the flesh, it was known he is the King of God’s spiritual Israel.
Herod sought to kill Christ to keep an earthly throne for himself and sinners
by nature do the same.
So David
went into the land of the Philistines to Achish the king of Gath. Abimelech was
the title for their king like Pharaoh was a title for the Egyptian’s king. His
name was Achish. So David was in the land of Gath surrounded by his enemies. Christ our King dwelt in this earth
surrounded by his enemies.
1 Samuel 21: 11:
And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of
the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath
slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? 12: And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore
afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13:
And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their
hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down
upon his beard. 14: Then said
Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have
ye brought him to me? 15: Have I
need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in
my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? 22: 1: David
therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his
brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him.
Christ did
not feign madness but he appeared a madman to every God-hating rebel so we
crucified him. Yet, like David, God delivered Christ our King. We can read 1
Samuel 22: 1-2 this way: [Christ]
therefore departed [from this earth], and escaped [to the right hand of the
Father]: And when his brethren and all his father’s house hear [the gospel],
they [go] thither to [Christ]. And every one that is in distress [over their
sin], and every one that [is] in debt [to the law], and every one discontented
[bitter of soul], gather themselves unto [Christ through faith]; and he
[becomes THE] captain over them: and there are with [Christ a number no man can
number.]
Proposition: So like as David taught this Psalm to his brethren who
came to him, Christ our Prophet teaches all who come to him to give God all the
praise for saving us in Christ by his finished work.
Subject:
Christ teaches us to Glory
Divisions:
Christ teaches us 1) what it is to glory in the LORD 2) who glories in the LORD
3) how we are made to glory in the LORD.
WHAT IT IS TO GLORY
Psalm 34: 1: I will bless the LORD at all
times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2: My soul shall make her boast in the
LORD:…
In these
two statements Christ teaches us four things involved in glorying in the LORD.
One, to
bless or glory in the LORD is to praise only
the LORD—“I will bless the LORD…” Christ,
the Son of God, took flesh to glorify the triune God alone in the salvation of
God’s elect. It is in Christ that we
behold God’s glory. It is by faith in Christ, trusting him alone to perform
every aspect of our salvation, that we glory only in the LORD.
Hebrews 1:2: God has in these last days spoken to us by
his Son…3: [Christ is] the brightness of his glory, and the express image of
his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
John 1:14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
When we
are born of the Spirit of God we are brought to behold God’s glory in Christ
alone,
2 Corinthians 4:6: God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We do not
give all glory to the LORD if we give ourselves even a little praise. To bless
the LORD is to bless only the LORD.
We do so by trusting every aspect of our salvation into Christ’s hands.
Two, to
bless the LORD is to do so at all times—“I
will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be
in my mouth.” That means in happy times
or sad. On the cross we our Substitute bearing more sorrow than anyone ever
bore. He said, “Is there any sorrow like
unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in
the day of his fierce anger?” Yet, on the cross, we see Christ glorify God
more than any ever has or shall ever glorify God. We see him glorify God in perfection.
Every
moment Christ sends his preacher and speaks into the hearts of his people through
the gospel, Christ glorifies the LORD at all times.
By the
Holy Spirit, he brings every believer to glorify God at all times, even in the
sad times. When Paul and Silas were cast into prison for preaching Christ, “at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang
praises unto God.” (Acts 16: 25)
Brethren,
God’s providence may cause us sorrow but it is for our good and his glory. So
we are exhorted, “In every thing give
thanks: for this [whatever the trial] is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you.” (1 Thess 5: 18) To
praise God is to do so at all times continually.
Three, to
bless the LORD is to do so from the heart—“My soul shall…” The sinless GodMan glorified God with a
perfect heart all his days on this earth, even to the death of the cross. He
alone has done so in perfection.
In our
flesh, as we are born the first time, no sinner can glorify God from the heart.
All we are is sin in our flesh. How foolish for vain religion to continually
tell poor sinners to clean up the outside! Christ said,
Matthew 23:27: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear
beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all
uncleanness.
Mark 7: 21
[Christ said] For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, 22:
Thefts,…23: All these evil
things come from within, and defile the man.
Therefore,
Christ’s redeemed must and shall be born again of the Holy Spirit of God—given
a new, pure, holy heart—because pure religion is not merely outward but is from
the heart. The outward will follow but true religion begins in the heart.
1 Samuel 16: 7…man looketh on the outward appearance, but
the LORD looketh on the heart.
John 4: 23
[Christ said] the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. 24: God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.
So to
glorify God is to praise only God in Christ, it is to do so at all times, and it
is to do so from a new God-given spirit.
Four, to
bless the LORD is to boast in God our
Savior—“My soul shall make her boast in the LORD:…”
Jeremiah 9: 23:
Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory
in his riches: 24: But let him
that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am
the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the
earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. 25: Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will punish all them which are [physically] circumcised
with the [physically] uncircumcised; 26:
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that
are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these
nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are
uncircumcised in the heart.
Physical
circumcision was given by God to typify circumcision of the heart whereby God
makes his people alive, gives us a pure heart, and makes us cease glorying in
ourselves to glory in Christ alone.
Romans 2: 28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly;
neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is
that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise
is not of men, but of God.
God destroys
the wisdom of the wise and brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent,
how? He does three things. He saves using the
foolishness of preaching, he saves using only the preaching of Christ and him crucified and he uses weak, unimpressive, nobodies to preach
Christ. By this means, he
1 Corinthians 1: 28:...brings to nought things that are: 29: That no flesh should glory in his
presence. 30: But of him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: 31:
That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Be sure
to get this: only those saved by this means glory in the Lord alone. All who claim to be saved another way glory
in themselves. Whatever point is their different way is the point in which they
glory in self. The man who says he was saved hearing of a false jesus glories
in his own righteousness and holiness.
The man who demands the preacher have impressive credentials glories in
his own outward appearance and intellectualism.
And the man who claims to have been saved by teaching himself, apart
from hearing the gospel preached, glories in his own wisdom. To glory in the
Lord is to boast that our salvation is all of the Lord alone in God’s ordained
way!
WHO IT IS THAT WILL GLORY
Psalm 34: 2:…the humble shall hear thereof,
and be glad.
Christ
declares who it is that will hear this and glory only in the LORD—“he humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.” Only those God makes humble in heart shall be
glad when they hear this gospel give God all the glory!
The humble
hear and are glad that God is pleased to use the foolishness of preaching which
declares Christ crucified alone delivered through those who are weak and
worthless in themselves because it gives God all the glory and gives us none!
God has used this very means to make us glad that God saves this way! Those who want a part of God’s glory hear and
are anything but glad.
The
humble hear and are glad that God chose whom he would and passed by whom he
would because it gives God all the glory!
Those God
has humbled hear and are glad that Christ accomplished our redemption from the
curse of the law and is our only Righteousness because it gives Christ all the
glory!
The
humble hear and are glad that Christ is our Sanctifier and our Sanctification
because it gives Christ all the glory!
The humble hear and are glad that it is of the Holy Spirit of God that
Christ is made all unto us because it gives God all the glory! The humble hear
and are glad that we are kept by the power of God unto salvation and none shall
be lost because it gives God all the glory. The humble hear and are glad that
good works are by God’s grace who ordained them and makes us perform them
because it gives God all the glory!
The one
and only reason men find fault with the gospel is because they want praise that
belongs to God alone.
HOW IT IS THAT WE GLORY
Psalm 34: 3: O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
4: I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
The way
in which a sinner is brought to glory only in the LORD is when Christ calls us,
teaching us the truth and making the word effectual in our hearts. This is the only way a sinner will cease
boasting in his wisdom, his will, and his works. It is when Christ effectually commands
him in heart, “O magnify the LORD with me!”
Christ
magnified the LORD’s righteousness declaring God just and the Justifier of
everyone that believes on Christ. He
makes us magnify the LORD by submitting to Christ our Righteousness
Psalm 35:27: Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that
favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be
magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of [Christ] his servant.
Christ
calls us, commanding in our hearts, “let
us exalt his name together!” Exalting Christ is exalting God’s name. Christ is
·
Jehovah-hoseenu — “The Lord our Maker” (Psa. 95:6;1 Sam. 12:22).
·
Jehovah-jireh – “The Lord Will Provide” (Gen. 22:14).
·
Jehovah-nissi —“The Lord our
Banner” (Exo. 17:15).
·
Jehovah-rapha – “The Lord that Healeth Thee” (Ex 15:26).
·
Jehovah-shalom —“The Lord Our
Peace” (Joel 6:22-24).
·
Jehovah-raah —“The Lord Our
Shepherd” (Psa. 23:1).
·
Jehovah-tsidkenu – “The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jer. 23:6).
·
Jehovah-m’kaddesh — “The Lord that doth sanctify you” (Exo. 31:13).
·
Jehovah-shammah —“The Lord is
there” (Ezek. 48:35).
·
Jehovah-Jesus —“The Lord our
Savior” (Matt 1:21).
2 Samuel 7:13: He shall build an house for my name, and I
will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
Why do we
give God in Christ all the glory? Christ teaches us the gospel. Christ says, “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and
delivered me from all my fears.” While
in darkness, bearing the sins of his people, forsaken of God in justice, Christ
sought the LORD. And the LORD heard Christ and delivered him. And doing so, he
delivered all his people in him. Therefore, when he brought us to call on
the LORD—for the sake of Christ—he heard us and delivered us.
Christ
Jesus our risen Prophet, Priest and King is Preeminent in praising Jehovah our
triune God. It is only by Christ, through the preaching of the gospel, teaching
us through the Spirit of God in our hearts, that we are given life and faith to
bless the LORD, giving him all the praise as we rest entirely in Christ our
Salvation!
Isaiah 45:25: In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be
justified, and shall glory.
Isaiah 43:7: Even every one that is called by my name:
for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Amen!