January 20, 2008

We especially want to concentrate this morning on the words of verses 5 and 6.  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,    whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth

What do think of when you hear the word, "Blessed is he?"  Oh, blessed-that is one of those holy words.  It's one of those words we use in prayer or in church.  It's one of those solemn words we say when we want others to know we are serious about our faith.  If that's what this word means to you, then it's lost the meaning that it had for Psalmist who wrote it or at least the emotion behind it.

Instead of reading the word blessed, if you are a Packers fan I want to you think of how would feel if the Packers not only win their playoff game today, but go on to win the Super Bowl.  I want you to think of how you would feel if the Publishers Clearing House people came running up to your door with a check for 20 million dollars.  Or even more significantly I want you to think of how you'd feel if you had cancer and the doctors, after they told you only had six months to live, now tell you that there is no sign of cancer anywhere in your body.  If you can put yourself in one these situations then you can begin to feel the emotion the Psalmist had when he wrote the world blessed.  It's a feeling of extreme excitement and joy.

And why was the Psalmist so excited? Let me begin by framing what I am about to say with a illustration about the size of universe, taken from Phillip Yancey's recent book, Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference?  Yancey writes,

"If the Milky Way galaxy were the size of the entire continent of North America, our solar system would fit in a coffee cup. Even now, two Voyager spacecraft are hurtling toward the edge of the solar system at a rate of 100,000 miles per hour. For almost three decades they have been speeding away from Earth, approaching a distance of 9 billion miles. When engineers beam a command to the spacecraft at the speed of light, it takes 13 hours to arrive. Yet this vast neighborhood of our sun-in truth, the size of a coffee cup-fits along with several hundred billion other stars and their minions in the Milky Way, one of perhaps 100 billion such galaxies in the universe. To send a light-speed message to the edge of that universe would take 15 billion years.

Now, the God who made all of that chose to create on this speck of dust we call earth a creature in whom he would take a special interest, a creature to whom he would reveal himself, a creature to whom he would speak and interact with, a creatures whose action he would pay attention to, and he whose requests he would consider.  How did the Psalmist put it in Psalm 8?

³              When I consider your heavens,

            the work of your fingers,

            the moon and the stars,

            which you have set in place,

⁴              what is man that you are mindful of him,

            the son of man that you care for him?

Have ever stopped and thought how privileged we are as human creatures that great Creator of the universe should take a special interest in us!  But, as if that were not enough, there's even more to it that that.

Notice that verse 5 refers to the great Creator as the God of Jacob.  The Psalmist here is referring to the promise that God had made first to Abraham in Genesis 17: 7, the promise that he would be his God and the God of his children after them.  After human beings continually rebelled against him, God narrowed his attentions to one people and chose to have a special relationship with one man and his family.  That man was Abraham.  But, why does the verse say Jacob?  This becomes clear if we read what the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 9. 

it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. ⁹For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

(That son was Isaac.  Paul is pointing out that God chose Sarah's son Isaac and not Hagar's son Ishmael or any of Abraham's other children receive and carry-on that special promise.)

Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.  Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad-in order that God's purpose in eleIsaac.  Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad-in order that God's purpose in election might stand: ¹²not by works but by him who calls-she was told, "The older will serve the younger."^{„T 13}Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

Again, God chose one son, Jacob, and not  the other, Esau, to be the son who would receive his special promise and attention.  So, out all the people he made our Creator God chose to have a special relationship only with the children of Jacob-only with those who descended from his 12 sons.  Out of all the creatures on this planet the Creator of this universe the Creator chose to have a relationship with human beings.  And of all the human beings he chose to have a special relationship with Jacob's family and his descendants

All the rest of the people on earth were blinded by their sin to the true God and instead worshipped gods of their own making.  In the words of Romans 1: 22

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

And even though Jacob's children were also tempted to do this, the Creator never stopped revealing himself to them.  He kept sending his prophets- punishing them and blessing them.  In the words Deuteronomy 32: 10,

He shielded [them] and cared for [them];

            he guarded [them] as the apple of his eye,

But what does all of this have to do with us?  In Romans 4: 16, Paul writes,

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations."

Those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior receive the promise of Abraham.  In fact later in Romans 11, God compares his people to an olive tree and he compares us believers who are not Jews to branches that have been grafted into that olive tree, who root is Jesus Christ. 

And so, we are also children of Jacob.  Of all the people on the face of earth the Creator also chose us.  What is that scripture I've been quoting over the last few weeks?

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Of all the people on the face of the earth we have been chosen to be sons and daughters of God.   

Now, all the promises of scripture are rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ and in what he did through his death and resurrection.  That was true for sons and daughters of God in the Old Testament who, even though they didn't understand, still believed the promise.  And that's true for you and me who know Jesus and trust in him.

Now this all sounds really wonderful.  But, maybe at this point some here this morning are thinking, "If God is promising so much to me, why is my life in the shape it's in."  I know that some of you are struggling with illness, mental and physical.  I know of you are struggling with addictions.  All of us struggle with our sin.  So, what does it mean that we are blessed?  Maybe the reason we are not jumping up and down like Packer's fans is that we don't feel all that much like winners.

I would love to be able to give you the false promises of some TV evangelists and tell you that you can be winners-you can be rich and healthy and prosperous if only you have enough faith.  But, instead I come with the words of Jesus.

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 

In this world you will have trouble.  In this world you will be persecuted.  In this world you will struggle against poverty, sickness, cruelty, pain, death, and sin.

Notice the ones who receive the good news of this Psalm, verses 7- 8

He upholds the cause of the oppressed

            and gives food to the hungry.

            The LORD sets prisoners free,

⁸              the LORD gives sight to the blind,

            the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,

            the LORD loves the righteous.

⁹              The LORD watches over the alien

            and sustains the fatherless and the widow,

And how does he do that?  What does our text say?

Verse 3:  "whose help is the God of Jacob;"

Verse 4: "whose hope is the Lord his God"

The great Creator promises to be our help.  What does that mean?  I can think of no better explanation than what Paul gave when he said in Philippians 4: 13,

¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

 I am tempted to tell you some inspiring story of a Christian who accomplished great things in spite of a social or physical handicap.   And I found quite a number of examples I could have used.  Yet, we should remember that Paul who was first inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words was under house arrest awaiting trial in Rome.  He didn't know if he would ever get out and he actually longed for death, but was convinced that he needed to stay for a little while for the sake of the new Christians to whom he was writing.  Listen to what he wrote in chapter 1 verses 23- 25,

I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;  but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue

As those who belong to the Creator, we know that we are here on this earth for a years to do the work he has assigned us.  And while we are here he promises to give us what we need to accomplish that work.  He promises to sustain us until our assignment is over and he calls us home.

The great Creator also promises us that he has a home for us-a home where prisoners will be set free, where oppressed will receive justice, where the blind will receive sight, where those who are bowed down will be exalted, where the fatherless and widow will know an eternal family-the home of righteousness.

But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.  (2 Peter 3: 13)

That is our hope-that one who made the stars will someday open the door of heaven, smile on us and say, "Come home my child."

We began by considering the wonderful excitement of being chosen by the Creator of the Universe.  Of all the billions of his creatures in his vast creation the Creator has poured out his love and attention on us. Such a thought fills us at least for moment with the feeling of awesome happiness.  But, as we each face the realities of this week that wonderful feeling may fade.  When that happens, it may be well to remember these wise words from C. S. Lewis who concluded his spiritual autobiography Surprised by Joy, with these words,

"But, what, in conclusion of Joy for that, after all, is what the story has mainly been about. To tell you the truth, the subject has lost nearly all interest for me since I became a Christian. ...I now know that the experience, considered as a state of my own mind, had never had the kind of importance I once gave it. It was valuable only as a pointer to something other and outer. While that other was in doubt, the pointer naturally loomed large in my thoughts. When we are lost in the woods the sight of a signpost is a great matter. He who first sees it cries, "Look!" The whole party gathers round and stares. But when we have found the road and are passing signposts every few miles, we shall not stop and stare. They will encourage us and we shall be grateful to the authority that set them up. But we shall not stop and stare, or not much; not on this road, though their pillars are of silver and their lettering of gold.  ‘We would be at Jerusalem.'"

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

That is hope our Creator and Redeemer gives to all his sons and daughters.  May his Spirit give each one here today the faith to know that hope in our lives!  AMEN!