← ArchivePsalmsPsalms – When Kings Recognize The King (Psalm 21:1-13)DateJune 26, 2022SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextPsalms 21:1–13Passages in this sermonPsalms 512:26Psalms 216:59Philippians 321:58Romans 522:49TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00So, as you saw in the video, if you're just now tuning in, in person, mentally, or online,0:29my name is Josh, lead pastor, one of our pastors here at Bethel. And let me just remind you how much I love you. Last weekend, I could have been on the beach in San Diego, but I went to the hotel room and recorded a sermon because I care. And right now, I am missing recreation at kids camp to be with you. So, we have a group of 39 students and adults, chaperones that are at Shaco Springs.0:58Many of those boys and girls are making spiritual decisions. They're wrestling with faith. They're wrestling with, is how did my parents' faith become mine? How does Jesus become real? So, I'm going to ask you at some point this morning to pause and pray for those 39, 38 because one of them's here. But I'm missing recreation to be with you. And I like recreation, by the way. I'm a big kid at heart. Pray for your students who are at kids camp at Shaco Springs right now.1:27As we do every week, we remind ourselves that we gather because of the gospel. We don't gather because we want to earn God's favor. We gather because Jesus Christ took our place on the cross. So, this is not the church. This is a place where the church gathers. And that's a distinction. So, this is the place where a church gathers and we call it Bethel Baptist. If you're new here thinking, what in the world have I ventured upon?1:55This is what we call the people of God. And God's promise to us is when we gather in his name, Jesus is also here. His presence is with you and with me. We're going to begin again, like we've done this summer, in the book of Psalms. We are walking through not every psalm. That would take three years, 150 psalms in total. But we're looking at eight different genres or types of psalms.2:22So, we looked at the psalm of confession last week, Psalm 51. And today, we're going to look at a psalm of royalty, a kingly psalm. And if we're not careful, and occasionally, the scriptures can feel distant from our modern framework. This typically happens, I find, when the context of a scripture passage is maybe removed from your practice in life.2:45And I believe that the royal psalms is one of those instances. Now, the royal psalms in scripture have three different commonalities. There's a mention of a king that should be given, right? It's a royal, kingly psalm. There's usually the mention of David. And also, there's a mention of an anointed one.3:15So, not every kingly psalm is a messianic psalm. But they most often speak of the one who is messiat, or the anointed one. And for those who have given their life to Jesus, we understand that the great king who is anointed is King Jesus. That's the royal psalms. And I believe they're disconnected because most of us don't interact with kings on a daily basis.3:40So, when I say the word king, what comes to your mind? Just take a five-second mental exercise. Don't raise your hand. Don't tell me. Don't blurt out. Don't tweet me. When I say the word king, what's the first image that pops into your head? Don't tell me. Some of you are thinking of the 1611 King James, right? He's the patron of one of the earliest English Bibles.4:09Many of you still have a King James Bible that you learn to read. And God has used that to shape and guide your heart. So, maybe when I say kings, you think of, aha, King James. Some of you are thinking of a different King James. You're thinking of LeBron James, the basketball player, right? The king. So, when I talk about kingship, you go to the NBA.4:36Some of you might be thinking of the king of burgers. Have it your way. Have it your way. Burger King. Now, let me just say this. I don't think we have any Burger King franchisees owners here. In my humble opinion, Burger King is not even the prince of burgers, okay? That's just between you and I. That doesn't make my top five, but we'll move on from that point.5:05Don't believe everything they tell you. They're not the king of burgers. And some of you watch the crown, which is a reminder of royalty in England, the monarchy there. But even the crown's not about the king. It's mostly about the queen. So, when we think of crowns, sometimes we read these and it's completely disconnected from our modern life. But for the people of God in the Old Testament, the king was life.5:34It was woven into the king, the king, the prophet, and the priest were the three ordained mechanisms where God's community functioned, right? The king literally represented God's presence. He was the intermediary between authority to them. And for the people, the king represented God, the people's authority back to the Lord.6:01The king was their life. So, when we read this psalm, when the king is praising God, this is not the people saying, oh, look at how awesome the king is. The king's praise is their praise. When the king says, God, I trust in you and you alone. It's not just the king. It's the people of God saying, we trust you.6:29So, I'm asking for 30 minutes. Would the monarchy become real to us? Would the king of the scriptures become king of your heart? Don't see this as some far distant, far, far land. But we have a great king. And he lives and he reigns on the throne right now. So, let's read this royal psalm. Psalm 21.6:59Psalm 21. The sermon title is simple. When kings recognize the king. When kings recognize the king. Lord, the king, little k, notice that, finds joy in your strength. How greatly he rejoices in your victory. You have given him his heart's desire and have not denied the request of his lips.7:24Verse 3. For you meet him with rich blessings. You place a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked you for life and you gave it. Length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through your victory. You confer majesty and splendor upon him. You give him blessing and honor. You cheer him with joy in your presence.7:53For the king relies upon the Lord through the faithful love of the Most High. He is not shaken. Your hand will capture all of your enemies. Your right hand will seize those who hate you. You will make them burn like a fiery furnace when you appear. The Lord will engulf them in his wrath and the fire will devour them. You will wipe away their progeny from the earth and their offspring from the human race.8:23Though they intend to harm you and devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail. Instead, you put them to flight when you ready your bowstrings to shoot at them. Be exalted, Lord, in your strength. We will sing and praise your might. Let's pray and then we will jump into the word. Father, as the song says, Lord, we bend our knee and we bow our head.8:52Lord, we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus. And, Lord, we confess right now that often this week we have tried to build our own kingdoms. And, Lord, we have tried to sit upon the throne that we have built. Lord, would you remove us? Because there is no king but King Jesus.9:22So, Lord, there is no victory in our life that does not come from you. There is no strength that is not from your hands. Lord, bless your people and bless the reading of your word that we will leave here changed, edified, and challenged by your good grace and through your living word. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Well, there are attributes that every Christ follower needs.9:50These are not the only attributes, but there are attributes that you need. And I believe that three of them are this. You need reliance and dependence upon God. You need assurance upon the Lord. And you need praise in your life. And we see those three attributes. So, those are your three points. There is no poem today. Just three points. The kingly reliance that we are going to look at in the first part of this chapter.10:20You have the kingly assurance and then it ends with a kingly praise. And I think David is telling us this is how we need to live. Look at verse 1. Lord, the king finds joy. In whose strength? Not the king's strength. Not the empire's strength.10:48But Lord, your strength. So, the king is relying upon the Lord alone. Now, if there's anyone in the history of the world that could rely upon themselves, it should be the king. Who's going to tell the king what to do? No one. He's the king. And yet, David is setting the precedent that even the king should rely upon the true king. So, let me ask right now, if you are honest, who do you depend upon?11:17Who do you depend upon? There's a concept that undergirds Western society, particular American society. And it goes like this, rugged individualism. Thankfully, we live in a country where if you work hard, most people can have anything they desire if you put your mind to it.11:42There is really no other country in the world that people could do that. Do you understand what God has given us here in this country? The danger of that, though, is when we begin to receive from the work of our hands, we can easily say, look what I have done. Rather than saying, God, look what you have given me.12:11And the kingly reliance is the reminder that you ultimately don't depend on yourself. You depend upon God every second of every day. And for me, that posture is freeing. David didn't have to depend on anyone. David was the first person in the history of the world that had a TikTok named after him. I'm serious. There was an early dance video that the ladies of the community went around singing and dancing.12:39And the song sounded like this. Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his tens of thousands. Like, David was the inventor of the TikTok. And even David said, God, I might have killed 10,000, but you are the one. I rely upon.13:10The sin of self-reliance runs deep, doesn't it? Oftentimes, the one who competes most for the throne of your life is the one who looks you in the mirror when you brush your teeth in the mornings. We are the greatest danger to our own lives. Because we feel like we can make our life. And was it not in the garden where the sin of self-reliance began to creep from the first time?13:36Do you remember what Satan says to Adam and Eve? The very beginning. Satan says, man, look at that tree. It is desirable. And there's this interchange. Right? Adam and Eve said, well, we can't eat of that because God told us not to. Full stop. It didn't matter why God told them. They should have said, if God doesn't want it, we don't want it because God always wants what is best for my life.14:06And Satan poses the question. Really, he was putting a seed of doubt in their minds. He said, well, the reason God doesn't want you to eat this is because you will become like him. You will know the difference between good and evil. I believe the temptation was this. Satan was saying to the first man and first woman, if you eat of this tree, you won't have to rely upon God anymore.14:31He won't have to tell you what's right and wrong. You'll know for yourself. The sin of self-reliance began with your great, great, great, great, great grandparents. And it didn't stop there. The sin of self-reliance runs deep. Church, let me tell you this, though. How do we defeat the sin of self-reliance?15:02We depend upon Jesus, the true king. And to put Christ as king in your life, God's strength, God's reliance is the most freeing posture in the world. Some of you today might not release to God your life because you think, well, I need control. But can I tell you something? The day that I gave Jesus my life was the most freeing day of my life.15:28The day that I acknowledge that Jesus is king, and by the way, Jesus doesn't need your approval to be king. Jesus is not waiting on his throne thinking, you know what, I'll sit up there when Josh gives me permission. Jesus is king whether you acknowledge him or not. He doesn't need your permission, but he will not force you to receive the gift of eternal life.15:55You see, the good king has given you the good gift of eternal life, but the good king knows that you must receive it. And the most freeing posture in the world is to bow down and say, Jesus, you are the true king. I give you my life. And when you do that, the Holy Spirit begins to whittle and to fight against self-reliance in your life.16:20And let me tell you, you can rely upon Yahweh because he is strong and victorious. Look what David says. I don't know if you caught the prayer and the kingly confession. He says, Lord, the king finds joy in your strength. How greatly he rejoices in your victory. Not self-reliance, kingly reliance.16:50And then he says in verse 2, I'm going to quickly run through these. You have given. You have not denied. Verse 3. You meet him. You place the crown. I asked and you gave. Your victory is great. In verse 5. Verse 6. You bless him forever. You cheer him in your presence. The king relies upon you and will not be shaken. David is telling you today that God's strength is real and it is true.17:17You can trust Jesus Christ. These are not simply propositions to believe. These are promises to hold. And for those who have walked with Jesus in this room, you can tell story after story after story. When you were in need, Jesus met you in that moment of need. Anyone tell a story like that?17:47You say, I was in need and God's strength. I didn't know how God would meet me. I didn't know how he would relieve me from the danger, but God met me where I was and God's strength is real. These are not platitudes and Sunday school felt board material. God's strength is real in your life. You can trust him and you can take it to the bank. God will always be found faithful.18:18You can rely upon him. And then David says this. With a dependent posture, he publicly confesses that I will not be shaken. Now you might hear this and think, okay, so if I rely upon God, then everything will be easy. I'll never scrape my knee. And I'll never need overdraft protection again.18:47And when the market enters into the bear zone, my nest egg will not minimize because God is for me and his victory is there. Don't mistake David for someone who didn't face difficulty. David was the youngest in a group of eight boys. Now can you imagine what he went through? David was relegated to the flocks to live outside with the sheep where he had to fight off wild animals by hand and he did.19:17David, after he was anointed king by God's prophet, had to flee for his life and he lived in caves. David ran for his life for many years because he refused to kill Saul, the true king's anointed king. David knew difficulty and now we see David pouring out his heart to God and saying, God, I have assurance.19:44Not only do I rely upon you, but I can be assured that you are true. Look at verse eight. He says, God, your hand will capture all of your enemies. Your right hand will seize those who hate you. You will make them burn like a fiery furnace when they appear. The Lord will engulf them in his wrath and fire will devour them.20:12You will wipe away their progeny from the earth and their offspring from the human race. Talk about that as a prayer. Did anyone pray that prayer this morning when you woke up? We're going to look at one of the imprecatory psalms in a couple of weeks. It's even more specific than this. And so if this takes you back, takes you back and you think, gosh, why would David pray this? We're going to dive deep into the imprecatory psalms of the bitterness of heart later this summer.20:38Though they intend to harm you and devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail. Instead, you will put them to flight when you ready your bowstrings to shoot at them. The royal psalm has a deep abiding hope that God will reign supreme. David knew what enemies looked like.21:07David ran for his life. And now he's saying, God, when I ran, you will capture. You will deliver. You will seize. You will burn. You will engulf. You will devour. You will wipe away. And you will ready the bowstrings. David knew what an enemy looked like. And you might read this and think about assurance. And maybe you're in a place in your life where you don't have any enemies at all.21:34You're thinking, I don't have a single enemy in this universe. Congratulations. I've not arrived yet. But did you know that even for the one that has no enemies, the Bible says that at one time you were an enemy of God? Specifically, Philippians 3 says, as I have often told you, and now say again with tears, many live as enemies of the cross.21:58You see, the Bible does not describe your sin as a sickness that you're going to get over. The Bible doesn't describe your sin as a fever that if you would just sleep it off, it goes away. When you sin and when I sin, we become God's enemies.22:23And not only are you guys enemies, the Bible says that you and I fight against God. We are deliberately pushing back against God's righteous work on the cross because of our sin. Church, we're the enemy. That is what we were. But, but, Romans 5 says, when you were still enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son.22:49You see, not only is Jesus your intercessor. An intercessor is someone who stands between two different parties. Your sin separates you from God and Jesus stands in the middle and he brings us together. But the Bible says that Jesus, when you confess him as Savior, he then becomes your advocate.23:16Now, an advocate is not someone who stands in the middle. An advocate is someone who stands alongside of. So, when you give your life to Christ, no longer are you an enemy of God, but Jesus stands beside you. So, when you sin, Jesus is there pleading your case to God. That's the friendship that we have through Jesus Christ. That's the friendship that we have through Jesus Christ. We who were enemies are now brought in to faith.23:46So, when you live for Jesus, you will now have enemies in this world because this world is not your home. And if this world is not your home, don't expect home comforts. And David is experiencing that. He's living for God and now he has enemies. This is why Jesus Christ said himself in his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount.24:14He said, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Why would Jesus say that? Can I give you a really simple reason? Because you're going to be persecuted for righteousness' sake. And this is the danger in the West. Oftentimes, our prayers are,24:46Lord, keep us from persecution. Sometimes we pray for the persecuted church. We pray for the church in Iran and China and North Korea. And our first prayer is, God, make the difficulty stop. Do you know what the persecuted church wants you to know and me to know? They say over and over again, don't pray for the persecution to stop because the gospel is being spread. Pray that our faith endures.25:16Because when you live for Jesus Christ, you will be persecuted if you live boldly enough and if you live long enough. And we don't welcome persecution. I mean, don't walk into the store and say, Hey, everyone, I'm a Christian. Persecute me today. You know who wants to be persecuted? The guy with two thumbs. We should not welcome persecution as if we are God's intended martyr for the world.25:41But we should also expect and not be surprised when persecution comes. Live boldly for the glorious King. Because when enemies come, they're not coming at you alone. They're warring against Jesus Christ. And I know how the war ends. Jesus receives and gains the victory in your life.26:11And David says to us, You can rest assured that God will vanquish the foe. Now, in this passage, who starts the battle? So, two options. Is it the enemy or is it God? Who shoots the first arrow? The enemy. God is not fighting from the front,26:39but God will not passively sit by and ignore sin. God is ready to avenge. That is who he is. So, church, we raise the banner of hope. We not only have a kingly reliance on Jesus Christ, but we have a kingly assurance that when our worlds fall apart, that God is who he says he is. So, what do we do with this? Well, look at verse 13. David tells us,27:10Most believe that this is part prayer and part praise. And it's a communal call to respond. David says this, Be exalted, Lord, in your strength. For who will sing? Let's go back to grammar school. Second person. First person, I failed grammar. First person, plural, right?27:39It's not I, the king, but it is now we. Now, I thought you told me that this was a royal singular song. David is calling us all to praise. He's calling the entire congregation. He's calling the nation. He's calling us. You who believe on the Lord, you are assured of his strength. Now we should praise. I love how Robert Alter translates this. He's a scholar from the University of Berkeley.28:09He translates verse 13, Loom high, O Lord, in your strength. Let us sing and let us hymn your might. You see, praise is the eternal gift of the Christian. Praise is the eternal gift of the Christian. And we live in a world that naturally and instinctively wants to praise something. For instance, many of you have favorite teams.28:40Maybe that's football or soccer. Or maybe you have a favorite game at the World Games and you like to go to those games and you like to cheer your team. You like to praise them because that brings you joy. And there's nothing wrong with that. Some of you like to go to museums and see beautiful works of art because you praise the artistry and you praise the beauty of the great artist. Some of you love to read novels because you see in literature the beauty of creation.29:08And the list can go on and on. Some of you like to go out in nature to the Grand Canyon or to Yellowstone or to the beaches. And that's your happy place. And it's your happy place because you receive joy as you praise the good things that God has given. And even those who don't believe in God praise someone or something. We live in a world that lives to praise.29:36C.S. Lewis says it this way. He noted one time, he said, I've learned that the humblest and at the same time the most balanced people praise most. He said the most balanced people in the world are those who praise others or something. And the cranks, the misfits, and the malcontents praised least.30:04So if you want to be a crank or a malcontent or a misfit, go around, live your life without praising anything. Not even God. And over time, our hearts begin to harden and our spirits begin to cool because you were created to enjoy beauty and to give it glory30:33and honor. But church, if we stop at creation, then our joy is not complete. We have a better person to praise, don't we? We have a more glorious creator and that is Jesus Christ. You see, praising Christ doesn't only express your enjoyment, but praise completes our joy. Christian delight will always be incomplete31:02if you do not praise your heavenly Father. So if you say, God, thank you, but if you don't praise Him, David would say, we're missing it. Our joy is not complete as a congregation. Our joy is not complete as a people if we refuse to praise God personally and publicly. So when's the last time you praised Jesus out loud for His glory31:31and for His honor? If you don't, you're going to leave here grumpy. You're going to leave here as a crank because you left your joy incomplete. And that's why Jesus says, church, if you don't praise me, the rocks get it. The rocks get it. The trees get it. The rivers are going to shout and the mountains are going to clap their hands because they understand, God, You have created us to give You praise32:01and if we don't give You praise, then our joy is complete, not as incomplete. So we will complete our joy publicly before You. This is who we are. Together, we hymn, H-Y-M-N. we hymn the glory of God when we worship. That is what we do. Even kings recognize32:29recognize the true king, don't they? And this is a call for us to respond and as I read this chapter, I can't help but think of the Chronicles of Narnia written by again C.S. Lewis. Many of you might not know but C.S. Lewis was a world-renowned poet and writer before he became a Christian. And then he used his artistry and his gift32:59to glorify God. And in my opinion, he became a better artist and a better poet. And the world still remembers him today. In the Chronicles of Narnia, there's this lion figure that is the king of Narnia. And for those who know Jesus Christ, you can't help but see that this is the Christ figure. And in Narnia, the evil king begins to reign and it's said of Narnia that it is always winter and never Christmas.33:28It's always winter and it's never Christmas. But there's a prophecy over the land. And this is the prophecy. I want you to hear this prophecy as we think about Jesus Christ. This is about Aslan, the king. Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more. When he bears his teeth, winter meets his death. And when he shakes his mane,33:58his mane, we will have spring again. I love that picture. That when the lion who is Christ shakes his mane, winter goes away. Coldness goes away. Darkness goes away. Church on the cross, when Jesus returns, all wrongs will be made right again. That is the promise that we have. When Jesus roared34:29on the cross, it is finished. Sorrows vanished and abundant life floods our soul. When Jesus bared his teeth and rose again, winter met its death. And when the Holy Spirit descended, we who trust in Christ, it will be forever spring in our souls. Church, this is our true king. This is the one34:58we rely upon. Jesus is the one that we are assured. And Jesus is the one who receives our praise. And our response of joy is how we complete the praise that God has given us. But I know that some of you might be here and you think, I've never given my life to Jesus. I want you to know that you're here today. You're listening online today because God wants you35:27to know that he loves you. And maybe you're thinking right now that I'm the enemy. For the first time in your life, you realize that it is your sin that caused your separation from God. I want you to know that it doesn't have to be like that. That while you were still a sinner, Jesus died for you. That's his way of saying, I'm not waiting for you to get your act together to make a way. When you were35:58in your darkness and when you were in your sin, God made the way. All you have to do is receive the offering of sacrifice that has already been made. Does your life feel cold and empty? Jesus can bring summer again. Does your life feel worn and tired? Jesus can be your strength. Do your sins feel overwhelming and the guilt and shame is always there? Jesus removes36:27Jesus removes the guilt and the shame of your sins. And if you think, well, there is no way God would ever forgive what I've done. There's a reason on the cross Jesus says, it is finished. He didn't say to be continued. Jesus said, I have finished the work so that every sin will be forgiven. This is the great king. And if you want to give your life to Jesus today, he always hears36:57a prayer of the authentic heart and repentant life. And your prayer could sound something like this, God, I am sorry because I have sinned. Today, I believe Jesus came for me. I believe that he died on the cross for me. I believe that he rose again, defeating death and giving a death sentence to my shame. And Lord, today I receive your son as my savior. I turn from me and I turn37:27to you. Lord, I get off my throne and recognize that you are the one who is the king. Hear my prayer. Lord, I pray for the first time in Jesus' name. Do you know what the Bible says about that prayer if you prayed? Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will what? Will be saved. You don't have to guess. You don't have to worry. You can37:58You can take it to the bank because what the king promises the king delivers. If you need to give your life to Christ, I'll be down front. I would love to have that conversation with you. I'll stay after the service. You can fill out a green connect card or connect with us online or one of our pastors will reach out to you. For every Christ follower in this room and listening online, I'm going to challenge you this way. To leave here without praising Jesus means that our38:27joy is incomplete. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to leave here a crank and a malcontent. And I'm a jealous person. I don't want the rocks to do what I should be doing. And I don't want the mountains to say what I should be saying. And I want the world to know that I rejoice privately, but today I'm going to sing and praise publicly. So as we stand and sing, we're going to praise God, the38:56God, the true king, because we have a kingly reliance. Church, we have a kingly assurance, and we have a kingly praise. Father,← Previous in PsalmsPsalms – A Psalm of Confession (Psalm 51:1-13)Next in Psalms →Psalms – Who Can be a Guest of the Lord? (Psalm 15:1-5)More sermons on Psalms →
