Series:
Psalms
Title:
The Righteous Rejoicing in the Righteous
Text:
Psalm 33: 1-22
Date:
January 7, 2018
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
When I
began preparing today’s message I had two goals I wanted to pursue. One, since
this is the first Sunday of the New Year, I want to preach a message that will
start us off focused on where we should be focused the whole year through. Two, since we are remembering our Lord at his
table I want to preach a message that will turn our full attention to Christ
who gave his body to be broken and his blood to be shed to save his people from
our sins.
There is
no one else we should be focused on throughout the whole year than that one we
are to have our full focus on when we come to our Lord’s Table, Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Matthew 6: 33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Subject:
The Righteous Rejoicing in the Righteous
Psalm 33: 1: Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is
comely for the upright.
The
subject of this Psalm: Rejoice in the
LORD. We see who is called to
rejoice in the LORD: O ye righteous. Only
sinners made righteous and upright, righteous and holy, by the LORD are able to
rejoice in the LORD. We are told why we are to rejoice in the
LORD: “for praise is comely for the
upright.” We are immediately turned to Christ in the next two verses:
Psalm
33: 2:
Praise [glorify] the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery, an
instrument of ten strings. 3:
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
Someone
might say, “How does this turn us to Christ when capital “LORD” is the LORD
God, Jehovah?” Remember scripture says
of Christ “in him dwelleth the fullness
of the Godhead bodily.” (Col 2: 9)
Colossians 1:15: [Christ Jesus] is the image of the
invisible God…
John 14: 9…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…
John 1: 18: No man hath seen God at any time; the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Another
reason we are immediately turned to Christ is because believers are told to “Sing unto him a new song.” Every
believer has been made new by Christ and we sing unto him a new song!
Revelation 5: 9:
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open
the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10: And hast made us unto our God
kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Proposition: Brethren,
every child of God has much reason to rejoice in our LORD!
REJOICE IN HIS WORD AND WORKS
Psalm 33: 4: For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are
done in truth. 5: He loveth
righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
We
rejoice in the LORD’s word and his works.
Rejoice in the LORD “because the word
of the LORD is right!”
Psalm 12: 6: The words of the LORD are pure words:
as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Every
word God spoke to men in sundry ways and different manners was right and the revealed
written word of the LORD is right. Do
you find it amazing that the God of heaven and earth has given to us little
finite sinful creatures his written word so we can pick it up and read of
him? If you have never done it before
this year, I urge you to buy a King James Translation of the Bible and give
yourself to study it LOOKING FOR CHRIST! “The
word of the LORD is right!” When you think of the word of the LORD being
right think of the Word made flesh.
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.
Christ is
the Word of the LORD and Christ is right—“and
all His works are done in
truth!”
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….17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ.
We
rejoice in the LORD God because his written word is right and all his works are
done in truth and we behold it in Christ the Word. In Christ on the cross, we behold that the LORD God—loveth righteousness and judgment.”
All God’s
elect sinned when Adam sinned because we were in Adam’s loins. Hebrews 7: 9-10
says Levi paid tithes in Abraham because he was in Abraham’s loins. That is an
illustration of seminal headship. All
Adam’s posterity was in Adam’s loins so we all sinned when Adam sinned in the
garden. Therefore, because God is right and all his works are done in truth, God
imputed sin to all Adam’s posterity. God only imputes what is right and true
according to what we have been made by our head. So the very reason God sent
his Son into this world to suffer the cruel death of the cross was to manifest that
God loveth righteousness and judgment.
Romans 3: 25:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through
the forbearance of God; 26: To
declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just,
and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Isaiah 59: 16: And he saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought
salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
Christ
Jesus loveth righteousness and all his works are done in truth. Therefore he
willingly gave his spotless body to be made sin for us and bear the agony of our
curse, the wrath of God, until justice was fully satisfied! When you see Christ
nailed to the cursed tree in total darkness crying, “My God, my God why hast thou
forsaken me?” then hear Christ’s answer, “For thou art holy!” He loves
righteousness and all his works are truth. And because God loveth righteousness
and all his works are done in truth, when Christ finished the work God raised
him from the dead and raised all his people in him.
Hebrews 1: 8: unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God,
is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9: Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Since he has
made us, he regenerated elect people, to love righteousness we preach only his
righteousness:
Psalm 22:31: They shall come, and shall declare his
righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
All this
is how “the earth is full of the goodness
of the LORD.” It is full of his goodness toward his redeemed because Christ
has manifest God’s righteousness in our redemption.
Psalm 85: 10:
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each
other. 11: Truth shall
spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12: Yea, the LORD shall give that
which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. 13: Righteousness shall go before him;
and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Brethren,
rejoice in the LORD always because only that which is right and true and just
and good shall happen to you and I who are his! Look to the cross if you need
assurance it is so!
REJOICE IN HIS NEW CREATION
Psalm 33: 6: By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host
of them by the breath of his mouth. 7:
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth
in storehouses. 8: Let all the
earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9: For he spake, and it was done;
he commanded, and it stood fast.
We
rejoice in the LORD because he created us anew by his word like as he created
the first creation by his word. It was Christ the Word made the first creation.
John 1: 1:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2: The same was in the beginning
with God. 3: All things were
made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4: In him
was life; and the life was the light of men.
Likewise,
it is Christ the Word who creates his people anew.
Isaiah 65: 17: Behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18:…behold,
I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
I like
how since this Psalm is telling the righteous to rejoice in the LORD, he only
speaks of the word of the LORD creating the heavens and the host of them. The heavenly
host of just men made perfect are created anew by Christ the Word begetting us
again by the word of the LORD.
James 1: 18: Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
God loves
judgment and all his works are done in truth therefore all who Christ redeemed
must be born-again to faith in Christ. And we are born, not by lies, but “by the word of truth—the incorruptible seed.”
1 Peter 1: 23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever…25:…And
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Christ “gathered the waters of the seas together as
an heap: he layeth up the deep in storehouses.” He separated the seas from the dry land. Likewise
by the preaching of the gospel Christ the Word gathers his people, sanctifying
us from all other men, preserving us like the sea in storehouses.
He says “Let all the earth
fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” That is a great definition of fearing the LORD, standing
in awe of him. When will sinners fear the LORD and stand in awe of him? When just as Christ spoke and created the
first creation, he speaks and makes us his new creation—“For he spake, and it
was done; he commanded, and it
stood fast.”
You know
what would make me rejoice? If Christ speaks this Word into some sinner today
and makes him stand in awe of Christ! Oh,
we rejoice that Christ is the Creator of everything made! But we especially
rejoice that he created us anew in sanctification making us his righteous and
holy new creation to stand in awe and reverence him!
REJOICE THAT HIS COUNSEL STANDS FOREVER
Psalm 33: 10: The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he
maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11: The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his
heart to all generations.
We
rejoice because the LORD’s counsel stands forever.
Brethren,
aren’t we thankful for this! How many times we would have been carried away
with the devices of the wicked, even our own. But Christ brought it to nothing. Christ is the whole Counsel of God. In Christ
God purposed all things. Therefore, “All
the promises of God are yea and amen in him!” God first trusted Christ in covenant and so
Christ works all things after the counsel of his own will. Christ upholds all
things by the ‘everlasting covenant’ word of his power.
Oh,
brethren, rejoice with full assurance because in and by Christ “The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” God will never lose one that
he purposed to save from eternity, not one promise will go unfulfilled. “In the dispensation of the fulness of times
he [shall] gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven,
and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will.” (Eph 1: 10-11)
REJOICE THAT THE LORD MADE US HIS HOLY NATION
Psalm 33: 12: Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and
the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Believers
rejoice that through the grace of God in Christ, the LORD has made us his holy
nation. There is only one nation whose God is the LORD. What nation is that? It
is “the people he hath chosen for his own
inheritance.”
1 Peter 2: 9: But ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light:
Read the
verse in our Psalm and soak up every word: “Blessed”—happy,
full of rejoicing and praise in the LORD. “Is the nation whose God is
the LORD”—believer we are citizens of a heavenly, holy nation and our God
is the LORD—we are the Israel of God. “And
the people whom he hath chosen”—not
because of anything in us, simply by the free and sovereign electing grace of
God in Christ. God hath chosen us “for
his own inheritance”—surely this is one of the most marvelous truths
revealed in scripture that God should take poor sinners and make us His
inheritance, his peculiar or special treasure.
His elect
being his inheritance suggests three things. One, an inheritance is obtained
through death. God’s inheritance is secured to Him through the death of His
beloved Son. Two an inheritance denotes perpetuity. We are his heirs forever--“For the Lord will not cast off his
people, neither will he forsake his inheritance” (Psalm 94:14) Three an
inheritance is a possession, something entered into, lived upon, enjoyed. Acts
20:28 says we are “the Church of God which He hath purchased
with His own blood.”
REJOICE THAT CHRIST IS OUR SHIELD AND HELP
Psalm 33: 13: The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of
men. 14: From the place of his
habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15: He fashioneth their hearts alike;
he considereth all their works. 16:
There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not
delivered by much strength. 17: An
horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by
his great strength. 18: Behold,
the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in
his mercy; 19: To deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine. 20: Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21: For
our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22: Let thy mercy, O
LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
God’s saints rejoice that the LORD in Christ is our
shield and our help.
Remember,
believer, the same Lord Jesus who walked this earth and laid down his life for
us is now risen to the right hand of God with all power as Head over all things
to the church. “He looketh from heaven and
beholds all the sons of men.” That includes his elect as well as the
reprobate.
Proverbs 15:3: The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
beholding the evil and the good.
All the
scheming and intents of their hearts, which none know but they themselves, he
knows better than they themselves:
Job 34: 21:
For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. 22: There is no darkness, nor
shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
Hosea 7:2: And they consider not in their hearts that I
remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they
are before my face.
Brethren,
when you are wronged by men and you feel like no one sees the injustice done to
you, rejoice that your Redeemer knows.
1 Corinthians 4:5: Therefore judge nothing before the
time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of
darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall
every man have praise of God.
That means a believer does not have to strive and
use sinful means to try to provide our livelihood and save ourselves in our day
to day lives—“There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a
mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.”
Sinner, by
your strength you cannot save yourself in this life, much less in the life to
come. Flee to Christ! Surrender to Christ!
Believe on Christ and he shall save you. All other refuge is vain
safety.
Believer,
rejoice in this—“Behold, the eye of the
LORD is upon them that fear
him, upon them that hope in his mercy.”
Think on this truth believer. There is never a moment when you personally
are not the focus of the LORD’s eye. We
cannot focus on all our children at once, only one at a time. But our great
Redeemer is able to keep his eye on each and every one of his people at the
same time as though you personally are the only child he has.
Why is
his eye upon his people? “To deliver
their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine.” The Son of God suffered the wrath of God when
he gave his body to be broken and shed his blood for us. He justified all his
people from our sins. His blood and God’s glory are far too precious to allow a
single one for whom he died to perish.
He will keep us alive in famine. Christ is our Bread who keeps us alive
right here right now when there is a famine of spiritual bread all around us. And
so he will provide earthly bread if we need it.
He will do so because we trust him to do so and he
will not allow anyone who believes on him to be ashamed for doing so—“Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our
heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.” Christ intercedes
for his people, saying to the Father,
Psalms 69:6: Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD
of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded
for my sake, O God of Israel.
Since
Christ intercedes for us, therefore,
Isaiah 45:17: Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an
everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without
end.
So let
this be our rejoicing and our prayer today and all the year long, “Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according
as we hope in thee.”
Amen!