Series: Psalms
Title: The Joy Set Before Us
Text: Ps 69: 30-36
Date: Sept 6, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Title: The Joy Set Before Us
As we read our text, remember,
this is Christ Jesus speaking. It is
Christ speaking as he is bearing the shame of the sin of his people which he
bore in our place on the cross. He is
bearing the reproach of his enemies. He
is under the pain and agony of the cross.
The fierce judgment of God is being poured out on him in place of his
people to satisfy justice for us. Before
we read our text let’s read portions of the Psalm again to hear Christ declare
this,
Psalm 69: 1: Save
me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. 2: I sink in deep mire,
where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods
overflow me. 3: I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail
while I wait for my God…7: Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame
hath covered my face. 8: I am become a
stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children…. 14: Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink:
let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters…19 Thou hast known
my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all
before thee. 20 Reproach hath broken my
heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity,
but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my
thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
There is no sorrow that compares
to what our Substitute was suffering on our behalf at this time. Yet, in the midst
of this incomparable suffering and shame, he declares what would come from his
finished work. This is the joy set
before him which helped him endure the cross.
1) God would be glorified and magnified;
he would glorify and magnify God—Psalm
69: 30: I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with
thanksgiving. 31: This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or
bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
2) His people would be given life and made to
rejoice in their salvation—Psalm 69: 32:
The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that
seek God. 33: For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
3) When all is finished he knew all would
praise him in the new heavens and new earth and all his people would be with
him—Psalm 69: 34: Let the heaven and earth
praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein. 35: For God will
save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and
have it in possession. 36: The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and
they that love his name shall dwell therein.
Proposition: Our Lord Jesus
declares the joy set before him by which he endured the cross. The Hebrew writer says run the race, Hebrews 12: 2: Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God. In Psalm 69,
Christ declares what that joy is that was before him as he endured the cross,
despising the shame. Brethren, as we suffer
trials, try to remember this same joy is set before us—we shall joy in these
same things.
GOD SHALL BE GLORIFIED
Psalm 69: 30: I will praise the name of God with a
song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31: This also shall please
the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
Our Lord Jesus looked to the joy of glorifying God his
Father. The joy set before our Lord Jesus
was that by finishing the work the Father gave him to do, he would “praise
the name of God with a song and magnify him with thanksgiving”—that is, God
would receive all the glory due his holy name.
Notice he said, “This also shall please the LORD…”—this
shall please the LORD, bring satisfaction—"better than an ox or bullock
that hath horns and hoofs.” He is speaking
of praising and magnifying God’s name in the way no old testament sacrifice ever
could, that is, by Christ fulfilling the law for God and for his people by the
sacrifice of himself.
The sacrifices of bulls and goats never pleased God. They never satisfied God. They brought no pleasure, no satisfied
justice. They brought no pleasure of praising
and magnifying God’s name. Sacrifices of
bulls and goats brought no pleasure of glorifying God in his holy character because
they never put away sin.
Hebrews 10: 4: For it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he
saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me: 6: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had NO PLEASURE.
7: Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to
do thy will, O God.
Christ alone satisfied God, Christ pleased the Lord by
laying down his life for his people.
Isaiah 53:10: Yet it PLEASED the LORD to bruise
him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the PLEASURE of the
LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11: He shall see of the travail of his soul,
and shall be SATISFIED: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto
death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
In the midst of sorrow like no other, the joy that our
Substitute looked unto was the joy of praising and magnifying God’s name by
finishing the work God gave him to do.
One, Christ’s finished work brought satisfaction, pleasure
to God because it was the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose. Christ’s finished work magnified God’s name
as the sovereign of heaven and earth. The
accomplished redemption by Christ glorified God’s will. It declares God’s will is never frustrated. Whatever God purposed from eternity, God
brought it to pass.
Two, it was the fulfilment of God’s covenant, his promises,
his prophecies in his word. It magnified
and praised God by declaring God is immutable, true and faithful.
Mattthew 24:35
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Psalm 89:34: My covenant will I not break, nor
alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Titus 1:2: [Believer we have] hope of eternal
life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Three, it was the fulfillment of declaring God’s
righteousness—that God is just and the Justifier of those he brings to believe
on him.
Isaiah 42:21: The LORD is well pleased for his
righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
Matthew 5: 17: Think not that I am come to
destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18: For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Romans 3: 21: But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22:
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all
and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23: For all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24: Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 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.
Four, it was the fulfillment of the salvation of God’s
chosen people—praising and magnifying God’s name for his everlasting, sovereign,
saving grace and love. Christ saving his
people from our sins by his own blood shows that those God chose by grace, God
saves. Those God loves, God saves.
Psalm 103:17
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them
that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s
All “the pleasure of the LORD prospered in his hand”. This gospel of Christ’s finished work
glorifies God to the highest. This is God’s
Son. Now, Christ sings perfect praise to
his Father, magnifying his name, as he leads his congregation in that song.
Hebrews 2: 11: For both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to
call them brethren, 12: Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in
the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
Our Lord Jesus is the sweet Psalmist of Israel. He sang with his apostles but he also arose
to glory where he leads the song in the great congregation. Notice, the Lamb together with the exact
number of saved sinners and the harpers—“they sung.” Christ is our Premiant Songleader.
Revelation 14: 1: And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb
stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand,
having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. 2: And I heard a voice
from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:
and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 3: And they sung as
it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the
elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four
thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
So brethren as we suffer hard, difficult, painful trials
look to Christ. Remember the joy set
before him. The same joy set before us. Through your trial, God is bringing great
glory to his name.
Psalm 98:1: O sing unto the LORD a new song;
for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath
gotten him the victory.
THE GOOD OF HIS PEOPLE
Psalm 69: 32: The humble shall see this, and
be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. 33: For the LORD heareth the
poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
Our Savior also looked to the joy of making his people live
and rejoice that our salvation is accomplished in and by Christ. The joy set before our Redeemer was to give
his people eternal life and make us glad in him.
The joy set before him is what he surely shall bring to pass. He says with all certainty “The humble
shall see this and be glad.” We are
proud by nature. In our pride we are
blind to Christ crucified. But he
humbles us by giving us a spiritual sight of him bearing our sins. He says, “they shall look upon me whom they
have pierced and mourn.” Christ says of
himself on the cross, “The humble shall see this and live.” And we are made to behold Christ crucified
and hear the good news of our redemption he makes us glad—"the humbles shall see this (Christ
crucified) and be glad”
The joy set
before Christ was that concerning all his people, “Your heart shall live that
seek God.” We are dead by nature. But Christ our Life enters in making our
heart live. Even in the trial he is
renewing our new man day by day.
Scripture says, “There is none that seeketh after God.” But God our Father draws us irresistibly to
Christ as Christ makes us willing to seek God.
The joy set before him is that all his people shall see our great God
and Savior and all he has done for us in Christ and be glad and our heart shall
live. That same joy is set before you
believer as you suffer now. God is
turning you to Christ to make your heart be renewed and to give you great joy
in Christ alone.
The joy set
before Christ is that for his sake God our Father shall hear his people. Why does the LORD Jehovah “hear the poor
and despise not his prisoners?” It
is because Christ has been our Surety from before the foundation of the world and
we are complete in him! In Christ there
is no sin to separate us, only righteousness and perfection so that we are accepted
of God. We have a great High Priest at
God’s right hand through whom—in whose name--we call upon God. Therefore God hears and does not despise us
in our prison. That was the joy Christ
knew he would bring to pass for each of his elect. And that is the joy set before us in all our
trails. God is bringing you to call upon
him and God shall hear you for Christ’s sake.
Christ himself shows us that God hears the poor. Christ was rich but made himself poor for
our sakes to make us rich with his unsearchable riches. While in his poverty on the cross he cried the
very words of this Psalm and God heard him.
God delivered him according to his covenant promise. Christ sings this to us to remind us,
Psalm 34: 2: My soul shall make her boast in
the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 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….6: This poor man cried, and the LORD
heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7: The angel of the LORD
encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
Brethren, in the midst of suffering know that even this
painful trial is being worked together by God for your good—for your salvation. When no one else can comfort you, call upon
God in Christ’s name. Approach God in the
name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that name above all names, and God shall
hear. This was the joy set before him—the
joy of bringing all glory to his Father, the glory of giving life and light and
joy to his people through faith in him—and this is the joy set before us.
ETERNAL INHERITANCE
Psalm 69: 34: Let the heaven and earth praise him,
the seas, and every thing that moveth therein. 35: For God will save Zion, and
will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in
possession. 36 The seed also of his
servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
The joy set before our Savior was that when he finished the
new heaven and new earth he would have all his people together with him in
glory. This speaks of when the whole
work is finished. In that day all that has
life and moves shall praise him in perfection and Christ shall joy in us.
Isaiah 65: 17: For, behold, I create new
heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into
mind. 18: But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create:
for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19: And I
will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall
be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
God will save Zion—not one elect child shall be lost—they
are his chosen seed. All God’s elect have
been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
All shall be called and regenerated to life in Christ. All shall believe on Christ and dwell together
in that new heaven and new earth. All
shall have it in possession—we are Christ’s inheritance and he is ours.
Isaiah 66: 20: And they shall bring all your
brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses,
and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my
holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an
offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21: And I will also take
of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. 22: For as the new
heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the
LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23: And it shall come to pass, that
from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh
come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Brethren, as we suffer in this race look to Christ and
remember the joy set before him is the joy set before you.
Hebrews 12: 1: Wherefore seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, 2: Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. 3: For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Behold Christ in the midst of his incomparable travail and remember that same
joy set before him awaits you and me. In
the end of our current trial and in the end of this whole race
God shall get all the glory—that is great joy set before us.
God is doing it for our good--we shall be
humbled and see and be glad and our hearts shall live forever inward man be
renewed—that is great
joy set before us
God is working this trial together with all
things for our eternal good—In the end
we shall inherit our eternal portion Christ Jesus our Lord. We shall be with him and he shall be our God and
we his people in the new heaven and new earth—what joy we have set before us.
Amen!