Celebration of the Victor

Below is the sermon I prepared for Maundy Thursday but was unable to preach. It was the second part on Psalm 118.

Psalm 118:5-18                       Celebration of the Victor

3/24/16 Maundy Thursday      D. Marion Clark

Introduction

This past Sunday we looked at Psalm 118, considering it as the psalm shouted out by the people in the joyful procession of pilgrims into Jerusalem and the temple. This was also likely the last psalm that Jesus sang with his disciples. What would it have meant for our Lord to sing this psalm, knowing the suffering before him? With that in mind, look with me at the section of the psalm spoken in the singular voice.

Text

First, let’s read the opening of the psalm:

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!

² Let Israel say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
³ Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
⁴ Let those who fear the Lord say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”

The people of God sing out the steadfast love of the Lord. You will remember that they also call out “Hosanna,” which means “save us,” not because they are in distress, but because they celebrate their God who is their Deliverer.

What the section of verses 5-18 do is to describe an instance of God’s deliverance. Some commentators believe that the voice is that of Israel, speaking as a nation. Others think David wrote the psalm and is speaking of himself. No doubt every individual coming into Jerusalem applied these next words to themselves. As we go through this passage, insert Jesus as the one who is speaking. Undoubtedly, he did so that evening at the Last Supper.

No doubt such a psalm strengthened him, knowing that he would sing it yet again after its fulfillment. We know that Jesus did meditate on this psalm. He quoted it after his entry into Jerusalem to the religious leaders:

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Jesus needed such a psalm to contemplate because of another psalm we know that was on his mind. He quoted it, too, on the cross. It is Psalm 22. What we are going to do is consider both psalms in relation to one another in an effort to understand what our Lord understood was his destiny.

Verse 5:

Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me free.

The blessing of Psalm 118 is that, though it speaks of distress, it also speaks immediately of deliverance. Compare that to the opening verses of Psalm 22:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

We know that Jesus will quote that terrifying first line from the cross. Do you recall, on the same evening of the Last Supper, what happens when Jesus takes his disciples to Gethsemane to pray? We’ll let Matthew tell us:

Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” ³⁹ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus was so distraught by what he was about to face, that he asked not to have to go through with the very mission he came to earth to accomplish. Were it not that his desire to do his Father’s will was stronger, he may have faltered.

Back to our psalm, verses 6 and 7:

⁶ The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
⁷ The Lord is on my side as my helper;
    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

What can man do to me? Plenty! But the psalmist knows that with the Lord on his side as his helper, he need not fear. Whatever his enemies might bring against him, he will look in triumph because of the Lord’s help.

And then there is the view of Psalm 22:6-8:

But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸ “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

Psalm 22 takes us into the midst of Jesus’ distress. It is not looking back on what is now over. It invites us to feel the agony, as no doubt Jesus was able to envision it clearly even before entering into it. Feel the chief horror of being abandoned by the God whom he trusts. Feel the shame as his enemies taunt him as he suffers on the cross. All the more then Jesus needed to concentrate on the confidence of Psalm 118.

⁸ It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in man.
⁹ It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord even as one feels that very refuge vaporizing. It is better to trust in the Lord than in men and in leaders. They can make promises; they can seem trustworthy; they can seem powerful. Better still to trust in the Lord.

The next verses again speak of distress that is overcome through the Lord.

¹⁰ All nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹¹ They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹² They surrounded me like bees;
    they went out like a fire among thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
¹³ I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
    but the Lord helped me.

Yes, the going was hard, but the speaker is victorious. There is not such confidence in Psalm 22, just agony.

Many bulls encompass me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³ they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁶ For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
¹⁷ I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

Jesus is surrounded by enemies, hungry for his flesh, disdainful of his plight. He needs the encouragement of Psalm 118.

¹⁴ The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has become my salvation.
¹⁵ Glad songs of salvation
    are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
¹⁶     the right hand of the Lord exalts,
    the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

¹⁷ I shall not die, but I shall live,
    and recount the deeds of the Lord.
¹⁸ The Lord has disciplined me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.

Yes, the Lord has disciplined me severely, but his right hand will ultimately save me. He will become my salvation. He will not give me over to death, though, as Psalm 22 makes clear, it seems as though that is what will happen.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

Death – suffering and death. That is what Jesus told his disciples that he would experience. Recall the experience of the transfiguration. Jesus is on a mountaintop with Peter, James, and John. He is transfigured before them in his glory. Afterwards, as they were walking down, the disciples asked him about Elijah coming. The experienced had stirred up in them their hope that Jesus was the Messiah and was soon to reveal himself to the public. But the prophecies spoke of Elijah coming to prepare the way for the Messiah. Jesus replied with a question that evidently weighed upon his mind: “And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?” (Mark 9:12)

The sufferings he would face were ever before our Lord. There were the sufferings from the cruelty of man – the beatings, the tauntings, the crucifixion. Even so, other men have faced similar distress. But there would also be the terrible experience expressed in the first verse of Psalm 22 – “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” What would have haunted Jesus was not that he would feel like he was alone, but that he would be alone. The Father would have turned his face away from the Son, as the Son bore the sins of us.

He would bear sin! We don’t quite get the agony of such an experience. We were born in sin. We’ve never known purity, but purity is all that the eternal Son of God has ever experienced. And in that purity, he and God the Father have known for eternity perfect love and union. That would be broken on the cross. That is the experience that Psalm 22 expresses for Jesus to meditate upon.

Thank God that he also had Psalm 118, which always keeps the victory in view. The distress will pass. God will turn back to his Son and raise him with his right arm. There will be victory.

And yet, even Psalm 22 looks to victory.

I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

Lessons

Horrible suffering awaited Jesus that night of the Last Supper, and he knew it. It made him ask for a way out. It made him sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane. Luke tells us an angel appeared to strengthen him, he was so disheartened. How did he go on?

Hebrews 12:2 explains how. “For the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame.”

How did Jesus know that joy and just what was the joy? For how he knew it, we can point out that he was after all the eternal Son of God. Of course he knew the plan. And once upon the earth, he continued to commune with God the Father. All of that is true, but learning from Jesus himself, clearly he read and meditated upon the Scriptures. He used the Scriptures to teach about himself – who he was and what he had come to do. Recall after his resurrection that he taught his disciples how all the Scriptures were about him. Listen to Luke’s record:

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:44-47).

It is Scripture that set before Jesus the joy that awaited him. It set before him the sufferings; it set before him the victory that would come through the suffering – resurrection! He would not die; he would live; he would rise and proclaim the glorious deeds of God.

Jesus did not come simply to suffer and to die. Jesus came to win victory through the suffering and death. He would conquer death on the cross. He would bring healing and joy. It is all there in Psalm 118 and Psalm 22 and throughout all of the Scriptures, the same Scriptures that we possess.

We do not have divine natures and cannot see the future and cannot commune with God the Father on the same level as our Lord. But we do have the same Word of God to read, to study, to meditate upon, to set our hope upon.

What will happen to any of us in the future? We do not know, but God knows. How do we know that he knows? Scripture tells us:

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:16

Will God be with us always? Yes, Scripture tells us.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:1-3

If our own Lord Jesus Christ found strength through the Scriptures in his great trial, should we not look for the same? And we have not only the Scriptures that he possessed, but even more. We have the Scriptures written after his great work. What the Scriptures of the Old Testament looked forward to, the Scriptures of the New Testament pronounce as being accomplished. Jesus did endure the cross. We know he did because Scripture teaches us he did. Jesus rose from the dead and ascended on high. Scripture teaches us he did. Jesus will return, so both the Old Testament and the New Testament proclaim.

And to all who believe on his name; to all who call upon the name of Jesus for salvation, know that you will be saved. Scripture says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Blood has been shed by our Redeemer Jesus Christ for us, for you, for whoever will come to him. Scripture tells us so.