Sermon Brief Andre Riendeau September 14, 2014

Text: Psalm 120

Title: “Journey to Peace”

Subject: The psalmist cries out for vindication.

Complement: God will vindicate His people in due time.

Textual Idea: We are to cry out for vindication and hopefully wait for God’s answer.

Sermon Idea: Peace comes from trusting God in difficult circumstances.

Interrogative: Am I trusting in God?

Key word/Transitional sentence: I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.

Key Points: 1. Cry out to God first when in distress. 2. Delight in God and entrust vindication to Him. 3. Believers long for home but seek peace on the journey.

What do I want people to know? I want people to know that God will bring about justice in His time and we are to wait confidently in Him in the meantime.

What do I want people to do? I want people to rely on God in difficult circumstances.

What need am I addressing? I am addressing the need for finding peace in the midst of chaos.

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“Journey to Peace” Psalm 120 September 14, 2014 Peace comes from trusting God in difficult circumstances.

Show 10 Days video and discuss

Show “The Challenge Flag” video

I don’t know about you but I sure have lots of times when I wish I could throw that flag. Someone accuses me of something I didn’t do – wish I could throw that flag. Someone hits me in the back of my car and takes off – wish I could get the replay of that. A friend gossips about me behind my back – wish I could throw that flag. That is one of the most frustrating parts of living in this world – justice is not always guaranteed. People literally get away with their brother’s candy – and even murder - all the time. So frustrating.

Well…we may not have Challenge Flags to throw when injustice shows up, but we can resort to something even better – a greater Referee – the Lord God Almighty. In times of trouble, when we’re being unfairly treated, we can throw ourselves onto Him and find peace in the chaos of this world. And there is no better place to throw ourselves than into His perfect Word. And within that ocean of rest is a particularly great inlet called the . And within the Psalms is a peaceful cove known as (LCD) the Psalms of Ascent. We’re starting a new sermon series today on these fifteen psalms from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134. My prayer is that as we dive into the cool waters of these sacred songs, we’ll find refreshment for our souls in the midst of a stormy world full of trouble.

Now before we get into our opening psalm today, let me first say a few things about the book of Psalms in general. The book of Psalms is by far the largest book in the Bible. If you go ahead and open to the middle of your Bible, you’re bound to hit a Psalm. These are songs. There are 150 of them here ranging all over the map in topics: celebration, distress, praise, angst, laughter, crying – the whole range of human emotions and experience. I think it is why so many love the Psalms – they are relatable. We struggle in real life; the psalmists do too. We get ticked off royally in real life; the psalmists do too. We wonder if God is really there for us; the psalmists do too. We get excited when things go well; the psalmists do too. In the Psalms, we see ourselves.

Now the Psalms were written by numerous authors over 900 years. By the time right before Jesus, they appeared as an organized set of 150 songs in (LCD) five books. We read in ancient Jewish writings that they were assigned this way to match the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch – the Law. Same say that the Pentateuch are the five books of Moses and the Psalms are the five books of . Interesting. Also interesting is how we use the Psalms. Most approach them, I confess I have for the most part, like a big bag of potato chips…reach in and grab one! We all have a favorite psalm, right? We don’t think of the Psalms as having any organization or flow like other books of the Bible. They seem randomly placed and ordered. Some have tried to find order in the arrangement. One scholar, Dr. Gerald Wilson, suggests this (LCD) interesting order:

2 the first three books, Psalms 1-89, speak mostly of the human king of Israel, the Psalms are mostly individualized and the overall tenor of them is lament, sadness. Then the last two books, Psalms 90 -150, focus largely on God as King, the psalms are mostly corporate and their theme is mostly praise ending with the great final five praise Psalms. Wilson observes, (LCD) “Israel is not so much called to obedience in these psalms as to surrender – complete and absolute surrender to the eternal king whom they experience anew as creator and sustainer worthy of praise even in the midst of exile.”

I like that. I think Wilson nails it. To a people living in a strange place, exiles in a foreign land, under distress and hard circumstances, Israel is urged to move from trusting in its own human kings who bring only selfish lament and landed them in exile to begin with, to trusting in God as her King, surrendering to Him. If we do, we’ll find ourselves giving praise to a great God – flourishing in His courts even when the worst comes our way. The death of a loved one, horrendous pain, financial difficulty, failed relationships – this is not how God meant things to be, but it is where we find ourselves in this place called earth. We’re pilgrims in a strange land but we don’t have to give in to a life full of lament. There is a joy in the journey, there is thriving instead of surviving, and it is found in one place – joyful surrender to a great King – Jesus. Perhaps that is the flow of Psalms.

If so, then we’re on pilgrimage in this world which is not our ultimate home. U2 sang, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and they’re right. We’re not home yet. Things aren’t as there meant to be just yet. But they will be. And it is with this humble confidence in God’s sovereign purposes that we turn to the Psalms of Ascent. The 15 Psalms of Ascent start in Psalm 120. You can turn there now. This section of the book has been called the “ within the Psalter.” In these 15 Psalms, we find a mini-book of Psalms. The full range of emotions, a journey to wholeness, a call to surrender. I hope you choose to come on this journey to wholeness over the next few months.

Just like you see here in Psalm 120, each of these psalms begin with the title, “a .” There are (LCD) four different ideas behind this title. One is that within the Hebrew, there is a poetic device whereby each verse picks up and repeats a key idea from the preceding verse – an ‘ascending’ structure. However, this isn’t consistent throughout the fifteen psalms. The second idea is that these psalms were sung as the exiles came out of Babylon and returned to Jerusalem. But these are called a ‘song of ascents’ not ‘ascent.’ The third idea is that these were sung by the Levites on the fifteen steps that go from the Court of the Women to the Court of Israel in the Jewish temple. Perhaps. But most likely and widely held is that these were psalms that were sung when the Jews would make their three annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem. This makes sense in that it would be numerous ascents each year and, going up to Jerusalem, was certainly an ascent.

Look at this (LCD) map of the elevation of Israel. You can see that the Dead Sea is way down here and Jerusalem is the highest point. Any pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem would involve a calf workout! Serious elevation here. And so these songs were sung as the people of Israel made their way to worship the Living God in His house. Picture Mary, Joseph and Jesus singing them when they’d come to Jerusalem three times a year.

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Picture Jesus and His disciples singing them as they made their way into what we call the Triumphal Entry. These are pilgrim songs. They are songs that declare “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” but I’m not giving up and I know where the answer lies with God…in His house, in His presence. Are you ready to go up? Psalm 120.

1 I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. 2 Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. 3 What will he do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue? 4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush. 5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

The psalmist begins by talking about answered prayer. Though my translation uses the present tense, ‘call’ and ‘answers,’ it is most likely best taken as past tense. I called or cried to the Lord, Yahweh, and he answered me. I believe that the psalmist is describing a time in his life when he cried out to God in a terrible time and God answered him. What did he pray – verse two I think is the gist of it, “Save me from liars and deceivers!” The psalmist thanks God for hearing him when he called in a time of trouble.

The word for ‘distress’ actually has the sense of ‘narrow’ or ‘confined space.’ In other words, the psalmist felt trapped, in a tight space due to the hurtful words of another. Ever felt trapped by words? I got an email from someone who doesn’t go here this week. They asked for my opinion about a difficult situation in which they were maligned by someone in their church. Now, whenever this person goes to church, they feel trapped, unable to move, unsure where to go because of the tension between them. Can you relate to that at all? Maybe a business colleague shared information about you that wasn’t true and that caused you feel stuck. If you defend yourself, you come off argumentative and defensive. If you don’t say anything, you seem to verify what was said. Between a rock and a hard place…ever been there?

What we can learn from the psalmist is that he took his issue to the right place: God. Too often we try to fix things ourselves only to make them worse. Words that were meant to heal or fix end up harming and breaking. We go in all emotional throwing Challenge Flags all over the place and make a bigger mess of the ordeal. It is best to go to God. Actually in the Hebrew, the psalm’s first words are “on the Lord” – this is the place of emphasis. The Lord is our starting place when we face trouble. We must learn to go to

4 prayer, to the Word, to the Lord before we go to man. Otherwise, we go all raw and emotional and just spew out anger and human wisdom. How arrogant to think we can go before a human being made in God’s image and not cause harm. Without the gracious work of the Spirit of God in me, I walk around like one with casted hands trying to do delicate work. People are valuable and fragile. They are made in God’s image and I am to approach them through Jesus, not on my own. I need to go to people prayerfully, full of humility, thinking that they are better than me. I need to watch the label all humans wear: handle with care. So in our journey to Jerusalem which literally means ‘city of peace,’ our first point this morning is, (LCD) Cry out to God first when in distress.

Next we see a shift in pronoun from second to third person. Having thanked God for answering his prayers earlier, the psalmist now tells us what that answer was in verses 3 and 4. God gave him assurance of his ultimate justice. Verse 3 literally says “what will he give you and what will he add…” The repetition here means that whatever the deceiver dealt out, God will dole out even more. This is a poetic way of saying, “Don’t mess with God or His people!” Verse 4 gives us the actual justice of God meted out. He will punish with sharp arrows of a warrior or a mighty man AND the burning coals of the broom tree. Justice is served and it is piping hot – you DON’T mess with God or His peeps!

The imagery of sharp arrows is found in multiple places in Scripture. Look at Psalm 64, (LCD) “Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy… They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear…

O how cruel words are like deadly arrows, aren’t they? Look at this. I have one of the ugliest birth marks you’ve ever seen. I mean – wow. When I was a kid, the other kids made terrible fun of me and it really hurt…put me in a narrow place where I tried to hide from being made fun of. Words hurt…but notice a few verses later at verse 7, (LCD) But God will shoot them with his arrows; they will suddenly be struck down. You don’t mess with God’s people! God promises that He will justify and vindicate His people in due time.

So what are we to do? We get good counsel from Psalm 37, (LCD) “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.”

Notice that the righteous reward (God’s favor), comes like the dawn, early morning; but the vindication (people seeing the truth) come later on. That in-between time is tough.

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What do you do? You wait on the Lord patiently. Delighting in Him, not in being right. You trust God’s ultimate justice and refrain from anger. You rest in God’s ultimate justice. So on the journey to peace, we also need to (LCD) Delight in God and entrust vindication to Him.

One of the great evangelists of the 20th century was (LCD) Watchman Nee. He advocated trusting God completely for ministry funding but during a particularly bad time during WWII, he opened a business and became bi-vocational. Rumors started flying that he was collaborating with the enemy, bored with ministry, no longer trusted God, etc… As a result, he was asked to step down from his teaching and preaching ministry in his church. Everyone assumed there must be more to it and his testimony was tarnished. The elders did not clarify the issue, neither did Nee. He never defended his action nor sought to straighten out erroneous rumors. Several years later the elders came to Nee and apologized for their action. He was reinstated and his reputation saved but only after God did a good work in his character and taught him to trust more deeply. We need to learn to give up the right to be right so that God can be glorified in us as we delight in Him above all things.

But it is not easy to wait in the in-between time. In this wonderful book on the Psalm of Ascents, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson talks about this, (LCD) “Paul Tournier, in ‘A Place for You,’ describes the experience of being in- between – between the time we leave home and arrive at our destination; between the time we leave adolescence and arrive at adulthood; between the time we leave doubt and arrive at faith. It is like the time when a trapeze artist lets go the bars and hangs in midair, ready to catch another support: it is a time of danger, of expectation, or uncertainty, of excitement, of extraordinary aliveness.” Scary but exciting…that is what the life of faith is all about. Are you in transition? In-between? Delight yourself in the Lord and let go…grab on to His promises and let Him take you to new places of peace.

But it is scary and frustrating to wait for God’s vindication…even the psalmist communicates this in verses 5-7: 5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! 6 Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

The word ‘woe’ is ‘oy!’ “Oy, oy, oy!” When is this going to end! He says I’m sick of being away from home. He says he lives in (LCD) Meshek and Kedar. These are far away from Jerusalem to the north and to the south. These were also people know to be violent and anti-Semitic. I’m living among enemies! I want peace, shalom is the word here, but they want war. I’m exhausted longing for home! Yes we trust God’s timing, but it is exhausting when we still haven’t found what we’re looking for. Peace in my marriage, cooperation at work, nice kids at school…I’m sick of tension! Yup…it’s okay to be real with God, to feel these things but at the end of the day, as a follower of

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Yahweh, the psalmist says, ‘I am for peace, shalom, wholeness, everything the way it is supposed to be.’ Our third pointer for the journey to peace, (LCD) Believers long for home but seek peace on the journey.

So what are we to do while we are resident aliens in a hostile culture? Paul tells us, (LCD) “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Notice the hot coals. Our good returned for evil brings even greater conviction on the ungodly. You don’t mess with God and His peeps! Our job is to love, God’s is to judge.

I got a request on Friday to pray for the (LCD) Full Gospel Church in Marsabit, Kenya. It was burned by unknown arsonists in the early hours of Sunday, Aug. 24, along with this pastor’s, Rev. Fabian, home adjacent to the church. Although the church is located in a Muslim community, the pastor and congregation were surprised by the attack because there had been no threats or previous animosity between Christians and Muslims in the area. Painful journey we’re on but we’re called to love. Amidst huge persecution in his day, Peter counseled this, (LCD) “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” Our choice to live as peacemakers or troublemakers. Our choice is to stoke fires or douse them. As followers of the man of peace, we are to choose shalom for everyone. We are to put away the Challenge Flags and trust God for justice.

Ultimately we’re seeking for peace, or shalom. Shalom is much broader a concept than our peace. Shalom means wholeness, fullness, prosperity, things as they are meant to be. Jerusalem is the combination of Jeru which itself is the combining of YHWH Jireh and salem or shalom. So you could say that Jerusalem means the city where God provides peace or wholeness. So our journey is a journey to peace, to wholeness, to thriving even in the midst of our enemies. We can do this as we delight ourselves in the Lord above all things and keep our eyes up to Him. Let’s close by standing and reading this exhortation to do exactly that in Psalm 27. (LCD) “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”

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