Our sermon passage this morning comes from Psalm 118. This can be found on page 597 of the Pew Bibles. We will, as far as our memory songs goes, we will be spending a lot of time in Psalm 118. We will be singing Psalm 118 A, B, I think D and E as well. So we will be spending the next couple months in Psalm 118. Before I read Psalm 118, would you please join with me as I pray, seeking the Lord's blessing in the reading and preaching of his word. Lord Jesus, would you please to hear, eyes to see, that you would make our hearts be open to the preached word, that we would receive it and bring forth, Lord, the fruits of true hearing, faith, love, rejoicing, thanksgiving, as we hear about how glorious the Lord Jesus is, even from Psalm 118. Lord, would you help us to be able to hear the voice of our shepherd, as we know that what makes preaching so great is not the weakness or the rhetoric of men, but rather that by your spirit, Lord, you preach to us. And so I pray that you would do that this morning. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to receive the benefits of preaching. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Psalm 118, please give your attention to God's word. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say, his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Aaron now say, his mercy endures forever. Let those who fear the Lord now say, his mercy endures forever. I called on the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me. Therefore, I shall see my desire on those who hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations surround me. but in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees. They were quenched like a fire of thorns, for in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. You pushed me violently that I might fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go through them. I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous shall enter. I will praise you for you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone which the builders projected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O Lord. O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and he has given us light by the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise you. You are my God, I will exalt you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. He is good, for his mercy endures forever. Well, this month we start singing and memorizing Psalm 118, and we will be doing this even into the new year, concluding with Psalm 118E in February. And we can do this because God has caused Psalm 118 to be stuffed, packed, it says so many of God, the Christian life, the church. And so you have a lot of ways in which you can use Psalm 118 in family worship, private devotions, or day to day. So for example, you can say in November, I'm going to take a cue from verse five. And I will think on the times where I called to the Lord in distress and he answered me. and they'll give thanks. This could be something you do during family worship, right, parents? You could say, let me tell you times in which I gave a prayer to the Lord, he heard and answered. In December, you could take a cue from verse 13 and pray for the persecuted church. You could acknowledge our brothers and sisters who were pushed violently by the evil one to cave, to turn away from Christ, but the Lord helps them. And you can pray for the persecuted church. Yet there are two main movements in Psalm 118 that I'd like to bring to your attention this morning. The two main movements is we see a single speaker and eventually becomes the voice of a multitude change of speaker and a change of setting. we see a battle eventually become public worship. Again, a movement from battle to public worship, and a single individual to a multitude. If we were looking for a summary sentence for Psalm 118, Andrew Bonner wrote in Christ and His Church, Psalm 118 is all about the Redeemer's conflict, triumph, and glorification shared in by His redeemed. One that I developed for you this morning is Psalm 118 is all about God's chosen one who leads us in worship after defeating his enemies. God's chosen one who leads the church in worship after destroying his enemies. You know, the theme that I am presenting for you this morning works in a lot of different places in scripture. I'd like to give you two quick examples of that, and then I'll show you where Psalm 118 says, hey, you've seen this before. battle, moving to worship, that the Song of One becomes the Song of Many. So two quick examples that I have, and then the one that Psalm 118 gives. In Genesis 14, Abraham takes up the sword and defeats an alliance of kings because his nephew, you know, that knucklehead Lot, is in distress. And so Abraham, that friend of God, the man of faith, takes up sword and goes against an alliance of kings and has victory. And after he rescues Lot, he brings honor and tithe and praise to the priest-king of God. In 2 Samuel 5-6, David defeats his enemies, and he becomes king. There is no threat to his reign over all of Israel. Saul has passed. The Philistines have been defeated. And what does he do now that he is that victor, the winner? He leads a worship-filled procession into Jerusalem. Now that he is the undisputed king, he leads his people in worship. And then Psalm 118 says, consider the Exodus. Remember that Moses came to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians in Israel and said, the Lord by his mighty right hand, this would be verses 15 through 16, will lead his people out of Egypt. And of course, Pharaoh, who is God that I should listen to him? And so the Lord, through these plagues, almost kind of makes like an apologetic, an argument. He says to the Pharaoh and the Egyptians that Ra doesn't control light and darkness, but Yahweh does. Hapi, the goddess of the Nile, doesn't control the waters, Yahweh does. And so even though Pharaoh and his soldiers Try to swarm around Israel like bees, the Lord crushes them. And after this mighty victory, what do we find in Exodus 15? Well, verse 14 in the song. The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. One of the things that I think I've noted this before is when you see like depictions of the Exodus in film, you always have those scenes, right, where someone comes forward, let my people go. And they always forget that the whole point was let my people go so that they may worship me, right? What do we find at the end of Exodus? We don't find a freedom so that the Israelites can do whatever they want. But verse 34 in chapter 40, the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting. and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, while the other side of battle was worship." You know, this gives the Christian church and believers a distinct and privileged knowledge Usually, if you are looking at a battle, you're getting ready to go and fight a battle, you don't have any uncertainty. You're certain, excuse me, you don't have any certainty. You could be certain that you are afraid, you are certain that you could die, but you don't know what's on the other end of the battle. Here, Psalm 118 says to the church, says to the Christian, on the other side of every battle, on the other side of your distress is the worship of the one true God. And so Psalm 118 conveys to us, making use of the Exodus imagery, that there is a larger Exodus that the Lord will accomplish. That the Lord will use one who is greater than Moses to bring about a success in a bigger battle, and will lead in a grander worship service. The chosen one of Psalm 118 isn't just plagued by a single nation like Egypt, but he is surrounded by nations in verses 10 through 11. The chosen one of Psalm 118 doesn't just open the gates of the Red Sea, as Paul will say, to baptize and save his people from judgment, but this one opens the very gates of righteousness, verse 19, and becomes the gates by which his people move from distress. to salvation. This greater individual is none other than the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the son of David. How do I know that? If you're talking to someone and you say, yeah, Psalm 118 is all about Jesus Christ, and they say, well, how do you know that? You could say, right, you could go to our responsive reading this morning. Jesus identified himself as that cornerstone that was rejected by the builders. Jesus also uses the later portion of Psalm 118 in Matthew 23. In verse 26 here, if you look at it with me, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Where do we find that in Jesus' ministry? He tells those who reject him, those who were involved in his murder and denying him justice, the next time you will see me, when I return in power and glory, you will say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. It's not only Jesus who testifies to this, but also Peter. In 1 Peter 2, as he's talking about who the church is, he starts by saying the church is built around Christ. Christ is that chief cornerstone. He does not say that the chief cornerstone, who Psalm 118 is about, is about Mary or himself or Buddha or Muhammad. No, Christ He is the stone in which the Lord is building and expanding his kingdom. Now let me show you this movement with regards to speaker and setting, this movement from the one individual to a multitude and battle from public worship. And we get the battle in verses five through 18, and the single speaker of verse five says, I called on the Lord in distress. of distress. Nations surrounding me like bees, nations surrounding me like a fire spreading rapidly. But what I love in verses 10 through 12, this kind of conjunction theology, if I could put it that way. Notice what keeps breaking into the psalmist's words as he describes being surrounded by enemies. All nations They surrounded me. Yes, they surrounded me. But in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. Do you have a conjunction theology? If I were to talk with Alex and say, Alex, how's your week? How's your week going? As he voiced his distress, would I hear any of those blessed conjunctions that the Lord gives his people? This is very difficult for me. I have no idea how this is gonna work out. I feel so weak and incapable, but the Lord is on my side. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus? But then when you talk about your distress and problems, God is completely absent from the way you speak about things. The psalmist encourages us that when we are in distress, when we are surrounded, there is always a place for a blessed conjunction. That God will do this. I'm overwhelmed, and the Lord is not overwhelmed and will deliver me." Notice that behind the various nations and enemies lurks one adversary. Verse 13, you push me violently that I might fall. Of course, you could say, wait, hold on a minute. How do we know that that's a single you? There's y'all, there's second person plural? Well, that would be a good question. that behind the swarm of bees, the psalmist identifies one who has kicked the nest. And of course, we know that if the speaker of Psalm 118 is none other than Jesus Christ, certainly this principal adversary of Psalm 118 is none other than the evil one, Satan. In that wicked friendship of Pilate and Herod, We see nations come together to assault the Messiah, to reject the stone selected by God. But behind the persecution of man is the evil desire of Satan, Satan who pushed Judas to betray the Lord Jesus, Satan who pushed Herod and Pilate to be people-pleasers and deny the Son of God justice, Satan who pushed Christ with temptations, beatings, floggings, betrayal, crucifixion, and death. But the violent pushes of the evil one only gives way to the Lord's help, strength, song, and salvation. Every push of the evil one results in a display of God's superior strength. You might feel like you're being pushed. Do you feel like you're in distress? Well, what is God up to? Well, Psalm 118 says that one of the things that God is up to is convincing you that he is your strength and song. He is convincing you that you want to get to a point and following the Lord Jesus, where you can say the Lord is on my side. Verse six. What can man do to me? You might be different than me here on this one, but I know that when I'm in distress, When I am struggling or in trial or feel surrounded by enemies, my question doesn't sound like, what can man do to me? My question is, God, what are you doing? Where are you? But listen to the psalmist. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side. He doesn't sound like a good, pious Christian. A good, pious Christian would say, I'm on God's side. But this isn't what the psalmist is saying. The psalmist is grounded in that theology of adoption. I belong to God. He is my father. My father is on my side. The Lord is on my side. Do you believe that? And if the answer is no, the next question and His care for you, for you to be certain and assured that He is on your side, He puts you in distress. So that you can see that it wasn't princes, it wasn't chariots, it wasn't my own work or ability that brought me into the broad place, brought me into freedom and peace. It was the Lord who is on my side. Verse six. Again, this is said going into battle. Normally, you know, I would say the Lord is on my side. You know, I drove to a very busy place and I found a parking spot. The Lord is clearly on my side. But this isn't what the psalmist is saying. He sees persecutors. He sees enemies. He sees that following the Lord will not be a piece of cake. But what is his chance of faith going into conflict? The Lord is on my side. This is, I want to say, the preaching that we get from Peter in Acts 2, where he identifies that there is pushes of the enemy that the Lord uses for salvation. He says that Jesus was a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know. being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. You hear the violent pushes, the lawless hands who have crucified and put him to death, but you hear how the Lord uses those violent pushes according to his sovereignty and power to bring about salvation. Jesus being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God Or even a shorter version of that would be first John chapter 3 verse 8 for this purpose The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil The Lord Jesus takes the violent push from the evil one of crucifixion so as to undo the evil one he is using the persecution and opposition of Satan so as to bring about the salvation of His people. This salvation of verse 14 is not something that just exclusively belongs to this individual figure, this anointed one of Psalm 118, or we can just say, it doesn't just belong to Jesus, but because of His grace, it becomes our song of rejoicing and salvation. Verse 15, the voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. Well, now we have made that movement from an individual speaker to a multitude. And of course, we want to ask them, what are you guys shouting about? So far in the psalm, we haven't heard anything about the tents of the righteous. What have they done? No victory, no fighting, no bold confidence declaring, yes, the Lord will help me. We will conquer. After the victory of that anointed one, then we see the multitude rejoicing. And of course, they are rejoicing because they know that the victory of God's chosen one, the Davidic king, is their victory. That because Jesus had confidence that the Lord is on his side, we get to participate by faith and say, the Lord is on my side. The Lord is for me. The Lord will help me. The triumph of Christ becomes ours. This is a verse 24. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Of course, that day isn't necessarily referring to like weekday, right? When you're at a wedding and the minister says on this, the day of your wedding, you know, he's not like saying Wednesday or Wednesday, but rather it's event. It is in this day in which the Lord defeated sin and the evil one and death for your behalf, in that day in which the Spirit opens your eyes to see the glory of Christ, you rejoice and are glad in your salvation. Last Lord's Day, as we were in 1 Kings 17, I said that one of the job descriptions of a Christian is to be hearers and doers of God's Word. You hear God's and you do what it says. Well, Psalm 118 gives us another job description of the Christian. Verse 24, Christians rejoice and are glad over what God is doing and has done in Christ Jesus. It's not even so much that Christians are glad and happy because of what the Lord is doing for them. Rather, what the Lord has accomplished in Christ Jesus is our rejoice. How do I know that the Lord won't turn his ear away from me because he hasn't turned his ear away from the son? He didn't. He heard the Lord Jesus and brought him out of death and out of the grave. How do I know that the Lord will keep every promise because he has kept all of his promises to the son? Christians rejoice and are excited about what the Lord Jesus has received from the father. We are excited about who Jesus is. And that means we can certainly be Christians who struggle with sadness, despondency, depression, but we cannot be sad Christians, depressed Christians, despondent Christians, because we always have a reason to rejoice. we should be filled with gladness. I can give you an example of a time in which I was ready to say to someone they're wrong, but when I thought about it, I was like, hey, you're right. This is back at Elkins Park. We were singing Psalm 16b, and Bruce Martin, many of you know him, he was presenting. And after we made through the psalm in the evening service, as I got ready to preach, he said, Hunter, can I say something to the congregation? And I said, sure, Bruce. Bruce read that blind. Full joy is with you. And Bruce said to us, we sang that like we were sacks of potatoes, flat, empty. Full joy is with you. He said, we need to sing this again. And again, as I heard that, I was like, OK, come on, Bruce. But he's right. The Lord is so good to you. He is so faithful to you. Jesus is so great and grand, and we belong to him, and this always gives us a reason to rejoice. And the Lord leads us in that worship by bringing us in the gates of righteousness. This is verse 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness. Now, you know, gates are a point of entry. You have the gates in the temple. You have the gates of Jerusalem. But these gates in verse 19 are the gates of righteousness, which means you can't open these gates. You can't. If the gates were the gates of mostly good people, the gates were those who are nice and kind or who have a good heart at the end of the day, we could command these gates to open up. These are the gates of righteousness. These are the ancient gates, the everlasting doors of Psalm 24, that only the king of glory can demand to be open. This is the gates of Psalm 15, where the psalmist says, who can dwell in your holy hill? One who walks uprightly and works righteousness, or Psalm 24, who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place. It is the Lord Jesus who can command these gates to open. And then he becomes the means in which we enter the righteous presence of God. So we have verse 19 that clearly points to the Lord Jesus ascending before the Father on our behalf in verse 20, that the risen Christ invites us into the righteous presence of God to worship. Psalm 118 says not only does Christ give us victorious standing over our enemies, but he brings us into God's presence to stand before him and worship. Verse 17, declaring the works of the Lord. Verse 19, praising the Lord. Verse 21, I will praise you. Verse 26, bless the Lord from his house. Verse 24, rejoicing and being glad in the day of salvation. And it doesn't seem that we could say that this is an individual worship. This isn't somebody off to the side, but I think this is public worship, the gathering, right? The tents of the righteous. I believe the tents is referring to battle tents. In the ancient world, when there was a battle, king would be in the middle, everyone else would be around him. And as the surrounding warriors have seen the Lord bless the anointed one, they rejoice together. And so I think this psalm in verse 27 urges us to make use of the goodness of public worship, worshiping together. God is the Lord, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. I think in verse 27, the Lord is instructing us about word and sacrament. Those distinguishing marks of a true church, as well as the other marks of a church. Word and sacrament. He has given us light. Well, the very next Psalm, Psalm 119, will say that light is what? God's Word. His Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Then the rest of Psalm 27, bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. The Hebrew under the word sacrifice is actually feast. Everywhere else you see it, it's going to be feast. And so what the psalmist is trying to convey to us is when you come into the Lord's house, when you come before him in the gates, you are to bring an offering, but it's that offering So you have the burnt offering, right? You don't participate in the burnt offering. You don't eat that with God. It's burned in the morning, burned in the evening. You have the guilt and sin offering. Then you have what's called the thanksgiving offering. There's a couple different reasons why you can give the thanksgiving offering. One, it could be you ask the Lord to do something and he did it. And so the Lord, I asked you to heal my cousin. You did. And so here is this thanks offering, this with the priests, the elders, and in God's presence. And this is what's being presented here. Not the guilt offering, not the burnt offering, but by the festive sacrifice or the sacrifice for feasting. Next week when we come to the Lord's Supper, we are being reminded that we have come to Christ, to Those who would say that Jesus is a worthless stone are not to come to the table. They have no share in his victory. He is their enemies. And unless they turn from their hostility and believe in the Lord Jesus, he will, verse seven, see his desire on those who hate him. But when we come in faith in the Lord Jesus and come to the supper, we are given strength and grace strength, and song, and salvation. Let's pray. Lord, it is impossible to exhaust the goodness and depth of your word. And so, Lord, I take up the prayer of the Apostle Paul that you would help us to know the breadth, the depth, the width of God's love for us in Christ Jesus. Lord, as we spend the next couple months in Psalm 118, let it bless us, instruct us, rebuke and reproof where it is necessary so that we may take great delight, that we would rejoice and be glad in the Lord Jesus, that chief cornerstone. We pray this in Jesus' name.