04.01.2012 Psalm Sunday - Hosanna! Save!

We’ve had a lot of kids from our church going on to serve the Lord and it is exciting and encouraging.
Let’s pray – Lord, thank You for Hannah and her commitment and desire to do missions. It is so important to see the work that You have for us – even Annette and Alan coming home from their mission to Arizona tonight. Thank you for Hannah’s willingness to serve those in great need – we pray that You would support her in this – and that we would as well. You are our salvation Lord – the whole world needs You – they need You in Honduras, and Arizona, and India and all over the world. We need You to save our lives that we might be pleasing to You – there are many circumstances we need saving from – Jesus is our savior – God saves – in Your name we pray – Amen.
And that is what Palm Sunday is all about – God saving us.
Today is Palm Sunday – we’ve been going through the Psalms – and in the Palm Sunday story, there is a Psalm mentioned – so we’ll bounce back and forth.
Matthew 21:1 And when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied [there] and a colt with her; untie [them,] and bring [them] to Me. 3 “And if anyone says something to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." 4 Now this took place that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 5 "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"
Jesus’ actions are deliberate and calculated. He knows He is entering Jerusalem for the last time – and He knows what is awaiting Him. He is making a statement in dramatic form. The people understood what He was doing. This long-expected King – Jesus is saying – I am that long-expected King. They had waited for centuries – and people had been coming in to Jerusalem for the celebration – for the festival – like Times Square – Millions come pouring in to celebrate – and Jesus very specifically uses this day to come in and say Your King has come. Even though they got it – they did not get it.
He comes in on a donkey – a symbol of peace, humility, service. A king would normally ride in as a warrior conqueror on a horse – but Jesus is showing that His kingdom is different. The people who were waiting for a king were waiting for a different kingdom than what Jesus is delivering. God has His plan – and our plan often does not match up. If we were God, we would have a different plan – and we like to tell Him that sometimes – but His plan is greater and right.
6 And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had directed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid on them their garments, on which He sat. 8 And most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road. 9 And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" 10 And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" 11 And the multitudes were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."
Psalm 118 is recited on the enthronement of the king. It is a royal psalm – it is like the State of the Union.
Psalm 118: 25 O Lord, do save (Hosanna!), we beseech Thee; O Lord, we beseech Thee, do send prosperity! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 Thou art my God, and I give thanks to Thee; [Thou art] my God, I extol Thee. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
I am going to go through this psalm and then come back to Palm Sunday. They believed that when the King came – they would be saved.
Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Lovingkindness – Chesed – that love, grace, mercy, hope – is everlasting -
2 Oh let Israel say, "His lovingkindness is everlasting." 3 Oh let the house of Aaron say, "His lovingkindness is everlasting." 4 Oh let those who fear the Lord say, "His lovingkindness is everlasting."
Repeating repeating repeating to try to drill it through our heads and hearts that Jesus loves us – to approach the world everyday – “His lovingkindness is everlasting” – let me say it to everyone in every circumstance and situation!
5 From [my] distress I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me [and set me] in a large place. 6 The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I shall look [with satisfaction] on those who hate me. 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.
This phrase comes up often: the Lord is for me – I will not fear – what can man do to me – the Lord is for me.
Romans 8 – This I know – that God is for us – who can be against us?
The Question the psalm is asking – do you believe that? God is on your side and is for you? Like cheering for a sport – who will you support? Who are you cheering for? Which team will you support? None on Monday, we know that now! God is cheering for you! God is for you! We can improperly think that God is against us or neutral. But He is neither of those. He will work to help – He is our helper. God wants us to win – maybe not in sports or the lottery – but He wants us to win in life and in your family and marriage. He wants to engage and help you to succeed in those things in life that really matter. And too often we fail to bring Him in and allow Him to be our helper.
. 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.
Sometimes there are good things that we trust in – but there is a line that we can cross in trusting in something or someone – even in our spouse – yes, obviously, we need to trust our spouse, but even in that relationship, our trust and reliance must solely and totally be in God. God is asking us to lean on Him completely in life – not in our job or the paycheck – because that can change quickly. Relationships can change quickly. Other things that we think are stable in this world aren’t. God is always stable. He is the rock. It gives us a sense of something that cannot be moved – He can be fully trusted. The Romans, in the story of Palm Sunday trusted in POWER. Pax Romano – They were about peace – through oppression and war! We laugh at that, but have things changed that much? In Jesus’ day – the religious leaders sought salvation through superiority and exclusivity. Religion, for them, was a way to control. That can happen with us – to use our faith as a way to control things.
As Christians, it is easy to trust in prosperity – but what if that were to never return – are we blind enough to think that there is something in our system that is infallible? I don’t think so – therefore, we need to trust in God – we need to trust fully in Him. This lottery thing – I had to get cleaning at Giant Eagle – and I thought – all these people are here to get cleaning? Finally someone said – Anyone NOT for lottery tickets over here! And I thought that was me! – And I won’t begrudge you buying a lottery ticket – provided you tithe on your winnings! Just kidding!
The news said that 21% of Americans are RELYING on the lottery for their retirement! Do we trust in these things? Do we trust in the political process or trust in the Supreme Court? God says we need to trust in Him.
10 All nations surrounded me; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. 11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. 12 They surrounded me like bees; They were extinguished as a fire of thorns; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
Everything is starting to go wrong – but he has God.
13 You pushed me violently so that I was falling, But the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.
21 I shall give thanks to Thee, for Thou hast answered me; And Thou hast become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner [stone.] 23 This is the Lord's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, do save (HOSANNA!), we beseech Thee; O Lord, we beseech Thee, do send prosperity! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 Thou art my God, and I give thanks to Thee; [Thou art] my God, I extol Thee. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
As Jesus is entering the city – this Psalm is coming to the minds of all of those who are watching and they begin to cry it out to the Lord.
The Pharisees were saying stop the crying out– because they were trusting in something else. The Romans ended it another way – by crucifying the king.
Jesus is our eternal salvation – Hosanna – Save us!
As Dennis used to say – God saved me from my sin; if He does nothing else – I’m okay with that!
He has done what is most important – given us eternal salvation – and in the grand scheme of things – many millennia from now – it will all be made right. Every wound, injury, hurt – will be put right. Every flaw will be made right.
Second – He saves us from our success. For Israel – it was always their success that destroyed them – Deut 6 – When everything goes right – don’t forget – or you will turn away from God.
Third – He saves us from our conflict – and distress. God wants to be your savior in that time.
Fourth – He saves us from our enemies – those who are against us. And there are many who are against us.
You have an enemy who is after your life – and he has armies – and you may have some of those armies assigned to you in the spiritual realm – we are in a spiritual battle – we can’t see it and it causes us to not believe it. He first wants to separate you from people and from God. The enemy works in your marriage – when you have conflict – maybe you should stop and think about the spiritual realm – and maybe we need to join together and fight together.
Luke continues further than Matthew:
Luke 19: 39 And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." 40 And He answered and said, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" 41 And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43 "For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, 44 and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. "
The Pharisees wanted nothing to do with Him as king – He was not from among them – but Jesus doesn’t stop at the peoples’ praise –
From a practical standpoint – God will work with us even in our limited understanding. Jesus is okay with that – He is okay with where you are. Any time – wherever you are – He loves our praise and worship when it comes from an honest heart – you don’t have to get to a specific point with God for Him to love your praise and worship. Even the rocks and stones would be okay. Children – the mouths of babes – those without any understanding – bring praise.
Selfish ambition (like the Pharisees) hinders and destroys our worship.
Finally – the Jewish people had ceremonies to remind them what God was doing. When they saw this – they knew where to go – Psalm 118 – and to begin quoting it – and reenacted it.
We have ceremonies – and we can tend to downplay them – but the Jews lived for these festivals. Easter is coming up – and it has become an important holiday – we dress up – some wear ties – girls get Easter dresses. But is it an amazing religious celebration that we just can’t wait to get to? Have any of you thought, “Easter is coming! We are going to celebrate!”
Good Friday is Friday at 7 – and we will take communion and that is a ceremony to remember. When we do communion – we proclaim His death – until He comes – we look back and we look forward. We are waiting for the coming of a king – coming in a different way when He comes back for us. We do that through communion – and I think we have not lifted these ceremonies up as they ought to be lifted up – they are significant and vital in the life of the church.
Baptism – this is another ceremony we have. We have ordered a portable baptismal – and we will be having a baptism in May.
Do you know what happens when you are baptized? You are proclaiming His death and resurrection –and it needs to be something the church does together and we remember and celebrate with these small ceremonies.
I encourage you to do this this week – follow the story – in the gospels – read it through the resurrection – through Easter Sunday – it is only a few chapters – you can do that.
There are some good movies – word for word from Matthew, Luke, John – you can get them at the library. If you can take it – watch The Passion of the Christ – allow yourself to be reminded of the story.