Living As Aliens In A Hostile World Series

LIVING AS ALIENS IN A HOSTILE WORLD

PSALM 119:17-24

INTRODUCTION

A. Some commentators believe an unnamed author wrote this Psalm during the period of the Babylonian captivity because he writer calls himself a “sojourner” or “stranger.” However, David also lived in exile when his son Absalom conspired to overthrow his father and won many to his rebel cause, forcing David to flee from Jerusalem. After Absalom was killed on the battlefield, David returned to Jerusalem and the throne.

B. From this strophe, we will explore three things: Our identity, the treatment we can expect to receive, and the power by which we shall prevail.

I. WE ARE SERVANTS AND SOJOURNERS

A. Although there are some countries in which it is still considered an honor to be a servant to royalty, such is not the case in America. Many occupations are considered menial and beneath those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. The problem is that this mindset has infiltrated the church.

B. Servant leadership in a ladder-climbing society is biblical:

1. We are encouraged to obey and submit (Heb 13:17).

2. Servant leadership is the biblical model practiced by Christ (Phil 2:5-8; John 12:13-17).

3. When we know Jesus and who we are, we can wash feet, empty bedpans, wash dishes, clean toilets, or do whatever needs to be done.

II. WE HOLD DUAL CITIZENSHIP

A. Whether we were born in America, Russia, China, India, or whatever country, if we are Christians, we are just sojourners in our biological homeland.

B. Our spiritual citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20; 1 Pet 2:11-12).

C. The song “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” has been recorded numerous times. The first verse and the chorus stir the hearts of those who love Jesus:

I am a poor wayfaring stranger

I’m travellin’ through this world of woe

Yet there’s no sickness, toil, nor danger

In that bright land to which I go

I’m going there to see my Father

I’m going there, no more?to?roam

I’m?only going over?Jordan

I’m only going?over home

III. THE WOES WE FACE AS WE TRAVEL

A. David alerts us to three threats to beware of as we journey toward eternity.

1. We face scorn, and we should expect no less from the world that heaped scorn on our Lord (Psa 22:6-8; John 15:18; 1 Pet 4:12-13).

2. We face contempt. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Sunday to cheers of “Hosanna to the Son of David.” Less than a week later, they were crying out, “Crucify Him!” The contempt continued as he hung on the cross (Matt 21:8-9; Lk 23:6-12, 35-38)

3. We may face conspiracies. When we think of conspiracies, we probably think of the various levels of our society that are hostile toward Christ and Christians and would, if they had their way, regulate faith to Sunday morning in the church house.

4. We must remember that Satan is behind all conspiracies against King Jesus and his servants. Yet, at this time in history, Satan’s scheme is not to openly attack Christianity but to infiltrate it at all levels.

a. In verse twenty-three, David said that the princes sat and plotted against him. When we examine the accounts of David’s reign, we find that his son conspired against him with the encouragement of David’s trusted counselor, Ahithophel. The situation was like the president’s chief of staff formulating a conspiracy to conduct a coup against the president and the Constitution.

b. Has Satan been successful in his conspiracy to infiltrate Christianity and dilute faith?

(1) Kevin J. Adams, commenting on the term “Civil religion,” observed that “It mixes agreeable parts of Christian faith and pious-sounding patriotism into a polished amalgam many Americans find alluring” (Living Under Water: Baptism as a Way of Life. William B. Eerdmans’ Publishing Company. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2022).

(2) James Montgomery Boice wrote in 2001:

Evangelicals speak of “taking back America,” “fighting for the country’s soul,” “re-claiming the United States for Christ,” How? By electing Christian presidents, congressmen, and senators, lobbying for conservative judges, taking over power structures, and imposing our Christian standard of morality on the rest of the nation by law. But we ought to ask: Was America ever really Christian? Does law produce morality? What about Augustine’s doctrine of the two cities—the city of man and the city of God—which meant so much to the Reformers? Will any country ever be anything other than man’s city? And what about America’s soul? Is there really an American soul to be redeemed or fought over? (Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace? Crossway Books.)

5. As strangers and aliens, we must always look to God for our strength, not power politics and civil religion (Zech 4:6)

IV. WALKING WITH GOD

A. If ever a man of God felt the full force of alienation from his contemporaries, it was Noah, but Noah walked with God (Gen 6:9).