Our Victorious King
Psalm 118
Three store owners shared adjacent storefronts in the same building. Times were tough. So in hopes of picking up sales, the owner of the shop at one end of the building pout a sign over his front entrance that said, “YEAR END CLEARANCE!”
At the other end of the building, another owner responded with his own sign: “CLOSE OUT SALE!”
The owner of the store in the middle knew he had to act fast or he’d lose business. So after careful consideration, he hung a larger sign over his front door that read, “MAIN ENTRANCE.” (Ivan R. Misner, Ph.D., The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret, Bard Press, 1997, pp.30-31)
When times are tough, you have to make the best of them.
Times were tough on that first Palm Sunday nearly 2,000 years ago. The Jewish people were under Roman oppression. Even so, they traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover as they had done every year for hundreds of years.
It was a festive time when they celebrated their deliverance from another oppressor in Egypt nearly 1,500 years before Christ. So on the way, they sang several songs (Psalm 113-118). Then as they approached the city, they sang a ballad, which celebrated their king’s triumph in battle. It was a song that gave them hope in tough times as they looked forward to their ultimate deliverance under the Messiah.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to that ballad. It’s Psalm 118 in your Bibles. Psalm 118, a psalm which shows us how we can find hope in tough times. Psalm 118.
Now, when you get to this psalm, notice that it starts with a call to praise in verses 1-4. Then it shifts to the first person in verse 5 as the king tells how he triumphed in battle, because he trusted in God (vs.5-21). At the end of the psalm, in verse 22, the song shifts again with the people celebrating their king’s victory (vs.22-29).
As they enter the city of Jerusalem, the people imagine themselves in a victorious procession with their king. Many of them pick up palm branches, the ancient symbol of victory, and wave them in the air.
Now, they did this every year when they came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, but one year Jesus was in their midst riding on a donkey. A few of Jesus’ followers understood the significance of this song as it related to Him. But most of the people just sang the song, as they had done for centuries, hoping for deliverance, not even aware that the Hope of the Ages was right there with them. Let’s take a look at this ancient song, which gave hope to so many centuries ago and still gives hope today in the 21st Century.
Psalm 118:1-4 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.” Let those who fear the LORD say: “His love endures forever.” (NIV)
My dear friends, when times are tough…
THANK THE LORD FOR HIS TIMELESS LOVE.
Praise God for His kindness which never ends. Bless the Lord for His everlasting compassion. Gratitude is important in tough times, because it helps us to remember that God has never let us down.
Rod Cooper watched a father play with his little boy, repeatedly throwing him in the air and catching him just before he hit the ground. The child was relaxed and having a great time, all the while saying, “Do it again! Do it again!”
Rod thought, “If that were me, I’d be stiff as a board.”
Then he asked the father, “Can you explain why he’s so relaxed, even when he’s out of control?”
“It’s very simple,” the father replied. “We have a history together. We’ve played this game before, and I have never dropped him.” (Rod Cooper, “Worship or Worry?” Preaching Today, Tape No. 108; www.PreachingToday.com)
We too have a history together with our Heavenly Father! He has never dropped us, has He? So when you feel like things are out of control, recall that history and thank God for His love which endures forever. It will help you relax. It will help you find peace and hope in the midst of your pain. So when times are tough, thank the Lord for His timeless love. Then…
TRUST THE LORD FOR HIS TIMELY HELP.
Depend on the Lord. Rely on Him. Count on Him to deliver you. That’s what Israel’s king did. Look at his testimony beginning in verse 5.
Psalm 118:5-9 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. (NIV)
People will let you down, but God never will. In fact, it is better to trust in Him than in even the best of men.
The Book of Heroic Failures contains a story about a time when the British army filled the gap for British firefighters who were on strike that year. One afternoon the replacement firefighters got a call to rescue a cat caught high in a tree. The soldiers rushed to the scene, put up a ladder, brought down the cat, and gave it back to the owner. The woman was grateful and invited them in for tea. After a wonderful time, they said goodbye, got in the truck, and backed away – over the cat. (George Sanchez, “How to Succeed God's Way,” Discipleship Journal, Sept/Oct 1983; www.PreachingToday.com)
People mean well, but their help isn’t always very helpful, is it? Not so with our Lord. Like the psalm says (vs.8), “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans.”
So when times get tough, trust Him and triumph! Call on the Lord and conquer. Depend on the Lord and defeat all your foes. That’s what the King did. Listen as he continues his testimony in verse 10.
Psalm 118:10-12 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off. (NIV) – Better, “I cut them off.”
In the Hebrew, it’s the same word used for circumcision. The King is saying, “I cut off my enemies like a piece of loose skin.” Then in the next verse, verse 13, he says… (read
Psalm 118:13-14 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. (NIV)
The King trusted the Lord and conquered the enemy, and that’s exactly what Jesus did on the cross! Colossians 2 says that Christ “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15). And Hebrews 2 says that Christ shared in our humanity “so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
The cross was the battleground where Jesus won the victory over our greatest enemy – the devil himself. So we don’t have to take his stuff anymore! We don’t have to put up with Satan’s lies anymore. We don’t have to let him push us around. We don’t have to listen to him ever again, because Jesus, our King, conquered the devil.
More than that, He conquered death, as well! Listen to the King as he continues his testimony.
Psalm 118:15-18 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things! The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!” I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. (NIV)
The King declares that He will live and not die. He was “chastened,” he said, but he has come through it alive! That’s what happened to Jesus! He was chastened not for his own sins, but for our sins on the cross. He was punished instead of us, having died on a cross in our place. But death couldn’t hold him in the grave. Three days later, Jesus rose from the grave, the victor over death itself!
Author Os Guinness tells the hauntingly sad story about a dearly loved 19th century Japanese Haiku poet known as Issa. When he was a young child, Issa's mother died – the first of many tragedies in his life. Many years and many sorrows later (including the death of his daughter), Issa went to a Zen master for comfort. The master reminded Issa what Zen Buddhism teaches: that the world is an illusion; like the morning dew our lives will evaporate with the rising sun.
Sad to say, Issa remained committed to his Buddhist faith, but he still yearned for a more hopeful existence. When he returned home he penned the following words:
The world is dew—
The world is dew—
and yet,
and yet …
This is what Os Guinness says about Issa's poem: “Here is a truth that should make [us] stand still in [our] tracks, but it is expressed in such distilled beauty that the fragrance of its pathos … becomes such a jewel of poetry that its lesson is easily lost. Issa the orthodox Zen believer must say [that life is only dew], but Issa the father, the husband, the human being, with his agonized grief and tortured love can only cry into the unfulfilled darkness where Zen sheds no light, ‘And yet…’ (Paul Louis Metzger, Connecting Christ, Thomas Nelson, 2012, pp. 106-109; www. PreachingToday.com)
How sad! How sad that he didn’t know Jesus who conquered death and came out of the grave alive! He is our victorious King! He conquered the devil. He conquered death itself.
And He conquered depravity too! Jesus overcame the sin which is killing all of us. At this point in the song, the Jewish pilgrims have arrived at the gates of the city of Jerusalem. So they imagine their King shouting in verse 19.
Psalm 118:19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. (NIV)
The King wants to enter the city so He can go into the temple and thank God for his victory. But the gatekeeper responds…
Psalm 118:20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. (NIV)
Only the righteous can enter the city and come into the presence of God. You see, even though the King has conquered the enemy without, the gatekeeper wants to know has he conquered the enemy within? Has he conquered sin itself? Well, hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Our King did conquer sin, because the gates open to Him, and He cries out to the Lord…
Psalm 118:21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. (NIV)
The King praises God for his deliverance and victory over the enemy, over death, and over sin itself. Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus “has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.” Jesus conquered sin not only for himself, but for all of us who depend on Him.
Abraham Lincoln was walking into town one day when a man in a wagon came down the road going the same direction. Lincoln got his attention and asked, “Will you have the goodness to take my overcoat to town for me?”
“With pleasure,” said the stranger, “but how will you get it again?”
“Oh, very easily,” Lincoln replied. I intend to remain in it.”
The Bible says that when we trusted Christ, we were clothed in His righteousness (Colossians 3:9-10). In other words, like a large overcoat, God covers us with Christ’s goodness in which we get into the Holy City. Apart from Jesus Christ and His righteousness, we’re left standing by the side of the road, and no amount of our own good works can ever get us in.
We need Jesus, our victorious King, who conquered the devil, death and sin. We need to depend on Him to gain entrance into heaven. My dear friends, trust Christ to deliver you from the devil, death and sin. Trust Christ for the victory you need today. When times get tough, thank the Lord for His timeless love; trust the Lord for His timely help; and…
TAKE THE LORD IN AS YOUR TRIUMPHANT KING.
Receive Jesus as your Sovereign Lord and Savior. Welcome Christ into your life as your Ruler and Redeemer. That’s what the people do in this song. After their King has gained entrance into the city, they give him a victor’s welcome! Listen to their shouts of joy starting in verse 22.
Psalm 118:22-24 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (NIV)
This is the day of victory! Our King has conquered, and He is the best! He is the cornerstone.
When the Jews built the temple in Jerusalem, they did not want to desecrate that holy site with ugly sounds like the breaking and splitting of rock. They wanted to keep the building site as quiet as possible. It was holy ground, so they required that all stones for the temple be cut off-site and then brought to the site for assembly like a giant 3-D jigsaw puzzle. The stone cutters had to be highly skilled and precise in their measurements, which they were. They cut the rock with great precision and sent it all to the temple site. The builders found a place for each rock except for one odd-sized rock which didn’t seem to fit anywhere. So they rejected it at first, but later discovered that it was the cornerstone to the whole structure. That odd-sized rock was the foundation piece which gave direction to the whole building.
Jesus is that cornerstone! Though He was rejected by many, it turns out that He is the foundation piece that gives direction to all of life. He is the Sovereign Lord! And if we want to share in His victory over the devil, death and sin, we must welcome Him in as OUR Sovereign Lord and King. We must accept Him as the One who gives direction to our lives. In other words, stop trying to direct your own life. Instead, line your life up with Christ, and let Him set its course and direction. If you want your life to make sense and have any meaning, welcome Christ into your life as your Sovereign King.
More than that, welcome Christ into your life as your Savior from sin, and ask Him to set you free from your depravity today. That’s what the people do in this song. Look at verse 25.
Psalm 118:25 “Lord, save us!” they cry – Hosianna! (in the Hebrew). “Lord, grant us success!” – Haslihana! (in the Hebrew).
Psalm 118:26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. (NIV)
Do you recognize the song? This is the song people were singing when Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. They had sung it for centuries crying out for deliverance, but on that day their Deliverer had finally come! Oh, if only they knew, but some of them did, and for the first time they cry out to Jesus for salvation.
My dear friends, that’s exactly what we must do if we want to share in our King’s victory over the devil, death and sin. Cry out to the Lord from the bottom of your heart. Cry out, “Hosanna!” – Save me! Cry out to the Lord and be rescued today! For the Bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).
If you want to share in the King’s victory, then welcome Him into your life as your Sovereign; welcome Him into your life as your Savior; and finally welcome Christ into your life as your sacrifice for sin. Accept His death on the cross as payment for your own sins. As the people approach the temple, the cry out verse 27…
Psalm 118:27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. (NIV)
They’re coming with palm branches in their hands, and they’re coming to the altar WITH a sacrifice for the Passover.
Not Jesus! He didn’t come WITH a sacrifice; He came AS the sacrifice for your sins and mine. He was the Passover Lamb, whose blood protects us from death. In other words, He died so we wouldn’t have to.
On November 26, 2008, a gang of terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, India. After the carnage had left 200 people dead, a reporter interviewed a guest who had been at the hotel for dinner that night. The guest described how he and his friends were eating dinner when they heard gunshots. Someone grabbed him and pulled him under the table. The assassins came striding through the restaurant, shooting at will, until everyone (or so they thought) had been killed. Miraculously, this man survived. When the interviewer asked the guest how he lived when everyone else at his table had been killed, he replied, “I suppose because I was covered in someone else's blood, and they took me for dead.” (Ravi Zacharias, Has Christianity Failed You? Zondervan, 2010, p. 42; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, that’s the only way any of us ever live! Christ shed His blood on the cross, paying the penalty for our sin. As a result, those who are covered in the blood of his sacrifice live forever!
All you have to do is acknowledge your own sin and accept Christ’s sacrifice for you. All you have to do is welcome Jesus into your life as your Sovereign, your Savior, and your Sacrifice for sin. Just say to the Lord what the psalmist says in verse 28…
Psalm 118:28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. (NIV)
Accept Jesus as YOUR God and King, and give thanks to Him.
Psalm 118:29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. (NIV)
We’re right back where we started at the beginning of the psalm. When times are tough just do what the psalm says right here: Thank the Lord for His timeless love; trust the Lord for His timely help; and take the Lord in as your Triumphant King!
In Today’s Christian Woman, Stormie Omartian talks about the time when she cried to God, “I can't do it! I can't handle the housework, my work, the loneliness of a husband who works so much.”
Then she sensed the Holy Spirit saying to her, “You are trying to do everything on your own strength. Just worship me – and I'll do the rest.” And that’s exactly what she did. She said out loud, “I praise you, God, in the midst of my situation. Thank you that nothing is too hard for you,” and “slowly,” she says, “the pressure left, because my burden was now His.” (Stormie Omartian, “Heart to Heart,” Today's Christian Woman; www.PreachingToday.com)
What’s the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning? Isn’t he saying, “Just worship me and I’ll do the rest?” Please, don’t carry the burden all by yourself anymore. On this Palm Sunday morning, start waving the palm branches of victory and praise in your heart. Acknowledge Christ as YOUR Lord, and let your burden become His.
