Psalm 51:12 3/25/18 (Palm Sunday) (Create in Me a Clean Heart #12) “The Joy of Salvation”
I’m sure I’ve said before that Palm Sunday was a weird, weird day. The Bible says that as Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, Jesus was on a donkey, fulfilling a prophecy of Zechariah that the Messiah would come in this way. Jesus’ popularity had been growing and the crowds had been waiting to see if He would come to Jerusalem for the Passover even though the Sanhedrin was out to get Him. So once people caught sight of him they began to get more and more excited and started spreading their cloaks on the road before Him, and the Bible says that:
Slide: “…the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”” (Luke 19:37–38 NIV)
John adds that:
Slide: “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!’” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!”” (John 12:13 NIV)
Again Matthew says that:
Slide: “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”” (Matthew 21:9 NIV)
And there are some big clues here that show us what kind of celebration they were staging. Palm branches (circle) were a symbol of victory for the winners of contests and for Kings. The word “Hosanna” (circle) means “The Lord save!” “Save us, God.” And how did they hope that was going to happen? “The Son of David!” (circle). Again, Jesus had been going about his public ministry for three years. They knew who he was. They knew He was a descendant of David. Often those who were sick would cry out to Him, “Have mercy on us, Son of David”, and they knew that God had promised King David that: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” (2 Samuel 7:16 NIV)
So, they were looking for that kingdom to come back and even named Jesus, the Son of David, as the “King of Israel” (circle)
It was truly a big moment that we echo here with the Palms and the Palm Sunday reading. Because of course, Jesus IS the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He deserves all of that praise and more. At the same time we know that
Slide: “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41–42 NIV)
There’s a reason that Jesus wept while everybody else was filled with joy. He knew their joy was misplaced. The “joy of salvation” they wanted was salvation from the yoke of Rome. They liked thinking of David because he had beaten back the Philistines and finally conquered the Promised Land. And they wanted all that back. They wanted a new King to rise up and conquer the Romans and give them back their glory days. So, they wanted the David that beat Goliath and established the kingdom, they didn’t want the David on his knees, repenting of his sin and begging God for mercy.
David could have told them – and tried to tell them and us in Psalm 51, that the true joy of salvation was not to be had that way, but in the salvation that only God could bring to the sin-sick soul. The joy of being forgiven of our sins and restored as God’s child. But they couldn’t see it. So they totally missed who Jesus Really was and what He came to bring them.
That’s why I fully embrace the two different emphases the church has given to this day: Palm Sunday and the Sunday of the Passion, so that we too don’t lose ourselves in the Palms. That’s why we also hand out the Palm crosses. And by the way, you can take a strip of the other Palms that we have at the entrance to the Sanctuary and jump on Pinterest to find out how to fold them into crosses yourself. It’s good and right that we should shout our “Hosannas!” and give to Jesus all the praise He deserves. But at the same time, we know how the week ended: with shouts of “Crucify”. And with the beating and scourging and crucifixion of Jesus. And with Jesus on the cross, crying out: “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.” And of course, they didn’t.
…And it was right about here in my sermonizing this week that I began to notice the manure trucks out in full force. I could hear them as they went past and would look up to see them getting dirtier and dirtier with every load.
Slide: Manure truck pic
And I understand that it’s not a polite thing to talk about as we’re all here in our nice clean clothes in our nice clean church. In fact, some of you have probably just gotten a little sermon whiplash in that transition, but stay with me. As load after load went by, I was sort of forced to think about it. Of course, manure happens. All those cows that produce the milk for Continental Diary also produce another - product. And you can’t just leave it piled up in one place. It gets too dangerous to do that. Fortunately, when the weather is right they can spread it out on the fields and plow it in – and everybody wins – well, except those of us who get to smell it for the next few days. But honestly, I have never seen that many tanks of the stuff go by – it was pretty awesome – and here’s the transition: I got to comparing our sins with that – manure, and I can only say this: that if those tanks were loaded instead with our sins in thought, word or deed, they’d still be going by and there wouldn’t be tanks enough in all the country to carry them. And it is disgusting to think about that way. It’s an offense. And yet such is the love of God for us, that He directed all of it, the most disgusting details of our lives to one place, the cross.
Slide: cross piece in pic on telephone pole
And Jesus Christ was covered with the offense of our sins and gladly bore them all for us so that our sins would be judged and punished completely in Him - so that the justice of God would be completely satisfied and we could be completely forgiven and the joy of our salvation restored.
You know, people today are mixed up about joy. They’ve confused it with happiness. The founders of our country declared that we should all have the right to pursue happiness as we see fit. But that didn’t mean the “pursuit of happiness” should be our goal in life. “Happiness” is on the outside. To be happy you need a bigger salary, a bigger house, a bigger drink, a bigger chest, a bigger and better toy and so on. But joy is different. Joy is bigger and better. Joy is on the inside. It’s a satisfaction and a peace that you can have regardless of what’s happening to you on the outside. I guarantee you, if you try to pursue fulfillment in life by being happy, you will never be satisfied. You’ll always be pursuing the next thrill and it will never be enough.
If King David was here that’s exactly what he would tell you. Folks, he literally had it all: power and prosperity, popularity and a nice palace. And by the way, he had three wives at the time he started looking for more on his palace roof. He had everything that people think they want in order to be happy in life. And it wasn’t enough. So, he took somebody else’s wife, and he took that guy’s life and he thought he had covered it all up, but of course he was wrong. And when the Prophet Nathan woke him up to his sin he was devastated. And he realized he had lost his joy. Of course he had. When you’re burning up time and energy trying to cover up sin, you lose the joy of being one with God. He had it when he was just a shepherd boy and a hymn writer and a harp player. He had it when he stood for God and God’s people against the giant Goliath. He had it when he conquered the Philistines and fought for the promised land. But he lost it in his pursuit of happiness. So, in the midst of his prayer of repentance he asked God:
Slide: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalms 51:12 NIV)
Folks, you need to understand this – and so do your friends, neighbors, relatives and co-workers, if they are ever to experience true joy in life. You cannot live the life and enjoy the life you were meant to lead until you are at peace with God. And you cannot be at peace with God until you receive the salvation of your soul from sin, which He has won for you in Jesus. David didn’t know as much as we know now, but he knew and believed the promises of God that his Savior was coming. And he wanted to rest in the joy of that salvation. So do we. And we can. David looked forward to His Savior, and we look back, but it’s the same salvation. The apostle Peter put it this way for us who now look back to Jesus:
Slide: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8–9 NIV)
That joy can go with you and fill you every day of your life. It does not matter what’s happening to you when the joy of salvation is happening in you. But even that was not enough for David at that point, and it shouldn’t be enough for us. He went on to ask God: “…grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” God, thank you that I’m forgiven and hell is not my future, but I’m not satisfied with that. I don’t want to go on rebelling and trying to cover up my sin. I want to live a life that is worthy. I want a “willing spirit.” And the good news is that David was not left to himself and we are not left to ourselves and given the hopeless task of self-improvement. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is a benediction from the apostle Paul:
Slide: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope (how?) by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13 NIV)
Folks, God doesn’t just answer your prayer by giving you a “willing spirit”. He gives you the Holy Spirit and makes you a new creation in Jesus. The Holy Spirit creates faith in us through the Word of God and He sustains that faith. He sustains our willing spirit and makes it more than just a passing emotion… He gives us a passion for God and for doing His will.
We call this the Sunday of the Passion, because so great was God’s passion to make sure that you could have the joy of salvation, that He gave the world His one and only Son. And so great was the Passion of the Lord Jesus for us that He followed the will of God all the way to the cross. So, the Bible says:
Slide: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV)
He had joy even on the cross. And He scorned the shame of it, the offense of it, the curse of it. None of it fazed Him because of the joy set before Him. You know what that joy was? You. You in eternity with Him, you set free from sin and bondage to Satan and your guilt and shame. You restored, forgiven and charging into life with a willing spirit to live and speak for Him – until that joyous day when we get to be with Him face to face forever.
