Sermon for Sunday November 1, 2020
Psalm 97 – pre-election Sunday
I had the opportunity to watch several college football games yesterday. And during that time, I was completely bombarded by commercials from every which political candidate. Some of those candidates I’ll be voting for, and others I will not. But most of the commercials tried to make me fearful of the outcome if I don’t vote for them. I certainly didn’t feel better about myself or my country as a result of watching a dozen or 2 political commercials.
This Tuesday is election day, and for the past months, candidates have been trying to do and say anything possible, both ethical and unethical to win their election, whether that be on a local, state, or national level. It’s almost like picking which kid built a better sand castle in the playground.
I was curious - after doing a brief and simple google search this week on who a Christian should vote for, the first page alone told me why evangelical Christians – that’s us – have no choice but to vote for Donald Trump, have no choice but to vote for Joe Biden, have no choice but to vote 3rd party, and have no choice but to stay home. That’s a lot of “have no choices.” And there are voices in our head that are practically yelling at us – you have to do it this way or you’re wrong. And I think our enemy would use this time to get in our heads, to cause us to despair, or even worse, to cause us to speak and lash out in ways which are not Christ-like against other people in this year, all over an election – an election that may be important today, but that one day when we are worshipping God in heaven, it will take its place in a long list of things which did not matter as much as we think it did.
Now when it comes to the issues such as abortion, such as military spending, such as the coronavirus response, such as immigrants, such as healthcare – I do have very strong opinions. I want to vote and plan to vote Biblically as best as I can. But when it comes to the candidates and the political parties, those issues become bogged down in people we don’t know, saying what they think we want to hear, all so we can support them. And it is contributing to anxiety, stress, and health of Americans all over our country today, believers and non-believers alike. Politics and elections do not bring this country together, they divide it. And even Christians think that the real enemy is the other party, when the Bible clearly tells us in Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
I am reminded that in my lifetime, there have been groups of Christians who have promised economic collapse, world wars, and other consequences everytime a certain candidate has been or has come close to being elected president. When Barack Obama was elected president for example, there were Christians who were just sure he was ussering in the endtimes. He did not. Most or all prognostications like these have been completely false. And yet, those same promises are once again being prophesied today, and those who forget that the Lord is sovereign and in control every election season have forgotten yet again.
And as we approached today, I once again changed course from my original plan, and wanted to preach a message of encouragement to you in the face of what is going to be a wild week. I don’t know who is going to win, but sometimes I fear that no matter what, it is the American people who will lose. But we don’t need to feel that way. It isn’t that way.
No matter who is on the American throne in the near future, rest assured, God is on His throne. And because of that – not because of our election, but because of His sovereignty, I know that it’s all going to be ok in the end. He is either worth trusting and having faith in, or He isn’t. And I say He is. And I know that whatever happens, I can trust that God will still be on His throne next week, because His promises are true, His platform is pure, His morality is perfect, His standards are high, and His glory is worth all of our worship today!
So today I invite you to turn to a text which I hope will remind us to keep our hopes on God and not on a man or a political party. Would you turn to the 97th chapter of Psalms with me.
1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
One thing about politicians and elections is that things change. Politicians change according to the winds and according to what their constituents want to hear. Generally speaking, I don’t trust them. They rarely have our best interests at heart. As Ronald Reagan famously said, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.
But today, I want to stop talking so much about them and start talking about the One who we are to trust, the one who we are to boast about, the One who we are to gather around and worship, the One who is the Sovereign God of the Universe! With our God, things do not change willy-nilly, and he is the One today and always worth placing our hopes in. Let’s look at some of the reasons why -
-the Majesty of our lord
1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
When an American president enters a room, there’s a song which traditionally plays called, “Hail to the Chief.” But when God is on His throne, the entire created order responds. The American people will gather in an inauguration event in January, but for God’s rule, the entire created world celebrates. The earth itself rejoices. Perhaps this reminds you of the verse in Psalm 19:1,
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
If you want evidence of a divine orchestrator, just pay attention when you go outside. You’ll see little if any evidence of a political party who loves you, but you’ll see more evidence than you can process of a God who makes all things good! The earth rejoices over the kingdom of our Lord, and clouds gather around the King on His throne.
We will celebrate in a few months the arrival of Baby Jesus some 2 millenia ago with songs like “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,” but let us be reminded by this picture of the majesty of our God that He is like none other. If we could gather the greatest kings, rulers, and presidents in one room, they would fail to make any impression whatsoever compared to the majesty of God. And when Jesus comes back, He will come back in similar glory! Mark 13:26 tells us,
26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
And Revelation 1:7-8 -
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
And don’t miss the last part of verse 2 – righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. He is righteous – that is, He is good and perfect. And He is just – that is, He opposes evil and will visit justice upon those who are evil. Both parties in our country claim to represent righteousness and oppose evil, but the only One who truly does this is God our King! That’s the One I want to follow and proclaim as being worthy of everything I can do and say. May we worship Him and no other!
- the fear of our lord
3 Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.
We have hear a picture of the fear of the Lord. In addition to his coming being associated with clouds and thick darkness, fire goes before Him, his lightnings light up the world, and the mountains melt like wax. I can’t imagine seeing one of these things, let alone all three.
It has been said that we fear men so much because we fear God so little. And yes, men can affect our lives in great way through political decisions. But Jesus said in Matthew 10:28,
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell
Perhaps a good picture of the fear of the Lord is found at the base of Sinai in Exodus. Exodus 19:16-18
16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
There are some that have even said that the conservative party and its leaders have somehow saved Christianity in our country. Perhaps those people have never read of the glory of God. For those that know, it is only God who does the saving. There is nothing in God’s glory that we could deem approachable to save. Yes, the Lord is good and perfect. He doesn’t need saving. He is God. And if we truly can remember that, it should help us remember who is worthy of worship, and that all others come miserably short of His glory.
-the glory of our lord
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!
We have similar language here as in verse 1. But we also have a Scriptural acknowledgment that despite the fearsome glory of our Lord, there are those who worship worthless things in this world. There are those who put their hope in rubbish. And these things cannot save, cannot give hope, cannot intercede, and cannot do good. In our society these things may not be graven images as are in the Bible, but these things are still present. Whether we’re talking about the paper or plastic in our wallets and purses, or the belongings in our houses or vehicles, there are plenty of things which try to replace our true King as the objects of our worship, the apples of our eye, if you will.
But verse 6 – the heavens, that is, the inhabitants of the heavens, proclaim Him as righteous and see His glory. If we are citizens of the heavenly Kingdom today, it must be God’s righteousness and glory which we see on Nov 2, as well as Nov 4. Whether my candidate or your candidate wins an election or not, it is His righteousness and glory which are on display. All other images of worship are put to shame as verse 7 says.
-the joy of our lord
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
When we hear this and other majestic descriptions of God’s glory, we must see Zion’s reaction – Zion hears and rejoices! Why? Because of His judgments. Verse 9 – because He is most high over all the earth, and exalted far above all gods.
Those who are on God’s side rejoice, because God is always on high. He does not ebb and flow. He does not lose an election. He does not change with the winds of the cultural wars. God is eternal, the unchanging one, the ancient of days. Of God the Son, Isaiah prophesies in 9:7
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
We don’t have to worry that God will wither from attacks. No one will ever find dirt on God. No one can ever dig up a bad interview in which God slipped up. He was here long before we were, and we will worship Him for eternity if we are found in Him through Jesus Christ.
As one of my books said, God’s final victory has already been tasted in advance. Through God’s Word, we can see the joyous outcome for those who know Him. What more can be said? What more can be added to our lives that we have not already been promised? We may look forward to hopefully seeing our desired candidates be sworn in in a few short months, but will that add to our eternity? And we may worry that things won’t go our way this week, but will that take away from what we have been given?
- the platform (love and hate) of our lord
10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
Finally, if you want to be in God’s party, then here is the platform. Love good and hate evil. Love what God loves, and hate what God hates. This is where it hits home with some of our political parties today. For many in America stand for things which God detests. But – and I don’t want to offend anyone, and you have the right to disagree with me, and remember I love you – there is guilt on both sides.
I want to be found on a side which no guilt can be attributed to, and that is to follow God for all of my days. And we have these promises in verse 10 – he preserves our lives, he delivers us from the wicked, he gives light, he gives joy. God isn’t in a capital where He does not know our plight, does not know our name, does not know what our cares and concerns are. He is intimately familiar with you, and His promises are not only true, but they are for you, directly you, today for you. You can count on Him!
Because of that, and in conclusion, we have been called to worship Him – look at verse 12
Conclusion
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
May we not wait until his revealed victory to worship, because verse 12 tells us that we have been called to rejoice, to worship, to give thanks as if his final victory were already accomplished. One day soon we shall see. Until that time, verse 12 is our response, and is our participation as citizens of a heavenly Kingdom and a glorious God. Let us pray!
