MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2017)
TEXT: Psalm 74:20
A. The scripture passage that I want us to consider this morning is found in the 74th Psalm. It is a beautiful &, at the same time, a tragic psalm. In it the Psalmist is speaking to the people of Israel. And this morning I particularly want to call your attention to vs. 20.
He writes, & I’m quoting from the King James Version, “Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.”
Do you understand what he is saying? He is saying to his people, to the Jews, “Thank God for the covenant we have with Him. It makes us a special people, His people. We’re not like other nations. We’re God’s people.
"And as a result - as long as we serve God & obey Him - God will continue to shower His blessings upon us. So have respect for this covenant. Thank God for this covenant!”
Then he continues, “…for the dark places of the earth…” And by that he means the nations who don’t know God, people living in superstition & fear, bowing down to idols made by hand, people who fear the unknown, worshiping as Gods the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the spirits. He says that those places, “…the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.”
B. Now if this were true back when the Psalmist wrote, I think it’s still true today. If he could say, “Thank God for the covenant we have with Him,” how much more can we say today, “Thank God for Jesus Christ, for the New Covenant, for the opportunity to know our Savior & our Lord, & to belong to Him!”
And again, it is sad that the last part of that verse is also still true today. The dark places of the earth, where the people do not know the good news of Jesus Christ & God’s love, are still full of the habitations of cruelty.
C. Now as you know, I spent the first few years of my life out on the border of China & Tibet. My parents were missionaries, & I remember a lot about that area, the roof of the world, the Himalayas.
For example, I remember the idols that the people worshiped. I’ve been in one pagoda, or temple, alone that had over 10,000 different idols, each one representing a different god: rooster gods, gods of the wind, gods of grain, gods of every imaginable sort.
ILL. I remember one idol – in fact, the picture of this idol has been in the National Geographic. It is an idol that is about 9 feet tall. It has 38 arms, supposedly to bring good things down from the heavens to the people who worship it. And they say that it is made out of solid gold.
I have a picture of another idol that is 3 stories tall, & each ear on that idol is bigger than I am.
I’ve seen Tibetans making idols. I’ve seen them take sticks & fashion a rough framework. I’ve seen them take clay & straw & begin to shape the idol. Finally, when it is ready, they put it into an oven & bake it until it is cured.
Then they’ll paint eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, & a mouth that cannot speak. And, after having made this idol, they’ll put in on a spirit shelf or in a shrine by the roadside, & bow down & offer sacrifices before this idol that they have made with their own hands.
Truly, millions of people today are still living in the darkness of fear & superstition!
D. I want to remind you that the Psalmist wrote, “…the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.” It’s true, & to illustrate that let me tell you a story. And if you would, please use your imagination, for I want to paint a picture that will help you see the truth of this passage in such a vivid way that you will never forget.
Hopefully, the situation portrayed in this picture is no longer happening, but this is a true story that I first heard years ago.
So travel with me in your imagination as I try to paint this picture for you:
ILL. It’s dark. I mean it’s really dark. The moonlight can barely filter its way down through the canopy of jungle leaves above our heads. And it’s quiet! No, no, there are all the sounds of an African jungle at night. But outside of that, it is quiet because in the village before us the people have long since gone to bed for their night of rest.
We’re standing there at the edge of the clearing in the darkness of the night when suddenly the silence is pierced by a scream! Then following the scream there comes a loud wail that continues on & on & on.
Of course, the people in the village are awakened, & they rush toward the hut from which the scream came, & from which the wail still proceeds.
They arrive to discover that a young mother has awakened in the middle of the night to find her small child dead by her side. Her scream was the realization that the child was dead, & the wail is the agony she feels at the loss of the child that was so precious to her.
Well, everybody in the village was awake by now & gathering at the hut to find out what has happened. Last of all to arrive is the witch doctor, because he had paused long enough to gather some of the paraphernalia of their religion. He arrives & takes charge. He gives orders, & torches are lit for light.
He commands them all to come out into an open area in the middle of the village, & they gather around him in a large circle. Then begins an ancient, but all too familiar, ceremony. In one hand he holds something that makes rattling sounds. In the other hand he holds some feathers.
He begins to chant, & as he does he shakes the rattle & waves the feathers, & then begins to turn faster & faster, whirling around in the middle of that circle.
Suddenly he stops & throws to the ground whatever he has in his right hand that has been making those rattling sounds. They’re bones. Then he kneels down & studies the pattern that those bones formed.
He calls for those with torches to come closer so that he can see the pattern made by those bones. Then he looks around at the circle & again looks down at the bones. Finally, he straightens up & points to an old woman, & says, “The gods say that she is guilty of the death of the child.”
Well, immediately the woman protests her innocence. She had nothing to do with his death. Why would she want the child dead? She had nothing to do with it. She’s innocent!
Again the witch doctor kneels down & studies the bones. But when he gets up he says, “No. The gods say she is guilty. She wished for the death of the child, & that is why the child is dead.”
Over & over she protests her innocence. And, of course, her family & some others believe her. Why would she want the child dead? But he insists that the gods say she is guilty. So now comes the question, “Is she guilty, or is she innocent?” She must prove it, one way or the other.
He gives the command, & the whole village heads toward a giant tree on the edge of the clearing. As they get to it the witch doctor orders her to begin climbing the tree. Finally, she starts climbing & gets just high enough to be out of their reach. Then she sits down on a branch & again pleads her innocence.
But by this time the people are losing their patience. “If you’re guilty, you’re guilty. If you’re innocent, you’re innocent. Prove it one way or another. Climb!” Now everybody is shouting – even her own family. “Prove it! Prove it!”
So, at the orders of the witch doctor, she continues to climb higher & higher in that tree, until she reaches almost the last branch that could hold her weight, still pleading her innocence.
Down below the witch doctor cries out a command, & finally she leaps from the branch of the tree to land in a crumpled, lifeless heap on the ground. “She’s guilty!”
She’s guilty. This proves it, because their religion teaches that if she were innocent, she would have landed unhurt. But because she’s dead that proves the gods were right once again, & she was guilty of the death of that child.
APPL. What does the Bible say? What did Jesus command? “Go into all the world & preach the gospel to every creature…” (Mark 16:15) What does the word “gospel” mean? It means “good news.” Wouldn’t it have been good news for that woman, that village, to know the truth of Jesus Christ?
What is that “good news”? I think it consists of 2 things that need to be proclaimed - that would really be “good news” to those living in the darkness of fear & superstition today.
I. WE HAVE A GOD WHO KNOWS US, WHO LOVES US, & CARES FOR US
First of all, the world needs to know that we have a God who knows us, who loves us, & who cares for us.
A. Much of the world, down through the centuries, has believed in gods, thou-sands of gods, fashioned after their own imaginations. But there have been men like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, & others who, not knowing God as such, came to the conclusion that the gods made by the hands of men are not really gods at all.
So they began saying, “There has to be a great Creator, some great God.” And they began calling Him by all sorts of names. They called Him the “All-seeing Eye,” the “Great Cosmic Spirit,” the “All-pervading Force.” Mankind, in its search for God has called Him by a lot of names.
But, of course, God had already revealed Himself to man, & to His people. And when Jesus Christ came, in a time when some were saying, “Great Cosmic Spirit, All-pervading Force,” He said, “When you think of God, when you pray to God, think of Him in this way, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9)
He cares for us. As a father loves his child, He loves us. Yet even with a deeper love than human love can fathom.
B. What was the first Bible verse you learned as a child? Now I know some of you may have taken the easy way out. You learned the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) But outside of that, what was the first verse you learned?
I imagine that most of you learned one of these two: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16) Or, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)
You see, whether it’s those two verses or even “Jesus wept,” their testimony is the same - God loves us. He cares about us!
C. Jesus tells about a shepherd who has 100 sheep. He says that as the evening hour arrives & the shepherd comes into the fold with his sheep that he counts them. There are only 99 sheep. One, sometime during the day, went astray.
Jesus, in telling this story, makes it quite clear that this shepherd is God. And Jesus doesn’t say that the shepherd just shrugs his shoulders saying, “Well, 99% is not bad.”
No, Jesus says that the good shepherd leaves the 99 safe in the fold & then goes out, searching for the one lost sheep until he finds it. He comes back, carrying it in his arms & saying, “Rejoice with me, for that which was lost has been found.” (Luke 15:6)
D. Jesus tells another parable. Literary scholars call it, “The world’s most perfect short story.” But because we look at this parable & identify with it, we call it, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.”
You see, there are two sons in this parable, & we tend to dwell upon the two sons, especially the prodigal son. But when Jesus told this parable I don't think the sons were the object of the story.
I think Jesus was saying, “Look at God, the Father. He loved His sons. He loved the one who went away, & longed for him to return. And He loved the son who stayed at home, too.” God loves us – “Our Father who art in heaven…”
SUM. And a world of people who bow down to the idols that they fear, & offer sacrifices – even human sacrifices – to appease the anger of their gods, needs to know that we have a Father who knows us, & loves us, & cares for us - whoever & wherever we are!
II. WE HAVE A SAVIOR WHO LIVED AMONG US, WHO DIED FOR US, & WHO IS COMING AGAIN
Secondly, & last of all, the world needs to know that we have a Savior who lived among us, who died for us, & who is coming again!
A. You see, it was Jesus, God's Son, who came - not just a voice from heaven. God didn’t send angels down to proclaim the good news. He sent His Son to walk among us, to teach us, to set an example for us, & to be our Savior. “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
He lived among us. He felt the heat of the day & the cold of the night. He experienced the temptations we experience. Yet He did not sin.
He truly knows what happens in our lives. But as He taught, the people didn’t listen very well. And finally, they took Him, tried Him, beat Him, & nailed Him to the cross.
And we can envision that terrible scene of Jesus hanging on the cross. The Bible says that they laughed at Him, & mocked Him. “If you really are the Christ, come down from the cross. Then we’ll believe in you!”
B. I want you to notice something. The Bible tells us that while the soldiers were preparing Jesus for crucifixion they mocked Him & struck Him, & some in the crowd even “…spit upon Him.” (Matthew 27:30)
Now, I’ve been laughed at, & I’ve been mocked. But to the best of my knowledge I have never been spit upon in anger. I don’t quite know how I would react if somebody deliberately spit on me. I know how I hope I would react, but I don’t know…
But, if I were God - & I had sent my Son to die on the cross, & if, while He was there dying for them, they laughed & mocked Him & then began to spit on Him . . . Well, if I were God there would soon have been a few lightning bolts flying here & there among them.
But no, that’s not what happened. “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” And Jesus died there for you & for me.
“Upon that cross of Jesus mine eyes at times can see
The very dying form of one who suffered there for me.
And from my smitten heart, with tears, two wonders I confess –
The wonders of His glorious love, & my unworthiness.”
C. Yes, Jesus died & was buried But then he arose again! He is alive, & a lost world needs to hear that message! He ascended back to His Father. And one day Jesus is coming again!
The Bible says that every eye shall see Him; every knee will bow; & every tongue will confess Him to the glory of God when He comes again. And the world needs to know that, too.
CONCL. Folks, a long time ago Jesus said, “Go into all the world & preach the good news to every creature.” And we still haven't done it.
It’s an unfinished task that calls for you & for me to do what we can so that the good news may be heard by those who live in “the dark places of the earth” that are “filled with the habitations of cruelty.”
INVITATION:
