The Fifth Sunday After Epiphany. Series

Psalm 118:14-21, Hosea 6:4-6, Colossians 3:12-17, Matthew 13:24-30.

A). THE LORD MY SALVATION.

Psalm 118:14-21.

This Psalm is the last of the processional Psalms which were sung by pilgrims on their way up to Jerusalem for the great Jewish feasts. There are echoes of the Passover, and anticipations of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

PSALM 118:14 takes us back to the Song of Moses (c.f. Exodus 15:2). The more exact translation in both instances is: “The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.” These are the words of the Psalmist who had been undergoing some measure of persecution (cf. Psalm 118:13).

They could also be the words of Jesus, who had found ‘all nations’ encompassing him with malice (cf. Psalm 118:10-12). They are also words of praise for individual believers out of the midst of their own trials (cf. Isaiah 12:1-2).

The celebrating pilgrims hear the sound of rejoicing from within the City, represented as “the tents of the righteous” (PSALM 118:15). Hosannas (cf. Matthew 21:9) echo from the stones (cf. Luke 19:40). Voice answers to voice, both within and outside the Temple, with a triple reference to “The right hand of the Lord” (PSALM 118:15-16).

A lone voice rises above them all: “I shall not die but live” (PSALM 118:17). Are these the words of the Psalmist in his affliction, now being uttered by the leader of the procession on behalf of the pilgrim party; or are they words put into the mouth of the individual sufferer? Ultimately, they are the words of Jesus who, having been dead, yet lives to “declare the works of the LORD.”

Jesus has faced death, gone through death, and conquered death on behalf of us all (PSALM 118:18). Jesus was ‘crucified in weakness, but He lives in God’s power’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:4). We also live in the power of His resurrection – not only in the hereafter, but in the ‘now’ of our experience.

The leader of the pilgrims cries out to the doorman of the Temple: “Open to me the gates of righteousness…” (PSALM 118:19). Jesus is the forerunner, gone into heaven on our behalf (cf. Hebrews 6:20). We too may “enter the gates of righteousness and give thanks (praise) to the LORD.”

The reply comes from within: “This is the gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter” (PSALM 118:20). The righteous are those who have been rescued by the LORD: those who have been made ‘right with God through the Lord Jesus Christ’ (cf. Romans 5:1). It is Jesus who has ascended into heaven (cf. Ephesians 4:8), and we in Him (cf. Ephesians 2:6).

The lone voice is heard once more (PSALM 118:21). In effect - “Thank you, LORD, for hearing and answering my prayer: it is you who have saved me.” The sufferer acknowledges his deliverance; Jesus acknowledges the Father’s hand in overcoming death; and the repenting sinner embraces the full free salvation which is ours in Christ Jesus.

B). A MATTER OF PRIORITIES.

Hosea 6:4-6.

HOSEA 6:4. The two halves of this verse are two examples of parallelism.

First, the LORD laments over the two kingdoms of Israel: “Ephraim” in the north, and “Judah” in the south. The loving Father asks each in turn, “What shall I do unto you?” And we can almost hear the tears in His voice.

Second, the reason for the LORD’s exasperation (so to speak). “For your goodness is as a morning cloud; and as the early dew it goeth away.” The “goodness” of the tribes of the LORD is like the morning mist, which is gone as soon as the sun rises.

This is almost in answer to the previous verse, where Hosea had exhorted the people of God to ‘know’ Him, and to grow in the knowledge of Him because ‘His going forth is as the morning’ (cf. Hosea 6:3). His going forth is as certain as the sun rising, but their returning to Him is as fleeting as the morning dew!

HOSEA 6:5ab. “Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth.” Another example of parallelism.

This is not an uncontrolled outburst of anger, but the LORD has warned His people by the prophets, and chastened them by the words of His mouth. The patience of the LORD gives time and opportunity to repent (cf. 2 Peter 3:9).

HOSEA 6:5c. “Thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.”

“Thy judgments,” or “thy justice” foresees a time when the people will be ready to return to a right way of thinking (which is what repentance is all about). And at such a time, it shall no longer be fleeting like a cloud (cf. Hosea 6:4b), but “shall be as the light that goeth forth.”