Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro: Over the last couple of weeks, we have had our fair share of some rain and storms.

One evening, I looked outside after the girls had gone to bed and there was just a constant flashing of light.

I went outside on my porch and began to watch in wonder.

We had just seen a pretty spectacular July 4th fireworks show in Edenton, and a few weeks before, saw an amazing one at Disneyland.

But nothing could compare to what I was witnessing.

The way the sky was just constantly flashing.

I could see my yard clearly even though it was 10pm.

I could see everything on my porch.

It was the power of God on display.

Yet, we must ask ourselves this question.

Do I worship Jesus as I should, as the King of glory?

Day to day, are we thinking about the work of Jesus as we read the Scriptures, as we pray, as we gather as the church, as we work, as we play, as we observe nature.

Does the glory of God come to our minds, or are we too preoccupied with everything else, distracted lesser and minor things that have no bearing on eternity?

And what about us today?

READ THE TEXT

CTS: Worship the King of glory!

I. Who Owns Everything? (1-2)

Though there is no question in this part of the Psalm, I have introduced this section as one.

The statement is clear: the earth is the LORD’s.

Remember that this is the covenant name of God, given to Israel.

This would remind them of who He is and His power, His holiness, His covenant with them.

We are reminded in Genesis from the very beginning that God created the heavens and the earth.

The creation is the introduction to this Psalm, but it is not merely that he made it, but that He owns it.

Because God is the creator, He is the owner.

He owns the very ground that we stand on today.

He owns all that fills this earth, every creature, animal and person.

He is the creator of you and me.

“There is no realm he does not claim as his own, no plot where his sovereignty does not hold sway, and no corner or crevice where he will fail to enforce his will.”

- James Hamilton Jr. (EBTC Psalms Vol 1: p 301)

Hard for us to comprehend at times, but even the tiniest gnat is under the creative hand of God.

Sure, they are a plague, but they are there, for a purpose.

It could be that these inconvenient little bugs are also a reminder of the dominion of our God.

Big and small alike, God claims it and owns it.

Because God is the creator, He is also all-powerful.

That leads us to verse 2, which shows us the creative power of God.

This earth was created on top of the seas (which he also created).

Hebrew poetry of that day viewed the seas as chaotic.

David in poetic form is showing his intricate work in taking the ground, the sands, the stone, the soil, and crafting a liveable and complex ecosystem that works within itself.

This work, this fine-tuning of God, shows his power and existence.

He founded the world, he established it.

He gave dominion to us, but we are readily reminded that this place isn’t ours.

It is God’s, and we would do well to remember that, respecting who He is and knowing that we are not our own, but we belong to our Creator.

The Garden in Genesis is in view.

We should see ourselves in the same light, made and owned by our Lord, even our Lord Jesus, who is revealed as the Son of God who

Jesus is owner and master of us all!

II.

Who Can Approach God? (3-6)

The question of holiness: Thought the ESV translates this word in verse 1, it can be better translated as mountain.

Keep in mind that David is still framing this Psalm in creation, and this should point us to the next part of the Genesis narrative, the Fall.

The prophet Ezekiel describes the garden of Eden as a mountain.

Mountains continue throughout Scripture: Moses ascending Mount Sinai.

Mount Zion where the Lord will establish his reign.

There is a sense of approaching the presence of God, which we have already established and seen through Scripture as a place of great holiness.

Thunder and lightning, trembling by God’s people as they were afraid to approach that mountain.

But why is that?

Why can’t people just up and approach God on His mountain, to be in His holy presence?

And really, who can meet these requirements?

Some would call this one of the Psalms of obligation.

And if we truly look at ourselves honestly, this is unattainable, and in turn, means we cannot have relationship with God as described.

Why is that?

The Fall explains this.

Eden was that mountain, that presence of God, and man has been excised us from the Garden.

Why?

Because of unrighteousness, because of sin.

No longer able to stand in the holy place of God.

The questions that are coming from David is one of searching, yet also a statement.

The requirement of anyone to come before God, to approach the mountain, are clean hands and a pure heart.

Isaiah had to preach to God’s people who thought that by virtue of their “sacrifices and festivals” that they could approach God on his mountain, yet God makes abundantly clear that they do not have clean hands, do not have a pure heart, do not lift up their souls to what is true, and they swear deceitfully.

The identity of the worthy One: No one is righteous.

No not one.

Clean hands and a pure heart are not ceremonial phrases, they are moral.

Man is morally unrighteous, falling short of God’s righteous standard laid out in his law.

Man gives himself to that which is false, and they do not make good on their promises.

They do not fulfill what the Psalter began with in Psalm 1.

The blessed man reiterated here, and man can not fulfill it.

Only one can.

That one is the one who was born, who is the one established creation itself, who is completely clean and has a pure heart.

That person can only be God himself.

Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of all things made himself flesh, fulfilled what man could not, and is able to approach the mountain.

He is the blessed man, blessed by God to fulfill his mission, affirming his work (“righteousness”).

That righteousness here in verse 5 is better seen as an “affirmation” of this person’s work, pointing us to the work of the perfect Son of God.

Application: We must remember always that nothing of our doing makes us worthy of approaching God.

Nothing we do or nothing that we did, or nothing that we will do.

You cannot make yourself worthy.

It is only Jesus.

Do you put your full faith and trust in His work?

That He is God, that He is sinless, that He is died for our sins to forgive us, to rise from the dead to give us resurrection life, to give those that believe and trust in Him His righteousness, His life for ours, that faith alone in Him, we receive his grace.

But we must also remember that though we don’t earn it or make ourselves worthy, we are now made worthy and are transformed.

We now are positionally clean and made pure.

We then should live like it.

How do you live your life now, wherever you are, reflecting that righteous King Jesus?

Are you living in purity, lifting your soul to truth, making good on our word, staying away from sin, living each day in the grace and mercy of Christ who has made you righteous?

III.

Who is the King of Glory?

(7-10)

The question shifts, but also a command within it.

This one that approaches the mountain of the Lord is also the one who approaches the heavenly palace, the entrance to the temple of Zion.

In other words, open the gates to the King who has arrived and who reigns.

Why?

It is his in the first place: Reminding ourselves of what has come before, the God who created all things, who has authority over all things, is the King.

He is the King of glory.