The Lord is
my strength and my song; he has given me victory. Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp
of the godly. The strong right arm of
the Lord has done glorious things! The strong right arm of
the Lord is raised in triumph.
The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious
things! I will not die; instead, I will
live to tell what the Lord has done.
The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not let me
die. Open for me the gates where the
righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the Lord.
These gates lead to the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter
there. I thank you for answering my
prayer and giving me victory! The stone
that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful
to see. This is the day the Lord has
made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. Psalm 118:14-24(NLT)
The probability of
being dealt five cards in a poker hand and having the best possible hand, a
“royal flush” (all five cards in the same suit, and in perfect order; Ten –
Jack – Queen – King - Ace) are: 649,739 to 1[1]. (I looked it up!)
My “friends” dealt me
a perfect hand once. We weren’t playing
poker, but it was one of those “two-young-couples-too-poor-to-go-to-the-movies”
kind of nights. Elizabeth and I had our
friends Curt and Cindy over. It was
late; the kids were already in beds. We
were all a little reluctant to end the night; we’d had a lot of fun.
So I got up to put on
some coffee so we could continue our “almost
awake” card-playing. When I got back to
the table, Curt had dealt the cards and I picked mine up to discover I had all
13 spades; I was holding a perfect hand.
My heart began to pound! I was
going to clean house!
When I looked up
there were three sets of eyes welling-up with goofy tears. Curt had stacked the deck! They couldn’t hold it
another second…all three of my “friends” burst into laughter. I chased him out into the front yard, but he
was too fast! Royal flushes and perfect hands – the card
player’s dream!
There are also those nightmarish times when
you’ve bet the farm and you don’t have a prayer. That would’ve described Israel. Our Psalm describes the celebration after one
incredible, improbable victory.
Evidently the odds were so stacked against God’s people that winning the
battle made them all shake their heads.
Eugene Peterson’s The Message paraphrases verse 17, I didn’t die. I lived! It is as if the survivors looked around in
disbelief that they had made it through the meat grinder unscathed.
It was as if all the cosmic tumblers in the world
had clicked into place and the
massive vault door to victory swung wide-open.
It was like me having a golf match against Tiger
Woods, and I not only beat Tiger, I beat him so badly he stomps his clubs to
death and gives up golf! Talk about
things that are just not going to happen!
Now, if it is so that we can look at really awful
circumstances and sense that all is lost, imagine the certainty of doom the
disciples felt staring at the Roman soldiers sealing-up that tomb Friday
afternoon. Even the most wide-eyed
optimist would not have quoted Yogi Berra’s it
ain’t over til it’s over. This was O-V-E-R! Jesus was stone-cold….dead!
Except…..(with all due respect to Mr. Berra)….nothing
is over until God
says it’s over! Sunday
morning Jesus came out of that tomb; the stone the builders rejected became a
crushing stone. Everything about evil
and death and sin were crushed like stale bread under that rolling stone!
Later the apostle Peter would write about it to
the church this way:
To you then who believe, he is
precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,” and “A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.”
1 Peter 2:7-8(NRSV)
There is a separation in all of God’s creation
that speaks to us especially on Easter Sunday. Everything in nature has its’ opposite; hot
has its cold, up has a down, and you either love NC State or you don’t!
I saw another one of those license plates this
week that proclaims a divided and broken home – one half of the plate has the
NC logo; the other State!
With Christ and the resurrection there is also a
separation; you either believe a dead man got out of the tomb and lived – or
you don’t! It’s that simple. When a person makes up his mind about the
person of Jesus Christ – who He is, and what He did – that also decides that
person’s fate.
The Psalm in question here (118) gives the
picture of folks walking right in the gate of righteousness and thanking the
Lord. They were on the winning side of
the battle; their lives were preserved and they’ve got a lot for which to be
thankful.
But notice the verse near the end of our Psalm:
This is the LORD’S doing…Psalm 118:23(NLT)
These people understood that they did not win
any victory; it was God who fought and won.
What opens the gate? God’s mercy key…simple faith, or trust in
God. God’s word tells us there is no way
around, under or over that gate; anyone who wants to be right with God must go through that gate. You cannot break it down with good works or
anything at all that you do.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this
is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of
works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9(NRSVA)
Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the
grave overtook me. I saw only
trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the
name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, save me!” How
kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! Psalms 116:3-5(NLT)
The bedrock of the Christian faith is that only God is truly righteous; He
is immutable, un-convictable in his character, thoughts, and actions. Only God is good! Only God can extend salvation, and He does it
the way He has chosen to do it – through the cross and empty tomb.
When Jews share the Passover it’s customary to
sing the Psalms as they eat and tell the story of God’s rescuing His children
out of Egyptian bondage. The Passover
itself is the story of how the final plague, the death of the firstborn son, came
upon Egypt. All the Hebrew slaves
sacrificed a lamb and sprinkled its blood on the door posts; the death angel
passed-over all the houses where the doors were covered in sacrificial blood. It was the key to their survival.
It was God’s mercy.
During the meal they would sing Psalms
113-114. After the meal they would
complete the story by singing Psalms 115-118 (our text today).
On Good Friday Jesus and His disciples gathered
in an upper room; they sang the story.
It is very likely that the last song they sang together was our text – a
song of victory – then they headed to Gethsemane.
They sang a song of God’s mercy and his gate of
righteousness; then Jesus went out to become the Lamb of God’s mercy and
fulfill His righteousness. Jesus
fulfilled all righteousness, and then walked into the gate of God’s presence. Jesus walked through the holy gate of
righteousness so that the mercy key would open the gate for us as well. Hallelujah; what a Savior!
Can you say that?
Can you say “he’s MY Savior”? The
Gospel is very clear…Thomas, the doubting disciple asked Jesus to help him
understand what Jesus wanted, where He was going, and…
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me. John
14:6 (NRSV)
You
cannot say he is MY Savior unless you’ve surrendered in faith to Him. As Jesus told the crowds he was teaching that
He had come from the Father to call everyone to salvation…
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever
comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty.
But I said to you that you have seen me
and yet do not believe. Everything
that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; John 6:35 - 37 (NRSVA)
The
point is unmistakable that Jesus has called – but not everyone answers. Some will never come to Jesus. Friends it is not a matter of…
· Coming to Jesus isn’t about hanging around
the church house or around Christian people, or...
·
giving money until you’ve given enough,
or…
·
participating in activities, or…
·
serving on committees, or…
·
reading the Bible.
All
of these are good…fellowship, stewardship, working, serving, studying; but
these are not answering the call of Jesus to come to Him.
Jesus
doesn’t want your time, talents and tithes; Jesus wants YOU! Those other
things will come naturally if you’ve given your life to Him, but HAVE you given
your life to Him? Have you given Him YOU?
There
is a gate of righteousness that opens into heaven. Someday you will die and you will be standing
at that gate. You will understand you
are in the presence of Almighty Jehovah, the Lord God Omnipotent. Your life’s deeds and a question will flash
before you. The question will be from
God,
·
Have you been perfect, as I am perfect? Immediately your mind
will see that candy bar you stole from the store as a child and you will know
in your soul you weren’t perfect:
Exodus
20:15 You
shall not steal.
·
Have you been perfect, as I am
perfect? Immediately
your mind will see that scene in the locker room back in high school when all
the team was using profanity and you will know in your soul you weren’t
perfect:
Exodus
20:7 You
shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will
not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
·
Have you been perfect, as I am perfect? Immediately your mind will see that scene at
work where you were asked a question and you left out some important information,
and you will know in your soul you weren’t perfect:
Exodus
20:16 You
shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
On
that day we will all
know we were not perfect; there are no perfect hands, because there’s never
been a perfect person…except the spotless Lamb of God, who died for imperfect
people who have less-than-perfect records.
If
you have surrendered your trust to Jesus, when it comes to the gate of
righteousness, you’ll have a key of mercy – and even though you will know
you’re not perfect, the key will open the door…and you’ll be home!
Let the church say Amen in the Name of the Father,
Because of the Son, Cooperating with the Spirit…Amen!
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