Praising God For His Loving Faithfulness

This morning we have the privilege of celebrating the Lord's Supper, and it is truly a joyous time to do so. The celebration of the Lord's Supper is first and foremost an act of thanksgiving. It is an act of praise to thank God for what Christ has done for us. Pastor read earlier from 1 Corinthians 11, and says that after the supper, Jesus took the bread and when he had given thanks. That word thanks in Greek is eucharism. Have you ever heard of the Lord's Supper referred to as the holy Eucharist? Yes, many denominations do that, and that literally means to give thanks. Eucharist is basically a compound word that starts with good or fitting, and then cherus or carous, grace. So it is God's fitting grace that he's bestowed upon us. It's so sweet that he's bestowed this grace that we do not deserve in Christ dying for us. His body broken for us, and his blood spilled for us, the just for the unjust that we might live. So when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, it's a time of praise, and it's a time to give thanks to our Lord. I'm gonna ask you to open up your Bibles with me to Psalm 118.

Psalm 118 is a tremendous psalm of praise. It is a psalm of thanksgiving, and it's very fitting for us to read here today as we celebrate the Lord's Supper. Psalms 118 we believe was written by David. Now it doesn't say so in the superscript at the top, but we know that from the book of Ezra, in Ezra chapter three. Evidently this was a psalm that was used in many of Israel's holy days. We know that it was part of what's called the great Hillel. Psalm 113 through Psalm 118. Those psalms were celebrated and sung during the Passover. Psalm 13 and 14 were sung during the meal, and then after the Passover meal, 15, 16, 17, and 18 were sung. They were also sung and celebrated in the Feast of Booths. And in Ezra chapter three, we find that when the Israelites are returned from the Babylonian captivity, and they get to come back into the Promised Land just as God had promised. He says, "I'm gonna send you away for 70 years, but surely I will bring you back." And then they went to restore the temple there just as God promised. They could resume their worship of Yahweh. They actually sang this, and they recited this antiphonally. In other words, in parts. Many psalms are meant to have parts. Just as music today, you may have parts that the ladies sing and part that the men sing or different choral parts. Many of the psalms are done in such a way.

Look in Ezra three, 10 through 11. It's on your hand out here.

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priest stood in their apparel with trumpets. And the Levites, the sons of Aesop,

with symbols to praise the Lord according to the ordinance of David, King of Israel. And they sang responsibly, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, for He is good for His mercy and juris forever toward Israel. Here they're quoting the first line of Psalm 118, and they're attributing it to David. Then all the people shouted with a great shout, and they praise the Lord because of the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

So we believe this was written by David, and it definitely seems when you read through Psalm 118 that it is in various parts.

You can see on your hand out that verses one through 21 seem to be in David's voice as a king is coming into Jerusalem.

Verses 22 through 24 seems to be a refrain of the congregation welcoming the king. Verses 25 through 28 seems to be the voice of the priest because it's coming from the house of God or the tabernacle. And then verse 29 would probably be David or the entire congregation itself.

These, as I mentioned, were sung in high holy days, sung, of course, at the Passover.

In Matthew's account and also Mark's account, where Jesus institutes the Lord's supper, he starts with the Passover, right? And from the Passover, he basically gives it new meaning and parts new meaning to it by initiating the Lord's supper. And read with me, Matthew 26, 26 through 30.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take eat, this is my body."

Then he took the cup and gave thanks, here's the word Eucharism,

and gave it to them saying, "Drink from it all of you, "for this is my blood of the new covenant "which is shed for many for the remission of sins. "But I say to you, I will not drink this fruit of the vine "from now on until the day when I drink it new with you "in my father's kingdom. "And when they had sung a hymn, "they went out to the Mount of Olives." This hymn that they sung was probably Psalm 118 because it was traditionally the way that they closed out the Passover supper. So as we celebrate the Lord's supper today, it's very apropos that we read Psalm 118. This very likely was the last Psalm that Jesus sung before his crucifixion. He quoted many Psalms while he was on the cross, as you know, but this was one that says that he sung. This was sung the night before his trial and his crucifixion.

In verses one through four, we see that this is a call to worship for Israel. Let's read this.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say his mercy endures forever. This word mercy is the Old Testament word hesed, which means God's faithfulness, his faithful love, his covenantal love. It's kind of like an Old Testament way of saying his grace, his undeserving love that he pours out on his people, and that love endures forever.

It says, let the house of Aaron now say his mercy endures forever, and let those who fear the Lord now say his mercy endures forever. You'll notice three parts. He says, let Israel say his mercy, God's covenant faithfulness, his enduring love, lasts forever. Then he says, the house of Aaron, which would have been the priestly portion of Israel, those who were responsible for the tabernacle, those who were responsible for leading Israel in worship, let them join in the worship of God in declaring his covenant faithfulness. And then look in verse four, let those who fear the Lord. This would have been people who were not of Israelite heritage, but had joined themselves in Israel. They had made themselves the part of the people of God through obeying God's covenant. We would call those people proselytes, and there were many in Israel who were not of Abraham's seed, but yet they were covenant partners. They believed in God and they had faith and they obeyed his word. So we see that this is an all inclusive call for the entire congregation to worship the Lord.

That same call goes out to us today.

The worship does not cease when Alyssa finished playing the piano or Jimmy sang the last song. Worship is something that we're all called to do. We're all called to worship God with all that we have because of his covenant faithfulness, because he is worthy, because he is good and his mercy endures forever, right? It is fitting, it is apropos for us to worship God. So we see in this call that it is an imperative, it's a command that we're all to participate in giving thanks and praise to God. We also see that it is universal, it's for everybody. And we see that it's fitting. We worship God because he is worthy. That's what worship means. He is worthy of our praise to receive all glory and praise and honor.

And who could be more worthy than Christ, right? He is the worthy Lamb of God that suffered and bled and died for sinners so we might have eternal life.

The application for number one is this. Do you praise God for his goodness and grace shown in Christ? We have many reasons to thank God. We thank God because he's the one who gives us breath, right? We thank God because he gives us this wonderful food that we're about to eat as we have our fellowship meal after the Lord's supper. But we should praise God the most for the goodness he's shown to us in Christ Jesus. The grace that he's shown to us. His covenant faithfulness, which we are unfaithful covenant partners, right? We can never keep the law. But Christ did. He perfectly obeyed the Father. He kept the old covenant to offer us the news. We praise him for his grace that he bestows upon us. We also praise God because of his trustworthiness. God is not only worthy of our worship, but he is trustworthy in the way that he relates to us. Look in verses five through nine.

If this is David and we believe it is, he had been in plenty of distress for years being hunted down by Saul. I called upon the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. You see that a lot in the Psalms. It means a place where I have liberty, a place where I am free. I'm no longer caged. I'm no longer confined. I'm no longer hiding. God has set me in freedom.

The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? I don't have to be feared. I'm freed from fear. What can man do to me? God's on my side.

Verse seven, "The Lord is for me among those who help me. Therefore, I shall see my desire on those who hate me." Saying, "The Lord is for me. He's my helper. I won't vanquish my enemies is what David is saying."

Verse eight, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."

It's been noted by many biblical scholars that even though the verses in the Bible were something that were added centuries after they were written, in other words, the chapter divisions and the verse numberings, that verse eight of Psalm 118 is right in the middle of the Bible.

And how cool it is to see that it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

We don't put confidence in man for our salvation, do we?

Can anyone save us but Christ? Can we save ourselves? No, none of our works add up. They don't measure up. We could never buy our forgiveness or make ourselves right with God. But who do we put our confidence in? In verse eight, it says, "It's better to put our trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." He is our refuge. He is the one that we trust in. Verse nine, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." A lot of times people put confidence in people with power because a prince has power and a prince has money and a prince has influence. But God raises up the prince, right? And he surely takes him down. They're gonna fade. They won't be here tomorrow. But God will. So don't look for money. Don't look for power to save you. Look to Christ, right? He alone is trustworthy. These verses informed Paul. You can see him being alluded to in Romans chapter eight, verse 31. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Isn't it amazing to know that God is for us? And where better to see that than at the table, right? Because at the Lord's table, we see his body broken for us and his blood spilled for us. God is for us. He loved us so much that he laid down his very life for us to save us, right? God is for us. Who can be against us?

Look at Hebrews 13, five through six. "For he himself said, I will never," I'm sorry, yes. "For he himself said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?" He's quoting Psalm 118 here. He's saying, "The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Right? Nothing. Jesus says, "Don't fear him who can kill the body. Feeler him who can destroy both body and soul in hell." Right? If God is on your side, you have nothing to fear. We often fear what people think about us, whether we'll be rejected by others. If God is for you, who can be against you? We can set aside our fear because he is trustworthy.

Application for number two is this. Who? Who do you put your hope and confidence in?

I encourage you this morning, if you have not put your hope and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, do so. He is ever trustworthy. He is the one who will never let you down.

Praise God for deliverance from our enemies. This is a third reason we can praise God from this morning. It's because he delivers us from our enemies. Psalm 118 verses 10 through 14.

"All nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them." They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. They surround me like bees. They were quenched like a fire of thorns. "In the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. You pushed me violently that I might fall, but the Lord has helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."

David is picturing the nations being against him, and indeed, there are many times in which the nations were against David, right? And he had many enemies, even in his own household, right?

So they surrounded me. They surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them. He knows he'll overcome them in the name of the Lord. Look what he says in verse 12. "They surrounded me like bees."

Have you ever been in the midst of a bee or a wasp nest?

It is no fun, right? You can't get away from them. You can't run from them. They can fly faster than you can run, and that's what the psalmist is feeling, the agony of being stung, and that's the lunacy also of the wicked. What happens to a bee when it stings? Dies, right?

The wicketter set against the Lord and against his anointed, right? They will die just to spite God, right? But David's not afraid of them. He says, "In the name of the Lord, I'll destroy them." He says, "You pushed me violently," speaking as if he's speaking to those who are against him, "but the Lord helped me." Look what he says in verse 14. "The Lord is my strength and song. He has become my salvation."

What David is doing here, he is quoting Moses. We often think of the New Testament authors quoting Old Testament authors, but Old Testament authors quote other Old Testament authors. Verse 14 is a direct quote from the song of Moses. If you remember, God sent his plagues, sent Moses and Aaron to deliver the children of Israel out of bondage, out of slavery. And as they left Egypt, Pharaoh and his forces pursued them, right?

And God opened the Red Sea for Moses and the children of Israel to go through its midst safely.

But what happened to Pharaoh and Pharaoh's armies when they pursued?

God closed the water up on them and they perished. And afterwards, Moses gives a wonderful song of praise for God, for God delivering him from his enemies. And we find that in Exodus 5, 1 through 2, the first part of that. It says, "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and spoke, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he is triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider, he is thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him."

Moses is jubilant for what the Lord has done. And so what does he do? He says, he is my God. He says, he is my salvation. He is my song.

He's singing praises to the Lord. And this praise song has continued to be sung. You will even find it in the book of Revelation, right? Doesn't it talk about the elders that they sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, right? For all eternity, they will be praising God for his deliverance. The same song that David is quoting from Moses would later be quoted after David's death by Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 12, where it's sung of the Messiah, where it's sung of Christ. In Isaiah 12 too, "Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For you, the Lord, is my strength and my song and has become my salvation." Is God your strength?

Is he your song? When you sing, what comes out of your lips? Sing of God's deliverance, right? He is our salvation.

Application is this, who and what has God delivered you from?

Think about that, Christian.

Who and what has God delivered you from?

In Ephesians chapter two, it says, "You were dead in your sins, but he made you alive in Christ Jesus," right? And he sets you free. You who once walked in the flesh, walked according to the world and according to Satan. You were objects of God's very wrath, he says in Ephesians two, one through five. But God has redeemed us from that. He's translated us out of darkness and into light. He's freed us from the world, from the flesh, from the devil, from ourselves, from our sin, right? Praise God that he delivers us from our enemies.

Fourth reason we can praise God today is praise God for deliverance from death.

God delivers his saints from death. We find this in Psalm 118 verses 15 through 18.

"The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord."

Here we see that David is full of confidence in the Lord. Verse 18, "The Lord has chased me severely, but he has not given me over to death."

He knew that God was not finished with him yet, right?

This Psalm, Psalm 118, was a Psalm that was a favorite of many saints of old.

In the year 1379, John Wycliffe, the great early reformer, who was a doctor at Oxford, was busy trying to reform the Catholic church, and they hated him for it. In the midst of his labors, he was also doing his most important work of translating the scriptures into English. And he worked on this tirelessly, so much that his health suffered, and he found himself what appeared to be his deathbed. And on his deathbed, because he had worn himself out and translating the scriptures by hand,

he was visited by a group of Catholic friars representing four different orders, and they were not there to console him.

They were there because he was on his deathbed. They were trying to get him to recant for saying that we're saved by faith alone and Christ alone.

And Wycliffe quoted verse 17,

he had his friends prop him up in his bed. He says, "I shall not die but live, "and declare the works of the Lord," and then he added, "and declare the evils of the friars."

So he was confident that God was not finished with his work yet, right? He still had work to do, and he lived another five years he recovered, was able to finish his translation three years later of the Bible into English. And that's why we are able to read the scriptures in English today, right? Another old saint who loved this psalm, in fact he called it his dearest psalm, was Martin Luther.

Martin Luther said that this psalm was the golden psalm, and it was worth to him more than all the wealth and all the power of the nations. In fact, he made verse 17,

his motto.

Let's read it again. "I shall not die but live, "and declare the works of the Lord."

In 1830, he was a wanted man. The Catholics wanted to arrest him. They'd sent out assassins to kill him. He was hiding in a castle under a protector who was giving him, who agreed with him and had sympathy with him and his cause, and he couldn't even go to the diat that was taking place in Osberg in 1830. This was gonna be where some of the reformers were trying to get to Catholic Church one last time to relent and to come to repentance, and that's where the Augsburg Confession, the great Lutheran Confession came from. He wasn't able to be there, because again, he was a wanted man. If he stepped foot outside that castle, he would have been killed.

So he took Psalm 118.17, and he wrote it on the wall in Latin so he could see it all day long, and he broke down this motto into three parts. First part, "I shall not die." Now, he did not have any grand illusions that he was immortal and that they couldn't kill him or assassinate him, but what he did have confidence was that he believed that God had a holy purpose for his life and that God would not let him be assassinated or killed till that purpose was finished, and that was a conviction of him that he recited every morning. What else can you do when you're holed up in a castle, and if you step foot outside, you're gonna be killed. You have to have confidence in the Lord, and so he did. I shall not die. He did it in defiance, knowing that he had work to do.

Secondly, this is but live. This is the second part of his motto. This was said in Reliance on Christ. He knew that if he was going to live, it would be to live for Christ and live by the power of the gospel, by his grace, and for the glory of God, and so his work that he was set out to do, that God had called him to do, would be done in reliance on Christ, so he would live in Christ, and that's what we do when we partake of the Lord's Supper. Do we not? Isn't it saying that Christ is in us, his resurrection of power is at work within us so we can serve him, that we can live for him?

And then the third part of his motto.

He says, "I shall not die but live "and declare the works of the Lord." He said, "While I have breath, I will do everything I can "to declare and preach Christ crucified." That was a heartbeat of Luther.

That was a simple motto, but it was one that he lived by. It was one that changed the world, right?

Week two can have such a hope in God, knowing that he is not going to call us home. Our enemies will not be able to vanquish us until our work is done, right? And we can do our work through Christ who lives in me. I've been crucified with Christ, and nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in a flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, right? I think it's also very poignant that Jesus would have sung these words, singing Psalm 118 at the Lord's Supper, because here we see, "I shall not die but live "and declare the works of the Lord."

Christ laid down his life, but he took it again, right? He rose from the dead, and his raising from the dead is our raising. His justification is ours. He declared that he is God Almighty in his resurrection.

So the Lord has chastened me severely.

Christ was chastened for us, right? The perfect Lamb of God wasn't chastened for any wrong he had ever done, but strictly for us.

The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

That's how Jesus on the cross could say, "Into your hands I commit my spirit," right? That's how he could remember Psalm 16. You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption, right?

The application for number four,

do you have everlasting life?

Do you have everlasting life? If you believe in Christ, you will live. Look what Jesus says in John 5, 24. "Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word "and believes in him who's sent me has everlasting life "and shall not come into judgment, "but has passed from death to life." It's a gospel. Believe in Christ. You wanna see God the Father? Look to Christ, he's God made flesh. And if you believe in him, what he did, his work, that he is the savior of men, that he died on the cross and rose again, you pass from death into life, right? Just as Jesus again told Mary and Martha at Lazarus' death, "Though a man will die, "yet shall he live," right?

Fifth reason why we can praise the Lord this morning is we can praise God for opening the gates of the Lord. We find this in verses 19 through 24.

Evidently, this would have been David coming into the holy city when a king entered into a city there was great fanfare. "Open me the gates of righteousness "and I will go through them and I will praise the Lord." This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous shall enter. "I will praise you for you have answered me "and have become my salvation." Stop right there.

So as David is entering into the city, he calls for the gates to be open to him and he praises the Lord. In verse 20 he says, "This is the gate of the Lord "through which righteousness shall enter. "I will praise you for you have answered me "and have become my salvation."

David was a rightful king. It was right for him to enter the gates of righteousness because he was the one that God had ordained to sit on the throne, right?

How about Christ? The fitness for him to sing this is not he the king of kings and the Lord of lords. What happened when he rose but he ascended into heaven? Sit at the right hand of God Almighty to sit on the very throne of David, to sit on the apex throne of the universe, right? That's where he sits because that's where he belongs. He's righteous, right? Look at Luke 23, 46.

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. At very moment, he went into the Father's presence, right? What did he tell the thief? "Today, you'll be with me in paradise," right? Hebrews 6, 18 through 20, talking about his ascension, says, "We might have strong consolation "who have fled for refuge "to lay hold of the hope set before us. "This hope we have as one, as an anchor of the soul, "both sure and steadfast, "which enters the presence behind the veil, "where the forerunner has entered for us. "Even Jesus have become high priest forever "according to the order of Melchizedek." Saying that Christ, our forerunner, has gone before us. He's pierced the veil. He's gone into the holy of holies in heaven to be with God, right? And there he was anointed both king and priest after the order of Melchizedek, right? And he sits on the very throne of God, and therefore we can come boldly to the throne of grace, can we not? To find help in time of need, because Christ sits on that throne, and he is our forerunner, and we too are blessed in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, is what Ephesians says. Hebrews 7, 26, for such a high priest was fitting for us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. Because Christ was separate, harmless, and holy, and righteous, death cannot hold him, right? And so he was able to pierce the veil. He belongs at the right hand of God. And so do we, because we are in Christ Jesus. Not because we are in it ourselves, but solely because of his grace, because of his everlasting faithfulness. The application. Take consolation and refuge in your perfect high priest. Take consolation and refuge in Christ, because Christ has gone before us, and sits at the right hand of God. When you offer up your prayers to the Lord, your prayers are heard. You might think that you're insignificant. You might think that because of your unholyness, God will not hear you. God doesn't want any part to do with you, because of your unfaithfulness to him. Know that Christ's blood was shed for you.

And because of that, he has entered a veil before us. He is our forerunner. So run into his presence, right? We can boldly come before his throne of grace. Take refuge in Christ, our perfect high priest. Six reason why we can praise God this morning is praise God for exalting his king as savior. We find this in verses 22 through 24.

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. We believe that verses 22, 23, and 24 are shifting from David's words to the words of the congregation of Israel, right? And they're saying the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. David did not rise to the throne easily, right? God had anointed him, but it took years. And then it took years for him to actually be king over both the northern and the southern tribe, right?

But it says the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, the one who brings two walls together, right? That's what a cornerstone does. It becomes the foundation, if you will, of the house. This is applied to Christ. In fact, aside from Psalm 110.1, this particular verse here, Psalm 118 verse 22, is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. It's quoted about 13 times in the New Testament. And it's quoted speaking of a king who was greater than David.

Spoken of Christ, who is our cornerstone, the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. In him, he's brought heaven and earth together, right? Man and God reconciled. He's reconciled Jew and Gentile. He's reconciled barbarian and slave and master and woman. And man, he's made us all one in Christ Jesus, if you trust in Christ.

The quotes include Matthew 21, 42, Mark 12, and Luke 20. All three of those are Christ quoting this of himself in regards to the parable of the unjust stewards. He's speaking to the Jewish leaders and he says,

God sent many messengers, servants into his vineyard, and they killed them, right? They kicked them out, they mistreated them. Then he sent last his son, and they killed him. He says, what do you think he's gonna do to them?

And some of them with their own words said, he's gonna kick them out, right? He's gonna destroy them. He says, yes. He is the stone that either you are crushed by or you lean and repose on, right? You must accept Christ or you will be crushed by him, is the idea behind that. Look at Acts 4.11.

Peter quotes this in regards to the salvific work of God and giving the apostles miracles that would attest to the gospel. If you remember, Paul, I'm sorry, Peter and John were going up to the temple, and there was a lame man there at the gates of the temple.

He says, look at me. And he says, silver and gold have I none, but what I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk. This man was healed miraculously. They're apostles, don't go try to do that yourself, okay? This was God, God gifted these men to confirm the gospel. And of course, the leaders of Israel, the Sanhedrin,

were threatened by this. These men had power that they didn't, and they were preaching a gospel that they did not understand or endorse, right? And so they called the disciples to them. So by what authority have you done this? They're mad at him for healing a lame man, right? An overflow with the mercy and grace of God. And look what Peter says. Peter 4, Acts 4, 10 through 12. Let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole. This is a stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Now, nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Praise God that he has exalted Christ to be our savior. Under heaven by which we can be saved. The application is this, marvel and rejoice in Christ and his perfect work of salvation should never grow tired of hearing of the glory of Christ and of the saving work that he has accomplished, right?

I love to hear the story of our savior who came from glory, right? We know these old hymns. We love to sing his story. Never get tired of it. Marvel at it. Don't ever let the things of this world take away our greatest joy and glory.

Seventh reason why we can praise God this morning is we praise God with the offering of sacrifice. We find that in Psalm 118, verses 25 through 28. In verses 25 through 28, we believe the shift in voice here is now going to the priest, the priest of Israel, because it says it's coming from the tabernacle of God. So it's not coming from David entering the temple or David entering the city. It's not coming from the people waiting to greet him. This is coming from the priest. Save now, I pray, O Lord. O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

Verses 25 and 26 should be very familiar because these were said by the masses on the day of what we would call the triumphal entry. This is the Friday before his trial and his crucifixion where they welcomed him.

They said, "Hosanna," which means save now. That's what's being quoted here. Save now, I pray, O Lord. O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We've blessed you from the house of the Lord. So the voice is coming from the tabernacle. Verses 27 and 28, God is the Lord and has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, I will praise you. You are my God, I will exalt you. And praise and gratitude, sacrifice is made. What do they say in verse 27? He has given us light.

They're praising God for giving us light. Light is accompanied usually with salvation. Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Right? Christ's glory was made known to the children of Israel at Sinai, right? Because his Shekinah glory was resting on top of the mountain. What happened when they were being led through the wilderness but they had a cloudy pillar during the day and a fiery pillar at night. It was emblematic of his salvation, right? And so because of God's salvation, because of his presence, because of his trustworthiness, because of all that he's done for us, he is worthy of sacrifice. So bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. The altar would have had four horns around it and it's implied in this verse, most scholars believe that they would have bound the sacrifice and perhaps tied it to the horns of the altar and would have made sacrifice a sacrifice here of thanksgiving.

It's very apropos that Christ would be seeing this on the eve of his crucifixion.

Can you hear the voice of the Savior saying, "God is the Lord, he has given us light. "Bind the sacrifice with cords, the horns of the altar."

He's singing about himself.

He's our sacrifice and he's singing about with joy.

The Bible tells us in the Hebrews that it was for the joy that was set before him that he endured the suffering, became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. That's how radical the love of Christ is for his people.

Look at Titus 2, 11 through 14.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation "has appeared to all men,

"teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, "we should live soberly, righteously, "and godly in this present age, "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing "of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, "who gave himself for us that he might redeem us "from every lawless deed and purify for himself "his own special people, zealous for good works." Because Christ gave himself for us, should not we in turn give ourselves to him, right? We don't do that to earn our salvation, but in recognition of the light that he has given, the grace that he has so freely bestowed upon us, that we offer the sacrifices of praise, right? Our whole life be bound to the altar to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in gratitude for all that he has done for us. The application is this, worthy is the Lamb who was slain, Revelation 5, 12. He is worthy, he is worthy of our sacrifice, he is worthy of our trust, he is worthy of our praise. So I pray this morning as we partake of the Lord's Supper that you'll dispel from your heart a spirit of gloom, and put on a spirit of rejoicing, of praise, thanks to God for his perfect sacrifice for us. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we praise you.

You gave yourself for us.

Your body was broken, your blood was poured out, that our sins might be forgiven and remembered no more. Hallelujah, you alone are worthy, in Christ's name, amen.