Our God and His Family
Psalm 68: The Church Inhabited by Her God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewGod is the real 'rain-maker', not Baal and the false gods that sap humanity of its vital energy. God cares for people, and cultivates their best And he receives those who have been broken and cast aside by the world's system of false worship; he heals and restores them, and places them into his own family.
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Let God Arise
Let God Arise
Ps 68.1-6 “1 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. 2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. 5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. 6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”
The opening words of this psalm recall Moses’ words during the wilderness wanderings:
Nu 10.35-36 “35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel.”
God moves through the wilderness
Confusion in the Wilderness
Confusion in the Wilderness
God’s (and your) enemies are in the wilderness
God’s (and your) enemies are in the wilderness
The wilderness was Israel’s first encounter with Baal
The wilderness was Israel’s first encounter with Baal
Nu 25.1-3 “1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.
Who is Baal?
Who is Baal?
Baal, the Canaanite deity was the most important deity in the Canaanite pantheon (NBD: Baal)
Baal as a technical word has various meanings, including owner, ruler, master, lord or husband.
He was known as the ‘cloud rider’ or the ‘storm god’ and was revered as the one who would make rain
1 Ki 18 showdown was a direct challenge to the Canaanite god called Baal
Attributes of Baal worship
Attributes of Baal worship
Harlotry
Harlotry
Nu 25.1 “1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.”
Child Sacrifice
Child Sacrifice
2 Chr 28.1-3 “1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: 2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. 3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.”
Baal vs. YHWH
Baal vs. YHWH
YHWH as ‘baal’
YHWH as ‘baal’
Israelites would call YHWH ‘baal’ in innocence,
The language led to confusion and vulnerability to Canaanite worship.
God will not share his glory with another
God will not share his glory with another
Isa 42.8 “8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”
Because our God is different; he is not like the gods of the world that claim worship but destroy the foundations for their subjects
So God disambiguated
So God disambiguated
Ho 2.13-17 “13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD. 14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. 17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.”
YHWH is the rightful ‘rider of the clouds’
YHWH is the rightful ‘rider of the clouds’
Ps 68.4 “4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.”
The proper ‘rider of the clouds’ is Jah - YHWH.
Rejoice before him.
And his work is retrieving the wayward, and bringing her back into a place that is bound by love, acceptance, security and belonging.
A Place of Safety and Belonging
A Place of Safety and Belonging
The holy habitation of God
The holy habitation of God
Riding from the heavens, he is coming from the place of his dwelling
Ep 2.4-6 “4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”
1 Pt 2.5 “5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
God is a defender of the most vulnerable
God is a defender of the most vulnerable
Ps 68.5 “5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.”
Widows and orphans have a protector in the Lord
Widows and orphans have a protector in the Lord
31 verses in the Bible show concern for the fatherless and the widow. (The worst kind of poverty is the absence of husbands and fathers.)
Single moms and fatherless children have a protector in the Lord.
No longer used and abused
No longer thrown into the fire and destroyed
God accepts and nourishes the trapped and lonely
God accepts and nourishes the trapped and lonely
Ps 68.6 “6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”
The rebellious live in a dry land
The rebellious live in a dry land
First, understand the contrast of the rebellious
TWOT 1549 sar, sara, sarar: “The Akkadian force of the root is probably to be understood in the description of the restless woman of the streets who lacks stable roots in the community (Pr 7.11).
Look at the picture here: it is of a street woman who can’t be satisfied with any long term or wholesome contentment, so she roams the streets looking for anything that will bring the next fix, the next ‘good time’, etc.
He sets the solitary in families
He sets the solitary in families
A family is a household, literally tent
He takes the ones that have been cast away by the ravishing elements of the pursuits of a godless world, and helps them
The prisoner is released into prosperity
The prisoner is released into prosperity
Literally, he leads the prisoner into prosperity (YLT).
God doesn’t just deliver; he leads you into fullness of life!
There is a progression. God brings you out, cleans you up, and moves you forward. He doesn’t just deliver; he develops you as well.
Come home
Come home
Mt 12.49-50 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
And like Lk 15, where Jesus describes his work of restoring the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, he is still in the business of recovering the lost soul today.
Ga 4.26 “26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
There’s room for you in this family.
. . .