Sermon Tone Analysis

ps24.1-

Today as we approach the text we have before us I wanted to us to give thought to something that may seem disconnected to this psalm but I assure you it isn’t.

I want to ask you how do you start your day?

What is your routine?

Do you have one?

I assure you that you do have one.

There are many different ways to start your day and everyone has a different flow of how they like that to happen.

Maybe you get up, brush your teeth, and wash your face?

Maybe you get up and have a cup of coffee?

For many of you I would hope that reading scripture is part of your daily routine.

I saw a list of the best ways to start your day, it suggests...

15 mins of no screen time, Grab a coffee or lemon water, Sit up straight and practice deep breathing and stretching

Grab a coffee or lemon water, Sit up straight and practice deep breathing and stretching

Sit up straight and practice deep breathing and stretching

Meditating and stretching

and streching

These things are supposed to make you more productive during your day.

If you are a young trendy Pacific North-westerner you may start your day with a pour over coffee, meditation and affirmation of goals, Thats your rhythm.

If you are a student then maybe you start your day by waking up late and trying to wash up and eat breakfast at the same time so you can get out the door for class on time.

Probably for those who are younger students, you will wake up early that first week of school and take a long shower.

You will have your clothes laid out the night before.

You will eat a good breakfast and be ready early??? Or maybe not, lol

Maybe your parents will wake you up and make you shower and lay out your clothes and make you eat breakfast everyday, and that is your routine.

How about when your families get together for holidays?

I love Thanksgiving.

We wake up early and start cooking the turkey.

Spend the day preparing other side dishes.

Invite family over at 1, eat appetizers till dinner is ready at 3pm.

We spend time around the table saying what w are thankful for and after dinner we watch football while the girls check the Black Friday adds.

Then have desert and play a game.

that is our custom, our tradition, our ritual.

Why am I taking time to talk about all this?

Because what we would call your daily routine or morning ritual, our holiday customs and traditions, we actually have a word for in the church, it’s called Liturgy.

We all have a Liturgy in life, whether that is daily as individuals or something for special times when we gather.

And we have a Liturgy in our worship gatherings.

You may have noticed today that there is a time of confession, and or acknowledging The Lord in our singing, a time of fellowship and greeting, and a time of hearing the Word preached followed by a time of response in song.

That is our liturgy.

And I would be quick to point out that it is something we get from scripture.

When the Church gathers, we practice coming before God, confessing sin, proclaiming the Gospel of our salvation, with singing and preaching.

We call it an order of Service, but it is actually a liturgy.

When the Church gathers, we practice coming before God, confessing sin, proclaiming the Gospel of our salvation, with singing and preaching.

We call it an order of Service, but it is actually a liturgy.

And just like when families gather, some people like it and some people don’t, but it is not a bout the individual preference, rather about it is about their gathering as a family.

Likewise in the church some people love our liturgy, and others do not but it is not about preference, not about songs you like or dislike, not about texts you love or texts you would rather not hear, it is about Worshipping God together with others, not about the individual.

And just like when families gather, some people like it and some people don’t, but it is not a bout the individual preference, rather about it is about their gathering as a family.

Kids are not in control of the family gathering whether they like to say what they are thankful for or not...

Likewise in the church some people love our liturgy, and others do not but it is not about preference, not about songs you like or dislike, not about texts you love or texts you would rather not hear, it is about Worshipping God together with others, not about the individual.

So because of that, unless you can point out how any part of our liturgy is not in accordance to scripture, we will not change that to accommodate any individual.

It’s not about songs you like or not, we do not sing for an individual we sing together to our God and each other as we remind our selves of truth.

Our liturgy can change but make no mistake about it we have a liturgy, we have a ritual way we worship, we have traditions in style and that makes us distinct from any gathering in the world.

What is all this about anyways???

This text we have before us today is a Psalm of Liturgy.

It was sung every-time the the gathering would enter the Temple, especially when carrying the Ark of the Covenant after a battle.

This was a repeated psalm of confessing the King, Approaching the King and Welcoming the king.

So as we go through this want for you think about how congregations of God’s people have sung this as part of their worship for years.

How it shaped their Liturgy and what it is declaring.

Last week we looked at and saw how the Lord is our Shepherd.

Well this psalm continues to look at the Lord as more than a Shepherd, now as a conquering King.

In fact psalm 22,23,24 seem to be connected.

J Vernon McGee writes ‘to put it succinctly, in  we see the cross, in  the crook (the Shepherd's crook), and in  the crown (the King's crown).

In  Christ is the Saviour; in  He is the Satisfier; in  He is the Sovereign.

In  He is the foundation; in  He is the manifestation; in  He is the expectation.

In  He dies; in  He is living; in  He is coming.

speaks of the past;  speaks of the present; and  speaks of the future.

In  He gives His life for the sheep; in  He gives His love to the sheep; in  He gives us light when He shall appear.

What a wonderful picture we have of Christ in these three psalms!

‘

J Vernon McGee writes ‘to put it succinctly, in  we see the cross, in  the crook (the Shepherd's crook), and in  the crown (the King's crown).

In  Christ is the Saviour; in  He is the Satisfier; in  He is the Sovereign.

In  He is the foundation; in  He is the manifestation; in  He is the expectation.

In  He dies; in  He is living; in  He is coming.

speaks of the past;  speaks of the present; and  speaks of the future.

In  He gives His life for the sheep; in  He gives His love to the sheep; in  He gives us light when He shall appear.

What a wonderful picture we have of Christ in these three psalms!

‘

We will see that this Psalm asks the Question, “Who is this King”?

This question is meant to be answered not only by the Psalm but by the people singing and repeating this every time they entered the temple for worship.

Their liturgy shaped their view of God and it does the same for us.

In this psalm they will Confess their King, Approach their King, and Welcome their King.

Let’s look at it closer.

Confessing the King

If I was to ask someone from another country to to tell me about their King or ruler, how would they respond?

I we asked someone from England to tell us about the history of the Kings of England how would they answer?

The King rules over the people of England, his borders are his country, his power is enforced by his army and navy.

He is super rich, he lives in a palace, he is known for being nice or not??? Think about this.

These people when they entered the Temple were confessing their King as a ritual to remind themselves who they belong to.

Let’s loom at this Psalm Verse by Verse.

Here is the confession fo their King...

Our King is our God, Yahweh, the Lord.

He created and sustained the whole earth that belongs to him.

Oh and everything in and on it belongs to him too!

He Sovereignly rules over all the people who live on it!

This is a proclamation that rivals any other god a people will worship.

We declare a God who is ruler and Creator over everything and everyone.

To be Sovereign means to be supreme ruler with Supreme power to rule and the full rights to govern everything under his jurisdiction.

So what is the jurisdiction of this King???

The Earth and everything in it and everyone on it!

This is quite the declaration of a King!

If this psalm is true, if this king exists, we better get to know him!

And how did he come into power and establish his boundaries?

He founded it

He has founded it???