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| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Rev. Sjirk Bajema > So Joyful – Because It’s So Humbling! | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Note sermon is divided into three parts with songs sung after each part (as indicated in sermon). |
PSALM 22:22-26
(Reading: Hebrews 2:5-18; Psalm 22:1-26)
So Joyful – Because It’s So Humbling!
Sermon #1
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ…
They say you can tell a lot about people by what they do when they have been given something.
In fact, don’t we often judge the character of our boys and girls by what they do when they receive their presents?
We look for what they will say or do.
There was an occasion some years ago when several people were rescued by emergency personnel.
It was a rescue which involved some risk.
But what particularly stood out about that event was that even weeks afterward the rescuers had still not been thanked.
The way you respond says a lot about the kind of person you are.
So the way our text opens up is something that comes as no surprise.
For of all people we would expect the suffering servant – the Messiah – to show the best response of all.
And where else could that be but thanking God in the place where he most loves that to be?
This is the first aspect to this passage.
For THE SUFFERING SERVANT’S THANKS COMES STRAIGHT-AWAY.
The verse immediately before the text, verse 21, ended with the certainty of being answered.
In fact, we saw that the best translation of the last Hebrew word there is, says, “You have answered me!”
So the thanks comes instantly.
That’s the sense of the passage.
And it’s the deepest thanks!
That’s what we see by the way he responds.
For this is no ordinary thanks.
He reacts to what’s happened with doing what God required for rare blessings.
Because he goes to no less a place than the sanctuary of the Lord himself!
There he bears solemn testimony to the grace he’s received.
In the words of Deuteronomy 12 verse 18, he is in the presence of the Lord his God as the place the LORD his God chooses.
You see, many of us can simply say “thank you” because we’ve been brought up that way.
Without really thinking about it, we say it.
But here it’s coming from deep in His heart.
When He says, “I will tell of your name to my brothers” he’s being very involved in this.
For the reference to “name” is telling about who God is and what he’s done.
That’s what the Hebrews meant by this.
So the suffering servant declares the gospel.
He proclaims that this is the electing love of God the Father, carried out through the work of God the Son.
That’s what the Scriptures are all about!
And it’s done exactly where his people are.
It’s in “the congregation” he is praising God.
There is no thought of it possibly being anywhere else.
Not on some mountain top, out on the ocean, or across the sweeping plain.
For if you are really serious about worshipping the way God’s pleased with you will be where he tells you to be – with his church!
And then think about who this man is!
He is the suffering servant.
He is the One who knows how vital what he’s going through is for the congregation.
And not only a congregation then – for the church of all ages!
That’s why he’s especially there.
As Hebrews 2 verse 11 says, “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.
“That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers…”
And then Hebrews 2 verse 12 quotes this verse – verse 22.
For it was Jesus who has come among us.
He’s not only way up there – he came all the way down here!
When this suffering servant addresses the whole of Israel it’s because they fear – they highly respect - the God of revelation.
This is the message for all of spiritual Israel!
As Charles Spurgeon writes of the word “revere”: “The more we praise God the more reverently shall we fear him, and the deeper our reverence the sweeter our songs.
“So much does Jesus value praise that we have it here under his dying hand and seal that all the saints must glorify the Lord.”
It’s his saints praising him which God so much delights in.
In fact, that’s the thing he most loves us to do.
For while verse 23 ending with the call to revere the Lord may seem unnecessary repetition for those who have just been commended for doing that, yet it’s the most important thing we can always be encouraged to do more!
And, besides, aren’t the true saints always going to welcome such a reminder?
It’s the unbelieving ones who will soon enough resent being reminded about this.
For them once on Sunday is more than enough!
In fact, you’ll find Christmas and Easter suit them just fine!
So it’s with an immediate response and amongst the saints – his brethren in the faith – that the suffering servant gives thanks.
And let’s also do the same.
With the words of hymn 285 let’s respond gratefully.
“O Jesus, we adore thee, upon the cross, our King!”
Sermon #2
Brothers and sisters, young people…
We have seen that it’s in amongst the congregation that the suffering servant gives thanks.
And now verse 24 draws us back into the reason why.
In the words of a second aspect to this passage, we see, THE SUFFERING SERVANT’S VOW HAS BEEN FULFILLED.
And what a verse this is!
It’s the gospel in a nutshell!
Here is summed up what we see later in Isaiah 53 the verses 4 and 7.
For who doesn’t know those well-known words, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted”?
It’s also in Zechariah chapter 9.
That’s a reference we’ll find quite interesting.
Because there in verse 9 it says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
“Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!
“See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
But now you wonder, what’s the connection between that and this?
Well, there are two words with the same root.
Two words which show his humbleness and his saving work.
Because that’s where “afflicted” and “cried to him” fit in.
And that’s no surprise really, is it?
The way Jesus came into Jerusalem was fulfilling prophecy.
Yet it was putting him down all the same!
He rode upon a donkey of all things!
Still, verse 24 puts that behind him.
The prayer has been answered.
The bitter anguish of what he’s been through had fulfilled its purpose.
Because his vow has been kept.
This is what Jesus talks about in John 6.
There he says in verses 38 and 40, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Of course verse 24 in our text is a prophecy.
And at the point David said it, there was still some thousand years or so to go.
But it will happen.
This is shown in the expression that God “has not hidden his face from him.”
Because what’s that really saying?
It’s pointing to the fact that God’s face is upon him.
And when Scripture speaks of God’s face being shown, it’s describing his richest blessing.
The Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6 proves this.
It says in verse 25 “the LORD make his face shine upon you.”
With the completed work of his Son that’s exactly what God did!
This is why the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4 the verses 7 and 8, “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
“This is why it says: ‘When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.’”
Jesus was never separate from those he came to save.
As he has become the second Adam, and so our new representative, so we also enjoy the marvellous gifts he gives!
In Adam we were dead.
Now in Christ we’re alive.
And what a life that can be!
Believer, this is the encouragement he gives to each one of his own.
For he has gone through the worst kind of isolation and psychological scorn and physical suffering for our salvation.
That means we’ll never be apart from his loving care.
Even if you go through what seems to be the most difficult struggle you are not alone.
Your prayer will be answered.
In fact, it’s Christ’s own Spirit who will be shining through your life in the most saving way!
And let’s indeed looking to living like this now in song.
We sing Hymn 295, “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
Sermon #3
Fellow believers…
You are not alone.
The Lord has heard you when you cried to him.
This is why our text ends the way it does.
For what we now see, in the third aspect, is that THE SUFFERING SERVANT’S JOY IS SHARED WITH THE HUMBLE.
Verse 25 returns us to the gathering of God’s people.
It speaks about the “great congregation”.
But now the call to thanksgiving has ended.
Following the form of Old Testament worship he has brought the thank offerings of Leviticus 7 verse 16.
The sprinkling with blood and the laying of the fat pieces upon the altar has been done.
It’s the left-over meat of the sacrifice that now provides a joyful meal.
And yet this is still looking up to the Lord.
In fact, we see here the whole congregation joining together in this.
Those he has called to in verse 23 are singing God’s praise along with him.
Dear friend, this is no joy that you can celebrate on your own.
Indeed, which joy is there that you can honestly enjoy alone.
And especially this good news!
In fact, this is such joy that all are blessed by it.
Verse 26 speaks of the afflicted eating of this and being satisfied by it.
This is something which goes here beyond what the Law said.
It may be seen as a natural extension of the provisions for the poor but it is yet more.
And it is something more here because of what it is spiritually.
Remember, this is still part of the thanksgiving service.
So it’s not some luncheon in the hall at the back after the service.
This is the divine worship.
And it will go on for two days.
Mind you, it is true that inviting the poor here in the first place is because any genuine thanksgiving will show itself in mercy towards others.
We cannot forget the parable of Jesus about the unmerciful servant who, while excused by his master of a debt of millions, was himself unable to forgo a few lousy dollars from a fellow servant.
But the poor in coming know what it is and how long it is.
While they come to physically eat they also, as part of the covenant people, know they need to spiritually eat also.
Calvin perceptively shows how the joy of such an occasion would minister to them in all their misery.
As he says, “For they saw in that feast, as in a mirror, the goodness of God set forth to all who are in affliction, which might assuage with wonderful consolation the grief arising from all their calamities.”
Then it’s no surprise that the Levites would all be sharing in that occasion too.
That was what Deuteronomy 12 verse 18 also laid out.
How different this is than the parties of this world?
They only have their friends who are their social peers.
And they certainly wouldn’t want any ministers around to dampen the spirit!
But this is how those who seek the Lord do praise him.
For it was the Lord Jesus himself who did this!
In the words of Hebrews 10, the verses 19 till 22, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of grace, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
And as is fitting for a service of thanksgiving to God there is a parting blessing.
Verse 26 ends with the words, “May your hearts live forever!”
Because now we may live forever in the presence of the One whose joy we celebrate forever.
He is the King who conquered all before him.
And now He is bringing all of his in.
Amen.
PRAYER:
Let’s pray…
O Great King, we humbly bow in your presence now.
As those whom you have brought with the price of your own blood we offer our deepest thanks.
And we pray, dear Lord, that we may now live lives which show that we are yours – through and through.
To you be all the glory and the honour.
For great things you have done!
And great things you will do.
Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Sjirk Bajema, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2020, Rev. Sjirk Bajema
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