The Purpose of the LORD Fulfilled - Psalm 47 Sermon From August Prayer Service

Prayer Service August 5th - 2015. Rev. Ted A. Giese, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Regina SK. Psalm 47

          Clap your hands, all peoples!

                        Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

            For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,

                        a great king over all the earth.

            He subdued peoples under us,

                        and nations under our feet.

            He chose our heritage for us,

                        the pride of Jacob whom He loves.

            God has gone up with a shout,

                        the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

            Sing praises to God, sing praises!

                        Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

            For God is the King of all the earth;

                        sing praises with a psalm!

            God reigns over the nations;

                        God sits on His holy throne.

            The princes of the peoples gather

                        as the people of the God of Abraham.

            For the shields of the earth belong to God;

                        He is highly exalted!

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends. "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."[1] He didn't see it coming, he didn't hear it coming, it wasn't supposed to happen but it did. The plan was air-tight and the arrow that struck him was not part of the plan. Ahab the king of the northern half of the divided kingdom, Ahab the king of Israel, had lured Jehoshaphat the king in the south, the king of Judah, whose throne is the throne of David, of Solomon's - down to fight with him against the Syrians. Ahab had thrown an impressive party and leveraged the marriage of Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram to his daughter Athaliah to induce Jehoshaphat to fight alongside him to gain back the disputed city of Ramoth-gilead. With their children married, with the alliance, the death of Jehoshaphat would open the way for Ahab to have both kingdoms for his own, he could sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem and rule all the children of Israel.

Right before the battle Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.”[2] Jehoshaphat was a sitting duck, anyone could see that he was a king and this made him a target, in disguise Ahab's vocation of king would be invisible to the Syrians and after the battle Jehoshaphat would sadly be dead and Ahab would put back on his kingly regiments and seek the dead Jehoshaphat's throne. "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."

Now that day, the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with [Ahab] the king of Israel.” As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; God drew them away from him. For as soon as the captains of the chariots saw that it was not [Ahab] the king of Israel [but rather it was Jehoshaphat the king of Judah], they turned back from pursuing [Jehoshaphat]. But a certain man [took an arrow and] drew his bow, at random, and struck [the king of Israel in his disguise] between the scale armour and the breastplate. [Ahab] said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” And the battle continued that day, and [Ahab] the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset he died."[3]

Jehoshaphat lived to fight another day, but his alliance with Ahab was a stain on his reputation and showed poor judgment. When Jehoshaphat arrived home in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer went out to meet him saying, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the LORD. Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.”[4] Jehoshaphat like his father king Asa was a reformer. Along with his weeding out false religions in Judah Jehoshaphat appointed certain Levitical families in Jerusalem, "to give judgment for the LORD and to decide disputed cases."[5]

Amongst these Levites were the sons of Korah. These men were warriors, Levitical priests, musicians, writers and singers of Psalms. Psalm 47 is one of their psalms and most commentators, [of Psalm 47], associate this psalm with a victory of Jehoshaphat over the Ammonites, Edomites, Moabites, and [their allies] at which the sons of Korah were present.[6] After the death of Ahab in the north these neighbouring peoples, historic enemies of the Children of Israel, had banded together to crush Jehoshaphat in the south and take Jerusalem for themselves. When word of this threat came to Jehoshaphat he didn't rely on alliances and treaties, he didn't count up his strength to see if he could defeat his enemies,[7] he didn't plan to pay them off with silver or gold, no Jehoshaphat first turned to the Lord in prayer. And as the Lord had saved him that day on the field of battle with the Syrians amidst king Ahab's treacherous scheme so too did the Lord save Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah from the Ammonites, Edomites, Moabites, and their allies. On that day something like a "random" arrow striking an unintended, yet right, target took place revealing answered prayer and the hand of God at work.

With danger approaching, "Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, and [he prayed], “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In Your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand You. Did You not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for You in it a sanctuary for Your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You—for Your name is in this house—and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy—behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of Your possession, which You have given us to inherit. O our God, will You not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”"[8]

And the Spirit of the LORD came upon one of the Levitical priest,[9] and the Lord gave an immediate answer to the kings prayer, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. ... Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.”[10]

The next day they went out and as the people sang Psalm 118, "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love [His mercy] endures forever!"[11] The LORD set an ambush[12] against their enemies [an ambush that might have seemed like a random arrow shot into that great horde] and [when the arrow of that ambush struck them] the Ammonites, Edomites, Moabites, and [their allies] all began to fight against each other [in confusion] so that "when [Jehoshaphat and all of] Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped."[13]

Faithful Jehoshaphat, didn't take the credit for this victory, in prayer he had put it all in God's hands and he trusted what his great, great grandfather king Solomon had written in the book of Proverbs "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." Jehoshaphat had put the LORD first trusting God's promises and the sons of Korah in Psalm 47 sing of the LORD, Most High as king over all the earth, for it is God who saved them and Jehoshaphat had simply been faithful to God, no longer befriending treacherous men like king Ahab whose plan was for Jehoshaphat to die.   

           Clap your hands, all peoples!

                   Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

          For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,

                   a great king over all the earth.

          He subdued peoples under us,

                   and nations under our feet.

          He chose our heritage for us,

                   the pride of Jacob [the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham] whom He loves.

The Second part of the Psalm is where the focus shifts from thanksgiving for what just happened to an eye on the future fulfilment of the promises of God. 

In the Book of Revelation we hear how [the enemies of God "make war on the Lamb, [the Lamb who is Christ Jesus] and [as the book of Revelation says] the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful.”[14] The angelic armies of God, "have conquered [Satan and his horde of fallen angels] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."[15] The Blood of the Lamb with which they defeat your enemies, is the Blood of Christ, the Blood shed under the points of the thorns of His crown, the Blood shed under the strike of the lash upon His back, the Blood shed at the strike of the hammer and the point of the nails that held Him to the cross, that pierced His hands and feet, the Blood that poured from His side with the water as the Soldier's spear ran Him through.

In that time crucifixion was a regularly administered form of execution routinely preformed by the Romans in their empire, routinely administered just outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Amidst all those crucifixions it must have been a shock that one of them, Jesus', struck forth like no other, like an arrow into the heart of death itself. What would have looked like a random crucifixion to the Romans and Jews was in fact a polished arrow prepared, purposed for the striking down of your enemies: sin, death, the devil and the world.

Psalm 47 then has an eye to the Resurrection of this Lord of lords and King of kings, this polished arrow of Christ, an eye to what follows the Resurrection, an eye to the Ascension: Prophetically the sons of Korah sing of the triumph following the victory of the cross and the empty tomb as they sing,  

          God has gone up with a shout,

                   the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

          Sing praises to God, sing praises!

                   Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

          For God is the King of all the earth;

                   sing praises with a psalm!

          God reigns over the nations;

                   God sits on His holy throne.

          The princes of the peoples gather

                   as the people of the God of Abraham.

          For the shields of the earth belong to God;

                   He is highly exalted!

When you hear the words, "God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet," you can almost hear the angles say to the disciples gathered on the mount of the Ascension, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.”[16] St. Paul says that, "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God."[17] Today Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and we confess in the Apostles' Creed that from that throne Jesus, "will come again to judge the living and the dead." On That Day Jesus will come again, He will come as suddenly and in an unexpected way, like the random arrow that struck down Ahab, like the ambush that took down the Ammonites, Edomites, Moabites, and their allies. This will be a relief to the faithful and a terror to those who hate God, who hate Christ Jesus and His bride the church.   

Dear Christian this is your Jesus, an unexpected terror to evil and a comfort to you: The events of the life of king Jehoshaphat are recorded to help in pointing you to the true King, Christ Jesus The King of kings and Lord of lords, Psalm 47 - this song of Korah - points to Jesus' Ascension and to His dominion over all things. If this One is for you who can be against you?  St. Paul says the same, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"[18] Do not discount prayer in the face of adversity, place your trust in Jesus who has already redeemed you and made you His, consider the LORD, before you make your plans in life and remember the words of Jehoshaphat's great, great grandfather Solomon, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."

Psalm 47 then is a prayer of thanksgiving, giving thanks that, 'the purpose of the LORD will stand,' and had and does stand. Keep it in mind then that "the purpose of the Lord, ... is [to be] compassionate and merciful."[19] Jehoshaphat cried out in his trouble and Jehoshaphat received the compassion and mercy of the LORD, his prayer was not only answered in his moment of trouble, it was answered best in Jesus' life, death, resurrection and ascension, we look forward to the day when it will ultimately be answered at the return of Christ Jesus on The Last Day. We trust that on That Day we will be able to sing this Psalm in the eternal peace of heaven where no harm will ever befall the faithful ever again. Amen.    

Let us pray:

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

_____________________________________________________________________ 

[1] Proverbs 19:21
[2] 2 Chronicles 18:29      
[3] 2 Chronicles 18:30-34 
[4] 2 Chronicles 19:2-3
[5] 2 Chronicles 19:8
[6] A Commentary on Psalms 1-72, John F. Burg, Northwestern Publishing House 2004, pg 469.
[7] 2 Samuel 24
[8] 2 Chronicles 20:5-12
[9] 2 Chronicles 20:14, Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph
[10] 2 Chronicles 20:15-17
[11] Psalm 118:1
[12] 2 Chronicles 20:22
[13] 2 Chronicles 20:24
[14] Revelation 17:14
[15] Revelation 12:11
[16] Acts 1:11
[17] 1 Thessalonians 4:16
[18] Romans 8:31  
[19] James 5:11