I am so excited about today's sermon. I've been
like feeding off of it personally for weeks now,
and I wish you could sometimes see me sermon
prepping, because sometimes I just will laugh
out loud at delight over something I find in
the Word. And this has just been one of those,
you know, Preaching is always good, but sometimes
it's just like, Lord, that's just going to be
fun to preach. I'm going to enjoy preaching that.
And that is this sermon today. Psalm 96. I did
not intend this to kind of be a setup for Mother's
Day, but as I was preparing, it kind of just
fell into that. And so it's setting the stage
for next week's sermon, What Drives You? So let's
go to the actual text is going to be verse 6
of Psalm 96. And it says, honor and majesty are
before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and
beauty are in his sanctuary. Now, I want to kind
of just set the stage for this a little bit before
we dive into this chapter. One of my favorite
phrases, because it resonates in me with my journey
toward heaven, is the principle of true north.
And in 1 Thessalonians, we're going to take a
few moments to kind of just create some context
for the passage. Why it's such an important passage.
And in 1 Thessalonians 4 .16, it says, Isn't
it an interesting contrast to his first arrival?
A dark night with just the angels and the shepherds.
Nobody seeing his arrival. His second return
is not going to be like that. shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be
with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another
with these words. Another version says encourage.
Therefore, encourage one another with these words.
I think that an interesting statistic. is that
of the second coming of Jesus Christ, it is mentioned
in the Old Testament, 17 and 17 books. In the
New Testament, the second coming of Christ is
mentioned in 23 out of the 27 books. It is mentioned
300 times in the New Testament. Of the 260 chapters
of the New Testament. So what we find is that
one out of every 30 verses refers to the second
coming of Christ. And I think about how much
we talk about it or teach about it in the church
today. When it is such a huge emphasis in the
New Testament. The second coming of Christ. Encourage
one another. Comfort one another with these words.
The New Testament people knew what it was to
walk through trials and difficulties and persecution.
And so continually they're said, hey, he's coming
again. Don't be downcast. Lift up your heads.
He's coming again. They were constantly, they
talked about this all the time. The early church
had a huge focus on the return of Christ. And
we hesitate around it because it's such a complicated
subject. And we may not be able to figure out
all the details of what it's going to look like
or how it's going to happen. All I know is. Jesus
is coming again and we shall forever be with
him. So be encouraged this morning in your hardship.
I know it's hard. I know it feels exhausting.
It will come to an end and you will forever be
with Jesus. This is my true north. This is what
I align my life to are these kind of passages.
That Jesus is going to come back. It's what I
align my life to. I align my decisions to. I
align my choices to. And so we know he's coming
again. We know that it's going to get difficult.
And thus we have Psalm 96. Oh, sing to the Lord
a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless his name. Proclaim the
good news of his salvation from day to day. Declare
his glory among the nations, his wonders among
all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly
to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols. But
the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty
are before him. Strength and beauty are in his
sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the
peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength.
Give to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring
an offering and come into his courts. O worship
the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Tremble before
him, all the earth. Say among the nations, the
Lord reigns. The world also is firmly established.
It shall not be moved. He shall judge the peoples
righteously. Let the heavens rejoice and let
the earth be glad. Let the sea roar and all its
fullness. Let the field be joyful in all that
is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will
rejoice before the Lord. For he is coming. For
he is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge
the world with righteousness and the peoples
with his truth. He is coming again. we're going
to look here at two views. We're going to take
a broad view, and then we're going to take a
narrow view. And the broad view, if you think
about a broad view, I'm about to leave this afternoon
to drive to St. Louis, where I will pick up my
grandsons and bring them home. So when I am sitting
in my driveway, I'm going to type into Maps,
Trader Joe's. Because I will be going to Trader
Joe's before I get the grandkids. I'm not sure
if I'm more excited over Trader Joe's or the
grandkids. No. I'm going to Trader Joe's to buy
things for my grandkids so they can eat healthy
this week. But what am I doing? I'm typing the
address of where I want my journey to go, where
I want it to take me. It's a very broad view.
It's taking me cross -states to where I want
to go. What is interesting about this passage
is that this psalm was written, and we find it
in one other place in Scripture, and that is
in 1 Chronicles 16. And in 1 Chronicles chapter
16, this is such a day of rejoicing because King
David is bringing the Ark of the Tabernacle,
the Ark of the Covenant, into the tabernacle
to set it up. And so I'm going to just summarize
here. You can read this later. But they brought
the Ark of God, represented his presence for
the people, and they set it in the midst of the
tabernacle that David had erected for it. and
they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings
before God. And then he distributed to everyone
of Israel, both man and woman, a loaf of bread,
a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. It was
party time. This was a celebration. The presence
of God is here. It says, on that day, David first
delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and
his brethren to thank the Lord. And then it is
listed, the whole psalm that we just read. Now,
whether David wrote the song for this occasion
or whether he did what I do to the worship team,
And I will send them on their worship team page
songs and say, I need you to learn this because
I've got a sermon in mind, right? So whether
David was writing it for this or he'd had that
in him and he wanted to use it for this occasion,
we don't know. But we know that there was something
of this psalm that reflected David's heart for
this occasion of establishing. the covenant in
the tabernacle, the ark. And so our landing spot
is verse 6 that we read. Strength and beauty
are in the sanctuary. But when we look at this
entire passage, we do so with an interesting
understanding, because when David was establishing
the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle, It
was for Israel, wasn't it? It was for his people.
And yet what we find in this verse is that there's
no limitations in it for just Israel. In fact,
if we just, there's kind of three sections of
it. There's this proclamation that is beyond
Israel and to all people. Sing to the Lord, all
the earth. All the earth, not just Israel. Proclaim
the news of his salvation. Well, what does that
speak to us? If you haven't received his salvation,
you can't really proclaim it. And so what I'm
hearing in this is that the good news of salvation
is not just for Israel. Praise the Lord, all
the Gentiles. Right? Declare his glory among
the nations. This is why we support missionaries
to declare his glory among the nations. This
is beyond Israel. His wonders among all people.
This is an occasion that is for Israel. It just
is so fascinating because we say this all the
time. David is continually foreshadowing of the
new covenant. There's a call to worship in this
passage. A call to worship that goes beyond Israel.
We read it, sing to the Lord all the earth. He's
calling for worship from not just Israel, but
all the earth. Verses 7 through 9, if you reread
those, are a clear call of worship of families
and the whole earth, not just Israel. And then
the reason, he summarizes the reason for all
of this, and that is verse 10 through the end.
There's great joy in creation because he is coming
to judge the world. All peoples, it says. All
families, all the earth, he is coming for. And
so here we have this occasion that is uniquely
for Israel. God was very clear in the old covenant
of the separation of those that were not of Israel
and Israel. He did not want them intermarrying.
He did not want them to bring in the idols of
the other nations. And so this occasion was solely
for Israel. And yet the psalm that they sang
was one that included all of creation. It was
a song. Did they have any kind of concept, really,
of what it meant for God to come for his people?
They had very dark vision for it. And so the
whole context of Psalm 96 is the return. He is
coming. He is coming to judge the earth. The
coming of his kingdom is our destiny. And sometimes
we have that as the back thought of our life
when he's wanting it to be our true north, our
first and foremost. He is coming again. He is
returning. His kingdom is our destiny. And so
because of where we're headed, the psalmist here
is commanding us to do these things, to sing
and to declare and to spread the news. It's a
very broad view of where we are headed one day.
It's a very broad view of when your life is ending,
where you will be at the end of your life. If
you are passing on before he comes again. It's
a very broad view. Now, we want to get a little
bit narrow. We want to get a little bit narrow
view. See, when I type in my destiny into my
Maps app, it's going to just take me straight
there, right? But I don't know about you. We
are usually in there adding in search for Starbucks.
I got to take some side trips. I guarantee you
after filling up my vehicle and it being 479
yesterday, I will be finding a gas station in
Missouri to fill up on, right? And so within
my broad view of my destination, there are places
along the journey that I've got to stop and fuel
up, both me and my vehicle. This is our narrow
view. So knowing we need fuel for our journey,
we turn our eyes to verse 6. Honor and majesty
are before him. Strength and beauty are in his
sanctuary. There are two things I know. First
thing, growth is dependent upon you. how you
grow in your faith in becoming like Christ as
a believer. Growth is dependent upon your choice.
As a pastor, one of my favorite passages in Acts
chapter 2 that says they devoted themselves to
the apostles' teaching, to the breaking of bread,
and to prayer, and to fellowship to one another.
They devoted themselves. Nobody had to do it
for them. They devoted themselves. Right? So
for so long in this church, I would at potlucks
have to go around and be like, oh, you're sitting
alone. Come sit over here with them. But I love
in this passage of Acts, it says they devoted
themselves to fellowship. Because for a long
time, we had a large population of introverted
people. They devoted themselves. Nobody has to
do it for them. The choice is theirs. So I know
this about growth. I can't partake of the word
for you. I can't be in his presence for you.
There's no priest here doing it for you. The
choice is yours. They devoted themselves. The
second thing that I recognize is that we are
an impoverished people. The first beatitude says,
blessed are the poor in spirit. So I know the
choice of growth is ours, and I also understand
there's nothing in me that will cause me to grow.
Okay, let me summarize it like this. The choice
to stop and get gas is mine, but the fuel does
not originate with me. I've got to take what
that gas station has to offer to fill up my tank
to keep going on the journey. And that's what
I think Psalm 96 verse 6 consists of. The fuel
that you need to keep going, looking toward his
return. We look forward to the return of Christ,
but in it we recognize that it is going to be
marked by hard times, right? In the word, we
hear about wars, rumors of war, all kinds of
conflict. And so we recognize that the season
of his return is marked by increased darkness.
Yet we look toward it with joy, don't we? It's
an interesting dynamic that we walk in. And so
we recognize that there's trial, that there's
difficulty. So we need what Psalm 96 .6 has for
us. What will fuel us on our pilgrimage? Strength
and beauty, that which was within the sanctuary.
Can I just give you some words that make up the
word strength and some words that make up the
word beauty? It's words like boldness. Words
like power. Words like might, strength. How many
of you look at your life and say it's full of
boldness and power? It's words like majesty,
honor, and bravery. Wow. You know, beauty, we
often think so much of the outward comeliness
of something or someone, which is part of it.
But the beauty that is in the sanctuary of the
Lord is so much more than that. The beauty and
the sanctuary of the Lord make up bravery. I
just had to sit on that for a long time. Bravery
and honor are in his sanctuary. And so he's writing
this psalm, and he's saying, the king is going
to come again. He's going to return. And so in
the sanctuary, you can find what you need, some
power, some might. Some honor, some bravery.
How many of you would look at your life and say,
I feel brave? I tell you, our kids need bravery
for the schools that they are getting. Some of
you that are teaching in the schools, you know,
you need some bravery in there. It's a hard place
for kids. They need what is in the sanctuary
of the Lord. Bravery and honor, power and boldness.
I just did a podcast where we were talking about
the disciples and where they were after the resurrection
of Jesus. And on the day of the resurrection,
they were locked in a room for fear of the Jews.
And that's where Jesus found them and breathed
upon them. And after they were filled with the
Holy Spirit, they tapped into something, didn't
they? And they were no longer, you were not going
to find them. When they were imprisoned, they
were singing and praying. They were not hiding
out in fear for what the Jews could do any longer.
They have become people of power, of might, of
bravery. And we, no less, have access to that.
And so this morning, even as we were singing
this morning, we were singing of the sacrifice
of Jesus. And the truth is, is that we have access
into the sanctuary of his presence. Because Jesus
paid a high price for the access. When I stop
and put fuel in my vehicle, I am paying a very
high price. Man, I'm getting all kinds of amens
for the gas prices today. Jesus, no less. He
paid a high price. For us to have access to what
we need as we await for the return of our king.
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the
Lord. And so this should affect how I live my
life, shouldn't it? It should affect my life
when I have access. To the sanctuary of his presence.
Where there is strength and beauty for me to
partake of. It should affect my life. It should
affect how I lead my family. It should affect
how I am in the workplace. It should affect how
I treat my spouse. It should affect how I treat
my kids. It should affect how I treat my body.
It should affect how we treat one another. It
should affect anything that my hand finds to
do. of access into the throne room, into the
sanctuary where strength and where beauty are
available to me. No excuses. That removes every
excuse. There is sufficiency in the sanctuary
for what we need. He's given us everything that
we need. And sometimes we think that As a believer,
I just automatically, I'm going to walk in this,
and I don't believe that's true. I don't believe
you're automatically going to walk in power and
boldness. I don't automatically think you're
going to walk in bravery. I think you automatically
have access to it. You have access to it. But
whether like the gas stations, you keep passing
up and passing up and passing up, never stopping
to fuel your vehicle. There's no way to access
what is in the sanctuary except to get in the
sanctuary. There's no way to access it except
to get into his presence. Your spouse can't do
it for you. Your parents can't do it for you.
Your best friend, your pastor can't do it for
you. You have to access the sanctuary of his
presence yourself. And it is there waiting for
you. It is there waiting for you. Beauty, bravery,
power, and might are in his sanctuary. And so,
You have access to this when you are confronting
your hard places, when you're confronting your
flesh that wants to do what it wants to do, right?
How many just love crucifying the flesh? No,
we don't. Very few of us like to fast. Very few
of us like to be in silence and to stop moving.
Very few of us like the spiritual disciplines
because our flesh doesn't like it. Your flesh
will not want to be still long enough to access
the sanctuary. But we have access in it to confront
our battles. I was thinking of this. In worship,
I felt the Holy Spirit stirring in me. Some of
you have kids that are prodigal kids. And I felt
specifically that the Lord wanted to encourage
some of you today that have prodigal kids. Often,
people that have kids that have chosen to walk
away from the Lord. live in very much fear over
the state of their kids, of where they'll end
up, which is valid, right? A valid concern. And
when we let fear in, what that fear does is it
renders, it takes away our authority to pray
with effectiveness over our kids. And I remember
early on in our journey with this, I really felt
the Lord, which the Lord has always given me
in unique ways, words over my own journey with
a kid like this. And in that word, what he imparts,
because this is what the word of the Lord does,
it imparts faith. and it dispels fear. And I
remember at one point the Lord saying, you don't
get to determine your kids' journey and what
I'm going to do for their life. And sometimes
my kids' journeys, in order for them, for God
to do what is going to happen in their lives
for the good of the kingdom, there's a journey
they've got to walk. And for some of you that
have that, it requires bravery to face that and
to walk that path and not let fear incapacitate
you from praying for your kid, for standing in
authority over demonic forces over your kid.
Because although it's your kid's journey, right,
they've been given to us to pray over and to
cover. And so specifically this morning, some
of you that have kids that are not walking with
the Lord, he wants you to access bravery, to
not be fearful, to not look. When we get in fear,
we begin to imagine where they're going to end
up. And instead, to see what God can do and begin
to declare that over our kid. Thereby standing
in the place of faith. It requires bravery. It
is a hard thing to do. It is a hard thing to
do. And the only way you can do it with victory
is to stay in the sanctuary where strength and
beauty reside. Where you have unending access
to power and might and bravery. To stand in the
place of faith for whatever your battle is. You
have access. I was thinking as I was starting
this sermon on this phrase, eyes on the road,
keep your eyes on the road, right? And when you
are teaching, anybody ever had to teach a kid
to drive? Yeah, you're about to, Ben, Charlene.
David, I think, is in that journey right now.
I was so glad to get my fourth one through it.
It's like, ah, one more to go. And what you have
to teach them is about where they put their eyes.
Because to keep your eyes on the road is to keep
your eyes down the road, right? Not on the bumper
right in front of you. Not on the lines right
in front of you. Maintaining 100 % focus ahead
of what is coming. keeps you on the road. And
see, some of us lose sight of the long road.
Some of us lose sight of where our road is leading
us. And as soon as we start looking at the bumper
in front of us, and that's all we see, we get
into trouble. And yet, while our eyes are looking
on the road down further, we're also teaching
them, but you also got to keep in your peripheral.
An eye on, you don't assume that that car is
going to stop at the stoplight. You just assume
they're going to come straight in and barrel
into you. And so we're on this long view of the
king coming and all the while we have an enemy
that wants to just barrel through the red lights
and ram right into you. And so our vision is
so important. Keeping our vision ahead to what
is to come and yet being mindful of the hazards
on the way. Some of us this morning need to refix
our eyes on where we're going. You've been overcome.
You've been overwhelmed. You've been discouraged.
And today, you need to lift up your eyes. For
the king is coming. In that verse, it was full
of joy. All creation was full of joy because
he was returning. The king is coming. They're
filled with joy and excitement. The bridegroom
is coming. There's excitement in the air. The
bridegroom is coming. Right? I see Kenzie back
there. No, that's not Kenzie. Kenzie's not here
today. Kenzie and Gage are getting married in
a couple of weeks. And what is surrounding the
wedding? activity, joy, excitement. The king
is coming. He's returning. And we see it reflected
in Psalm 96. And some of us need to get our eyes
back on that. We're off of true north and we
need to get realigned with the coming of the
king. And to fill up, to quit running on empty,
to quit running on empty and to fill up. Yeah,
people are going to do you wrong. Yeah, people
are going to backstab you. Yeah, people are going
to betray you. Yeah, things are going to get
hard. But you have access to the strength and
the beauty of the sanctuary. And so the team
is going to come back this morning. And as we
spend a few moments in worship, there are some
of us that need to get realigned. with our vision.
And there are some of us that need to tap in
to what is available to you in the sanctuary.
You need a fresh commitment to the sanctuary
of his presence marking your life. You need a
fresh commitment to quit trying to fuel yourself.
You've been living on cheap gas and God wants
to give you high quality gas. You laugh and I
buy the cheap gas. You do too, confessions. How
many are cheap gas buyers? Yeah. And some of
you are like, no way am I putting that stuff
in my vehicle. That's the way I feel about food
in my body. There's no way that junk is coming
into my body. Some of us spiritually have been
fueling on cheap gas. And there is an abundance
in the sanctuary he wants to give to you today.
And so this morning, we're going to give you
an opportunity. See, it's only 1136. And so for
just a few moments, can we just in his presence,
the sanctuary of his presence, can we ask for
an impartation? Maybe there's a specific thing
you need from God today. It's available in his
presence. And so the team is going to lead us.
And in a moment, if you need to fix your vision,
if you need to access and tap into what is in
the sanctuary, we just want to make space for
you for a few moments. To push everything aside
and say, God, my eyes are fixed on where we are
going. Your soon and coming return. Would you
fuel me today for it? Would you bestow your beauty
upon me today? Would you bestow bravery upon
me today? Would you bestow your strength, your
power, and your might upon me today? And so let's
just all stand for a moment in these closing
moments. And as we all just worship, I don't
want any spectators today because we are here
in his presence. And as we all begin to worship
the wonderful King Jesus, if you need to, for
a moment, make a fresh altar in your life, I
want you to just take a step out. And for some
of you, just taking that step is a step of bravery.
It's uncomfortable for you. But that's okay.
There's bravery for you, right? There's strength
and boldness for you. And some of you need to
get a little bit bold, a little bit more into
the might of the Lord and step out in faith and
just say, God, I'm coming after you. I'm coming
after the sanctuary of your presence. And I want
to be filled fresh. I want to feed afresh on
what is in the tangible presence of the Lord.
Thank you, Lord. Let's just begin to worship
for a few moments. And you make your way and
find a place to just get into the sanctuary of
his presence.