Doxology and Benediction

Berean Baptist on June 11, 2018

Psalm 134

Psalm 134 is both a doxology and a benediction concerning the priests and Levites who served the Lord at the temple. The first two verses of the psalm are spoken by the people as encouragement for their intercessory leaders as they labor on the behalf of God’s chosen people. In this psalm, worshipers recognize that God is to be praised for all the gracious benefits He richly bestows. I especially like this part of the psalm because I like the way the people held their leaders to a standard. They desired for the Lord to be magnified and would accept nothing less or expect nothing less from their leaders than uncompromising devotion.

I like this part because there is nothing that warms the heart of a godly pastor than to know the people appreciate the word of God declared plainly, without mixture, without compromise—without restraint even though it can be painfully convicting. Psalm 120-134 are known as Pilgrim Psalms. You will notice as you read through them there is continual recognition of God’s power and His providence. The people recognize where they stand in relation to Him. They are fully dependent which always puts them at God’s mercy where they should be.

I believe these are people that had no problems with instruction on man’s depravity. They had no problems with God’s sovereignty. They were not resistant to teachings that God’s will is not dependent on the whims of fallen, fallible man. A pastor loves to preach when there are no subjects like these that make the church uncomfortable. He does not answer to the people for acceptance of his sermons. His allegiance is to God alone and he fears to leave out anything God says to His people. The priests did not fear to teach the whole counsel of God, for it appears the people demanded it of them.

The last verse of the psalm speaks of the power of God. Why should praises be lifted to the Lord in the sanctuary? It is because He is Lord that made heaven and earth. This is the priests’ benediction upon the people. It is the last words they spoke in this grouping of psalms for pilgrims.

The priests pronounced a blessing on them in the name of the Lord. His omnipotence grants to them all spiritual blessings in Christ. The blessings come from Zion which means they originate where God dwells in His holy temple. Although the church is not Old Testament, I believe an application can be made that all blessings for the world come through the work the Lord does through His church. The church is the authorized place for His work. This work is given to no others for Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.

The Lord dwells in the church as the temple of His praise. The people themselves are His temple. The Holy Spirit lives in each of us. Corporately we do His work, but individually we are responsible for its holiness so that all work will have God’s approval on it. We are reminded of this holiness in our study of the New Jerusalem, the home of the bride of Christ. The church is His bride, and He intends for it to be spotless, holy, and without blame (Eph. 5:26-27).

These three verses show pastor and people working together with the same sense of duty. This is what church is—a place for the glory of God and for thankfulness and appreciation that the mighty omnipotent God should consider lowly creatures for His service. “What is man, that thou are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:4a).

This benediction and word of thanks comes from the Pastor. Thank you for standing on and appreciating the word of God. Blessings on you from the Lord that made heaven and earth.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Faithful Friends

Berean Baptist on April 18, 2016

 

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. (Psalms 41:9)

As I read the 41st Psalm, I am reminded of John’s words in 1 John 2:5-6: “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Psalm 41 is another psalm that gives a glimpse into events in the last week of Jesus’ life. Perhaps we can call it coincidence that we would read so many psalms like this that so closely parallel our Sunday morning series in Matthew.

The connection between 1 John 2 and Psalm 41 becomes apparent to me as we see the integrity of Christ despite the false actions of His friends. In verse 7, there are whispers and plots of harm. In verse 9, a trusted friend who sat at Jesus’ table turned against Him and betrayed Him. This is an obvious reference to Judas who received only goodness and love from the Lord. Judas brought Him down, or so he thought. However, as we saw in Psalm 40 last week, the resurrection was Christ’s triumph. In this Psalm He says, “Mine enemy doth not triumph over me” (v. 11).

Where do we find the 1 John connection? In verse 12, Jesus said: “And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever.” Those that truly love the Lord have this same kind of integrity. As John said, we desire to walk as He walked. If we do, charges of evil against us are always false charges just as they were false when hurled at Him. When betrayed by a friend, which sometimes happens, it is not because we deserve it. We have kept God’s word by loving our brother as we do ourselves.

In the last week of Jesus’ life, He was set upon by those who had no real cause against Him. The constant questions intended to entrap Him, the denial of His authority and earlier claims that the good deeds He did were actually works of Satan, were so outside the pale of reason that the most skeptical should have said, “Look for something else. We know this cannot be true.” Nevertheless, the charges stuck in their mind and when the betrayal of the trusted friend came there was no doubt as to the outcome of His trial.

His integrity didn’t really matter to them. No matter how justly He walked they were going to crucify Him. This would be a major concern if it was the accusers that were the final judge. They were not. Jesus stood justified before God because of His perfect obedience to His Father. God would cause Him to triumph in that integrity.

This is what I am saying to you today. When you walk the way Christ walked and you know you have been obedient to His commands, how people judge you does not really matter. God will vindicate you at the last day because you stand in the perfect righteousness of Christ.

As a pastor that must preach on unpopular topics, I think about things like this. I will be accused by some who do not like what I preach. If I do not compromise the truth, I have no fear because God will stand by me. I do not want to be overly cryptic, so let me just conclude by saying, I hope faithful friends remain faithful friends even when telling them the truth is unpopular.

Pastor V. Mark Smith