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Sing to the Lord, All the Earth (King’s Cross)
Christ Church on March 5, 2023
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Give Thanks By Faith

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THE TEXT

Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, Make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name:Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength, Seek his face continually. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; O ye seed of Israel his servant, Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. Be ye mindful always of his covenant; The word which he commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, And of his oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, And to Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, The lot of your inheritance; When ye were but few, Even a few, and strangers in it. And when they went from nation to nation, And from one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong: Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, Saying, Touch not mine anointed, And do my prophets no harm. Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; Shew forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen; His marvellous works among all nations. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: He also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols: But the Lord made the heavens. Glory and honour are in his presence; Strength and gladness are in his place. Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: Bring an offering, and come before him: Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Fear before him, all the earth: The world also shall be stable, that it be not moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: And let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: Let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord, Because he cometh to judge the earth. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; For his mercy endureth for ever. And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, That we may give thanks to thy holy name, And glory in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord (1 Chronicles 16:7–36).

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The Songs of Zion

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INTRODUCTION

A striking feature of heaven-born reformations is a restoration of Biblical worship, and from this fountain springs psalms & hymn of praise. In our time, we face a similar need to restore biblically ordered worship to the church. This means going to the Word, not our preferences, to determine how to bring the glory due His name. The overwhelming instruction in Scripture is to give glory. All too often we give mass-produced nonsense. Nowhere is this more evident than in the prevailing approach to music in our corporate worship services.

THE TEXTS

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness (1 Chron. 16:29).

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isa. 35:10).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As David brought the Ark into Jerusalem after it had been in exile for over a hundred years, we’re provided with a de- tailed description of everything from the utensils, to the divisions of the Levites, to the sacrifices offered. While the ex- pected thank-offerings are made, a new offering is described. That new offering stands out like a successful trick play at a football game. The chronicler describes this new offering which David arranges: a sacrifice of song. David has composed a psalm to sing and then arranges Levitical choirs to sing it. In that Psalm––among other things––the saints of God are called to “give glory”and to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”The glory can be embodied in both volume & quality (Ps. 33:3, 98:4). We’re repeatedly summoned to make a loud & joyful noise accompanied with the understand- ing of faith. There’s no shushing of the heavenly choir. This reformation of worship which David led by establishing the tabernacle of Zion as the center of Israel’s worship should be seen as the OT’s high-point.

Zion was the stronghold of David, which is where the tabernacle of David was erected and where the Ark was brought. The offerings in the tabernacle of David were primarily offerings of song (at David’s time, animal sacrifices primarily took place in Gibeah, until Solomon’s temple was constructed).

Skipping ahead a few centuries, Isaiah’s vision presents a scene of redeemed and restored saints ascending to Zion with songs and everlasting joy (Is. 35:10). Though the threat of judgement loomed over Judah, the promise behind it was that God would restore His people to Zion, and they would come singing merry songs.

All of this (both David’s reformation of emphasizing song in Israel’s worship, and Isaiah’s vision of the Restored Israel) anticipates that Messiah’s courts would be filled with songs from both Jews & Gentiles. As one commentator points out, whereas the Tabernacle of Moses was filled with a cloud of smoke, the Temple of Christ is filled with a cloud of song.

THE SONG OF MOSES

After great OT victories, it is the songs that are recorded in detail, whereas the details of thank offerings are oftentimes either passed over entirely, or very briefly described. Not only that, but the battles themselves often receive only the con- cise description: “the Lord wrought a great victory.” When God grants victory, the people sing. The songs are recorded so that we too might join the chorus of God’s saints and remember back to Jehovah how He has delivered His people in times past in hope that His mighty arm will once more be bared to deliver us in our present conflicts and in future battles.

After Pharaoh and his army were defeated at the Red Sea, Moses & Miriam (Ex. 15:1ff ) led Israel in celebratory songs of praise. Moses again leads Israel in song after the 40 years of wandering, as they look to begin the conquest of Ca- naan (Deu. 32:1-43). Deborah & Barak ( Jdg. 5:1ff ) sang of the Lord’s deliverance of His people from the Canaanites. Hannah prayed a pray which rings with poetic glory, as she rejoiced over her rival (1 Sam. 2:1). David’s reformation was a profound incorporation of this musical tradition as a fixed feature of the worship of the Lord. Generations later, Jehosaphat famously sent the Levitical choirs which David had originally organized as the vanguard in a battle with Judah’s enemies (2 Chr. 20).

There is a curious note in Rev. 15:3 that the saints who overcame the beast sing in joy for their victory. And what they sing is the song of Moses. John’s vision invites us to see that Christ has delivered his people once more from Egypt (un- believing Jerusalem), while preparing them to conquer the land (by bringing Heavenly Jerusalem everywhere they go).

Notice the pattern. God grants a deliverance, God’s people start singing. We not only see this throughout the OT, but after Pentecost and in early church history we see songs of praise to Christ being composed (Cf. Phil 2:5-11, Col 1:15- 20, 1Tim 3:16, Heb 1:1-3, 1 Jn. 2:12-14, and 1Pet 2:21-25) and sung heartily (Cf. Rev. 5:8-14), even in the face of fierce persecution.

MISMATCHED MUSIC

There’s a modern tendency, especially in Christian circles, to assume that the music is interchangeable, and merely a matter of preference. None of us would dare break into a yodeled polka tune at a funeral; nor would we think a death metal song appropriate for a bridal procession.

We want our music to rhyme with the truths they proclaim.Thus joyful reverence is the tone.Trying to cram the eternal glories of the Triune God into the tin can of pop-music is a fools errand. Monosyllabic la-la’s set to pop melodies don’t compare to Watt’s skillful poetry paired with the harmonic glories of Bach. Our music, whether we acknowledge it or not, is part of a larger battle. Is there objective truth and beauty? The brilliant ordering of notes into melodic patterns with thrilling harmonies stacked on top is an arrow in our quiver that should not be tossed aside.

WITH SKILL AND UNDERSTANDING

A visitor could attend our services for a year and be unaware of our primary distinctives (i.e. Reformed, postmillennial- ism, etc.). But on their first Sunday they’ll be confronted with our musical priorities. But let me state explicitly what our music states implicitly. We aim to be a mighty choir belting out Psalms of God’s faithfulness and songs of God’s grace to us in Christ.

To get there, however, we must not begin with musical literacy, that should come after. A musical reformation must begin with evangelical faith. We understand and know that the Son of God has come, and we are in Him (1 Jn. 5:20). That is the key signature that dictates the rest of our musical endeavors. While we should strive to learn our parts, raise our children to be musically skillful, it must spring from Gospel joy and every song must conclude with a faith-filled “Amen.”

THE SON OF DAVID SINGING THE SONGS OF DAVID

The pitch-note, then, of our Lord’s Day worship is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We aren’t aiming to have the Reformed Evangelical equivalent to the Vienna Boys Choir or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Nor do we want to mindlessly just go along with whatever the record companies decide we should prefer.

Biblical worship is not a job for those people “up there” to do; whether they’re an ornately robed priest muttering Latin, or a ripped-jeans worship band with a gnarly bassist. Biblical worship is the righteous work of Christ alone. Yet since we are in Him, we come by Him to offer glory. This service of worship is the work of Christ’s body, the church. You cannot worship God rightly if you do not come to Him by the Son. We come to God, clothed in the righteousness of the Son of David to sing the psalms of David. As one hymnist said, “So come to the Father, through Jesus the Son.”

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To Think Soberly

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INTRODUCTION

The sons of Adam and daughters of Eve have always had to deal with the presence of sin, at least since the third chapter of Genesis. We have to “budget” for it, meaning that we allow for the possibility of sin encroaching into any situation, however blessed, and for the possibility of that sin creeping in through our own hearts, the hearts of our loved ones, or through the hearts of those who are not that close to us.

But in our day, we are no longer guarding against sin creeping in. There has been a great sexual apostasy, and the guardians of the new disorder are the ones who are trying to keep any kind of “normal” from creeping in. The new public square now positively celebrates sodomy, lesbianism, transsexualism, porn, polyamory, and worse, and castigates biblical masculinity as toxic and biblical femininity as craven. And this means that heterosexual monogamy, with lots of fat babies, is the new transgressive, and is a great privilege. Not many generations of Christians have had the opportunity to be righteous and naughty at the same time.

THE TEXT

“And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do . . .” (1 Chron. 12:32).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Without application, the Scriptures are worse than useless. Without application, the Scriptures are simply the instrument we use in order to deceive ourselves (Jas. 1:22-24). But in order to make application, it is necessary to translate the principles of the Word into the customs of our times. Where those customs are false, we must repent and leave them behind. Where they are good, we must allow the Word to come in to strengthen us. As the Word strengthens us, we are strengthened in the truth, and the truth is the only thing that can answer the lies that surround us on every hand.

In the area of marriage, in the realm we are discussing, we want to create the kind of setting where the young men can come into a deeper understanding of what Scripture teaches about: 1. The world the way God created it; 2. The sexual center of all human culture; 3. The pressing need for real masculinity in young men, and; 4. The equally pressing need for true femininity in young women.

All of this is a function of who you are becoming. I have said several times that you should work on this: become the kind of person that the kind of person you would like to marry would like to marry. But in the light of what is coming up in just a few minutes, we may want to expand this just a touch. Become the kind of person that Scripture describes so that someone of the opposite sex, also described by Scripture, might recognize in you a good thing. So the standard is always Scripture, and not random ideals you might have picked up from trashy movies, trashy sitcoms, trashy novels, and trashy women’s magazines.

TO THINK SOBERLY

So you want to be among the sons of Issachar. What are the basic things you must come to understand better? You must understand that you are living in a world crammed with flattering lies, slathered in butter, and the only reason they are not immediately and glaringly obvious to you is that they are so flattering to you. You deserve a porn queen. You can be any gender you want to be. You are as good as anybody else. You have a right to sexual happiness. You are entitled to every lust. You must learn to take pride in your lusts, and march in parades under their banner. You are the epicenter of all your sexual conceits.

What a putrid mess. Note the contrast with how Scripture speaks to us.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Rom. 12:1–3).

First you present your body to God as a living sacrifice. This means your body is not yours. You were bought with a price. As a Christian, you surrender your body to God, which means that He then directs what you are to do with it. But take note: His assignments will mostly likely include having babies with it.

Second, after you have presented your body on that altar—and the altar is everywhere—what follows? This leads to not being conformed to this world—the very thing I am preaching against in this series—and in addition results in being transformed by the renewing of your mind. This confirms the will of God.

And then, third, this leads to your ability to think of yourself soberly. You have learned the secret of seeing yourself by faith. When you see yourself by faith, you do not build your ambitions on the world’s flatteries (which are always false and very slippery), but rather on God’s promises. Because God’s promises are all of grace, it is now possible to have high ambitions without being conceited. When you see yourself by faith, you do not see yourself more highly than you ought, but you do see Christ, high and lifted up. And He can do anything. And one of the extraordinary things He specializes in doing is saving the world through the instrumentality of lots of ordinary people doing lots of normal things. Like asking a girl out.

CHRIST THE LORD

The Church is a fruitful household, and she has a perfect husband. This marriage relationship is to be our primal model. So as we pursue mundane realities like marriage and children, we are doing so in a world where these relations have been sacralized forever. We are commanded to set the everlasting gospel before our eyes as we think about these things. Future husbands, follow Jesus Christ. Love your wife as Christ loved the Church. Go and fetch her. Future wives, follow Jesus Christ by imitating the Church. Glory in the glory that is coming. Glory in the glory that you are.

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Young Men and Their Strength

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INTRODUCTION

As we seek to address the marital dislocations that confront us in every direction, remember that we want to do so in a way that respects the men, particularly the young men. If they don’t solve the problem, then nobody is going to solve the problem. And if the problem is caused by our culture-wide hostility to masculinity, we will only be pouring gasoline on these cultural fires if bring any additional contempt.

THE TEXT

“And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do . . .” (1 Chron. 12:32).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Remember that the Word of God is given to men, and this means that it is not thrown into the Abyss or Void. In order to understand the Word, it is necessary to understand how it was intended to apply, and that requires exegesis of the times. If you require that every biblical solution for every 21st century problem be spoon fed to us right out of the text, you want something that is not going to happen. Scripture says nothing about computer dating services. At the same time, we do not want to coming up with our own vanities, willy nilly, independent of the authority of the Word. That is the sure road to self-deception. We want men of Issachar, saturated in the Word, and attuned to the times.

THE GLORY OF YOUNG MEN

The glory of young men is their strength, but it has to be the kind of strength exhibited by the men of Issachar. John wrote to young men because they had overcome the wicked one (1 John 2:13). John wrote to the young men because they were strong, and they were strong because of the Word of God abiding in them (1 John 2:14). Again, they overcame the wicked one—but the wicked one is the father of lies. This is done, through faith, by exulting in the truth.

ONE OF THE LIES OF FEMINISM

Before addressing one of the most corrosive lies of feminism, we need to be reminded that the really potent lies are the ones that have a strand of truth running through them. Ardent feminists have argued for some time now that traditional marriage is simply a respectable form of prostitution. They advance this argument by making the (quite obvious) point that marriage involves an economic exchange, one that includes money for sex and sex for money.

Marriage is an economic institution, and that’s the point. Even our word economy comes from the Greek word for household. But prostitution is not an evil because it includes sex and money; it is an evil because of what it excludes—it excludes kids, and fidelity, and curtains, and mowing the lawn. Sex and money are supposed to be at the center of your entire life, not some adjunct to it.

THREE CHICKENS AND A COW?

Whenever someone starts investigating market realities and traditional marriage, it takes about five minutes before someone starts yelling about dowries, and bartering for brides. But our modern cyber system has simply relocated and distorted the monetary exchanges—it has not eliminated them. If you want to do any serious interacting on eHarmony, you will need, ahem, a paid subscription.

As the whole world knows, men and women are different. Since I have gotten you ready for this, let us talk about this in terms of the stark realities of supply and demand. Men and women are differently sexually, and one of the differences can be seen here. Men represent the demand side, and women the supply. In the older order, the order we have demolished in the name of liberating women (ha!), men agreed to give up their roistering ways in exchange for something his wife would then supply—respect, loyalty, sex, legitimate offspring, and a stake in the future of civilization. Because he had to surrender the rest of his life for this staggering privilege, what she was therefore supplying was a high-end luxury item. “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord” (Prov. 18:22).

So instead of this, what has the sexual revolution accomplished? What has our vaunted feminist liberation done—all in the name of eliminating the commodification of women? It has not eliminated the commodification of women. What it has done is send the price crashing through the floor. What has abortion done? It subsidizes irresponsible men. What has ubiquitous porn done? It caters to irresponsible men. What has the expectation of sex by the second date done? It flatters irresponsible men. Hey! Where did all these irresponsible men come from? If our generation were the prodigal son, we are now at the point in the story where we are staring at the pig food, and all the painted ladies are off with some other good time Charlie.

And incidentally, we live in a time when more evangelical “thought leaders” will be offended that I spoke of women in terms of “the price” than have been offended by the actual damage that countless women have suffered through having their value directly challenged and denied. You can refuse to set a price on a woman in two ways, you know. You can deem her priceless—“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies” (Prov. 31:10). Or, on the other hand, you might deem her priceless because you have run her clean out of the market in the other direction.

Now sadly, too many Christians participate in some or all of these compromises. But even those who do not participate directly in the overtly immoral aspects of it are still having to function in a market where all the expectations and prices have been dislocated. It is like the private school that has to charge for what the government schools are promising to give away for free.

I am about to mention that a young woman’s peak attractiveness and fertility happens in her early twenties, thus proving myself to be an incorrigible dinosaur. But let us say a woman wants to get a graduate degree or two, and then a successful career, and then, when in her mid-thirties, she wants the men to cluster around like they used to when she was 23, she wants something that rarely happens. Now she might be doing this because her thinking has been distorted by all the messed-up thinking the broader culture, or she might be doing this from necessity, because potential suitors are giving her space to “pursue her dreams.” But a godly young man should be willing to interrupt. He should be willing to mess up her plans. “I don’t want you to pursue your dreams. I wanted to ask if you would pursue our toddlers with a spanking spoon instead.”

IN YET ANOTHER PROPHETIC MOMENT

“A society in which conjugal infidelity is tolerated must always be in the long run a society adverse to women. Women, whatever a few male songs and satires may say to the contrary, are more naturally monogamous than men; it is a biological necessity. Where promiscuity prevails, they will therefore always be more often the victims than the culprits. Also, domestic happiness is more necessary to them than to us. And the quality by which they most easily hold a man, their beauty, decreases every year after they have come to maturity, but this does not happen to those qualities of personality—women don’t really care two cents about our looks—by which we hold women. Thus in the ruthless war of promiscuity women are at a double disadvantage. They play for higher stakes and are also more likely to lose. I have no sympathy with moralists who frown at the increasing crudity of female provocativeness. These signs of desperate competition fill me with pity” (C.S. Lewis, “We Have No ‘Right to Happiness’” in God in the Dock)

CHRIST THE TRUTH

Jesus tells us plainly that He is the truth. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Young men are the ones who must overcome the wicked one, and they must do this by following Christ everywhere. They must realize that Christ is the truth everywhere, and not in some isolated spiritual realm.

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