Why Does This King Rejoice?

Psalm 21, to the chief musician, a psalm of David.

The king shall have joy in your strength, O Lord, and in your salvation.

! How greatly shall he rejoice!

You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Selah.

For you meet him with the blessings of goodness.

You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.

He asked life from you and you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever.

His glory is great in your salvation.

Honor and majesty you have placed upon him.

For you have made him most blessed forever.

You have made him exceedingly glad with your presence.

For the king trusts in the Lord.

And through the mercy of the Most High, he shall not be moved.

Your hand will find all your enemies.

Your right hand will find those who hate you.

You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger.

The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath.

And the fire shall devour them.

Their offspring you shall destroy from the earth.

And their descendants from the sons of men.

For they intended evil against you.

They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.

Therefore you will make them turn their back.

You will make ready your arrows on your string toward their faces.

Be exalted, O Lord, in your own strength.

We will sing and praise your power.

The word of the Lord for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Please be seated.

Isaiah 40 tells us that the grass withers and the flower fades.

But the word of the Lord stands forever.

In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel who ministers in the presence of God himself.

Says that the word of God shall not be void of power.

May it be so.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit will please make clear.

Illumine your word to your people today, Lord.

And to all that you have brought close enough to hear of the glory of Jesus Christ.

The Savior of sinners.

Lord, we ask that you will please apply your truth to our lives, Lord.

In a way that no preacher ever could.

In a way that our own minds could never conceive.

We pray that you will make our hearts tender.

Break up the hard soil.

May the gospel of Jesus Christ be implanted in our hearts.

And in the hearts of everyone that you redeemed and purchased by your blood.

All those that you are drawing near to yourself.

Please do this for your glory alone we ask.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, empathy means to undergo something or to feel something with another person.

When a person we are watching is in discomfort, we feel discomfort with them.

When a person we are watching is disappointed, we respond to make things better.

Think of how you have experienced this.

Your team was all watching your coach at halftime.

Or maybe your class is all watching the teacher.

And as kids, you have to watch your parents and respond accordingly.

When they are happy, when they are rejoicing, when they are walking through the house whistling or singing and humming,

then everyone's emotions seem to rise with them, don't they?

Well, in ancient Israel, under the old covenant, we see a very important principle that is still true for the kingdom of Christ.

As goes the king, so goes the kingdom.

In Psalm 20, the psalm from last week, remember the king was low because all the people gather around and they wish for the king to be lifted up by God.

As the king goes, so will we all go.

And now, in Psalm 21, the king is rejoicing.

And all the people will rejoice with the king.

So, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ and dear friends, who God has put you close enough to listen,

the question I invite us to wrestle with together as we walk through Psalm 21 is this.

Why does this king rejoice?

Why is it that this king rejoices?

I have three reasons that I see here.

The first, and we know the king is David.

It's a psalm of David.

He rejoices, first of all, because God answered his prayer.

God answered David's prayer.

Psalm 20 is the king and the people bringing their prayer before the Lord.

And Psalm 21 is how God has responded.

The occasion of Psalm 20 was the king and the nation preparing to go to war.

Now, the occasion of Psalm 21 is the king celebrating on the other side of the battle.

Celebrating the victory that God gave him once it's been accomplished.

It's a prayer that the king is singing in front of God's people.

It's from the lips of the king, but it's directed to God.

The whole thing, it's a prayer.

And the king is referring to himself in third person.

Notice how both the intro and the outro, so verse 1 and verse 13, if you could take a look,

they set the theme of the whole psalm.

They state what is true of God.

And the tense, the verbs, the tense of the verbs is very important throughout this psalm.

Verse 1 and verse 13, intro and outro, they both use the present tense.

Look at verse 1, the king shall have joy, he shall have joy in your strength.

And in your salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice.

And then he goes in to rejoice throughout the whole psalm and continue to pray that.

And verse 13, he says, be exalted.

Right now, in this moment, present tense, be exalted, O Lord, in your strength.

We will sing and praise your power.

The people are joining and praising the power of God.

There's a direct connection between Psalm 20 from last week, right before this.

You'll want to keep an eye at that one, and Psalm 21.

In Psalm 20, verses 4 and 5, they wish,

Psalms 20:4

may the Lord fulfill all your petitions and grant your kings according to his heart's desire.

Do you see that in Psalm 20, verses 4 and 5?

Psalms 20:4

Notice how that's answered now in Psalm 21, verse 2.

Psalms 21:2

You, God, have given the king his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.

The prayer has been answered.

That's why the king's rejoicing.

One more example.

Look at Psalm 20, verse 7.

Psalms 20:7

This is the great central part of this passage of this psalm.

They say, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

And look at Psalm 21, verse 7.

Psalms 21:7

It concludes,

The prayer has been answered.

Their trust in the Lord has not been disappointed.

And so Psalm 21 sings of God's faithfulness.

We put our trust and our faith in God.

We underwent the battle.

And we came out on the other side, praising the Lord victorious.

He's done it again.

Well, now the body of this psalm has two parts.

They can be divided by the tense as well.

The first part is in the past tense.

Looking back on this battle they just came through.

It's what the king witnessed God do.

Look at verse 3.

For you meet with him the blessings of goodness.

You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.

He asked you for life and you gave it to him.

Length of days.

Verse 5.

His glory is great in your salvation.

Honor and majesty you have placed on him.

Verse 6.

For you have made him most blessed.

You have made him exceedingly glad of the joy of happiness with your presence.

And literally verse 6 is saying you have brightened the king.

You have made his face glow with the countenance from being in the presence of God.

And this is an allusion to what God did to Moses.

God brought Moses in a special way into his presence.

As the mediator between God and the people.

And Moses came back glowing.

His face brightened from being in the presence of God.

And that's what King David experienced.

And declares to the people.

God is faithful and he was with me.

I was in his presence all the while.

And it's his joy.

It's his joy to look at this God.

And celebrate his strength.

And his faithfulness to answer prayer.

It's what God has already done.

And what King David witnessed God doing that he declares back to the people.

So this king rejoices because God has answered prayer.

And because he has gotten to witness with his own eyes what God is faithful to do.

He asked it.

God did it.

And now he thanks God.

God.

Even these first few verses are an important point of application for us.

We are to bring our request before God.

We are to ask God to minister through his word.

And open our eyes to what he is doing.

The spiritual advancement of his kingdom.

And to trust him.

And his faithfulness.

And his power and his strength to do it.

And by trusting him and walking with him in that way.

Through the spiritual battle.

We enjoy his presence.

Our face is brightened by walking with God.

But it doesn't stop there.

We are then to gather with his people and tell of God's goodness.

Bear witness to God's faithfulness.

Share with one another.

And through the hardest times.

Some of you have been through maybe the hardest week of your entire life.

These past six days.

We are to bear witness of God's faithfulness.

Time and time again.

One of our dear brothers has been a great example and a model to me.

There are a little bit over 30 households in our congregation.

And there's 30 or 31 days in each month.

So he prays for each one of you.

One day of the month.

Another great example from the Puritans.

From this brother.

From many of you.

From my wife.

Is to write down what we're praying for.

Keep a prayer journal.

Why?

Because we forget so quickly, don't we?

But you start looking back and you say, whoa.

We prayed for this a month ago.

Two months ago.

Look at this amazing answer to prayer.

Not the way we would have imagined it.

But look how faithful God is.

And then we move into Psalm 21 mode.

And we praise God.

We tell one another.

We don't let it go unnoticed.

God has been faithful.

Look what he has done.

Another good example is to encourage in your household and yourself devotionally.

Let's pray for one person or family in the congregation.

One of our relatives.

Some know the Lord.

They need prayer.

Some don't know the Lord.

They need prayer too.

Let's bring that to God.

And then let's pray for his kingdom.

Someone else that comes to mind from work or school.

And let's thank the Lord when he is faithful.

Well, there's one other reason why this king rejoices.

Starting at verse 8.

And if you're like me, it's a bit of a twist.

It catches you by surprise.

Let me summarize what he rejoices for next this way.

The king rejoices in what God will do.

It's in the future tense.

What God will do in the future is hunt down and utterly demolish God's enemies.

Those who seek to destroy God.

And the king rejoices and calls God's people to rejoice in that coming judgment of God upon all the enemies of God's advancing kingdom.

And he rejoices in this.

Look, we are not more compassionate than God.

We need to align our prayers to scripture.

Not the other way around.

So a lot of these verses, I don't want you to take my word for it.

I want you to study it carefully in light of all the scripture.

And you're going to hear me pulling in some of the folks that have more credibility than I do.

But that's what the king rejoices in.

He trusts in what God is still to do.

Look at verse 8.

Your hand will find all your enemies.

There's not going to be an enemy that gets to stay hiding behind a tree or behind a rock.

You oppose yourself to God.

He will come and find you.

Verse 9.

God shall make them as a fiery oven in the day or the time of God's anger.

There is a day in the future, a time that's coming.

And it's the wrath of the Holy Creator God poured out against all who have rebelled against him.

Augustine.

Augustine.

Thou shall make them on fire within by the consciousness of their ungodliness.

You notice verse 9.

You notice verse 9.

He says,

You shall make them as a fiery oven.

They themselves will be burning, said Augustine, with the fire within them that's lit by the consciousness of ungodliness.

Charles Spurgeon.

They shall not only be cast into a furnace of fire, according to Matthew 13, 42,

but they shall also be their own torment.

The reflections and terrors of their own consciousness will be the internal torment of God's enemies in hell.

That's the end of Spurgeon's quote.

Verse 9 goes on to say that the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath.

And the fire shall devour them.

The wrath of God.

God who is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything.

God who is eternal, immortal, all-powerful, holy, pure.

His wrath will swallow up, consume everything that's impure.

There's no place to hide from the wrath of God.

His sin will destroy sinfulness.

One commentator said,

It's like the picture in this Psalm 21 of a furnace where the fire is extremely hot and the heat,

it's striking upon them from all sides, from above, from below, from all about, on all surfaces.

And the door to this furnace is closed.

There's no getting out of it.

And there's no cool air coming in.

Amen.

In verse 10, he says,

Their offspring you shall destroy from the earth,

their descendants from among the sons of men.

There's a day when evil men and evil women will not walk on the earth any longer.

There will be no place for wicked sinners in the new heavens and the new earth.

There will be no future descendants for those who rebel against God.

Verse 11,

For they intended evil against God.

They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.

They put all their chips, they put all their weapons in a different kingdom,

thinking that they will be right in the end.

And God's kingdom is the one that will prevail and will stand at last.

The plots to stand against God will all fail.

Verse 12,

Therefore, God will make them turn their back.

As we've seen, this could be language of retreat,

turning and running away, fleeing from the advancing kingdom.

Or it could be language of utter submission.

Put your nose in the dirt like Joshua made the enemies and come step,

put the toe of your sandal on the back of their neck.

You will make ready your arrows on your string toward their faces.

The Bible doesn't get any more violent than this language of the holy God

unleashing and aiming his wrath against sinners.

Their faces looking at him defiant.

Just as our faces looked at Christ on the cross,

spitting in his face,

the holy God, just and powerful,

he makes ready his arrows on his string toward the faces of his enemies.

Matthew Henry commented,

Those who might have had Christ to rule over them and save them

will think of how they rejected him and made him their enemy instead.

That of itself will be enough to make them for eternity a fire inside of themselves.

Brothers and sisters, dear friends,

if by God's mercy he's causing you to hear this warning now,

it's because he's loving and compassionate,

and his grace is for you now.

Because there is a time coming for God's wrath against sin to be poured out.

When God's will is set,

it's his eternal decree and God is unchanging.

When his will is set to destroy sin,

all of God's attributes follow in accordance.

God's will is set against sin.

So his omniscience will seek out the object of his anger,

his providence.

It sharpens the sword of his wrath.

His almightyness lifts up, so to speak,

the full reserves of his arsenal,

and it heaves it down

with fierce power to crush his enemies.

God's will is set against sin.

So what hope do sinners like you and me have

of escaping God's wrath?

We have no hope of salvation on our own.

There is no ransom for people like you and me

from the holy God

except that it be given freely by the holy God himself.

And this he has done by giving his own son, Jesus Christ.

Amen?

Amen?

Amen?

Now we need to see what happens in Psalm 21

as the king rejoices in God's salvation.

I'm going to point this out to you

by looking at the first and the last psalm once more.

Psalm 21 verse 1 and verse 13.

Psalms 21:1

As the king rejoices in verse 1,

that's how the psalm begins.

He begins by singing alone,

looking forward to rejoicing greatly in God's salvation.

Verse 1,

the king shall have joy in God's strength.

And in God's salvation,

how greatly he shall rejoice.

But notice how now the nation

that witnessed God deliver their king,

when the people heard their king rejoicing

on the other side of the victory,

they echo back with him.

In verse 13,

Be exalted, O Lord,

in your own strength.

Look at the next word.

It's in the plural.

We will sing and praise your power.

So what happens as the king rejoices

in God's great salvation

is that the rejoicing spreads.

The rejoicing of the king

is shared with his people.

So Psalm 21 ends

with all God's people together

with the king,

exalting,

singing,

and praising God

for his strength and power.

What a great scene

to picture this in ancient Israel.

But the good news gets even better.

The rejoicing gets shared

by even more people.

And this Psalm 21 itself

points us toward this.

Would you look at verses 4 and 6?

Psalm 21 verse 4

Psalms 21:4

speaks of the king

having length of days

forever and ever.

Now it's possible

that this is royal hyperbole.

In other words,

we love how it is

under King David

who is under God.

May this never stop.

David only lived to age 70.

He did not live forever and ever.

What about verse 6?

You have made the king

most blessed forever.

Was David blessed forever?

The promise of verse 7

is that David would never be moved.

This was not fulfilled historically.

David did fall.

He fell to sin publicly,

greatly,

late in his reign.

He was not steadfast personally.

David was moved.

And David's line

very quickly lost the throne.

And what about

the complete annihilation

of the enemies of the king?

Did that ever happen?

Well, you could say

on one level

King David and King Solomon

extended the borders

and God was faithful

to all he promised to Israel.

But some of God's enemies

were married to King Solomon.

So there's no way

it could have been fulfilled

under David and Solomon.

And after them

it doesn't get any better

for national Israel.

Their reign was not long lasting.

So Psalm 21 forces

God's people

from every generation

to look forward

to an even more

final fulfillment.

Psalm 21

was given to God's people

to help us celebrate

the victory

of the Messiah.

The coming king.

The occasion of Psalm 20

you remember

it was the king

preparing to go to war.

And in Psalm 21

it celebrates

how that prayer

was answered.

The promise

that the mission

would be accomplished.

The battle

would be won.

The victory song

would be sung.

Psalm 21

would have encouraged

our Lord Jesus

as he knew

he was going into battle

for his people.

he would be victorious

on the other side.

He would get to receive

all of these promises.

He would get to sing

Psalm 21

on the other side.

Psalm 21

begins with the king

singing alone.

Looking forward

to rejoicing

in the deliverance

God would give him.

Think of this

from the lips

of Jesus Christ

the king of kings.

Trusting this promise

of verse 1

the king

the Messiah

the anointed one

of God

shall have joy

in God's strength

oh Lord

and in your salvation

how greatly

Jesus Christ

shall rejoice.

According to his

divine nature

our Lord Jesus

knew that his

victory and dominion

would be inaugurated

spiritually

at his resurrection

his ascension

and his session

at the right hand

of God Almighty

in heaven.

He also knew

that the total surrender

of all of God's enemies

those who oppose

his advancing kingdom

would be

consummately completed

at his return

to earth

the great day

on which he will judge

the living

and the dead.

And since there was

no army

around King Jesus

as he prepared

to go to battle

for you and for me

there was no

faithful soldiers

around him

to sing their part.

it would have been

God the Holy Spirit

who would have

reassured Jesus

of God's faithfulness.

The Holy Spirit

would have reminded

Jesus of all

that God the Father

promised he would

do for him

his anointed king.

Brothers and sisters

please pray for me

as I proclaim

Jesus

God our Savior

to whoever

has an ear to hear

may he be magnified

in his power

as we hold him up

crucified

for all who will

come to him

according to his

divine nature

being all knowing

our Lord Jesus Christ

knew he would have

a crown of thorns

pressed onto his head

in just a few hours.

Oh but the Holy Spirit

certainly would have

reminded Jesus

of the great truth

like we see in

Psalm 21 verse 3

Psalms 21:3

Jesus God

will meet you

Messiah

with the blessings

of goodness

God will soon

set a crown

of pure gold

upon your head.

Think of when

Jesus turned to

his followers

and he reassured

of how good

the ministry

of the Spirit is.

He knew this

firsthand.

The Holy Spirit

is a good advocate.

He's your good counselor.

He's your faithful minister.

The Lord Jesus

received his ministry

personally

and it was in

the Garden of Gethsemane

where the Lord Jesus

agonized

so intensely

according to his

human nature

and surely

Christ's knowledge

of Psalm 21

Psalms 21:8

verses 8 and 9

added

and multiplied

this agony.

Look at verse 8.

Think of this

as Jesus would

pray it in Gethsemane.

Oh God

on their own

my people

can only hate you

so I must

put myself

in the place

of your enemies.

I must put myself

in the place

of those

I will purchase

with my blood.

God's mighty hand

must first

come against me

instead of them.

I must become

the substitute

for these

God's beloved enemies.

I must endure

the torturous

punishments

they deserve.

God's all powerful

right hand

must crush

and slay me

instead of them.

how fierce

the anger

of the holy

God

against the sins

of his creatures.

Surely

that's why

Jesus in the garden

prayed in Luke

22 42

Father

if it is your will

take this cup

away from me

nevertheless

not my will

but yours

be done.

And that's what

our Lord Jesus

Christ did

as the old hymn

puts it

death

and the curse

were in our cup

O Christ

t'was full

for thee

but thou hast

drained

the last

dark drop

tis empty

now for me

that bitter cup

love

drink it down

now blessings

draft

for me.

Think of how much

weight

of sin

our Savior bore

all the worst

sins that you

and I

have committed

against him

plus

all of the

vilest deeds

of all those

who are his

from every single

generation.

Think of the

weight of that

like

a hundred thousand

tons of gross

concentrated evil

all of that

dropped

on his

holy

undefiled

body

and under

that weight

our Lord Jesus

labored

to breathe

and he knew

like Psalm 21

Psalms 21:9

verse 9

my battle

on the mount

of the skull

will be the time

of God's anger

against the sins

of my people

in order to save

them

God must first

make me

a fiery oven

to save my beloved

God's wrath

must swallow up

my flesh

first

the fire

of God's justice

must devour

me

to pay for the

sins

of my church

this is what

our Lord Jesus

underwent

to redeem

his people

in just a few

moments

after praying

in the garden

God the son

would drag

his cross

up Calvary's hill

and he would

be nailed to it

and he would

be lifted up

silent

bleeding

the lamb

of God

foretold

of old

the pure

sacrifice

required by

the just

creator

the giver

of life

would die

oh but

Christ could

preach to himself

even as he hung

on the cross

like Psalm 21

Psalms 21:4

verse 4

verse 4

this king

promised by God

from long ago

asks God

for life

and God

gives it to him

length of days

forever and ever

because soon

our Lord Jesus

though now he's

lifted up as a

spectacle

a failure

a shame

and disgrace

despised

rejected

abandoned

mocked

forsaken

soon

he could preach

to himself

verse 5

his glory

will be great

in God's salvation

honor

and majesty

God will once again

place upon

Jesus Christ

and it was in the

garden where

our Lord Jesus

Christ could find

that strength

by the ministry

of the Holy Spirit

to endure

this torturous

cross

he could trust

that he

the Messiah

shall have

joy

in God's

strength

oh Lord

and in God's

salvation

he will

again

greatly

rejoice

God the Holy Spirit

reminded Jesus

of the joy

set before him

and empowered

by the Holy Spirit

Jesus set his face

like flint

and he went

to fight the battle

Hebrews 12

2 says

that Jesus Christ

the author

and finisher

of our faith

for the joy

that was set

before him

endured the cross

despising

the shame

and he was

risen

and glorified

seated at

God's right hand

having accomplished

his mission

having won

the victory

so that he

could share

his great

rejoicing

with you

that he purchased

with his own

blood

so that you

could sing

of God's praise

you could sing

of God's

great salvation

well if you're

like me

you're thinking

well how do I

know whether

I'm one

that he

saved

that he

purchased

with his

blood

how do I

know

come to

Jesus

go to him

he is set

forth

freely

for you

if you

come to

Jesus

it's because

his spirit

is drawing

you to him

the spirit

is drawing

you to him

because you

belong to him

he is the

good shepherd

and his sheep

know his voice

the good shepherd

calls his sheep

by name

and they

come to him

and they

follow him

follow

Jesus

psalm 21

began with

the king

singing alone

but it ends

with all those

who know his

voice

exalting

singing

and praising

God

for God's

strength

and power

so you

who know

Jesus

who love

Jesus

who even

wonder

is Jesus

for me

praise God

for his

great salvation

and trust him

that he is yours

by his free

grace

alone

we too

can sing

verse 13

be exalted

oh Lord

in your own

strength

not by anything

we've done

or added

it's your

strength

to save

sinners

like you

and me

we praise

God

dear friends

do you see

how king

Jesus

rejoices

to save

people

like you

and me

he made

himself

low

but now

he is

risen

and he's

singing

rejoicing

and his

holy spirit

is poured

out

and his

holy spirit

is calling

all who

will walk

to Jesus

to repent

to believe

him

to trust

him

to know

how good

he is

the holy spirit

calls you

in the words

of the hymn

that we'll sing

in just a moment

arise

dear child

arise

shake off

your guilty

fears

the bleeding

sacrifice

Jesus Christ

in our

behalf

appears

before the

throne

your surety

stands

your name

is written

on his

hands

the father

hears him

pray

his dear

anointed

one

he cannot

turn away

the presence

of his

son

the spirit

answers

to the

blood

and tells

you

you are

born

of God

our God

is reconciled

his pardoning

voice

you hear

he owns

you

for his

child

you can

no longer

fear

with confidence

we now

draw nigh

and

father

abba father

cry

oh

praise

God

who

rejoices

to save

people

like you

and like

me

through

King

Jesus

God's

son

by the

power

of the

Holy

Spirit

if the

Holy Spirit

has applied

God's word

to you

don't leave

today the

same

pray

you don't

need a

priest

you don't

need a

mediator

Jesus

is your

priest

Jesus

is your

mediator

come

straight to

him

know that

he has

made it

possible

for you

to be

reconciled

and adopted

into God's

family

safe

secure

in him

forever

oh but if

he's such a

loving God

how could

you go on

living the

same

follow him

and he calls

us to do

that with

his church

if you

don't have

a place

to call

your

spiritual

family

we would

love to

talk with

you

and answer

any questions

you have

and let

the Holy

Spirit

do that

work that

only he

can do

let's pray

that he

will do

just that

for his

glory

please pray

with me

father

thank you

for this

great

salvation

that you

have

accomplished

and that

you

apply

salvation

is yours

from beginning

to end

that no

man

no woman

no boy

no girl

may boast

salvation

is for

God's

glory

alone

by the

work of

Jesus

Christ

the

King

of

Kings

applied

to us

by God

the Holy

Spirit

please do

this

powerfully

Lord

to those

that you

purchased

with your

own

blood

amen