God's Kind of King

Well, good morning, everyone. Great to see you. Why don't we just pause for a moment

and let's just still our hearts as we come before God's word this morning and let's just

have a moment of prayer together.

The words of Psalm 119. And let's make this our prayers we head into today.

Be good to your servant while I live, that I may obey your word. Open my eyes that I may see

wonderful things in your law. And so, Heavenly Father, we ask that you be so gracious to us now.

Lord, as we turn to your inspired and your life-giving words, that you would help us to

see something more of your beauty. And we pray these things, asking that you would give us your

spirit and that he would lead us. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Well, what for you, given everything that's gone on this week, what for you was the word of the week?

Okay, just take a second and think about it. What for you was the word of the week?

The word of the week for me was undoubtedly the word dude.

Anyone else enjoy seeing dude come back into fashion this week? It was great. It felt like

we were back in the 90s. I was waiting for a cowabunga and the likes to come, but they didn't.

In case you're wondering about dude, here it was. It was the word that Boris Johnson used

in his commissioning speech. And it was an acronym for his campaign promises. And he

turned it on his head, those who kind of used it against him. And he said, dude, we are going to

energize this country. This is what he was telling us as our new prime minister, as we were introduced

to our new leader this week. He was promising that we as a country are now about to enter a golden age.

And so he joins a long list of leaders, doesn't he, who have appeared in our world, who have told us

all sorts of things about the kind of leader that they are going to be. They've made all sorts of

promises about their leadership, and they've told us all sorts of things about the legacy that they

are going to leave. So dude was my words of this week. I really enjoyed him when he used it.

But let me ask you, whoever you are here today, whether or not you'd call yourself a Christian,

what is it that you're looking for in a leader?

What is it that you're looking for in a leader? What would that person have to be?

What would they have to do? What would they have to say and address?

What are you looking for in a leader?

What would they have to do in a leader?

When I come to preach it, it astounds me, and it really shouldn't, but it astounds me, always amazes me.

How often, when I'm preparing it, I look at what we're going to look at this week,

and I think about the events that happen in life, unbeknown to me at the time of putting it together,

and I think to myself, boy, that is the message we needed to hear this week.

It's almost like someone out with me is in sovereign control over this thing, I tell you.

And it's amazing because this week is one of those weeks.

I have been astounded as I've read this psalm just how timely it is,

because as we have been introduced this week to our new leader,

this psalm is going to get us to the heart of God's kind of leader, God's kind of king.

And it's not just about God's kind of king.

It's from the pen of God's king.

And in this psalm, he tells us what kind of leader he wants to be.

It's amazing.

And he too makes some whoppers of statements about his leadership.

I mean, there are some big ones in there when you look at it.

And so we have to ask the same question of this king that we did of our new leader this week.

And if you look at the promises that God's king makes here, we need to ask ourselves,

can he deliver on his promises?

Can he be the kind of leader that he wants to be?

So this is Psalm 101.

Come with me to Psalm 101.

And you'll see the introduction that this king, the author of this psalm, is King David.

And his slogan, right, the catchphrase, the one that he has got over every bumper sticker,

he's got on every fridge magnet, he's got on every cuddly toy, he's got on every giant foam finger,

he's got on every personalized bit of stationery.

The one that captures his campaign, the very essence of his rule, you'll see it there in verse 1.

Do you see it?

He is the singing king.

Do you see it?

He is the singing king.

And his reign will be about singing of what?

Of the steadfast love and justice of the Lord.

This is the slogan that captures this king.

This is God's king.

And it's amazing that he goes for that, if you think about it.

Doesn't go for, let's make Israel great again.

Would have been a lot catchier.

But he doesn't do that because this is not first and foremost about him as the king.

And he doesn't go for Israel, yes we can.

Trying to drum up the people to kind of unleash some kind of inner potential.

Because this is not first and foremost about them.

This is about the Lord.

It's always about the Lord.

This is about who he is.

This is about what he has promised.

And this is about his ability to do what he said he would do.

David makes this his catchphrase, his slogan, because this is about the Lord.

This is about him.

Now if you grew up in Scotland, like me you might remember going to see the singing kettle.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, you can Google it later and you will not thank me.

But the singing kettle, this is what we grew up with.

And do you remember the song that used to go with it?

Do you remember it?

Spout, handle, lid of metal.

What's inside the singing kettle?

Okay, it's in my head.

30 years later, it's there.

And what they used to do is they just used to get the kettle and they used to open it up.

And they just used to look at what was going on inside that kettle.

And let me just steal and rework that phrase and ask of this psalm.

What's inside the singing king?

Okay, if we were to take the lid off of his life,

what would we find is going on inside?

What's he made of?

What's going on inside the singing king?

Because I don't know about you, but so much of the discussion about the leadership campaign that we've just had

is about whether somebody's private life should affect the way that they're able to govern the country.

Should their private life or should it just be all about their public life?

Okay?

But when it comes to God's leader, as far as God is concerned,

what's going on in the king's heart, what's going on in the heart of his leader is absolutely critical.

And so when David says that he will make singing of the steadfast love and justice of the Lord,

when he says he will make that his priority,

it's his way of telling us that as king,

he will be about delighting in and devoting himself to Yahweh, the Lord.

That's what's going on inside the singing king.

That's his prayer.

And everything else will stem from that relationship that he has as the king with the Lord.

Again, do you notice that word in the psalm?

The Lord.

Capital L.

Capital O.

Capital R.

Capital D.

Remember we thought about this word, this name for God.

Last Sunday at Psalm 100, it's the covenant name of God.

It's the name of God that tells us,

and this is the psalm that David as king is picturing,

that he is the never-changing, promise-making, word-keeping, ever-faithful God

who says to his people,

I will be your God and you will be my people.

And God has promised great things to his people Israel.

But the thing for us to see here, the backdrop to this psalm,

is that God hasn't just made promises to his people.

God has made promises to his king.

And you'll read those promises, and you can do this in your own time when you go home,

you'll find them in 2 Samuel chapter 7,

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

when God makes those promises to David as the first Davidic king.

Big promises.

You'll see them in 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

That God will give David a great name.

And from his kingly line will come a king whose reign and whose kingdom God will make sure that it lasts forever.

And God will give him rest from his enemies.

And God will be a father to this king.

And this king will be a son to the Lord.

You see, that's the relationship that the Lord wants with his king.

They are to be inseparably one.

And the king is to be the very embodiment of what a life of covenant faithfulness,

of what all-out worship and obedience looks like when it comes to the Lord.

You know, I remember growing up,

harbouring ambitions of being a professional footballer.

Okay, a few of you laughed, that's okay.

But I used to ask my dad,

Dad, what does it take, what does a professional look like?

What does a professional footballer look like?

And he used to take me to games.

And we used to go right up close, going for autographs,

used to see the players warm up.

He used to buy me videos,

well, they were videos, VHS, back in those days.

And I remember I used to go to football summer camps,

and it was run by this guy at the top of the chain,

the model professional called Ian St. John.

Some of you might have known him, played for Liverpool and Scotland.

Ian St. John, that was the guy.

That's what a model professional looked like.

And so my dad said, it's him.

And you've got to think about it,

in this psalm, if you were a father in Israel,

and your son runs up to you and asks,

Hey Dad, what does a life of covenant faithfulness look like?

What does a life of all-out worship and adoration of our God,

what does it look like?

Then the father was supposed to be able to point to the king

and say, see him.

See the way he lives his life.

See the way he conducts himself.

You want to know what all-out worship looks like?

It looks like him.

Looks like him.

See, this is what David wants to do.

He wants to be this king.

He's vowing to be this kind of king.

And if you come with me to verses 1 to 4,

you'll see that David wants this more than anything else.

He desires to be a king who takes his cue from the Lord.

Now let me just pick out, for the sake of time,

one word for us here that he repeats twice at verse 2.

And it's the word blameless.

Do you see it?

Or some of your translations might go for integrity there.

Blameless integrity.

It's the same thing.

So this is what he wants his life to be about.

What a wonderful word, is it not?

Integrity.

Do you see from the lips, from the pen of God's king,

that there's a desire deep down in his gut

to be the same in the bedroom as he is in the boardroom.

Do you see it?

To have insides that match up to his outsides.

He wants to be like a stick of,

I remember again this from my childhood,

a stick of Blackpool rock.

Do you remember that?

Stick of Blackpool rock.

You cut that anywhere.

And it's the same.

This is what David wants for his life as king.

Integrity.

Blamelessness.

And if that's what he's going to do,

do you also see what he's not going to do?

Verse 3, he won't sit before his eyes.

So in other words, he won't get involved

in anything that's worthless.

He will stay away from those who would lead him astray.

That is those who would say, don't bother with the Lord.

Saying, why don't you use your position as king to your advantage?

And verse 4, he will know nothing of evil.

So these are the things.

These are the things that David is devoting himself to as God's king,

as the one who's supposed to embody covenant faithfulness.

And his prayer here is that God would help him.

Do you see it?

Be the king that he's called him to be.

This is the king.

Right?

The one who will ensure that the most vulnerable in society,

the widow, the orphan, that they're cared for and valued.

The one who will ensure that the outsider,

or as we see it there, that the foreigner will be welcomed in.

The one who will ensure that justice is fully done

in the courts of the land.

The one who will expose hypocrisy.

And the one who will fight oppression.

And ultimately, be the one who won't just ensure

that the worship of Yahweh is central.

Who won't just ensure that the worship of Yahweh is biblical.

In other words, it's the way that God prescribed it to be.

But he will be the one who is at front of the queue,

setting the pace in the all-out worship of Yahweh.

Okay.

Now, friends, let me just pause there

and bring all that data together, okay?

Bring it all together.

And would you agree with me?

What a king.

What a king.

Would you want to have this guy leading you?

Would this guy get your vote?

Absolutely get mine.

If he could be this kind of king.

If he turned out to be this kind of king,

friends, let me tell you,

I wouldn't just follow him on Instagram.

I wouldn't just like his photos.

I wouldn't just leave comments.

Hashtag, what a king.

I would follow this guy with my life.

What a king.

God says, here is my king.

And what happens next is that David,

you can picture him,

he's moving from his private chamber.

He walks out to his public balcony, if you like.

Okay.

And he looks out on Jerusalem.

And he claps eyes on the people

that walk the streets every day.

It's people.

And verses five to eight,

he looks on them.

And if he desires to be a king

who takes his cue from the Lord,

he wants his people to be a people

who take their cue from the king.

And he looks out and he sees

two different types of people

living in Israel.

Two different types of people

who look the same on the outside.

But when it comes to the Lord,

they have hearts that are in two very different places.

Now see if you can spot them in these verses.

The two types of people.

Right?

The descriptions he gives.

Do you see the first group of people?

They are those who care little for the Lord

and his ways.

He's not interested in covenant faithfulness.

He's not interested in being God's kind of people.

He's not interested in being a light to the nations.

He's not interested in welcoming the forwarder.

He's not interested in justice being done.

And the king loathes the people of this group.

And do you see how they are those who,

verse 5, who slander,

who give haughty looks.

Now haughty, they look down on people.

Those who are arrogant,

that's kind of the opposite,

they build themselves up.

Those who utter lies.

And I don't think these are kind of one-off things.

Right?

This is a heart attitude that says,

I'm not going God's way,

I'm going my way.

And I'll trample over whoever I need to trample over

to get there.

And the warning the king gives them,

do you see at verse 5,

and this is really strikingly strong language,

this king, he says,

I will destroy them.

And I will not endure them.

And verse 7,

they will not continue before my eyes.

So the king is warning this group of people

that if they do not stop in their tracks

and turn around,

the biblical word for that is just repent,

stop going your way,

going God's way,

go God's way.

If they don't do that and bow to the king,

then one day they will have to face his judgment

as God's king.

That's one group in Israel.

But do you see how there's another group?

And Paul picked this out straight off the bat,

which is great.

The king loves this group.

They are the people,

verse 6,

who are marked by faithfulness.

That's a lovely description,

is it not,

of God's people?

Faithfulness.

Just sticking it out

with obedience.

They are,

do you see,

passionate about holiness.

These people are serious about obedience.

These people are real in their love for the Lord.

And see the three promises

that this king makes them at verse 6.

Firstly,

that he will show them favor.

Do you see it?

Secondly,

that they will dwell with him.

And thirdly,

that they will minister to him.

These are the promises

God's king makes

to God's faithful people.

And let me just say,

if you bring those three together,

the promise from the king

to his faithful people

is that all those who look to him

and trust him,

they will be his.

They will be his.

And he will take responsibility for them.

And he will love them.

And he will be the king

that they need to be,

that they need him to be.

What a king.

What a king.

This is God's kind of king.

Isn't it a wonderful picture

of everything

that we'd ever want in a leader?

This is God's kind of king.

But here's the newsflash

of this psalm.

David's not this kind of king.

Oh, listen.

He was a wonderful leader.

He was a great king.

He is described in the Bible

as a man after God's own heart.

And he becomes almost

the benchmark king

by which all subsequent kings

in Israel are judged.

But David failed

to be this kind of king.

And at times in his life,

spectacularly so.

But remember what we said

at verse one.

This is not first and foremost

about the king.

This is not first and foremost

about the people.

Who is this primarily about?

This is about the Lord.

This is about him

who despite David's failings

was faithful to his promise

to David

that from his line

he would raise up

a faithful king

who would be this kind of king.

The one that God's people need.

And the newsflash of this psalm,

friends,

is that God's got a king like this.

And his name is Jesus.

And no matter how you are feeling

this morning,

if you are a Christian,

if you are feeling down in the dumps,

if life has been horrible this week,

if there's an uncertain future

ahead of you,

this psalm invites you

to look to your king.

Look to the Lord

and find in this king

one who loves you

and one who died for you.

His name is Jesus.

The king who,

and think about his life, right?

What do we read in the gospels?

The king who made his life

about serving,

not about lording.

The king who healed the sick.

The king who welcomed the vulnerable.

The king who valued the outsider.

The king who flipped the tables

when hypocrisy was going,

sweeping under the carpet,

when injustice was being,

was rife in the temple.

And the king who perfectly modeled

radical obedience to God's law.

He loved his father.

And the king who set the pace

when it came to the all-out worship

of the Lord.

And most importantly of all,

he's the king

who didn't just sing about

God's steadfast love

and justice.

Friends, wonderfully,

he is the king

who demonstrated it.

As he gave his life,

as he died on the cross,

the place where God's perfect love,

seen in the sending

of his one and only son,

seen in the son,

Jesus,

who was willing to go to the cross

to buy the freedom,

pay the penalty

for his people's sin,

where God's perfect love

and the place

where God's perfect justice,

where sin isn't just swept

onto the carpet,

but is atoned for

by his blood,

where they meet,

where they kiss.

Do you see how this king

did not just sing

about God's steadfast love

and justice?

He modelled it.

He exemplified it.

What a king.

What a king.

And so let me ask you,

let me ask all of us

from this psalm today

that this king Jesus

would look out

in all of us today.

Friends,

what would he find?

How would he find you?

Would he find fault with you

as the king does here?

In which case,

you need to think seriously

about who this king is

and the warning he gives you?

Or because of your faith in him,

would you find favour with him?

Again, you see,

this is not our ability

to be a perfect people,

first and foremost.

This is about his ability

to be this king.

He is this king.

And let me just ask us,

particularly as a church,

are we being faithful

to this king?

You know,

are we as those saved by him,

as those who have been shown grace,

as those who have received forgiveness,

are we taking our cue

as God's people here at Brunsfield,

as an outpost of the kingdom here,

are we taking our cue

off of our king?

Because this king loves faithfulness

in his people.

He loves it.

He loves faithfulness in his people.

And so friends,

the question we need to ask is,

are we being a faithful people to him?

You know,

I often take the girls

into town on the bus.

And it's always a double-decker bus

that comes past our way.

And they love to pick the seats

that are every parent's

worst nightmare.

You know,

the ones that are up the stairs

and right at the front?

Love to pick those seats.

And they love to sit there.

And one of their favourite things

is just to point stuff out.

Okay?

So they sit there

and they go,

there's a seagull.

They sit there and they go,

there's a cafe.

They sit there and they go,

there's a swing.

And I like to joke

with people around about us

that this is the alternative

Edinburgh bus tour.

But do you know

what one of their favourite things

to spot is

on our trip into town?

It's the wee dog.

It's the wee dog.

It's Gravefire's Bobby.

Who, as the story goes,

after his master died,

sat on his master's grave

for 14 years.

Right?

I'm putting words

in the dog's mouth here,

but I love my master.

And I'm sitting right here

and I'm staying.

And he came to mind this week

as I was thinking

about the words

of Jesus.

And how often

he holds up faithfulness

in the Gospels

from his people

as the thing

that he wants to see

from us.

Okay?

That,

you can read them

in your time,

the faithful servant.

Well done,

good and faithful servant.

The faithful master.

I love how much

Jesus loves faithfulness.

And as we sit here today,

maybe just in our context,

let me just

maybe find two ways

that we can think

about our faithfulness

to our King.

Firstly,

by being faithful

to his word.

By our radical obedience

to what he has said.

Right?

Our dogged determination

to carry out

the will of the Lord.

Regardless of whether

that puts us at odds

with the way

in which society

tells us

we should think and act.

You know,

it was John Bunyan,

the man who wrote

Pilgrim's Progress,

whose peers used to

joke about him.

Right?

Used to give him

a nickname

of the Bible bleeder.

Right?

That any time

you pricked him,

what would come out

would be Bible.

This is what they used

to say of him.

And they used to nickname him

the Bible bleeder.

Now what a nickname

that is to have.

Just seeing

just utter faithfulness

and devotion

to God's word

in somebody.

Made me think this week,

what would people nickname,

what nickname would they give me

if they saw my life?

Isn't it?

Here is

Jesus' call

to be brave for him

and to take our stand

and his word.

Let me just say

that friends,

that we will be brave enough

when our view of this king

is big enough.

And secondly,

it will show ourselves

in our faithfulness

to his work.

To be that people,

and we've loved going through

this in the evening series

over the last few weeks.

We've gone through

the Sermon on the Mount

and I'd really encourage you

to come along.

These have been really special times

for us as a church.

Loved going through it,

but that call

that we saw last week

from Jesus to his people.

To be a city on a hill.

To be a light in the world.

To be a people

who are salt.

Right?

There's so many ways

that the word salt

is used there,

but just adding flavor.

Right?

Just being a blessing

and distinct

in the world

in which we live.

To be a people

who shine like stars

in the darkness.

And to be a people

who are committed

to playing our part

in fulfilling

the great commission

of making disciples

of the Lord Jesus

the world over.

And teaching them

what it means

to obey this king

and to know this king.

Because the promises

that our king makes

here to us

of his favor,

do you see it?

His favor,

his presence

and his service.

The full fulfillment

of those promises

will happen

when he comes.

And as we were singing

at the start,

he brings the heavenly city.

Do you see that?

The word city there

right at the end

of this psalm.

This city where

no light is needed

because God is its light.

And this place

where sin is a distant memory

where all tears

are wiped away,

where God's enemies

are banished

and where God lives

with his people

in his city.

And it can't be Jerusalem,

can it here?

It's going to be

the new Jerusalem.

And so friends,

here as we bring this

to a close,

here is God's king.

Here is David.

Here is the fulfillment,

Jesus.

Here is God's king.

So what are you looking

for in a leader?

What are you looking

for in a leader?

Our world,

let me just make

an observation,

our world is full

of leaders.

Some have lots

of power,

but the problem

is that they have

absolutely no love

or compassion

for people,

the people under

their power.

And then you've

got the other

extreme,

don't you?

Those who've got

all out love

for people,

but they've got

no power to do

anything about it.

Their problems,

fix their problems.

Friends,

this is not a wonderful

truth that is this,

God's king has held

up to us today.

And as we see

the fulfillment

in the Lord Jesus,

crucified,

resurrected,

risen,

ascended,

in glory,

one day we'll return.

in him we have

one gloriously

who has both.

He has all the love

and all the power

in absolute abundance.

And this king

this morning says,

look to me,

here is God's

kind of king.

Crown him with

many crowns,

the lamb upon

his throne.

Hark how the

heavenly anthem

drowns,

all music

but its own.

Awake my soul

and sing

of him

who died

for thee

and hail him

as thy matchless

king

through all

eternity.

Let me just take

a moment

and be quiet

and then I'll pray

and we'll close

our service together.

And so,

heavenly Father,

we thank you so much

that we have

your word

in our language

that we can read

about the promises

that you have made

over the years

and we can sing

and know

and testify

to your faithfulness

in so many ways.

But thank you,

Lord,

so much

that we see

your faithfulness,

the fact that you

never change,

that you keep

your promises.

We can see it

fully

in the person

of the Lord

Jesus Christ.

And so,

Lord,

I pray that you

would help us

all look to him

today as our

great high king

and that we

would be a people,

his people,

saved by his grace,

purchased by his blood,

who take our cue

off of him.

Lord,

would you help us

to do that this week?

Thank you,

Lord,

that you're such

a good God

and we pray

these things

in our king's name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.