Victory in Jesus

in this little section over the last couple of

months. And these last few are referred to as

Royal Psalms. These are psalms that have a lot

of praise to the Lord that's kind of the theme

in most of these last few psalms that you see.

You can go back and you can kind of see that

theme. I was going to request the song, Shout

to the Lord, but since we didn't take requests,

I didn't request it. because that probably would

have been a tough one for us to sing. But it's

a good song, and if you read these psalms, you'll

see in these psalms that kind of surround this,

this language about shout to the Lord, all the

earth, let us sing. That same idea, well, that's

where that song comes from. These verses, chapter,

and particularly Psalm 96, that's where the words...

that inspired that song, came from. And so we

see that type of language in these psalms, the

idea of shouting to the Lord, of praising Him.

So we'll pray, and then we'll read through Psalm

98 and talk about it. So let's pray. God, we

come to you. We thank you for a good day. We

thank you for being good to us. We thank you

for the love that we have in this place. We thank

you for your word. I pray that your Holy Spirit

would just free us of the distractions and the

worries and the thoughts of the world. And in

these few minutes, dear Lord, that we can give

you praise. I pray that you would just hide me

behind the cross, that I would preach and teach

in a way that brings glory and honor to you.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Psalm 98, it's relatively short. We'll read through

the whole thing and then talk about it. We don't

know who wrote this psalm. It doesn't really

matter, but we can still see what's going on

regardless of the author. Psalm 98, verse 1.

Psalms 98:1

Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has performed

wonders. His right hand and holy arm have won

him victory. The Lord has made his victory known.

He has revealed his righteousness in the sight

of the nations. He has remembered his love and

faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the

ends of the earth have seen our God's victory.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth, be jubilant.

Shout for joy and sing. Sing to the Lord with

the lyre, with the lyre and the melodious song.

With trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn,

shout triumphantly in the presence of the Lord

our King. Let the sea and all that fills it,

the world and those who live in it, resound.

Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains

shout together for joy before the Lord. For he

is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the

world righteously and the peoples fairly. Now,

we don't know exactly, or at least I'm not aware

of exactly when this psalm was written, at what

event this was covering, but it's good at many

times in Scripture, and it's good at many times

in our life. to recount the fact that God has

not forgotten about his people, that he's delivered

his people, that he's taken care of his people.

We see that language in verse 3. He remembered

his love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.

So no matter what we are up against, no matter

what we are going through, we see example after

example in God's word where God does not forget

his people. He remembers his people. He's there

for his people. They're not always deserving

of it. But nonetheless, he is merciful and he

provides for them and he takes care of them.

And so what we see in this psalm and the psalms

that surround it is this idea that we are to

praise God, that we are to sing a new song, that

we are to shout to the Lord. All the earth, let

us sing, let us shout because God is good. And

the key that we see here in the first part of

these verses that God is praised for is the fact

that he is victorious. We see that in the first

verse. Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has

performed wonders. His right hand and holy arm

have won victory. That's important for us to

remember, that we serve a God who is victorious.

We serve a God who has never lost and will never

lose. Some may have thought so whenever Jesus

was nailed to the cross. There were many followers

who followed him, and even though Jesus told

them what was going to take place, I suspect

for many of them that when Jesus was nailed to

the cross, there was probably a little bit of

loss of hope. They probably were thinking, man,

we thought this was the guy, and here he has

been nailed to this cross and died. But God showed

that he was victorious through Jesus Christ.

Not in that Jesus Christ died on the cross, but

that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And that

is the victory of God. And so we see God's victory

in many different ways in our life. We see it

in the Old Testament. We see it in our own struggles

and things that we go through. We see how God

delivers us and is victorious in our life. But

the greatest victory we see in all of Scripture

is the victory that comes through Jesus Christ,

the victory over death and the victory over sin.

And he says in verse 2, The Lord has made his

victory known. He has revealed his righteousness

in the sight of the nations. Now, when I read

this verse, I instantly thought, Because I instantly,

when I thought about victory, I thought about

Jesus. And when I read this verse, it said God

has made his victory known. He's made his victory

known. He has revealed it to the nations. Through

Jesus Christ, death and resurrection, the victory

that has come through that, the victory of God,

is made known to all the nations. All of the

world can see. It's right here for us in black

and white. Through the hundreds and hundreds

of years, there has been men and women that have

continually preached the gospel of Jesus Christ,

preached the victory of Jesus Christ, talked

of the deliverance that comes through Jesus Christ,

through repentance. When we repent and ask for

forgiveness of our sins, we see victory. What

does victory look like? It looks like Jesus Christ

crucified and resurrected. That is victory. And

that is the victory that we can hang our hope

on. That is the victory that we can know that

no matter what happens to us, even if the worst

of the worst things happens to us, even if we

die in this world, we know that we serve a God

who is victorious over death. And praise the

Lord, the wages of sin is death, but the gift

of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

So God has made his victory known. Yeah, when

this was written, he made his victory known maybe

in more visible ways and the way that God's people

overtook enemies they were up against or whatever

it may have been or when walls come tumbling

down or when the Red Sea closed over the enemies.

God made his victory known in a variety of powerful

and beautiful ways, but none more powerful and

beautiful than Jesus Christ being resurrected.

So the Lord has made his victory known. He has

revealed his righteousness in the sight of the

nations. So if we're looking for righteousness

today, if we're looking for victory today, we

need not look any further than Jesus. Because

if we are looking somewhere else for victory

in our life and our battles and our struggles

and our temptations, we will not find it because

there is victory in no one else. If we're looking

to be made righteous today, we will not be made

righteous apart from Jesus Christ. We will not

be made righteous by our good deeds or our works

or anything within us. We are only made righteous

through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And

God's victory and God's righteousness have been

revealed to us in Jesus Christ. And we see that

in the Word of God. We see that in the way that

the Holy Spirit has worked and continues to work.

And so victory is available for all of the nations.

It's not hidden. God's word will continue to

be preached. It will never cease to be preached

in this world. No matter what the world tries

to do, no matter what the enemy tries to do,

no matter how much people try to stop God's word

and stop prayer to God and stop gathering of

brothers and sisters in Christ to God, they will

never succeed because God has won the victory.

They may kill us, but even if they kill us, praise

God, to be apart from the body is to be in the

presence of the Lord. So those of us who trust

Jesus Christ are those who are victorious. And

all of the nations, it is there for them to see.

If only all of the nations today would look to

that victory and look to that righteousness in

Jesus Christ. If only this nation would look

to that. If only the nations that are around

us, if all of the world, would look to the victory

that's already been revealed, what a better place

it would be. But sadly, our world is looking

for victory and righteousness and deliverance

in a variety of things other than Jesus Christ,

and they will not find it. And so we, we've put

our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We have

a job to do. We have to let others know that

victory has been had through Jesus Christ. And

we can share in that victory. and sharing that

righteousness if we would trust in him. Let's

pray. God, we come to you tonight. We thank you

for these good words. We thank you that you have

shown us ultimately what victory is. God, we

see the writer of this psalm rejoices in the

victories that they experienced, dear Lord. And

you showed us a lot of cool things in the Old

Testament, dear Lord, in your power and in your

grace and in your mercy. But, dear Lord, the

greatest thing you ever showed us in all of Scripture...

was that Jesus Christ, your only son, came and

died on the cross so that we could be forgiven.

And God, you did not allow him to see decay in

that grave, but dear Lord, three days later,

you raised him up. So God, I pray that we would

find hope in that today, that if there's one

here, that if there's one listening that has

never put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ,

God, if there's one that's looking for victory,

I pray, God, that they would look no further.

that they would stop looking to the world and

stop looking to things of the world and people

of the world, and that, God, they would simply

look to the pages of Scripture, that they would

look to the cross of Jesus Christ. And there,

dear Lord, may they find the victory that will

give them the peace and the hope and the comfort

that they desire. And may each one of us leave

here with that tonight. In Jesus' name I pray

it. Amen. All right, I'll give you guys a couple

on the prayer list tonight. I had one request.

Miss Pat asked that we add the Jill Nunry family.

She said that Jill had passed. I don't know Jill

Nunry, but we need to be. Okay, well, she's passed.

If you didn't know, we need to pray for that

family. Miss Pat got a good report. She had a

good safe trip up there, all of her doctor's

appointments. She got a good report, and so she'll

be back, I think, tomorrow. Pray for her. We

need to keep praying for Macy. She had those

wisdom teeth removed and she's still a little

sore from that. So I want to pray that her pain

will ease up and that she can get some rest.

We need to continue to pray for Julie Bolin.

I heard that there is some improvement there.

And so that's very good. Obviously, she's got

a long way to go. She still needs our prayers.

So we need to continue to pray for her. And then

one of our ladies at the apartment, she's taken

the loss of Miss Mary Cupid's son, Lawrence,

pretty hard. She was pretty upset about it yesterday.

Her name is Donna. So we need to pray for her,

keep her in our prayers. And that's all the ones

that I can give y 'all an update on tonight.

Does anybody else have any prayer requests or

praise reports or updates this evening? Okay.

Anybody else? What's his name? Okay. Prudence

has moved to somewhere in Macomb. I can't think

of the name of it at the moment. On hospice.

She made the decision to just die with some dignity,

I guess is a good way to say that. If you think

about where she's at, text that to me, please.

I will. I'll say asked in court, but I'll double

check. Okay, good. Tyler leads out tomorrow for

California something to do with the fire department

I'll be praying for him. Miss Linda Albritton

was doing a little better today when I saw her.

She was in a little better spirits, but she's

still got a long way to go, so y 'all keep praying

for her. Anybody else? Okay. All right, if there

are no others, if anybody wants to pray out loud,

y 'all are certainly welcome to do so. And when

everybody's finished, I'll close us up. Father

God, we come to you tonight. We thank you for

the freedom and the privilege we have in this

country to come and to worship you. And I pray

that you continue to help us to have these freedoms.

I pray that you'd bless our country, that we

would be a people that would seek you. I pray

that you'd be with our leadership, that they

would make good decisions that would point us

toward you, dear Lord. And I just pray that you

just continue to bless us. Even if we don't always

do good, dear Lord, just keep working with us,

God, and give us some mercy. I pray that you

be with the Nunnery family and their loss, that

you comfort them. I thank you that Miss Pat's

doing good. I thank you that you got her there

safe and got her a good report. I pray that you

get her home safe. I pray that you'd help Macy

to get some rest, help her pain just to ease

up, help her to feel better and have a good night

and to feel much better tomorrow to be able to

get on the mend. I pray that you'd be with Julie

Boland, that you continue to help her to improve

and just give her... encouragement and strength

and ease her pain and be with her family. And

I pray, God, that you just would work miracles

in her body, that you would help her to have

a full recovery, and that, God, you'd get all

the glory for everything. I pray for Donna at

the apartments as she continues to mourn the

loss of Lawrence, that you just would comfort

her and the rest of that family, that you'd strengthen

them. I pray that you'd be with Rita as she gets

ready for these treatments. that you would help

her with whatever it is that she goes through.

I pray, God, that you would bring healing to

her body. I pray that you'd be with Greg, that

you would help him to get over this flu, help

him as they get ready to decide what to do moving

forward as they go see doctors and try to figure

it all out. I pray, dear Lord, that you'd be

with them. I pray that you would encourage them.

I pray that you just would bring healing to his

body, dear Lord, that you would take care of

this, and I just lift him up to you. I pray that

you'd be with Miles' family and the passing of

his mom, that you would give them strength and

encouragement. I pray that you'd be with Mr.

Billy Gardner and all of his health concerns

that he's got going on, that you would just watch

over and take care of him and bring healing to

him. I pray for Ms. Prudence, that you would

be with her as she has been battling for so long.

I pray that you give her strength. I pray that

you give her rest. I pray that you keep her encouraged.

I pray that you'd be with her family. and just

watch over, dear Lord. I pray that you be with

Tyler as he gets ready to go to California, that

you help him to be safe and help him to get done

what has to be done, whatever it may be, and

just help him to work hard and get him back home

safe. I pray for Katie as she goes for these

treatments. I pray for her body, that you bring

healing to her body. I pray that you give them

a safe trip, and I pray that you get them home

safe at the end of it all. I pray that you'd

be with our church. that you'd keep our church

family safe, that you would keep our people healthy,

dear Lord. I pray that you would help us to be

a people that would seek you, help us to be a

people to serve you, give us opportunities, let

us see whether they are near or far, dear Lord.

Let us have opportunities to serve you and to

help people and to love people, and let us be

faithful to do that. I pray that you'd be with

our service this Sunday, that you would just

fill this place with people, dear Lord, that

you'd send people maybe that hadn't... come in

a while, or maybe you've never come to church

before, that they would come and that your Holy

Spirit would just speak to each one of us, dear

Lord. I pray for the music service, that you'd

bless that. I pray for the Sunday school teachers,

that you'd bless them for the time in the sermon,

that you'd just give us a good day. I pray that

you'd help us as we prepare for... our same inspiration,

and for this Easter season, dear Lord, that we

would just rejoice in you and all that you do,

dear Lord, that we would be those tonight that

would just shout joyfully to you for your goodness

and for your victory. And I ask these things

in Jesus' name. Amen.