Practically Sanctified

Psalm 72:1-14 Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness to the king’s son.
May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.
Let the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
May he vindicate the afflicted of the people, save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
Let them fear You while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon is no more.
May he also rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust.
Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
And let all kings bow down before him, all nations serve him.
For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save.
He will rescue their life from oppression and violence, and their blood will be precious in his sight…

Here is one of 2 Psalms ascribed to Solomon. Solomon the Wise, one could say, for the Bible tells the story of his God-given brain power and how there was no one else like him. People from around the known world came to hear him speak wisdom. When I first read this Psalm I was reminded of that brain power Solomon had. It sounds like it was written by an academic, from the brain, not so much from the heart like David’s Psalms. Some scholars suggest this Psalm may have been used at his coronation ceremony, and as you read you can sense that proclamation, that sense of “officialness” if you will, in the words. Within this context you see a picture of the Gospel. The king was God’s representative to the people and his reign would reflect the character of God. As we consider that, we also consider that there is a Messianic component to this Psalm, as it ultimately reflects not the earthly king’s reign, but the heavenly King’s reign. So the student of hermeneutics would parse it like this:

Verses 1-5: Justice The king was supposed to make sure all in his kingdom had what they needed. Laws were in place to protect the vulnerable, and so part of the king’s mandate was to make sure the violent and oppressors were not able to take advantage of those who were weak. Justice wasn’t about everyone having the same thing, but that everyone had enough. Jesus spoke much about justice issues as part of His kingdom. His parable about the sheep and goats was about His followers living out justice and love. And so the application for us is to be proponents of justice in our areas of influence as we live out the Kingdom of God in our lives.

Verses 6-7: Peace Here the king’s reign is to be marked by peace. The protection provided by a strong king and army is supposed to bring security and peace to the nation. There is also the sense that as God’s people, they are looked after by divine protection as well. Jesus talked about coming to Him for rest, and about peace that He gives to us. Certainly the Messiah brought peace through His sacrificial death. And so we apply this Scripture to us as agents of God’s peace. We are called to be people of peace, to offer peace, to proclaim the peace of the Gospel.

Verses 8-11: Reigning in power The king’s reign is one of power. He has absolute sway over his enemies. His kingdom is broad – all the land. So God’s kingdom is without threat for He is absolute. We have the confidence of following Jesus knowing He is in control. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He is Sovereign.

Verses 12-15: Compassion Here we see the king saving the needy, dealing with poverty, being their advocate and hero. The Messiah came to seek and save those who were lost, to help those in spiritual poverty. We are called to a ministry to the down and out, to helping the least of our brethren.

Verses 16-17: Prosperity There is a blessing pronounced for the king that is reflective of the success of the kingdom and the blessing of God. Indeed, the Kingdom of God is about spiritual prosperity, of eternal life and relationship with the Creator of the ends of the earth. You have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

Verses 18-20: Benediction and closure We end with praises to God. He is our source, our focus. And we could leave this Psalm at that, for this is good hermeneutics. We see what these characteristics meant for the writer in that day, and how the Psalmist looked to God as the ultimate king. We then understand the Psalm in a Messianic vein. These are characteristics of the Gospel, of the reign of Jesus, of the Kingdom of God which Jesus preached while here on earth. We could leave it at that, but let us also take a cautionary note from this Psalm, a note that talks of the reality of sin and the pursuit of holiness, of Christ-likeness. Holiness, as we have talked about it before, is also called perfect love. What holiness looks like is love in all we think, say, and do. It is that work that God is doing within us in those 3 areas through the Holy Spirit as we surrender our lives to Him. Integrity is that work being evident in those three areas of our life. When our speech lines up with our actions and our true motivations in pursuing God, we are people of integrity, people of holiness.

Solomon, son of David, the great king of Israel and slayer of Goliath. The man who could ask anything of God and chose wisdom, thus ensuring wealth and everything else he wanted. Here we have the academic, wise Solomon, saying all the right things, but when the rubber hits the road, he has fallen short. He took 300 wives and 700 concubines. As you read the book of Ecclesiastes you see his own admission of pursuing everything he could think of, from pleasure to wealth to the arts – everything under the sun. It seems as if he pursued everything, everything except God; and everything left him wanting. So, regardless of all the right words at his coronation, he didn’t have the obedience to follow through.

Today people try to fill that same God-shaped void with all the same things Solomon tried, whether it be drugs or possessions, work or leisure, pleasure or pain. Here’s the truth that Solomon missed in spite of all the right words: Surrender your life to God, to Jesus. Give it up – all up, and live for Him. Don’t give your life up to the church. Don’t give it up to a person like a leader or spouse. Don’t give your life to rules and laws, but to the Spirit of Love. Give your life totally over to jesus first and all those other things will fall into place. How do we do better than the smartest man who lived? It’s not a secret. We have a much better understanding of who God is and who we are before Him. We have the full canon of Scripture to refer to, and the Holy Spirit actively working in our lives 24/7. We understand the age old mystery which is the finished work of Jesus. Pursue Jesus with all your heart, mind, and soul, and you will succeed. A lock has tumblers cut in such a way so that only a matching key will raise the tumblers all to the right level. For integrity to be part of your life and my life, we need each of those tumblers to be raised to the right level. The key to integrity is this: our thoughts, our speech, and our words all have to be in sync with that singular pursuit of God. Let me suggest what one of the keys looks like.

First, our thoughts: Motivation. Ask the simple question “Why are you doing what you’re doing?” How much does God play in your decisions and activities? Remember Solomon, we can be saying and doing the right things, but that doesn’t please God unless your heart is after God. You and I need the ongoing work of the Spirit in our lives, leading and guiding us. In the fall of 1981 I was going to the University of Waterloo, enrolled in a math program with a Chartered Accountant option. I was part of a Christian group that met weekly and I remember one of the challenges we were given about doing daily devotions. The question was were we doing it out of devotion to God, or because it was something we were just supposed to be doing? The motivation behind it makes all the difference in the world. Live life, and pursue the calling God has for you, and surrender your will, your motivations to God.

The second area is our words. Ask the question “Is this conversation honouring Jesus?” We are good at saying the right things just like Solomon, but do we recognize when our words turn from being zealous for God to just “beaking” about stuff, or worse, gossiping about people and situations. This is the year of jubilee for our church and in our history there have been issues with words and people taking sides – but that is not who we are today. We have worked hard at being the body of Jesus, of bearing one another’s burdens rather than being one another’s burden. The New Testament spends a huge amount of time talking about the danger of the tongue. It lists gossipers in the same list as murderers and haters of God. Surrender your speech, your conversations to God, and commit to using your words to build people up, to give all praise to God.

The last area is our actions. Ask the question, “I can do anything for God – what will it be?” Preachers always talk about doing this or that, and not doing that or this. Take a step back and consider that probably the biggest error people make in life is to not act at all. People disengage because it is easier, it’s safer. We get tired. We feel our wounds. We feel our age. Sometimes Satan even stops trying to trouble us so we get lulled into inaction. But here we are celebrating our 80th birthday as a church in 2 months and God has declared renewed freedom for us. What are you going to do with your freedom? What has God been speaking to you about?

Philippians 4:4-13 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Exodus 20:12 “honour your father and mother…” Respect for position, place of trust
John 19:9 Honor is inherent to each of us for we are made in the image of Christ- we can give it up!
Matthew 13:57 Honorable jobs – prophet
Romans 9:21 Compares something made for honorable use rather than just common use – think of the items found in the Old Testament temple made of gold.

Honor: The man of honour is the man whose word is true. Psalm 15:1, 2 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.”  The challenge is to not just know the right stuff, but to apply it. Integrity of words and life are the foundation of our testimony, our witness. If people around us are to see Jesus in us, our word must be true. This is honor.

The narrator had a choice. We need to find our own way, and often the common road or easy road is a cop-out. If this metaphor speaks to destination I would have chosen a different metaphor myself, because I like driving down easy roads. I just want to get to where I am going. Give me the 4 lane highway rather than the slower 2 lane country road, especially the gravel ones. I avoid roads that are difficult to travel on, yet we often miss interesting things that are only on the back roads. On the other hand, when this metaphor speaks to the journey it is better understood. The road to honor is less traveled and rough. Who wants to go down the hard road? But the destination is not the same. Integrity takes time and sacrifice. It is going to cost you in many different ways. The road to common compromise is wide and easy, and most people follow the crowd.

Honor is the higher calling. For the 15 year old hockey player it is the call of Junior A and the NHL – to reach that dream career of professional hockey. For the author it might be writing that bestselling novel, or the literary work that will stand the test of time. It takes effort and discipline, time, and more. I was talking to one father this past week whose 15 year old son has a shot at the big leagues. He gets invited to the next level up, most of the others being 16 and 17 year olds. One of the boys takes the initiative and says to the group, what’s your name, your age and something about yourself. Half the boys say they like to party. Drinking and smoking dope is common place for these guys. But this young man wants to move on. He keeps his body clean and works hard at his game instead. He knows that to have that one in a million chance he has to pay the price, take the road less traveled. He also declared in front of his peers that he is a Christian. I look forward to seeing how God will use that young guy.

So it is with you and I as followers of Jesus. We aspire to be men and women of God – to be all we can be, to reach our potential for which we were created. Are we willing to pay the price? Honor is about respect, respect because of integrity, and when we are called to be honorable, or set apart from the common we are pursuing a sense of the divine calling. It has been suggested that honor is being true to your word. He is an honorable man because he says something and does it. For the child of God, for the man of God, we make a public confession to following Jesus Christ. We get baptized because we want people to know that this is where we make our stand. This faith is who I am. So often the complaint of the non Christian is that what that Christian says in church isn’t translated into what they see in his life. He is no different from the next guy. How many people have been hurt by someone else in the church? This disconnect between the image of our faith and reality of our life is what honor speaks to. So what does Honor look like? There are 3 arenas of life where we live. There is the private place of our thoughts and attitudes, of our opinions and intellect. The second is our speech, the words that proceed out of our mouth. The third arena we live out our life in is our actions – the places we go, the things we put our hands to. What would honor look like in each of these arenas?

Honorable thoughts
Philippians 4:8 “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” How organized are you? If you look at my bookshelves I like to organize books by height. It makes it easier to put loose papers on top of the books, but that is another story. I also like to put like things side by side. I have all my woodworking magazines in one spot, genealogy books in another, and so on. It helps to group like things together. Look at this list in Philippians and see what honorable thoughts are grouped with: Truth, right things, purity, lovely things, and integrity – anything worthy of praise or anything of excellence. That is pretty good company! We tend to speak and act out of who we are. Where we spend time with our head and mind is going to reflect in our words and actions. It is also in the mind that we form our opinions and allow the filters of life to develop.
As we go through life many things cross our path. King David was looking out of his palace and saw a beautiful woman. He allowed that to draw him away. Joseph, on the other hand, ran as fast as he could in the other direction when confronted with the same thing. We have a choice on what we will focus on. Where are your boundaries? I try set mine well in from the danger zones, while others foolishly see how close they can get to the fire. They end up getting burned. I recognize my humanness, my fallen-ness. Victory as a child of God is not running around crazy in our liberty in Christ, but recognizing that we live within grace.
So what will you let your mind dwell on? Be proactive. Grab some good books, listen to uplifting music, and let the Word of God seep into you through reading and memorizing and meditating on it. Many men can tell you the stats of their favorite hockey team, or who has signed or not signed back with the rough riders. But who can quote 1 Corinthians 10:13, Psalm 119:11 or Matthew 22:37?

Honorable Words
Proverbs 25:11 “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances.” There are some things I wish I was, but I “ain’t”. I wish I was quicker with my wit. I am one of those guys that an opportunity presents itself, there’s a pause, then it is gone and THEN I come up with the funny or the tidbit of wisdom. Maybe that’s why I like preaching – I can have it all thought out beforehand. There have also been times when I was as surprised as the next guy by what came out of my mouth. We all know, though, when we are the recipients of that word in the right circumstance. It doesn’t have to be long or eloquent. Sometimes it is as simple as, “I will pray for you.” Just make sure you do pray. Maybe a simple “I missed you!”
Our words can be used for great good or great harm. When we thoughtfully respond to somebody out of the honesty of our heart, we can’t do it wrong. Someone asks us about Jesus. We try to think about what is important, but we get flustered and feel like we failed. As long as we just respond out of what God has done for us He will use us. God looks at the heart, so don’t not say anything just because you feel inadequate. Just be real and let God do the rest. He promised He would if our words come out of who we are in him.

Honorable Acts
Have you ever met someone who said one thing but did another? This is where that metaphor of the two roads come in. A lot of people talk about that road less travelled. They have the right words and know the right people and read the right books, but when the rubber hits the road, they are not at all where they thought or said they were. Honor is about integrity, and we have precious little people of integrity. Another fallen pastor after 30 years of marriage. Another person leaving a church because someone abused them spiritually, or just because they got upset about a paint color. A guy pursuing the pastorate as well as a promiscuous  lifestyle. A church elder abusing his daughters. There is a lot of talk from a lot of people, but when you take away all the layers you see truth in how you treat and relate to others. Men – how do you treat women? Are you honorable in how you relate, or do you take advantage of them at vulnerable times. If we don’t have honor among the men of our church, where else will we find it? Honor is not passive, it is active. What are you doing to lift our sisters in Christ up?
Justice and ministry to the single ladies and orphans top lists in the Old and New Testaments. How are we doing today with integrity, with acting honorably? Does our life live up to our words?