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The King’s Advent and His Unstoppable Decree (Psalm 2) · Prodigal Hope

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SPEAKER_00: So this year,
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SPEAKER_00: instead of sort of retreading or rehashing Luke 2 or Matthew 1,
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SPEAKER_00: and even though we're going to reference those perhaps a lot,
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SPEAKER_00: what I want to do is sort of show you how specifically the Psalms,
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and so we're going to look at three in particular over the next
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three weeks,
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SPEAKER_00: how the Psalms,
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SPEAKER_00: they give us words.
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SPEAKER_00: They give us,
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SPEAKER_00: we could say,
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a language that helps us to wait on the king's arrival with
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confidence and with
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SPEAKER_00: certainty.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think this is very fitting.
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Because the Psalms,
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of course,
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are a book that you perhaps run to quite often.
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SPEAKER_00: If anyone is often asked what their favorite book of the Bible is,
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SPEAKER_00: Psalms is probably in the top three.
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SPEAKER_00: We run to it.
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SPEAKER_00: We love reading the Psalms.
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We love cherishing and studying and perhaps even praying and
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singing the Psalms.
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SPEAKER_00: They are filled with words that have language that speaks to all kinds of
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SPEAKER_00: situations and problems and predicaments.
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SPEAKER_00: If you are facing a crisis,
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I can very well perhaps guarantee that the Psalms will give you
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a language in order
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SPEAKER_00: to cope with that,
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SPEAKER_00: in order to try and make sense of that.
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And indeed,
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the full spectrum of human emotion is often on display
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throughout the Psalms.
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SPEAKER_00: It's sort of a staple of these songs.
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SPEAKER_00: As David or Asaph or whoever the psalmist might have been,
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SPEAKER_00: whoever was writing them,
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SPEAKER_00: what do we see?
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SPEAKER_00: What's happening?
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SPEAKER_00: Well, they're wrestling.
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They're wrestling with what they're going through in light of
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what God's word has
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SPEAKER_00: told them,
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SPEAKER_00: in light of what God's word has promised to them.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think this is perhaps more than anything,
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SPEAKER_00: maybe not more than anything else,
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SPEAKER_00: but I think this is mostly what makes it true for us to be believers,
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SPEAKER_00: to be Christians,
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SPEAKER_00: to be those who have faith in God.
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SPEAKER_00: It's coming to grips with this tension that we live in.
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SPEAKER_00: This is what I'm experiencing.
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SPEAKER_00: But this is what God's word tells me is true.
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SPEAKER_00: And sometimes those things don't match up.
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SPEAKER_00: Sometimes those things are very different.
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SPEAKER_00: They're very distinct.
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SPEAKER_00: They're poles apart.
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SPEAKER_00: What we're going through doesn't feel like what God promised us.
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SPEAKER_00: How do we make sense of that?
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SPEAKER_00: Can we even make sense of that?
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SPEAKER_00: This is not just something that you and I face.
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SPEAKER_00: This,
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SPEAKER_00: I think,
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SPEAKER_00: is a very human condition,
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trying to make sense of what we're going through in light of
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what God's Word tells
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SPEAKER_00: us.
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SPEAKER_00: So it's no surprise that in the most human book of all, the Psalms,
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That this language of the Psalms is carried forward by those
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who were there at
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus' first advent when he was born.
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SPEAKER_00: You'll find language from the Psalms all over the place.
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SPEAKER_00: And there's no better example of that, by the way.
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SPEAKER_00: Turn with me to Luke chapter 1.
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There's no better example of finding the Psalms speaking and
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being used as sort of
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SPEAKER_00: this language by those who were there.
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SPEAKER_00: There's no better example...
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than what is often recalled or called the Magnificat,
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which is Mary's song.
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SPEAKER_00: You'll find it in Luke chapter 1.
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SPEAKER_00: I just want to read it so you get it into your minds.
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Because throughout this song,
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it begins in verse 46,
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it runs through verse 55.
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Throughout,
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she's going to use words and phrases and images that you can go
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all over.
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SPEAKER_00: You'll find them all throughout the Psalms, the Psalter.
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SPEAKER_00: And she's using these words,
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SPEAKER_00: images,
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SPEAKER_00: and phrases to sort of express her faith and her longing,
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SPEAKER_00: as she says,
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SPEAKER_00: for the deliverance of God,
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SPEAKER_00: her Savior.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what she says.
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SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 46.
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SPEAKER_00: And Mary said...
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SPEAKER_00: My soul magnifies the Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
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SPEAKER_00: For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
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SPEAKER_00: For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
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SPEAKER_00: For he who is mighty has done great things for me.
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SPEAKER_00: And holy is his name.
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SPEAKER_00: And his mercy is for those who fear him.
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SPEAKER_00: From generation to generation.
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SPEAKER_00: He has shown strength with his arm.
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SPEAKER_00: He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
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He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted
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those of humble estate.
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He has filled the hungry with food,
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with good things,
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and the rich he has sent away empty.
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He has held his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as
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he spoke to our
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SPEAKER_00: fathers,
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SPEAKER_00: to Abraham and to his offspring forever.
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SPEAKER_00: You kind of get the picture, right?
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SPEAKER_00: That as Mary is singing this song,
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SPEAKER_00: she is sort of coming to grips with the weightiness and the,
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SPEAKER_00: we could even say the audacity of what she's just been told.
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SPEAKER_00: Go a few verses up.
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SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 32.
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SPEAKER_00: This, of course, is the announcement of Gabriel to her.
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SPEAKER_00: And what does the angel Gabriel tell her?
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Well,
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he says,
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he,
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meaning the child that you're carrying,
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Mary,
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he will be great.
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SPEAKER_00: And he will be called the son of the most high.
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SPEAKER_00: And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.
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SPEAKER_00: And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
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SPEAKER_00: And of his kingdom there will be no end.
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SPEAKER_00: Now we are probably really familiar with all these elements.
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SPEAKER_00: All these little ingredients of this story.
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SPEAKER_00: But remove for a second your Christmas tinted glasses.
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SPEAKER_00: Just put them down.
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SPEAKER_00: We cherish these words of Mary.
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SPEAKER_00: And rightly so.
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SPEAKER_00: But I think we have to see,
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SPEAKER_00: especially the words of Gabriel here,
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SPEAKER_00: they're not just sort of cute little quaint little words.
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SPEAKER_00: This is a shot across the bow.
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This,
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indeed,
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this announcement of Gabriel is,
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we could say,
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a heavenly broadside.
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SPEAKER_00: Because again, remember the times in which Mary lived.
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SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 5 of Luke 1.
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SPEAKER_00: Look at the very, all you need to read is the first phrase.
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SPEAKER_00: In the days of Herod, king of Judea.
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SPEAKER_00: If you want to sort of get a glimpse,
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if you want to sort of pull back the curtain on what was going
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on in the times in
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SPEAKER_00: which Mary sang this song,
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SPEAKER_00: here's your phrase.
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Here is the way in which you can understand what the
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circumstances were like.
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SPEAKER_00: Luke, the author of this gospel, he didn't need to elaborate.
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He didn't need to go into all of these footnotes or all of
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these extended details.
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SPEAKER_00: This meager description alone would do all of the talking for him.
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SPEAKER_00: Because, of course, you see,
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The era of the Herods was a dark and very unsettling and very
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uneasy era.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's really putting it very, very mildly.
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SPEAKER_00: In these days,
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SPEAKER_00: of course,
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SPEAKER_00: the Jews,
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SPEAKER_00: as you might know,
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SPEAKER_00: they were living under the thumb of Rome,
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SPEAKER_00: specifically under the long shadow that was cast by Caesar Augustus,
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SPEAKER_00: who was ruling from Rome.
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And under him was Herod the Great,
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who was ruling as sort of a puppet king over Judea.
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SPEAKER_00: And his reign,
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SPEAKER_00: Herod the Great's reign,
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SPEAKER_00: was marked by all kinds of nasty ingredients,
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SPEAKER_00: political ambition,
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SPEAKER_00: just wanton passion,
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SPEAKER_00: and this paranoid self-interest that everyone was a threat to his throne.
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SPEAKER_00: Which we could just say is...
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SPEAKER_00: Although we might,
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we right now in 2025 might wince whenever we think about the
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current political
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SPEAKER_00: landscape in our country.
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SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really compare to what Mary's political landscape was like.
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SPEAKER_00: The instability of it, the volatility of it.
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SPEAKER_00: It was defining those days.
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SPEAKER_00: So now go take all of that.
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SPEAKER_00: Gabriel's message indeed is a volley straight from heaven.
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The baby Mary that you're carrying,
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the little embryo that's still growing inside of your womb.
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SPEAKER_00: Not only is he the son of the Most High, he's the son of David.
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SPEAKER_00: He would be king forever.
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SPEAKER_00: And his kingdom would have no end.
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SPEAKER_00: It would never come to a ceasing point.
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SPEAKER_00: It would never come to a halt.
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SPEAKER_00: And this isn't just the stuff of Christmas legend.
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SPEAKER_00: This is the announcement from heaven.
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SPEAKER_00: That's heralding the truth that now,
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SPEAKER_00: right now in your midst,
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SPEAKER_00: Mary,
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SPEAKER_00: a light is about to shine in the darkness,
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SPEAKER_00: as the prophet Isaiah says.
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SPEAKER_00: A king is about to enter into the world who is going to rule,
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SPEAKER_00: as Isaiah says,
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SPEAKER_00: with righteousness and with justice forever.
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SPEAKER_00: In other words,
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this angelic announcement that Mary is pregnant isn't just a
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sentimental saying
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SPEAKER_00: reserved for Hallmark cards.
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SPEAKER_00: Or some sort of nativity scene background.
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SPEAKER_00: Actually rather,
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SPEAKER_00: if you really want to get into the nitty gritty of it,
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SPEAKER_00: it's a very politically,
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SPEAKER_00: eschatologically,
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SPEAKER_00: and theologically charged declaration.
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That there is a God up in heaven who is sovereign over
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everything that transpires down on earth.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what he's announcing.
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SPEAKER_00: And even in that moment, this was true.
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SPEAKER_00: Because things were about to change for Mary.
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SPEAKER_00: We kind of know that.
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SPEAKER_00: Things are about to drastically change for poor little Mary,
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let alone things we're about to change for the world in ways
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that are just seismic,
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SPEAKER_00: ways that we can't even fathom.
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SPEAKER_00: Taking all of that as our cue, Mary's song is a song of faith.
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SPEAKER_00: In light of what God's word has said,
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SPEAKER_00: in light of what God's word has promised,
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SPEAKER_00: and she's wrestling with the hostility of her days,
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SPEAKER_00: the animosity of her days,
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and all of the malice that spewed forth from Rome and from all
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of the leaders of
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SPEAKER_00: her days.
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SPEAKER_00: That was coloring all of the times in which she lived.
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SPEAKER_00: She's wrestling with the dichotomy of that.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's why she's able to say,
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SPEAKER_00: because she's wrestling with this word from the Lord,
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SPEAKER_00: soon,
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SPEAKER_00: soon,
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SPEAKER_00: what does she say?
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The proud are going to be scattered and the rich are going to
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be made empty and the
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SPEAKER_00: self-exalted,
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they are going to be brought low and soon the humble are going
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to be exalted and
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the hungry are going to be filled and mercy is going to be
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given to the helpless.
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SPEAKER_00: All the stories that Mary grew up hearing, all of the
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the promises that she heard in synagogue,
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they would be fulfilled in her lifetime.
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SPEAKER_00: And not only just in her lifetime, but in and through her person.
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SPEAKER_00: All of the darkness of those days,
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SPEAKER_00: all of the vitriol,
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SPEAKER_00: all of the violence that was just so coloring those days,
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it would be mended and it would be reconciled by the son that
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she would soon
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SPEAKER_00: deliver.
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SPEAKER_00: All of that and much, much more.
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SPEAKER_00: would be accomplished.
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SPEAKER_00: And here is the irony.
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All of that would be accomplished by the deliverer who was
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still gestating in her womb.
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SPEAKER_00: So that said,
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SPEAKER_00: although you might not think of Psalm 2 as an Advent psalm,
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the fact that Mary was pregnant with a king who had come to set
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everything right
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SPEAKER_00: leads us right to where Psalm 2 begins.
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SPEAKER_00: Again, look at Psalm 2.
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SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 1.
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SPEAKER_00: Why do the nations rage?
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SPEAKER_00: And the peoples plot in vain.
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The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take
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counsel together against
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SPEAKER_00: the Lord and against his anointed saying,
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SPEAKER_00: let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.
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SPEAKER_00: The psalmist,
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SPEAKER_00: probably David,
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SPEAKER_00: although he's not named here,
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is describing right from the outset this deep-seated rage and
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hostility that is
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SPEAKER_00: radiating from those who,
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SPEAKER_00: as he says,
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SPEAKER_00: take counsel against the Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: He's surveying.
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SPEAKER_00: The landscape,
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SPEAKER_00: and he says,
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SPEAKER_00: and he's noticing how every unregenerate king and ruler and dignitary,
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SPEAKER_00: what are they doing?
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SPEAKER_00: They're convening,
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SPEAKER_00: they're conspiring,
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SPEAKER_00: they're instigating the world to embrace rebellion,
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SPEAKER_00: to embrace this antagonism towards the Lord.
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Actively setting themselves in opposition to God and his word
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and his anointed ruler.
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SPEAKER_00: They want nothing to do with God.
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And they'll do anything that's within their grasp to resist
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God's reach,
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to resist God's truth.
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SPEAKER_00: Of course, when this psalm was originally written...
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SPEAKER_00: It was likely in the context of some sort of coronation ceremony.
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SPEAKER_00: You can sort of put in your mind's eye David being crowned king.
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SPEAKER_00: And this is sort of a psalm or whoever succeeded David.
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SPEAKER_00: That this is a psalm that would be sung during that ceremony.
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SPEAKER_00: As they were taking the throne to rule over God's people.
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Whoever wore the crown as king of Israel was often the target
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of hostility from
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SPEAKER_00: every surrounding domain.
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SPEAKER_00: Every surrounding kingdom.
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And so these words here,
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the words of the psalm,
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are sort of like a prayer.
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SPEAKER_00: A prayer written for the people of Israel, for the king himself.
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Expressing their desire that God stay true to his word and
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preserve them from all
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SPEAKER_00: of the rebellion that was raging around them.
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SPEAKER_00: Preserve them precisely by preserving their king.
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SPEAKER_00: So the psalmist's opening stanza is just that.
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SPEAKER_00: It fits that context.
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SPEAKER_00: But also in a way...
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I think very distinctly this opening stanza of the nations
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raging and the kings of
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the earth setting themselves up against the Lord is a very
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fitting description of
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SPEAKER_00: the era of the Herods.
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SPEAKER_00: Herod the Great that we've just been noticing.
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SPEAKER_00: His entire political career was mired in plotting and controversy.
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SPEAKER_00: He was a hateful, nasty, vile king.
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SPEAKER_00: And of course,
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we don't need to try and track down more evidence than what we
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already have in
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SPEAKER_00: God's word.
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SPEAKER_00: Because again, go with me in Matthew chapter 2.
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SPEAKER_00: Same Herod, same king of Judea.
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SPEAKER_00: And what does he do?
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SPEAKER_00: Matthew 2, look at verse 7.
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Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from
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them what time the
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SPEAKER_00: star had appeared.
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SPEAKER_00: And jump down to verse 12.
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SPEAKER_00: And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
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SPEAKER_00: they,
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SPEAKER_00: the wise men,
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SPEAKER_00: departed to their own country another way.
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Verse 16,
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then Herod,
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when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,
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became furious.
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SPEAKER_00: You could say that he began to rage and he sent and killed.
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All the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who
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were two years old or
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SPEAKER_00: under,
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SPEAKER_00: according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men,
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SPEAKER_00: then was fulfilled that was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.
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A voice was heard in Ramah,
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weeping in loud lamentation,
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Rachel weeping for her children.
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SPEAKER_00: She refused to be comforted because they are no more.
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SPEAKER_00: Here, what do we find?
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In Matthew 2,
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we find the raging hostility of the human heart is being put on
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blinding display.
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And it's being realized through this atrocious sort of
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realization of Herod.
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SPEAKER_00: slaughtering all the two-year-old boys in Bethlehem.
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SPEAKER_00: It's hard to fathom how dark that night was,
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SPEAKER_00: how dark this moment was,
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SPEAKER_00: as countless moms lost their toddlers in government-mandated infanticide.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what's going on.
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SPEAKER_00: It's akin to what the psalmist says.
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SPEAKER_00: The nations are raging, and the peoples are plotting in vain.
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SPEAKER_00: I can't help but wonder.
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I can't help but wonder as Matthew 2 proceeds and we find out
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that Mary and Joseph
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SPEAKER_00: and their newborn son Jesus,
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SPEAKER_00: they make way to Egypt to flee this moment.
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I can't help but wondering what Mary was thinking as she and
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her husband and her
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SPEAKER_00: newborn son as they're going to Egypt.
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SPEAKER_00: What was on her mind?
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SPEAKER_00: Again, this is two years or so after her song in Luke chapter 1.
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SPEAKER_00: It's two years on from that.
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SPEAKER_00: Does she,
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SPEAKER_00: in that moment,
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SPEAKER_00: when Herod has declared this decree,
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SPEAKER_00: all two-year-old boys,
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SPEAKER_00: they must come under the knife.
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SPEAKER_00: Does she,
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SPEAKER_00: in that moment,
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does Mary still think that God was helping Israel in
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remembrance of his mercy?
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SPEAKER_00: Did that seem like a merciful moment?
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SPEAKER_00: Was she still able to sing, my soul magnifies the Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.
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SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'll ask you, could you?
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SPEAKER_00: Could you sing that in light of what was happening,
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SPEAKER_00: in light of what was falling down all around her?
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SPEAKER_00: If Mary was found,
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SPEAKER_00: and I have no doubt that she was,
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SPEAKER_00: if she was found singing that song again,
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SPEAKER_00: I'm positive she was trembling as she sang it.
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SPEAKER_00: She was crying and weeping, her voice cracking as she sang those words.
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SPEAKER_00: And the point is that both Mary's song,
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SPEAKER_00: what she sings,
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SPEAKER_00: and also Psalm 2,
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SPEAKER_00: they are,
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SPEAKER_00: no matter what the circumstances are,
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no matter the level of your confidence or the level of your
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contradiction,
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SPEAKER_00: the level of your worry,
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SPEAKER_00: no matter whether you are feeling very certain or very doubtful,
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no matter what happens or what's going on inside the soul of
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the one singing the
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SPEAKER_00: words,
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SPEAKER_00: they're still true.
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SPEAKER_00: Psalm 2 is still true.
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SPEAKER_00: Mary's song is still true.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: The circumstances might be appalling.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: They might be dismal.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: They might be as grim as what's being described here.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: But Mary's soul still,
18:14
SPEAKER_00: yes,
18:14
SPEAKER_00: her soul could still magnify the Lord and rejoice in her God,
18:18
SPEAKER_00: even if it was a feeble rejoicing.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: And even though the nations rage,
18:24
SPEAKER_00: and kings and potentates and all of the rulers of this world,
18:27
even though they're doing everything in their power to
18:29
undermine the Lord's words,
18:31
SPEAKER_00: you and I still today,
18:32
SPEAKER_00: we can still say,
18:33
SPEAKER_00: blessed are those who take refuge in him.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: Why?
18:37
SPEAKER_00: How can we say that?
18:40
SPEAKER_00: How can we say those words?
18:43
SPEAKER_00: Well,
18:43
it's because of the seismic shift in perspective that takes
18:48
place in the next part
18:49
SPEAKER_00: of the psalm.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: Again, look at Psalm 2 and look at verse 4.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: Because we have then,
18:54
SPEAKER_00: in the first couple of verses,
18:55
SPEAKER_00: we have all of this rage,
18:56
SPEAKER_00: this hostility,
18:57
SPEAKER_00: all of this frenzy of the people and the nations on the earth.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: And then the camera shifts.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: He who sits in the heavens laughs.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: He who sits in the heavens laughs.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: The Lord holds them in derision.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly, the field of view is changed.
19:18
We're no longer focused on all of the leaders and all of the
19:21
power brokers of this
19:22
world who are sitting so high and mighty and all haughtily on
19:25
their thrones of
19:26
SPEAKER_00: whatever power that they think that they have,
19:28
SPEAKER_00: whatever power they think that they possess.
19:30
And now the field of view is changing to the one who's sitting
19:34
on the throne of heaven.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: And the contrast couldn't be more stark or striking or apparent,
19:40
SPEAKER_00: especially considering what's going on.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: What the one on the throne is doing.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Again, he's laughing.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: He who sits in the heavens laughs.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Now first,
19:56
you might read that and think it might seem maybe there's a
19:58
different word we
19:59
SPEAKER_00: should put there.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: It might seem a little bit outrageous.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Maybe even a little sacrilegious.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: To imagine God the Father laughing,
20:07
SPEAKER_00: belly laughing,
20:08
SPEAKER_00: and all the raging earthlings who are protesting his will.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: How does that make sense with what we know about God?
20:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, to clarify, of course, God's not laughing at human pain.
20:22
He's not making light of the suffering that we endure,
20:26
sufferers here on this earth.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: What is he laughing at?
20:28
SPEAKER_00: He's laughing at the audacity of it all.
20:31
He's laughing at the absurdity of humanity's pride as they sort
20:35
of raise their
20:36
SPEAKER_00: fists towards heaven as if that's enough to make God squirm.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: You know what he's laughing at?
20:41
He's laughing at all of the atheist scholars who have an
20:44
alphabet of degrees after
20:47
SPEAKER_00: their name,
20:48
SPEAKER_00: who posture and theorize that there is no God.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: You know what God's word says to that in Psalm 14?
20:54
SPEAKER_00: The fool says in his heart, there is no God.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: That's sort of what makes God giggle.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: Is that preposterous notion,
21:03
SPEAKER_00: this hubris of the human heart,
21:06
SPEAKER_00: this pride,
21:07
SPEAKER_00: this pride that creatures think that they're plotting,
21:11
SPEAKER_00: that they're raging,
21:12
that all of their policy making can unseat the one who is
21:16
sitting on heaven's
21:17
SPEAKER_00: throne and undo what he has planned.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: It's ludicrous.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: It's laughable.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: That's what God is chuckling at.
21:27
All of the commotion that's caused by humanity and its ideals
21:31
and its values and
21:33
its creeds that are so brazenly against the Lord and against
21:37
his anointed.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: What does it do?
21:38
SPEAKER_00: It accomplishes nothing.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: Not a zilch to unsettle what God has already decreed.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: I can't do that.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have any amount of power to do that.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 115.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: I'll just read it.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 115 verse 2.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: The psalmist says, why should the nation say, where is their God?
22:01
SPEAKER_00: Our God.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: Here's the response.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've heard those questions before.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: Where's your God now?
22:08
SPEAKER_00: Our God, verse 3, is in the heavens and he does all that he pleases.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: The field of view is shift from all of the commotion to the calm.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: To the resolute peace of heaven because of the one on the throne.
22:25
All of the rage of man can't do anything to affect the one
22:30
who's sitting on heaven's throne.
22:33
It's as preposterous as a teenager sort of shaking his fist at
22:37
the sunrise,
22:38
hoping that it'll stay dark so they don't have to go to school
22:41
on Monday morning.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Rage all you want is still going to come up in the morning.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: And likewise,
22:47
SPEAKER_00: no matter how loud,
22:48
SPEAKER_00: no matter how fearsome mankind gets,
22:52
no matter how loud or how fearsome humanity's rage gets and
22:56
rebellion gets,
22:59
SPEAKER_00: God can sit back on his throne and smirk.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Why?
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Because no matter what, it's his steadfast word.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: Not the deafening sound of irate human beings,
23:14
SPEAKER_00: but it's his word that governs our days,
23:18
SPEAKER_00: that settles us.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: That safeguards us.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: That guides us.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: It's his decree that controls history.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: Not the proclamations of mankind.
23:27
SPEAKER_00: Not the determinations of Capitol Hill.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: Or what human rulers decide.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: Or what world leaders decide.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: What Supreme Court justices decide.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: There is one decree that controls our days.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: And it comes from the one who is on the throne.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: The one enthroned in heaven laughs.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: Not because rebellion is humorous.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: But because it's ultimately hopeless.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: That's why it's posed as a question.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: Why do the nations rage?
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Why are they plotting in vain?
24:00
SPEAKER_00: It's a vain and it's a futile thing.
24:05
19th century British pastor,
24:07
Alexander McClare,
24:08
and I like how he says this,
24:09
that...
24:10
SPEAKER_00: That rebellion against God,
24:12
SPEAKER_00: he says,
24:12
SPEAKER_00: quote,
24:12
SPEAKER_00: is as hopeless as if the stars were to combine and abolish gravity.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: Can't be done and it never has and it never will.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: So in the middle of all this, we find this one sitting on the throne.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: And what does he do?
24:30
SPEAKER_00: Well, he begins speaking in the middle of this rage.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: And what does he decree?
24:35
SPEAKER_00: What is the decree of the one on the throne?
24:38
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 6.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: I will tell of the decree.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: The Lord said to me, you are my son.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: Today I have begotten you.
24:52
Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the
24:54
ends of the earth your possession.
24:56
You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces
25:00
like a potter's vessel.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: The Lord's response to all of the hate,
25:04
all of the fury that is raging within humankind is the reminder
25:09
that he has already
25:10
SPEAKER_00: installed a king.
25:10
He already is a king on the throne and he's ruling over the
25:14
nations,
25:15
all of them.
25:17
This king's jurisdiction,
25:18
it reaches,
25:19
as the psalmist says,
25:20
to the ends of the earth.
25:22
His dominion stretches over the furthest extent of all of the
25:26
created order.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: All of it is his.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: It belongs to him.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: It's his possession.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: It's his heritage.
25:34
SPEAKER_00: In other words...
25:36
SPEAKER_00: God is responding to all of humanity's plotting,
25:40
SPEAKER_00: all of his conniving,
25:41
SPEAKER_00: all of his policy making,
25:42
SPEAKER_00: all of his rebelling,
25:44
SPEAKER_00: all of his sort of legislation that he's pushing through.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: How is he responding?
25:48
SPEAKER_00: By establishing his kingdom, the kingdom of heaven anyway.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: They might rage.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: Nations might rage.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: Kings might be infurious.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: But they can't ultimately resist the coming of the king of glory.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: They have no power to do that.
26:07
the king of glory his might when he comes it's going as it says
26:10
there it's going to
26:11
shatter all of the notions of power that we have put up for
26:15
ourselves it's going to
26:16
shatter all of those positions that we love to claim for
26:20
ourselves into tiny little
26:21
shards and this is heaven's decree it's the word that controls
26:26
the entire course of
26:27
human history and of course in the truest sense this psalm is a
26:32
prophecy it's not
26:33
SPEAKER_00: just about david whoever was in the line of kings
26:37
SPEAKER_00: Because Israel's domain wasn't sort of this,
26:41
SPEAKER_00: the demand on Israel's kings wasn't going out and conquering nations.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: They weren't conquerors.
26:46
But that's why this psalm is a prophecy,
26:48
especially because it's considering verse 7.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: Again, look at what it says.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: I will tell the decree.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: The Lord said to me, you are my son.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: It's an echo,
26:58
SPEAKER_00: a purposeful echo of what God said to King David in 2 Samuel 7,
27:04
where he tells David of a promise that there is going to be a
27:07
son in your line who
27:09
SPEAKER_00: is going to sit on your throne forever.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be no end to his dominion.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: And of course, that can't just be Solomon.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: It can't be any of the other kings of David.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: There's only one who fits that bill.
27:25
Which is why,
27:25
of course,
27:26
these words aren't just isolated here in Psalm 2.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: These same words are spoken over Jesus at his baptism.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: Where from out of the heavens, the voice declares, you, this is my son.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: It's the same words that are declared at Jesus' transfiguration.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: When he goes up to the mount with Peter, James, and John.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: And what occurs?
27:48
SPEAKER_00: A voice speaks from heaven, this is my son.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: You see,
27:53
the anointed king that is promised in Psalm 2 is none other
28:00
than the son of David,
28:01
SPEAKER_00: the true son of God,
28:03
SPEAKER_00: the true heir,
28:04
SPEAKER_00: the true and promised Messiah,
28:07
SPEAKER_00: Christ the Lord.
28:08
SPEAKER_00: He is the one to whom all of heaven and earth belongs.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: And so it's not just a prophecy.
28:15
It's not just a word that looks forward to what Jesus would
28:19
come and fulfill.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: For us here this morning, Psalm 2 is a promise.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: It's a promise of what God the Father would do through his son.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: Again, what is he going to do?
28:32
All of the Arians and the pride of kings and nations and
28:37
presidents is going to be
28:38
SPEAKER_00: dashed into pieces.
28:42
And Mary's song echoes the same promise when she sings of how
28:46
the Lord is going to
28:47
SPEAKER_00: scatter the proud and bring down the mighty from their thrones.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: That's what she said.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: This is God's promise to his people.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: There's coming a king to bring all of this about.
29:00
And what's so surprising and what's so compelling about this
29:04
decree of God is that
29:06
SPEAKER_00: the one who was foretold,
29:07
SPEAKER_00: the one who was promised to take the world by force,
29:11
This king of glory who's going to come and enter in and
29:14
establish a kingdom of
29:16
SPEAKER_00: heaven on earth,
29:17
SPEAKER_00: no matter how fiercely humans rebel against it.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: How does that announcement begin?
29:24
SPEAKER_00: It begins with a weeping, wailing infant in a feeding trough for a bed.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: That's what is so alarming about Psalm 2 and Mary's song.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: And as we continue through the Christmas story,
29:40
SPEAKER_00: that the very one in that manger is this king,
29:45
SPEAKER_00: this anointed one,
29:46
who is coming to settle and bring all things about exactly as
29:49
God purposed.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: It's almost as if the word of God is telling us, Behold your king!
29:56
SPEAKER_00: Crying and nursing and weak and utterly dependent upon his mom.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: Stunning, isn't it?
30:07
SPEAKER_00: That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown, as they would say.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: It's Christmas in a nutshell, right?
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Right there.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: Herod's raging.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: He's trying to get rid of any threat to his throne.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: Rome is raging.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: The nations are raging.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: And how does God answer all of that rage?
30:24
SPEAKER_00: By sending his only son, the king, as a newborn and swaddling clothes.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: You can almost hear God laughing again.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: You can almost hear him sort of smiling.
30:40
Because rebels imagine that they can prevent God's kingdom from
30:45
coming into this
30:46
SPEAKER_00: world,
30:46
SPEAKER_00: from breaking in on this domain,
30:48
SPEAKER_00: domain that they think that they have conquered,
30:50
SPEAKER_00: that they have control of.
30:51
But God responds to all of that by making his kingdom break in
30:56
through the birth of
30:57
SPEAKER_00: a baby in a makeshift cradle to two peasant parents.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: All of this is according just as God promised.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: It's unfolding just as he decreed.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: This is what settles us.
31:13
Herod's failure to snuff out baby Jesus and Matthew 2 is just
31:19
the first glimmer,
31:20
SPEAKER_00: the first taste that what God has decreed is unstoppable.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: You can't resist it.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: Because, of course, as we learn from 1 Corinthians 15...
31:30
SPEAKER_00: It prophesies,
31:31
SPEAKER_00: it tells us that all of Jesus' enemies,
31:34
SPEAKER_00: every single one of them,
31:35
SPEAKER_00: including death,
31:36
SPEAKER_00: it says.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: The last enemy to be conquered is death itself.
31:40
1 Corinthians 15 tells us that all of Jesus' enemies are made
31:45
his footstool.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: He props his feet up on every opposer of what he has come to do.
31:53
Of every single person and spirit and being and whoever resists
31:59
his word and will.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: He cannot be thwarted.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: He cannot be unseated.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: Christ's kingdom is coming.
32:09
And there's nothing that any government or any king or any
32:12
movement or any nation
32:13
SPEAKER_00: or any ideology can ever do to either speed it up or slow it down.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: And that's the word that settles us.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: That's the perspective that brings us peace.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: It's a perspective that comes from this promise.
32:34
That's why this psalmist here in Psalm 2 is shifting our gaze
32:37
from all of the
32:38
SPEAKER_00: pandemonium,
32:39
SPEAKER_00: all of the chaos,
32:40
SPEAKER_00: all of the craziness of here on this earth.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: And he's shifting our eyes to the call of heaven.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: This is the perspective that I love what one of these writers says.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: His name is Dale Ralph Davis.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: And he says,
32:56
this is the perspective that should color the way you look at
32:59
politics and world
33:00
SPEAKER_00: conditions.
33:01
You may not know what to make of them,
33:03
but you know where history is headed.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: Where is it headed?
33:07
SPEAKER_00: Towards a king.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: And not just a king, but towards the king of glory.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: Ruling and reigning.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: This is the perspective that we so desperately need, I think.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: And this is the perspective that I think Advent gives us.
33:22
What this time of year is meant to engender in us and invites
33:26
us to pause for a moment.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: To look above all of the fray,
33:30
SPEAKER_00: above all of the breaking news,
33:31
above all of the commotion of corporations and highly
33:34
influential individuals and
33:36
SPEAKER_00: all of the anxiety-inducing speeches of politicians.
33:39
And it invites us to look to the one who sits on heaven's
33:43
throne as ruler over everything.
33:47
Who in his sovereign wisdom and divine grace saw fit to break
33:53
into this world as a
33:55
SPEAKER_00: baby in a manger.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: And that's what leads us exactly to the psalm's final movement.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: If you go back to Psalm 2, look at verse 10.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: Again,
34:07
the psalmist is addressing the kings that were raging against
34:10
the anointed one in
34:12
SPEAKER_00: verses 1 and 2.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: He's addressing them again.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: Now therefore, kings, be wise.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: Be warned, O rulers of the earth.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: Kiss the son.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: Lest he be angry and you perish in the way.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: For his wrath is quickly kindled.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
34:35
SPEAKER_00: To one and all.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: Whether you're ruler or whether you're ordinary Joe.
34:41
SPEAKER_00: If your heart is raging against God's words and wills and ways.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: This is the word that is spoken to you.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: Kiss the son.
34:51
SPEAKER_00: This isn't just an act of affection.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: This is an act.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: This is a demonstration of submission.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: Of surrender.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: It's an act of fealty.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Of faith.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: And dependence.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, every other competing allegiance is falling away.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: It's dissipating.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: It's dripping away.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: And every other fear is being swallowed up by the fear of the Lord.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: Because you don't have any power anyways.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: You don't have anything that you can stand on anyways.
35:24
SPEAKER_00: So kiss the sun.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: Put your faith in the one who is seated on the throne.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: This is what the psalm is meant to engender in us, the church.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: And honestly,
35:38
I think this right here precisely is where I think Acts chapter
35:43
4 becomes so
35:43
SPEAKER_00: crucial.
35:44
Go with me really quick to Acts chapter 4 and then we'll be
35:47
done in just a moment.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 4,
35:49
SPEAKER_00: we've preached on this before,
35:51
but it's so compelling to see the reaction of the church in
35:56
this particular moment.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: Especially considering what they decide to pray.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: What are they singing about?
36:01
The order of service for this particular gathering of this
36:04
church in Acts chapter 4.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: What was on the order of service?
36:08
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's look.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: If you remember, Peter and John had been threatened.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: In the previous chapter,
36:15
SPEAKER_00: not to rehash all of this,
36:16
SPEAKER_00: they had healed a man,
36:18
SPEAKER_00: and then they had preached the gospel,
36:19
SPEAKER_00: and then they were threatened,
36:20
SPEAKER_00: and they were put in prison,
36:22
SPEAKER_00: and they were being pressured to stay silent,
36:24
SPEAKER_00: and all of the power brokers,
36:25
SPEAKER_00: all of the leaders of their day were sort of increasing the intensity.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: Hey, stay silent.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: Stop preaching Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And of course, they weren't going to do that.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: They didn't listen.
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SPEAKER_00: And instead...
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SPEAKER_00: They ended up getting out and they went and gathered.
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SPEAKER_00: They had a church service at the end of chapter 4.
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SPEAKER_00: And what's on the docket?
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SPEAKER_00: What's on the order of service?
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SPEAKER_00: None other than Psalm 2.
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SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 23.
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SPEAKER_00: When they were released,
36:53
they went to their friends and they reported what the chief
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priests and the elders,
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SPEAKER_00: these chief priests and elders,
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SPEAKER_00: the kings who were raging against them,
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SPEAKER_00: had said.
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And when they heard it,
37:04
they lifted up their voices together to God and said,
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SPEAKER_00: Sovereign Lord,
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SPEAKER_00: who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in him,
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SPEAKER_00: who through the mouth of our father David,
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SPEAKER_00: your servant,
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SPEAKER_00: said by the Holy Spirit,
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SPEAKER_00: why did the Gentiles rage?
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SPEAKER_00: And the people's plot in vain.
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The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were
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gathered together against
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SPEAKER_00: the Lord and against his anointed.
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SPEAKER_00: They're quoting Psalm 2 to make sense of their moment.
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SPEAKER_00: To make sense of what was happening.
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They didn't just see Psalm 2 as this quaint historical poem
37:40
that you pull out every
37:42
SPEAKER_00: once in a while on certain occasions.
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SPEAKER_00: No.
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SPEAKER_00: What did they say?
37:45
SPEAKER_00: They saw it as God's abiding commentary.
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SPEAKER_00: His word.
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SPEAKER_00: His promise.
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SPEAKER_00: That allowed them to make sense of their circumstances.
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SPEAKER_00: Allowed them to see that Herod and Pilate and all of the rest.
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SPEAKER_00: They're just a
38:04
A number of actors who are reenacting the rage of Psalm 2 all
38:08
over again.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 27.
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SPEAKER_00: Kings are raging.
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SPEAKER_00: They're plotting.
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SPEAKER_00: They're conniving.
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SPEAKER_00: And yet what is going forth anyways?
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SPEAKER_00: The decree of God.
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SPEAKER_00: The decree of the one who's sitting on the throne in the church.
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SPEAKER_00: Even in this moment.
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SPEAKER_00: The very first taste of persecution and hardship.
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SPEAKER_00: They're praying these words.
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SPEAKER_00: To remind them.
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SPEAKER_00: What was their response supposed to be?
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SPEAKER_00: How are we to respond to this type of moment?
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SPEAKER_00: Panic.
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SPEAKER_00: Fear.
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SPEAKER_00: Hand wringing where your knuckles start turning white.
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SPEAKER_00: What are we going to do?
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SPEAKER_00: No, they responded with what?
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SPEAKER_00: With boldness.
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Boldness that came from having a perspective that was informed
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by the decrees,
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SPEAKER_00: by the words of God alone.
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SPEAKER_00: Verse 29, what do they say?
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SPEAKER_00: And now, Lord, this is their prayer.
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SPEAKER_00: Now,
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SPEAKER_00: Lord,
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SPEAKER_00: look upon their threats,
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SPEAKER_00: the threats of these kings who are raging,
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SPEAKER_00: these rulers who are conniving and plotting.
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SPEAKER_00: Look upon them.
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Look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue
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to speak your word
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SPEAKER_00: with all boldness.
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While you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders
39:44
are performed through
39:45
SPEAKER_00: the name of your holy servant,
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: While you stretch out your hand,
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SPEAKER_00: we can succinctly say,
39:50
SPEAKER_00: while you stretch out your hand to bring in your kingdom anyway,
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SPEAKER_00: despite what they want,
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SPEAKER_00: despite what the heathen want,
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SPEAKER_00: despite what the kings want,
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SPEAKER_00: despite what the rulers and the leaders want to promote.
40:02
SPEAKER_00: Do it anyway, God.
40:04
Do it through your word,
40:06
through the proclamation of your holy servant Jesus.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: And it says,
40:10
SPEAKER_00: and when they had prayed,
40:11
SPEAKER_00: the pit lace in which they were gathered together was shaken.
40:14
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to
40:17
speak the word of
40:18
SPEAKER_00: God with all boldness.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: What was holding them firm?
40:25
SPEAKER_00: It was the word.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: That still abides is the promise that's still true.
40:32
SPEAKER_00: And my friends,
40:32
I would say that the church in Acts chapter 4 understood
40:35
something that I think the
40:36
SPEAKER_00: church in 2025 desperately needs to recover.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to search very hard to figure this out.
40:45
SPEAKER_00: We live in an age of fear-driven headlines.
40:49
SPEAKER_00: Our culture seems to be just in a state of upheaval.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: Our values are deteriorating.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: Our morals are going down the tubes.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: Everyone is becoming polarized.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you don't agree with me, I can't be your friend anymore.
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SPEAKER_00: We separate and we seemingly are driving each other apart.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: We're driving each other crazy, let alone that.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: A seemingly endless appetite has taken hold of us for political hysteria.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: Our times are dark.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: At least that's how it feels.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: And maybe I'm just describing my own thoughts.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you don't agree with me.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: But how should the church respond to all of that?
41:27
SPEAKER_00: How should we respond to all of that?
41:30
SPEAKER_00: As you scroll Facebook and you see what's going on in the world.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: Well, how did Mary respond?
41:37
SPEAKER_00: My soul magnifies the Lord.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: And my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: And what he's doing in me.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: How did the early church respond?
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They understood that their future wasn't determined by the rage
41:58
of kings and
41:59
SPEAKER_00: nations,
41:59
SPEAKER_00: no matter how much it might have terrified them.
42:01
Their future was determined and settled by the word of Christ,
42:05
and that's why they prayed it.
42:10
They understood that no amount of opposition can silence the
42:13
gospel of God.
42:13
SPEAKER_00: They can only advance it.
42:15
SPEAKER_00: And they understood that kings and rulers and potentates and politicians,
42:18
SPEAKER_00: they can issue all the decrees that they want.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: There's only one decree that governs all of history and all of eternity.
42:24
SPEAKER_00: It is the decree that says, I have set my king on Zion.
42:28
SPEAKER_00: In other words,
42:28
SPEAKER_00: what we as the church need right now isn't more fear,
42:32
SPEAKER_00: isn't more outrage,
42:33
but the settled and steady assurance that there's a God who is
42:37
laughing in heaven
42:38
SPEAKER_00: because he's still reigning.
42:40
SPEAKER_00: That there is a son who is king because he still rules.
42:43
And that the kingdom that he promised is still advancing right
42:48
in our very midst.
42:50
SPEAKER_00: Even though it might be surrounded by weakness and suffering.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: It's always got to come out into triumph.
42:58
SPEAKER_00: Even in hatred.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it's fascinating that one of the very first moments...
43:06
And Jesus' life that's recorded for us is the hatred that came
43:10
because of who he was.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 2.
43:14
SPEAKER_00: Herod and all of the rest.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: It shouldn't be surprising that we who by faith have kissed the sun.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: We who by faith have pledged our fealty and faith in Jesus Christ alone.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: It should not surprise us that we too are.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: should feel some of the residual hatred for Jesus.
43:35
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Jesus warns us of that.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: John 15 and 18.
43:38
He tells his disciples right before he is going to go to the
43:41
cross and ascend into heaven.
43:42
SPEAKER_00: He tells them, don't be surprised.
43:44
SPEAKER_00: If people hate you, they've hated me long before they hated you.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: I feel like sometimes we as the church get this notion in our heads.
43:56
SPEAKER_00: That we want to be popular.
43:58
SPEAKER_00: We want to be accepted.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: We want what we believe and what we stand for.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: The truths that we stand upon.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: We want them to be accepted by everyone else.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you something.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: It's not going to happen ever.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how much legislation is passed.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: Christianity is not going to be popularly and globally accepted.
44:20
SPEAKER_00: It's always going to be hated.
44:21
SPEAKER_00: And we should not be surprised by that.
44:23
SPEAKER_00: The only thing that matters in the midst of all of that hatred,
44:27
SPEAKER_00: in the midst of all of that rage,
44:28
SPEAKER_00: the only thing that matters is what?
44:30
SPEAKER_00: Our perspective.
44:33
From all of the rage in front of us to the one who sits
44:36
resolutely on the throne of heaven.
44:40
SPEAKER_00: And that's why Psalm 2 ends the way it does.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: Blessed.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: Happy.
44:44
SPEAKER_00: Happy.
44:45
SPEAKER_00: are all who take refuge in him.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: Our blessing.
44:52
SPEAKER_00: Our joy,
44:52
SPEAKER_00: our peace,
44:53
SPEAKER_00: our hope is not found in sidling up to all the VIPs of our day,
44:58
to making great political alliances or strategizing in ways to
45:02
dominate the
45:02
SPEAKER_00: culture.
45:03
SPEAKER_00: No,
45:03
SPEAKER_00: our peace,
45:04
SPEAKER_00: our happiness,
45:04
SPEAKER_00: our joy,
45:05
SPEAKER_00: our hope,
45:05
SPEAKER_00: our peace,
45:06
SPEAKER_00: all of that,
45:06
SPEAKER_00: it's found as we take refuge in the king,
45:09
SPEAKER_00: in the God who has anointed a king to rule and reign forever.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: And that king,
45:15
SPEAKER_00: as we are now learning,
45:16
SPEAKER_00: is none other than the child that was in Mary's belly as she went to
45:21
SPEAKER_00: to Bethlehem.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: The child that Herod tried to kill.
45:28
He's the same Lord that the early church proclaimed as the
45:32
Christ and the Lord.
45:34
SPEAKER_00: And he's the same one who is coming again in glory.
45:37
SPEAKER_00: It's Christ the King.
45:39
SPEAKER_00: This is what Advent invites us to remember.
45:41
SPEAKER_00: This is the promise of it.
45:43
SPEAKER_00: It's the promise of the King.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: And this is the hope of us, the church.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: Not that the raging is going to go away.
45:52
SPEAKER_00: But that the kingdom will come.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: And that Christ will reign.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: And my friends, he will, he does, and he already is.
46:01
SPEAKER_00: The promise of the king for us is a present reality that settles us.
46:09
SPEAKER_00: The one on the throne in heaven, he laughs.
46:13
SPEAKER_00: Because his word is sure.
46:15
SPEAKER_00: And we too, as his church, can be just as sure and settled.
46:21
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.