After Solomon died, the kingdom divided into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms. Both rebelled against the One True God and went after idols. In both cases, foreign nations (rebels against God) were used of God to punish God’s idolatrous kingdoms. In the end, God promised that judgment would be temporary. Yet, in promising deliverance the kingdoms were promised far more than return from exile. They were promised a deliverer, Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7) who would bring peace. We are like Israel and Judah: deserving of judgment for our idolatry. And like them, our only hope would come centuries after exile, in the form of the Prince of Peace, born to save His people from their sin. Let us worship this deliverer! To listen to this sermon, please click on the following link: Kingdom Divides and Goes into Exile.
In Psalm 22 David suffers while trusting God. In the first 21 verses, cries of suffering are mixed with trust in God. The Psalm ends with praise of God for His delivery. While it is true that God is worthy of our praise and should be praised for delivering us in our trouble, is this all that the Psalm is about? There seems to be more: when Jesus was on the cross, he cried out to God, quoting Psalm 22:1. Like the Psalmist, Jesus cried out to God in His suffering on the cross, while trusting the the faithfulness of the Father who willed to crush him (Is. 53) so that sinners might be reconciled to Him. In Christ’s suffering and death we have grounds for joyous praise of God. The Father was faithful to deliver Jesus through resurrection – so that in Christ we might have victory over sin and death. Praise God for salvation through our resurrected Lord! To listen to this sermon, please click on the following link: Psalm 22.