Palm Sunday - Psalm 138 - April 5, 2020

The Lord Comes from Your Perspective

1. He is known by name

2. He speaks through words

3. He works with hands

Psalm 138:1-8 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 3 On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. 4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth, 5 and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD. 6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. 8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. (ESV)

Do find it difficult to put yourself in someone else’s shoes? I’m willing to guess that most of us do. It’s challenging and different to see things from another person’s point of view. We tend to develop deep ruts in our habits and practices. We see this often in little children. Maybe your house has been like mine during the last week of close quarters living. It has happened a few times that Allie will come running with a complaint – “Lukas hit me.” “Micah doesn’t want to play with me.” When the other party is questioned, the response is similar – “Allie was bothering me.” or “She wouldn’t play by the rules.” Little arguments like these would be easily overcome if each member could empathize with the other – that is, see things from the other person’s perspective.

Of course, more troubling is how often we see this attitude in adults – who should really know better. It doesn’t matter how wise, powerful, rich, or experienced you are – if you can’t see things from someone else’s perspective, you’re bound to make mistakes in life – and easily avoidable mistakes at that. If we can talk about this issue in such simple ways, why is it so hard for us? Well, that’s where the human heart comes in. Our hearts are twisted and self-serving. The Bible records bluntly, “The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth (Genesis 8:21).” Theologians of the past have described the heart as curved in on itself, namely, that it seeks to look at every aspect of life from its own perspective.

This is one of the reasons Christians so often speak against independence of the self and pure subjectivity. These things are dangerous because we come into this world with a fallen heart that is self-seeking alone. With such a reality before us, we naturally wonder how we can approach God. Well, that very thought shows the issue – too often we approach even the sacred from the wrong starting point. It’s not about our ability to come to God, it’s about His choice to come to us.

We see this today on Palm Sunday as we remember how Jesus entered Jerusalem on holy week. The lowliness of the Lord that day was more than just a message for the cross, it remains a memorial to us of God’s faithfulness to fallen sinners who deserve much worse than we get. Instead of forcing us to attempt the impossible feat of reaching God on our own, God came to us. We see three unique ways in which He did this through Christ, and how He continues to be with us today – In His name, through His Word, with His hand.

One of the first things that David talks about in this psalm is his heart. He declares that he thanks and praises God with his whole heart. Typically, no human would have the right to say such a thing. We don’t own the right to honor God. We can’t even do that on our own. That’s why David rejoices in being able to do such a thing – he knows it can only happen by God’s work. Sometimes, we take our worship opportunities for granted. We’re tempted to look upon time with the Lord as common. Sometimes, we don’t prioritize it. Maybe we feel a need to be gratified or entertained in place of true worship. These are the inner cravings of the fallen heart. By faith, David recognizes that God has changed his heart. This was no small feat and should never be treated as ordinary and David spends the rest of the psalm explaining why.

The work of the LORD, as described by David, is framed from our perspective. With every blessing, God approached us because we could not approach Him. When God speaks from our perspective, the technical term for this is an anthropomorphism. This term indicates human attributes or qualities being given to God. Three stick out in our text – a name, a mouth, and hands. On a simpler level, these descriptions show us how God extends His blessings from our perspective and in ways that we can understand and receive.

First, David is thankful for God’s name. What you’ve got to understand about God’s name is that He doesn’t take it lightly. His name is more than just an identifier for who He is, each name of God also describes something about His nature. The names of God hold power and potential when we use them. Therefore, we are to treat God’s name with respect and dignity. The second commandment is an obvious example of the importance of using God’s namely appropriately. Think of military titles as an example. The only way to achieve the higher levels of rank in the military is by experience, effort, and prestige. The names indicate also what a person has achieved. And it’s disrespectful to dishonor the name of a higher rank. So, it is with God. He has earned the names that He has.

God’s name is also significant because labels and identifiers do not apply to divine, infinite beings. How can a title or name possibly hope to accurately encapsulate a God with unlimited power? Yet God did not take on a name because it accurately bound Him, He did it so that you could know Him. Without the names of God, names which we so carelessly use and take for granted, we would not be able to fathom God, let alone believe in Him. This is God coming to you from your perspective. The prophet Jeremiah wrote of the people who has misused and abandoned the name of God, Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons. The turtledove, swallow, and crane are aware of their migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD. (Jer 8:7 CSB) They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the LORD. (Jer 9:3 ESV). Without God revealing His name, we would be lost in unbelief.

The name of God is closely connected to the second way God comes to us in our text – with words. If the record of God’s deeds and promises is important, then the transmission of that information through words is equally necessary. Therefore, God takes words seriously. One reason why is because His name is a word. The hope of salvation is given in words and shared among sinners with words. When God introduces you to Himself through His name, He uses His Word to help you understand more about Him, and to enrich your relationship with Him. 

See how David makes this connection between God’s name and God’s word: I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. This is why David takes pleasure in going to God’s house – it’s about receiving God’s blessings through His name and His Word. And one amazing fruit of worship is that we are given the ability to return praise to God in kind. Because of what He has done for us, we bless His name and we use our words to honor Him.

The very fact that we have words from God is another divine miracle. Imagine being the unlimited and infinite God and choosing to reveal Yourself in such a way that limited, mortal, and unrighteous humans could understand. That would be frustrating to say the least. And if you were that type of God, not matter how much you wrote, it would never be enough, because it’s impossible for sinners to fully comprehend God. Here we see why the Bible has a beginning and an end, and why it doesn’t answer every question we have about God. No resource could do such a thing, for the problem is with our fallen hearts, not with God’s revealed will. And yet, the Word of God is sufficient for every task or temptation we face. And most importantly, it is reliable because it comes from the One, who although being infinite, is also unchangeable. God, who cannot be bound by Words, chose to come to us in such a way – chose to become the Word itself, the very essence of spiritual truth to the world – so that we could know Him and we trust His works.

And those works bring us to the third anthropomorphism – the hands of God. Jesus taught that God is a spirit (John 4:24). The book of Acts tells us that human temples and buildings cannot contain God’s presence, indicating that He is an immaterial spirit that is not bound to one locale (Acts 17:24). Yet, David rejoices over the works that God has accomplished with His hands, 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. 8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

The concept of God’s hand is common in the Scriptures. Sometimes, it’s figurative for God’s power and ability. We think of Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father as an example of this. But, the incarnate Son also gives a literal meaning to the hands of God. Consider the import of this thought in this way. A person’s hands are the most immediate form of relaying what is in their heart. Our hands execute the thoughts we desire to put into action. It is with hands that one reveals what they are thinking and who they are.

How many times have we used our hands to commit evil, the put our selfish intentions or lustful thoughts into action? It’s astounding how adept we are at taking a beautiful design of God and using it for wickedness. Yet with His hands, the Lord approaches us for more than understanding, but to extend mercy. This is portrayed figuratively in the Scriptures in such passages as: 

Psalm 31:5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

Psalm 31:15 My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me.

Psalm 89:13 You have a mighty arm; Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.

But in Jesus, the figurative becomes literal. It was in Christ’s own hands, which were pierced by the nails of the cross, that the message of God’s mercy came to our hearts. His name above the cross. His voice proclaiming victory. The crucifixion was not only the literal, physical act of God displaying His human characteristics, it was the most pointed way that God approached you – that He became like and you me. He did not just take a name. He did not just speak words. He did not just receive a body of flesh and blood. Christ stepped into your place. Christ came in your stead. He suffered your punishment. He died your death. He renewed your corrupt heart. He came to you in every way. In the most impossible of ways, so that you could be His. Amen.