Title: Looking Unto God
Bible Book: Psalms 99
Author: Toby Frost
Subject: God; Trust; Worship; God's Name
Objective:
Introduction
Please turn in your Bibles to Psalm 99. The subject of my message today is, "God." You do not hear many sermons about God in churches today. Many homilies are spun on subjects like love, family, and home. Even great doctrines like salvation, holiness, and stewardship. But when is that last time you heard a message about God Himself?
We will be looking today at a passage of scripture which deals with God. We have two problems today, when it comes to God.
First, people today, even Christians, do not know enough about God. Our days are not fill with an over-abiding sense of His presence. We live day-to-day, moment-to-moment, making our own decisions, based on our own ingenuity and creativity. We fail to call upon all the resources God offers to each of us in our daily existence. We do not know enough about God!
Even churches have been infected with this ignorance of God, especially in North America.
As I travel across this continent, I have the opportunity to visit many churches. Some of these fellowships frankly seem lifeless. There is no sense of the presence of God. There is no sense of expectation. No sense of excitement at what God is about to do. The atmosphere is cold in many church fellowships. The old adage about having to ice skate down the aisle to make a public profession of faith holds true. Their words say they have been "washed in the blood," but their actions testify that they have not been washed - just starched and ironed! Many are distant, indifferent and unfriendly. A lot are infected with conflict. Arguing about carpet color, curtain patterns or worship style takes precedence over concern for the souls of men. Priorities of worship and evangelism are overshadowed by concern that, "Pastor Joe shook Sister Fluffyhead's hand too hard last Sunday." Or, "Last week in the primary class, your little monster looked cross-eyed at my sweet, perfect daughter Ashley and made her cry. So we are withholding our tithe until we are issued an official apology!"
When I encounter situations like this in a church, I think to myself, "Here is a church that is either ignorant of, or has forgotten how big, glorious, holy, and great God is!" People don't know enough about God!
A second and just as prevalent a problem is that people do not know God enough. Factual knowledge about God is not enough. People need to establish and cultivate the intimate personal knowledge of Him that He desires us to have.
What can we do about these two prevalent problems? We need to take a new look at God!
The title of this message is "Looking Unto God." This title brings to mind a passage of scripture in the New Testament, which compliments the Old Testament passage I just read:
"Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, "looking unto Jesus" the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2).
This passage of scripture reminds us that this race that we call "life" can be run more effectively and joyfully if we will fix our gaze on Jesus (God, the Son) as the "author and finisher" of our faith. We need to take a look at God!
Psalm 99 can be outlined into three sections. First, we need to take "a look up" at God in all his glory and grandeur. Secondly, the psalmist takes "a look back" at His activity in history. Finally, this psalm exhorts us to take "a look in" at our heart-relationship to the Lord.
I. A Look Up...(Psalm 99:1-3)
First, let's take a look up at God (read Psalm 99:1-3). As I read this passage of scripture I was reminded of the prophet's vision of God in Isaiah 6. In the year of King Uzziah's death, Isaiah reports a vision of God on a grand scale. The Lord was exalted, lifted up! The train of his robe filled the temple. Creatures were flying about calling, "holy, holy, holy...the whole earth is full of his Glory!"
A. A Look Up At God's Nature (vs. 1-3)
Isaiah's vision of God, as well as this description of the Lord in Psalm 99 is one that makes some people quite uncomfortable. This is an image of an exalted, omnipotent, monarch lording over his trembling subjects.
This is a distressing view of God for many Americans. "We are a democratic republic," we say. "We believe in the rule of law!" "We the people" have the say! As citizens of the United States, we are not so sure that we want to capitulate to an all-powerful dictator calling all the shots.
This image of God is also quite discomfiting for many Baptists. We brag about our congregational style of church polity. "The people rule here, not some pope or church official," we boast. "Majority rules in our church," we brag.
Well, I've got some news for you. God's kingdom is not a democracy. We serve a benevolent dictator. He calls all the shots. There is no democracy in God's Kingdom, no majority rule. The only law is His law. And we either submit to him or live our life under his judgment.
We need this view of God, however. In today's society, its seems as though we have lost the fear (i.e. the reverential awe) for God that we once had. I have even heard Christians refer to Him at various times as being "J.C" or "the man upstairs." So from time to time it is good to be reminded of the awesome, exalted, omnipotent God that we serve.
This is actually a comforting image to those of us who know His nature. We understand that the first part of the blessing we learned as a child. You know, "God is great, God is good..." This is actually a true statement about His nature. And since God is so great...aren't you glad He is so good? A hearty "amen" would be in order at this point in the message!!
Psalm 99:1-3 records a distressing image, however, to those who are living life outside of God's will. This view of God may remind those who do not yet know Jesus Christ that they fighting against the winner. They are on the losing side!
Everyone remembers from school days the boy or girl who was the biggest one in class. When I was in Junior High School this person was Mike Thrift. He was a giant of a boy. Almost six feet tall in eighth grade. Needless to say, whenever sides were chosen for basketball, Mike would be chosen first. And whichever side Mike Thrift was on was always the winning team...hands down!! This always resulted in arguments about which team captain would get the first pick. Once, when I had the opportunity to be captain, I settled the argument in this way. I simply ended the argument by saying, "Ok, me and Mike Thrift will take on all of ya!" We, of course, won the game with no difficulty!
You have heard it said that "you plus God is a majority," haven't you? That statement is absolutely true. I'll even go further. God is a majority with or without you.
Many of you have heard of the Broadway play, "The Mouse that Roared." This play was a comedy about a small, struggling impoverished nation that became convinced that the only way they could prosper would be to declare war on the United States and then be defeated. They knew that surrendering to such a strong wealthy nation would be their key to abundance. Well, as irony would have it they won, and then of course, the inevitable "wackiness" ensued.
Actually, this is the key to an eternal and abundant life in relationship to God. He is the winner! We can never win against him. But we will always win if we surrender and go over to His side. You do this by receiving His offer of life and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, God incarnate. Those who have truly accepted him have never been disappointed.
B. A Look Up At God's Name (v.3)
"Let them praise thy great and terrible Name, for it is holy." Most of us in Western society do not know the importance that the name had in the ancient Middle East (and even there today). A name to us is simply a label of identification. This is a pulpit, that is a chair, and so on.
But in ancient Israel the name meant so much more. All of the character of an individual was embodied in his name. So much so that if a person's life was changed radically, so was their name. Abram (father) became Abraham (father of many) after his encounter with God; Simon became Peter (a rock) after his confession of Jesus Christ as Lord.
In our Western culture we do not give the name that much importance. For example, a dear elderly lady, "Miss Mary," in my first pastorate simply hated my name. "Toby" she stated was simply not a good name for a pastor. She insisted upon calling me "Pastor Frost." Actually, I must agree with her. "Toby" is simply not good "preacher-name." In fact, when I teach or preach at a conference or church, almost invariably, some child will walk up to me and say, "I have a cat named Toby!" Or, "I have a dog named Toby." See, Miss Mary is right...it's not a good preacher name! Now, the fact that Miss Mary did not like my name did not offend me at all. She just did not like the undignified sound of it.
But to say you do not like God's Name is an entirely different matter. If you reject His name, according to the force of this scripture, you are rejecting Him, His character, and all that he stands for. We are to "praise" the Name of the Lord. God's Name is described by three adjectives.
1. First, His Name is "great," meaning "unfathomed largeness."
The greatness of God can be seen in our sun. Hundreds of thousands of earths can fit inside our sun, and it is only a medium-sized star out of the millions of stars in our galaxy, out of the millions of galaxies in space. And God created them all.
After the sun the next-nearest star is Andromeda, which is 4.3 light years away. Now, light travels 186,000 miles per second. Yet it takes light over four years to travel from Andromeda, the nearest star to us. And our galaxy, the Milky Way is hundreds of thousands of light years across. And other galaxies are literally hundreds of millions of light years away. Yet our God created them all. Truly great is the Name of our Lord, God.
2. Secondly, his name is described as "terrible."
The usage of "terrible" in Psalm 99:3 is an archaic King James word which is actually very apropos when you understand its meaning. I remember as a child my grandmother picking okra and then taking it inside and cutting it up for a soup mixture that she was canning. After an entire day of picking and cutting, she used an unusual term that I have never forgotten. She stated that the okra had "terrified" her! When I asked if the okra scared her she laughed and replied that the okra had caused a rash on her skin. It caused a physical reaction! That was the original meaning of this term. David describes the name of the Lord as "terrible." Other translations use the term "awesome." The Name of the Lord is so awesome that it should elicit a definite physical response on the part of us, His created beings. We should tremble in his presence. Like verse one states, "The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble; he sitteth between the cherubim, let the earth be moved...." Oh, let's tremble in His presence!
3. The third adjective used to describe the Name of the Lord is "holy."
"Let them praise the great and terrible name of the Lord, for the Lord our God is holy." Holy indescribable purity. So pure that the Bible states that even our righteousness is as a filthy rag to God. Take the most pure thought you've ever had. Take the noblest motive you've ever exhibited. Take the most selfless, generous, or sacrificial thing you've ever done and hold it up to God. It is filth compared to His holiness.
Indeed, I believe that holiness is primary attribute of God; describing Him even more than His love or His glory. Now, God is love and is the very embodiment of this characteristic. But in Isaiah 6 does not describe the heavenly host flying about for all eternity crying, "Love, love, love." They are not even pictured as raising their voices with, "Glory, glory, glory." But for all eternity their cry of wonder goes forth..., "Holy, holy, holy!"
It should not be comforting to know that a God with all of this power is good and holy. Why? Because our sinful nature has placed used against him. Verse four of our passage states, "thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob." Many people pray, for justice. "Give me justice, give me justice," is their cry. I don't ever pray for justice from God for it would destroy me. I pray for mercy.
Now that we have taken a look up at God...at His nature, and at His Name, let's now take a look back at God's activity in history.
II. A Look Back (Psalm 99:6-8)
Many, if not most, of the psalms have a historical section. The psalmist will spend the first part of his song describing some problem, perplexity, or praise. But no matter what the situation, as he writes under the inspiration of God, he forms his present view of God by describing His activity in history.
So it is with this psalm as the writer looks at three Old Testament heroes and their interaction with God. According to this Bible passage, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, "called upon the Lord, and He answered them." The psalmist is leading us to take a look back at God.
A. A Look Back At Our Dependence (vs. 6-8)
I am struck at how dependent these three Bible heroes were upon God. Moses and Aaron, for example, had to depend totally upon God at every turn of their lives. Moses was born under a death- sentence, yet was floated down a river and discovered by Pharaoh's daughter. Moses and Aaron depended upon the Lord for the words they spoke, and for the rod they wielded. They depended upon God to break the will of Pharaoh by sending plagues and to lead them out of bondage. They depended upon God for their deliverance, care, and direction. Certainly you remember the Red Sea, the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night, the manna and quail from heaven, and the water from the rock. Every detail of their lives was seen to be under the control of God.
We are like this today, totally dependent upon our Lord. So dependent that we would be profoundly frightened if we knew to what extent God holds our lives in the palm of His hand. We act so self- sufficient. But actually God is in charge of every aspect of our being. The tolerances of the earth’s orbit are so finely tuned that astronomers tell us that only a slight variation would have the earth too cold for inhabitation or too hot for survival. Your job, every meal you eat, every breath you take is a grace gift from our powerful God.
The fact of our absolute dependence upon God most vividly comes to mind for me whenever I am lying down to sleep at night. If I asked for a show of hands here today, many of you here today would admit that you were able to hear your pulse through your ear when you lay your head on your pillow each night. The other night I had my head on my pillow. Since it was so quiet in the middle of the night, I could hear my heart beating through my eardrum as my head lay on my pillow. Since I was relaxed, my heart was beating slowly...so slowly that I actually had time to think between heartbeats. What was I thinking? Well, it went something like this. "Beat,"...wow, if I miss just a few of these in a row..., "beat," ...I will be dead. "Beat," ...I wonder if the next heartbeat is gonna’ come..., "beat," ...whew, there it is..., "beat," ...I'm alive at least for a few more seconds. At that moment the tenuousness of life was made so clear to me.
Truly, we are so dependent upon God. He, however, is so dependable to us.
B. A Look Back At God's Dependability (vs. 6-8)
God was dependable to reveal Himself to Samuel. Remember the call of Samuel that night in the temple? "Samuel, Samuel!" Remember Samuel's response? “Speak, Lord for thy servant heareth.”
God was dependable to reveal His will to Moses. Remember the burning bush? Remember the Ten Commandments?
God was dependable to reveal His forgiveness to Aaron. Remember the Golden Calf? Remember the revelry and debauchery that it ensued? Aaron fashioned this idol even as Moses was upon the holy mount receiving the Ten Commandments. Certainly, if God can forgive Aaron, He can forgive you.
Well, we've taken a look up at God - His nature and His Name. We've taken a look back at God is activity in history and His dependability. Now let's get very personal for a few moments and take a look in.
III. A Look In (Psalm 99:1,3,5,9)
A. A Look In at our Response (v. 1)
"The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble; He sitteth between the cherubim; let the earth be moved."
When was the last time you were so awed by God's presence that you trembled? We need to be shaken from the spiritual inertia that has plagued churches and individual Christians in our nation. We should be moved out of complacence, apathy, and indifference. It has been said that the problem in our world is that the situation is desperate, but Christians aren't. We should be changed by our experience with the Lord...when we encounter God, our actions should change. Notice the earth will never be moved until God's people tremble in His presence.
B. A Look In at our Responsibility (v.3)
"Let them praise thy great and terrible Name; for it is holy." Praising is the responsibility of every believer. Baptists, however, no very little about what it means to praise the Lord. Let me illustrate. What if I were to walk up to you sometime today and ask you, "Have you praised God today?" What would you say? Most of us would instantly answer, "What do you mean?" Baptists know about serving the Lord. We know about meetings and committees. But loving and praising God is somewhat outside of our sphere of experience. This should not be.
Now praising is not just lifting hands and clapping. Baptists are just getting good this lately, but frankly, most of us are not there yet! We do it wrong! We clap on beats one and three instead of two and four. When we lift up holy hands, most of us do it in kind of a sickly fashion...not the comfortable "wheat in the wind" method of our Assembly of God brethren! Now, if this were all there was to praise, I have a good idea for a business - a temp service in which our charismatic brethren (and ‘sistern’) could be lent to Baptist churches. They could help us with clapping, lifting, and all of the other gymnastics associated with praising God. The assumption is that once we get the outer form right, we would achieve praise...right? Wrong! Praise is exalting the Lord and lifting up His Name! The verse, which reads, "Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name together," comes close to this idea. But true praise happens in the heart, not in outward show (although we Baptists could show it better, ya know)!
I will never forget the word of Don Marsh in the song, "The Highest Praise."
"The highest praise is not in spoken words
It's what my heart can say,
All I have to offer you
In my small way,
Is to live for you,
The highest praise, not to see
And yet believe you died for me,
Sometimes in the night
I thank you silently, for all you do,
This highest praise I can give today
Is to give my life to you."
C. A Look In at our Reverence (v. 5)
"Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is holy." We use the terms praise and worship synonymously, when actually they are much different, and indeed quite opposite. Whereas "praise" means to exalt the Lord...to magnify Him as high as we can, "worship" in the Bible literally means "to kiss toward," actually lowering ourselves before Him as much as we can. We should literally kiss the ground before the Savior!
In verse nine we are instructed to worship God at his "holy hill." There is a designated place of worship. Sure some say, "I can worship God just as well from a fishing boat on Sunday Morning." But others do not get the benefit of your presence. Never belittle your importance when it comes to the corporate experience of worship. What if every member of this church came next Sunday ready to really worship God? The atmosphere would be electric!
D. A Look In at our Relationship (v. 5, 9)
Verse nine states, "Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord or God is holy." But verse five makes it more personal by adding one pronoun, "Exalt ye the Lord our God...."
It is a general command to all to lift up the Lord, but it is also a specific, personal command to each of you. God desires a personal relationship with each and every person in attendance here today. No matter who you are...no matter how rich you are or poor you are. No matter what ethnic group you belong to. No matter what culture you are from. No matter what language you speak. No matter how bad you've been or how good you think you are. God comes to you and invites to into personal relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ. And He has the power to meet any and all of your needs.
Conclusion
We are exhorted in verse five to worship, "at his footstool." I love this picture of God. Heaven is His throne. The earth is His footstool. Like a divine Lazy Boy recliner he is kicked back, relaxed, totally under control. He is not wringing His hands wondering what to do about your problem. Jesus has the power! If you are sick, He is the Great Physician. If you are in need of care, He is the Great Shepherd. If you need encouragement and direction, He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. If you are distressed, He is the Prince of Peace. Remember the subject of the message, "Looking Unto God?"
Just look to Him, receive Him, and know that to "as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the children of God."
