The Assembly The Lord Delights In: A Sermon on Psalm 149
The Pantheon, a place once dedicated to worship of idols but reborn to host the worship of God. May our lives tell a similar story as we realize what God does to us in baptism!
The Assembly the Lord Delights In…
Psalm 149
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ convince you that they are excited when They look forward to you being before the throne!
For the Lord Delights in His People
One thing scripture encourages us to do, is to meditate on God’s word. To not just read through the scriptures, but to spend time, 10-15 minutes, even an hour, thinking about just one thought scripture reveals about the relationship between God and us…
To just think through it, to consider what it means, to wonder how it could be possible. We need to do this – we need to really think through what these incredible words of life mean…
You are going home today with homework, to concentrate on just half of one verse, every day for 5 minutes…. And here it is..
For the LORD delights in his people; Psalm 149:4a
Except I want is you to hear it this way…
For the LORD delights in His people… at Concordia.
Start with that – just think for a while through this concept – God delights in you….
We need to really think this through – that God delights in us!
Or if you really want to be overwhelmed –
For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. 5 Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them!
But for now, lets just work through the basic thought…
For the LORD delights in His people… at Concordia.
- Humble Lie on their Beds
The reason we need to think through this is that it doesn’t make sense at first. I mean God getting excited, being pleased, being delighted with His people sounds.
I mean I can certainly see God getting excited about people like St. Paul, or Augustine, or the original St Francis, or Martin Luther and Billy Graham showing up. But to be just as excited about me?
There are two words used to describe “his people” that we need to hear.
The first is that they are humbled. This means those that are pressed down, beaten, afflicted, and challenged. What we would describe as broken and shattered…
These aren’t the superstars of the faith, these are people like us, that live in a world that seems so confusing and sometimes downright evil. People like us that see the sin of the world’s sin, and go to react to it, only to realize that our thought, our words, and our actions are also sinful…
At first we may not think they are far more sinful than ours, but then we remember that scripture teaches “10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” James 2:10 (NLT2)
SO we have the spiritually broken, and then the other description, “Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds!” This is critical, and I’ve seen it so often, as people who know God is with them endure all sorts of physical challenges—including those who are bedridden find things God is doing, that experience the peace of God in such a way, they know God’s joy, even as life is not that enjoyable.
Yet, they sing for joy.
Because they know the presence of God, they know His peace.
Because they know His love.
- This is why we praise Him
Twice in this passage we are described as the faithful. If you look at other translations, some change out this word faithful, for saints, others translate it as “godly” people. As I took apart the phrase, the word comes from the root word cHesed – and the incredible words we get from that.
Those shown love, those show mercy, those who God is loyal to—I think I would simply translate it as “the beloved”
Those people God loves loves, he gathers together- he causes them to assemble, to be a congregation of His people. As He gathered them into Jesus at the cross.
And because they know they are loved, it is time to sing His praises, to praise with dancing even! So joyful are they in their experience of His peace and love.
And as we praise Him, everything that would oppress us gets overthrown. All of the powers that would restrict us and oppress us are bound, crushed, overwhelmed… and destroyed.
Even as we are gathered into His peace… where we find our refuge, in Christ.
And that is why we praise Him, that is why we sing new songs and even dance in His presence. AMEN!
Posted on November 5, 2023, in Devotions. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
What a wonderful post!! Love it!!! Thank you for encouraging others to meditate on the Word. I’ve been doing that for years. When I come across a passage of scripture in my daily reading that I’d like to take the time to meditate on I mark it in my Bible. Then when I spend a Holy Hour at Adoration at my church every Thursday, I meditate on one or two of those passages before the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance. It is always such a blessing to me!! I also meditate on a line of scripture every morning as part of my prayer time. I highly recommend it. It’s a beautiful way to live God’s Word.
Thank you for your response, and yes meditating on a passage is much overlooked but needed practice. One of our confessional documents states that such prayer, because of the command of God and the promises attached to it, should be considered a sacrament. It goes on to say that should people see it that way, perhaps they would do it more often.
(my cynical nature says probably not, as they don’t frequent the Ministry of Reconciliation all that often, never mind receive the Eucharist.
Lol!! Well, all we can do is plant the seed. The rest is up to God. Thank goodness!
Terrific!