Psalm 85. It’s a community lament. The psalmist moves from God’s past favor to his people to the present needs to a future hope in him. As we look to the reading of God’s Word, if you’d please join with me in prayer.
Father, indeed you are a helper, and so we would come asking that by your Holy Spirit Your help in opening up our minds so that as your scriptures are read and your words proclaimed, that we would be led into the fullness of your truth, that we would be taught, Father, your will, and that we would also be empowered to do it. And this we would pray and ask for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord, who indeed is the very Word of God made flesh. And this we ask in his name. Amen.
Amen. Beginning in verse 1. To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Lord, you were favorable to your land.
You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people. You covered all their sin. You withdrew all your wrath. You turned from your hot anger.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put away your indignation towards us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints. But let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in your land. Amen.
Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way. The word of the Lord.
Stigmas are a hard thing to lose. Past histories or even our own, those things that can mark us. A man can have a house full of ivory carvings inherited from his great-grandfather and be very quick to apologize. Well, we got those long before the ivory trade was illegal. They didn’t know better back then.
And a person would say that because he doesn’t want to be judged by today’s standards for his family’s past actions. If you consider the last name Hitler really wasn’t that common in Germany before World War II, but it completely disappeared afterwards. And the name Adolf was a popular first name, but it also almost became extinct because no one wanted that stigma of either the name Adolf or Hitler attached to them. And that’s what it is with a stigma. And we think about that.
What do we do with our own sense of shame, our own stain? Some of these things can be inherited just from families or things that have happened around us, and, and we get marked along with that. But most of it is caused by us. We have done this to ourselves. Our sins and our failures seem so complete, so final, that we actually live in hiding, not wanting to be seen.
How do we erase past shames? How do we go forward in newness? Well, the good news is that with the Lord, failure is not final. We can walk in the new status that we find in him. And we see this in our Psalm this morning.
What is illustrated in the life of Israel in the larger picture, we see illustrated even in a particular way in a particular family of the Psalm writers. Throughout Israel’s history, they have been big time for all the people where they have sinned and rebelled against the Lord. We’ve seen it also in individuals like King David and others. Who have done something at a personal level. And here there’s an example of something done at a family level, a tribe.
Psalm 85 begins, to the choirmaster, a psalm of the sons of Korah. There are 11 psalms attributed to the sons of Korah, 12 to Asaph, who was also of the family of Korah. And immediately the question is, well, who are they? Well, they are descendants from a family of The tribe of Levi from Korah. Through Moses, the Lord had made the Levites essentially the pastors of Israel, and the tribe of Levi was divided up into different functions by families.
Aaron’s family was the priestly family, and others were keepers of the temple, of the religious structures of the nation. King David had gone so far as to place the sons of Korah over the service of singing in the temple of God. His 3 great choral and orchestral leaders were from this family. But if we look into their history, we see it’s actually a checkered past. Numbers 16, we have a rebellion recorded against Moses and Aaron, and listed in this rebellion first is Korah of the family of Levi.
Korah and some 250 others were upset with Moses and Aaron. It wasn’t just Korah, but it was also the tribe of Reuben. But according to the Lord’s instruction, those who were to serve specifically in the temple and the tabernacle had to be from the tribe of Levi. And those who were to be priests could only do so if they were in direct lineage of Aaron. And Korah and the others objected to this.
In Numbers 16, it says they assembled themselves against Moses and against Aaron. They said, you have gone too far. For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourself above the assembly of the Lord? Now, they were incorrectly applying the Old Testament doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.
Yes, it’s from the Old Testament, from Exodus 19, where the Lord said, you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. But the Lord gave particular assignments And what that was to look like. But led by Korah, this large group rebelled because they wanted to do things differently. No doubt part of this is simply that leaders just wanted to be in charge. People like this will often find any reason to complain because their goal is to be in power and to be at the top.
Other times it’s simply— can we all have experienced this— that the grass just looks greener on the other side. It’s like, why can’t I do that? Or, I wish I could be able to do those things instead of this thing. Moses, I’m sure, many times would have gladly given up his job to somebody else, but it was given to him by God. And in this rebellion then, the Lord established that He indeed had called Moses and Aaron.
And Numbers 26 gives us a summary of this result. Of what took place. All of those who were rebellious, who contended against Moses in there, and it said that they contended against the Lord. The earth opened up its mouth and swallowed them together with Korah and the company died, and fire devoured 250 men, and they became a warning. And then we’re given this curious verse in verse 11, but the sons of Korah did not die.
It’s an odd sentence to stand out by itself. The sons of Korah did not die. A couple things we notice with that. One, it shows how utterly unique the Bible is. It’s common practice through history, ancient as well as modern, to entirely wipe out opposition to the very last person.
No survivors, no new rebellion. It’s what you saw when the Communists killed not only Tsar Nicholas but his entire family. They didn’t want any trace of anything coming back. And history is full of these wicked events. Some are even mentioned, though not approved, in the Bible.
But that’s not how the Lord does things. He has mercy on the sons of Korah. He called them to himself for his purpose, and in his mercy, he spares them, just like he has done for the whole nation of Israel, just like he has done for individuals who have rebelled and sinned against him throughout Scripture. Amen. God shows mercy to sinners.
And the sons of Korah later are put in charge of the very service of the tabernacle, the temple. About 15% of all the Psalms are attributed to them, and that’s a lot considering 50 have no author at all mentioned. From the family of a leader of a failed rebellion, the intimate service of the temple, the richness of Israel’s musical tradition flows forth. The sons of Korah became a phrase associated with great musical giftedness in the service of the Lord. The Lord called them.
The Lord redeemed their name. That it was not attached to the stigma of the rebellion, but of the glory and the wonder of the giftedness that God had continued to give them. Korah, who was this leader of a rebellion that helped set in motion a fracture of the community of Israel, who wanted to take more than what God had given to him. And by God’s mercy, this shame, this embarrassment, this redemption is given to his children who are bringing the community of God together in praise and worship. That’s what God does.
And we look then at how this gift of song in Psalm 85, how they’re leading God’s people in praise by coming then with the prayer of God’s people. It says, Lord, you were favorable to your land. You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people. You covered all their sin.
You withdrew all your wrath. You turned from your hot anger. They bring before the Lord a lesson in history, and notice they’re not pining for past glories, but for past mercies. This brings them to prayer rather than to elusive dreams. Think of the change that takes place.
I think, you know, John Newton is a picture of this as well. I mentioned, of course, he’s the author of Amazing Grace, several other— there’s hundreds of hymns that he had helped write. And he was a slave trader turned pastor. The stigma of what his former life had been has now been transformed into such a statement It’s such a name associated with the grace and the mercy of God.
The Lord is merciful. He wipes out past histories. He takes away our stains. And the Old Testament is filled with this recurring theme. The sons of Korah bring this before God.
Lord, this is how you have acted with your people, with us. They’re not wanting again to go back to some fictitious golden age. If only we could go back to the 1950s again, how grand everything would be. No, there’s no such thing as a past golden age. Rather, they are remembering the Lord’s past mercies, and this leads them to prayer, not to idle dreams.
You see the distinction here? They’re not sitting there pining away, daydreaming of past glories, but they’re looking at what God has called his people to be and to do. Reminding the Lord of his past faithfulness. They are both strengthening their faith and calling out to the Lord to aid them in their present distress. We’re not exactly told what the problem is.
It could be a number of occasions where Israel was decimated because of their faithlessness to God, of their sin and their rebellion. It could also be that this is the group of beleaguered exiles who’d returned finally to Jerusalem, and everything around them is not what it once was. It’s small and pathetic.
But notice that it’s in our troubles. What we do is we focus in on our need. We see a need, our troubles are there, and that’s what we focus in on. But the Lord, he brings our focus to him who is our help. And that’s what you see here.
It’s a call to focus on God, who is the one who has delivered in the past. Amen. And because of that, they speak and sing, restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put away your indignation towards us. That’s not a vague hope in God.
He is consistent. He upholds his covenant with his people. It’s very specific. Luther notes that God answers this prayer, this plea, in the incarnation ultimately.
That this very plea of God’s people of salvation is when we are united to the divine nature with the human nature in the life of Christ, the God of our salvation. He is the one who ultimately answers this very plea through this coming of his Savior.
And the psalmist continues, will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? And of course, the answer is no, he won’t. See how that word is brought out with generations here. The Lord is merciful to the generations, and they know that.
That’s why they’re putting the Lord’s promises back before him. When the Lord revealed to Moses his glory as he passed by on the mountain, and there we read in Exodus 34, the Lord is speaking to Moses and he says, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful And gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands of generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children to the 3rd and to the 4th generation. And we see 2 realities in this statement. One is sin is never in isolation. We are connected one to another.
And that sin does affect others even into another generation. And we, we all know that and we’ve seen how that has played out. But we also see something greater. The mercy of the Lord impacts well beyond that to thousands of generations. How God’s kindness goes forth.
His mercy is far more abounding than his judgment. He is merciful and gracious. The sons of Korah, they draw us in corporate worship to this highlight. And they go on in verse 6. Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord. Grant us your salvation. It’s a plea, it’s a prayer, and the goal is that God’s people would rejoice in him. This is the heart and the fruit of God-given revival. When the Spirit blows afresh and anew, people rejoice in him.
Salvation must come from him, and the foundation of that is the Lord’s loving kindness. Think of the great hymn from Rock of Ages: In my hand no price I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. They have nothing in themselves but everything in the Lord. It’s to the Lord they go in the midst of their plea, the midst of their distress, and the Lord answers. And we see the answer that is brought forth in verse 8.
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints. But let them not turn back to folly. Peace, or shalom in the Bible, is more than just the absence of conflict. It’s wholeness. It’s flourishing.
It’s harmony of right relationships, of course, with God first and foremost, and with others. That’s the idea of peace, of shalom. And this promise of peace is throughout the Bible. Leviticus 26, the Lord says, I will give peace to the land. Numbers 6, part of the benediction we’re used to hearing, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and what?
And give you peace. Isaiah 57, peace, peace to the far and to the near, declares the Lord. Haggai 2, and in this place I will give you peace. Says the Lord.
It is God who brings peace. And this idea of peace is brought forth in the fruition of the Son of God. At the very inception of the coming of Jesus, the Word made flesh, the angels come to the shepherds in Luke chapter 2. And what do they proclaim? Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
His peace is proclaimed. In John 14, Jesus says, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. And Paul in Romans 5, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then later in Ephesians, for he himself is our peace.
Amen. That’s the gift that God brings ultimately through His Son, the promise and the fulfillment to His people, His peace. But there is a warning here. Let them not turn back to folly. It’s a great hope with a solid warning.
We must be more than those who are simply near the things of God. It isn’t just that we’re in proximity to this peace. But our nature has been changed by God himself. That’s a part of what that saving faith does, that God changes us from the inside out. We’re not just simply proximity.
We are completely transformed.
We do not turn back because of the final and redemptive work of Christ in the life of his people. In verse 9, surely his salvation is near those who fear him. That glory may dwell in our land. And the land is a symbol of God’s covenant promise throughout the Old Testament. It’s a symbol of what God is going to do to fulfill that.
And we see these amazing words: steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace. These are all covenant attributes of the Lord, of what He speaks of, the love of His people that He has. And God is these things. That’s who He is. In verse 10, it brings them all together.
Steadfast love and faithfulness meet. Righteousness and peace kiss each other. Amazing verse. Righteousness and peace. You could also say justice and peace.
This incredible harmony together in the Lord, a concord of these amazing covenantal attributes that God alone brings all of this to fruition. Righteousness and peace kiss. And then he goes on in this Fulfilling righteousness. In verse 11, righteousness springs up from the ground. Righteousness looks down from the sky.
It’s everywhere. Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. This is the hope they have. It’s in his righteousness. It’s not in their own.
They know they have nothing to stand before God with. He must establish it. It must come from him.
And then concludes, righteousness will go before him. And make his footsteps the way. And this last verse tells us that we must follow. We must walk after him in the righteousness that he provides. Our faith is never static.
It’s never presumptuous. He fills us with real hope, with real peace. For God’s people, a new status has been given. That’s the very heart of justification by faith in Christ alone. A status is counted to us.
That we don’t deserve. It is the status of Jesus. And so we come back to that question, how do you remove the stain of a stigma? It’s removed by a better stain, the stain of the cross. It is his blood that cleanses us.
How sweet that sounds to those who know the shame of their own sin and rebellion, that We can say, I am a new creature in Christ. I have been washed clean.
Surely in the beloved righteousness and peace have kissed. Speaking of the Messiah, Isaiah 9, again, we’re used to hearing this at Christmas time, but it’s true at all times. Isaiah 9, it says of the Messiah, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the increase of his government and of peace, there shall be no end on the throne of David over his kingdom to establish, to uphold it.
With justice, with righteousness, from this time forth and forevermore. That’s the joy and the mystery of the salvation brought to us by God. It is also the mystery and the joy that we see in our baptism. We have been renamed. We now bear Christ’s name.
We take on his status. Ours is removed from us, and we have now been marked. His stigma, the becomes ours. If I belong to Jesus, I call upon the Lord to hear my prayer because I am his son or I am his daughter. He has removed my shame.
He’s brought me salvation. And though we may be walking through difficult straits, trying times, we know that we’re not alone. And we also know that those moments are not forever. They’re not final. His righteousness goes before us.
His path is a path for our feet. In Christ, we see the harmony of these attributes meet. In Jesus, who is the perfect representation of the Father, the full revelation of God to us. In the coming of Jesus is when the Lord has shown us his favor, his mercy. Amen.
It is in Jesus that we see he speaks us peace. Romans 14, Paul reminds us the kingdom of God is what? It is a matter of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In the Lord, our failures are never final. In Jesus, his grace and his mercy, they are his last word for us.
And that is the hope that we have. Amen. That is what we know is removing. We think of some of the things that we have done, either the sins that we have done or others have done to us, and the mark of stain that we bear. Christ removes it.
That’s the hope of glory for us, that we are not left with an indelible stain of our own unrighteousness, sin, and failure. It is Jesus who cleanses us from All of that with his stain.
The cross removes that. The hope that the sons of Korah are bringing the people of God into is true and right and good as they look to the past victories that God has brought. All of those past victories are pointing forward, even as the psalm is pointing forward to its final ultimate culmination and fulfillment in the peace of Jesus Christ for his people.
In Jesus, his grace and his mercy are his last words for us. Pray with me. Father Almighty, as we come before you, we just simply say thank you. And Lord, we do ask that you would move once more, afresh and anew by your Spirit, that you would revive this land. That you would revive this place, that you would revive our hearts.
Father, that you would restore us because of the righteousness of your Son. Father, because in Jesus justice and peace have kissed, and we are the recipients of that warm embrace. And Lord, we thank you. Amen. We thank you for the shalom that we have been given.
The restored harmony. And Lord, even if that is yet to be fully revealed, we pray that you would teach us to walk in it now. We bless you for the goodness and the kindness, your steadfast love and faithfulness in your Son Jesus. For it is in his name that we do pray. Amen.
Amen.
Discaimer: This sermon text was generated by an automated transcription service.