REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 15 MAY 2005: MORNING SERVICE

REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 15 MAY 2005: MORNING SERVICE

Let us commence this meeting with God by declaring openly to one another and to God:

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Beloved grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Psalm of praise: 89:3
Confession of faith: Apostolic Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into Hell, the third day He rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, a holy catholic* Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
Amen

Law
Psalm: 40:4
Prayer:

Doxology
Worship
Confession of sins
- Forgiveness
Gratitude
Prayer for the need of the congregation for the church, the authorities and the sinful world and appeal to God's promises.
General prayer
Enlightenment from the Holy Spirit for the sake of the ministry of the Word.

Hymn: 2-4:1+2
Scripture: Psalm 59
Text: Psalm 59:10

"My loving God. God will go before me." (NIV)

"The God of my mercy shall prevent me." (King James)

In this prayer David touches upon an emotion that lies at the root of our human condition - despair.

David prays desperately.
His life is in danger.
Because God let him be anointed as king by Samuel, Saul now seeks to kill him.

David is faced by strong enemies.

The most daunting alliance of powers to be faced in this earthly life is hunting him.
It is the alliance of Satan and the church.

But David is not discouraged. His prayer is powerful and courageous.

"My loving God. God will go before me."
He knows and believes in a power that is incalculably larger and more powerful than the powers he faces.

Initially David defends himself against false accusations.

He calls on the Lord to be his witness.
In verse 4 of his prayer he tells God that he did no wrong.

In verse 5 he prays more forcefully.

He calls on God as Judge of the world.
He prays God as Judge to show no mercy to his enemies.

We would today not dare to pray God to destroy all heathens in our congregation. But David does so! His prayer is aimed specifically at Saul and his men with these words: "O Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to wicked traitors". (verse 5 NIV)

"Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors". (verse 5 King James)

To comprehend this prayer properly we must examine the relationship between the Lord and David's enemies.

Saul was also anointed by the Lord as king of His people and his men are all Israelites - the chosen people.
They all believe that by killing David they serve the Lord.
They all believe that it is in order to carry false stories about David to the king.
Accordingly David can cry out that he is without fault. The accusations against him are false.

Such people are misguided.

They miss the kingdom of God although they believe that they serve the Lord. It is so easy to sin.
One must weigh one's words carefully and think before acting.

Verses 6 and 7 describe the persecutors among the Lord's children - as seen by the Lord.

They prowl like dogs about the city. With their snarling mouths they are a danger to all.
The image is of stray dogs prowling at night looking for food.

Let us consider the man praying - David. He too is anointed by God. In all his need he looks to the Lord. His Psalms show that.

He spent many hours each day in meditation and in prayer.
In all his need and stress he looked to God.
He knew the greatness of God's power. "But you, O Lord, laugh at them, You scoff at all those nations" (verse 8 NIV)

Therefore he can put his trust in God in verse 10: "The God of my mercy shall prevent me".

Verses 11 to 13 contain an ardent prayer that the Lord should deal harshly with his enemies. The Lord must punish them in such a way that their agony should last forever.

They should remain so that their unrighteousness be remembered.
The Lord should destroy them in His wrath till they are no more.

Prophetically David here becomes the Lord Jesus in his pain and suffering.

Vile accusations which all were false and contrived were part of the life of Christ.
His statement concerning His death and resurrection was at His trial misrepresented as if it was to humble the prestige of the temple because He would rebuild it in three days.
His enemies - as were David's - were the leaders of the church encouraged by Satan.
They shouted that the blood of Jesus be on their heads and the heads of their children.
They were prepared to do everything as long as in their delusion they could destroy the Son of God.

But Jesus could not, like David, pray that God should destroy His enemies.

He Himself is God. And as the Second Person of the Deity His task was to defeat Satan and destroy him.
Therefore He bears these agonies of which David prophetically tells in this Psalm.
Therefore He dies and arises from the dead.

Note the meaning. Death is symbolical of Satan's power and abode.

But Satan cannot escape the punishment God decreed for him.
It is pre-ordained - hence the demons pray Jesus not to punish them before their time.
They know He has the power to do so. They also know that He will surely do so.

David's prayer is heard in that Jesus destroys the true enemy.

He destroys Satan so completely that after His Second Coming Satan can never harm God's children.
He defeats Satan, so that at present he is powerless, but remains as an example of what happens to God's enemies.
Even in this life the powers of the devil are limited.
The demons at Gadara could not go into the pigs without Jesus Christ's permission. (Luke 8:32)
How much less can they do us harm against God's will.

Brethren and sisters, we must remember all these issues before we sit down at the Lord's Supper.

Because at this table the Lord assures us of His divine grace.
Christ does battle for us.
He defeats Satan for you and with it every enemy you may possibly have.

All we must do is to live a life of repentance.

Our inclination must be to submit completely to the Lord and to obey Him.
We must love like Jesus our Lord.
And we must be humble and be prepared to be humbled for the sake of the Name of the our Lord.

Come, sit at the Lord's table of grace with the knowledge that in this world we may sometimes have to bend under Satan's assaults but that the God of our mercy shall protect us.
Amen

Prayer
Hymn 8:1
Form of service for Holy Communion
Psalm: 51:1+8
During celebration Psalms 118 and 116
Closing Psalm 100:1, 2, 3 + 4

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen

Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
15 May 2005
Scripture NIV