Sermon Psalm 80 – Make Your Face Shine on Us

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon Psalm 80 – Make Your Face Shine on Us

December 18, 2016

Today we have arrived at the fourth Sunday of Advent. The coming of a savior is just around the corner. So far we have learned much from the Book of Psalms. We joined with the psalmist as she entered Jerusalem and found the people of God were living in shalom, peace and harmony. And with the psalmist we saw the people of God caring for the poor and needy, the widows and orphans, and the aliens in the land with mishpat and tsedaqah, justice and righteousness. And last week we joined with the psalmist singing hallelujah, “praise the Lord.” Today we turn with the psalmist and consider what we all need the most, a savior.

At some point in our lives we will need a savior. Our problems will get out of hand. We won't be able to solve them. We will look to others for help but it won't be enough. And then we need a savior when there is no one else to turn to.

The list of problems we face as church are endless and growing. We have problems with ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders. We suffer from chronic pain, birth defects, and incurable diseases. We have friends and family with terminal diseases. We have floods, and droughts, and hurricanes which cause damage. We worry about our church, membership and finances. And are getting older every day. Sometimes we can solve our own problems. Sometimes we can solve our problems with the help of others. And sometimes we need a savior. Thankfully we have a savior who was born on Christmas. Let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

In the 8^th century before Christ the people of God were divided into two nations. The southern kingdom was called Judah. It's capital was Jerusalem. And in Jerusalem there was a temple for the worship of Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel. The northern kingdom was called Israel. It's capital was Samaria. The people of the northern kingdom worshiped golden calves erected by the king at religious shrines in Bethel and Dam. Israel had abandoned the worship of their God, Yahweh, and worshiped other pagan gods.

The northern kingdom, Israel, needed a savior. The Assyrian army arrived and encircled the capital. They were threatening to destroy the nation. Israel could not save itself. And there were no neighbors powerful enough to save them either. The gods they worshiped were completely ineffective. They needed someone to come and save them. They needed a savior, but who?

Then they remembered the God they had worshiped generations before. A God who had saved them in similar circumstances. Unfortunately they had abandoned this God years ago. But, maybe, he would remember his people. Perhaps this God could be persuaded to help them again. So a group was assembled to travel south to Jerusalem to ask Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, for help.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they made their way to temple to plead their case with God. It was believed that God resided in the temple in a room called the Holy of Holies. God's throne was a box, the arc of the covenant which the people of God had carried in the wilderness for 40 years. Inside was the Law of Moses. God sat on top of box between the cherubim. The group from the northern kingdom evidently entered the Holy of Holies to ask God for help. This is what they said.

Psalm 80: 1-3 NIV - Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

After generations of unfaithfulness the people of the northern kingdom have finally returned to the God of their ancestors. And they ask him for his presence with them as they face the Assyrian enemy.

We have this same hope for a savior. We know that our God does not prevent problems from happening. We have too many problems to believe that. Rather than prevent problems our God promises to be with us as we face our problems. The benefit of your faith is that whatever problem you face God will be there with you. His face will shine upon you. You have a savior who will come to your aid. All you have to do is to call on him in prayer.

Then the people from Israel presented to God the prayers of their people. Let's listen.

Psalm 80: 4-7 How long, Lord God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people? You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us. Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

They offered up prayers to God asking that he remember that the people of the northern kingdom were still his people. They told God that his people were suffering. And therefore God's reputation would suffer when others saw the suffering of his people. God needed to come to save them to demonstrate his power to the world. Otherwise the Assyrians will defeat them and mock their God. And so they asked God to save his people and to remember what he done for them in the past.

Psalm 80:8-14a You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River. Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it. Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see!

They reminded God that he had saved his people from slavery in Egypt and had promised them the land they now occupy. But now that very land that God had promised to them is occupied by non-believers. The Assyrians now live in their cities and farm their farms. So they pleaded with God to uphold his end of the covenant. They begged God for his help.

Psalm 80 14c-19 Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself. Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

And so they are waiting for a savior: God's son, who sits at God's right hand and comes to earth as the Son of Man. The savior they were waiting for is the same one we long for this Advent, Jesus Christ.

Sadly, God ignored their plea and allowed the Assyrians to conquer the northern kingdom and resettle the people of Israel in other parts of their empire. God ignored their prayer. Why were their prayers ignored? I think I know why.

Nowhere in Psalm 80 is there a prayer of confession. At no time in their prayers to God did they admit that they had done wrong by worshiping other gods at the shrines of the golden calves in Bethel and Dan. And they made no promise to stop these evil ways and return to their God. All they did was to make demands on God and complain that he was not protecting them well enough. And God responded by ignoring them. God wants a confession, a change of heart, and a return of his people to obedience and he didn't hear it.

So, if we want a savior to come this Christmas we must confess our sin and change our behavior from evil to good. If we confess and repent and turn to him, then God will forgive us and send us a much needed savior.

And who is this savior that we wait for?. When the priests of Israel cried out “Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.”, they were using a Hebrew world “leshua.”, which mean save us. The name of the Lord God of Israel was, “jah”, which was shortened from Yahweh. So they put these together, “Jah shua”. They cried out “God save us, Jah shua. When this Hebrew word, Jah shua came into Latin became “Iesus”. And the Latin Iesus came into Early Middle English as “Jesus”. So the English name “Jesus” is the same as the Hebrew jah shua, God saves. So who is the savior that we are waiting for? Who is this Son of Man who sits at the right hand of God? Who is this anointed one who comes to earth? His name is Jah shua, Iesus, or Jesus. Jesus Christ is the savior who is coming. Let's pray.

Father in heaven we confess that we have turn from you to worship other gods. We worship the god of consumerism which causes us to worship money by working all the time and spending all we have. We have no time left over to serve your church. And we have no money left over to support the growth of your kingdom. We confess that this is our sin. We pledge to set our priorities aright and place the worship of you at the top. This we pray in the name of the savior who came at Christmas and will come again. Amen.