Psalm 97. I want to point out, you've probably noticed it at this point in time, that when we go through these psalms, the last few, for example, in Psalm It says in Psalm 92, for example, it is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises under thy name, O Most High, to show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night.

And you can continue reading that, but He says, near the end, to show that the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. So that's Psalm 92. Psalm 93 says, the Lord reigneth, He is clothed with majesty, the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith He hath girded Himself. The world also is established that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old, Thou art from everlasting. Hopefully you remember some of those words from the studies on those psalms.

In Psalm 94, it says, O Lord, God to whom vengeance belongeth, O God to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself, lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth, render a reward to the proud. And so Psalm 94, a similar theme. He says in Psalm 95, O come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation, Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, make a joyful noise to Him with psalms. And then Psalm 96, O sing unto the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord all the earth, sing to the Lord, bless His name, show forth His salvation from day to day, declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people. And now we're in Psalm 97.

And you can see that in these, the sequence of these psalms, there is a consistent thread, a theme that runs through them all, and it continues on to Psalm 99 at least. And that thread, that theme that is seen in these psalms is that the Lord reigns. He's the sovereign. And as we have looked at these Psalms, we've seen that the Lord who reigns is God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom God the Father and God the Spirit rule in heaven and earth over all things.

And so that's what we're gonna see tonight in this Psalm also. And I wanna begin our study by reading through this Psalm. There's 12 verses. And as we read through these verses here, consider the previous Psalms from Psalm 92, and then as we're looking forward, you'll see this also in Psalm 98 and Psalm 99. For example, in Psalm 98, it opens, O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.

His right hand and his holy arm has gotten him the victory. Psalm 99, the Lord reigneth, let the people tremble. He sits between the cherubim, let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion and is high above all people. So can you see here the theme?

It's that the Lord reigns, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as a consequence of that, the Lord tells his people to rejoice, to be glad, to be joyful, to sing. And all these things express the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ. the basis for his ruling and reigning in heaven.

And that's what we'll see tonight in Psalm 97. So let's read through this Psalm together. He says in verse 1, the Lord reigneth. And again, we know that God the Lord is Jehovah and that God is the sovereign over all things. Scripture is abundantly clear about this. You can read about it throughout the Psalms. For example, in Psalm 115, it says, Our God is in the heavens. He has done whatsoever He has pleased.

And so this is a theme throughout the Old Testament and the New. But in the New Testament, the focus is especially on the rule and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus is the Lamb of God and the Son of God. So he's both the Son of Man and the Son of God. And this is a constant theme throughout the New Testament. He told Nicodemus that he was the son of man who is in heaven because he first descended and then ascended, and there he rules and reigns according to the eternal will of God for our salvation.

And this is seen throughout the New Testament. We're going to see this more tonight in detail. But let's continue reading. He says in Psalm 97, 1, the Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be glad thereof." The islands, that's a reference in scripture when it says the isles. It really means everything except the nation of Israel.

He goes on, he says, clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world. The earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

So we can see here this emphasis on God's sovereign rule is again and again, it's stated here and restated. The heavens declare his righteousness and all the people see his glory. So those first six verses, there you can see the emphasis is on the Lord reigning in glory. It also talks about, in verse two and three, the clouds and darkness, righteousness and judgment, the habitation of his throne, fire goes before him, burns up his enemies, and his lightnings enlighten the world, and so on, and how the earth trembled. But in verse 7, he changes the direction a little bit.

He says, confounded be all they that serve graven images. So now, if you were to look at this as the second part of the psalm, he's talking about the foolishness and the way that we are in darkness, we're in ignorance, and we're confused, really. We have no knowledge of the truth of God. We're confounded if we are serving graven images. So, confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols.

Worship Him, all you gods. And as is often the case in Scripture, in the Old Testament, when God uses this term, gods, He doesn't just mean man-made images. He also means those who are in a place of authority over God's people. And because of that, they're called gods. And so this is something you see in his verse. He says, confounded be all they that serve graven images that boast themselves of idols. Worship him, all ye gods. Worship the Lord.

Verse 8 says, Zion heard. So that interjection in verse 7 was to speak against idolatry. Verse 8 turns again back to the church. He says, Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord. The theme from verse 1 is carried forward again. Verse 1 said, The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice, let the multitudes of the isles be glad. In verse 8, Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord.

Then in verse 9 he goes, For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth. Thou art exalted far above all gods. not only man-made gods, but also those who are in the place of authority, above all principalities and powers. If you remember how Colossians puts it, the Lord Jesus Christ is preeminent in all things. He rules over all principalities and powers. Verse 10 says, you that love the Lord hate evil.

He preserveth the souls of his saints. He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked, And then verse 11, a very endearing verse, he says, light is sown. for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart. So you can see the light like seeds is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart. That's a great image of God's grace to his people.

He says in verse 12, the last verse, rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. I think verse 12 really is the conclusion and the summary of the entire psalm. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Verse 1 said to rejoice and be glad because the Lord reigns. And verse 12, rejoice in the Lord again, you righteous, give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. So if I was to give you a very compact summary of this psalm.

I would say that this psalm is declaring to all the earth that the Lord Jehovah, our God, reigns, and therefore we are to rejoice and be glad because he reigns. To help us in that thought, think about this. What would be greater? What would be greater news? What would be more comforting?

What would give us greater peace and assurance in everything than to know that the one who died for us, who gave himself for our sins, now sits on the right hand of God and has absolute authority over all things in heaven and earth in order to save us to the uttermost. What could give us more comfort than he who gave himself for our sins to God?

He gave himself a sacrifice, an offering for our sins, He did it in love. He offered Himself to God for us in order to redeem us from our sins, to wash us from our sins, that the same Lord, the same Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, sits on the throne of absolute authority and orders all things according to His will. When Christ was as the sovereign one, he's uninfluenced, he's self-sufficient. When he had his will, he gave himself for our sins. His will is always done. And if it was done when he gave himself for our sins, when he committed himself in body and soul to his father to deliver him from death with his people and was raised again, if he did that in his weakness, then how much more in his strength, how much more in his glory, how much more in his almighty reigning power would the Lord Jesus Christ save us to the uttermost. In fact, this is the argument of Romans chapter five. He says, if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life, by his life. Romans five.

And verse 21 says, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So this is a summary, isn't it? This is a condensed summary of the gospel. Jesus Christ reigns because he fulfilled all righteousness in the sacrifice of himself to God for our sins.

This shows us his character. It shows us that he uncompromisingly upheld God's glory in all of his righteousness and holiness and judgment and truth, but did it in a way of grace in order to bring us to God, to bring many sons to glory by the sacrifice of himself as our high priest, to give himself to God for us in order that He might bring us to God. It was always God word, isn't it? His work. And so, that's the first thing I want to point out.

Since the Lord Jesus Christ reigns, and since He's the one who's our Savior, to save us even from our sins, what could give us greater comfort? What could give us greater assurance than to know that the one who is in charge of every detail of our lives, especially of our eternal souls, is the one who sits on the throne of heaven. That's why we're told in verse 1, the Lord reigns.

Let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. This is a command, isn't it? The Lord reigneth. That's a declaration. Let the earth rejoice. And let the multitude of the isles be glad. This is a proclamation of a reigning sovereign.

And the reason for his reign is the reason for our rejoicing. That he has overcome everything that separated us and God, which is our sin. And all the consequences that God in his holiness demanded because of our sin. the Lord Jesus Christ overcame and removed those things, and that's why He reigns. Okay, so that's what I'm trying to convey as we look at this psalm, that God is giving this command, a gracious command to His people, and the basis for the joy and the gladness and the rejoicing that He calls on them. to give to the Lord, he says, rejoice, rejoice. There's no greater reason to rejoice than that Jesus Christ reigns. His rule and sovereign authority is because he finished the work God gave him to do.

Remember in John 17 when Jesus was praying for his people to his father, in John 17 as our advocate and our high priest, he says these words. Let me turn to that. He says, These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. So glorify means to exalt him, to make known his character, his work, his words. his authority, all that God has blessed him with, to make it known.

He says in verse two, as thou has given him power over all flesh, there's that sovereignty that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. And this was the work God gave him to do. Give eternal life to these my people. He gave his people, his elect people to Christ. And because they were given by the father, obviously loved by the father before, and given to Christ as our surety to bring them again to Himself, then the Lord Jesus says that He would give them eternal life. He says in verse 3, this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. This is the essence. of eternal life, knowing Jesus Christ, knowing God in Jesus Christ.

And he goes on in verse four, I have glorified thee on the earth. And how I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. In other words, give me that glory.

That I had a son of God with with you, my father. but not now as son of God, but as the son of God and son of man as mediator." Or you could understand it this way, since he had the glory of mediator even before he came into the world, having fulfilled the work God gave him to do as our mediator, now he has that glory in an open and manifest way. because of the work that was finished. So I'm pointing that out to show you that the reason that God exalted his son is because in finishing God's will, God is exhibiting in his son, this is who God is. This is his character. This is his great name and honor and glory. The one who stepped out of his reputation as the son of God and took on the form of a servant and as a servant became a man and served as a man all of his people and served God in obedience in the death of the cross. He's exalted and God has exalted him. the Lamb of God, our great Savior who humbled Himself in this way in order to make known His Father in His own obedience and sacrifice of humility and self-sacrifice and love and grace according to God's truth, uncompromised justice, uncompromised holiness.

And so God has exalted Him. Hear my son, remember Matthew 17 verse 5, hear my son, hear him. And this is what Pharaoh told all the people of Egypt about Joseph, go to Joseph. He gave Joseph all authority, even over his own house, except in the throne, he says, only in the throne will I be greater. And the Lord Jesus Christ is equal with the Father.

And so we see this is phenomenal, isn't it? This is the reason for rejoicing. That's what he's saying here. Now, what I want to do in this psalm is I want to look at a couple of verses here, and then I want to give you the scriptural background that help us to interpret these things in light of the gospel. So verse one, we've read that, the Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitudes of the isles be glad. This is the proclamation, and God's going to give the reason for it, and the reason for it will be Christ and him crucified, exalted and reigning for the salvation of his people to the uttermost, to bring many sons to glory. This is God's purpose, to glorify himself, and the redemption of his people by the Lord Jesus Christ.

So here he says in verse 2, clouds and darkness are round about I'm sorry, round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

And then verse three, a fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world. The earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord, the whole earth. The heavens declare his righteousness and all the people see his glory.

So this is language drawn from Old Testament scripture. And in this language we see that the Lord who reigns, which we understand to be God, reigning in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator, the Son of Man, as Son of God and Son of Man, reigning over all things in Heaven and Earth.

Let me remind you of what it says in Matthew chapter 28. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples. He says, Jesus came and He spake to them saying, all power, given to me in heaven and in earth There you have it All power is given to me in heaven and earth look at Acts chapter 2. I'm just taking a sample of Scripture in order to Persuade us that this is the truth of God in Acts chapter 2 and verse 3, it says, him, let me read verse 22. He says, you men of Israel, this is Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God was poured out and by the Spirit of God enabled Peter and the other apostles to preach Christ and him crucified.

He says in verse 22, you men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man, approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know. Him, Jesus Christ, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden by it.

But what I wanted to point out was actually in, let's see, I gotta find the verse that I was actually looking for. Those are good, but let me find this verse here. Why am I not seeing it? Oh, yeah, it's on down further. Look at verse 33 of Acts chapter 2. I'm sorry.

He says, After all, having preached that Jesus Christ is the one you crucified, the one God raised, the one God exalted, that he's the son of David after the flesh, he says, therefore, verse 33, being by the right hand of God exalted, And having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this, which you now see and hear."

So, what was the evidence that Christ was reigning? It was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And what was the evidence of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? It was the preaching of the Gospel of Christ and Him crucified. And what was the result of the preaching of Christ and Him crucified because of or through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

We'll look over at verse 39. He says, for the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, that means the multitude of the islands as we read in Psalm 97, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Okay, so what he's saying is that The preaching of the gospel is by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was sent by Christ from His throne in order to preach that gospel, and the preaching of the gospel is the call of the Lord our God on the throne, Jesus Christ, in order to call His people by that gospel to Himself.

And then in verse 41, the result is, then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day were added to them about 3,000 souls. That's effectual, isn't it? That's effectual. That's God accomplishing by his word what he intended to accomplish. He saved these 3,000 souls.

And it was by the call of the Lord our God, in verse 39, who is Jesus Christ, who is, according to verse 36, it says, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made the same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. And so, and this is the outpouring of the Spirit of God to enable his preaching of the gospel so that men would be saved is the result of Christ reigning and his reign as a result of him having been delivered by the determined counsel of God and that was by the will of God in order to bring his many sons to glory. So you can see it's all given to us here in Acts chapter 2. And this is a summary given by Peter through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit explaining Old Testament prophecy concerning David from Joel, concerning the preaching of the gospel, concerning the work of the Spirit of God to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel for the salvation of his people. And that's why in Romans chapter one it says that the gospel is the power of God to salvation because the Spirit of God gives life through the preaching of the gospel. And that is because Christ reigns. And that is because Christ died and did the will of God, exalted His honor and His glory in doing what He did according to the holiness of God.

All right, so now back to Psalm 97. I'm just giving you those as sort of a sample of the multitude of New Testament scriptures that help us see that the promise of God in scripture, Old Testament scripture, was concerning Christ, how he would first suffer, and then he would be glorified. This was the work God the Father gave him to do to save his people out of all flesh that was given to him, that power he had over all flesh, to give eternal life to as many as God had given him.

All right, so back in Psalm 97, he says, clouds and darkness around about him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. So this is something that you also see in scripture, and it's mysterious, isn't it? Clouds and darkness, it says. Where do we see this elsewhere in scripture? Well, it turns out, if you recall, in the giving of the law. In Exodus 19 and 20 and 24, it speaks of the darkness, it speaks of the cloud, the thick cloud. And it talks about the people being terrified. Even Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. So let me go to Hebrews 12, where the summary from the Old Testament is given.

In Hebrews chapter 12, we look there, he says in verse 18, he says, for you, in verse 18, you are not come unto the mount, and the mount here is Mount Sinai, and it has to do with the giving of the law, that first covenant, which placed conditions on men in order to be accepted by God, in order to receive blessing, and also in order to avoid God's curse. So he says in verse 18, you're not come unto the mount that might be touched, an earthly mountain, and that burned with fire, there's that fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest. You're not come there. And he goes on talking still about Sinai, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, for they could not endure that which was commanded.

They couldn't endure it because it required continuous, perfect obedience at the pain of eternal death if they were to fail. And that is a burden way too heavy for any person to bear except the Lord Jesus Christ. So they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.

And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. So this is the darkness, this is the blackness, this is that shaking, this is the trembling that they experienced when the Lord appeared on Mount Sinai. There was nothing wrong with God's appearance there to them in that way, but it was an appearance that kept them back and separated them from God. And the reason it did is because our sin separates us from God.

Isaiah 59 says that. Let me read that to you in Isaiah 59. He says, He says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. So God's own character separates sinners from himself. And because of that, it strikes terror in the heart of man. It should. There's no way to pacify God's demands of us as sinners. We can't do it in ourselves.

Now, if you were to read in Exodus 19, you would find that God told Moses to tell the people that he brought Israel out of Egypt on eagle's wings. And then he, let me go back to Exodus 19 because it's important that we see these things. so that we can tie them together.

He says in Exodus 19, he says after that verse in verse four, he says, now, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people for all the earth is mine. OK, so this is that segment of humanity, a peculiar treasure. It means you'll be my own possession. And it was contingent, it was hinged on the condition that they would obey. He says, if you will obey my voice indeed.

And then in verse six he says, you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. So God told Moses, this is what you say to them. And he says, and Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has said, has spoken, we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people to the Lord. And then it says, the Lord said to Moses, Lo, I am come unto thee in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with thee and believe thee forever. And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. OK, so here you see the setting. It's Sinai, God says. You know, I brought you out of Egypt. It was completely by my strength and my grace. But now if you really want to be my people, you have to do everything I say.

And that's when it says that the Lord said to Moses, I come to thee in a thick cloud. Now look at chapter 20. And of course, the rest of chapter 19 of Exodus is God telling the people, now you sanctify through Moses, you sanctify yourselves and then then you can come to the Lord. He says, in fact, he says, the Lord said in verse 10, the Lord said to Moses, go to the people, sanctify them today, tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, be ready against the third day.

For the third day, the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai, and then set bounds to the people roundabout saying, take heed to yourselves that you go not up to the Mount or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the Mount shall surely be put to death. Okay, so go wash yourselves. Make yourselves holy.

But that was all under this condition that they would do everything the Lord had said. And the result was that they were separated. They couldn't, even with all that they did, it didn't allow them to come to the mountain. They were kept back. A boundary was set around the mountain and they weren't allowed to cross it. And if they tried to, they would be killed.

So this is that separation which our sin brings when God reveals himself in his righteous character without a mediator. And you can see that when, in verse from Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 18 of, I'm sorry, Exodus 19, referring back to Hebrews 12, he says, And the mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon Sinai on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain. And the Lord said to Moses, Go down, charge the people as they break through to the Lord and gaze.

And many of them perish. That's the separation, forbidding them to come to the Lord. in complete stark contrast to what Jesus said in Matthew 11, verse 28, coming to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden by the law of God because of your sin, laden down by the law because of your sin. So then in chapter 20, God gives the law through Moses. But look at verse of chapter 20 and look at verse 18. Exodus 20 verse 18, all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountains smoking and when the people saw it they removed and they stood afar off and they said to Moses speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die.

So to deal with God, to have dealings with God according to the law without a mediator is certain death. And the people by saying, we can't tolerate, we're not able to endure God speaking to us, you speak to God for us. It was them saying prophetically, the only way a sinner can come to God is through a mediator. Even though this was just Moses, it looked forward to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, in verse 19 of chapter 20, it says, And they said to Moses, Speak thou with us, we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die. And Moses said to the people, Fear not, for God has come to prove you that his fear may be before your face, that you sin not. And the people, verse 21, the people stood afar off and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. OK, so this is clearly God's dwelling in thick darkness, isn't it?

And let me remind you again of the words from Psalm 97 in verse two. I've got to get back there. He said it this way. Trying to hold my place in three places. He says, clouds and darkness surround about him righteousness and judgment, or the habitation of his throne. A fire goes before him and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlighten the world. The earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord the whole earth. So here it's talking about God dwelling in this thick cloud, this darkness, and fire going before him, and lightning.

This is describing a similar scene, isn't it? But in the scene of Psalm 97, the people are told to rejoice and to be glad. So if we go on in Exodus, we see here that Moses now goes up to God in, according to verse 21 of chapter 20, Exodus 20, verse 21, the people stood far off and Moses drew near to the thick darkness. Look at Exodus 24, another place.

He says in Exodus chapter 24, And he says in verse 12, the Lord said to Moses, come up to me in the mount and be there and I will give you the tables of stone and a law and commandments which I've written that thou mayest teach them. And it says in verse 15, I'm skipping down, Moses went up into the Mount, a cloud covered the Mount, the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud, and the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of Mount Sinai in the eyes of the children of Israel. Moses went into the midst of the cloud and got him into the mount and Moses was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights Okay, so the similar scene isn't it this is after the giving of the law Moses goes up and He enters into this cloud where God is and it was a diva like a devouring fire on the Mount Sinai and very, very similar language to what we read in Psalm 97. It's talking about the same kind of glory. What does it mean? What does it mean?

In Hebrews 12 it says, you're not come to that mountain. Well, look at 1 Kings, 1 Kings chapter 8. Now, this is, this is all, we're going to try to tie all this together, but in 1 Kings chapter 8, he says, this is a time when Solomon, David's son, had built the temple.

And they're going to move the Ark of the Covenant from its tabernacle now into the temple that Solomon built. And they're going to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the temple. And Solomon is going to pray that God fill the temple with his glory from the Ark. OK. This is, again, this is very prophetic and it ties into Psalm 97, but I want to just give you that background there. Historically, the covenant, the Ark of the Covenant is being brought out of the tabernacle, which it was in until this time, and it's put in a temple which Solomon, the son of David, built. And when the Ark is put into this temple, as we're going to see here, God's glory fills that temple.

And so, He says in 1 Kings chapter 8, it said, verse 12, then speaks Solomon, the Lord said that he would dwell in thick darkness. This ties it back to Exodus 19 and 20 and 24, doesn't it? And to Psalm 97. The Lord said he would dwell in thick darkness. Verse 13, I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in forever.

And the king turned his face about and blessed all the congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake. with his mouth unto David my father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying, Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be therein. But I chose David to be over my people Israel, and it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. And the Lord said to David, my father, whereas it was in thine heart to build a house to my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build a house, but thy son shall come forth. Thou shalt come forth out of thy loins. He shall build the house unto my name. Historically, it's talking about Solomon. Prophetically, it's talking about the son of David, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who built the house of God? Who is, what is the house of God? Hebrews 3 says, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. And throughout scripture, it's clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is gonna build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The house, the temple built, is the church. The one who builds it is Christ. Christ builds the church upon having taken his throne in glory because he accomplished our salvation.

Okay, so that ties back into Acts 2, doesn't it? And we can read Acts 13 and Acts 15, the same thing is taught there. Christ occupies the throne of glory, as he said in John 17 in his prayer, because he finished the work. And he thereby saved his people from their sins, and therefore he asked his father to give him the glory he had with him before the world was.

Solomon in 1 Kings 8 says, the Lord said he would dwell in thick darkness. And now, historically, he's bringing that Ark of the Covenant into that temple. The temple represents the church. The one who builds it, who builds the church, is the son of David, even though historically Solomon, the son of David, built the physical temple. The Ark of the Covenant represents what?

The place of propitiation. Who is the propitiation? The Lord Jesus Christ. Here in his love, 1 John 4, verse 10, Not that we love God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So when the ark came into that temple in Solomon's day, it was a prophecy concerning the end of the old covenant. And it was a prophecy establishing the new covenant which Christ did in His blood. And because He did, He, as our mercy seat, enters into glory.

And entering into glory, He sends His Spirit. And by His Spirit, He preaches the gospel. And through His gospel, He calls His people. And when He calls His people, He gives them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. He gives them the light of the glorious gospel, that they might see in that light Jesus Christ and Him crucified, now risen and reigning for our eternal salvation and building His church. Because He reigns, we are called. And because He calls us, because He reigns, because He died for us, then the Lord adds to the church daily such as should be saved, as He says in Acts chapter 2. And throughout the book of Acts, in Acts 2, in Acts 13, Acts 15, and other places, he shows that the understanding of the Old Testament has to be distilled in this manner, that the temple and the glory of God in the temple is Christ having accomplished our salvation. So then, how does this tie in then with this thick, he says in Psalm 97, clouds and darkness around about him, righteousness and judgment, or the habitation of his throne?

Well, you see, darkness occurred when the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross. Do you remember that? It was from noon to 3 p.m., three hours, darkness covered the whole earth. And at the end of that three hours in the darkness, Jesus cried, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Our mediator had gone into the place of the thick cloud where the glory of God is.

There's an impenetrable, an impenetrable holiness that we cannot enter into. where the work of our atonement was accomplished. when the Lord Jesus Christ offered himself to God the Father through the eternal spirit, Hebrews 9, verse 12, and obtained our eternal redemption.

Just like in the holy place you couldn't go in, only the high priest once a year, so the Lord Jesus Christ once in the end of the world appeared and entered into the holy place with his own blood by the eternal spirit, and there he obtained our eternal redemption. And because he did, Hebrews chapter 9 verse 14 goes on that, how much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. The result of the propitiation that Christ made in his blood to God for us. God was propitiated in the death of Christ. All of our sins, judicially, were completely wiped out. There's nothing there before God.

And the truth of that is applied to us when the Spirit of God shows us Christ as our Redeemer, Christ as our Mediator, Christ who advocated, who pleaded himself for us and interceded for us. before God as our high priest, and offered himself to God, and God received him. And because God received him for us, he raised him, and with him raised us from the dead, exalted him, and with him we are seated. Colossians three, verse four, three and four, our life is hid with Christ in God. And when he shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory. All these things speak of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in his sin-atoning death and his exaltation at the right hand of God.

But at the cross, it was dark. It was dark, because this is an impenetrable transaction between God the Father and God the Son, where he received, according to the prophecies of Old Testament, according to what the Lord Jesus said, he gave himself to God. And that's a holiness, that's a justice that we can only see now through a glass, as it were, darkly. There's that darkness again. This is God's glory in all of His holiness, which only Christ could go into. And Christ could appear there for us. and offer himself to God, and God would receive him, and God would be propitiated. Satisfaction would be made. Wrath, the wrath of God, due to us, would be completely removed.

Peace, with God, established in the blood of his Son. And this is the teaching of the Gospel, isn't it? The Gospel tells us, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. It's through Christ that we now enter. We can see at a distance, as it were, in the Lord Jesus. We can see the glory of God because He, who is our mediator, is able to appear before God for us and answer everything God requires with Himself.

He answered with himself for us, and pleaded himself for us, and advocated our case before God with his own self. He intercedes for us, and it is his intercession at the right hand of God that will be our salvation to the uttermost. This is why we're told in Psalm 97, the Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice, and let the multitudes of the isles be glad because of this. The one who gave himself for our sins sits in glory to bring us to himself, and nothing can prevent it, especially not our sins, because he's made a full atonement. And through the gospel, our conscience is purged, and we're allowed now in peace to come to God in transparency, confessing our sins, knowing that God has answered His own holiness in the blood of His Son. This is the cause for rejoicing and for gladness.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. What a great God He is. What a great Savior He is. We see in Him your own person and your own glory. But we are held fast to behold in our Savior, our God, and our Lord, and to see His glory, and your glory in Him. And we pray, Lord, that You would reveal these things to us in our hearts, so that by the Gospel we would see that You've removed all that separates us from You. and You've made us holy in His own blood, and You've made us righteous, and this judgment now has fallen down from heaven as the decision of the Supreme Court that we are justified in the Lord Jesus Christ by His blood. Reconciled to God, made righteous in His righteousness. Thank You, Lord our God. In His name we pray. Amen.