Rejoice In Answered Prayer For The Church (Psalm 21)
Last week’s Sunday Night sermon and this week’s sermon are very similar. Last week’s was a prayer for the Church and this week’s is our rejoicing and further prayers as God gives victory.
This is because Psalm 20 and 21 are linked together in a before and after. Psalm 20 was a prayer for the King. And as we discussed last week, these prayers for the king were a prayer for God’s people. As the king went, so went God’s people. And here in Psalm 21, we see the response to God’s answered prayer. What we will see tonight is that we are to rejoice in answered prayer, and pray for further victory.
What you will notice as we read this text is that there is both a rejoicing in what God has done and a prayer for more.
We rejoice in answered prayer, and pray for further victory.
Rejoice In Answered Prayer (Psalm 21:1-3)
The Psalm begins by rejoicing in answered prayer. And remember, this is a discussion about the church. As the king went, so would go the entire society. And so, when we apply this to our situation today, it is by seeing God’s faithfulness to the Church. And as the Church, especially in our era, we have many things to be thankful for and rejoice in.
One thing that I do not think we do enough of in our day and time is rejoicing in past victories. There has been a real push by people of our day to forget the past. And by consequence, that has been applied by people rather unknowingly in many areas of life. We seem to have followed Henry Ford into the rather idiotic notion that history is bunk and so we don’t look back to see the victories that have been won.
Journalist Bill Boyers stated that
“We Americans seem to know everything about the last twenty-four hours, but very little of the past sixty centuries or the last sixty years.” (Bill Moyers)[1]
The thing that we don’t often understand is that we are where we are because of those that went before us. Sir Isaac Newton famously stated of himself that,
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” (Sir Isaac Newton)
But that is something that is not often realized in our day.
The Church did many tremendous things to bring us to where we are today. Christianity made it to America through a very long series of oftentimes dangerous trials and tribulations. We would not be able to do the things that we do today without the tremendous things that those who have gone before us have done. The church has gone from Jerusalem to worldwide. Christianity has been on the move throughout the ages in an incredible way. And we rejoice in this incredible expansion of the Kingdom of God.
This church has also done great things in the past. And some of the people who are here lived through those times.
I downloaded our church’s Annual Church Profile numbers dating back to its inception in Sherry’s home. And if you look at the numbers you can see that there have been tremendous things done here in the past.
For instance, I have been told that a church that baptizes 1 person per 20 members has had a blessed year. There is a line for that statistic in the ACP and that happened here from 1987 to 1996, with the exception of 1989. In that time period this church baptized 62 people. For a church this size, that is tremendous.
And so, I look at that and I say that God has blessed this church with gospel growth in the past. God has used this church for the expansion of His Kingdom in year’s past. That’s not all that was done, but that is quite a highlight.
We are incredibly thankful and rejoice in the work that has been done.
Rejoice In The Expansion Of The Kingdom Of Christ (Psalm 21:4-7)
God answered prayer. Verses 4-7 are a celebration of the fact that God answered the prayers for the safety of King David. Since we are looking at this from our place in history, we look to see how this is applied to the Church.
First, God is faithful to answer prayer. This is a celebration of the many prayers answered on behalf of David. And this celebration tells us that God was faithful to answer them.
We also see that God’s answer to these prayers went above and beyond what was asked for. God did not just give David a long life, but He gave to David “length of days forever and ever” (Psalm 21:4 ESV). He gave to David a kingdom that would never end. God gave to David a child from his lineage that would one day rule forever.
Here we see a lot of different things coming together rather beautifully. God promised to David an eternal Kingdom (2 Samuel 7). And because of where we stand in history, we know that this promise was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us many years later. His name was Jesus. He lived a perfect life and fulfilled all righteousness. He also died on the cross and paid the punishment for sin. And three days later, He rose from the grave. In doing this He completely accomplished salvation for all who trust in Him. And this message has gone forth throughout most of the world and many, many people have come to Christ and been brought into this Kingdom. This Jesus, who accomplished all of this is seated at the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning. His Kingdom shall never end. He will reign forever and ever.
As a church family, we don’t just rejoice in the work that has been done here. We also rejoice in the advance of the Kingdom of God across the globe. We must understand that what we do here is but a small thing that is part of the Kingdom of Christ. Christianity has expanded throughout most of the world. When you consider that over the course of around 2,000 years, the Church expanded from a small band of believers to be all over the globe it is astounding. The Kingdom of God has slowly marched from Jerusalem into territories that once would have been thought unimaginable. And for that we rejoice!
And we also rejoice that we are part of a Kingdom that will go on forever. America has risen and there will come a day when America falls, but the Kingdom of Christ will remain forever.
Christ is King. His Kingdom will continue to expand until it encompasses the entire world. And He shall reign forever and ever.
Trust That The Kingdom Of Christ Will Cover The Earth (Psalm 21:8-12)
Our view now turns to the future. There is coming a day when all those who are opposed to Christ and His Kingdome will be defeated. All of the enemies of the Lord will be found out and dealt with. God will not always tolerate evil and rebellion.
There is coming a judgment. One day all things will be made right. And ultimately, though it does not feel as if this is the case, those who plan evil will be unsuccessful. God will be victorious over all. His King will reign forever.
We look around today and it oftentimes seems like the enemy is winning. But things are not as they currently seem. We need to take a long view of things, rather than just seeing them as they seem today.
When injustice is done against us today, we understand that God will make things right.
When harm falls upon God’s people today, we need to look toward the future and see that God will make things right.
When politicians in our own country seek to undermine Christianity and even bring harm to churches, we need to look toward the future and see that God will make things right.
When the Kingdom of Christ covers all the Earth, then all things will be made right. And that day is coming. We trust that this day is coming.
Pray For The Expansion Of Christ’s Kingdom (Psalm 21:13)
After we see the victories take place, both worldwide and in our own neighborhood, we plead with God for more. We have seen the glorious expansion of the gospel around the world, but we long for the day when Christ reigns over all. This church can look back at wonderful things that God has done in the past, but we work for, pray for, and look forward to more.
I look at this and can say that I am grateful for what has been done in the past at this church even though I was not here before January of this year. But I also desire for God to do more. I desire for God to grow this church and work in wonderful ways in our presence in the future.
It is not enough for any of us to sit back and just be thankful for what has gone on in the past. We should both be thankful for what God has done in the past and press on seeking for the expansion of God’s Kingdom in the present.
This church is surrounded by more people than it ever has. Home after home is popping up in our area and even though we are a little secluded over here, we have big opportunities that we pray God blesses. And we pray for, work for, and long for God’s blessing in our church.
Conclusion
As Christians, and as a church, we have a lot to be thankful for. God has been gracious. But we also have a lot to look forward to. We need to be a people who are thankful for the work that has taken place in our past. And we also need to be a people who are praying toward and working for the expansion of God’s Kingdom today.
R. Dwain Minor
[1] Bill Moyers, quoted in “A Free People’s Suicide” by Os Guiness, IVP Books, 2012, p. 74.