Annunciation of our Lord
Psalm 43/Hebrews 9:11-15
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Fourth century Bishop of Hippo, St Augustine, is credited with a splendid, time tested, hermeneutical axiom, a rule of thumb for Biblical interpretation. He said, “In the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed; in the New Testament the Old Testament is revealed.” He’s right. And, among other places, the last recorded words of King David bear this out, saying, The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, His Word is on my tongue” (2 Sam 23:1-2). Then follows a final prophecy of the coming king of righteousness, Jesus Christ.
Indeed, as we have said before, Christ Jesus, David’s Son and David’s Lord, speaks and prays in and with His ancestor in the flesh. That is to say, the man David and the only Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, pray the Psalter simultaneously. More than that, the the incarnate Son of God, who has borne all human weakness in His own flesh, here pours out the heart of all mankind before God. (How appropriate that today is the Annunciation of our Lord, the day He was conceived in the woman of His Virgin Mother.)
He stands in our place and prays for us, as the Epistle to the Hebrews says, Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come . . . He entered once for all into the Holy Places. He sympathizes with you in your weakness, for He, your Great High Priest, has known torment and pain, guilt and death more deeply than we have.
Therefore it is the prayer of your human nature assumed in Christ that comes before the Father. This is your prayer; the prayer of the One who knows you better than you know yourself. It is only your prayer because it was first His prayer; the prayer of the One who knew no sin, yet for your sake, became Sin, in order that you might, in Him, become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). He prays for forgiveness for sins that are not His own, and in Him, you rely on innocence not your own.
Consider this, then, in light of Psalm 43, which begins, Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people. Certainly Christ, the innocent One, can cry to the Father, Vindicate me, that is, “judge me, find me innocent against my accusers.” As Psalm 18 says, I was blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the Lord has awarded me according to my righteousness (18:23-24).
But the Christian recoils at such claims of innocence. And rightly so, if he makes them from his own nature and concerning his own works. Then such an assertion would be sanctimonious and smug; but on account of sin that clings so closely, even the most humble confession of sin can be prayed self-righteously.
But when prayed in accordance with the Word of the Lord, that is, by faith in Jesus Chris, the Mediator of a new covenant, such a prayer of innocence is entirely consistent with the Word and promises of God. As it is written, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rm 8:1). By faith in the shed blood of Christ, you, dear Christian, are entirely innocent and righteous in God’s eyes; righteous with a righteousness that is not yours by merit or worthiness, but by the pure grace and love of God alone who put forth Jesus as the propitiation for your sins. With such a prayer as this you stand in the center of the New Testament, in the gathered fellowship under the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is precisely where David longed to be, crying, You are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Even though the Lord seemed to be against him, still he trusted His Word and promise; desiring the solace of the Lord’s House, to gladly hear His Word and receive His comfort and peace. Yet the enemy oppresses him. It seems even God is against him. The Epistle to the Hebrews helps guide us here. Only a few chapters after the words for tonight, it is written, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one whom He loves and chastises every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons (Heb 12:5-7).
The Lord disciplines the One He loves! How He treated David? Joseph? All the prophets and apostles? Consider only how the Father chastised His only begotten, His dearly beloved! For it is David’s Son, the Anointed of God, the One on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, Jesus Christ, who prays this Psalm in true innocence and righteousness, who was truly oppressed by the enemy and an ungodly people.
Yet He gave Himself up to the will of the Father and the whims of the Sanhedrin and Roman court. He allowed Satan to have his way with Him. He, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).
And the Father vindicated Him - the Innocent One - by raising Him from the dead. He is the Light and the Truth of which David sings in the psalm: send our Your Light and Your Truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your Holy Hill and to Your dwelling! As it is written, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 Jn 1:5); and, If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7). David longed for the Temple and the Altar of God, that Old Testament concealment of the New; but Christ is the Temple not made with hands who offered Himself up on the Altar of the Cross in Sacrifice for sins of the whole world. He is the New Testament revealing the Old!
Beloved you began Lent with this Psalm upon your lips and in your mouth; it is part of the liturgy for Ash Wednesday. It is only fitting it now bookend this solemn season, this final week of Lent before entering into Passion-tide and the holiest of all weeks. Indeed it is meet, right, and salutary that Psalm 43 has long been used as a private prayer in preparation before receiving the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. For David desires, according to the Word and will of the Lord, to approach the Altar of God; to go to that place within the Temple where the lamb was offered, whose blood sanctified for the purification of the flesh.
Beloved, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, has atoned for the sins of flesh and soul by means of His own blood. And by His sacrifice He has transformed the Levitical Altar in the Eucharistic Table from which He distributes to you the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.
The old covenant altar pointed forward to the new testament Cross and Table, and indeed this altar here on earth is linked to an altar in heaven; not an altar of sacrifice, but, appropriately so, an altar of prayer (Rev 8:3, 4). Our worship here is joined to that celestial worship in and through and from that which is given to you here: Christ’s crucified and risen Body and Blood.
Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God. For your Savior and Redeemer has atoned for you in body and soul; He purifies your conscience by means of His blood. Take refuge in Him, for He has brought you to Himself in love. He declares you righteous and innocent in the shed blood of His Anointed. Join your song of praise, along with David, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, to your God, the God of your salvation.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalm 43/Hebrews 9:11-15
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Fourth century Bishop of Hippo, St Augustine, is credited with a splendid, time tested, hermeneutical axiom, a rule of thumb for Biblical interpretation. He said, “In the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed; in the New Testament the Old Testament is revealed.” He’s right. And, among other places, the last recorded words of King David bear this out, saying, The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, His Word is on my tongue” (2 Sam 23:1-2). Then follows a final prophecy of the coming king of righteousness, Jesus Christ.
Indeed, as we have said before, Christ Jesus, David’s Son and David’s Lord, speaks and prays in and with His ancestor in the flesh. That is to say, the man David and the only Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, pray the Psalter simultaneously. More than that, the the incarnate Son of God, who has borne all human weakness in His own flesh, here pours out the heart of all mankind before God. (How appropriate that today is the Annunciation of our Lord, the day He was conceived in the woman of His Virgin Mother.)
He stands in our place and prays for us, as the Epistle to the Hebrews says, Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come . . . He entered once for all into the Holy Places. He sympathizes with you in your weakness, for He, your Great High Priest, has known torment and pain, guilt and death more deeply than we have.
Therefore it is the prayer of your human nature assumed in Christ that comes before the Father. This is your prayer; the prayer of the One who knows you better than you know yourself. It is only your prayer because it was first His prayer; the prayer of the One who knew no sin, yet for your sake, became Sin, in order that you might, in Him, become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). He prays for forgiveness for sins that are not His own, and in Him, you rely on innocence not your own.
Consider this, then, in light of Psalm 43, which begins, Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people. Certainly Christ, the innocent One, can cry to the Father, Vindicate me, that is, “judge me, find me innocent against my accusers.” As Psalm 18 says, I was blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the Lord has awarded me according to my righteousness (18:23-24).
But the Christian recoils at such claims of innocence. And rightly so, if he makes them from his own nature and concerning his own works. Then such an assertion would be sanctimonious and smug; but on account of sin that clings so closely, even the most humble confession of sin can be prayed self-righteously.
But when prayed in accordance with the Word of the Lord, that is, by faith in Jesus Chris, the Mediator of a new covenant, such a prayer of innocence is entirely consistent with the Word and promises of God. As it is written, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rm 8:1). By faith in the shed blood of Christ, you, dear Christian, are entirely innocent and righteous in God’s eyes; righteous with a righteousness that is not yours by merit or worthiness, but by the pure grace and love of God alone who put forth Jesus as the propitiation for your sins. With such a prayer as this you stand in the center of the New Testament, in the gathered fellowship under the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is precisely where David longed to be, crying, You are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Even though the Lord seemed to be against him, still he trusted His Word and promise; desiring the solace of the Lord’s House, to gladly hear His Word and receive His comfort and peace. Yet the enemy oppresses him. It seems even God is against him. The Epistle to the Hebrews helps guide us here. Only a few chapters after the words for tonight, it is written, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one whom He loves and chastises every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons (Heb 12:5-7).
The Lord disciplines the One He loves! How He treated David? Joseph? All the prophets and apostles? Consider only how the Father chastised His only begotten, His dearly beloved! For it is David’s Son, the Anointed of God, the One on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, Jesus Christ, who prays this Psalm in true innocence and righteousness, who was truly oppressed by the enemy and an ungodly people.
Yet He gave Himself up to the will of the Father and the whims of the Sanhedrin and Roman court. He allowed Satan to have his way with Him. He, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).
And the Father vindicated Him - the Innocent One - by raising Him from the dead. He is the Light and the Truth of which David sings in the psalm: send our Your Light and Your Truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your Holy Hill and to Your dwelling! As it is written, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 Jn 1:5); and, If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7). David longed for the Temple and the Altar of God, that Old Testament concealment of the New; but Christ is the Temple not made with hands who offered Himself up on the Altar of the Cross in Sacrifice for sins of the whole world. He is the New Testament revealing the Old!
Beloved you began Lent with this Psalm upon your lips and in your mouth; it is part of the liturgy for Ash Wednesday. It is only fitting it now bookend this solemn season, this final week of Lent before entering into Passion-tide and the holiest of all weeks. Indeed it is meet, right, and salutary that Psalm 43 has long been used as a private prayer in preparation before receiving the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. For David desires, according to the Word and will of the Lord, to approach the Altar of God; to go to that place within the Temple where the lamb was offered, whose blood sanctified for the purification of the flesh.
Beloved, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, has atoned for the sins of flesh and soul by means of His own blood. And by His sacrifice He has transformed the Levitical Altar in the Eucharistic Table from which He distributes to you the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.
The old covenant altar pointed forward to the new testament Cross and Table, and indeed this altar here on earth is linked to an altar in heaven; not an altar of sacrifice, but, appropriately so, an altar of prayer (Rev 8:3, 4). Our worship here is joined to that celestial worship in and through and from that which is given to you here: Christ’s crucified and risen Body and Blood.
Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God. For your Savior and Redeemer has atoned for you in body and soul; He purifies your conscience by means of His blood. Take refuge in Him, for He has brought you to Himself in love. He declares you righteous and innocent in the shed blood of His Anointed. Join your song of praise, along with David, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, to your God, the God of your salvation.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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