Psalm 20 Sermon PART 2 — The Banners and the Confidence

spoken word, sermon, religious / liturgical spoken delivery

+ Show full styles

[intro]
[British Reformed-Missionary Sermon]
[Mid-sized Reformed church acoustic]
[Single sustained low cello note]
[Faint English parish atmosphere]
[Preacher — continuing, pastoral warmth]

[SECTION THREE — We Will Set Up Our Banners]
[Cello note sustained]
[Preacher — deliberate, ecclesial]

The fifth verse contains a phrase 
that I have come to love.

We will rejoice in thy salvation,
and in the name of our God 
we will set up our banners.

We will set up our banners.

This is military language, dear friends.
But it is not the language of aggression.
It is the language of allegiance.

When ancient armies went into battle, 
each unit carried its banner.
The banner identified whose side you were on.
It marked you as belonging to a particular company, 
under a particular commander, 
in service to a particular cause.

The people praying this psalm 
are declaring that they will set up their banners 
in the name of their God.
They will mark themselves visibly 
as those who belong to the Lord.
They will not hide their allegiance.
They will not pretend to be neutral.
They will stand openly 
under the banner of the name 
they have come to trust.

This is what the church does, dear brothers and sisters.
The church is a banner-bearing people.
We are not merely private believers 
who keep our faith to ourselves.
We are an identifiable community 
that has set up its banner 
in the name of the God of Jacob 
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In a culture 
that increasingly prefers private religion — 
keep your faith out of the public square, 
do not impose your beliefs, 
let religion be a matter of personal preference — 
the twentieth psalm calls us back 
to the older Christian practice.
The banner is to be set up.
The allegiance is to be visible.
The community is to be identifiable.

This does not mean rudeness 
or political triumphalism.
It does not mean turning the church 
into a partisan force in the culture wars.
It means simply 
that the church is not a secret society.
We are the people 
who have set up our banners 
in the name of the Lord, 
and we do not apologize for it.

[SECTION FOUR — The Confidence That Comes from Knowing]
[Cello note steady, slightly warmer]
[Preacher — measured, building]

The sixth verse marks a turn in the psalm.

Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed.
He will hear him from his holy heaven 
with the saving strength of his right hand.

Notice the shift.
The first five verses 
are the community praying for the king.
Now suddenly we have a single voice 
declaring confident knowledge of God's saving work.

Now know I.

The Hebrew has a particular weight here.
This is not a vague hope.
This is not wishful thinking.
This is the confident assertion 
of one who has come to know something 
through the community's prayer.

In the act of praying together for the king,
the people have arrived at a place of confidence.
The very prayer itself has produced 
the knowledge of God's faithfulness.
The community, in praying, 
has come to know that the Lord saves his anointed.

This is one of the gifts 
of corporate prayer.
We come to know things 
through the practice of praying together 
that we would not have known 
through private religion.
The shared prayer life of the church 
produces shared confidence in God's character 
that cannot be reproduced 
by individual spirituality alone.

I have seen this in many places 
across many years of ministry.
The small congregation in India 
that prayed together through famine 
came to a knowledge of God's provision 
that no private believer could have arrived at alone.
The Christian community in Birmingham 
that prayed together through difficult years 
came to a knowledge of God's faithfulness 
that the individual members 
could not have produced in isolation.

This is the gift of the body of Christ.
We learn together what we could not learn alone.
We come to know God's character 
through the corporate practice of trusting him 
in difficult moments.

[end]

3973/7500

[intro] [British Reformed-Missionary Sermon] [Mid-sized Reformed church acoustic] [Single sustained low cello note] [Faint English parish atmosphere] [Preacher — continuing, pastoral warmth] [SECTION THREE — We Will Set Up Our Banners] [Cello note sustained] [Preacher — deliberate, ecclesial] The fifth verse contains a phrase that I have come to love. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. We will set up our banners. This is military language, dear friends. But it is not the language of aggression. It is the language of allegiance. When ancient armies went into battle, each unit carried its banner. The banner identified whose side you were on. It marked you as belonging to a particular company, under a particular commander, in service to a particular cause. The people praying this psalm are declaring that they will set up their banners in the name of their God. They will mark themselves visibly as those who belong to the Lord. They will not hide their allegiance. They will not pretend to be neutral. They will stand openly under the banner of the name they have come to trust. This is what the church does, dear brothers and sisters. The church is a banner-bearing people. We are not merely private believers who keep our faith to ourselves. We are an identifiable community that has set up its banner in the name of the God of Jacob and the Lord Jesus Christ. In a culture that increasingly prefers private religion — keep your faith out of the public square, do not impose your beliefs, let religion be a matter of personal preference — the twentieth psalm calls us back to the older Christian practice. The banner is to be set up. The allegiance is to be visible. The community is to be identifiable. This does not mean rudeness or political triumphalism. It does not mean turning the church into a partisan force in the culture wars. It means simply that the church is not a secret society. We are the people who have set up our banners in the name of the Lord, and we do not apologize for it. [SECTION FOUR — The Confidence That Comes from Knowing] [Cello note steady, slightly warmer] [Preacher — measured, building] The sixth verse marks a turn in the psalm. Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed. He will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Notice the shift. The first five verses are the community praying for the king. Now suddenly we have a single voice declaring confident knowledge of God's saving work. Now know I. The Hebrew has a particular weight here. This is not a vague hope. This is not wishful thinking. This is the confident assertion of one who has come to know something through the community's prayer. In the act of praying together for the king, the people have arrived at a place of confidence. The very prayer itself has produced the knowledge of God's faithfulness. The community, in praying, has come to know that the Lord saves his anointed. This is one of the gifts of corporate prayer. We come to know things through the practice of praying together that we would not have known through private religion. The shared prayer life of the church produces shared confidence in God's character that cannot be reproduced by individual spirituality alone. I have seen this in many places across many years of ministry. The small congregation in India that prayed together through famine came to a knowledge of God's provision that no private believer could have arrived at alone. The Christian community in Birmingham that prayed together through difficult years came to a knowledge of God's faithfulness that the individual members could not have produced in isolation. This is the gift of the body of Christ. We learn together what we could not learn alone. We come to know God's character through the corporate practice of trusting him in difficult moments. [end]

0/500