If you're visiting this morning, we're continuing our study in the Psalms, and I made kind of a leap today, Psalm 68, moving a little more quickly through the Psalter, and this morning we come to this glorious Psalm 68. I'm going to read the first 20 verses of Psalm 68. Let's give our attention to the word of the Lord this morning. God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered, and those who hate him shall flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away. As wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God. But the righteous shall be glad, they shall exult before God. They shall be jubilant with joy. Sing to God, sing praises to his name. Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts. His name is the Lord, exalt before him. Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home. He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched to the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain. Before God, the one of Sinai. Before God, the God of Israel. Reign in abundance, O God, you shed abroad. You restored your inheritance as it languished. Your flock found a dwelling in it. In your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. The Lord gives the word. The women who announce the news are a great host. The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee. The women at home divide the spoil. Through you men lie, though you men lie among the sheepfolds, the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold. When the Almighty scatters kings there, let snow fall on Zalma. O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan. O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan. Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for His abode? Yes, where the Lord will dwell forever. The chariots of God are twice 10,000. Thousands upon thousands. The Lord is among them. Sinai is now the sanctuary. You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there. Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up. God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation. And to God the Lord, belong deliverances from death may the lord bless the hearing of his word our view of god is too low our view of god is way too low i've come to that conclusion about christianity today that ultimately we have a weak and anemic view of god and that translates to a weak and anemic view of how powerful he has been to deliver us why do i say that well why did you um why'd you come up to the house of the lord today what was on your hearts and your minds when you came up to the house of the lord did you did you think through that you say well i i needed to come to worship the lord today but what what motivated you to come and to worship the lord what drove you to be here you know throughout the scriptures when god's people would would gather for worship he desired it to be a heavenly meeting where the eyes of the people were opened spiritually opened wide to see how powerful he is how power how that same power was taken to deliver His people in the past and that such excitement would fill us as His people in our hearts that we would call out to Him for grace and strength in the struggles of life. Excitement. Did you notice the exuberance and excitement that just reads off this psalm when you consider it and listen to what's being said? The women are all talking about it in the camp. They're all telling about the Lord. excitement they're filled so here we are the reality is this morning is that we're not very caught up with the magnificence of the lord and because we're not caught up with the magnificence of the lord as we should be there's a reason the psalmist we're continuing to say oh that men would thank the lord for his goodness you get that oh that men would just stop and thank him do they realize it don't they see it haven't they considered what he does and what he's doing in the lives of his people has it really driven them to praise does it really motivate their worship oh that men would stop and thank the lord for his goodness we often feel like we're going through life alone don't we we try to tackle problems alone we try to solve our problems alone and instead of fixing our eyes on this powerful lord who has delivered us we sink into despair psalm 68 is the antidote to that psalm 68 is the antidote to a weak anemic view of god that we have today and it shatters it it breaks it and it tells us to look at how powerful the lord has been to deliver us and what he is continuing to do for us it's a call it's summon it's saying bless the lord with me join with me and blessing the lord and casting your burdens upon him casting your cares upon him because do you know that this triumphant magnificent god cares for you have you considered you believe that psalm 68 is saying that this morning and by the end of it i'm hoping it drives us to leave with joy and excitement and a love to worship him let's look at this there's nothing like it there's some psalms when you when you read them you just feel the power coming off of the pages the glory radiating even from the reading in fact it's not an easy psalm to mine through some think it's so disconnected that it was thought to be a bunch of first lines of of poems just loosely thrown together but i believe that tells us something that the very structure of reading this psalm is saying something to us it's full of that kind of excitement and i don't know that there's anything else like it we considered psalm 18 and that was close but this is as one pastor said full of grandeur and lyric fire with a sustained rush of triumphant praise as we read this psalm this morning we're invited to enter into a victory march did you notice that it's a victory march a victory march of god's supreme power to save it's a psalm of david and it's uh generally accepted that the context of this psalm is when david was carrying the ark of god back to jerusalem and that it was going up to rest on the hill of zion it was going up the ark was going to rest finally listen to the language of second samuel and when those who bore the ark of the lord had gone six steps he sacrificed an ox and a fatted animal and david danced before the lord with all his might and david was wearing a linen ephod and so david and all the house of israel brought up the ark of the lord was shouting and with the sound of the horn as the ark of the lord came into the city of david they brought the ark of the lord and set it in its place inside the tent that david had pitched for it and david offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. I want you to imagine this for a minute. I'm pretty sure we don't realize the significance of that event. David stops and he ponders what's going on. This is a grand moment in israel's history here is the moment one of the most important moments the ark has come to the resting place on mount zion what did that mean what why was that so significant this was the city of the king it went up it ascended and it rested it was seated you know what the ark was it was the earthly symbolic place where god was said to have dwelt remember in the wilderness you had i'll talk about this in a minute the cherubim and when the glory came down and it rested upon the tabernacle and it filled and the imagery was god had come down that's why we're saying god is with us god had come down and he took his seat symbolically there why was that moment so great when it finally went up and ascended on high? Well, God had come down on Mount Sinai. Remember that? That day when everything went black and God came down and He was on Sinai. And remember what God gave to Moses? God gave to Moses instructions. I want you to build a tabernacle and I want you to build an ark. This was a movable worship facility. And at the end of Exodus, They're about to set off from Sinai, remember? And the Shekinah glory cloud comes down and it rests upon the ark and it was awesome. God was with them. God had come down. And he had dwelt with his people. Tabernacle means that. It means dwelling place. And David is rejoicing because the ark has now come and think of its journey. Think of the journey of the ark of the Lord. has now come and it's ascending up on high and it is resting as he ponders this psalm 68 comes out and psalm 68 david wanted the generations of people to understand how important this moment was that the ark had ascended to mount zion and psalm 68 is telling the meaning of this psalm 68 is explaining this and it's telling us why this was so significant. Notice verse 1. Let God arise. Let his enemies be scattered. Let those who hate him flee before him as smoke is driven away. So drive them away. You know where that comes from? This was the greatest story in the Old Testament. David's quoting Moses here. And it's interesting that every time Moses, as soon as he was in Numbers 10, ready to set out for Sinai, there was a prayer that was offered up. And this was the prayer in Numbers 10 that David is quoting here, that David is citing here. Here it was. Here's Moses. They're about ready to set out. The ark of God, the pillar is in front of them. The glory is out on in front. And Moses says, rise up, O Lord. Let your enemies be scattered and let those who hate you flee before you. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel. The imagery was unmistakable. At Sinai, God got off the throne in heaven and God came down and God dwelt with them. And as soon as they were in this march through the wilderness and they're heading through the wilderness, The glory cloud went up right in front of them and the ark was paving the way right through the wilderness, the glory paving the way all the way to the promised land. Moses is moved by this, filled with excitement. Let your smoke, let your wind blow away the smoke. The earth shook. Notice how glorious this was. Let all the enemies be scattered. They melt like wax before the Lord. And so what you have in verses 7 through 10 is a victory march. Oh God, when you went out before your people, notice this. When you marched to the wilderness, the earth shook. The heavens dropped at your presence. You'll notice the imagery of rain here. The heavens dropped down. They bowed down before you. Sinai shook. That glory was so powerful. The Shekinah glory. God was with them. You ever think of how glorious His presence is? Remember Psalm 18? Smoke, when David prayed, went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth. Glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down. Thick clouds were under his feet. He rode upon a cherub and flew. He came swiftly on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering. His canopy was around him, thick clouds, dark with water. Out of the brightness before him, hailstones and coals of fire broke through the clouds. The Lord thundered in the heavens. The Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out his arrows and scattered his enemies. He flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Notice the imagery. The Lord, verse 4 here, verse 4 says that the Lord, whose name is the Lord, he rode on the clouds. Verse 17 says his chariots are thousands of thousands, 20,000, thousands of thousands. You know what this was? This was the moving chariot throne of God that went before them. I don't know if we understand what this was like. Ezekiel got a glimpse of this, didn't he? You know that moving chariot throne? Ezekiel sees this vision and he says out of the north this great fire and he says it was a great cloud. Notice it's all the imagery of Exodus. This great cloud appeared and it was engulfing, raging with engulfing fire. Brightness was all around it. It radiated and from within came the likeness of four living creatures. The four living creatures are the ones who surround the throne. Their appearance was like coals of burning fire. Like torches, he says, going back and forth. And out of the fire went lightning. They raised their wings, forming this massive firewall. Remember, the ark had to have the cherubim with wings outstretched. A massive firewall surrounding the throne. Wings that went up to shield the glory of God so that He didn't consume everything and its path for those who were His own. Wings that covered the faces of the angels and the feet because they couldn't even endure that glory radiation, if you will. He was on fire in their midst. God. The burning bush didn't burn. This was God on fire in their midst. Completely walled off in His glory. A continuous, consuming fire. And Ezekiel says you should have seen the wheels on this chariot throne. The wheels, boys and girls, hit the earth and went straight up to heaven and the rims were awesome. Great rims. Wow, this thing. Moving chariot. Wherever the Spirit wanted it to go, it went. And when it stopped, it stopped. And the cherubim were like those holding reins. And you know what I saw, says Ezekiel? I saw someone seated there like the Son of Man. God got off the throne and he rode before Israel in the wilderness. Make straight, said Isaiah, in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven ground shall become level. The rough place is plain and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. This is what Israel experienced in the wilderness. And then it moves in verses 11 through 14 to the conquest of Canaan. Ever wonder what that was like? He rode in front of them. Israel, it led Israel through the wilderness and this almighty king scattered kings in the wilderness. It was as white as snow in Zalman. There were white bones everywhere. armies fled remember what canaan said as israel entered into the land remember what all the canaanites were saying rahab said we have heard how the lord dried up the water of the red sea before you when you came up out of egypt and what you did to the kings and as soon as we heard it our hearts melted there was no spirit left in any man because of you for the lord your god he is the god in heavens in the heavens above and on the earth beneath everyone was talking about this everyone great was the army of the lord proclaiming it spurgeon would translate this one it was interesting there was an army of preachers out there proclaiming this even the women in the camp are talking about this so here's david here's the ark and it's ascending up and it's resting on zion and and david says this was the greatest moment for david i mean this is the reason he danced this is the reason he was full of joy and that wasn't corporate worship i just got to say that by the way if you want to dance on main street naked go ahead this was not in the house of the lord he was there was coming up it's glorious i don't think he was naked but god came down. David is pondering this. Seeing all of this, what was his concern with Psalm 68? The later generations would see themselves disconnected from this story. That was his concern. That the boys and girls here today, when we study this in Sunday school and we study all these stories, wouldn't really grasp the meaning of this. It would just be surface nice stories. That the later generations wouldn't get this. David's concerned about that. And he's concerned that the later generations wouldn't understand what the Lord is like for his people and what he's done for his people. He's telling you and saying all this today, say, enter into this story. He's telling it like we were there. It's your story. It's my story. And you should understand something about God in this story. Do you know how much He cares? Do our lives display an understanding of that? It was hard in the wilderness, wasn't it? They faced a lot of hardships and many tests and many discouragements. And what was the truth through it all? I want everyone to look down at verse 19 today. I love verse 19. This verse has got to be one of the most moving verses I've come across in the Psalter. Notice what it says. Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up. God is our salvation. Selah. Now that sits at the heart of the psalm. It's an amazing verse. Translators have struggled with this one a bit. The old King James says it this way. Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits. Even the God of our salvation. I like that. But notice how the ESV translated it. Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up. I believe that language of bearing is important. I think that's right. Especially because the emphasis in the Hebrew is, you'll see the word day twice. Day by day the Lord is doing this. Day by day the Lord is bearing some kind of load for us. You ever thought about what that load is? He is bearing a load. If you look at what Israel went through in the wilderness, you understand they were completely like sheep for the slaughter. I think the NAS gets it right. Blessed be the Lord who day by day bears our burdens. Amazing verse. The New Testament maintains that we are a wilderness people. Did you know that? delivered cross event has happened the red sea passing has happened and we're going to enter into canaan we're going to enter into the land of milk and honey we're going to enter into the new heavens and new earth where righteousness shall dwell really soon but we've got this journey we're wilderness people and i tell you it is really hard getting there you ever feel that how hard is it throughout the course of week and i believe what david wants us to see in this grand story of god's victory march is not just that but the absolute and complete care of god for his people all the way through daily bearing their burden israel forgot this about the lord sad isn't it and into this victory march he's weaving in there all sorts of glorious statements about god's care this great god who who is all powerful and almighty and thousands of chariots all around his throne are you amazed at what it says who he is focused on in the journey all of the mighty egyptians and commanders he took down and then the glory cloud comes and all of this majesty and condescension and the psalm is screaming it's not a distant deliverance for you god's not way out there somewhere what does it say this god was not just at the head of the caravan uncaring about the travelers but he encompassed the whole thing you get that imagery constantly through the wilderness travel and verse 19 is so beautiful because who does he raise and i'm sorry verse five he's a father to the fatherless he defends widows who have no husband to lead them he's concerned about those of you who are alone he's concerned about the aliens he's concerned about placing the strangers in families because family is what he ordained he loves the family he fills our mouth with good things the whole way i remember the amalekites they had come to attack and remember what amalek did the lord kept raising this with israel i want you to think about what amalek did to you on the way god split open the rock and they're all coming to the rock for water and he's made it a pool and the multitudes are drinking and here's what deuteronomy says what amalek did to them on the way how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks those who were lagging at your rear when you were tired and weary and he did not fear god so they came and they started hitting the end ranks. And who stands at the end? It's the widows who have no husband to leave them. Lead them. And all of the stragglers, all of those who are weak, God breaks open the rock. And what did God do? He took them down. He took them down. How many are lagging here today? You know who Satan's coming after. It's the stragglers in the church. He's coming for the weary. At the weakest moments and for stragglers, he comes for those farthest in the kingdom who are facing the weariness of the effects of it all, who lose heart, and he attacks. This is what Paul said. It's cosmic powers over this present darkness. Spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Psalm 10, listen to this. he lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den he lies in wait to catch the poor you're enemies he catches the poor when he draws them into his net so he crouches he lies low that the helpless may fall by his strength he has said in his heart God has forgotten he hides his face he'll never see verse 12 arise O Lord there it is arise O Lord get up lift up your hand O God don't forget the humble So, Alexander McLaren said something that struck me about this in Psalm 68. God has knit Himself to us, bearing our burdens, lifting our loads so that we can carry, breathing into us strength that we would endure and be lifted up to go forward. But they that wait on the Lord shall do what? renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint and then i stop again and say oh that men would thank the lord for his david looks at the ark it's coming up on into mount zion he says in verse 15 oh mountain of god mountain abation oh many peaked mountain mountain abation why do you look with hatred oh mini-peaked mountain at the mount that god desires for his abode yes where the lord will dwell forever the mountain range of bashan was 9 000 feet mount hermon and zaumon are their big glorious mountain you know where the lord went to dwell mount zion you know how big mount zion was boys and girls 200 feet 200 feet and mount bashan is looking at envy on mount zion mad why are you there and the imagery is the lord has come to dwell with you the lord has come to the weak and that he has chosen you to dwell with you the chariots of god are glorious 20 000 thousands of thousands yet the lord came here he's chosen the weak things of this world to put to shame the mighty okay that's the glorious story how does that connect today with us if i had seen god come down you might say if i had seen this come on pastor if i had seen that um if i had witnessed that glory yeah i believe i would have no reason to doubt i mean what i described is awesome and i respond you have been taught this story all your life what do i mean by that you are a vital part of this story god passed them through the sea and he delivered them Red Sea Devil hurled into the sea at the end Pharaoh cast into the sea And he came down And he tabernacled among them They entered Leading them all the way to the land And finally when they got to the land The ark ascends on high Look carefully at verse 18 You have ascended on high You've led captivity captive You've received gifts from men anyone recognize that verse it's what paul cites to the new testament church in ephesians 4 to say what but to each one of us grace was given to the measure of christ's gift therefore he says when he ascended on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men who ascended on high christ he who descended christ is the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things so the presence of the ark tells the story of christ and his gospel see it christ got off the throne and he came down here and the first thing john says is we beheld that glory why because he tabernacled among us he was the tent going before us in the wilderness his glory we beheld that glory the shekinah glory and he freed us from all of our sins and hebrews says that he has gone before us he who freed us at the cross has gone before us on our behalf, having become a high priest forever and has entered into heaven and ascended on high. And what does Paul say he's doing today? Giving. What do you receive for the journey? What did he pour out upon you? The Holy Spirit. What a gift. And Psalm 68 says this king is reigning and he's chosen you. He's chosen you. And I close by saying, do you hear the excitement in this psalm? It's full of God's glory and the powerful deliverance and the reign of Jesus Christ and His continued care for you along the way. He's not left you. You're not alone. This is why Peter would say, do you realize in all of your sufferings, this is tonight, by the way, come back to suffering, in all of your sufferings, The spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. That's the imagery of the Shekinah glory in the wilderness. And this psalm is saying, wake up, Christians, and look at what you have. Has the goodness of God overwhelmed you yet? Everyone's worshiping around the throne. Guess what's going on because this king's reigning in heaven. Everyone's worshiping around the throne. See at the procession in verse 24? Into the sanctuary, singers and players of instruments. They're blessing God in the congregations. And I love what he asks in verse 28. Summon your power, O God. The power, O God, which you've worked for us. And I think what he's saying there is, awaken in us to see the power that is always before us and given to us. I don't know if there's any prayer that's needed more today than this prayer. Everyone used it kind of earthly-wise when kings were going out to march to fight a battle physically. Cromwell and all these guys would quote this song, Rise up, O God. But I believe there's a much more important application to this. Verse 11 tells us that everyone, when they understood this truth, when it got into their hearts and it got into their minds, God gave the word, and what happened? Everyone was running around. an army of preachers proclaiming it talking about it the women in the camps telling about it telling their children about it what the lord has done for them this is a prayer of god's people in the wilderness and so when the psalm begins with let god arise and by his might if we understand what god was doing shepherding his people you realize every time moses the cloud went up and they moved forward. Moses said this prayer and every time it stopped, Moses replied the way he did, return O Lord to the folds of Israel. What's this psalm calling you to do today? Psalm 55. Cast your burdens upon the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. you're going to head out this week again. Today, the cloud is rested and you're being fed and strengthened at the rock. Tomorrow, you get up again and you go out. Arise, O Lord. Go before me. Help me. I can't bear this load alone. I can't do this alone. You're my burden-bearing God, so I cast it upon you. I give it to you. Keep me. you say i'm overwhelmed at times and i don't know what to do i say start here bless the lord cast your burdens upon him put the burden on him tell him tell him what you're facing he has promised that nothing can keep us nothing can keep him from fulfilling his promise to bring us into the land of rest you get that nothing will stop that you're going to get there to all who've looked to christ after all it was jesus who stood up one day to the multitudes and what did he say come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden who are full of burdens and i will give you rest i'll carry it for you because it was he who carried our griefs and our sorrows all the way to death that we might be brought to heaven let's thank him oh lord our god this psalm is so glorious and we are so shallow our minds are turned to this and to that and we hear today the cry of the psalmist oh that men would thank the lord for his goodness we thank you for your goodness in our lives and for giving us assurance that you will bring us there only we know that we can't carry this load ourselves there's only one who can carry it and that's why you sent your son who came down for us tabernacled fulfilled all righteousness lived a perfect life and died on the cross and now is ascended on high and is promised to all who come to Him He will give rest and bring us to the land. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.