Well, good morning Peace Church. So glad to have you with us here this morning. I am PB. I'm the pastor of care here and welcome to you in the chapel and in the chapel and the venue and online and obviously here in the main sanctuary. So I think we're just going to get started. Can we do that today? Is that right? Ladies. All right. All right. Let's to celebrate this man and I was in eighth grade. I was a really small guy about five foot three. I was liked by everyone in our school except one person. His name was Marty.

Marty was the bully at our school at least to me. He was. I became a prime target for Marty on a regular basis. I was pushed into lockers and the typical things you see bullies do. They did. He did that to me. I tried to avoid him as much as I could. And I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was walking home had my trumpet case in my one hand and my books and the other hand and suddenly Marty and two of his friends were there, right before me. Marty pushed me to the ground. His friends took my stuff and Marty started hitting me. There was nothing that I could do.

I had tried before. I was tired of this bullying, just beating me up all the time. The things that I had done did not stop him. I wanted someone to take care of this bully for me Unexpectedly there was this big arm that reached down and picked up Marty off of me And no it wasn't God. I Couldn't see who it was at first Because my hands were covering my face. This person said to Marty, I don't ever want to see you here again and I don't

ever want to see or hear that you are bullying Bobby. It was my neighbor, Mr. Miller. He was my savior. He saw what was going on, what was wrong. Hello, I was getting beat up and he was able to take care of it for me. But Mr. Miller was also the judge and he found Marty guilty and he let him go with a warning. The nation of Judah was in the same situation around 701 B.C. The Assyrian army was attacking Judah and after the city of Jerusalem, the capital, where Hezekiah was the king. Now you have to understand that Hezekiah was a godly man and he wanted God to intervene.

And if you were to read 2 Kings 19, 14-19, you would hear his prayer. You will see the intensity of his heart for his people. And in verse 19 it says, So now, O Lord, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. Assyria was the bully.

Jerusalem was the victim. Destruction, distress, disaster was prevalent all over the land. Questions were asked like, God, why are you allowing this to continue? When are you going to do something about it. Why does this have to go on much longer. God come and bring judgment on this nation. This person and the situation. Can you hear. Can you hear those questions being asked. And I think at some point all of us

Today we look at Psalm 75 as we read Asaph's song. So I invite you to turn your Bibles, your cell phones, your tablets, if you're using the Bible that we provide, it's on page 618. The words are going to be on the screen and Asaph is writing this in a time of despair and difficulty. So follow along as I read.

To the Choir Master, according to Do Not Destroy, a psalm of Asaph, a song. We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. At the set time that I appoint, I will judge with equity. When all the earth totters and all of its inhabitants, it is I who keeps steady its pillars. I say to the boastful, do not boast.

And to the wicked, do not lift up your horn. Do not lift up your horn on high or speak with a haughty neck, for not from the east or from the west or from the wilderness comes lifting up. But God is he who executes judgment for the hand of the Lord. There is a cup with foaming wine well mixed and he pours out from it and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. But I will declare it forever. I was saying praises to the God of Jacob.

All the horns of the wicked I will cut off but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up. Would you pray with me today. And father this morning as we look into Your Word, as we look at Psalm 75, may our eyes be open to what we see, our ears be open to what we hear, and our heart be ready to be changed. Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight today. In Jesus' name, Amen. I am sure that some of you have seen some of these TV shows about judges. My question today is, are you willing to admit it? How many have seen at least one judge

show? Raise your hand. OK, I've never seen any of them. But what I have realized that in order to be a judge, you have to be someone like Steve Harvey. I want to sit in his court right. Steve Harvey the judge. That would be a blast. But the other judges all have had some kind of criminal background. They've been lawyers defense lawyers or justices at some point. And for whatever reason they decided to leave that world and join TV which I'm thinking is about money. Psalm 75 will help us to take an honest to goodness approach to our faith and our relationship with God, seeing who God is as a judge.

So here's the main idea. If you're taking notes, God is a fair and a just judge. He's a fair and a just judge. We break this book down and I'm just going to go verse by verse today. It's only 10 verses. So we have the introduction in verse 1, verses 2 and 3. God controls the final judgment. Verses 4 and 5, God as a rebuker. 6 through 8, God is a sovereign judge. And then we come to the conclusion in verses 9 and 10. So are you ready to dive in. All right. Let's do it.

First one. We had the introduction. Some kind of commentator suppose that the chief musician was either the Lord himself or somebody else who had that position to a leader of choirs. But either one could work. It really doesn't matter in this song because we're not using point of reference. But many of the Psalms were written to a melody entitled Do Not Destroy. In fact David used this melody or this poetic version in Psalm 57 and 58 and 59. Maybe you can understand it a little bit Oh, here we go.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see. Was blind but now I see. What's the melody? Gilligan's Isle. Gilligan's Isle.

All right, all right. Let's try one more. Let's see. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see. Don't say it yet. How many think you know what it is the melody. Oh yeah. Look at everybody over 50. Well not quite not quite. What's the melody. House of the Rising Sun. See now ASEF didn't do

that but he just said you know what. Here's the words I'm going to use this melody and in some way he did the same same thing. So but we begin to look at this we try to understand because I think it's important that we understand all the background why he wrote what he did. We talked about the history. So let's get right into this. The first thing I see in verse one is this. The righteous anticipate judgment with praise. The righteous anticipate judgment with praise. Look what it said. We give thanks to the O God. And it says it two times. Give

thanks today because judgment is near. Your name is near. But then we see to recount your wondrous works. So my question this morning is this, how many times do we need to remember what God has done in the past as we're living in the present. How many times has God intervened in your life in some capacity and you didn't necessarily see it then, but when you look back, you can see that he did it.

And how many times it got work in such an incredible way that affected your lives. The psalmist says to keep track. Keep a journal of where you saw God work in your life. Why? Don't miss this. Because this is what will keep our faith authentic and this is what will keep God real. Keep track. Recount the ways that he's worked. So then he goes on to say this in verse 2, God controls the final judgment. It says in verse 2 that there is an appointed time. God

controls the timing. God knows the day and the time. He knows the scope of history where it's going to fall. He knows what's best for the world and when it would be best for the world for him to come as judge. He knows all of that. He knows what's best for us. Jesus came as Savior. Nice cuddly baby. And then he will return as a judge. In Revelation chapter 19 verse 11 it says I saw heaven open and behold the white horse and he who sat on it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he wages he judges and wages war Jesus Christ Savior went to

heaven coming back as judge reminds me of the story of a young man who is drinking heavily and decided to go to take a swim in a California beach well fortunately there was an older gentleman who was there watching young man and when he entered the water the young man he didn't come back up for air. The older man ran to the slugging young man and saved his life. A few years later, that same young man was standing in court facing a sentence of drug charges. Suddenly, the young man realized

the judge was the very same man that saved his life when he was drowning years earlier. He looked at the judge and he said, Sir, do you not recognize me? You saved my life. Don't you remember? The judge nodded his head and looked at the young man and said, Young man, then I was your savior. Now I am The thing we need to understand in the verse that verse that follows is that it is the fact of. God would judge with equity. God will be fair. He will be righteous. He will have uprightness. The judges on the TV show. They only hear that person's story. So they're going to make a decision based upon that. God knows all about us. He knows everything about us. Everything that happens in each one of our

lives. There is nothing that happens without Him being aware of it. There's nothing that transpires without His hand in it. There is nothing that catches Him off guard. There is nothing that surprises Him. Nothing. Why? Because He's a God who judges with equity because He knows all about us. But then it goes on in verse 3 that He keeps the pillars steady, or He steadies the pillars. A while back, Pastor Ryan showed a picture of a barn that he had seen over the years the disintegration that was happening on that barn.

And we realize that disintegration happens in our world on a regular basis. Our plants die. How many of you, your grass kind of died when we didn't have any rain there for a while? Like, okay, it's brown. What in the world? I'm not mowing brown grass, but every plant in our system is dissolving. What prevents the universe from completely dissolving. God.

No force short of God. Families are dissolving. Societies are dissolving. Churches, some churches are dissolving. Nations are dissolving. Kingdoms are constantly breaking into pieces.

Look around the world. In fact, don't even look around the world. Just look here in the United States to see that our world is falling apart. So let me ask, when your world is falling apart and things seem to be crumbling all around you,

and it seems that the only effort that you do is like a Band-Aid, what do you do? What do you do? But when God decides to intervene No, let me change that when we decide to let God intervene

He will be disability in our lives He is the only one that will keep us together When your marriage seems to be falling apart Can I encourage you to let God put it back together when your health is taking a wrong turn, let God work with those who are around you who love you and who want to help you

to hold it together. When your finances have dwindled and you've gotten unnoticed, you've lost your job. When your emotions are frayed in a situation that's too much to bear,

let God hold it together. But understand that it may take time. And it may not go the way you want it to go and you probably still will have hardship. But God has promised to walk through this hardship. He is near. He's a God of hope. He brings all things together. In fact, it's interesting in first Corinthians or in Colossians chapter one verse fifteen is talking about Jesus. And here's what it says. He is the

image of the invisible God. The firstborn of all creation for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible where the thrones or dominions or rules or authorities all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together. Who's this talking about? Jesus. In fact, if you get the opportunity, I want you to Google on YouTube or just go to YouTube and say, Lou Giglio and Laminin. Lou Giglio and Laminin. And tell me what you think of the video when he shares that. Next week I'll be looking forward to hearing from you. I'm not going to tell you what it is because then it will spoil the surprise.

was for all the price. So, he goes on to say this in verses 4 and 5. God is a rebuker. He's very specific when he's talking about this right now and he's saying there are certain things that he will rebuke. He addresses three areas of wickedness are synonymous. Our sin separates us from God. But he was very specific. He said there are three things that God is going to judge on number one boasting is defined as giving praise that draws attention to yourself. Hey, hey, hey, hey, look at me. Look what I have done. Don't you see my new car? Don't you see my new shirt? Don't I look nice? Forget the shoes. It's all about drawing attention

to yourself and boasting about what you have accomplished. Jeremiah says this, if you want to boast about something. Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this,

that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth for these things I delight declares the Lord. If you want to boast this way right. Amen. All right.

So then he says here's it here is the next area. He says exalting oneself for one's own pride in their strength. When he refers to the horn is talking about the physical strength of a person or a nation. Usually when you look throughout Scripture you will see that described. So I've realized at the young age that I am that I'm not as strong as I used to be. OK.

I used to work for Spartan Warehouse years ago and I would take 80 pound bags of salt, pick them up, put them on my cart, not an issue. Like this is a piece of cake. Don't hand me a salt shaker now that's a little bit full. Not that bad but it seems that bad sometimes. And even more as the older I get

that we try to rely on our strength as a young person I can do anything. I can move pianos, I can do this, I can do that. But as I get older it's like someone else can do that. I'll be happy to let you do that except two weeks ago we were coming home my bride and I and we have these travel mugs right so I have my travel mug mine pops up fill it up I'm all set she has a screw top no big deal she said I can't get it open will you try go oh sure no problem

she says you can't hold the bottom and the top too, it's not going to move. Yes, dear. I can't get it. I am so embarrassed. I said, you got to take this to someone else because I cannot get this open at all. She said, okay. I go to the car. She comes back and I said, did you get it open? Yeah, I took it up to the guy in the counter and said, would you open this for me? And he goes, no, I can't, but I'll give it to this girl.

And this girl opened it up. But we rely on our strength, our physical strength, don't we? We're young and we're strong. And he's saying, Don't rely on your strength because it will soon fail.

It will soon be gone. And then he says, I want you to look at this insolent pride, he says, Speak not with a stiff neck. We don't even use that phrase anymore. But it's a bold, shameless, absent disregard to the claims of God. Basically sticking our

nose up in the air and saying to God, I know better than you do. It is like thrusting your face forward and your shoulders back and said, I got this. I don't need you. That's what he's saying. Again, that's what he's coming against. It's a rude and arrogant lack of respect, respect for others and especially a respect for God. So in our authentic relationship with God and our authentic faith in God, we can have it even all kinds of sin. Nothing is hidden from Him. Which then leads us to God as a sovereign judge. We understand today that our powers don't come from the east or from the west

or from the deserts or the wilderness. They don't come from anybody. They only come from Because we see in verse 7 that God says He is a judge. He is in on the rise and the fall, not only of empires, but of individual men. God is the one who gives us what we have. All things belong to Him and He allows us to have what we have, not because of who we are, but because of what He desires to give. And because of that, we see God in His sovereign position

putting down one and exalting another. He allows us to go through incredible physical and emotional pain for one person and then to another not. And we don't understand that. He's the one who judges our thoughts and intents of our heart. He knows what's best for us. He knows what we can handle and what we can't. And then we see that it said that drink from the cup of God's wrath, the wicked are destined

to drink from it. What is the cup? It's a mixed cup. It's well mixed together, it's said, alluding to the mingled portion of drugs given to criminals to drink previously to their execution. It's that kind of bitter herbs that they will taste. In fact, Spurgeon quoted this man and said,

shall be force, whether they will or not, to drink the cup of judgment. It is not a sip or two shall serve their tines, they must drink all, dregs and all. They shall drink it to the bottom, and yet they shall never come to the bottom. They have loved long draughts, and now they shall have one long enough, there is eternity to the bottom." It's a picture of taking the wine skin and rolling it up and rolling it up until the very last bit is out of it.

Most bitter part of the wine is coming out and they're drinking it. It's kind of like we what we do is a toothpaste tube, right? For guys, we roll that thing up. We roll it up. We get it tight. We get tight.

We're rolling up a little more. And finally, your bride says, OK, can we start a new tube? Really, you've gotten everything you can. Now, there's a little bit more. That's how it was for them. You're going to taste the bitterness, not that your toothpaste is bitter, but you're

going to taste the bitterness. In fact, in Revelation, Chapter 14, verses 9 and 10, it says in another angel, a third following them said with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast in its image and receives a mark on his forehead or his hand, he so he will also drink of the wine of God's wrath poured full strength into the cup of his anger and he'll be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. God does not mess around with those who are wicked. They will stand

in judgment. God will be fair. He will be just, but he will be thorough and he'll be accurate. And I know we're all sitting here like I go to church. I'm a Christian. I will not be judged according to Scripture. Second Corinthians, Chapter five, verse 10. It says that we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And at the end of the book of Revelation, it says there's a great white throne judgment. Revelation 2011. It says, I saw a great white throne and him who was seated from on it from his presence, earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead great and small standing before

the throne and the books were open. Then another book was open which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. There will be a judgment for all of us. And then we come to the conclusion of this chapter. Verses 9 and 10. I love this part because it seems like it doesn't even fit as we're talking about God as a judge. But here again, he's saying, I will declare it forever. I was saying the praises of God, the God of Jacob. Asaph was saying, even though we were told all that God was going to do, I'm going to take a moment to praise God for who he is. I'm going to declare it forever from this point forward. I want people to know that I'm going to praise the God of Jacob

How many times in the midst of our difficulties do we just need to take a break and say this? God, I don't understand God I don't like this at all. I Don't like what I'm going through. But Father, will you help me through this storm? Will you allow me to sense your presence? Will you give me strength to deal with all that's going on? In fact, Casting Crowns wrote a song entitled, Praise You in the Storm, and the chorus says

this, And I'll praise you in this storm, and I will lift my hands, for you are no matter where I am and every tear I've cried you hold me in your hand you never left my side and though my heart is torn I will praise you in the storm that's what a set was writing about I will declare it forever I was saying the praises to God can Can I encourage you at some point to go to the book of Psalms and look for the little phrase I will. Occurs over 150 times in the book of Psalms and some of them referred to God says that I will but the majority of them are the authors who are saying I will.

You see I will is my choice. No one can force us to make a choice to praise God. I will choose. In fact, in Psalm 146, too, it says, I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I was saying praises to my God. Well, I have my being. I will choose to declare. I will praise you today. And then he ends this song with a particular reminder of what he said before that the wicked will be taken care of and the righteous will be exalted. God is infinite wisdom and knowledge is the justifier the provider and the judge of all mankind. He is aware of all that is happening. He knows the works we have done and the

works we have not done. He looks carefully and cautiously each one of them independent of each other and yet dependent upon each other and judges us fairly. God will take down the strength and the power of the story. We find it in 2 Kings 19, verses 35-37. It says,

And the night after Hezekiah prayed, and that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when the people arose early in the morning, behold, there were all dead bodies.

Then Sennacherib king of Assyria, departed and went home and lived in Nineveh. Verse 37 says that he was killed by two of his sons and his third son took over reign for him. The rest of my story? Well, never had any problem with Marty again. than today is this so what? So what? What difference does it make in our lives to know that God is a judge of the wicked and the righteous? What difference does it make for us right now to know that He will exalt us in His time? What difference does it make

in your faith today? Let me offer this suggestion. God demonstrates grace to us at various times in our lives. Grace is not getting what we deserve. Sorry, Grace is getting what we don't deserve. He offers us grace for salvation. He offers us grace that sustains us. He offers us grace that is sufficient for us in time of need. And he offers us sanctifying grace. But that grace came at a cost, and that cost was His Son Jesus, who bore our sins on the cross. So my question today then is, what have you done with Jesus? Just a reminder today, I can trust God to judge me based on His character and not mine.

Let's pray. Father this morning we are so grateful that you are the judge and I'm not. We're so grateful Lord that you are the one who is in control of all things in our lives and we thank you this morning Father that because you are a judge, because you are a judge with equity, that you're fair, that you're righteous, Lord that we can trust you in the midst.

And Father for those here today that may be going through difficult times and don't understand, Lord, why the things are happening, may they cry out to You and say, I will give praise today. Thank You for Your grace

and how amazing it is. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Transcribed with Cockatoo