Well, we read the entire 21st number of Psalm as our text, but I'm going to read for you now just the final verse, which is verse 16 or verse 13. It says, be exalted, O Lord, in your strength, we will sing and praise your power. Now, Psalm's 20 and 21 actually kind of go together. In fact, they were originally composed as a single Psalm, and they both have as their theme, the king, the king of Israel. And so because of that, I know we've addressed this in the past, but I think it's helpful and probably necessary. Any time we look at any of the Psalms that have the king as the theme, that we delineate a few things. As a matter of fact, it's interesting the way they set up almost as book ends. The end of Psalm's 20 is a prayer on behalf of the king as he prepares to go to battle. O Lord, save the king. May he answer when we call. So, verse Psalm's 20 would really be originally, it was intended as a response to the king returning from battle, that the prayer at that end Psalm's 20 has been answered in Psalm's 21, but it also anticipates future battles. So, it's really that that's why they stand as a book end. But here's what we need to make clear up when we talk about the the kingly theme songs that the song, the king of Israel. And by the way, there are two reasons that we need to be clear on this because one, there is a tendency among evangelical Christians that every time we read the scriptures, we're always looking for us. So, there is a tendency to always try to make a one to one correlation to what is written about and us. And certainly, there's much application in the word of God, but even in the Psalms, especially in the Psalms, which are often used devotionally, how does this apply to me? And so, we therefore try to relate to the subject of the king. And there is a sense, especially in verse 6, where it speaks of the king's trusting in God, there is a correlation, but it's not primary. So, our tendency is to try to make one to one correlation. I mean, I can't think of anyone, any Christian, that doesn't make a one to one correlation to Psalm 23, which we should, because the Lord is our shepherd. But we also need to understand that that Psalm finds its fulfillment in the person of Christ. And so, we are talking about God's providential leading of his people through the great shepherd who is Christ. But as we went over Psalms 1, there is a mistake sometimes in trying to make a one to one correlation, because in Psalms 1, we think that we are the righteous man, and therefore God rewards our good, not seeing that we are the wicked. And Christ is the righteous man. So, because of our tendency to try to make one to one correlations to testimonies in the Psalms, but I would say in the scriptures in general, but especially in the Psalms, it's important to delineate the context of these particular kingly Psalms. So, there is truth in there, and that's why I want to look at the final verse, because that's where we are in this particular Psalm, so that we don't always try to make a one to one correlation that God will give us all of the desires of our hearts, and in the same way that it applies to the king. So, that's one thing, but here's the other reason we need to be clear on this, because we will sometimes try to make the correlation from scriptures that every time God speaks of the king, that it therefore refers to our leaders, and that's not the case. Certainly, God is not talking about our president in this Psalm, but rather he is talking about the king. And the reason that's unique, or the reason the kingly Psalms of Israel are unique, is because then again, we have to dress some of this before, but with Adam, we have the first king. In fact, Adam was the first prophet, priest, and king, that is part of God's created intention for his image bearers, the threefold function of prophet, priest, and king. God gave Adam dominion over all things on the earth, and that is him governing the world, governing everything around him, according to the rule and standard of God's law. God gave Adam a Sabbath, in which he could worship God properly. He could lead his family in worship, and so therefore Adam was created with a priestly function to worship the right God in the right way. Adam was also given the gift of speech, and in the gift of speech he was to be God's prophet in the created order. He was to speak the truth for God. He was to speak the truth of God. He was God's mouthpiece in the created order, and that's part of Adam's failure in the garden. It's not just that he ate of the fruit, but part of Adam's sin in the garden is that he didn't exercise dominion, therefore he wasn't a good king. He did not protect the sanctity of the garden, therefore he was not a good priest, and he didn't use his gift and his responsibility of a prophet to tell the snake to shut up. Therefore he failed as prophet, priest, and king. God has created us with those three elements. They are those functions are present in the created order, and they are present among humans, even if we are not Christians. Therefore in the world, in our fallen state, man still worships, and we have false priests, because we worship the wrong God, or we worship the right God in the wrong way. Man still speaks on behalf of God, most of them are crack pots, but they still try to speak on behalf of God, because man, it's an innate responsibility on the part of man, to speak and to speak with divine authority, but also man continues to try to be a king. We see what that gets us in the book of Judges, that oft repeated refrain, there was no king in Israel, and therefore every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Now what God does with the nation of Israel, with the offspring of Adam, or the offspring of Abraham, the seed of promise, what God does collectively within that nation, is that he anoints three particular offices, to restore and recover that which was lost by Adam, granted before Israel was a nation, and we see this in the book of Genesis, that God still had a priest, and God still had a king. God still used prophets, but they weren't the anointed offices, in the example of, of course, in the book of Genesis, is Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a priest, and he was a king. He was the king of righteousness, and he was a prophet used of God, or priest used of God, even in the service of Abraham. But what God does with the national Israel, is he reestablishes and restores and brings back together, reintegrates the three-fold function of prophet, priest, and king. The difference is not every man in Israel was a prophet, nor was every person in Israel a king. Nor is every person in Israel a priest, but because God looks at Israel as one man, he sees in that nation a recovery of the lost integrity of Adam. So he anoints three offices for national Israel, prophet, priest, and king, and establishes really the genealogy for which the culminating or the culmination of that three-fold function would be restored in a single individual. Now in national Israel, what we have is a prototype. We have a prototype for the reestablishment of the kingdom of God. In other words, Israel is a real nation biblically. We know they really existed. They really were God's covenant people, and God used their real life experiences to serve as a model for the coming kingdom. Therefore, Canaan, when the Lord gave them Canaan, that was never an end in itself. It was always a snapshot. It was always a model of the greater, more expansive universal kingdom of God. God gave them prophets. Now, of course, we know that some of the Israelite prophets weren't always right. In fact, some of them ended up being corrupted themselves and became the mouthpiece or the puppet for those who reigned, and they didn't want to hear what God really said. And so we read in Jeremiah that the prophets prophesy falsely in my name. They speak peace when there is no peace, and they heal the bombs or the source of my people likely. And so God rejects some of the prophets, all of them weren't right, but he still preserved prophets, and God anointed the priesthood. And even from the early days of Eli, we see corruption in his sons, the sons of Eli, as a corruption of the priesthood, but the office itself was preserved. And the same thing with the office of the king, not all of the kings of Israel were good, but Israel itself was a prototype of a coming individual. So what was true of the nation would be true of an individual that God's kingdom would be established by a single individual, and that individual would reestablish and really bring back together the function of the prophet, the function of the priest, and the function of the king. And that person is Jesus Christ, and that's why we do see Jesus as the son of David who is the king that would reign forever that God promised. That's why Jesus is a greater high priest, so we don't have priests anymore. We have Christian ministers, we don't have priests because we have one high priest, and that is Jesus. And we don't have prophets anymore in the same way that they did in the Old Testament because Jesus is the final word from God. It's always amazing to me that people are so willing to say what God said when Jesus already said it all. So if God has new revelation for other individuals, then Jesus didn't finish his work, or he wasn't the consummate prophet. So all that we can do is reiterate what God has said through Christ as the prophet, all we can do is glean from what Christ has done for us as our final priest, and we all submit to him as king. Now let me explain why that's important as we look at this particular passage because the priest for the king of Israel was a real functioning office, but it was also typological for the people of Israel, or for the people of God. In other words, the king was never an end in itself. The Jewish kings were never ends in themselves. The kingly Psalms point to the consummate king who is who reigns forever. So what I'm saying is this, that what God or what God's people, Old Testament Israel, what they prayed for in Psalms 20 on behalf of the king, and what they rejoice in, and hope for in the future is a reality for God's people in Christ. Because in Christ the kingdom of God has come. Jesus begins his earthly ministry by saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and he is the king. So therefore what the Old Testament says, what Israel prayed for on behalf of the king, we rejoice because or we praise God for because it's already been answered. In other words, they are praying that when he goes to battle, Lord make him victorious, Lord bring him back. God saved the king because in his salvation, in his deliverance is our good. So what they prayed for, we praise God for because God has given us the final ultimate king. Therefore in Psalms 21 I want to look at three things in particular that are fulfilled in the consummate king of glory and becomes for us. So in other words, the riches of God's grace is manifest to us in God's blessings to our king. So I want to look at three blessings that we benefit from continuously because God has already accomplished them in the king. So real quick, the first one is in verse two. And boy, thank God for this statement. In verse two it says this, you have given him his heart's desire and you have not withheld the request of his lips. You see why you don't want to make one to one correlation to you or to any human governor or president because that's not true of them, but this statement. So here's what we do and there's other places where David says he will give you the desires of your heart. Now I think that means two things that he will give you what you desire, but he will also give your heart. He will tune your heart to desire what he's given. That's a greater truth, but here's what what David says here about the king and certainly what is true of David as he obeyed God and holding in mind that David was not a perfect king. And the Lord did give him and he honored him in his obedience, but he also chasing him in his disobedience. When we see this as being fulfilled in Christ, this is a reason for our praise. Here's what again what David says is you have given him this heart's desire and you have not withheld the request of his lips. Now brothers and sisters, what this means if we see this fulfilled in Christ, then here's our joy as we said this morning, what we ought to be non-shifting on is the hope of the gospel and the hope of the gospel is that everything that Christ intended, everything that he desires, the father has given him. And do you know what that includes? That includes your salvation. John chapter 10, Jesus talks about the good shepherd who lays down his life on behalf of the sheep. In John chapter 17, Jesus in his high priestly prayer, he prays. He prays. Imagine this. He prays for us. He prays for all that's the father. He says, I have kept all that you have given me and I pray for them. I pray that they would be one. And so I pray not only for these, but those who will believe in me because of them. So speaking about his immediate disciples and then those that would come to faith because of the apostolic teachings. Now brothers and sisters, do you know that means that Jesus actually prayed for you. He prayed for you. He prays for our well-being. He is the one who prays, and we've talked about this in our Sunday school, that everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus does so because they have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. You know why you have the Holy Spirit because Jesus interceded with the Father and prayed that he would give the Spirit to the church. And so our gift of the Spirit, whether it's in regeneration or the indwelling Spirit who was called the guarantee or the earnestness of our salvation is because of the prayer of Jesus. Do we experience joy in the Lord? You know why we have joy in the Lord? Because Jesus prayed that his joy would be fulfilled in us. Do you experience peace that passes all understanding? Not all times, but do you experience the peace of the gospel? If you do so it is because Jesus has prayed for it. And so here's what we know that there is nothing. And notice what, remember what Jesus says about the Word of God, that there is not heaven and earth will fall away before one jot of God's word fails. And if that is true of God's word to us, then it's also true of the Father's or the Son's word to the Father on our behalf. We are the beneficiaries of the fact that God gives Jesus whatever his heart desires. That's good news. That means there is nothing that we lack, that we will, that we need, that we cannot get. This is why Jesus comes to the apostle Paul when he prays for the thorn to be removed from his flesh. And Jesus intercedes, he prays because who do we pray to? We pray to the Father through the Son, but it's the Son that intercedes. And he doesn't intercede with God on behalf of Paul's request. And he intercedes and intercedes with Paul. And he tells him, no, no, Paul. Now could he, I mean, could he actually have the thorn removed like a flash? But he says, no, no, you need to know more about my strength. So I'm going to let the thorn remain because my grace is sufficient for you even in your weakness. And in human weaknesses, when divine strength is manifest, but we are beneficiaries of the fact that everything the Father, everything the Son desires, the Father gives. And so whatever he, whatever he asks on our behalf and he has prayed for us and he presently is presented in scriptures as one who is interceding on our behalf. And there is no maybe or we'll see everything that the Son desires, the Father gives. And that is to our good. Secondly, we see that he also says in verse four that the Father will give to him the gift of eternal life in verse four. He says, for he asked life of you, speaking of the king to the Son, and you gave it to him. Now in this instance, the immediate point of reference is to survive the warfare. Remember in Psalms 20, it's in preparation for the king as he goes to battle. So it's like let me return in safety. And so now the congregation is being taught to say that you gave him, he asked of you life, and you gave it to him, and you've given him the length of days forever and ever. I like what Peter does in in Acts chapter two as it relates to the 16th number of Psalms. And in the 16th number of Psalms, David who was the writer and David says that you will not let me lay in in Hades. And then Peter as he interprets that he says, you know, David couldn't have been talking about himself because David is still in his grave. He says that is speaking of another. And so even here when it says he asks you and you gave him, he asked life of you and you gave it to him, length of days that you have given to him forever and ever. The brothers and sisters, David's soul is still living in the presence of God, but David's bones are still in the earth. Here's what we know that God has given to our king not only everything that he has desired, but our king who went to battle, he did go to battle. We see him in battle in the wilderness when Satan comes to tempt him and he is victorious. We see him in battle when he goes throughout the course of his earthly ministry casting out demons, healing those who have been crippled by the effects of sin. Then his final battle in his earthly life is when he went to Calvary's Cross. And the way he is going to Calvary's Cross is presented by some is that he was killed. But in actuality he went to war and what he does on Calvary is what is what is prophesied in Genesis 3.15. He crushes the head of the serpent and he wipes out all of the laws that were against us, all of the ordinances that were against us. He did it in his death on the cross. And then you know what the Father does for him? On the third day he gives him victory over the grave. Our king has gone to battle. Our king has the wounds of battle. And as a result of his victory in battle over the evil one, the Father has given him the gift of life. He has given him everlasting life. And it is for this reason that the Son can also give the gift of eternal life. He realizes that in scriptures that eternal life is never anything that is earned by man. But it's always that which is given by God. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but would have everlasting life. How can we have everlasting life because we have a king who lives forevermore? And it's important for us to know that he lives. I think you know sometimes we read in scriptures and reading New Testament theologians and writers and so forth. They sometimes are too critical of the first century church because you know what? The first century church were living as if Jesus would come back any moment. And so we see that that James reflects that he is on his way. The hour is near and they live and they write as if Jesus is coming back again. But at least they are conscious of two things. At least they are conscious of the fact that Jesus presently lives. And they are also conscious of the fact that he who lives will return. We have celebrated the birth of Jesus. The brothers and sisters Jesus still continuously lives. Right now he lives. We're not waiting for him to become victorious. We're not waiting for him to become king. He lives as the everlasting king. Psalm 24 says, lift up your heads, O ye gays and let the king of glory come in. Well the king of glory is in. He has been crowned with a golden crown. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. I love the way the book of Revelation begins. When John begins his revelation, the first thing that he sees is he sees Jesus seated on the throne over all of the kings of the earth. Whatever else falls out in the pages of Revelation, it comes as the king is seated on his throne. And the security of the people of God is that our king lives. He's already conquered death. He lives. Jesus does it. We don't have to conjure him up. We don't have to do this in order. He lives. And he is right now ruling and reigning over the universe. Don't be confused by things that we see in the world. And then pray, O Lord help and we do pray for his strength and we pray for wisdom as we navigate these perilous times. But in the midst of it we know that our king is right now seated at the right hand of the Father. He's seated on a throne and he is crowned. He is crowned, as the writer says, even here you've given him glory. He is crowned with glory. And whatever he asks of the Father, the Father gives it to him because our reigning king has also bears the wounds by which we have been justified before God. But here's a third and final thing that we are assured of because of what this says about the king. God will bring destruction to all of his enemies. We see this in verses 8 all the way down through verse 12 that the writer makes this very clear. He says in verse 8 and by the way I was reading an interesting statement by Dr. Robert Godfrey on this. And he says sometimes that we are almost afraid to say that as we celebrate the righteousness of God that God will destroy his enemies. And we can't move away from that. That is, it's right here before us and so here's the promise. This is as sure as everything that God has given to the son because of his obedience and the Father has honored him. Here's what we know for sure that he says your hand will find out all of your enemies. All of your enemies, your hand will find them out. Your right hand will find out those who hate you and you will make them a blazing oven when you appear. You see brothers and sisters, here's what we are sure of. All of the enemies, all of those who are not the children of God are the enemies of God. And we know this because we were once enemies and that's why this is our thrust for evangelism. This is our, this is as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, therefore knowing the terror of God, we persuade men to be reconciled to God because the one thing you don't want at the end of your life no matter what people say about you, what you don't want is to face God as your enemy. You're going to face him but you don't want to face him as your enemy. Look at what he says he will do to the enemies that are the enemies of the King. And by the way, the assumption again with national Israel in a prototypical way is that the enemies of God are the enemies of God's people. And vice versa, the enemies of God's people are the enemies of God. This is one of the reasons for the many exhortations for the children of God in the New Testament to act like we are family because if we are not, then we're enemies. And so here's what he says, he says the Lord will swallow them up in his wrath. And he says in the fire we'll consume them. God will fully and thoroughly deal with his enemies. And the reason we know this is because the King has been victorious in battle and all of those who still have not been reconciled to God will face the wrath of the enemy. So therefore brothers and sisters, what David writes concerning himself and he teaches the people of God to anticipate this in a prototypical sense for national Israel and it was true. That God did destroy his enemies because his enemies were the enemies of his people and vice versa, the enemies of his people were his enemies. So even if we say, well, I like God, I just don't like them. No, we don't get to do that. We don't get to say, and I hear this all the time, well, I love God. I just hate the church. Do you hear what you're saying? I just can't stand the church. Now brothers and sisters, his enemies hate him and they hate anything that belongs to him and vice versa. Even if they think they love God, but do not love his people, then they are the enemies of God. Here's what we read in the book of Revelation. Not only does it say that Christ is seated and as the King sovereign over all of the kings of the earth, but it says that he shall return and every eye shall see him, even those who pierced him. This is my point. We end with verse 13 because we can say, like the psalmist, be exalted, O Lord, in your strife. We will praise you. We will praise, we will sing praise your praise and your power. And so here's what we praise God for in our king. We praise God because he has given the king whatever his heart desires, which includes us. We praise God because he has given to the king the gift of eternal life, which includes us. And we praise God because he has guaranteed the utter destruction of all of his enemies and all of his enemies are all of our enemies. So we know that we have consummate and ultimate victory because the king is in the presence of the Lord. And in his presence we can boast in the fact that our king lives. God saved the king and he did it. And now the king saves us. Let's pray. Gracious God, we come to you again in the name of Jesus thanking you for your word, thanking you for the reminders of your grace as it is manifest in Christ. Let us recognize that Christ is our ruling and reigning king. We have not made him king. You have declared himself. And we pray that as your people we would rejoice in what you have given to us in our gracious holy and righteous king. Thank you for this grace and it is in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.