Sermon(Ps 20): The name of the God of Jacob

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025252270

 

 

 

Scripture reading: Ps 20

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>> 1 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you! 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion! 3 May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! 4 May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfil all your plans! ... 6 Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. 7 Some boast of chariots, and some of horses; but we boast of the name of the Lord our God. .... <<

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Usually God is called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. The God of Abraham is one who calls out a man from sinful world, giving him a promise of his blessed future. God called Abraham at the age of 75, who had grown up in an idolatrous family. God brought Abraham to the land of Canaan, and promised him that he would give the land to his descendents, and that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. The God of Isaac is one who demands complete devotion. God commanded Isaac's father Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. When Abraham obeyed God and tried to offer his son, Isaac didn't resist. Then what is the God of Jacob? The God of Jacob is one who elects a weak man to make him a strong man and to give him victory and success. God chose Jacob the second son of Isaac, not Esau the firstborn. Esau was a man of sword and bow while Jacob, a man of cooking (like a girl). Who do you think is stronger?

 

Jacob could not stand his brother's threat and fled to his uncle's house in Haran. on the way, he slept in the fields and saw God of heaven in a dream. In Genesis 28, Jacob met God. Taking one of the stones of the place for a pillow, he slept and dreamed. He dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you. (Gen 28:13-15)” See these words. The God of Jacob chooses Jacob, a weak man, and promises him to be surely with him and to help him until he achieves a successful life. He who helps the weak - this God is the God of Jacob.

 

Jacob didn't ignore this unusual dream because he wanted to catch at even a straw to survive. Jacob recalled the blessing he had received from his father Isaac and was confident that he (whom he had met in the dream) was God. Jacob accepts the word of God as his (Jacob's) blessing. He offers immediate service (worship) to God as a sign of believing and following the God who has promised. He took the stone which he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it, and called the name of that place Bethel, which means >the house of God<. He vows to God: “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee. (Gen 28:20-22)”

 

Today's Psalm 20 is David's poem. I think Jacob and David have a lot in common. David was in the position of the weak, too. Having several prominent brothers, David was unable to survive the power game in the family. So David left his home like Jacob, and, having undergone all sorts of hardships, he became a king. So David's God was the God of Jacob. “The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you! (v. 1)” Are you a man without helper who, having been driven out into wilderness, leads a hard life like Jacob or David? Please make the God of Jacob your God.

 

Brethren, accept the blessing of the God of Jacob as yours. “Some boast of chariots, and some of horses; but we boast of the name of the Lord our God. (v. 7)” Esau, Jacob's elder brother, showed off his worldly ability and wanted to live by his ability, but Jacob thought of the God of his father Isaac, and looked to the blessing that the God had promised to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. So Jacob wanted to inherit the blessing from his father Isaac at any cost. Esau, the firstborn son, disregarded the right of the eldest son, for he was confident that such man as himself could bring all the world under his control easily. Saul, David's political enemy. assumed the same attitude of life as Esau did. Saul tried to reign as a majestic king by his own strength and wisdom rather than to be a faithful servant of God. on the contrary, David depended only on God, as the whole text of Psalm 20 tells.

 

My beloved brethren, if you reject God's blessing, that blessing will not become yours, even if God is willing to give you many blessings. Isn't that right? Jacob took the promise the God had given him in the dream as his (Jacob's) blessing(, that is >the blessing for him<). David also regarded as his (David's) blessing the promise to be the king of Israel, which was given him through Samuel the prophet. Yes, my brethren! God's blessing is for those who believe the promise and follow the God. Jesus' words: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Mt 7:7-11)” My brethren, have a holy magnificent dream. Seek and follow God. Tell him your dream. God promises to fulfill all your wishes.

 

By the way, Jesus added an important word to those words without interval. “So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. (Mt 7:12)” Brethren, we must apply this statement to God. If we want to be successful in life with the help of the God of Jacob, we must also do what God wants us to do. We must do that! Shouldn't we entertain him cordially if we want to be greatly treated by God? Am I wrong? It's not a big deal to entertain him cordially. To entertain him well is to serve him with all your might, will and heart where you are. Jacob served God by pouring a little oil on the stone. In fact, it was not a big service, considered in the monetary value. Jacob later gave his tithes of income to God when he got property. And he built altars to God and worshiped him everywhere he went. It is God's request for us to love and serve him with all our heart where we are. What about David? David praised God with numerous poems. That was his hospitable treat. Whenever David sinned, he came to God with a broken heart and confessed his sins and begged for forgiveness. Someone may say that it is not a satisfactory treat for God, but God is more pleased with a humble man who is not able to offer a sacrifice of a dove but prays, with thanks and praise, to God for forgiveness of sins, than with a haughty man who offers thousand oxen to God without repenting his sins. How beautiful is the repentance of sin in tears? And how clean and beautiful is a person that is forgiven by God? You become happy when you see the beauty. That is why our sincere prayer is a good treat to God. A burnt offering without repentance of sin is disgusting to God. God delights in the sacrifices offered with a true and clean heart. “May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! (v. 3)” My brethren, do you have a big dream in God? Do you want God to be the God of Jacob for you? Then you must be Jacob yourself. Do your best to serve, worship and obey the God in given situations. How can God be a God of Jacob to him who is not a Jacob? Jacob and David walked with God and served him even when they were in trouble. My beloved brethren, do you like to receive hearty treatment from God? If so, you should treat him satisfactorily at ordinary times.

 

After all, Jacob lived a victorious and successful life. Esau left the land of Canaan and moved to another place. Later, Israel, the descendants of Jacob, possessed the land of Canaan. David also overcame Saul and finally became king of Israel. Thus the God of Jacob gives the believers the power to conquer their enemies, and finally helps them stand firm on the ground. “They will collapse and fall; but we shall rise and stand upright. (v. 8)” David saw God save his people and servants from adversity. “Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. (v. 6)” Brethren, the final victory is yours. But you have to become ‘an anointed one’. This means that you have to be a servant of God. A man is anointed to be a king or a prophet or a priest. They are all the servants of God. A servant is a master's worker and a master's warrior. The servant thoroughly obeys the master's commandments. If you live in God, you are a servant, however, a glorious servant, a servant higher and stronger than all the kings of the world. The Pharaoh the king of Egypt suffered a shameful defeat by Moses the servant of God. Moses conquered the world with a wooden cane. Our nation's Admiral Sun-sin Yi achieved many successive victories. David was a king of victory, too. Beloved brethren, abide in God. Brethren, do not be afraid of the adversaries who try to harm you. God's strong right hand is holding you. Brethren, but never oppose a man of God. You’ll be the ever-defeated against him! It is reckless.

 

If we please the God by a good religious life and become his servants, we'll experience true freedom and achieve the goal of life without difficulty in him. “May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfil all your plans! (v. 4)” If we rejoice in God, he will grant us the hope of our hearts. The wicked may live with a great hope, but they will fail in everything they do and die a sad death in tears and rancor. But for us who are like Jacob, God allows our wishes to come true. He works so that everything we plan may be fulfilled without great difficulty.  We do not live with evil wishes but with good wishes. The Holy Spirit lives in us and leads us to have the most precious wish in the world. That is the precious blessing we have received. We delight in doing good works and feel self-esteem in doing God's works - what a wonderful blessing!

 

May God be the God of Jacob to you, help you, and allow you to live a triumphant life and to achieve great goals of your life.

 

 

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Chong Tack Kim

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                                - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -