Advent is a time of waiting and the Psalms give us many expressions of the longing for God to show up, for him to fulfill his plans, for him to bring his promises to bear on his people. Psalm 37 is another example of this. The Psalmist encourages us to wait on the Lord for his promise is secure. How could Israel know that the promise was secure especially when they were in exile? In the midst of a dreadful exile with an overpowering sense that God was far off was a frail hope that looked to the past at all that God had done to prove himself a covenant-keeping God. The promise in Psalm 37 is almost ridiculous when you think about an exiled Israel reading that those who wait on the Lord will inherit the land. How ridiculous it must have been to ask a wandering Hebrew to wait 40 years for the promise of the inheritance to come true. For an exiled Israelite to know the nation’s history and how the fulfillment of that promise and entrance into the land wasn’t all it was cracked up to be must have shed even more doubt on a seemingly hopeless situation. How can we know that God will fulfill his promise? How can we know that the righteous will be vindicated?
It was the discipline of waiting that gave hope. It is not as if the waiting earned God’s favor but the waiting was a demonstration. The waiting was worship. How do you know if you are righteous? You wait. Why do you wait? Because you are righteous. Why are you righteous? Because you belong to God. So you wait on him. To whom else would you go? He may have forsaken you but he also made you righteous and for his name’s sake he will vindicate the righteous.
What then do you do about the Christmas problem? What do you do with Jesus? Why not remain a Jew and continue to wait? After all, the promise is secure. The problem with Judaism is that you can always doubt your righteousness. God declares his people righteous but they have a history of not acting righteous so there would always be a shadow of doubt hanging of Israel, “Maybe it was something I did, or didn’t do. Was the promise not fulfilled because of my sin? I know God promised but he also told me to keep the law so did I do enough?” These doubts are natural because the Law of God is real and it has an effect. The Law sheds doubt and makes waiting a hopeless practice.
Here is where Christmas actually becomes the solution to the real problem, that of righteousness. Now, not only did God declare his promise to give us righteousness, Jesus actually did righteousness. Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeded. So the first coming of Jesus is an acting-out of the promise. It’s common for us to think about the first coming of Jesus a the fulfillment of the promise. This isn’t entirely wrong but Paul talks about this as a down payment or guarantee (2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5, Eph. 1:13-14).
If we read this Psalm as if it were Jesus talking to himself, giving himself a pep talk as he walked this earth I think things will make more sense. (It’s actually easy to imagine this because He must have read this passage at least once. In fact, he probably had it memorized.) The commands in this Psalm require prefect execution or else doubt will rise up and destroy hope. Only Jesus can take these commands and actually do them; for he was the only perfect man, the only man to walk this earth in complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
So we say, “See, Jesus lived a righteous life, died and rose again. Perfect righteousness can be done, not by me of course, but if I’m found in Christ I receive his righteousness, which enables me to wait, knowing that I belong to God because Jesus belongs to God and I belong to Jesus.”
Advent is a time of waiting and this Psalm gives us Jesus’ words of longing and expectation that he, the Righteous One, will be vindicated and we who are found in Christ share in the promises that Christ secures. So as we enter into the discipline of waiting we enter into Jesus’ story and we live his life after him, sharing in his sufferings, content to reside in the frailest of hopes because Christ’s righteousness is greater than all our unrighteousness. Christ’s assurance is greater than all our doubts. Christ’s vindication is greater than all our condemnation.
Angels from the Realms of Glory
Public domain / J. Montgomery & H. Smart / CCLI#1888005
Angels, from the realms of glory, Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story, Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, the new-born King.
Sinners, wrung with true repentance, doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence, mercy calls you; break your chains.
Justice now revokes the sentence, mercy calls you; break your chains.
Though an Infant now we view Him, He shall fill His Father’s throne,
Gather all the nations to Him; every knee shall then bow down:
All creation, join in praising God the Father, Spirit, Son;
Evermore your voices raising To th’eternal Three in One:
An Advent Psalm—Psalm 37:1-9
Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
Public domain / Charles Wesley & Mark Hunt / CCLI#1888005
Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art,
dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.
Come to earth to taste our sadness, he whose glories knew no end;
by his life he brings us gladness, our Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend.
Leaving riches without number, born within a cattle stall;
this the everlasting wonder, Christ was born the Lord of all.
Born thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a king,
born to reign in us for ever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all-sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.
A History of Rebellion—Daniel 9:14-19
Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
What Child Is This?
Public Domain / Traditional English carol adapted by William Dix / CCLI#1888005
What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring him laud, the Babe, the son of Mary.
Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear; for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear, shall pierce him through; the cross be borne for me, for you:
Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary.
So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh; come, peasant, king, to own him;
the King of kings salvation brings, let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise the song on high, the virgin sings her lullaby:
Joy, joy for Christ is born, the Babe, the Son of Mary.
We Are His—Ephesians 1:11-14
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
Public Domain. Charles Wesley / CCLI#1888005
O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.
Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease;
'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life, and health, and peace.
He breaks the power of reigning sin, he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean, his blood availed for me.
He speaks and, list’ning to his voice, new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice; the humble poor believe.
Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb, your loosen’d tongues employ;
ye blind, behold your Savior come; and leap, ye lame, for joy.
Sermon—Zephaniah
In Christ Alone
© 2001 Thankyou Music / Keith Getty & Stuart Townend / CCLI#1888005
In Christ alone my hope is found, he is my light, my strength, my song.
This Cornerstone, this solid ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My Comforter, my All in All, here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save.
'Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied,
for every sin on Him was laid. Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay, light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again.
And as He stands in victory sin's curse has lost its grip on me.
For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me.
From life's first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand.
'Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand.
