Audio Transcript:

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Good morning. Welcome to Mosaic Church. My name is Jan, one of the pastors here at Mosaic along with Pastor Shane and Pastor Andy. And if you're visiting or you're new, we're so glad to have you join us and we'd love to connect with you. We do that officially through the connection card, either the physical one you can pick up in the back at the welcome table and then just leave it there or you can fill out the virtual one in our app that you can get in the app store of Google Play or on our website, there's a connection card as well.

With that said, would you please pray with me over the preaching of God's holy word. God, you are a great God and you are a holy God. You are Lord over us. You are the giver of life. We are not own. We all to often forget that and that's when we rebel against you seeking heaven apart from you and that's what leads to hell, the flames of hell, a place where you don't exist, where your faith isn't shining. Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God. Jesus, we thank you that you entered this world to restore it and you did that by coming and loving God and loving people with every single fiber of your being, you did it perfectly and you did it with the power of the Holy Spirit. And then you went to a cross to pay the penalty that we deserve, the wrath of God. You absorbed for our law-breaking and this is the way that you break into the world. This is the way that you bring restoration into a world through your son dying on the cross for us.

Holy Spirit, we pray today, focus our attention on Jesus Christ, who sits and rules and reigns at the right hand of God, the father. And Jesus, send us the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit that regenerates hearts and restores people from within, so restore us individuals, restore us as a church, to be the church that you want us to be and restore us as a nation to be the nation you want us to be. And restore us as a world, all of your creation. Lord, we long for complete restoration and the second coming of Christ that you have as a new earth, we long for that day and in the meantime, we have a foretaste of that restoration in the gospel. As we meditate in the holy scriptures today, Lord, I pray that you minister to us and expand our vision of you. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

We're going through a sermon series that we are calling the Balm Psalms. We are going through some of the choices Psalms, the Psalms that over church history have blessed the church in a very special, particular way. Today we are in Psalm 80. We're calling it Balm Psalms because if balms were our souls, it's anointing for our souls and also a word play on balm, that God wants to balm our categories of God because they are too small and that's really the problem with the whole world, with all of us, is that God is too small and our vision of God is too small.

Every single one of us, we know that things are not the way they are supposed to be. There is something wrong in the world. Something is wrong, something is wrong out there, something is wrong in here. Things are not the way the should be. They are not the way they ought to be because a vision is embedded in our hearts of utopia, of a perfect world with a perfect people and Satan preys on that desire, on that longing, on that vision. He preys on it and he comes in and he presents his own vision of utopia, a vision where there is no God. It's the same tactic, he does it over and over and over.

With the garden of Eden, they are living in utopia, they are living in paradise. Satan comes in and says something is wrong with the world, we can make things better. You can be like gods, let's usurp God, lets dethrone him. You can have paradise, heaven without God and that's what led to the fall. That's why we are where we are and Satan tempts us with the same tactic over and over and over that we can build back better, build a world without God and he presents this prototype, he presents these blueprints of a world, of a kingdom without God. And we hear the whispers left and right where God doesn't talk about rebuilding, that's not the theme in scripture. God talks about redeeming and restoring. Restoring to what it was in the very beginning, using not our own blueprints, using God's.

I grew up painting with my dad and my dad, Vlad, my dad, Vladimir. He has a painting company called Vlad's Painting. If your house looks bad, don't get mad, call Vlad. My top three things to paint, I'll start with three. Apartments, we paint a lot of apartments in Providence, Rhode Island. I like apartments because there's no thought. It's just one color everything. You slap on a coat of paint on everything. Walls, trim, ceiling, floor, everything. Everything just one color. Not floors. My second favorite was brand new builds, a brand new house. It's a brand new canvas, and you, the artist, you go and you create. But my favorite above all else in painting was restoring old houses. That's my favorite. You walk in and you see the former beauty, you see it. It's built in a way that current ... I don't know why we don't build like that anymore. It's too expensive. Just built solid, it's beauty. And then you see it, dilapidated, and then with your hands, you restore.

And that's the vision that's given to us in the Holy Scriptures that created everything and everything was absolutely perfect. Everything was wonderful. And then sin entered the world because we bought into this lie of the enemy that we can have heaven apart from God. And then God wants to redeem and restore everything from within. It's a vision of restoration. We are in Psalm 80 today. It's a psalm of lament. It's a psalm of an anguished cry to God. Israel is in deep despair. Their enemies are mocking them as their attacking them, as they are pillaging homes, farms, towns are being burned. Relatives and friends are dying. God, why is this happening? God, how long will this last? God, restore us. That's the plea. Would you look at the text with me? Psalm 80.

"Give ear, oh shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherub and shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come to save us. Restore us, oh God, let your face shine that we may be saved. Oh Lord, God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers? You have fed them with bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us an object of contention for our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, Oh God of hosts, let your face shine that we may be saved. You brought a vine out of Egypt, you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it and it took deep root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with it's shade, the mighty cedars with its branches, it sent out its branches to the sea and it's shoots to the river. Why then have you broken down its walls so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, Oh God of hosts, look down from heaven and see, have regard for this vine, the stalk that your right hand planted and for the son whom made strong for yourself. They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down. May they perish at the rebuke of your face. But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself. Then we shall not turn back from you. Give us life and we will call upon your name. Restore, Oh Lord, God of hosts, let your face shine that we may be saved." This is the reading of the God's holy and infallible authoritative word. May he write these eternal truths on our hearts.

The greatest temple that was ever built was built by not King David, but by King Solomon, the son of David. It was the greatest temple that was ever built in Jerusalem. And after it's destruction, they tried to rebuild the temple and it was a such a show. It paled in comparison to the original one that at the inauguration, the opening of the second temple, people wept. They wept. The people that remembered the grandeur, the glory of that initial temple, they wept when it was reconstructed. This moment when Solomon builds the temple for the first time, this is pinnacle of the glory of Israel. And what does Solomon pray at that moment, at the very height, at the moment of glory, what does he pray?

In Second Chronicles, he prays for God to forgive the people. He prays for God to restore the people. Why is he praying for that, because in Solomon's mind, the wisest person to have ever lived up to that moment, in Solomon's mind, he knows that this is just a show of paradise. He says, "God, restore. Yeah, we're doing our best, but restore everything." That's why he prays that. And God responds by giving a four-step process. God's word is eternal and the four-step process has unequivocal applications for all people, including us. Second Chronicles, 7:12-14, "Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him, 'I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my faith, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.'"

Four-step process to restoration and these are the four points, our time together. Step one to restoration is humble yourself. Step two, pray boldly. Step three, turn from your wicked way. And step four, seek God's face. Step one to restoration is humble yourself. The literary context of this Psalm is, it's part of collection of Psalms called the Collection of Asaph, from Psalm 76 to 83 and it's particularly close to the theme we see in Psalm 79 which concludes in verse 13. "But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever. From generation to generation, we will recount your praise." We the people are your sheep.

Psalm 80, verse one, the very next verse. "Give your ear, Oh shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who are enthroned upon the cherubim shine forth." God, you are the great shepherd and we are your sheep. And then in both Psalms, both Psalms are an appeal to God for help. God, save us from our enemies. They are mocking us, we're calling for vengeance from heaven upon our enemies. How long are you going to make us suffer? And why is this happening?

Psalm 79 most likely references the catastrophe that Jerusalem went through, 586 BC. And then Psalm 80, the Joseph, Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh, the reason they are used is because they are northern tribes of Israel and they were attacked by the Assyrian in 732 BC and for a decade, until 722 BC, when the Assyrians finally destroyed the temple in Sumeria, the people were suffering. Towns were being set on fire. Everything was being plundered and pillaged. The historical background is supported by the Septuagint. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. This Psalm has a superscription that says, concerning the Assyrian. The application is for the people of God when they suffer on a great scale. Why are they suffering? Why are the suffering, and the answer from the Psalm is, they are suffering because they've gone astray, as sheep have gone astray.

There's two metaphors used in the Psalm for God. God is shepherd, therefore we're sheep and God is vine-dresser, a gardener therefore we are the vine, therefore we are the garden and God expects us to bear fruit. The first one I'll deal with, God is our shepherd and we are his sheep. That sounds so nice. That's so bucolic. Little sheep, when they are born, they are so cute. They are so incredible. You see goat videos, sheep videos are cute too. And then they grow up and they are not that cute anymore. Have you seen grown sheep? You go to small farms where you can go apple picking in the fall. It's tremendous, but there's also a little farm area with animals. The sheep there are so ugly. They are the ugliest sheep I have ever seen. They are nasty. They are rancid.

There is so much stuff in their wool, they look brown. Stuff is stuck in there because they can't clean themselves. They can't clean themselves and they don't care to clean for themselves. Part of the reason why is because they are the least intelligent of all the domesticated animals. They are just dumb. So when God calls you a sheep, that's not a compliment. They are dumb. They are the least intelligent of all the animals. They are completely incapable of caring for themselves. They are dumb. They are directionless and they are defenseless. They are dumb, I dealt with that. I'll show you how dumb and directionless they are with one illustration. This really happened in 2005 in eastern Turkey. I'll read from the article.

"Hundreds of sheep followed their leader, a lead sheep, off a cliff in eastern Turkey plunging to their deaths while shepherds looked on in dismay." 400 sheep fell 15 meters to their deaths in a ravine in the Van province near Iran. They are dead, the 400. But because there are so many of them, they cushion the fall for another 1100 who fell on these and those 1100 survived. The shepherds from a nearby village neglected the flock while eating breakfast leaving the sheep to roam free. The loss to local farmers was estimated at $74,000. Dumb, they are directionless and they are defenseless. Sheep, the existence of sheep destroys the theory of evolution. How are they here? How are they here? They have zero ways of protecting themselves. They can't fight. They got nothing to fight with. They've got nothing to fight with. What are you going to fight with? Their teeth aren't even that sharp.

Fight, flight? Have you seen a sheep run? Tiny, tiny legs. They can't run. No fight, no flight. And then to scare the opponent, they've got no way to scare the opponent. Even cats at least hiss. They look scary in that moment. You're going to attack a sheep, they are like, okay. That's what's going on. They are defenseless. The only way, the only way that sheep can flourish is if they follow their shepherd. That's the only way. When they follow the shepherd, everything is great. When they stop following him, when they think they are smarter than the shepherd, when they think they can find greener pastures apart from the shepherd, when they think they don't need the shepherd's leadership or the shepherd's provision or the shepherd's protection, things start going bad. And when you start following any ideology, any worldly ideology that contradicts the word of God, that's what's happening. The only voice that we Christians can blindly follow is the voice of God.

God, what did you say? What did you say? What did you say in your word? That's the one we follow. Every other voice, we need to say, you know what, is this voice leading me astray? Even your own. You've got to question every other voice and compare it with the voice of God, the word of God. What does this do, recognizing that you're a sheep? It humbles us. We're dumb, we're directionless. We're defenseless. We need a shepherd. And then God is also a gardener, he's a farmer. He expects fruit. Psalm 80 verse eight and nine. "You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root and filled the land." It's talking about God bringing his people out of Egypt as if he's a gardener transplanting a vine from Egypt to Canaan, prepares the land for it and then it begins to grow.

Verse 10. "The mountains were covered with its shade." The mountains are the Sinai Mountain range in the south. "The mighty cedars with its branches." That's the cedars of Lebanon in the north. "It sent out its branches to the sea." The Mediterranean Sea in the west. "And shoots to the river." The Euphrates in the east. God is our shepherd and he expects us to follow him. And God is our gardener, he plants us and he expects fruit to be produced from us. What's that fruit? It's a life to follow him, a life of godliness. He has purposes for his plants. He has a will. We produce fruit by loving God and our neighbors, by glorifying God and serving people in our lives. Meaning he gets to direct how we live and for what purposes that we live. We do not live for ourselves. And that is to humble us. That's the first step. God, we come to you in humility. We are your sheep and we are your plants.

Step two in the restoration is to pray boldly. Psalm 80, verse one. "Give ear, Oh Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim shine forth." We start off with his grand vision. God, you are on your throne and you are encircled with angels, cherubim. When God instructed Moses to make the ark of the covenant, he said to put two cherubim on the top of the mercy seat. The ark was to represent God's throne on earth and there's angels worshiping. God is the king of everything and he has armies at his disposal, a heavenly army of angels. Psalm 99:1. "The Lord reigns. Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned upon the cherubim. Let the earth quake." You're saying, "God, I know you're great." That's where he's starting off with. "God, I know you're great. God, I know you're sovereign. And I know you're in control." And then he goes to verse two. He says, "Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come to save us."

What's the significance of these names? He's mentioned Joseph. He mentions Benjamin here. And now he's mentioning Ephraim and Manasseh. What's the story with Joseph? Who were the parents of Joseph? They were Jacob and ... Bible trivia ... Jacob and ... yes, mini Mosaic knows. That's Julie, she knows everything. It's Jacob and Rachel. And then there's a story with Leah. I don't have time to get into that. Leah is also Jacob's wife. She has a lot of children with Jacob and Rachel is barren and she's crying out to God. "God, send me a child. God, send me a child. God, send me a child." And then God finally sends her a child in Joseph. Then how does Jacob love Joseph? He loves him a lot. I hate to say it, he's his favorite. He creates the beautiful clothing for him. He's his favorite. And then what happens with Joseph? His brothers, who are enemies, send him into captivity. They sell him. They sell the beloved son.

And Joseph is in captivity for 13 years. Joseph also has a brother. What's Joseph's brother's name? Benjamin. Benjamin. So Jacob and Rachel had a second son, Benjamin. Benjamin means son of my right hand. Does Jacob love him? Yes, he loves him so much. And then Jacob thinks that Joseph, his beloved, dies. He pours out all his love on Benjamin and protection and everything. And then he gets Joseph back. Obviously his heart is bursting with love for these sons. It was all part of God's plan. That's their names, Joseph and Benjamin. And then we got the names of Ephraim and Manasseh. Those are the two sons of Joseph. The oldest was Manasseh. The youngest was Ephraim. That's what's going on there. So what they are saying is, God, you are the God who is enthroned, you got the cherubim around you and you are also a God who loves us like Jacob who was then renamed to Israel, as Israel loved his favorite son. God, I know you're great and I know you're all-loving, so God, where are you, save us.

The Psalm starts giving God in imperatives. Usually imperatives are from God to people. Here we see imperatives from people to God as if they are telling God what to do. God, shine forth. Stir up your might. Come and save us, which is repeated four times in verses two, three, seven, and 19. Why are you doing ... Do this stuff because we know you want to and we know you can. Psalm 80, verse three. "Restore us, Oh God. Let your face shine that we may be saved." You're our God, you're our shepherd, you love us. Restore us, let your face shine. I call this bold desperation. It's a humble boldness. It's a bold desperation. God, I know you want to save us and I know you can. You're telling the God of the universe what to do. You're saying, God of the universe, I'm suffering, we're suffering, and you're the only one that can help us so please do it. And by the way, this is why I talk about bold desperation. The word please isn't even used here.

It's like, I know you're going to do this, and I'm asking and I already know you're going to do this and I'm asking and I'm kind of telling, but please do this, and also, I thank you in advance for doing this. It's a bold desperation. How can desperation be bold? Desperation seems cowardly. Bold courage, that's how we should be talking, or cowardly desperation. But not in terms of theology, not in terms of God, because some of the most powerful prayers we can pray are from a point of desperation. When you hit rock bottom, you have zero reliance on yourself because you got yourself in this situation and the only thing you can do is, like an infant, cry out to God, save us. You've got nothing to lose, because you've lost it all therefore you've got nothing to save. You've got no ego to protect, therefore from that position, you ask for the craziest thing you can. God, give me a second chance. I know I messed up, but God, give me a second chance. God, save me.

While we're at it, adopt me as a son or a daughter, by the way, and also give me eternal life, give me heaven and also I want to be Christ-like. I want to be godly, which seems to be like the greatest, boldest thing you can ask for. God, I want to be like you, so save me. It's from this point of desperation, Lord, we're desperate. We're desperate and we're asking you and we're asking for something that we know you want to give us, therefore we know you're going to give it, because it's in line with your will so we thank you in advance. Mark 11:24. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received and it will be yours." What do you need to be boldly, from a point of desperation, asking for? The greatest things. The greatest things. Ask for it. God, forgive me of all of my sins. Every single sin. Every single one. Please forgive me as if I've never done it and also I want heaven, I want eternal life and also I want to be in your kingdom and also whatever happens in this life, if I die, I'm with you forever.

That's what Jesus is saying. Ask for the greatest things. And also in this life, what are we asking for, as a church what are we asking for? God, save more people. We've got so many empty seats. That's a lot of empty seats. Save more people. Save my neighbors. I have neighbors that I look at and I'm like, you're the last person in the world to be saved. You're the last one. Therefore, God, save that guy. Just for fun. Save that guy just so I can be like, God saved you. This is what St. Paul does. St. Paul says I'm the org chart of the world for the kingdom of God. Jesus is the CEO, chief executive officer. I'm the CSO. Chief what? Chief sinning officer. I'm the chief of all sinners. St. Paul looks at himself and says, I can't believe God saved me. I was the last person in the world that I think God would save.

This is what we need. We need to ask God to save people. God, build your church because this is how God restores. This is why Israel didn't understand true restoration. Israel thought, and the disciples too, after Jesus was resurrected, they looked at Jesus and they are like, is it time for your kingdom now because they thought it was going to be a political kingdom. Because Israel, the whole time, they said, "You know when we flourished? When King David would make us submit. Jesus, force everyone into submission." And Jesus says, "You don't understand my kingdom. I'm going to get you to submit by changing your heart. I'm going to rule over your heart and I'm going to make you mine from the inside and that's how I want to restore the whole world. I want to restore every single person by sending the Holy Spirit, giving people brand new hearts, brand new desires, brand new affections and they live completely wholeheartedly for the will of God and that's the plan for restoration." We ask for that, Jesus, and we ask you to come back and we ask for the new heavens and the new earth.

Point three, step three that restoration is to turn from your wicked way. If you want restoration, you need to know what caused everything to be damaged. What causes it is our sin, it's our wickedness. God, where are you? We feel like you've left us. And God's like, "I'm your shepherd. You're the sheep. You're the one that left me." Turn around. Psalm 80, verse four and five. "Oh Lord, God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayer? You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure." God is angry at them and they know that God is angry. Is this a category in your mind, a theology of God? It's okay. I like when kids make noise. It's tremendous. It's tremendous, he's worshiping God. Praise God.

God loves so much that he hates anything that might actually hurt what he loves. It's just like any father, mother. You hate, in your kids, even in them something that might hurt them in the future and that's what parenting is. I want you to love God. That's what's going to lead to your flourishing. And you walking away from God in this area, I hate that because it's going to hurt you in the future. So God here is angry. Israel knows that he's angry. They've sinned. They worship idols, their food and drink consist of tears. God, the shepherd of Israel, has not led his flock into green pastures. He has not led them beside still waters. He has not protected his flock as a good shepherd should, instead he has abandoned them, from their perspective. Basically he is sovereign and he has allowed these things to happen. He is in control. Why, God, why do you allow these hardships? Why do you allow the suffering? Why are you angry with us, God?

And then God's like, "Good. Good. That's why. Because I wanted you to ask the question, I wanted to finally get you to the point where you asked the question, God, why? Why are you doing this?" And I think God's response is because you walked away first. You're the one that abandoned me. Psalm 42, one through three, "As the deer pants from flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, oh God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night while they say to me all day long, where is your God?" I want you to pant for me, God says. I want you to long for me. I want you to seek me, I want you to follow me. And scripture promises that when you draw near to God, God draws near to you.

Psalm 80, verse six. "You make us an object of contention for our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves. Israel's neighbors scorn the defenseless Israel. They fight over the spoils of Israel. They laugh mockingly, scornfully." What's happened to the good shepherd who prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies? The shepherd gave the sheep what they wanted. You wanted greener pastures without me, that's what it looks like. You don't want my wall of protection. You don't want me cultivating the garden. You don't want me here. It says in verse 12, "Why then have you broken down its wall so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it and all that move in the field feed on it." It's an image of God breaking down the walls of protection and then the boar, the unclean boar, this gentile nation of the Assyrians ravaging the vineyard taking everything there.

The Jewish commentary, the Midrash, explains once a vineyard has been breached, everyone goes into it and plunders it. Also, everyone who rises up, Babylon, Media, Greece, Edom plunders Israel. Come a ruler, he plunders it. Come a general, he plunders it." What's the image here with the vineyard? The image is that God is the one who built the vineyard and Jesus Christ talks about this. Vineyard imagery, it's used all over the Old Testament, in Isaiah, in the prophets. And then Jesus brings in a parable of the vineyard. In the parable of the vineyard he says that a ruler, a king builds a vineyard, beautiful vineyard with a beautiful wall around it and a watchtower in the inside. It's gorgeous and it's huge and then he leaves.

Before he leaves, he leases it out to people to tend it, to work there and then every year he would send someone to come and receive his fruit. Yeah, he would give them wages, but then he would receive fruit because it's all his. He employs these people. He leases it out to them. And then Jesus said, "Yeah, okay." He sent one guy and they looked at that guy and said, "We're not giving you anything." He sent another guy and then they beat him. He sent another guy and they killed him. And he says, "You know what, I'm going to send my son because they definitely won't have the gall to kill my son." They look at his son, "This is the one whose supposed to inherit everything. If we kill him, it's all ours." And they kill the son.

And what's the story, what's the parable of? And Jesus is saying, this is the story of Israel. He's talking to religious leaders. "I've sent you prophets. I've sent you prophets and the prophets will just say over and over and over, 'You don't own the vineyard. You don't own the vineyard. You're leasing the vineyard. You're renting the vineyard, therefore pay your rent. You pay your rent by giving due to God, over and over and over.'" The killed the prophet, they killed prophet after prophet after prophet and then God sends Jesus and what did they do with him? Same exact thing. The point for us is, you don't own a thing. You're not an owner and if you live in an apartment, you understand, you're renting. You don't own it.

On the one hand, that's awesome because when something breaks, you won't have to do anything about it. You sit down and dishwasher broke, you go, "Dear Landlord, I need a new dishwasher." That's awesome. You don't have to think that you are in control of fixing everything. You're not the restorer because you don't own it, God does. The other lesson is, you've got to pay the rent. You've got to pay the rent. Paying the rent is giving God what he is due and that's glorifying him, living for him, worshiping him, serving him, following him, obeying him. That's the point and we do that by recognizing we haven't in areas of our life where we've gone wayward, where we are in wickedness and we repent. You do a U-turn. There's a guy in Fenway who always stands, he's got an A-frame sign, it says turn or burn. But you turn or burn, and that's what repentance means. It's a U-turn from your wicked ways to following God.
Step four to restoration is seek God's face. You see this refrain over and over. Verse three. " Restore us, Oh God, let your face shine that we may be saved." Verse seven. "Restore us, oh God of hosts," he adds, "that you are a God with armies. Let your face shine that we may be saved." And then Psalm 80, verse 19. "Restore us, oh Lord, Yahweh, God of hosts, let your face shine that we may be saved." God, you're all-powerful, you're the God of hosts and he brings in Yahweh, the covenantal name of God. God, you're a god of relationship, that you want a relationship with me.

Repentance that doesn't lead to relationship is just religion. It's God, okay, I'm going to fix myself. I'm going to restore myself. You tell me where I did something wrong, I'm going to fix that and then I'm going to keep doing that on my own, works righteousness, justification through my own stuff. I'm going to fix everything. And God's like, that's not true repentance. True repentance is you wanted life apart from God, you wanted heaven apart from God. You wanted that lie, that utopia that Satan promises. No, repentance is, I don't want a life apart from God. I want a life with God. I want a relationship with God. You're the God of hosts and you're also a God that loves. And God, all we need from you is your face to shine. We need a smile from you. We need you to turn to us and we want your smile which saves everything, it fixes everything. It restores everything. We just want to see your face. We want to see your image. We want your delight.

My youngest daughter, Milana, she senses my moods through walls. I don't know what it is. I've got a connection with all of them, but Milana literally looks like me and she's the spitting image and character, she's my spirit animal. She knows my mood. Sometimes she walks in the room and is like, "Dad, are you mad?" I'm focused, I'm working. She's like, "Are you mad?" I'm like, "No." And then I smile and she's like, "Oh good. You're happy." And she walks away. And that's all, she just needed a smile. Here's what Christianity says, that apart from Jesus Christ, God is angry with you because you turned your back to God. And what happens, you don't experience his face, you don't experience his relationship. You need to repent of your sins. This is called reconciliation with God and we are ministers of reconciliation pointing everyone to Christ, that Jesus Christ is the image of God, the perfect image of God.

He is the face of God, he is the one through whom we can be reconciled with God because of his perfect life, death, burial, and resurrection. And when Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptizer, the God the father speaks. The Holy Spirit anoints God the son. You've got the whole Trinity. God, the father, speaks and what does he say? This is my son in whom I am well pleased. I delight over my son. My son has my perfect delight. He fulfilled my perfect will. He did everything that I asked him to. And when you repent of your sin, this is the beauty of Christianity, you're repenting your sin, you trust in the word of Jesus Christ, now you are in Christ and you're in Christ experiencing the delight of God, the father, and that's what they are asking for here.

They are asking for Moses, Aaron prayed the blessing in number six. "May the Lord bless you and keep you." And what's the greatest blessing? May the Lord make his face shine upon you and lift up its countenance upon you so that you may have peace, so that you may have shalom, that's a Hebrew word, shalom, like in the very beginning. When you have a relationship with God, face to face, when God speaks to you, when you respond to his will, his face is shining upon you. God's face is either a face of delight or a face of rebuke. And that Psalm 80, verse 16, they ask, these enemies, they burned us with fire, the vineyard with fire. They've cut it down. May the perish at the rebuke of your face.

God has a face of rebuke and a face of delight. In Psalm 14, "Turn again, oh God of hosts, look down from heaven and see and have regard for this vine." God is a gardener and they said, "Come look after us again." And then the culmination of the text is verses 15 through 17. "The stalk that your right hand planted and for the son whom you made strong for yourself, they have burned it with fire. They have cut it down. May they perish at the rebuke of your face, but let your hand be on the men of your right hand and the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself."

Three things I'm going to focus on in verse 17. First, the right hand, then the man on the right hand, and then the son of man. The right hand, when God talks about his hand being upon someone, that's talking about complete blessing, that God is the one that leads this person into places of blessing. It's like the person is a pawn and God is playing chess with that person, putting the person in the perfect position of God's complete blessing. And we see this phrase used in Ezra 7:6. This says, "Ezra went out from Babylon, he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, that the Lord, the God of Israel had given and the king granted him all that he asked for the hand of the Lord, his God, was upon him." Ezra went to his king, he was like, "Hey, could you please help me restore all of Jerusalem?" Which is absurd, you're going to the enemy king. And God allows it to happen because God's good hand was upon him.

The same chapter, verse nine. "For on the first day of the first month, he began to go up from Babylon and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem for the good hand of his God was on him." Ezra goes to the king, he's like, "Hey, I want to rebuild all of Israel." That's crazy. And the king is like, "Okay, do it." And then he gives him the resources to do it because God's good hand was upon him. So in verse 17, you've got let your hand, your good hand be on the man of your right hand. What's the man of your right hand? What's he talking about there? He's talking about the king who is enthroned and you've got someone on your right hand. To understand who that is, you've got to look Psalm 110, verse one. "The Lord says to my lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your foot stool."

What's going on there? It seems like King David, who wrote this Psalm, has two lords. What's going on? Jesus gives his commentary on this text in Matthew 22:41. "Now while the Pharisees where gathered together, Jesus asks them a question saying, 'What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said the son of David. The son of David meaning he's going to be only human. We're looking for a human ruler, a political ruler, like King David. The son of David. He said to them, Jesus, "How is it then that David in the spirit," David, guided by the Holy Spirit, as he writes God's word, "In the spirit, calls him, the Messiah, the Christ, calls him Lord, saying the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son and no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day, did anyone dare to ask him anymore questions."

He goes, what do you do with that? He goes, what are you saying? They believe that this one god, God is one, God is alone. Yes, God is one. And then all of a sudden, Jesus brings him in and he's like, David, guided by the Holy Spirit, he's bringing the Holy Spirit, and he says David has two lords. What is going on? And what Jesus is getting at is to show, no, the Messiah is not just human. The Messiah is King David's lord, the greatest king in all of Israel has a lord over him. It's the father, God the father speaking to God, the son. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make all your enemies a foot stool for your feet. This verse, Psalm 80, verse 17, they don't even know what they are asking for. God, send us a son of man. Send us a son of man, let your hands be on the man of your right hand. The son of man, whom you have made strong for yourself.

What they are asking for and obviously they are guided by the Holy Spirit, he's asking for God, send us restoration and we know the only one who can really restore everything is not just human. It's the God, the son who is also son of man. And that's the title, Son of Man, isn't just to show that Jesus is human and fully God. It's a messianic title. Daniel 7:13 through 14. I saw in the night visions and behold through the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man. He came to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. All peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away and his kingdom shall not be destroyed. It's someone who is human, son of man, and God, your absolute eternal.

In the Psalm, written centuries before Jesus Christ, may your hand be on the one who is at your right hand, Jesus Christ is also the son of man, fully God, fully human. Where was Jesus born? Where was Jesus born? Bethlehem. The house of bread. Bethlehem, the town of Benjamin. Keep that in mind. Matthew 26:63 through 64. But Jesus remained silent and the high priest said to him, this is Jesus before the high priest, I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God. Jesus said to him, you have said so, but I tell you, from now on, you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Jesus connects those two, the son of the right hand and the son of man. He's going to be seated because you're going to try to kill him right now, but he's going to come back from the dead.

Jesus Christ is the son of the right hand. How did Jesus Christ get into this preeminent, exalted position, son of the right hand? Jacob and Rachel, Rachel's giving birth to Benjamin and she's dying. And as she's dying, she names her son, Benoni, son of the suffering. And then Jacob says no, that's not going to be his name. His name is going to be Benjamin, Benjamin, son of my right hand. He didn't even know what was going on. It was as if God's spirit just took over. Genesis 35:18. And as her soul was departing, she was dying, she called his name, Benoni, the son of suffering, but his father called him Benjamin, son of the right hand. If you want to be the son of the right hand, you've got to be a son of suffering. Jesus Christ is the Benoni, he's the son of suffering, he is the suffering servant. He's the one that comes and he's the one that builds his kingdom through the greatest sacrifice that was ever made, the sacrifice of the son of God.

When you understand the gospel, this is how everything was planned and how obedient Jesus was. The son of God was willing to do this. When you understand that he died on the cross for your sins, to restore you, when you understand that, the more you understand that, the more he gets your heart. And the more he gets your heart, the more restoration is going to be unleashed in your life. In Psalm 80, verse 18 to 19, "Then we shall not turn back from you. Give us life and we will call upon your name. Restore us, oh Lord, God of hosts, let your face shine that we may be saved. God, give us life because we don't have that life on the inside of us. Give us that life." And Jesus Christ is the life. He's the one that came to give the life and he came to give life by giving his own life as the shepherd for the sheep.

In John 10:10 through 11, the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that you may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Why sheep, dear Christian, should you follow Jesus Christ? Because Jesus Christ is the greatest shepherd. He's the only shepherd that dies for you. Every single other shepherd ultimately pretends to protect you from the wolves, and then ultimately that shepherd is the one that kills you. That's every other shepherd. I'm going to protect you. I'm going to protect you. I'm going to give you what you're really looking for and kills you. That's every other shepherd.

Our shepherd is the one that says, I'm going to give you life at cost to myself. I'm the shepherd. I'm also the lamb of God that came to take away the sins of the world. And that's what Jesus did. He didn't just come to save us from our situations. That's kind of what the Psalmist is getting at. Restore our situation, restore the kingdom of Israel. No, no, no. Jesus says, it's a lot bigger than that. Matthew 1:20 through 21. The angel says to Joseph, "But as he considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins."

If we want restoration in our lives, this is what we need. God, save me from my sins. Plural, there's many of them. God, save me from my sins. If we want restoration in the church, we want restoration in our city, if we want restoration in our nation and the world, God, save us from our sins. And the only way we can be saved from our sins is through Jesus Christ and Jesus restores God's people by saving them from their sins. The angel says to the shepherd in Luke 2:10 through 11, "Fear not for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ, the Lord. The king has come, he is Lord and he is savior. In Jesus, God shines his face upon his people." Romans 5:8. "Therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men."

I'll close with two more things that are really important. John 15 and then Galatians 5. In the Old Testament, Israel is the vine and God is the vine dresser. By the time the New Testament comes, people of God are no longer the vine because we could not produce the fruit from within the fruit that God wanted. So then God sends Jesus Christ. In John 15, Jesus says that he is the vine and the emphasis of, he's the vine and we are to bear fruit through our connection with him, communion with him, relationship with him. John 15:1 through 17. "I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word I've spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. By this, my father's glorified that you bear much fruit and so proof to be my disciples. And as the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you, no longer do I call you servants, because the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I've called you friend for all that I have heard from my father I've made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you so that you will love one another."

Jesus now is the vine, we're the branches. Through our faith we're connected to him. Communion with him. The more time we spend with him, the more we worship and glorify him, walk with him, follow him, the more fruit is produced by him through the Holy Spirit in us. That's why I look at the Old Testament and I'm like, I feel so bad for them. I feel terrible for them because they didn't have the power of Jesus. They didn't have the Holy Spirit within as we do. As we do. That's why we're so blessed. And I'll end with Galatians 5, which gives us the fruit of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit in which we can discern. Are we walking in step with the spirit or are we walking according to the flesh? If we're walking according to the flesh, we produce wild fruit, which is sinful instead of producing the fruit that God wants from us.

Galatians 5:16 through 25. "But I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Desires of the flesh are against the spirit. Desires of the spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you were led by the spirit, you are not under the law. The works of the flesh are evident. Sexual morality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enemies, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalry, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these." That's the heaven utopia that Satan promises us apart from God and it only turns into hell. But, he says, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the spirit, let us also keep in step with the spirit, let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Four steps to restoration. Humble yourself, pray boldly, turn from your wicked way, and seek God's face. I'll close with a benediction from Hebrews as our prayer.

Let's pray. May the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord, Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.