The Psalm 23 Adventure, Part 46
June 30, 2017
We have an incredible amount of
territory to cover today. It’s going to
look like I’ve really departed from the subject at hand, but I assure you that
I havc not. It
is really important to draw a complete picture for you so that you understand
the enormous significance of what God is preparing to do in those people who
enter into an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today,
let’s take the next step in this picture of sound, and why it is so critical to
our existence, and why it is so much a part of the prophecy connected to “Thou
anointest my head with oil.”
We
all know that the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary to announce the fact that
she was with child, and that the child in her womb was the long-awaited
Messiah. But the sound of this prophecy
to Mary to another step. Take a look at
what Luke records.
Luke 1:39-55: And Mary arose in
those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of
Judah; And entered into the house of
Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it
came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe
leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
And she spake out with a loud voice,
and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb. And
whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy
salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for
there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for,
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is
mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him
from generation to generation. He hath
showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of
their hearts. He hath put down the
mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the
hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his
servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake
to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
What
may not be immediately obvious is the fact that as soon as Elizabeth saw and
heard Mary, her unborn baby (John, the Baptist) leaped in her womb. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and
begins to shout, to sing, to prophesy, “Blessed art thou
among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”
Mary
responds by singing what we have all come to know and refer to as “the Magnificat.” Jesus’
coming was announced while He was still in the womb — twice. Mary, then, begins to sing and to worship the
Lord because of the stupendous miracle happening in which she is a critical
part.
Thus,
Jesus is nurtured in the womb with this sound of singing, praise and worship.
Consider
what happens, then, when He is actually born!
Luke 2:7-14: And she brought forth
her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a
manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of
the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and
they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye
shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men.
Thus,
Jesus is nurtured in the womb with this sound of singing — this prophetic
praise and worship. When He comes into
the world, His arrival is announced to the shepherds with prophetic praise.
Then
the heavens fill with a multitude (the Greek word here is, plethos, meaning: to be filled up) of Heaven’s
angelic hosts who sing an prophesy, “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men.”
The
KJV loses a little in this translation, so let’s amplify this out of the Greek.
“Glory, Honor and Magnificence to the Almighty, the Supreme God,
and to (and on) the Earth, peace, quietness, prosperity and (the fulfillment of
the Covenant) complete satisfaction, pleasure, the delight of completion in
that which has long been awaited and desired.”
The
Greek word translated “good will” is a word which comes out of covenant
fulfillment, eudokia, and it represents
the completion of that which has been promised and intended from the beginning.
What
was it that was promised and intended from the beginning? We talked about this last week.
Genesis 3:15: And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel.
It
was the promise of the coming Redeemer, the One who would crush the Serpent —
Satan — and restore that place of intimate fellowship with the Lord. And let’s not forget the fact that Adam and
Eve — OK, we, the human race — were created to replace Lucifer’s original
anointing and commission to surround the Throne of God and envelop it (and the
Lord, Himself) with the most glorious praise and worship. Satan has been out to defeat that promise
from the moment it was spoken.
Thus,
the angelic praise and worship that went forth at the birth of the Lord Jesus
Christ was the announcement, and prophecy, that God’s Covenant
with Eve was being fulfilled!
We
jump forward once again to Jesus’ baptism and the events that took place when
Father God spoke out of Heaven to announce to the world that “This
is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit simultaneously
appeared to anoint Jesus in the form of the dove that settled on Him.
Jesus,
of course, had to demonstrate His overcoming of Satan after He went into the
wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days and was tempted three times — each time
representing an overcoming of the three areas of fear that have tormented the
human race. Notice how Jesus wraps this
up as he answers the devil.
Matthew
4:10: Get thee hence,
Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Satan
had decided to worship himself and make himself God, and as a result was thrown
out of Heaven for trying to corrupt that commission and anointing he had been
given.
Let
me pause for just a second. This isn’t
another rabbit trail, but let me remind you of the significance of David’s
prophecy when he says, “thou anointest my head with oil.”
Though
David was anointed by Samuel to become King in Israel, he clearly understood
that his primary anointing was to minister to the Lord in praise and
worship. The Psalms are literally at the
very center of Scripture, and the 118th Psalm is the very center of the Bible. That said, consider the center of Psalm 118:
Psalm 118: 14-15: The
LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
The voice of
rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the
right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
It
can’t be any clearer! David knew his
anointing and he walked in it from childhood to his deathbed. It is my conviction that David clearly
understood that we are all created for praise and worship, that we are the
creation of God intended to replace the fallen and removed Lucifer from his
place at the Throne of God.
Now,
back to the picture of Jesus. Jesus has
completed the years of ministry, training and preparation of the disciples, and
He is ready for the grand finale. It is
time to finish off Satan’s power and authority over the human race and to
restore that purpose and destiny from before Creation itself. Mark gives us the following picture as Jesus
prepares for His final days on this earth.
Mark 11:7-11: And they brought the
colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. And many spread their
garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that
followed, cried, saying,
Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of
our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into
the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the
eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
As
Jesus was preparing for His crucifixion, death and resurrection, the crowds saw
Jesus entering into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey. It wasn’t a particularly auspicious entrance
for the King of Kings, but no matter; the crowds prepared the way for Him with
praise and worship.
The
Hebrew word translated into the Greek and rendered in English as “Hosanna,” is,
hoshia-na.
While translated literally as, “Oh, Save!”, it is a cry of adoration
reserved for royalty, for kings. Those
singing it understood that the king (in this instance, the King of Kings) was
the means of their safety, their prosperity, their deliverance from their
enemies, to liberate and set free (in every respect).
Sorry. Got a bit side-tracked there. This takes us to that which John saw when he
was given the magnificent revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look
at what John sees as he is transported in the Spirit into Heaven. This is going to take some time, so bear with
me.
Revelation
4:1-11: After this I
looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice
which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said,
Come up hither, and I will show thee things which
must be hereafter. And immediately I was
in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on
the throne. And he that sat was to look
upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round
about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four
and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting,
clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings
and thunderings and voices: and there were
seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of
God. And before the throne there was
a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round
about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion,
and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and
the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him;
and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night,
saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to
come. And when those beasts give glory
and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne,
who liveth for ever and
ever,
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the
throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne,
saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour
and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and
were created.
What’s
the first thing John sees? 24 elders
seated about the Throne of God. I’ve
shared this before but it’s been awhile so let me revisit this picture – and we
will delay that until next week. Where I
have to go is going to take some time, and this Coffee Break would quickly
become an epistle were I to continue.
See
you then!
For those of you
who’ve been participating in our Monday night Healing Prayer Conference Call,
we just want to let you know that beginning with the month of July and
continuing until the first Monday night in October, we will be taking a break
for the summer. We’ve found during the
past three years of doing this call that participation during the summer months
drops significantly because of folks taking their vacations, and being involved
in other activities. That said, we will
resume our prayer calls on Monday night, October 2nd.
At the same time, in
case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by
conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific. That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these gatherings
available by Skype. If you wish to
participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener. If you miss the live voice call, you can dial
(712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in
later. The video call, of course, is not
recorded – not yet, anyway.
Blessings
on you!
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504
Email Contact:
CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com
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