Psalms: Lesson 5

Overview

God Is Our Salvation: A Study in Psalm 68

The refrain of Psalm 68:19–20 carries the heartbeat of this study: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation." Notice the precision of that confession. Scripture does not say God helps with our salvation or that He merely contributes to it—He is our salvation. This distinction matters, especially when bearing witness to others. Just as the Bible does not merely contain God's Word but is God's Word, so we are not partners with God in saving ourselves. By grace, through the calling of the Holy Spirit, we come to believe in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us.

To Him also "belongs escape from death." This does not promise that believers will avoid bodily death; our bodies will be separated from our souls when the Lord calls us home. But final death has no claim on us. In Revelation 1:17–18, the risen Christ declares, "I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." Christ has shown His power over our greatest enemy—and because He has, death is no longer something we must fear as final. Death is not our friend, nor was it God's intention for creation, but Christ has conquered it.

Psalm 68 also pictures God bringing His people back "from Bashan… from the depths of the sea." Bashan, the rich kingdom of Og, and the sea through which Israel passed out of Egypt become images of every worldly power and every heathen rule that would drag us under—whether by physical appetite, pride, or the lust for power (the very temptations Christ Himself faced). The psalmist's promise is that God brings His people through. We do not owe ourselves to the world around us. And the depths cannot hold us, for as John's Gospel proclaims, the Light has come into the world and the darkness has not overcome it. God saves through unexpected means—through the small tribe of Benjamin, through the despised cross, through judges like Gideon and Deborah—because the power belongs to Him alone.

The psalm closes with a vision of God enthroned in His sanctuary, "awesome… [giving] power and strength to his people." Compare the throne-room scenes of Isaiah 6 and Jeremiah 1:4–9: both prophets are undone by their unworthiness in God's presence, yet God Himself equips them—touching Isaiah's lips, putting His words in Jeremiah's mouth. This is the same God who at Pentecost poured His Spirit upon the apostles and sent them out to proclaim the good news. He still gives power and strength to His people for the same mission today. And one day, as Revelation 21 promises, there will be no more temple, for God Himself will dwell with His people, wiping away every tear, making all things new. Until that day, we gather as the great congregation to bless the Lord, to be strengthened by His Word, and to go out sharing what we have received—because God is our salvation, and we get to invite others into that promise.

Transcript

Heavenly Lord, we thank You so much for being our God and for calling us to be Your children. 3s

We ask that as we study Your Word together, that You would grow our faith in You and our 10s

service of You and of one another, we thank You so much for calling us into this community 17s

of believers into this family of faith. And we ask that You would bless our time together, 23s

not only today, but every time that we have the opportunity to gather and share in Your Word 29s

and Your love together. Lord, we ask that You would bless this time of study and that we would 36s

get to know You better through Your Holy Word. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 42s

Okay, so do you ever have things that are constantly spinning around in your head? 48s

It's been very interesting for the past couple of weeks just having like 57s

sermons and Sunday schools and small groups just all overlapping, but it's really interesting, 60s

and this is kind of an aside, it's so interesting and so beautiful how the Lord works 67s

works everything together and it's so cool getting to talk with you and hear how, oh my goodness, 73s

I just heard or I just read and how the Lord weaves His Word for us in all aspects of our life. 82s

And it's just incredible. So that's a little aside, but kind of not because 93s

because God is good always and so it's just a testament to who He is as our Lord and King. 98s

So we are going to be looking at Psalm 68 again. Next week, we're going to 105s

to look at a little bit more of, we're going to have a little bit more of like the 113s

the academic aspect of Psalms where we'll talk a little more about the details of Psalms and 119s

the books within Psalm and you know the different types of Psalms, but 128s

but today we're going to continue with Psalm 68. So we had talked last week about how it was 134s

but through the cross. And we know that the enemies are scattered. We know the demons flee before 148s

him. We know that there is power in his name. There is power in his work. We also talked about 153s

God being the God who who gives and provides for the needy how he is concerned with the orphan 162s

in the widow, but he is concerned with all who are needy. And when it gets right down to it, 169s

we are all needy. We are needy of him, of his salvation, of his forgiveness. And so he gives 174s

and provides for each of us through his own love and mercy. We talked about the beautiful prayer 182s

and I cannot remember which which author I read this from, but but he said the verse 19 is a great 192s

way to start every prayer where he it says the blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up. God is 200s

our salvation. And it's a beautiful beautiful reminder and really confession that God is who he 206s

says he is. He is our salvation. It does not say that God helps us with salvation, but that he is 215s

our salvation. Which I think is important. That is, you know, when talking and now we're going to talk 225s

a little bit of apologetics, but when talking to people and sharing the faith, there will be times 232s

where you may find that you have to be nitpicky, but in a really important way. It's similar to 239s

the confirmation lesson. We just had this with with our confirmants. It's my favorite lesson 251s

where we're talking about statements of myth versus statements of fact and there's a statement 257s

that God's word contains or God, but the Bible contains God's word and everyone every single time 262s

the kids always say, yep, that's true, but it's a myth. It's a myth because God's word does not 269s

contain if it contains something, then we're giving ourselves authority over it. But God's word 275s

is God's word. The Bible is God's word and it sounds nitpicky, but it's a very important distinction 282s

and it's the same thing when we say that God is our salvation. We are saying that we are not 291s

our salvation, that we are not a part of our salvation, but by God's grace, we are called 299s

by the Holy Spirit to know and come to believe in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. So 306s

that was just a little apologetics or witnessing aside. It's okay to be nitpicky. It's okay. 314s

I know I drive people nuts sometimes, but we are still called to preach and teach what God's word 321s

says because the Bible is God's word and God is our salvation. So let's keep going. Let's move down to 332s

to to to verse 20 where the psalmist continues, our God is a God of salvation and to God the Lord 341s

belongs escape from death. Now I think this is really important to again have another another 354s

clarifier here because it is absolutely saying that God is our salvation and to him belongs the 365s

escape from death. It does not say that we will not experience death, right? This side of heaven 372s

when our time has come for the Lord to call us home, our bodies will be separated from our souls. 382s

That is the death that we will experience, but God is our salvation and so we through him, 390s

through his redeeming work on the cross, we have and his resurrection, we have the escape from death. 400s

If you go to Revelation the first chapter, so it's the last book in the Bible, 407s

Revelation first chapter where where Jesus is revealing this to John, we'll look at 413s

we'll look at first verse 8 where Jesus tells John, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God 427s

who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty, then let's jump down to 17. So Revelation chapter 434s

1 verse 17, when I saw him I fell at his feet as though dead, but he placed his right hand on me 441s

saying do not be afraid, I am the first and the last and the living one, I was dead and see I am 449s

alive forever and ever and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Christ is all powerful, 457s

Christ has power over death itself, he is living, he is no longer dead, not only, 467s

not only is he no longer dead, that he has already had that joining the rejoining of his body 477s

and soul, he is fully resurrected, he is in the state of resurrection that we in the fullness of 485s

time will also be called to and so although we have to experience a death, we don't as believers 493s

experience final death, we have escape from final death through Jesus Christ. So we come back 503s

to verse 20, our God is a God of salvation and to God the Lord belongs escape from death, but God 516s

will shatter the heads of his enemies, the harry crown of those who walk in their guilty ways, 524s

the Lord said I will bring them back from the faith, I will bring them back from the depths of 530s

the sea so that you may bathe your feet in blood so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share 534s

from the foe. So with that, um, basin, basin was originally um, uh, that was a country in the old 540s

testament, uh, beyond the Jordan King, awg ruled there, you can find it in numbers 21 and due to 552s

three, the word basin, I thought this was really interesting, the word basin means fat, fat and 560s

corpulent. Um, so so basin was this rich, um, rich land, um, and the kings of basin ruled 567s

mighty above all others, so so all others were under or less than this king of basin or this area. 583s

So so in this, um, God is saying he says that that I bring them back from basin, I bring them back 593s

from the depths of the sea, remember how, uh, God brought the Egyptian or the Israelites through 602s

the Red Sea from the depths of the sea. So so really these are speaking in Psalm 68, um, 609s

basin and the depths of the sea because the Israelites and and we are no longer, I mean, 618s

we're not in the holy land, we're here in great fine, Texas, some would argue that Texas is the holy land, 624s

but I'm not from Texas, so I will not argue that. But um, but if you think about this that, uh, 630s

testament that was under the rule of King Og, who was not part of the Israelites people, 645s

the Egyptians were or the Israel keeps saying the Egyptians, the Israelites were escaping the 650s

Egyptians who were ruling over the Israelites, but but the Egyptians were not God's people. And so 655s

you have basin and, um, and the depths of the sea, the psalmist, those are already done and gone 662s

with. So he's using these as, um, as images or imagery of the heathen nation and I think in any time, 671s

any place we can look to the outside world, those who are outside of God and see that, um, that mighty 681s

rule of the flesh, right? Whether it is, um, the flesh in physical need or pride or power, 690s

um, you know, you think of how the devil tempted Jesus and it was, it was in matters of 702s

physical pride and power. Um, and that is, that is how we get tempted. And so heathendum out there, 709s

God says, I will bring you through that. The psalmist here is declaring that, that he will bring us 716s

through that. Just as he brought the Israelites through basin, just as he brought the Israelites 723s

through the red sea, through the depths of the sea, he brings us through heathendum around us. 729s

It is not easy. It is not easy as humans to walk the walk of righteousness or in the path of 737s

righteousness, just as the Israelites had a difficult time at first believing that they could go 748s

through the red sea, um, that they wanted to turn back and head back to Egypt. Uh, but God said, 754s

no, this is the way you're going. It's easy for us and we oftentimes get lured in and, and 762s

sometimes willingly so into the world around us. But God is our salvation. God will bring us through. 768s

We don't owe ourselves to the world around us. Does that make sense? Okay. Good. Yeah. We don't owe 778s

ourselves to the world around us. And by God's grace, we are called out of basin, out of the 791s

depths of the sea, because God is our salvation. If we had a tagline for this class, I think that 801s

would be it. God is our salvation. Um, that's the, that's the refrain for the day. That's good. 808s

Um, also with the depths of the sea, you think of the power that reigns, um, in the depths of the 815s

ocean that at its deepest parts, the darkness that is there that, um, light cannot, cannot reach it. 824s

But what do we say that or what do we hear in the gospel of John that Jesus is the light that came 833s

into the world and darkness has not overcome it. Darkness will not overcome the light, which 839s

brings us right back to our refrain for the day. God is our salvation. God is our salvation. 846s

So then, let's see here, we go to the next. So I've got the whole song like listed out here in a 854s

print than here. So for my own, okay, any of these. Um, so then, uh, your solemn processions are 861s

seen. Oh, God, this is verse 24. Your solemn processions are seen. Oh, God, the processions of my 868s

God, my king into the sanctuary, the singers in front, the musicians last between them, 876s

girls playing tambourines. Bless God and the great congregation, oh, Lord, the Lord, oh, you, who are 882s

of Israel's fountain. Um, so here we have that beautiful procession and, and, and the procession 889s

of God is really all of the goodness of God that goes before us. And when we think about this 896s

solemn in the terms, in terms of the, the crucifixion, the resurrection, um, pentacost, we see God 902s

fully at work, proceeding in. And so even when we think we're in a moment of darkness, 911s

in the sea, in the basin, in heathendum, God brings us through and we go forth singing because God 918s

goes forth with his, with his procession, with his goodness for us. We see over and over again in 925s

scripture how, how God is consistent in his steadfast love for us. He is consistent in his 934s

provision for us. We can see this as we look around in our daily lives how God is constantly 941s

going before us and providing. And it is this procession of goodness that leads us. It's this 949s

procession of love and mercy that we join in and we come together in the great congregation 957s

every week to sing to the Lord who, who feeds us and teaches us and heals us and cleanses us 968s

and promises to us. And so it's this great celebration and the only response that we can have 976s

to the Lord is a, is a response of thanksgiving, a response of praise. And so we join in, we join in 984s

with that, with that procession with the, the singers and the musicians and the tambourines and 992s

we're blessing the Lord and we're praising him. There is Benjamin, the least of them, this is 999s

verse 27. There is Benjamin, the least of them in the lead, the princes of Judah, 1005s

Judy, the princes of Judah in a body, the princes of Zebulin, the princes of Nafdali. So remember 1013s

that in, in Micah, it tells us how the, the savior will come out of the small tribe of Judah. 1024s

We know that Benjamin is the least of the tribes, but this is where, this is where God, 1034s

God reigns and ruled. He saves from the unexpected place. He saves from the unexpected 1043s

cross. He saves from the unexpected person. Remember everyone wondered what, you know, Jesus, 1051s

who is this guy? The Pharisees questioned his own family questioned, his friends at first questioned. 1059s

So, so here he come in the lead, summon your might, O God, show your strength, O God, as you have 1071s

done for us before. This is verse 28. Because of your temple, now we're at 29, because of your 1079s

temple at Jerusalem, King's bear gifts to you. Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reads, 1086s

the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples, trample underfoot those who lust after tribute, 1093s

scatter the peoples who delight in war. Let the, let bronze be brought from Egypt, let Ethiopia 1098s

hasten to stretch out its hands to God, sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praises to the Lord, 1104s

say la, and we will talk about say la next week as well. So, so it's this call to summon your might, 1111s

O God, show your strength as you have done for us before. We have seen, we have seen the strength of 1121s

the Lord. Here the psalmist has seen it with how how God delivered the Israelites over and over 1127s

again he had delivered them from Egypt, he delivered them in David's time from from wars. He had 1137s

delivered them in the times of the judges where, where they were under attack or under rule from 1144s

the Philistines. So, over and over again, God did show his power and show his might going back 1150s

again, just a couple of thoughts when we're talking about how he saves in the unexpected ways, 1156s

or by the least expected ways, really in the in the book of judges, I think about like Gideon 1164s

or Deborah, they were unexpected, unexpected, unexpected judges or places of unexpected 1171s

salvation. It was done through the power of the Lord, through the power of God. And so here the 1180s

psalmist is saying, show it again, show your strength as you have done for us before and we see the 1185s

strength of God shown as the women go to the empty tomb, the the tomb that God has ultimately shown 1191s

his strength over death itself. He's ultimately shown his strength over what we would consider our 1200s

greatest enemy, but because he has shown his strength over that we no longer have to consider 1207s

as our greatest enemy. It is an enemy, it is not good, it's not pleasant, it's not wonderful, 1213s

that's also a myth, myth that that death is our friend, it's not our friend, and it wasn't God's will 1222s

or intention with creation. But he has shown his strength over it and his power over it and his 1228s

command over it. And we are promised again, going back to the beginning of the class that we have 1236s

that escape from death because we have Christ, who is our Savior, who is our Lord, and that is good. 1241s

Let's run over or not run over. Let's go down to verse 34. There's a lot of power in this 1251s

psalm, a lot of power that is ascribed to the Lord, a lot of power that is proclaimed about him 1261s

and praised for him or because of him. So in 34, we read a scribe power to God whose majesty is 1268s

over Israel and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God in his sanctuary. The God of Israel, 1276s

he gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God. When we read of God in his sanctuary, 1284s

it is breathtaking. When we read in Isaiah, let's go ahead and go to the throne room. Isaiah, 1293s

chapter six, where Isaiah is being called into service of the Lord. 1301s

Chapter 6 of Isaiah. 1316s

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lofty in the 1323s

hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him, each had six wings, 1329s

with two they covered their faces and with two they covered their feet and with two they flew. 1335s

And one called to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full 1340s

of his glory. The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called in the house 1346s

with filled with smoke. And I said, whoa is me. For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a 1352s

people of unclean lips. Yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Let's go over to 1361s

Jeremiah. So it's just going to be right past Isaiah. Jeremiah, chapter one, we have a similar 1368s

experience where Jeremiah is called to serve the Lord. 1376s

Now a word of the Lord, this is beginning in verse four. Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 1388s

before I formed you in the womb, I knew you and before you were born, I consecrated you. I 1394s

appointed you a prophet to the nations. Then I said, all, Lord, truly, I do not know how to speak 1398s

for I am only a boy. But the Lord said to me, do not say I am only a boy, for you shall go to all 1404s

whom I send you and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them. 1409s

For I am with you to deliver you says the Lord. Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. 1417s

And the Lord said to me, now I have put my words in your mouth. See today, I appoint you over nations 1422s

and over kingdoms to pluck up and to pull down to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. 1427s

So God in his throne room is giving the power or giving power to his servants. He is making it 1434s

possible in all his majesty and might making it possible for Isaiah, for Jeremiah, for his servants to 1443s

be able to proclaim his word. Paul is given the power to proclaim his word through the Holy Spirit. 1453s

We see the other apostles given the power to proclaim his holy word and the good news through the 1462s

power of God. So let go to revelation again. Sorry about that. We're going to look at the 1469s

surround. Oh, I lost where it was. Monty. 1480s

I'm sorry. My eyes, I've also got new contacts in. So it's just a fun day. Okay. 1496s

Okay. So let's go to verse 20 or chapter 21. 1503s

And we see the new heaven and the new earth, chapter 21 of Revelation. 1512s

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away 1519s

and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from 1524s

God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 1530s

see, the home of God is among the mortals. He will dwell with them as their God. They will be his 1536s

peoples and God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be 1541s

no more. Morning and crying in pain will be no more for the first things have passed away. 1546s

And the one who was seated on the throne said, see, I am making all things new. Then he said to 1551s

me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end to the thirsty. I will give 1557s

water as a gift from the spring of water of life. Those who those who conquer will inherit these 1562s

things. And I will be their God. And they will be my children, burdaas for the cowardly, the faithless, 1568s

the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars. Their 1574s

place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. And then we 1578s

have Jerusalem coming out. And we see that the foundations, this is in verse 19, the foundations of 1585s

the wall of the city are dorned with every jewel, Jasper, sapphire, or sapphire, agate, emerald, 1592s

onyx. It goes on and on. And there is no longer a temple because the Lord lives, lives and dwells 1600s

among his people. He is still on his throne, but there is no need for that separation from his 1608s

people. And so, awesome is God in his sanctuary, awesome is God who sits on the throne. And we know 1615s

he sits there, even today, as we speak, we know he sits there in all his awesome glory and all his power. 1622s

The God of Israel in the final verse of Psalm 68, the God of Israel sitting on his throne in all 1632s

this power, in all this glory, the very presence or being in the very presence of God in his throne 1642s

room, Isaiah can't handle it. He knows he's so aware of his sin. Jeremiah can't handle it. He is 1649s

aware that he is so unworthy in the presence of the Lord and in the presence of the Lord in the 1659s

sanctuary, in his at his throne. We are all aware that we are sinners. But this is the God, the 1665s

God of Israel, the God of us who gives power and strength to his people. This is where we come to 1677s

Pentecost too. In a few weeks, we're going to hear about Pentecost when the Holy Spirit 1686s

descended upon the apostles and had the Spirit or the tongues of flame touch them and they went out 1694s

to proclaiming it is by the grace of God that we know God. It is by the Spirit of God that we have 1702s

the ability to preach his word. And that is the call that he gives power and strength to his 1709s

people to do just that to bring his love, his mercy, his word to those around us were in a consistent, 1717s

this consistent call of being gathered together to praise the Lord for who he is and to be strengthened 1726s

by God for the mission that we have as his people on earth. And so we are consistently given his grace, 1737s

consistently given strength by his power, by his spirit to go forth and proclaim the good news. 1747s

I feel like I'm kind of circular talking, but does it make sense? 1756s

Okay. Good. Good. I'm glad it makes sense. Okay. So we have a good God. God is our salvation. 1762s

We are given power to proclaim that very word that God is indeed our salvation. And we get to, 1776s

and I say get to very purposefully, we get to share this with those around us. We get to share 1785s

this because we are promised that in the fullness of time we will escape death. And we want those that 1793s

we love and we want those that we don't even know we love yet to escape death as well because we 1800s

are promised to be eternally in the presence of God in all his power and all his majesty for eternity, 1809s

which is very, very good news. Next week we're going to, as I said, we're going to study a little bit 1817s

more about like the academic side of souls. We're not studying, whereas Asel, we're not studying 1823s

poetry, but we're studying, we're going to study that. We're going to study some of these musical 1828s

notations such as Selah. Okay. So, so Selah, how about that? How about that? Okay. I'll see you next 1836s

week, or in second service. 1846s