Psalm 103: 1-5; 17-18
The Covenant

August 6, 2000


Please also read I Corinthians 11: 25


I have talked about this 103rd Psalm before, it being a favorite Psalm of mine. But today I want to speak about its unique presentation of the Covenant of Grace, or as Paul calls it in Corinthians, the "New Covenant", since in connection with the communion he used a name that contrasted it with the covenant ordinances of the Hebrew religion. 

The larger word for the Covenant is the Covenant of Grace or, as Paul has it in Hebrews, The "Everlasting Covenant." Of course you know the difference between this Covenant and the Covenant of Works. The Covenant of Works is just the fact that every individual is responsible for his own behavior. It was constituted by God with our parent Adam as is described in Romans 5. It has passed on to every descendant of Adam. 

The "Covenant of Grace" is God, in the person of the Son, essentially fulfilling the Covenant of Works in our behalf. Every one of us was once under the Covenant of Works, but now -- those of us who know the Lord are graciously and eternally in the Covenant of Grace. 

I. NOW NOTICE THAT HERE IN PSALM 103, THE PSALMIST IS DESCRIBING THE COVENANT RELATIONSHIP. 

    1. In Verse 18 he actually uses the word "covenant" to describe the relationship of the believer to God. All along in "vv8-18" he is describing the covenant faithfulness of God. 

    2. As I have said this Covenant is sometimes called the "Covenant of Grace" and often the "New Covenant" and one time as the "Eternal Covenant" to signify its everlasting effect and eternal beginning. The word New Covenant is especially confusing because we have somewhere in history adopted the designation for the last 27 books of the Bible as The New Covenant (or "New Testament" as the King James Bible translated the word diatheke.) The book of Hebrews uses "old covenant" to describe the Hebrew form of the religion. It just illustrates the fact that the Bible isn't a formal theology book that uses words in a technical sense. 

    3. But this Covenant of Grace is the Father's gracious offer to save men--human beings--by the life and death of God the Son which was accomplished in history between 5 B.C. and 27 A.D. He offers to save all who will believe; that is who accept his covenant. And he imputes their sin to Jesus' account and Jesus' life of righteousness -- and worthiness -- to their account. Even before the Son of God became incarnate historically this was the case since in the mind and plans of God, Christ had always been offered up in sacrifice. Rev.11, in fact, describes him as "the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world." 

This is a very basic and important theological lesson to learn. Give attention to it. It is an explanation your relationship to God. It is the basis of your assurance and of your confidence before the Father that enables you to "come boldly before the throne of grace" as the K.J.V so eloquently translated Hebrews 4: 16. 

II. NOW IN THE SECOND PLACE, CONSIDER THAT THIS COVENANT RELATIONSHIP IS VERY PROMINENT IN PSALMS AND IN THE REST OF THE O.T. 

    1. We do not know the relationship of the idea of God's covenant, or "treaty" (as the word means) with the treaties of ancient times. But seemingly, God's relationship with mankind is cast into the form of the treaties of ancient times. (Or could it be that men's treaties are cast in the form of God's treaty?) 

    2. Men for thousands of years have had political covenants called "treaties." (Treaties and covenants are the same thing in the Bible languages.) Almost a half century ago Meredith Kline did a study, called "Treaty of the Great King", in which he reported his studies of ancient suzerainty treaties -- treaties of a great kings --"suzerains" -- with lesser kings. 

    They were not covenants between equals but of a greater king with a lesser king. The suzerain essentially created the provisions. The lesser king was allowed to sign -- though certainly not as an equal. It was essentially a submission on the part of the lesser king. 

    The treaty required obedience on the part of the lesser king and specified some benefits to him. Very often the treaty contained provision for periodic renewal of the treaty. 

    3. All of the various historical manifestations of the Covenant (or "treaty") of Grace are cast in this form.: 

      The national covenant that God made with Israel is in this form. The Old Testament form of the Covenant of Grace with individuals is in this form. The N.T. form (or administration) of the Covenant of Grace clearly continues this idea. 
    God agreed to save all who would come to him and make treaty with him to "remove -- v.12 -- " That it might be so that: "v. 17-18". 
Now you are the lesser party -- a much, much lesser party -- in a covenant, not with an earthly sovereign but with the Creator of everything that exists material and spiritual! And it ought to fill you with awe that God even knows that you exist; not to say that he has entered into treaty with you and promises such detailed and personal promises as are indicated in this chapter and in the rest of the Word. I suppose Bill Clinton is awed at being friends and hob-knobbing with the leaders who control the whole world politically. He is clearly impressed because he does it so often even when no real good comes from it. But that is a very small thing. Compared to your privilege it is nothing. Your are personally in treaty with Almighty God, the Great King of the Universe! Do you have a sense of awe that you are in treaty with the God of all Creation? 

III. THIS TREATY RELATIONSHIP DOESN'T JUST HAVE TO DO WITH 

    1. Groups of people such as the Israelites or even with the corporate group which we call the "church". It has also to do with individuals! You, if you are a true Christian, are personally and individually in covenant with God. And every other Christian is in covenant with God. 

    2. As far as it is a covenant with a group of people such as the church or O.T. Israel it existed eternally in the mind and intentions of God. (That is probably why it is called "The Eternal Covenant" in Hebrews.) But, historically it was brought to pass and given a basis in the historical event of Jesus' life and death. 

    3. But for the individual Christian - he experiences it personally at some point within his earthly lifetime. Every true Christian here -- even if he does not know when it was -- had a time when he came under this covenant personally and eternally. 

    To be sure, parents claim the salvation of their children, even before they are born -- and after they are born -- because they believe that they are presumably in God's covenant. "His righteousness (is to) children's children," as v. 17 says. 

    Those of us in the mainstream of the reformed movement baptize our children on that account. All of us who believe this to be true trust God for their salvation and seek to lead them to a personal commitment to Christ. And we expect that these children will personally ratify the covenant by committing themselves to Christ during their lifetime. 

This is why we teach our children to pray as Christians and to treat them as children of God. And, at the same time, it is why we urge them to make their parents' faith their own by a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. And it is why we don't give up on children whom we have failed in some way as parents but continually hold them before the dear Heavenly Father that he will bring them to himself. 
    4. Just as in ancient times there was a way of outward induction into these suzerainty treaties - such as eating, offering a sacrifice or setting up a monument, so in our times since the N.T., baptism is the formal initiation into the Covenant of Grace, God's treaty. 

    5. Just as in those suzerainty treaties and in the O.T. form of the Covenant of grace, way back before Christ, there were ways for the renewal of The Covenant, bringing it up to date, so too in our form there is a mechanism -- a sacrament -- for bringing it up to date. That periodic renewal is, of course, the communion. 

    That communion, in fine detail symbolizes the basis of the Covenant -- the treaty -- in which we stand. 
     

      a) The cup is said to represent his blood (which is just the Bible way of saying that our sins were laid on Jesus -- he bore their penalty so that we might never have to. God put them "as far as east is from the west" as it says in v.12. 

      b) The bread stands for the body, i.e. the person of Jesus, the God/man, the Second Person of the Godhead come from heaven and incarnate in humanity. We remember that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." It is the perfect obedience of our Lord during the totality of his earthly life which he performed, that is charged to our account and makes us beloved in God's sight and makes him pity us "as a father pities his children," as it says in v.13. 

Now all that I have said might seem like a lecture and not a sermon at all. A sermon always has to have a strong application or else it is a lecture. The thing that makes this a sermon and not a lecture is that it is indeed applied at a very practical level. The application is that God is here in our midst this morning in a uniquely real and spiritual way just as the great king, the suzerain, was present at the renewal of a suzerainty treaty. I, as an elder and a minister, of this church officiate; but God is presiding. It is God who is offering you the renewal tokens of the Covenant just as surely as if you saw him standing here. 

And when we warn people, perhaps to the point of rudeness, it is because of the holy nature of the communion that we do so. You should take the opportunity seriously and joyfully once again express to God your Suzerain -- your Great King -- the loyalty which you owe him and your need of him and his atonement, his guidance and his power for you life and you should make your promise to obey him. 

This is a time, on the one hand, to soberly confess your sins, your breaches of the Covenant and, on the other hand, to joyfully thank God for his grace and ask him for more grace. If you think you are a Christian but are in doubt and confusion, it is time to resolve those doubts, for God is here ready to confirm and renew his covenant with you. If the supernatural quality of your life is slipping, here is the instrument of renewal for it is God's covenant vehicle for renewal. If you are especially aware that your life is not what it ought to be, here is the instrument of growth. For it is God's covenant vehicle for salvation applied. 

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