SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
June 22, 2025
Isaiah 65:1–9
Galatians 3:23–4:7
Luke 8:26–39
Jesus Brings Release from the Bonds of Sin, Death and the Devil
The Lord finds those who did not seek Him or ask for Him. He spreads out His hands “to a rebellious people” (Is. 65:2) and calls them to be His people and to dwell in peace upon His holy mountain (Is. 65:9). For wherever Jesus Christ enters in, Satan is cast out. Those who were enslaved and driven mad by the assaults and accusations of the devil are set free by the Word of Christ. He drowns and destroys the old Adam in us with the waters of Holy Baptism and thereby brings us out of death into life. No longer naked in our shame, living “among the tombs” (Luke 8:27), we are brought into the Lord’s house, fully clothed by Christ; He has come in “the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4) to fulfill the Law on our behalf and to redeem us from its every accusation. Therefore, having been justified by His grace through faith in His Gospel, “you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Gal. 4:7).
Sermon - by Pastor David Matthews
Dearly beloved saints in Christ,
Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father, and from Our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
The text for our mediation is our Psalm and Introit for this morning, the third Psalm.
PSALM 3
O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
many are saying of my soul,
there is no salvation for him in God.
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill.
I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
Arise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people!
To understand this Psalm, we need to look at the heading that is above the Psalm. It says, “A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.” This Psalm’s background is from second Samuel, chapter fifteen.
In that portion of scripture, we are told of Absalom’s conspiracy against his father King David. We need to remember that King David was chosen by God to rule Israel, while Absalom is not. If you remember the story. Absalom was sitting at the gate of the city and telling individuals if I was king, no one would have injustices, unlike what you have under King David. It is ironic that King David never caught on, but this simple action of Absalom turned the hearts of many from loyalty to King David to himself.
He then would seize Jerusalem for a time, but ultimately, he would be defeated and King David would reign again. But David doesn’t not push all underneath the rug, instead He weeps for his son’s death. We also have to remember that this event occurred due to the sin of David by committing adultery with Bathsheba, where Nathan rebuked David through God, by saying, “You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house…”
What is happening in Psalm three, is a direct result of the sin of David. And that is how one little sin can escalate into death, murder, and revenge.
This is why King David is despairing in our text. His own son wants to kill him. Can you imagine the sorrow in David’s heart? I hope none of you had to experience that in your life as a parent. But that is why King David says, O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me…”
David is right in acknowledging that He has many foes against him. He has Absalom, his own son, some of his loyal advisors, and the people against David. He himself believes that this is an uphill battle against a great enemy, his own Son.
Honestly as a Christian in the 21st century it can feel like this as well. There are many foes that try to distort the Christian worldview. A lot of so-called political hot point issues are actually morality issues. Abortion for example is against the fifth commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” That is a morality issue. Saying babies in the womb are not children, is like saying bald people have a lot of hair. People who promote abortion, are telling themselves that it is a clump of cells, but in reality, is a child. The Same-Sex movement distorts Christianity and marriage. Leviticus 20:13, says this about same-sex relations, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” Honestly, I do not know how so-called Christian bodies can get around that. But they will argue that it is in the Old Testament, and Jesus fulfilled the law. He did. But there is even more damning evidence in the New Testament, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, not thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
The reality of it. Are that people in openly unrepentant sin, do not inherit the kingdom of God. That is the truth, that many people do not want to swallow. They want to keep sinning, instead of repenting, which is turning away from the thing that is harming them.
The great thing though is that there is forgiveness for all of these sins, and every sin. And that is through the Holy and precious of Jesus, who shed His blood for the sins of the whole world.
There are many foes around us as Christians that want to distort Christianity and tell us our views are outdated. But scripture tells us that “the word of our God will stand forever.”
Stand of the testaments of God’s words. For they “will stand forever.”
Because if we do, God will raise up our heads, just like He did for King David.
I have been called a pessimistic person, and there is truth in that. But like King David, the Lord, was “a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from His holy hill.”
Some of you know this, but a majority don’t. I have suffered from anxiety and depression for over fourteen years of my life, mainly due to childhood trauma. In my deepest depths of depression during college, I even attempted to kill myself multiple times. But my God’s great love and devotion in my life, taking the Lord’s Supper twice every week (two different churches), the Lord lifted up my head many times.
That is how Christ is with His people. Even in our darkest moments, the Lord protects us. He delivers us from our afflictions, whether they are mental, physical, or emotional. In Ephesians 6:11, it says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” All our afflictions are schemes of the devil. No matter if they are mental, physical, or emotional.
In Ephesians 6:16-17, it says, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
This is the shield that David is talking about, the shield of faith. In his deepest sorrow, the Lord was a shield to David. In any of our sorrows, the Lord is also with us. He sustains us that we might run the good race. He sustains through His Word, and the Sacraments. The flaming darts of the evil one, have no power over us, because we have the helmet of salvation. In other words, we have baptism. Baptism saves us, and makes us an heir of God the Father.
Through baptism, we have the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation.
Through baptism, we are able to lay down at night and sleep, and be sustained for the next day. Especially if the next day is Sunday, and receive the precious gift of the Lord’s Supper, which sustains us until life everlasting. These gifts of the Sacraments, prepare us for the life of enduring hardships, temptations, and sin. And the word of God teaches us how.
David says, “I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” As Christians, we ought not be afraid of the people who attack us because of our beliefs. For Matthew 5:10-12, says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
It is a blessing to actually be persecuted for what you believe in, the truth of the Word of God. If anyone utters evil against you, take it as a compliment, because you are just the messenger of the truth of God. It is not you there are against, there are against God. So do not falter whenever the world says you are outdated.
There is a widespread quote, that is truthful today, as it was many years ago. “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
Right now, “the good ole times” as people call it, is why society is in such shambles. It created a culture of weak men, who do not stand for anything. But the hard times are also hitting us. It will create strong men, like King David, who believed in the Scriptures, who will marry young, raise families, and create a God-centered society.
King David also says, “Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.” That is what is going to happen on the Last Day, Judgement Day. Breaking the teeth of the wicked, renders the beast with sharp teeth, useless and no power. On the Last Day, God will tell the sheep, the Christian, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
To the goat, the unbeliever, He will say, “Depart from, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
The enemies of God will be useless and cast away into Hell.
For King David, even adds, Salvation is only from the triune God, just like I mentioned last week, there is only one way to Heaven, and that is through Jesus, our intercessor, our mediator, and our Savior. And that gift of salvation was proclaimed at your baptism. You were made an heir of God, due to what Jesus has done for you. He became a sinner for you in His own baptism, He suffered in your name, He was crucified for you, He was risen and ascended into the Heavens for you. So, as Jesus was risen and ascended into Heaven, you also will on the Last Day.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
