“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound”

Psa 89:24-29 “In my name shall his horn be exalted” – Part 3

In order for Christ to go and prepare a place for us, which we understand that place to be our heavens within (Joh 14:3, Eph 2:6, 1Co 3:16), it necessitates that we know in our hearts that “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints” (Psa 89:7).

Part one of this multi-part study entitled “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound” starts off immediately by saying that God’s mercy is what will be extended to every generation in time starting with the first fruits who are the first to be matured on the true Vine of life, Jesus Christ (Joh 15:5) which is the only place that true spiritual increase can come (1Co 3:6, 1Pe 2:5).

In Part two of the study, we learn that “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face”, and that His judgments are in our earth for the very reason of teaching us His righteousness, which comes when we hear the voice of the true Shepherd and do those things that are required of us (Isa 26:9, Jer 22:29, 1Pe 4:17, Joh 10:27, Rom 2:13).

The third part of our study speaks to those who hear the joyful noise and understand that joy is set before us (Heb 12:2) as an anchor for our soul on which Christ as our stronghold is able to help us keep our eyes (Heb 6:19, Col 1:27). It is by His faithfulness and mercy that we can endure to the end, and it is by Him giving us the power to keep His spiritual words that we can be quickened, or said another way, “in my name shall his horn be exalted”.

God tells us to be careful to maintain good works (Tit 3:8) and to let our light shine before men (Mat 5:16). These actions both witness of His power and reassure us that we are His little flock who are being given the power to lay down our lives today as we go through many hard trials and tribulations which we are promised (Act 14:22). God’s remnant are those who are blessed to witness of His power that will start and finish His workmanship which He has begun in us (Zec 4:6, Php 2:13, 1Jn 3:1).

In this study, with a subtitle called “In my name shall his horn be exalted“, we will look at how God makes a way for us through Christ to anchor our souls in the promises that have been given to us, so that we can be both sure and stedfast in our Lord as we come boldly before the throne of grace in our time of need to obtain mercy (Heb 4:16). Our horn is exalted in His name because it is his words, his promises, which fill us with hope of overcoming and knowing that we can be more than conquerors through Christ as He quickens us and provides that hope through each joint which supplies for the nourishing and quickening of the body of Christ (Eph 4:16, Joh 6:63).

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Psa 89:24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
Psa 89:25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
Psa 89:26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
Psa 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
Psa 89:28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
Psa 89:29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

Psa 89:24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

The story of Esther provides many excellent examples of how God’s horn is exalted in the circumstances which He creates to demonstrate His faithfulness to finish what He has begun within His people through His merciful hand which is sovereign over all the affairs of His people who are the apple of His eye (Eph 1:11, Zec 2:8).

God’s horn is exalted in us as His mercy is revealed, which enables us to go through very trying experiences (like Esther and Mordecai and the Jews of their time did) in order to witness to the world of His faithfulness and desire to deliver His people and give them the kingdom, which is His good pleasure to do (Luk 12:32).

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

The righteousness of Christ, which is the gift that God has given His people, is greatly contrasted with the laws of the land, the edict sent forth from King Xerxes (Ahasuerus), which is a type and shadow of how the law destroys us and how we will never be justified by those laws which at one point Xerxes was convinced were unbreakable.

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

The story of Esther and the conflict of the law of the land versus God’s plans to ultimately deliver Esther, Mordecai and the Jews, has been written for God’s people who are the true Jews inwardly, the Israel of God who are giving witness today of how “in my name shall his horn be exalted”. When God’s horn is exalted, mercy rules over judgment as it finally did in the heart of Xerxes, but only because God had used Esther to soften his heart. Esther did these things at the bequest of Mordecai who is a type of Christ working with Esther, who is a type of the Church.

By simply being given to stand on God’s word “shall his horn be exalted”. The preparation of our hearts is discussed in type and shadow in the story of Esther and the need for God’s people to spiritually fast in order to be humbled in our flesh so that we can go to king Xerxes, which events in Esther’s life represents our going to the world as His faithful witnesses at the end of this age we are in to witness the true gospel to every man.

Est 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Eze 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Eze 3:19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Eze 3:20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Eze 3:21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; [Est 1:10-12]

We are to be moderate in all things (Php 4:5, Luk 12:45), and this part of scripture (Est 1:10-12) is given not only to point out the high-spirited king Xerxes, whose heart was merry with wine, but more revealing the true spiritual ‘drunkenness’ of Vashti the queen who was about to lose her crown because of an unwilling and stubborn spirit (1Sa 15:23) which would not be subject to the king’s request to come out to him. She refused to be sent forth and come into the presence of the king just as the churches of Babylon cannot be subject unto Christ today. The only way that will ever happen is through the death of the old man represented by the beheading of John, which was brought on yet again by circumstances surrounding the beauty of a woman which in both these stories typify the churches of Babylon, which are fair to look upon like Vashti and “the daughter of the said Herodias” found in these verses (Mar 6:21-28). One great admonition we can take from both of these stories is that we need to be ready today, because we will be called upon by the Lord to witness as “sheep in the midst of wolves”, and we must be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” even “in their synagogues” where “they will scourge you”.

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Psa 89:25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

Getting back to the main point of our study that it is “in my name shall his horn be exalted”, we see in this next verse the same thought being conveyed as to how it is not by might or power but by God’s holy spirit that He makes a way in the sea of our hearts to accomplish the impossible, turning the heart of the king like a river, which was very aptly described in the story of Esther time and again.

Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Isa 43:16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Pro 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.

Psa 89:26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

When God sets his “right hand” in our life to redeem us from ourselves and the wickedness of this age, He brings us to “cry unto me” and declare “Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation”.

No one can save themselves, not even Christ (Mar 15:30, Act 2:40) and so we are examples to the world, as was Esther in type and shadow, of how God is not a respector of any person: “yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him” (2Sa 14:14) which is brightly illustrated in the story of Esther and all the crying that came up to God with fasting by all who we’re called upon to do that.

2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

God’s steadfast love cannot fail, but unless we are put to the test and sore pressed in this life, we will not know how great the deliverance of the king can be as we rest on “the rock of my salvation”.

Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Psa 18:48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
Psa 18:49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
Psa 18:50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Psa 21:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

Psa 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

This next part of the Psalm speaks of the reward that God gives to those who are blessed to have Vashti, who represents the first Adam, who wants to rule and reign as a queen but with no direction from God (in type Xerxes), dethroned from our hearts and replaced by the unlikely ‘without mother or father’ Esther (Est 2:7) who is a type of the first-born hidden generation (Mat 1:18, Heb 7:2-3, 1Jn 4:17), or first fruit who will be used by God to appease the anger of the king.

Mic 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Mat 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

We are higher than the kings of the earth (within at first) when we are raised in heavenly places (Eph 2:6) and granted dominion over the powers and principalities which Christ is able to rule over in our heavens (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21).

Psa 89:28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore^H5769, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

It is truly God’s mercy which will keep us for evermore (o-lawm’, o-lawm’) and that will be our message to all the world, that it was His covenant, his promises, his words of eternal life, with us that made it possible for us to stand fast and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust and endure until the end for the world’s sake as well as our own sake.

Eze 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Psa 89:29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

This verse 29 is more confirmation of the same point that it is in Christ (“In my name shall his horn be exalted”) that we will be empowered to endure or do all things (Rev 11:3). He makes His seed to endure forever and his throne as the days of heaven.

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isa 9:8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at how God has made provision for His people to overcome through the chastening and scourging grace that every son must experience. Even if “his children forsake my law” or “walk not in my judgments” or “break my statutes” or “keep not my commandments”, God has devised a means to redeem us from the earth in our corrupt and marred vessels, promising to “visit their transgression with the rod” and “their iniquity with stripes” of verses 30-32.