No Game of Thrones

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — 1 Chronicles 16:8-11
• Hymn — O Worship the King
• Prayer of Adoration
• Lord's Prayer
• Reading of the Law — Matthew 22:37-40
• Corporate Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon
• Scripture Reading — Ezra 6:13-22
• Hymn — I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — The Lord God Reigns in Majesty (Psalm 99)
• Sermon
• Hymn — Jesus, Lover of My Soul
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: No Game of Thrones

Scripture: Psalm 146

I. A Warning About Misplaced Trust (vv. 1–4)

A. The call to praise in verses 1–2 is connected to a warning about trust

1. Worship and trust are inseparable — the object of deepest trust will receive worship
2. The psalm calls for both corporate and personal praise: "Praise the Lord, O my soul"

B. The psalmist warns against ultimate trust in "princes"

1. "Princes" is a catch-all for whoever appears most capable of delivering ultimate things: significance, satisfaction, security, and salvation
2. Examples of misplaced ultimate trust: political leaders, a spouse or romantic partner, one's children, money or fame, oneself (the triumph of the modern self)

C. The reason for the warning: princes cannot save (Psalm 146:3-4)

1. "There is no salvation" in them — they cannot even save themselves
2. A wordplay in Hebrew: adam (man) returns to the adamah (earth/ground) — mankind is created from the ground and returns to it
3. "On that very day his plans perish" — man's power and purposes die with him
4. Isaiah 40:6-7: "All flesh is grass… the grass withers, the flower fades"

II. Guidance in the Way of Blessed Trust (vv. 5–10)

A. A beatitude introduces the contrast: "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God" (Psalm 146:5)

1. "Help" and "hope" stand in parallel; hope carries the sense of expectant looking
2. The Lord redirects our expectant looking to himself

B. Trust in the eternal might of God (Psalm 146:6, 10)

1. In contrast to man, God made heaven and earth — he has no beginning and no end
2. "He who has no beginning has no end" — no variation or shadow due to change
3. The Lord reigns forever; his strength is never spent

C. Trust in the faithfulness of God (Psalm 146:6)

1. He keeps faith forever with his creation — a witness to his faithfulness to his people
2. He loves the righteous with a steadfast, unending love
3. Though his people are prone to wander and to trust in other things, he is always faithful

D. Trust in the justice and provision of God (Psalm 146:7-9)

1. Though injustice may appear to win for a time, the faithful God ultimately executes justice for the oppressed
2. The way of the wicked he brings to ruin — temporary satisfaction is all they receive
3. He feeds the hungry, frees prisoners, opens blind eyes, lifts the bowed down, watches over the sojourner, upholds the widow and fatherless

E. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Psalm 146

1. Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue (Luke 4:17-21) and declares, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" — he is the Lord of Psalm 146
2. He is the son of man in whom there is salvation: when his breath departed and his body was laid in the ground, it did not stay there — his plans were not destroyed but established in resurrection
3. In him alone: freedom from the prison of sin, opening of blind spiritual eyes, lifting of drooping heads, and full payment of the debt of sin

III. The Central Charge: Worship God Alone

A. Who or what you trust most will receive your worship

1. If ultimate trust is placed in a limited person or thing, worship will follow there
2. Without trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot worship God rightly

B. Significance, satisfaction, security, and salvation are found in Christ alone

1. Christ trusted and knew the Father perfectly — he is the model and the means
2. Only in and through Christ can you worship God as you were made to do

C. The Father is seeking true worshippers who worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24)

1. The Father's seeking is not passive searching — he draws, saves, and ensures the means by which he will have right worshippers
2. "You were made to worship. Worship God alone."