Word of Salvation – Vol. 19 No.51 – September 1973
The Raising Up Of God’s Horn
Sermon by Rev. D. J. van Garderen on Ps.148:14a
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Rom.8:18-30; Psalm 148
PSALTER HYMNAL: 304:1,3; 94:1,2 (Hymn of Conf.) 439:1,3,4; 13:1,3,4 282:1,3
“He has raised up a horn for His people.”
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Great and wonderful things had happened to the people of God’s own choosing! There was much singing and praising to be heard among the people! “Lord, our Lord, of all the earth! How great Thy Name!”
A miracle had unfolded before the very eyes of the people. A miracle that caused the hearts of the people to burst with praise and adoration. What was that miracle, that mighty work? It was the wonder of the horn!
Because of this horn our psalmist rejoices with unutterable and exalted joy. Because of this horn he calls upon the entire universe, all of God’s creation to sing and praise God as never before. Come, join with me and sing to the Lord for the horn that He has raised up!
What is so exciting and thrilling about a horn? Who should be singing about it?
I. THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SONG OF PRAISE.
The psalmist is so wound up by the horn of the Lord that he methodically proceeds to call on the entire handiwork of the Lord to sing with him. No part of creation is forgotten!
a) The heavens
Imagine the psalmist, standing outside at night and looking into the skies. He looks upwards and pictures the heavenly dwelling of the Lord. There where God dwells, surrounded by His angels and all the heavenly host. You, who surround God, who behold His glory .Come! Praise the Lord!
What a fantastic vision; what a song that must be!
The Bible describes a glimpse of this glory on the day Jesus was born. As the myriad of angels appear to the shepherds singing “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14).
Sing, sing you hosts of heaven, calls the psalmist.
b) The firmament.
Not only the invisible dwellers in the heavens, but also the visible! Come sun, moon and stars and clouds of the heavens…. you too, praise God! You too shout and praise God for the horn, for He also made you for that purpose.
c) The earth.
From looking upwards, the psalmist turns his gaze to earth itself. He looks to the mighty oceans, and the great sea-monsters it contains. He looks at the lofty mountains and the hills. He looks at the elements, fire and hail, snow and frost. You too are God’s handiwork, created and upheld by His hand, and therefore to cry to praise God is also yours. Look to the horn and burst forth into shouting Hallelujah!
d) All living things.
Next he calls on all living things, upon the wild and powerful animals that walk on the face of the earth, upon domestic animals, upon the creeping things, upon the birds that fly. Come, praise God with me, O earth in all its fullness.
e) Mankind
Then the psalmist calls upon the crown of God’s creation, mankind. You too exalt the Lord and praise His name. Kings, the people who are mighty and strong in the eyes of man, and your nations with you. Princes, all who rule under the king as governors. Young and old, he calls, come praise and exalt the Lord with me. Let them praises give Jehovah, for His name alone is high.
f) God’s Elect
Finally the psalmist narrows down the picture to God’s own people, to the apple of His eye, His beloved sons and heirs according to the promise. Let the children of Israel, God’s elect, raise their voice in thanksgiving to the Lord, let them exalt His name together.
You, O Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, you who have drawn near to God and serve Him as heavenly Father, to you especially is the command to sing of His glory.
No, Psalm 148 doesn’t miss a thing.
All of the created universe is mentioned and urged to sing and exalt God’s name.
Sing the song of the horn!
II. THE HORN GOD RAISED
What then is this song of the horn all about?
Or rather, what is meant by that horn of our text? A horn, as everyone knows, is what belongs on the heads of bulls, rams, and other such animals. Whenever people would see these animals, the most impressive part of them, what really stood out, were their horns.
Horns made the animal look majestic and powerful, and since horns were always on the top of the heads of these animals, the ancient people began to regard them as a crown. As a king wore a crown upon his head, animals wore horns on theirs. A crown was the symbol of a king, pointing to his power, authority and strength, and soon people began to see horns as symbolising the same thing. Therefore, especially in the psalms, when we read the word “horn” it refers to power, strength and authority.
Also, the results of this power and strength is victory, and so horns became to be seen as the symbols of victorious power, of reigning authority, and of conquering power.
And so, when the psalmist calls on the whole universe, and especially the believers, to sing to the praise and glory of the Lord, he gives the reason as being that which the horn represents or symbolises,
The song of the horn is a song about how God has raised up power, authority and strength for His people. And we see that in three ways:
1. By means of God’s wonderful restoration of Israel as a nation.
2. By means of God’s gift of a Saviour who is Jesus Christ.
3. By means of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers,
a) Restoration of a Nation.
At the time of writing, the author of Ps.148 had in mind primarily the horn as the symbol of Israel’s restoration to a nation,
God’s chosen people had been destroyed by the might of the Babylonians, and the few survivors carried away a thousand miles into captivity. The nation had been utterly crushed, ground to pulp, and had no power whatsoever.
The horn of Judah and Israel was no more.
In the book of Lamentations 2:3, Jeremiah bemoans the fate of the nation with tears of bitterness, wailing, “He (the Lord) has cut down in fierce anger the horn (might) of Israel; He has withdrawn from them His right hand in the face of the enemy: He has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all round.’ (Lam.2:3). Then, after 60 years, the Lord began to restore the horn of His people by raising the nation up from the dust.
Men of God such as Ezra and Nehemiah arose and the people returned from their captivity. Strength flowed back into the prostrate nation. Jerusalem, its walls and its temple were rebuilt and the nation once again began to assert its power over its enemies. Israel again became a horn, a nation with power and strength! The fallen nation was surely being restored.
And our psalmist saw that behind all this restoration, was the almighty grace and strength of the Lord Himself.
The hand of the Lord is involved in the restoring of our good fortune! How good and gracious and merciful is He.
His people, His church are raised up, given power strength and victory because the Lord Himself works for His chosen.
Your love, O God, is unsearchable . . . Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord you ends of the earth, and let the heavenly host sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” (Rev.4:8).
The horn that the Lord raised up was the fact of His rebuilding of a nation, the restoration of His elect, His Church! Clap your hands all the earth, Praise the Lord.
b) the Sending of the Saviour.
In the second place, the horn is also used in the Bible a symbol for the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. In Ps.132:17 we read of God making a promise to His people in Jerusalem.
“There (says the Lord), I will make a HORN to sprout from David,
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed (Christ)”.
That horn which will sprout from David, David’s Son, is He who was born of the virgin Mary, namely Jesus Christ. In Luke 1:69 Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, sang a song of praise about God’s Messiah on the day his son John was born. He sings,
“Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a HORN of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.” (Luke 1:68,69).
Therefore, when we as Christians sing this song of the horn, and call upon the entire universe to join in, we do so in order to exalt the Lord for sending His Son into the world, that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17). God has raised up a horn, has raised up His Son our Saviour for His people, and therefore let the ends of the earth rejoice.
The believers especially should be the choirmasters in this song of praise, but the whole of creation has every reason under heaven for joining in. Sun, moon and stars, monsters of the sea, winds and rain, wild animals, and tame, creeping things and birds of the air… you too are directly involved and affected by God’s raising up of a horn for His people.
How, you ask?
The coming of Jesus Christ into the world has brought the dream of Rev.21:1 a step closer.
What is that dream, or rather that blessed hope?
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more.”
A renewal of all of God’s creation!
Paul, in Romans 8:18-22 speaks of what Christ’s work, or the raising of the horn, means for creation. Ever since sin has entered the world, creation too has suffered the consequences. Creation has been subjected to futility, to a bondage to decay, has been groaning in travail, In other words, creation too is doomed to destruction, doomed to die and wither away because of the presence of sin. But with the raising up of God’s horn, Messiah, the promise of an end to this bondage to decay has become a reality. The hope of salvation and ultimate restoration becomes certified for the whole of God’s creation when Christ comes!
Sing therefore O you who are God’s handiwork… for you too have become directly involved in the miracle of the raising of the horn.
c) the Sending of the Holy Spirit.
In the third place, the horn is also seen in the Bible as the symbol of God’s outpouring of new life, or salvation.
The horn is the power of God in the hearts of His children and heirs. In Psalm 75:10 we read,
“All the horns of the wicked shall be cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted”.
The destruction of the wicked and their strength and the restoration of the righteous has become a reality, sings the Psalmist. For “God HAS raised up a horn for His people!”
When the psalmist urged the people to sing this anthem of praise in days when Israel had just returned from captivity in Babylon, he saw the horn in terms of the nation having received a new lease of life from the Lord.
However, when the church of all ages, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ sings this same song, it refers to the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The horn which the Lord has raised up is the Counsellor, the Comforter whose indwelling in the hearts of people gives them power to be God’s very own. That horn which God raised in your life as a believer is the source of your strength. Strength and power to make the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Strength and power to bear witness to the glory of a new life in Christ. Strength and power to become a new creation, to live a righteous life before God. That horn is the power to become truly righteous, godly, faithful, a lover of God, steadfast and gentle. (1Tim.6:11). That is the horn which God has raised up for those who are His people! That is the horn God raised up for you too, isn’t it? Such a horn, such power which God raised up in our hearts, power of God to become more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Rom.8:37).
Furthermore, because of this horn in the lives of believers we are assured and guaranteed by God Himself that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
III. THE HORN OF GOD AND OUR PRAYER
Psalm 148, although a song of praise and thanksgiving, also constitutes a prayer for the people of God in all ages. Yes, God HAS raised up a horn for His people, for those who believe also in these the latter days. For this we rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. But the Psalmist also conveys a note of longing. In the days when Jerusalem and God’s temple were being rebuilt, there was still the unfulfilled promise of the horn who would be the sprout of David, that is, Jesus Christ. Also, in those days there was still a longing for the fulfilment of the words of the Lord as spoken through the prophet Joel. The latter days, when…
“It shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions.
Even upon the menservants and maidservants
in those days, I will pour out my Spirit”, (Joel 2:28,29).
That expectancy of future fulfilment is still present, even though the Lord HAS already raised the horn of His people. Similarly, the church of today, you as believers, still sing this psalm with a certain note of longing, with a prayer for ultimate fulfilment on your lips.
The horn of God has been revealed in much greater splendour for us today. We have seen the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection.
We have heard His promises to grant us a Counsellor, the Holy Spirit.
We have seen Pentecost, and have also experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
We have been saved.
Yes, for us the Horn has been raised.
But, just as the Psalmist, we too look forward to an even mightier revelation of the horn of God.
The Day of Judgement, Day of Wonders, when Christ shall come again, in glory, and all the earth shall know and see.
The day when, just as in the very beginning God shall look at His handiwork and say, “It is good.”
The day when…
“Behold, the dwelling of God is with men.
He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people,
and God Himself will be with them;
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.” (Rev.21:3,4)
God HAS raised up a horn for His people!
Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!
May that horn increase, now, as our faith and love to Him and each other grows, and on that day when Christ will be all and in all!
Maranatha, Lord Jesus, Come quickly.
Amen.