Sermon notes and audio by Pastor Shana Wise
Psalm 8 (NKJV) O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! 2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen—Even the beasts of the field,8 The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Matthew 21:15-17 (NKJV), But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’? 17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.
· Your focus will determine your type of praise. The chief priest and the scribes’ hearts were not focused on God. Due to this, the purpose of God’s temple was tainted by the selling of goods in the temple instead of worship. One of the first orders of business Jesus decided to do when he entered Jerusalem (a few days before his crucifixion) was to go to the temple and overturn the tables that were being used to sell goods. But before he got there, the crowd in the town was stirred up by his presence (riding in on a donkey) and they were shouting Hosanna to the Son of David. This praise from the crowd followed him to the temple. Instead of the chief priest and scribes recognizing their wrongs and seeing that God in the flesh was in their presence, the bible states that they became indignant. Jesus’ response to them was straight from Psalm 8:2. In doing this, he was fulfilling prophecy and rebuking “the enemy” within them.
· Isn’t it ironic that the townspeople recognized and praise Jesus in the way they did and not the ones who were supposed to be the keepers of the law?
· Let examine deeper the meaning behind “Hosanna to the Son of David!”:
1. Wikipedia.com: The word hosanna (Latin osanna, Greek ὡσαννά, hōsanná) is from Hebrew הושיעה־נא, הושיעה נא hôšîʿâ-nā and related to Aramaic ܐܘܿܫܲܥܢܵܐ (ʾōshaʿnā) meaning 'save, rescue, savior'.
In the Hebrew Bible it is used only in verses such as "help" or "save, I pray" (Psalms 118:25). In the Gospels it is used as a shout of jubilation, and this has given rise to complex discussions. In that context, the word Hosanna seems to be a "special kind of respect" given to the one who saves, saved, will save or is saving now. If so, Hosanna means 'a special honor to the one who saves'. The literal interpretation "Save, now!", based on Psalm 118:25, does not fully explain the occurrence of the word.
2. Dictionary.com: interjection. (an exclamation, originally an appeal to God for deliverance, used in praise of God or Christ.) noun, plural ho·san·nas. a cry of “hosanna.” a shout of praise or adoration; an acclamation.
3. Dictionary.com: Son of David: What does the son of David mean?
Matthew begins by calling Jesus the son of David, indicating his royal origin, and also son of Abraham, indicating that he was an Israelite; both are stock phrases, in which son means descendant, calling to mind the promises God made to David and to Abraham.
· When we praise Jesus using the words, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”, we are acknowledging that he is our savior, our helper, our deliver the sins of the world. We are acknowledging that Jesus is prophecy fulfilled through the lineage of King David (Jesus’ “earthly father (figure)” was Joseph). The crowd was chanting this before he died on the cross and rose from the dead. They did not need proof that he was the Messiah, they believed through the miracles and word that he had been teaching in the land.
· Notice in Psalm 8:2, David chose to use the words, “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants“You have ordained strength’ and Jesus, in Mat. 21:16, said Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’. King David was a worshipper of God. His praise and adoration for the Father gave him strength. Jesus is God in the flesh. When we praise God for giving his Son to save us from our sins, our praise is perfected.
· (Read Psalm 8: 3-9 again).
· To explain this concept, even more, we must understand that we have praise that the angels and other creations cannot sing. We must remember that Satan is a fallen angel, and he took one-third of the angels with him when he rebelled against God. Satan and his angels cannot stand the fact that we are created in God’s image and that we have salvation through his Son Jesus Christ.
· ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants, You have perfected praise’. Angels were never babes or nursing infants-we are. We are the children of God and we have been given praise that has a peculiar sound. This sound comes from a place within our souls that reflects the redemption that we have received through Christ.
· God created us in his image and likeness. He gave us dominion in the earth. His desire has always been for us to reign with him through his son Christ Jesus. To accomplish this God had to destroy the power of sin over our lives. He sent Jesus to perfect our praise! He sent Jesus to restore us to our original position in the Kingdom of God.
· We praise Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! He is Hosanna in the Highest and we worship Him in Spirit and Truth!
Listen to the preached message by Dr. Shana Wise
About the Author
Dr. Shana Wise is an ordained Pastor and CEO of Wise Choice Ministries (est. 2016). She is the founder of The Well Christian Women’s Network formally known as Christian Women Preachers United. Dr. Wise is the author of women’s devotional, Acts of Intercession, and The Impact of Your Election (available on Amazon). She received a Doctor of Divinity degree in 2019 from St. Thomas Christian University. Her passion is to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, equip others to apply the Word to their lives, and demonstrate the Word through the power of the Holy Spirit. She is a televangelist that appears on social media outlets and television. Shana is married to Ron Wise and is the mother of four children.
Books available on Amazon at:
Acts of Intercession
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The Impact of Your Election
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1792003307/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_vvKbFbA33J669
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