Praising God Amidst the Many Contrasting Experiences of Life

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:52 — 57.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Psalm 30

Now then, perhaps the most striking literary feature of Psalm 30 is its usage of stark contrasts.  We count around 13 of them:  

1. lifted “up” versus “going down”
2. God who helped versus enemies who gloated
3. serious sickness versus renewed health
4. threat of the “grave” versus life
5. physical suffering versus praise and thankfulness to God
6. God’s “anger” versus God’s “favor”
7. “weeping” versus “rejoicing”
8. “night” versus “morning”
9. “a moment” versus “a lifetime”
10. feeling “secure” versus being “dismayed”
11. enjoying God’s “favor” versus God hiding his face
12. “wailing” versus “dancing”
13. “sackcloth” versus being “clothed … with joy”

Let us learn how to give praise to God whilst we endure the many contrasting experiences of life!

Our lives are full of diametric experiences.  This Psalm puts words to these turbulent times when we feel as if our lives are a “roller coaster” of diverging circumstances.  I have arranged this Psalm into 4 major points which covey the main idea:

1. The Contrasting Experience of Severe Illness and Miraculous Healing
   1. “One Foot in the Grave”—In Psalm 28 David imagines himself teetering on the edge of a precipice ready to tumble into the depths and in Psalm 30 he says that God brought him up out of the pit after a bout with terrible sickness.  
   2. “Hand Delivered” 
   3. Application: “The Marvel of Modern Medicine…? Or?”—We live in the “Scientific Age” of “Post Modernism” and if we are not careful we will attribute our healing with the “marvels of modern medicine” when we should be thinking of the “marvels of God’s miracles in modern medicine”.  It is not technology which heals but rather God Himself.   Can you look to a time when God healed you using modern medicine?  
2. The Contrasting Experience of God’s Wrath and God’s Favor
   1. Praise for Who God is Rather Than for What God does in verses 4-5.  In these verses David calls upon other believers to praise God because God’s nature is to heal.  God does what He does because He is who He is.  
   2. Be very careful with unbiblical clichés in verse 5. —This verse does not mean “every cloud has a silver lining” or “let the good outweigh the bad” nor does it mean “into each life a little rain must fall”.  This verse speaks of God’s favor versus His disfavor.  *David’s conviction is that God’s favor ALWAYS outweighs his disfavor in the life of the believer.  God must always render the due reward for sin…even for believers.  But the moments of God’s wrath against us for our sin is momentary, short-lived and pass very quickly.  What remains is God’s favor which endures for a lifetime even on out into eternal life.  This was not merely theoretical for David.   
   3. Illustration: David’s Sin of Numbering the People.  II Samuel 24 and I Chron. 21 tell of how David decided to number the fighting men of Israel.  God told him not to do so but he did it anyway.  This greatly displeased God and the Lord told David that he could choose 1 of 3 punishments:
      1. 3 years of famine in the land
      2. 3 months of defeat at the hand of the enemy
      3. 3 days of plague in the land **Look at what David chose in II Samuel 24:14!
      4. God’s Favor or Disfavor?
      5. Illustration:  Harry Ironside  
3. The Contrasting Experience of Sin and Repentance
   1. Sin-Induced Sickness in verse 6. 
      1. Self-Confidence—David fell into the trap of trusting in the numbers of his army rather than in the Lord.
   2. Applications: “Self-Confidence or God-Confidence”
      1. As a people we trust in our hustle and work to meet our needs rather than God.
      2. As a church we try to advance the kingdom through managing our affairs, our secular skills and fund-raising techniques
      3. As a nation we are confident of our military might and industries
      4. What will God do in order to bring His people to a place of God. Confidence rather than self-confidence?  
4. The Contrasting Experience Deep Sadness and Great Joy in verses 11 and 12
   1. Inward and Outward Grief
   2. Singing or Silence?
   3. Illustration: “Oh for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”—Why would God ever give us 1000 tongues to sing his praise when we don’t even praise him with the 1 we have?
   4. Application:  At least 2 results of praising God amidst the many contrasting experiences of life:’
      1. God delights in our praise while we ride the roller coaster of life and we will be drawn to Him more!
      2. Others will be drawn to our God through our praise!

Conclusion:  Psalm 30 teaches us how to live a life praise in the midst of the tensions of contrasting experiences!