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Instruction for the Penitent (Part 2)

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Psalm 32

Our discussion last week left off with the David’s confession in verse 5 and God’s complete and immediate forgiveness.  Notice David says “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”.  This brings to remembrance an important parable of the Lord Jesus in Luke 15:17-24 the Prodigal Son says “I will arise and go back to my father…”.  

Let us come to this great portion of God’s Word that we may find instruction and encouragement as to how God responds to the sin of those who are repentant!

This 32nd Psalm is a “celebration of forgiveness” and moves far beyond the assurance that God merely forgives our sins but boldly declares the many blessings associated with God’s pardon, our confession and the celebration of our restoration.

  1. The Invitation to a Celebration in Verses 6-7
    1. “Therefore”—Notice the connection being made here: “Therefore, because the Lord forgives sins, such forgiveness results in true happiness.”   
      1. Application:  When we celebrate God’s undeserved forgiveness in our lives we are witnessing in the purest sense.  Do you invite people to celebrate what God has done for you?  Do we encourage others to experience the complete and immediate forgiveness which God offers the penitent?
    2. Join the Celebration While You Can Because Our Time is Short-The phrase: “let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found”Verse 6.  It was David’s son Solomon who would later write in Proverbs 1:2533— “Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me”.  (SEE ALSO ISAIAH 55:6-7)
      1. While we live in a day of God’s good grace whereby He is not far from every one of us “…Yet he is actually not far from each one of us…”-Acts 17:27. This good day of God’s grace will not last forever.
      2. Application:  Do not wait until it’s everlasting too late to trust in God and receive His complete and immediate forgiveness.
    3. A Celebration of God’s Protection of the Penitent.  “surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.  You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah”-Verses 6b-7.  
      1. Celebrate God’s Protection Over You By Singing His Praises.  “you shall surround me with shouts (songs) of deliverance” This references God’s protecting grace which He gives to those who come to Him in repentant faith.  Hear Charles Wesley:
      2. Celebrate God’s Protection from the Penalty and Power of Sin. —The phrase “surely the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him…you are a hiding place…”  
        1. In verses 3-4 we see David hiding from God
        2. In verse 7 we see David hiding in God.  
          • David hides in God from God’s final judgment—As one writer expressed “He who thus hides in Yahweh when he may be found shall not be swept away when His final judgments are let loose like a flood of waters upon the earth” Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.
          • David hides in God from the power of his own sins—Even as the waters of David’s own sins press hard against him, God will protect His people from drowning in them.
          • Application:  We are our own worst enemy.  What is separating you from the vilest sinner the world has ever known?  What is keeping you from being the next Adolph Hitler? —The Grace of God. 
  2. The Critical Importance of Teaching Others in Verses 8-9
    1. This Great Psalm Speaks Directly to the Restored Individual by Showing God wants to do 4 things:
      1. Instruct
      2. Teach
      3. Counsel
      4. Watch Over
    2. This is the great end to which God is seeking to bring us—Teachability.  Are we teachable, or are we like Verse 9 suggests?  Because those who truly belong to the Lord deeply desire to NOT fall into sin again.  This is why teaching is so important.
    3. The Beastly Nature of Unteachability— “Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you”-Verse 9
    4. Application:  God says, through David, that when we do not submit ourselves to God’s teaching we are like unbridled beasts of the field.
      1. Unbridled beastly condemnation over personal sin-This happens to us when we do not believe God for the complete and immediate forgiveness which He promises in Psalm 32.
      2. Unbridled beastly unforgiveness-This happens to us when we do not forgive others even as our Heavenly Father forgave us.
      3. Unbridled beastly endangerment-We endanger ourselves and those around us when we do not submit to God’s teaching.  Many wild beasts and wild people roam around seeking whom they may devour.
  3. The Call to All to Rejoice in Verses 10-11
    1. A Clear-Cut Choice—We can either be weighted down “by the sorrows of the wicked” or we can be “surrounded” by God’s steadfast love.  The choice is easy.
    2. While God’s Forgiveness of us is “one and done” we need to be reminded of God’s radical forgiveness every day of our lives. —We are new creatures in Christ!

Conclusion:  This psalm celebrates what is the very heart of the Christian tradition, God’s grace and forgiveness that allows for us to know true happiness. Yet amazingly, we rarely take the time to celebrate this pivotal act of daily grace. Psalm 32 gives us just that opportunity to be glad and rejoice and shout, for God does reckon us righteous! 

October 11th, 2020 | Category: Sermons | Comments are closed

Instruction for the Penitent

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Psalm 32

There are at least 6 important introductory truths we need to understand before beginning our study of Psalm 32:

  1. Psalm 32 is the 2nd of the 7 “Penitential Psalms”.  The Penitential Psalms are Psalms of Repentance or Psalms of Sorrow Over Sin.  Psalms 6, 38, 32, 51, 102, 130, and 143 are all Penitential.  
  2. Also, Psalm 32 is considered to be a “Psalm of Instruction” because of the word maskil, which means “for instruction” or “for contemplation”.  There are 12 Psalms which bear this same title.
  3. Psalm 32 is connected to Psalm 51.  Which is David’s great Psalm of repentance after his sin against Urijah and Bathsheba.  Notice Psalm 51:13- “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.”  Some have suggested that the “I will teach transgressors your ways” finds its fulfillment in Psalm 32.  The difference between the 2 Psalms is that the 51st “breathes with the emotion of the moment” while the 32nd was probably written much later after David had time to contemplate what he did and how God handled the situation.
  4. This is the first time since Psalm 1 when we have the word “blessed” opening up another Psalm, which is in the plural form.  
  5. St. Paul quotes from Psalm 32:1-2 in Romans 4 to undergird his teaching that Justification has always been by faith alone, by grace alone through Christ alone.  Paul connects Psalm 32:1-2 with Genesis 15:6, in both texts Paul argues that Abraham and David were justified by faith and not works.
  6. We are told that Augustine had Psalm 32 inscribed on the wall next to his bed before he died in order that he might meditate on it better.  He liked this Psalm because he said “the beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner” 

Let us come to this great portion of God’s Word that we may find instruction and encouragement as to how God responds to the sin of those who are repentant!

This 32nd Psalm is a “celebration of forgiveness” and moves far beyond the assurance that God merely forgives our sins but boldly declares the many and sundry blessings associated with God’s pardon, our confession and the celebration of our restoration.

  1. The Incredible Lord Who Completely Forgives in Verses 1-2
    1. 3 Key Words for Sin:
      1. “Transgression”—This word means “a going away” or “rebellion” against God and His authority.
      2. “Sin”—This word means “falling short” of a mark
      3. “Iniquity”—This word means “corrupt” “twisted” or “crooked”.  
    2. 3 Key Words for what God does with our Sin:
      1. “Forgiven”—this word literally means “lifted off”.  Our sins cause us to carry heavy burdens.  But, when we come to God He lifts the burden from us.   
      2. “Covered”—This word is taken from the Day of Atonement.  1 day per year the High Priest of Israel would take the blood from the sacrificial animal and take it into the Temple and sprinkle the blood on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant.  The Mercy Seat was the top of the Ark where the Cherubim covered their eyes.  Under the lid the broken tablets of the Law of God
      3. “Count not”—This word is in the negative, meaning it describes what God chooses not to do.  God chooses to not count sin against us.  This is a bookkeeping term.  
    3. Do you know this great blessedness?
  2. The Crushing Weight of Unconfessed Sin and then Relief in Verses 3-5
    1. The Heavy Hand of God in Verses 3-4—When we refuse to get real with God about our sins God allows the terrible pressure of our sins to bring us back to Him.  Because God is holy He can never overlook our sins, but rather He applies pressure.
    2. The Relief Which Comes from God’s Forgiveness in Verse 5.  When we come to God penitent and sorrowful for what we have done to Him the relief which we experience is complete and immediate.  There are 2 things worth noting about Psalm 32:5:
      1. Verse 5 is the longest verse in this Psalm.  Which is a way of saying that it is the heart and soul of this great poem.  If this Psalm is an instruction for those who have sinned and been restored to a right relationship to God then this verse is foundational.  
      2. Verse 5 contains all the key words for sin which we previously discussed.  “Transgression” “Sin” and “Iniquity” are all mentioned again here.  David is saying that when he came to God in humble confession he confessed everything and God removed everything.  

Conclusion:  When we behold this great man’s great testimony of forgiveness and restoration before God do we have that same kind of testimony?  You may not have sinned as grievously as David but you are a sinner like he.  May God grant us this kind of testimony before Him so we can say like David “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”-Verse 8 When we experience God’s complete forgiveness we will teach others the same!

October 4th, 2020 | Category: Sermons | Comments are closed

A Doubly Important Plea

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Psalm 31

This is the 3rd longest Psalm in our studies thus far, only 18 and 22 are longer.  There are also several very unique literary features to Psalm 31:

  1. It has both captivated and comforted the characters of the Bible
  2. And whilst this great poem has encouraged many of God’s servants it has likewise perplexed many scholars.  What is so fascinating about Psalm 31 is that it actually contains 2 prayers.  The first plea is found in verses 1-8 and the second plea in verses 924.  The difference is the second prayer is longer and more intense than the first.  Now this tells us something profound about the prayer life, God’s deliverance is doubly important.  David was working “double time” in his prayer closet.

Let us join the saints of God in singing the illogical praise of Psalm 31 as we learn what is doubly important in our Christian experience!

David gives more words to the “roller coaster” experience of living life in Christ.

  1. A Popular Metaphor
    1. A Rock of Refuge.  
  2. An “illogical plea”?  
    1. David says 2 things about God in this passage which has caused a stir amongst critics.  He says in verse 3 “since you are my rock and fortress” and in verse 2 he says “be my rock”.  How can David say to God “you are” and yet ask God to “be” a refuge all at the same time?  Well, this teaches us to “enjoy in experience what we grasp by faith”-Spurgeon.  In other words, it’s one thing to say you believe something about God in faith but its altogether different to experience God as something for yourself.  
    2. Application:  When was the last time you prayed “Lord, I know you are…then be in my life today?”  How important is it that we should not simply “know” something about God in theory but that God “is” that to us in reality? —It is doubly important.
  3. What is your life verse…what is your death verse?
    1. Notice verse 5- “Into your hand I commit my spirit” Oftentimes, Christians will ask fellow believers “what is your life verse?”  And, we ought to have a life verse.  (Isaiah 55:6-7) But, this Psalm asks us what is perhaps the more pressing question “what is your death verse?”.  In all this, these saints were asking God to be to them in death what they knew Him to be in life.  How important is it that we have a life verse?  Very important.  How important is it that we have a death verse? —It’s doubly important!
  4. In God’s Hands Verse 15
    1. David says “my times are in your hands” so exactly what times does he mean? — All of our times are in God’s hands!
      1. The times of our birth are in God’s hands
      2. The times of our youth are in God’s hands
      3. The times of our maturity are in God’s hands
      4. The times of our good and bad choices are in God’s hands
      5. The times of our old age:
    2. Application:  How can David pray “into your hand I commit my spirit” in verse 5?  Because he prayed that all “my times are in your hands” in verse 15.  David had been committing his life into God’s hands all along so it’s only appropriate that he would commit his spirit into God’s hands in his neediest moment of death.  How important is it that we commit all of our times into God’s hands? —It’s doubly important!
  5. Illogical Life – This Psalm explores the thin line between faith and doubt.  While life seems to have a logical order, we come to understand that is simply untrue.  The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.  4 seasons come and pass.  On the surface, things seem to have a logical flow but human life and experience says something completely different.  How important is it that we understand life is perplexing and illogical? — It’s doubly important.

Conclusion:  In the year 1927, “The Great Mississippi River Flood” broke through 145 levees, flooded 17 million acres of land, killed 250 people and left another 700,000 people homeless.  This was the worst flood in the history of the U.S.  To commemorate this terrible tragedy, Randy Newman wrote the deeply moving song “Louisiana”.  

What has happened down here, is the wind have changed?

Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain

Rained real hard and rained for a real long time

Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

Louisiana, Louisiana

They’re tyrin’ to wash us away

They’re tryin’ to wash us away

One could imagine lines from Psalm 31 on the lips of people watching helplessly as the river rose all day and all night. They have little alternative but to say to God, “Into your hand I commit my spirit.” … When there are six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline, you feel the need to find somewhere that is seven feet higher than Evangeline. In the psalm, God is the crag onto which people climb for safety as the waters swirl.

September 27th, 2020 | Category: Sermons | Comments are closed

Praising God Amidst the Many Contrasting Experiences of Life

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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!

September 20th, 2020 | Category: Sermons | Comments are closed

Pure Praise

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Psalm 29

The ancient Hebrew people were surrounded by other cultures that worshiped many gods.  The Jews were constantly interacting with these peoples both positively and negatively.  Sometimes through peaceful trade and commerce but other times in political strife and even warfare.  Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of Hebrew/Canaanitic relations was the temptation for the Jews to worship the gods of other tribes.  

Furthermore, the 29th Psalm is structured, on the grammatical level, like an ancient Canaanite poem.  And the theology of this poem parallels that of the Canaanites as well.  They worshipped a god known as “Baal-Hadad” (“rider of the clouds”) who was said to reveal himself in the storm.  According to Canaanite legend, “Hadad” wrestled with the Sea and prevailed in victory, thus ascending the throne.  

What we know is that David borrowed many themes and concepts from the Canaanites and their worship of Baal-Hadad in order to communicate what it means to have faith in Yahweh.  Also, this Psalm would have been used as a polemic against the worship of Baal-Hadad which proved to be a regular temptation for the people of Israel under the Old Covenant.

Let us come to learn that Yahweh the Lord God of Israel has all supremacy over every power on earth and in the heavens!  And that He is worthy of all honor, glory and praise because of His creative and atmospheric might! 

This tremendous Psalm is an early apologetic hymn that teaches the people of Israel and the surrounding communities in Canaan that the Lord (Yahweh), not Baal Hadad, is the One True and Living God who alone reveals Himself in the storm.  As we study this great Psalm let our hearts be drawn out to the Real God in adoring fellowship!

  1. The Call for Cosmic Praise to the Creator in Verses 1-2
    1. David Calls upon mighty Celestial Beings to Praise and Glorify God
    2. This 1st verse speaks to several temptations:
      1. Heavenly Beings/Human beings are not to use their glory and strength for themselves but are to render Glory to God alone.
      2. Our glory and strength cause us to not depend upon God.
      3. Ascribing glory and honor to ourselves or beings other than God.
      4. Application:  Therefore, because the glory of the Lord is so great we must renounce our self-reliance and all the things which we have placed our security or identity upon and count them as rubbish.  The text says “ascribe to the Lord Glory and honor” means that He alone is worthy of such praise! 
    3. Inferior Beings.  The reason these “heavenly beings” are being called upon in this Psalm to worship Yahweh the God of Israel is because He is the only One with no beginning and no ending.  However mighty these “heavenly beings” may be, they are metaphysically inferior to the true God— “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”-Psalm 33:6
  2. The Creator-God Reveals Himself in the Storm in Verses 3-9
    1. Furious Atmospheric Storms Testify to God’s Glory  
      1. “The Waters” symbolize the tumultuous forces that threaten to overwhelm the regular order of life.  The way flood waters burst forth and destroy cities and vast plots of farmland.  These violent waters stand as a metaphor for the many tumults of life which seek to disrupt us:
        1. The flood waters of politics
        2. The flood waters of personal crisis
        3. The flood waters of spiritual warfare
      2. In the legend of Baal-Hadad and other ancient mythologies the gods had great difficulty usurping their authority over primordial elements—This Psalm calls upon those divine beings to worship God because He had no trouble in subduing the elements—Why? Because He is the Creator-God!  Like an authoritative teacher entering the classroom, God spoke, and the forces that were so brave and outspoken hushed themselves!
      3. The Voice of the Lord is like “thunder” and “lightening” in verses 3 and7—This suggests to the worshipper that God’s voice in Creating the World is still reverberating today in the form of mighty, destructive thunderstorms.
      4. The Voice of the Lord is Frightening and Destructive—Like a mighty thunderstorm!
        1. The animals are frightened by the Lord’s voice in verses 6 and 9.
        2. Inanimate objects are destroyed by the ferocious voice of God in the storms in verses 5, 8 and 9.
        3. The wilderness is the domain of the Sovereign God in verse 8. 
  3. The Communique of the Creator. God’s Reign and Promise of Blessing in Verses 10-11
    1. Inter-dimensional Praise-This Psalm moves from the nether reaches of the cosmos down to earth, back into the cosmos again all the way into the Temple.  The “heavenly beings” of verses 1-2 now do exactly what they were called upon to do—Praise the True and Living God!
      1. These divine beings witnessed God’s sovereignty over the waters of Creation and it was because of God’s awesome creative power they bow down before Him in praise— “and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.”—verse 9c-10
      2. Evidently there was a specific moment whereby Yahweh the God of Israel took His throne as the Omnipotent Creator-King and at that moment all the powers in realms unseen fell down and worshiped Him.  That decisive moment is linked to God and His Creation event and would last forever.  The tumultuous “waters” would never again be able to usurp themselves.
      3. “May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!”—These heavenly beings ask God to bless His people and fulfill His purposes in them!

5 Takeaways from our study of Psalm 29:

  1. Take time to offer up “God Centered Praise”.  The name of God is found 18 times in the 11 verses of Psalm 29 and there are no requests for God to do anything, there are no complaints and you will find no mourning.  Only Pure Praise.
  2. If God’s power is so great that “Heavenly Beings” which dwell in the unseen realm praise God then why don’t we?
  3. The God of Israel has done all this so that we may have “Peace” in verse 11.
    1. Peace in the midst of the storms of life
    2. Peace from our Spiritual Enemies
    3. Peace in the atmospheric tumults
  4. No other being in heaven or on earth is able to “outclass” Yahweh the God of Israel.
  5. A metaphor is a figure of speech.  In the metaphor of the storm in Psalm 29 we find an unsettling truth about God and it is that He can be destructive ripping and tearing trees from the ground and sending wild animals fleeing.  This challenges our conception of God and causes us to reconsider who we think He is.
September 13th, 2020 | Category: Sermons | Comments are closed

Persevering Prayer

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Psalm 28

Perhaps no other text illustrates the teaching of Psalm 28 better than Luke 18:1-8.  And this story speaks to the realities of the 28th Psalm.  Sometimes we are not willing to persevere in our prayers and requests before God.

Psalm 28 shows us how to persevere in prayer.  Let us take note of David’s prayer so that we can pray more effectively!

  1. The Prayer to be Heard. Verse 1
    1. Yearning to hear from and be heard by God. -Verse 1 and 2
      1. Satan tempts Christ and says And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.Matthew 4:3. Then Christ quotes Deut 8:3 and says It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  Is this how we view our relationship with God?  Lord, I need you more than my next meal, I need you more than anything else.  Our prayers do not get answered more because we do not persevere in faithful praying.  We don’t want it bad enough.
      2. David says if God does not hide Him in the crag of the rock he will fall into the pit of Sheol.  Is this how we pray?  Crying out to God for help at the bottom of the pit?  Desperation.
      3. Do we really pray like this? —Perhaps that is why we do not see more answers to prayer.
    2. The Necessary Heart’s Attitude-Verse 2
      1. David is not arrogant and proud but humble, contrite and broken before God.  Does this describe us in prayer or are we blasé?
    3. The Basis of David’s Prayer-Verse 2
      1. “I lift up my hands towards your holy sanctuary” speaks of the mercy seat of God.  The blood atonement.  David is saying “I am a death deserving sinner who is coming to you in prayer through the blood of the atonement.”
      2. Charles Spurgeon captured something of this model approach to God when he wrote, “We stretch out empty hands, for we are beggars; we lift them up, for we seek heavenly supplies; we lift them towards the mercy seat of Jesus, for there our expectation dwells.”
  2. A Plea for God’s Justice. Verses 3-5
    1. Notice David’s humility-“do not dray me off with the wicked…”-Verse 3.  He knows that if he doesn’t hear from and be heard by God then his fate will be the same as the wicked.
    2. Notice the description of the wicked-
      1. “which speak peace to their neighbours, while evil is in their hearts.”
      2. “Give them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds: give them according to the work of their hands; render to them their due reward.” 
      3. “Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the works of his hands, he will destroy them, and build them up no more.”  
  3. The Praise to God. Verses 6-9
    1. David then breaks forth into a lengthy praise.  A praise that takes up the majority of the Psalm.  Question:  When we know that God will destroy the hypocrites and pray accordingly do we praise God?
    2. While praying for God’s justice to be done always remember your own sinfulness in Verse 6.
    3. David prayer was in faith-He hath heard, and I am helped, I will praise Him. David prays in faith, nothing wavering and God answers him mightily
    4. Where are the Nine?  See Luke 17:11-18.  David is not like the 9.
    5. Pray that others would see the same answers to prayer we have-Verse 9

Conclusion: This Psalm really encapsulates within 9 short verses the kind of prayer God answers. Our prayers must be desperately intense, humble, contrite, with a strong note of Divine Justice but without self-righteous legalism. And finally, our prayers must be in faith and include praise to God and concern for God to answer the prayers of others

September 6th, 2020 | Category: Sermons | Comments are closed

The Lord is my Light

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Psalm 27

“To cause us to trust the Lord amid the changing moods of faith” The moods of faith are always changing.  At the beginning of this Psalm we have David on top of the world praising the Lord but in the last verses he becomes very sad in his spirit.  It is not normal that we would always feel the same mood of faith.  Sometimes when we trust in the Lord we are way up on the mountain and sometimes when we trust the Lord we are way down in the valley.  The first 6 verses may be referred to as “The Fight of Faith” but the final 8 verses may be referred to as “The Fight for Faith”. The fight of faith and the fight for faith are very real.  We have to be very careful with these books on the victorious life of faith and biographies of the great saints of the past because it makes us think that our mood of faith should be on top of the mountain all the time.  That is simply not true at all and the 27th Psalm testifies to that.  The fight for faith is every bit as real as the fight of faith and it is just as important.  In fact, notice that the larger portion of the Psalm is devoted to the fight for, rather than the fight of faith.  Remember, one of the greatest attributes of Gods people is that they can suffer in faith.  Faith suffering is probably best illustrated in Psalm 53:3-4 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”  

What is better to put your trust in God when you are afraid?  Or, to trust in God and not be afraid?  The answer is found in the question where are you right now?  Because you may need either at any time.  Don’t expect you will always be in the “I will trust in God and not be afraid” group because that is simply untrue.  What we need is to learn to trust in the Lord through all the changing moods of faith.  

The opening verses of Psalm 27 could be summarized in the phrase “I will trust and not be afraid” but the final verses could be summarized in the phrase “When I am afraid I will trust in You”  This is the great teaching of this 27th Psalm “to teach us to trust in the Lord amid all the changing moods of faith”  Psalm 27:1-“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  This phrase “whom shall I fear” is the key to the entire Psalm but notice that this phrase comes after the statement that “The Lord is my light and my salvation”.  The Lord is my light in the first 6 verses but the Lord is my light in the presence of darkness in the last 8 verses.  What did David say in the 23rd Psalm?  “Thou prepare a table before me in the absence of my enemies”—Or did he say in the PRESENCE of my enemies?  This is a promise of God that we ought to claim every day.  Remember the words to the old hymn “Simply Trusting Everyday” by Ira Sankey “Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus that is all” This also a good summary of this Psalm.

This 27th Psalm tells us how to have confidence in the Lord of light amidst all the changing moods of faith!

During our study of this wonderful Psalm may we come to know the Lord as our light.  Oftentimes, we feel the tension between triumph and tragedy, confidence and anxiousness…and even faith and fear.  This Psalm puts words to those seemingly contradictory feelings and validates those feelings before God.  

  1. Basis of our Confidence
    1. The Lord my Light 
      1. O.T. References to God as “Light”
        1. Job speaks of heaven as the “abode of light” (Job 38:19). 
        2. Psalm 104 says that God “wraps himself in light as with a garment” (v. 2). Several verses affirm that “the LORD turns my darkness into light” (2 Sam. 22:29; cf. Ps. 18:28).
        3. Psalm 36:9 declares, “In your light we see light.” 
        4. However, Psalm 27:1 is the only Old Testament text in which God is actually called light.
      2. N.T. Ref. to Christ as our “Light”- “Light” is actually a name for Christ:
        1. “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.… The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (John 1:5, 9). 
        2. John, who makes this identification, also says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
    2. The Lord my Salvation 
    3. The Lord my High Tower (Stronghold)-Ephesians “that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church…and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”-Ephesians 1:20-22 & 2:6. David says the Lord is his “High Tower” and then Paul tells us just how high up that tower goes…all the way to the heavenly realm.
  2. The Lord is my Light—He illumines me to the nature of the enemy’s attacks in v. 2-3:
    1. The Enemy Attacks through casting a shroud of darkness
      1. Dark Accusations-And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. – Revelation 12:10
      2. Dark Condemnation
      3. Dark Thoughts—The Flesh
      4. Dark Temptations
      5. Dark World System 
  3. The Lord is my Light—Look to the Light Source in v. 4
    1. Seeking the Lord of Light– “that will I seek after”
    2. Desiring Public Worship- “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” 
      1. The ancient Hebrews did not separate the physical from the spiritual nearly as easy as we do.   
      2. And yet, we are not the Temple in Ephesians 3.  “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23)
      3. To quote Dr. Boice at length—”Let me put it like this. There is something to be experienced of God in church that it is not quite so easy to experience elsewhere. Otherwise, why have churches? If it is only instruction we need, we can get that as well by an audio tape or a book. If it is only fellowship, we can find that equally well, perhaps better, in a small home gathering. There is something to be said for the sheer physical singing of the hymns, the sitting in the pews, the actual looking to the pulpit and gazing on the pulpit Bible as it is expounded, the tasting of the sacrament, and the very atmosphere of the place set apart for the worship of God that is spiritually beneficial. Isn’t that true? Haven’t you found a sense of God’s presence simply by being in God’s house? I do not mean to deny that God can (and should) be worshiped elsewhere. But I am suggesting that the actual physical worship of God in the company of other believers can be almost sacramental.  For what it is worth, let me state that the Puritans were not as hesitant as we are on this point, since they easily linked the Old Testament temple to specific churches. Richard Sibbes said boldly, “Particular visible churches under visible pastors … now are God’s tabernacle.”
      4. Beware of any form of worship which takes us away from the physical gathering of the church.
  4. The Faithful Father-Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. –James 1:17. 
  5. The Father of Lights:
    1. Gives the Gift of Acceptance
    2. …of Listening-Verse 11
    3. …of Guidance-Verse 11 
    4. …of Protection-Verse 1 

Conclusion-May we come to know what it means to patiently wait upon the Lord our Light as He guides us through the Land of the Living! -Verses 13-14

August 30th, 2020 | Category: Sermons | Comments are closed
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