Sermon Title Summer Psalms Psalm 34

Transcription

1 Sermon Title Summer Psalms Psalm 34 Pastor Brian Hough Preached at Manhattan Presbyterian Church 115 Courthouse Plaza, Manhattan, Kansas 4pm June 21st 2015

2 INTRO Welcome We re in Psalm 34 today. As we study the Psalms its important to rememberer that these are poems. They are very singable and often address the choir master as well as list instruments for accompanying them with singing. However when we translate them into English not all, but some of the Poetical form is lost. One aspect that is lost in translation with Psalm 34 is that it is an acrostic poem. There are 22 verses, there are also 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse in Psalm 34 begins with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Alef, Bet Gimel, Dalet, etc. The only exception is verse 6 which doesn t begin with the letter expected. And truth is there isn t a good explanation for why, perhaps in eternity we ll learn some crazy story. Anyway we ll start by reading the first three verses, then ask God to enlighten our minds and our hearts to receive His Word and then we ll read each portion as we get to it. So, Psalm 34, verse 1 Psalm 34 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! Brothers and Sisters Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Let us pray. OPENING PRAYER Lord, we have all taken different journey s to arrive here today, but we are here today because you are worthy of our praise and we want to meet with each other and respond to your call for us to worship You. Thank you for that privilege. God, as we move through the 22 verses of Psalm 34 today, give us focus to hear Your Word, to understand Your Word, to believe it and live it when we go from here this evening. In the name of Christ we pray, amen. SERMON CONTINUED Worship & A Call To Join in Worship (1-3)

3 I love this Psalm, all of it but especially verse eight and these first three verses. I love these first three verses because they remind me that I don t know God & I don t love God like I want to. And I say that because it begins with David saying he will bless the LORD at all times. And that s just not true of my life, not like I want it to be true. That word bless is a bit obscure in 21st Century American language. Because really we ask God to bless people who sneeze, but we don t really know what we are asking God to do in this expression. We ask that God would bless our food. In the south you might hear, bless your heart which of course translates to, You are a complete idiot. The word bless here though is from the Hebrew word Barak. Yes, like our President s name. Here in Psalm 34 this word means, to adore with bended knees. So when we read that King David will bless the Lord at all times, this is no simple expression of mere words. This is a much more engaging, more consuming, humility driven expression of praise to God. What David is saying then is he will continue to praise God. Now, that might seem like an easy thing to do when life is going the way we expect it to go. Good health, great friends, good marriage, amazing children, upward career track, financial security. This is a little tougher when life is difficult. That s one of the great things about the heading before verse one in this Psalm. Psalm 34 is one of 13 Psalms which includes a header telling us what event in the life of David this corresponds to. In this case it s when David is running from King Saul and finds himself alone and so desperate that he goes to the city of Gath for safety. That s crazy because Gath was the home of Goliath whom David as a boy had killed. 1 Samuel chapter 21 tells us about the situation. David is completely alone, worn out, it seems nothing has gone right. He knows he's in deep trouble and he s so afraid of death that when he is brought before Achish king of Gath David pretends to be insane.

4 He make crazy marks on the gate. He speaks gibberish. He even drools all over himself. It s pathetic, but it works cause Achish tells his soldiers, Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house? (1 Samuel 21:15) They send him away. Meaning he escapes unharmed. But it helps us to understand that these 3 verses were written about a time in David s life that was a low point, not a high point. Listen again to verse one with this mind, It says, I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. bless, bow down to, praise the LORD no matter what is going on. That s the same message we hear in Ephesians 5:20, where we are told to be, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Verse 2 of Psalm 34 speaks of our souls boasting in the LORD. This is in contrast to all the other things we may be tempted to boast in. Things we may wish to outwardly and publicly brag about. In Jeremiah 9:23 24 God is speaking and He says, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD. Don t boast in intellect or in how strong you are, or how much money you have. No, boast in the LORD who has saved you. So when you pray and God answers that prayer, speak of it to others. Speak about the grace you have received in Christ. When you see something amazing in creation, speak about the works of our creator. Verse three then says, Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I want you to see something really important here. The Psalmist begins by worshipping God individually; alone. Only then does he invite others to do so with him. When we ve experienced the mercy of God, we naturally desire to invite others to do the same. Now, I think I hope we all have people in our lives who we wish to believe in God, to know Him, to worship God.

5 Children, grown parents, other family members, neighbors and friends and co-workers. The first question isn t how can I convince them to worship God. The first question is, Am I worshipping God? Because they need to see us worshipping God. Not necessarily here in corporate worship, but to hear us speak of God in a way that shows we find satisfaction in Him. To hear of our love for God and our understanding of God s love for us. That s exactly where David goes in this text. He worships God, then he says, come join me in worshipping the LORD. Then immediately on his lips is something wonderful about God. Follow along as I read verses 4 to 7 Seeking Refuge In the LORD (4-7) I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. So we tend to use this word sought or the similar phrase looked for when we have lost something. I looked for my car keys I looked for my phone I looked for my sanity Things like that. It s interesting that the Hebrew word for sought we read here is never used to search for someone or something where the location is unknown. He is not wondering where God is. He knows exactly where God is, what he is seeking is direction or guidance from God. Or a restored relationship with God. Same way we might seek a wise friend for counsel or restoration of a friendship. In this case, David was afraid and so he sought God to remove those fears and God did. The practical outworking for you and me today in 2015 is that we seek God in the words of Scripture. For direction, For knowing Him, Knowing how to proceed in life. That we seek guidance for restoring our relationship with God and with others. The statement in verse 5 about radiant faces and not being ashamed speaks to our finding what we need in God.

6 In verse 6, the poor man is David. He s referencing himself. Later in life he becomes very rich, but at this moment David has nothing. He s completely alone. Saul is trying to kill him, his best friend, Jonathan, is far away, he s got no army, no food, no home, he s having to act like a crazy person to keep from getting killed. He has nothing. That s why this Psalm is wonderful for anyone who feels some aspect of being the poor man or the poor woman. Not just financially, but also in all the other treasures of life, community, relationally, in regards to hope, any low point in life. Did you notice then the order of events here? It begins with fears and trouble. Then there is prayer. Finally, there is deliverance. The Scripture says, the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Let that be a model for us. When there is trouble, cry out to God in prayer. Seek refuge in the LORD. In verse 7 we read, The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. This is one way God works to deliver us and we may never see the details of how. In Daniel 6:22. Daniel is thrown into the den of lions, the expectation is that he would be eaten. When he is not eaten Daniel tells the king who threw him in there, My God sent his angel and shut the lions mouths, and they have not harmed me God could have done it many ways, but does so by sending his angels to protect Daniel. Before we move to next section, I want to give you some realistic expectations. Cause in the Psalm everything seems to happen quick, however, in David s life it was slow. After he cried out to God, his life seemed much the same. Saul was still seeking to kill him. He was still alone. It was still a low point. He still didn t know if or how God might deliver him. But he was alive, and God brought him out of Gath where he should have been killed. Only slowly did God really change the circumstances of David s life. I point that out in the hope that we ll be steadfast in the LORD when answers feel delayed. Wait on God. But don t stop crying out to him. Be steadfast in your prayers. Be consistent in your worship of Him. Experience the goodness of God (8-10) Verse 8 is one of my favorite verses in Scripture. Follow along as I read 8 through 10. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

7 Verse eight often reminds me that I have been munching on cold soggy french fries when fresh wonderful food is available to me. Food is one of those experiences that we naturally invite others into. When people are new to Manhattan I almost always tell them about a two places in town. Varsity Donuts and Taco Lucha. I m not the only one who does this. Just this week we were told about how wonderful Tad s Snow Cones are. We all do this because these foods give us joy and we want others to know that joy as well. David is sharing his love of God s goodness that he has tasted. He wants others to be satisfied in God just as he has been. He also says see that the Lord is good. Our eyes love to look at beauty. And there is a proper way to do just that. I know Laura well enough to know this will embarrass her, but it s true and illustrates this Scripture. When I first saw her, I was hanging out with her roommate and a another friend and Laura was waitressing and I just thought she was beautiful. I just kept wanting to look at her, you know without being creepy. I hope you ve had this experience or will in your life. Not lust, but joy in observing beauty that causes a spontaneous smile. That s what happens when we taste and see that the LORD is good. Some might think, oh I ve tasted and I ve seen God and I don t like it. God is boring or judgmental or irrelevant. If that s the case, you either don t have taste buds or It s likely you ve tasted something other than the LORD. The best way to truly taste and see that the LORD is good is to read and meditate on the Word of God, The Scriptures. In Psalms 119:103 the word of God is compared to food again. It says, How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! The end of verse 8 and verse 9 tell us that the person who takes refuge in God will be blessed and she will lack nothing. So let me ask you, How do you quantify the Blessings of God? I ask because I wonder if our answer isn t I get the job I want. I get the amazing spouse. I get children when I want and they re healthy. I get financial security.

8 or I m well respected in the community. or I m blessed because we have national security where we can worship freely. As a church community we might think of God s blessing when we re growing numerically or reaching financial sustainability or get this building. And let me confirm, those are blessings from God. But that s not the only way God might bless us. A few summers ago I was preaching through the miracles of Jesus in the Gospel of John. In John 9 Jesus was asked a difficult question. They wanted to know if a man was born blind because of the his own sin or because of the sin of his parents. In other words, why did God not bless him? Whose fault was this? In John 9:3 we learn Jesus answer. He says, It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Do you see that? Being blind would have been a very difficult life, but it was also a blessing. A blessing because it serves as part of the way God would bless him eternally. When the blind man was finally given sight by Jesus miracle he didn t just see the world around him, he was able to see Jesus and not just see him as a man who healed him, but as His savior who would save him. So yes, let us thank God for the blessings of a home to live in and food in our bellies and refreshing vacations and good health, but let us also look for the less obvious blessings of our gracious God. It usually takes hindsight to see the specific blessings of God in our trials. But I challenge you, even if you don t know what exactly it is, to thank God for whatever He is doing through trials you find yourself in. You may never know where the blessing are, but it s there. Because we know Romans 8:28 tells us for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Now, Look again at verse 10. The young lion here is a statement reminding us we are not self-sufficient. The solution to that is not to try harder, but to seek God for what we need and He will provide all that we actually need. Fear of the Lord is a Verb (11-14) So verses 11 to 14 are very interesting in regards to what it means to fear God.

9 Let s read 11 & 12 first. They say, Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? So Fear of God in Scripture is often a sense of Awe at how amazing God is, but other times it s flat out terror at the power and the holiness of God that leaves us knowingly worthy of only condemnation. Here we learn a third way we are to fear God. Here it s not an emotion of awe. It s not a feeling of terror, rather it s a movement of action. Bottom line here is that the fear of God involves obedience. If we truly understand God s power and dominion and sovereignty, we also understand His commands aren t suggestions. They can t be. They are commands designed to bring Him glory as well as bring us joy. So our fear of God is observable in our actions. Not always our success at obedience, but our having a desire for obedience, a pursuit towards it. This also ties back to the previous section. Because, in a sense the way to taste and see that the LORD is good is to obey the LORD. The temptation we daily face is to believe the lie that enjoyment is found outside the will of God rather than inside the will of God. This is what motivated the very first sin in the garden of Eden. And has been repeated ever since as man and woman continue to wrongly believe that happiness and joy can be best obtained by disobeying God. Brothers & Sisters, know that true joy lies inside the will of God. Verses 13 & 14 give an example of an action that accompanies true fear of God. These verses read, Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. In the first verse of this Psalm we are told that David will constantly speak praise towards God. Now we see that our response to God should include speaking truth instead of evil. It should also include action as we move toward what is good and away from what is evil and as we actively pursue peace with others. These are simply ways we fear God. The fear leads to action. Those under the care of God (15-18) Verses 15 to 18 give insight into God s favor. Notice the contrast of those who God listens to and those whom God will not hear.

10 Verse 15 to 18, The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. We tend think God hears everyone, and he does in that he knows what they are saying. It s like the kindergarten teacher who says I ll only call on those who are quietly raising their hand. She hears the student shouting out, but she s only going to actively listen and respond to the one who is obeying her words. I know that doesn t sit right with us, but this might be a case where what should happen is our idea of God changes because of what Scripture says. And lest we think that God not listening to some people makes Him seem cold, notice in verse 18 that God is near the broken hearted. Which certainly includes those who have sinned in huge ways and know it, and are broken by it. It s like God tells us in Psalms 51:17, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. So God never turns away from someone who is truly repenting. But if you are walking in evil and don t care that s a different story. The main thing I want you to notice in this portion is that the righteous also suffer. You might obey God and find some terrible tragedy comes into your life anyway. He says in verse 18, he s near the broken hearted, not that he keeps them from becoming broken hearted. As James Montgomery Boice has said, Deliverance is one thing. Exemption from trouble is another. Servants Redeemed by Christ (19-22) The last four verses are Messianic, meaning they point to Jesus. Which raises the question. Did the Psalmist know this would point to Jesus? Not likely, yet after Jesus is resurrected Jesus walks on the road with the disciples and Luke 24:27 tells us he explains how these Old Testament Scriptures spoke of Him. The text in Luke says, And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

11 With that in mind follow along as I read, from verse 19 to the end of the Psalm. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. Verse 20 is quoted in John 19:36 which reads, For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. These verses are speaking of Jesus Christ. This is a prophesy fulfilled in Christ. When he is crucified on the cross and yet his bones were not broke. In verse 21, it s ambiguous how Affliction will slay the wicked. Most likely their wicked actions will also cause their downfall. By not fearing God and so not turning from evil and not turning towards Christ in faith they heap divine judgement on their own shoulders. Verse 22 tells us something about the Gospel. It says, The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. This speaks to our ultimate deliverance from the eternal punishment we have gained for ourselves. This points to a Savior, to the Savior whom we know by name, Jesus Christ. The only hope we have for escaping eternal condemnation is to take refuge in Christ and the reason that will work is that Jesus was condemned on our behalf. So then we are united to Christ by grace through faith. That s how we take refuge in God. When we partake in the Lord s Supper today that s the refuge we re confessing we have taken. Not in ourselves, not in our goodness, but in the holy one of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want close by going back to verse 8. Taste & See that the LORD is good! We mentioned that we do this by being in his Holy Word. And I think we all kinda know that, but we don t act to really do that. I can remember back when Berkley was two years old. Sometimes in the car she would start complaining that she was thirsty. She d be really upset saying, I need something to drink! More times than not we d look back and squished between her leg and her car seat was a sippy cup full of water or milk. See her problem wasn t that she didn t have something to drink, it s that she wasn t drinking what she had been given. Sometimes I m that two year old. Maybe you are also. I m complaining, God why do I feel so empty, so distant from You. Why won t you feed me?

12 All the while squished between my leg and my car seat is what I need. I have like 20 Bibles, I know they re full of nourishment for my soul, they re within reach. Let us pray for resolve to stop complaining and instead drink from the nourishing Word God has provided us with. Let s pray, CLOSING PRAYER Lord, my we cry out to you with all our troubles and wait for your deliverance. God would you give us taste buds so that we might truly taste and see that you are good such that your praise is continually on our lips and that we might with all sincerity call others to join us in worship of You. God you are a wonderful God, thank you for loving us not only as your creation, but through the gospel as your children, in Christ name we pray, amen. Works Cited James Montgomery Boice Psalms Commentary