Sermons
A Song We Can Trust
Sun, Apr 29, 2018
Teacher: Tom Blackford Series: Sunday Sermons PM - 2018 Scripture: Psalm 131
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A Song We Can Trust
Psalm 131
Intro:
Good evening.
I. I want to talk to you today about the song written by King David which we call Psalm 131. It’s a short Psalm but it’s certainly not the shortest, that would be Psalm 117 which incidentally I am told that if you were to split the whole Bible in half into chapters and verses, Psalm 117 would be right in the middle.
A. Psalm 131 is a song which the Israelites would sing with conviction because they had personally experienced what they were singing about. Psalm 131 is psalm of what we call ascent. David wrote it to be sung along with fourteen other Psalms, as the Jews made their journey up to Jerusalem to observe special days or to celebrate the many different feasts to the Lord.
B. It’s one of those Psalms where those who sing it are proclaiming that God gives them peace in life because they have cast out pride from within themselves. It is one of those songs that the people couldn’t just move their lips to or replace the lyrics. They needed to really believe it with all their hearts that their pride had gone and life is now peaceful because of God.
II. Psalms 131:1-3 - “My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.”
A. Notice the humility involved in this song. David says, “My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty”. I don’t know about you but pride is something I struggle with from time to time. I take pride in the way I look, the way I dress, the way I present a sermon. Then I read something like this; “Pride is the dandelion of the soul. Its root goes deep; only a little left behind sprouts again. Its seeds lodge in the tiniest encouraging cracks, and it flourishes in good soil: The danger of pride is that it feeds on goodness.”
B. Perhaps there’s a touch of that in most of us, there are times when we think too highly of ourselves. I’m sure some of you know of some preachers who think they are God’s gift to the pulpit.
C. I recall hearing this of a preacher who found the right attitude. One Sunday, following the tradition where the preacher goes to the main door at the end of the service to shake the hands of the members as they are leaving, he stood at the door as one person after another told him how wonderful his sermon was. He related that one woman said to him, ‘that’s the finest sermon she’d ever heard’ to which he quickly replied, ‘this week.’
D. I mean when you get told those things, how wonderful you are, how powerful the sermon was, week after week, I can understand why many preachers would quickly come to believe that they are God’s gift to the pulpit.
III. David says, ‘I refuse to think too highly of myself, I refuse to think I’m more important than anyone else.’ Think about this, here’s the King of Israel, who had many servants and wives and he’s singing, ‘I don’t have to be right all the time, I don’t need to be served all the time’. ‘I don’t need people coming up to me to tell me how wonderful I am as a musician and as a song writer.’
A. If this song tells us anything about David it certainly tells us that he was a humble man. Now if this song was written by a slave, it wouldn’t mean that much to us. But it wasn’t written by a slave, it was written by a king, the King of Israel, the same king whose throne would stand forever according to 2 Samuel 7:12-16(NKJV) – “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13. “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14. “I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15. “But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16. “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”
B. How could David, the King of Israel who’s surrounded by thousands of servants, thousands of fighting men still remain humble? I believe the answer to that question is that he never forgot where he came from and what he was. He never forgot that moment in his life, when he was just a young shepherd boy, as we have recorded in 1 Samuel 16 when he was anointed by Samuel.
C. David was not perfect, he messed up with Bathsheba, but after that event, he never let his success as a king or the position God put him in, change who he was. He never forgot that ultimately he was still a servant of the Most High. Do we know anyone like that? I do and I’m sure you do. Some of the greatest people we know are also the most humble people you’ll ever meet, even within the Lord’s body. We’ve still got a long way to go to learn the lesson of humility.
IV. If there is one Bible passage, applied to each of our lives that would stop 99% of church quarrels it would be the passage we find in Philippians. Philippians 2:3-4 – “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” That one passage of Scripture would stop a lot of useless quarrelling.
A. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit”, Paul says. “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
B. Christians who look down on other Christians or criticize and judge other Christians and think they are more important than any other Christian have simply forgotten where they came from and who they are.
C. Folks we don’t always have to be right, we don’t always have to be treated with respect. If we are looking to be treated respectfully all the time we might try to push people to see that we’re right all the time. All we’re doing is setting ourselves up to get hurt and when we get hurt we become miserable and when we’re miserable, nobody wants to be around us or care about anything we think. We can defeat ourselves.
D. David says, remember where you came from, get rid of that pride and remember that you too are a servant of the Most High. James 4:6 tells us “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” As someone once said to me, ‘I’ve got two choices in my Christian life when it comes to pride, I can humble myself or God will humble me.’ I think that is true.
V. Remember what Paul wrote to the church in Philippi concerning Jesus? He wrote in Philippians 2:5-8 – “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Paul is saying that in our relationships with one another, we need to have the same mind-set as Jesus Christ: Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. In that form He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
A. Jesus, the only human who’s ever lived, the only One who alone deserved all praise and honor, humbled Himself. Jesus, God in the flesh, placed a towel on His lap and washed the disciple’s feet. Matthew 20:28 tells us that Jesus, ‘came not to be served by to serve’. David never forgot where he came from and what he was and I pray that we don’t either.
B. I don’t know about you but as I get older I’m fast discovering that I don’t have to figure everything out in life. I don’t need to understand how many planets there are in the solar system. I don’t need to understand why so many people are obsessed with certain TV shows or go off the deep end about politics. I don’t need to understand the science behind the latest tech device.
C. Certainly I’m curious but my curiosity is more focused now. David says in Psalm 131:1 and I paraphrase; “I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.” David is saying what I just said basically; there are some things in this life that I haven’t got a clue about. There are some things in this life I simply don’t understand and the main reason I don’t understand is because half the time it’s beyond me and I’ll never understand.
D. David says because he doesn’t understand certain things in life, he’s not going to try to understand them; he’s not even going to bother about them. This is a lesson some people including Christians need to learn at times. We don’t have all the answers to every question that comes up about life.
E. Some people don’t want answers, so they don’t ask any questions and they simply go through life happily ignorant of what’s going on around them. Then there are those who want to be able to understand everything, and sadly it’s those people who are the most frustrated in life, why? Simply because they cannot accept that some things in life cannot and will never be completely understood by them.
VI. Throughout the ages there have been great philosophers and scientists. There are people who spend their whole lives trying to discover how the world was created. There are people who spend their whole lives trying to discover the mysteries of the universe.
A. We sing that hymn called ‘Our God, He Is Alive’ which starts with the phrase ‘There is beyond the azure blue’. It’s a great hymn. The man who wrote those words was a man is named A. W. Dicus, I may have mentioned this before but what a lot of people don’t know is that he invented the turn signal for cars. He was a scientist in the field of physics and he was also a professor in nuclear physics. He taught several of the people who eventually worked in the Oak Ridge Laboratories. He also preached in Bloomington, Indiana, and other places. After he retired he wrote and published three books: Sermon Outlines, A Commentary on Hebrews and Romans and Church Leadership. He also composed approximately thirty-five songs.
B. Look at the conclusion he came to after many years of research, the third stanzas says this, ‘Secure is life from mortal mind, God holds the germ within His hand, though men may search they cannot find, For God alone does understand.’
C. Do you know what he’s saying there? He’s saying there are some things in life we simply can’t figure out and God is one of them.
D. God has gone through a whole load of heartache with human history to make Himself known to us through creation, through His Word, His Son, and the presence of His Spirit in our lives, but let’s be honest, there’s a whole lot more we simply don’t understand about God and the way He operates. There’s a whole lot of things that God has done and still does... that we simply don’t fully understand and never will in this life.
E. Why does God allow so much pain and suffering to continue in the world today? Why does God still love mankind so much, despite the fact that most of mankind won’t even acknowledge Him? Why will God allow me to enter into heaven when I let Him down so many times in my life? Folks, the Bible answers most of life’s questions, but not all of them, and that is where faith comes in.
F. When we think about David and we think about his knowledge of God there is much he did not know and says so in Psalm 139.
1. David didn’t understand how God knew, when he sat down and when he stood up.
2. He didn’t understand how God knew, what he was going to say before he said it.
3. He didn’t understand how God saw him in his mother’s womb when He formed him.
4. He didn’t understand how God knew all the days he had ordained for him before they came into being.
5. He didn’t understand how he could never escape or hide from God.
G. In fact he said in Psalm 139:6 – “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.”
VII. Folks there are a whole load of things about God and how He operates that we simply need to give up trying to understand and stop trying to figure Him out. But not only should we stop trying to figure God out, we should stop trying to figure people out.
A. How many times have we heard someone say, ‘I just don’t understand that person? I don’t understand their thinking’? We often say that God is a mystery to us, but the reality is, so are people.
B. Jeremiah the prophet knew that people were mysterious, he said in Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” The apostle Paul knew that people were mysterious that’s why he said in 1 Corinthians 2:11 – “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” I suppose the truth is; Why should I try to figure people out, when the fact is, I can’t even figure myself out first? Why do you suppose people spend thousands of dollars for counseling today? People are trying to get help, to try and figure themselves out.
C. As Christians we can sometimes make that same mistake and what I mean by that is, we think that if we try and understand someone first, then maybe we can change them. No wonder many people want to become Christians but never do because they have been taught or they think they have been taught, they’ve got to change first! I’ll stop drinking then I’ll become a Christian, I’ll stop sleeping around and then I’ll become a Christian.
D. I’ve talked with a number people over the years, including family, who truly believe they’ve got to sort out their lives first before they come to the Lord. Listen folks, God accepted you just the way you were, didn’t He? He does not say to us “You have got to stop doing this or that and then I will accept you.”
1. If you’re not a Christian today and your thinking I’ve got to sort things out in my life first before God will accept me, you’re wrong. God will accept you just the way you are, warts and all.
2. The reality is, I can’t change you, you can’t change you, but God can. The reason God can change you is because He’s got you figured out, He understands. God with the help of His Holy Spirit will help you be the very person you’ve always longed to be.
E. Paul puts it so beautifully in 2 Corinthians 3:18 – “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Paul says that slowly but surely when we become Christians, God begins to work in us and helps us to act, think, live and look more and more like the glorious people we were created to be.
VIII. David continues and says in Psalm 131:2 – “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.” What a beautiful glimpse into David’s life this is. He says his soul is no longer crying and demanding that his passions in life be satisfied. He’s not talking about when he was a two or a three year boy; he’s talking about the time when he was being weaned peacefully in his mother’s arms. In other words, he’s no longer controlled by his selfish desires; he’s in control of his desires.
A. I remember when our kids were babies, they would cry and cry either to get fed or simply for attention. As most parents know, there has to come a time when you need to sleep and when they cry through the night you simply have to ignore them until they gradually fall asleep themselves. Yes, it’s hard ignoring them, yes the parent in you wants to go in and comfort them and reassure them, but as painful as that is for both you and your child, you know it’s for the best.
B. In a sense that’s what David went through to find peace in his soul. He had to deny his own desires, he had to let go of self, he had to stop having things his way and be waited on, he had to let go of his anger to find peace in his soul. He had to understand that some things in life will simply have to go unanswered. Then that day came, perhaps the day when the child he had with Bathsheba died, when he came to master his desires, rather than having his desires master him.
IX. Paul says in Romans 8:13 – “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Paul says we need allow God to help us through His Spirit to kill those selfish, deadly desires we struggle with. It’s then and only then that we will be content with not having all the answers to life’s questions and find peace for our souls.
A. We can imagine David thinking about the words he wrote in our text as he walks up to Jerusalem. We can imagine the Israelites singing these words while they’re walking up towards Jerusalem to enjoy the many different feasts. We can imagine them walking towards the Creator of the universe to worship Him and praise Him for all the marvelous things He’s done for the Israelites as a nation.
B. As they get closer and closer to Jerusalem, I can imagine them being filled with excitement as they see thousands of people, some singing, some dancing, getting ready for the feast celebrations. I can imagine them pausing on the city borders, full of humility, remembering who they were and what they were, and thinking to themselves, ‘wow, what an awesome God we serve’.
C. Because they recognize the awesomeness of God and how lowly they are in comparison. They sing the final stanza of Psalm 131:3 – “Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore”.[para] The realization of where they’ve come from and who they were as a people is brought home in this simple truth. God is a God we can rely on and trust.
CONCLUSION:
Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3:22-24 – “Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion,'' says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!''”
Do we believe that? Do we believe that His mercies are new every morning? Not every week or every month or year but every morning. God gives us every day, everything we need to help us through today. Which means I don’t need to worry about getting through tomorrow because He blesses me new, each day as it comes all over again.
You see if my hope is in God then that means I need to stop hoping I can figure things out or others can figure things out. Putting my hope in God means, I trust and know that He has it all figured out.
Let me encourage each of us today, to trust God today, to put your hope in God today, tomorrow and all the days of your lives. Let me encourage you to remember where you came from and who you are every time you make that journey here, each Lord’s Day to worship and sing praises to God.
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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.
Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.
# 605 Just as I am
Reference Sermon
Mike Glover
688—Our God He is Alive. Before the sermon.
Where and when we meet
Chardon, Ohio 44024