C.S. Lewis said …
It would be difficult to overestimate the significance for Jew and Gentile of the book of Psalms.
Here are mirrored the ideals of religious piety and communion with God. Sorrow for sin, foregiveness, walking in darkness unafraid, obedience to God etc
I believe the life I live by the grace of God is the best possible life I could have.
I experience on a daily basis the Lords intervention in my life…
Protection and provision
Direction and purpose
Freedom from enslavements
Forgiveness and freedom from a sense of guilt
Hope for the future
You can go to any psychiatrist and he will tell you these are the conditions that every person requires for a good life.
Does that mean I am perfect and have no problems in life …
Not at all …
But by the grace of God , thru the Lord Jesus Christ, these things mentioned, are available to me to manage my life …
When I read the news and become despondent … I look to Gods word and know that he is in control
When I have to make difficult decisions I ask Him for direction
When the evil one tempts me to his ways I pray and enjoy the freedom to live by the power of the Holy Spirit of God
When I commit sin I am assured by His promises that I have complete forgiveness thru the death of Jesus and my sense of guilt is dealt with
So I say to you all …
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ by His Spirit we have the power to live the best life possible.
And I suggest that the difficulties that we experience are for two reasons …
Primarily the cause is our waywardness from His word
When I go it alone…
E.g. the history of Israel
Secondly the Lord uses difficulties to grow our faith in Him and teach us so that we can teach others … Heb 12;11
Where am I going with this …
Mercedes Benz salesmen never have a problem sharing the features of the product they are selling…
Because they believe it is the best and they are proud of their product.
They know the products features well … studied them
They have experienced the product because they drive them every day.
So they are not scared to speak Mercs …
I said to you I live the best life possible because …
I depend on the Lord Jesus…
He is my designer …
He produced me …
And by His grace He adds additional features every day.
I’m sure many of you agree with me, not so … the best life possible …
Question …
We surely don’t doubt it is the best life possible …
Why are we a bit embarrassed to share it …
What is the problem …
Over the next month we are going to look at the Psalms of Ascent …
And see how good this life is …
Whenever you listen to or read about a review on a really good book, the reviewer will end off and say …”It is a must read”
The Psalms are a must read for all of us.
Full of practical examples, encouragement and advice for life.
There were three compulsory festivals in Jerusalem that the Jews had to attend …
Passover, harvest, tabernacles.
As they climbed up the hill to Jerusalem there would be many travellers together …
And they sang together these songs of ascent as they ascended up to the temple.
Like the rest of the Psalms these were …
Authored by ordinary people who had experienced life in the normal way.
So they were people faced with the problems that we can all identify within the normal course of life …
Distress and suffering
Crisis situations
Concerns about the future
Political upheavals
Sin and guilt …
You name it … they are all there.
The important part is they also reveal the solution to their problems …
And that is what and who they sing about as they come to worship Yahweh
So for the next 4 weeks we are going to look at these Psalms of ascent and extract some gems for us to dwell on…
Enjoy the ride with us …
In this Psalm we find God’s man surrounded by unbelievers …
These people are quite prepared to tell lies and malign a person’s character if it benefits their position …
Those of us who have been in business have probably at least witnessed this or experienced it.
When negotiating for new business in order to gain an advantage opposition sales people will often pass disparaging remarks about the standard of your work or product…
Remarks that are simply not true.
For young people in particular to gain a preferred place in a social group people will marginalise you by casting doubts about you.
You know what … did you heard about her… skinner
We all know the old adage …
Sticks and stone may break my bones but names will never hurt me …
It is absolutely not true …
The deceitful tongue does hurt … badly … vs 2
As South Africans we know all about name calling
They cause us to doubt …affect our self-esteem …
We withdraw, carry anger … take revenge …
It is as the Psalmist says … distressful …
We need to take note of the Psalmists approach to this problem …
Does he defend himself … or retaliate … seek revenge …
No … that only escalates the problem …
It only adds fuel to the liars claims …
The Psalmist says …
I call on the Lord in my distress … vs 1
Save me O Lord from lying lips …
And He hears me …
Notice …
He does not turn to other people to gain support …
Most times it does not help …
It just becomes an us and them vindictive standoff …
He turns to the Lord …
The one who knows all truth …
He saves the righteous …vs2
The one that really matters
He is a man of peace … 7
Who better to go to than the prince of peace
The one who can take away my distress…
Revenge never releases distress …
It just internalises hatred …
Vengeance is mine says the Lord …
The Psalmist leaves it to the Lord to fire the sharp arrow …4
So …He places his confidence in the one who answers his cry … Vs 1
I am sure that many of us have experienced this type of situation …
Parents have heard the cries of their children who have known…
Exclusion from the group at school
Cyber bullying …
Our natural instinct is to protect …
But what protection do we administer.
Competitive sportsmen excluded because you make a stand for Christ …
You are considered not a team player because drinking etc. is not who you are …
In the workplace you are required to tell a lie to save the company …
You refuse to do it … consequently marginalised… miss a promotion
You don’t join the young moms at school functions and laugh at their promiscuous adventures …
Left out because you are considered a prude.
Your cry goes up …
Lord save me from lying lips.
That is the question the Psalmist asks in this Psalm …
Where does my help come from ?
My help comes from the Lord …
Yes but who is He?
Who you go to for help is critical …
How do we solve the problem of pregnant school girls …
H.I.V. infections
Government says give them condoms …
Whaaat? How does that solve the problem …
The Bible says … Keep the marriage bed pure … Heb 13;4
Sex outside of marriage is not right …
That solves both of these problems in one go…
How can you go to an atheistic world that believes that morality is what you make it and expect an answer to a moral question.
Who you go to for help is critical in the short and long term.
The Psalmist says …
My help comes from the Lord …
The maker of heaven and earth. … vs 2
The one who does not allow your foot to slip … 3
Who watches over you whether you sleep or are awake … 4
Protects you day and night …6
In every situation … 7
Now and in the future …8
He has the power and compassion to do all of this …
What more do we need.
Small wonder as they walk up the hill to Jerusalem they sing the songs of ascent.
I rejoice with those who said to me
Let us go to the house of the Lord … Psl. 122;1
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion …
Which cannot be shaken … Psl. 125.1
The Lord has done great things for us …
And we are filled with joy… Psl. 126;3
Blessed are all who fear the Lord …
Who walk in His ways …Psl. 128;1
The apostle Paul says …
For me to live is Christ …
What do you say …??
I started by asking the question …
Why am I so reluctant to share this wonderful faith with others …
It is not because the “Product” is faulty …
The Gospel is not the wisdom of man …
Some rambling religion we have dreamed up
But of God.
Mercedes sales people have a passion for their product …
It is massively expensive but even in these hard times they make sales …
And when buyers pay up the money they believe it is well spent.
To sell a product you need 2 things …
A good product
And a market to sell to …
John MacArthur, in reference to the Bible, said …
There is nothing more important than the truth …
He is correct.
We have the product … the Gospel of truth …
We need to ensure all of our contacts know that.
Joe Bell said there are enough people in Plumstead to ensure each one has 1000 congregants …
Not one church has that number.
That means the potential for growth here at Medway is huge
What are we as Medway doing about it.
The world is in panic mode right now …
Corona virus
Black Monday
Unemployment
- Gender based violence
- Surely somebody is crying out for help…
Where does my help come from …
Do we hear their call or do we turn a deaf ear.
If we want growth we must go …
