A Sermon on May 27 at Greentree Community Church
http://www.greentreechurch.com/sermon/diamonds-that-sparkle/
God is Good
19 AprGod is good. There is a beauty in the name appropriated by the Saxon nations to the Deity, unequalled except by his most reverential Hebrew appellation. They called him “GOD, “which is literally “THE GOOD.” The same word thus signifying the Deity, and his most endearing quality. Turner, in Spurgeon’s Treasury of David, on Psalm 73
From the Inside Out
30 MarA podcast of a message on Romans 12:14-21
http://www.greentreechurch.com/sermon/from-the-inside-out/
Show me the Way # 4
13 JanTHE PATH OF LIFE
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11
The Dynamics of the Path of Life from Psalm 16
1 Cry out “Help!” Preserve me! (v1) Blog on Dec 5
2 Recognize God is the Lifeguard (v1) Preserve me, O God Blog on Dec 15
3 Committed Trust (v2) In You do I put my trust and hide myself. Blog on Dec 30
4 apart from you I have no good thing (v2)
Imagine the conversation when King Hussein of Jordan proposed marriage to Lisa Halaby, a commoner from the USA.
King Hussein: “Will you marry me?”
Lisa (blushing): “I am flattered, Your Majesty, but it is out of the realms of possibility! I am a commoner. I have student loans to pay off at Princeton. I have a huge credit card balance. I am struggling to make my car payments and I am 6 months in arrears on my apartment.”
His Majesty: “My dear, I make $10 million a month in oil revenues. I can take care of all that with one hour of income. Will you marry me?”
Every good thing I have comes from you
Love does not flinch from finding a way to force us to cope beyond our inadequacies.
Helen Keller was an infant when she was struck by illness that left her both blind and deaf, this before she could speak. The child was angry, unruly, unmanageable and untamable. Ann Sullivan was hired to teach Helen Keller. Anne’s initial handling of Helen was rough, even brutal, and shocked the parents who kept interfering. Anne insisted she move with Helen alone into a nearby cottage. Initially, sounds of violence increased the anxiety of her parents. Persistent love penetrated the isolation of the seven year old. Together Anne and Helen became role models that make one weep with joy and wonder. God’s task is with those who are spiritually deaf and blind. The first necessity is to get our attention. When Helen first grasped that the signs being spelt into her hand were symbols that named reality, enabling communication, she never looked back. She had no goodness apart from “Teacher” as she always called Anne. Every good thing came from this relationship. It is in this sense that David says “Every good thing I have comes from you.”
For David, trust includes accepting the circumstances that brought him to cry out for help. Those very circumstances brought him to a new appreciation of God. Sure, they were rough, but he (we) tend to have hearts calloused into hardness, hearts that require tough love.
This now becomes the foundation for the future. “Teacher” has demonstrated persistent love; trust has bonded pupil and teacher; and now all things are possible. Helen went on to a brilliant career, including public speaking. Remember, she could not recall ever having heard a single word pronounced.
Every good thing I have comes from you, an exclamation of gratitude
Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. (Ephesians 1:3)
Every good thing I have comes from you, an exclamation of confidence
The dimensions of trust are now fully revealed. A bankrupt commoner has joined estates with a Royal Multi-Billionaire. All debts are paid. All future needs are no longer a concern. David eloquently expresses this in later Psalm 16
And so I am thankful and glad,
and I feel completely secure,
because you protect me from the power of death.
I have served you faithfully,
and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead. (vv9-10)
Every good thing I have comes from you, a fact of history
The Apostle Peter preaching the first Christian Sermon quoted Psalm 16 (Acts 2):
24 But God raised Jesus from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
God raised Jesus to life, and we through faith, are participants in it.
Fear and anxiety, guilt and shame, all, all swallowed in the spectacular munificence of the gracious Groom. The last enemy is death. If that be conquered, then all else is – must be – under His sway.
Show me the Way #3 An Astonishing Commitment
30 DecTHE PATH OF LIFE
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11
The Dynamics of the Path of Life from Psalm 16
1 Cry out “Help!” Preserve me! (v1) Blog on Dec 5
2 Affirm God as the Lifeguard (v1) Preserve me, O God Blog on Dec 15
3 . . . and in You do I put my trust and hide myself. Psalm 16:1 (Amplified Bible)
The fabulous sensation of relaxing into trust must rank high on everyone’s scale of satisfaction and pleasure. Think of the proposal of marriage: someone trusts you sufficiently to seek, and commit to, a lifetime offering companionship, security and intimacy. It is only a proposal, however, and it requires a response. The proposal ends in a joint commitment of breath taking dimensions:
“I take you . . .
To have and to hold . . .
For better for worse . . .
For richer for poorer . . .
In sickness and in health . . .
As long as we both shall live . . .”
The marriage covenant requires each participant to say “I do.”
God says “Yes” in Christ:
“For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. (1 Corinthians 1:19-21 New Living Translation)
Some circumstance in David’s colorful life brings him to the brink, so he cries out for help and affirms his trust. The day unfolds and emotions swirl as reality overshadows. A brief time elapses and another wave dumps him. Once more, and not for the last time that day, he shouts “Help!” adding the affirmation “in you I put my trust!” Trust is a journey, not an event. Or, better yet, a journey of many events. Each and every event in your life requires you repeat the affirmation and commitment. This is how we hide ourselves in Him.
The Synergy in Harmony
A loving husband embraces his fearful wife and reassures her “We are in this together.” As she leans into the embrace of his love, in the harmony of the moment, a transformation occurs. Reassurance floods her, the negative emotions of anxiety and fear, like a leaden lump of dread in the gut, are replaced with the nervous excitement of anticipation. The two currents of separate energy from husband and wife combine into the stronger force of a relentless river. Nervous still, but now curious and expectant about the outcome, the trusting person looks to an entirely different destination. Once it was a journey of despair, now it is an expedition of hope. How much more when the feeble life of a mortal being merges with the inexhaustible energy of The Mighty God!
Hear now God’s commitment to you in Jesus Christ:
“I take you . . .
To have and to hold . . .
For better for worse . . .
For richer for poorer . . .
In sickness and in health . . .
As long as we both shall live.”
What is needed of you at this moment? “I do.”
Listen now with astonished amazement; God is the author behind your promise of “I do.” He is prompting you with the cue of Jesus:
“When I proclaimed the Son of God among you, did you pick up on any yes-and-no, on-again, off-again waffling? Wasn’t it a clean, strong Yes? Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.” (1 Corinthians 1:19-22 The Message)
Say it, “I do.” Keep saying it, “I do.”
Show Me the Way #2 The Plumber
15 DecTHE PATH OF LIFE
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11
Preserve me O God, for in You I put my trust. Psalm 16:1
It was a very expensive mistake. I neglected the maintenance of the sewer line, and when it became apparent a problem was brewing, I attempted to fix it myself. My amateurish efforts proved useless, and a messy film of raw sewerage flooded the basement laundry. My problem was now compounded: the stinking mess needed clearing; all the plumbing in the entire house was inoperable; and the clogged line still had to be cleared. It now needed an urgent call to 3 experts. Sigh.
Preserve me Is a desperate cry, but it is often misdirected, compounding the problem.
- Self help, as addicted people in recovery testify, is the proud man’s attempt to fix matters himself. With real problems it usually leads to denial or masking; deliverance requires the confession “I am helpless and need to submit to a Higher Power.” HELP!
- Human help normally consists of sound advice (repeated to the point of nagging in some relationships) all pretty useless for someone caught in a life threatening situation. What is the point of a lifeguard who responds to the cry of help from a drowning person by reading “A Dummy’s Guide to Swimming” over a loudspeaker?
- David’s cry is addressed to an Expert Helper. Preserve me O God, for in You I put my trust. The Hebrew word for God is EL (אל ‘el). It means strong, mighty, a mighty one, a hero.
He is a capable helper that can be trusted.
This lifeguard plunges right into our ocean of turmoil. Isaiah (9:2) records:
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
Then he describes the light in v 6:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, ( אל EL)
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
What a Life Guard!
- The Mighty God shows us the path of life:
- his counsel causes wonderment;
- he bestows his peace upon us;
- all as a wise heavenly father.
He is the three-fold Expert who clears the sewer line, cleans the mess and restores the plumbing to full functionality.
When there is a stinking mess, there is no point in waiting. Cry to him for help right now, and determine to discover the dynamics of The Path as we continue in Psalm 16.
Show me the Way # 1
13 DecTHE PATH OF LIFE
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
“Help!” The shout sounded desperate and immediately the lifeguard on duty scanned the thronged beach. “Help!” There! The cry came again, distinct above the crash of the waves and from the normal hubbub of the happy beach. “Help!” It was hard to distinguish exactly where the sound came from, given the distracting noises and the “where’s-Waldo” scenario of a packed and multi-colored mob of moving sun and fun seekers. The lifeguard also knew the person shouting might well be underwater between alarms. Finally he glimpsed a waving arm in a trough between the foam of crashing surf. A drowning person is calling for a trusted lifeguard to come to the rescue.
Psalm 16 starts with a similar scenario. 1 Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. (NKJV) David does not define his trouble, but the desperation of his cry resonates with the anxiety of any and every hue. Life is dangerous –
- physical life is precarious, witness weird bacteria and unpredictable traffic;
- and spiritual life is described as wrestling with powers greater than ourselves, where the devil is described as a roaring lion seeking to devour;
- practically, tedium, boredom, dissatisfaction, insignificance are all symptoms of a rut – a rut is a shallow grave.
HELP! HELP! HELP!
David’s example instructs us to cry to God any time we are overwhelmed in the foamy trough of the crashing breakers of life, whether physical, spiritual or in practice. Drowning swimmers are not likely to delay the cry for help, neither should overwhelmed people.
Preserve can have either positive or negative connotations. Those who swim among sharks usually do so in metal cages. This is safe, but terribly inhibiting. David develops the dynamic of preservation positively. In contrast to the confining safety of a steel cage, he explores preservation as the path of life where joy is constant and pleasures are eternal. Far from simply being caged for safety, a plan to snorkel, surf and sail in safe enjoyment is in mind. Full potential cannot be attained from a restricted existence in a cage; it requires the freedom to range. Full potential requires liberty to explore both deep and wide with complete confidence.
11 You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
May this tempt you, whet your appetite and lead you into a journey of discovery.
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Show Me the Path of Life
5 DecPsalm 16 opens with a desperate cry for help, and ends with the confident assertion:
“You show me the path of life:
- you fill me with joy in your presence;
- you fill me with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
The Psalm explores the dynamic principles of a King under a threatening cloud, transformed into a person of noble radiance. It is the story of King David at a dire time in his life, and translates into the common experience of any and everyone.
This series of blogs identifies David’s circumstances and establishes signposts pointing to his discovery of the path of life and his transformation.
Stay tuned.
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