Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript*

*Robert L. Hutcherson, Jr.*

*Quinn** Chapel A.M.E.

Church*

*                                        Sermon Preparation~/Delivery*

                                                        *Psalm 132*

*“/Jesus, Be The Center/”*

*The Rev. Karla J. Cooper, Pastor*

*November 26, 2006*

\\ \\ Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript

*AUTHOR*

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Who wrote (or is credited with writing) the text?*

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From what perspective does the author write?*

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*TEXT*

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/"And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

(Hebrews 10:11-14 KJV)/

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/"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:" (Hebrews 10:19-24 KJV)/

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*BODY*

 

 

 

*All of us desire to have lives of spiritual significance that count for God*

*and that have authenticity, integrity, and faithfulness.

All of us hunger for that kind of significance if we have a relationship with the Lord Jesus.

We all want to know that we are in the spiritual mainstream of life and not just drifting in some selfish backwater, wrapped up in ourselves.

We want to know that God will give us adventure, influence, purpose, and challenge.*

*Our first question is, "I want to know what God's will is for me."

I think what we really want is the*

*answer to the question, "What makes a life significant?"*

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*That is a burning question for many people, not just college students.

Men who find themselves faced with the mid-life crisis wonder if their lives have been significant."

As a result, some are changing jobs or even spouses in an effort to find greater significance.

The elderly, finding themselves becoming less active and less influential, question their lives and their self-worth.

Young mothers who are confined to home with small children ask, "Am I missing out on life?

Is my life*

*significant?"*

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*All of us hunger for significance.

We want to be part of the mainstream of life, to live lives that count.

Today we will look at Psalm 132, which was written for pilgrims who longed to live significant lives.

This psalm declares the good news that as pilgrims who are journeying to their heavenly city, Christians have the privilege of being part of the most significant work in the universe.*

*Psalm 132 was written for pilgrims who longed for significance in life.

This Song of Ascents proclaims good news: As pilgrims who are journeying toward the heavenly Zion, the city of God; who are following the upward call of God in Christ Jesus; we have the privilege of being part of the most significant activity in the universe.

Psalm 132 is a royal psalm; it is a prayer for God's blessing and activity in the life of the king and his people, Israel.*

*Psalm 132 was written by Solomon at the dedication of the temple.

The king regarded this event as one of the greatest moments in Israel's history, the climax of four centuries of the journeying of the Ark of the Covenant through the wilderness to its final resting place in the Holy of Holies in the temple.

Now that the temple was complete, God would descend and fill it, and from Zion establish His rule over all nations.

He regarded the dedication of the temple and the placement of the ark of the covenant in the most holy place in that temple as one of the greatest moments in the history of the nation Israel.

For the ark it was the climax of a journey that had begun in the wilderness at Mount Sinai four hundred years earlier.

Solomon remembers his father King David, who had successfully searched for the ark and found it in disrepair and neglect, and had brought it to Jerusalem for placement in the tabernacle.

Solomon desires in this prayer that he*

*experience the same kind of effectiveness that his father enjoyed.

This psalm is a prayer for God's presence and power, for a joyful lifestyle of significant ministry, and for God to continue to bless and save in the life of the king.

Solomon prays that he would live a life worthy of his calling, and we can pray that with him.

Seeing himself as privileged to be part of the very significant flow of Biblical history, Solomon stops to pray that as king he would live a life worthy of the task set before him.*

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*The psalm divides into three sections.

First, Solomon looks back and recalls the history of David that led up to this point; then he prays; and then he looks far into the future, to eternity itself, to seethe significance of his work as king.

The remembrance of things past; verses 1-7:*

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*     Remember, O Lord, on David's behalf, All his affliction; *

*     How he swore to the Lord,*

*     And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, *

*     "Surely I will not enter my house,*

*     Nor lie on my bed;*

*     I will not give sleep to my eyes, *

*     Or slumber to my eyelids;*

*     Until I find a place for the Lord,*

*     A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."

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*     Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;*

*     We found it in the field of Jaar.*

*     Let us go into His dwelling place; *

*     Let us worship at His footstool.*

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*The first five verses give us the character of King David, Solomon's father.

David's character cannot be described in words better than those used by the Scriptures to describe him: "The servant of Yahweh."

That is the highest accolade given anyone in the Old Testament.

Unlike his predecessor, Saul, who reigned just so he could satisfy his own desires, David had one passion to serve the purposes of God and to use his own kingship to that end.

From the moment he became king, David's abiding concern was to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

That pictures for us that it was David's desire to take the throne of God (that is what the Ark symbolized), to the center of the people.

He would not rest until the Lord was at the center of the nation's life.*

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*During Saul's reign, that Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and left in a field, where it remained for 20 years.

"We did not seek it in the days of Saul," David said.

(I Chron.

13:3)The Ark lay neglected.

Getting it to Jerusalem became such a top priority to him that David afflicted himself by putting himself under an oath to do so: "I will not enter my house nor lie on my bed"- until*

*the Ark of the Covenant was housed in Jerusalem (verse 3).

Nothing would come before that task.

And he would undertake it with all speed: "I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids" (verse 4).

David would not be distracted by other tasks.

He was so consumed with zeal for the house of the Lord that he took off his royal kingly garments and put on the humble clothes of a priest, a linen ephod.

When the Ark was finally brought to Jerusalem David was so thrilled that he was leaping and dancing before the Lord.*

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*Psalm 132 declares that David's passion for the Lordship of Yahweh to be central in his people'slives brought blessing to many.

In verses 6 and 7, the pronouns change from "I" to "we": "Behold,we heard of it in Ephrathah, we found it in the field of Jaar.

Let us go into His dwelling place; Let usworship at His footstool.

' One man's heart given solely over to the Lordship of his God caused acontagious reaction, so that he alone turned a whole nation around, he changed their attitude fromone of leaving the Ark of the Covenant neglected and unsought for to one of zeal, worship andservice.

David did not bring the Ark into Jerusalem by himself, he had the entire priesthood, choirs,singers, etc., become involved.

Some scholars think there were as many as 30,000 people in theprocession up to Jerusalem.

One man, David, changed the way the nation thought about the Lord.When somebody is sold out to the Lord his enthusiasm becomes contagious.

I want to bepart of that ministry, l want a piece of the action.

That is the contagious result when people fall inlove with Jesus Christ and put their lives fully in his hand.

That too is what happened to the peopleof Israel as a result of David's zeal.*

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*How do we apply these verses to our own lives?

To begin with, if our lives are to have anysignificance we must expand our horizons beyond our own time-frame.

When he stood ready to dedicate the temple, Solomon recognized that his opportunity to serve as king in any significant way was due to what others had done before him.