Sermon for April 5, 2020

Good morning everyone,,, watching by video.

Again we are trying our hand at videoing this sermon,,, even though we thought that we would be doing a drive up church service this morning until we got the announcement from our governor with the shelter in place order,,, so here we are again with the video camera going.

Before I begin with my sermon,,, I wanted to begin this morning with an opening prayer and lead into the Lord's prayer like we usually begin our worship service.

Invocation and Lord's prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for your continued presence among us today and every day. I thank you for those that are listening and watching by video. I ask for continued guidance for them and others. Open their hearts and mind to hear the message today. We ask these things in Jesus's name who taught us to pray, by saying:

Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever.

Amen.

This morning I'll be reading Psalm chapter 31 verses 9 through 16.

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

This psalm was written by David as an account of trials that he had gone through during a difficult time of his life. My Wesleyan Commentary says that since the writing is similar to Jeremiahs writings,,, some think that he might have wrote it. Many though,,, accept the title as authentic,,, making it a psalm of David. This Psalm,,, like several other psalms,,, can be read to help comfort us today during our own times of trouble or sorrow.

9 Be gracious to me, LORD, because I am in distress; my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow— my whole being as well. 10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my strength has failed because of my sinfulness, and my bones waste away. 11 I am ridiculed by all my adversaries and even by my neighbors. I am dreaded by my acquaintances; those who see me in the street run from me. 12 I am forgotten: gone from memory like a dead person—like broken pottery. 13 I have heard the gossip of many; terror is on every side. When they conspired against me, they plotted to take my life. 14 But I trust in You, LORD; I say, “You are my God.” 15 The course of my life is in Your power; deliver me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors. 16 Show Your favor to Your servant; save me by Your faithful love.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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Even though this is Palm Sunday and it seems so different to be speaking to an empty sanctuary,,, and speaking to you by video this morning,,, it seems to be the safest thing to do during these times.

And,,, as I've said and others have said,,, all throughout this time when we have been forced to be apart from one another,,, this building is not the church!

This building is empty today,,, because the church is not here!

Each of us that leave out of here,,, are the church,,, and when we left out,,, the church went out into the world,,, taking the good news of Jesus,,, just like we are supposed to do!

And we need to be celebrating Palm Sunday wherever we are at,,, and while we are celebrating,,, be sure that we are keeping God in our thoughts and our hearts,,, be sure that we are lifting our praise up to Him,,, and that we have our hearts right with God!

That's the main thing that we need to be doing at this time.

We need to be sure that our relationship with God is working,,, because it's during times of trouble that this relationship becomes so important.

And I believe that David recognized this when he wrote this psalm because it was during a troubling time in his life,,, just as it is for us during this time.

And with this being palm Sunday,,, I want us to remember that Jesus went through a hard time for each one of us,,, for all of us,,, much harder than anything that we can imagine.

And He did it,,, because He loves us.

Jesus took every punishment that we deserved,,, and He paid for it all!

That's what we need to remember this Sunday,,, as we celebrate Palm Sunday,,, during our time apart.

I thought that we would look at these verses this morning and hopefully they will help us as we are going through our own trials at this time.

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Verse 9 says: 9 Be gracious to me, LORD, because I am in distress; my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow— my whole being as well.

You see God knows when we are in trouble.

He knows when we are in distress.

And He wants us to come to Him in prayer and tell Him,,, even though He already knows what we are going through.

In this verse,,, David is telling God that his eyes are worn out from angry sorrow and his whole being as well.

David was tired,,, exhausted,,, he felt like he could go no further,,, and he was telling God about the way that he felt.

I take comfort in the fact,,, that as much as God favored David,,, he still went through so much.

You see,,, just because we are Christians,,, that doesn't mean that we won't go through hard times.

And like you've been told before,,, once you become a Christian,,, that may be when your trials really start because Satan is going to do whatever he can to knock us down as quickly as possible.

Satan knows that his greatest weapon is doubt,,, and if he can make things hard enough for us early in our walk with God,,, then he stands a chance.

But it could come at anytime in our life,,, that's what he tried with Job,,, and he will do the same to us,,, if we allow him,,, or give in at any time.

That's why faith is so important,,, we must have faith just like Job and David had because that's what will carry us through,,, any trials,,, that we go through!

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Verse 10 says: 10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my strength has failed because of my sinfulness, and my bones waste away.

As David continues talking to God,,, he is describing his condition.

He's telling God that he is worn out,,, his strength is failing,,, and it's taking everything that he has just to survive,,, and he wonders if it is because of his sinfulness.

David was highly favored by God,,, but he wasn't perfect,,, he made many mistakes!

Just like David,,, we need to be aware of our sins when we are going through hard times and ask God to help us to know when we make mistakes that we need to confess.

Now,,, that doesn't mean that every time we go through trials that they are the result of sin.

But it's just something that we need to be aware of and be sure that we ask God to bring it to our attention if needed,,, in case we do need to ask Him for forgiveness.

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Verse 11 says: 11 I am ridiculed by all my adversaries and even by my neighbors. I am dreaded by my acquaintances; those who see me in the street run from me.

Today when we are going through hard times,,, those that aren't Christians almost want to laugh at us,,, like they enjoy the pain that we go through.

And we aren't much better ourselves when we see others going through something.

We have a tendency to wonder why God is punishing them,,, when it may not be so.

It could be true,,, it could be because of sin like I said a few minutes ago,,, but usually that's something between you and God.

That is personal,,, it's not anyone's concern unless it affects them,,, and if not,,, then they won’t know anything about it.

But because of our foolish human shortcomings,,, we want to think the worst of anyone that is going through trials today if they are experiencing hard times and we aren't.

David was experiencing this problem of being accused unjustly and wanted God to know about it.

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Verse 12 says: 12 I am forgotten: gone from memory like a dead person—like broken pottery.

While David is going through this trial,,, he is being ignored,,, forgotten,,, the people aren't remembering him as they were while he was on the throne.

He compares it to broken pottery.

Normally when pottery is broken,,, it is thrown away,,, it becomes useless,,, it's not any good any more,,, and that's the way that David is feeling.

And we can have those same feelings during our own trials,,, whether they are sickness,,, loss of our job,,, marriage,,, whatever it may be,,,

We might have those same feelings of being useless,,, forgotten or ignored.

But if you read on further in this psalm,,, you will see how everything is turned around and made better because of God's presence in David's life.

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Verse 13 says: 13 I have heard the gossip of many; terror is on every side. When they conspired against me, they plotted to take my life.

David has been hearing things that they were plotting against him,,, things that they were trying to do to him.

These things that he was hearing were having a negative impact on him,,, they made him feel alone,,, they made the feelings of uselessness and hopelessness bigger than what they really were.

Whenever you are fighting depression,,, the thought of people talking about you can have a devastating effect on you,,, whether they really are talking about you or not.

Just the thought of it can be hard to take,,, and it just adds to the heartache that you are experiencing.

And that's what David is experiencing here in this verse,,, it really hurts him to know all of this.

But look at the next verse,,, David is beginning to turn around in his thoughts,,,

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Verse 14 says: 14 But I trust in You, LORD; I say, “You are my God.”

When I read this today,,, as we are going through our own tough times with all of the coronavirus fears,,, I want to shout them out loud to the world!

This is what this country needs now more than anything else.

We as a nation need to humble ourselves and repeat this verse and truly mean it when we say it!

Then this virus would have no choice,,, it would leave immediately.

Also,,, when I read this verse,,, I'm reminded that God will take care of us,,, no matter what we are going through.

Jesus went through so much for us on the cross when He laid down His life for our sins,,, but on that palm Sunday as He came riding into Jerusalem,,, if you remember,,, He stopped and shed tears of sorrow as he entered the city.

He knew that the people were cheering for Him for the wrong reasons.

He knew that they were cheering for Him to do something that He wasn't going to do.

That's why that He stopped and shed the tears,,, He knew they had the wrong intentions.

Like David,,, He knew that things just weren't right,,, but Jesus was going to continue into the city and trust in God's plan like He was supposed to do.

That's what we need to do as well.

Continue to put our trust in God,,, and He will take care of us,,, no matter what we are going through.

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Verse 15 says: 15 The course of my life is in Your power; deliver me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors.

In this verse,,, David is saying that everything in my life is in your power,,, and it's up to you God to deliver me from my enemies and to save me from the ones that are trying to kill me and do me wrong.

David understands that he cannot do this on his own,,, he must have God's help.

This could be the reason that we go through some of the trials that we go through.

They could be to show us that we need God's power,,, that we cannot do these things on our own,,, so we have no choice but to trust in God.

When we have no where else to turn,,, we always turn to God then,,, because our strength is gone at that time and we know that God's strength is our only hope!

How much easier it would be,,, to just trust God like we are told,,, over and over.

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Verse 16 says: 16 Show Your favor to Your servant; save me by Your faithful love.

If we are obedient,,, and we pay attention,,, God is always faithful to us.

A lot more faithful to us than what we really deserve,,, and He will save us.

In this verse David is saying "show your favor to your servant" in other words,,, show your favor to me,,, show that you will take care of me and save me by your faithful love.

And we know from reading further in this psalm that God does take care of him,,, and God will take care of us too!

That's what we need to understand,,, no matter what we are going through or when we are going through it.

God is in control and He will take care of us.

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As I told you at the beginning,,, it seems strange to deliver a sermon to an empty sanctuary,,, especially on palm Sunday.

But I want you to know that God is here,,, He's here in this empty sanctuary,,, and,,, He's there in your home,,, your job,,, your hospital bed,,, wherever you are watching this video today,,, it doesn't matter where,,, God is with each of us!

God also loves us,,, and He wants to take care of us.

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On palm Sunday,,, we usually use the scripture where Jesus rides into Jerusalem and the people throw down palm branches as they shout and sing as they would if someone was riding into the city as their new king.

That's what the people wanted Jesus to declare that day.

But just like today,,, Jesus didn't do things exactly the way that they expected Him to do.

And as we spend our palm Sunday separated from one another,,, I'm sure that this time was unexpected as well.

But I want to assure everyone,,, that God's plan will continue.

It may not be the way that we expect it to be,,, or the way that we want it to be.

But it will be the way that God wants it,,, whether we realize it or not!

God doesn't change,,, He's the same yesterday,,, today,,, and,,, tomorrow!

And just as David knew and understood,,, God will take care of us,,, no matter what we are going through,,, or,,, what holiday it's supposed to be.

(13:57)

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Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father,,, as we spend another week away,,, please help us to use this time to get closer to you. Help us to understand that you are still in control and it's still palm Sunday even when we aren't here. Help us to see that even if we aren't able to be here next Sunday,,, that Jesus is still alive,,, He has risen,,, just because we aren't here to celebrate in this building,,, it will still be Easter Sunday! We pray for all of those still working today,,, our healthcare workers,,, grocery store employees,,, restaurant employees,,, farmers and those at the supply stores,,, and all of those that I miss,,, we just ask that You keep them safe and their families safe through all of this. Watch over us,,, continue to lead and guide us,,, forgive us of our sins. These things and all others we ask in Jesus' name,,, Amen.