090306 Pentecost 13
Pentecost 13, September 3, 2006
Lacking No Good Thing
Text: Psalm 34:9–14
Other Lessons: Proverbs 9:1–6; Ephesians 5:15–20; John 6:51–58
Sermon Theme: Fearing a Lord God who forgives, there can be no lack.
Goal: That the hearer not distrust, but rather fear and trust the Lord in the face of life’s trials, for God’s giving himself for us gives us all good things.
Sermon Outline
3. Far too many people fear God only because they think of him as an extortionist.
2. But a fear of God that actually dissolves all fears comes, first, by recognizing and confessing our lack of trust in him.
1. Fear over this sin is then dissolved by God’s forgiving mercy through the cross of his Son.
Fearing a Lord God Who Forgives, There Can Be No Lack.
Consider the first few verses of Psalm 34: “Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (vv 9–10 ESV). Strange words? First, it’s strange to our ears—even though we’ve heard it many times—to say that we should fear the Lord. But second, it seems just as strange to say that those who fear the Lord lack no good thing. How can fearing God connect with lacking nothing? Is it that God provides for those who are afraid of him? Fear of God results in his protection and care?
3.
In legal jargon, this is called extortion: forcing someone to do something they really don’t want to do. It’s when the big thug comes into the little neighborhood shop and says, “Look, I have an insurance plan here I want to sell you. You give me the money I want, and I’ll see to it nothing happens to your place. If you don’t, I’ll see to it that something does happen to your place.” Out of fear, the shopkeeper hands over the money.
That’s a pretty dreadful way to think about God, but far too many people do have that sort of perspective. Here is how it works: A person gets sick, loses his job, or faces other struggles and begins to wonder why God is doing this, “Why me?”
Other questions are raised in our minds: What does God want from me? Maybe, if I just done enough, prayed enough, believed enough, paid enough, then God would stop? The only thing worse than that is to think we have done enough. So, reason concludes: “I’ve been a good Christian. I go to church. I give my offerings. I pray regularly, attend meetings, do my churchly duties, pay my taxes, take care of my family. Why does God allow these things to happen to me?” Either way, we are thinking of God as an extortionist. Someone who squeezes what he wants out of people. Oh, yes, we fear God, but fear because of possible punishment. This is not trust. And, it is not the kind of fear God desires.
2.
You see, there is a fear of God that actually works to dissolve away all fear. This fear comes first of all by recognizing and confessing our own heart’s lack of trust in him. I know. We find it hard to do that. But, that kind of fear of God comes from a belief that God is entirely trustworthy, entirely good, entirely deserving of all our devotion, all while seeing our own heart and realizing that the only thing I have to offer God is always tainted by sin. No matter how “good” I try to be, it’s never good enough to match the glory and goodness that God truly deserves. How very sad is our condition. Realizing this, we are rightly afraid. Every sorrow and struggle we face is well deserved.
Perhaps you recall the parable Jesus told about a servant who owed his king an extreme amount of money, but was not able to pay it. Now, the king was not a crook or dishonest. In fact, the king was honest and just, and that the man honestly and justly deserved to lose everything for not paying the king exactly what he owed him. He was terrified of the king because the king was good, righteous, and just, and because he was a debtor who was trying to con the king out of what he owed him. He knew the king could rightly give him just what he deserved, which was prison and the loss of all he owned.
1.
Such a fear can only be dissolved by one thing: mercy. Mercy finds another way to cancel the debt, and mercy does just that.
Perhaps the biggest fear we face today is the deep disappointment of not getting the outreach person we desired. This is one of those times when we might wonder if God is punishing us because we did something wrong; Or, because we’re not good enough; Or because He just wants to punish us. When fears press on you so that you doubt and wonder God’s motives and intentions for you, what do you do?
Let me make this suggestion. It is true that we are sinful and unclean, so we need to confess our sin, not try to con God into giving us a better deal. We need to be reminded again that He is a good, just, and honest King, and never treats us dishonestly or unjustly or as our sin deserves. No, mercy takes another route. He forgives us, absolving our sin through the absolution “Your sins are forgiven for Christ’s own sake, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
And what lies behind this forgiveness of God? Wonderful news! God himself is the one who actually paid your debt for you, and God himself endured the sentence we all deserve. He lost all he had, being stripped bare when the Son of God suffered and died for you on the cross. Here is the God worthy of trust, joyous trust, with an awesome fear.
Dear friends, if we have such a God as this, then what else can we possibly need? What else can be said except to join with the Psalmist in saying: “Those who fear [the Lord] lack nothing” (v 9). So, if we suffer from illness, disappointment, or loneliness, it might help to remember this: our Savior Jesus, suffered, died, and rose again for us. He speaks the word of forgiveness to us. This is our God who only gives us exactly what we truly need, and gives it in great abundance.
Fearing the Lord God Who Forgives, There Can Be No Lack.