Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church.

I hope all of you had a week focused on thankfulness and the grace of God.

Please take your Bibles and open them with me to Psalm 33, Psalm 33.

Every year we take a break from whatever book we are in and spend time looking at the aspects of the Advent season - hope, love, joy, peace, faith - as we focus our minds in on not only the impending celebration or commemoration of Christ’s birth but also looking ahead to His glorious appearance when He returns to take His people home.

This year we’re going to be focusing in on these elements of our Christian walk as they are presented to us through the Psalms.

Starts off with a Call to worship

5 Imperatives - Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones

Praise from the upright is beautiful - notice it doesn’t mention skill, or melodious - Ken Maynor

The only qualification for worshipping the Lord is being upright in character

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans (All Should Participate in Public Worship)

In public worship all should join.

The little strings go to make up a concert, as well as the great.

Though you have but little grace, yet God’s worship would not be complete without you.THOMAS GOODWIN

Praise the Lord with the lyre, make music with the ten stringed harp, play skillfully on the strings

First mention of musical instruments in the Psalter

The only area where skill is requisite

Sing a new song to Him

We have a struggle in the church with worship

Either there is no theological thought and it’s all emotions and smoke and lights

There’s too much theological thought and there’s no emotion

We need to find a middle ground

My personal example - at the NWBC meetings and thinking about the songs - I wish they would have said it this way not that way

We need to examine the way we worship

Yes I know worship is more than just singing on Sunday morning

But the question is - if you aren’t willing to worship on Sunday mornings do you really worship the rest of the week?

Do we worship with abandon or with conditions?

We need to examine the way we worship

Having given the command to worship the Psalmist now gives us four proofs, or reasons, as to why God is worthy of our worship and ultimately of placing our hope in Him - proof through the Word, proof through creation, proof through providence and proof through individuals.

Proof through the Word

The Word of the Lord is right and all His work is trustworthy

We live in a day and age where this is not an acceptable statement

There is not absolute truth and so God’s Word cannot be right

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans (God’s Word Is Truth)

Common reason tells us that we must first have a general proof that Scripture is God’s word, and argue thence, to the verity of the parts, and not begin with a particular proof of each part.

It seems that you would argue thus: This and that text of Scripture are true, therefore they are God’s word: but reason tells you, you should argue thus: This is God’s word, therefore it is true.RICHARD BAXTER

Not only a description of what the Lord says - but also what He does.

Our God is not simply one who speaks and then leaves things alone - He is a God of action and all His work is trustworthy

He never fails and His work is always 100%

Attention to detail - something I struggle with

Every detail in God’s work is perfect - nothing escapes His attention

Description of God’s character

He loves righteousness

The defining characteristic of God is His holiness - the angels around the throne call out “Holy, Holy, Holy”

And justice - true justice not the modern version of the word

Justice calls for action - justice cannot happen through inaction

God’s righteousness and justice as attributes taken alone are very frightening

God’s love of righteousness and justice are balanced by His unfailing love

300 Quotations and Prayers for Christmas (God Reconciled Justice and Mercy in Christ)

To join and knit two attributes seeming contrary, justice and mercy; to reconcile man by reconciling justice and mercy, and by such an excellent way that God should become man, Emmanuel, this was a great wisdom—to reconcile justice and mercy by such a person as should satisfy justice and give way to mercy, that is, by Christ.

God will lose none of His attributes.

His justice must be satisfied, that His mercy might be manifested.

The wisdom of God found out that way.

It is a plot the angels study in.RICHARD SIBBES

The Word of the Lord reveals His attributes of righteousness, justice, mercy and love to us.

It is through these attributes that He works His might works of creation, providence and individuals.

Proof through Creation

The Lord spoke and the universe raced into existence.

It is creation that is vividly displayed in C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew where the main characters drop into a world of nothingness but as they are there they hear a voice singing and stars appear, then mountains and the whole world is revealed through the singing of a Lion.

Genesis 1 tells the story of our own creation as God speaks and the universe leaps into existence ex nihilo.

This is fiat creation - from nothing.

Nothing we think we have created since has come to be the same way.

MeatEater Mule Deer explanation

Mankind has never created anything out of nothing

Creation is a testimony to God’s existence and to the veracity of His Word and the trustworthiness of His works

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church (Creation Shines God’s Glory)

Through every star, through every grass-blade, and most through every living soul, the glory of a present God still beams.THOMAS CARLYLE

The Psalmist shifts his view here from the macro-creation of the universe to the micro-creation of God choosing for Himself a people.

He does this by a demonstration of God’s power over His creation to help His people

Verse 7 is a direct reference to the events at the Red Sea

In redeeming His people from Egypt and keeping His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the Lord reveals His control over creation

This should elicit a response from the people of the earth

No Fear of God anymore

We don’t fear Him - and by fear I don’t mean quake (although that is what the nations did after the Red Sea…even after the Israelites had wandered through the wilderness for 40 years, Rahab still confesses to the spies that their nation is afraid of their God)

We don’t even respect God anymore - and this command in this Psalm is not merely for the nation of Israel or for the church now

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church (Fear God over the World)

Will you let the fear of a false world, that has no love for you, keep you from the fear of that God, who has only created you that He may love and bless you to all eternity?WILLIAM LAW

It is for all nations…let the whole earth, let all the inhabitants

This also points to the universal nature of the Lord’s plans from the beginning…all nations are to stand in awe of Him

The source of this awe is creation…the very place we live

We have this twisted though - we worship creation to the exclusion of God

But what is written here - He spoke and it came into being

He commanded and it came into existence.

Our drive home from Nampa - through Hell’s Canyon

What beauty and we think it just spontaneously came into being?

What joy He must have gotten as He formed each fold of the land, each color of the sunset

What is created is meant to point us to God and to lead us to worship Him.

But the Psalmist is not done and he narrows our view even further.

Proof through Providence

Isn’t it amazing how often we forget our place - and think we’re in control?

We make these grand plans…401K’s and retirement plans, we work for years trying to put away a nice tidy bundle of money for our retirement or for an inheritance for our kids and then we get shut down by a virus or a diagnosis

Nations make plans and the Lord thwarts them

What a contrast the Psalmist makes here - the futility of man’s plans versus the sureness of God’s design

Where creation rests upon the divine Word, history rests upon divine plans and action

Our plans and schemes are all subject to divine restraint

But who can stop the Lord’s plans from coming to pass?

The lesson of Job

Also speaks to His unchangeable nature - His plans do not change from generation to generation

He is the same yesterday, today and forever - this is a great comfort to us

Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord

America may have been founded on Christian principles but America was never God’s nation - yet we flourished for years because of the foundation.