Patience From Worship
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Introduction
Introduction
A topic we have talked about before and will talk about again as it pertains to the heart and to the Psalms is the problem of patience and persevering in prayer in our trouble. Tonight we are going to look at two Psalms and while they were not specifically written together; through their proximity they remind us of the power of praise and worship for our prayers. Praise and worship are powerful tools to assist in developing our patience in prayer. Lets check out Psalm 28 and 29 and see what insight David gives for patience from praise and worship.
1 Lord, I call to you; my rock, do not be deaf to me. If you remain silent to me, I will be like those going down to the Pit. 2 Listen to the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, with the evildoers, who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors while malice is in their hearts. 4 Repay them according to what they have done— according to the evil of their deeds. Repay them according to the work of their hands; give them back what they deserve.
5 Because they do not consider what the Lord has done or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and not rebuild them. 6 Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard the sound of my pleading. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people; he is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed. 9 Save your people, bless your possession, shepherd them, and carry them forever.
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is above the waters. The God of glory thunders— the Lord, above the vast water,
4 the voice of the Lord in power, the voice of the Lord in splendor. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion, like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the woodlands bare. In his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned, King forever. 11 The Lord gives his people strength; the Lord blesses his people with peace.
Conflict of Silence
Conflict of Silence
1 Lord, I call to you; my rock, do not be deaf to me. If you remain silent to me, I will be like those going down to the Pit. 2 Listen to the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, with the evildoers, who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors while malice is in their hearts. 4 Repay them according to what they have done— according to the evil of their deeds. Repay them according to the work of their hands; give them back what they deserve.
5 Because they do not consider what the Lord has done or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and not rebuild them.
As we begin in Psalm 28 immediately we come to David calling out for the LORD. David says here I call to you - and we have seen many times David saying he calls to the LORD. We are not sure what exactly is the trouble in David’s life, but we know that David’s life was full of trouble. You might think it would be free from trouble because he was a man after God’s own heart, but its actually the opposite. David’s life was full of trouble mainly because he desired to follow after God. This fact hasnt changed and it is still true today and is exactly what Jesus and the apostles tell us in the New Testament.
John 16:33 (CSB)
33 You will have suffering in this world.
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you.
So David again calls to the LORD and we come to something again - where it seems as though David is not hearing from the LORD. How is it that David continues to call out to God in troubled times when God doesnt always seem to answer? If we are honest this question has come across us - how can we continue to call out to God when He doesnt answer us? David calls out to God because God is His rock. The one he trusts in troubled times. David says do not be deaf to me - if you remain silent to me I will be like the one going down to the Pit. Without you I am toast, and headed for the Pit death - judgment. Even when doubts hit David God is his rock and fortress - because without God he has nothing. There is no other rock - not even Dwayne Johnson is like THE ROCK.
Dont fall into to the trap of giving anyone else that title and dont try to be anyone else’s rock. The truth of the matter is we arent even rockish. Thats ok! We dont have to be rocks for ourselves or others - God is and wants to be our Rock!
The LORD is his rock and so David call out to Him and says LISTEN (hear and act in accordance to what is heard) to the sound of my pleading. When I cry to you for help and when I lift up my hands towards your holy sanctuary. It has been said that God’s delays are not God’s denials but like David perhaps we need to learn this important lesson. We need to learn patience in prayer - endurance in prayer even when we feel God isnt hearing or answering. Look at the progression of David’s patience with God in prayer first he called to God, then he cried to God for help in desperation, and finally David lifted his hands. Throughout scripture the lifting of hands is an expression of praise. Even today this is done at sporting events - points scored a great play made - boom hands go up. Lifted hands can also be an expression of surrender.
Criminals come out of hiding with their hands up to show surrender, victims in robbery put their hands up to surrender. When we lift our hands we are saying to the LORD I surrender even this to You LORD.
Lifted hands are praising, surrendering and even praying. Sometimes when overwhelmed by a situation and you want to throw your hands up in exasperation - lift your hands instead to the LORD your rock.
8 Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.
In his prayer David asks not to be dragged away with the wicked and evil doers. The hypocrites who speak nice to the people meanwhile there is malice in their hearts. David also asks for the wicked to be repaid according to their deeds and their works. David boldly asks that God would give them what they deserve according to the works of their hands and hearts - but also especially because they have no consideration of God or the works He has done.
We can all relate to the prayer of David - as we see evil in our lives. We want to see evil handled and we want God to act in the silence - unlike David we live on this side of the birth death and resurrection of Christ. In Christ God broke the silence of 400 years with Israel
Praise of Faith
Praise of Faith
6 Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard the sound of my pleading. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people; he is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed. 9 Save your people, bless your possession, shepherd them, and carry them forever.
Now the second half of Psalm 28 suddenly moves from the conflict of silence to the loud praise of faith. Blessed be the LORD for He has heard the sound of my pleading. How does David make the leap from the conflict of silence and the tendency to doubt to being able to praise in faith? The next verse tells us the answer - David says my heart trusts in Him and I am helped. It is faith in God that makes the difference. Faith moves the hands of God and it is God’s hands that hold everything. Cry out to God but when rising from your knees in prayer dont neglect to praise God for hearing your prayer. With heaven open David experiences the security of the LORD and in the LORD. He declares the LORD as his strength and shield. God heard me, God will help me or has helped me. I trusted in Him and now I am praising Him for He is worthy to be trusted.
The LORD is the strength of the one who trusts in Him. A renewed David now makes supplication for Israel, for it is Yahweh who is the real King of His people: “Save Your people / And bless Your inheritance” (v. 9). And it is Yahweh who will guide and guard them: “Shepherd them also, / And bear them up forever.” His care is for time and eternity.
In Psalm 28, out of conflict in silence comes joy from praise. Out of death comes resurrection. In the darkness of God’s silence David cries to the Lord. Then God speaks and the joy returns. It is only when we die to ourselves that we can live to God. Beauty from ashes — No Cross, no Easter. This is always God’s way. The trust in this to persevere and await God’s resolution and continue in patience of prayer comes from praise that is developed in worship. Psalm 29 shows us the worship of David in regards to God.
Call To Worship
Call To Worship
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
David spent much time outdoors he was a shepherd and a warrior as well as a man on the run for a few years. He is no stranger to the outdoors and to nature. In nature David saw the awesome power and fingerprint of God everywhere. He regularly celebrated the power of Almighty Creator Yahweh. This Psalm is one of those times - the high view of God’s power is what fueled the patience in the silence from the previous psalm.
David calls heavenly beings to worship - ascribe - to give or to come on - to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to God the glory DUE His name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.
Worship here is defined as giving to God and not looking to get from God. Those who worship God offer glory to God - praise for His majesty and triumph. They also ascribe or give to God strength (not literally giving God strength but ascribing might and power). To worship and give these praises is to declare and voice them in God’s presence.
David also gives instruction for how to worship - the word worship means to bow down, and surrender. Submit in the face of the beauty of holiness.
8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.
We must compare what we call worship to what we see as worship in heaven and ask are we reflecting the worship of heaven?
In worship David says ascribe glory and strength to God. In worship we open our eyes to stop seeing our situation and our issues and to start seeing God - who He is and how He is. I couldnt help but read Psalm 29 and see David move from opening with a call to worship to moving into worship and focusing on that which he experienced doubt with - God’s voice. Patience from worship comes when we focus on the truth of God that our heart doubts.
If you doubt God’s strength - worship His strength and consider the wonders of His mighty works displaying His awesome power. If you doubt God’s goodness worship His goodness and compare your doubts to His truth. David doubted God’s voice and verses 3-9 David focuses on the voice of God.
Voice of the LORD Is Over Waters
Voice of the LORD Is Over Waters
3 The voice of the Lord is above the waters. The God of glory thunders— the Lord, above the vast water, 4 the voice of the Lord in power, the voice of the Lord in splendor.
David declares that the voice of the LORD is above the waters above the vast waters. The waters of the storms of life. In the storm we often hear God’s voice because in the storm is often when we are seeking God and calling out through the rain. The God of glory thunders - the voice of the LORD in power and in splendor.
El Paso is no stranger to thunder storms - we are soon entering the monsoon season. Every season we have nights where the crack of thunder goes from one horizon to the other and the sound is deafening and rattles the whole house. Raw power of the thunderstorm felt throughout my being.
God’s voice rules even the mighty thunder storm.
35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Voice of the LORD Is over Nations
Voice of the LORD Is over Nations
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion, like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes flames of fire.
David then says that the voice of the LORD breaks the cedars and shatters them. The Lebanon range was 10,000 feet above sea level and the Canaanites believed it was the home of their gods. Famous for Cedar forests but the thunderous voice of God even broke those trees.
As a symbol for lofty pride - God’s voice brings the pride of nations low
12 For a day belonging to the Lord of Armies is coming against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—it will be humbled— 13 against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan,
3 Think of Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and shady foliage and of lofty height. Its top was among the clouds. 4 The waters caused it to grow; the underground springs made it tall, directing their rivers all around the place where the tree was planted and sending their channels to all the trees of the field. 5 Therefore the cedar became greater in height than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied, and its boughs grew long as it spread them out because of the abundant water. 6 All the birds of the sky nested in its branches, and all the animals of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade. 7 It was beautiful in its size, in the length of its limbs, for its roots extended to abundant water. 8 The cedars in God’s garden could not eclipse it; the pine trees couldn’t compare with its branches, nor could the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with it in beauty. 9 I made it beautiful with its many limbs, and all the trees of Eden, which were in God’s garden, envied it. 10 “ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Since it towered high in stature and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height, 11 I determined to hand it over to a ruler of nations; he would surely deal with it. I banished it because of its wickedness. 12 Foreigners, ruthless men from the nations, cut it down and left it lying. Its limbs fell on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. All the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it. 13 All the birds of the sky nested on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field were among its boughs. 14 This happened so that no trees planted beside water would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and so that no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the underworld, among the people who descend to the Pit. 15 “ ‘This is what the Lord God says: I caused grieving on the day the cedar went down to Sheol. I closed off the underground deep because of it: I held back the rivers of the deep, and its abundant water was restrained. I made Lebanon mourn on account of it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. 16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I threw it down to Sheol to be with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were comforted in the underworld. 17 They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations. 18 “ ‘Who then are you like in glory and greatness among Eden’s trees? You also will be brought down to the underworld to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his hordes. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’ ”
It is difficult to hear God’s voice over the pride of West and East. Partially true because in His passive wrath God has given nations over to their sin. Also because we are in an age of grace God holds back His hand of judgment.
9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
God is still in charge - while everything looks like it is falling apart it is actually falling into place as planned. God is bringing all things to their proper fulfillment.
Voice of the LORD Is over Nature
Voice of the LORD Is over Nature
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the woodlands bare. In his temple all cry, “Glory!”
David describes the LORD’s voice as shaking the wilderness and the wilderness of Kadesh. Shakes translates to dance or writhe in pain as in childbirth. The LORD literally makes the deer give birth or writhe in birthing pain. David describes God’s voice with the power of an earthquake. God’s voice is powerful and brings both judgment and life
The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 13: Psalms 1–72 (God’s Voice Over the Wilderness)
As we also see God’s sovereign power commanding nature and the nations, and as we hear His voice and see His glory, we must bow in worship and cry, “glory!” in response to such majesty and might. In our worship we too reflect the worship of heaven. Thus in the Book of Revelation John hears heaven and earth join in one accord: “Blessing and honor and glory and power / Be to Him who sits on the throne, / And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:13).
God Rules
God Rules
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned, King forever. 11 The Lord gives his people strength; the Lord blesses his people with peace.
As David concludes he goes big and declares the LORD sits enthroned over the flood and sits enthroned as KING forever. The Lord is not under the flood but over it. Bringing the idea that God is not in over His head but still and always in control. David then states that God gives His people strength and blesses His people with peace. He can do this because it is not dependent on outward circumstances and even in the flood storm God blesses His people with His peace.
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
God sits as king forever over creation and history - God is king and sovereign. Chaos and pride may challenge His rule and reign His voice prevails. His word is established. Dont doubt the voice of God Shout praises of glory and worship Him and in this worship your heart will be tied to heaven with patience for the here and now.