Sermon for 7/3/22 "True Independence" 17 Minutes

Psalm 30

This morning I'll be reading Psalm 30 verses 1 through 12. And I'll be reading from the King James Version Bible. Psalm 30:1-12 This psalm was apparently written for the dedication of the house of David,,, but as we will see,,, there is differences of opinion as to what this title meant. Psalm 30 (KJV 1900) — A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David. 1 - I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 - O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 - O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 - Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 - For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 6 - And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 - Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 8 - I cried to thee, O Lord; And unto the Lord I made supplication. 9 - What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10 - Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper. 11 - Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12 - To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we looked at Luke 9:51-62 and we saw where Jesus was teaching the disciples while on the road to Jerusalem,,, and the way that He taught,,, that we don’t need excuses.

We must put God first instead of any excuses that we come up with.

If we do our part,,, God will take care of everything else that is holding us back,,, but we must trust Him to take care of it and obey His commands.

And Jesus makes it plain in these verses that without putting God first,,, we aren’t fit for the kingdom of God.

So we need to be sure that we quit making “excuses”,,, and keep God,,, at the center of our life going forward,,, just as Jesus warned us about while He was still with the disciples,,, and teaching them,,, while on the road,,, to Jerusalem.

This morning we will see how these verses in this psalm will help us in our walk with God this week.

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The title,,, at the beginning of this psalm reads,,, “A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.”

Some believe this was a song dedicated to the completion of the house of David,,, the palace that was built for him to live in.

Others think this was a psalm written for the dedication of the temple that his son Solomon would build and complete after David died.

In the Wesleyan Commentary,,, it said that it fit the events that happened during the plague in 2 Samuel 24:25 and 1 Chronicles 21:26.

It also said that the Jews evidently use the psalm in the Feast of Dedication ceremony because it was originally written to be used for the dedication of the temple site.

So we can see that there are different opinions about what this was used for,,, but really,,, It does not matter what building this psalm was written for,,, or how it would be used.

The psalm was written as a psalm of thanksgiving.

Specifically,,, we will see David describe his thanksgiving for deliverance from many circumstances.

This psalm thanks God for repeatedly bringing David through his difficulties.

As we look at this psalm,,, we will notice a number of contrasts that David expresses to show where he was,,, and where God has placed him now.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 1 through 3 say: 1 - I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 - O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 - O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

As you will see in many of the psalms that were written by David,,, he describes a terrible situation that he found himself in.

By reading these first three verses,,, we are left with the impression that David was afflicted with a terrible sickness,,, and that he believed he was going to die.

Verse 3 describes the feeling of being at the breaking point of death.

David felt that he was right on the edge and was about to go down into the pit of death.

Further, this illness had caused his enemies to rejoice.

They were gloating and rejoicing over what David was experiencing.

It is hard to be kicked while we are down.

We would like for others to be compassionate and concerned about us.

However,,, we see that this illness has been used as an opportunity to David’s enemies to rejoice over what has happened.

But David called to the Lord his God for help and God healed him.

God lifted David up from depths of his illness and despair.

David says that the Lord brought him up from the grave and was spared from going down into the pit.

This tells us the severity of what David was experiencing.

David seems to think that all was lost concerning his life and that there was no other hope but what the Lord could do for help.

Because God had spared David,,, he will exalt and praise the Lord for what has been done for him.

This situation,,, if we are understanding David’s words correctly,,, remind us of the terrible disease that afflicted Hezekiah,,, king of Judah.

After being told that he would die,,, Hezekiah prayed to God to heal him and wept bitterly,,, Isaiah comes back to Hezekiah and tells him that God has chosen to extend his life (2 Kings 20).

This gives us an idea of what we can expect from God.

We learn that we can go to God concerning our physical health and ask God to help us to overcome whatever our affliction may be.

While our spiritual health and spiritual things are of greater importance than anything physical,,, we clearly learn that God will listen to our prayers concerning our physical health and well-being.

We can pray directly to God to help us in our illness and let God work out the rest.

Whether God heals us through His touch,,, or uses others,,, the important thing to remember is that God does care,,, and He does hear us when we pray.

And God has all of the power that we need,,, to heal us from whatever is bothering us,,, because,,, He alone knows our bodies better than any man made machine or doctor today!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 4 and 5 say: 4 - Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, And give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 - For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

When you read this verse you can’t help but be amazed at the love God has for David.

Remember the times that David has fallen short,,, the bad things that he has done,,, and yet,,, he states here,,, as he gives praise to God,,, For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Even though David had a warrior in God’s army killed so that he could marry Bathsheba to cover up his sin of adultery,,, God forgives him.

David repented,,, as he always did when he made mistakes,,, that’s why,,, he was called,,, a man after God’s own heart.

Anger for a moment,,, favor for a lifetime.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 6 and 7 say: 6 - And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 - Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

David,,, and sometimes,,, we are prone to do as well,,, while things were going his way and everything was great,,, had began to think to highly of himself,,, his pride was causing him trouble.

And we see here that God disciplined him,,, and he needed to seek God’s deliverance,,, as we see in the next verses.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 8 through 10 say: 8 - I cried to thee, O Lord; And unto the Lord I made supplication. 9 - What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10 - Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.

David cried out to God once he realized that God had hid His face from him,,, and he boldly declared that he needed God’s mercy,,, so that he could continue to praise God!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 11 says: 11 - Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

If God is gracious enough to forgive and heal us,,, the sinner,,, then we should be big enough to give God our thanks and praise.

That’s what David is doing here,,, beginning his praise of God for what He has done for him.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 12 says: 12 - To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

In this verse,,, David continues in his praise of God,,, while we saw from verse 6 that his pride caused his downfall,,, and could have ended his life,,, and continued his separation from God forever,,, here we see that David is thankful,,, for God restoring him,,, healing him,,, and will give thanks unto thee for ever. ,,, as it says at the end of this psalm.

----------------------------------------------------------- David was always trying to praise God for helping him.

David wasn’t perfect,,, but he is a role model that we need to remember as we continue with our life here on earth.

When we mess up,,, make mistakes,,, become sick,,, whatever our problem,,, we need to remember David’s example and call upon God to save us.

That’s the only way that we can have “True Independence” from the effects of sin in our daily life.

Tomorrow is our independence day that we celebrate every year as we reflect on the freedoms that we have in this country.

Remember to pray for our leaders,,, as you should every day,,, but our country needs them desperately at this time.

Remember the sacrifice that so many men and women have made for us as they gave their lives fighting for the country that they loved enough to fight for what they believed in,,, and it’s because of them,,, that we have the freedoms that we enjoy today.

And as we celebrate our freedom in this country,,, don’t forget the freedom that we have today,,, because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us,,, as He died on the cross,,, for our sins,,, so that we can have the freedom to come before a “Holy God”,,, and have that personal relationship with Him,,, today,,, which gives us,,, the “True Independence” that we desire for our heavenly future,,, with God.

----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------