Summer Psalms #6 - Decision Time
Psalm 34:1-22
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - July 1, 2009
*Have you ever made a dumb decision? I’ve made plenty of them, more than I want to know. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, three-star General Russel Honoré called it “getting stuck on stupid.” -- And that’s what we do.
*In this Psalm David reflected on one of those low points in his life. The introduction clues us in, calling this: “A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.”
*David’s low point started with one of the highest points in his young life: The day that he killed Goliath of Gath, the ten and a half feet tall monster of a man who was terrorizing the Jewish army.
*John Phillips explained that the slaying of Goliath not only spelled triumph for David, it spelled trouble as well. It meant trouble with David’s King Saul. For Saul was instantly jealous of David, wished him ill, and began a campaign of persecution which lasted to the day of his death.
*First Saul eyed David with a resentful, envious eye. Then twice he (threw) a javelin at David. King Saul plotted against David. He sent a gang of bullies to murder David in his bed. He hounded him all over the country. And so it went until David, for all his trust in the Lord, began to weary of this deadly game of hide and seek. At last, David’s faith failed. (I would say his faith faltered.)
*Phillips goes on to tell us that David went to the priest and told four lies in a single breath, conning the priest into giving his men showbread to eat, and also giving David the sword of Goliath. Then David made a momentous decision, he would go where Saul would never reach him. He would go down to Goliath’s home town of Gath, and seek asylum with Abimelech otherwise known as Achish, one of the great Philistine lords. (1)
*Guess what Abimelech’s servants did as soon as they realized who David was? They grabbed him and took him to their king. What were you thinking, David?
*1 Samuel 21:10 - 22:1 tells us more:
10. Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
11. And the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: `Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?’’
12. Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
13. So he changed his behavior before them, feigned madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard.
14. Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me?
15. Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?’’
1. David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. . .
*David wrote Psalm 34 sometime after his escape from the people in Gath. Maybe he was still hiding out in that cave. Maybe he was looking back years later. But as David wrote, he was writing from a new perspective. Now David is committed to doing the right thing. Now he is committed to making the right decisions in life. And now is the time for us to commit to do the right thing. This is our decision time.
1. First: It is time to exalt the Lord.
*As a matter of fact, it is always time to exalt the Lord! It is always time to praise the Lord. As David said in vs. 1, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” That was David’s commitment, and it has to be a commitment, because, guess what? We don’t always feel like praising the Lord. But God is worthy of our praise, even when we don’t feel like it!
*Notice that David made his commitment to exalt the Lord, knowing that praise is contagious. As David said in vs. 2, “My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.” Praise is contagious. (By the way, so is gossip, so is complaining, so is cursing.) Knowing this, David calls us to join him in praise in vs. 3, “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.”
*Then in vs. 4-7, David gives us a few of the causes for our praise, a few of the great reasons why every believer should exalt the Lord. David said what we could say:
4. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
5. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.
6. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.
7. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
*For these reasons, and countless more, we should all be praising the Lord! Will you do it? It is time to exalt the Lord.
2. And it is time to experience God.
*Many of you will remember the great study Henry Blackaby wrote over 20 years ago, “Experiencing God.” This is exactly what David calls us to do in vs. 8: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
*This call to “taste and see” reminds us that salvation is much more than trying to keep rules. Salvation is much more than religious rituals. Salvation is a personal relationship with God that we receive by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
*When I explain the plan of salvation to people using my hand, every finger tells part of the story. And my ring finger highlights the fact that the heart of Christianity is a personal relationship with God. Here’s the whole plan in brief:
*Thumbs-up - Good News! God loves you, and has a great purpose for your life. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
*This is the finger we usually use to point, and today I want to use it to point to our problem. The problem is me. The problem is inside my heart, and this problem is sin. It’s a problem that all of us have. Rom 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” And it’s a most serious problem because “the wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23)
*Our Biggest Finger reminds us that we need somebody bigger than us. We are not big enough, strong enough, smart enough or good enough to make it to Heaven on our own. We need help! And Jesus Christ is the only one who can help us get to Heaven. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Then Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins. But 3 days later Jesus rose from the dead, and He is able to give eternal life to all who trust in Him. So that verse Rom 6:23 goes on to say, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
*My ring finger points us to the truth that salvation is a relationship with God. The Bible uses human relationships to help us understand God’s desire for our relationship with Him. So we read about Jesus being our close friend and God being our Father. We also see the relationship between Christ and the church being compared to a marriage.
*At this point, I usually tell them some facts about my mom. Then I ask them if they believe those facts, pointing out that I could have made the whole thing up. Next I point out that no matter how much they knew about my mom and believed about my mom, they still would not know her in a personal way. I don’t just know ABOUT my mom, I know HER. She is my mom and I am her son. We have a personal relationship with each other. And God the Father wants to have a personal relationship with us through His Son Jesus Christ. This is the heart of Christianity.
*And the little finger? It reminds us that it all begins with a small step of faith. We need to have the faith to call on the Lord for salvation, for “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom 10:13) (2)
*To be saved is to know God in a personal way, to have a personal relationship with the Lord. This is the most important experience anyone can ever have! “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” It is time to experience God.
3. And it is time to excel in Godly living.
*In vs. 9-14, David calls us to a life of holy reverence before God.
9. Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.
10. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
*Notice in vs. 11 that this is something we learn: “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” We have to learn this holy, reverent, fear of the Lord. Bruce Howell helps us by explaining that the word “fear” in the Bible means “to tremble.” It is used in connection with 3 experiences:
[1] To tremble with the thought of being punished by a holy God for our sins.
[2] To tremble at the sight of the mighty acts of God.
[3] To tremble with joy at the knowledge that people were being saved. (3)
*Our nation desperately needs more respect, more reverence for God. But Holy reverence is something we must learn. Then in vs. 11-14, it is also something we must live:
11. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12. Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
13. Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking guile.
14. Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it.
*It is time to excel in Godly living.
4. And it is time to examine God’s justice.
*If you look at all of the evil and pain in the world. If you just look at the success of wicked people, you could get the idea that God had walked off the job. How many times has this question been asked: “If there is a loving God, then why is their so much evil and suffering in the world?”
*We must not lose sight of the truth that God is just, and His judgment is coming on the world. So David helps us examine God’s justice in vs. 15-21:
15. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.
16. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
21. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
*Never forget that God is just, and His judgment is coming on the world. On the week of our 233rd birthday as a nation it is good for us to hear these words spoken long ago by Thomas Jefferson: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have removed their only firm basis: A conviction in the minds of men that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (4)
*It is time to examine God’s justice.
5. And it is time to explain God’s salvation.
*In vs. 18-22, David explained a lot about God’s salvation. First in vs. 18, David said: -“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.” What is a contrite spirit? That sounds like something we need to know. The word picture is something crushed, even down to powder.
*Charles Spurgeon explained a contrite heart with these words: “What a blessed token for good is a repentant, mourning heart! Just when the sinner condemns himself, the Lord graciously absolves him. If we chasten our own spirits the Lord will spare us. He never breaks with the rod of judgment those who are already sore with the rod of conviction. Salvation is linked with contrition. (5)
*In vs. 19-20, David went on to say:
19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.
*Vs. 20 can seem odd and obscure at first glance, but it was a sure prophecy and a clear sign of the coming Messiah. God introduced the unbroken bones when gave instructions for the first Passover. Because of Pharaoh’s rebellion, the Lord was going to kill all of the first-born in Egypt. And the only way to escape was through the blood of the Passover Lamb. So in Exodus 12, the Lord told Moses and Aaron:
3. “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: `On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.
5. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
6. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
7. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
12. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
13. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
*Later in this same chapter, God also told them:
46. In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones.
*Every Passover lamb was pointing ahead to Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God who died on the cross to take away our sins. And this seemingly unimportant command not to break the bones of the lamb was fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross for us. We read about it in John 19:30-36:
30. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!’’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
31. Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
32. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.
33. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
34. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
35. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.
36. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken.’’
*David is explaining God’s salvation to us. And in vs. 22 he said, “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
*The Lord redeems, pays for, buys back the souls of those who trust in Him, That’s why 1 Peter 1:18-19 tells Christians, “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Thank God for the Blood of Jesus Christ!
*Former slave-trader John Newton wrote the much-loved hymn “Amazing Grace” But Newton also wrote these words:
-“Saved by grace, I live to tell what the love of Christ hath done,
-He redeemed my soul from hell, of a rebel made a son;
-Oh! I tremble still to think, How secure I lived in sin;
-Sporting on destruction’s brink, yet was saved from falling in.” (6)
*People need to know. And it is time for us to explain the truth in love. Now is the time for us to commit to do the right thing. It is time to exalt the Lord, experience God, excel in Godly living, examine God’s justice and explain God’s salvation.
-God help us to do these great things!
1. Adapted from “Exploring the Psalms” by John Phillips
2. Original source unknown. Thanks to David McCormick for sharing it with me!
3. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “Happy Birthday America” by Bruce Howell - Psalm 33:1-22
4. Quote by Thomas Jefferson (original source unknown)
5. Charles H. Spurgeon, THE TREASURY OF DAVID Vol. 1, Psalms 1-57, (Zondervan 11th printing, 1979)
6. KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 15312 - SOURCE: Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator Supplements - TITLE: A Hymn of John Newton
