We’ve been looking at Psalms for the past seven weeks. I hope one thing you have learned in this series is that the Psalms are versatile. There is a Psalm that fits very succinctly and successfully into whatever your life struggle is.
 
Whether you need HOPE…
 
...When it Seems like No One can help.
…Or When the world is falling apart.
…Or When You Can’t Escape Negativity…
…Or When You Can’t Figure out number three across on your daily crossword puzzle.
 
(OK. That last one wasn’t part of our series, but still…the Psalms would offer hope in that situation. See: A five letter word for the Savior of the world.)
 
But what happens when you no longer need hope? What do you do then?
 
Psalm 30 has the answer for us. Before we begin dissecting the text, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. Exalt the One Who Exalted You
 
Psalm 30 is written by a guy named David. He was perhaps the greatest Biblical musician of all time.
 
Yes.
 
Greater than Chris Tomlin.
Greater than Amy Grant.
Greater than whoever wrote “Zacchaeus was a wee little man.”
 
In fact, he’s the first guy to author more than one song that is preserved in the Bible. (In the Bible there are songs recorded by “artists” prior to David. One was written by Moses and his sister Miriam. Another song by Moses and his assistant Joshua. One more song was written by a lady named Deborah and a guy named Baruch. But since it’s their only song, you might call them a one-hit wonder.)
 
David, on the other hand, wrote 73 different Psalms. Since there are only 150 Psalms, that means we he was only 2 Psalms short of writing fifty percent of all the Psalms.
 
Wow.
 
Psalm 30 is a Psalm written late in David’s life. He’s had a lot of practice and gotten very adept at lyrical word play. Check out verse 1:
I will exalt you, LORD, for you lifted me out of depths. (v.1)
 
It’s perhaps a bit difficult in English, but do you see the word play?
The subject and objects are reversed,
But the verbal idea remains the same:
 
I will lift up the Lord,
Because the Lord lifted me up.
 
************************
 
Lifting God up is exactly what David does. Check out verses 1-3 and count up the number of times that David refers to God as doing a benevolent action:
 
You lifted me out of depths.
Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.
You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
You spared me from going down to the pit. (v.1-3)
 
Did you count?
 
God is the doer of four benevolent actions.
 
He lifted David out of the depths.
He healed David.
He brought David up from the realm of the dead.
He spared David from going to the pit.
 
Granted, David is listed as doing one of the actions.
But that one action is to call on God to help him.
 
100% of David’s praise EXALTS God.
 
What percentage is it in your life?
 
For example, if you don’t have COVID how do you talk about it with others?
 
I follow all the rules.
I wear a mask when I sleep.
I stay quarantined.
I do everything online.
 
I don’t know what everyone else’s problem is, but I figured out the secret to staying COVID free.
 
You’ll notice that was also five verses.
And…ZERO mentions of God.
 
Or maybe if you’d done well economically during COVID.
 
I brainstormed new ideas for my business.
I thought creatively.
I worked hard.
I had a great savings account.
I kept my family financially stable.
 
Again…
Five more verses…
…and God is nowhere to be found.
 
TRUTH:
If your language makes it UNCLEAR who gave you healing,
Your language isn’t CLEAR enough.
 
This is especially true in the area of salvation.
 
There is nothing that is MORE obviously God’s doing than our salvation.
We have literally earned nothing but hell with our sins.
Zero amount of good works can save us.
We can’t even believe in Jesus’ saving power with the Holy Spirit working faith in our hearts.
 
If we give the impression it’s about what we do, then…
What does that teach others?
 
I had this friend on Facebook. He liked to write his testimonies about how God had worked in his life. One of his testimonies struck me:
 
“Dude man, I totally surrendered to God. I got on my knees. I called out at the top of my lungs. I meant it. I really meant it. And then I made it my goal to always follow him like no one else had ever followed him. I would be God’s warrior. I promised God that. And I’ve been fighting for him ever since. Man…That’s how I got saved.”
 
Oh.
 
You mean that’s how you saved yourself.
Tell me -- Why did you need God again?
 
TRUTH:
When it’s CLEAR God’s brought healing, God calls us to CLEARLY give HIM praise.
 
This isn’t difficult.
There are plenty of action verbs that accurately describe what God did for us!
 
He lived for us.
He died innocently in our place.
He rose triumphantly.
 
He called you in the Gospel
He washed you in his baptism.
He gives you his body and blood in communion.
 
He planted faith in your heart.
He caused it to grow.
He strengthened it.
He helps it grow.
He caused it to bloom.
 
And led you to share the Gospel with others.
Where…
 
He plants faith in their hearts.
He strengthens that faith. “
He helps that faith grow.
He causes it to bloom…
And…
 
You get the point.
 
This is ALL about God.
Therefore, God deserves ALL the praise.
Our response when God brings healing is to give ALL praise to him!
 
II. The Praise Pro’s Praise Pointers
 
So how do we do that?
 
Well…
 
David is a praise pro.
Maybe we can get a few praise pointers from him.
This section is called “The Praise Pro’s Praise Pointers”
 
(1) Admit Your Failures
 
In 1 Chronicles 21, David has been king in Israel for decades. And things have been going very well.
 
His army had victory after victory.
His enemies had retreated.
The economy was booming.
The people were happy.
 
David thought:
 
I’m a pretty sweet king.
I think people should know how sweet I am.
Let’s take a census of all the fighting men in Israel so that everyone will know I have the biggest army in the world.
And we can write it down for people to know how big an army I had and that I am probably the greatest king in history.
 
To be fair, David’s advisor advised against this:
 
Umm…
Didn’t GOD do all this?
Why are YOU so concerned with exalting YOURSELF?
 
The king overruled him.
The command was carried out.
And…
 
This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel. (1 Chronicles 21:7)
 
The punishment was awful.
A plague.
A sickness.
It ripped through Israel and spread way faster than COVID-19.
 
How fast?
In three days, 70,000 people died.
 
It was God’s way of saying to David and all of Israel
“You didn’t make this great nation happen. I did. It was a gift. And…I can rip it just like that.”
 
By the time David gets around to writing Psalm 30, God has relented.
David had repented.
David had asked God for mercy.
Most importantly, God had mercifully ended the plague.
 
David writes about it in this Psalm. He says:
God’s anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime;
Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”
Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. (v.6-7)
 
Doesn’t that seem strange?
Why would David want that recorded for all to see?
Afterall, his original goal was to make himself look great.
This account makes him look like a prideful jerk.
 
But David no longer cared.
Because this wasn’t about him.
This was about God’s mercy.
 
It’s still about God’s mercy today. Therefore, it’s important to remember this in our praise life:
Admitting our FAILURES magnifies God’s MERCY!
 
Because you might read this story and think that’s really mean of God to do that!
 
These people didn’t deserve that!
I agree.
They didn’t deserve what God gave them.
They didn’t deserve MERCY.
 
Because David had sinned, sin deserves death.
The people were sinners, sin deserves death.
But God stopped the death, in favor of his mercy.
 
The more David proclaimed and let people know, “This was my fault!”
The more incredible God’s mercy that said, “I am erasing your fault.”
 
To think of it one more way,
 
If I met you for a movie and I said, “Some guy paid for my movie ticket!” You’d said, “That’s nice.”
If I met you for a movie and I said, “Also he bought me this extra large popcorn and soda,” You’d say, “That’s very nice.”
If I met you for a movie and I said, “Actually he’s gave me a ride, has been paying for my rent for the past year, paid of all my students loans, gave me a job, bought me a new wardrobes, and he even got me a NEW subscription to Disney Plus in time for The Mandalorian season 2.”
You’d say, ‘That’s amazing!”
 
It’s the same with God.
 
The more we understand our debt.
The better we understand God’s mercy.
 
Similarly…
 
The more others know about our debt.
The more others know about God’s mercy.
 
And isn’t that what we’re about?
Planting Jesus in North Raleigh?
 
(2) Be Public About It
 
In verse 8-9, David describes how he pled for his own life in the midst of this self-imposed pandemic:
 
To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord, I cried for mercy:
What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness? (v.8-9)
 
I think this is an interesting way for David to plead for his life.
Because…
 
God just illustrated that David didn’t need him.
But David is now pleading that God did need him.
 
Because if he dies from the plague, he’ll just be a pile of dirt.
And dirt doesn’t make a lot of noise.
It doesn’t know any worship songs.
 
If you listen quietly though you can hear…
 
NOTHING.
 
What’s David’s point?
God, I promise I can be a lot louder than that dust.
I promise I’ll praise you with more vigor than the dust.
I promise that more people will come to know the Gospel on account me, than that dust.
 
Do the same.
Be public about your praise.
Be louder than the dust.
 
The other day Julianna took Daniela to the park.
As they were there, she struck up a conversation with some parents.
Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by Daniela.
 
She wasn’t crying.
She wasn’t pouting.
She wasn’t complaining.
 
She was singing a song that she had just learned;
 
Cristo me ama, bien lo se.
Su palabra me hace ve
Que los ninos son de aquel
El es nuestro amigo fiel!
 
Si Cristo me ama!
Si Cristo me ama!
Si Cristo me Ama!
La biblia dice asi.
 
No regard for being in public.
No regard for what others might think
No regard for whether she pronounced each word correctly.
 
Just praise.
Public praise.
For all to hear.
 
(3) Dance! (And if you’re bad at dancing, Employ Unexpected Acts of Praise)
 
Check out verse 11. David says:
You turned my wailing into dancing;
You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. (v.11)
 
Sackcloth is a rough material.
It’s itchy.
It’s scratchy.
It’s what sacks are usually made out of it.
And sacks are not usually the best type of clothing.
 
But wearing sackcloth was an Old Testament way of showing your sorrow.
People would put on the itchy, scratchy sackcloth to show God, “I feel so bad about my sin. Comfort doesn’t matter to me right now. Being right with you does.”
 
After his sin and the subsequent plague, David was in sackcloth.
But thanks to God’s mercy.
 
Now he had traded in his sackcloth…
For dancing shoes.
 
I don’t know what kind of dance David did.
Was it a Latin Salsa?
A line dance?
Mambo #5?
Or just the rubber band?
 
I don’t know.
That’s not the point.
 
The point is that David was so happy with God’s incredible grace that he couldn’t help but dance!
 
You might be looking at this what now and be thinking – I can’t dance!
No worries.
It’s not the dancing part that’s mandatory.
 
Here’s the heart of this truth:
 
TRUTH:
Proper praise results in UNEXPECTED displays of THANKFULNESS.
 
Stopping your car at an intersection and handing a $50 bill to the man on the corner.
Attending, not one, not two, but three Growth Group studies online.
An Instagram account that shifts from photos of you to declarations of praise to God.
An eerily happy disposition even during ELECTION season.
 
Think outside the box here.
How can you praise God in an UNEXPECTED way this week?
 
(4) Always Praise
 
Because while David ends the Psalm, he isn’t ending the praise. In fact, look at what he concludes with:
Lord my God, I will praise you forever. (v.12)
 
He didn’t say, “I will praise you for an hour on Sunday.”
He didn’t say, “I will praise you for a week”
He didn’t say, “I will praise you until it appears the plague is over.”
 
In fact…
 
Here’s how confident David is.
 
Check out the introduction to the Psalm.
It says, “For the dedication of the temple.”
 
Thing is…
 
David didn’t dedicate the temple.
He didn’t finish construction while he was king.
He didn’t begin construction while he was king.
He didn’t even lay the foundation.
 
All he did was use some of his own money to buy the land that the temple would eventually be built on.
 
Wow.
 
David is so confident that God will continue to show mercy.
David is confident that God will continue to show kindness.
David is confident that God will continue to be God.
 
That includes 2020.
That includes right now.
 
No matter what year it is.
No matter what month it is.
No matter what time it is.
 
PRAISE GOD!

There’s a lot of negativity right now.
 
One morning while I was in Colombia, I awoke early.
I yawned.
I stretched.
I made the terrible mistake of checking the news.
 
COVID.
Racism.
Dirty politics.
 
I thought: “I need something less negative.”
So, I did the exact opposite and opened Facebook.
 
More COVID.
More racism.
More dirty politics.
 
I was starting to feel a bit depressed from all the negativity when Daniela woke up. I was happy to see her and excited to start the day with this beautiful ray of sunshine.
 
But first, she needed to take her medicine.
And the only way to get her to take her medicine is to bribe her with Spanish YouTube Kids’ songs
 
I sat her on my lap and pulled up the video on my phone called Cinco Patitos. Maybe you know its English counterpart:
 
Five little ducks went out one day.
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said, “Quack-quack-quack-quack.”
But only four little ducks came back.
 
As the song progresses, the mother duck slowly loses all five of her ducks.
As I watching this video, I saw the sadness on the cartoon mother duck’s face, and for the first time ever fashioning myself a parent, I thought to myself:
 
This song is horrible!
Where did all the ducklings go?
Did one of them get COVID?
Was one of them abducted?
Why didn’t the government do more to protect the duckling from disappearance?
 
And my mind was filled with more negativity.
Even in kids’ songs!
 
Negativity is everywhere.
Where do we turn to escape it?
Where do we find a place without negativity?
 
God’s got an answer for us. Before we look at it, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Place without Negativity
 
Check out the first verse of Psalm 84:
How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! (v.1)
 
Lovely.
 
That’s the adjective the writer uses here.
 
Not meh.
Not ok.
Not even pretty.
 
But lovely.
 
That’s a word reserved for the finest occasions in life.
 
A snow-capped mountain with a sunset backdrop.
A fine meal at a five-star restaurant.
A bride walking down the aisle.
 
But here the adjective is used to describe God’s dwelling place.
 
Which…
 
Does sound lovely.
And immediately leads to the question:
 
Where is God’s dwelling place?
 
Scripturally, there are a couple of different Sunday School answers that might fit under the category: “Place where God Dwells.” Let’s examine each in context to determine what the Psalmist is talking about.
 
1) Everywhere
 
This is a very common Sunday School answer and it is one hundred percent accurate. Jeremiah 23:24 says, “‘Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?,’ declares the Lord, ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’” This is the reason theologians call God, omnipresent. It’s a scholarly term that means, “God is everywhere.”
 
He’s on the shores of the Outer Banks.
He’s on the highest peaks of the Blue Ridge trail.
 
He’s in downtown Raleigh.
He’s on the streets of Durham.
 
He’s here at 1100 Newton Road.
And he’s 2,172 miles away in Bogota, Colombia.
 
But…
 
There’s something about that answer that doesn’t make sense in this section.
 
Because while God is everywhere, it seems strange to refer to some places on earth as God’s dwelling.
A dwelling implies residence.
Where God puts his feet up.
Where God is cozy.
 
For example:
 
I don’t believe it’s correct to say that a strip club is God’s dwelling place.
I don’t think a meth lab is God’s stomping grounds.
It is absolutely wrong to say that the local KKK meeting is where God likes to hang out.
 
To be fair: God’s there.
Judging.
 
But it’s not his dwelling place.
 
2) Heaven
 
This leads to a second common Sunday School answer. God is in heaven (which is exactly what Psalm 115:3 says, “God is in heaven.”)
And unlike earth, heaven is absolutely, 100% guaranteed void of any negativity.
 
Think about that:
 
For example, when we returned home this week, we were able to get all the mail we had missed out on during our six-week hiatus.
Can you guess what much of that mail was?
 
Political attack ads.
A whole stack of them.
Taller than all seven books in the Harry Potter series.
 
There aren’t political attack ads in heaven.
Because there isn’t negativity.
 
There aren’t any COVID testing sites in heaven.
There are not any angry emojis in heaven.
There are not any angry talking heads on CNN or Fox News in heaven.
There are not any racist slurs.
 
Heaven is lovely because there isn’t even a smidgen of an ounce of negativity.
 
*************
 
But I don’t know if heaven is what the Psalmist is talking about here.
Because as you read the rest of the Psalm it becomes apparent that the Psalmist is longing for a place he can physically get to in this lifetime.
 
He talks about people traveling great distances to get there.
As a place that birds can get to.
It’s a physical place.
 
The phrase “God’s dwelling place” in this Psalm has to be something physical you can get to on earth.
And it has to be somewhere that give you a glimpse of the positivity of heaven.
 
Friends, it’s the only Sunday School answer we haven’t considered yet.
 
*************
 
The author of this Psalm was one of the Sons of Korah. Does that sound familiar? We looked at a Psalm of this writer way back during our Anxiety sermon series. Psalm 42. It was written by one of the Sons of Korah who had been separated from Jerusalem during a civil war. As a result, his soul longed for returning to the temple where he could worship God, just like a deer pants for streams of water.
 
If this Psalm was written around the same time as Psalm 42.
Then, the “God’s dwelling place” referred to is none other than the temple.
 
But what about modern times?
We don’t have a temple.
We have a...
 
3) CHURCH 
 
Jesus said this to his disciples, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
 
This is more than just a, “I’m everywhere,” statement by Jesus .
Here he promises to be with his people when they gather in his name.
 
He promises to be in his word.
He promises to be in Sacrament.
He promises to be with his people.
 
This was key for Jesus’ disciples to hear. Because very soon after these words were spoken, Jesus would be killed.
He would rise.
He would physically ascend to heaven.
 
And Jesus’ disciples would be left behind.
They would be persecuted.
They would have to gather together in small, hidden rooms for fear of being hauled off and thrown into the lion’s den because of their faith…
 
Still.
Jesus would dwell with them.
 
II. Yearning for God’s Dwelling Place
 
At the time that this Psalm was written, the people gathered to worship God in the temple. This Psalmist couldn’t wait to get back there. In verse 2 he writes, “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
 
Again, the writer was a priest who had separated been separated by civil war from God’s house.
If ever there’s been a time in history that people could understand what this guy was feeling, 2020 is it.
 
Do you yearn for this place?
Does your heart and your flesh cry out to be with God’s people?
Are you about to faint?
 
Or…
 
Are you kinda glad that COVID happened? It has really freed up your weekend?
Does your heart yearn for the latest episode of The Bachelor more than seeing that one church guy again?
Honestly, is there a part of you that is thankful you have an excuse not to go, because then you don’t have to run the risk of seeing that guy with a political opinion different than yours?
 
I don’t mean to guilt you into putting your physical lives in danger.
Not at all. Not remotely. That’s not what I’m saying.
 
But…
 
If you don’t have some kind of yearning.
If you don’t have some kind of want.
Even a smidgen of, “I’d like to gather again.”
 
I do have deep concern for your souls.
 
*********************
Because…
 
If your heart isn’t yearning for the place where God’s people gather…
It’s hard to see how your heart is yearning for God’s people.
 
And if you’re heart isn’t yearning for God’s people…
Then, how can your heart be yearning for God?
 
And if your heart isn’t yearning for God…?
You are in spiritual danger.
 
To put it another way, God calls his people his “body”.
Now it isn’t very common for someone to say to me, “Phil, I like you. But I really hate your left kneecap.”
That’s foolish.
 
You can’t love a person and hate their body part.
 
Similarly, you can’t claim to love God and want nothing to do with his people.
 
TRUTH:
A heart not yearning for God’s DWELLING PLACE reveals a lack of yearning for GOD.
 
And if you don’t yearn for God.
This is terrifying.
 
Because you might be on the verge of getting exactly what you want.
 
Not being near God or his people.
 
Ever.
 
*********************
Thankfully even when we weren’t yearning for God…
 
God’s heart yearned for you.
 
He abandoned his heavenly throne.
He came to the negativity of this place called earth.
He experienced an ungodly amount of negativity.
He took on all the negativity of your sins.
 
He died.
 
But then…
He rose.
 
He died and came back to life.
He conquered death itself that we too might conquer death itself and enter the eternally perfect courts of heaven.
 
***********************
 
TRUTH:
God YEARNS to dwell with YOU.
 
God yearned to dwell with you so much that he died for you.
And God yearns to dwell with you so much that he is calling to you right now.
 
But that isn’t just for his own sake.
It isn’t to boost his ego.
It isn’t so that God can call up his buddy Moses and say, “Guess who hung at my house last week?
 
Nope.
 
God yearns to dwell with you for your sake.
 
Not just in heaven.
 
Look at what the Psalmist writes next:
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
 
Back in the day, the temple was an incredible structure. It was made with large columns with trellises near. It was an easy spot for a little pigeon to hide in. High above the city, he could see danger from a mile away. Hidden in the crevices, he was protected. Tucked into the little nest, he was safe.
 
If God does that when birds go to God’s dwelling place.
What will he do for you?
 
TRUTH:
God BLESSES time dwelling with him.
 
He uplifts his people.
He encourages his people.
He comforts his people.
He rebukes his people.
He strengthens his people.
He inspires his people.
He cheers his people on.
 
And oftentimes…
He does that for his people.
Through his people.
In the place where his people dwell.
 
III. What Now?
 
(1) Do WHATEVER It Takes TO Dwell with God
 
Check out the next verses of the Psalm:
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. (v 5-7)
 
In Old Testament times, it was common to make a pilgrimage to God’s temple in Jerusalem. Since the temple was in the south, those in the north would have to travel about a hundred miles just to get to the temple.
 
The place that is mentioned here is the Valley of Baca. That’s not even a real place. It means “valley of sorrows.” The point is that even though the journey might be long and filled with sorrows (i.e. “I have a blister on my right heel from walking in these sandals for so long)…
 
The blessing of gathering with God and his people made all the pain worth it.
 
Do the same.
 
If it means going to Saturday worship because there’s a smaller crew of people, do it…even if you can’t hang out with your friends as early.
If it means putting on a mask even though it’s a bit uncomfortable, but it allows you to gather, do it.
If it means turning off your phone while you sit in front of the laptop to ensure you can get the most out of online worship, do it.
 
Because honestly, people are doing whatever it takes to get to the voting booth this year.
Why not do whatever it takes to dwell with God and his people?
 
(2) Do WHATEVER It Takes as You Are IN God’s Dwelling
 
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
 
At the temple, one of the jobs was to open the giant doors to the temple and close the doors behind the people that went in.
 
That must not have been a very glamorous job.
 
No one cheers for the doorkeeper.
No one celebrates the doorkeeper.
No one gives out awards for the best doorkeeper in the business.
 
Yet the Psalmist was happy to be a doorkeeper.
Not ‘cause he loved holding doors.
Because it meant he was in God’s house.
 
Same thing, friends.
God wants us to be thrilled to do whatever he calls us to do because we are doing it in God’s house.
 
Whether it’s baking cookies…
Or holding the oven door open for the guy making cookies.
 
Whether it’s singing music.
Or holding the folder open for the guy singing music.
 
Whether it’s holding the door.
Or disinfecting the handles for the guy who holds the doors.
 
IV. Conclusion
 
Look at how the Psalmist concludes this song --
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you. (v.11-12)
 
Did you hear that?
Did you hear what God withholds from those dwelling with him?
 
Answer:
No good thing.
 
As in:
All good things are yours as we gather around God’s Word.
 
Look at our church sanctuary when you have a chance.
What do you see when you look at it?
 
This wood on this altar that has some chips in it.
The carpet that’s stained.
The baptismal font that has some warping in it.
Sometimes the pews that have Oreo crumbs on them.
The cushions near the altar that are somewhat faded.
 
But look again.
This is so much more than that.
 
This altar is where the life changing Gospel has been preached to a man who thought his drug-filled past meant God could never love him.
Lovely.
 
This carpet is where I was standing as I prayed with a mother who had lost a child.
Lovely.
 
This baptismal font is where my shaky, water filled hands have delivered God’s baptismal promises to a beautiful newborn girl.
Lovely.
 
These pews are where I sat as I held the hands of family who had lost a loved one and shared the promises of the resurrection.
Lovely.
 
The cushions at this altar are we guilt stricken, conscience terrified sinners have knelt and heard God’s promises: This is my blood given for you.
Lovely.
 
Lovely.
 
How LOVELY is God’s dwelling place.

Psalm 13

It is no fun feeling forgotten.

I still have memories of a time in middle school that I had to stay after for one reason or another and Mom had to come pick me up instead of taking the bus home. Of course, this was well before cell phones, let alone smartphones. And I just remember standing there in the school parking lot… watching… as I heard each new car come by and each one turning out not to be ours for what felt like a very long time. And I’m pretty sure I started to feel a little upset that I was left waiting for so long, and then as the minutes crept on, maybe a little more so scared that maybe she forgot entirely.

Well, I did not live out my youth in a dumpster behind the school. Naturally, she did show up. And all told, I don’t think I was waiting more than 15 minutes. When you’re young, that can be a scary long time.

But, it’s hard to feel like you’ve been forgotten by somebody. It’s tough when it’s someone close, like family or a friend. You were going to get together and they just… don’t show. They didn’t message you because… well, they forgot. And it’s a little harder when it’s not a one-off accident but you just sort of fade out of someone’s life. Someone you thought you mattered to. Maybe life changed and those regular opportunities that you saw each other stopped happening. One of you took a different job or the evening activity where you crossed paths is over. And now that the friendship would require active outreach to maintain… you’ve stopped hearing from the other person.

It can be really discouraging to find out you’re not as important to someone as you once thought. And since we’re dragging ourselves down the hole, let’s just go all out and ask – how much worse if it’s God who’s forgotten us?

I mean, you may know better. God doesn’t forget, you say. But that doesn’t stop the feelings. That doesn’t stop the question from cropping up sometimes. Let’s not pretend we’re too good to feel that way or that it would be somehow shameful and embarrassing to admit. Because our psalm for today comes to us from King David. David was one of the greatest kings of Israel and one of the greatest examples of faith in the Lord from the Old Testament. But David was human. David was sinful. And David had his times of weakness. Psalm 13 is just one example of his wrestling with that sinful nature, in this case struggling with feeling forgotten by God.

Listen to the start of this psalm and see if these words resonate with you at all:

    How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
      How long will you hide your face from me?
    How long must I experience worries in my soul,
      sorrow in my heart every day?
      How long will my enemy tower over me?
     Look at me. Answer me, O LORD my God.
      Give light to my eyes
         so I do not sleep in death,
       so my enemy does not say, “I have overcome him,”
         so my foes do not rejoice when I fall.

I read that, and it almost makes me want to cry. Big, manly tears mind you, but still. It’s heartbreaking to hear someone else suffering like that but perhaps even more so because I know exactly what that feels like. There’s so much trouble in our world and our lives, but we get through it because we know we have our God to lean on, that he is always there to help us… so how do we handle it when we feel like that’s not there anymore? If we start to question, doubt, or just plain think that God’s not helping?

Ridiculous, you might think. But falling into that is easier than you think. King David succumbed to it. Take a look at each of his laments and ask yourself if you’ve ever felt that way…

    How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
      How long will you hide your face from me?

When we suffer under a difficulty, when we pray to God for help and nothing changes, when days turn into weeks and maybe even years and it’s still the same… How long can we endure before our prayers turn into cries like this? How long, Lord? Are you listening? Are you there? Why are you hiding? Am I waiting at the bottom of a to-do list that you’ll never get to or have I dropped off your radar entirely?

     How long must I experience worries in my soul,
      sorrow in my heart every day?

And without help, without attention… how many days do you spend wrapped up in your worries, and how many sleepless nights does it bring? If God would just help, or at least acknowledge you, then maybe you could have some peace knowing this will be handled. But when it’s so painfully obvious that you’re on your own, you end up in that state where nothing gets done because all your time and energy is consumed by worry and sorrow.

      How long will my enemy tower over me?

And maybe this struggle is caused by more than just bad circumstance. Maybe there’s literally people acting against you. We talked about this last week. Maybe you have a particular thorn or two in your side. Maybe it’s just the random indifference or even spite of the people you meet day to day. But it’s easy to feel like you’re always losing against them, you’re always the one who has to bend and give in and give up, and it shouldn’t have to be that way right? If God were here, if God were on your side – how can you lose against mere people?

     Look at me. Answer me, O LORD my God.
      Give light to my eyes

And here’s the thing. The questions pile up. The evidence piles up. We wonder why God doesn’t help, why he doesn’t act, where is he at all. I mean, as Christians we understand and accept that this life needs to have some trouble in it. God said it will not be perfectly easy. But… when we’re in the middle of so much trouble, is it too much to ask him to at least explain a little? To “give light to our eyes” and show us why this is going on? It would be so much easier to bear if we could see the purpose behind it but so often it feels like we get nothing but radio silence from him. It can come to this point where maybe we accept the suffering but all we really want to know is, “why?”

         so I do not sleep in death,
       so my enemy does not say, “I have overcome him,”
         so my foes do not rejoice when I fall.

And maybe one last point that sort of drives home this idea that God is just not paying attention. Because what sort of message is it sending to the world when his people are the ones suffering the most, getting beaten down the most, and succeeding the least? If enemies literally kill us and God does not retaliate. If our lives are struggle after struggle against those that look down on us for being Christian, what does that say? They sit and laugh and rejoice because they win and we lose and we’re not clever enough to see how wrong we are because if God really were here, they wouldn’t be able to get away with half of what they do, right?

And you know what? When you consider the evidence that God has forgotten you… it can seem pretty compelling.

But… you can’t just look at half the evidence. David, after all his laments here, did not stop at that point. After listing all the reasons he has to despair, he finishes the psalm with these words:

    But I trust in your mercy.
      My heart rejoices in your salvation.
    I will sing to the LORD
         because he has accomplished his purpose for me.

After everything he just listed off, how could David make such bold claims as this? Well, we’ll get into more detail about it, but it really comes down to this one word here at the end of the first line: “mercy”. In the original language the word here is hesed, a special word that really captures what God’s love is all about. My favorite way to bring it into English is “unfailing love”. And there’s a couple things about it that make it unique…

God’s love is unlike most love we know. We usually love as a reaction, regardless of which kind of love you’re talking about, whether it’s family, friend, romantic, or just about a good cheeseburger. Something appeals to us and we love it as a reaction. But, not God. God’s love has its origin within himself. He loves because he chooses to. it has nothing to do with us or who we are or how we act.

Even more than that he loves because it is a defining quality of who he is. So, God’s love is not something that changes by circumstance either. It’s not affected by what he saw on Facebook or the news that morning or that something he just ate is disagreeing with him like our emotions can be. He cannot stop loving us because it literally defines who he is. God’s love for you… is an objective fact.

And most importantly, God’s love has a singular, driving purpose. To do what is best for you at all times. That is all God does with his love, and the power and authority he has behind it. He only ever uses it to do what is best for you.

All of that is wrapped up in that word, hesed. And that alone is evidence enough to dispel the doubts that God may have forgotten us. We just trust in that mercy, that unfailing love. But the great thing about God? He doesn’t just stop there. He has left us so much proof that he loves you. So much proof that he does not forget, that he does not abandon. So, let’s take time this morning to consider the trail of evidence he left us.

From the moment the first people, Adam and Eve sinned, he was there to help. They broke his law, they condemned themselves and everyone after to eternal separation from God, and yet God came immediately and promised a savior. He promised someone who would undo the devil’s work and bring peace back between themselves and God.

Now we don’t possibly have time to get into every example, but from then on, the Old Testament of the Bible is largely just account after account of God’s faithful love to his people. Both taking care of them in the moment and, more importantly, guiding history to reach the point when we were ready for the savior to arrive. And those people constantly turned away, constantly rejected God, constantly complained, constantly forgot him. But all the evidence is there… he never forgot them. He never abandoned them. He always did what was best for them.

And of course, we reach the culmination of God’s unfailing love through history when we get to Jesus. When he became one of us so that he could go in our place. For all the times we’ve turned from God or doubted his love or failed to trust him…Jesus did it all perfectly and then sacrificed his perfect life so that our wrongs could be taken away from us. He suffered our punishment so we could be set free.

God… who does not need us. God… who we only ever antagonize. God… gave up everything and died so that we could be spared the punishment we rightly earned. And to prove it was true, he rose from the dead and proclaimed us forgiven in him. That is the full expression of his hesed, his unfailing love. Jesus is truly the best evidence that God has not forgotten you.

And even though it’s the best – it doesn’t stop there either – God keeps going! In the history that followed God still watched over his people and still guided his believers to spread that good news about Jesus across the world. He took care of those who loved him and he reached out through them to as many more as they could.

And through their effort and God’s guidance… you have been taught about Jesus. You have been brought to faith in him. And you have the truth and trust that lets you escape this world and go to paradise. God did that for you. He has never forgotten you, he is always thinking about getting you home with him.

But you know what? Let’s bring it back down for a minute. Yes, God has saved you through Jesus, and yes that’s all we truly need and it is the best demonstration of his love. But even back at our daily problems… he is still here. He has not forgotten you and he has not left you alone. And there’s more evidence. I know you have it. Look back over your own life. I’ll give you a minute. Look back and see the times that God has guided you, guarded you, directed you, cared for you.

Maybe that accident you narrowly avoided. Maybe a foolish decision you made that should have derailed your whole life but God corrected. Maybe it’s all the times God just let the right pieces fall into place at exactly the right time to bless you better than you thought possible. Just look, you’ll see the evidence that God has been there all along.

With that in mind, I want to circle back on our original problem… when we are in the midst of trouble we don’t understand and don’t seem to be getting help. Because none of what I just said suddenly will change the situation or explain what God is up to, right? The solution… is to build up our trust. See trust is what we hold on to when we don’t have proof or evidence that something is true. Trust is what we give someone when we don’t know for a fact how they will act.

Trust is what lets us say to God, “I am suffering. But I know you’re here. And I know you love me. And I believe you when you say this is what is best for me, even though I can’t understand or see how that is.” Trust does not need to understand everything God does, trust just knows that God loves us, and that can be enough. And in the end, when he does deliver us, like the boy waiting for his mom to pick him up from school, we’ll look back and realize, we weren’t really waiting all that long. God had it under control.

And so when we struggle about feeling forgotten by God… return to God. Go back to his word and consider his promises. Promises like this one:

     I will never forget you. (Is 49.15)

Doesn’t get much more direct than that, does it? And that’s just a sample. You’ll find that and many more scattered throughout his word. And then on top of that, you’ll find proof that he carries out his promises. Beyond the greatest promise and fulfillment of Jesus, you’ll see so many other times that God said he would act… and never once does he fail. The evidence is all there.

And, as if all that were not great enough, God’s word has a special promise associated with it. He promises to work through that word in his power to build up your trust in him. It’s not even up to you. Being in his word, studying what he has given us – he will do the work of building up that trust.

In the fullness of that trust, we can endure the difficulties. Not that we won’t occasionally lament. Not that we won’t have days when it feels like more than we can bear, but at the end of it all, we can repeat confidently with David:

    I trust in your mercy.
      My heart rejoices in your salvation.
    I will sing to the LORD
         because he has accomplished his purpose for me.

Amen.

Psalm 71

INTRODUCTION

A first-person shooter is a type of video game where you experience the action from the perspective of the protagonist, who is shooting to fight off those attacking them. It is a very popular genre of game, offering the thrill of being in a very dangerous situation, depending on your own skills to come out alive, but with no actual risk. It provides a sense of being there yourself.

Many Psalms are written from a first-person perspective. Much of the Bible is third-person narrative, telling the story of how everything was created by God, how Jesus went about teaching and finally ending up at the cross. Other parts are instructive, telling us what to believe and what we should do as children of God. We can nod in agreement and say we believe what it is saying. But when we read many of the Psalms, we are taking the words of the Psalmist and making them ours; this makes things more personal.

In the case of Psalm 71, we see no writer or anything else in the title. Many think this was written by King David in his later years, but we need not concern ourselves with that. What we do notice is that this was written by a person who had gone through many trials and difficulty, in fact, was still going through them, but had a strong faith in his God to save him. The troubles are not specific. So we can read this, putting ourselves into the Psalmist’s shoes, and appropriating for ourselves the faith and hope that he has.

Hope for when Others are Against You
I. Turn to the Lord
II. Tell of the Lord’s works

I. Turn to the Lord
A. Facing wicked people
In the beginning of this Psalm we hear the Psalmist asking God for deliverance, “from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel,” “from my enemies who speak against me; those who want to kill me,” from people who are pursuing him and want to seize him. We have to recognize that there are wicked people in this world, who oppose God and oppose us who follow him. The Psalmist was almost certainly a man of good character, and still he was pursued. We may not have anybody who wants to kill us, but there are people around us who are evil and cruel, who want to tear us down, take credit for our accomplishments, take advantage of our kindness, deceive us and take our money. They want to defame us, make us look shameful. And as we get older, we get more feeble, both mentally and physically, more easily taken advantage of. Without a God who loves us in this world, it would be a scary place.

B. Asking the Lord to deliver and saveLike the Psalmist, there are evil people who are against us. But like the Psalmist we can turn to the Lord, ask him to rescue us and deliver us, to be for us a dependable refuge. The Psalmist has learned this from his youth, yes, even from birth; he had faith in the Lord, he relied on his God. He knew him whom he had trusted.

Some of us have grown up being taught that same faith, learning to know that our God will save us from a young age. Others have learned that later in life. It is all based on how God has saved us, first and foremost, from our sins, from our guilt, from eternal punishment. We put a big cross in our church to remind us of how he sent his Son into this world to take our sin and its punishment, to die in our place on that cross, then to rise again to life for our assurance. He saved us from our greatest trouble; he can be depended on to save us from our lessor troubles. He saved us from the devil and his evil angels; he can be depended on to save us from wicked people around us.

What does that look like?When we look at the world around us, especially through modern media like television and the internet, seeing wars and bloodshed in many areas, we realize what a sheltered life we have, for the most part, here in the United States. Here is one of the ways our God has sheltered us, by placing in in a country, community, and perhaps even in a family relatively free of violence and fear of physical harm. Now that’s not completely true of everyone in this country; we each have to consider our own situation and thank God for protecting us alive to this day, for the opportunity to live relatively free of threats and bloodshed. We pray for reprieve from threats we face in our situation, but we will find other ways God has protected us. Even with threats around, he can protect us from many kinds of dangers we may not even know about. And we all pray that he keep us safe in this dangerous world.

Threats come in more subtle and less physical ways. Many people around us do not believe in Jesus, and, as Jesus says, those who are not for us are against us. We can be thankful for protection, for the most part, against physical harm from these people. But their anti-Biblical opinions and feelings, their belittling of Christian beliefs, their reliance on their own efforts rather than on God’s, can be wearing, gnawing at the edges of our faith. We turn to God in prayer and in his word to give us strength to withstand these subtle but dangerous attacks on our faith. In this sense these people are against us.

But there is another way this Psalm gives us hope when others are against you.

II. Tell of the Lord’s works
A. Tell of the Lord’s righteous actsIt has been said that the best defense is a good offense. In the second part of this Psalm, the writer uses this approach. In the face of people opposing him he says, “My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long.” He goes on to say this in different ways. It was an important part of his life.

He would tell how the Lord forgave him his sin, adopted him into his family, grows his faith through the word, and gives him an eternal home in heaven. These are righteous acts and done for all believers that all can tell about. He would also speak of how the Lord had protected him and prospered him, given him health and family, among many other blessings. Since we don’t know who the writer is, this list could vary, depending, for example, on how healthy he was and how big a family he had, just as it will vary for all of us. But there would be a list of things, righteous things, the Lord had done for him in his life.

This telling of these righteous things would have the effect of turning back those who oppose him, even calling them to repentance and faith in God. Telling of the things God has done for us is how faith is planted in the heart of a person. But this telling of things God has done would have beneficial effect for the speaker, strengthening his own faith as well.

B. Teach the next generation
But there is another purpose for telling these things. He notes, “since my youth, God, you have taught me.” He had learned of God’s righteous deeds while he as young. Earlier in this Psalm he had said, “From birth I have relied on you.” God had almost certainly not taught him directly; this teaching came through his parents and other faith-filled people around him. They spoke of God’s righteous deeds to their son.

And so he goes on, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” He wanted to relay this message of God’s righteous and saving acts to the next generation, which would certainly include his own children and grandchildren, if he had any. In fact this could have been some of the only things he could do in the last years of his life, when he might otherwise feel feeble and useless.

C. Tell of the honor and life that awaitsThe Psalmist ends this Psalm on a high note of praise for his God, even though, he writes, “you have made me see troubles, many and bitter.” His confidence, his hope is this, “you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.” His hope was ultimately in the resurrection to an eternal life of joy and bliss. On the day that will happen, all those who opposed God and his people, who refused to listen to him, will be “put to shame and confusion.”

What does this look like?Remember this Psalm is written from a first-person perspective, so when we read it we put ourself in his position. We tell of his righteous acts, we tell what God has done for us to whoever will listen. Are you forgiven, are you blessed by God, do you have hope in God for all eternity? Then tell about it, make that telling a part of your life. Is there a generation around you that needs to hear of God’s righteous deeds? Tell them, pass it on. Do you have a hope of heaven? Let your hope be known to those around you. Take up the words of the Psalmist.

CONCLUSION
We can conclude with him, “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you—I whom you have delivered. My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long.” Amen.