Psalm 30:1-12

Speaker 1: All right, take your Bibles, take your Bibles and turn to song chapter number 30. Song. Chapter number 30 is where we're going to be tonight. This is our last message in this this group of ten songs. And those of you that have been with us for a while, you know, we do. We do ten. And then we take a little bit of a break, do another series or two, and then we'll come back to songs at a later time. The song, chapter number 30 is where we're going to be tonight. Wrap up this this group of ten this evening. I know you just sat down, but if you don't mind, in honor of reading God's Word, join me in standing as we read Psalm Chapter 30 together. First number one. So as a song, song and song at the dedication of the House of David. I will extoll the O Lord. Thou hast lifted me up as snot made my foes to rejoice over me. Oh, Lord, my God, I cried. And thou hast healed me. Oh, Lord. Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave. Thou hast kept me alive. That I should not go down to the pit. Seeing under the Lord all you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His Holiness for his anger endures. But a moment in his favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. In my prosperity. I said, I shall never be moved, Lord, by thy favor. Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong. Thou this hide thy face. I was troubled. I cried to thee, oh, Lord. And unto the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? Here. Oh, Lord. And have mercy upon me. Lord be thou, my helper. Thou hast turned for me. My morning in the dancing. Dow has put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness to the end that my glory. They sing praise to the. And not be silent. Oh, Lord, my God. I will give thanks under the forever. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this time that we can spend together here with your people in this place that we have designated. As your house of worship. God, I pray that she would speak to us from your word, that you would use your Holy Spirit to convict our hearts, that you would comfort us with these words here tonight. It's in Jesus name that I ask these things. Amen. Thank you. May be seated. You know, I just realized it just struck me. I may or may not have been guilty in the past of maybe somewhat slightly making fun of people who say Lord too many times in a prayer. Oh, see? There I go again. Not too many times. Just a lot of times in a prayer. Have you ever listened to somebody? Pray. That's Lord their Lord. We just Lord, we ask Lord that you would be with us, Lord, this night, Lord, as we meet together to praise Your Name, Lord and Lord, we would just like, Lord, for you to speak to us from Your Word, Lord. Start saying. Let her start counting it. David Tennant kind of says Lord a lot in this verse. So either we should just not make fun of anybody about saying Lord, or we can just make fun of David for saying Lord a whole bunch of times. I don't know. David's not here to stand up for himself, so we'll go with the first one. Oh, this is a really convicting passage. There are some ups and downs that we see here in Psalm Chapter 30 that if I do my job, it ought to have some some application for all of us. These spotlights aren't on if we can get those turned on folks in the back there. Get rid of those shadows. Thank you. Because all of us are going to face times like David faced here in this passage. All of us are going to have to come to grips with the lesson that he learned eventually in our life. I was talking to some some folks earlier this week about children that move into adulthood, and we like to poke fun at millennials. Of course, you realize millennials are like 30 and 40 years old now. The people still living at home in their mom's basement. That's Gen Z. So you can turn your your disdain to them and leave us millennials alone. But, you know, eventually everyone you would think has to grow up. And one of the things that I remember my dad saying and and I've used it as well, is this reality hits you hard, bro. I mean, it does eventually. The coddling stops. Eventually the bills come due and reality does hit you hard. And you have to decide, how am I going to respond to this? How am I going to hashtag adult? Oh, am I going to adult as a Christian? Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who perhaps socially, culturally have moved into adulthood, but spiritually they're still. Babies. Spiritually. They're still infantile, spiritually, they're still adolescence. And without someone to hold their hand and wipe their nose and carry them along, they will struggle to deal with the ups and downs of life. David is facing that himself. David the sweet psalmist of Israel. David, the man after God's own heart goes through a process in this chapter, moving from spiritual adolescence to spiritual maturity. And it's a process that all of us need to go with him on. We see the beginning of this in versus one through three. This is the first section of this psalm. And we see here, we learn that David was going through a time of physical illness. There's not much else in this world that reveals what is on the inside as a spirit, a physical, a health issue, a health crisis, something that afflicts your body. We know that Paul had some some form of physical affliction for which he asked the Lord to remove and God said no. God said, I'm not going to remove it. It seems perhaps that it was his eyesight. Perhaps he couldn't see very well. Perhaps he had some kind of discharge from his eyes that that others would see and think, Ooh, that's so gross. The other said that others were embarrassed of him. But the Philippians were not. And so it could have been something like that. But David here is facing a sickness that seems to be pretty serious here. And in the passage he says that verse number three, Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave. Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. And so David seems to think that his life is in jeopardy if God doesn't act on his behalf. Of course. We all know. David was a man. So there's a good possibility he just had the flu. But he thought he was about to die. All his wives and concubines and servants are avoiding his room because he's in there. Call it out crying and moaning, asking somebody to bring him a smoothie or something so he can feel better. Some Tylenol. And they're just like, I'll go in there. He's sick. I'm sure he was sick. He says that he felt as if he was in danger of being lowered into the pit, lowered into the grave. His soul seems to be preparing for death. And unfortunately, his sickness was used by David's enemies as an occasion to attack him. Look at verse number one, he says, Thou hast lifted me up and has not made my foes to rejoice over me. As he neared what seemed like his inevitable demise. David's enemies rejoiced. I'm sure that other nations had sent spies into Jerusalem to report on things that were going on. And David knows that these spies are sending word back to the Malachi, to the mole, motivates the Philistines. And there is great rejoicing because David looks like he's on his last leg. Probably there were some in his own his own government, his own house, some of his own citizens who would have not shed too many tears if David would have died. David looks at his situation. He says, Lord, would you do something to help me? All these people are rejoicing in my sickness. It's just not fair. I'm about to go down into the pit. Lord, you've got to do something. Everyone's looking at me and making fun of me. I can't help but see you versus want to throw a little bit of selfishness on David's part. He said, Well, that's easy for you to say. You're young. You've got your health. You were in David's position, you wouldn't feel so. You're probably right. But the fact of the matter is, David is concerned about how this sickness is affecting him, what it means for the future of his life, what it what it means for his testimony, his standing in the community. It's a sad but real scenario that other people will find joy in your misfortune. So David made his plea to God. He made his plea to God on the basis of what he was experiencing and what others were saying about him. And he didn't argue his case to his enemies. He didn't try to gather a coalition of friends to back him up. We have to give him credit for the fact that he did go to God for help. God, answered David. He healed him from his disease and spared his life. David knew that God was the only one that could help his situation. And so God did heal David. And so David says in verse number one, I will extoll the. You probably use that word yourself at the lunch table this afternoon. Honey, I just have to tell you this. This food that you prepared for us is just the best thing I've ever eaten. I will extoll you for your kitchen prowess. No. Okay. Extoll simply means to lift up. To raise up. In a negative sense, it would mean haughtiness. In this case, it means to praise the magnify. To glorify. If it says, Lord, you heard me, you saw what a pitiful case I was, and you made me better, Lord, because you've helped me. I will lift you up. A lot of us would do this. A lot of us would give praise to God if he worked in such a miraculous way. Rightfully so, even. The passage starts to move on in verse and before. There's a little bit of. Naivete. Naivete that. Immaturity. On David's part. Because he calls out to the other saints that that are a part of the the nation of Israel, the other worshipers of God. And he is calling them to praise God the way he is praising God. He says, single unto the Lord, all ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance. His Holiness. We've seen his testimony of how God healed him. David wants other believers to join him in praising God and lifting him up. Now. David's praising God because God healed him. He then directs that mentality to others and say, Hey, God is holy. He has healed me. Let's all join together and praise Him as we remember His Holiness. Let me ask you this. What do you think the chances are? And in a group setting. God might not have chosen to heal everyone who was sick. Like Dave. What if? Humanly speaking, not everyone had the same happy ending that David had. Does that make God less holy? No. David is writing, I believe, after the fact, and he is doing this on purpose. He is helping us to make a journey. Take a journey with him to understand God better. God is holy. All the time. Forever unending. No matter our perception or interpretation of what he does, God is always holy. That is part of his nature. It's part of his essence. It cannot change. And probably most of us think about His Holiness, and we think about his senselessness, his perfection. But that is just a small portion of what it means to think about the holiness of God. And though David may have had some form of immaturity in his view of God, by appealing to us to appraise God based on His Holiness, we see growth starting to take place. Holiness is a fact of God, whether we like his actions or not. David has a specific aspect of God's holiness in mind, and He explains it for us in the following verses. Verse number five is a very comforting verse for every saint, every believer in God. Verse number five ought to be a bedrock principle or bedrock truth to your life. It says this. It says, for his anger endures for but a moment in his favor is like weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. That's pretty incredible. If it's true. Is it true? His anger's but a moment. In his favor, his life. Weeping lasts only for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Each of these phrases speak to the temporary nature of pain and evil for the belief. Pain and evil are temporary parts of the existence of the saints. There will come a day. You'll have no more pain. There will come a day. You'll experience no more evil. There will come a day that you no longer have to deal with the effects of death and disease and catastrophe. It'll be done. David knew that he was living under the effects of the curse. Kirsten we talked about last Wednesday, two Wednesday nights ago. Adam and Eve sinned against God. God came down and in his righteous anger, judged humanity and creation for the entrance of sin into the world. David had felt the effects of the curse. Haven't you felt the effects of the curse? Haven't you felt the effects of living in a fallen, fallen world? We all have. David had tasted the evil that comes from not only living among fallen people. But also a fallen world. David knew. That's a human experience. Living under the curse was not what God wanted for us. This was never God's intention. For us to have to deal with. The garbage. Now we have to deal with living in a sin cursed world. Living among fallen humans. It's not the way God made it. He did not want for this want this to happen. Through the decisions of humanity. That's where we find ourselves. But David knew that one day everything would be set right again. One day weeping would be okay. One day. The anger of God. The curse will be done away with. And in his favor. Unmerited favor. Grace. We find life. That's why David implores his audience to join him in praising the holiness of God. Surely there were some who had been touched by disease. Surely there were some who had been touched by death. Surely there were some in David's audience who had been wronged by their fellow man. But because of God's holiness, they all had hope of one day enjoying the joy and life that God originally intended for all of us. Zingers for a moment. Weeping is only for a night. So we see this call to praise the Lord based on His Holiness. Now David goes back to his past here in verse number six. And I think what David says here, all of us can relate to, because at one time we were all in his position. David says in verse number six. And in my prosperity, I said, I shall never be moved, Lord, by thy favor. Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong. I want you to think about those phrases with me for a second. I believe that trusting God's holiness was a hard lesson for David to learn. Trusting God's holiness, no matter what the. Circumstances of his life were David had to learn to trust God's holiness because in former days, David had felt invincible. Remember those days. You thought, man? Nothing can touch me. You would drive too fast because I'm not the one that's going to get an accident. You would take dumb and foolish risks because after all, young, it's not going to happen to me. And his prosperity of perhaps materials, health, youth. David could say with quite a bit of confidence, I shall never be moved. Nothing can touch me. And he even credited God with having made his life as strong and unmovable as a mountain. He says, Lord, by thy favor, thou hast made my mountain to stand strong. It's easy for us to give praise to God when things are going well. It's easy for us to thank God for the blessings on our lives when there's plenty of money in the bank. It's easy for us to extoll the Lord and lift him up when our health is strong. We see that, David. It's just as quick to credit God. For the hard times in his life. You see, when everything started to fall apart, when David was touched with the feeling of his own infirmities, David then says, God, you not only lifted me up, but now, Lord, that I'm down in the dumps. It's your fault, too. So it's now it's hi die face. I was troubled. Sometimes you and I might be quick to praise God when things are good, but we're also quick to blame God when things go sour. Is he not still wholly. Yes. This may have been a reference to the sickness that we read about at the start of the song. It also could have been a lesson that he had to learn long before. But I believe we see a danger in these words that has rarely been accepted by American Christians. There is a danger. And what we see David playing out in his life that you and I, as American believers, rarely are tested on. Because even at our lowest. Relatively speaking, we're still better off than most other people. We start to equate health and wealth with the blessings of God in the absence of these things must mean that God is displeased with us. Somebody's going through a health trial. Necessarily in the displeasure of God. No. As someone that struggles to make ends meet. Are they somehow necessarily experiencing the displeasure of God? See, though David may not have understood. Why these things were happening to him. In this psalm. You did not lose sight of where he should turn during these moments. He tells us that he cried to the Lord. Verse number eight. I cried to the Lord. Under the Lord. I made supplication. David begins to make a request based on how the situation in his life affects God. Says. What profit is there in my blood? When I go down to the pit shell, the dust praised the shell. Declare thy truth. You're all Lord. And have mercy upon me, Lord. Be thou my help. Most people. Can't get their eyes off of how their pain or loss affects them. But in his growth, in his maturation, David begins to plead with God based on how his situation affects God. See before in the in the song, we saw him praying and saying, Lord, you've got to heal me, God, I'm going to praise you if you'll remove me from this, because my enemies are making fun of me. My enemies are rejoicing that my, my, my calamity. Now he says, Lord. I want to serve you. And if I die, then I'll have no more days to praise you and lift up your name. Lord, would you help me? So he said. He said, Lord, be thou, my helper. Have mercy on me. I don't deserve it. That's that's a bit of a transition. In David's life. If it says, how can I extoll or magnify the name of God among his creation? Five dead. David pleads for mercy. Pleads for help from the Lord. We know from verse number one that God grants him healing. Does that mean, like we've been talking about, that God was somehow hesitant to help David, that he was waiting on David to really show he was serious before God granted his his request? Did God give in to David because he made a good argument? No. God doesn't give in to David. He also doesn't respond to David just because God needs David's voice of testimony. We were to stop at verse number ten, which was the end of a stanza. Be like a brief pause here in the poem. In the poem to illustrate a certain uncertainty. As to whether or not God will answer. David. Well, God, healing won't be healing. What happens next? We already know. Not for the information we gained at the beginning. We would really be left in suspense about God's response. But we do know what God's answer is in inverse number 11. We see David's excitement as he leaves. The past comes back to the present. Okay. So it's going back and forth here. He was healed, passed. He was confident. His own strength. Back to the present, where now he is. Rejoice. You know what God has done. And look how he says these things. He says in verse number 11. Thou hast turned for me my morning into to dance. Thou has put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness to the end That my glory may sing praise to the and not be silent. Oh, Lord, my God, I will give thanks under the forever. Having experienced God's working in his life, David expresses the difference that God has made. He's transitioned David's morning to dancing. He's altered his attire from sackcloth to gladness. Does God have to remove? The trial in our life. In order for us. To trade morning for dancing. Does God have to remove the the difficulties in our life in order for us to trade sackcloth for gladness? Or can we rest in His Holiness? God allowed everything that came into David's life to tap in for a purpose. God operated in David's life. So that David would praise God. Not so that he would keep silent. David knows this. It's what David desired. And so we see in verse number 12. But David commits to use this situation to give thanks to God for ever. I mean, the Bible tells us that this was a. This was a song that was given at the dedication of the House of David. David still had many years of life ahead of him when his house, his palace was completed. Fact, some of the hardest days of David's life were still ahead of him. Through the rebellion of his son. Subsequent death of Absalom. David has some of his most difficult days still ahead. David's saying that I will give thanks under the forever does not mean I will give thanks under the so long as you do what I want. David has learned that God is holy when he removes the affliction. And when he doesn't remove the affliction. David. We'll give thanks. God did what he did. Not primarily for David's own good, but for God's glory. And if we can understand this, this would help us. This is the motivation behind all of God's activities. His glory. His glory is the motivation for everything that God does. David had to move throughout this all. From a selfish perspective to a spiritual one. It started in verse number one, praising God for saving him to prove his enemies wrong. He ends by praising God for His everlasting holiness. In this case, God's holiness meant sparing David's life. In other cases, though, that's not what it means. But it doesn't mean God is any less holy. It does not mean that God is any less worthy of glory. That's where our application becomes apparent today. Question that we have to ask ourselves is. What level of spiritual maturity are we at? Can we glorify God for His Holiness, regardless of whether or not we get our wish? As he is holy when he heals. As when he doesn't heal. Is he as worthy for praise when he doesn't remove the situation as when he does remove it? Can our lives glorify him or bring him praise? Even if it is through our own suffering. Or even in death. Is he still good? Are his blessings still present? Even if we lose everything. Does he still bless us? Is he still good to us? Even if we miss out on everything that our American culture tells us we are owed? Can we find strength? To deal with the here and now. Knowing that the conditions of our present life are temporary. God's anger over sin. Is temporary. The curse is temporary. It is not eternal. One day it will cease to exist. If we can let our minds go there for just a moment and think about this. In light of eternity. The troubles and the pain that we face here on this earth. Are going to seem like just a blip on the radar. Barely even perceptible. In light of the the eternity we'll spend in heaven with him. Pain and injustice. That causes us to weep in this life. Will be replaced by life, joy, dancing and gladness. So. Yeah. Even in the life that we're living now. We can glorify God. And we can praise him. Because he is whole. He's always home. He never stops being whole. And one day he's going to set everything right. All injustices will be set right. All of the goodbyes that were too soon. God's family members will be set right. We have a abundant life for us here on this earth. We have a perfect life. Ahead of us when we're reunited with the Lord. So I'm 30. It's an interesting chapter. To see David make this transition in his spiritual life. Maybe you and I need to look at our spiritual lives and see how far along am I on that same journey. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the good attention of the folks that are here. I pray that you help all of us in the good times and the hard times. To have faith in Your Holiness. Never changes. Even when we don't get the things that we. We want your still good. What? I pray that we would take comfort in that. Do we convince us of it? Lord, if we're going through a difficult time, help us to have faith in you. Or thank you for the people that are here. Help us now, during this time of invitation, it's in Jesus name. I pray. Amen.

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