Giving Praise in the Difficult Times Psalm 34

Transcription

1 Giving Praise in the Difficult Times Psalm 34

2 As President, on October 3, 1789, George Washington made the following proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day: Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation.

3 Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for the blessings he has given It is a time to share the blessings that God has given us This is something that God wants his people to do Psalm 34 was written by David during one of lowest times in his life

4 I. Begin with Praise Vss. 1-3

5 He focuses on God the Father rather than himself When you get depressed, when you feel all alone the worst thing that you can do is look at your life By looking to God in praise, we are not denying our problems We are looking to the one that can do something about it!

6 Afflicted-means humble, poor, needy, that is you sometimes Then David uses 4 praise words Extol-Bless, praise adore Boast-praise, in Hebrew-Hallel, where we get hallelujah Glorify-to make great, boast about. The child that boasts about His Dad Exalt-lift up, to put high,

7 II. Seek the Lord for Deliverance Vss. 4-7,15-22

8 Vs. 4, 6 Delivers us from our fears, saves us from our troubles Does not mean that we are saved out of everything instantly God does so in His way and time When we are in a bad situation and we don t see deliverance We cry out, God why aren t you helping me right now!

9 God allows things to come into our lives to mold us, shape us As you look back on your bad times, saving, delivering may not have come when you thought, or how you thought. Maybe it came in an unexpected way. We were in Graduate School

10 Vs. 5 Radiant-Have you ever known a Christian that had a miserable life as you saw it? And yet they had a great attitude But someone else in not as bad condition is bitter at man and God What is the difference? One looked to God, the other didn t

11 Are all God s people saved in this way? No, some die Jim Elliot and 4 friends went to the Auca tribe in Ecuador and were killed by the Auca, were they saved? I had a professor Dr. Walter Liefeld that married Olive, the widow of Peter Fleming, 1 of the 5 that was killed She went back to the Auca, now Christians and met the killers, they said they saw angels take them to heaven

12 III. Test the Goodness of God Vss. 8-14

13 Vs. 8 Taste and see-it does not mean check it out and if you don t like it, try another god. But rather, making a full commitment to having a relationship with Him and then for sure you will see that the Lord is good, you will not be disappointed. Vs. 9 Part of the taste and see is to Fear the Lord To revere, show deep respect and honor

14 Vs This is explaining the fear of the Lord He is Lord and we revere, worship, honor, and obey Him. 12-Giving perfect advice, want to live a long life? 13-Keep your tongue from evil-it can get you into trouble! 14-Do you know evil when you see it? Know the Word-know evil, when you see it, walk out, turn from it

15 Seek peace-do you think it s easy to have peace with people? If you do, you have not gotten close to anyone Conflict is inevitable because people think differently More you get to know someone, the more differences you see

16 On this Thanksgiving I don t know if you are going through good times or bad times But I do know that we can thank and praise the Lord Give him the Glory for your life Taste and see that the Lord is good

17 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Prueben y vean que el SEÑOR es bueno; dichosos los que en él se refugian. Onjeni mwone ya kuwa BWANA yu mwema; Heri mtu yule anayemtumaini. 你们要亲自体验, 就知道耶和华是美善的 ; 投靠他的人, 都是有福的 너희는여호와께서얼마나선하신분인지알아보아라. 여호와를피난처로삼는자는복이있다. परखकर द ख कक यह व क स भल ह! क य ह धन य ह वह प र ष ज उसक शरण ल त ह

18 Giving Praise in the Difficult Times Psalm 34 As President, on October 3, 1789, George Washington made the following proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day: Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation. And Americans have been celebrating it ever since Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for the blessings he has given It is a time to share the blessings that God has given us This is something that God wants his people to do Psalm 34 was written by David during one of lowest times in his life David just said goodbye to best friend-jonathan forever Running from King Saul, David was the enemy He runs to the Philistine area of Gath, realizes that he is a threat to the Philistines, so he pretends to be insane. As he writes this, he is all alone in a cave This is a Psalm of Deliverance for God s people But what advice can an accused insane man give us? When you are at a low time in your life What kind of advice would you give to your friends? When it feels like God has forsaken you, what do you say? Advise #1 I. Begin with Praise Vss. 1-3 He focuses on God the Father rather than himself When you get depressed, when you feel all alone the worst thing that you can do is look at your life By looking to God in praise, we are not denying our problems We are looking to the one that can do something about it! Afflicted-means humble, poor, needy, that is you sometimes Then David uses 4 praise words Extol-Bless, praise adore Boast-praise-in Hebrew-Hallel, where we get hallelujah Glorify-to make great, boast about The child that boasts about His Dad Exalt-lift up, to put high, After the game, the star player is lifted on the shoulders of players for all to see-to be praised for his performance We are to lift the Lord up in the church, in our lives for all to see Then we praise, exalt, glorify, boast, and extol Advice #2 II. Seek the Lord for Deliverance Vss. 4-7,15-22 Vs. 4, 6 Delivers us from our fears, saves us from our troubles Does not mean that we are saved out of everything instantly God does so in His way and time When we are in a bad situation and we don t see deliverance We cry out, God why aren t you helping me right now! He is there and He is helping as He knows all things, sees the big picture, and knows the perfect timing But we just want the problem to go away; we want the easy life God allows things to come into our lives to mold us, shape us As you look back on your bad times, saving, delivering may not have come when you thought, or how you thought. Maybe it came in an unexpected way. We were in Graduate School, bad health insurance and we had a ton of doctor bills, kept coming, there was no way that we would pay them back. Then a knock came at the door an envelope was handed to us with 100s. A huge doctor bill was forgiven by a doctor. We were able to pay the rest off. Maybe in a very ordinary way. Maybe in a supernatural way.. God does deliver His children, and we have heard how He does And we can be assured that He will continue to save in troubles Vs. 5 Radiant-Have you ever known a Christian that had a miserable life as you saw it? And yet they had a great attitude You would think that he was a prince, he loved the Lord But someone else in not as bad condition is bitter at man and God What is the difference? One looked to God, the other didn t Vs 7 We can not see all that is going on in the Spiritual world How many times have been saved from attack Satan? I was in Mongolia, in an apartment stairway, 2 young men saw that I had $$, one grabbed me, and I started to pray, looked him in the eye, he smiled went away

19 Was someone else praying also, I do not know, not till heaven Are all God s people saved in this way? No, some die Jim Elliot and 4 friends went to the Auca tribe in Ecuador and were killed by the Auca, were they saved? I had a professor Dr. Walter Liefeld that married Olive, the widow of Peter Fleming, 1 of the 5 that was killed She went back to the Auca now Christians and met the killers, they said they saw angels take them to heaven So when we become His children, our lives are in His hands He ultimately saves, and he ultimately delivers Advice #3 III. Test the Goodness of God Vss Vs. 8 Taste and see-it does not mean check it out and if you don t like it, try another god. But rather, making a full commitment to having a relationship with Him and then for sure you will see that the Lord is good, you will not be disappointed. Vs. 9 Part of the taste and see is to Fear the Lord To revere, show deep respect and honor We submit to Him and His commands We want to please Him with our thoughts, words and actions We are willing to bow to Him in worship because He is Lord Those who fear lack nothing, needs vary from person to person I have seen people in utter poverty, content, happy in the Lord Our deepest needs are spiritual, last to eternity, stuff is temporal Vs This is explaining the fear of the Lord Now I want you to understand that you can have a relationship with God Jesus did the work on the cross, we can t work our way to heaven You accept Christ and His work on cross by faith, He comes into your life Your life changes, the Holy Spirit is within as your teacher and guide. And you make decisions to change, to follow the Word. He is Lord and we revere, worship, honor, and obey Him. There were times that I wanted to fight my brother, But I didn t for fear of what my Father said, Don t hit your brother 12-Giving perfect advice, want to live a long life? Who would say he doesn t want to live long? 13-Keep your tongue from evil-it can get you into trouble! My tongue has gotten me into more trouble. Have you ever said anything in anger and regretted saying it? If we could only take our words back! Watch that tongue! Ask God to help you control what you say Don t tell lies-to get something, or be selfish, or to look good. TRUTH is best, there still is truth, speak it all the time. 14-Do you know evil when you see it? Know the Word-know evil, when you see it, walk out, turn from it At all costs, walk away from the table, don t sign, don t participate Or you will become one of them This is one reason why we want daily fellowship with God So that our spiritual senses are up, so we don t walk into evil Satan would love to swallow you whole and make your life ineffective Seek peace-do you think it s easy to have peace with people? If you do, you have not gotten close to anyone Conflict is inevitable because people think differently More you get to know someone, the more differences you see So seeking peace involves compromise, not of your faith or Word But non-essentials-soap, food, clothes, neatness etc.. May involve agreeing to disagree on non-essentials Doctrine Things I wouldn t live or die over. Such as when Jesus coming back, or how to take communion I have convictions but I could be wrong Why can t we all just get along? Put up with and overlook differences Don t make non-essentials a big deal On this Thanksgiving I don t know if you are going through good times or bad times But I do know that we can thank and praise the Lord Give him the Glory for your life Taste and see that the Lord is good