ARCC Sermons

The Psalmist, whose heart is growing faint, seems to be giving us something of a simplified checklist of things to work through in order to give his heart the care it needs. These things are all aspects of the life of one who belongs to the Lord. The profundity of these things is that they are NOT profound at all. In fact, the danger lies in that we would have a tendency to assume or overlook or even discount the validity of these things. As believers, for the sake of our hearts, we must get back to fervently doing the basics of the Christian life. We must reclaim the convictions and the non-negotiables that are directly and exclusively bound to one’s relationship with Christ. May we cling to the Law of Christ established in the grace of Christ which gives life to us and a heritage to generations that will come after us God willing.

For the next several Psalms we are going to read David’s lament over suffering at the hands of evil men. It is a great thing that the people of God would learn to excel (by the power of the Holy Spirit) at glorifying God through their suffering. There is much room for us to grow in the way of “entrusting our souls to a faithful Creator while doing good”…especially in times of suffering. We are living in a time where it would seem that there are plentiful opportunities for the people of God to relate to while considering David’s groanings. That being said, we know that David’s great sufferings did not keep him from committing great sins towards others causing much devastation. While this is something that is typically difficult for us to see in ourselves we can see that not only is it possible for hurting, wounded, and suffering individuals to hurt others, it is very likely (outside of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit) that they will hurt others. Because this is true, we must be willing to receive texts like this one from a posture that believes it is possible that we are as likely to be on one side of the narrative as the other. The fact that all of this centers around the cross of Christ means that there is incredibly good news no matter what the truth may be for you. We can trust that vengeance and justice will be utterly satisfied AND as broken sinners who hurt people we can know that there is ultimate forgiveness by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. May we all learn to live out what is true of us in Christ which is that we are more than conquerors. Christ is our great defender and HE is our great intercessor. May we see this play out that the world might know that God rules in righteousness to the ends of the earth.

In Psalm 57, as David runs and hides from Saul, he acknowledges that his only refuge is in God Most High. Knowing that to be true his repeated refrain is “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” In Psalm 58, David describes one way the LORD God’s glory is displayed on earth. The God who judges the earth, the One who makes all things right, will receive blessing, honor and glory forever and ever. The bad news is that we live in an unjust world with lying, unjust, wicked rulers. The good news is that the LORD Jesus Christ will righteously judge that rebellion. The bad news is all of us have been and can be unjust, wicked liars who deserve righteous judgment. Hallelujah, Jesus is not only just but the justifier of the one who has faith in Him.

The more you read the scriptures, meditate on the Psalms, and become familiar with the story of David the more you realize that his battle with Goliath was hardly the defining reality of his life especially in his own eyes. Over and over again in the Psalms you don’t read about the man who ran into the battle with a sling shot and five stones, but rather a man who was constantly taking refuge in the Lord. Slaying giants doesn’t seem to be the theme of David’s life at all. Being overwhelmed by life and all that comes with it and experiencing God’s grace and mercy and protection in it seems to be a closer representation of David’s experience. What if taking refuge in the Lord was supposed to be the theme of our life rather than slaying the giant? How would we know if this was true of our life?

Psalm 56 picks up where Psalm 55 leaves off - David bringing his frustration and complaint before the Lord. David knows that God is the only one who can deliver him from the trouble he faces everywhere he goes. Oftentimes, we don't know what to do with Psalms like these - Psalms of Imprecation and Lament, and because of our misunderstanding of what God is inviting us into through these particular Psalms, our view of God and our view of ourselves suffers. Since these types of Psalms can be repetitive in the life of David, could it be that God is not as quick to rush past cement in our lives as we are? If we were to slow down and seek God in the midst of a fallen world, we may just find that God uses joy and pain to conform us into the image of Jesus.

There seems to be a need to look more closely at this idea of the heart being deceitful above all things, and desperately sick. Read and quoted by itself it comes across like a warning…a warning that says that our hearts are never to be trusted. If Proverbs is true, in that from our hearts flow the wellspring of life, then a rejection of our hearts actually becomes the source of more destruction and not less. As you get closer to the text here in Jeremiah you begin to realize that this is actually more of a cry for help from someone who has pressed in long enough to know the truth about their own heart. The beauty in this is that as we begin to behold the truth about ourselves we actually get closer and closer to beholding God who is near to the broken hearted.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. It is truly a blessing to trust in the Lord, but it is even greater so if the Lord, Himself is the entire reason for our trust. It is not good news simply that God is good and generous and capable of pouring out blessing upon those who trust Him. It is good news that our God has actually pledged His faithfulness toward us in such a way that we would truly be His people and that He would truly be our God. The life we live by faith we live believing a God who has shown Himself to be ultimately and eternally trustworthy. If God is truly for us then who can be against us? Life has always been meant to flow from our trust in who God is and who He has shown Himself to be.

By the grace of God something was instilled in us that has made us hyper vigilant towards finding a savior. The curse is that we continue to seek that in the trust of men which usually, eventually results in self isolating self reliance. This truly is a curse. This is also why it was profoundly relevant for Jesus to describe His yoke as easy and His burden as light. Anyone who has trusted in their own strength for any length of time knows deeply how ruthless the yoke is and how heavy the burden is that they place upon themselves. In the end all other “savior” suck the life right out of us and prove over and over again that they cannot produce in us truly abundant life. How long will we be like the shrub in the desert before we take Jesus up on His offer to come to Him and find rest? Our flesh is warring against such a surrender which is why God, Himself must, at times, “make us lie down in green pastures”.

We will see the trustworthiness of the anger of God over sin and its destruction. Somewhere in here there might just be an invitation to join the Lord in a Spirit-filled righteous anger that lends itself toward redemption.