Out of the Slimy Pit

Psalm 40

Welcome! Today is the last Sunday of the month, so we will have a shorter message followed by a time of remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup and then a sharing time, in which anyone can share what the Lord has been teaching them. Throughout this year, we have been reflecting on various psalms in preparation for our communion times, and today we will look at Psalm 40. This psalm is one of the many psalms written by David, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to use the exact words and ideas that he wrote.

I think this particular psalm also fits in beautifully with the series we have been going through and are still in the midst of, Law and Grace, which began by giving a 30,000-feet-in-the-air view of the Old Testament Law as revealed in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and which in the last few weeks has been contrasting this to the grace of Christ that is found in Galatians. And so as we go through Psalm 40, I will point out the parallel threads that run there and here. 

I Am Bowed Down

Psalm 38
 
Let’s pray before we look into Psalm 38,

Lord Jesus, thank you for including Psalm 38 in Your Word.  Sometimes we do feel far away from You.  We allow our sin to separate us from You.  We desire to draw near to You.  I pray that You would speak to us this morning.  Teach us to enjoy sweet fellowship with You.  We ask this now in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

I happened to give the message on Psalm 16 back in January.  I remember I complimented David for setting the example of not dwelling on his circumstances.  In the first verse of Psalm 16, David cries out to the Lord to keep him safe, but from there on, David praises God.  It is a good thing to “rejoice always.”  That is a clear exhortation from Philippians 4.

But Psalm 38 is an anguished and even desperate plea.  So, if the right thing to do is to “rejoice always,” why did God allow Psalm 38?  I think it’s here in part because it is real, it is genuine, and it is honest.  We are told to cast our cares on him because he cares for us.  Sometimes our cares are so big that we can barely articulate them much less speak of them with praise.

That My Heart May Sing

Psalm 30

It’s easy to get sidetracked when you read the Bible.  You can study the Bible, memorize it, or learn everything about it in the original Hebrew or Greek.  You can systematically categorize every doctrine found in the passage and learn how to refute every objection that is brought up against it.  But we need to careful that we don’t forget the number one reason we read the Bible.  Jesus rebuked the Jews that had been persecuting Him by saying, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” John 5:39-40 (NIV ’84).

 In Jesus day there were people who had memorized the whole Old Testament.  They could recite the Bible forwards and backwards.  They could articulate their theology better than anyone else, and yet they only knew the Bible, they didn’t know God.  They thought they had eternal life because they had studied the Bible but they needed to know God in order to have eternal life.  So, our number one goal in reading the Bible is to know God.

As we read Psalm 30 I want you to take note of anything that you learned about God.  I want you to underline whatever grabs your attention.  You might find a verse that talks about what God is like.  You might find a verse that talks about what God has done or what He will do.  Just highlight anything that you can learn about God from this passage.

The Greatest Rescue

 Psalm 27

Welcome! Today, in addition to a short teaching, we will spend time remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup, as He instructed His disciples to do, and we will also have a sharing time where everyone is invited to share what the Lord has been teaching them and working around and through them in the past month. First, as we have been doing this year on communion Sundays, we will go through a Psalm together. Today we will look at Psalm 27.

Psalm 27 was written by David. David most likely wrote it reflecting on recent experiences he had gone through or was going through, especially including dealing with enemies, and although you may not have any earthly enemies you are dealing with, one of the wonderful things about the Psalms is how they find express truths packed with emotion that can be expressed by anyone, no matter what they are or are not going through. The Psalms speak to our heads through our hearts, and since the Lord wants us to worship Him with our entire hearts, souls, minds, and strength, it is good for us to not only read the Psalms, but agree with them, to say, “Yes, Lord, me too!” And this is what I would like us to do with Psalm 27 this morning. You may find some verses resonate with you more than others. If so, that’s great! Just make a note of what verses do speak to you, and use these as a basis for how you pray before we take communion. Here is how the Psalm begins:

My Portion My Cup

Psalm 16

Today, we will take a step back from the series in the book of John. As you saw in your program and as we talked about last week, we will start a new series on relationships in February. But right now, we are going to turn our hearts to focus on God’s provision and prepare to take communion together.

The passage for today is chapter 16 from the book of Psalms. It is a beautiful psalm of trust and of testimony of what God has done for us. Because it is a personal prayer in the first person, I’d like for us to read the entire Psalm together out loud. The words are on the screen, so please direct your attention there and let’s read aloud together. Now since we all have to look up and keep our eyes open in order to read off the screen, I can’t ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes in prayer. But, I want you to read the psalm with a mindset and a heart attitude of prayer. Even though we are all together in a group, I want each person to read it with the frame of reference that you individually are speaking to God.

Let’s try this together. Psalm 16:

Reflections: Psalm 16

Psalm 16

Welcome! Today we are going to spend time remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup, and we will also have a sharing time where we can as a group talk about lessons the Lord has taught us in 2009 as well as what we look forward to in 2010. I thought we could begin this process this morning by spending a little time looking at Psalm 16. At the front of the Psalm, its says that this is a “miktam” of David. “Miktam” is an interesting word – it can be translated as “secret,” in which case this is the “secret of David.” Another meaning is “gold” and all gold symbolizes, something that doesn’t decay, or lose value, and is highly valuable – like a treasure, so we have the “treasure of David.” So what is this secret? What is this treasure?

Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing." As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. – Psalm 16:1-3

Do Not Fear

Luke 12:1-12, Psalm 145 

In a little while, we will remember the Lord through the bread and the cup and after this have a sharing time, where we all gather in a circle and anyone can share what the Lord has been showing and teaching them. First though, I would like to briefly say a few things about our passage for this week from Luke, chapter 12, verses 1 through 12. I then will have us read through Psalm 145 in preparation for remembering the Lord through the bread and the cup. Here is how Luke 12 begins:

Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to His disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. – Luke 12:1-3