Psalm 116
All of us are going through something. And the something that we are all going through, although the somethings may differ somewhat, comes as a challenge to our theologies and concepts. And this is good. Especially in an age where modern schools of thought have overtaken historical doctrine.
These unprecedented stresses that are playing against our lives and against the Church are universal and belong to the age that we are living in and, with the intensification of spiritual warfare taking place, it's something that we will all be affected by as we endeavor to serve the Lord faithfully in these "last days".
In spite of, and in light of, all the "somethings", we need to make sure that our feet are planted solidly on the solid Rock. Jesus is the Rock and the Word of God is our first and last resource to anchor us to the Rock of Ages.
Psalm 116 tells us some things about pleasing God and outlines four "P's" that please the Lord. They are:
PRAISE
PROCESS
PROVISION
PAYMENT
and together make up the pod that we all live in as believers in and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Understanding The Historical Context
Psalm 116 belongs to a group of psalms known as the "Paschal Hallel's". These are the "Passover Hymns" sung by the Israelites as they celebrated their deliverance from bondage in Egypt.
Understanding the context reminds us that God's people are a "chosen" people. None of us just woke up one day and decided to find God. Just like the Israelites, we are chosen by God and groomed by the Holy Spirit until we come to a point of surrender in our lives where we yield our will to His will. This is plainly stated by Jesus in John 6:44.
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him."
Ephesians 1:3-6 also speaks to this issue saying,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved."
As a chosen people, we too are a delivered people. We may not have been in physical Egypt, but all of us were spiritual captives in spiritual Egypt and the Lord made a way for us, led us out of bondage to our cruel captor, parted the seas of obstacles that were in our way, and gives us the blessings of the Promised Land that is filled with abundant life now and eternal life in the future.
THE FIRST "P" INVOLVES THE ELEMENT OF
RAISE
Psalm 116:1-2
"1: I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
2: Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live."
We've all got plenty of reasons to praise the Lord in the midst of and in spite of all the hard things that are going on around us that affect our daily lives.
Think about it. The Great God of Heaven has heard our voice and responded to meet the needs of our supplications (requests) that we bring before Him.
We need to continually praise the Lord for all that He's already done for us. Yes. We have present needs. And we have to learn to trust God for our present needs. The greatest helper in sharpening our faith in our present time of need is to look back on God's track record in meeting our past needs.
It's an amazing thought. God sits on His throne with His ear tuned to each one of us listening for our voice as we call out to Him. In all the multitude of voices God knows the sound of each of our voices and sits patiently, longingly, waiting for us to call out to Him in praise of all His greatness, all His glory and all His ability to continue to sustain and deliver us!
THE SECOND "P" INVOLVES THE ELEMENT OF
ROCESS
Psalm 116:3-4
"3: The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
4: Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul."
All of us are in process. Process is the journey that all of us share in as fellow believers in Jesus. In many respects our journeys involve similarities. In other respects our journeys are unique and tailor made by the heart and hands of a faithful God who knows precisely what we need to experience in order to be more fitly molded into the image of His Son.
Process is often painful but its ultimate design is to make us less dependent upon ourselves and more dependent upon God.
Hence, the words of James in 1:2-4, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
Honestly, if we are going through some kind of test or trial, ultimately we have to conclude that we are yet imperfect and incomplete and we need to quit blaming all our trials on the devil and begin to look to God who is grooming us by whatever means necessary to perfect us. There are a number of modern teachers who insist that God never brings hard things into our paths. Yet, Hebrews 12:3-11 insists that God does chasten those whom He loves and that His chastening produces righteousness in us as His children. The modern line of thinking denies the Sovereignty of God and disregards our necessity for correction shifting the burden of responsibility away from us and insists that those who are going through some kind of process are either depraved sinners or saints with little faith.
Don't misunderstand. We can do a lot of things that open the way for hard things in our lives and all hard things shouldn't be considered chastening from the Lord. We can do a lot of things in ignorance. We can do things in rebellion. In both situations we become vulnerable. Not only so, but we live in a fallen world that's already full of disease, depravity and demonic activity. Where these things are concerned we have promises from God. We also live in a world that's accident prone. But none of these do away with the reality that God uses every means that we encounter as tools to refine us and to test our faith and obedience.
Process always results in one of two ends. (1) Process will make us better when we see God in it working to perfect us. (2) Process will make us bitter if we resist and blame God, the devil or others for our problems.
Herein it is important for us to pay close attention to the declaration of Hebrews 12:12-15, "Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled."
Better or bitter. The way we view process will result in one of the two.
THE THIRD "P" INVOLVES THE ELEMENT OF
ROVISION
Psalm 116:5-7
"5: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
6: The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
7: Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee."
Often, when we are going through process, it seems like we are in a dry and waterless desert. In these times we need to remember that, even in the desert trek of the Israelites, God never once failed to provide miraculously for His children. Now that's good news!
And what did God do when He brought the Israelites out of Egypt? He led them into the wilderness.
Those who learned to follow in simple childlike faith and obedience inherited the Promised Land. Those who refused to follow God in simple faith and obedience were walked around in circles until they died off and were left behind.
In the wilderness the Israelites experienced the awesome power of God providing for their needs when they were powerless to do anything to meet their own needs. Manna was provided for bread. Quail were sent into the camp for meat. Water came miraculously from the rock. We need those kind of miracles today in our contemporary setting and as we learn to be less dependent upon our own resources, not to dismiss personal responsibilty and to get lazy, and more dependent upon God we see more of the hand of God working on our behalf.
Divine healing is a classic example of this. Miracles of divine healing are common in third world countries among believers. Aids is being healed. The dead are being raised to life. We pray for healing and in the back of our minds we are trying to remember where we put the doctor's phone number. Are we believing in the Man who is the Great Physician or is our faith in the man who dispenses medications?
Simple childlike faith and obedience. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 18:1-3. "At the same time the disciples came unto Jesus, saying "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, 'Verily, I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.' "
Who enjoyed the provision of the Promised Land? Those who learned to trust and follow God in simple childlike faith and obedience. Who enjoys the blessings of abundant life here and eternal life in the Promised Kingdom? Those who learn to trust and follow God in simple childlike faith and obedience.
THE FOURTH "P" INVOLVES THE ELEMENT OF
AYMENT
Psalm 116:12-19
"12: What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?
13: I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
14: I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.
15: Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
16: O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.
17: I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
18: I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,
19: In the courts of the LORD's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD."
We need to be reminded that a relationship with God is a two way affair that involves more than receiving from God. It also involves giving to God.
King David's example in 2 Samuel 24:18-25 is a terrific illustration of this.
"18 And God came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.
20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.
23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel."
King David could have simply accepted the threshing floor, oxen and timbers as a gift, built an altar to the Lord, killed the oxen, and then kindled a fire under the timbers. Here's something painful. Most of us wouldn't have followed his example and insisted on paying for the goods. We would have assumed that these things were blessings, and gone on without giving it a second thought.
But David refused such generosity and insisted that he wouldn't offer to the Lord something that cost him nothing. He paid hard cold cash for the goods and went on the build the altar and make a sacrifice to the Lord.
How much of what we do can we really deem as a sacrifice that's costing us something?
Here's another hard question. How many times have we made a vow or promise to the Lord only to renege on it and blow it off as if it wasn't important anyway?
Receiving the grace of God in Jesus Christ is a free gift. But, like it or not, faithfully walking in the will of God ever after that involves daily and periodic payments of ourselves and the resources that He blesses us with.
Ephesians 2:8-10 is a good place to conclude this thought with. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
It takes time and effort to do the work that has been assigned to us to do as children of God. Evangelism is a work that takes time and resources. Discipleship is a work that takes time and resources. Maintaining facilities that we occupy as places of Christian education and worship is a work that takes time and resources. Are we being faithful to the work?
Good works, kingdom works, marked by our sacrifices of time and resources, are positive proof of our sincerity toward God of lives that are yielded to Him. |
