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Psalms 33-34
Psalm 33:1-22
“Rejoice in the LORD,
O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with
a loud noise. For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth. He gathereth the waters of the
sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in
awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded,
and it stood fast. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he
beholdeth all the sons of men. From the
place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth
all their works. There is no king saved
by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much
strength. An horse is a vain thing for
safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them
that hope in his mercy. To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his
holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD,
be upon us, according as we hope in thee.”
Introduction: Praise The LORD In Song
“Psalm
33, one of the “orphan psalms,” not ascribed to anyone. The Septuagint ascribes it to David, in the
Septuagint translation says that David is the one who has written this
Psalm. There’s some great bumper-stickers in this Psalm, I love this Psalm. If you look in verse 4, it says there “For
the word of the LORD is right”, I like that, every car should
have that stuck on their bumper, it should be on the side of every bus and on
every billboard, “The word of the LORD is right”,
because a lot of people think they’re right. I like verse 6, it says, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made”,
I like that [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/Does/Genesis%201%201-31.html]. Verse
9 is great, it says “For he spake, and it was done;
he commanded and it stood fast.” You’ll notice “done” is in italics, I think that’s just great, ‘He
spake, and it was.’ Then you can
put underneath, ‘And so was you.’ Verse 11, “The counsel of the LORD standeth forever,” just some great bumper-stickers here, great things too, to keep in mind,
there’s so much about the Word of the LORD. It begins with the first three verses, the
introduction, just kind of an exhortation to rejoice, to praise the LORD, you see the words “rejoice,
sing, praise,” instruments mentioned, a great beginning. “Rejoice
in the LORD,
O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.” (verse 1) praise is proper, it’s good. “Praise
the LORD with the harp: sing unto him with the
psaltery and an instrument of ten
strings. Sing unto him a new song; play
skilfully with a loud noise.” (verses 2-3) So, rejoice in the LORD you righteous, it’s a good
thing, it’s fitting, it’s comely, it’s proper, it looks good, it’s the way that it should be. “Praise
the LORD with the harp” the
kinor there, it’s probably the lyre, instrument of four strings. Ah, the Sea of Galilee, the ancient name, Kinoroth, because it’s shaped like a
lyre, the Sea of Galilee. Ah, “Praise the LORD with the harp:” the
kinor, “sing unto him with the psaltery” which is the more proper word for “harp”, which is an instrument it tells us
here “an instrument of ten strings.” And then it says “Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.” (verse 3) This is
the first of six new songs in the Book of Psalms, there’s another one in the
Book of Isaiah, there’s six in the Book of Psalms, Psalm 40, verse 3, Psalm 96,
verse 1, Psalm 98, verse 1, Psalm 144, verse 9, Psalm 149, verse 1, and here,
six new songs. And the idea is, it’s a song that hasn’t been heard. But it isn’t just new in the sense ‘Wow, that’s a new song, let’s try it out,
see if it works or it doesn’t,’ the idea is, it’s new in the sense that ‘Thought should be given to it.’ The Psalmist is exhorting, ‘Sing
unto the LORD, think and put together this
new song,’ there should be something new. Verse 4 gives us the reason, “For” and then it’s going to speak for
three or four verses here of God’s Word in Creation, that God has done
incredible things through his word. And
the Psalmist is more amazed with the act of Creation than creation itself, the
process of it, that God just spoke things into existence. And as his heart is set on that, whether it’s
David or not here, he’s saying, you know, ‘Praise him, sing to him, rejoice, this is
proper for the righteous, we have great reason to use the harp, to use the
psaltery, to sing a new, thought-provoking, thoughtfully put together song, new
in nature, and play skillfully with a loud noise.’ When he says that, remember, loud
noise, they didn’t have PA systems, they didn’t have Marshal amplifiers,
try to keep it in context, it’s not talking about some type of Heavy-Metal
worship. Loud noise is relative to the
instruments that they had in those days, it’s clear, it’s heard, a new song, played
skillfully, wonderful here.
Why We Should Praise The LORD
And
here he gives the reasons, “For” here’s why, “For the word of the LORD is right”, his Word cannot be wrong, it
can never be wrong. Look, there are
absolutes. We look at the culture today,
and we look at what’s going on around us, and we see the Church [greater Body
of Christ] kind of struggling, ‘Doesn’t
the Bible seem a little bit rigid?’ and when anybody ever backslides and
they go away, what they always say is ‘Calvary
Chapel is legalistic,’ what they mean is, ‘We actually believe the Bible.’ Because what they’re saying is, they actually like the Bible, but
they’re having a problem with the verses. [Comment: It’s very fascinating,
except for disagreement in understanding over “days of worship”, the Chuck
Smith, Costa Mesa, California affiliated Calvary Chapels and some of the
Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (particularly the United Church of God) are all
labeled “legalistic” because we believe in the Bible and obeying what the Bible
teaches, i.e. obedience to the Ten Commandments (for the Calvary Chapels 9 of
them, for the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God, all 10 of them). Anyone who wants to follow and obey what the
Bible teaches is going to be labeled “legalistic” by all the more “liberal”
so-called Christian churches, especially those who started out as on-fire
revivals 200 to 300 years ago, and now are very liberal, not adhering strictly
to what the Bible teaches. I find that
interesting, but not surprising that the more liberal churches out there would
label the Calvary Chapel’s as being legalistic. But what I have found is that the Calvary Chapels are one of the most
loving and grace oriented church denominations going.] Ah, here it says ‘the Word of the LORD is right,’ I don’t know what the argument
is, it says ‘that heaven and earth are going to pass away, the Word of God is going to abide forever.’ When it comes to our morals and it comes to our ethics and it comes to
our behavior, it comes to our belief, it comes to our doctrine, it simply says ‘The Word of the LORD is right.’ We didn’t come from monkeys, we were created,
its just “the Word of the LORD is right.” I don’t know about you guys, that’s refreshing to me. In a world where nobody believes anything, to be able to believe
something is wonderful. And in
that, the people are most offended by people who believe something. ‘You
have the nerve to believe something!? You’re intolerant…’ Because why? Because I think? I have an opinion, I believe something, I
love this ‘The Word of the LORD is right,’ that’s good enough for me. That’s good enough for me tomorrow when I get
up, I have enough problems right there in my own life. Everything he says is right, I’m still
bringing this person in line
with all of that, that’s my main
concern. But ‘the Word of the LORD is right, “and all his works are done in
truth.” (verse 4b)
“The Earth Is Full Of The Goodness Of The LORD
“He loveth
righteousness and judgment: the earth is
full of the goodness of the LORD.”
(verse 5) I believe that with all of my heart. You know, why roses? Why cinnamon? Why honey? Why garlic? You know, cows are out there lapping up the
grass, they’re never thinking ‘I’d like a
little curry on this,’ just the earth is filled with the goodness of the LORD, there’s thought in everything
relative to us, what we see, what we hear, it’s an environment that he placed
us in. [Comment: God created the environment we’re in, especially tailored for mankind, the flora and fauna,
the plant and animal kingdom we live in, unlike that of the dinosaur age which
came before mankind, one which was totally hostile to mankind. See, http://www.unityinchrist.com/dinosaurs/dinosaurs.htm for proof of this.] He says “The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.”
(verse 5b) and “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” (verse 6) I’m not just amazed with the heavens, but the
fact it’s ‘with the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all of the host of them by the breath of his mouth.’ There’s no confusing here. You know, it’s interesting, as our technology
progresses and we look at the heavens, scientists are saying ‘Out there on the edge of the universe we’re
looking at, the galaxies out there are actually all moving away from the center
of the universe at about 100,000,000 miles an hour, 100 million miles an hour.’ Now
that data gives them a huge problem, if everything’s kind of moving away from
the center at that speed, what that means is there was a beginning. [Again, see http://www.unityinchrist.com/Does/Genesis%201%201-31.html] So they don’t know what to do with that,
that’s where they come up with the Big Bang. ‘OK, if it’s moving away that
fast, we have to, the theologians can’t be right [the Big Bang proves creation,
that there was a beginning], so what
we’ll do is go back to the day it banged, we refuse to go back one day before
it banged.’ Because that’s where
their problem is, what’s on the other side of the bang? It was a big bang. Now look, in Kindergarten I knew there was a
problem with that theory. [Nothing wrong
with that theory, it proves there was a beginning. Most scientists don’t like the implications
of the Big Bang.] What banged, and who
banged it? We know that
intuitively. He says here, simply, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made;” he spoke them into existence, “all the
host of them by the breath of his mouth.” (verse 6)
Does God Exist? Did He Create All This?
“He gathered the
waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.” (verse 7) He pulled them into one place, separated the
land from the water, the days of Creation are being reflected here. “He
layeth up the depths in storehouses. Let
all the earth fear the LORD: let the inhabitants of the world stand in awe
of him.” (verses 7b-8) the reason, “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.”
(verse 9) “Done” is put in there, which gives a
sense of it. “He spake and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.” No time for evolution here, none at all. [Comment: very interestingly, even though a type of evolution at the discrete
animal level is possible over vast amounts of time what destroys the
possibility of that having ever occurred is that when you get down to the
cellular and sub-cellular level, the bio-chemical, atomic level of cellular
structure, the irreducible complexity of what’s inside the cell totally
disproves the possibility of gradual evolution, as revealed by the PhD
professor Michael Behe, in his landmark book, “Darwin’s Black Box.” Those complex structures had to have come
together all at once in order to work properly or at all. So, correlation gained from reading his
book: “If examination of the sub-cellular
level of a living organism proves those structures within the cell had to have
come together all-at-once in order to work, the larger organism, be it plant or
animal, had to have come into existence all-at-once.” This proves that the various epochs from the
dinosaurs all the way through man were composed of a series of specific
creations rather than through evolutionary processes. Michael Behe’s book is a scientific treatise,
not a book about religion or religious arguments. Maybe he mentions the name of God three
times, if that, in the whole book.] ‘He
commanded, it stood forth, he spake, it was.’ Even Jesus himself says ‘In
the beginning he created them male and female,’ he doesn’t say it took
millions of years to evolve, he says ‘in
the beginning he created Adam and Eve, male and female.’ Now, again, not a million
years after it happened. Look,
God, just in case you’re wondering, I asked him, God didn’t create in time, he
created outside of time [see that article “The Genesis Code” I gave the link
to, it’s all about that], in his genius, and he just plugged it into time. He didn’t create it in time, he’s not in
time, he didn’t need time [time is a discrete part of Space-Time, in which all
matter exists]. He created time, but he
didn’t create in time. And we know
information is not relative to time and energy, or time and matter, he says to
Jeremiah ‘Before you were conceived, I knew you.’ That means information is independent
of time and energy, and matter [at least information residing with God, outside
Space-Time]. He didn’t create in time. In fact, I’ll bumble through this, because
I’m not an astrophysicist, I have no idea what I’m talking about, kind of. If Einstein’s theory is correct [the theory
of relativity is no longer a theory, but law, has been sufficiently proven
(atomic bombs, anyone?)], and matter is relative to the speed of light, then
time, and Isaac Newton postulated, that light would get bent as it went past
the sun if his theory of gravity was correct. Isn’t it remarkable, that long ago. But now, we’re seeing light get sucked into
black holes. Which means, not that it
troubles you, but it troubles physicists, all of their equations don’t work,
because there’s no constant of speed of light across the universe, it slows
down, it bends, it disappears in black holes. And if it disappears in black holes, that means that time is relative to
matter [time actually slows or even stops at the event-horizon of a black hole,
not sure which], which means you have to have matter to have time, and not time
to have matter. Well that blows the
evolutionists minds. But they’re not
willing for their minds to be blown. Because they want to promote entropy, the second law of thermodynamics,
where everything is breaking down and getting simpler, except for when it comes
to you and I, then we’re getting more and more
complex. It’s contradictory, it’s all
illogical. I love to make comments about
it. [Comment: To see the macro and micro of physics in
regards to whether God exists, see the new “Does God Exist” section at: http://www.unityinchrist.com/Does/Does%20God%20Exist.html] I
don’t have a PhD though, forgive me. I
have a BA, I was Born-Again in ’72 [laughter, applause]. I have been studying since then, haven’t been
just sitting around. I do know people
with three and four PhD’s that confirm my lunacy, because I talk with them. But I love that, “he spake, and it was, he commanded, and it stood fast.” The Psalmist overwhelmed with the
process, not with the Creation itself, just that it
all came into being that way.”
God’s Providence Dealing With Nations, Dealing With Individuals
God’s Providence Dealing With Nations
Verses 10-15,
“The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he
beholdeth all the sons of men. From the
place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth
all their works.” (verses 10-15) “And
then when he gets to verse 10 he stops kind of speaking about Creation itself,
and he starts to speak of providence. God made it, now how does he rule? Is he involved, is he distant? Did he make it, and now he’s detached, or is he actually involved? So he talks about God’s providence in
nations. When he gets down to verse 16
he starts to talk about God’s providence working in the lives of individuals. And in both places he does this, first says ‘The
nations that rebel, God deals with them this way, the nations that comply and
yield are dealt with this way. Individuals that rebel are dealt with this way, individuals that comply,
find this experience.’ So, he
talks about now his providence in his own creation. He didn’t make it to be detached from
it. This is not some deist thing, he’s
involved, he’s a Father, he’s a Shepherd, he’s a Bridegroom, with a Bride he’s
coming to take, he’s deeply involved with his own
creation. It says in verse 10, “The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought:” ‘counsel of the nations to nought, nothing.’ “he maketh the
devices of the people of none effect.” It isn’t going to be Washington
or the Kremlin that determines the course of our present world. I love that. Are you frustrated with the news sometimes? Are you frustrated with political
decisions? Are you frustrated with the
course of nations, and legislation? You
don’t have to be. Look what it says
here, the same Word that spoke the worlds into existence, it says now “The LORD bringeth the counsel of the
heathen to nought” the
counsel of nations to zip, nothing, he’s the one whose on the Throne. And of the nations, “he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.” (verse 10) In
contrast, “The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” (verse 11) “the thoughts of his
heart, to all generations”, that includes us this evening, wonderfully. Now, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he
hath chosen for his own inheritance.” (verse 12) That is a reason we should be praying for the
nation that we live in, and the leaders that we have. Because the blessing on
this nation is directly related to the fact if God is our LORD or not. Are we willing to yield to him? Look, you study history, you know, nations,
England, the United States, nations who had a very Godly beginning, were at
least godly people, steering things early, and the further you move from that,
the more a nation deteriorates, falls apart. So, here he says “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,” another great
bumper-sticker. As we move away from
that, the blessing on this nation diminishes. It isn’t that we need a new financial scheme, it isn’t that we need to come up with the greatest new technology militarily,
the might of a nation depends on its righteousness. The greatest danger for us right now is not
somebody in one of our harbours firing a cruise-missile, the greatest danger is
we’ve turned away from God, we’ve thumbed our nose at
him. And the minute he takes his hand
from us, we are vulnerable in every way. No politician can stand in front of us and say, ‘If you vote for me or trust me I’m going to fix the economy,’ the
economy is a reflection of our moral condition as a nation, as a people. It can never be fixed without turning back to
what’s right, without repentance, without prayer. And look, again, I believe in all of their
voices [i.e. the politicians] there’s a measure of truth and measure of
error. There needs to be, I believe,
there needs to be welfare, their needs to be medical care, people that are
impoverished, this is a country that’s wealthy enough, we should be able to
take care of them. The problem is human
beings are sinful. So some people who
need those things, hopefully will get them, but then there’s a whole lot of
people who don’t need them, and they’re not inspired to work and earn a living
because they can get stuff for free, so that process gets abused. It’s a good process, it should be
available. And then they point the
finger at the other end, saying that people that are wealthy are wicked. Well that’s not true. This is a nation where people come here from
foreign lands, and in ten years they’re a millionaire. But the problem is, early in our nation,
people that were wealthy and millionaires, they were philanthropists, and they
build hospitals, they built orphanages, they made it easier for other people to
get on their feet. Now of course you’ve
got these Wall Street fat cats, and these guys with the big banking systems,
and the problem is, there are sinful people on the
rich end too. And there are those who
have worked hard, and earned what they have, but there are those who are taking
advantage of the rest of us. So, the
problem is sin on both ends. And if a
nation doesn’t repent and get its heart before the Lord, if things don’t get
fixed, and here it’s saying wonderfully, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD;” Now
Israel of course is in the heart of David or our author here, “and the
people whom he hath chosen for his
own inheritance.” (verse 12) “The LORD looketh from heaven; he
beholdeth all the sons of men.” we’re
always under his view. “From the place of his habitation he
looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.” (verses 13-15) We
serve a God who looks, who beholds, who considers.
God’s Providence Dealing With Individuals
“There is no king
saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.”
(verse 16) Now he’s going to individuals now, he just
talked about nations. “A horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.” (verse 17) So, he says here, there’s a false confidence,
a multitude, a host, great army, a mighty man, a hero, a horse, the latest
tank, the latest missile, your latest Aegis system,
whatever it might be, that’s a false confidence. Because none of them can
deliver in and of themselves. God
is ruling in providence, and he’s looking for a people whose heart is turned
towards him. He says, but verse 18, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them
that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them
alive in famine.” (verses 18-19) It
doesn’t say to deliver their physical frame, soul, as we have hope in his
mercy, is that he will deliver our soul from death, first thing, and then he
adds to that, and to keep them alive in famine, that God is gracious to his
people.
‘Finally, Wait, Rejoice, Pray’
The
end of the Psalm, the last few verses are about God and us, and the exhortation
is to wait, to rejoice, to pray, look, “Our
soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.” (verse 20) If you notice when you study through the
Bible, there’s a lot of waiting. We’re
not good at that anymore, at all. I
don’t like to wait in the checkout stand, I don’t like to wait in traffic, I don’t like to wait. I’m not a good waiter. My wife
always says “You are so impatient.” And I always say “I’m not!!!” “Our
soul waiteth for the LORD:” that’s something that we need
to cultivate, “he is our help and our
shield.” (verse 20) We know the last chapter, we know how this
all rolls out, we’re waiting for him. We’re not sure, we’re not guaranteed everything between now and then,
but we know the last chapter. “For our heart shall rejoice in him,
because we have trusted in his holy name.” (verse 21) and
how sweet the name of Jesus [Yeshua in Hebrew] is, isn’t it? It’s like
ointment poured forth. And then a prayer, “Let thy
mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.” (verse 22) Again the Hebrew is, “according
as we wait on thee.” more waiting there at the end. ‘Have mercy upon us, we’re waiting on you LORD,’ Psalm 33.
Psalm 34:1-22
A Psalm of David,
when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he
departed
“I will bless the
LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul
shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD,
and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were
lightened: and their faces were not
ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all
his troubles. The angel[s] of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD. ye his saints: for there is no want to them
that fear him. The young lions do lack,
and suffer hunger: but they that seek
the LORD shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is
he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue
from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut
off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them
out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a
broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but
the LORD delivereth him out of them all. He
keepeth all his bones: not one of them
is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be
desolate. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and
none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.”
Introduction: It’s Easier To Pray In A Cave Than In A Palace
“Psalm 34, and I hope you’re reading ahead as we do
these. Psalm 34, everyone agrees, the
title, in fact if you have a Hebrew text it’s actually right in there. This is a Psalm of David, and it specifically
says, “When he changed his behaviour before
Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed”. We’re
back in 1st Samuel, chapters 21 and 22, David is a young man, being
brought to notoriety, his killing of the giant of Gath, Goliath, and then all
of a sudden he’s found in the court of king Saul. King Saul, no doubt having been in contact
with him as David had played his harp before that, now Saul taking much more
notice of this young man---‘whose son is
he?’---he’s of the family of Jesse, he learns. And then David is admired by the nation so
much that they’re singing ‘Saul has slain
his thousands, David has slain his tens of thousands.’ And so with Saul, the envy begins, and
the avarice, and Saul begins to pursue him, throwing a
javelin at him several times, and David having to work with Jonathan, who by
the way was almost 30 years older, remarkably, than David, they weren’t buddies
of the same age. [Same mindset though, a
trust and faith in God that made them both fearless warriors.] Jonathan was a much more mature man, who
admired so much of what he saw in David, and understood the work that God was
doing there. And David then, eventually
fleeing, as he worked out a signal system with Jonathan, and understands then
that Saul would come and take his life. And he comes to Ahimelech, the priest there, at the Tabernacle, and he
lies to the priest, tells him he’s on a mission which isn’t the mission he’s
on. He takes of the Show Bread to feed
his men, and he takes hold there, asks if there are any weapons. Ahimelech said, ‘Well I have the sword of Goliath here.’ So imagine here, here he is a number of years
later, the giant that he killed with a sling and a stone, now he’s despairing,
not trusting the LORD, running, afraid of Saul, he actually takes hold
of the sword of Goliath as something that can protect him, not thinking ‘Well it couldn’t keep a giant safe when I
hit him in the head with a stone, how’s it going to protect me?’ And how often do we do that when we get
saved, we’re zealous, great things going on in our lives, and as time goes on
we start to trust in things that the world trusts in around us. Look, I came through the Jesus Movement, we
were Hippies when we got saved, and we talked about the Man, you know, that’s the government, the police, the Man is out there. And we were non-materialist, I mean I gave
away, and I could shoot myself now, I gave away an entire coin collection,
pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, all the way through, to my cousin (which
he’s never offered to give back to me). If you were nuts then, you were a Hippie taking
LSD, you know, I gave away fishing gear, I gave away socket sets, Craftsman, I
became a non-materialist. And then you
get saved, and then you start to accumulate stuff again, then you need the Man to protect your stuff. Now everything changes around. And that’s where David is, where he needs the Man to protect his stuff now. He takes the sword of Goliath, and he heads
down to Gath, the Philistine country to get away from Saul, and here’s David,
imagine this, fleeing, it says, to Abimelech here. Achish was the king, his title was Abimelech,
the Philistine kings were called Abimelech, like the Egyptian kings were called
Pharaoh, each one had the title Pharaoh. And down in Philistine country they were all Abimelech, this one
specifically is Achish. And when he
comes down there, here comes David, dragging this big long sword behind him,
and fleeing to Gath where Goliath was from, looking for safety. And the people down there say to Achish, ‘Hey, ain’t this the kid, the hero from up
in Israel, he’s dragging Goliath’s sword, this is the one they were singing you
know, Saul has killed his thousands and David has killed his ten thousands,’ and it says David, I’ll read it to you, it says, “And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of
Achish the king of Gath. And he changed
his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and
scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his
beard. Then said Achish unto his
servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought
him to me?” Like, ‘Do I lack mad men in my cabinet?’ “Have I need of mad
men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?” (1st Samuel 21:11-15) that’s the way all
government feels, probably. And they let
him go. So David, hears, you know, what
the people are saying, he realizes ‘I’m
in trouble,’ instead of falling on his knees then and praying, it says, he
starts to act like he’s insane, and he starts going around ‘Ooooh-eeee!’ scratching on the walls, and he’s letting the spit
run down his beard and drip on the floor, and Achish the king says ‘What
are you bringing this guy to me for, I have enough people like this on the
payroll already, I need one more mad-man? Look at him, he’s nuts, he’s lost his mind, why would he be down here in
the wrong part of the territory with Goliath’s sword? Get him outa here!’ So they throw him out, and David
escapes. When he escapes, he moves down
into the territory of southern Judah, and he comes to the cave of Adullam (cf.
1st Samuel 22), and as he comes there it tells us that all those
that are in the land begin to gather themselves to David, and it says, “David therefore departed thence, and
escaped to the cave Adullam:”, Adullam is a Hebrew word that has the root
that means “resting place.” And it’s
down near the valley of Elah, where he had victory over the giant (1st Samuel 17:2). “and when his brethren and all his father’s
house heard it, they went down
thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented
[bitter of soul, literally], gathered themselves unto him; and he
became a captain over them: and there
were with him about four hundred men.” (1st Samuel 22:1-2) So that’s our backdrop here for Psalm 34,
David is down in the Cave of Adullam, and he gets out his harp. And his mom and his dad are there, who he’s
going to send to Moab for safety, he has relatives there, remember Ruth, his
great-great-great grandma. It’s supposed
to be ten generations out before you can come into the Tabernacle, he’s only
three out, interesting. And he sends his
family over there for safety. Now he’s
got 400 grumblers that came with him, they’re distressed, they’re in debt,
they’re discontent, and they’re all gathered to him there. And it is the foundation to the greatest army
that Israel would ever see. And David
through his error, and through his flaw now, wants to
speak to them and teach them. So the
first half here of this Psalm is song, the second half is sermon, that’s how
it’s divided, the first half is devotion, the second half is instruction. But it is one of the acrostic Psalms, it’s
the 4th one, acrostic means each letter [starting out each verse or
something like that] of the Hebrew alphabet. Not that any of you would care if…What that means is it’s easier to
memorize. So as the Holy Spirit gives
this to David, he’s saying, ‘I want this one kept in mind, I want this
one easier to remember, David.’ As
David has got out his harp and he’s got his quill to the page, and the Holy
Spirit is coming through, God is saying ‘This one, you know, has real lessons in it,
in a wonderful way.’
‘Let Us Exalt The Name Of
The LORD Together’
So
it begins this way, David in the cave, surrounded with 400 grumblers, he had
just acted like a mad-man, he had lied to Ahimelech the priest, he’s made it
down to this cave, as it were, by the skin of his teeth, as it were, and he
says this, “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (verse 1) ‘I will bless the LORD,
Jehovah,’ mentioned
16 times in this Psalm. And isn’t it
interesting, at all times, from Gath to Adullam, he’s realizing this, ‘LORD. in my worst of days, when I
do the stupidest things, instead of standing up and believing what Samuel said
when he anointed me in the beginning, that I’m going to be the king of Israel,
it’s going to be a united nation, I do this mad-man stuff, I act like a maniac
with drool on my beard, and LORD there was no faith in
that. But LORD, even in the midst of that
you’re faithful, you’ve kept me, you’ve been gracious to me,’ “I will bless the LORD” he says, “at all times: his praise shall continually be in
my mouth.” That’s a good thing. “My
soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.” (verse 2) Now word “boast” there, “hallel” it’s used 165 times in the Old Testament, 117 times
it means “to praise”, 14 times it means “to glory, give glory.” He’s basically saying ‘My soul shall make her praise,
her glory in the LORD, that’s who I’m going to
praise, this is where I’m going to boast, this is what I’m going to lift up.’ “the humble shall
hear thereof, and be glad.” (verse 2b) He’s probably sitting there, looking at these
400 guys around him, thinking ‘LORD,
you’ve given me this one, this one’s going to be a top-ten, this is great.’ And then he switches to them, “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” (verse 3) the first two verses are singular, he’s
speaking about his own experience. Now I
don’t know, does he look around the inside of the cave and say ‘Hey
guys, how’s this sound? Oh magnify the LORD at all times, let us exalt his name together.’ And by the
way, it’s imperative there, ‘we must magnify the LORD, this is something we have to do, guys, this is something that is needful, it has to
happen.’ “I sought the LORD,
and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” (verse 4) I must have been dribbling and scrabbling,
and going ‘oh LORD,
I’m acting like mad-man, get me out, let them think I’m really nuts,’ whatever, you know. He’s saying, in the process, ‘I
sought the LORD, he delivered me from all of
my fears,’ it tells us he was in great fear before Achish. “They looked unto him, and where
lightened: and their faces were not
ashamed.” (verse 5) God lifted up their heads, their faces were
not ashamed. “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his trouble.” (verse 6) There seems to be a real correlation between
looking, and having your head lifted up. Between crying, and being saved from troubles,
very interesting as we read through this.
How Does God, The LORD, Protect His Own, Us
Believers?
And
then verse 7, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” We love this verse. [Comment: This verse also shows what job the holy angels have that are assigned to
us, they encamp around us, to protect us, and this is in the military sense, we
are in hostile territory on earth here, until Jesus returns (cf. Revelation
19-20).] “encampeth about them” plural, “that fear him,” the LORD, “and delivereth them.” The
angel of the LORD, we sometimes imagine, there’s only one “the
Angel of the LORD,” that’s Michael, he’s the only one that always
has a definite article attached to it, he is “the
Archangel.” But this is actually in the plural here,
it’s interesting. We always like to
think the angel of the LORD encamps around them. Well if it’s just speaking of a singular, how
could he be around all of us? The beauty
here is, it actually says “The angels of the LORD”, that means we all get taken
care of, “encampeth around them that
fear him, and delivereth them.” One
of our guys a few weeks ago, on Sunday night here, during prayer, saw
angels. I love to hear about it when
that happens. If you see angels let us
know, will ya? Isn’t that a great thing,
the angels? When I was a little kid, I
saw them, for about twenty minutes, I was four-years-old, my mom put us to bed,
walked out, the ceiling just opened up, no fear, beautiful light, three of them
leaning over, looking down, I couldn’t hear anything, I just watched, watched
and watched and watched, and finally pointed, they call kind of acknowledged,
and I’m four or five, ‘That’s just cool!’ . There was no fear, no terror, it was just
wonderful. And I lost my mind for a
number of years [as a Hippie], but after I got saved, I really started to think
about that again. [Comment: when I was about 9 years old the army
anti-aircraft gun emplacement camp near our neighborhood moved out, and me and
my best friend combed the grounds where it had been. We found what I learned later was a fulminate
of mercury detonator canister about the size of a Hunts Tomato can. I was about 20 feet from this good sized
rock. I threw it at the rock. It went straight for the rock, and then
veered off at a 45 degree angle, and rolled harmlessly in the grass. I found out later that fulminate of mercury
has a 1-to-800 expansion rate when it explodes, which would have killed both of
us. The stuff is also highly sensitive
to shock. Looking back, I know that
angelic protection had taken place there. God knew he was going to call Pastor Joe, well in advance, and I guess me
too, he assigned some of his holy angels to encamp around us, at times, keeping
us kids from blowing ourselves up. So
always pray for angelic protection for your children and grandkids, I always
do.] You know, it says that we have
guardian angels, they watch over us. Some of them are getting worked harder than others, I know that. It says “angels
of the LORD” it’s a good translation, the
idea is, the angels, part of their duty is to “encamp around them” plural, “that
fear him, and delivereth them” so it insinuates more than one angel, the
Hebrew actually translates it “the angels
of the LORD” Wonderful idea, encamping around them, he’s
there with Achish in Gath, he’s realizing, ‘Wait a minute, Goliath wasn’t saved with
all of his armour, all of his strength and everything, a stone brought him
down. LORD, your care for me and your
protection is supernatural.’
‘Come Ye Children, I’ll Teach You The Fear Of The LORD’
He
says, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (verse 8) Now this is a great song for him to be
speaking to all that are distressed, all that are debtors,
all that are discontent. He’s
going to be very specific in verse 11, where he’s going to say to them, “Come,
ye children, hearken unto me: I will
teach you the fear of the LORD.” But
here he’s saying, ‘Look, are you distressed?’ that was the order, those that were
distressed, those that were in debt, those that were discontent, those that were bitter of soul. So he says, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” You don’t have to be stressed-out,
distressed, ‘Blessed is the man that trusts in him.’ “O fear the LORD,
ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.” (verse 9) There is no want in the final analysis, there
are the debtors, referring to them. “Young lions do lack, and suffer
hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.” (verse 10) And probably down in Adullam they hear them
roar sometimes in that part of the country. “The lions do lack, and suffer
hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.” There’s no sense to be bitter of soul,
discontent. And then he says, now, and
you know you wonder, here he’s in the cave with 400, I mean, Joab’s there,
there’s some real men there, and David is young, he’s several years past the
slaying of the giant at this point in time, he’s in his early 20’s, he’s young,
he’s a kid. You can imagine looking
around these guys, like the Duck Dynasty guys, with beards and long hair, some
of these monsters, and David says, “Come,
ye children”, isn’t it interesting? I think of Jesus all the time, you know, in John chapter 13 in there,
and he’s got the disciples together at the end of the Last Supper [the first
New Testament Passover service], and he calls them “children”, and here’s
Peter, big, burly, you know, probably older than Christ [physically speaking,
since Yahweh, the pre-Incarnate Christ has existed forever], and here’s Jesus
calling them “children.” There’s almost
the same spirit of it here, as the Spirit of the LORD is in David, “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
(verse 11) teach you how to walk and reverence him.
The Lessons Now In Psalm 34
1. The Tongue: “Keep Thy Tongue From Evil, And Thy Lips From Speaking Guile”
Here’s some of the lessons. Are we ready? “What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?” (verse 12) ‘you want to learn, you want to see a blessed life? Do you want to live many days?’ First thing he says, isn’t it interesting? “Keep
thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” (verse 13) One of the first things that can
get you beat up or killed is your tongue. “Keep thy tongue from evil, and
thy lips from speaking guile.” Isn’t that interesting? And he’s saying this to a bunch of distressed
grumblers in a cave. “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips
from speaking guile.” You know I
think of, Solomon will say, no doubt part of his father’s instructions, ‘Six
things I hate, ye seven are an abomination to me, he who sows discord among
brethren,’ he takes note of the way we use our mouths. In James it tells us that the tongue itself
is set on fire of Gehenna, and it’s an interesting Greek structure, it speaks
of the round of existence, that people that are right around you, you can start
a fire. You think of a rudder on a ship,
you know this little rudder steers the whole ship. Think of how a little spark, it says, kindles
a great forest fire, Smokey the Bear commercial way long ago. And he says ‘So the tongue, so the tongue,
like a rudder steering a big ship, like a little spark that starts a huge
forest fire, so the tongue, is set on fire of hell,’ he says (cf. James
3:1-12), it can bless, it can do damage, it can break someone’s spirit. You can hurt your children much more by what
you say than to paddle their rear-ends, you can hurt
them much more deeply, much more permanently with your mouth. Keep your tongue. And look, it’s the one part of your body that
comes in a cage, pop! just keep the cage closed, keep
the cage closed. I mean, [mumble,
mumble, mumble], nobody’s going to get offended, keep
the cage closed. “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” (verse 13)
2. You Can’t Separate Genuine Belief From Moral Purity
Look, “Depart from evil, and do good; seek
peace, and pursue it.” (verse 14) Here’s the truth, the truth is, you can’t
divorce genuine belief from moral behaviour, you can’t
do good unless you depart from evil. The
last Psalm said “The Word of the LORD is right.” It doesn’t matter what kind of church you go
to, it doesn’t matter what kind of God-speak you’re using with your mouth, the Bible says you can’t separate genuine belief from moral
purity. They can’t be separated. And we live in a whole culture that’s impure
morally, and the Church [i.e. the more liberal parts of the Body of Christ, the dead and dying
parts] wants to embrace those things. You can’t do that. The Word of
God is right, true religion, true belief, you can’t divorce it from proper
behaviour. It says here that you have to ‘depart
from evil to do good, seek peace, and pursue it,’ and he says, “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” (verse 15) Look, he’s got these 400 guys in a cave, this
is going to become the greatest, this is the hub, the core of the greatest army the nation’s going to see. And look at what he’s telling them. He’s not just saying ‘Hey, practice your swordsmanship, get out
your slings,’ he’s saying ‘Hey look, your mouths.’ Deuteronomy had said, ‘Look, if you muster the troops
for battle, and you’re getting ready to go against the enemy, and there’s
somebody there that’s fearful, send him home, lest he dishearten his brethren.’ Because if he starts, ‘Oooh, look how big they are, they’re gonna get us, the Anakin there,
they look like the giants,’ you only had Caleb and Joshua saying ‘Let’s go in there and get ‘em,’ everybody else terrified the people. So
he says to his army, ‘Children, let me teach you the way of the LORD, you want a long life, you
want to be successful? Keep your tongue
from evil, and your lips from speaking guile, depart from evil, do good, seek
peace,’ that gets wearisome sometimes, doesn’t it? ‘seek peace, and pursue it.’ “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are
open unto their cry.” (verse 15) ‘Seek peace, pursue it, want to be blessed,
do these things, because the eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous,’ he hasn’t forgotten about you, ‘his
ears are open to their cry.’ “The
face of the LORD is against
them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.” (verse 16) here’s the opposite. It’s just inescapable that the Bible teaches
from beginning to end, there’s good, and there’s evil. There’s right, and there’s wrong. It’s not rocket science, it’s so simple. And it has to be understood clearly for us to
appreciate the Gospel of Christ, for us to appeal to him for forgiveness. If we don’t understand the Law, we don’t
understand right and wrong, we don’t understand evil and good, then Christ
never comes into view, because it’s through those things that we understand how
many times we’ve crossed the line, that what depraved sinners we are, that even
when [through the indwelling Holy Spirit] we make ourselves behave, our hearts
so often are going in the wrong direction. [This also gets us into the subject of Law & Grace. For a good study on that, see http://www.unityinchrist.com/whatisgrace/whatisgraceintro.htm] The Bible is clear about it, there’s no
compromise at all, the Word of the LORD is right (that’s the
Bumper-Sticker). “The eyes of the LORD are upon the
righteous, and his ears are open unto
their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut
off the remembrance of them from the earth.” (verses 15-16) That’s not good, if you’re wondering. “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.” (verse 17) That’s a wonderful confidence to have. Look, David made mistakes, David messed up,
David never changed gods, he sinned before his God, he fell before his God. Solomon, God would
say to him, ‘Your heart is not perfect before me like the heart of your father
David,’ David’s heart was perfect. He committed adultery, he committed murder, he sinned before his God, he never changed gods. He fled from his God, tried to hide it from his God, he didn’t change
gods. He didn’t start like Solomon to
build temples for Moloch or for Aphrodite or all these other foreign gods, he
never became an idolater. He blew it, he
made mistakes, but he never changed his God. And he says here, his own situation, he wasn’t honest with Ahimelech, he
comes into Gath, he loses faith, he ends up with Achish. He says, you know, ‘The righteous cry, the LORD hears, and delivers them out
of all their troubles.’ “The
LORD is nigh unto them that are of a
broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” (verse 18) And he will remember this much later in his
life, when he sins, and says ‘A broken and contrite spirit thou wilt not
despise.’ “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them
all.” (verse 19) I mean,
this is not our home, we’re passing through (cf. Revelation
19-21). “but the LORD delivereth him out of them ALL.” Starts
with many, ends with all, I mean, if you haven’t noticed, this is hostile territory. Again, I was
reading Sunday---what was I reading?---it wasn’t
Wiersby, one of the other guys, but he tells this story, and it’s a famous
story of a missionary couple who had been over twenty-eight years in Africa,
given their lives to the point of their health, struggled, and they were coming
home from the mission field, finally they were older, they had been there over
30 years, they’re coming home. And Teddy
Roosevelt happens to be on the same ship they’re on coming across the Atlantic,
and he was in Africa hunting, you know, big game, he loved to hunt. And they got home to the port in New York, and
the crowds are there, going crazy, screaming, the parades, whatever it is,
ticker-tape (I never had one, so it’s hard for me to remember), all that going
on, all the trumpets, all the celebration, here’s Teddy Roosevelt, everybody’s
going crazy, Teddy Roosevelt. And then
they come off, kind of sore, kind of hobbling along, dragging their stuff, and
he says ‘I can’t believe it, here we give
our entire lives to this, and we come home and there’s nobody here. He goes over for a few weeks, shooting and
killing animals, and he comes home and the whole country’s out to greet him and carry on,’ and his wife looked at him and said, “Honey, we’re not home, we’re not home.” “Many are the afflictions of the
righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. He
keepeth all his bones: not one of the is broken. Evil
shall slay the wicked and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.” (verses 19-21) “slay the wicked” self fulfilling. “and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate” just
remember that. You know, pray for those
who despitefully use you. We live under
a government, we live in a culture, we live where there’s a lot of animosity
against Nativity Scenes, against the Ten Commandments, against prayer in
school, the entirety of the whole thing, it says “Evil shall slay the wicked and they that hate the righteous shall be
desolate.” We should pray for a
revival, that they might be saved. “The LORD redeemeth the soul of his
servants: and none of them that trust in
him shall be desolate.” (verse 22) Isn’t it interesting, you know, he should put
a subtitle on there that says it’s easier to pray in a cave than it is in a
palace, you know. Isn’t it true? We remember our prayer-life much more
frequently in a cave than we do in a palace. But it’s interesting, here, “The
LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants”,
the wicked produce all kinds of things for themselves, there is no soul that
has redemption in the soul itself. The
soul that sins, the only redemption it has, it says, is in the LORD, “The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and
none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” That’s
a wonderful thing for us this evening. So, two Psalms, read through them, great songs in ancient Israel, and
one of them about the Word of God, we get a lot of good bumper-stickers there,
I think they should get some of them and put them in the bookstore. And the other one, you know, in the cave with
the grumblers. You ever felt like you’ve
been there, in the cave with 400 grumblers. And you look around and realize, ‘LORD, you’ve been so gracious to
me, you’ve saved me, by the skin of my teeth, I do stupid things, slobbering
and blubbering. You know, I was brave
with a sling and a stone at one point in my life, now I’m cowardly with this
sword of the giant, and yet you’re so gracious, I’m still going to live to
teach the next generation your ways, and instruct those men, LORD, that are distressed, that are
broken, that are in debt.’ And we have a great message for those that
are distressed, those that are in debt. That’s everybody around us pretty much at this point in time, those that
are discontented---we have a great message for them, don’t we? And look, I’m not sure where everything’s
going, this may be a terrible time for America, and a great time for the
Church. The Revival in New York in 1857,
Jeremiah Lampier, the Fulton Street Revival. He tried again to get that prayer-meeting going, and advertised for weeks,
and gave out thousands of brochures, six people showed up. Two or three weeks later, when the Stock
Market crashed, and people had lost everything, the prayer-meeting grew in
three months to 10,000 people, every day, not one day a week, five days a week,
10,000. And the rest of the story is by Spring there were 50,000 people praying. They estimate over 150,000 came to faith in
New York City. But again, across the
country they were baptizing 20,000 people every week across the country, and
the population was a lot lower then [see http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/webfm_send/577 or look up Fulton Street Revival on google]. So, we may see a season when we get to speak
to the grumblers and the discontent and the distressed, those in debt, and say ‘Let me teach you, let me tell you about the
Lord who delivers. Let me tell you, yea, there’s difficulties for the righteous, but he’s going
to deliver us out of it all, the
day’s coming, the day’s coming.’ Watch your tongue, don’t be too hard on others, it comes in a cage, keep
it closed, depart from evil, do good, God’s eyes are on the righteous, his ears
are open to their prayers, we’re in good hands. Aren’t we? And the King is coming
[applause], the King is not here, the King is not here, he’s not in Washington,
he ain’t the King, he’s not in the Kremlin, he’s not the King, he’s not in
Jerusalem, there’s no king there, he’s not in North Korea, the King’s not
there, he’s not in Tehran, the King’s not there. The King is coming, our King, the
King, he’s coming. So, we’ve got
a great story to tell, we’ve got a great message to give, and there’s
forgiveness. [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm] So, let’s stand, let’s pray, let’s worship. And read ahead. If you’re wondering, it would be Psalm 35 and
36. ‘Father, thank you for the freedom
we have to gather, Lord, and in these days, Lord, that we have a family of
believers, a family of God, that we can gather, Lord. And difficult things happening, just some of
the very difficult things in the last few weeks, Lord, here around the church,
and we thank you so much for brothers and sisters, Lord, for your grace, for
the hope that we have for heaven, for an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled,
that fadeth not away, reserved for us. And Lord, let us be able to give an answer to every man in regards to
the hope we have, Lord. Lord, we can’t
give somebody the measles unless we have them, Lord. Infect us, Lord, as it were, with the Holy
Spirit, Lord, cause us to be contagious, let the love of Christ be shed abroad,
Father, from our hearts by the power of your Spirit, Lord. Lord, infuse us with heaven, Lord, pour out
Lord, let us be a part of a great outpouring in these days, Lord, I pray Lord,
we believe Lord, that you would have us to be sons and daughters that are
expectant, Lord. We believe, your Son
taught us when he was here Father, how much more will the Father give the Holy
Spirit to those who ask, Lord. As we
lift our voices, we lift our hearts, we ask afresh Father, fill us anew, Lord,
for Jesus glory Father in these last days, for a light to be turned on in a
dark world, for a testimony to be given around the world, Lord, let us see it
Lord. And Lord we pray in Jesus name and
for his glory, amen.’ [connective
expository sermon on Psalms 33:1-22 and Psalm 34:1-22, given by Pastor Joe
Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia,
PA 19116]
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