April 15, Holy Humor Sunday, Holocaust Remembrance Day

Lesson: Psalm 98

Sermon Title: Clap Your Hands, Sing for Joy

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INTRODUCTION:

Going to the front desk of New York's exclusive Pierre Hotel, Mr. Mendelbaum requested some stationery.

The clerk asked, "Are you a guest at the hotel?"

Mr. Mendelbaum snapped indignantly, "No, I am not a guest. I am paying $300 a day!" (source: www.haruth.com)

  1. What a grump!

    1. Where is his spirit of exuberance?

      1. It has been channeled into negatives instead of positives.

      2. It has been suppressed by his own understanding of life.

    2. Contrast this with the waiter who is dealing with a very difficult customer.

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MAIN BODY:

A customer was continually bothering the waiter in a restaurant; first, he'd asked that the air conditioning be turned up because he was too hot, then he asked it be turned down cause he was too cold, and so on for about half an hour. Surprisingly, the waiter was very patient, he walked back and forth and never once got angry. So finally, a second customer asked him why he didn't throw out the pest.

"Oh I don't care." said the waiter with a smile. "We don't even have an air conditioner."

    1. The diner is a pest.

      1. The diner is also not very observant.

      2. The diner is insensitive to the temperature.

      3. He has no real clue as to what is going on.

    2. The waiter's exuberance is demonstrated and shared by his willingness to seek the satisfaction of the customer.

  1. Sometimes you need to approach clapping your hands and singing for joy from a different direction.

    1. You allow the exuberance to simply wash over you.

Dr. Hal Brady tells a story he heard from Washington State preacher Dr. Joe Harding ("The Real Christian Scandal," Dallas, Texas, February 9, 1997). Harding "tells" of eating in a restaurant with another couple. There were some high-school students in a corner booth. The students got tickled about something and started laughing. Their laughter got louder and louder. Soon they became aware that some people were listening to their laughter, and they tried to stop. However, the more they tried to stop laughing, the more the giggles and laughter convulsed their entire bodies.

Dr. Harding said that the entire booth was shaking with laughter and joy. Then something began to happen. The laughter moved out from that one booth to another. People started to smile, and then they, too, began to laugh.

Then Dr. Harding said, "I saw it coming toward us! Soon we found ourselves caught up in the whole atmosphere of laughter and joy. We didn't even know what we were laughing about. But our conversation was interrupted as we smiled at each other and then broke out in laughter. It was an amazing moment."

    1. The exuberance of the students is demonstrated and reflected in the other patrons of the restaurant.

    2. Have you ever found yourself in such a situation?

      1. If you let your inhibitions gain control you may feel foolish.

      2. If you let go you may experience a time of sheer utter joy.

  1. This is that is happening in Psalm 98.

    1. Feel the exuberance in this Psalm.

      1. Sing to the Lord a new song.

      2. Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth.

      3. Strike up the band.

      4. Let the sea roar.

      5. Let the hills sing for joy.

    2. How may one achieve this experience of joyous enthusiasm, where you clap your hands and sing for joy?

      1. The Psalmist writes "With his own right hand and holy arm hath he gotten himself the victory."

        1. God's victory is our victory.

        2. Celebrate the Victories in your life

        3. Celebrate the "Victory in Jesus", Hymnal Number 352

Words and Music by E.M. Bartlett, 1939 - Administrated by Integrated Copyright Group, Inc. All rights reserved

Based on 1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

1
I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood's atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

2
I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow'r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,"
And somehow Jesus came and bro't
To me the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

3
I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I'll sing up there
The song of victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

  1. What victories are you able to celebrate?

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  1. The Psalm may reflect the victory of God in rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt.

    1. It also is prophetic.

    2. Compare a few of the verses of Psalm 98 with Mary's Song of Praise, Luke 1.46-55

46 And Mary said,
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

      1. David "O sing unto the Lord a new song." (The Voice).

Mary "My soul doth magnify the Lord." (The Echo).

      1. David "He hath done marvellous things." (The Voice).

Mary "He that is mighty hath done great things." (The Echo).

      1. David "With his own right hand and holy arm hath he gotten himself the victory." (The Voice).

Mary "He hath showed strength with his arm and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts." (The Echo).

      1. David "The Lord hath made known his salvation; his righteousness hath he openly showed," etc. (The Voice).

Mary "His mercy is on them that fear him, from generation to generation." (The Echo).

      1. David "He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel." (The Voice).

Mary "He hath holpen his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy." (The Echo).

    1. These parallels are very striking; and it seems as if Mary had this Psalm in mind when she composed her song of triumph.

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  1. And this is a farther argument that the whole Psalm...is to be ultimately understood of the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ, and the proclamation of his Gospel through all the nations of the earth.

    1. Taken in this view, no language can be too strong, nor poetic imagery too high, to point out the unsearchable riches of Christ.

    2. Jesus victory contains our vindication

My Trust Is in My Heavenly Friend

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719.

My trust is in my heavenly Friend,
My hope in Thee, my God;
Rise and my helpless life defend
From those that seek my blood.

With insolence and fury they
My soul in pieces tear,
As hungry lions rend the prey
When no deliverer is near.

If I had e'er provoked them first,
Or once abused my foe,
Then let him tread my life to dust,
And lay mine honor low.

If there be malice found in me,
I know Thy piercing eyes;
I should not dare appeal to Thee,
Nor ask my God to rise.

Arise, my God, lift up Thy hand,
Their pride and power control;
Awake to judgment and command
Deliverance for my soul.

Let sinners and their wicked rage
Be humbled to the dust;
Shall not the God of truth engage
To vindicate the just?

He knows the heart, He tries the reins,
He will defend th'upright:
His sharpest arrows He ordains
Against the sons of spite.

For me their malice digged a pit,
But there themselves are cast;
My God makes all their mischief light
On their own heads at last.

That cruel persecuting race
Must feel His dreadful sword;
Awake, my soul, and praise the grace
And justice of the Lord.

    1. God is vindicated.

      1. Vindicate proven to be true.

      2. We are vindicated, made righteous.

    2. If this Psalm is highlighting the restoration of the Israelites from Egypt, then God performed this task with great signs, wonders, and miracles.

    3. Come to know the author of victory and vindication.

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CONCLUSION

  1. To be exuberant, it is necessary to use your eyes, ears, and heart.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the world-famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, was not above telling tales about himself in which he was the laughing-stock. Here is one of those stories. As he tells it, he was waiting at a taxi- stand outside the railway station in Paris. When a taxi pulled up, he put his suitcase in it and got in himself. As he was about to tell the taxi-driver where he wanted to go, the driver asked him: `Where can I take you, Mr. Doyle?' Doyle was flabbergasted. He asked the driver whether he knew him by sight. The driver said: `No Sir, I have never seen you before.' The puzzled Doyle asked him what made him think that he was Conan Doyle. The driver replied: `This morning's paper had a story about you being on vacation in Marseilles. This is the taxi-stand where people who return from Marseilles always come to. Your skin colour tells me you have been on vacation. The ink-spot on your right index finger suggests to me that you are a writer. Your clothing is very English, and not French. Adding up all those pieces of information, I deduce that you are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.' Doyle said: `This is truly amazing. You are a real-life counter-part to my fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes.' "There is one other thing," the driver said. `What is that?' 'Your name is on the front of your suitcase.'

    1. This is a very astute taxi driver.

      1. He is using all his faculties

      2. He is able to put all the pieces together.

    2. Of course it helps to have a name on the front of the suitcase.

    3. Imagine the exuberance of the taxi driver to bet it all right and together.

  1. Imagine the exuberance when we get it all together

    1. This is what Jesus is attempting to do for us, in us, and with us.

    2. His name is written on the suitcase

    3. Let him do his work!

Amen!

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