June 29, Psalms, Hymns

Lesson: Psalm 95

Sermon Title: Sing to the Lord

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INTRODUCTION:

Real Teeth[1]

Two older women, Coleen and Melinda, who were rivals in a social circle met at a party at their country club.

"My dear," said Melinda, "Are those real pearls?"

"They are," replied Coleen.

"Of course the only way I could tell would be for me to bite them," smiled Melinda.

Coleen responded, "Yes, but for that you would need real teeth."

XXX

Business Sense[2]

The shopkeeper was dismayed when a brand new business much like his own opened up next door and erected a huge sign which read BEST DEALS.

He was horrified when another competitor opened up on his right, and announced its arrival with an even larger sign, reading LOWEST PRICES.

The shopkeeper was panicked, until he got an idea. He put the biggest sign of all over his own shop-it read...MAIN ENTRANCE.

I.                    Shall we follow the counsel in the 95th Psalm.

II.                   Both the first and the second stanzas.

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MAIN BODY

III.               This is the real, main entrance into a life of good humor, contentment and great joy.

A.                 O come, let us sing!

1.                   This is found not just in the Old Testament.

2.                  In the New Testament we are encouraged to sing.

a.                   Ephesians 5:15-20, NRSVA)

15Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

b.                  Colossians 3:12-17, (NRSVA)

12As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

B.                 Let us sing to the Lord.

1.                   Why sing unto the Lord?

2.                  What does it tell us in Psalm 95:3-7 (NRSVA)

3           For the LORD is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

4           In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

5           The sea is his, for he made it,

and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

6           O come, let us worship and bow down,

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

7           For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

a.                   The LORD is a great God.

(1)              His greatness is attested in what he has done.

(2)             What he has done for Israel.

(3)             What he has done for us through Jesus.

b.                  Our God is the living, powerful, beneficent One.

c.                   He is the one and only true God.

d.                  In Psalm 96:4-6 (NRSVA) the Psalmist declares:

4           For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;

he is to be revered above all gods.

5           For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

but the LORD made the heavens.

6           Honor and majesty are before him;

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

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C.                 Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

1.                   Jesus is the rock.

a.                   This is heard in Luke 20.17-18

17But he looked at them and said, “What then does this text mean:

‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone’?

18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

b.                  This is heard again in Romans 9.32-33.

32Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33as it is written,

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall,

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

c.                   Paul declares that Jesus is the rock in 1 Corinthians 10.4

1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

2.                  Jesus is the Rock, a Shelter In the Time of Storm.

A Shelter in the Time of Storm

Words: Vernon J. Charlesworth, circa 1880.

1.
The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide,
A Shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide,
A Shelter in the time of storm.

a.                   He is a shelter in the time of storm.

b.                  The storms of doubt.

c.                   The storms of illness.

d.                  Any storm of which you can imagine.

Refrain

Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
A weary land, a weary land;
Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
A Shelter in the time of storm.

2.
A shade by day, defense by night,
A Shelter in the time of storm;
No fears alarm, no foes afright,
A Shelter in the time of storm.

e.                   Jesus is shade by day

(1)              Shade from the burning temptations.

(2)             Shade from the disappointments.

f.                    Jesus is defense by night.

(1)              No fears to alarm you.

(2)             No foes to frighten you.

Refrain

3
The raging storms may round us beat,
A Shelter in the time of storm
We’ll never leave our safe retreat,
A Shelter in the time of storm.

g.                   He will never drive us out.

(1)              We are the people of his pasture.

(2)             We are the sheep of his hand.

Refrain

4
O Rock divine, O Refuge dear,
A Shelter in the time of storm;
Be Thou our Helper ever near,
A Shelter in the time of storm.

h.                  He is our helper ever near.

i.                     He is the rock, a shelter in the times of our lives.

D.                Jesus is the caregiver.

1.                   Jesus never refused to help a person in need.

2.                  There were no restrictions on the application of his help.

3.                  There were no requirements that were imposed to receive his help.

4.                  Jesus helped all who came to him in and with faith (Luke 5:12-13, NRSVA).

12Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” 13Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do choose. Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy left him.

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IV.                The exuberance of song, the joyful noise can only be muted by those who choose to complain.

A.                 In Exodus 17 is the story of Massah and Meribah.

1From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5The LORD said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

B.                 The Christian has no reason to complain about God.

C.                 It is all right to complain to God.

D.                Sometime it is necessary to raise a complaint against a brother or sister.

1.                   But in this case, one ought to be careful that the situation is clearly understood.

a.                   Blind[3]

One day a man passed by a farm and saw a beautiful horse.

Hoping to buy the animal, he said to the farmer: "I think your horse looks pretty good, so I'll give you $500 for him."

"He doesn't look good, and he's not for sale," the farmer said.

The man insisted, "I think he looks good and I'll up the price to $1000!"

"He doesn't look so good," the farmer said, "but if you want him that much, he's yours."

The next day the man came back raging mad. He went up to the farmer and screamed, "You sold me a blind horse! You cheated me!"            

The farmer calmly replied, "I told you he didn't look so good, didn't I?"

b.                  The man did not listen as closely as he ought to have.

2.                  The devil is in the details.

Insurance Policy[4]

Bill’s barn burned down, and his wife Polly called the insurance company.

Polly told the insurance company, “We had that barn insured for fifty thousand, and I want my money.”

The agent replied, “Hold on just a minute, Polly. Insurance doesn’t work quite like that. We will ascertain the value of what was insured and provide you with a new barn of comparable worth.”

There was a long pause before Polly replied, “Then I’d like to cancel the policy on my husband.”

a.                   No clear understanding of the content of the insurance policy.

b.                  It could become reason for complaining.

c.                   Complaining that destroys the sounds of joyful noise.

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CONCLUSION:

I.                    Rather than concentrating on ourselves, try concentrating on others.

Forgetting ourselves:[5]

Sarah became very ill and was rushed to the hospital with a temperature of nearly 107 degrees.  The doctors and nurses tried everything they could to get her fever down but nothing worked.  They knew that she would not survive too long if the fever didn't break.

Sarah's thoughts were centered entirely on herself.  Over and over she pleaded, "God help me!" but nothing seemed to happen.

During the middle of a fitful night, Sarah looked across her room and realized she had a roommate.  Sarah felt absolutely terrible but she realized that she couldn't have felt as bad as her roommate.  The poor woman was very pale with hollow, sunken eyes. It was obvious to her that she was experiencing a great deal of pain.  Sarah thought the woman was in such bad shape that she probably wouldn't survive the night.

Sarah forgot her own problems and prayed for the other woman. "Lord, I can't stand to see her suffer like this," she prayed. "I've been asking you over and over to heal me.  But now I tell you that I don't care what happens to me, but please help her."

After her prayer Sarah fell asleep, and for the first time in a while, she slept soundly.  When Sarah finally awoke the next morning sunlight was streaming through the window, and she immediately felt much better.

When the doctor examined her that morning he was surprised and delighted to see his patient doing so well.  The fever had broken during the night, and the prognosis was excellent for a complete and speedy recovery.  Sarah became well only after she changed her focus from solely on herself to someone else.

II.                   Remember the words and the counsel of Psalm 95.

1           O come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2           Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

3           For the LORD is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

4           In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

5           The sea is his, for he made it,

and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

6           O come, let us worship and bow down,

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

7           For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

Amen!

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[1]posts”cybersaltlists.org [Pastor Tim]

[2]Pastor Tim's CleanLaugh ListBhttp://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

[3]Mikey's Funnies [funnies‑owner”lists.MikeysFunnies.com]

[4]The Good, Clean Funnies List [gcfl‑info”gcfl.net]

[5]Robert A. Schuller, Dump Your Hang‑Ups,  (Grand Rapids:  Fleming H. Revell, 1993), pp. 143‑144.