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weekly sermon
9-13-09
Let Us Wait
Last week we learned about how we are urged to believe in the Gospel and all that Christ has to offer us as Christians. This urge was, of course, not started by Paul, which is the passages we read last week, but was most express by him in that time. Before Paul, by many years, there was a man that would seek the heart of God just as Paul did with Christ. This man's name was David.
Many times in our lives, we find ourselves in situations that we think are impossible to overcome. We see a situation and think only on the situation. We see that the situation is so much more than we can handle, yet we forget the power that lives within us. Take any situation in your life, notice how terrible you thought it was when you were going through it and then reflect back on how you moved from that situation on to better times, or even another situation. We, out of human nature, look with our eyes, not our minds and we only see what is right in front of us. We do not or can not, for the most part, see the big picture. I want us to understand that no matter the situation, we have a power within us that some have yet to even find. Let us look at someone that knew the true power he had within.
David was a true soldier for God from the beginning of his days. He knew the true power of God better than any other, or maybe not better, but believed it in his heart like no other. From a very early age, David knew the power of God and what he needed to do to fulfill the will of God. Because of David's true passion to do the will of God, God made him one of the greatest rulers of Biblical times. David was truly a man that knew the heart of God and strived in every way to seek God's will.
I want us to talk about one instance David wrote about showing how he strived for the will of God and David's belief in the true power of God.
Turn with me to Psalms 27:1-14, "The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (2)When the wicked, [even] mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. (3)Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this [will] I [be] confident. (4)One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. (5)For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. (6)And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. (7)Hear, O LORD, [when] I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. (8)[When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. (9)Hide not thy face [far] from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. (10)When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. (11)Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. (12)Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. (13)[I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. (14)Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."
Let us take a look at the first verse that David shows us here. We see that David knew from the very beginning of this that is light, or knowledge, and his salvation came from the Lord. If you break this down you will see that any knowledge we have, we received from God. Any salvation that we might have, we also received from God. If everything inside us is from the creator of all things, then, just as it says in the next part of that passage, whom or what shall we fear? You say you have financial problems, you have illness, you have enemies, you have Satan fighting against you every day? Why fear? Our strength comes from the Lord and we have no reason to be afraid of anything. David is asking a question here to make us understand that we really do not have anything to fear. When anything wicked, or our enemies, or foes come against us, even to eat up our flesh, they will fall, no matter the situation. This is shown to us in James 4:7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." If we submit to the power of God, then nothing, not even Satan, can stand against us.
We will notice next that no matter if we are surrounded by a host of enemies, even enough to cause us to be in a war, we are confident in our hearts, we do not have to fear. David show us here that even through all the terrible situations he has described, his heart and mind stays on one thing, the one thing we should always stay focused on, dwelling in the house of the Lord forever. The beauty of the Lord should be our first concern always, then shall we overcome the trials of life. David goes on in the next few passages to show us why it is we do not have to fear. He shows us that if we submit to the will of God, then God will hide us in His tabernacle, setting us upon a rock, being solid ground, and lifting our heads above our enemies, or causing us to win over them. For all of this power we are to offer up sacrifices of joy and praises unto the Lord. What does this really mean? We are to magnify the Lord always, we are to lift Him up and show the world what a truly great God we worship.
David shows us next that no matter how many folks forget about us, even up to our own parents, the Lord God will NEVER forget about us. We can be delivered out of any situation by the power of God simply be submitting to the will of God, constantly seeking to be lead in a plain, or true, path to see the goodness of God. If we wait on the Lord and be courageous to our faith, then the Lord will strengthen us to overcome any situations in our lives.
I know that the situations I have described, being the financial, sick, enemies, or even Satan, can be very terrible in our worldly lives, but if we find the true power inside us, given to us by God, then we know we can overcome any situation. No matter the situation you have the power, just getting you to understand this is the hard part.
Let me wrap this message up in a very simple manner. If we submit our lives over to God, as I have said before, even if for a trial period, we will see the power of God unleashed within our souls to be able to overcome any situation. I know this is hard to understand and sometimes hard to see, as we may be going through some very terrible times, but if we give it a try just once, we will see what the true power of God can do.
I brought up looking back on situations we have been through for a reason. If we reflect back on those situations, we can see that somehow we made it through, we overcame. This was not done by our own doing. We may think we got lucky, or we found a way out on our own, but in all reality, something within us came to our rescue. It is said that when we have reached the very bottom, there is no way to look but up. Let us remember those words, look up, and seek the power and will of God, He will truly see us through.
What we need to understand is that our bodies here and the things we go through here are just for here. We need to understand that our minds should be on our everlasting life, not on a life that will end. Our bodies here will die, but our souls will live forever, where it lives is a choice you have to make.
Do you know the true power of God? Have you looked fervently to the face of God, truly seeking His will? Do you understand that your soul will live forever and you have a choice as to where it will live? The choice is yours, Heaven or Hell. If you have never made the choice to live forever in the house of the Lord, but you would like to, all you have to do is say a simple prayer with me.
Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.
If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.
With Love in Christ, Pastor Stone
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