Sermon 9- the psalms and proverbs

Sermon at Dorney and Eton Wick 20th March 2011 – E100 The Psalms and Proverbs

What makes Christianity different from other religions? Well at the heart of our faith we have relationship. God himself three-in-one exemplifies relationship and God’s love is such that he was prepared to create us with the potential to love both God and each other. Christians believe that through Jesus we have the chance of a restored relationship with God.

Most religions say DO (you must do this and do that) but Christianity adds two more letters and says DONE. Jesus has done all that is required for you to return to a relationship with God. All you must do is accept it.

And what you may well ask has this to do with The Psalms and Proverbs. Psalms is a book of songs written by believers in response to God: written because the writers had a relationship with God. Written in many different situations but each one reflecting aspects of that loving relationship.

The great evangelist Billy Graham said that wherever he was in the world he always tried to make time to read at least two Psalms before breakfast. I know I need to become more familiar with the psalms so I really hope that by looking at 3 of the better known Psalms this week in the E 100 series, all of us will be inspired to read more – many are very short and even possibly we might try  to commit one or two to memory.

So, three very different Psalms which, although all attributed to David are very different responses to God at very different stages in his life.

Trust (Psalm 23) in this Psalm God is likened to a shepherd, a travelling companion and a host. Each of them is to be trusted and so in turn we can trust God in any and every situation. As verse 4 says “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me”. Christians can trust in God even in the worst of all situations. I dread to think of all the horror stories that will never be told of those that perished in Japan’s tsunami, those horrifying final minutes and seconds, yet even in great peril, as Christians, we can trust in a God that promises us everlasting life. Even the threat of oncoming death need not separate us from the love of God. We can trust him whatever.

Confession (Psalm 51)

We heard last week about the consequences of King David’s adultery with Bathsheba. Psalm 51 which we heard just now was written by David when he finally falls on his knees and asks for God’s forgiveness. Through this Psalm we get an understanding of God’s forgiveness, his compassion and his love. David has a deep faith in God’s absolute goodness and his ability to completely forgive sins so as to allow for a clean fresh start. This is a crucial message for all of us and worth dwelling on briefly.

When we confess (whatever we’ve done) we can be forgiven – do we confess? Do we simply say the confession at the start of each service we attend, or do we actually come before the Lord with a broken and contrite heart?  Confession can easily get overlooked in church as we are lost in wonder, love and praise.

Once we’ve been forgiven we need not live forever in guilt – are you still wracked by guilt? Notice that David says, in vs. 7 “cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” even after adultery and murder. We are not allowing God’s forgiveness to work if we continue to be wracked by guilt, we too need to believe in our innermost being that we have been remade, whiter than snow.

A red napkin is fundamentally red, it can be washed but it stays red, this represents us before we have ever asked God for his forgiveness. Once we have asked Jesus to forgive us and be part of our lives and to therefore be in a relationship with us we are transformed totally. We become like this white napkin, whiter than snow. But even then whilst we remain upon this earth we will inevitably fail to live perfect lives, we will not please God 100%. It’s like this white napkin becoming dirty, so we need to continually come back to God and ask for his forgiveness time and again in the same way that, although this white napkin is still white it will often need to be washed.

And then we must get on with living a life that will please our Lord out of gratitude for his forgiveness. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. ¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. ¹⁴ Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Praise (Psalm 103)

Psalm 103 reflects David’s new relationship with God. It is based on a restored sinner’s thankfulness to God and contains those great verses:

⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
   slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
   nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
   or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
   so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
   so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Notice that our sins have been removed as far from us as possible, this is a great cause for praise.

The thread of David and Bathsheba continues on into the next book of the Bible. Although the child that was conceived when David committed adultery with Bathsheba died in infancy we are told that once Bathsheba was married to David she became pregnant again and this time their son survived and became King Solomon and it is his wisdom that fills much of the book of proverbs and certainly the chapters we will read this week. This means that when Solomon writes about the relationship between sons and their parents he is thinking of David and Bathsheba as well as his own sons.

Psalms mostly reflects on our spiritual relationship with God, Proverbs on the other hand is much more down to earth and practical. Reading the book of Proverbs is quite difficult in some ways; it is so densely packed with bits and pieces of advice and guidance that it’s impossible to take in all that one reads even in a chapter, let alone 3 or 4 chapters at a time as we are encouraged to read during the E100 readings for this week.

But...it hits us where is counts. I have never read even a small section of Proverbs without feeling truly enlightened about life and informed regarding specific situations in my life.

Even when I was preparing this sermon I read 3:27-28 “ ²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. ²⁸ Do not say to your neighbour, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.

It made me stop and go and do something that I ought to have been doing – it was in my power to act, so why not?

There is so much SENSE in Proverbs that we really ought to read it more often. There is huge encouragement and indeed even a hint of humour and so much of it pertains directly to the situations we find ourselves in day in day out.

There is practical wisdom such as:

17:14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out

17:28 Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

18:13 He who answers before listening - that is his folly and shame.

And then guidance about wisdom and its advantages 

We read 2:13 “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable then silver and yields better returns than gold”

It’s impossible to read the Psalms or proverbs and not to come away changed. Because they were written in response to God and written to be used by people; they are as integral to our lives today as they were when originally written.

So how did Solomon become so wise? Well, the Bible tells us in the book of 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 1: 7 - 10 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”  ⁸ Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, LORD God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

Have you ever prayed to God and asked for wisdom, either wisdom in a specific situation or just wisdom generally? Ask and it shall be given unto you; God wants us to ask for good things.

Let me leave you with three things to remember:

First – the Christian life is a relationship and we can express all facets of this relationship through the Psalms.

Secondly – God is waiting to forgive us and so return to a right relationship with us, he wants us to be whiter than snow, even more than we do. We were born as red table napkins and so unable to be in a relationship with God but because of what Jesus has DONE we can become white table napkins.

And Thirdly - Proverbs is an excellent source of day to day wisdom; read it, act on it and ask God to help you to be wise.