Sermon – Psalm 30 – Exalting God

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Psalm 30 – Exalting God

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

February 12, 2012

I am concluding today with my series of Epiphany sermons about God as portrayed in the Book of Psalms. All of creation is to praise our creator God. All Christians are to worship our powerful God with total loyalty and full obedience. We pray to our God who knows our names and hears us. We can trust that God is near us even when he seems to be missing. And by meditating on, listening to and studying the scripture we can learn to recognize God in the world. Today we will see that we are to exalt God because of all the blessings we have received. But first, let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Even though most people seem to live well ordered lives, problems are often just below the surface. I remember a few years ago sitting with a couple at a church dinner. At first they seemed like any other couple you might see in church. But I noticed that something seemed to be bothering them. They were tense, agitated. As I talked with them I learned that he was a carpenter, but had not found any work for over a year. She had just been laid off from a part time retail job when the store closed. They had lost their home several months before and put their belongings in self-storage. Last week all their stuff was auctioned away for nonpayment of rent. They were living in their car. They had nothing left. And they had a lot of questions for God.

As long as people have been walking on this earth we have asked difficult questions to God. We ask why a loved one is sick with cancer. We ask why our children have difficult times finding jobs. We ask why a drought has parched our fields. We ask why some students are so difficult to teach. Sometime when our troubles are really severe we ask God why we were even born.

Problems hiding just below the surface of our society have suddenly appeared to the Roman Catholic Church. They believe that for the church to provide contraception products and abortion and sterilization services would be morally wrong. I agree. But this is precisely what the United States Government is requiring the church to do as it provides health insurance to its employees. The church cannot morally purchase insurance that provides these things and if they refuse the government will fine them and buy the insurance themselves. I would like to read to you a letter sent to Roman Catholic churches by Thomas Olmeted, Bishop of Phoenix. 

http://www.diocesephoenix.org/uploads/docs/RELIGOUS-LIBERTY-INSURANCE-LETTER-012512.pdf

I think we should stand with the bishop and the Roman Catholic church and pray for wisdom. We also need to pray that our God given right to religious liberty will never be threaten by a tyrannical government.

Usually we get by without our problems rising to the surface. Our daily lives usually fit together well enough that the big issues don't come up often. And when problems do arise we can cope with them, at least if they are not too bad. But when big problems arise we question God, asking why. Usually these hard problems are just under the surface. We don't face them directly, but we know they are there. This leads us to lead lives filled with nagging doubts and diminished joy.

The author of Psalm 30 knew all of this. She knew that these questions lurked just below the surface of our carefully controlled lives. And she knew that when foes threaten the peace of ordinary life or when ills threaten our health and prosperity these questions surface. The psalmist remembered a time of good health and prosperity. She thought that it would last forever and nothing would ever touch her. She probably lived in a beautiful home and all of her children were healthy and did well in school. Maybe her husband just bought a new combine. Maybe the principal just gave her a raise. She felt as secure as a mountain, and confident that God would always preserve her lifestyle.

Then something happened: three years of drought left them heavily in debt. She lost her job because of government budget cuts. One of her children started using drugs, and her daughter got pregnant. On top of all of this she heard from her mortgage company that foreclosure was near and she had to move. Suddenly all the tough questions just under the surface appeared and just like Job she was tempted to curse God. But she didn't curse God. She prayed. Why God, did all these things happen to me? Didn't I praise you enough? What about you faithfulness? She called out to God for help.

And this is what we are to do. When misfortune befalls us and we find ourselves dealing with problems beyond our control we cry out to God asking for his love, reminding him of his faithfulness, petitioning for healing and restoration. We do these things because of our faith and because we know that with God our night of weeping will become a morning of joy. This is what the Psalmist experienced: a time of suffering and sorrow followed by period of bliss.

When we experience the joy of being delivered from illness and foes we are to exalt God, lift God up in praise and worship. This helps us to build up a reservoir of faith that will sustain us when troubles returns. That's why worship is so important. Every week we lift God up in praise and song and thanksgiving for all of our blessings. Through this our faith grows so that we are able to withstand problems when they do arise. This is all the work of the Holy Spirit who works through our prayers and singing and proclamation of scripture to grow our faith. And it is the Holy Spirit who comforts us and sustains us when those troubles do arise.

Sadly not everyone in our community or in our families comes to worship. Not everyone experiences the work of the Holy Spirit though the proclamation of the word of God and in our prayers and praises to build up their faith. These people live their lives with the difficult problems just below the surface and when trouble arises, as it will, they have no faith to sustain them. They need our help. They need our prayers. And this is why it is so important for us to pray for our families and neighbors and friends every day. That's why we pray for our community in worship as we share our joys and concerns. That's why we exalt God every week in worship, not just for ourselves but for a world that desperately needs our prayers.

The psalmist wrote a poem describing all this. Here it is, Psalm 30.

^NIV Psalm 30:1 A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David. I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. ² O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. ³ O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. ⁴ Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. ⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. ⁶ When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." ⁷ O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. ⁸ To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: ⁹ "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? ¹⁰ Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help." ¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, ¹² that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Psalm 30 is a prayer of personal testimony and a call to community worship. It has been used over and over by the faithful to express their gratitude for the delivering power of God. We are told that this psalm was used after the returning exiles from Babylon had rebuilt their temple. They experienced their own suffering during their time of captivity and while rebuilding their city. And with the completion of the temple they used this psalm to lift up God for blessing them so richly.

In the second century before Christ, Psalm 30 was again used. The temple in Jerusalem had been desecrated with a altar to the king. But after a war for independence and freedom they were able to worship as they chose. So they removed the altar and cleansed the temple. They rejoiced, exalting God for all he had done.

And, of course, it wouldn't be very hard to imagine the leper in the first story you heard today singing this psalm after Jesus healed him.

So let's pray for all the people losing their homes to foreclosure. Let's pray for the churches facing difficult decisions about health insurance coverage. Let's pray for family members who are sick. Let's pray for peace in troubled parts of the world. And when we see God redeeming the lost turning their weeping into joy let's worship God will singing and praise.

Lord God, we have come before you in praise. We know that you have been with us as we have faced many problems. Today we exalt you, lift you up with praise and thanksgiving for all you have done for us. We especially praise you for sending your son to redeem us. Amen.