← ArchiveSunday, November 15, 2015DateNovember 15, 2015Speaker—TextPsalms 34Passages in this sermonPsalms 343:311 Samuel 214:23James 3:513:29Colossians 4:615:162 Corinthians 517:182 Chronicles 724:53Exodus 3427:35Revelation 2:931:131 Peter 1:433:22John 635:14TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Glory to God. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Hallelujah. Glory to God. I was just thinking on the way up. 14 and a half months ago, I think it is.0:30I don't count very well, but it's somewhere close. Bethel Baptist Church or Bethel family went into seeking God to seek a pastor or senior pastor. And as they started to seek, God placed it in their hearts to pray. And I want to tell you, prayer brings about a change. God put it in their heart to pray.1:00And in the meantime, he placed it in a young family's heart down in Gramercy, Louisiana. Put it in their heart to pray. And what he put on their heart is, should I go to Moody, Alabama and worship there? And the young men, young family said, yes to the Lord.1:25After they finished prayer, they said yes to the Lord. And they decided to make that move to Moody, Alabama. And we're here to welcome that young family to Moody, Alabama. As a matter of fact, the next voice you hear would be of the leader of that family, Dr. Josh Burnham. When you hear his voice, you're going to understand why we believe that he is the pastor, the senior pastor, Bethel Baptist Church.1:56Amen? Amen. Glory to God. I want to let you know that I should shut up right now. But I want to let you know that you are about to hear from God. You've already seen what he can do. Now you're going to see the ultimate of what he will do.2:24Amen? So at this hour, I want everybody in the building to stand. Everybody in the building give honor to God this day by standing. And I want to introduce to you Dr. Josh Burnham. Give God a hand of praise. Thank you, Ben.2:48Thank you. You can be seated. On behalf of Casey, my wife, and my family, thank you guys for the welcome, the love that you've shown us this weekend. And for the Pastor Search team, really for the last eight months or so, we have wrestled with God's will in our life.3:13And we have stories on our end, and you also. We have wrestled with God. And I found in my life, when you wrestle with God, God always wins. So if you have your copy of God's word today, please turn to Psalm chapter 34. Psalm chapter 34. And we will be looking specifically at the first eight verses.3:40But what we see in the Psalms often is many times we have a tradition of that Psalm that comes to us. And so if your Bible as mine does in Psalm 34, and I'm reading out of the New King James, before we look at verse one, there's a superscript we call that. And it says this, a Psalm of David, when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.4:04So if you have a marker in your Bible, mark your Bible, Psalm 34. And you might ask me, well, where in the Bible did David pretend madness? That's in 1 Samuel 21. So the brief introduction to this Psalm actually comes from 1 Samuel 21, verse 10. And I will read these 15, these five verses, verse 10 through verse 15 of 1 Samuel.4:33Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul and went to Achish, the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing a song of him to one another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, but David, his ten thousands?4:58Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish, the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let the saliva fall down on his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, look, you see, this man is insane.5:28Why have you brought him to me? Have I need of a madman that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house? David therefore departed from there and escaped. And what we have following this is David writing a testimony of God's deliverance. And that's what we have in Psalm 34. So what does the background to this psalm share with us?5:58And so you feel free to turn back to Psalm 34. We will spend the remainder of our time there. I think what this background of the psalm tells us are several things. One, there are moments in our life where we have to run to safety. And I don't know what you're going through in your life, but there are some times where you just feel like running to a safe place. And yet what we see in this life is often the safe place we run as David is actually a more dangerous place for us. Sometimes we run to addictions, to sins, to bad relationships.6:29Sometimes we run to places where we think they're safe and yet they're anything but. There will be moments in our life where we feel like our world is spinning out of control. I think we see here in 1 Samuel that there will be moments when life just seems crazy. Sometimes our weekends feel like that.6:58And some of you might relate to David in this way. There will be moments in your life where your world looks crazy. There will be moments in your life where you actually look crazy. Drool running down your beard, acting mad. And yet what we see in all of this is Christ is faithful. And David is worshiping the Lord.7:27And what flows from this period of madness in David's life is a psalm of testimony. And so the question I have for you and for myself as I pray through this message is this. Does your testimony, does your life reflect the Lord? We're going to look at his praise, his power, and his protection today. Let's pray together. Father, I know that your word, your son, his death and atonement on the cross is always faithful.7:52And Lord, there are times when my world spins out of control. And Lord, the only place where we can turn is the rock of Jesus Christ. So Lord, if there's someone here today that they feel crazy, they look crazy, the world seems crazy, that they will see in their Redeemer a peace and a comfort that can only be found in their salvation on the cross.8:19Lord, I pray that our life will reflect your praise. That our life will reflect the power of your spirit that you have put within us. That we will be confident in the protection that comes from our Heavenly Father. Lord, I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Well, our text today, we have not read that yet.8:47And so let's do that. Psalm 34. So from the madness that we see in David's life comes this psalm, Psalm 34. And it begins in verse 1 this way. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me.9:14Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all of my fears. They looked to him and were radiant and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out and the Lord heard him and saved him from out of his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them.9:39Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. John Golden Gay commentary says this about testimony. He says testimony is a declaration of intent that invites other people to join us in our worship. So David's testimony is saying to us, join me in worship.10:06And so as you think about your testimony, ask yourself, God, does my testimony reflect what David shows us in his word? And if you're here and you say, I have no clue what a testimony is, I pray that today you will know salvation in Jesus Christ. So, does your testimony reflect? Verse 1, we'll begin there. We will walk through this passage together. First, his praise.10:36Verse 1, I will bless the Lord at all times. And his praise shall continually, constantly be in my mouth. So the first question that we have of God's word in our life is not just are you praising him, but are you praising him with your mouth? Is God's praise in your mouth? Our testimony should be one of praise.11:04We should not keep our praise in until Sunday mornings. It's great that we worship together, but I found this in my life. If I'm not worshiping on Saturdays, I'm probably not worshiping on Sundays. And the same will be for tomorrow, on Mondays. That my worship is an overflow of my heart, but it should be on my mouth. And not just on my mouth and in my mouth, but he gives us the when and the why of that.11:30Look at verse 1. Bless the Lord at all times, and his praise shall continually. So is praise in your life and in your mouth, is it consistent and constant? A great illustration for this is the story of the tortoise and the hare. Remember the story? There's the rabbits. That's the hare, not this hare, right? The rabbit.12:00The rabbit. And they race. I don't remember the background of why they're racing. Probably ego. Probably they're both guys. And so they said, listen, I dare you, and we just do it, right? So they're racing, and of course the rabbit jumps out and is winning. And then looks and says, well, let me take it easy. Let me rest. And here's the final line of that parable, if you will. We know that the tortoise wins, right? Slow and steady, walked and walked.12:28He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line. I think that should be the praise of Christ in our mouth. Slow and steady, walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until Paul says, I have run the race. I have kept the faith. I have finished the fight. Are you praising the Lord with your mouth consistently and constantly?12:56It's easy for us to say amen right now. Text me tomorrow. Right? Consistent. And you can hear the emotion of David. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continue to be in my mouth. So not just consistently, constantly, but where should our praise be? We're going to look at our heart, but where should it be first? David says, it is coming forth from my mouth.13:23Why is that important? Because James 3.5 says this. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boast great things. See how a great forest a little fire kindles. That our tongues have the power to set forest on fire for evil, or they have the power to set hearts ablaze for the spirit of Christ. Are you praising God with your mouth, with your tongue?13:54So what does this mean? Does it mean that we should go around with churchy language? And I think we have to be careful here. Because if we're not careful, we will adopt new vocabulary. For instance, if you said this, I'm not picking on you, but I hope that you will be convicted and say, should I be doing this? Praising is not necessarily going around and saying, I'm too blessed to be stressed. Here's the struggle with it, I think.14:23In my life, the closer I get to God, it seems like the more stressful the situation. Right? I mean, I'm here right now in Alabama because I feel like God is calling me to draw closer to him. For some of you, Alabama is awesome. For some of you who didn't grow up in Alabama, you know, stressful, difficult. For those of you who know my background, after yesterday at 2.30, absolutely difficult.14:51And so we have to be careful not just to use vocabulary, right? I'm too blessed to be stressed. Well, how are you doing? I'm blessed. Or just saying, can I get an amen? Or using flowery church language. So what does it mean to constantly praise the Lord with our mouth? Colossians 4.6, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.15:16Is your speech graceful, consistent, constant? Is your life a testimony of his praise? For our youth, as more than our adults, I'll speak to you. I know you're sort of here, some of our adults. We live in a day and age that we now communicate with the tips of our fingers. So let me just say this. Not just praising God with our mouth, but the things that we tweet, the things that we like on Facebook, the things that we watch.15:46The way that we communicate with our hands should be full of grace, seasoned with salt. And the things that we post on Instagram, the things that we like on Facebook, they show our character. And that's not just for the youth, adults. Are we praising him with our tongue? Verse 2. His praise will be at all times in my mouth.16:15Verse 2. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. So his praise in my mouth. Verse 2. His praise, is it in your soul, in your heart? So praise does not just proceed from our mouth and not come from emptiness. Praise should come from our soul. And I know this. If my heart is not glorying in Christ, my mouth will not praise him. What does the Bible say?16:46That from the overflow of the heart, your what? Your mouth speaks. So you want to know what your heart looks like? Listen to yourself. Listen to who I am and I'll know what my heart says. Is my heart glorifying in Christ? Has your soul found joy in Christ? If we're not careful, we seek Christ to become better people. Christ doesn't make us better. He redeems us. He makes us new. In Christ, we are new creations.17:17The old has passed, 2 Corinthians 5, right? And the new has come. So we don't seek Christ just to become moral behaviorists. Like, you know, I'm a good person, but God's going to make me a little better. No, he redeems my soul so I can glorify in him because he has made me new. So how can David say, my soul shall make us boast in the Lord? A man who knew great sin, by the way. Because he knows where great sin abounds, great Savior follows that if we seek him.17:45Is your life glorifying? Is your heart glorifying in Christ? John Piper says often, I love this phrase. He says that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. So where is your source of joy today? If it is found anywhere but Christ, you don't know joy.18:10You might know happiness. You might know false joy. But let your soul rejoice. It's okay not to be uptight. It's okay to let loose with worship because of joy is in our heart. People should see that because we live in a world that's not joyful. We live in a world that thinks they're joyful, but they don't know what that is because they don't know Christ. Because we're not showing them that.18:41We're not living out our testimony. David shows us, my soul makes us boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear it and be glad. Does your soul stir and leap for joy when you hear about Christ? It says praise in your mouth. It says praise in your heart. Third, look at verse 3. David says, oh, magnify the Lord with me.19:06And let us exalt his name together. That is inclusive plural language. David is saying, I'm inviting you to worship with me. So I don't think we should necessarily invite people to church because I don't think we can. Only Christ can do that. Because when we become new in Christ, we become part of the church, but we can invite people to watch us worship.19:36And I pray that when they watch me worship, they'll see my Lord. And when they see my Lord, they'll give their life to Christ and they will become part of the church. That's what David's saying. Verse 3, oh, magnify the Lord. He's saying with our life, praise God. So our testimony, does it reflect his praise? In my mouth, in my heart, with my life. This word here, magnify verse 3, is in Hebrew, gedol. Actually, it's gedolu. But it means great.20:07So the greatness of God is the gedol of the Lord, that God is great. David is not saying that you and I make God great when we praise him. God is great whether I ever existed or not. But what David is saying is that we put a magnifying glass with our life on Jesus Christ. That we point people to the magnification, the glory of God. Look at verse 3, oh, magnify the Lord. So with your life, are you showing the greatness of God?20:35Here's a struggle often with Christianity, that we try to show the greatness of God by how perfect we look. And often the greatness, I see God, the greatness of God in brokenness more than I do in people that are buttoned up. Some of the most loving people, we have a man in our congregation right now that just20:59struggles every day to breathe. And every time he goes to the doctor, which is weekly, he is sharing Christ with those nurses, with those doctors. He has every excuse to say, I'm just tired. But yet he is looking at his salvation in verse 3. He says, I choose to magnify the Lord with my life.21:27And it's not just, I'm going to show you who God is. It is, I invite you into my life. So is your life welcoming to others? Come worship with me. Let us exalt his name together. So who have you invited to worship this week? I'm not talking about 10, 15 on Sundays. Who in your life have you invited to say, my life is open to you, watch me worship.21:56And you know that when you open your life to people, how scary that is. Because there are a lot of things you don't want people to see. And yet when we show people that we sometimes stumble, but yet when I stumble, Christ still picks me up. We should be let us people, right? Come worship with me. Let us magnify God together.22:24Are you glorifying God with your testimony in your mouth, in your soul, in your heart? May we be people who praise his name. So not only does your testimony reflect his praise, but look at verse 4 with me. I sought the Lord and he... How comforting is that, by the way? I sought the Lord and he heard me. And he delivered me from all my fears.22:52Now this is a crazy man talking. So picture this. This is David writing this. This is a man with a scruffy beard, drooled down his face, saying, I prayed out to God and he heard me. He delivers me. Verse 5. They looked to him and their faces were radiant. Their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles.23:18Not only does your life, should it reflect his praise, but does your life reflect his power? His power. So pastor, what do you mean, the power of God? Look at verse 4. I sought the Lord and he heard me. Where does the power of God come in our life? It comes from knowing that he hears us. He hears us.23:48This morning we woke up and we thought our son, our oldest, he's 3 1⁄2, we thought he had the stomach virus. And from what we talked about this morning, he's never, ever been sick to his stomach. So as we're getting ready, as one child's screaming because she needs a nap, and the other's not feeling well because his stomach is bothering him, I just put my hand in and I prayed for him. So God, I know you're here. God, I know this is a busy weekend. I know this is a distraction. But God, just watch over him. And before I came up here, I had a picture saying, look, he's back to normal.24:17Right? Why? Because I sought the Lord and he heard me. That's what our testimony should be about the power of God. So if the power of God is not demonstrated in your life, if God promises us that he hears, and when I hear your prayers that I will unleash my power through the Holy Spirit in your life, if God's power is not in your life, what does that say about our prayers? Let me answer that.24:47It says we're not praying. 2 Chronicles 7, 14, the Lord said, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, and I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and hear and heal their lands. Gregory Nazianzen, who lived in the second century A.D. said this,25:15God loves to be entreated. He loves to be compelled. Are you seeking the face of your father? Is his power demonstrated in your life? Here's the beauty of the gospel. God's ear is powerful than anything in my life. Right? God's ear, his hearing, is more powerful than we are. So if we seek God, he will hear.25:46We can say, I sought the Lord. He heard me. He delivered me from my fears. Not just away from my fears, but sometimes he delivered me from the fears that are within. We live in a world that needs to know that power. And I would imagine that there are people here right now that need to know that power of Christ in their life. That should be our testimony, his praise, his power, not just his power alone in our prayers, but look at verse 5.26:09They looked to him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. Robert Alster translates it this way. He says, they looked to him and they beamed, and their faces were no longer dark. Their faces were no longer dark. I think we live in a time where people need to look at those who follow Christ, and they need to say, what is wrong with your face?26:40Some of you might have heard that for the wrong reason. Okay? Why are you, why are you beaming? Why are you radiant? Why is your face not downcast? Because my God is sufficient. So do you glow with the gospel in your life?27:07We shouldn't be weird just to be weird. But I think as Christians, we should be different. People say, what's going on with you? I know your life is in turmoil, but I can see in your face that your heart is centered on something that is unshakable. What is that? We can say, let me tell you. His name is Jesus. And when I get close to him, my face is radiant. I think of Moses, that when he would meet with God on Mount Sinai in Exodus 34, that when he would come down from Mount Sinai, the Bible actually says that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.27:35How awesome is that? Moses is talking, and the people are backing up. Something's wrong with you, Moses. Moses is like, what do you mean? I've just been in the presence of God. And they say, we see the power of God in your life.28:02We can't contain that. Moses, back up. That should be our testimony. That I pray and my God hears. I draw near to him, and my face beams with the radiance and the glory of God. So this morning, how is your glow? Is the shine worn off? That's a you problem, not a Christ problem. Because the shine of the cross does not grow dim.28:31Is your testimony, does it reflect his praise? Does it reflect his power? And lastly, look at verse 7. David says, The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. He previously says in verse 6, The poor man cries out, and the Lord heard him.29:00He doesn't just say, the poor man. Did you get that, though? That was intentional slip on my part. What does David say? This. David says, come with me. Watch me worship. Let us exalt him together. Verse 3. Verse 6. He says, This poor man cried out. David's saying, look at my worship. See my Savior. Does your life reflect his protection? The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him.29:30Here's the problem with angels. Maybe you see more than I have. But we often don't see angels. So with our natural, fleshly, worldly eyes, if we don't see it, then what? We don't believe in it, right? And what does Christ say? He's like, don't you think if I called, if I snapped my holy finger,29:57that legions of angels would not come? I like the picture in the Old Testament of Elisha praying, and his servant is scared. There's an army encamped around us, and the prophet prays, God, open his eyes. And he looks, and there are angels encamped around. And when the other army saw that, you know what they did?30:24Right? It's time for us to leave. Spiritually, God promises us that my angels will encamp all around those who, this is important, who fear him. And I believe in our life, even as Christ followers, if you say, God, I don't want your protection right now, God is not going to force his protection upon you.30:53And there are some times I fall into holes, and I cry out, God, how could this happen? And God said, I told you it was there. But you didn't want my protection. Is your life living out the protection of God? But what does that mean? Revelation 2.9, God reminds the church there. He says, I know your works, your tribulation, and your poverty, but you are rich.31:22I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. We must not only confine God's protection to our temporal lives. God's protection does not necessarily only mean health and wealth. Thank God his protection does not only mean health and wealth, because there will be a day where every dollar I have ever accumulated in my life is worthless.31:48And that might even be before I die. Who knows what the economy is going to do? So why do we seek God's temporal protection more than his eternal protection sometimes? And what we see reflected in Christ, I don't think anyone here would say, well, God didn't protect his son, and yet he walked to the cross and suffered for our sake. Are we living out the protection of God?32:18But he protects us now, by the way. He protects us now. I believe our God still heals. I have seen that personally. We have walked through a dear family, Casey and I, in our life, where their child was diagnosed with spina bifida, and the diagnosis was, we don't know if this child will ever live. So our church said, let's pray for that child. And then the next diagnosis was, we don't know if this child will ever walk. So we pray for that child.32:48And then the diagnosis was, well, maybe with a walker. Maybe walk eventually. And then the diagnosis was, maybe waist down. And then the diagnosis was, maybe ankles down. And now Riley is walking with a walker, but God, she is a miracle child because God has protected her even when she was in the womb. Are we living out that protection of Christ in our life?33:14But we also have eternal protection. 1 Peter 1.4 says this about our salvation. To an inheritance, just listen to these words, by the way. To an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith, for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.33:44Does that sound like anything that you could lose? Our salvation is protected through the blood of Christ forever. I have done nothing to earn my salvation, and I do nothing to lose my salvation. Thank God, because he keeps that with the blood of his son, the redemption of Christ. So this morning, I ask you, as David asked us, come, let us magnify the Lord together.34:15Does your life reflect his praise? With your mouth, with your heart, with your life, does your testimony reflect not only his praise, but his power? Does your testimony reflect his protection? We're going to have a time of invitation shortly.34:43But David doesn't end there. He says this in verse 8. And we're Baptists, so we like this verse. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. It's interesting that David would say, God's word would say, taste and see that the Lord is good. Because our Savior picks up on similar language in John 6, 35.35:14Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst. But I say to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. Have you tasted the bread of life?35:43Have you admitted before a Holy Savior that you are sinful? And if you have not, John, 1 John is very clear. If you say you are without sin, you may come to be a liar. If you say you have no sin, then you're the liar. Because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are sinful people living in a broken world. And Christ died to redeem us from our sins. But if you have never tasted and seen that the Lord is good.36:12My heart for you is that you will give your life to a Savior who loves you unconditionally. And shortly I'll be down front if you just want me to pray over you, to pray with you. To say I need salvation. And I know it's only found in Jesus Christ. What are we waiting for? If you're here today and you are saved and you say, I'm glad that's over with. David hits us at the heart, doesn't he?36:43Because I think what David tells us is this. If you're a grandparent, do your grandkids know your testimony? If you say, well, I don't know, change that. Share that with them. I know that if my grandparents come to me and say this, Josh, will you sit down and I want to tell you a story. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to sit down and listen. Parents, do your kids know your testimony about how faithful Christ has been in your mouth37:10because of his praise, his power, and his protection? How about your neighbors? If we polled them and said, do you know Josh's story about his faith in Christ? They should. They should. Is our testimony reflecting the glory of God? If it's not, may we humble our hearts and he will hear from heaven.37:41He will heal our hearts. He will heal our lands. I believe that anytime God's word is open, we should respond. And so I'm going to invite our praise team up. We're going to have a time of invitation. And I'll be down front with you just to pray with you, to pray over you. If God has stirred your heart and moved you this morning, won't you just spend time and seek the Lord? And say, God, let me praise you like I should. God, let me live out the power of the cross in my life.38:11And God, surely protect me. Let me live that out. If you're here today and you need to taste and see that the Lord is good, may today be the day of your salvation. If you're here and you have fallen and you just need Christ to pick you back up, may Christ redeem you and encourage you this morning. Let's pray together. Father, we serve a holy, risen Savior.38:37Lord, may we be people that we are quick to praise you with our mouths because your praise is in our hearts, displayed in our lives. Lord, may we be people who show and live out the power of Christ, the resurrection in our life. Father, may we be a people who embrace the protection39:04that can only come from our Heavenly Father. Father, if there's someone here today that's on the fence, should I give my life to Christ, should I not? Lord, may they not wait. May they respond in obedience that can only be found in Christ. Lord, stir our hearts. Move us that we may not be the same because of your word,39:32because of your Son. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.39:54Amen.More sermons on Psalms →
