Praising God For All The Right Reasons! (Psalm145) Series

MAKING MUSIC FROM SHARPS AND FLATS IN LIFE

Sermons Based on Selected Psalms

Psalms Sermon XV – Psalm 145

David the shepherd lad who became King of Israel was a music maker. He played a harp – the most popular instrument in Old Testament times. The Book of Psalms is a collection of his compositions inspired by both his life experiences and his majestic moments with the Lord God.

As a sheep herder, the boy David became fascinated with the wonders of the out of doors even as he became familiar with the uniqueness of sheep.

As the one chosen by Samuel to be crowned the next king of Israel, David had no choice but to sharpen his defensive battle skills when Saul threatened his life; he had demonstrated his skills as a shepherd lad when he defended his sheep from the attack of wolves, and when he defended his family by killing their enemy Goliath with one stone fired by his slingshot.

David’s favor with God and the people worsened King Saul’s insanity, making him so blindly jealous that he made David the target of a relentless campaign to destroy the king-to-be.

David won the battle; but, more importantly, he won the hearts of the people because he had won the heart of the Lord God who had chosen him.

As king, David ruled righteously in accordance with God’s will; Israel enjoyed the golden years of their history during David’s reign.

Yet, as a man, David sinned; however, as a sinner, he was aware of his need for God’s forgiveness; as a forgiven child of God, he courageously accepted God’s punishment; as one who suffered the consequence of sinning against God, he also accepted the challenge of rebuilding his life for God.

As a Psalmist, David’s innermost thoughts - expressed in the verses of his poetry - have become the greatest collection of spiritual nuggets the world has ever known.

From a lifetime of positive and negative experiences, David has become our hero for making music out of the sharps and flats in life.

Any musician knows that it takes both to make good music. It takes the positives (the sharps) and the negatives (the flats). Arrange them in such a way that they blend into chords, orchestrate the chords into a harmonious melody, and what you get is a work of art that is pleasing to the ear.

Life is like that. The isolated sound of a sharp or the lonesome sound of a flat does nothing for the spirit. Get it all together in conformity with THE Great Composer’s divine plan for our lives, and what you have is harmonious living that is pleasing not only to God but to others as well.

These devotional messages, based on the Book of Psalms, are intended to draw from David’s orchestration of the sharps and flats in his life to help us make music from the sharps and flats in our own lives. Selah.

Psalm 145 . . .

In the sports world, they have what they call the Hall of Fame. There can be no greater honor than for an athlete to be inducted into this society; this is so because the Hall of Fame recognizes the greatness of those whose skills and accomplishments far excel all others in their sport.

My favorite attraction at Disney World is the Hall of Presidents. The caricatures and mannerisms of those who served in the highest office in the land depict each one as a person of greatness who served honorably with distinction.

Certain national parks in our country, as well as various monuments located in our national and state capitols, commemorate the lives of those who achieved greatness in the world of government.

The greatness of men and women is a theme that echoes throughout the many eras of American and world history. We are a people who love to recognize the greatness of those who have gone before us. In our psalm for today, David - who himself was the greatest of all earthly kings - extols the greatness of God.

Psalm 145:3 . . .

In Sunday school when I was coming along, kids were taught a little chorus with these words:

“My God is so great, so strong and so mighty! There’s nothing my God cannot do! The mountains are his, the rivers are his, The stars are his handiwork too.”

Several years ago, a song writer by the name of Rich Mullins wrote the words to another chorus that is sung today in a lot of churches:

“Our God is an awesome God,

He reigns from heaven above

With wisdom, power and love,

Our God is an awesome God.”

There have been so many song writers since the time of David who, like the psalmist, found it so easy to recognize the greatness of God; and then it was only natural for them to express their discovery in poetry which lent itself to musical tunes that folks love to sing.