Banner of Praises Ministries
Rev. Dr. Levi Howard Wright, Pastor
"Down Through The Years,... "The Lord Has Been Good To Me"
Psalm 37:3-5 & 25
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
INTRODUCTION
Time will bring about a change in our lives, in Psalm 37, it tell us not to be worried about the success of the wicked, but to trust God who has power to make our dreams come true. David wrote, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4).
When we are walking with Jesus Christ in a surrended relationship and our hearts have been purified by His truth and love, then the desires of our heart will be godly desires.
In fact, when we are walking in a close relationship with Him, He will inspire us with dreams and desires that are from Him.
This psalm teaches us to commit our ways in life to the Lord and He will bring our righteous desires to pass in His timing. (Psalm 37:5)
In order for us to realize the dreams that God has placed in our hearts, we will need to exercise faith, being obedient and commited to the visions and dreams.
God’s promises can only be fulfilled in us as we obey the "Law of Use", described in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-29. Jesus taught His disciples that they must use and exercise the gifts that God had given them or they would lose them.
David acknowlegded that the Lord would be with us during every stage of our life, from the cradle to the grave, when he said... "I have been young and now I’m old. Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants or offsprings begging for food or bread.”(Psalm 37:25)
Whether we want to admit or not, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, you and I are growing older!
Aging is a reality that many people try to escape or run away from.
➣ That’s why you sometimes see older men trying to look and act like young men...
➣ And older woman trying to look and act like young women!
➣ They’re old, but they try to dress young.
➣ They’re old, but they try to talk young.
➣ They’re old, but they try to behave like they’re young.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep alive the memories of our younger days, when we had plenty of vitality and energy.
But sooner or later Father Time and Mother Nature catches up with us and we have to say like the old song says..... “The old grey mare, just ain’t what she used to be.”
Forty years ago in 1967... I was honored as the “Best Athlete of the Year 1967”
I set track records in my school that have not been broken. When I’m home in Texas and when I see some of my old classmates and former coaches they talk about how great a trackster and football player I use to be.
“But today forty years later..... this old grey mare, just ain’t what he used to be.”
➣ It mesmerizes me when I observe a person who refuse to accept old age.
➣ It’s obvious from the lines on their faces and the wrinkles in their foreheads that their player and playette days have long been over.
➣ But you cannot tell them that they’re not in the game any longer, because they are still trying to convince young girls and young boys that they..... still have the juice and still got it going on!
➣ I believe that if you have gone out of business you... ought to take down your sign!
➣ There’s no sense in trying to keep the business open... if all of your merchandise is stale and out of date.
My brothers and sisters, it’s a "physical impossibility” to escape the reality of old age!
Aging and Old age is a natural progression of life.
I don’t care how many vitamins you take, or how well you watch your diet, or how much you exercise - you can’t stop yourself from getting old!
And then, it’s impossible "mentally."
It doesn’t matter how much you exercise your mind, or how many natural herbs you swallow, or how many books you read on memory retention… sooner or later, your thought processes will deteriorate and you won’t be able to remember people’s names or places you’ve been, or even what you went into the other room for!
Old age will bring about changes!
➣ They used to call us young man and young lady..... but now they called you Grandpa or Paw-Paw!.... Grandma or Grandy!
➣ You used to be able to stay up all night long…now you have to take a nap after lunch!
➣ You used to be able to run like a deer… now you move like a snail!
➣ You used to be able eat anything your little heart desired, without fear of indigestion… but now, when you eat, you have to stay up awhile and let it digest!
➣ You used to never have to take medicine… but now you have to take a pill for everything!
➣ You gotta take a pill to make... the pill you just took to go down right!
➣ You gotta take a pill to put you to sleep and another pill to wake you up.
➣ Yes… things change as you get older and old.
But David..... reminds us of one thing that never changes:
✞ God never changes!..... He’s the same yesterday, today and forever!
And if you look back over your life.... you have to recognize that “Down Through The Years, The Lord Has Been Good To You!”
In this 37th Psalms .... First of all, David speaks of God’s goodness in the past tense of his life:
“I have been young…” In other words, God was good to me when I was a young boy.
➣ In other words, the places I went, that I could have been killed in, because I was young and foolish and didn’t see the danger that lurked in the night clubs and Jew Joints or at the party… but still God had His hands on me!
➣ The stuff I drank and smoked, that could have poisoned me, but because I was young and everybody else was doing it, I didn’t see the danger … but still, God had His hands on me!
➣ The people I hung out with, some of whom meant me no good, but were my friends because at the time I had a little something -something and a little bing-bing, but because I was young and didn’t realize that as long as you have something - you have friends, but when you don’t have anything some of your friends will leave you like rats jumping off a sinking ship… when my so-called friends left me… God kept His hands on me!
David not only talked about the past tense of his life..... But he talked about the present tense also.
David says, "I’m no longer young..... - but now I’m old!"
➣ My hair has turned white…
➣ My eye sight has gotten dim…
➣ My steps has drawn short…
… But guess what? ..... God is still keeping me!
Is there anybody here today..... who knows that God is keeping you?
If you know that... “God Is Still Keeping You Today”..... touch somebody and tell them, “God is keeping me!”
And when you know that God is keeping you, you can’t help but have a "POWERFUL" testimony!
➣ It amazes me how some folk refuse to give God praise and glory.... when it’s obvious that it’s only the Lord who’s keeping them!
➣ Who do you think woke you up this morning?
➣ Who do you think started you on your way?
When I checked the obituary column today, I didn’t see Rev. Dr. Levi Howard Wright and I didn’t see anybody’s name who’s in the Banner of Praise Ministries or in this place of worship today!
➣ You may have cancer ..... but God is good!
➣ You may have a bad heart.... but God is good!
➣ You may have high blood pressure.... but God is good!
➣ You may be a diabetic.... but God is good!
➣ You may have Sickle Cell,.... but God is good!
➣ You maybe broke and don’t have a dollar to your name..... but God is good!
➣ You maybe blind, cripple, cross-eyed,ugly and crazy..... but God is still good!
And when you know God is good... you can’t help.... but say like David says here:
✞ “I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread.”
➣ David is not saying, “I’ve never been hungry nor in need of food..... He’s not saying... I never been in trouble.”
➣ We all get in trouble and have needs sometimes!
David is not saying.... “there weren’t any times in his life when he didn’t need somebody to help him.”
➣ We all need a little help every now and again!
David’s not saying, “there were no times in his life when he didn’t have to borrow from a friend till he got his pay check.”
But David said, “even through all of that.... I never had a moment in my life when.... God didn’t take care of me!”
Never is a pretty strong word.
➣ Never means: there’s absolutely no question about it....
➣ Never means: there’s been no evidence of the contrary…
✞ "I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."
My brothers and sisters, God is truly Jehovah Jireh... He is a God that will Provide!
➣ My momma used to say something when I was young that, I couldn’t understand but now that I’m over 50 years old and almost a senior citizen.
➣ I know what momma meant when she said, “He may not come when you want Him..... but He’s always on time!”
Yes… I realize now that “Down through the years, the Lord has been good to me!"
CONCLUSION
And as I get ready to close......
➣ I want you to know that if you can’t think of any other reason to acknowledge how good God is to you, think about this:
➣ God forgave us of our sins through the blood of His son Jesus Christ.
➣ We were no good, but God the Father sent His good son to pay the price for your sins and mine!
➣ And because of the goodness of Jesus, those who accept Him, when they die of old age… simply move from an earthy level of God’s goodness to a heavenly level of God’s goodness!
➣ If it were not for the fact that God is good, you and I would not have a chance to go live with God when we die.
➣ But thanks be to God..... He forgives us through the blood of His only begotten son.
I’ll illustrate what I mean today, by closing with a story about a young man who committed a crime that sent to him to jail.
He was a very rebellious young man, who was disobeyed his parents and ended up on the wrong side of the law.
The law he broke sent him to prison for 8 years. He knew that his parents were hurt and embarrassed by his foolishness.
And as he sat, those eight years in prison, he thought about his mother and father and looked forward to the day when he could go home.
As time passed, he didn’t know if his father would let him come home or not, because his father had never answered his letters while he was in prison.
So he wrote a letter to his mother and said, "Mom, in a few days I’m going to be released from prison and I’m going to take the train that comes by the family farm.“
...And if you and dad have forgiven me and give me a new chance, I’d like you to tie a piece of yellow ribbon in the oak tree beside the railroad tracks.
And as I‘m on the train, if I see that ribbon in the tree, I’ll know that I can jump off the train and that I’d been forgiven.
” He said, “If I don’t see a yellow ribbon, I’ll stay on the train. I’ll never come home again and you’ll never hear from me again.”
Well, the day came for his release from jail. He walked to the train station and bought him a ticket, and got on the train. With every turn of the wheels of the locomotive, his tension mounted, wondering if that piece of ribbon was going to be in the tree.
...And as the train rounded around the bend that led to the family farm, he couldn’t stand to look, so he asked the man sitting across from him, "Sir, would you mind coming to the window and look out the window to see it you see a yellow ribbon in that tree.
It’s my family farm and I want to know if there is a ribbon in that tree.“
The man said, "Yes, I’ll do that for you." And as they came to the family farm, the boy said, "Do you see the ribbon"
The man said, "No, I don’t see A RIBBON, I see hundreds of ribbons tied to every branch!
➣ I see ribbons tied to the clothes line.
➣ I see ribbons on the rose bushes.
➣ There are ribbons down the fence, there are even ribbons on the scare crow!
It looks like it snowed at that farm and it snowed ribbons!"
The man asked, “What does it mean?”
The boy jumped off the train and said it means, "I’m forgiven and there’s a new beginning with my mother and my father."
I’m gonna close now .... but I just want to tell you one more thing.
“Love covers a multitude of sin......“Love forgives!” - and if you can’t think of any other reason to tell God thank you..... tell Him
➣ Thank you for forgiving me!
➣ Thank you for all you’ve done for me!
➣ Thank you for making a way out of no way! And Thanks you for sending Jesus Christ to die for me!
I wish I had somebody in here today, who would tell somebody......“I know the Lord has been good to me!”
Down Through The Years, The Lord Has Been Good To Me!
Amen...Amen...Amen....
