MAKING MUSIC FROM SHARPS AND FLATS IN LIFE
Sermons Based on Selected Psalms
Psalms Sermon I – Psalm 1
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 1 . . .
The first Psalm contrasts the difference it makes in our lives when we get our act together so that we major on becoming a harmonious melody rather than a discordant sour note in God’s orchestra:
“Blessed is the man (or woman) who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his (her) delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he (she) meditates day and night. He (she) is like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he (she) does bears fruit.
“Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
Now I want you to listen to this same psalm as it appears in The Message - a contemporary version of The Bible in everyday language:
“How well God must like you – you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon, you don’t slink along Dead-End Road, you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College. Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, never dropping a leaf, always in blossom.
“You’re not at all like the wicked that are mere windblown dust – without defense in court, unfit company for innocent people.
“God charts the road you take. The road they take is Skid Row.”
Two ways of life are presented here. And do not make the mistake of thinking that we are exempt from either way. All of us have walked in the way of the ungodly just as surely as we have walked in the way of the righteous. There have been times when we tried to do both.
There is a difference between living IN the way of the ungodly and living AMONG the ungodly. Jesus made it clear that those who belong to Him are IN the world but not OF the world.
Have I ever in my lifetime been in a place where strong drink is served? Yes. Do I hang out there (make it a pattern of my life so that I engage in ungodly practices often associated with such)?
Well, I’d better not make ungodliness a pattern of my life; if so, I’ll answer not only to God but to my wife.
In the marriage counseling that I do, it is not unusual for a wife to be upset with her husband because he “hangs out” at Hooter’s rather than with her. Do you think God likes that husband’s choice of where to “hang out”?
Here’s my suggestion: Try hanging out at home with the family. Do things together as a family – like worship together, pray together, engage in wholesome activities, and do so together.
Is the psalmist saying that it’s not okay to have a good time? Absolutely not; life was meant to be enjoyed; but enjoyment is more than what so many folks call “having a good time.” If “worldly” pleasure is the only enjoyment someone gets out of life, their life is nothing more than a “flat” note.
You add to the enjoyment of having a good time in a way that is pleasing to God, the privilege of meditating on the Word of God, you come away from those two experiences with a sense of delight.
The same sense of delight can be said about eating together, praying together, socializing together, laughing together, ministering together, or simply being together to share with one another. A godly life consists of much more than any one of these activities. There must be a balancing of satisfying physical and social appetites with that which is spiritual in nature.
On a Thursday morning at 12:30 a.m., at the Atlanta Airport, I saw two of the happiest young ladies I have seen in quite some time. It was my privilege to meet my grand-daughter and her friend who were returning home from two weeks of sharing their Christian witness to underprivileged children and families in Mexico.
They were so delighted that they had the privilege of spending two weeks among the poor in the Baja Peninsula. They said they had a wonderful time! Yes, they enjoyed the beautiful scenery of a peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean. What a delightful experience! But you want to know what they enjoyed most, and therefore spent most of their time doing? Do you want to know what really made the mission trip worth it all?
Riding in rebuilt WWII Russian-made military vehicles – sleeping in tents under the stars alongside noisy roads – sterilizing water for drinking – eating food cooked over campfire pits – backpacking their way into isolated poverty-stricken villages – sharing their Christian testimonies, reading Bible stories, and playing games with runny-nosed kids – spreading the love of God wherever they went.
These young missionaries received their delight from doing these good things in a country where kids are also being used by ungodly people for indecent activities, - such as making marijuana runs, stealing food from neighbors, subjecting their little bodies to abuses of all kinds.
By adding to the lives of these kids and their parents the positive elements of Christianity, it is hoped that the positive effect of good will overcome the negative effect of evil and give these families a chance to become a melody of godliness that God intended for them to become, and then to say goodbye to an ungodly lifestyle.
Someone might ask: “What choice do they have? Aren’t they damned if they do and damned if they don’t?”
The psalmist gave us the right answer: “The Lord God watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.”
You live a godly life as best you can, as best you know how; you delight yourself in meditating on the things of God, thereby making your life a medley of praise to God; and the psalmist makes you this promise:
“Your heavenly Father watches over you.”
A child’s mother died; after the funeral, the dad let the child sleep in the bed with him; in the darkness, the child reached out to touch his dad as he asked, “Dad, is your face turned toward me?”
“Yes, son, my face is turned toward you.” “Good,” said the child, “If your face is turned toward me, I think I can go to sleep.”
Be delighted to know that your heavenly Father watches over you!
Selah.
