MAKING MUSIC FROM SHARPS AND FLATS IN LIFE
Sermons Based on Selected Psalms
Psalms Sermon IX – Psalm 46
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 46 . . .
Almost everyone has heard of Martin Luther; and, if so, you know that he was the German monk and hymn writer credited with founding the Protestant movement more than 500 years ago.
Martin Luther was author of the words and composer of the music of what many consider to be the greatest hymn ever sung in protestant churches – “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
As the great reformer, Luther championed the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer, taking issue with the papal system of church government. He believed very strongly – as do most Protestants – that the individual believer in Christ is free to interpret scripture as led by the Holy Spirit and not as dictated by a supreme human authority.
Luther preached that the only authoritative guide to go by for the practice of our Christian Faith is the Holy Bible given to us by authors who wrote down the Word of God as inspired by the Spirit of God. He believed that no person has the right to “add to” or “take away from” the Bible, that every believer is a “priest” who has direct access to the throne of God.
Because of his revolutionary preaching, Luther was kicked out of the government-endorsed church of his day; consequently, he became a “marked” man; the good news was that others joined hands with him in the reformation of Christianity – a reformation that has survived 500 years - with protestant denominations and churches spreading the gospel independent of control by a government-endorsed hierarchy.
We must remember, though, that our freedom to practice our beliefs as we feel led by the Holy Spirit of God was won at a great personal expense to Luther - as had been the case with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – as had been the case with those who spread the gospel of Christ in the first century – not the least of whom was the apostle Paul who was executed because of his preaching that Jesus Christ was the Messiah sent by God.
As Martin Luther neared the end of his life, he found himself engulfed in a battle to the end with the hierarchy of the state-sponsored church; and of course, he endured sufferings and setbacks that sometimes caused him to wonder if the battle was worth it all.
It was during one of those times of discouragement - when it seemed to him that he might be fighting a losing cause - he said to one of his disheartened friends, “Let’s sing the 46th Psalm.” They did; and the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, is the English translation of the words and tune sung by Luther and his friend during their time of trouble.
Psalm 46:1 . . . In times of trouble, everyone needs to feel safe. We need a place of security. We need to be surrounded by folks who reassure us that we are going to be okay where we are.
In times of trouble, everyone needs to feel the strength of a powerful presence. David, although a king whose palace was surrounded by walls and guards, nevertheless found himself away from the palace – away from home – surrounded by the dangers associated with fighting a battle; and it was not unusual for him to feel from time to time that his was a losing battle.
Yet, he resolved within himself not to lose heart nor to give in to the enemy of despair – because he knew that the LORD God was on his side; and, as my neighbor Raymond Beasley called to me every morning as I left home to go out into the world of conflict, “With God on your side, how can you lose?” He called his admonition “my thought for the day” - but it was the same thought EVERY day. And you know what? We need no other thought than the assurance that the psalmist has given us in Psalm 46:1.
God is “ever present” – such a difficult thought for you and me to comprehend, but nonetheless by faith we accept the reality of God’s continuing presence? Not just “present” but “EVER present!”
Psalm 46:2-3 . . . If we can bring ourselves, as did the psalmist, to realize that the Lord our God, who made us and knows us by name, is always with us - true to His promise – we would feel so secure that, even if we hear of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, cave-ins, wars and any other kind of calamity that takes its toll on the earth and its inhabitants, we would not fear our personal eternal destiny due to our trust in the LORD to keep His promise to deliver us from our final enemy which is death.
Psalm 46:4-7 . . . If we can bring ourselves, as did the psalmist, to realize that we are only pilgrims here, and that our destination is the City of God, where we shall dwell with the LORD forevermore – a Holy City whose light is the Light of God’s presence – a Holy City whose life is the life of God’s peace, as symbolized by the river running through the city, keeping in mind that we have been given that life by the Prince of Peace Christ Jesus who offered to the woman at the well Living Water – a Holy City whose future is sure and whose spiritual foundation is secure, even if the cities of earth melt by fire – we would know that the LORD God our maker is the only fortress we need!
Psalm 46:8-10 . . . If we can bring ourselves, as did the psalmist, to realize that in the final analysis, when all has been said and done, the LORD our God will still be in charge; as my neighbor Raymond Beasley said to me, in a variation of his usual “thought for the day” – “Charles, don’t forget. God is in charge.”
In these short verses, the psalmist alludes to his glimpse of a day when that which God determines needs to be ruined will be left in ruined, that which God determines needs to be destroyed will be left destroyed, that which God determines needs to be burned will be left in flames. There will be no doubt about who is in charge – as translated by The Living Bible, “The Commander of the armies of heaven is here among us.”
If the President of the United States walked into this room, you and I would stand and acknowledge his presence by applause and then we would be silent to hear what he had to say. But, the psalmist is telling us that on that great day in our future, we will be during none other than the Commander-in-Chief of heaven.
We, like the psalmist, will stand in awe in His presence, we will know that He is God, and we will “be still” as we await further instructions from our LORD – and we shall truly be amazed as our Commander-in-Chief is exalted by people of all nations that ever existed on the earth.
Psalm 46:11 . . . You talk about excitement! You and I have never known excitement like that which will overcome us when we and all the rest realize that the Commander-in-Chief is here among US! How excited we ought to be to know that He is with US.
Martin Luther, feeling the emotions of discouragement and despair, had nowhere else to turn except to the scripture for a word from the LORD; and turn to the scripture he did – to the 46th Psalm – and he invited his friend to join him in SINGING “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” . . ..
Selah.
