MAKING MUSIC FROM SHARPS AND FLATS IN LIFE
Sermons Based on Selected Psalms
Psalms Sermon XI – Psalm 66:16-20
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 66:16-20 . . .
One of the television commercials that I simply do not like is the one that has all these people on streets and sidewalks and inside office buildings yawning. The only part of it that I do like is the very end of the commercial when a loud voice cries out, “Wake Up, People!”
Then it is suggested to the listening audience that the way to wake up is to drink a new kind of Pepsi Cola that contains about double the usual amount of caffeine. I haven’t tried it yet because I prefer to stick to my two cups of coffee to wake me up and get my brain in gear.
As I read the psalm which is the basis for our devotional message today – Psalm 66 – I could not help but wonder if the psalmist had had a double dose of caffeine of some kind. I really don’t know if they had any kind of caffeinated drinks back then; I do know of course that they drank wine – and rather heavily at that.
Yet, I doubt that the psalmist was drunk on wine when he penned the 66th Psalm because it makes too much sense to have been written by a drunk. However, it is obvious that the psalmist was on a spiritual “high” at the time of his composing this hymn.
The psalm is so majestic in its acclamation of praise - as a direct result of answered prayer - that one of the leading preachers of a generation ago, Clovis Chappell, referred to the 16th verse of the 66th psalm as presenting to us “the ageless theme” --- “Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.”
Here we have a man of faith who is determined to get a hearing. He has a story to tell that simply will not wait. He must share it with others. So, he shouts to all who will pay attention: “Listen to my story!”
This man is not getting our attention so he can discuss the obituaries in today’s paper . . . the latest stock report . . . all the sports stories of which there is abundance. He is not getting our attention to tell us the latest world news . . . the most recent floods or earthquakes . . . who is or is not leading in this or that political poll.
What then, is he trying to tell us? Why is he so excited about it? What does he think it must do with your life and mine?
Well, it seems to me that he is determined to bring us a sure word from the Lord. He is not telling us his theories or what he hopes will be the case. He is not even engaging in theological discussion.
No, the psalmist wants us to know that he has ventured forth into the spiritual realm and has come into possession of first-hand knowledge of who God is and what He can do, not only for the psalmist, but also for ordinary people. His personal experience compels him to share his story with us.
What has God done for him?
(1) God has taught him that he worships a God who answers prayer. No longer does this psalmist wonder whether God answers prayer. He knows that prayer works because it has worked in his own life.
The psalmist has come to possess an inner strength that he is positive could never have been his except through prayer. This man is feasting upon spiritual bread to which he was a stranger before he prayed. His soul is being flooded with the light of truth that he is confident can only shine through the window of prayer.
Yesterday he was overwhelmed with difficulties that seemed destined to destroy his faith in God. He was during troublesome times in his life. But in answer to his cry God has worked a miracle of deliverance from his gloom and despair.
(2) God has taught him the secret of victorious prayer. Day before yesterday this psalmist seemed to be at a loss as to how to unlock the door of access to God. But today he is announcing that he has learned how to use the mightiest force available to God’s children.
You know, when you consider all of the power that is available to us today – for example, flip a switch and the light will come on – there is none that is capable of such mighty power as prayer. The unfortunate aspect of it is that so few of us know how to use it. Electricity was there for discovery in the days of Abraham, but he and the people of that time missed out on the use of it because they did not know how to harness it.
What was the essential of effective prayer that the psalmist no doubt learned? He alludes to it when he says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
Obviously, he had learned the lesson of obedience. If he listened to God’s instructions and obeyed them, the psalmist stayed out of trouble; his obedient heart would not allow him to even entertain the notion of living a life that was contrary to God’s Will.
He learned that a surrendered will was the secret that opened the door of access to the heavenly Father. Unless we are willing to surrender our will to the Will of God, there will be no answer to prayer.
Please recall the admonition given to us by the apostle John: “Whatsoever we ask of him we receive because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” (I John 3:22)
The supreme lesson learned by the psalmist was that, through prayer:
(3) God revealed to him a greater sense of Himself. It is a great moment in the life of any of us when we can say, as did the psalmist, “but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.”
The best part of prayer is the new sense of God that comes to those whose prayers are answered. As I have cautioned you before, not every prayer is answered in the way that we thought it would be or in the way we wanted it to be; but when we realize that our prayer was answered in God’s way, in accordance with His Will, we cannot help but rejoice and be glad because of our new sense of awareness of who God is.
He is a God who listens to our petitions and takes notice of our praise. The psalmist had cried out to God with his mouth; he had praised God with his tongue; God heard his plea; God took notice of his praise; and the result was that God blessed him with peace of mind and heart.
You and I shall know the peace of God when we cry out to Him in prayer and offer words of praise to Him with our lips; afterwards, we shall realize that God has answered our prayers in His way, according to His Will; and that realization will cause us to exclaim, as did the psalmist:
“Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me.” Selah.
