MAKING MUSIC FROM SHARPS AND FLATS IN LIFE
Sermons Based on Selected Psalms
Psalms Sermon XIII – Psalm 136
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 136 . . .
In my lifetime alone, parts of the world have gone through more wars than you can count on two hands. As far back as history can be traced, history books including the Old Testament are filled with accounts of war after war. Why cannot humans, created by the Lord God for a purpose, live at peace with one another?
The most recent war in Iraq lasted for more than four years, and so many families suffered losses of loved ones. Yet, we realize that when war is over – hopefully sooner rather than later – there are parts of the world in which people will not be able to get along with one another; and consequently, there will be more wars and rumors of wars as prophesied in the Bible.
In Old Testament times, King David was constantly involved in wars to protect his people. He like his predecessors had no choice but to become a warrior, as well as a spiritual leader, for the sake of the survival of Israel. Even so, David as the psalmist recognized that during the worst of times, there was always something for which to give thanks to God.
It just may be that David, a man of peace who nonetheless was forced to become a man of war, managed to keep his sanity by composing psalms; and keep in mind also that, as a human being, David constantly fought the war against temptation within himself; so, he was a king caught up in the battles within as well as without.
We too find ourselves fighting battles within our own personal lives; our struggles sometime cause us to question whether there is anything to be thankful for; but I stand before you today to say that there is; even in the darkest hours of our lives, there is much for which we can be grateful.
In 1636, during the Thirty Years’ War, a German pastor by the name of Martin Rinkart buried 5,000 parishioners in one year – an average of 15 a day. His parish had been ravaged by war, death and economic disaster. His people were fearful and demanded to know if he could give them any hope.
In response to their cries for help, the pastor sat down and wrote some words which later put to music:
“Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things He has done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who, from our mothers’ arms,
Has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.”
Here was a man who knew that gratitude to God has nothing to do with outward circumstances, regardless of how bad those circumstances might be. The psalmist was that kind of man; and although Psalm 136 was written three thousand years ago, the blessings that led the psalmist to praise God and thank Him still apply to us today.
The psalmist starts his psalm of thanks by giving thanks to THE Lord (verses 1-3): “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His love endures forever.”
You and I need to acknowledge what the psalmist knew, and that is, that all blessings come from God. So he makes it clear that God is the one to whom he is giving thanks.
Someone has said that there are many gods competing for people’s devotion and love today; Allah, the god of Islam, claims the adoration of millions in the Middle East and elsewhere. The thousands of gods of the Hindu faith are worshiped by millions, especially in India and surrounding nations. Confucius continues to be worshiped by millions of Chinese. Many in our Western world worship the gods of money and materialism.
The psalmist reminds us that it is not enough to just be thankful with no thought as to the nature of the God we worship. It is essential that we express our gratitude to the living God.
The only God who deserves our praise and thanks is the LORD God, maker of heaven and earth, God of gods, LORD of lords.
He is the God who loves us with a never-ending love – as demonstrated to us by the sending of His Son into the world to show us that God is alive and that God is love!
The good news for you, and me, is the declaration made by God’s Son and our Savior Jesus Christ: “Because I live, ye shall live!”
The psalmist thanks God for creation. He celebrates the works of God’s hands in verses 4-9 . . .
Think about all that God has made: The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the beautiful sunrise and sunset, fields of sunflowers, the Rocky Mountains, the Ice Fields in Canada; on and on we could go declaring the glory of God as seen in this universe in which He has permitted us to live.
Think about the number and variety of things that were made by God - 685,000 kinds of insects; 250,000 species of plants; millions upon millions of stars and planets. Remember that little song little children sing?
“God’s beautiful world, God’s beautiful world, I love God’s beautiful world; He made it for you, He made it for me, I love God’s beautiful world.”
Think about the new creation God has prepared for His people: “Eye has not seen nor ear heard all of the wonders God has prepared for those who love Him.”
If you have ever visited a butterfly conservatory – where you see all kinds of beautiful creatures that have evolved from something ugly into something beautiful - you get an idea of the metamorphosis that occurs in our own souls when we allow the spirit of God to remake us into the likeness of God’s Son Jesus Christ. Something beautiful!
The psalmist thanks God for salvation. He celebrates (verses 10-16) all of that which God did in bringing His people out of bondage into the freedom that was theirs for the choosing.
He shows that God did His part; He brought them out of the land of Egypt by persuading pharaoh to let His people go; He saw them safely through the Red Sea and the wilderness wanderings; He led them through the desert to the promised land – all because of His love and mercy.
The Exodus happened for a reason. It was God’s plan of deliverance. He desired that His people come out of bondage into the freedom of His holy Light. That light which He wanted them and us to come to, was the light of truth – the truth that God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on the Cross to save us from our sins so that we might be restored to fellowship with God our Father and come home to live with Him forever.
Now THAT is something to give thanks for; the psalmist gave thanks for his salvation, and so should we.
The psalmist thanks God for victory. He looks back over the history of Israel and their journey to the Promised Land - how they faced enemies much greater than they; yet God granted His people victory over every one of their enemies (verses 17-24).
We face enemies in our own personal journey of life; you can name some of them – sudden illness, loss of loved ones, crippling diseases, those who wish us harm believe it or not – they all come under the heading of the “storms of life” – but we don’t need to worry, or feel sorry for ourselves, or be discouraged.
Our trust is in God our Father, who has demonstrated His love for us, whose promises are true. He cannot fail. He must prevail. Have faith in God, for He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Selah.
