“Favor to the Faithful”
February 16, 2020
Psalm 113
The very first memories I have are walking down an old dirt road, up in Northern Minnesota, with my mom and big brother. We were walking a mile or so to go see my Aunt, Mom’s sister. My family of five lived in a one room tar paper shack. As I got older, I never knew or thought we were poor. I thought everyone lived in tar paper shacks that had no running water, electricity or indoor plumbing. It was only when I got into my teen years that I noticed my clothes were not as nice as others and I didn’t have what other kids had. And I began to become angry. Deep down I felt inferior, insecure, and had low self-esteem. I got into a lot of fights because I couldn’t take any put downs. When I enlisted in the Army it culminated in me hating life. I felt like life was not worth living and I and the world would be better off if I died. I felt like the world was a mature pile and I was cast off into that pile.
God somehow got to my heart. He pursued me until I found Him. I came to Him feeling low, worthless and ignorant. Then He began to build me up. He began to say things like,
“Everything is possible for one who believes." Mark 9:23
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13
“If God be with us – who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
All of them built me up but the one that really touched my heart was this one,
“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.” Psalm 113:7-8
The American Standard Version puts it, “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, And lifteth up the needy from the dunghill” Psalm 113:7
I related to that. I felt like I was cast out on that manure pile. And God promised to lift me up from that garbage pile; He promised to lift me from the dust – but that was only part of the promise. The other part was to give me a place with the princes of my people. The princes are the leaders; they are respected and honored. I have experienced that in my life. About that time God gave me another promises.
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”
Psalm 84:11
Through the years I have seen God keep His promises. He exceeds all expectations. He is good; He is generous; He is loving – treating us as a loving father treats his children. There are four things I want to share with you this morning that I have experienced with God.
First, He is a champion of the needy. Read the Psalm with me again.
“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.” Psalm 113:7-8
“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.” Proverbs 19:17
“Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.” Proverbs 28:7
“Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.” Proverbs 22:16
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
So if we want to be blessed by God we need to help the poor and needy – right? No. You can do all kinds of good things and help the poor and miss out on God’s blessing, Jesus says in Matthew 7:21. We need to help the poor AND remain pure and unpolluted by the world. Always understand that it is not your works that justifies you. In is the blood of Christ as we remain in a loving and holy relationship with Him. Having said that, I have found that God is a champion of the needy. We need to be as well.
Secondly, I have found that God gives life to the dead. Elisha did. He brought the widows dead son to life and then when he died some people were in a hurry and threw a dead guy in Elisha’s tomb and when he touched Elisha’s bones he came back to life. We see Jesus raising people to life, Lazarus being just one of many, and even when He died on the cross, dead saints came to life. Peter raised Dorcas, a dead godly saint, to life again. But the most amazing to me is to take a spiritually dead person, living with no hope, no future and give him life. Jesus said,
“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.” John 5:21
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
You can be physically alive and yet spiritually dead. I would guess that describes most people in the world. So many are not living – they are existing. So many spend their lives working to make ends meet – come home and collapse in from of the TV and drink themselves into oblivion. Many now days smoke themselves into a false peace with their drugs. That’s not living – that’s existing.
Jesus wants to take that one and raise them back to life again. Jesus wants to take the ugly ashes and replace it with beauty. He wants to take the sorrow and replace it with joy. He wants to take the spiritual poverty and replace it with abundant riches. Jesus says He has come to,
“…provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty; instead of ashes, the oil of joy; instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Isaiah 61:3
“You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
Hebrews 1:9
“You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.
Psalm 45:7
God is in the life giving business. He created us from the dust of the earth and He raises us from the dirt and dust and mud. In 1898 Henry L. Gilmore wrote a song called “He Brought Me Out”. It goes -
“My heart was distressed ’neath Jehovah’s dread frown,
And low in the pit where my sins dragged me down;
I cried to the Lord from the deep miry clay,
Who tenderly brought me out to golden day.
Refrain:
He brought me out of the miry clay,
He set my feet on the Rock to stay;
He puts a song in my soul today,
A song of praise, hallelujah!
God loves to bring the dead to life again. He will give you life. He will raise you up. He will lift you from the ashes and the manure pile of life.
Thirdly, God rewards the righteous. Listen,
“Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.” Deuteronomy 5:33
“A wicked person earns deceptive wages, but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.” Proverbs 11:18
“The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.” Psalm 18:20
Jesus said that even if we give someone a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name we will certainly be rewarded. The enemy of your soul would try to convince you that it doesn’t do any good to be obedient and righteous. A lot of theology almost discourages people from doing good – but you have to believe that God will not let any good thing you do be unrewarded. (Hebrews 11:6) You may have to walk by faith for a while; you may have to persevere for a time; you may not ever receive your reward in this life – but Judgment Day is coming and it is not just to punish the evil doers. It is to reward the righteous as well.
Lastly, I want you to know that God saves the best for last. A few weeks ago I talked about Jesus turning the water into wine and how the guests asked why the host saved the best for last. God loves to do that. I think of Job. The Bible says,
“After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.
The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters… Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.” Job 42:10-16
I love the story of Joseph. Remember how he was thrown into prison and overnight went from the prison to the palace. The Bible says,
“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Genesis 41:39-43
From a prison to a palace; from rags to riches – and it happened overnight! But there was a time of trial. There was a time of testing. There was a time of faithfulness when it surely seemed that God had plugged His ears. But Joseph endured. He remained faithful and God saved the best for last.
I want to promise you that our good, good Father will do that for you. Be faithful. Endure hardship. Bear up in the trials. Walk in obedience. Walk in holiness. Be righteous. God saves the best for last.
