Introduction
I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever.
The psalm we have just read is a psalm of thanksgiving for the great deliverances that God had worked out in David’s life. According to the title, David wrote the words at the time of the dedicating of his house of cedar, though there is nothing in it that has particular reference to that occasion. Some believe that the psalm was penned upon his recovery from a dangerous fit of sickness, which might happen to be about the time of the dedication of his house. Regardless, David praises God for the deliverances He has brought him through. He calls upon others, including you and me, to praise God too, and encourages us to trust Him. He recollects the prayers and complaints he had made in his distress, and with them he stirs himself up to be very thankful to God for the comfortable change he is enjoying. As we consider this psalm we ought to remember with thankfulness the deliverances has worked for us. We need to stir ourselves up to praise God and engage ourselves to depend upon Him in our great times of need.
Has God delivered you?
What did David say?
I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
David had great reason to praise God. His enemies had not triumphed over him; God had kept him alive and healthy, had delivered him from death on many occasions and had delivered him from certain defeat. Remember that when David was a young man he told Saul about the lion and the bear? He triumphed over them and God delivered him. He delivered him from the hand of Goliath. He gave him victory over the Philistines and his other enemies. He protected David from the evil hand of Saul who day after day tried to kill him. Think of the many days and nights David spent hiding in caves and sleeping in the wilderness as he ran for his life – and God brought him through it all! David had great reason to praise God!
What about you? Think back over your life and see how God has delivered you time and time again. You may be looking at your present situation and be apt to think that God has abandoned you or forsaken you. Maybe you think He has forgotten you – but He is there all the while doing what He has always done, and that is to deliver you from dangers you’ll never know about. As I have thought back over my own life, it does me good to remember the times when surely God was working to protect my life. It may have been an illness; most assuredly He was in my car, and even at my job sites.
Some of you have been in war. You’ve been near death in the hospital or with an illness at home. You’ve come close in some other accident, yet through it all God has delivered you out of the pit. Maybe your deliverance has nothing to do with your physical well-being. Remember when you were flat broke and didn’t know where the next meal was going to come from? Remember when you couldn’t pay your bills and God brought you through? God has brought you through all those things and so much more! God has delivered some of you from failing marriages, broken childhoods, terrible past experiences. God has delivered you from a traumatic situation and now there is healing and wholeness.
Some of you are clutching lies that you’ve believed for way too long. Somebody told you that you weren’t good enough. You weren’t smart enough, not fast enough, and not pretty enough. You’d never measure up. You’re too fat, too short, too tall, too skinny, too slow, and too dumb. Maybe mom and dad weren’t there and all your life you’ve believed that you’ve got to look out for yourself because you can’t count on anyone to be there for you. God wants to deliver you from those lies.
Isn’t that what Jesus said He came for in Luke 4?
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised…
Listen, surely the Lord Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. We know that He came to bring salvation to mankind, but He is so much more than getting you out of hell and into heaven! Jesus wants to set you free! He has been working all your life in so many ways and this morning He is inviting you to think back and remember just how wonderfully He has been working in your life and He is worthy of our praise! This morning, maybe you have been entertaining thoughts that suggest that God doesn’t care about you; that you are insignificant to Him and don’t count for much.
Think about what David said,
I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.
David cried out to God. In all his mourning and weeping and wondering David questioned his God and his life and the very worth of his blood. Isn’t it easy to just get lost in the grand scheme of things? One minute you feel like you’re making a difference in life and the bottom falls out? I mean, think about it, there’s over 6 billion people on this planet and you’re trying to make your mark in it – who are you? Most people won’t even remember you ever lived 10 years after you die!
Maybe you’re like Paul when he said, “we are troubled on every side…” Are you troubled on every side? Do you feel like it is hitting you from every direction? No matter where you turn there is trouble? You turn to your spouse and there is disagreement, or there is no one to turn to. You want to enjoy just a few moments of peace, but all you find is more trouble. Paul said, “we are perplexed…” You just don’t know what to think or where to turn. Why is this happening in my life? I thought God cared – I thought I meant something to Him. When is this ever going to end? We are “persecuted…” You feel like you’re all alone and all the world is against you? “cast down…” Do you wonder why you even bother? You’re ready to give up? Well let me read again what Paul said,
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed…
There’s a reason we don’t have to be distressed or in despair – the reason is Jesus. God is working something great out in your life and He’s calling on you to surrender to it – don’t take the easy and painless way out – “for we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” There’s somebody in your life that needs to see Jesus, and they need to see Him in you, and sometimes the only way that can happen is for you to be run through the wringer. Somebody said once that a tea bag doesn’t do anyone any good until it has been through some hot water, and neither will you.
There was another group of men and women some 2000 years ago who felt troubled on every side. They were perplexed, felt abandoned and cast down. You remember this group who sat assembled in the upper room after Jesus was crucified. They had given their lives to this man Jesus. They gave it all up: their jobs, their security, their futures, just to follow Him and put Him on the throne, then He went and got Himself killed. Now they sat waiting, wondering and sad.
Brother, I want to tell you that there were three dark nights after Jesus was crucified – but joy came in the morning! Isn’t that what David said? Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning! There was crying in that upper room for a short while, but there was rejoicing on Sunday morning! There was doubt on Saturday night, but there was assurance on Sunday morning! They were perplexed when they thought about the cross, but they found the answers when they considered the empty grave! They were cast down all weekend, but they were lifted up when Jesus showed up!
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Those are some good words for us today as we gather here on this Easter morning. Joy comes in the morning. There is something very special to God about the early morning.
· Abraham rose early to worship the Lord
· Jacob rose early to worship the Lord
· Moses rose early to worship the Lord
· Joshua rose early to worship the Lord
· David rose early to worship the Lord. He said in Psalm 5:3, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”
· Job rose early to worship the Lord
· Isaiah rose early, Daniel rose early, the apostles rose early, and Jesus rose early to worship the Lord and spend time in prayer and study.
Well those are great men of faith! You know, sometimes I think we get this idea that we can’t be like the men in the Bible because they were great people of faith, but we’ve got it all backwards. What made them great men of faith was their love for God and their willingness to get out of bed and spend time in worship. They took time to praise God before their daily routines stole their time and hearts away – and you need to do the same.
Psalm 108:2 says, “Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.” But I’m not a morning person! Maybe not, but no one is going to be around. And besides, most people who say they can’t get up early don’t take the time to be with the Lord the rest of the day either.
I want to tell you that the greatest morning there ever was came on a Sunday morning in a little country half-way around the world to a group of disheartened men and women who thought their lives were over. Do you know how joy started that morning? It started with a woman who chose to get up early to be with the Lord. Mark 16:9-10 says,
Now when he was risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven devils. She went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
On that morning, Mary chose to get up early, and as she went to the tomb to see Jesus, she got more than she bargained for. She was walking along expecting to find a dead Jesus, wrapped in cloths and buried in a tomb, but she met with the risen Savior! She went in sorrow, but she ran back to the others full of joy! She walked along in despair and defeat, but she returned that morning full of hope and power for living!
Jesus said the grave couldn’t hold Him! He said He would rise from the dead. He said He had the power to lay His life down and the power to take it again! That’s such an old, old, tired old story right? You say no, but let me ask you something – what did you get up early to find this morning? Did you come expecting the routine? Did you come, going through the motions all the while? Did you come expecting just another sermon and a cold damp breeze? Who did you expect to meet you on your way to meet with Jesus this morning?
Jesus is alive! He has risen and He is here this morning and He wants to meet with you and He wants to surpass all your expectations! He wants to bring joy to your mourning, hope for your despair, power for your lives, peace for your anxiety, truth for your lies, healing for your hurting, rest for the weary. Did you come expecting to meet with the risen Savior today? Well surprise surprise – He is here and He has something for you!
He’s not a dead Savior – It’s not a dead book – This isn’t a dead church – they’re alive, but only to the extent that you allow them to be in your life. Jesus is alive today; but is He alive to you? Is He the living, vital, all powerful Lord of your life? God’s Word is living and powerful – but is it to you? Are the words of Scripture arresting and life-changing? Or are they reserved for your “Get Out of Jail” moments of life? There’s something special God wants to do this morning of your life, in these early moments of the day.
Has God delivered you? There’s more going on in your life than any guardian angel could ever do. I’m not talking about saving you from accidents and bad circumstances – this is so much bigger than that. When Jesus died on the cross He did that for you! He shed His blood and He gave His sinless body to deliver you from sin, death and hell! When He hung there He delivered you from having to do it yourself! When He rose from the dead, He rose for you! There’s deliverance all right – and He offers it to all who will receive it, and for all who do there is deliverance from the second death that the Bible calls the lake of fire! If you’ve never repented of your sin you need to do that today.
You need to shuck it all down and look back on your life and look at your life right now and know that things are not all what they ought to be. The Bible says that you have sinned and you fall short of the glory of God. In other words, you fall short of God’s standard of perfection, and that standard is Jesus Christ. Because you fall short, because you have sinned, you are condemned to die and if you die without Christ your future is eternal separation from God and everyone else in hell. You need to repent – confess to God your sin. You remember that lie you told, that wicked thought that ran through your mind, those unholy desires you have. What you really need to repent of is never having trusted Jesus Christ to save your soul. You’ve been trying to earn God’s favor on your own. You’re trying to be good, trying to be nice, trying to be moral and upstanding, but none of that will work. You fall short of His standard and you can’t enter His heaven unless you repent and trust Christ. He’s the only One! He’s the only Way! “No man comes to the Father but by me…”
Where there’s been deliverance – There needs to be praise
“There’s joy in the morning…”
As we close this special sunrise service this morning, I’m going to lead us in a word of prayer and ask you to reflect for a moment on the ways God has brought deliverance into your life. As He brings them to your mind, praise Him for them – thank Him for them. As I pray, God will be dealing with you who do not know Him, and He’ll be dealing with you about your need for spiritual deliverance from the wages of your sin, and what I want to ask of you is to respond to Him in obedience – repent of your sin and place your faith in Christ.
After our invitation, I want to ask you to share with us the ways God has delivered you and why you can praise Him the way you do.
Let’s pray.
