Scriptural Text: Psalms 118:17 -18
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
Sermonic Topic: It Ain’t Over
There are no two ways about it, in the life of every person we sometimes find that the place that we are mentally, physically, emotionally, materially, spiritually, is not the place we had believed we would be. We had envisioned that life would have more in store for us and that #1 would be our spot. We had high hopes and big dreams. We had envisioned that our marriages would last, our children would grow up and be model Christians, that our businesses would be booming, our house would be nicer, our car would be newer, our paychecks would be bigger and that life would be better. We had aspirations of reaching the pinnacle of success and happiness. Yet, we look around our reality and find that much of it has not panned out quite the way we planned. Life and it’s circumstances and situations have done a number on us and in the midst of that our dreams are now lying on the floor of our yesterday.
We cry and we pray but never really get it in our spirit that it’s going to get any better. We adjust our dreams to accommodate our today and we stop pushing for more somehow figuring that it is better to just accept the status quo than it is to press toward a mark that seems to be just beyond our ability to grasp. We quit in mid stroke, mid struggle and start looking for the nearest bench to park ourselves as we watch time and life pass us by.
But I am here to tell somebody: “Don’t throw in the towel just yet”. Though it may appear that all hope is gone, that everyone else is finishing the race without you, It Ain’t Over!!!!
As we look at this text, I must confess that I really struggled with it. On one hand it is a scripture that has been groaning in my spirit for quite sometime. IN fact it has been in my spirit so deeply that we even selected it as the theme for the Survivors Conference that we are hosting in July. Yet on the other hand, each time that I have sat down to look at it for sermonic purposes the simplicity of the statement seemed to not lend itself to a full sermon. It is what it is. There does not seem to be much hidden behind the words. I have searched it and searched it and yet it was simply what it said it was. I shall not die, I shall not quit, I shall not give up but instead I will live, I will survive, I will keep getting up and tell, evangelize if you will, about the goodness of God. There seemed to me not a whole lot to add. But earlier today, as I was still struggling with the text, God placed it in my spirit that sometimes the significance of a text is not in the what, but instead in the who, the when, and the where.
So, the who of this text is the psalmist David. And if you know anything at all about David you will know that life for him was no crystal stair. There were so mountains, some valleys, some hard times, some test and some tribulations. Yet for all of that, there was this anointing from God that was upon his life. And at the time of this text, He was now sitting on the throne of Israel, a king of that nation. So when you look at this text, you see here a tried and true testimony of the sufficiency of God. A statement of what David had learned to be true.
You see this is the same David that God anointed, even as a young man to one day be King that can testify that anointing won’t save you from trials. This is the same David that found himself wrestling with a bear and a lion and was able to kill them with his bare hands. This is the same David that the people were laughing at and scoffing at because he rose to fight the Philistine Giant. It was this same David who faced and defeated that Giant with nothing more than a few pebbles for his defense proving once and for all that if God be for you there is no one that can stand against you. It was David who found himself running for his life from a man, Saul, that he had once called friend. And it was David who even after living in the promise of God who found himself so smitten by the flesh of a married woman that he was willing to not only to commit adultery but to kill for it. And as it mentions in the verses preceding the place where we pick up the text he testifies of nations and enemies who had risen up against him. But in spite of all that and so much more, David kept pressing forward recognizing that for all that life was throwing his way that God had spoken promise over His life and because God had spoken there was no weapon formed against him that could truly prosper. There was no battle he could not win because God is a very present help in the time of trouble and yea though enemies should rise up against him the shall stumble and fall because in the time of trouble God will hide you in the shelter of his tabernacle. In spite of how dark the midnight, weeping will only endure for a night because as surely as God is God joy will come in the morning.
Now there are more than a few things that we can learn from David and this testimony about God and the first would be: that our test are a testimony that there is more in store. See this testimony comes out from David’s spirit, not because his life had always been easy. In fact, as we just discussed it was not. This testimony does not come because God just planted him in the middle of the promise. This testimony does not come because David was always perfect and never struggled with the idea of being what God called him to be. This is a testimony that comes in spite of the testing. Actually, I’ll submit to you that this testimony comes not just in spite of but BECAUSE OF the testing.
Recognize that in life we all endure some difficult and trying times. It would appear that no matter how saved, and sanctified we may be there is no inoculation against the slings and arrows of life. In fact, it seems the more intent you are on doing the right thing the more intense the storms that rage in your life. But I suggest to you that for as varied as the difficulties we face may be, they all seem to have their root in one of three areas.
1) Temptation. 2) Trials and 3) Tests.
A temptation is designed for you to fail. See a temptation is what happens when there is this weakness in us, this proclivity towards some thing and we are presented with an opportunity to indulge the weakness. As God’s desire for us is not to fail and the word says that God will not tempt us know that this is the adversaries trap. The second sources of our difficulties are trials. To understand a trial just look at our justice system. While the motto is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. You have to do no more than view a trial in rgress to know that it seems to be the other way around. The focus seems to be proving your guilt. Likewise as God’s desire for us is that we stand blameless before Him He will not send trials our way for us to fail. Again, this is a trap of the adversary.
Conversely, we have all experienced a test. A test is designed for us to pass. A test is what God sends our way to prepare a testimony in our spirit. A test is what God sends our way to prepare us to move forward to the next level of blessing, the next level of victory, the next level of promise. The testing is for our good because it is in the testing that God is able to purge us, reshape us, mold us and transform us into what it is He needs us to be. There is a blessing on the other side of it. The reality of the situation is that there are times when God will hide our blessings right in the middle of our trouble. But because it gets hard we have the urge to quit.
Know that even before David began to truly realize who He was in God, God was preparing him. His test were a testimony of that. Now, it would have been easy in the face of any of his difficulties to call it a day, give up the fight. But it recognized that even in his most desperate situation that… It Ain’t over There is more ahead. More peace, more joy, more fulfillment, more blessing. Understand that the brokenness, the emptiness, the hurt, the tears that you have right now are just the wrapper for your blessing. It all has a purpose. There is a reason for the madness.
I had a class that I was required to take as part of my curriculum. In other words I had to pass it in order to move forward to the next level. I struggled through the class and made pretty good grades but then it came time for the final exam. I failed it miserably. I had resigned my self to taking the class again. But for some reason my professor was determined I was not going to fail the class. So he told me I’ve seen your work and it was acceptable so I am going to allow you to take the test again. So, he tempered Justice with Mercy and allowed me to retake the test. Once again I failed. Again, he tempered justice with mercy and I was allowed to take it one more time. That time I passed and therefore was able to move on to the next level without having to retake the class.
It’s a beautiful thing that God in his graciousness tempers His justice with mercy and allows us when we fail to take the test again. See for as good as we look today we have all had some test that we failed. Don’t let the good looks fool ya. For all of us there were some marks that we did not hit, some places that we fell short for all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Yet, by the grace of God we were able to get back up again. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up.
But the truth is that there are some times when we have fallen so hard or fallen so low that it seems there is no way to get back up. It seems impossible. But we serve a God who specializes in the impossible.
Which brings us to our second point this evening: the seemingly impossible is possible with God. Truth be told, that just like David, we sometimes find that it seems as if the whole world is trying to war against us. It seems like we have a Giant to face and nothing but a few pebbles for our defense. In short, we find that we get into places, situations and circumstances that seem impossible to overcome. And because of our inability to keep pressing through toward the mark of the high calling the adversary gains the victory. Understand that every time that you allow anything, any one, any obstacle to deter you from being all that God has designed for you to be and all that God has designed for you to have you have given the adversary a victory. Every time that you turn your back on the things that God has spoken into your spirit because you can not discern with your natural eye how it can be possible you give the adversary a victory. But, when you learn to trust him…when you learn to discern his voice even in the midst of your storm. Then you will be able to step into the seemingly impossible with a confidence that knows that nothing is impossible with God. With a confidence that lets you know that all things work together for the good of those that are the called according to His purposes. Then you can step into the furnace knowing that God will be there because He is a very present help in the time of trouble. Then you can step out of the boat and into the raging sea knowing that God will keep you afloat because he will never leave you nor forsake you. Then you can step into the face of a storm knowing that he’ll be there to speak Peace be still. Then you can step into God’s promises for you because then and only then will you begin to fully comprehend the idea that no matter how bad today may look It ain’t over because you serve the one who holds tomorrow.
Finally, the last point I want to make tonight is that when it is all said and done, know that God has the last word.
