SNIFF, SNIFF, SNIFF -- SOMETHING IS COOKING
Preached on 20 September 2006
at Greater Faith Church Baptist, Waukegan, IL
Subject: SNIFF, SNIFF, SNIFF -- SOMETHING IS COOKING
Bear with me for a moment as I give you brief historical, cultural, contextual analysts ... in an effort to put this in it proper context.
Why ... because SNIFF, SNIFF, SNIFF -- SOMETHING IS COOKING here in Psalm 34. Well, let us examine some of the ingredients:
- Those of you familiar with this Psalm are at least those of you who have a study Bible can see that this Psalm was penned after David had played crazy.
What do you mean preach ... played crazy. David who killed a Lion and a Bear oh my ... David the ruddy Shepard boy, Jesse’s son who was anoint King, David who killed Goliath, who wrote my favorite Psalm # 23 ... I dare you call him crazy.
I did not call him crazy I said he played crazy, in fact the KJV say that he feigned himself mad. Which means that he pretended to be crazy...
So, before you close your Bibles, and get up, and leave ... allow me to help you this evening because SNIFF, SNIFF, SNIFF -- SOMETHING IS COOKING
Let us look at our ingredients:
You see ... back over in 1 Samuel, Chapter 15 we got problems starting to brew. Yeah ... it may have (sniff) smelt good but this cooking was not good for the people.
Allow me to help somebody this evening ... you see back in 1 Samuel, Chapter 15
#1. God told Samuel to go anoint Saul King over Israel and not only that
#2. God told Samuel to tell Saul I said -- I remember what Amalek did to my people when they were wondering in the wilderness.
#3. In other words, Saul you might not be old enough to remember, but I remember what I told Moses, over in Exodus 17:8-16 that a day would come when I would destroy the A-mal-e-kites from off of the face of the earth
#4. Can I paraphrase ... Samuel this is what I want you to do ... (1) go anoint Saul King and (2) tell him that his first assignment is the destroy the A-mal-e-kites.
5. Now ... Samuel let me make sure that he understands his assignment. I do not want him to just destroy them ... Tell him I said, I want him to utterly destroy them.
6. In other words ... if there is a man gasping for air ... KILL HIM
7. If there is a sheep or an oxen trying to run away, (e.g. bow and arrow) shoot it.
8. I do not want to hear the noise of one of their babies crying. WIPE THEM OUT!
(Sniff, Sniff, Sniff ... something is cooking)
Samuel on one hand ... obeyed the Lord’s command and did just as God instructed him. However, on the other hand Saul decided to disobey God’s instruction.
1 Samuel 15:9 records that
"But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was GOOD, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly."
(Sniff, Sniff, Sniff -- something is cooking) ...
YOU SEE -- what they did may have smelled good, maybe even of good intentions, but it was not good for them.
How many of ya’ll know that just because it smells good does not mean that it is good for you. Oh, how I love the smell of bacon, but too much of it ain’t good for my cholesterol.
This very decision and disobedience caused Saul to have his authority to serve as King of Israel stripped from him and given to ruddy, Shepard boy named David. Not only that ... the Bible records that he lost the Spirit of the Lord.
#1. Now we know, as we believe that in this dispensation (timeframe, or church age) that because of what Jesus Christ did on Calvary, by dying on the cross for our sins that -- we cannot lose our salvation.
#2. But you see in the Old Testament day ... the Holy Spirit came upon some men for a reason, for season or for an event.
#3. So keeping everything in context ... if Saul is no longer God servant then he no longer requires God’s anointing on his life. In fact, the Bible tells us over in 1 Samuel 16:14 that "...the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him."
Now keeping in mind that all of this was happening because (Sniff, Sniff, Sniff -- something was cooking) ... you see Saul thought that he was doing a good thing because the animals looked GOOD. But everything that looks good ain’t good for ya.
Let me stick a pen right here and deal with this for just one minute. It never ceases to amaze me how black folks will cook just about anything. I mean we will
#1. catch it, clean it, pluck it, boil it, fry it, bake it, and I would be remiss if I left out BBQ it.
#2. Now some of ya’ll have taking it to another level ... you will even smoke it (not the pipe, but in a smoker) ... think I need to clear that up just in case one of ya’ll go home and get hurt, then try to sue church and say that Rev. Parks told me to smoke my drum stick.
Now I am from Chattanooga, Tennessee. I saw my great aunt and daddy eat Polk salad, possums, rabbit, squirrel, goat, dear, chitterlings, pig feet, pig ears, pig tongue, pig nose.
Now I must admit ... dem chitterlings were good. Now the breath did smell right afterwards but ... the chitterlings were good.
Being in the military for 20 years has allowed be to travel to some places ... but one thing is common in church no matter where you go ... when it comes down to food (physical food) people will show up to eat. Oh, you don’t believe me, just have an annual day at church and people you have not seen in a month of Sundays will show up to eat.
But when the church is cooking up some (spiritual food), you know like: Bible study, or some prayer meeting, cooking up some fellowship, cooking up praise and worship, cooking up a ushers meeting, cook up a series of sermons on tithing, cooking up a series of sermons on church growth or the member’s responsibilities. Only the faithful few show up -- to the table to eat. Oh, you do not believe me just look around. Look at you the faith few... sitting here getting full and blessed, one more blessing you look you might POP! That is what I like to call FAT Christians ... Faithful, available, teachable
Then in strolls the skinny Christian, every time the church doors open, they shows up late, after the call to worship, late after devotion, late after the offering ... then have the never to claim that nobody saved them a plate and wonder why they are malnourished.
Anyway ... that’s another sermon
You see Saul like some church folks tried to excuse his disobedience to God.
1 Samuel 15:20 records him saying to Samuel that the reason why they did not utterly destroy the animals as God had commanded is because they wanted to use them for a sacrifice to God.
How about that ... and Samuel reminds Saul in verse 22 ... that obedience is better than sacrifice.
Allow me to help somebody ...
#1. This tells me that you can’t mix any old thing in a pot and think that you can serve it to God.
#2. You can not raise hell all week long then come up in here and smiling say BLESS YOU on Sunday
#3. Allow me to help somebody ... you can not go out parting, cussing, fussing, drinking, and acting like a straight-up hood rat all week long and think that you can come to the Lord’s house and mix in few Hallelujah, Glory and Praise His Name in a pot and think that you are giving a offering of praise to the Lord.
(Sniff, Sniff, Sniff ... YES ... something is cooking) ... but it type of mess ain’t pleasing to the Lord.
The story in 1 Samuel goes to say that Saul got jealous of David and wanted to kill him ... because some groupie girls was going around singing that Saul killed thousands but David killed ten of thousands. So Saul got jealous and wanted him dead ... so David strikes out and now he is on the run.
And keeping it all in context ... I Samuel 21:10 records the day that David played crazy. You see David on the run from Saul stopped over in the land of the Philistines, his archenemy, and presented himself before Achish the king of Gath. However, in fear of his life, David started to act crazy by running around jumping on the gate and slobbing and spitting on himself and it was running down his face onto his beard.
So Achish decided not to kill him ... but to let him go as it was the custom not to hurt or kill someone that was mentally challenged ... you know ... crazy.
Even today, when people commit violent acts of murder, then often plead insane, because they know that if found insane that they will not have to pay the intimate penalty ... death.
This brings us back to out text ... here in (Psalm 34) ... we see here David recollecting about the time that we was on the run from Saul and in the land of the Philistines, playing crazy, scare for his life.
Watch this ... READ v. 1-8
v.1 I ain’t going to ever forget where the Lord has brought be from. He has brought you through many dangers seen and unseen
v.2 In other words don’t get it twisted ... I ain’t bragging on myself, I’m bragging on GOD. Yeah I may have played crazy on in 1 Samuel, but I got cense enough to know that God delivered me from the hands of
mine enemies.
v.3 Is a Command not an option. Survey your life and see where God has brought you from.
You know, every now and then we need to play the
gamed called REMEMBER WHEN:
1. Remember when you did not have two dime s to rub together but now you got a mutual fund and stock options
2. Remember when you had to wear hand be down clothes but now you got more clothes in your clothes than you ever needed.
v.3 (read)
v.7 is a promise ... I bear witness, it happened to me. There no secret what God can do ... the same way HE protected me ... HE will protect you.
WATCH THIS...
v.8 O taste and see that the Lord is good
Illustration #1
I m reminded here of a commercial ... that say Campbell’s em¡ em good ... possibilities.
Well ...
- Possible means that it may of may not occur
- Possible means that there is no guarantee.
- What you are saying may not even be true
Well ... (Sniff, Sniff, Sniff ... something cooking here) ... but ain’t Campbell chicken noodle soup
David said ... O taste and see that the Lord is good ... in other words, here take a spoon full of this, I know that you will like.
Illustration #2
I reminded of another commercial that I saw as a child growing up ... about three little boys sitting around a table trying to decide who was going to be the first one to try the new brand of cereal.
Well ... one of the little boy said I’m not going to try it, you try it ... he in return said ... I’m not going to try it either ... then as if a light bulb went off in his head ... he said lets get Mickey, he will eat it, he eats everything ... Mickey tries it and the boys exuberantly shouts he likes it, he likes it.
That is in fact what David is saying, he tried HIM and likes HIM, and tried HIM and HE saved him, he tried HIM and He delivered him, he tried HIM and protected him.
... I’m talking about Mickey ... I’m talking about JESUS ...
Now he wants us to try HIM for ourselves ... O taste and see that the Lord is good ... in other words, here take a spoon full of this, I know that you will like.
David is saying Try the Lord and...
- He will be your Way Maker ... making a may out of no way
- He will be your bread when you hungry
- Water when you thirst
- Help in the time of trouble
- A mother to the motherless
- A father to the fatherless
- Hope for your despair
- Power for perplexities
- Peace for your anxiety
- Truth for your lies
- Healing for your hurting
- Rest for the weary
(Sniff, Sniff, Sniff --- something is cooking) ... and it is the goodness of the Lord.
Try Jesus and HE will ...
- Turn your guilt into NOT guilty
- Turn external death into external life in heaven
- Turn your darkness into light
- Your hatred into love
- Take you from bondage to freedom
- From tribulation to triumph
- From grief to joy
- From gloom to glory
- From defeat to victory
- From failure to success
- From fear to faith
- From I can’t to I CAN to all things through Christ who strengths me
(Sniff, Sniff, Sniff -- something is cooking) ... and it is the goodness of the Lord.
Try Him for yourself and I promise you that He will take care of you. No matter your circumstance, no matter your situations ... God will see you through.
Sniff, Sniff, Sniff -- O taste and see that the Lord is good.
