When Our Father Chastens

When Our Father Chastens

Prairie Baptist Church – 9/27/09

P.M. Service

Text: Psalm 6

Key verse: Psalms 6:1 - O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.

Premise: Our God is not a vindictive Judge but a Holy Father who loves His children enough to rebuke us when we are wrong and set us on a right path.

The Introduction

President Calvin Coolidge went to church, and afterwards was asked by a friend what the minister spoke on. “He preached on sin.” The friend asked what the preacher had to say about sin, and was told, “He’s against it.”...

This is a penitential Psalm - confess sin and beg for reinstatement with God.

Sin violates God’s standard

Sin offends God and when his children sin, it goes against His plan for our lives

We are to be a mirror of His holiness, we are a Holy nation.

We notice several things from David’s cry in this Psalm:

1. David felt the displeasure of God over sin - 1

2. This troubles David both soul and body – 2-3, (bones and soul)

3. The emotional torment gives David restlessness and suffering - 6-7

4. He begs God’s deliverance and mercy – 4-5

5. David’s tone changes to one of expectation and hope in God – 8-10

This is how sin in our lives should affect us.

We are ashamed and beg for God’s forgiveness, restoration and mercy.

1. The Cry Of Mercy – 6:1-3

2. The Case For Mercy– 6:4-5

3. The Condition For Mercy– 6:6-7

4. The Confidence Of Mercy– 6:8-10

Body

1. The Reasons For Discipline

A. Punishment of sin

i. I love the story about the mom & dad with a son who was a freshman in college. He blew off his freshman year. He wasn’t very responsible, didn’t make good grades, squandered his money, & finally came back home. His parents told him, “If you go back to school you’ll have to pay your own way.” So he had to work that summer & not go on the family vacation. That was part of his punishment. The family went to Greece that year & the mom sent him a postcard, “Dear Son,” she wrote. “Today we stood on the mountains where ancient Spartan women sacrificed their defective children. Wish you were here.”

ii. This punishment is corrective punishment

iii. David experienced this in his sin with Bathsheba

iv. God makes it clear he will punish sin – Ps. 89:30-32 – 30“If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, 31If they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments, 32Then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

v. The good news is the promise of His faithfulness – Ps. 89:33-34 - 33Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. 34My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

B. Prevention of sin

i. God may discipline in order to prevent sin

ii. God puts fences around us as we do our children (ex. Play with matches or be in the swimming pool with an adult to watch over them)

iii. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh, not because he already had pride, but to prevent pride - 2nd Cor. 12:7-10 – 7And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

iv. What may be an inconvenience or hardship for us may be God’s loving hand of protection. (MacArthur)

C. Instruction for life

i. God’s discipline is not just about punishment but also correcting and teaching

ii. The example of Job:

a. It was clearly not punishment

b. Job 1:1 – There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

c. Job 2:10 - In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

iii. It can teach us sympathy for others.

Now let’s turn to Hebrews 12:5-11

2. The Response To Discipline

A. Discipline should bring us back to God and His Word – 12:5a