What is your response to turmoil? How do you handle conflict? It may be griping or whining, complaining or just general irritability. I know this not from years of experience in counseling, not from reading volumes dealing human personality. It comes from simply observing me. If someone were to suggest that I try being grateful when times are tough, I think I’d slug ‘em. What kind of remedy is thankfulness when everything is crashing down around you? It would appear to be the choice of either an optimist on Prozac OR one who sees life in a much broader perspective. Over 130 years ago Abraham Lincoln understood the need for such a response. It was during the darkest hours of the Civil War that Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for a national day of thanksgiving. It was in 1863 that he said: "It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord. We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choisest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens." What is true of a nation is true of each of us. When life moves along without a hitch, we tend to forget. Like the person celebrating a happy occasion who drinks far too much, what was good becomes foolish. In that drunken stupor, life comes crashing down with a fury. We find ourselves reeling, wondering what went wrong. Everything was going so well, but then... BOOM. In that instance we need to know what God is doing and why. Why is it that during those events in our lives when all goes well do we then find ourselves faced by a period of illness, a fit of depression, a faltering marriage, a job loss? What is God trying to tell us? It is during those times that God, having our attention, wants us to be thankful for who He is and what He has done. There is a cycle in our all lives where in we find ourselves immeasurably prospered by all God gives us. Yet it is that very prosperity which may lead to presumption. In our comfort we presume upon God’s good gifts. In response to that presumption God then corrects us through pain which is designed to turn our thoughts back to God and our mouths to utter praise. This pattern of prosperity-presumption-pain-praise is a pattern with which we should acquaint ourselves; so that as we find those circumstances in our lives where the problem of pain seems to overshadow all else, we can turn our attention to how God is seeking to garner our attention so that we are not presumptuous in our lives. This is what God sought to do in David’s life. 1. I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. 2. O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. 3. O LORD, you brought me up from the grave ; you spared me from going down into the pit. 4. Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. 5. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. 6. When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." 7. O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. 8. To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: 9. "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 10. Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help." 11. You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12.
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks
forever. This psalm of thanksgiving flows out of suffering. PROSPERITY MAY PRODUCE PRESUMPTION (Verse 6-7a) The psalm’s ascription contains information which may aid our understanding. Here we are told this psalm is a song by David for the dedication of the temple. One problem: there was no temple at this time. It may be a time when David purchased the threshing floor from the Jebusite, which David secured as the future site of the temple. After David purchased this site for the future temple, the plague which God had sent stopped. Perhaps, since the word for temple in Hebrew means "house," this may be when David’s palace was finished and dedicated to God. Others believe the dedication is a reference to when David returned to his palace after his son Absolom rebelled and drove his father out of the house. The reference to enemies and the near death experience may support this. We can’t be sure. But whatever the reason, there is a reason to celebrate. When life is good it's easy to forget. When all is well an attitude can set in. We seen in verse 6, David felt secure - everything was going well. He was certain nothing would upset him now. It is not that he forgot God completely; God favored him as he says in verse 7. David’s mountain was made to stand firm. But David was seduced by the good things God gave him. Instead of confiding in the Giver, he trusted in the gift, as though it had been his own work. There is the danger of "status quo" - "I shall never be moved."He was so strong, so secure, all was so well, and it would always be that way! "I have arrived." What is the sin here? Presumption takes the good gifts God has placed in our lives, the security, health, wealth, happiness, and imagines that I produced those items by my own hands. Like the turkey we’ll eat on Thursday, we’ll enjoy the wonderful meal, eating more than we should, only to collapse on the couch for a nap. We are very prone to dream. When things go well we dream that they always will be this way. We mistakenly imagine that who I am has made what I have. I will not change, so all that I have will stay the same. This simple self-confidence is blatantly offensive to God, for it assumes that health and prosperity are a consequence of my effort, rather than the gift of God. Do you think that you can insulate yourself from adversity? Can you erect a mountain fortress with good investments and wisdom in your diet so that God will be forced to give you a long life and a successful career? Don’t flatter yourself. Don’t be deceived by your present circumstances. A depraved confidence in your own flesh, rejecting the need for being thankful for God’s grace who not only made you what you are, but is still at work giving you what you have - will only result in a greater downfall later. So what does God do when the good things He has given us turn our hearts from Him? PAIN PUNISHES PRESUMPTION (Verses 7b-10) God’s hidden face produces pain. Notice how God gets David’s attention. "You hid your face." We are not sure what the exact nature was of David’s situation. The historical books do not give us an insight here. It appears he grew sick and was very close to death. But it appears that from then on everything became unraveled. The unraveling was by nothing more than God’s hiding His face. There is no pain like the absence of the presence of God. Just as when the sun goes down at night, no matter how bright the moon and stars may be, it is still night. The only thing to bring morning is the rising sun. David confesses that after he was deprived of God’s gifts, it was like the splash of cold water that woke him from his daydream. It is when God is seemingly absent from David that God’s thunderous voice is most clearly heard. David can see in the darkness of God’s hidden face what he refused to see when God was giving him so many good things. David is violently shaken to his senses as the delusions of self confidence are removed and now he begins to pray. God’s silence produces prayer. David did what he should’ve done all along - he called to God for mercy. The pleading here is interesting. His logic is great: “What will you get if you take my life?” The prayer is not complex, not theologically intricate, but David now realizes that God not only gives him an occasional gift, but that all David has, even his life, is in the palm of God’s hand. David cries for mercy. He bargains with God. I love the honesty of the Psalms. David is not postulating that there is no life after death, nor that God could not still be praised even by David’s death, but David is saying: “I understand now. If you take me at this point, I won’t be able to tell others that what I needed to do is to repent of my presumption and call on you.” "Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me." This is a prayer we must use often, a short and comprehensive petition, useful for any occasion. It is suitable to hundreds of the cases of the Lord’s people; I use it when I am about to preach, when I sense the pall of depression ensuing. It is useful when you are about to call on that customer or when your pet sin is calling your name. I have trouble praying when I’m in little trouble, but I’ve little trouble praying when I’m in much trouble. But that is the place God often desires us to be. It is when we come to the place that we can repent of our presumption that praise flows from our lips. PRAISE REPENTS OF PRESUMPTION (Verses 1-5; 11-12) God draws us to Him (verses 1-3) It was through the pain that David is now able to look back and say with certainty that he will exalt God, or lift Him up, because God has lifted him up. God lifting David in verse 1 is the word for drawing water from a well. It is the pulling of a rope out of a deep pit. That was where David found himself, facing his own demise as he mistakenly thought he was responsible for his own successes. God disciplines momentarily (verses 4-5). David can see his life in the proper perspective; he felt God’s anger, but that was only momentary. God’s anger is but a flash in our lives. When He wishes to get our attention our lives may indeed become painful for a period, but then comes His favor. God doesn’t delight in either our depression or our ruin. When He afflicts us, it is for our advantage, that we may be conformed to His likeness, reflect His holiness. When we sense God’s displeasure, when it appears He has withdrawn from us, it is only so that we see our utter need of Him. The Hebrew here is to the point: A moment in His anger: A lifetime in His favor. When life seems to be so sour, when everything crumbles, we must remember what we say we believe, that God’s favor is with us, because of Christ’s righteousness given to us, because we are adopted and His - which means that His favor always wins out over His displeasure. This is pictured by "Weeping remains for a night." Weeping and sorrow are pictured as a traveler who comes to stay for a night. The pain and sorrow we feel may seem as though it has moved in with us like an unwelcomed guest, as though your in-laws have decided to stay for a long, long, long time. But, rejoicing comes in the morning. David describes the joy appearing with a shout. There is a loud trumpet blast of joy when the morning comes. Like the first rays of the sunrise which dispel the gloom of night, God gives us joy when the darkness of our problems seem as though they’ll never leave. Your mourning will dissipate in the morning. Your winter will melt into summer. God will replace your sighing with singing, grief will give way to gladness. What was once bitter will be made sweet, what was once a desolate wilderness will be transformed into a paradise. What is so crucial to understand is that as a Christian, your life will be filled with both sickness and health, with times of weakness and strength, with want and wealth, with disgrace and honor, with crosses and comforts, miseries and mercies, joys and sorrows, mirth and mourning. While it is a cycle, it moves from the cross to glory. For your own health and so that you find all your satisfaction in Christ alone, God will send you times of great growth and other times of emptiness. When the harsh winter winds blow, know that God is desiring that you find your hope and comfort by His own fire. When the balmy breezes come, give Him praise and thanksgiving for the warmth He provides. God exchanges wailing for dancing (verses 11-12). When David prayed and God responded, notice what God did. Wailing was replaced with dancing - not just the demur Presbyterian “Thanks be to God,” but an all out expression of appreciation for God’s work. Sackcloth is exchanged for joy. Sackcloth was cloth that was used for sacks but that would be worn to express repentance. Its itchy fibers would be a constant reminder of the need to see oneself as in need of another. But God takes that off of us; we don’t need to wear it forever. What He gives us is better than any Armani suit, better than Versache dress. No silk or cashmere could compare to knowing that God is indeed good. In light of this, David responds with praise. He can’t keep silent. It only makes sense that when God does this for us, when a new-found prosperity comes we would not want to once again fall into presumption. Rather, this provides an opportunity to give praise to God for all He has done. Christ and all his benefits are ours. We have reason to give thanks to God for all the good gifts we have, not just our lives and all those wonderful temporal benefits we enjoy every day, but because of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection we have the perspective by which to enjoy them. God’s good favor rests on us because of Christ. We then, like David (verse 4) should invite those we know to likewise praise His holy name. That is what we are to do as well. As we look ahead to this week of Thanksgiving, let us not forget that we are indeed blessed tremendously by God in so many ways. Let us confess that sin of presumption, forgetting that even as we sometimes search for those things for which we give thanks, that all has come from God. |
