Sermon – Wait Patiently for the Lord

Psalm 37:7 – “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!”

Patience is an important virtue that many people struggle with today.  Living in our current fast-paced world, where information is literally at our fingertips on a smart phone and interactions with others are just a video call away, we have been trained to expect that everything we want should be given to us immediately.  Because we have these expectations, many of us have become impatient with others, rushed for results, and always looking for the next input of excitement.  I personally struggle with impatience in many situations in my life.  Let me give you a few examples of when this occurs, and you can perform some introspection to see if these have happened to you as well.

Situation #1:  Sitting in Traffic

Being that I live in Los Angeles, California, traffic is not something new to me.  This city and particularly our famous freeway, the 405, is well known for its traffic jams, which is likely why you see a large dance number on the freeway in the opening scene of the movie La La Land, which glamorously depicts the life of a struggling actress in Hollywood.  Traffic jams are the worst, especially on a hot day, because you sit in the heat with the sun beating on your face through your window, knowing that you would be at your destination already if it wasn’t for some busybody people who are overly curious looking at an accident to their right.  “If they aren’t going to help, then they should just mind their own business, keep driving, and stop causing this traffic jam!” – this is the thought that goes through my head as my blood boils when I see a long string of red tail lights.  This is only exacerbated when I know that I need to be somewhere and am now running late even though I had planned to be there early.  Patience is out the door when I’m driving.  So if you are one of those people causing traffic, then beware Josh the Impatient Angry Bear. 

Situation #2:  Waiting on a Package from an Online Order

Do you remember the times when you had to go to a store to buy something?  Let’s say you needed to buy a piece of clothing for a party or some batteries to power a flashlight.  You would drive to the store, browse the aisles, and then make your purchase.  But nowadays, whenever you need something, you type a website address into your phone or computer, throw the item you want into the cart, and place your order.  Then you wait a week or so to receive your item.  But with Amazon’s two-day shipping, we now expect our items to come in within 48 hours.  There is now even talks of Amazon drones dropping off packages at your doorstep, cutting delivery down to mere hours.  I know that because I am now spoiled with Amazon Prime’s free 2-day shipping, I have become more and more impatient when I wait for an online order.  Whenever I place an order from a place outside of Amazon now, I tend to complain why it takes them a week to send me something when it should only take two days.  I’m sure I’m not alone when it comes to this.  I find this to be really funny though, because in the past, when we would place a mail or call order for something, we would have to wait three weeks to a month for something to arrive, and we would just patiently wait for it to arrive.  I think this benefit of having faster delivery times has in a way also had an unexpected consequence of making people more impatient.

Situation #3:  Waiting for a Website/Movie/Video to Load

I am sure that everyone here has heard of Netflix or YouTube or one of these digital entertainment streaming services.  I am also sure that many of you have at one point during streaming had a circle show up with a percentage in the middle and then cursed Time Warner or AT&T or Comcast for slow-internet service.  Instead of loading the show within a few seconds, you needed to wait one minute for the show to load, so you complained.  But do you remember that only fifteen years ago, you had to wait five minutes to even log onto the Internet on your computer?  You sat patiently listening to the weird dial-up sounds go off so that you could simply check some emails.  Why do we complain over “slow” Internet that already saves us a trip to the rental movie shop?  It’s because, we’ve become impatient.

Situation #4:  Traveling by Car or Plane

Unfortunately, in this COVID era, many of us will not be traveling as often, but I am sure that many of you can remember a time, when you sat in a car or plane that would take several hours to get to your destination and thought to yourself, “Why is this mode of transportation so slow?  Why am I not there yet?”  We then complain about how our back is hurting in those uncomfortable chairs or how our legs are cramped in such a tiny space.  But what takes us several hours now used to take months on a boat or a horse and carriage.  Although technology has improved our lives in this capacity, it certainly has made us impatient. 

Situation #5:  Waiting on a Kickstarted Item

My final example is a situation that I think only a few people can relate with me on and that is waiting on a Kickstarter.  I love board games, and nowadays, many board games use a platform known as Kickstarter to fund and to produce the games.  In order to obtain the money to produce a product, a person/company puts an item up for sale on this website, asks you to pay in advance, and promises to deliver you the product in the next few months to a year.  For board games, the turnover is usually around a year.  Currently, I am waiting on three different Kickstarted games to be delivered to me.  But because most companies do not have the product ready when they launch the Kickstarter, more often than not, they fail to deliver the item on the specified date.  Usually, they are six months to a year behind schedule.  Now, that I know this fact, I have begun to account for that when waiting on delivery, but I remember when I first used the platform, I often grew impatient waiting for my games to be delivered.  I would constantly check the comments sections to see if anyone received their games, and I would eagerly await a tracking number email for my product.  And even when I had that, I would grow impatient watching the FedEx truck move from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Los Angeles, CA.  I could not wait to get my product. 

Now, you may be wondering why I have spent this time describing situations where people often grow impatient and cannot wait and how that relates to our lesson for today.  The reason is because our passage today comes from a psalm of David, where he reminded those who were struggling with their faith to wait on the Lord – to trust God to do what He promised to do in His time.  Psalm 37 is a famous psalm where David described the struggle that many people have to live righteously when it seems like the wicked always win.  Throughout this psalm, which I encourage everyone to read in full (Psalm 37), David describes how the wicked are always plotting but do not seem to receive their punishment right away.  Instead, they would prosper in their way (vs. 7), have abundance (vs. 16), and grow like a green laurel tree (vs. 35).  Yet, interspersed through David’s remarks about how the wicked seem to be prosperous, he reminded us that the wicked will get their due and that we should continue to be faithful, because the LORD will reward those who seek Him.  Although it is not the last verse in the psalm, the verses seem to culminate to the single point made by our focal verse today – Psalm 37:7, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” 

This verse is very relevant for us today, because in recent years, it seems like wickedness has grown to insurmountable levels.  We have come to the time described by the Bible where people call good, evil and evil, good.  People commit adultery or sexual immorality without shame; people lie, cheat, and steal without a second thought; and people proudly declare their lack of belief in God.  The world has turned upside-down, and everything right and good is now under attack.  Seeing this environment, it is easy for Christians to lose heart, to question God’s justice, and to grow impatient with God’s promises.  But we are reminded here to WAIT – to BE STILL and PATIENTLY WAIT on the LORD.  This psalm encourages us to wait on the Lord to do two major things:  1) To punish the unrighteous and 2) To keep His promises to the righteous.

1.  Wait on the Lord to Punish the Unrighteous

How many of you have heard someone say, “Why would a good God allow so much evil to happen in this world?  Why does a just God allow cruel and wicked people to always get away with their sins?”  I am certain that many of you have been posed with this question by someone who refuses to believe in God.  This has stopped you in your tracks and prevented you from further sharing the Gospel with them.  And to be honest, it is a difficult question to answer, because it goes against much of what we intuitively think God would do.  These questions force us to consider our faith and whether we truly believe our God to be a just and righteous God.  I know that sometimes when I see how the wicked and unrighteous succeed in this world, I wonder if it might just be better to join them since it doesn’t seem like we can beat them.  But Psalm 37:7 is a poignant reminder that I need to stop thinking that way.  Vs. 7 says, “…Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!”  We are told not to fret, not to worry, not to envy them, but to simply trust that the Lord is righteous and will eventually punish sinners for their unrighteousness.  From the beginning to the end of this psalm, David constantly reminds us that the wicked will eventually pay for their sins.  They will fade away like the grass (vs. 2), will be cut off (vs. 9), will be no more (vs. 10), will vanish like smoke (vs. 20), and will be gone without a trace (vs. 36).  The Lord will punish the unrighteous.  (As an aside, my answer for the reason why God allows evil to continue for now is because our God is a merciful God and is giving them an opportunity to repent.)

It is interesting that David is the person who shares these words with us, because he had first-hand experience of having to wait for the Lord to punish the wicked.  When David was just a young man, he was brought into the service of King Saul to help quell Saul’s torments through music.  Eventually, David rose up to a commanding position and led a group of Saul’s men into battle.  Because of the success David had and the praise that David received from the people, Saul became jealous and sought to kill David multiple times, forcing David to run, hide, and even flee to the foreign country of the Philistines to escape Saul’s clutches.  During those times, David must have questioned whether God would be faithful and eventually punish Saul for his wrongdoing.  But even with those doubts, David always trusted that God would deliver him and prove his innocence and righteousness in the matter.  Because of this faith, when David one day found Saul sleeping and had an opportunity to slay him, refused and chose to wait on the Lord to bring his deliverance instead.  Eventually, Saul was killed by the Philistines, and although David wept, God brought the punishment Saul deserved upon his own head.  God was faithful.

Other stories in the Bible also illustrate this same fact.  For example, we can look at the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis.  First, when he was just a young boy, he was sold by his brothers into slavery.  Second, after bringing prosperity to the house of Potiphar, his master, he was wrongly accused of trying to sleep with his master’s wife and was thrown into jail.  When all this evil was happening, Joseph must have wondered, “Why God would allow all of this evil to happen and let the wicked get away with what they did?”  But in the right time, when God needed a ruler who would provide for His people during a famine, Joseph was brought up from jail and raised to the position of second-in-command in Egypt.  He would rule and lead the people of Egypt and provide for the brothers who scorned him.  Although he showed forgiveness to his brothers, in a way, they received their punishment, in that, they had to eventually show the brother whom they mocked the honor he deserved.  Joseph waited for God to be faithful, and God showed himself faithful. 

When we see wickedness grow in this world, we may be discouraged and worried that our God is no longer listening or watching what is happening.  We may at times even become envious of or angry at the wicked.  But we are told to refrain from anger and to not be envious, because these thoughts will only tend to evil.  Instead, we must be still and wait on the Lord to do His work in His time.  Our merciful and gracious God may simply be giving the wicked an opportunity to repent, so let us wait on Him, for vengeance belongs to God (Romans 12:19). 

2.  Wait on the Lord to Keep His Promises to the Righteous

The second thing we are told to be still and wait patiently for God to do is to keep His promises to the righteous.  If we look at the four preceding verses (vs. 3-6) before vs. 7, David encourages his listeners to trust in the Lord, delight in the Lord, and commit their ways to the Lord.  These are all good and righteous actions that we should do as followers of Christ, but whenever we see the prosperity and success of the wicked, we may question whether it is even worth following the Lord.  That is why David reminds us in vs. 7 that we must be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.  Countless heroes of the faith waited on God to fulfill His promises.  We can look at Abraham, who waited years before finally having his son Isaac.  We can look at Moses and the people of Israel, who waited and stood still as they watched God part the Red Sea to deliver them from their Egyptian captors.  We can look at Simeon, who waited for the Lord’s chosen Messiah to arrive at the Temple.  These heroes waited on the Lord to do what He said He would, and we must also wait for God to keep His promises.  Fortunately, we are reminded of many of them in this psalm. 

• He will give you the desires of your heart.

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” – vs. 4

God promises that if we delight ourselves in Him, then He will give us all that we desire.  This doesn’t mean that God is Santa Claus and will check off every item on your Christmas list, but it does mean that God will provide for you exactly what your heart desires if you make Him your delight.  It makes sense, if you think about it, because when you truly seek and desire God, He becomes the desire of your heart, and He will make Himself known to all who seek Him.  We can wait on the Lord to give us our heart’s desires.

• He will Act.

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act.” – vs. 5

We are told here that we must commit our ways to the LORD, which means we need to roll our burdens, decisions, and choices in life on and to God.  When we commit our lives to follow God’s way and walk in His paths, we can trust Him to act and to accomplish all we trust Him to do.  This world teaches us that we must give up everything to pursue our dreams.  We must take matters into our own hands and throw everything out that does not match with those goals.  That may mean that we need to sacrifice time with God and His will for our lives to accomplish our own desires.  But we are told here to instead, commit our lives to God and leave the results to Him.  Everything we do, we must do it for the Lord – that is what it means to commit our way to the LORD.  Matthew 6:33 best illustrates this point, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Seek God first and then leave the results to Him.  We can wait on the Lord to act.

• He will display your righteousness to the world.

“He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” – vs. 6

“The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.  The LORD will not abandon him to his power or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.” – vs. 32-33

When the wicked see the righteous act with confidence, they will very often seek to persecute the righteous.  This means that you may be wrongfully accused for your faith.  Look at what happened to Daniel and his friends from the Babylonian and Persian rulers.  Or better yet, look at what the Pharisees did to Christ, setting up false witnesses to try to accuse Christ and to put Him to death.  Those who are wicked will paint you in a bad light and try to ruin your name, but trust that God will in the end prove your righteousness and innocence before the world.  If we continue to live blamelessly, placing our faith and trust in God, the wicked have nothing to stand on when they throw their accusations around.  Instead, you will be as a shining light in the world.  We can wait on the Lord to prove us innocent.

• He will be provide for His children’s needs.

“Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.  For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.  The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance.” – vs. 17-19

We can trust that our God knows and provides for our needs.  In Matthew 6, we are told not to worry about our food, our drink, or our clothing, for our Heavenly Father knows our needs.  When all others have fear and worry, we can trust God to be faithful to watch over His children.  He cared and provided for His people during the seven years of famine in the time of Joseph.  He provided manna for the Israelites each and every day in the wilderness.  He ensured that the widow’s pot of flour and jar of oil never ceased in Zarephath during the famine that Elijah predicted.  We can wait on the Lord to provide.

• He will give direction and security to your way.

“The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” – vs. 23-24

When we choose to follow God and delight in His way, we can trust that our ways will be established.  One of the hardest things in life is to know what we need to do or where to go.  It is hard to establish what steps we must take, for we often fear walking in the wrong direction and potentially ruining our lives.  But these verses promise us that God will establish (appoint, decide) our steps to help prevent us from falling.  But if we do slip and go in the wrong direction, God’s hand will always be upon us ready to lift us up and to prevent us from falling too far.  God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.  We can wait on the Lord to guide our lives. 

• He will not forsake His saints but instead will be their salvation and stronghold.

“For the LORD loves justice; He will not forsake His saints.  They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.” – vs. 28

“The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.  The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.” – vs. 39-40

One of the worst betrayals a person can experience is when he or she places their faith and trust in someone, and that person abandons them in their time of need.  We are told here that God will not forsake His saints but will be a salvation and stronghold for them during times of trouble.  Whether the trouble comes from the wicked and their persecution or difficult trials in this life, we can trust that our God will always be there watching over us.  Hebrews 13:5b says, “…He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”  Our God will always be there when we need Him.  We can wait on the Lord to be our salvation and stronghold in times of trouble.

The promises I have described here are only a few of the many promises that God has given to His children in the Bible.  Sometimes, those promises aren’t fulfilled right away.  But we can trust and wait on our God to complete them in His time.  If we reflect on all that God has done in the lives of His people and more pertinently in our personal lives, we can be assured that He is a faithful, loving God, who will always keep His promises.  God will punish the wicked and unrighteous, and He will also reward the faithful and righteous.  God will be true to His Word.  We must only be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. 

For those who have never received Him as your Lord and Savior though, this message is still relevant for you.  We are clearly told here that God will eventually punish the wicked, which means that we will one day pay our lives as a penalty for our sins.  The wonderful thing is that God sent His Son to die in our place – to pay that penalty for us.  God poured that punishment and that wrath on Jesus Christ on the cross, so that we may experience a new life in Him without having to suffer that death penalty.  He promises all who call upon His name that they will be saved (Romans 10:13).  It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, whether you are wicked or self-righteous, or whether you are Jew or Gentile.  God has opened this promise to all.  One must simply place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior by confessing with their mouth that “Jesus is Lord” and believing in their heart that God raised Him from the dead.  Then He promises salvation.  Do not struggle any longer to fulfill your own criteria for getting into heaven, for that will only tire you out.  Do not argue with God any longer, rejecting His gift because you don’t understand something.  Instead, be still before the Lord, call upon His name, and wait patiently for Him to work in your life.  He won’t delay. 

Sermon – 2 Corinthians 12:9 – Provided, Perfect, Powerful Grace

2 Corinthians 12:9 – “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.“

What is grace?  This word is used very often in Christian sermons, songs, and conversations.  For example, two popular Christian worship songs right now are titled Your Grace Is Enough and This Is Amazing Grace.  And let’s not forget probably the most famous hymn ever written Amazing Grace.  But for the amount of times we sing about and use this word when talking about our faith, how many of us can actually define it?  What does the word grace even mean?  Theological and philosophy books have been filled with pages trying to explain this word and its significance, but I think it might be better to just go with a simple definition.  Grace can be simply defined as getting something that you don’t deserve.  It is receiving a gift when you did nothing for it.  It is God extending His love for us even while we were His enemies.  It is God sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.  It is God turning the death we deserved into eternal life through Jesus Christ.  That is why a clever acronym that someone came up with sums it up perfectly – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  What an accurate description of grace!  God gave us, who did not deserve it, His riches through the death of His Son. 

Knowing now what grace is, we can better dive into the verse we will be talking about today from 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  This verse is the culmination of Paul’s defense to the Corinthian church of his legitimacy as an apostle of Christ.  At that time, due to the false prophets that were beginning to infiltrate the church, many Corinthians began to question Paul’s motives and validity as a Christian leader.  To show his authenticity, Paul went through an exhaustive list of the trials that he had encountered for the faith, which included everything from beatings and imprisonment to stoning and shipwrecks.  Paul laid his life down on the line countless times for his faith.  But these grand gestures of faith and love were not what Paul found strength and pride in, according to 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul boasted in his weaknesses.  He could boast about his intelligence, his works of faith, his perseverance during persecution, and even his personal calling on the road to Damascus, but Paul would do none of that.  He realized that the one thing in his life that had greatest value was his weaknesses, for in his weaknesses, God’s grace would be provide.  What was so great about this grace?  Let’s take a look at three characteristics of God’s grace that we can be grateful for which should inspire us to boast about our weaknesses as well.

1.  God’s grace is Provided.

Preceding our focal verse for today, Paul described how a thorn in the flesh was given to him – some difficulty or trouble that made his life harder so that he would not become prideful. 

2 Corinthians 12:7-8 – “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.” 

Some people think this thorn could be his slowly degrading eyesight or some physical disability, but it is unclear what it actually was.  Nonetheless, he wanted it removed, so he asked the Lord to take it away.  But even after begging three times, he was met with a “NO.”  Instead, the Lord told Paul that He would provide His grace and that would be enough.  As stated earlier, grace is getting something that you don’t deserve.  It is being given something that you did not earn, you did not work for, you did not fight for.  It is simply a free gift with no strings attached.  God said in this verse that he would provide his grace to Paul when he needed it.  Paul did not need to earn God’s favor by converting many unbelievers.  Paul did not need to perform some grand gesture of faith.  God simply said that He would provide the grace when Paul needed it.  It was a gift given in a timely manner. 

We can trust that our God will also provide His grace to us whenever we need it.  Though we may be in trouble or in the midst of a temptation, God will shower His grace on us and provide us what we need when we need it.  He knows our every need and, like a good Father, will give it to us when the time is right.  When we are faced with temptation, He provides a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13).  When we are faced with fear and loneliness, He provides His presence (Hebrews 13:5).  When we need to defend our faith and do not know what to say, He provides His Holy Spirit, who will put into our mouths the words to say (Luke 12:11-12).  In all of these situations, God provides His grace in some form or another.  It may not come in the exact way we want, because as we can see Paul’s desire was that his thorn should be taken away, and it wasn’t.  But we can trust that God will do what is best for us and sustain us in the situation.

But more importantly, God has already provided His grace to us in the gift of His Son.  Even though we had yet to be born and would certainly sin and fight against Him, He provided His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.  Over 2000 years ago, Christ was beaten and mocked, whipped and scorned, and eventually nailed to the cross to die in our place.  Though we deserved death for our sins, we were given eternal life through the sacrifice of Jesus.  Though we deserved His wrath, we were given His love poured out on Calvary.  What greater grace could there be than the gift of His Son!  This was provided to us free of charge.  We weren’t asked to live holy lives or to make converts or to even ask for the gift, in order for Him to give it.  Rather, it was given to us freely even before we had knowledge that we needed it.  God provided us salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.  All we need to do is accept that provided gift of grace. 

2.  God’s Grace is Perfect.

What we need to take note of in vs. 9 is that God says that His grace is sufficient.  Sufficient in this context means that it is satisfying, fulfilling, and enough.  In a way it could be considered – perfect – because nothing else would need to be added.  God’s grace provides everything we need.  When Christ died on the cross for our sins, He completely paid the penalty for our sins, which is why He proclaimed, “It is finished,” as He died.  In saying those three words, He let the world know that there is nothing more that needs to be done to earn God’s favor; everything was completed by Him. 

Some false teachers nowadays will say that what Christ did was not enough – that you still need to pay the penalty for your sins in purgatory after you die.  Then after slaving away for several years, your soul would be set free.  But this teaching isn’t Biblical, and it certainly spits on Christ’s sacrifice.  The Bible teaches that when Christ died for our sins – it was once for all.  It didn’t need an additional sacrifice or any additional work.  All it needs is a heart that is willing to accept that gift of God’s perfect grace. 

Knowing that God’s grace is perfect in the aspect of salvation, we can trust that His grace is also perfect when we are in need.  In whatever situations we may experience through our lives, we can trust that God’s grace is enough to get us through it.  God will not half-heartedly provide for you and ask you to fill up the rest, but rather, He will give you everything you need when you need it.  Just look how He fed the people of Israel in the wilderness with manna.  Exodus 16:18 states, “But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.”  Those who might have grabbed less manna then needed still had enough.  God made sure that their meal was complete.  God is letting us know that we can trust Him to provide for our daily bread.  Whether it be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual needs, God will provide for us each day exactly as we need.  It will be the right amount and will never be lacking.  And how can we ask for anything more than what God can give!  Can anyone outgive God?  His grace is perfectly complete.

3.  God’s Grace is Powerful.

Finally, we find in this verse that God’s grace is powerful.  When God provided His grace to Paul, He was providing His power, for it says, “…My power is made perfect in weakness.”  God’s grace is not empty words with nothing behind it.  He is not a person who says that he will do something, but never fulfills that promise.  He does not provide a false hope or sense of security, only to leave a person disappointed.  No way!  When God says, He will provide His grace, there is strength, faithfulness, and truth behind it.  God’s grace is powerful beyond measure. 

Imagine what type of power it would take to create the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky.  Imagine what wisdom it would take to plan out the details of the seasons and how it affects the growth of crops but also the details of how each cell replicates in the body.  Imagine what it takes to part a sea in two or to calm the waves or to close the mouth of lions.  Our God did those things and continues to do some of those things each and every day.  If He can do these awesome miracles at once by a simple command, how much more can He do when He actively acts in our lives!  His perfect provided grace is powerful.  When God delivered His people from Egypt, the Israelites saw its power.  When Jesus Christ healed the sick, the crowds saw its power.  And most definitely, when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, defeating death and sin, we saw its power.  That grace continues to show its power when it changes the lives of sinners – turning hard-hearted criminals into obedient followers of Christ.  That grace shows its power in my own life – turning a boy with a quick temper into a man who is learning to control his anger.  What we cannot do because of our weaknesses, God can do through His strength.  God’s grace is powerful and can and will work in the life of those who will accept it. 

God’s grace has been provided, is perfectly complete, and can powerfully work in your life.  He most prominently displayed His grace in the gift of His Son, who was the provided Sacrifice, the perfect Savior, and the powerful Deliverer from sin and death.  What is keeping you from experiencing His grace today?  Don’t let anything keep you from accepting the gift of His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  Now is the day of salvation.  Experience His grace today.  His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in our weakness.  So when you feel like you have nothing left in the tank and cannot hold on, remember God’s grace is given to you. 

Quick Note – 1 Kings 16:29-34 – An Evil King but a Good Lesson

1 Kings 16:29-34 – “29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”

A nation can rise and fall by its leaders, so it is important that good and righteous leaders are chosen to lead a nation.  Being that I was born in the United States and this year is an election year, I have the opportunity to vote for who will be the President of my country for the next four years.  I will also be able to vote for other officials like Congressman and senators, who will help make the laws for the next two or six years.  Therefore, my vote through who I help elect will affect whether this nation will grow or decline.  My vote really matters, and being a Christian, I should support a person that I believe will help lead this nation closer rather than farther away from God. 

In ancient Israel though, the person who led the nation was not selected through a democratic vote.  Instead, it was determined either by the blood lineage or the defeat of the previous king.  If the current king ruled with a strong arm and his subjects did not rebel against him, then usually his son would be the next king.  On the other hand, if his subjects did lead a rebellion and one of his generals defeated and killed him, then that general would become the king.  This second way was the one by which the father of the king in our passage today became the ruler.  Omri was a general in the army of the previous king of Israel.  After one of the king’s subjects Zimri assassinated the king and tried to usurp the throne underhandedly, Omri’s soldiers selected him to be king instead.  Knowing he had the support of his soldiers, Omri then went and killed Zimri and established his rule.  King Omri was a strong ruler, so he was able to establish his kingdom for his son, Ahab, which is who we will focus on today. 

King Ahab is described as an evil king, a king who was more evil than those who were before him.  So you may be asking, “What can we learn from such an evil person?  Why would I highlight a man as bad as this?”  And my answer would be that we can learn from the mistakes that people make in the Bible just as much as we can learn from those who do right.  By looking at King Ahab’s life and how he reflected that of a bad ruler, we can learn how we should live our lives and how we should look for rulers who do not embody the characteristics of Ahab.  So let’s dive in for our short lesson today.  There are four key characteristics that we can see that made Ahab a king who did more to provoke the Lord to anger than any previous king before him.

1.  He took previous sins lightly and did not learn from them.

King Ahab was the son of King Omri, who was considered an evil king.  Verse 25 of this chapter states that “Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.”  That means King Ahab’s father was already considered the worse of the worse and yet King Ahab did worse than him.  And if you trace back the kings before Omri, each one is described as evil and doing something that would provoke the LORD to anger.  This was the reason why the Northern Kingdom of Israel at that time was so tumultuous.  King after king was being placed on the throne and usurped, because each king did as he pleased rather than seeking the approval of God.  Unlike David, who was considered a man after God’s own heart, whose kingdom was then established by God, the kings of Israel sinned and incurred God’s wrath.  After seeing all this though, King Ahab refused to learn from the mistakes of the rulers before him and decided to double-down on the sin.  Rather than learning, he took their sins lightly (vs. 31) and provoked God even more.  History is written down so that we can learn from the achievements but also the mistakes of the past.  Yet history constantly repeats itself, because we as human beings refuse to learn from those mistakes.  As Christians, we should be careful to study the mistakes that were made in the past and do the opposite instead.  There are countless stories of people who fell in the Bible.  These stories were written so that we as Christians would be on guard against them and not fall into them as well.  So let us not take sin lightly and let us learn from those mistakes and do better.

2.  He associated with sinners who would lead him astray.

King Ahab made a crucial mistake early in his reign – he married Jezebel the daughter of a foreign king who worshipped other gods.  Like King Solomon, by marrying a foreign wife, he was led to worship other gods as well, eventually setting up a temple and altar for Baal.  He would also then worship Asherah, which was another foreign god at the time.  If Ahab had surrounded himself with good and righteous counsel who would advise him to follow God and seek His commandments, he likely would have, because if you read about Ahab and his personality in other passages, it sounds like he is a person who is the product of those around him.  But because he associated with sinners, he was led to sin.  1 Corinthians 15:33 states, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’”  This is exactly what happened with Ahab.  We must be wary of the people we hang around and spend time with for they can either lift us up or lead us astray.  Iron sharpens iron.  So let us surround ourselves with those who seek after God. 

3.  He worshipped idols.

King Ahab did exactly what the other kings before him did – he worshipped other gods instead of the God of Israel.  Jeroboam, a king of Israel a few generations earlier, established false gods that looked like calves in the cities of Dan and Bethel.  He then told the people of Israel to worship these false gods.  Not only did Ahab keep this tradition, he added to it by establishing worship to Baal (by building his temple and altar in one of the primary cities in the Northern Kingdom) and to Asherah.  We may mock King Ahab and look upon him as a fool because of what he did here, but we must be careful to perform some introspection and see if we have done the same thing in our hearts.  Our hearts are the Temple of the Living God, but have we put an idol in its place.  The idol does not need to be some golden or wooden statue, it could be money, our family, our friends, or our career.  If we put anything before God, we have created and are worshipping an idol.  Let us correct this and remove any idols that we are worshipping.

4.  He allowed others to sin around him. 

Lastly, it is interesting that the writer of the book of Kings mentions that Jericho was rebuilt during the reign of King Ahab.  This may not seem like an important detail, but it is incredibly significant.  The reason is because Jericho was never to be rebuilt again.  Joshua had laid a curse on anybody who would rebuild the city when it was first conquered by the people of Israel entering into Canaan in Joshua 6 – “Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: ‘At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.’”  Nobody dared to rebuild the city likely because of this curse, but when King Ahab reigned, we hear about how Hiel of Bethel decided to rebuild Jericho.  He did this at the cost of his firstborn and his youngest son.  Hiel willingly defied God even though he knew it could cost him his children.  How decrepit of a generation and people that would be willing to sacrifice their children for their own gain!  King Ahab did not stop him, even though, he was the king.  He did not fight back or reject what was done but likely supported him in doing so.  And even if he didn’t support him, he didn’t stop it.  We must be careful not to support evil or even just be silent in the face of it.  We must stand up to what is evil and stop it. 

King Ahab was an evil ruler over Israel, and the people of Israel would eventually fall for his sin.  They would experience a famine for three years for their sin.  They would lose to many enemies.  They would eventually suffer the wrath of God.  All because an evil king allowed for evil to continue in his country.  But even with all this wrongdoing, he did leave us something important – a lesson of what not to do.  Let us be careful not to act like Ahab lest we be remembered for being worse than all those who were before us. 

Quick Note – Psalm 26 – Passing the Test

Psalm 26:2 – “Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.”

Psalm 26 Full Text

Currently, I am reading the book of Psalms a second time for my devotional reading this year.  For the past few years, I have had struggled to concentrate, focus, and learn something when I read Psalms, because after reading through the Bible year after year, I have begun to feel like the Psalms are pretty repetitive.  Many psalms are focused on praising God for His mercy and love, while many others are about David pleading with God for protection from his enemies.  But to my surprise, over the past month as I began to read the book of Psalms again, a lot of the psalms stood out to me.  Psalm 19, for example, reminded me of the witness of God in nature and in His Word.  Psalm 25 reminded me of how we can place our faith in God to deliver from both our enemies and from our sins.  But one particular psalm that touched my heart came up yesterday – Psalm 26.  I was especially impressed with vs. 2, where David had the guts to say, “Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.”  This verse forced me to reflect on my own life and ask, “Could I ask God to test my heart and mind?  Am I living my life in a way, where I would not be afraid to ask God to judge me?”  With some reflection, I concluded that I could not, because my heart and my life is filled with wickedness and sin.  I fall into temptation often and have wandering thoughts that can, at times, be impure.  But after reading this verse, I was encouraged to change – to live in a manner where I could boldly state as David did, “Prove me, O LORD.”

But how could David say this?  What characteristics or what choices did David live his life by, which would allow him to be so certain that God would consider him righteous?  By examining the other verses in Psalm 26, we can see four key characteristics, which I will go over briefly here.

1)  David had a pure heart and mind

According to vs. 1 and 11, David resolved to live his life with integrity.  Living with integrity means that a person is complete, whole, and undivided.  It means that a person lives honestly and righteously whether he is being observed by others or not.  Simply put, it means that the outward appearance matches the inward heart.  Throughout David’s life (outside of the time he slipped up with Bathsheba), his actions matched his heart.  He constantly made sure that he lives his life in a way that would please God, and whenever he would falter, he would return to God asking for forgiveness.  He constantly sought to live with purity in both heart and mind – in his desires and in his thoughts.  If we want to live blamelessly, we must make sure that both our hearts and minds are pure before God.  Jesus Christ said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, so we must be very careful to watch over our hearts, guarding it for it can easily be filled with wickedness.

2)  David trusted in the Lord without wavering

In vs. 1, David said outrightly that he trusted in the Lord without wavering.  Then in vs. 3, he said that he placed God’s steadfast love before his eyes and walked in God’s faithfulness.  And finally in vs. 12, he stated that his foot stood on level ground.  In all three of these verses, we see David’s unwavering trust in the Lord.  There was no fear in his heart that God would falter or fail in His promises; instead David fully trusted that God would do exactly what He said He would.  Throughout the Psalms, we read of how David trusted God for everything from security (calling God his fortress and deliverer (Psalm 18)) to provisions (calling God his Shepherd (Psalm 23)) to guidance for living righteously (trusting God as a teacher (Psalm 25)).  David knew that if he placed his faith in God, he was standing on level ground.  At no point could God look at David’s heart and see fear or dismay, for David fully trusted in Him.  Let us remember who our God is and not be shaken by difficulties or persecutions in our lives.

3)  David avoided the company of the wicked

If we want to live blamelessly, we must make sure to stay away from bad company that could push us towards the wrong direction.  According to vs. 4, David would not sit with men of falsehood or consort with hypocrites.  Vs. 5 goes so far as to say that he hated the assembly of evildoers and would not sit with the wicked.  In order to keep himself pure, David made sure to avoid those who performed wickedness, for he knew that they would only provide him bad counsel and lead him astray.  Paul said it best in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’”  We must be wary with those we associate with, for we become like the people we hang around.  Many proverbs in the book of Proverbs talk about staying away from the counsel of the wicked, for that will lead one astray.  Let us not put even an inkling of a thought of sin into our hearts and stay away from those who may tempt us to do so.

4)  David took every opportunity to share and worship God

Finally, David talks about how he loved to worship God and to share what God had done with others.  In vs. 6-7, he described how he would go around the altar of the Lord, proclaiming His wondrous deeds and thanking Him.  In vs. 8, he described how much he loved God’s house, which he further enumerated in Psalm 27.  And in vs. 12, he stated that he would bless the Lord in the great assembly.  David took every opportunity to worship and thank God for all that He had done in his life.  He did not falter or fear what others might say, but gladly proclaimed God to the world.  Even before the temple was built, David made preparations to build that house, so it would be a glorious place that the world would come to worship God at.  David loved God and loved being in His presence, and he wanted others to know that same God in their lives as well.  As Christians, we have been given the task to make disciples of all nations by Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself.  So let us not be afraid to share what God has done in our lives, whether it be the salvation He has given us by His death on the cross or the way He has worked in our lives.  Let us take every opportunity to praise and worship God in front of the world.

David boldly told the Lord to try his heart and mind, for David was sure he was living in a way and manner that pleased God.  And he most certainly passed that test, because God considered him a man after His own heart.  Let us strive to live in that same manner by applying these four characteristics into our lives – 1)  Living with a pure heart and mind, 2) Trusting in God unwaveringly, 3) Avoiding the company of the wicked, and 4) Taking every opportunity to share and worship God.

Quick Note – 1 Samuel 1:6-7 – Worship

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many churches were unable to open their doors for a two to four month span of time between early April to late July.  Fortunately, through the use of streaming and meeting platforms like Zoom and Facebook live, people were still able to hear the Word of God on a regular basis over the Internet.  Although these tools provided some semblance of interaction between fellow believers, nothing can compare to direct “in-person” meetings.  This is likely the reason why many churches defied government orders to close their churches during that time.  As a scientist, I can understand the reasoning behind why churches were told to forgo “in-person” meetings, because this virus can spread easily in settings where large groups of people are gathered.  But at the same time, as a Christian, I can understand the frustration that comes with being told that you cannot gather with fellow believers.

I will tell you that in my opinion it is wise to follow social distancing practices, to wear masks, and to hold services outside rather than indoors (for cases where the church has a large attendance), because church is not about a location or a building, it is a group of fellow believers gathering together to worship the one and only true God.  But I also believe that we as Christians need to gather together and pray and worship and call upon the mercy and grace of our God.  It is especially critical at this time, when there is so much turmoil and trouble in this world.  And if protests are allowed in the park and people are allowed to eat in restaurants and theme parks are opening and Congress can meet, then there is no reason why the church must remain closed.  Because of this belief, I am happy to hear that Grace Community Church (a local church in my area) is allowed to hold services without being sued by Los Angeles County.  I do not agree with everything they are doing like the lack of masks and the unwillingness to follow social distancing protocols, but I am glad that fellow believers can meet together without being hampered by the government.

So if you haven’t guessed it by now, what we are going to be talking about today is worship.  I wanted to share three things with you today regarding worship, which interestingly enough stemmed from my reading of 1 Samuel 1, which is the story about Hannah asking God to give her a son after being barren.  Now, not all three points come from this chapter, but this chapter inspired me to share this with you today.

The first point comes from Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”  These two verses are the basis of why we as Christians choose to gather together in person to worship the Lord.  Many Christians today say that they do not need to go to church any longer.  They can watch a gifted preacher on TV share the Gospel, while they listen to some worship music in the comfort of their own home.  The pandemic only gave them an additional excuse for ignoring these words.  But the Bible is very clear, that we as Christians should gather with our fellow believers in order to encourage one another to love and good works.  Although a phone call, an email, or a text message can be encouraging, nothing beats hearing an encouraging word in person.  It is much easier to rebuke, to exhort, and to encourage a fellow Christian in person.  As a pastor’s son, I cannot discount how encouraging it is for my dad to see a person fill a seat in the pew.  Additionally, by meeting together, it is much easier to avoid getting distracted.  For those who have joined a Zoom meeting, there can be no denying how most people are playing on their phones rather than listening.  Now, in certain cases, like a pandemic or a person living in another state or county, an in-person meeting cannot occur, so in those cases, we use the tools that we have, but if we can, we should gather together as believers.

The second point about worship to be shared today is from 1 Samuel 1:6-7, “And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.  So it went on year by year.  As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her.  Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.”  Now, you may wonder how this is related to worship, so let me give you some context to the story.  Hannah and Peninnah were both wives of a man named Elkanah.  (Obviously, I do not approve of this two wives thing, which led to this trouble in the first place.)  Once a year, they would go to a designated city to worship God by giving offerings and sacrifices to the Lord.  Whenever they went though, Peninnah would mock Hannah for not having any children.  This would then destroy Hannah’s spirit and discourage her during her worship.  This reminds me of how some of us go to church to “worship” the Lord but have the wrong relationship with another fellow believer.  We approach the throne of God, looking to praise Him, but immediately afterwards, use our tongues to tear down another.  James 3:9-12 states, “With it [our tongues] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.  Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?  Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?  Neither can a slat pond yield fresh water.”  How can we go to worship God, when we have problems in our relationships with others?  We cannot.  By doing so, we are acting as hypocrites.  Rather we must follow the guidance in Matthew 5:23-24, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”  When we come to worship God, we must do so with the right heart with God and with others.

These two verses are also a reminder that when we come to worship God we must remove sin from our hearts.  Peninnah went to worship God, but in her heart was jealousy (for Hannah was the more loved wife), as well as, bitterness.  She was holding these two sins while she was “worshipping,” which honestly, made her worship unacceptable before God.  Proverbs 28:9 says, “If one turns away from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.”  When we have sin in our hearts, we cannot draw near to God, and our “worship” is useless, so let us come with our hearts cleansed and pure from sin, whatever it may be, before we go to worship our Lord.

The third point about worship is in 1 Samuel 1:15, “But Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit.  I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.’”  After being mocked by Peninnah, Hannah went to the temple and prayed to the Lord, pouring out all her distress and hardship to God.  She didn’t come with praises and songs, but with all the troubles and afflictions in her heart.  She wept before God and poured out her requests.  Because of this, Eli, the priest at the time, saw her and thought she was drunk (since she was praying without words actually coming out of her mouth).  Because of his assumption, he rebuked her for coming before God drunk, to which Hannah replied, “I am not drunk.  I am just pouring out my soul before God.”  When we worship God, we must be willing to pour out our hearts and souls to Him.  We must be willing to bring before Him everything in our lives whether good or bad.  We need not fear approaching His throne with our troubles, for we have Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, who will intercede before God’s throne where mercy and grace will be poured out upon us (Hebrew 4:14-16).  We need not fear that He will rebuke us when we confess our sins, for He will forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9).  God just wants a heart that is willing and ready to allow Him to work in it.  Although she was not following the convention of the time for worship, Hannah came before God and poured out her soul, and God accepted her worship, and later granted her a son named Samuel.  True worship comes from a heart that is fully poured out to God.

So during this time, when churches are beginning to open up, and we have an opportunity to gather together as believers, let us come and worship our Lord together with hearts that are right and souls that are poured out before Him.