Psalm 5
Preached: Feb 14, 2010 Des Arc First UMC - Nursing
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SCRIPTURE READINGS Psalm 5: 1—8, 11—12
I don’t know if I can continue to preach these
Psalms or not. They seem
to be a lot of laments about things happening to us and a pleading
for God to help us. --- But then again isn’t that what we do a lot
of in our life. We want things to always go our way and we decry
when things seem to stack up against us.
This is being sermon is being written for
Valentine’s Day and it is fine that we talk about it for that day.
Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a day of lovers and who can be our
greatest and dearest friend but God.
When we were kids we used to have to make up valentine boxes.
And then we would bring our little valentines to school and stick
them in the boxes. Our mothers probably bought the cheap cards and
we went through them carefully picking out special ones for our
friends and not so special ones for those we did not like to so
much. Our mothers probably insured we had one for each or class
mates and wanted to make sure they all had one and who knows once in
a while we might get rid of the bully’s card and who would know. We
then opened those boxes or sacks on Valentine’s Day and found the
kind of cards we got. We hoped like Charlie Brown of Snoopy fame to
have a very special one from a special someone You know the little
“red headed girl” and like Charlie Brown we probably only got a
generic card if any at all. - - - Aren’t you Glad God is not like
that.
When people go over to other countries they have
to learn about the customs and habits of those countries. When I was
in the Philippines I stood a good two feet taller than most of the
people of that country. I had a habit (a bad one I found out) of
patting some of my workers on the head. I found out that this was
being very disrespectful because what I was saying was my hand is
greater than your head. You also learned not to jester them to come
with your fingers pointed up because that is the way you call a dog.
You pointed your fingers down and swept them toward you to indicate
them to come toward you. The wonderful thing about God is that he
himself prepares us to meet him. He instructs us concerning our
habits that please him and cleanses us from those that don’t.
Whatever is need for us to come into God’s presence, he does provide
us.
We see both God’s love and instructions in verse
7 and 8
“Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your
house with deepest awe I worship at your Temple. Lead me in the
right path, O Lord or my enemies will conquer me. Tell me clearly
what to do, and show me which way to turn.”
That is exactly what God has done for us all our
lives—loved us with unfailing love and shown us the path that we
need to follow for eternal life. So we are prepared to sing the
final part of this psalm.
“Let all who take refuge in you rejoice, let them
sing joyful praises forever. Protect them, so all who love your name
may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O Lord, surrounding
them with your shield of Love.”
Did you catch that “Surrounding them with your
shield of Love?” What better reading for Valentine’s day than to
know that God is there surrounding us with his love and care and
taking care of us so that we can someday join the heavenly host and
become part of the multitude of Saints in Heaven.
Not only was this Sunday Valentine’s day but it
is Transfiguration Sunday. The day the Lord Jesus was transfigured
from just a man to something more holy than anything else on earth
since God himself created it. How appropriate is it to call for our
transfiguration this day also. From
a people who need redemption to a people who are surrounded by God’s
love and care and who are assured of eternal life through and
because of that love eternal.
Last week was Super Bowl Sunday. There were more
people watching that stupid ball game between a bunch of Grown men.
Than were in church in the past year. How sad a testimony is it that
we can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to celebrate a football
game that means nothing in the long view of life and forget to
worship and support something that means eternity for each of us.
How many of us can remember who won Super bowl 4 or 14 or 24 or even
34 and yet not also know psalm 4 or 14 or 24 or even 34. Most people
at a funeral know there is only one psalm they want Psalm 23—you
know “The Lord is my Shepherd . . .” How sad that they cannot know
Psalms like that one for today that calls us to know God and ask him
for his plan for our life and accept and glorify his Holy name. The
way we glorify the names of football players who really matter very
little in our lives.
As we start Lent this week come and prepare your
heart to be right for the Glorious Easter to come.