Sunday, March 8, 2020

Our Confession Clarifies and Cleanses


March 8, 2020 ( completed on)




Worship in WORD


A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.

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.

NIV
  A psalm of David. A song for the dedication of the Temple.

4 Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones!
Praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved_
A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.



5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

KJV
Joy Comes with the Morning
A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment,  and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.


ESV

I. Personal/Public Purpose - Title

II. Personal Praise: vs. 1- 3
III. Public Exhortation: vs. 4 - 5
IV. Personal Plea: vs. 6 - 10
V. Personal/Public Praise: vs. 11 – 12

1. Humbling – position, awe-inspire
2. Clarifying – focus, illuminate, purify
3. Unifying – community, encourage, embolden
4. Glorifying – adore, magnify
5. Disseminating – witness, worship

Not only should our confession of who God result in praise and thanksgiving, but it should also lay us low and lift Him high. Furthermore, it should also adjust our focus, illumine our understanding of God and ourselves, and lead to purity in our lives.

2.  Clarifying – focus, illuminate, purify
In some sense, this word precedes the previous effect. For it clarifies our position before the Lord as we recognize our low standing before our God Most High! On the other hand, as we look up at Him, it helps us to focus on the One before whom we bow. When we do this, we see more clearly the One we adore (see number 4 - Glorifying). The Spirit illuminates our spirit to see the LORD for who He is. 

It also reveals to us who we are as ones who are sinful and in need of His grace and mercy and cleansing. With a clarity born of confessing who God is and praising Him for it, we see our faults and failures. As we enter into His presence, His presence purifies us.
We see this illustrated in the passage I quoted in Isaiah.

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
Isa 6:1-7 NIV

Praise in His presence leads not only to the confession of who God is but confession concerning ourselves. Isaiah went to the Temple to worship and inquire of the Lord when Uzziah, the greatest king since Solomon, had just died. There he experienced the presence of the Lord, the true king, in a vision which led to his confession before the Lord:

“Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips.” (v. 5)

When David committed adultery and murder, the prophet Nathan confronted him for his egregious acts of sin. However, we know the Holy Spirit was working inwardly on him as well. We see this in the two psalms he wrote as a result of his sinful actions.
 In the presence of the Lord, David confesses his transgressions.

3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Ps 32:3-4 NIV

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Ps 51:4-5 NIV

Praise in His presence should lead us then to repentance and pleading for cleansing, renewal, and restoration.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Ps 51:7-12 NIV

Then we must be ready for Him to lift us up to confess Him before others and give Him praise in the presence of others.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
Ps 51:13-17 NIV

With focused minds and purified hearts, we enter into His presence with praise and thanksgiving.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
Ps 100:4 ESV

And confess:

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
100:5 ESV

And lest we forget, we have a great high priest that has gone before us, and intercedes on our behalf and opens the way for us to come before the throne of God for mercy and provision.

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Heb 4:14-16 NIV

Who then can condemn? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Rom 8:34-35 TNIV

23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Heb 7:23-25 NIV






































































The Scripture passage was inserted into the image by me.

Worship in Witness:
Life hasn’t gotten any easier for me these last five years plus of separation from my wife. Daily I fight against false and sinful thoughts. Fatigue has not abated. I still struggle for adequate sleep. Yet God is good. His “goodness and mercy” are continually following me all along the way. My praise will continue to flow towards Him who saved me and raised me to sit with my Lord Jesus in “heavenly realms.” (Eph. 2:6) In this world, we will face troubles. Our Lord promises this will happen to His followers.

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."NIV

Here we have a dual promise: trouble and peace.
·        Trouble – but our overcoming Lord will keep and preserve us (Romans 8; Jude 1, 24).
·        Peace
1.     with God (Rom. 5:1),
2.     with each other (Ephesians 2:14-18)
3.     in our circumstance (John 14:27, 16:33).

We will face trouble because we live in a fallen world:

People are born for troubleas readily as sparks fly up from a fire.Job 5:7 NLT

We will face trouble because the world hates us:


18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
John 15:18-20 TNIV

We will face trouble because we have become the enemy of the devil:

 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV

We will have peace because of His promises as enumerated above. But peace will not be experienced existentially by us, if we don’t appropriate it and chose instead to wallow in doubt, fear, and self-pity. 
Look at these exhortations from God’s Word:

Turn from evil and do good;seek peace and pursue it.
Ps 34:14 NIV

 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.Rom 12:18 NIV

 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Rom 14:19 NIV


May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Rom 15:13 NIV
  


4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Phil 4:4-9 TNIV


Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Col 3:15-16 NIV


You keep him in perfect peacewhose mind is stayed on you,because he trusts in you.Isa 26:3 ESV




Trouble is basically passive. By that, I mean we don’t usually look for trouble, but it certainly will find us. However, peace is to be pursued by us with faith towards God and good towards others. But lest we think that we are left to ourselves to bring peace to ourselves and others, let us remember that it is God who ultimately brings us peace. It is in the strength and comfort of that peace that we are able to pursue peace with others and experience the “peace that passes all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). We learned this in our study of the last verse of Psalm 29.

The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
Ps 29:11 NIV

Worship in Song:  Afflicted Saint, to Christ Draw Near - by Sovereign Grace


VERSE 1
Afflicted saint, to Christ draw near,
Your Savior’s gracious promise hear;
His faithful Word you can believe:
That as your days your strength shall be.

VERSE 2
Your faith is weak, your foes are strong,
And if the conflict should be long,
The Lord will make the tempter flee
That as your days your strength shall be.

REFRAIN
So, sing with joy, afflicted one;
The battle’s fierce, but the victory’s won!
God shall supply all that you need;
Yes, as your days your strength shall be.

VERSE 3
Should persecution rage and flame,
Still trust in your Redeemer’s name.
In fiery trials you shall see
That as your days your strength shall be.

VERSE 4
When called to bear your weighty cross
Or sore affliction, pain, or loss,
Or deep distress or poverty,
Still as your days your strength shall be.

Original words: John Fawcett (1782), additional words: Constance Dever. Music: Constance Dever. © 2018 Praise Factory Music (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP) Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Churches. All rights reserved. Administrated worldwide at www.CapitolCMGPublishing.com, excluding the UK which is adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family. www.SovereignGraceMusic.org





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