Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

INTRODUCTION :

“ A Psalm. A Song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.”

10 additional psalms are called ‘songs’, the Hebrew word ‘shira’ and probably denotes some mu- sical directions. (Psalms 45, 48, 75, 83, 87, 88, 92, 93, 120, 134) Two of the possible fulfillments of “ For the dedication of the temple” are: • At the dedication of David’s tabernacle on Mount Zion: “ So David …brought the Ark to the City of David with a great celebration.”(1 Sam. 6:12) • It was possible that Solomon played his father’s song in his honor at the dedication of the great temple in Jerusalem. “ The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 5:13) The foundation of the church (temple) is the favor of God that turns sorrows into joy and mourning to dancing. Whatever the occasion of it’s writing, the last section is certainly the happiest of all the psalm passages.

I. TRIUMPH - Favor Lasts a Lifetime 1-5

The favor of God was shown to David in five distinct ways. God wants to display his goodness to us, the offspring of the Son of David.

1. From defeat to triumph- “ I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. ” (1) How many times could this be said of David? From his defeat of Goliath, his battles with the Philistines, his final triumph over Saul to the subduing of all the nations around Is- rael. We are destined to triumph in Christ. “ But thanks be to God, who…leads us along in Christ’s tri- umphal procession.” (2 Cor. 2:14) 2. From sickness to health- “ O Lord my God, I cried out to you for help, and you restored my health.”(2) There is no record of David having suffered an illness although many of his psalms indicate he successfully battled a major disease. Christ has won this battle for us and longs to favor us with this benefit. “ He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.” (Mt. 8:17) 3. From the grave to praise- “ You brought me up from the grave, O Lord. You kept me from falling into the pit of death. Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name.” (3,4) David is speak- ing figuratively to describe his escapes from his enemies but the thought is much deeper. There is only one who can say these words, “ You brought me up from the grave… ” our Lord Jesus as he was resur- rected. “ How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord! “ (1 Cor. 15:57) Singing and praise is the fruit of his resurrection triumph, it is our never ending source of song and victory. It is the good news of God to the world and we are to sing it to the ends of the earth; Christ is alive! It is the foundation for the dedication of his temple and the inspiration for his church in all ages. 4. From anger to favor- “ His anger lasts for a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! ” (5) God is no longer angry at the human race, the sacrifice of his Son on the cross has provided a remedy for the plague of sin and opened the way for His favor to be poured upon us. “ For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us.”(Rom. 3:25) 5. From weeping to joy- “ Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning.”(5) David wept unashamedly in many situations (see Psalm 6). Our savior experienced the sorrows of life as he provided the way of salvation for us and now he lives in the eternal joy of the morning of the resurrec- tion.

II. TURNED AWAY - Favor Lost- 6-10

“ When I was prosperous I said, ‘Nothing can stop me now!’ Your favor, O Lord, made me as se- cure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.” (6,7)

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