My Comforter

Thanks very much, Jamie and band.

Welcome everyone again. Thank you for coming out this evening.

You'll be pleased to know we have a more upbeat psalm today, both on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Recently, we've had some psalms that talk about the problem the psalmist has had,

some caused by sin, some caused by a difficult in discerning God's presence.

This evening, we're looking at someone who's come out of that situation

and is able to praise God for his deliverance from it.

So let's read it together and then we'll look at what God's got to say to us through it.

So Psalm 30, heading in my Bible says,

A Psalm, a song for the dedication of the temple of David.

David writes,

I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths

and did not let my enemies float over me.

Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.

You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the grave.

You spared me from going down to the pit.

Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people.

Praise his holy name.

For his anger lasts but only a moment,

but his favour lasts a lifetime.

Weeping may stay for the night,

but rejoicing comes in the morning.

When I felt secure, I said,

I will never be shaken.

Lord, when you favoured me,

you made my royal mountain stand firm.

But when you hid your face,

I was dismayed.

To you, O Lord, I called.

To the Lord I cried for mercy.

What is gained if I am silenced,

if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

Hear, Lord,

and be merciful to me.

Lord,

be my help.

You turn my wailing into dancing.

You remove my sackcloth

and clothe me with joy

that my heart may sing your praises

and not be silent.

Lord,

my God,

I will praise you forever.

I'm sure God will bless his word

as we consider it together.

One of the things I think we've learned

as we've looked at quite a number of psalms

over recent months

is that it's always worth having a look at the heading.

The heading and psalms, I think,

are a bit like chapter and verse divisions

in our Bible.

They're not a part of the inspired scripture.

Their helps have been added

to give us some guidance

as we seek to understand

what God is saying to us.

So very often,

the headings for the psalms

give us some kind of indication

of the circumstances

in which they were written,

and that then can help us

to relate them to our lives.

I think the heading for this psalm

is quite interesting.

It starts off a psalm,

a song,

fair enough,

good repetition there,

but it then says,

for the dedication of the temple of David.

That creates two difficulties,

I think,

that we need to think about.

The first thing is,

if you know anything

about the life of David,

one thing you'll know

is he didn't build the temple,

and he actually wasn't there

when the temple was dedicated.

The temple was built

under God's instructions

by David's son, Solomon.

Now, David did everything

but build the temple.

All Solomon had to do

was to call the builders in

and to use the materials

that David had got together

in the place

which David had prepared

and to get the temple put up.

But David didn't build the temple,

and he wasn't there

at its dedication.

So why do we have

a psalm of David

that is for dedication

of the temple?

What number of possible

explanations for that?

The word that is translated

as temple actually,

it literally means house

in the original Hebrew.

So it's possible

that it was the dedication

of David's house,

this palace that's being talked about,

though most scholars think not

that it actually was the temple.

Perhaps David,

knowing that the temple

was going to be built

and would be finished

a few years after his death,

he wrote a song,

he wrote a psalm

that would be appropriate

for singing

at the dedication

of the temple,

quite possible.

Or the other possibility

is that actually

the words for the dedication

of the temple

were added later.

And the dedication

of the temple

being talked about

is not necessarily

the temple built by Solomon,

it might be the restoration

of the temple

under Ezra,

or perhaps even more likely

is the rededication

of the temple

by the Maccabees

after Antiochus Epiphanes

had desecrated it

and the Jews

cast him out

and then they rededicated

the temple to God.

This is not in the Old Testament,

it's in the Apocrypha,

but it is Jewish history.

And what will give support

to that is that

the word dedication here

is the word Hanukkah.

And Hanukkah, of course,

is the festival

that celebrates,

the Jewish festival,

celebrates the Maccabees

and what they did.

So a little interesting puzzle there,

probably no great

practical relevance to us.

The second thing, though,

I think is of more relevance

and it's worth a bit of thought.

And that is,

what does this psalm

have to do

with the dedication

of a temple?

Why would someone think

that this psalm

that we've read together

is one that's

particularly appropriate

when the temple

is being dedicated?

Now, if we look back

to when the temple

actually was dedicated

under Solomon,

you have Solomon's

great prayer.

And Solomon's great prayer

has this wonderful vision

of God.

It's Lord,

the God of Israel,

there is no God

like you in heaven

or on earth.

You who keep

your covenant of love

with your servants,

who continue wholehearted

in your way,

and so on.

Solomon's dedication

of the temple

had a very high vision

of God

and of his greatness

and of his dealings

with his people,

Israel.

But this psalm

is just one man's testimony.

It's not about

God's dealings

with Israel

and the great sweep

of history.

It's one person

who's gone through

a time of difficulty

and God has brought them out

and he is asking others

to celebrate with him.

So why is it a psalm

that's of particular relevance

to the dedication

of the temple?

Again, I think,

two reasons.

One is that the theme

of this psalm

is God's mercy.

That the psalmist

had got into this situation

where he was probably

very ill,

probably on the point of death,

and God in his mercy

and his grace

rescues him from that.

And of course,

the temple is the place

of God's mercy.

It's where the people

were able to come

to meet with God

and where sacrifices

were made for sins.

Indeed, if we'd read on

in Solomon's prayer

in 2 Chronicles 6,

we'd have seen

that most of that prayer

is about the Israelites

being disobedient to God.

God then disciplines

them for it,

whether it's through

foreign armies coming in

or through famines

or whatever.

And Solomon's praying,

when they turn back

to you, God,

listen to them

and in your mercy

show forgiveness.

So what we read about

in 2 Chronicles 6,

specifically in relation

to the temple

as it has been built,

on a national level,

I think we see

on the individual level

in Psalm 30.

Here is a psalm

that reminds us

of the mercy of God

as the temple reminds us

of the mercy of God.

And of course,

for us as believers

in the Lord Jesus,

as the cross of Christ

above all else,

reminds us

of God's mercy to us.

Second reason why

I think this is a psalm

that is relevant

to the dedication

of the temple

is that it is

an individual

who is calling

others together

to rejoice with them.

And when we come together

to worship

and to praise God,

part of what we do

is that we rejoice

in God's goodness

to us individually.

And all of us

can celebrate

what God is doing

in other people's lives.

I think it's been really good

in recent weeks and months

that we've had more people

at the All-Each service

talking a little bit

about what God is doing

in their lives

and what God means to them

day to day.

And that is a way

in which all of us

can begin to understand

more of God's goodness

and can celebrate together.

And of course,

again,

as we think of the temple,

we maybe think

largely of the Day of Atonement

and the sacrifice

for the sins of the people,

but most of the sacrifices

that were made

in the temple

were sacrifices

by individuals.

Sacrifices recognizing

their sin

or particularly

in this context,

sacrificing,

recognizing God's goodness

to them,

thank offerings

for what God

had done for them.

And so this psalm calls us

if we as Christians

have experienced

the goodness

of God

in our lives,

to share it with others,

to give thanks

to God for it,

and together

to praise him

for his goodness

to us as individuals

as well as to us

as a church.

So this is a psalm

that's relevant

to the dedication

of the temple

and very relevant

to us too

as we think

of our need

for God's mercy

and as we think too

of how we together

should praise God

for all the things

that he's doing

in our lives

as individuals.

Let's try and get

a little bit of understanding

of the structure

of the psalm.

The psalm begins

and ends

with words of praise

from David.

Verse 1,

I will exalt you,

O Lord.

And verse 12,

later at the end,

Lord my God,

I will praise you

forever.

And then in verse 4,

David takes his

personal praise

and he encourages

everyone else

to join in

with them,

sing the praises

of the Lord.

and these three

phrases there,

they are the kind

of dividers

of the psalm.

And in between them,

there are two accounts

by David

of what God

has done for him.

So first of all,

David gives

what is in many ways

the physical description

of what's happened.

He was ill,

he was on the point

of death

and God

raised him up.

That's verses 2

and 3

particularly.

And then the second

half of the psalm,

in the longest bit

of the psalm,

David, if you like,

gives the spiritual

reason for what's

happened.

And he talks about

the security he felt.

He talks about

how he was dismayed

when his world

started crumbling

around him

and he couldn't

see God's face.

God had hidden

this place from him.

He talks about

the prayer that he prayed,

that prayer for God's

mercy

and God's grace

to him.

And then at the end

he talks about

how God has turned

his life around

and has clothed

him with joy.

So essentially

a psalm with two

is not two halves

because the second

is a lot longer

than the first

but it's two

different ways

of looking at

the same thing.

One is the description

of physically

what God has done

for the psalmist

and the second

then is the

spiritual side

of things,

how he interprets

what's happened

and they're all

encapsulated

within the praise

of the psalmist.

So let's begin

and have a look

through the psalm.

I've got loads

of alliteration

this evening

hopefully it might

make it a little bit

easier to remember

and the first few

verses we're looking

at what I've called

my proclamation

David's proclamation

under the theme

of death defeated.

So here we have

David doing

the first pass

at what God

has done for him

and recognizing

that he's gone

through a near death

experience

and he's come

out of it

through God's grace.

So verse 1

he says

you lifted me

out of the depths

you did not let

my enemies gloat

over me.

Very interesting

to read the psalms

all the psalmists

seem to have

lots of enemies.

I assume these

are enemies

are people

who are

the other nations

or those who

didn't have

any time for God

but very often

you read about

the enemies

who just seem

to be waiting

to pounce

on anything bad

that happens

to the psalmist

and to put him

down even further.

So but God

doesn't let the enemies

gloat over him

because as he was

ill

as he called

to God for help

God healed him

and he says

you brought me up

from the realm

of the dead

you spared me

from going down

to the pit.

I think the natural

interpretation of this

is that the psalmist

had been very very ill

that he had perhaps

been on the point

of death

and God had healed him

he had recovered

and looking back

on things

he was able

to praise God.

He knew that God

was the one

who was stronger

than death

who was able

to rescue him

and to heal him

and to help him

and to comfort him

as the title

of our series

this evening

says to comfort him

in his time

of trouble.

Now we're not going

to spend any longer

on this

because I think

the real spiritual meat

is in later parts

of the psalm.

So let's move on

to the next two verses.

I've called this

my principle

grace guaranteed

and I think that's right

I think this is

the kind of theological

basis for what the writer

says in the psalm

but I looked at it

and thought

that looks very sterile.

The psalmist is getting

really excited here

and he's saying to me

will rejoice with me

and really think

about God's goodness.

He disciplines us

for a short time

and then

he restores us.

So I thought

we'd write things

just a little bit

and perhaps give a bit

more of a flavour

for what the psalmist

is thinking here.

You may have come across

a book called

Rob Lacey

it is called

The Word on the Street

used to be called

The Street Bible

and it's a very loose

paraphrase

of important parts

of the scripture.

And when Rob Lacey

is writing about

the psalms

he says

these are songs

they were meant

to be sung

let's imagine

what kind of style

they might be sung in

if we were singing

them in our society

today.

And he says

Psalm 30

would be a rock anthem

it would be full

of guitar riffs

and loud noises

and people dancing

about

and really getting

excited

about what's happening.

And verses 4 to 5

the verses we're

looking at here

he says

that's the chorus

that's the highlight

that's when you really

get on top of things.

So let me read

what he

translated

interprets it as

in this book.

He says

so let it rip

sing it strong

let its crew

take the roof off

with this celebration

song

his fury

didn't last so long

his favour

lasts a lifetime

we cry

through the night

but the morning sun

begins its climb

and it's

celebration

time.

That's what the

psalmist is saying

to those who are

listening or those

who are reading

it's celebration

time

it's the time

to celebrate

God's goodness

and God's

grace

to us.

And as we read

these verses

we really should be

getting quite excited

about what God

is doing

for us.

So he says

sing it appraises

the Lord

you as faithful

people

praise his holy

name

and then this

wonderful verse

verse 5

his anger

lasts only a

moment

but his favour

lasts a lifetime

weeping may stay

for the night

but rejoicing

or joy

the older verses

say joy

comes

in the morning.

Why is that?

It is because

God's grace

is guaranteed

if we turn

to him.

Now we'll be looking

in a few minutes

at the psalmist's

situation

but it looks

likely the psalmist

had been guilty

of some sin

in his life

because of his sin

God had disciplined

him

he turned to God

God restored him

to health

as well as

spiritually

and he's able

to rejoice

because he knows

that God

is a God

of grace.

God doesn't

want us

as Christians

to live lives

that are miserable

that we're always

down

and that there

are all sorts

of problems

that keep

occupying

our attention.

Sometimes he will

discipline us

sometimes he will

in the words

of the psalm

be angry

with us

if we turn

away from him

perhaps particularly

in the ways

we're going to

talk about in a minute

if we turn

away from God

if we lose

our trust

in him

in practice

if not

in words

then he may

bring things

upon us

to wake us up

to help us

to realise

that we depend

on him

and that we

need him

but he disciplines

us only

to bring him

back

to himself

and he does

it in a way

that is short

term

and that allows

us once we are

restored to him

to enjoy

again

the joy

of our

salvation

grace

is guaranteed

if we put

our trust

in the Lord

Jesus

if we come

to him

and confess

whatever is

happening in

our lives

whatever we

have done

whatever our

attitudes have

been

that are

wrong

when we come

truly confessing

our sin

and relying

on the death

of the Lord

Jesus

as the one

who took

these sins

on himself

then we

can experience

God's grace

in our lives

and when we're

going through

the night

when we're

weeping

when things

are really

really hard

it can be

difficult to

see God

at work

it can be

difficult to

understand

how God

is working

things

for our

good

but when we

come to the

morning

when things

get brighter

when we

begin to

understand

more

of God's

way for us

we can look

back and we

can say

what God

allowed to

happen to

me

was for

my good

for my

benefit

and I

can rejoice

in his

grace

to me

his anger

lasts

only a

moment

but his

favour

his grace

lasts

a lifetime

let's

celebrate

and rejoice

in the

grace of

our God

and all

that he

does

for us

despite

our sin

and despite

our

failure

let's move

on and look

a little bit

more at the

situation

of the

psalmist

as I

said

from verse

6 on

he's

broadly

looking at

his

spiritual

condition

as well

as a

little bit

of the

physical

but verse

6 I

think may

be the

key to

understanding

what's

going on

in the

psalm

psalmist

says

when I

felt

secure

I

said

I

shall

never

be

shaken

picture

put up

there

says

I

shall

not

be

moved

and

the

key

word

there

I

think

is

I

the

psalmist

has

gotten

to

a

situation

where

he

is

self

satisfied

where

he

is

proud

where

he

doesn't

realize

his

dependence

on

God

oh yes

if you

asked him

you would

say

God

is

my

God

I

trust

him

I

follow

him

I

depend

on

him

but

actually

in his

life

and in

his

thoughts

and in

his

attitudes

he's

thinking

I

can

take

care

of

myself

I've

got

into

this

situation

of

his

David

maybe

it's

the

situation

of

being

in

the

palace

and

being

in

a

position

of

authority

and

thinking

this

is

my

thing

one

one

possibility

of

this

psalm

is

that

David

wrote

it

after

he

tried

to

count

all

his

armies

and

when

God

had

told

him

not

to

and

as

he

counted

his

armies

God

brought

judgment

on

Israel

perhaps

that's

the

situation

he's

talking

about

that

was

really

David's

pride

in

wanting

to

see

how

powerful

he

and

his

armies

were

maybe

it was

something

else

but

it

does

look

as

the

psalmist

got

a

situation

where

he's

saying

I

have

done

this

I

shall

not

be

moved

I

shall

never

be

shaken

I

am

secure

that's

a dreadful

place

for anyone

who trusts

in God

to get

into

and yet

perhaps

it's a

place

that's

all too

easy

for us

to get

into

as we

live

lives

which by

and large

are

comfortable

where most

of us

have a

reasonable

amount

of

material

things

we're

not

thinking

where's

my next

meal

going to

come

from

or that

kind

of

thing

most

of us

in that

kind

of

situation

it's

very

easy

for us

to become

dependent

on

ourselves

say I've

got a

good job

I've

worked

I've

saved

up

I've

built

up

my

life

and you

kind

of

then

lose

your

dependence

on

God

and

sometimes

God

then has

to come

in

and to

discipline

us

and to

draw us

up

and to

say

no

without

me

you

are

nothing

and you

mustn't

depend

on

yourself

I

certainly

as I

read

this

psalm

it is

one thing

that really

strikes you

as you

think about

it

as you

examine

your

heart

to say

am I

self

self

satisfied

like

the

psalmist

I

wouldn't

say

it

but

perhaps

by my

actions

and by

my

attitudes

I

demonstrate

it

that my

feeling

is I

shall

never

be

shaken

I

feel

secure

and the

psalmist

says that's

not how

it should

be

so then

in verse

7

he talks

about what

happened

so he's

saying I

feel

secure

I

shall

never

be

shaken

and then

verse 7

he turns

back to

talking

about

God

interesting

the psalm

he kind

of alternates

between giving

some commentary

and talking

to God

I think he

addresses God

eight times

in the psalm

he said

when you

favoured me

you made

my royal

mountain

stand firm

not exactly

sure what

that means

but I

think the

kind of

import

of it

is quite

obvious

that it

was God

they had

given them

some security

and some

stability

in his

life

and it

made his

life good

and relatively

easy

but then he

says when

you hid

your

face

I

was

dismayed

and God

hid his

face

in this

case

it looks

like

when the

psalmist

fell really

ill

and thought

he was

about

to die

and in

that

situation

where the

psalmist

was full

of himself

and confident

in himself

God

comes to him

and says

actually

you have

no reason

for confidence

in yourself

your life

is here

today

it could

be gone

tomorrow

you have

no

real

long term

power

or authority

unless it

comes

from God

and if

your security

isn't in

God

then that

security

is insecure

you're not

standing on

the solid

rock

you're standing

on the

sinking

sand

and you're

liable to

come in

for a

big fall

and God

allows the

psalmist

to go

through that

experience

God

the psalmist

said

hides

his face

from him

so the

psalmist

is looking

to God

in his

time of

illness

in his

time of

difficulty

in his

time of

trial

and he

has great

difficulty

finding God

not that

God's not

there

God is

always there

always present

and yet

as the

psalmist

until he

is willing

to admit

his failure

and to

admit

that he's

got things

wrong

it is

as if

God

is hiding

his face

and the

psalmist

begins to

lose

all hope

perhaps at

times we

get into

that kind

of situation

too

when things

seem to be

clattering

down around

us

and God

doesn't seem

to be

present

and there

are lessons

in that

part

and we've

looked at

that in

some of

the previous

weeks

of this

series

as well

the psalmist

says my

security

was shattered

I had

a big

problem

so what

does he

do

he prays

verses

8 to

10

he comes

before God

and you

have this

really desperate

prayer

to you

oh Lord

I call

to the

Lord

I cried

for mercy

and what

does he

say to

God

he says

what is

gained

if I'm

silenced

if I go

down to

the pit

will the

dust

praise

you

will it

proclaim

your

faithfulness

hear

Lord

and be

merciful

to me

Lord

be my

help

we have

to realize

that the

Old Testament

writers

didn't have

the full

view of

scripture

that we

do

so we

would look

at death

hopefully

in the

light that

Paul

looked at

in Philippians

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

to say

for me

to live

is Christ

to die

is gain

so for the

Christian

death

isn't

something

that is

final

and that

stops us

from praising

God

in some

ways

it's the

gateway

into even

greater praise

and adoration

of God

as we

see the

Lord Jesus

face to

face

and as

we fall

down

and as

we truly

worship

him

for the

psalmist

it was

something

that was

to be

dreaded

and not

to be

looked

forward

to

now again

I'm

slightly

challenged

by this

because I've

said as

Christians

this is

how it

should

be

I'm

not

sure

always

as

Christians

this is

how it

is

and perhaps

at times

we do

dread

death

perhaps

we do

everything

we can

to cling

on to

life

and sometimes

God has

to say

to Christians

no it is

better for

you that

you come

to be

with me

that is

my plan

for your

life

so we

shouldn't

dread death

perhaps

we do

sometimes

but I

think what

we take

particularly

from these

verses

is that

when we

get into

this kind

of situation

the psalmist

is in

when all

seems

hopeless

when all

seems to

be going

against us

and we're

really worried

about our

future

and what's

going to

happen

perhaps

whether

we're

even going

to face

death

or something

dreadful

instead of

that

that is

the time

when we

really get

before God

in prayer

earnestly

and sincerely

now we should

be praying

in that way

when we're

feeling secure

when we're

in a situation

the psalmist

is in

in verse 6

not that

should he

but the

situation

he was in

when things

were going

well

and it

all seemed

to be fine

that is

the time

when we

should be

building our

relationship

with the

Lord

we should

be investing

time

in reading

the scripture

and learning

it in

prayer

and meditation

and making

sure that

when the time

of difficulty

does come

we have a

relationship

with God

that we can

come to him

in prayer

and with

confidence

in his

answer

sadly

sometimes

when things

are going

easily

for us

we're all

to forget

to pray

as a church

do we pray

together

and fervently

and sincerely

as often

or as much

as we should

I suspect

the answer

is that we

don't

as an

individual

do I pray

to God

in the way

that I

should

when things

are going

well

the answer

in my life

perhaps in

yours too

is no

not always

but when the

time of

difficulty

comes

when we

recognise

our need

of God

when we

come to

him

and we

plead

to him

for mercy

God

is there

and God

is able

and willing

to answer

our prayers

and our

recourse

in the

time of

trouble

is not

to look

to ourself

not to

look to

others

round about

us

but to

look to

God

and to

look to

his mercy

and to

seek his

face

and his

guidance

and protection

in it

so the

psalmist

dreaded his

destruction

his death

but he

did the

right thing

he came

to God

in prayer

and in

the last

couple of

verses of

the psalm

is a

praise of

the psalmist

have called

it

rejoicing

restored

I guess

there's five

is the one

that most

people know

from this

psalm

and the

joy in

the

morning

bit

but also

verse 11

and 12

I'm sure

look familiar

to us

there's a

picture that's

not unique

to this

psalm

in scripture

it's taking

someone

pictorially

who is

dressed up

to go

to a

funeral

who is

in mourning

and who

is really

sad about

things

and they

have a

complete

change of

clothing

and they

also have

a complete

change of

attitude

the sackcloth

the mourning

garments

come off