PSALM 40
4 Outlines
Psalm 40:1-3
WHY WAIT?
One of the phrases
which I remember from my days in the
Most of us do not
like to wait for anything! We are very
impatient people. But, time after time
in the Bible, you will see God simply saying to us, "Wait!" (See
Psalms 27:14, 130:5-6, Isaiah 40:31)
In our text David
gives a personal testimony as to what happened when He waited for the Lord to
work in his life. Here we are shown four
reasons we should wait patiently for the Lord. David tells us:
1.
I WAITED, AND THE LORD HEARD ME.
Vs. 1
2.
I WAITED, AND THE LORD DELIVERED
ME. Vs. 2
3.
I WAITED, AND THE LORD GAVE ME A
SONG Vs. 3a
4. I WAITED, AND THE LORD MADE ME A TESTIMONY
Vs. 3b
Many would hear
how the Lord had delivered, and based on David's testimony, would praise Him.
***************************************************************************
Psalm 40:1-4
GOD'S IN CONTROL
In the course of the
last 24 hours I've been told of some real concerns in our church family. Problems are nothing new! However, we must
remember that God is in control of our lives as Christians, as long as we trust
Him.
DELAY - Vs. 1
God does not move as
quickly as we would like Him to move. As
a result, we must learn to "wait patiently for the Lord" and pray
while we experience delay.
DELIVERANCE - Vs. 2
There will be
deliverance to our problem given in His time.
DELIGHT - Vss. 3-4
There are definite
results to answered prayer that bring delight.
1. a
song - Vs. 3a
2. a
testimony - Vs. 3b
3. a
blessing - Vs. 4
***************************************************************************
Psalm 40:1-5
DELIVERANCE!
RELIANCE ON THE LORD - Vs. 1
RELEASE FROM THE LORD - Vs. 2
REJOICING IN THE LORD - Vss. 3-5
1. A New Song -
Vs. 3a
2. A Vibrant
Testimony - Vss. 3b, 5
3. A Happy
Heart - Vs. 4
***************************************************************************
Psalm 40:10
WHEN SILENCE IS
NOT GOLDEN
There are many
times when the old saying is true. Silence is, indeed, golden. There are many times when it is best to
remain silent rather than say something that will cause discord or strife or
something that you will later be sorry that you said it.
But there are
other times when silence is not golden.
There are times
when we are wrong if we remain silent.
If we know someone
is innocent and remain silent we are wrong.
If we know someone
is being misrepresented and remain silent we are wrong.
If we know that
someone needs to hear what God has to say on a subject and remain silent we are
wrong.
Ecclesiastes
3:1-2, 7 - To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the
heaven: [2] A time to be born, and a time to die; a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted… A time to rend,
and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
When is it wrong
for a Christian to remain silent?
When is it necessary
for a Christian to speak?
I believe we find
the answer tucked away in Psalm 40:10
I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have
declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy
lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
King David is
giving a personal testimony here.
He is telling us
that there were times that he didn’t remain silent in his life. He had to speak out.
Most of us are reluctant
to talk about God. God is not a popular topic of conversation even among
Christians. And men, generally speaking,
are even more reticent to talk about God than women are.
David knew how to
speak for and about God when he was supposed to. Let’s see if this verse can help us be
prepared to speak up when we should.
I would like to
suggest to you that speaking for God when we should is the last step of a
threefold process. The threefold process
is:
THINK!
Before we can
talk, we must have something to talk about.
We need to think
about God before we can talk about God.
There are five
things mentioned in this verse that David talked about God. Therefore, he had to think about them
first. So I challenge you to think about
these five things.
1. THINK ABOUT GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS
I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart;
Has it ever
occurred to you that God is righteous?
That He can’t
stand what is wrong?
That He is opposed
to anything the least bit questionable? Psalm 145:17, Psalm 119:42
We need to think
about our righteous God’s opinions of things that we encounter in every day
life. Often He gives you his opinion in
His Word.
What does our
righteous God think of abortion?
Exodus 20:13 - Thou shalt not kill.
Remember that life
begins at conception, not at birth.
What does God
think of sexual immorality?
Hebrews 13:4 - Marriage is honourable
in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
What does God
think of homosexuality?
Leviticus 18:22 - Thou shalt not lie with mankind,
as with womankind: it is abomination.
What does God
think of stealing, bearing false witness and covetousness?
Exodus 20:15-17 - Thou shalt not steal. [16] Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
[17] Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any
thing that is thy neighbour's.
Not all of God’s
righteous opinions are stated in the negative.
Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things.
These qualities
are reflections of God’s righteousness.
2. THINK ABOUT GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
I have declared thy faithfulness
Lamentations
3:22-23 - It is of the Lord's mercies
that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. [23] They are new
every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
For thousands of
years the sun has come up every morning and set every night. God is faithful.
God has given you
abilities so you can earn a living and/or take care of a family. God is
faithful.
God has provided
you with food and clothing. God is faithful.
God is available
to answer you prayers. God is faithful.
God has provided
you with friends and loved ones. God is faithful.
And this is only
the beginning of a list that can and should go on and on.You
should think on how God has been faithful to you specifically.
3. THINK ABOUT GOD’S SALVATION
When we think
about what great sinners each of us is, we can get depressed. Isaiah 64:6
But when we start to
think about what Jesus did for us to save us, we can get encouraged.
Isaiah 53:3-6
And when we think
that Christ death for us means that salvation, deliverance and forgiveness from
sin, is a free gift of grace that is already paid for,
we should be ecstatic! Ephesians 2:8-9
4. THINK ABOUT GOD’S LOVINGKINDNESS
I have not concealed thy lovingkindness…
God loves you.
If you are saved,
God loves you as His own child.
If you think you
know how to love your children, think how much more powerful God’s love is for
you!
God loves you
enough to indwell you through His Spirit.
God loves you
enough to encourage and help you.
God loves you
enough to never leave or forsake you.
God loves you
enough to meet your needs.
God loves you
enough to never separate his love from you. Romans 8:35-39
5. THINK ABOUT GOD’S TRUTH.
I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth
from the great congregation.
Jesus prays for us
in John 17:17 - Sanctify them
through thy truth: thy word is truth.
God’s Word is
truth, therefore, we need to be thinking about His truth. We can not share God’s truth until we know
God’s truth. We can not know God’s truth
until we get into His Word.
2 Timothy 2:15
THANK
We will not be
able to speak effectively for God until we are thankful to God.
Sharing God’s
blessings are the reflection of a thankful heart.
God’s wants us to
be thankful.
Mankind has had a
problem with a lack of gratitude. Romans 1:21
God’s Word tells
us to be thankful. Psalm 107:1, Ephesians 5:20, Philippians 4:6-7
I challenge you
this week to give specific thanks to God in five areas. I think you can guess what they are.
THANK GOD FOR HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS – Naming specific ways He has shown Himself to be righteous.
THANK GOD FOR HIS
FAITHFULNESS
Reflect on how He
has been faithful to you this very week.
The specific needs
He has met and the specific blessings He has given.
THANK GOD FOR HIS
SALVATION
If you are truly
saved you should be thankful for salvation every day. Think! Where would you be if the Lord hadn’t
saved you?
If you aren’t
saved, you need to trust Christ this morning!
THANK GOD FOR HIS
LOVINGKINDNESS
As you think of
ways God has shown His love for you be sure you thank
Him.
THANK GOD FOR HIS
TRUTH.
And as God has
been gracious to show you his truth and help you understand it, make sure you
thank Him.
THINK
THANK
TALK
The more I think
on these truths, the more thankful I will be.
The more thankful
I am, the more likely I am to share them with others.
When it comes to
these truths, silence is not golden!
I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have
declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy
lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
I MUST TALK ABOUT
GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS
I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart;
Should God’s
righteousness be in my heart?
Yes it
should! We need to think about it and
thank God for it.
But David’s point
is that it did not stop in his heart.
David knew what
was right in God’s eyes and said so!
We know that
abortion is wrong in God’s eyes, and when we know that someone is considering
one, we need to lovingly tell them it is wrong in God’s eyes and warn
them. We need to also help them through
the pregnancy anyway we can.
We know that
homosexuality is wrong in God’s eyes and we need to be ready to explain the
position. Marriage in the Bible is
always between a man and a woman. And
there is coming a day when Pastors like me will be asked to perform “same sex
marriages”. When we refuse we will be
thrown in jail.
We know that
lying, cheating and stealing are wrong in God’s eyes, and we must speak up when
we are asked to lie, steal or cheat or see others do it.
These are just a
few examples.
We must realize
whenever we speak up for what is right in God’s eyes, there is a good chance
that we will be ridiculed. Psalm 34:19, 2 Timothy 3:1-2
I MUST TALK ABOUT
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
I have declared thy faithfulness
I have shared with
you how God took care of us on our trip to
Whenever God does
something special for us that shows how faithful He
is, we should not keep it to ourselves.
We should share it.
When we share with
unbelievers, we are giving them reason to believe.
When I share with
believers, such as in our evening church testimony time, I am encouraging them.
Hebrews 10:24-25
I MUST TALK ABOUT
GOD’S SALVATION
I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation:
God did not save
you so you would be silent. God saved you so you would talk.
In fact, if you
don’t make profession of faith, if you don’t profess Jesus Christ as Savior,
I’d be concerned if I were you. Romans 10:9-10
If salvation is
the greatest gift you have ever received, you should want to share it.
You talk about
hunting, fishing, children, spouses, sports, and a host of other things because
you appreciate them.
How much do you
appreciate the Lord Jesus?
I MUST TALK ABOUT
GOD’S LOVINGKINDNESS
Those who are not
saved need to know that God loves them. John 3:16
Those of us who
are saved need to reassured of God’s love.
Often, a personal
reminder of God’s love is needed by Christians.
Don’t hesitate to
remind fellow Christians of God’s love and care for them. Many of them are hurting.
I MUST TALK ABOUT
GOD’S TRUTH
I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth
from the great congregation.
There needs to be
more fellowship among Christians.
I don’t mean more
coffee and donuts.
I mean more times when
we sit down and discuss God’s truth.
I mean more times
when we share with each other.
Remember, there
are times when silence is not golden.
WE NEED TO THINK
WE NEED TO THANK
WE NEED TO TALK