Sermon(Ps 17): Behold the face of the Lord

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025252027

 

 

Scripture reading: Ps 17

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>> 1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! 2 From thee let my vindication come! Let thy eyes see the right! 3 If thou triest my heart, if thou visitest me by night, if thou testest me, thou wilt find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress. 4 With regard to the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. 5 My steps have held fast to thy paths, my feet have not slipped. ... 7 Wondrously show thy steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at thy right hand. 8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of thy wings, ... 15 As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with beholding thy form. <<

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A child was crying in the apartment yard. He cried out, "Mom, mom! Where are you? Where is my mom?" But, taking a closer look at the scene, I found that the woman, his mom, was hiding herself in the corner of the apartment and was watching the child weeping. Maybe the woman hid for a moment to cure the child's bad habit. The mother protruded her face and said, "My son!" And the child stopped crying right away then ran to his mother with a delightful face and buried his face in her chest. Tears were still all over his face, but the child recovered peace and joy at once.

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As such, the mother is one who gives her child infinite peace and satisfaction. When a child awakes from sleep, either he cries or he does not cry. When a baby wakes and looks around and finds his mother, he does not cry, but if he does not find her, he cries, making a sound of a thunder. Today, in Ps 17 David's poem, the two main characters are a child David and his loving mother(!) the God. See verse 15. “I shall behold thy face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with beholding thy form.” David fell asleep with all the complications and tiredness the day before. And he awoke in the morning and looked around. And God was watching him, and he was watching the face (the form) of merciful God. So he left this poem on the subject of "I have tasted an infinite peace and joy."

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Beloved brethren, who can see God's form? A naive child of God, like David, can see God, who is merciful. When we see the face of God, all our problems disappear like morning mist. When we see God, the darkness that surrounds us suddenly disappears like that of dawn. When we see the face of God, all our sins have already been washed away, all our ugliness is gone, and we have become the most beautiful in the sight of God, and all the powers of darkness that tormented us have run out 1,000km and vanished away from us. Even if you wash your eyes, you won't see any enemies. When we see his face, we live in a land of joy, peace, rest, satisfaction, and holiness.

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Brethren, we can always see his loving face when we live a life as a child of God. If we, children of God, live the same dirty life as the world, God will hide his face and disappear from our eyes for a moment.

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The children of God have an honest heart and truthful lips. “Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! (v. 1)” The children of God do not show falsehood to God and men. Falsehood is a favorite article of such men as children of Devil. Ananias and Sapphira came to the temple to see God's face and showed a false attitude and met with God's wrath. It is a sin to deceive the Holy Spirit if you lie to men or to God. Falsehood is mainly used by fools. We can not lie to anyone if we think God who knows all about us. If the delicious bread goes bad and stinks, who will eat it? He who has lies in heart is one who has changed in quality spiritually and physically. Because the mind is holding a lie, and the face is hiding the lie. It is not beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. When we throw away all the falsehoods and come to God with honest heart and lips, we become the fragrance of the children of God, and this fragrance makes God infinitely pleasing. When we approach people without falsehood, they see God through us. When people praise us, honest Christians and God's children, God is greatly honored. Our pure and honest life will make God glorious, and that is the living sacrifice acceptable to God. Just as a stinking odor is emitted when things of good fragrance such as fragrant flowers rot, so the children of God give forth the worst smell when they corrupt. Brethren, let us be ones who always drive the falsehood out of their hearts and emit the aroma of Christ.

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God's children are those who decide not to sin with their mouths. “Thou wilt find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress. (v. 3)” The crimes of the mouth are lies first, and insults to others as well. Our tongue and heart pride are directly connected, and the tongue produces all kinds of ugly things to keep our pride. It immediately makes lies and words of brag and ostentation and words of belittlement. Slander is a favorite menu of a rotten tongue. It is also a sin to utter complaints to people and to God. We have to supervise well the tongue that tends to act like that. By our tongue, we must show ourselves as virtuous men and make God and other men feel good. Of course, by this I do not mean flattery. If you give comfort and encouragement to those who have failed and lost hope, how comforting and encouraging it will be for them! How much strength will your husband or your father have if you say to him who has been driven into infinite competition a word that you love, respect and comfort him? When you say that you acknowledge your wife's hard work and love her, your wife will taste the sweetest joy of life. Children will be glad if you show your interest in them and talk with them affectionately. Sometimes, even a word that does not have a lot of contents has a big effect. God created the world by his word. The words that strengthen others have infinite creativity. Conversely, words of lie, gossip, insult, disrespect, invidious comparison, or depressing others' spirits are destructive language. Children of God must not use destructive words but creative words. David made it a rule not to sin with mouth. How is it possible? When we push out our pride, folly, and vanity, and fill our hearts with the word of God, we will speak a mature language full of grace. “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every one. (Col 4:6)” “And sound speech that cannot be censured, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us. (Tit 2:8)” “For we all make many mistakes, and if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man. (Jas 3:2)” “He who restrains his words has knowledge. (Prov 17:27)”

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The children of God go the way of righteousness. “With regard to the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held fast to thy paths, my feet have not slipped. (v. 4, 5)” The children of God do not associate with sinners and walk with them. They do not share what the sinners have stolen from others. Throughly God's children live according to God's word. They do not deviate to the left or to the right from the righteous path that the Bible shows us. They do not take a byway and stumble over a stone. The children of God do not regard it as a loss that they give up secular profits to be gained by doing evil things. Because it is a foolish thought. The temporary sweetness of evil criminal activity can never be a lure to the children of God. Because the spiritual taste of God's children is accurate. The children of God feel disgusted at evil profits, but delight in the life of obedience to God even if sometimes it is hard and tastes bitter. He who forsakes the way of God and takes the path of the world when it is needed can not receive God's help because he is not a true child of God. If a child of God takes a byway, he (God) causes him to fall on a stone in the way in order to make him turn back to the right way. Beloved Brethren, the highway made by the omnipotent God is the safest and fastest way. A wise man goes by this way only, and does not deviate from that way and stumble in the byway. The path God offers us is the path of righteousness, life and success. “So you will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and men of integrity will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. (Prov 2:20-22)”

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God's children do not envy the wicked's success. David saw the wicked who ate well, lived well and said haughtily. “They are fat (in Korean version of the text), and with their mouths they speak arrogantly. (v. 10)” When the belly of the wicked is thick with fat, their heart is stuck in the fat, so they become callous to the sufferings of the poor and utter words that belittle the poor. The wicked can keep themselves and their families safe because their bodies are strong and they are armed with weapons. The plundering they planned succeeds without fail. “They are like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush. (v. 12)” The wicked occupy the riches of the world. “Men whose portion in life is of the world. (v.14)” That is, their warehouses are filled with gold and silver, good clothes, and good food. They have never been hungry. “Their bellies are filled with God's wealth (in Korean version of the text). (v. 14)” They have many children, and their children inherit the wealth left by the wicked, and live well with the inherited property. “They leave property for inheritance to their offsprings (in Korean version of the text). (v. 14)”

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If David had respect for such kind of wicked men, he would become one with them and share their loot. But David did not honor the wicked or become a companion of them. How can you know that? The wicked men hated David who lived righteously, and would do anything to kill him. David fled from them to God. “Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of thy wings, from the wicked who despoil me, my deadly enemies who surround me. (v. 8-9)” David says that God saves the believers with his right hand (v. 7). The strong God keeps his children, and that with his right hand. God is a stronghold on a high mountain for his children. If we flee to him, even enemies' arrows can't reach there. Who can repulse the right hand of God who made the world? Who can take us from the right hand of God, who loves and keeps us like his own eyes? As a hen loves her chicks and keeps them in her wings, so God loves and embraces us.

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Brethren, do not be afraid of the enemies in the world! Do not fear to go the righteous way. My beloved brethren, do not be afraid of the new morning of the world tough and hard! Do not be terrified of the strong enemies and the adversity of your life in front of you. Do not tremble. Instead, look to God. When you open your eyes in the morning, if you see the loving face of God in the eyes of the heart, please be very satisfied with it. If you do not see the face of God, please reflect if your life is the life of God's children these days. If you have sin, seek forgiveness from God with an honest heart, and seek God's help with a clean heart. God's desire to meet, help and bless you is greater than your desire to seek help from God.

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I pray that you be a true child of God and that you behold God's face.

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Chong Tack Kim

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                               - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -