Sermon(Ps 16): Jehovah is my portion and reward

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025251936

 

 

>> 1 Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “Thou art my Lord; I have no good apart from thee.” ... 4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their libations of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. ... 10 For thou dost not give me up to Sheol, or let thy godly one see the Pit. 11 Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fullness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore. (Ps 16)<<

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My most favorite passage of the Bible is "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great. (Gen 15:1)" God promised this to Abraham who, having migrated into Canaan on God's command, was living there as a stranger. A foreigner has to live in the danger of loss of life and the danger of robbery if he lives in another country where lawlessness and violence prevail. God said to this man Abraham, "I am your shield." In other words, God said to him, "Live in peace without worrying about the bullies around you." God said to Abraham who had left his beloved hometown and relatives, "Your reward shall be very great." This means that God will so much bless and reward Abraham who has suffered all difficulties and wept while fulfilling God's will. Humans may talk big. But can God the Creator be a liar? No! Anyone who has a religious conscience can admit that Abraham has been enjoying overflowing blessings until now (in heaven). The world's greatest name is Abraham. My family name Kim originated from Kimhae, a place where the father of all Kims of Kimhae lived and had the family name Kim. No other founders of family name have become greater than the founder of Kim of Kimhae in Korea. However, even the founder of Kimhae-Kim family (clan) is not to be compared with Abraham. The progenitor of our Kimhae-Kim family may feel a little bit disappointed to hear that, but I'm saying the fact.

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God does not make himself a debtor who does not repay or reward. God will fully reward him, who has lived a obedient life and suffered for God, after the time of suffering. What kind of man is our Lord Jesus? Our Lord Jesus obeyed the Father and suffered on the cross for a while and received the most precious blessing. All that are in heaven and on earth must kneel before him and worship him. What did Jesus our Lord, who was greatly blessed by obeying the Father, say to his disciples? >Then Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life." (Mt 19:27-29)< To think of them now, Jesus' disciples including Peter were greater than Roman Emperors. Besides the eternal life they gained, they have been rewarded already more than they deserve. Like this, the Father rewards greatly, so does Jesus the Son; then what about the Holy Spirit? "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Lk 11:13)" >And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)< Come to think of it, the Holy Spirit is a gift God gives to the faithful believers. Your are mine, and I'm yours! This the lyric of the love song between the holy God and the believers he loves. God's power is revealed in us when we receive the Holy Spirit from God as a gift. If the Holy Spirit abides in us, the evil spirits cannot approach us. The Holy Spirit is the best shield in the world. He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart has the greatest wisdom in the world. Believers can overcome the world, win victories in the world and succeed in the world with this wisdom. He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart has the Spirit of truth (Jn 14:17), so can notice the cunning lies of the world and can not be deceived. He who has the Holy Spirit gains peace in his heart, resembles the God in character, and becomes worthy and holy.

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Today's biblical text is David's poem. Let's look at verse 5. "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup." This means "God is my whole property." A man who has received much wealth from his father does not confess like that. That confession can be made to the children or the friends by him who was born a poor man, lived like a vagrant, but met the God and now has become a successful great man. David appears in the Bible as the youngest of Jesse. However, according to his confession, his mother conceived David in sin (Ps 51:5). Someone says on the basis of the passage that all humans inherit the original sin from parents when they are born into the world. But that confession of David's is highly likely to be a figurative saying that his mother was not a formal wife to her man and that David himself was a son of a concubine. Or, more specifically, David is likely to have been born of an affair. Jesse called all his sons except David when Samuel the prophet told him to summon all his sons to anoint one of them king. He distinguished the informal son from the formal sons like that. When David went to the field of battle on his father's errand to see if his brothers were all unharmed, they gave harsh words to him as if to be his half brothers. Maybe they did so because his was really their half brother. After all, David could not inherit riches from his father because he had many (half) brothers and was in the unfavorable situation. David was a man looking up to only heaven and expecting help from there. "My God, have mercy on me and bless me. Be my God and my reward. There is none to help me in the world. Please, be my helper!"

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My brethren, do you, perhaps, live lamenting your bad situation because you haven't inherited nothing from your parents? Do not worry. Do not feel sad about such misfortunes. Do not envy the sons of other rich families. Look at David. David served God rightly and he became greater than all his brothers and all his friends. If you serve God well like David, you will receive great rewards from God like David. Of course, the reward itself is not our objective. To believe in God and gain eternal life is the greater reward for us than all the other blessings. To make the God our Father is too great an honor for us. That's enough. But God regards us as his children, so he also helps us live a successful life in the world. How did David serve God?

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David never served any other gods (idols) than Jehovah. "Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their libations of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. (v. 4)" God said to Israel, "You shall have no other gods before me." David kept this commandment thoroughly. He said he even had never called names of other gods lest he should be defiled thereby. Yes! Physically we can't have two fathers. If you would have two fathers, you would be deserted by both of them. The true father would get furious. Brethren, Jesus said you should be warm or cold, not lukewarm. He might throw you up in disgust. He who believes in God and attends church should not call Buddha, carry amulets, sometimes go to fortunetellers and bow to the demons. He, who calls the names of other gods, who nevertheless says he believes in God, believes in God to make him the means of his success. He thinks God not to be the Father but to be his servant. If you serve and fear the God as your Father, he will love you as his only son. He'll never trade you for anything else in the world.

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David could be content with God alone. "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. (v. 5)" To David, God was not one of the articles of his possession. God was his all. He could live alone happily and satisfactorily in the wilderness without any property if God was with him. There was no dissatisfaction at all with David if God was with him, even when he had no land, cattle, silver and gold. This means that David's whole heart was God's, that David's love was wholly for God, that God became all his satisfaction and joy. We can overcome the temptation to serve other gods when we are satisfied with only the God. If we have delight in only God and serve only him, we can see his gracious face. Our joy will be greatest then, a joy that nothing else can give us.

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David was a man of obedience to the words of God. "I bless the Lord who gives me counsel. (v. 7)" Even wicked parents want to give good things to their children. How much more God the Father full of love, to his children? We should obey God if we are his children. When he admonishes us we must humbly abandon our obstinacy and submit ourselves to his words. We must give thanks and praises to God for his teachings. However, many of those who would like to receive God's blessings reluctantly live a life of obedience to God. Because they are foolish. The true blessing of God for us is >the words of truth< of God for us. If we joyfully obey God even in petty things, God will give us a sufficient wisdom of life so that we may not mistake in matters of grave importance. If you obey God even if it causes your loss, God will take care of your whole life.

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David was truly grateful for God's grace. "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. (v. 6)" David says the land God gave him is so good. David had no dissatisfaction whatever with all he had received from God. He didn't need to envy others because what he had received from God was so good to him. Man's greed is infinite. If you live with this greed, you'll surely commit sins, become God's enemy and go to hell. But if you are infinitely satisfied with what God has given you, and infinitely grateful to God, your faith is beautiful, precious and strong. A truly beautiful human being is one who fears God the Creator and is satisfied with God's blessing and gives thanks to him for that. Is your farm so good and beautiful? Are your wife and children so good and beautiful? Is your job so good? To you? Then you are a human being precious and nice to God. Because all of those blessings were given to you by God. In the eyes of God, beautiful is he who is satisfied with God's blessing and thanks him. >And he sent, and brought him in. Now he (David) was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he." (1 Sam 16:12)< The Bible says David's eyes are beautiful. Wonderful eyes, for he is a man. As he has beautiful eyes, he sees God as a good one, his blessings as good things. Let your eyes be beautiful eyes. Thank God for everything.

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David had a good religious insight. "Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure. For thou dost not give me up to Sheol, or let thy godly one see the Pit. (v. 9, 10)" David was looking at the eternal life beyond his death with the eyes of faith. He was looking at the eternal joy and glory with the eyes of faith. This means that he was a man of excellent faith. God recognizes such faith as real faith. only he who truly knows the God can have this faith. God delights in him who has such faith for such a man is truly a wise man. God does not like foolish faith.

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My beloved brethren, serve God right, just like David. Serve him as the good and loving Father. Live a righteous life as God's children. Don't be shaken in tribulations. Think him to be your all. Love him more than any other things of the world.

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I pray that God may be a great reward to you who serve only him as the spiritual Father.

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Chong Tack Kim

                                       - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -