Sermon(Ps 30): Overcome despair

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025255915

 

>> 1 I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast drawn me up, and hast not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried to thee for help, and thou hast healed me. 3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. ... 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. .... 9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise thee? 10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be thou my helper!” 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, .... (Ps 30)<<

 

He who is diagnosed with terminal cancer will fall into despair. Also he who has to pay more interest on debt than the sum he earns would be in despair. You will lose hope to live if scoundrels stronger than you harass you every day. You can't get job easily these days even if you graduated from college. It will drive young people mad if they have no job after applying for companies twenty times or more.

 

My brethren, do you want to get out of despair? Cry out to God. "O Lord my God, I cried to thee for help, and thou hast healed me. (v. 2)" You have the ability to shake off despair and to have a new hope. Cry out to God now, "My Father, heal me," "My Father, I want a job. Give me a job," "My Father, my enemies are stronger than I. Protect me," "My Father, let me live without debt!" And God will never leave you alone in the deep pit. He who flees to God when he meets difficulty will never be put to shame and will solve the hard problems. You'll never be put to shame if you seek refuge in God no matter what situation you are in. You'll 100% gain the victory if you take refuge in God.

 

Why did David flee to God whenever he met difficulty? Because God was a very trustworthy One in David's eyes. My brethren, God is really the One that you can trust in. What is the reason? We can wholly trust him when we think of God's character, or his person. Some people only brag without any ability. Can you trust an incompetent person? Some people are ruthless. Some people resort to their fists more than ethics and law. Such people do not consider others' interests, only filling their own stomachs. Can you trust them? You do not have any respect for and confidence in betrayers. But God is absolutely different from those who are incompetent or ruthless, or who like betraying.

 

God takes care of those who flee to him, in order to make his holy name honorable. If the Creator likes to torment the creatures, he is not a holy One. God forgives man his sins and helps him who seeks help from him, in order to make his holy name still holier. God leads us in the way of righteousness for his name's sake. Parents boast when things go well with their children, or feel ashamed when things go ill with them. We are God's children, and he is our Father. So if we come to him for help because he is our Father, he will provide us with good solutions to the problems. Because it is his joy and honor for us to be happy. However, God usually answers our prayers through others. God moves rich people who fear God to help the poor. God cures his children by the hands of doctors. God sends good teachers to his children for their education. Therefore we should always obey God's words and help others who are unfortunate. How can you pray to God for help when you have rejected others' request for help? And we must not profane the holy name of God. In the days of the Old Testament, daughters of priests should be put to death if it turned out that they had had free sex before marriage, because their fathers were holy priests, so their honor was seriously injured. We must keep holy things holy in order to keep God's name holy. When we live a righteous life, keeping our spirit and body holy, we as God's children make him glorious, and God quickly answers the prayers of those who make him glorious. Our holy body and heart are holy vessels that hold God's grace.

 

God wants to hear words and songs of praise from humans. He who has met the good God exalts him, gives thanks to him, and sings praises to him. The God who knows all about us, even the deepest thought of our heart, wants true thanks and praises from us. So he removes the wicked who persecute the righteous, and allows the righteous a spacious land to live in. All of those who have received enormous blessings from God give sincere thanks and praises to God for his goodness and righteousness. We should praise God even when things go well with other people. If your neighbor accomplished something wonderfully by God's help, you must not envy him or hate him secretly. Envy and jealousy among brothers nullify all praises sung to God. And If we do not give thanks and praises to God when we were much helped by God, the relationship between us and God becomes estranged. We receive the gift of delight as well when we thank and praise him. When we thank and praise God, our names are engraved in God's heart forever, and he comes into us to give us strength, comfort, joy and peace. When are humans most beautiful and precious? When they give thanks and praises to God with a sincere heart.

 

God's rage is but for a moment, but his grace endures forever. God the Creator of man knows well how fragile a man is. A human being may be a beautiful, strong, capable being, but he can die or become crippled in a moment. Man can't live comfortably as a human being if God does not help him at every moment. Man is a being that absolutely needs God's help. Therefore God shows man much more grace than rage. God is angry for a moment with his children when they commit sins, in order to give them eternal life. His rage makes his children repent of their sins and changes them into mature ones. God's wrath is a sharp knife that cuts away our sinful nature. So we God's children must not lose heart when rebuked by God. Father does not desert his son because he did a little wrong. The same holds to us: The fact that we are God's beloved sons and daughters can never be altered even if God punishes us when we, imperfect ones, commit sins. Who cares if others' children do good or wrong? But an ordinary father lifts a whip if his children do wrong. My brethren, it is very natural for God to chastise you if you do something wrong, therefore honor and love God more when you are punished by him. If you have such an attitude, the days of God's anger decreases while his grace lasts forever. You're a mature believer indeed if you acknowledge your sins frankly and have the same warm love for God as before even if you're chastised for a while. God sees such a wonderful faith and is greatly pleased, and he entrusts you with great position and authority. Some people do not acknowledge their sins, nor take responsibility in the sins, nevertheless occupy high positions, making the clean water of a spring muddy. What a violence to the society!

 

God compassionates humans. Sinners will have to suffer forever in the hell if he does not forgive them. So many weak people have no hope for the future if there is no help of God. If the mother doesn't suckle the baby, it will die. As the mother pities the baby she bore, so does God us he created. Therefore he helps with infinite mercy those who are going to perish without his help, when they pray to him for help.

 

When you acknowledge the above nature of God, you can have hope. If you have such a faith mentioned above, despair can never take place in your heart. He who knows God rightly will never despair. You do not pray to God but depart God because you don't know him well. On the contrary, he who knows God well does not rely on humans but only looks at God. The silence of the dead can not please God. God delights in the songs of praise that the victorious believers sing to him. Therefore God forgives sinners and gives them a chance to live well again. A right faith in God gives you a true hope that is not vain, and deepens the love between you and God.

 

The long waiting for the answer hurts our faith. But we have to get it over, too. How happy would it be if our prayers are answered as soon as we pray to God? But it's just our hope. My brethren, think of Abraham, our forefather in faith. He waited and waited until he finally received God's promise. He trusted in God's promise. So he was recognized as righteous by God. Christian life requires not only good result but also good process. Abraham became the father in faith because he clearly showed us what the faith is. Abraham could be a righteous man and the father of our faith because he believed and trusted God's promise for a long time. My brethren, let the long wait not make you sad. The bigger your patience, the maturer your righteousness. Don't grumble at the length of your wait, rather realize what you are lacking now and be a well-prepared person for the future. You could lose the blessings forever if you have received them without the capability to keep them. You can't use unripe fruits for anything. The same is true for the prayers answered untimely.

 

"Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (v. 5)" "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. (v. 11)" I hope that there will be such a blessing of a reverse-turn in your life! You slept in tears last night, but this morning all your problems have disappeared, and you have something to rejoice over. Last night, while you were asleep, God solved all your problems. Jesus said, "Don't worry about tomorrow!" My brethren, our Savior Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow. Obey this exhortation. Jesus promised: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Mt 11:28)" He who believes in God's goodness and his boundless love will overcome all his problems and sadness and dance for joy. Despair came upon even Paul the great apostle, but he overcame it. "We do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. (2 Cor 1:8-9)"

 

My brethren, your despair is unbelief. Hope and patience are a beautiful faith. Isn't faith to hope and to wait? Father our God, have mercy on those who are in despair due to little faith, and please solve their problems quickly!

 

Chong Tack Kim

                                     - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -