Sermon(Ps 6): Defeat the enemies by prayer
The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025222246
>>1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thy anger, nor chasten me in thy wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is sorely troubled. But thou, O Lord – how long? 4 Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of thy steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye washes away because of grief, it grows weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil; for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. 19 All my enemies shall be ashamed and sorely troubled; they shall turn back, and be put to shame in a moment. - Ps 6 -<<
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Is a master key is the best key? The best key in the world is the key to problem solving. This is the poem of David. He entered politics in early years of his life, so he had many political opponents. He was deserted by the king and became his political enemy in his early days of political life. David had to run away from place to place. He even took refuge in a foreign country for a while. The above text is a poem David wrote when he, seeing his enemies on all sides, prayed to God. Prayer was the means of solving the problem for David whenever he was in trouble. In fact, David had nothing from the beginning. His help was only the God. When you see David, you must be encouraged, because he became king when he couldn't expect much wealth and inherit high standing from parents but was just a shepherd of the country. "If I hold God tight and live in him like David, I, too, can overcome all the obstacles in my path and get to the top of this country. Yes!" Let's praise the God who made David king! Let's praise God who has given us such a feasible hope!
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David didn't see the adversity to be a struggle for high positions between his political opponents and himself. It is not uncommon for a politician to have difficulties like David in politics. But David always thought of everything humbly. David first confessed his sins rather than opponents' sins. He wanted first to put the problem of his sin before God and be free from sin. My brethren, be a clean man before you become a high official or a very rich man. Do not try to become a high official or a very rich man through sins. You are already a failed man if you have become a great man in the world by means of sins. Many people say that making a lot of money is not happiness, nor is being promoted to a high position. Why? Because they earned much money and were promoted high without solving the problem of sin. A king who has killed many people to be a king finds that king's life is very constrained and hard, and that the joy of a king is too small considering the murder he committed to be a king. 'Did I kill so many people and make so many people unhappy, to have this poor happiness?' And the life is so transient and vain. Seeing the fleeting years of life, he can't be satisfied with his throne. 'Life is short, and the burden of sins of the life is so heavy!' Furthermore, the life and the food of all men are almost the same. (Usually even a king does not eat special meals every day.) A rich man of this age, Bill Gates, is said to eat hamburgers for lunch. And his clothes do not look expensive. (Of course, expensive and fancy clothes are not always good ones.) Yes! The rich and the poor live almost the same life of eating and clothing. If you have about 300 million won in the country, you can live better off than Sejong, a king of Chosun, these days. Then, is a man happy, who has made more money than is needed by cheat, robbery, theft, stock manipulation and real estate speculation? He can never be happy because he can't forgive himself and use the much money happily and funnily. 'Life is short. I'm already this old! There are many sins with me. There are many who want to take my money after I die! There are so many people who hope that I will die early. I've lived a vain life!'
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David first wanted to be forgiven by God and be clean before him rather than to wage a bloody war against his political opponents. It is necessary for us to reflect on ourself before God and to become a man of God rather than to fight with others and to heap up sins on ourselves. It's a faster way. Because David's enemies see the world only politically and militarily, they continue to pile up sins, and will be deserted by God and lose the chance to be promoted more, leaving the high post to David who is recognized by God. This is an inevitable process. It is the key to success and promotion without sinning. In order to become a president or a great rich man without the guidance of God, you must take part in the bloody competition and will inevitably commit sins. Then the accumulated sins will suppress your joy in your position or wealth. And God will not allow you peace and delight in heart, and will not permit you to enjoy what you have gained. If a thief eats the bread he stole, God makes him feel as if he ate sand or gravel. God punished the snake that had corrupted humans with the curse that it should eat soil all its life. Every sinful man like the snake can't feel the good things as they are, but feels them as if they were sand. Even if a very beautiful wife smiles at him, a sinful man does not feel her as a lovely wife although he hardly deserves such a good woman. So he is sad. But a man who has been forgiven sins by God lives a clean life before God, and feels the joy of life whenever he sees his wife although she is not to beautiful. This is the true blessing.
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Those, who, like David, prefer to pray to God for forgiveness of sins from time to time in order to be blameless before God rather than to seek the worldly promotion and success, will receive God's blessings, gain the high position in the world and enjoy the blessings without the pricks of conscience. My beloved brethren, do not be distracted by the fight against your enemies and pile up sins, but turn your eyes to God and be a righteous man before him. This is tte secrete of success in living really happily on earth.
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Then, with what attitude did David give the prayer of repentance to God? David 'sincerely' repented for his sins and sought God's forgiveness. "I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. (v. 6)" Perhaps he worked in the world in the day time for he had to work to get bread. And he had to fend off enemies' attack during the daytime. But at night, David wept and prayed to God where no one sees. The tears that David shed where there was no one were not pretentious. So much amount of tears as to drench the couch tells that he prayed in pure heart. The true heart always makes itself known to anyone, especially to the God who is the truth itself, who clearly distinguishes between truth and falsehood. God rejects pride and falsehood but accepts truth and modesty. Therefore, if we sincerely repent and pray to God, he will surely forgive our sins and open our way to live.
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Therefore we can acknowledge David's sincere heart. Now let's consider his humility. David didn't enumerate the sins of his enemies to gain God's recognition by his relative superiority over them, but absolutely depended on God's grace and mercy and prayed to him. "O Lord, rebuke me not in thy anger, nor chasten me in thy wrath. (v. 1)" Here David sought God's forgiveness and grace, depending on his great love. God's anger comes from his true love, so does his wrath. (He rebukes you because he loves you.) Thinking of this God of love, David seeks his mercy. "Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of thy steadfast love. (v. 4)" Who as parents can turn away from the suffering children? Looking at God's mercy that is bigger than the mercy of parents, David prayed God to deliver him. Parents who are able to deliver their children from death will naturally save them. Yes! God is our omnipotent Father. If we seek his mercy and grace, he will certainly deliver us from all our troubles.
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David's view of life is reflected in the poem. It is praise and glory to God. "For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise? (v. 5)" David says that God should forgive him, have mercy on him, save him and remove his foes because he will hear David's praise no more if he die. He is right! A dead man can't praise God. Why should God not hear the prayer of him who repents his sins and wants to live for the praise and glory of God? He will hear the prayer! The problem is our view of life that we should be successful in everything by all ways and means before the others and live well alone rather than become clean before God, and our haughty mind that we don’t have to repent but show off only our righteousness. They have made the way of our life crooked. If we make our view of life and mind straight like David, our distorted problems will be straightened and solved. To live for the glory of God and to give thanks to him - this is a right view (purpose) of life. You must check this every prayer time. This is the lighthouse that guides our way of life in the world like the dark, stormy ocean.
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In today's biblical text, David seems to have been suffering from his enemies long and praying to God long. "O Lord – how long? (v. 3)" Those who live a life of prayer can deeply sympathize with this cry David exclaimed. 'When will I get out of this long tunnel to see the sunlight? Can God see and hear? Is he listening to my prayers? It's frustrating indeed!' The merciful God responded kindly to this complaint in the Bible. "For every thing there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. (Eccles 3:1-4)" Yes, every thing has its time. It was not yet the time for David to be king. So David could not sweep away all his enemies. Even though they were David's foes, Saul and his men still had works to do. If David had driven Saul out and had become king, he might have died early in the great war with the Philistines instead of Saul. Saul, who had always sought David's life, devoted himself to the battle with the Philistines and relieved David of a heavy burden. Saul died in the battle. That was God's hidden plan. God loved David who willingly repented his sins, and didn't give him a thought to kill Saul when he (David) had a golden opportunity to kill him, because >for Saul to live a little longer and to war with Philistines< would contribute to David's advantage. Brethren, God allows our enemies to remain alive if it contributes to our benefit. For the good of us!
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I don't know if David knew such a plan of God, but David boldly said, "Depart from me, all you workers of evil; for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. (v. 8, 9)" David could be assured that his pure heart came up to God and that God accepted his prayer. Therefore he could shook off all his worries after he by faith believed that the situation of his problem was already in the phase of settlement. "Depart from me, all of you!" Of course it means also: "Get out of my mind, you who have made me tremble with fear!" Yes! My brethren, get rid of all scary things that your enemies have put in your heart. You who have been forgiven and cleansed by God are already victors. Just wait a little while, and all your enemies will be put to shame, of course, because they will be completely defeated by you. And you will beat your foes by God's help and mercy, and will enjoy the joyful blessings of God. You will enjoy the blessings of heaven and earth.
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May you be forgiven by God and receive blessings from God to live a life of thanksgiving to God.
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Chong Tack Kim
- Dongtoma Sunshine Church -
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