Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Introduction:

Psalm 34
“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. “My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! “Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. “Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. “What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. “The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. “He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. “Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.” ESV

I. The Occasion – Why Is David So Happy?

1 Samuel 21:10-15 “And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. “And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” “And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. “So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. “Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? “Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”” ESV

II. The Calling of Those Who Love God, Psalm 34:1-3

A. Two Meanings for Magnify

One of our problems is that we magnify little things and make them bigger than they are when what we should be doing is seeing the truly big and important things for what they really are.

Meaning of “magnify”:
1. make something appear bigger than it is with a magnifying glass or a microscope.

2. make something that may seem small or insignificant appear to be as great as it really is like with a telescope

One of our problems is that we magnify little things and make them bigger than they are when what we should be doing is seeing the truly big and important things for what they really are.

Hubble is located about 600 km (375 miles) above the surface of the Earth. In comparison, the moon is an average of 384,400 km (238,860 miles) away.

B. A Profound “Invitation”
“Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!”

Not: Let’s hang out together and make a small God look bigger than he is. Not called to be con-artists who ultimate Friend out to be someone he is not.

Means: Come along and join me in making a big God begin to look as big as he really is.” Those who love God are called to make his greatness begin to look as big and great and wonderful as it really is.

Maybe we didn’t understand it when we became Christians.
And sure it is easy to forget. But it is our duty as Christians to “feel, think and act in a way that will make God look as great as he really is.”

We are called to be a telescope for those around us to see the magnificence of God as he truly is.

Psalm 69:30-32 “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. “This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. “When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.” ESV

Psalm 40:16 “But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!”” ESV

Psalm 48:1 “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain,” ESV

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” ESV

Galatians 2:20 “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ESV

Philippians 1:20 “as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” ESV

C. Something we can do together better than alone
The greatness of God ought to be obvious but it isn’t.

Romans 1:20-23 “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, “and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

Sinful insensitivity –
The biggest rip off of all time – cheating ourselves.

So Easy to Drift
Hebrews 2:1-3 “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. “For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,” ESV

Hebrews 3:12-14 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. “For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” ESV

Open our eyes Lord
Ephesians 1:18-19 “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, “and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,” NIV

Prone to forget
Psalm 103:1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!” ESV Reminding himself.

Why together?
Psalm 103:2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,” ESV So easy to forget!

Why together?
Psalm 35:26-27 ” Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me! “Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”” ESV
Because it is so easy to get our eyes focused on ourselves.

Why Together?
Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” ESV

4. What David is happy about, vv.4-7

II. Instruction, 34:8-14
Taste and see
An invitation to exercise personal faith.
Faith is a type of spiritual tasting of what God has promised!
Come and experience the deep delights of assurance of the invisible fingerprints of God in that give and take of life.

Sweet and sour sauce! Red? Not Matt’s!
Really Rosemary’s recipe
“Seeing You”
This is a time for seeing and singing
This is a time for breathing You in
And breathing out Your praise
Our hearts respond to Your revelation
All you are showing, all we have seen
Commands a life of praise

No one can sing of things they have not seen
God, open our eyes towards a greater glimpse
The glory of You, the glory of You
God, open our eyes towards a greater glimpse

Worship starts with seeing You
Worship starts with seeing You
Our hearts respond to Your revelation
Worship starts with seeing You
Worship starts with seeing You
Our hearts respond to Your revelation

Fear the Lord – don’t use him.

God’s heart for us is overflowing with kindness
God can’t contain himself!

Keep your tongue from evil
So easy to slip into stinking thinking and talking
Escalating verbiage
Spiraling atmosphere wound tighter and tighter!

Turn from relational evil!
Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” ESV

Hebrews 12:14-17 “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; “that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. “For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” ESV

III. Encouragement, 34:15-22