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Thank God for Teachers!
Psalm 34:1-22
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - August 11, 2013
*Thank God for teachers.
Most of us could stand up right now and say how much we were blessed by the good teachers in our lives.
Godly school teachers are one of the greatest sources of light in our society today.
*But thank God also for the Godly men and women who teach us in church.
-Week after week they help us grow closer to the Lord, and to each other.
-Week after week they help us grow spiritually through the Word of God.
*I've had some tremendous Bible teachers in my life.
One of the best was Dr. Charles Harvey, who went home to be with the Lord in 2003.
Dr. Harvey was a wonderful man of God.
He once preached a revival for us at Emmanuel in West Monroe.
By that time Dr. Harvey had gone through prostate cancer and critical heart problems.
They thought they had lost him after heart surgery down in Houston.
But by the grace of God, he bounced back and continued to serve the Lord for several more years.
*One day during the revival, we talked about prayer, and Dr. Harvey said this: "I suppose I've gotten to the point in my life that I talk to the Lord now more than anyone else."
He wasn't making a boast or a brag.
There wasn't a hint of pride in his voice.
Dr. Harvey was just making a matter of fact statement of his walk with the Lord.
And he was an inspiration to me.
*Thank God for teachers!
King David is an inspirational teacher for us in Psalm 34.
In vs. 11, David said, "Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord."
And as we take a closer look at this Psalm, we can see some of the best things teachers do for us.
1.
First, teachers help us be willing to worship the Lord.
*I hope nobody had to drag you to church this morning.
God wants us to be willing in our worship.
The Lord wants us to have the same heart David had in vs. 1-3, where he said:
1.
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.
[1] Notice that our worship here includes praise.
*In vs. 1 David said, "I will praise the Lord all the time!"
That means in the good times, and in the bad.
*David knew about bad times.
The introductory note to this Psalm takes us back to one of David's hardest times.
The NIV introduction says this is a Psalm of David "when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left."
*David's low point here started with one of the highest points in his young life: The day he killed Goliath the giant.
That ten-and-a-half- feet-tall warrior had been terrorizing the whole Jewish army.
And David's victory made him a hero to his people.
But it also made his own king insanely jealous.
*King Saul was so jealous that he tried to kill David with a spear two different times.
Then Saul hunted for David all over the country.
Finally, in weary desperation, David made a terrible decision: He would go where Saul would never reach him.
He would go to Goliath's home town, and seek asylum from the Philistine king.
*Guess what the king's servants did as soon as they realized who David was?
They grabbed him and took him to their king.
David was out of the frying pan and into the fire, so 1 Samuel 21 tells us that David:
13. . .
changed his behavior before them, feigned madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard.
14.
Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see the man is insane.
Why have you brought him to me?
15.
Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence?
Shall this fellow come into my house?''
1.
David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. . .
(1 Samuel 21:13-22:1)
*David wrote this Psalm 34 sometime after his escape from the people in Gath.
Maybe he was still hiding out in that cave, and maybe Saul was still trying to kill him.
But David said, "I'm going to praise the Lord anyway!"
And in vs. 3, he invites us to join in: "Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together."
*David teaches us here that our worship includes praise.
[2] It also includes prayer.
*And David teaches us a lot about prayer in vs. 4-7.
He gives us tremendous reasons to pray.
{1} In vs. 4 he teaches us that when we pray, God will free us from fears: "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."
{2} Next in vs. 5, David teaches us that when we pray, God will send His light into our lives.
So vs. 5 says: "They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed."
*God wants His Light to shine so much in and through us that our faces shine with His radiance.
That's why we gave those little glow-in-the-dark crosses to the children this morning.
We want them all to look to the Lord and shine.
{3} Next in vs. 6&7, David teaches us that when we pray, God will help us with our hardships:
6. "This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them."
*When we trust in the Lord, we are surrounded with His help.
And vs. 6 reminds us that we don't have to be rich or famous to get His attention.
*One day years ago, I was driving up 165 with Becky and Eric.
She was about 15 and he was about 12.
As we drove by, we noticed that they were tearing down the old Ramada Inn.
It's kind of sad when they tear down your honeymoon hotel.
Well, Eric started thinking about the fact that we had our honeymoon in Monroe, and he asked: "Were y'all poor back then?"
Becky answered: "Yeah.
-- They were dirt poor!"
*Well, maybe we were, but it didn't seem like it.
And you can have all the money in the world, and still lack the most important things: Faith, hope and love, comfort, rest and consolation.
So whether we have ten dollars or ten million dollars, we will still have needs.
*Whatever the need is in your life, take it to the Lord in prayer.
And thank God for teachers who help us pray and praise and worship the Lord.
-Teachers help us be willing to worship God.
2. They also help us be wise in our witness.
*King David was a strong witness for the Lord.
One great example is in vs. 8-10, where David urges us:
8. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9. Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
10.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
[1] David was a strong witness for the Lord, and he teaches us to witness with our words.
*David said: "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!"
Anyone who knows Jesus can make that plea, because we have tasted, and we know that He is good.
Jesus Christ is far, far better that anything this world could ever offer.
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