WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
Sing praises to God, O faithful ones. Give thanks and proclaim God’s holy name. Weeping or joyful, mourning or dancing, come as you are, for all are welcome here. Open your hearts to healing, to life restored. Let us worship God.
Good Morning FBK….and welcome to worship!
Songs
Prayer
Prayer of Confession & Assurance
The act of confessing our sin is not simply a recitation of our faults and wrongs, but also an opportunity to receive God’s mercy and share in that abundant grace. Confident of God’s love for us, let us offer our prayers, first in silence.
SILENT PRAYER
O God of people and nations, we are ignorant and arrogant about our own prosperity and might. When we forget how much we have, remind us of our abundance. When we take pride in our status and think ourselves better than others, grant us humility. When we use wealth and power to get our own way at the expense of others, correct us. Heal us, we pray, that we may be a force for wholeness. With all that we have, we pray for your forgiveness. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon:
God’s anger lasts but a moment, but God’s favour lasts a lifetime. Weeping may last the night, but joy comes in the morning. God takes off our sackcloth and clothes us with joy. Let us rejoice! We are forgiven!
Psalms
From Disorientation to Reorientation
Today's Message: Pastors Marlee Page and Dave Page
Two weeks ago, we showed you this graphic:
Here we said that often our spiritual lives can be summed up by one of the areas on this pie chart:
- we are moving towards God – Oriented,
- Moving away from God – Disoriented or,
- we might be stuck – need for reorienting at this current season in our lives.
Well, what we didn’t tell you at the outset was that this association – of thinking about our lives and what the Psalms have to say about that actually comes from an amazing Theologian and Academic by the name of Walter Brueggerman. Walter Brueggemann has written extensively on Psalms and he uses this representation to show how the psalms can speak into these moments of our lives:
Brueggerman concluded some Psalms are expressions of orientation (God we are thankful for how things are now), we worship you – we looked at that in our first week.
Some Psalms are expressions of disorientation (God we are not happy about what is happening, where are you now) – Marlee talked to us about that last week
And, some Psalms are expressions of a new orientation (God you have remade our world, my world, weaving the old with the new, we are ready to move forward)-meaning we are ‘unstuck’
Well, it’s this last Orientation – getting ourselves unstuck as it were – that we want to focus on with you this morning.
To do that, please turn to a beautiful Psalm, Psalm 30, a psalm of David filled with profound insights about the transformative power of God’s grace in our lives. And what you’re going to see here is that David experiences a shift from mourning and disorientation to joy, truly another affirmation that we too can experience God’s deliverance in our darkest moments.
Let’s read Psalm 30 together.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 30
A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, Lord,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 Lord my God, I called to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.6 When I felt secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
7 Lord, when you favored me,
you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.8 To you, Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 “What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.”11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
Cry for Help in Despair (Psalm 30:1-3):
Notice in the slide that I used referencing Brueggerman, there are these 2 areas to the side – Relinquishment or Lament and Surprise /Thanksgiving. David begins by acknowledging his distress, crying out to God in his time of need. Friends that’s David’s Lament. Let’s talk about that term Lament for a moment:
Lament – Classically, we would say that Lament is song of mourning or sorrow. Laments may be occasioned by bereavement, personal trouble, national disaster or the judgment of God.
These laments are certainly common throughout the Psalter – 65 of them in fact are classified as lament Psalms – Most of the psalms in the first part of the book are laments, but these prayers usually end on a hopeful note. That hope is sometimes expressed as a promise or vow of praise. Psalm 30 is a fine example of a text that fulfills this.
In his book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Mark Vroegop defines lament as, “a prayer of pain that leads to trust,” (pg. 28).
Lament is the wailing of the heart before a God who hears, who listens, and who responds to our cries.
Like David, we may find ourselves in seasons of despair, facing overwhelming challenges and feeling abandoned. However, we must remember that even in our darkest moments, God hears our cries for mercy (Psalm 116:1). In our cries for help, we can find relief knowing that God hears us and is ready to rescue us from the depths of despair.
Experience of God’s Deliverance (Psalm 30:4-5):
As David recounts his experience, he testifies to God’s faithfulness in delivering him from his enemies. Similarly, in our lives, we can witness God’s miraculous intervention and deliverance.
One thing to know about this psalm is that it was written for the dedication of the temple in Israel. But strangely, it sounds like the psalm is describing an individual. That’s because the psalmist’s personal story of suffering mirrors Israel’s national story with her temple (Psalm 30:1).
The psalmist called out to God and was lifted out of certain death (Psalm 30:2).
Israel, too, was lifted out of their death in Egypt after calling to God for help (Exodus 2:24-25).
The psalmist’s escape from death was like a resurrection (Psalm 30:3).
In the same way, Israel’s exodus from Egypt was like a corporate resurrection from the dead (Exodus 15:17).
So the psalmist begs God to save him, challenging God to consider if his death will bring God any praise (Psalm 30:9).
Israel too, through Moses, challenged God to consider if their dying at Sinai would give God any praise as well (Exodus 32:12).
Graciously, God answers the psalmist’s request and turns his wailing into dancing (Psalm 30:11). God also answered Moses’ request and brought his presence into the tabernacle, Israel’s first temple (Exodus 40:34).
Like the psalmist, their mourning (Exodus 33:4) was turned into dancing (Exodus 33:10).
All of this proves one main point, which stands in the center of the psalm. God’s anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime (Psalm 30:5).
Psalm 30 pictures God’s presence filling the temple like a person rising from the dead (Psalm 30:3). But what can only be a metaphor in this psalm, for us becomes true in Jesus.
That is because Jesus is God himself, the perfect combination of the localized presence of God and an individual human (Colossians 1:19). That’s why Jesus compared his death to the destruction of the temple (John 2:19).
Like the psalmist and Israel, Jesus cried out to God when faced with certain death (Matthew 26:39). But unlike the psalmist and Israel who were saved even though they sinned, Jesus went all the way to the grave even though he was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21).
All the anger against the sins of the psalmist, Israel, and the world – the sins that put God’s presence on the line – all of that and more was experienced by Jesus on the cross (Romans 5:9). But unlike the psalmist’s and Moses’ challenge that death would not bring God praise, Jesus earns God praise from the grave (Philippians 2:11).
The temple of Jesus’ body was lifted up when he was raised from the dead.
God’s anger only lasted for a moment on the cross so that we can experience his favour for eternity (1 Peter 3:18).
Response of Gratitude and Praise (Psalm 30:11-12):
Psalm 30 comes to its culmination in a response of gratitude and praise for God’s faithfulness. He exchanges his mourning for dancing, his sorrow for joy, recognizing that God has turned his mourning into dancing.
Remember this:
Through our laments and God’s presence, so very often there is a Surprise waiting for us, one that leads to Thanksgiving and this new orientation that brings us back to a heart of worship which is our true and right orientation. As believers, we are called to cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving and praise and worship, regardless of our circumstances. The Psalmist, in his vulnerability, acknowledges the depths of despair he experienced. He speaks of wailing and sackcloth, symbols of mourning and anguish. How many times have we, too, found ourselves in the midst of trials and tribulations, enveloped by the darkness of despair, crying out for relief and redemption?
Yet, in the midst of despair, there is hope. For our God is a God of redemption and restoration. He does not leave us in our sorrow but reaches out with His tender mercy and grace to lift us up from the pit of despair. He turns our mourning into dancing, our wailing into songs of joy. He replaces our sackcloth with garments of praise.
That transformation from mourning to dancing finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, we see how Jesus, through His life, death, and resurrection, brings about the ultimate redemption for humanity. He is the embodiment of God’s promise to turn our sorrow into joy.
Over and over in the Gospels, we witness Jesus’ ministry of healing and restoration. He brings hope to the hopeless, healing to the brokenhearted, and joy to those who mourn. He invites us to exchange our burdens for His yoke, promising rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30).
Moreover, through His sacrificial death on the cross and triumphant resurrection, Jesus conquers sin and death once and for all. He offers us the gift of eternal life and the assurance of a future filled with hope and joy (John 3:16; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
Even in the midst of trials and tribulations, we can find strength and comfort in the presence of our loving Savior. We can lift our voices in praise, knowing that our God is faithful to turn our mourning into dancing.
So, what do we do with this, what are some practical ways we can use what the Psalmist is experiencing for our own journey. We need to see our life in Christ as a journey, where we don’t just learn to know and make known Christ. Although that is our highest priority, we must come to a point where we think beyond ourselves and beyond our needs. We are stretching so our trust in God is more real and developed. The Psalmist gives us some clues as to what we can do:
Tell God your problems…he hears you.
THERE IS NO PIT SO DEEP THAT A CRY FROM IT MAY NOT REACH THE HEART OF GOD (F. B. MEYER).
Cry out to him for help…he can help you.
We see David stretching here in this Psalm. Repenting and seeking mercy while he praises God from the depth of his heart. Not bargaining, and definitely not blaming or skirting responsibility. Our lives were created and then saved by God; so, we must take this further and deeper by our thinking and daily living, even in trials and troubles, by relinquishing and submitting our situation to Him…and that means it’s outcome as well! And, the true blessing is not always what we want or think; it is the communion we have in Him and the relationships we build with others.
Praise God for his gracious deliverance in Christ Jesus our Lord
.… God tends to intervene into the lives of His faithful when our trust in Him is not predicated on something we want. God as the loving and caring Shepherd who leads His own through the difficulties and enticements of the world to His greener pastures. We see this when our trust is upon Him for what He has already done for us!!
David ends the psalm by saying…
Psalm 30:12
“That my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.”
Have you noticed that If you listen to people, and people of faith somewhat especially, you will hear them saying, “God has been good to me”…and often these are people you wouldn’t expect to fell that way. They are in nursing homes. They have known tragedy. Their life has been hard. But perhaps when life is the hardest we see just how good God really is. And they have figured that out.
Today, as you look at the pain of disorientation in your life and whatever that is the result of, realize there is only one way you can overcome that hurt. Whether you have been a Christian for thirty years or whether you have just begun to follow Jesus, the formula is exactly the same: Take your grief to the Lord.
Transfer your trust to Him, and allow Jesus Christ to turn your sorrow into joy and your disorientation into a new reoriented life.
Hold on to the promises, morning is coming….and with it – Rejoicing comes IN THE MORNING!”
Song
Benediction
Go with your eyes wide open as you journey into the wider world.
Love God and see Christ in each person you meet.
Give thanks always and do not withhold love from any, for we do not know who may yet turn to the light.