“WHERE DOES THE FAMILY OF GOD COME FROM?”

(Psalm 20)

Shiloh Family Retreat Center, August 24, 2018 7 PM

By Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Earlville, NY

TODAY’S “SPECIAL”: DEEP RAVINE

One lovely morning, Ben and Thomas were out golfing. Ben slices his ball deep into a wooded ravine. He grabs his 8-iron and proceeds down the embankment into the ravine in search of his ball.

Ben searches diligently through the thick underbrush and suddenly he spots something shiny. As he gets closer, he realizes that the shiny object is in fact an 8-iron in the hands of a skeleton lying near an old golf ball.

Ben excitedly calls out to his golfing partner: “Hey Thomas, come here, I got big trouble down here.”

Thomas comes running over to the edge of the ravine and calls out, “What’s the matter Ben?”

Ben shouts back in a nervous voice, “Throw me my 7-iron! Looks like you can’t get out of here with an 8-iron.”

INTRODUCTION

“We are family.” We carry much baggage with us when we first come into the world. And all of us have different baggage. Let me explain: IF you were raised, as I was, in a family which has a mom and dad (first marriage for both) and two older brothers, what would you think? You would think this is the NORM. Everybody has parents. Everybody has brothers that are older. Many of you can relate to being the youngest. As momma said, “Jeremy, you always will be my baby”. But it is not too long before you find that not everyone’s parents are in their first marriage; some may not even have mom or dad living at home; some may not even know who their dad or mom is; some may not live in a nice house; some may not live in a nice home (there is a difference); some, like some of you, may never have lived in a home with mom and dad and brothers and/or sisters – you bounced from relative to relative or from foster home to foster home until either you were old enough to get out on your own, OR you were adopted.

INTO THAT SCENARIO comes the day when we asked Jesus to be our Savior. The new birth. We didn’t know all that God had done for us already, “before the foundation of the world” (list items). We didn’t know theology. We didn’t know practical Christian living. But we DID know one thing: I belong to Jesus. WOO-HOO! (oh, “praise the Lord!”).

INTO THAT SCENARIO comes Psalm 20, David’s ode to family. Let’s look at this psalm carefully this evening, and in so doing, let’s discover what the all-wise God has for us this weekend. PRAYER

# 1. THE INVITATION: “YOU,” vs. 1-4 (CIRCLE “YOU!”)

The person who has never come to Jesus is not a part of God’s Family yet. Perhaps that is where some of you are tonight. In fact, that is how David addresses those who are being invited to consider Christ: “you”. These verses are wonderful words of invitation that we all could use to invite others to the Family of God.

What does the Lord – and His Church Family – offer to everyone who hungers and thirsts for Him?

A. The promise of a personal God (v. 1).

Can you believe there is a God Who knows you personally? “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble”. He hungers to hear from you! He wants your fellowship! He wants your intimacy. He wants you! And not only in the good times, but also in the “day of trouble”. Think of all those wonderful promises that have become a vital part of our walk with the Lord: “casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.” “Come unto Me all Who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Sometimes we think of these verses as intimacy for the Christian. But they also could be challenges to those who are outside the Family!

God is so personal that He will defend you. How so? He calls Himself the “God of Jacob”. Why is that important? Because He is a God of promise. As He made promises to Jacob/Israel, so He is intimate with us. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Now that’s intimate.

B. The promise of help and strength (v.2)

“May He send you help”. In v. 1, it is an offer of prayer. In v. 2, it is an invitation to know a God Who is personal, Who knows your need before you ask Him!

* Matt. 6:8: “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” The Savior here is showing that the Family of God is much different from the Family of the World (or of Satan).

“May He strengthen you out of Zion.” God specializes in assisting those who are weak!

• Isa. 40:29: “He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.”
• Phil. 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
• 2 Cor. 12:9: “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Everyone of us can testify that the times we were helped the most were the times that we were weakest! Emotionally. Physically. Financially. When we had no strength, the Lord offers to be our strength. He promises that for you. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

C. HE remembers (v. 3)

In a few minutes we will find that God expects us to remember. But He offers to each of you who are searching the fact that He remembers. You don’t have to advertise your righteousness! You don’t have to advertise your good deeds. You don’t have to advertise those things you do when you think no one notices or is watching.

Now ladies, about these “burnt sacrifices”. David is not talking about your suppers, er, those occasional suppers where, well, you know the ones. The ones which answer the question of the teacher to your child, “when does your smoke detector go off?” And your child answers, “when we know supper is done?”.

No, this is actually an huge breath of fresh air. Your burnt sacrifices is, well, all of you dedicated to God. He remembers. He sees. No other family offers such a wonderful relationship with God.

D. The Father grants and fulfills (v. 4)

Wow! This should be the only invitation the lost person needs! He grants you according to your heart’s desires!

• Psalm 10:3 “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.”
• But look down at 21:2: “You have given him his heart’s desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah”.

What happened here? Apparently the heart’s desire of those who don’t know the Lord will be different from those who find Him. And He hears!

AND He fulfills all your purposes. Jesus said to His Father as He looked forward to the cross, “But for this purpose I came to this hour.” If you come to the cross, God will fulfill your purposes that He wisely has planned for you!

#2. THE RECEPTION: “WE” We will rejoice in your salvation! v. 5, (CIRCLE “WE!”)

“WE” is a wonderful word! It means that you are no longer under the umbrella of the invitation. YOU have received Jesus as Savior! YOU are no longer YOU alone! YOU have a whole bunches of other “YOU”’s around YOU. “YOU” have become “WE”!!!!

Do you remember the parables in Luke 15. Repeatedly, the Lord reminds His hearers, “there is JOY in heaven over one sinner who repents.” The family of God tells the one – even you – who comes to the cross, “thank you for listening to the invitation!”

We will set up OUR banners!

ILLUSTRATION: Perhaps your church does this: outside the nursery, you put pictures of each of the members of the Nursery Roll. In particular, you post baby pictures of each of the newborn, rejoicing with the excited parents. And that is what we should be doing. We should be setting up our banners for you when you come to the cross!

And immediately you will learn that the Lord hungers to fill your petitions, your hungers, your praises, your cares – all under the umbrella of your new Family: the Family of God. WE are Family!

This would be a good time to ask: have you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? This weekend is all about “We are Family”. And God and His Family have sent out an host of invitations and reasons to trust Jesus. But if you haven’t responded to all these reasons to trust, then you are not in His Family. We are not family with you, the one who has been invited. Oh please come to Jesus tonight!

# 3 THE FOUNDATION: “I” KNOW, v. 6 (CIRCLE “I”)

This is an amazing transition! Not only have I gone from “you” and the subject of an invitation but to “we” and the member of a family! I have also gone from “invitation” to “PROMISES”! I have gone from “invitation” to “assurances”.

Let’s look at just the first part of verse 6. The psalmist, in his rejoicing that the invited one has joined the family of God, encourages the newborn believer in the promises, the foundation of the faith. For some of us this is an HUGE transition! For before we became a part of the Family of God, all our lives were “hope so”’s. I hope someone loves me. I hope I’m going to the dance. I hope I’m going to get married some day. I hope I’m going to heaven.

And now, “I know!” 116 times in the Scriptures! And 2 classics:

• Job 19:25-26: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God.”
• 2 Tim. 1:12: “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

The “you” becomes “we” with the foundation of “I know”.

But wait, there is still more!

#4 THE FAMILY: “We,” vs. 7-8 (circle “WE!”)

These are good verses of contrast: BC (before Christ) and AD (after death, or the cross)

Before Christ, we trusted in chariots and horses: THINGS, stuff!

ILLUSTRATION: Lord willing, sometime in January we are moving to our new home. To prepare for that, this weekend we are having Moving Sale #2. Why? To sell some of our STUFF. Stuff that we remember – or don’t remember – buying, but we really don’t need. But someone else will! Stuff!

After Christ, we “remember”. We can’t remember where we got all that stuff. But Jesus said, “this do in remembrance of Me.” And throughout Scripture, He tells us that through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He will remind us of what He has said. We remember.

AND we have risen! We are resurrected beings. The world bows down and falls. But we are risen beings in Christ.

And as Jesus has risen, we too shall rise: “and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” AMEN?

CONCLUSION (v. 9)

Let’s see if we’ve got this all down straight.

Before we can sing, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the Family of God,” before I can say, “We are Family”, we were just a “you”. You with an invitation.

And when “you” responded to the invitation, “you” became a “we” – a part of something bigger than yourself alone. And we became aware of others that were also “we”. Why and those others even rejoiced in my salvation! Why I was now a part of the “we”, a new family in Christ!

And then, as part of that family, I developed a new foundation, grounded no longer on sinking sand but on the solid Rock, Christ Jesus and encouraged with the promises that “these things I know”.

And then, I learned that as new resurrected beings, I have a fresh rememberance of the things of Jesus. My whole world is now centered, no longer on STUFF and ME but on the Lord Jesus and His glory!

One last thought: look at verse 9. One last “we”. As a member of the Family of God, we have a new identity: we are a people of intimacy with the King of kings! We are a family of prayer! We are a people of compassion – we see others as Jesus sees them!

We have an impossible task: to see the world as Jesus does. To love the unlovely as Jesus does. To be Jesus where He puts us. This is an impossible task.

The psalmist gives one last encouragement: the King will answer us when we call! Even to do the impossible tasks for His glory!

We are Family!

Close in prayer

This message was delivered on Friday evening, August 23, 2018, at Shilo Christian Family Campground, in West Eaton, New York, by the Reverend Jeremy Stopford, pastor, First Baptist Church, Earlville, New York.