God is Our Guide (Psalm 138:1-7)

God is Our Guide (Psalm 138:1-7)

 

1. I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

2  I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame.

3 When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord, when they hear what you have decreed.

5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.

6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me.

 

Head)

1. Today’s scripture is from the Book of Psalms. After countless victories in battle, David realizes all his success comes from God and His guidance and so he gives God his praise and thanks.

 

2. There is a Cambodian pastor named “Lim Chung”. His father sold statues of Buddha for a living. When Pastor Lim Chung was about 12 years old, he asked some monks who had come to pray if Buddha had ever answered their prayers. The monks replied that they were not sure. one day he met a missionary and asked the same question. The missionary replied, “Of course God answers!” and continued to tell Lim Chung all about God.

 

Hearing this, Lim Chung realized he needed to serve God. But when he went home and told his father this his father kicked him out of his home. “I’ve worked hard to raise you for the past 12 years yet you think this ‘God’ will take care of you? Since he’s going to answer your prayers and keep you alive go ahead and serve this God and get out of my house,” he said and he ran Lim Chung out of his home.

 

But contrary to his father’s expectations, Lim Chung did not starve and die. In fact, he received help from those around him and went to school and received an education he would have been deprived of had he stayed with his father.  He eventually went on to study the Bible.

 

Once he graduated, Lim Chung became a key person in spreading the Gospel throughout Cambodia. He later acknowledged and confessed that his father kicking him out of his home was all under God’s guidance.

 

3. We are no different. God may not always guide us to where we want to go, but it is only through his guidance we can receive true and great blessings. When we face trials and hardship we fail to recognize God’s guidance and instead blame him and complain. But if we place our faith in Him, He will guide us down our best path.

Body)

A) First, God guides us by answering our prayers.

 

1. In today’s Bible verse, David first gives thanks to God for answering his prayers thus far, giving him strength, and keeping the promise He made. He gives thanks for allowing the nations to see God’s glory and hear His message. God is also praised for He is able to look down onto the earth and He led David and kept him safe from harm.

 

2. We, too, are the same. We do not have faith for no reason. We believe in the Lord because we look back at our lives and realize everything that has happened took place under God’s guidance.

 

Take a look at verse 3 again, “3 When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me.” David also confesses in verse 1, “I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise.”

 

David gave thanks to the Lord in spirit and in truth. He praised God wholeheartedly for all other “gods” to see. God cannot be compared to any of the meager “gods” of the earth. David praising God for answering his prayers is proof that the Lord keeps the promises He makes.

 

David praises the Lord because He kept all the promises He made with David through prayer and thus made David stronger. This should also apply to our own faith. God hears our prayers and answers us. He knows everything about us. He knows our weaknesses, all our deepest thoughts, and our needs.

 

One man even said that when they first immigrated to the US they did not have any form of health insurance. Thankfully they were healthy and had no need to go to the hospital. But as soon as they became better off and insured, they needed to go to the hospital for various health reasons.

 

Through our life of faith, we see God guiding us step by step. If we continue to follow these steps, we will find ourselves closer to our Heavenly Father. We learn to recognize and acknowledge Him. As our faith grows, we sooner recognize His guidance through difficult times. It is this realization David praises in today’s verse.

 

Psalm 91 14-15 says, “14 Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.” God did not forget what He said to David.

 

B) Second, God guides us to realize His Word.

 

Psalm 138 4-5 says, “4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord, when they hear what you have decreed. 5  May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.”

 

This verse is praising that all the kings of the earth will know that our Lord is a God that keeps the promises He makes without fail. This is speaking of a purely objective and public faith, rather than a personal subjective one.

 

How we realize and acknowledge God’s Word is incredibly important. Some people are infinitely suspicious and skeptical of the Bible no matter how many times they read it. They see God as a war-loving, merciless, and cruel being. They see the Bible as a mere book of fictional stories lacking all logic.

 

If you fail to recognize the Word, you cannot find God, even after reading the Bible cover to cover. If we are not given the grace to realize the living, breathing word of God, we cannot enter the gates of Heaven; we are forever condemned. How great is this grace?

 

The fact that our lives are filled with His Word is proof of His guidance. We are able to recognize His Word and accept the living Word because of His grace and guidance. Psalms describes God’s Word as a light guiding us in the night. His Word and His message is a light that guides us down paths of joy and blessings. And this is what David is praising in today’s scripture.

 

C) Third, He guides us by watching over us, the lowly.

 

Verse 6 says, “6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.”

 

Genesis 35 says, “Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.””

 

Jacob says that God “answered [him] in the day of [his] distress.” God was with Jacob and answered him during his hardships, becoming the guidance Jacob needed. This is not something Jacob learned from Bible Study. It is something that can only be learned by experiencing it first hand.

 

 D) Finally, God guides us to salvation.

 

Verse 7 of today’s scripture says, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me.”

 

God’s grace protects us and guides us all the way to Heaven. His right hand protects us from our enemies and His right hand saves us.

 

David praises the Lord in Psalm 23:4-6 as so, “4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” 

 

Take a moment to take in how beautiful this verse truly is. How amazing is the grace spoken of in this Psalm? This is not something David learned from studying; it is something he could only understand through first hand experience.

 

We must do the same. Regardless of our circumstances, even if we are treading through a valley of darkness and death, we cannot forget our Lord who protects us, guides us, and never overlooks us. What does God tell us in Joshua chapter 1? He tells us to not fear, to not be startled, for He is with us. God is always with His children.

 

Conclusion)

Our God is our guide. Though we may not always recognize it immediately, all of our hardships and circumstances are God’s way of guiding us down better paths. He leads us through all trials and uses them to guide us.

 

He answers our prayers and strengthens us. He makes us victorious and works through us for His good. He uses the Word to guide us to salvation.

 

Nothing in the world happens on its own without cause or reason. There is no such thing as a coincidence. Everything acts on His command; all things happen through His hands. Seek His presence; feel for His touch in your life.

 

This week, take the time to recognize and acknowledge His guidance. Remember Him and remain firmly grounded through all adversities. Let us all believe in Him, love Him, and praise Him. Hallelujah!

 

 

031316 Ik sun Ahn, Translated by Yebin Choi Ahn