Psalm 44:8. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
And then it was Wednesday, and we trying to catch our second wind as the tiredness in our bodies and spirits from the recent Caribana Celebrations slowly fade away. (smile) I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but ofttimes after a long weekend, it’s more difficult to get back into the swing of things, than when we work right from Monday. That’s because we mistakenly believe: ‘Oh, it’s one day less to work, so we can party more than usual.’ But it ends up being that the extra day’s partying is much harder to overcome than the normal weekend affairs.
And, unfortunately, I don’t see us getting out of that wrong mind set any time soon, because the nature of the human animal is just to celebrate when they get an unexpected day off from work. (smile) So we just have to grin and bear the extra pressure from the extra partying, and hope the boss doesn’t catch us slacking off and penalize us for it. End of Sermon!
Now, today we are going to look at an interesting verse from Psalm 44- that talks about former deliverances and present troubles. And do we ever have plenty of the latter; our world has troubles galore. So, let’s see what the sons of Korah wrote in the psalm that’s so interesting. The verse simply, but profoundly says: ‘In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.’ (Ps. 44:8)
Now why should that be so important eh? Because it’s what true believers in God ought to be doing, if we want to see and experience His awesome grace and mercy! And it’s certainly a great part of why today we have so many unsolvable and ridiculous problems in our society. We don’t boast in God and praise His name. We boast in the foolish power of man and his frail and finite being. Yes friends, instead of praising and boasting about Almighty God, we blaspheme Him and try to get rid of Him. He’s not appreciated or even welcome in many parts of our world.
So when we diss our Creator and Controller, what else can we expect but troubles eh? For knowledge of God is man’s glory, as the prophet Jeremiah said so plainly on God’s behalf. ‘Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise LOVING-kindness, judgement (justice), and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.’ (Jer. 9:23-24)
It’s plain as day friends! Our heavenly Father is the source of all that we are and have! The fountainhead of Creation and Life! That means He is the ONE we ought to be bowing and paying holy reverence to, not the finite human being who comes from the dust of the earth and in a fleeting moment of time, returns to it.
That’s why the psalmist wrote thus in Psalm 146 – the blessedness of trusting God. ‘While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man (a human being), in whom there is no help (no salvation). His breath goeth forth (his spirit departs), he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.’ (Ps. 146:3-4) And we know that’s the gospel truth! Man dies and his thoughts perish. So how can we put our trust in a finite being that only lasts for a short time eh? It’s foolish to do that.
Now, let’s get some further reason why that’s unwise. Listen to the scholars as they explain the reasoning behind Jeremiah’s plea to his people in the verses we read earlier on. They say: ‘Having lamented the folly of his faithless people, Jeremiah turns their attention to the true source of wisdom – the Lord Himself (9:23-10:25).
True wisdom was to be found in the consistent following of the three central qualities of spiritual life. LOVING-kindness (the exercise of true covenant loyalty). That means kindness and LOVE are essential ingredients in the covenant, with each treating the other as they expect to be treated. Then there’s judgement (the consistent application of true justice for all), and righteousness (the maintenance of what was right in the sight of the Lord in all of life).’
Yes my brethren, we can only find true wisdom in following the basic tenets of the God of our forefathers; that’s LOVING-kindness, justice and righteousness! Otherwise, we’ll end up totally lost and hung out to dry following what the world calls wisdom. And there are so many other scriptures that encourage us to boast in the power of God rather than that of finite and frail man. Let’s look at a few of them.
Bruh David says it quite clearly in Psalm 34. ‘I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.’ (Ps. 34:1-3) Now that’s how true believers ought to behave!
And in Psalm 33, another psalmist says most profoundly: ‘There is no king saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A horse is a vain thing (a false hope) for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear (reverence) him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.’ (Ps. 33:16-22)
That says it all my fellow saints! Almighty God is our only real hope! And I like how the psalmist ends there by asking for the Lord’s mercy only as much as we hope in Him. That means to tie His mercy to our hope. Let His mercy be proportionate to our hope. Like Jesus asked in the Lord’s prayer: ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.’ (Matt. 6:12) Yes, that ups the ante, puts the burden on us; only as we hope and forgive, will we receive mercy and forgiveness. And if you want to read more on the subject, then read Cousin Sol’s treatise in Ecclesiastes 9:11-18, where he confirms that wisdom is better than strength, and true wisdom only comes from Almighty God.
Now, for those of us who truly believe and are doing our best to bear good fruit, let’s go home declaring (yeahhh!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our marvellous position in Christ Jesus. Altogether now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And let’s not forget, that if we endure to the very end, then that future will be even more glorious that we can ever ask or imagine. So, please let’s concentrate on enduring to the very end nuh, and thus seeing that more than glorious future. (smile) Much LOVE!
…one can only be truly wise…if one’s wisdom is gained from the fountainhead of wisdom…Almighty God…
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