Like King David. we all have times when we love, worship and rejoice in God AND we have seasons when we would rather live on our own seeking joy and pleasure apart from God and His ways. On this 5th Sunday of Lent we discover that Psalm 51 is so much more than a prayer for guilty sinners whose transgressions have been exposed. Psalm 51 is a prayer of intimacy and honesty with God who loves us, knows us and remains with us both when we worship and when we wander.
Sermons on Lent 2018
Often we cry to God in distress and either glance His way or neglect Him altogether when life is good. In Psalm 107 we are summoned to always consider the steadfast love of the Lord and to give Him thanks both privately and in the congregation of the people. On this 4th Sunday of Lent we unite to recall our God’s love and to give Him thanks.
We were made to live with God. Yet, like David, we wander, breaking the Divine’s laws and heart. Fortunately, God pursues His people in many ways. On this 3rd Sunday of Lent we see in Psalm 19 that God reveals Himself to His wayward king through His creation and His written Word. This was a gift to David and, for those of us who live after the first coming of Jesus, we have the clearest demonstration of God’s love and grace. In Christ, we can be restored and reconciled to our God-given purpose – the blessed life with God.
We were designed to experience God while living in His presence daily. Yet suffering can cause us to turn from God. On this 2nd day of Lent we meditate on David’s response to suffering. He felt forsaken by God and he questioned God, yet he continued to cry out and come to God. A thousand years later the Gospels report that one of David’s descendants fulfilled the suffering and joy originally penned by David. As He hung on a Roman cross atoning for the sins of the world, Jesus expressed words from Psalm 22 to the Father identifying with David and all of us when we are afflicted with suffering.
This first week of Lent, David’s prayer in Psalm 25 reveals that shame, hurt, confusion, loneliness, guilt, concerns for others and many other afflictions are a part of our humanity. Rather than figuring these things out before we come to God, these are the very things our Heavenly Father, whose love is steadfast, is calling us to bring to Him just as we are.