Psalm 32

What is important in life today? What is the most urgent issue in your life today?



David has many important things.

1) His Kingdom
2) His enemies to be taken care
3) His Throne
4) His instruments and his music

Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven.

This psalm was written after David confesses his transgression and finds forgiveness.

All these are very important for David.
But the most urgent matter for him is forgiveness from God.
Because When kept silent with his matter of sin, Gods hand was heavy upon him. Davids vital signs are not normal , it was like in summer.


3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer

So the most urgent matter for David was forgiveness of God.
Today for many of us, we don't realize that the urgent matter for each one of us is forgiveness of God.
It is at that place there is joy. It is at that place there is worship.

You cant just come to Church and clap hands with others.
It is only when you receive that forgiveness of God you can worship God.

There can many many important things in your life, but your most important thing in life is did you seek forgiveness of God.


What can you hide before God.
The bible says , there is nothing hidden in Gods sight, everything is laid bare. even your thoughts and its intentions , everything is seen by God.
What can you hide in the sight of God.

We think a person is blessed.
These are the days where blessing is considered by what we see outside.
You get rich, people say you are blessed, you get a good job you are blessed.

We also see in bible, 

Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;


But here he says There is blessing if a person is not imputed with sin.

I have been there and i know what i did and man i also know the freedom in confession of those sins.

I know what it means to love God.
I know what it means to sin against God.
I know what it means to hide it against God.
I know what it means to come to repentance before God.

Get Right with God

No Deceit.
Today you see many people they talk one thing but they had other intentions in their heart.

When we don't hide before God, He becomes our hiding place.


Luke 5: 19 - 24
19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.

20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

Romans 8:32
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.


When you receive the Word of God, don't be like a horse or mule.
Horse or mule, 
They need the bit and bridle. which goes through the mouth where there is no teeth.

This is used as communication. The horse doesnt simply obey what the rider says, but to make it obey, he use the bit.

Return

Revival has returning.

15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

Salvation has 2 parts.
Return and Rest

Return  is the first aspect of salvation.

Genesis 15:12 - 16


12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall [d]go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

When God spoke to Abraham about his descendants, He said verse 16, in fourth generation they shall return here.

Israelites had no salvation when in egypt.
Before crossing Red sea, Israel was complaining about returning.

Exodus 14:11
11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?  


When you face hardships , do not complain about returning to the promise of God.

Imagine, could Israel had seen salvation without returning to promise land?
No they will be slaves.


A Person who does not return to God, who does not return to the house of God, to the promise of God, is always a slave in the place where they are.


Restoration begins by returning.


Luke 15:18
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 

This Prodigal Son - asked father for inheritance.

If my father gives inheritance, i will invest this much in mutual funds, this much in real estate. and this much in some other things.

But prodigal sons are different.
They don't love money, the love the pleasures , enjoyment.

Whenever you go out of the Fathers house, the place of promise, there looks like there is some enjoyment, there seems to be some temporary pleasure but soon it will go away.

The backsliding person - enjoys a moment of sin.
and he becomes slave.

and he starts eating the pigs food.


God has His ways of bringing His people back.

Amos 4:6 ,He says


“Also I gave you [d]cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.

Whenever a famine comes, a storm comes, 
God allows these situation to bring us back to Him.

In Famine, In Storm, Always think about the Fathers house.
This is what coming to senses.

1) Coming to senses : what is going on in my fathers house.

This man first thing is he thought about is Food.

In the place outside of promise - servants has no food.

But the Fathers house - has food even for servants. Because He is good good father.

You should come to the Fathers house for food.

There is continuous supply of food in fathers house.

Leviticus 11: 2
 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: 3 Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat.

Coming to senses always involves coming to God.

Matthew 27:

 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”

And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Judas went and hanged.  

But Prodigal son said 
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him


2) Going back - involves Godly sorrow.
2 Corinthians 7:10
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 


Repentance:
For godly sorrow brings repentance.

We keep saying sorry , sorry to the Lord many times. but we don't really repent.

Help people who return. The Prodigal son has come to the place of humbling , make me one of your servants.

The dead becomes alive,  the lost is found in the Fathers house.

24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.


Many people inside the Church act like this elder brother  who get jealous of what the prodigal son got.
about the attention that prodigal son got. about the time the father spends with prodigal son.

In returning there is salvation.

Hunger for God

In a physical body, God has created hunger for every one of us.
And how do we know we are hungry?
 you feel weak, you feel weary, the stomach makes sounds., sometimes dizzy.

These are all good signs for a person which shows that his digestive system and his brain signals are all working fine.

Some people say they are not feeling hungry.
Recently what hapenned, I went crazy and tried some variety of food.
Early morning , I would eat 5 eggs with broccoli, spinach, and all the veggies on it
And on top that, a milk shake ( with all nuts and dry fruits) , then i stopped feeling hungry for many days.
and to come back to regular routine of feeling hungry i took some time.

Just like a human body gets hungry, even the Spirit of a man has hunger inside.

Most of the times, We don't realize that hunger. Only something drastic happens we see that manifestation of that hunger.

Sometimes,
Have you ever felt lonely?
Have you ever felt , this is all worthless.

Worship is an inbuilt character .

Every person in this creation does Worship.
Some worship Living God, some idols, some nature, some other persons, some material things.

But everyone has this heart of worship... They all worship to fill that void.


Psalm 143:6
I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land.

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.

How much is too much?

Hunger is a place of dependent on God
It is a constant place of need. 


Deutoronomy 8:3

"He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.


Psalm 107: 
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Hunger  reveals dependency on God.


Isaiah Hunger releases dreams
we sing the song Lord , I need you.  But When how do we get hungry.

as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
    but awakens hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
    but awakens faint and thirsty still


Mark 1:35
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Luke 1:53
He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.


A 
A Hungry Man Prays:
Psalm 107:33
There He makes the hungry dwell,
That they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
A hungry man cries out for the city he is in. A hungry man looks at the lost, and his heart cries.
How can we look at a lost city and just go away.

Hungry people change the atmosphere?


Hungry man depends on the Word of God

Jesus is the True bread of heaven.

32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 

Disciples spent all the years with Him but did not get that hunger.

Only after the resurrection and the anointing came upon them, then there is the real hunger for God.

Psalm 31: 1-12

Title of this scripture portion is Broken Vessels

This world is a competitive world. Right from the schooling. You compete with fellow people.

Even John and James were competing with rest of disciples. 

We compete in SAT scores.You go to jobs, companies select best of the candidates .

There is no place for the weak candidates.

This world likes successful people. It rejects failures.
World does not choose weakest of candidates.
There is no place for broken people in the world.

God is not a man. He does not operate how man operates.

His ways are higher than mans ways.

David was a man who has seen brokenness in life.

Ignored man.
As a youngster, nobody would invite him for a prayer that's happening in his home. 

We don't know how many programs like this he would have been ignored.

Today are you ignored and feel like a Broken vessel, Do not worry, even David was broken as he was ignored by his own family.There is a brokenness.

I am a reproach among all my enemies, But especially among my neighbors, And am repulsive to my acquaintances; Those who see me outside flee from me.
Psalms 31:11 NKJV

John 5:

3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, [b]paralyzed, [c]waiting for the moving of the water.

so many broken people.

The man with infirmity for 38 years , not only had physical brokenness but had relational brokeness.

Brokenness by sins of others.

David killed Goliath, but immediately he saw brokenness because of Saul's jealousy.

Sarah was mocked by Hagar because Hagar got a child  but Sarah did not.

Hannah was mocked by Elkanah.

Brokenness when we stand for Word of God.

And because David determined not to rebel against his authority, he has to go through brokenness.

There might be times when you might have said , Even if people oppose, you say I will do what Gods Word say, you might see brokenness in your life.

David also say  he was broken because of his iniquity.

V 10

For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing; My strength fails because of my iniquity, And my bones waste away. 

Psalms 31:10 NKJV

Sometimes we see brokenness because of own weakness.

David is a perfect representation of an imperfect and broken man.

The world rejects broken people. But Jesus embraces the broken people.

While Jesus walked on this Earth , He touched people from various walks of life.

Poor
Lame
Blind
Paralyzed
5 times Divorced

All kinds of broken people .

But He makes broken vessels into Vessel of Honor.

Can your worship today be , God I come to you , I turn to you.
Here I am with my brokenness.
Heal me, build me into a vessel of honor.


2 Timothy 2:21

21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, [h]sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 

God and money

Synonmys

Mammon - Money - Wealth - Riches.
How many of you love being Rich? Trust fund babies?
Do you love having more money?
How many of you love being millionaires?
Most of  the people love to have money?
The one proof that most people want to have more money is
look at the number of people who buy lotteries

In 2017

Music - 6.8, Movie- 10.7, Video 13.1, Books - 14.6, Sports - 17.8, Lottery - 70.5
People want to become rich.

what is Money?

Medium/Exchange
Every blessing is from God.

Then why we need to talk about it?


Money is one of the most powerful resource for man to live.
To buy, to  eat, to goto school /college, to shelter, clothes. - we hae to pay and then get it

Money is important to serve mankind.

But this thing that is important to serve becomes a master in many peoples lives.
and it became god for many people.
people fight for it, crave for it, lust for it, covet it, fall for it, kill others for it, kill themselves.

Very soon you will find yourself , tryng to work for money, earn  and earn more, earn to get rich, earn to be millionaires etc.

so if there is a right age to learn about the fundamental truths about money is NOW.
Not just money, about life, about sex.

Money:
1) everything we have is a blessing from God.

In Olden days, religious leaders considered being poor is godliness.
is that true.

Money is needed to buy your food, clothing, shelter. you need money.

Gods attitude towards money:

God gives  us richly all things to enjoy.

1 TImothy 6:17
17 but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 



Dangers of Money:

1)Root of all evil

some people overwork to put themselves in richness
Proverbs 23:4,5
4 Do not overwork to be rich;
Because of your own understanding, cease!
5 [a]Will you set your eyes on that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings;
They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

Mark 4:18,919
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 
19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, 
and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Managing money is the problem.
Average credit card debt - 8092.
Contentment: 
Some people earn, but their pockets are like a hole.

Haggai 1:
“You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”


Sow - Reap

2)Becomes a God.

Luke 16:13
13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Gods attitude towards money:
You can use it to serve you. 
We Cannot serve 2 masters

Proverbs 11:4 Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,  but righteousness delivers from death.

What should be your attitude towards this money
1) Use it in a wise way. Be content. ( some poeple take credit card loans to do shopping, i was one of them)
  1 Timothy 6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
   A man who is hungry, he will be eating in his sleep.

2) Give it  - It is blessed to give than to receive.
give your examples.


3) Do not set your heart on it. Not posess it . 

Dont work to become millionaire. Develop passion and work.
1 Corinthinas 10:26 All is Gods
Psalm 62:10 ..if riches increase, do not set your heart on them