3. Dedication For Eternal Security Psalm 30:3

Text:  “O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down into the pit (Hell).”

                                                                                                                     Psalm 30:3.

Good morning, delivered and secured Christian!  Praise God, by His Sovereign grace alone, you and I have been dedicated in Eternity; set apart for Salvation and Eternal security by God.  Almighty Lord God has ordained us, or ‘elected’ us for His Salvation, before the foundations of the world.  It was then that He ‘gave’ us to His dear Son, Christ Jesus, and marked us out to be saved in time, according to the Scriptures.  We were, thus, ‘dedicated’ to be delivered and to receive God’s Eternal security.  Wow!  What a gracious and powerful, and Almighty Lord God we serve!  Hallelujah!

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification (set apart, dedicated) of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ: Grace (unmerited favour from God) unto you, and peace be multiplied.”             (1 Peter 1:2)

Jesus said: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him/her that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”  (John 6:37)

Why will Christ Jesus not ‘cast out’ those that come unto Him?  Because He came to do the Father’s will in all things, and the Father has elected (chosen) and given to Him those whom the Father has dedicated, set apart in Eternity, to be redeemed by Christ’s sinless Blood.  Wow! 

See how God’s Salvation plan unfolds so succinctly?  Glory to the Lamb Who is worthy!  Glory to the Father for His grace!  Glory to the Spirit for His quickening power, His making alive the souls of us who were ‘…dead in trespasses and sin…’!  Hallelujah!   “Salvation is of the Lord!”  (Ephesians 2:1;5) (Jonah 2:9)

True Christians are elected in Eternity, delivered in time; and kept secure forever - and all by the Sovereign grace of Almighty Lord God, Jehovah. 

“I give unto them Eternal life (not temporal life!); and they shall never perish (Spiritually), neither shall any man (including ourselves!) pluck them out of My hand.  My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are One.”  (John 10:27-30)

Verse 3.  “O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave.  Mark, it is not, ’I hope so’; but it is, ’Thou hast; Thou hast; Thou hast’ - three times over.  David is quite sure, beyond a doubt, that God has done great things for him, whereof he is exceeding glad.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 144)

Verse 3.  “…Thou hast kept me alive.”  The Lord God, in His Sovereign grace and mercy to Hell-deserving sinners, saved me, a convicted terrorist murderer, in a prison cell at the infamous high security Maze Prison here in Northern Ireland, UK, on August 12^th, 1979.  That is a full 36 years ago.  Since that day of His Salvation - both inside the prison and here in the outside world - I have survived terrorist murder bids and endured numerous terrorist ’death threats’, and am still alive and serving my Lord God Who saved me.  Surely this is testimony enough of the truth of God’s revealed Word?  For not only did the Lord God save me back in 1979, but He has kept me alive, physically and literally, ever since He did!  Give God the glory!  Raise up a shout of praise to Him! Hallelujah!  Thank you, Lord God!  (See the book by Brent Riggs, ‘Terrorist to Evangelist’, Amazon.co.uk)

“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake…We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.  For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus‘ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”      (2 Corinthians 4:5-11)

Verse 3.  “…Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.  Not only has the Lord God kept me alive, physically, through many perilous years, He has and will keep me alive Spiritually, ’…that I should not go down to the pit.’!  The pit of Hell is for unbelieving sinners, believing sinners shall never go there.  We have God’s own Word on this Eternal matter:

Psalm 9:17. “The wicked shall be turned into Hell.  I have read of a loadstone in Ethiopia which has two corners, with one it draws the iron to it, with the other it puts the iron from it; so God hath two hands, of mercy and justice; with the one He will draw the godly to Heaven, with the other He will thrust the sinner to Hell; and oh, how dreadful is that place!  (Thomas Watson 1690?) 

“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”  (Revelation 20:12-15)

 “O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down into the pit (Hell).”  (Psalm 30:3)

Thought:  Elected, sealed, and Eternally delivered - we are ’His people’; we are Eternally secure in Christ Jesus.  Let us live accordingly to His greater glory?

2. Dedication For Healing Psalm 30:2

Text:  “O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me." Psalm 30:2

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3

Good morning, praying Christian!  Are you one of those ‘weirdoes’ who are constantly found talking (praying) to some Person that you cannot touch, feel, taste, or see?  I am!  Praise God we are just such worldly defined ’weirdoes’!  We have been given God’s gift of true faith; faith to believe, feel, touch, taste, and see the Lord God Almighty, and to fellowship with this unseen Lord God, continually, in worshipful and thankful prayer.  Hallelujah!  We are ’Weirdoes for Jesus’!  Glory to His Name! 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is (I.e that He exists, even when we do not see Him!), and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11:1;6)

David, Israel’s godly Psalmist, was another one such ’weirdo’, who cried out unto the Living Lord God Whom he couldn’t feel, taste, or see.  Yet, the proof and reality of God’s existence and Divine Presence is in the ’pudding’ of prayers answered; and Psalm 30: is a list of prayers David prayed, that were answered for all to see. 

Faith really can ’move mountains’.  Praise and glory unto the Lord God Who hears our prayers, and answers us in His Almighty grace and power.  Amen.

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for everyone that asketh (asks, and continues to ask God) receiveth (receives and continues to receive from God); and he/she that seeketh findeth; and to him/her that knocketh it shall be opened.”  (Matthew 7:7-8)

Verse 2.  “O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me.  If our watch is out of order, we take it to the watchmaker; if our body or soul be in an evil plight, let us resort to Him Who created them and has unfailing skill to put them in right condition.  As for our Spiritual diseases, nothing can heal these evils but the touch of the Lord Christ; if we do but touch the hem of His garment, we shall be made whole, while if we embrace all other physicians in our arms, they can do us no service.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 144)

“Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!”  This was the plaintive cry in Jericho that day; the crying out from the heart of one who had been bound in blindness all his life and who wanted with all his heart to be healed, to be given his sight.  Bartimaeus had heard that Jesus of Nazareth was performing great, otherwise impossible, miracles throughout the land, and the blind man, by his hearing, believed and because he truly believed, he cried out in a fashion in which he was determined to be heard, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!”

“And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”  (Mark 10:46-52)

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

“O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me. (Psalm 30:2)

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

Hear our late brother Spurgeon on this matter of Divine Healing:  “No doubt some are held back from such action by the freezing power of despair. They have reached the conclusion that there is no hope for them.  The promises of the Gospel they regard as the voice of God to others, but as having no cheering word for them.  When men have no hope, they soon have no fear.  Is not this a dreadful thing?  May the Lord save you from such a condition!  Despair of God’s mercy is an unreasonable thing: if you think you have grounds for it, the lying spirit must have suggested them to you.  Holy Scripture contains no justification for hopelessness.  Neither the nature of God, nor the Gospel of God, nor the Christ of God, warrant despair.  Multitudes of texts encourage hope; but no one Scripture, rightly understood, permit’s a doubt of the mercy of God.  ‘All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.’  Jesus, the great Healer, is never baffled by any disease of human nature; he can cast out a legion of devils, and raise the dead.  Oh that I could whisper hope into the dull ear of yonder mourner!  Oh that I could drop a rousing thought into the sullen heart of the self-condemned!  How glad I should be!”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Sermons on the Miracles, page 71)

“O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me. (Psalm 30:2)

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

There is an old adage that says, ‘There is none so blind as him who will not see.’  Self-will can blind us to the existence of God, and thus, to the healing power of God according to His will and Eternal purpose.  Only believe, dear reader, believe in Christ.

Thought: Sin is an Eternal disease, cry out now for Christ’s healing. He will hear.

Psalm 30: A Song of Dedication 1. Dedication For Deliverance

Text:  I will extol Thee, O Lord; for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

                                                                                                                        Psalm 30:1.

Good morning, Divinely delivered Christian!  Apart from the Divine deliverance of your soul and mine from the death of ‘original sin’, and from countless sins we have wilfully committed during our years of unbelief - you and I, like king David, have no doubt been Divinely delivered again and again from gross failings - after we were graciously saved - in word, in thought, and in deed.  Fact. 

Honesty is the best policy when the personal sin question is poised.  If we have no true confession of our vile sin - we have no true repentance from it, and therefore, no forgiveness of that sin.  True and sincere repentance brings perfect cleansing.

Therefore, it is much easier for you and I to honestly ‘confess our sin’ to God, and then we can be shown His gracious forgiveness and new sanctification.  We have our Father’s Word on this vital matter of daily sins committed after we have been saved.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us (sanctify us afresh) from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.”  (1 John 1:8-10) (John 14:6) (John 1:1;14)

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man/woman availeth much.”  (James 5:16)

“Title:  ‘A Psalm and Song at the Dedication of the House of David.’; or rather, ‘A Psalm; a Song of Dedication for the House, by David.’  A song of faith since the house of Jehovah, here intended, David never lived to see.  A Psalm of praise, since a sore judgment had been stayed and a great sin forgiven.”  (Treasury of David, page 144)

Dictionary Definition: Dedicate: (verb transitive) to set apart and consecrate to some sacred purpose; to devote wholly or chiefly; to inscribe or give orally in tribute (to anyone); to inaugurate or open.

In other words, David in writing this Psalm, looks forward in faith to the purpose of the great temple that his son Solomon will one day build - in dedication to the Lord God Almighty, Jehovah, who has, will, and will always deliver His people from all sin and harm.  Psalm 30: therefore, is a Psalm of dedication to the perpetual worship of the One true and Almighty Lord God, Jehovah.  The Divine Deliverer.  Praise His Name!

“And God spake all these words saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”  (Exodus 20:1-3)

Verse 1. “I will extol Thee.  I will have high and honourable conceptions of Thee and give them utterance in my best music.  Others may forget Thee, murmur at Thee, despise Thee, blaspheme Thee, but ‘I will extol Thee,’ for I have been favoured above all others.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 144)

Verse 1.  “For Thou hast lifted me up.  Here is an antithesis, ‘I will extol Thee, for Thou hast exalted me.’  Grace has uplifted us from the pit of Hell, from the ditch of sin, from the Slough of Despond, from the bed of sickness, from the bondage of doubts and fears; have we no song to offer for all this?  How high has our Lord lifted us?  Lifted us up into the children’s place, to be adopted into the family; lifted us up into union with Christ, ‘to sit together with Him in Heavenly places.’  Lift high the Name of our God, for He has lifted us above the stars.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 144)

"Hear O Israel: the Lord our God is One Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…”  (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

In antithetical balances, the verses of Psalm 30: rise and fall like the waves of a sea of action and reaction: Lift up the Name of the Lord, for the Lord has lifted us up; cry unto the Lord, and He will hear and heal us; the Lord brings our souls UP from the grave of sin and Spiritual death, thus, we do not go DOWN into the pit of Hell.  Surely these Divine contrasts evidenced personally in our own lives, should cause us to sing and give thanks at the remembrance of His Holiness and His Sovereign grace to us?

“The verb is used, in its original meaning, to denote the reciprocating motion of the buckets of a well, one descending as the other rises, and vice versa; and is here applied with admirable propriety to point out the various reciprocations and changes of David’s fortunes as described in this Psalm, as to prosperity and adversity.”  (Samuel Chandler 1693-1766) 

“I will extol Thee, O Lord; for Thou hast lifted me up…”

Thought:  “And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.  Oh, happy they whom the Lord keeps so consistent in character that the lynx eyes of the world can see no real fault in them.  Is this our case?  Let us ascribe all the glory to Him Who has sustained us in our integrity.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 144)

8. The Voice of the Lord Gives Strength!

Text:  “The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.”       

Psalm 29:11.

          “The Lord thundered from Heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice.  And He sent out arrows (lightning?) and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them…He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were too strong for me…He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me.”                                                           2 Samuel 22:14-20.

Good morning, Divinely strengthened Christian!  Were it not for the Lord’s Divine help and the impartation of His Divine strength - you and I, as sincere regenerate Christians, would have been utterly consumed and destroyed by our enemies long before now.  Praise God for His Divinely imparted help and strength!

Verse 11.  “The Lord will give strength unto His people.  Note that our Bible verse does NOT teach us that the Lord will give strength unto ALL people - but only unto ‘His people’!  The Lord Jesus Christ was not sent into this sinful world to save ALL people, only ‘His people’ from our sins.  Check it out, Christian friend, learn this lesson well.  If we are NOT ‘His people’, then we will never receive His Salvation, ever!

“And she (Mary) shall bring forth a Son, and thou (Joseph) shalt call His Name Jesus: for He shall save ‘HIS PEOPLE’ from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21)

“All that the Father giveth Me shall come unto Me; and him/her that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.  For I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.  And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise him/her up again at the last day.  And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that of every one which seeth the Son (with Spiritual sight), and believeth (trusts, and continues to trust) on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him/her up at the last day.”  (John 6:37-40)

Verse 11.  “The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.  Power was displayed in the hurricane whose course this Psalm so grandly pictures; in the cool calm after the storm, that power is promised to be the strength of the chosen.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 143)

Verse 11. “The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.

“First: The Gospel puts that price into his hand which will assuredly purchase it; it is peace of conscience, because peace of conscience is but a discharge under God’s hand, that the debt due to Divine justice is fully paid.

“Secondly: Every true believer hath peace of conscience in the promise, that we count as good as ready money.  It is worth your reading the whole Psalm to see what weight the Lord gives to this sweet promise.  The Psalm is spent is showing what great things God can do, and that with no more trouble to Himself that a word.  This God that doeth all this promiseth to bless His people with peace.  A sad peace, were it not, to have quiet streets, but cutting of throats in our houses?  Yet infinitely more sad to have peace both in our streets and houses, but war and blood in our guilty consciences.  ‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.’

“Thirdly:  It is called ‘the peaceable fruit of righteousness.’  It shoots as naturally from Holiness as any fruit in its kind doth from the seed proper to it.”  (William Gurnall 1617-1679)

The Voice of the Lord Gives Strength.  Any earthly father knows that his child can begin to be afraid, even of the darkness of his/her own bedroom.  However, once the child’s cry is heard, and the father’s voice of assurance is heard - the child’s fears are abated, and his/her heart is stilled at the sound of the father’s loving voice.

“So then faith cometh (comes, and continues to come) by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  But I say, Have they not heard?  Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”  (Romans 10:17-18)

Spiritually regenerate Christians, those of us born again of God’s Holy Spirit, and washed from our sins in the sinless and precious Blood of Christ the Lamb - received initial faith to believe (trust) in Christ and were graciously saved.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

From that day forth, we are often faced with dangers, perils, hardships, persecutions - but during those unsettling times, we find our Father’s voice, spoken in His written Word, to be of a great comfort and reassurance.   We are children of God, in Christ.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them (intimately), and they follow Me; and I give unto them Eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man (including our sin-prone selves!) pluck them out of My hand.  My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are ONE.”  (John 10:27-30)  What a blessed assurance!  Praise God.

Thought: Next time you hear thunder and see lightning in the skies - know that your Father in Heaven is speaking peace and encouragement to your soul and to mine.  May Psalm 29: be a real blessing unto you, beloved Christian friend.