The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God

“I will bless the Lord at all times” – Psa. 34:1

These words are the opening verse of Psalm 34, a psalm of David written “when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.” (superscription to the psalm).
When one considers the context in which they were spoken these words become remarkable.

Bless the Lord at All Times: Clearly, the words of this verse that draw the most attention are at all times and continually. David was resolved to praise the Lord, not only in the days of prosperity and peace, but also in his days of adversity. In this lesson I would like to focus our attention on 4 times or periods of life that we should be mindful to praise God.

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH – PART 2
PRIDE OF LIFE

We ended our lesson last week with these words from Solomon. “7 Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): 8 Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me; 9 Lest I be full and deny You, and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.” (Prov. 30:7-9). I want you to know that taking pride is Not the same as being proud, or more to the point, being filled with pride.

As Christians we all should take pride in our appearance in order that we do not dress disheveled or in sensual filthiness. We should maintain our cars, homes, and lawns in a respectable manner—so as to give no place for the outside world to point the finger. We all must be take pride of our Christianity, our faith, our hope. We must remember the scripture that says, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” (Rom. 12:3).

Now—let us consider in this lesson the fruits of Pride…

One of These Days

Procrastination is summed up in the words of Ralph Kramden, “One of these days… “. And when he said that it was funny, but all too serious spiritually, because brethren can get trapped by the devil by repeating one of these day’s too often when it comes to doing the work God has called all Christians to do. More often than not, one of these days means never. The Hebrew writer warns all Christians, “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares…” (Heb. 12:1).  One of these days I’ll stop smoking. One of these days I’ll be more faithful. 

But make no mistake, one of these days more often than not, really does mean never. 

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT – PRIDE OF LIFE

Taking Pride is Not the same as Being Proud:
• Everyone must have a sense of self-respect. We learn to take pride in our appearance in order that we do not dress disheveled or in sensual filthiness.
• We maintain our cars, homes, and lawns in a respectable manner. We can be proud of our Christianity, our faith.

However, when self-respect becomes exaggerated, pride develops into sin. Man begins to think too highly of himself.
“2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,” (Rom. 12:2-4).

Having said that the Pride of Life is sin… Deut. 8: (18) “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may [d]establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

WHAT IS MAN? King David considered the glory of the LORD simply by contemplating His creation. He wrote, “3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit[a] him? 5 For You have made him a little lower than [d]the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. ” (Psalm 8:3-5). 

When I consider my own life, I am undeserving of the blood of Christ, yet He loved me, He died for me, and by His blood I was washed. What amazing love!

In this lesson I will address two points…
1. What is man?
2. God’s mindfulness of man which He created

And as always we turn to the Holy scriptures for answers…

LUST OF THE FLESH!

Jesus taught, “29 If your right eye causes you to [a]sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to [b]sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29-30). 

Sounds pretty strong, yet when properly understood, this saying of Jesus can save your soul from eternal Hell’s fire. That the world loves to promote the lust of the flesh is clearly an undeniable fact. Nearly every television commercial, nearly every “reality show”, nearly every movie produced in our time will have some form of the lust of the flesh. Sometimes it is subtle, sometimes disgustingly or utterly bad, obnoxious, contemptible and vile. There will be most that think you strange when you don’t approve, don’t participate, and say no to this sin. That’s ok, because saying no to the devil is saying yes to your Lord, Master, and King. 

WHEN TO SHAKE THE DUST: Jesus commanded His disciples, “And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet” (Matthew 10:14). There are conditions that require us to “shake off the dust from your feet”. In this lesson we will consider some reasons why I would be better to stand back and trust God to work on the heart of one you have tried to share the gospel with. Let us begin then with,when they refuse to listen…

What are you looking at? What is the Devil putting in front of your eyes? What images draw your attention off of purity and holiness? Uncontrolled our eyes can draw us into sin and there are many examples in the scriptures about those who simply looking at the wrong thing lost sight of purity and holiness. God says, Keep Your Eyes On What You Love: Love God – Matt. 22:37-38; Matt. 6:19-21, Love Truth – 2 Thess. 2:9-10 and Love One Another – John 13:34-35.
In this lesson we will expound on these things…

4 THINGS JESUS DID NOT KNOW

No, I am not saying that Jesus didn’t know everything. There are many things that sinful man does and many things man may think, but God is not like man, and Jesus being, “God with us”, did not know sin, that is He never committed sin. ““Remember this, and [a]show yourselves men; Recall to mind, O you transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’” (Isaiah 46:8-10). 

Yes, Jesus knew no sin for you and me, for the whole of mankind. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21). Neither did Jesus know about the second coming in the way man fabricates it. There have been hundreds, if not thousands of failed prophets predicting when and where Jesus would return and not just in the first century but from then until our day. In fact some like Alice a. Bailey predict His return will be after 2025, and Frank J. Tipler has Jesus returning by 2057. Jesus made it clear that He Himself didn’t know. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of [a]heaven, but My Father only”  (Matthew 24:36). 

There are two more things that Jesus did not know…

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH – KNOW YOUR ENEMY

Paul says, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57). And glory be to God that we indeed are victorious through our Lord Jesus Christ, but, that does not mean the battles are over. We are still at war, and we still have a foe who will do anything and everything to wipe “the faith” off of the face of the earth. The enemy has many names and many forms. 

I know that most expect to hear of names like, the serpent, the devil, Satan and the roaring lion. These of course are accurate but have you ever thought about humanism or relativism? We are fighting daily against the father of lies, and he is good at what he does as Paul said, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14). 

For the next few minutes let’s consider the importance of knowing your enemy…