Psalm 138

You have it. What are you going to do with it? It’s yours, but are you going to use it? We’ve been celebrating Pentecost today. We’re remembering when the gift we received, the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to us from the Father and the Son. But there’s a danger in celebrating Pentecost once a year. When we remember the gift of the Holy Spirit on this one day, we tend to forget that the Holy Spirit lives in us and works through us and empowers us every waking hour, and as we go to sleep, and even in those foggy moments as we’re just waking up. We have Him in us, the Holy Spirit is talking and shaping.

Now, what are we going to do? The Holy Spirit has given us the power. He’s implanted the ability. He’s generating the motivation. He’s creating the eagerness. It’s all in there, just waiting to come out. But will it? Will our eagerness turn into action? Will our desire to serve our Savior turn into actual words that are spoken to an unbeliever? Will the power of the Holy Spirit become the reason we can’t hold back, we won’t shut up, we get up and get out there in worship and service to the Lord. Verse 1:

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;

It is possible to praise the Lord with our mouths, and not with our hearts. Our lips can form the words, even if our hearts aren’t really in it. But if all of our hearts are filled with awe and wonder and gratitude to our Lord, our mouths won’t be able to hold back. And when all of our hearts are filled with praise, then our mouths are going praise the Lord wherever we go. It’s not possible to praise the Lord with all of our hearts only at church, only at worship. It’s not possible to praise the Lord with all of our hearts only with other Christians, only with people who agree with us. When all of our hearts are praising God, then we will be praising the Lord with anyone and everyone, anywhere and everywhere we find ourselves.

Even, verse 1:

before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

Just because God said we shall have no other gods before Him, doesn’t mean that some “gods” don’t try to be before Him. Ideas, philosophies, values and beliefs can become so powerful and so prominent that people are thinking of these ideas and perspectives more than they’re thinking about God. Luck is given more credit than the Giver of all good things. Chance is given the honor for the creation of the world, rather than the Creator. Multilateral talks with China and South Korea are the reason we hope for peace with North Korea, more than the Prince of Peace. Alternative energy is our hope for the future of this planet, rather than the omnipotent Source of all power.

And in the face of these ideas and attitudes, before these so-called “gods”, we sing God’s praise. Instead of luck, we give thanks to our Provider. Instead of chance, we gasp as we see the work of the Creator. Instead of hoping in diplomatic missions to bring peace, we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Prince of Peace holds the nations tightly in His hands. Instead of worrying about oil shortages or cost of gas, we trust that the Source of all power will supply all our needs. Our praise for God is in plain view. Our praise for God is clearly heard. Our praise for God may not be what the “gods” want to hear. It may sound silly to most people, compared to these great ideas that seem to promise all the answers. But we don’t care. The Holy Spirit has filled us so full, we must, we just have to praise our God in the face of these false hopes.

In the face of the “gods”, we boldly, confidently declare our praise. But before the face of THE God, we humbly bow. Verse 2:

I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness,

The same Spirit that has us boldly singing God’s praise in the face of “gods”, that same Spirit so convinces and assures us of God’s love and faithfulness that we’re driven to our knees, not out of tradition or ritual, not in a fake act of holiness, but driven to our knees overwhelmed, overcome, with the depth of His love and the comfort of His faithfulness and the glory of His majesty and the power of His commands:

for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

The Spirit convinced us that God actually loves us. The Spirit persuaded us that, because of Jesus, because Jesus died as punishment for our sins, that now God would always be faithful to His promises to us, and there wasn’t anything that we could do to lose God’s faithfulness.

The Spirit was working to assure us of God’s love and faithfulness, because we needed that assurance. We were in trouble, and we weren’t always so sure. But the Spirit made us sure. Verse 3:

When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.

Instead of backing off and hunkering down, instead of beaten and crushed, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we stand. Like Paul says, in 2 Corinthians 4:8,9:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed

So, instead of shutting up about God’s love and faithfulness, because we are so convinced by the Holy Spirit, verse 4:

May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth.

We pray this often, don’t we? We want our president to praise the Lord and follow God’s word. We want our leaders to make the right decision on the supreme court justice. We want our representatives to be Godly in how they spend money and how they decide about immigration and everything they do. We want them to hear the words of the Lord and follow them.

But here’s the thing: How will the kings hear, unless we tell them. How are the senators and representatives, how is the president, how are our leaders going to know the word of the Lord unless we speak it? Romans 10:14:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

They’re not going to know the word of the Lord unless someone tells them the word of the Lord. Unless we, the people of God, speak the word of the Lord to kings and presidents.

But we have to take a step back a moment. How are we going to talk to kings and senators and presidents about the Lord, if we’re afraid to talk to our friends and neighbors and coworkers about the Lord? How are we going to bring God’s word to the powerful, when we don’t dare to bring God’s word to the normal?

God is speaking. God is speaking through His Holy Spirit. God is speaking, through His Holy Spirit, using our mouths. He’s speaking, unless we’re not really that convinced of His love and faithfulness. He’s speaking to those who don’t yet know, unless we’re not really that amazed with the gospel ourselves. Listen, if it doesn’t take our breath away, on a regular basis, that Jesus died, that Jesus rose, that Jesus lives in us, if that doesn’t hit us over the head and drive us to our knees, there is no reason for us to open our mouths. If we’re not amazed, if we’re not humbled, if we’re not praising God in spontaneous thanksgiving for what He’s done, then we’re really not much different from the people who don’t know the gospel.

But when the Holy Spirit has come into us and is convincing and assuring and teaching, then glory and the power and wisdom and holiness of God will force our mouths open. Hardly a day will go by without us talking about what Jesus is doing in our lives, through His Spirit. And if a day does go by, then that day will feel incomplete. It will feel like we skipped a meal, or forgot to comb our hair, when we haven’t talked to someone about Jesus in our lives. Verse 5:

May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.

Listen a moment. The Spirit is speaking. Listen. He’s pointing out the ways of the Lord. He’s bringing to mind times when we were confused or frightened or filled with sorrow. He’s helping us to remember the pain, the hurt, the anger that that person caused. And then the Spirit, do you hear Him, the Spirit is reminding us of what the Lord did, His ways, the way He handles things. The Spirit is reminding us that when we were confused, the Lord assured us that He wasn’t, not even a little bit. When we were frightened, the Lord shooed away whatever was frightening us, and replaced our fear with peace. When the pain and hurt and anger went so deep, the Lord made us able to forgive. To forgive! Can you believe it? Do you remember? That’s the Holy Spirit, reminding us of the ways of the Lord.

Listen to the Spirit, reminding us who our Lord is. Verse 6:

Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.

As majestic as our God is, as powerful, as holy, as mysterious, He notices, especially the lowly, the humble. He sees the people that most people don’t see. The people that don’t dress well, that don’t hold influential positions in the community, the people that don’t speak eloquently, with lots of important sounding words, those are the people that God notices in particular. They are the people that hold a special part in God’s heart.

Just look at where Jesus spent His time. He gravitated towards the lepers and the prostitutes, He went looking for the poor, the outcast. From the beginning of His life, God spoke to rough and tumble shepherds who didn’t even have enough respect from the people to be allowed to testify in a court of law. But it was the shepherds who heard the news first, that God had been born. In His life, Jesus especially noticed those people that no one in His day really wanted to notice, women, children, tax collectors, Samaritans. He was mocked for taking so much notice of them, for spending so much time with them. For the lowly, the mocked, the ignored, the powerless, this is your God, the God that the Spirit is revealing to you. Know your God, and you will talk about your God.

Now, for the rest of us, the proud, the arrogant, we who have our lives all together, well, He knows us, but from afar. See, we don’t really need Him that much. We have our lives together. We’re good people, after all. We’ve worked hard at arriving to this place in our lives. God is there, sure. We know Him, He knows us. We can just go for a while without really noticing Him.

But, at some point, even the proud fall. Even the arrogant become lowly. And in that moment, then we know. Through the humility, the Spirit is convincing, assuring, persuading of God’s love and faithfulness. Verse 7:

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.

You have the Holy Spirit in you. Listen. He’s comforting when we’re in trouble. He’s assuring when we doubt. He’s reminding of God’s faithfulness, when we’re just not sure. He’s convincing us of His love, when we don’t feel very lovable.

You have the Holy Spirit. He’s working in you. What are you going to do with Him? Will you be convinced? Will you be assured? Will you be loved? Will you trust? Will you speak of His love and faithfulness, in the face of the “gods”, in the presence of kings, in the coffee room with co-workers, in the front yard with neighbors? Because the Spirit is working, because of the Spirit:

We will praise you, O LORD, with all our heart;