Sunday March 14, 2010

He Has Made Me Glad!

Ps. 34:2: "My soul shall make its boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Introduction: Of all people Christians should be glad but many are not. True worshipers are glad because their GOD gives them joy and gladness!

43 times the word glad appears in the Old Testament. Here are some other verses:

Psa 9:2: I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

Psa 31:7: I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities,

Psa 32:11: Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Psa 40:16: Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!"

Psa 68:3: But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.

Psa 64:10: The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.

Psa 70:4: Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified!"

I. What does it mean to be "glad?"

The word means: "to brighten" has the idea of being cheerful, to cheer up” includes the idea of being encouraged. Worshipers are encouraged. We're not discouraged! The word is often connected with joy and rejoicing to show the emotional happiness of those who know, love and trust in God.

Not the happiness that comes from happenings or circumstances. It is a deep seated positive attitude and outlook on life that is bestowed upon an individual who is trusting and worshiping God.

Lovers of God are glad! They are joyful! They don't walk around looking like they have been sucking on a dill pickle all day long. Worshipers, lovers of God, know how to have a good time without doing what's wrong.
BEER Commercial: It doesn’t get any better than this. Wrong!
They know what it really takes to enjoy life. Worshipers know that it doesn't get any better than to know God and to enjoy HIM forever.
II. Who can be truly glad?

There is a connection between being humble and being glad.

Neh. 8:1-10

Here, God's people gather to hear the Word of God. The preacher Ezra stands in the pulpit and opens the Word of God. The people stand up in respect and they stand there all day with their families and their children listening to the Word being read and preached. They hear what God expects of them and what God says will happen when they don't obey Him. They are convicted and begin to weep. They bow their heads and humble themselves before God. They are filled with shame but they kneel and confess their sin to God. They bow before Him and truly worship Him.

Their spiritual leaders see what is happening. They see the people humble themselves before God. They see the tears. They see the worship and that it is genuine and real. They see that the people are genuinely sorry for their sins and are repenting.

"Enough mourning! Go your way. Eat the fat. Drink the sweet." They are telling the people to stop feeling bad and to celebrate that God has forgiven them. Do not be grieved, they say, "The joy of the LORD is your strength!"

That is so true! When God's people are right with Him, they are joyful and they are strong. when we humble ourselves, and confess our pride and our sin and our need for God and His Word, God forgives and we find great joy!

Every time there is a revival among God's people it is accompanied with joy and gladness and celebration.

Song: The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. O the joy of the LORD is my strength. Yes the joy of the Lord is my strength.
He gives me living water and I thirst no more. He gives me living water and I thirst no more. he gives me living water and I thirst no more, For the joy of the LOrd is my strength.

Proud people are not usually glad people and proud people will never, NEVER respond with gladness when you boast about God. Humble people are glad people.

Proud people can spot things that aren't right from a mile away. Proud people can always tell you when something isn't to their liking and there is ALWAYS something that they don't like. Proud people are smarter than other people. Proud people always know how things should be done and they can always do them better. Proud people carry a critical attitude around with them and they pull it out and use it a lot. Consequently, they aren't happy people.

I had a guy in a former church who could spot when the margins in the bulletin weren't equal. I had a lady in my church who would get terribly upset if there was one misspelled word in the bulletin or church newsletter, or if a date didn't get changed.
Proud people can always tell you what’s wrong with you but they can't see what's wrong with them. They try to take the speck out of your eye, but they can't see the log in their own.

America is a depressed nation. We are an unhappy people. 20 million Americans suffer from depression. Anti-depressant medication is a multi billion dollar industry. Every year treatment for depression gets better and medication becomes more available- but the number of people with it gets larger.

Why? America is wealthier and has more materialistic things than ever. We have more television and movies, music, amusement parks, entertainment, restaurants, attractions than ever. Americans can spend more money on things that are supposed to make us happy than ever. We spend more on drugs and alcoholic beverages. we all know that the illegal drug trade flourishes as people look for a way to escape from reality. We do more and more to deal with "self esteem" issues than ever.
But I submit that it isn't low self esteem that is our real problem. Our real problem is that we are a proud and self sufficient people. We don't think we need God. That is causing the depression. I believe God uses depression to show us that we need HIM. That HE is the only real thing in life.

I know what depression is. I've seen it in my family. I personally believe that alcoholic beverages cause it. A person begins just having a good time, but before long he can't do anything without it. My uncle once said to me during a time when he was "dry" "Nothing is any fun without a can of beer in your hand." Drunks are self medicating their bad feelings about themselves and their circumstances with their drinking.

But I also had what was called a "clinical depression" for two or three years. The effects of that can linger on and on. I took Prozac. I took Paxil. They didn't do me a whole lot of good. I stood in a church surrounded by people who were singing "It Is Well With My Soul" and had tears streaming down my face because it was NOT well with my soul. I was miserable and I had all the classic symptoms of depression including thoughts of suicide.

III. How to be glad!

A. Humble yourself before God, seek forgiveness and ask for joy and gladness.
I know many people get comfort in the anti-depressants- and I'm never going to tell anyone to stop taking them. But the doctors are only looking at this problem from a materialistic perspective. They don't understand that depression is often caused by spiritual issues. If the heart isn't right, the emotions cannot be right.

The first step toward gladness is to humble self before God and give Him everything!

B. Change the way you think:

The Bible says, "As a man thinks in his heart SO IS HE!" Pro. 23:7

Your life reflects your heart! Jesus said "out of the abundance of the HEART a man speaks"
If all that comes out of your mouth is complaints and whines and all you talk about is how bad off you are and how terrible you have it- you will talk yourself into a depression. If all you think about is how things are falling apart and that tomorrow is going to be even worse than today and you worry and fret, you're going to think yourself into being depressed. If all you watch is dark and horror and terror and bad it will make your heart dark and bad. If all that you listen to is angry and critical and sensual and worldly- mark it down- that’s what your heart will be and that is what will show on your face and that is what will come out of your life.

If you want to change your life and your emotions and the way you think you have to change your heart. YOU CAN"T DO THAT! BUT GOD CAN. He can do it when you humble yourself and find your joy completely in HIM! He can do that when you meet Him in His Word and when you walk with Him and when you worship Him, because He is going to show you that you have a wonderful future and He is going to teach you to trust HIM with your problems and he is going to tell you to give your anger and your worries and your complaints and your cares and anxieties to Him and trust Him that its alright because He is your good Shepherd and His will is best.

If you want to have a lifestyle of gladness you have to practice a lifestyle of worship and right thinking. You have to give your heart to our Great and Awesome God.

My depression did not get better until I humbled myself and gave my anger to God and started walking with Him again. I find that the more I worship and love my God the better off my emotions are. When my trust was in myself I was depressed. When I trusted that God was good and in charge I became glad. trust in myself was pride and it led to depression. Trust in God was humility and worship and it leads to gladness and joy.

I'm not telling anyone to stop taking your medication, but you will never get off of them unless and until you humble yourself and become a true worshiper of God. You will always feel bad about your circumstances unless you accept that the circumstances of your life “is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

C. Begin to rejoice IN the LORD!
Phil. 3:1 and 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord!"

If your rejoicing is in the Hawks- then you will only rejoice when the Hawks do well. You will be disappointed more than you will be glad.

If your rejoicing is in your health, then you will rejoice when you feel good. But what will you do when you feel bad?

If your rejoicing is that everything is working just as you planned it - well, prepare to be disappointed most of the time and very very disappointed some times.

But if your rejoicing is in the LORD- you'll be glad all the time!

"How's the world treating you?" Isaid, "Just awful but God is treating me wondefully. Can I tell you about Him?"

We can always be rejoicing in God. He never fails. He completely satisfies. He'll do what money and things could never do. That is why we are told to love God with all of our heart, strength soul and mind.

We should think about good things:

(Php 4:8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these things.

(Php 4:9) Likewise, keep practicing these things: what you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.

C. Extract everything from your life that dishonors God.
Replace whatever you extract with things that honor God.

What you think about affects the way you live. What you practice as a lifestyle affects whether or not you experience the God of peace in your life.

Our songs should be happy joyful songs!

Hallelu Hallelu Hallu Hallujah! Praise Ye the Lord!

I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!

I've got the love of Jesus Love of Jesus down in my heart!

I've got the wonderful love of my blessed redeemer way down in the depths of my heart!

I've got the belief of the Baptists that baffles the Buddhists way down in the depths of my heart!

I've got the marvelous message that mortifies Mormons way down in the depths of my heart!

And if the Devil doesn't like ti he can sit on a tack ouch!

I’m inright, outright upright downright happy all the time.

Are we downhearted no no no!

Happiness is the Lord.

I’m so happy and here’s the reason why!

How 'bout: Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning.

Conclusion: As worshippers we practice a lifestyle of humility. We humble ourselves before God in worship and acknowledge our utter dependence upon HIM. We find our joy and happiness not in things and especially not in the things of this world which we are warned not to love but we find it in our God.

And then, HE MAKES US GLAD!