Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript*

*Robert L. Hutcherson, Jr.*

*Quinn** Chapel A.M.E.

Church*

*                                        Sermon Preparation~/Delivery*

                                                           *Psalm 27*

*“/One Thing I Ask/”*

*The Rev. Karla J. Cooper, **Pastor*

*March 4, 200**7*

\\ \\ Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript

*AUTHOR*

*1.

Who wrote (or is credited with writing) the text?*

That the principal contributor to the collection, the main author of the Book of Psalms, is David, though denied by some moderns, is the general conclusion in which criticism has rested, and is likely to rest.

The historical books of the Old Testament assign to David more than one of the psalms contained in the collection.

Seventy-three of them are assigned to him by their titles.

The psalmody of the temple generally is said to be his.

The Book of Psalms was known in Maccabean times as "the Book of David.

David is cited as the author of the sixteenth and the hundred and tenth psalms by the writer of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:25, 34).

Internal evidence points to him strongly as the writer of several others.

The extravagant opinion that he wrote the whole book could never have been broached if he had not written a considerable portion of it.

With respect to what psalms are to be regarded as his, there is naturally considerable doubt.

Whatever value may be assigned to the "titles," they cannot be regarded as absolutely settling the question.

Still, where their authority is backed up by internal evidence, it seems well worthy of acceptance.

On this ground, the sober and moderate school of critics, including such writers as Ewald, Delitzsch, Perowne, and even Cheyne, agree in admitting a considerable portion of the Psalter to be Davidic.

The psalms claiming to be Davidical are found chiefly in the first, second, and fifth books - thirty-seven in the first, eighteen in the second, and fifteen in the fifth.

In the third and fourth books there are only three psalms (Ps 88., 101., and 103.) which claim to be his.

The next most important contributor would seem to be Asaph.

Asaph was one of the heads of David's choir at Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 6:39; 15:17, 19; 16:5), and is coupled in one place with David (2 Chronicles 29:30) as having furnished the words which were sung in the temple service in Hezekiah's time.

Twelve psalms are assigned to him by their titles - one in Book II (Psalm 1), and eleven in Book III (Psalm 1-3-83).

It is doubted, however, whether the real personal Asaph can have been the author of all these, and suggested that in some instances the sect or family of Asaph is intended.

On the whole, the collection may be said to have proceeded from at least six individuals - David, Asaph, Solomon, Moses, Heman, and Ethan - while three others - Jeremiah, Haggai, and Zechariah may not improbably have had a hand in it.

How many Korahite Levites are included under the title, "sons of Korah," it is impossible to say; and the number of the anonymous authors is also uncertain.

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*2.

From what perspective does the author write?*

The usual Hebrew title of the work is Tehillim, or Sepher Tehillim; literally, "Praises," or "Book of Praises" - a title which expresses well the general character of the pieces whereof the book is composed, but which cannot be said to be universally applicable to them.

Another Hebrew title, and one which has crept into the text itself, is Tephilloth, "Prayers," which is given at the close of the second section of the work (Psalm 72:20), as a general designation of the pieces contained in the first and second sections.

The same word appears, in the singular, as the special heading of the seventeenth, eighty-sixth, ninetieth, hundred and second, and hundred and forty-second psalms.

But, like Tehillim, this term is only applicable, in strictness, to a certain number of the compositions which the work contains.

Conjointly, however, the two terms, which come to us with the greatest amount of authority, are fairly descriptive of the general character of the work, which is at once highly devotional and specially intended to set forth the praises of God.

It is manifest, on the face of it, that the work is a collection.

A number of separate poems, the production of different persons, and belonging to different periods, have been brought together, either by a single editor, or perhaps by several distinct editors, and have been united into a volume, which has been accepted by the Jewish, and, later on, by the Christian, Church, as one of the "books" of Holy Scripture.

The poems seem originally to have been, for the most part, quite separate and distinct; each is a whole in itself; and most of them appear to have been composed for a special object, and on a special occasion.

Occasionally, but very seldom, one psalm seems linked on to another; and in a few instances there are groups of psalms intentionally attached together, as the group from Ps 73. to 83., ascribed to Asaph, and, again, the "Hallelujah" group - from Ps 146., to 150.

But generally no connection is apparent, and the sequence seems, so to speak, accidental.

Our own title of the work - "Psalms," "The Psalms," "The Book of Psalms "2 - has come to us, through the Vulgate, from the Septuagint.

Yalo, meant, in the Alexandrian Greek, "a poem to be sung to a stringed instrument;" and as the poems of the Psalter were thus sung in the Jewish worship, the name Yalmoi appeared appropriate.

It is not, however, a translation of either Tehillim or Tephilloth, and it has the disadvantage of dropping altogether the spiritual character of the compositions.

As, however, it was applied to them, certainly by St. Luke (Luke 20:42; Acts 1:20) and St. Paul (Acts 13:33), and possibly by our Lord (Luke 24:44), we may rest content with the appellation.

It is, at any rate, one which is equally applicable to all the pieces whereof the "book" is composed.

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* *

*TEXT*

* *

/"The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?

When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.

Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In {spite of} this I shall be confident.

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.

For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me.

When You said, Seek My face, my heart said to You, Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.

Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!

For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up.

Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes.

Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD."

(Psalms 27:1-14 NASBR)/

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*BODY*

 

*There are times in our lives when our world comes crashing down on us; if anything can go wrong, it will.

When life seems to be going in a downward spiral, you’re at the end of your rope and you can’t tie a knot to hold on - fear often takes hold of us.

Fear traps us in the belief that nothing will ever improve, that we are ensnared and will never escape.

When life gets us down, fear fills the void left by hope.

*

* *

*Fear is not the domain of the timid, but swells over all of us no matter how brave we may appear to be.

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* *

*Julius Caesar once remarked that even the shouts of his enemies were music to his ears, but he was terribly afraid of thunder.

When it vaguely looked like a storm was brewing, he began to shiver and shake.

Peter the Great, considered by many to have been the greatest czar of Russia was terrified to cross a bridge.

He would tremble in his boots whenever he stepped onto a bridge.

King Louis the XV, of France, was so afraid of death the he ordered the subject off limits in his presence.

Stalin was constantly in fear of being poisoned or killed.

He had 8 bedrooms which could be locked up like safes in a bank.

Nobody ever knew in which of these bedrooms he slept on any given night.*

* *

*We fear losing our health, our wealth, our family; our friends.

We fear losing the promotion or even the job.

We fear growing old, but even more, we fear death.*

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*On his return visit to many parts of the world, Herbert Hoover was asked by a reporter what, in his judgment, was the prevailing mood of the peoples in the lands he had visited.

"The dominant emotion everywhere in the world is fear.

This applies to every part of human activity; finance, industry, farmers, workers, thinkers, and government officials."*

* *

*God has an answer to our problem of fear.

The answer to our fears, the solution to our worries lies in the simple understanding of God’s presence.

King David, who penned these words in Psalm 27, knew the meaning of the word fear better than most.

His life consisted of one vicious attack on his life after another.

For years he was the number one fugitive in Israel, always hiding from the wrath of King Saul.

Later on, his life was threatened by the revolt of his own son Absalom.

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* *

*We may not find ourselves as outcasts, pursued by potential murderers, with our lives on the line.

But our problems still plague us.

Our hope evaporates as our resources diminish fast.

We may feel that to be left at the mercy of circumstances, under their tyranny, is to be torn apart and left with nothing.*

* *

*David begins with a sense of certainty, of calm in the midst of a storm.

*

* *

*One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek*

*That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,*

*To behold the beauty of the Lord,*

*And to meditate in His temple.*