Spring Cleaning
Spring 2019 • Sermon • Submitted
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· 656 viewsUsing David's prayer of Psalm 139 as a basis of what we need to look for in our own lives to remain faithful
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This morning we are going to continue on with our spring themed messages by looking at a phenomenon that seems to happen to people every year about this time
As the sun begins to shine a little more and as the temperatures begin to rise and people begin to come out of their winter coma a strange urge begins to arise within
Bears feel an urge to eat and eat lots to build up their fat supply again, birds feel an urge to migrate north and build a nest, and salmon feel an urge to swim hundreds of miles up streams and rapids and waterfalls to get to their place of birth
Humans on the other hand, with the spring season comes the urge to do spring cleaning
You see it all over the town, people raking their lawns or washing their windows or, in my case the big job is to clean out the garage
All winter long tools have been getting just tossed back onto the workbench instead of placed back where they belong and I am itching to get it back into order
Even as a church we have had spring cleaning work days in the past and in fact are planning to do another one this year on May 11 so mark that day on your calander
I think that with the nice weather and feeling more active it just feels good to people to clean stuff up like a fresh start in a time when all of nature begins anew with a fresh start of its own
So this morning I want to consider this idea of spring cleaning and how it may relate to our spiritual journey so that even in our spirit we can have that fresh renewing
So this morning I would like you to open your Bible to the 139th Psalm as we consider a “spring cleaning” prayer of David
is historically regarded as one of the greatest Psalms written
Aben Ezra, one of the most distinguished Jewish Biblical commentators and philosophers of the middle ages wrote, “This is the most glorious and excellent Psalm in all the book
And Samuel Annesley a Puritan Pastor from the 1600’s in a collection of his sermons known as “The Morning Exercises” wrote, “There is one Psalm which it were well if Christians would do by it as Pythagoras by his Golden Precepts, -- every morning and evening repeat it.”
But there is one description of this Psalm that I came across that I loved the best although I can not confirm the author
It says in part, “One of the most notable of the sacred hymns. The brightness of this Psalm is like unto a sapphire stone, or Ezekiel’s ‘terrible crystal; it flames out with such flashes of light as to turn night into day.”
Now we don’t have time this morning to consider the Psalm in its entirety and instead we will only be considering the final two verses but I would encourage you sometime later today to sit down and read it through
So let’s look at , a passage that I am sure most of us are familiar with
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139
It is generally believed that David wrote this Psalm somewhere around 990 B.C. shortly after the northern Kingdom is added to his reign and so he became King over ALL of Israel
This was a new season for David both personally and as a ruler and so as he enters into this new season he looks to God for some help in doing some spring cleaning in his life in order to be the kind of king that God wanted him to be
Let’s look at 3 areas identified in this Psalm where we could all do with some spring cleaning
The first thing that David says we need to air out as it were is “my heart”
The Hebrew word here for heart is the word. “lay-bawb” and as I’m sure you already realize David is not talking here about the organ that beats in our chest
Strong’s Complete Word Study Concordance describes it this way, “The primary usage of this word describes the entire disposition of the inner person that God can discern”
It’s that part of us that makes us who were are, our desires, our passions, the things that motivate us and drive us
It’s who you REALLY are, I mean deep down inside
On the surface you might be a dad, but your heart will determine what type of dad your are turning out to be
On the surface you might have this job or that job but your heart determines what kind of person you are
The heart is that central core that defines us
And as David faced new challenges and new opportunities He understood how important it would be for “his heart” to be clean
Solomon, who you may remember was David’s son wrote this warning for us in
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
The original NIV words it this way, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” and the Message Bible says, “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that where life starts”
for it is the wellspring of life.
Our spring cleaning has to begin with taking a good hard look at our heart and making sure that everything is right because it will then impact everything else for good or for bad
There’s a line the movie Facing the Giants when the coach is speaking to the team and trying to motivate them and I love what he says, “Your attitude is like the aroma of your heart. If your attitude stinks, it means your heart’s not right.”
Bam! Mic drop!
What are the things that define us? What are the things that motivate us?
Are we living for comfort and luxury? Are we motivated by what the Apostle Paul would call ‘The things of the flesh?’
Or is it the priorities of the kingdom that motivate us and leads to the decisions we make?
Let me back up a bit in the chapter from Proverbs to verse 3 because I believe it gives us the cleaning instructions for our heart
Proverbs 4:3-4
For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.
Then he taught me, and he said to me,
“Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.
We need to take a hold of the words of our Father
We need to internalize it and take it to heart knowing that this is the best path for us and He has nothing but good in mind for us
We need to allow His plan and His desires to be the thing that defines us and motivates us and if there’s areas of our heart that we have not turned over to Him we need to clean them out
Get rid of the old junk that pollutes the heart and replace it with the cleansing power of God’s Word
Oh I could go on with this point for the whole sermon but we have to go on
The second area that David exposes in the light as needing a good cleaning is our thoughts or our mind
What we feed our mind is going to be a major factor of the health of our heart and the enemy knows this and he is working overtime to try and influence your mind knowing that such work will impact how you live and what kind of person you will become
And if you don’t mind me saying so (and even if you DO mind me saying so) far too many Christians fill their heads with filth that should never have been there in the first place and then they can’t understand why they struggle in their walk with Christ
Now I’m not just talking about the obvious issues like pornography and those types of things.
I’m also talking about things like gossip, things like bitterness, things like negativity and doubt and fear, things like pessimism and selfish thinking
We fill our heads with negativity and with what I will refer to as modern day soap operas like This Is Us, a show filled with almost every possible thing that goes against the scriptures but whose biggest audience is Christians and wonder why our marriage struggles or why our kids rebel
Now I am not trying to pick on one particular show and I am not saying that exposure to any one thing leads us down a path of destruction
But rather that we have an obligation to make sure that the kinds of things that we are putting to our mind are the things that are God honouring and that assist us in developing a positive heart
If you have ever logged in to the church wifi than you would know that our password is a scripture reference, to be exact and the reason why that is our password is because wifi is a gateway to the internet and the internet is overflowing with stuff that no God fearing believer should ever expose himself/herself to and so our password reminds us to control what we put into our minds
Let me read it for you along with the 2 verses before it
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
How do you think it would impact your mind if you took that verse literally and ONLY thought about stuff that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable , excellent and praiseworthy?
I can tell you right now, it would transform you by the renewing of your mind just as Paul said it would in
But what do you do when your mind is bombarded with things it shouldn’t be but it’s not your doing, it’s just a result of your environment?
Well I can only tell you what works for me and that is
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
When something tries to implant itself into my mind I literally take it captive, I speak to it and bind and make my thoughts be obedient to Jesus Christ
And I can testify to you under oath that when I do this those thoughts flee my mind, they have to because the Bible promises that they will
James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
I have heard what I do for a living being referred to as “Brain Washing” and you know I can’t really argue that
But I think that all of us could stand a little spring cleaning in our minds
The third area that needs cleaning according to David is “our ways”
Once we have cleaned up our motives and our mind we need to take a look at whether or not the way that we are living conforms to this
Expositor’s Bible Commentary says this about verse 24, “The psalmist desires nothing less than conformity to God's will. Therefore he prays for God's examination of his spiritual condition. He contrasts the two ways: the way of the world ("offensive way,") and the way of God ("the way everlasting"). The one way leads to destruction and the other to life and fellowship with God
Did you get that? There are only 2 ways to live out our lives. 2! Don’t buy into this idea that there is a 3rd neutral way to live that doesn’t offend God and is good enough
Instead we need to constantly be asking ourselves;
Does the way that I reacted in line at the grocery store reflect what my core wants to be and what my mind says is right?
How about my driving when I was late for that appointment? Or my language when I shoot myself in the finger with an air-nailer?
How about where I spend my money? Does that reflect who I am trying to become in Christ?
If someone else saw your checkbook what would they say are your priorities?
We have to be able to come to that place in our life where we can say to the Father, ‘Okay God you know my heart. You know that it is my desire to be like your Son and live out your Word, and you know that I am trying to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. So now show me where I need to clean up my act as it were
Unfortunately for far too long the message of the church is clean up your act and get right with God whereas the message of the gospel is get right with God and He will help you clean up your act
Do you have short comings in your Christian walk? You bet you you do!
And so do I and every other Christian and as we walk this journey we trust in His grace which not only has the power to forgive us but has the power to transform us and help us become people that God is proud to call His own
Don’t believe the lies of the enemy that it will always be this way, or that you’ve served Him too long to change this now, or that’s it’s just who you are so you might as well accept it
ALL LIES!!!!!
Instead believe the truth of God’s Word which says,
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:
John 8:
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
With the warmth freshness and new life that comes with spring time, it is a great time to do some spring cleaning
But don’t just limit it to the house or the car or the garage
Pray the prayer of David and do some spring cleaning in your heart, in your mind and in your ways
Let’s pray