Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

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Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
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Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
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Anger
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*Intro*
We are now going into Part 2a of Pastor Robin’s Favorite Psalms Series.
Today is Psalm 27:1-6.
I originally wanted to do this entire psalm today, but there is so much packed into it, I decided to break it up.
So next week, we will cover Ps. 27:7-14.
I really do love the Psalms.
I think whenever we are in-between series, we should go over a Psalm.
I think we enjoy the Psalms a lot because they hit the heart.
They deal with real followers with real struggles and helps us find a sense of solidarity.
This is probably why we run to it after we fail in our New Year’s Resolutions to go through the Bible.
Well, I wanted to do a quick overview of the Psalms before we look at another one of my favorite Psalms.
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The Hebrew title is literally, “The book of praises.”
1~/3rd of the Bible is poetry.
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Largest and most widely used book of the Bible.
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Organized into five books, imitating the first 5 books of the Bible, the Pentateuch.
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Various authors over a span of 1000 years.
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Most often quoted Book of the Bible.
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Purpose: How to talk and sing to God.
The psalms were used in the two temples and some were part of the liturgical service.
They also served as an individual and communal devotional guide.[2]
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It is poetry.
We have rhymes (“Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you”).
They have thought lines.
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Thought lines are called “parallelism.”
When you read and interpret a Psalm, you need to decide what kind of parallelism is going on there.
Some examples:
a)    Synonymous: The second line is repeated in different words from the first line (Ps.
2:4).
b)   Contrastive: The second line is contrasted with the first line (Ps.
1:6).
c)    Developmental: The second line explains and expands the first line (Ps.
121:3)
d)   Illustrative: The second line illustrates the first line with a symbol (Ps.
140:7)
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Various types of Psalms:
a)    Individual or Corporate Lament—usually for a rescue or defending.
b)   Individual or Corporate Thanksgiving—acknowledging God’s activity with praise.
c)    General or Descriptive Praise---about who God is
d)   Royal---Yahweh’s sovereign rule and~/or the rule of the earthly king.
e)    Pilgrimage--- Also known as Songs of Zion, these psalms were sung by pilgrims traveling up to Jerusalem for the three annual religious feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
[4]
f)    Wisdom—instructed or exhorted in the way of righteousness
g)    Imprecatory---Psalmist asks God to show justice and vengeance upon His enemies.
h)   Messianic---specifically anticipate the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
How do you know if it is messianic?
Ans: Is it quoted in the NT?
With that overview, let’s dig into Psalm 27.
Have you ever been really afraid of something?
From the moment of birth, we grow up with all kinds of fear.
As a child, we fear the boogeyman hiding in the closet.
We fear of heights, spiders, lobsters, of the dark and falling in the dark on top of lobsters!
No matter what age you are or who you are or where you are, fear is a part of us.
In fact, people give names to your fears or phobias.
Common phobias include, as mentioned before, arachnophobia (fear of spiders), acrophobia (fear of heights), claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), fear of the boogeyman (bogyphobia) and aerophobia (fear of flying---John Madden, football commentator has this).
Did you know some people have the weirdest phobias?
In doing some research on this, I found some interesting ones:
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Arachibutyrophobia :fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth
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Ablutophobia: fear of washing or bathing—I think I had a roommate in college with this
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Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: fear of long words
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Kathisophobia: Fear of sitting down
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Basophobia: Fear of walking
Can you believe these phobias exist?
Incredible to believe!
Most of us will probably not deal with those ever, but we all deal with fear.
Some of us are being strangled by it even today.
Some of us may lie awake at night replaying the same video over and over again in our minds about some worry we are facing; perhaps about circumstances or the future.
It kills our joy, leads to physical side effects like irritability, depression, insomnia, fatigue, upset stomach and weakened immune system.
It kicks God out of the picture.
Fear is destructive in every way.
As Michael Pritchard says, “Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.”[5]
In the Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, Screwtape (a picture of Satan) tells Wormwood, his nephew, “There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human’s mind against the Enemy.”[6](The
Enemy here represents God).
The media makes it worse.
They exaggerate our fears and make a profit out of it.
Look at the news.
The most shocking and unusual stories are the top stories of the day to get you to watch.
Marketers profit of our fear too.
They like to tap into “our major fears of failure, loneliness, sickness, death as well as our minor fears of being shunned, experiencing discomfort, being out of fashion or being overweight or underdeveloped.
The list of possible fears is endless, as are the possible remedies – all available to those with money to spend.”[7]
Politicians tell us to fear other nations and governments.
Media says, “Fear everything around you.” Doctors say, “Take this pill to kill your fear.”
Well, what does God say?
Perhaps you have often heard it said that “Fear Not” is mentioned 365 times in Scripture---once for every day.
Actually in another place I read that it is found 366 times, for one a day for the entire year, including a leap year!
I do not know who came up with that, because it is not true!
“Do not fear” came up 32x in the OT and 8x in the NT.
A similar phrase, “Be not afraid” came up 4x in the OT.
“Fear not” came up 29x in the OT and 7x in the NT.
So any way you slice it, it is short of 365.
Nevertheless, God says it a lot.
Why do you think God says it so much?
Have you ever noticed that whenever an angel visits someone, the first thing they say is “Fear Not”?
Why do they say that?
Perhaps it is because people are freaked out by seeing the angel or maybe it is because when you are gripped by fear, you cannot hear what God has to say to you?
In Psalm 27, we find David honestly struggling with finding his confidence in the Lord the midst of fear.
We are not completely sure of what exactly David was going through.
Some versions say this psalm was written before David was anointed King.
It may be during the time he was exiled from home and hunted by Saul and his men.
In this Psalm we find that sometimes he has that confidence, sometimes he’s praying for it, sometimes he’s totally consumed by fear instead.
Isn’t that all of us?
Today I want to look at three fears David faced in Psalm 27 and how he found confidence in the Lord in the midst of them.
First of all,
*I.
** When I fear my circumstances, I find my confidence in the Lord (Ps.
27:1-6).*
It is easy to say, “Find your confidence in the Lord” when people are struggling with fear.
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