Psalm 138 God Accomplishing His Purpose in Us Dennis Mock

Sunday, December 6, 2009

We could arguer that God’s purpose for us is two-fold to save us and to conform us to
the image of Christ. He will transform our body into a glorified resurrection body. We will
be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. In the meantime how does god fulfill His
purpose in us?

Psalm 138 will address this issue. We will also look at passages in Philippians and
Romans 8.

What are we here for? It has to be more than just a career or raising a family.

Read Psalm 138

– A psalm of David. A psalm of Thanksgiving.

God’s Part – He will actively keep His promises and fulfill His promise in us. In the
process He enables, encourages and empowers us. He works this out in the confines of
everyday life.
– Many examples:
○ V. 2 – God’s Love and faithfulness.
 God exalts His name
○ V. 3 – He answers our prayers.
 He encourages us.
○ V. 7 – He preserves and protects us.
○ V. 8 – God never abandons us!
 God always finishes what He starts.
 Phil. 1:3-6
○ V. 6 – God looks upon the lowly. He is immanently involved in the lives of
those who are humble before Him.
 If there is a sense that God is at a distance and not fulfilling his
purposes in us then there may be a pride issue.
Our Part – we are to actively participate with God and participate in the process.
– We should fear Him and walk in His ways.
– Many ways:
○ v. 1 – Praise Him with all our heart.
 “before the ‘gods’” – context seems to mean that David will praise the
one true God in a culture inundated with multiple God’s.
• Our culture is more atheistic than polytheistic.
○ v. 2 – I will bow down to your holy temple – take part in institutions that are
associated with you.
○ v. 3 – We should expect God to answer us.
 How many times do we pray not really believing God will answer.
○ v. 4 – Anticipate the whole world ultimately recognized God.
 Everyone will ultimately worship God.
 There will be an earthly kingdom ruled by Christ where all nations will
come to worship.
○ v. 7 – We should rest in God for the very preservation of life itself.
 Life is full of trouble but God will preserve us through it.
– Our part is to cooperate and participate.
Specific things from a NT perspective that have to do with God fulfilling His purposes in
us:

Philippians 1:3-6; 2:13-14

– God will finish what He starts. God, however, will not twist our arm to do our part.
He gives us all the power and resources and He will bring it to completion.
– Ch. 2:12-13 – It is God in us working to will and act according to His good purpose.
Romans 8:28-30
– We often take v. 28 in isolation but we need to see it in context.
– There is a staged, phased process where God is leading us to glory.

(These two passages affirm that God is working in us to accomplish His purposes. We
can count on that.)

Acts 13:22-36
– David is a man after God’s own heart that will do everything God wants Him to do.
– 2 Sam. 5:12 – David knew God made him king for the sake of Israel.
– We need to acknowledge that God is working in us all the time.
– David cooperates in the process:
○ By seeking God with all his heart.
 His drive in life was to know God.
 Paul also was willing to give his life completely for the purposes of
God. Nothing else really mattered.
 If we really are going to seek God it has to be wholeheartedly.
○ Setting out to obey God fully – He will do everything that I want him
to do.
 He has a heart completely set on obeying God.
 He will not obey partially as Saul did.
 The Word must be central to our lives!
 There are nice parallels with Paul. Acts 9 – God showed his purposes
for Paul and all that he would suffer on the Lord’s behalf.
○ 13:36 – He served God’s purpose in his lifetime and then he died.
 Beyond the general salvation and conformity issues I believe God has
for each of us a specific purpose in this life.
 God wants to use us in our own generation in a specific way.
 This may be in the context of: vocation, relationships, or talents, etc.
 God has purposes for David, for Israel, for the Church, but also for each
of us personally.
• We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God has knit us together
in our mother’s womb and has a purpose for us.
• It may not be grandiose or even recognized by men.
○ Psalm 90 (a psalm of Moses) is another good place to look. He asked God to
bring purpose even to their wanderings.
– We have no impact on past generations! We may or may not have an impact on
future generations.
○ There are no stars or celebrities just people who have determined to seek,
obey and serve with all their heart.
○ We are still reading about David and Paul. Perhaps no one will read about our
deeds 3,000 or 2,000 years from now, but maybe they will!
There is a reason God left us here after He saved us. We can add nothing to
our salvation but God asks us to be used by Him as instruments of truth and
grace in the lives of other people.

Can we honestly say that we are serving God’s purposes in our generation?

Heart (wholly given) – Will (committed) – Life (invested)

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a
ransom for many.”