The Blessings in Answered Prayer – Psalm 30

I want to thank Tyler for leading our singing this morning. He always does a great job. We appreciate him, and we appreciate all of our men who lead in our worship. We appreciate their good efforts and talents. This morning, we’re going to be looking at Psalm 30. So if you have your Bibles with you, I encourage you to open them to Psalm 30.

And we’re going to be looking at the blessings in answered prayer. And so this is a wonderful Psalm that David wrote, and it seems to be a Psalm that was written upon the occasion of his having some serious illness.

And so as he says in verses 2 and 3 that the Lord had healed him and the Lord had kept him alive. And so the background of this Psalm was some kind of physical trouble that David experienced, and he was so ill, in fact, that commentators believed that it delayed the dedication of his new house.

And David built himself a house there in the city of Jerusalem, the king’s palace, and it was going to be dedicated, but he wasn’t able to do this because he was so sick. But then he recovered. He wrote this Psalm upon his recovery from this illness, and then he presented this Psalm at the dedication of this house.

And so, this Psalm is all about David’s thankfulness and gratefulness for being healed from illness. And there’s no indication in the Psalm that God healed him with any kind of miracle or anything, but it was just simply part of the natural process of healing from some kind of sickness.

And David credits God with answering his prayer for recovery. So this is a wonderful Psalm to read when you might be sick or you might have some kind of illness and you are looking for the blessings that you might be able to experience as a result of being healed from that illness or just looking at the blessings that we receive.

When God answers our prayers, because in essence, that’s what this Psalm talks about, the blessings of answered prayer. And so this morning, as we think about this Psalm, we’re going to think about the blessings of healing. And then we see a blessing of joy, blessing of humility. There’s a blessing of meaning that David discusses. And finally, the blessing of worship.

So let’s think about this Psalm this morning and the blessings and answer prayer. First of all, in verses 1 through 3, there is the blessing of healing. David writes, I will extol you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

O Lord, my God, I cried out to you and you healed me. Well, David sings praise to God, first of all, for lifting Him up out of sickness. He praises God for not letting His enemies rejoice over Him because of His potential death.

And we see that God lifted up David because David lifted up God in prayer. And I think that’s one of the great lessons here is when we lift up God in prayer, God will lift us up as well. Notice that David says, I cried out and you healed me.

And so David’s prayer was during his sickness. Many of us pray during sickness, and I would encourage you to do that. I pray. I tell you what, I’ve done a lot of praying over the years because of sickness, maybe perhaps the sickness of my own children. I can remember praying when my children get sick. I’ve prayed for my spouse, my wife when she’s ill. I pray for myself.

And of course, praying so many prayers for members of the church when they are ill and when they are sick. It is something that we do because we believe that God is able to heal us. And I wouldn’t call this a miraculous healing, like, for example, that Jesus does when He touches someone and instantly they’re healed of their sickness.

That’s not what I’m talking about. That’s not what, I don’t believe that’s what David is talking about here. He just simply cried out to God, and the Lord healed him, and then it was evidently a healing that took place over a period of time. It wasn’t an instant thing, but this is part of God’s natural providence that He provides to everyone in this world if they will cry out to Him and pray to Him for healing.

And so God lifted up David because David lifted up God. So we learn from this that we can receive healing if we will ask God for that healing. When we’re anxious, we need to pray to God. Not only physical healing, but also, you know, emotional healing and spiritual healing are things that we can pray for.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, Philippians 4 and verse 6 says. And Jesus spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. Prayer can give us courage to face problems in our life on a daily basis.

So, prayer helps us to overcome not only physical illness, but also emotional and spiritual problems that we might have. And so, God heals as a result of prayer. We see that sickness and death, they come into the world as a result of man’s fall in the garden. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 19 says, But God wants to heal us in spite of the fact that we are the ones who brought these problems into the world.

We, that is humanity in Adam and Eve, brought these problems into the world. But look at what Matthew 8 and verses 16 through 17 says, When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed, and He cast out the spirits with a word. And He healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying, He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. God wants to heal us. And I think that’s an important thing to think about when we think about praying to God for healing. God wants to heal us. God heals physically and God can heal mentally He can heal spiritually as well. Think about the healing that we get when we pray to God. In Philippians 3, verse 7, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That’s emotional healing. 1 John 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That’s spiritual healing that God gives.

God wants to heal us. The question is, are we willing to ask? Will we ask? And so many people in this world, I believe, do not get the healing that they desire because they simply do not ask God for it.

It takes a measure of faith to ask God for healing. David had that faith and he certainly asked God to heal him and God healed him. Do we ask? That’s the question. Do we ask for healing? And so one of the blessings in answered prayer is healing.

But then secondly, there is the blessing of joy. And look at what David says here in verses 3 and 4. Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

This is a great verse, one that we probably ought to commit to memory when we’re experiencing troubles in our life. Well, David’s praise comes from David’s joy, and his joy comes from the fact that he prayed and God answered his prayer.

When we think about thanksgiving, do we think about giving thanks to God for the answered prayers that we’ve received from Him? David’s joy also comes from God’s grace. Sickness, as we see here, is an expression of God’s anger at man’s sin.

And that goes back to the Garden of Eden. And I want to say this carefully. I don’t want to say that, you know, just because we get sick, God is angry with us. Personally, that’s not what I’m talking about. But because of the sin of Adam and Eve, sickness and death came into this world. And it’s an expression of God’s anger at sin. All right? It’s an expression of that.

And so David talks about his anger being, but for a moment, acknowledging the truth that sickness and death were the consequence of man’s fall and God’s punishment for that fall in a generic sense. And so David acknowledges that truth. But then he also acknowledges this, His favor is for life. That is, when we think about God’s anger, it’s momentary. It’s designed, it has a purpose to it. But God’s grace is for life. God’s grace is something that is received more abundantly even.

And so weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. And so David’s joy comes from God’s grace, that it is constant and enduring, and that it is greater than His anger here in this context. Well, for the child of God, suffering is conquered by joy. And that’s what David is trying to communicate to us in this Psalm.

Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 11 says that, “…no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” And so, suffering has a place in this world. It’s designed to train us to yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness. And suffering usually gets our attention to help us work through problems that either we have initiated ourselves, or that someone else has initiated.

Paul wrote about some of his suffering in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, that God said to him, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will,’ Paul says, “‘I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.'” And in essence, what Paul is saying here is he’s acknowledging The need for suffering in our life so that we can be refined, so that we can be developed, so that we can improve as people. And suffering then is a product of God’s grace in that regard.

When we think about this, think about 2 Corinthians 4, verse 17. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. That principle is continued in the New Testament. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Sure, we may endure light affliction now, but in eternity, that’s going to be outweighed by the joy of being in the presence of God. And he writes in Romans 8, in verse 18, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

What a wonderful thought that the suffering that we experience in this life is going to be forgotten and vanish away compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. And so, one of the blessings in answered prayer is joy. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice, Philippians 4 and verse 4.

Then another blessing in answered prayer is humility. Look at verses 6 and 7 of Psalm 30. Now, in my prosperity, I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountains stand strong. What is David saying here? Well, first of all, he’s saying that prosperity generated a certain attitude from him. In my prosperity, I said, and this is his voice of self-confidence in his own abilities, quote, Quote, I shall never be moved. Well, David looked at his situation, he looked at all the victories that he had, he looked at the fact that he was able then to build his house there in the city of Jerusalem, and he said to himself, I will never be moved.

Of course, that’s the attitude of self-sufficiency that we see in the Bible a lot of times, and it comes from pride in one’s own accomplishments. But of course, David realized after his illness that he was only a breath away from losing all of that.

And sometimes illness can make us humble and realize how weak we really are and by how much the Lord’s favor brings us to the point we are in life. Yes, He acknowledged that. By your favor, by your grace, you have made my mountain stand strong.

In other words, it wasn’t David who did all of these things to make him successful, but rather it was the Lord. When the Lord hid his face, he experienced trouble. Well, we think about this and we think about all of what David’s sickness taught him. It taught him that his kingdom was established by God’s grace and that he was really not as big as he thought he was.

It’s a lesson that each of us need to contemplate at every moment. You see, our lives, each moment, are a product of God’s grace. Think about Acts chapter 17, verse 28. In Him, we live and move and have our being. Now, if that doesn’t say that God is in control of all things, I don’t know what does.

And it’s only because of God that we have life, that we’re able to move around and we’re able even to have a life. Thank God and His grace for your life. Hebrews 1, verse 3 says that He upholds all things by the word of His power. At every moment, God is upholding our existence. And He could at any moment end it all.

Colossians 1, verse 17 says that, “…He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” That is, they hold together. And so, moment to moment, the life that we experience is a product of the grace of God. The truth is, we never have an occasion to glory in our own accomplishments.

Let’s think back to the Israelites in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 9, verses 4 through 6, and what God says to them there. He says, He says, “…do not think in your heart after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying…” In other words, don’t say this, “…because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land.” No, it is not because of your righteousness or the upright of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but that He, that is God, may fulfill the word which the Lord swore Therefore, understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness. And He had to tell them, don’t think more of yourself than you ought to think. Don’t think that you’re the one who conquered this land. It’s not because of your righteousness, because of my promise that I made, God says.

Think about Jeremiah 9, verses 23 and 24, Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands Exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For these I delight, says the Lord. And so, as Jesus says in Luke 17, verse 10, So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.

And in the end, that’s all we can say. Because God is the one who is in control. And so David learned, in his answered prayer, David learned humility. And we need to learn humility as well. But then, another blessing in answered prayer is meaning. Now, while we learn humility, we learn not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, we also learn that God has a place for us in this world.

We do have meaning in our lives because of God. Now, look at what David says here in verses 8 through 10. He says, I cried out to you, O Lord, and to the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it declare your truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me. Lord, be my helper.

So here’s what David was thinking when he was ill. In fact, he thought he was going to die. And in that thinking, he said, What profit is there in my blood that is for God to take my life and for me to die? What profit is there in that?

When I go down to the pit, will the dust praise you? Will it declare your truth? Well, what is David talking about here? Well, think about this. How could he continue his praise and declaration of God’s truth if he were to die? What is this telling us about David and his relationship with God? What David was saying is this. If I die, no one else will praise you. No one else will tell your truth.

In the sense that, his life would be taken away. Now, of course, there’s plenty of other people who would praise God. There’s plenty of other people who would tell God’s truth. So, what is his point here? He’s saying praising God and telling His truth is the only thing that makes my life worth living. That’s what he’s saying.

He’s saying my life has meaning, it has worth, it has value because of the fact that I praise God and glorify God and give myself to God. The truth is, the world and everything in it cannot satisfy us. Think about what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12, verse 17. He said, He said, “‘Therefore I hated my life, because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.'” When we leave God out of our life, life has no meaning. We might as well die if we’re not going to have God in our life. In essence, we hate our life.

But with God, we have meaning. Life has value. It has purpose. Peter says this in 1 Peter 1, 24 and 25, “…all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away.”

But what? But the word of the Lord endures forever. There’s what really matters. There’s what really means something. That is what will endure. Psalm 102, verses 25-27 says this, “…Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, they will all grow old like a garment. Like a cloak you will change them, and they will be changed, but you are the same, and your ears will have no end.”

And so let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments for this is man’s all. Ecclesiastes 12, verse 13. When Jesus was asked, what is the greatest commandment? He answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commandments, saying all the law and the prophets, if our life is to have any meaning and any value at all, it has value because of who God is and what He does for us. And so, one of the blessings in answered prayer is the affirmation of meaning in our lives. Ultimate meaning is seated in God and God alone.

And then finally, when we think about worship, David acknowledged God’s greatness and he worshiped Him. Look at the last couple of verses here of Psalm 30, verses 11 and 12. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness to the end that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent. Oh, Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

And so there’s worship here that David learns from prayer. He acknowledges God’s greatness. God turned his mourning to dancing. God put off his sackcloth and gave him gladness. God is the one who is worthy of worship. We must worship God for the good that He does every day. I got my slides a little bit out of order, I think, so there we go.

I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. Hebrews 13, verse 15 says, It says, “…therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” The blessings and answered prayer. What are they? Let’s go over them again. Number one, healing. Number two, joy, humility, meaning, and finally, worship.

If you’re ever wondering if prayer does anything, just turn to Psalm 30 and read that, and you can see the blessings in answered prayer. Maybe you need the blessing of answered prayer this morning for some struggle you have in your life, and we can help you with that.

We’d be glad to pray with you and for you, knowing that God does, in fact, answer our prayers. If you would like to make a request this morning, you can talk to one of our elders, you can talk to me, or many choose this time to come forward and just ask the church to pray for them. And we can do that right now, if that’s something you would like to do.

Or maybe you need to get into a right relationship with God so that God will hear and answer your prayers. To do that, you need to hear His Word and believe it. Repent of your sin, confess Jesus as Lord, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sin. And then, Jesus becomes your mediator.

And you can pray to God the Father through Jesus Christ, and God hears and answers prayers. Would you like to become a Christian this morning and ensure that God will answer your prayers through Jesus Christ? We can help you do that while together we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!