'WHEN SATAN HAS STOLEN YOUR SONG'



"WHEN SATAN HAS STOLEN YOUR SONG"

PSALM 137:1-4; HEBREWS 12:1-3

INTRO: Have you ever reached a point in your Christian life where you just

weren't happy? You tried to recover that joy, that feeling you once

had, but it seemed to no avail. Lost joy is a problem that all of us, as

Christians, face from time to time. We just can't seem to be happy in

the people, place, or predicament we find ourselves in! David, after

his sin with Bathsheba, requested of the LORD, "Restore unto me the

joy of thy salvation..." (Psalm 51:12). His joy was gone because of his

guilt, shame, and sin. He realized that without joy there was no

possible way he could serve God as He ought! Thus He declares,

"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free

spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be

converted to thee." (Psalm 51: 12-13). Joy is an essential element in

the life of the Christian, for without it we cannot serve God with the

fervor, zeal, or enthusiasm we needs too!

In our text, we see a picture of the Jews who had been carried away

into Babylonian Captivity. And what a graphic picture it is! Babylon

was far from their own land, and far removed in every way from the

city of God and the temple of Jehovah. With all its material splendor,

Babylon was nothing to the captive souls who were yet faithful to

Jehovah. There they sat, with harps hung, silent, upon the willows,

and wept (G. Campbell Morgan. Notes On The Psalms. P. 269). In 586

BC, when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem they carried off the

most skilled and intelligent of the people into exile. These people felt

literally cut off from God, whom they thought dwelled in their holy

city, Jerusalem. The psalm reflects religious homesickness (Alton H.

McEachern. Layman’s Bible Book Commentary. Volume 8. Psalms. p.

153). To add insult to injury their captors had requested them to sing

them a song of Zion, one of joy and happiness (v3). The exiled Jews

had seen their temple burned, city ruined, wives ravished and

children slain, and could not, therefore, sing the song of the LORD in

a strange Iand (v4)(Herbert Lockyer. All The Books And Chapters of the

Bible. p. 144). Or so they thought!

But God, when He saved us, gave each of us a song! Psalm 40:2-3—

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and

set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a

new song in my mouth, even praise to our God: many shall see it, and

fear, and shall trust in the LORD." What a testimony it is to this lost

world to see the Christian face his adversities with a song from his

heart to the LORD! We can't always have joy in our situation, but we

must have joy in the LORD! Philippians 4:4 says—“Rejoice in the Lord

alway: and again I say, Rejoice." What then can we do when Satan

steals our song?

WHEN SATAN STEALS YOUR SONG:

(1) LOOK BACK!

HEBREWS 12:2-3—“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our

faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

A. REMEMBER HIS SACRIFICE. Friends, consider the price paid for our

redemption. 2,000 years ago on a lonely hill outside of Jerusalem, the Son

of God willing took your sin debt and mine and paid the debt for our sins

by shedding His blood for us! (Isaiah 53:4-6). This world looks for

happiness and contentment in a multitude of things, but "things" will never

bring happiness! Why? Because when the "things" are gone, then the

happiness is gone too!

ILLUS: Someone once noted:

“If I had the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of John, the

meekness of Moses, the strength of Samson, the obedience of

Abraham, the compassion of Joseph, the tears of Jeremiah, the

poetic skill of David, the prophetic voice of Elijah, the courage of

Daniel, the greatness of John the Baptist, the endurance and love

of Paul, I would still need redemption through Christ's blood, the

forgiveness of sin.” --R. L. Wheeler (Edythe Draper, Draper's Book

of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House

Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry #9435).

The Bible speaks much about JOY. Happiness depends on external

conditions but JOY comes from the heart! The words of Isaiah in Isaiah

61:10 should be the words of every born-again believer in Christ Jesus

because of what He has done for us—“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my

soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of

salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a

bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself

with her jewels.” Friends, when we consider what the Lord has done for us

it should cause us to have JOY!

B. REJOICE IN HIS SALVATION. Someone said, "God can't give us

happiness and peace apart from Himself because there is no such thing." –

(C.S. Lewis) (Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary &

Classical. p. 84). That's why God sent His Son for us. So that we might

have "joy unspeakable and full of glory"! (John 14:27).

ILLUS: Where does a person find joy? Possibly the best explanation comes

from an acrostic using J.O.Y. The "J" represents Jesus, the "Y"

stands for You, and the "O" signifies Zero or nothing. Joy is found

when "nothing" comes between "Jesus" and "You." What a great

Biblical formula! (Raymond McHenry. The Best of In Other Words.

p. 147).

ILLUS: Someone said, “Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure.

Where your treasure is, there is your heart. Where your heart is,

there is your happiness.” -- Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

(Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World

(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry #5574).

If Satan has stolen your song, just LOOK BACK to Calvary and consider what GREAT LOVE God has for you and what GREAT COMFORT His presence means to you! When you do you can't help but sing His praises!

(2) LOOK UP!

HEBREWS 12:2-3—“Looking unto Jesus…who…is set down at the right

hand of the throne of God…”

A. OUR ADVOCATE. What a joy it is to know that the LORD is our helper!

Many times because of sin and neglect, Satan steals our song. But praise

God, during those times we are not alone! (1 John 2:1). The word

"advocate" John used there comes from a Greek word "Paraklete" which

means "one called alongside to help." It is the same Greek word used in

John 14:16 for "comforter". It carries the idea of a defense attorney

pleading his case for his client! That is what Jesus does for us when we sin

and fail God. He comes to our defense and pleads our case before the

Father!

ILLUS: A great minister who was noted for his Christlike spirit as well as

for his consecrated ability, dreamed that he had died and stood at

the gate of heaven knocking for admission. He gave his name, only

to be told that his name did not appear upon the books. Finally, at

his earnest entreaty, he was bidden to enter and was told he would

have the privilege of appearing before the Judge of all the earth,

and if he could stand His test he might abide in heaven forever.

Standing before the throne, he gave his name, and the following

questions were put to him: "Have you led a righteous life?" He said,

"No." "Have you always been kind and gentle?" Again he replied in

the negative. "Have you always been forgiving to those who have

been around you?" "No, I have miserably failed there." "Have you

always been honest and just?" He answered, "I fear not."

As question after question was put to him by the Judge, his case

seemed more and more hopeless. The last question was asked him,

and to that, too, he was obliged to give the same negative reply.

Just when he seemed to be in despair, the brightness about the

throne became brighter, and suddenly he heard a beautiful voice-

the most beautiful to which his ears had ever listened. It was

sweeter than a mother's voice; it was more beautiful than all the

music of heaven; it filled all the arches of the skies and thrilled the

soul of this man as he stood before the Judge trembling and about

to fall. The speaker said, "My Father, I know this man. It is true

that he was weak in many ways, but he stood for Me in the world,

and I take his place before Thee." Just as the last words of this

sentence were spoken, the dream was over and the man awoke; he

had his lesson, and it is a lesson for us all. (2000+ Bible

Illustrations. e-Sword. Version 7.8.5. Copyright 2000-2007. Rick

Meyers. All Rights Reserved Worldwide).

B. OUR ADVERSARY. It is during those times of failure that Satan can steal

our song. During those times, he deceitfully whispers his lies to us. Lies

such as "You've really messed up this time, God will never forgive you!" Or

"You're worthless, why even bother trying any more!" Or else, "God doesn't

love you. He couldn't love you after what you've done!" But thank God,

God has promised, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us

our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).

It is when we listen to Satan's lies that he robs us of our song! But if when

we fail God we will repent of our sins and confess them to God, Satan

cannot steal our song!

WHEN SATAN HAS STOLEN YOUR SONG you need to LOOK BACK, LOOK UP, and finally…

(3) LOOK AHEAD!

HEBREWS 12:1-3—“ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about

with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

A. PROMISES TO CLAIM. God never promised us that we would never see

any sorrow, nor pain, nor trial or temptation in this life. In fact, Jesus

spoke much about it (John 16:33). But He did give us a place of refuge

when these things come upon us (Matthew 11:28-30). He is the shelter in

all of life's storms!

The word "joy" in the dictionary means "the anticipation of the acquisition of

something good." If there is one thing that God desires of His people it is

FAITHFULNESS! Satan will try to convince you that there is not point in

serving God. That the here and now is all that matters, but God has

promised in His Word that He will reward the faithful! (Revelation 22:12).

He has promised us:

• HIS PRESENCE (Hebrews 13:5-6).

• HIS POWER (Acts 1:8).

There are rewards for faithfully serving the Lord. Now just here and now

but also hereafter (Hebrews 6:10).

B. PROBLEMS TO CONQUER. Many times we allow Satan to discourage us

in God's work because we don't see any fruit for our labors. We fall for

Satan's lie, "Why bother, No one cares!" Friends, God cares! God is the one

responsible for the fruit! He desires our faithfulness! Instead of falling for

Satan's lies we must be faithful in the task God has given us! Because one

day we will be judged according to our faithfulness in that task! We will

either receive a reward or else suffer loss! When we heed Satan's lies then

can He steal our song and make us slack in the work of the LORD!

CLOSING: The Jews found it hard to sing the songs of Zion in a strange land.

We too, as God's people, find ourselves in a strange land. Hebrews

13:14 tell us—“For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one

to come." When God saved us our citizenship changed. This world

is not our home. Our home is Heaven. Many times we feel like the

Jews and find it hard to sing the new song God has given us, but

we must keep on singing till Jesus comes! We can't allow Satan to

steal our song!

If Satan has stolen our song, how can we once again sing from our

hearts as we travel this way? We must: 1) LOOK BACK! to Calvary

and consider the price paid for our redemption, 2) LOOK UP! and

consider Jesus interceding for us before the throne, and 3) LOOK

AHEAD! to His coming for us and the reward that awaits us. If we

will only stop and consider all these things, then can we go singing

through life! Have you lost your song? God can and will restore

again and anew the Joy of salvation if you will only come to HIM!

Prepared by Brother Bryan L. Browning, Pastor of Beechmont Baptist Church, Beechmont, KY for Sunday Evening, July 29, 2007.

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