Matt Killough: Psalm 39
Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact [email protected].
Matt Killough: Psalm 39
Matt Killough, pastor of First Baptist Church in Sonora, is transparent about times when he struggles with frustrating people and his efforts to navigate those times. He describes Psalm 39 as a revelation for him in this regard.
Killough points out the psalmist’s presence among the wicked and his determination to be silent among them. The psalmist couldn’t stay silent forever, however, and eventually spoke, Killough adds. He didn’t speak to the wicked, but to the Lord, asking the Lord to teach him and to hear his prayer.
Asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border with nothing but the clothes on their backs and maybe a small bag serve as a picture for Killough of the psalmist standing before God with nothing.
Just as the psalmist turned his focus away from his enemies and onto God, Killough encourages his hearers not to be fixated on frustrating people but to be focused on Jesus.
This brief sermon was recorded for the Baptist Standard on April 4, 2023. It is part of a series in Psalms Killough is leading his congregation through on Wednesday evenings.