Presumption

Psalm 115:1-18 (ESV)

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,

for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

[2] Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”

[3] Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases.

[4] Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

[5] They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

[6] They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

[7] They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

[8] Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

[9] O Israel, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.

[10] O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.

[11] You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.

[12] The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;

he will bless the house of Israel;

he will bless the house of Aaron;

[13] he will bless those who fear the Lord,

both the small and the great.

[14] May the Lord give you increase,

you and your children!

[15] May you be blessed by the Lord,

who made heaven and earth!

[16] The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,

but the earth he has given to the children of man.

[17] The dead do not praise the Lord,

nor do any who go down into silence.

[18] But we will bless the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!

Presumption is a terrible sin. Presumption is assuming to know something that in fact is not known. Presumption is the sin of knowing that God is pleased when He in fact is angry. It is knowing that a promise is given me when in fact I have not met the conditions that accompany the promise. It is knowing that God has spoken when in fact He has said nothing. Presumption is taking hope in an encouraging piece of Scripture that God has not given you or that you are misinterpreting. Presumption is self deceit and it kills and embitters and convinces that a lie is true.

Psalm 115:12-15 contain some of the most glorious promises from God to His covenant people that we can find anywhere. “He has remembered us”, “He will bless us”, “He will bless the house of Aaron”… They are great and encouraging truths. But they are not truths that exist in a vacuum. Why should I take consolation from these promises? Why should I rest that God is remembering me and promising to bless me? All of God’s promises to His children and to the lost are given with conditions. The conditions of this Psalm are the encouragement we need to ensure that the great promises and blessings we see outlined here, truly are for us.

The conditions? Verse 1- we want God to be glorified not us. There is no doubt that many believers truly want the glory of God to be seen and felt and known. But they do not want it at their expense. This Psalm says that God should be glorified instead of us, not alongside of us. The Psalmist creates an either/or situation. Someone is going to be glorified. It will either be you or God. It will not be both. It cannot be both. God in the place of prominence and importance and God getting the credit and accolades and applause – and not you. The marvelous promise of verse 12 is for those who flee from the thought of sharing glory with the Almighty.

This attacks us at our very core. Many Christians truly want God to be seen and worshipped and believed. But they also want others to know that they are the ones who glorify God. We want the world to know that the truth is more clearly taught here than there. We want the community to know that our church really believes the Bible. We want the world to know just how humble we are. We are a congregation of Uriah Heaps who say with great pride “I’m an ’umble man”. This is the very essence of sin.

Presumption. It keeps us from even realizing that we are screwed on the bolt improperly. We are stripped and faulty and do not even know it.

May God grant that we be able to really rejoice in the unbelievably great promises of God knowing that by grace He has enabled us to meet the first condition that He has set down for the promise to be delivered. The condition? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith in Christ is the condition for having the glorious promises of God as ours. How many people take comfort in the promises of Scripture about the care and love and presence of God who do not have the presence of God and know nothing of His saving grace?

Presumption. Make sure you do not know this thing to be true of you that is not really true of you. Do not go through life assuming God is pleased when in fact He is not. It is possible to really know. It demands brutal honesty with oneself and a serious examination of the Word that He has left us so that we can know that very thing. The issues are eternal and they are serious. Find great hope and comfort in the wonderful promises of God. But make sure they are truly given to you because of faith in Jesus Christ.