Criticism is like a shot in the arm: It hurts but it eventually helps.  To think you are above it is folly.  To think you don’t need it is arrogance.  The reason we find criticism so difficult to deal with is because it touches the area of our heart that is often guarded and relentlessly defended: the area of pride.  We may never admit it, but failure to embrace criticism is an attempt to claim perfection.  Granted, not all criticism is substantiated, warranted, or deserved; but our response to the criticism is often the measuring rod of our character.

Knowing …

Have you ever listened to yourself on a voice recorder?  I will never forget the first time I heard myself preach from a cassette tape.  My heart sank as I heard the sermon. I cringed as I listened to the dialect, tone, and inflection of my voice.  “Something had to be wrong with the tape, or the recorder,” I thought, “there’s no way I sound like that.”

But I did…that was really me.  The raw reality of myself came into light that day like never before.  It was as though I was introduced to myself for the first time.

Such

Contrary to popular belief, you can be saved and enjoy it.  As a matter of fact, the only real way to enjoy this earthly life is by possessing eternal life.  If Christians are to be the happiest people on earth, shouldn’t the place they congregate be equally joyful?  Church should be a place of excitement…oftentimes it is anything but that.

They do sound similar…sanctuary, cemetery.

A sanctuary is a place of the living; a cemetery is a place of the dead.  A sanctuary functions in light, a cemetery functions in darkness.  A sanctuary is a place where we eagerly desire …

Today you may face challenges and circumstances beyond your control.  In life there will always be problems you didn’t ask for, and trials you didn’t sign up for.  When such calamities strike, remember there are a few things you can control.

Today you can control your attitude.

Legendary coach John Wooden said, “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”  The way you respond to a situation oftentimes determines the outcome.  The world rarely sees the affliction you face, but they will always remember the attitude you displayed.  As someone anonymously …

PSALM 6:1-10

Introduction:

Crying is part of the human experience.  From the first tears as a baby to the deep loss of a loved one we all know what it is like to shed a few tears.  In this psalm David was overwhelmed by emotion and cried with the “voice of weeping.”

• Consider the various people in God’s Word who cried
• Even Christ wept
• Consider circumstances in life that brings tears

1. The Travail of His Soul (v1-5)

A. The Chastisement of David

• “O, LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.”
• David