Living in Lifetime Favor
April 27, 2014      |     By: Sam McVay, Jr.      |      Category: Sermons

Psalms 30

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. 3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. 4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. 6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” 7 By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong;you hid your face; I was dismayed. 8 To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: 9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

“Favor” in the Hebrew and Greek has the meaning of kindness or grace.

Favor is a “disposition" and Favor is an “action"

Favor is a grace-filled kindness in the heart of the Lord.

It is also that grace-filled kindness in action in our lives. 

David makes a sweeping statement about the NATURE and WAYS of God, which he had personally experienced, in Psalm 30:5

Psalm 30:5
For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

1. David knew a life of favor from the time he was a young man:

• Anointed king around the age of 13-15 by the favor of God
• Defeats wild beast and giants by the favor of God
• Defeats evil spirits by the favor of God
• Leads great military exploits by the favor of God
• Survives the pursuit of a demonized king and many betrayals by the favor of God
• Survives lack and hard conditions by the favor of God
• Ascends the throne by the favor of God
• Endures his own sons’ betrayals by the favor of God

2. David also knew the anger of the Lord:

• The Lord’s anger manifest towards his adultery and murder - by the death of a child and trouble in his house.
• The Lord’s anger manifest towards his unfaithful and unlawful census - and a three-day pestilence kills 70,000 of his people. 

But David’s revelation about the Lord was: His Favor lasts a lifetime and his anger lasts a moment.

This would cause David to recover quickly from discipline and to live a life with a "Favor Mentality”

David’s revelation was the revelation of Abraham: Genesis 12:1-3

Genesis 12:1-3

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

David’s revelation was the revelation of Moses: Exodus 34:6-7

Exodus 34:6-7

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Is David’s revelation your revelation?

Do you live with a sense of Disfavor or Favor from God?

A sense of Disfavor will produce: fear, dread, discouragement, and a critical spirit. 

A sense of Favor will produce: courage, hope, faith, and an overcoming victorious spirit. 

How do you Live in Lifetime Favor?

By a revelation and conviction that:

1. God is a God of Favor & Blessing even though there are moments of Anger/discipline
2. God’s ultimate favor is shown through and is upon Jesus Christ
3. As a believer, the favor that is upon Christ is now upon and within you
4. Circumstances do not determine your Favor - position in Christ determines your Favor
5. You will not live in Favor unless you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that you have Favor