The Church That the Lord Does Not Build

[Psalm 28]

The promise of God given to Seungri Presbyterian Church, which I serve, is the word from Matthew 16:18:
“… and I will build my church …”
Not only do I believe this promise, but I also want to serve the church, which is the body of the Lord, with conviction. Furthermore, I want to see with the eyes of the Spirit that the Lord is indeed building His church.

Looking at the latter part of Psalm 28:5 today, the psalmist David says,
“… The Lord will destroy them and will not build them up.”
Based on the message of Psalm 28, I want to meditate on three things about what kind of church the Lord does not build. These days, many books are published on how to grow a church, and many pastors and lay leaders are very interested in church growth studies. In contrast, I want to think about how the Lord does not build a church. Therefore, through today’s passage, I hope to learn three lessons about our responsibility to become Seungri Presbyterian Church, a church built by the Lord.

First, the church that the Lord does not build is a church that does not take the Lord as its Rock.

Look at Psalm 28:1:
“To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit.”
From this, we can clearly see that a church that does not take the Lord as its Rock does not pray. David, because he took the Lord as his Rock, cried out to God even in an extremely miserable situation caused by his cruel enemies (according to Park Yoon Sun). The fact that he prayed to God shows that his heart trusted in God. Look at the first half of verse 7:
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me…”
David’s reason for offering a desperate prayer asking for God’s help in his dire situation was that without God’s salvation (verses 8 and 9), he felt he would be “like those who go down to the pit” (verse 1). He regarded not receiving an answer to his prayer as death itself. In other words, David valued answered prayer as life itself (Park Yoon Sun).
The precious lesson this gives us is that a church that takes the Lord as its Rock is a praying church that considers prayer as life.

We must, like David, take the Lord as “my rock” and earnestly pray to Him. Look at David:
“When I lift up my hands toward your sanctuary and cry out to you, hear my voice of supplication” (verse 2).
David prayed toward the Lord’s sanctuary with the confidence that his prayer would be answered and praised God. Look at verse 6:
“Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy.”
A church that the Lord does not build does not pray, and because of that, it also receives no answers to prayer and does not offer praise to God. In other words, a church that the Lord does not build has neither prayer nor praise.
But our church is a church that the Lord builds. Our church takes Jesus and His promised Word as the rock, and cries out to the Lord. We must continually rely on the Lord and pray to Him in order to receive help from Him.

Secondly, the church that the Lord does not build is a church whose words and hearts do not align.

Look at Psalm 28:3:
“Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak peace to their neighbors but harbor evil in their hearts.”
The “wicked and evildoers” mentioned here are not ordinary sinners, but extremely wicked people whom even God’s long-suffering patience cannot tolerate (according to Park Yoon Sun).
David, who suffered because of these extreme evildoers, cried out to God, who is his rock, asking that his fate not be like that of the wicked (verses 3-5) (Park Yoon Sun).
What is the characteristic of these wicked people?
They speak peace to their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts. In short, the wicked and evildoers are hypocrites. They call for peace with their mouths, but harbor malice in their hearts.
David sought God’s justice and asked God to repay these evildoers according to their wicked deeds. He pleaded that the righteous God would reward the wicked and evildoers (verse 4).
These wicked people, that is, the hypocrites, do not consider the works that God has done nor what He has created with His hands (verse 5). Because they do not consider God’s works, they neither perform God’s work nor can they.

We must strive for our words and hearts to be consistent. We must not sin like the hypocrites around us who speak peace to their neighbors with their mouths but harbor malice in their hearts.
To do this, our hearts must rely on God, “my strength and my shield” (verse 7).
If our hearts trust in God like David’s, we will not harbor malice in our hearts like the wicked and evildoers.
Also, our lips will not falsely speak “peace,” but like David, we will instead praise God (verse 6).
Why? Because our hearts will rejoice greatly like David’s (verse 7).
Our church must have consistency between words and actions, and our hearts must continually be filled with love.
It is never right to have a heart full of malice and yet say with words, “Peace, I love you.”
Above all, we must be a church where the fruit of the Spirit, love, grows increasingly in the heart, and where love is shown more through actions than words.

Lastly, thirdly, the church that the Lord does not build is the church that does not take the Lord as its Shepherd.

Look at Psalm 28:9:
“Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.”
David cried out to God with all his heart amid severe persecution from the wicked and evildoers. Even in such circumstances, he had confidence that his prayers would be answered. He believed that God would help him. In that assurance, he prayed for the people of Israel (verse 9). One of the petitions in this prayer was, “be their shepherd forever.”
David prayed that the Lord would be the shepherd of the people of Israel, just as a shepherd carries his sheep in his arms, asking the Lord to carry and care for His people.
However, the wicked and evildoers do not take the Lord as their Shepherd. They do not even consider the works that God has done, so they do not seek the shepherd’s guidance or protection.

A believer who does not take the Lord as their Shepherd cannot be established by the Lord. The same is true for the church.
The church that does not take the Lord as its Shepherd will not be established by the Lord.
It is absurd to try to build a church without taking the Lord—who is the head and cornerstone of the church—as its Shepherd, just as it is absurd to try to build a house without the help of the builder.
The wicked and evildoers who reject the Lord as Shepherd also reject His guidance.
But our church must take the Lord, who is the head of the church, as its Shepherd.
We must hold on to the Lord’s promised Word and obey it, putting effort into raising leaders and workers.
And in this, we must confess and strive to live according to Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Looking at my own heart, which wavers in doubt whether the Lord is truly building our church, I see myself not taking the Lord as “my rock” like David did.
I see times when instead of fully trusting the Lord and praying with faith, I doubted and lacked even the assurance of answered prayer, so there was no praise from my heart.
Furthermore, I see myself failing to have consistency between words and actions, harboring sinful thoughts in my heart contrary to my words, and pastoring in that state.
Also, even though I say I take the Lord as my Shepherd, I sometimes cannot recognize His voice, and even when I hear it, I do not fully believe or remain steadfast in learning and assurance.
Nevertheless, the Lord is faithful and is building our church according to His promise in Matthew 16:18.
How do I know this? By looking at the leadership of our church.
Now I am certain that even though Satan has attacked the leadership, God has been strengthening them more firmly.
The Lord has allowed me to see this sovereign work of God with the eyes of the spirit and to remain in that assurance.
The Lord is enabling me to take Him and His promised Word as my rock.
He is guiding me under His pastoral care.
That Lord carries and sustains us.
Whenever our church faces hardship and difficulties, may we take the Lord as our rock, trust in Him, and cry out, and may He answer our prayers so that we may praise Him.
Our church must be a church that takes Jesus and His Word as the rock.
Our church must be a church that is consistent in heart, word, and deed.
And our church must be a church that takes the Lord as its Shepherd.
In that, I earnestly pray that our church will be a church that the Lord continuously builds.

Senior Pastor of Victory Presbyterian Church,

James Kim
(Trusting the Lord, the Rock of the Church)