Thursday
Evening Bible Study
May
18, 2017
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Target 3300 words
Video = 75 wpm
The English word psalm comes from a Greek word that means “a poem
sung to musical accompaniment”, or in particular, “stringed instruments”.
The Hebrew name is tehillim, which means “praises.”
The book of Psalms is the hymnbook of God’s people.
It’s also the “Him” book as well. It’s all about Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from
Psalm 40:8 when he writes,
(Hebrews 10:7 NKJV) Then I
said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the
volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
The author was talking about Jesus.
We’re going to see a lot of Jesus
in the Psalms.
Soul Music
Music touches the soul. It’s
“soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.
We’re going to find every kind of
emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.
For every sigh there is a Psalm.
For most of us, this is what makes
the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest
most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue
on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs
academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.
Psalm 135 – Contrasting Gods
Man was made to worship.
Everyone worships something, whether it’s the true and living God, or
something else.
Some people are in love with their money.
Others live for fame.
Even something good like family can become something we “worship”.
Even the atheist worships something – whether it’s intellect, education, or
just humanity in general.
The Psalmist is going to contrast the true God with all the others.
:1 Praise the Lord! Praise
the name of the Lord; Praise Him,
O you servants of the Lord!
:2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courts of the house of our God,
:3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing praises to
His name, for it is pleasant.
:3 Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant
pleasant – na‘iym –
pleasant, delightful, sweet, lovely, agreeable
The Psalmist is thinking of the name of Yahweh, but for us we can’t help
but think of the name of Jesus, the name above all names.
Can you think of a more beautiful name than Jesus?
His name has power – the demons tremble.
His name brings forgiveness.
His name brings healing.
His name brings peace.
:4 For the Lord has chosen
Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure.
:5 For I know that the Lord is
great, And our Lord is above all gods.
:5 I know that the Lord is
great
If you ever have a difficult time giving God the praise that He is worthy
of, take time to think about how great He is.
The Psalmist is going to share some of his thoughts on this subject.
:6 Whatever the Lord pleases
He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places.
:6 Whatever the Lord
pleases He does
In some relationships, it’s a good thing to learn to talk things out ahead
of making decisions.
I think marriage is one of those relationships.
Illustration
A married couple was celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.
At the party, everybody wanted to know how they managed to stay married so long
in this day and age. The husband responded “When we were first married we came
to an agreement. I would make all the major decisions and my wife would make
all the minor decisions. And in 60 years of marriage we have never needed to
make a MAJOR decision.”
I think it’s good for a husband and wife to decide things together.
God on the other hand, doesn’t need to ask anyone for permission.
He is God. He is over all.
He is sovereign.
:7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes
lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.
The Psalmist sees God’s hand in creation, whether it’s in the evaporation
cycle, lightning, rain, or wind.
:8 He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, Both of man and beast.
:9 He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, Upon Pharaoh
and all his servants.
:8 He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt
In Israel’s own history, they saw God work first hand when He delivered
them from slavery in Egypt.
God used Moses to bring ten plagues
on Egypt resulting in Israel’s freedom.
When Israel started to conquer the
Promised Land forty years later, the inhabitants of the land were afraid of
them because of the very real things God had done in Egypt.
When Rahab helped the two spies
before Israel conquered Jericho, she said,
(Joshua 2:10–11 NKJV) —10 For we
have heard how the Lord dried up
the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did
to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the
Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted;
neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in
heaven above and on earth beneath.
:10 He defeated many nations And slew mighty kings—
:11 Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, And all the kingdoms of
Canaan—
:12 And gave their land as a heritage, A heritage to Israel His
people.
:10 He defeated many nations
In the time of Joshua, God defeated all the nations that Israel faced as
they fought to conquer the Promised Land.
Sihon and Og were kings on the eastern side of the Jordan River while the
Canaanite kings were on the western side.
:13 Your name, O Lord, endures
forever, Your fame, O Lord,
throughout all generations.
fame – zeker
– memorial, remembrance
:14 For the Lord will judge
His people, And He will have compassion on His servants.
:14 will judge … have compassion
judge – diyn
– to judge, contend, plead; vindicate
have compassion – nacham
– (Hithpael) to be sorry, have compassion
(Psalm 135:14 NLT) For the Lord will give justice to his people
and have compassion on his servants.
Lesson
He doesn’t forget
Our Sovereign God is not only all-powerful and all-knowing, but He also
chooses to remember and keep His promises to His children.
It’s good to look back at history like this Psalm and see how God has
worked in the past.
God did powerful things in the past for His people, and He will continue to
do the same.
He never changes.
(Hebrews
13:8 NKJV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
You and I may go through times when we feel like God has forgotten us
because the difficulty we’re in doesn’t seem to be changing.
Can you imagine what Joseph must have thought during his life?
God had given him amazing dreams as a youth about how God
was going to use him.
And then his brothers sold him as a slave to Egypt.
From being a slave, things got worse as his master’s wife
falsely accused him and he wound up in prison.
(Genesis
39:23 NKJV) The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was
under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord
was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord
made it prosper.
Even when Joseph correctly interpreted a couple of dreams
for Pharaoh’s servants, it was two more years in prison before things would
change.
Joseph would end up becoming second to Pharaoh and kind of
saving the world, including his own family.
Between the time that Joseph was a teenager when God showed him the great
things in his future, and when he was finally raised up to be Pharaoh’s
assistant, Joseph went through times of great testing.
You and I might think that the “testing” was simply the
bad things he experienced.
The real testing was contrasting those trials with the
clear promises God had made earlier to him.
(Psalm
105:19 NKJV) Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of
the Lord tested him.
tested – tsaraph
– to smelt, refine, test
Years later he would share with his evil brothers the result of God’s
“testing” or “refining”:
(Genesis
50:20 NKJV) But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it
for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many
people alive.
Joseph had learned through his difficult times that God doesn’t forget.
The same God that watched over Joseph watches over you.
In contrast to the Living God…
:15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men’s
hands.
:16 They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do
not see;
:17 They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in
their mouths.
:18 Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in
them.
:18 Those who make them are like them
Lesson
No real help
The old ancient idols were just silly little statues that did nothing.
They had mouths, but they never said anything.
They had eyes and ears, but none of those things actually worked.
We talked on Sunday about how Peter’s road to denying Jesus three times
involved spending time that night warming himself at the enemy’s fire.
We talked about the kinds of things that we can turn to in the world to
find “warmth” during those long cold dark nights of testing.
Whether those things are drugs, alcohol, or sex, or simply
finding a new movie to get lost in, ultimately those things aren’t satisfying.
When people put their trust in anything other than the true God, they are
going to ultimately be disappointed because there will be no real help from
their “god”.
Money, fame, and power will not fulfill you.
In the same way, if we are trusting in things other than God, we are not
going to be of any help to anyone.
:19 Bless the Lord, O house
of Israel! Bless the Lord, O
house of Aaron!
:20 Bless the Lord, O house
of Levi! You who fear the Lord,
bless the Lord!
:21 Blessed be the Lord out
of Zion, Who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the Lord!
:19 Bless the Lord
The one to honor and worship is Yahweh, the real God.
The God who gives real, lasting, substantive help is Yahweh.
Psalm 136 – Forever Love
This next psalm was meant to be sung antiphonally.
A person or group would sing the first phrase, and a second person or group
would respond with the second phrase.
Let’s read through the Psalm together and I will read the first half of
each verse, and you all respond with the second half.
I’ll give you a hint, the second half of each verse is identical for all 26
verses. All you need to know is “For His
mercy endures forever”.
:1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord,
for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
:2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures
forever.
:3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures
forever:
:4 To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures
forever;
:5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy endures
forever;
:6 To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, For His mercy endures
forever;
:7 To Him who made great lights, For His mercy endures forever—
:8 The sun to rule by day, For His mercy endures forever;
:9 The moon and stars to rule by night, For His mercy endures
forever.
:10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, For His mercy endures
forever;
:11 And brought out Israel from among them, For His mercy endures
forever;
:12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, For His mercy endures
forever;
:13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, For His mercy endures
forever;
:14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His mercy endures
forever;
:15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His mercy endures
forever;
:16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His mercy endures
forever;
:17 To Him who struck down great kings, For His mercy endures
forever;
:18 And slew famous kings, For His mercy endures forever—
:19 Sihon king of the Amorites, For His mercy endures forever;
:20 And Og king of Bashan, For His mercy endures forever—
:21 And gave their land as a heritage, For His mercy endures
forever;
:22 A heritage to Israel His servant, For His mercy endures forever.
:23 Who remembered us in our lowly state, For His mercy endures
forever;
:24 And rescued us from our enemies, For His mercy endures forever;
:25 Who gives food to all flesh, For His mercy endures forever.
:26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures
forever.
give thanks – yadah
– to throw, shoot, cast; (Hiphil) to
give thanks, laud, praise
:26 For His mercy endures forever
Lesson
The Love of God
forever – ‘olam
– long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting,
evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world
mercy – checed – goodness,
kindness, faithfulness
The Greek Septuagint scholars tended to translate this as eleos, or, “mercy”.
Some modern scholars want to take this word and connect it to the word “covenant”,
meaning that this is some sort of obligation that God has towards those who are
in a contractual relationship with Him.
In connecting it to God’s “covenant”, it makes “mercy”
conditional. If you do your part of the
contract, then God will have mercy. If
not, then good luck.
The word goes beyond that.
Even in our Psalm, God’s creation of the heavens and earth
(vs. 5-6) are connected to His checed,
and that took place long before God had any kind of covenant with man.
Chesed is a word descriptive of
the love of God.
It’s a word that not only speaks of the heart of God, but
the actions of God.
In our Psalm, after the introduction (vs. 1-3), and except
for the ending verse (vs. 26), each verse begins with an action of God, an
action that demonstrates God’s checed.
The Old King James sometimes translates checed as the great word
“lovingkindness”.
Checed is not
only about the love that God has for us, but the acts of kindness that He does
because of that love.
The love of others is only temporary,
(Hosea
6:4 NKJV) “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your
faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away.
The word translated “faithfulness” is checed.
Ephraim and Judah had temporary love.
Yet the love of God is forever.
Jeremiah wrote,
(Jeremiah 31:3
NKJV) The Lord has appeared
of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore
with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
The word translated “love” (‘ahabah) is the generic word for “love”, which can mean a man’s
love for his wife, his friend, or God’s love for us.
The word “lovingkindness” is checed.
God draws us towards Himself with loving, merciful acts of
kindness.
Paul wrote,
(Romans
2:4 NKJV) Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and
longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Paul reminded us that even in difficult times, God’s love never changes.
(Romans 8:35–39
NKJV) —35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36 As it is
written: “For Your
sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all
these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other
created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
You and I may not always understand the various difficult times we go
through, but there’s one thing we shouldn’t question.
We shouldn’t question God’s love.
For Israel, all they needed was to go back through their history (like Ps.
136) and see all that God had done for them.
For us, all we need is to look at the cross.
(1
John 3:16a NKJV) By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.
Even if for some reason, for God’s sake (Rom. 8:36), we should need to be
counted as “sheep for the slaughter”, we can trust that God knows what He’s
doing.
He loves us like no other.
Songs
His Love Endures Forever (Psalm 136)
E
F#m/E E B E
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good
E
F#m/E E B E
His love endures forever
E F#m/E
E B
E
He made the heavens and the earth
E
F#m/E E B E
His love endures forever
E F#m/E
E B
E
He made the sun to give us light
E
F#m/E E B E
His love endures forever
E
F#m/E E B E
The stars and moon to govern the night
E F#m/E E B E
His love endures forever
A E
We celebrate Your faithfulness
B E B E
A
Your mighty hand will deliver us
You're my Redeemer
E
You are my King
A E F#m7 E B7sus
All creation sings
E
Give thanks to the Lord
He delivered the children of Israel
His love endures forever
He led them through the barren land
His love endures forever
With an out stretched arm
And a strong right hand
His love endures forever
He led them into the Promised Land
His love endures forever
His Love Endures Forever (Psalm
136)/ Words & Music By Dean Clark / © 1994 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing /
HisLove.doc
Intro: G Em D C G Em D C
G
Give thanks to the Lord
Our God and King
His love endures forever
C
For He is good
He is above all things
G
His love endures forever
D C/E
Sing praise, sing praise
G
With a mighty hand
And outstretched arm
His love endures forever
C
For the life that's been
reborn
G
His love endures forever
D C/E
Sing praise, sing praise
D C/E
Sing praise, sing praise
G
Forever God is faithful
Em7
Forever God is strong
D
Forever God is with us
C G
Forever,(and ever) forever
From the rising
To the setting sun
His love endures forever
And by the grace of God
We will carry on
His love endures forever
Sing praise, sing praise
Sing praise, sing praise
G
Forever God is faithful
Em7
Forever God is strong
D
Forever God is with us
C G
Forever,(and ever) forever
(2x)
G
His love endures forever(4x)
D C/E
Sing praise, sing praise
D C/E
Sing praise, sing praise
Forever You are faithful
Forever You are strong
Forever You are with us
Forever (and ever) (3x)
Forever
/ Words & Music by Chris Tomlin / © 2000 Worshiptogether.com songs / Forever3.doc
His Love Endures (Psalm 136)
Tran: A2 E/B
D2 E/B
A2 E/B
D2
Give thanks to the LORD
E/B
A2 E/B D2 E/B
For He is good
A2 E/B
D2
Give thanks to the LORD
E/B
A2 E/B D2 E/B
For He is good
A2 E/G#
D/F# E/G#
Give thanks to the God of gods
A2 E/G#
D/F# E/G#
Give thanks to the Lord of
lords
A2 E
D2 E
For His love endures
A2 E
D2 E
His love endures
A2 E
D2 E (Tran)
His love endures forever
His
Love Endures (Psalm 136)/ Words & Music By David Dunagan / © 2002 by David Dunagan / Psalm136.doc
Psalm 137 – Babylon Blues
This is a song that was written by the Jewish exiles who had been taken off
to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar leveled Jerusalem in 586 BC.
I don’t know how we can really tap into the despair and bitterness that the
Jews in Babylon were experiencing.
It might be as if North Korea invaded the U.S., and took us all captive to
live in North Korea.
The Jewish people have experienced this many times throughout history.
Here’s a snippet from a holocaust survivor named Irene:
:1 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we
remembered Zion.
:1 By the rivers of Babylon
The Jews were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Babylon was built on the river Euphrates.
The Babylonians also built a system of canals that linked to the river.
:2 We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it.
:3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And
those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, “Sing us one
of the songs of Zion!”
:3 Sing us one of the songs of Zion!
The Jews have a rich tradition of music from King David, to Mendelssohn,
Gershwin, Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Barbara Streisand, and thousands
more.
This kind of request was common among captive peoples.
There is a “relief” in the Assyrian palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh
depicting three prisoners of war playing lyres as they are marched along by
armed soldiers.
The Jews are being taunted by the very people that took them captive.
Yet the people don’t want to sing their songs for the Babylonians.
:4 How shall we sing the Lord’s
song In a foreign land?
:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill!
:6 If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.
:5 Let my right hand forget its skill!
Perhaps the idea is that the musician’s right hand would forget its ability
to play the lyre.
:6 If I do not remember you
While the Psalmist doesn’t want to sing for the taunting Babylonians, he
also doesn’t want to forget his home, the city of Jerusalem.
:7 Remember, O Lord, against
the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, “Raze it, raze it,
To its very foundation!”
:7 against the sons of Edom
When the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, the neighboring Edomites (east of
the Jordan) stood on the sidelines and cheered on the Babylonians.
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob (Israel).
Ezekiel had a record of it (Eze.
25:12-13).
(Ezekiel 25:12–13 NLT) —12 “This is
what the Sovereign Lord says: The
people of Edom have sinned greatly by avenging themselves against the people of
Judah. 13 Therefore, says the
Sovereign Lord, I will raise my
fist of judgment against Edom. I will wipe out its people and animals with the
sword. I will make a wasteland of everything from Teman to Dedan.
The entire book of Obadiah is about God’s judgment on Edom because of this
incident:
(Obadiah 11–12 NLT)
—11 When they were invaded, you stood aloof, refusing to help them.
Foreign invaders carried off their wealth and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem,
but you acted like one of Israel’s enemies. 12 “You should not have gloated when
they exiled your relatives to distant lands. You should not have rejoiced when
the people of Judah suffered such misfortune. You should not have spoken
arrogantly in that terrible time of trouble.
Instead of helping the Jews during the Babylonian invasion, the Edomites laughed
at what was happening and even helped the Babylonians.
Lesson
When Others Fall
We need to watch our heart when we see other people going through a rough time,
even when it seems they are “getting what they deserved”.
The Babylonian invasion happened for a reason.
God was judging Judah for its sins.
Edom should have been weeping for Judah instead of gloating.
We ought to weep with those who have stumbled and are trapped in a distant
land.
When the prodigal son returned,
there were two different reactions:
The prodigal’s father reacted like
this:
(Luke 15:20 NKJV) “And
he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his
father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
The prodigal’s elder brother
reacted like this:
(Luke 15:28–30 NKJV) —28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came
out and pleaded with him. 29 So he
answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been
serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you
never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your
livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
He felt the
younger brother shouldn’t have gotten compassion. But he was wrong.
Solomon wrote,
(Proverbs 24:17–18
NKJV) —17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad
when he stumbles;
18 Lest the Lord see it,
and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him.
:8 O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays
you as you have served us!
:9 Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!
:8 who repays you as you have served us
This seems to fly in the face of Jesus teaching us to love our enemies
(Mat. 5:44), and Paul telling us not to take revenge (Rom. 12:19).
Let me point out that the Psalmist is asking God to do this. The Psalmist is not the one who is going to
do these things.
Part of our relationship with God is learning to be honest about what’s
really going on inside of us, telling Him all that’s in our hearts.
(Matthew 5:44 NKJV) —44 But I say
to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
(Romans 12:19 NKJV) —19 Beloved,
do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is
written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
The Psalmist says that those who “get” the Babylonians should even be
“Happy” to kill children.
This is probably exactly what the Babylonians did when they sacked
Jerusalem. They were “happy” when they
dashed the Jewish children against the walls.
The Psalmist is asking God to give the Babylonians what they gave the
Israelites (vs. 8).
Spurgeon wrote,
“Let those find fault with it who have never seen their temple burned,
their city ruined, their wives ravished, and after children slain; they might
not, perhaps, be quite so velvet mouthed if they had suffered after this
fashion. It is one thing to talk of the bitter feeling which moved captive
Israelites in Babylon, and quite another thing to be captives ourselves under a
savage and remorseless power, which knew not how to show mercy, but delighted
in barbarities to the defenseless.”
Lesson
Getting what you gave
The Babylonians leveled Jerusalem. They had a fun time dashing the children
against the stones.
They would get what they gave out.
For us, the principle is to be careful that we don’t find ourselves
treating others like the Babylonians treated others.
Jesus said,
(Matthew
7:2 NLT) For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use
in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
Do you want others to treat you mercifully? Then be merciful to them.
Psalm 138 Promises Kept
: A Psalm Of David.
:1 I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing
praises to You.
:1 Before the gods
gods – ‘elohim
– rulers, judges; divine ones; angels
This could be referring to the
pagan “gods”.
It could also refer to human rulers
or judges.
It could also be referring to God
Himself since 2346 times in the Old Testament, this is how it is translated
(“Before God I will sing praises”)
:2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your
lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your
name.
:2 You have magnified Your word above all Your name
I’ve heard many pastors say that even though the Jews properly reverence
God’s holy name “Yahweh”, God considers His own Word even more important than
His name.
They will understand the “word” to refer to the Bible, and then talk about
how important the Bible is.
Don’t get me wrong here – the Bible is awesome and very, very important,
but I’m not sure that’s the issue here.
The language here is not actually that clear.
Look how different translations handle this verse:
(Psalm 138:2b ESV) …for you have
exalted above all things your name and your word.
(Psalm 138:2b NIV)
…for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your
fame.
(Psalm 138:2 NLT) …for your
promises are backed by all the honor of your name.
We use the phrase:
“A man is as good as his word”
God keeps His Word. He keeps His
promises.
David is praising God because He has kept His word and
answered David’s prayers.
:3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with
strength in my soul.
:4 All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, When they hear the words of Your mouth.
the kings will hear God’s “words”
:5 Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, For great is the glory of the Lord.
:6 Though the Lord is
on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar.
:6 He regards the lowly
Lesson
Pride and Intimacy
There is a connection between humility and closeness to God.
(James 4:6–10 NLT)
—6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes
the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you. 8 Come close
to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify
your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be
tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be
sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
Pride is a relationship killer.
When we are filled with pride, our relationships with others are affected.
We can think that everyone ought to be bowing down and
kissing our toes and we feel “hurt” when we aren’t treated as we “deserve”.
Somehow, when you walk in humility, you don’t seem to get
hurt as much by the same things.
The same thing goes in our relationship with God.
We get closer to Him on our knees.
Illustration
There was a Christian band in the 80’s called Degarmo and Key. Their lead singer wrote,
As a young Christian, I thought that our group’s evangelism efforts should
focus on celebrities. My theory was that the poster people could influence more
folks for Christ than us ordinary-Joe types. Occasionally I would hear of a
celebrity conversion, but I was usually disappointed that not many seemed to
follow. That taught me an important lesson: God doesn’t build His kingdom on
the fragile backs of star power. Glitz doesn’t go very far with the Lord, and
Isaiah tells us why: “This is the one I esteem: He who is humble and contrite
in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).
-- Dana Key of
Degarmo and Key, By Divine Design (Nashville,
1995), p. 97.
Illustration
Hudson Taylor once noted that “God uses men who are weak and feeble enough
to lean on him.”
:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will
stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will
save me.
:8 The Lord will perfect that
which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord,
endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
:8 The Lord will perfect that
which concerns me
David has been talking about God keeping His “word”, His promises.
Lesson
Unfinished Business
God knows what He has planned for you, and He doesn’t quit until He’s done
what He wants to accomplish in you.
There are a whole lot of TV shows now that are all about taking run down
houses and fixing them up.
Illustration
Years ago, a fellow bought the
house next door and it was quite a “fixer-upper”. He was a fellow who had a lot of fix-it
skills. He seemed to have some wonderful
plans for the house next door. One of
the first things he did was to tear out much of the inside. He told me he was building a new kitchen for
his wife. He supposedly tore out walls
and replaced all kinds of stuff. On the
outside of the house, he began all sorts of projects. He started building very neat looking pillars
and fences around the front yard. He
began to put nice siding on the house.
He replaced some of the windows and doors. All of his projects had one thing in common.
Before we eventually moved I hadn’t seen him finish any of the projects. He would just move on to the next project
before finishing the one he was working on.
Some fixer-uppers finish their
projects.
Illustration
Once someone came on Michelangelo chipping away with his chisel at a huge
shapeless piece of rock. He asked the sculptor what he was doing. “I am releasing the angel imprisoned in this
marble,” he answered.
Jesus is the one who sees and can release the hidden hero in every man.
-- William Barclay's
Commentary on The Gospel of John
God has a plan in mind for each of us.
(Jeremiah 29:11
NLT) For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not
for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
God promises to finish His projects.
(Philippians 1:6
NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good
work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
(1 Thessalonians 5:24 NKJV) He who
calls you is faithful, who also will do it.