God’s Kindness and the Christian
Notes
Transcript
1 Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
Introduction
Introduction
We serve a God who is worthy of our praise.
As we live in this world, as Christians, we must recognise that God’s grace is great, His mercies are new every morning, His kindness stretches to the heavens. His hand is upon His children for their good and their benefit. He seeks the good of His children.
Our God is a mighty God, and He is worthy of our praise and honour. But He is also a kind and merciful God, and this should cheer our hearts, and lead us to great praise of His holy name.
As we consider this Psalm, we see that God is a God worthy of our highest praise, and we see that our God extends great kindness to us.
I trust that you will be encouraged as we consider these words together.
7 things that we note from this text...
1. Praise to God (v.1)
1. Praise to God (v.1)
1 Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Our God is worthy of our praise. From our inmost being; from the depths of our souls, we are called to sing and declare the praises of the God who loved us and called us out of darkness and into His wonderful light.
When we consider the love that God has for us, should this great love for us not lead us to praise?
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
And...
13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
We have given to us the eternal Saviour that graciously gave Himself up for us. He is the merciful and kind God. We will go on to see more of that through this Psalm today. But here we see that God has a deep love for His people. God has a deep love and care for you as a Christian.
Christ entered into the world in love. He came to demonstrate that great love to the extent that he was prepared to die in order to take the punishment that you deserved for your own sins. The wrath of God upon Him, that should have been on you. So great is the love that God has for us.
And He did this as an example for us, that we may follow in his footsteps...
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.
It is but a small requirement to obey the God who gave His all for us. Let us be encouraged to walk in the ways of God, and to live lives of absolute praise and glory to God.
2. Pleasures from God (v.2)
2. Pleasures from God (v.2)
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
It is sometimes thought by some that God is not a God who gives benefits to His people. Very often, unbelievers see God as a demanding God who wants to take away their freedoms and their pleasures. They see God as a restrictive God, who has no greater delight than in telling us what not to do.
Even as Christians, we sometimes may be tempted to wonder why God doesn’t allow things; we may be tempted to wonder if it’s worth the sacrifice of following Him?
Certainly, even Jesus said that before coming to the Lord, we ought to count the cost. There is a cost that is involved.
But dear friends, this is not the full picture. In fact, to think that God is merely there to restrict us and make our lives miserable, is a seriously flawed view of the Almighty.
Instead, the Psalmist here rightly calls on his readers to forget not all his benefits.
In the service of God, there are blessings beyond measure, and there are joys beyond understanding. Our greatest delight in this world will be found not in the pleasures that the world has to offer, but in the delights of serving God in close communion with Him!
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
There is no spiritual blessing withheld from the children of God. We are blessed in abundance with every good gift from His hand.
14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
The promised Holy Spirit is a great blessing and comfort to the people of God. He is the seal of our salvation; He is the one that works powerfully within us in order to enable us to live lives that please God; He is the One that testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. Oh what great blessing there is in being a child of God!!
But God also blesses us with material benefits.
29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
Let us be sure that God will not necessarily give us great wealth in this world. He may choose that we have just sufficient to live. But as God’s children, we are those who have a new church family, and we have brothers and sisters, and we live as part of a community that is self-sacrificial and giving. We live among those who love us deeply. What great joy there is to see this, and to participate in such a life.
Furthermore, we will have sufficient to live.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
Such is true of those in the church. We will be a people in whose midst the King dwells, and He will use his church to provide for the physical needs of those within the body.
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
But let us be sure of something further than this - God will give contentment to those whose hope is fully on Him. Even though we may not have great riches in this life, we will have great contentment in this life with what God has provided, if our eyes are fixed upon Him!
Forget not all His benefits!!
3. Pardon from God (v.3)
3. Pardon from God (v.3)
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
Our God is a God who forgives ALL our sins - past, present and future - in the Lord Jesus Christ.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
There is no sin that is too great for God to forgive, if we come to Him in confession and repentance. His mercy is greater than any sin that we may commit. He stands ready and waiting to forgive us, and to throw His arms of love around us as we return to Him. So great is His love and mercy towards us.
Do you live your life under a continual burden of guilt from sin? Dear friend, learn about the atoning work of Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary. His blood flowed; His perfect nature meant that the sacrifice made, the blood shed there upon the cross, we perfect, sufficient for the covering of the sins of all people who would believe in Him.
Have you confessed your own sin before Him, and turned to Him, acknowledging that He is God, and that He is your only hope of salvation? If you have, then your sins are perfectly covered, and there is now no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus.
Your sins are covered!
Not only that, but he heals us. He heals the wounds and the scars of this life. He heals our broken hearts and broken lives. Let us come to this great God, the spring of living water, and find restoration and forgiveness in Him!
4. Provisions from God (vv.4-5)
4. Provisions from God (vv.4-5)
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
We find here that He provides for us our salvation. He redeems us from the pit of darkness and sin. He redeems us from an empty way of life, and provides for us the salvation that is so necessary for a life lived in peace with Him and all mankind.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
For those who are in Jesus Christ, there is no fear of condemnation, but rather only a great hope and expectation. Those who are trusting in Christ as Lord and Saviour have life. Their names are in the lambs book of life. And they look forward to being with the lamb in all eternity in future. This is our great hope.
But God also provides satisfaction (v.5). He satisfies His people with good things. He satisfies our souls with a nourishment and a satisfaction that nothing else can provide. He gives us this living water which will lead us to never ever thirst again after things in this world, because we have our satisfaction in the Saviour.
He is the God who answers our prayers....
3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
He gives us in great abundance beyond what we ask or expect.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
Dear brother and sister, do you know this satisfaction? If not, then pray to God for a satisfied soul, a soul that is completely at peace and at rest in the Saviour. God will grant you this and far beyond in abundance by His grace!
5. The Plan of God (vv.6-7)
5. The Plan of God (vv.6-7)
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
The God that we serve works righteousness. He is without fault, without any defect in all of His ways. All His ways are righteous and just and true. And His plans will never fail. He works justice for all the oppressed. He is a God who shows mercy and kindness to all His people.
Because of the righteousness of God in all His decisions, we can trust him implicitly. There need be no fear; no anxiety; no worry that things in life are spinning out of control or going to a bad place. God is faithful and righteous, and His plans for His people are exceedingly good, even through every eventuality in life, including the darkest of valleys!
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
We see also in verse 7 that God has made known his ways. He has given His perfect revelation of His plans and purposes to His people
1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
Our God has made His purposes known, and we can look to Him and trust in Him in all things.
Because we know this to be true, we should diligently pursue a deeper knowledge and understanding of Him through the Scriptures. We should diligently seek to grow in our understanding of God’s word and His truth in Scripture, so that we may walk in His ways in all holiness and purity.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
God’s will is knowable - and His will is for us to live holy and pure lives in this world, and to not become polluted by the corruption in this world. So let us pursue this with all diligence.
6. Pity from God (v.8)
6. Pity from God (v.8)
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
The God that we serve is not a hard task master. He does not drive us to places with a whip and with beatings, simply because He is unreasonable and delights in our suffering.
The God that we serve is kind and tender-hearted. There may be times where we endure much suffering in life. Perhaps God is disciplining us through that because of some sin in our lives. Or perhaps God is using those circumstances to draw us to Him, or to mature in our faith. But let us be assured of the fact that God only uses those means for our good, and He always does so with deep and tender mercy towards us as His children.
While we continually and repeatedly fail to bring God honour and glory through our lives, he continues to bear with us, and to show us His mercy and grace. He is long-suffering. Slow to anger. Abounding in love.
7. Patience of God (vv.9-11)
7. Patience of God (vv.9-11)
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
God is a God who forgets our sins past, as we repent and he forgives us. He does not store up our sins, and hold them in an arsenal so that he can use them as weapons against us in the future. Rather, he removes our sins from us.
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
With God, there is forgiveness of sins. He does not treat us (v.10) as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities. If God were to give us what we deserve, we would face His divine wrath and judgment day after day. Our lives would be undone. We would be broken and destroyed as we suffered under the weight of His wrath.
We can scarcely picture or imagine the kind of suffering that is due to us for our failure to love God and to worship Him and live before Him in a worthy manner. We make light of our sins and transgressions. We tend to downplay the extent and the gravity of the punishment that truly was due to us.
Be sure that the worst of suffering that you have faced in this world, or could ever face in this world, is no comparison to the suffering that you would face is God had to treat you according to what you deserve.
God shows forgiveness and kindness and mercy. And He does so in abundance. He blots out our transgressions, and even welcomes us into His very presence through His Son Jesus Christ. This is the great and merciful God that we serve!!
And we serve further his faithfulness. He is faithful in his mercy toward all mankind. The promises that He has made to us, He will most surely keep! He is a God who will remain true to His own character and nature. He is the unchanging God. He is immutable, and thus we can trust implicitly in Him.
Although we are faithless, he remains faithful, because He cannot deny Himself.
Application / Conclusion
Application / Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters, from these few verses that we have considered, we find that there is an abundance of reason to live with great joy and satisfaction in this world as we worship our eternal God. God’s love and mercy and compassion are great towards us. We may live before the eternal God with peace, and without condemnation. We may live knowing that we have an eternal hope that can never perish, spoil or fade. We know that God Almighty is our God.
Are you living today with this kind of joy and exuberance in serving the Almighty God of the universe. If you have become despondent in this life; if you are feeling weary and weighed down by the trials in this world. If you have become burdened under a weight of care; take your eyes off of all of the cares and worries of this world, and turn your eyes upwards to the eternal and all-powerful God. Think about how great His love for you is. Think about all the promises that He has give you as His child. Think about all benefits that are yours in Jesus Christ.
And then go and live a life of renewed vigor and enthusiasm, knowing that the God you serve is the One who will strengthen you as you do this!
Sermon outline obtained from: Pentz, C. M. (1975). Christian Life Outlines (pp. 13–14). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.