1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,480 Let's read Psalm 116 tonight. Psalm 116. 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:06,360 Originally it wasn't going to cover this Psalm, but when I 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:10,360 read it, it just jumped off the pages, especially the 1st 4 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,040 words which is the title of our hope You have an outline 5 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 tonight. I love the Lord, but Psalm 116 I 6 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,560 love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my pleas for 7 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,680 mercy because He inclined His ear to me. 8 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,080 Therefore I will call on Him as long as I live. 9 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:28,800 The snares of death encompass me. 10 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,200 The pangs of she hole laid hold of me. 11 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,480 I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the 12 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:38,480 Lord. O Lord, I pray deliver my soul. 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,160 Gracious is the Lord and righteous. 14 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,400 Our God is merciful. The Lord preserves this simple 15 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:46,400 When I was brought low, He saved me. 16 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,600 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt 17 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,240 bountifully with you, for you have delivered my soul from 18 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,880 death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. 19 00:00:57,400 --> 00:00:59,600 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 20 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,240 I believed even when I spoke. I am greatly afflicted. 21 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,280 I set in my alarm. All mankind are liars. 22 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,240 What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me? 23 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,560 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name 24 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,400 of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord 25 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,120 in the presence of all His people. 26 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,600 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints. 27 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:24,640 Oh Lord, I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of 28 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,640 your maidservant. You have loosened my bonds. 29 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,760 I will offer to you the sacrifice of Thanksgiving and 30 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,440 call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord 31 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,400 in the presence of all his people in the courts of the 32 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,400 House of the Lord. In your mist, O Jerusalem, 33 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,760 praise the Lord. Father, thank you that we can 34 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,240 look at Psalm 116 tonight. And Father, we do love you, but 35 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,400 we know that you first loved us and sent Jesus your Son to die 36 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,000 on the cross for our sins. And only because of that, the 37 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,400 transformation from old and new that we have love that we can 38 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:58,720 love. May we leave here tonight 39 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,680 sharing that love of Christ with friends, with family, with 40 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,600 neighbors, in Jesus Christ name, Amen. 41 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,039 Our Psalm begins with four great words. 42 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:13,160 I love the Lord. If you were to write a Psalm, 43 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,680 you will write a Psalm. And you began with those words. 44 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,320 What would you say? I love the Lord Because. 45 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,320 Because what? Because he loved you first. 46 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,080 Maybe somebody would say he saved me from my sins by sending 47 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,000 his Son to die on the cross and take away my sins and give me 48 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,640 forgiveness and eternal life. What else would you say the I 49 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:44,400 love the Lord for? You might say I didn't hear his 50 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,560 grace. OK, what about godly parents? 51 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,480 I think that's probably the second greatest gift that I ever 52 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,920 had other than salvation was that God gave me parents who 53 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:58,520 modeled and showed the way. That's that's just a great gift. 54 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,760 He gave me Christ Community Church that supported me and my 55 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,200 wife for 18 years on the mission field and I still get to come 56 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,960 here and work here. He gave me Pastor Lance to teach 57 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,160 me and godly men through that time. 58 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,520 He gave me a beautiful wife. I've been married for 23 years. 59 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:16,920 He gave me a beautiful daughter, Tessa. 60 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:22,720 He gave me wonderful places to live, hospitals that I could go 61 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,880 to when sick, when many people don't have that security and 62 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:30,800 safety, food, shelter, clothing. I could go on and on and on. 63 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,080 I love the Lord because He's done so much for me. 64 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,880 You notice there was no superscription at the top of 65 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,880 this Psalm. Of the 150 psalms, there are 34 66 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,560 like this one that have no superscription Psalms. 116 is 67 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,000 the 4th Psalm in what's commonly called the Egyptian Halal 68 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:57,520 Psalms. 113114115116117186OF them are called the Egyptian 69 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,640 Halal Psalms and they're recited at Jewish festivals. 70 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,800 Of course the Passover would be the big one and they recite 71 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:10,120 these sing them during Passover to express gratitude and praise 72 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,240 to the Lord. These psalms are called the 73 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:17,160 Egyptian hell because they celebrate Israelites exit from 74 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,880 Egypt and halal means praise. So during Passover they would 75 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:27,160 sing Psalm 113 and 114 before the Passover meal and then they 76 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,760 would sing Psalm 115 to 118 following the last cup of wine. 77 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:37,760 So it's likely that our Lord Jesus Christ sang this Psalm 78 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,240 that we're looking at tonight with the other 5 the night 79 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:45,800 before he went to a cross. Matthew 2630 says after singing 80 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,160 a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 81 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,280 That would have been Psalms 115 to 118. 82 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,040 Think of the irony though. Our Psalm is about a man who was 83 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,680 near death. He was about to die. 84 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:04,360 You'll see the graphic language. He was near death and yet God 85 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:10,120 rescued him. So Jesus is singing this song on 86 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,840 the night before he's going to go to the garden, the night 87 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:16,560 before he's going to be betrayed, and the night before 88 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,720 he'd be executed on the cross. So the Psalm is about a man who 89 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,640 got rescued, but Jesus own father would not rescue him the 90 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,720 next morning. In fact, He would abandoned him 91 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,320 on the cross when the wrath of God was poured out on him. 92 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:37,080 When Jesus was on the cross. G Campbell Morgan said, Whatever 93 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,840 the local circumstances which gave rise to this song, it's 94 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:44,440 evident that in all its rich meaning was fulfilled when in 95 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,240 the midst of that little company of perplexed souls, the shadows 96 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,280 of one death already on him, Jesus sang this song, a 97 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:55,800 prophetic triumph over the sharpness of the hour of passion 98 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:01,400 to which He was passing. He has made it over to all his 99 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,360 own as their triumph song over death. 100 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,880 Say I love you and then I will. J Vernon McGee says that it's a 101 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:14,080 love song because God swallowed death in victory. 102 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,200 The type of Psalm we're finishing tonight is the 103 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,000 Thanksgiving Psalm. This psalmist is thankful that 104 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,800 God spared his life, that God rescued him from death. 105 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,680 So let's look at at at our outline tonight. 106 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,640 We have 4 simple points, His danger verses one to four, His 107 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,800 deliverer verse 5 to 9, his devotion verses 10 to 14, and 108 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:40,880 his delight in verses 515 to 19. So first obvious danger and 109 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:42,640 number. Some point says I love the Lord, 110 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,080 verses 1 and 2 and I just love how it begins. 111 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,680 I love the Lord. Our Psalm begins with a personal 112 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:55,040 pronoun I-1 of 18 times. In my ESV translation there's 113 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,960 only 19 verses, 18 times he says I. 114 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,280 So you notice it's a very personal Psalm right off the 115 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,920 bat. Me is mentioned 7 times and my 116 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,000 is mentioned 9 times. So you see how it's just a 117 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,040 beautiful personal Psalm which captures the soul. 118 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,200 It's the only Psalm of the 150 to begin with the words I love 119 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,640 the Lord. Now Psalms 18 which has a lot of 120 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:23,400 familiar themes with Psalm 116, Psalms 18, one says I love you, 121 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:29,040 O Lord, my strength. Psalms 3123 says Love the Lord, 122 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,440 all you Saints, but this is the only Psalm that begins with 123 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:36,400 those first 4 words. The psalmist uses the name of 124 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:42,080 God here as Yahweh and he's going to use it 16 times in 125 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,080 these 19 verses. That's the covenant name of God. 126 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,840 I love the Lord because of answered prayer was the catalyst 127 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,160 for the psalmist love. And when God answers our 128 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,880 prayers, it reinforces our love for Him. 129 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,320 How can the psalmist say these four precious words? 130 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:02,200 How can we even mutter these precious words? 131 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,920 It's only because God first loved us, right? 132 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,320 And you know the verse I think Lance managed on Sunday first, 133 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:14,640 John 419 says we love because he first loved us. 134 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,720 He says I love the Lord for two reasons, because he heard my 135 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,040 voice and because he inclined his ear. 136 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,760 He says because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. 137 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:29,760 God answers our prayers. They may be no, they may be wait 138 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,720 and hopefully they're yes. But God is a compassionate, 139 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:37,799 merciful God wanting to hear our cries and our prayers. 140 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,760 It says because he inclined his ear. 141 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:43,559 Now we've talked about that a lot lately, haven't we? 142 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:47,480 We looked at Psalms 86 one and said God inclined his ear. 143 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:53,880 Psalms 1O2 last week inclined your ear to me 15 times in the 144 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:57,200 Psalms it says that and this is the third one that we've looked 145 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:00,960 at. So he asked God to call upon 146 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,320 some point to I will call upon the Lord. 147 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:08,360 The last part of verse 2. He says therefore I will call on 148 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,760 him as long as I live. When you go to Bible school or 149 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,800 seminary, they always tell you when you see a therefore in the 150 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:20,760 Bible, you should ask ourselves what is the therefore their 151 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:22,880 space FOR? What's it there for? 152 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,680 Well, the therefore you always go back to verse one. 153 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,200 And it's because God heard his cry and God inclined his ear to 154 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,840 him because he heard me, because he inclined his ear to me, 155 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,520 because he answered my prayer. I will continue to pray to him 156 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:43,320 all my life, says the psalmist. Next he says I came near to 157 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,200 death. He says the snares of death 158 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:50,160 encompass me, the pangs of she hole laid hold of me. 159 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,800 I suffered distress and anguish almost the same as Psalms 18, 160 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,080 which I said is familiar with Psalms 116. 161 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,960 Psalms 18, verse 4 to 5 says the cords of death encompass me, the 162 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,360 torrents of destruction assailed me, the cords of she hole 163 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,840 entangled me, and the snares of death confronted me. 164 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:13,080 So the psalmist feels like he's trapped in a life threatening 165 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,800 situation and he's suffering a near death experience and only 166 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:19,360 God can bail him out and help him. 167 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:24,120 So verse four he says I called upon the Lord, then I called 168 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,840 upon the Lord. O Lord, I pray deliver my soul. 169 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:32,560 Notice in this Psalm 4 times in the 19 verses the psalmist calls 170 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:38,120 on the Lord verse 2. I will call on him verse 4 which 171 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,640 I just read. Then I called on the name of the 172 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:47,520 Lord verse 13, and call on the name of the Lord, verse 17 and 173 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:51,280 call on the name of the Lord. This psalmist was in love with 174 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,520 the Lord, and because God rescued him, he's going to 175 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:57,560 continue to call upon the name of the Lord. 176 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,280 You know, one of my goals, as many you know, is to get 177 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,120 everybody in our church to read 1 Psalm a day. 178 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:06,960 And if you do that for one year, you'll have read through the 179 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:12,000 Psalms 2 1/2 times in one year. And the first time you read some 180 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,640 psalms, like Latin, we looked at Psalm 79. 181 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,320 Some of them were hard, but most of them were easy. 182 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:21,440 But the more you read it after year 2, after year 3, after 3-4, 183 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,040 especially if you have a journal where you have a book like I 184 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,040 gave Bill, those books can help us. 185 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:30,360 And Diedrich Bond Offer said, the more deeply we grow in the 186 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:36,320 Psalms, the more often we pray them as our own, the more simple 187 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,680 and rich our prayers become. This is the central theme of 188 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:44,280 Psalm 116. The all sufficient grace of God 189 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:46,160 to help believers in their weakness. 190 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,040 This Psalm testifies to the strength of God manifest in the 191 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,560 psalmist when he had no power to deliver himself. 192 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:56,920 The psalmist was so I'll that he thought he was about to die. 193 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,920 There was absolutely nothing he could do save his own life. 194 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,640 In fact, there was nothing anyone could do to help him. 195 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:06,600 If he were to be helped, his help would have to come from 196 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,240 God. When commentator said there's an 197 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:15,080 old hymn that says Abide with me written in 1947 by Henry Lyle 198 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,600 and it says one of the same says when other helpers fail and 199 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,520 comforters flee, help of the helpless, abide with me. 200 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,760 That is what God is, the help of the helpless. 201 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:29,520 Let's look at sub point #2 His deliverer. 202 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,080 And the Lord is his savior, and the Lord is deliverer. 203 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:34,640 First off, the Lord is his savior. 204 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:39,200 Once again, the Psalms are going to teach us about God and His 205 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,720 attributes, and it lists three of them right there. 206 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:47,600 He says #1 He is gracious. It says gracious is the Lord, 207 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,400 just like Psalms 8615. It says when it means when it 208 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,360 says gracious, it means that you bend down. 209 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,320 You stoop in kindness to somebody inferior to you to help 210 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,120 them. You have favor to give them 211 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,080 mercy. Psalms 8615 if you don't have it 212 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,200 memorized, you still have time says, but you, O Lord, are a 213 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,720 God, merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast 214 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:14,440 love and faithfulness. Psalms one O 3 verse 8 says the 215 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:18,960 Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in 216 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,120 steadfast love. So he's gracious then he says, 217 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,840 and righteous. Righteous here may not mean what 218 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,640 we normally think of. It means that God acts with 219 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,320 justice and righteousness in full accord with his divine 220 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,600 standards. It means he's going to keep his 221 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:36,040 covenant. He's righteous to keep his 222 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,200 government. And then he says he's 223 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,680 compassionate. Maybe you, if you have an NASB 224 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,040 translation, it says compassionate. 225 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,480 Mine says merciful. So, but there, there you can 226 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,520 switch the words around, but you're, you're being merciful 227 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,040 out of love. Our God is merciful. 228 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:53,760 He heard the cries of the psalmist. 229 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,440 So these three attributes, graciousness, righteousness and 230 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,560 compassionate or mercy, they govern the Lord's, the Lord's 231 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:04,840 response to the psalmist in his or her time of need. 232 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:08,360 There are characteristics of God, but you know they're also 233 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,680 characteristics of a godly man Pastor Lance finished his 234 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:16,840 message this Sunday on the godly man right and Psalms 112 verse 4 235 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:22,680 says the same 3 terms not about God, but about a godly man. 236 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,640 It says for the upright he is gracious, merciful and 237 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,880 righteous. So we share if you're godly in 238 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,600 God's attributes, these three attributes, but he also says 239 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,000 that he's protective. Verse 6 says the Lord preserves 240 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,960 the simple. So not only is God gracious, 241 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:46,440 righteous, merciful, but he cares for the simple or the 242 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,800 little people, the common people, the everyday people. 243 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:54,360 I think we read this verse and Sunday to Jeremiah 923 and 24 244 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,400 says thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast in his riches 245 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,920 wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in 246 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:02,960 his might. Let not the rich man boast in 247 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:07,040 his riches, but let him who boast boast in this that he 248 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,880 understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices 249 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,480 steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. 250 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,560 For in these things I delight. God doesn't care about the 251 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,000 wisdom, the might, the power, the fame that the world does. 252 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,080 He cares about the common and every day. 253 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:26,840 And you see that, remember the gospel went to the lowly 254 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,480 shepherds first, right in Luke 2. 255 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:34,360 And remember that Jesus chose uneducated and common fishermen. 256 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,520 At least seven of the 12 were fishermen. 257 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:41,080 He's also, at the last part of verse 6, He says He saved me. 258 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,400 So He's gracious, He's merciful, He's compassionate, He's 259 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:49,360 protective, and He's a Savior. When the psalmist was at death's 260 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,280 door, God heard his cry, verse one. 261 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:55,680 God inclined his ear, verse 2. God delivered him, verses four 262 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:57,760 and eight. God preserved him this verse, 263 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,280 verse 6. God's going to deal bountifully 264 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,960 with him in verse 7. And God saved him. 265 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,960 So God delivered him in the Old Testament. 266 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,280 But in the New Testament, when we have the word saved, you 267 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:13,920 know, John 316 of course, right? But John 317 says, for God did 268 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:18,000 not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in 269 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,800 order that the world might be saved through him. 270 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,800 And Romans 10/13 says everyone who calls upon the name of the 271 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:29,800 Lord will be saved in some .2 Here the Lord is a deliverer. 272 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,600 Verses 7 and 9 and #1 He blessed my life. 273 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,320 He says, there, return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord 274 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,200 has dealt bountifully with me. I love that word bountifully. 275 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:42,680 We don't use that word today, do we? 276 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,800 It's like maybe from England in the 1800s or something. 277 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:50,720 But Psalms 13 verse 6 says I will sing to the Lord because He 278 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,200 has dealt bountifully with me. You know, I asked at the 279 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,800 beginning tonight's message if you could write a Psalm, I love 280 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,560 the Lord, could you count your blessings? 281 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:04,599 Could you name them one by one? Despite having a near death 282 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:09,319 experience, the psalmist says God has down dealt bountifully 283 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:12,240 with me. I hope God has down dealt 284 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,079 bountifully with you and you can say what the psalmist says Jesus 285 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:21,200 said in John 1010. The thief who is Satan comes 286 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:25,720 only to steal and to kill. I came that they might have life 287 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,600 and you might have abundantly, bountifully, abundantly, almost 288 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,800 the same word. That's life and that's eternal 289 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,600 life that Jesus gives us. He gives us a bountiful life in 290 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:39,160 this world and of course in heaven to come. 291 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:41,960 This says he delivered my life. Verse 8. 292 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:47,200 So it begins with the four. This is not a casual, but in 293 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,240 fact indeed, or yet maybe your translation says deliverance 294 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,200 came in three phases. He says you delivered my soul 295 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:56,720 from death. His life was endangered. 296 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:59,560 You can see that in verses 349 and 15. 297 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:04,040 But the Lord preserved his life. Secondly, he says my eyes from 298 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:08,440 tears, so that would be sorrow or fear that would cause the 299 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,080 psalmist to weep. And thirdly, my feet from 300 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:15,600 stumbling. Psalms 5613 is the only other 301 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,320 usage in of the word stumbling and it's the same word that 302 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,520 David uses in describing how the Lord preserved his life from 303 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,280 David's life from the Philistines and Gath. 304 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,080 And the next verse 9, he extended my life. 305 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,560 He says I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 306 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:37,360 This is the first time we see this word. 307 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:40,120 I will or we're going to see it 7 times. 308 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:41,720 I will. We'll talk more about that 309 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:46,360 later, but contrast this verse 9 with the words in verse 3. 310 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:49,640 In verse three, he was in the pangs of Sheol she'll the Old 311 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,520 Testament version of hell. Here he says the land of the 312 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:55,960 living. So the psalmist was at death's 313 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:58,920 door, but now he rejoices in the living God. 314 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:01,400 Let's move on to the Third Point. 315 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,560 His devotion and #1 there he says I trusted in the Lord. 316 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:11,160 Verses 10 and 11 are difficult to to translate because 317 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:13,440 commentators argue and fight about them. 318 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:19,120 So my SV says I believed in even when I spoke and there's a bunch 319 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:23,800 of different translations that they argue about, but I think 320 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,360 the best 1 might be he says I believe. 321 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:31,600 Therefore I said I am greatly afflicted and I set in my alarm 322 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,560 all mankind are liars. So these two, this verse 10 and 323 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,880 11 are debatable how to translate them, but I'm going to 324 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,880 go with the the one you know, he's saying that people can't be 325 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,560 trusted. This may indicate that the 326 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:49,360 psalmist was accused of false accusations by ungodly men. 327 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:54,120 Further, it's a bold statement how untrue all men are because a 328 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,520 lot of the men probably predicted the psalmist's death. 329 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,080 You're going to die and God spared his life. 330 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,680 So he's calling them liars. So certainly all men can only 331 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:04,280 offer a false hope for deliverance. 332 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:08,400 Only God can save. Then secondly says I thank the 333 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:12,200 Lord. And then here verse 12, how can 334 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,400 I repay the Lord? What shall I render to the Lord 335 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,800 for all his benefits to me? You know, how can I repay the 336 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,680 Lord for all his goodnesses? You know, it's a rhetorical 337 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,640 question, isn't it? Which has an emphatic answer. 338 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,760 No, you can't repay the Lord for all his goodnesses. 339 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,920 We have nothing to give to the Lord except ourselves, right? 340 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,680 Romans 1135, that great doxology at the end of Chapter 11 says, 341 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,720 who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? 342 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,200 All we can do is love the Lord back and honor Him with our 343 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,160 bodies and our hearts and our minds. 344 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:48,480 Then he says, I will thank the Lord. 345 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,400 Verse 13 says I will lift up the cup of salvation. 346 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:53,680 What does that mean? That's an Old Testament term 347 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:58,880 from Exodus 29 or Leviticus 23 where they would have a drink 348 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,200 offering and they would have the date morning sacrifice, they 349 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,360 would have the evening sacrifice and they would offer a drink 350 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:09,000 offering where they would pour it on the altar to give thanks 351 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,040 for a lot of things. So we, we knew Testament 352 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,320 believers, the closest you would come to this would be when you 353 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,440 partake of Holy Communion because you're lifting up the 354 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,640 cup of the new covenant, partaking in the Lord, the 355 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,800 Lord's death and remembering him. 356 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:26,880 The next he says, I will call upon the name of the Lord. 357 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,640 OK, and the phrase here calling upon the name of the Lord in the 358 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,400 Bible signifies more than just calling out to God or praying to 359 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,360 God. It represents a deep personal 360 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:41,800 relationship with God characterized by prayer, worship 361 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:46,680 and faith in action. Next he says in verse 14, I will 362 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:55,080 praise the Lord. He says I will pay my vows to 363 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,480 the Lord in the presence of all His people. 364 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,400 Notice verse 14 and verse 18 are exactly the same. 365 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,520 I will pay my vows to the Lord and the friends of His people. 366 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:10,160 So we have at least 10 psalms that talk about paying vows, and 367 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:11,360 we talked a little bit about that. 368 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:15,160 Remember in Psalm 65, the psalmist at the harvest festival 369 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:19,280 said he would pay his vows. So paying vows publicly 370 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,680 testifies to 1's responsibility for the Lord. 371 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:28,160 Vows are promises that we make to God regarding services to be 372 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:29,480 rendered to him and other people. 373 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,360 Now, you know, you have the soldier in the foxhole who's 374 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:34,680 who's getting shelled or shot at. 375 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:36,920 He makes a vow to God. If you Get Me Out of here, God, 376 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:38,760 I'll believe in you all the rest of my life. 377 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,040 And usually the soldier doesn't keep that vow. 378 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,560 A lot of men or women don't keep their marriage vows. 379 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:46,880 We don't really talk a lot about vows, do we? 380 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,800 But a godly individual fulfills his vow. 381 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,840 And I made a point in Psalm 65 and I'll reiterate it again 382 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,960 tonight. Jesus said if anyone would come 383 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:01,440 after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and 384 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,120 follow me. Our evangelical world today 385 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:08,200 makes converts, but God said that worst make disciples. 386 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,960 Jesus said we're make disciples. Many profess Jesus Christ, but 387 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,800 they don't possess Jesus Christ. But if you're a follower of 388 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:19,360 Jesus Christ and you say you love him, is there a commitment 389 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:24,000 to the Lord? Disciples at Jesus time would 390 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,440 follow Jesus Christ even to death. 391 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,640 I got a little note today on the update from a website I follow. 392 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:36,480 The parliament or the Congress in the country of Spain voted 393 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:43,400 today or yesterday, and the vote was something like 330 to 31330 394 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,680 people voted in the Congress that if a pastor counsels 395 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,400 against homosexuality, they could throw him in jail. 396 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:51,840 Only 31 of the politicians voted against it. 397 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,360 Now, I don't know if it's signed yet, but that is a law. 398 00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:56,520 And it just shows you where we are that they want to put 399 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,600 pastors. And I would think Spain would be 400 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,200 a highly Catholic country, but they're trying to ban pastors 401 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,200 from speaking out against it. But those pastors may have to go 402 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:06,200 to jail. OK. 403 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,400 Disciples will follow Christ even to death, even to jail. 404 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,440 If you're a follower of Jesus Christ and you love the Lord as 405 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,360 the Psalmist did, you'll be committed to calling upon the 406 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:20,360 name of the Lord, a devoted prayer life, consecrating 407 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:24,520 yourselves to holiness, living pure, serving the body of 408 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,680 Christ, using your spiritual gift, sharing Christ with 409 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:33,200 others, non believers, tithing to support the work of Christ, 410 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,880 and faithful preserved in Christ all the days of your life. 411 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,760 Let's look at the last point, verses 15 to 19, his delight. 412 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,240 And we begin with that wonderful verse, All the Saints are 413 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:52,040 precious to God. And then we'll look at I am a 414 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,120 servant of God also, but All Saints are precious to God. 415 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,840 You've heard this verse many times, especially when someone 416 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,400 you love or someone in our church passes away, right? 417 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:05,640 This is why J Vernon McGee says this Psalm is a love song 418 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:08,400 because God swallows up death and victory. 419 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,400 This Psalm celebrates deliverance from death, But the 420 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,800 psalmist knows that death is very still a reality. 421 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:20,920 He's going to die someday, but it's a reality for all God's 422 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:22,880 children. And I love the word. 423 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:29,680 It says precious, Precious. Psalm 72, verse 14 says precious 424 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,800 is there blood in the sight of the Lord. 425 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:35,240 Precious means you don't take it lightly. 426 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:40,520 You value it highly, and the psalmist says that in the eyes 427 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:45,480 of God, his Saints, maybe your translation says his godly ones. 428 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,080 Some translations say his holy ones, his loyal ones, his 429 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,480 committed ones, they are precious. 430 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,160 It's such a beautiful verse, isn't it? 431 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,040 Why is the death of a believer precious to God? 432 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,880 I'll give you 3 quick reasons tonight #1 the Lord's death of 433 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,960 the Lord's godly ones is precious because Jesus Christ 434 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,280 died for them. Galatians 220 says I have been 435 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,920 crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but the life I live 436 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:16,040 by faith in the Son of God. I live by faith in the Son of 437 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,200 God who loved me and gave himself up for me. 438 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:23,920 You're united with Christ #2 the death of God, the Lord's godly 439 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,840 ones is more precious because God's the one who gave them all 440 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:33,400 the days of their lives. Psalms 139 verse 16 says while 441 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,280 you are still in the womb of your mother, it says your eyes 442 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,880 saw my unformed substance. In your book were written every 443 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,520 one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there 444 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,600 were none of them. God. 445 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,360 Moses says God gives us 7080 years. 446 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,360 We have strength. But even those aborted babies 447 00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:54,680 are precious in the sight of God. 448 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,480 Even those children who died in the flood in Texas, they're 449 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:03,880 precious in the sight of God #3 the death of Lord's godly 1 is 450 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,880 precious because they go to Him. You turn to me to 2nd 451 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:13,520 Corinthians verse 51 to 8 as you're turning there. 452 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,200 Yesterday, the Spanish church here, Esteban, held that they 453 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:19,520 had a service for Maria Delarosa. 454 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:22,800 She passed away a few weeks ago, and she's in heaven. 455 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,200 And this Friday we will have a memorial service for Cecilia 456 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,680 Brajas. They're all precious in the 457 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,200 sight of God. But Second Corinthians 5 is one 458 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:38,800 of the classic passages that it warms our heart when when we 459 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,640 have death. And it says, for we know that if 460 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,440 the tent that is earthly home, that's our bodies you have right 461 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,280 now is destroyed. We have a building from God, a 462 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:51,000 house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. 463 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:54,560 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly 464 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:59,640 dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may be found, may not 465 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:01,840 be found naked. For while we are still in this 466 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:06,320 tent, we groan, being burdened, not that we we would be 467 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,920 unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is 468 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,200 mortal may be swallowed up by life. 469 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:16,360 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given 470 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:20,200 us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good 471 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,320 courage. We know that while we are at 472 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:26,520 home in the body, we are away from the Lord, but we walk by 473 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,200 faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and 474 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:34,240 we would rather be away from the away from the body and at home 475 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,400 with the Lord. There's a couple commentators in 476 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,680 this verse I'd love to read. And James Boyce, who's in heaven 477 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,360 with God, said God is particularly close to his people 478 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:50,400 when they stand at death's door. God watches over His people when 479 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,720 they're sick or dying, coming close to them and making His 480 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,600 presence known so that they all have comfort in death's hour. 481 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,680 He also frequently intervenes and does not allow them to 482 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,800 perish. In either case, the Lord does. 483 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,520 What is Beth? Spurgeon said? 484 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,920 Though death is a curse and an enemy, it is still precious 485 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:15,480 because it removes the remaining barriers between God and His 486 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,400 Saints. Death is the doorway to an 487 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:23,320 eternity of perfect fellowship. Death to the Saints is not a 488 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:27,840 penalty, it is not destruction, it is not even a loss. 489 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,040 Aspersion also said of Baxter, a great, a great Puritan. 490 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:37,040 When Baxter lay dying and his friends came to see him, almost 491 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,560 the last words he said was an answer to the question, Dear Mr. 492 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:45,120 Baxter, how are you? Almost Well, he said. 493 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,360 And so it is. Death cures. 494 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,800 It's the best medicine for those who die are not only almost 495 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,560 well, but they are healed forever. 496 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,840 And one commentator said as Jesus saying these words, Psalm 497 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:04,000 116, verse 15, with his disciples of the night before 498 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,920 his own death. The words were powerful and 499 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:12,000 prophetic because Jesus was the ultimate holy one and his death 500 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:17,080 precious beyond all reckoning. Let's look on to I am a servant 501 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,720 of the Lord and he says there I am a servant. 502 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,200 I am a servant. I'm a son of a maid servant, OK, 503 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:28,880 literally saying I'm your slave. So Jonathan tonight got a legacy 504 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,240 standard Bible. And if you know the the leaders 505 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,680 at Grace Community Church and the Masters Seminary made a new 506 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,680 translation which I've talked and talked about and enjoyed 507 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:42,200 reading with the Psalms, and they took the word servant 508 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,640 completely out of the New Testament and replaced it with 509 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:47,840 slave. And as I mentioned, John 510 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,320 MacArthur says, you know, a slit, A servant can quit, 511 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:53,880 servant can quit and walk away from his master, right? 512 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,760 But a slave can never leave their master. 513 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:01,360 And if you have Jesus Christ in your heart tonight, Romans 6618 514 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,160 says that you are a slave of righteousness. 515 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:08,400 You're a slave of Jesus Christ. So repeated back-to-back, this 516 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:11,560 statement emphasizes the Psalmist humble submission and 517 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,920 dependence upon his sovereign Lord. 518 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,040 God loosed his bonds, he says, loosed his bond. 519 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,840 God looses our bonds. God loosed his bonds from 520 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,920 death's door. God looses our bonds from sin 521 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:30,560 and gives us eternal life and salvation, and we are his slaves 522 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,240 of righteousness forever. He says here in verse 17, I will 523 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,600 sacrifice to God another one of the I wills. 524 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:41,600 I will offer you a sacrifice of Thanksgiving and call upon the 525 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:43,760 name of the Lord. Again, these would be the 526 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:47,800 Thanksgiving offerings that are listed in Leviticus 7 Exodus 527 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,000 different chapters. Because I'm a slave of 528 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:52,920 righteousness, I'm going to offer the sacrifice of 529 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,320 Thanksgiving. And he says I'm going to fulfill 530 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:57,720 my vows. I'm not only going to fill my 531 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,040 vows in the middle amidst the people of God. 532 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:03,640 He says in the presence you're going to, you're going to see 533 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,600 the fruit. You're going to see what I 534 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,200 promised to do. He says I'm going to do it in 535 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:11,160 the courts of the House of God and I'm going to do it in the 536 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,880 city of God. So the psalmist repeats verse 14 537 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,360 by about fulfilling his vows in the presence of all his people. 538 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,040 People will see his faith in action. 539 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,200 His fruit will show and will be on display. 540 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:29,760 And then our psalmist ends with the words, 3 words in English, 541 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,720 one word in Hebrew, praise the Lord and you know that is 542 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:37,960 Hallelujah. So in the Egyptian halal there 543 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:42,560 are 6 psalms, but four of them in with praise the Lord, Psalm 544 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:47,840 113, Psalm 115, Psalm 116, and Psalm 117. 545 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,800 So we just have a few minutes left tonight and what can we 546 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,360 learn from this Psalm? Well, I hope you've learned this 547 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:57,840 10 weeks. We've looked at most of all of 548 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,840 the Psalms special Psalms 86 was called What a prayer of David 549 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,000 Psalms one O 2 was called a prayer of the afflicted Psalm 5 550 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:08,720 Psalms 27. We're all like prayers. 551 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,720 So I hope you've learned a lot. That's one reason I I encourage 552 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:17,000 people to read 1 Psalm a day because it, it, it challenges 553 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,600 you, encourage you to pray like the psalmist. 554 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:23,040 It teaches you how to pray. It teaches you how to pray and 555 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,080 praise the Lord, those two things. 556 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:31,120 And you know, it says in our Psalm tonight, Psalms 116 verse 557 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,360 2, he cries out, incline your ear to me, right? 558 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,800 And Psalm one O 2 verse two said that Psalms 86 verse one said 559 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:43,280 that those Psalms we looked at. But first Peter 3 verse 12 says, 560 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:48,000 for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are 561 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:53,280 attentive to their prayer. So God doesn't really have to 562 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:55,840 doesn't have eyes. He doesn't have ears, but he 563 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:58,880 already inclines his ear when we cry out to him. 564 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:01,600 So I hope that your prayer life will change. 565 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,480 I hope that you'll pray for people who dislike you. 566 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,080 Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies, right? 567 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:13,440 I pray for people you dislike and how you can love them when 568 00:34:13,679 --> 00:34:15,320 some people are not lovely, right? 569 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:20,159 I pray that when you pray, you'll pray for your needs and 570 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:25,400 not your greeds or desires. I pray that your your prayer 571 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:27,760 will be like we talked about, Spurgeon says. 572 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,800 Arguing with God, debating with God. 573 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:32,239 This is why you need to answer this prayer. 574 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:36,679 God effort without prayer sometimes ineffective, right? 575 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:40,760 Pray that you'll pray humbly and live likewise. 576 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,520 Don't pray for a lighter load. Pray for a stronger back. 577 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:51,880 Pray quietly before God in the busiest and noisiest parts of 578 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,760 your day. Pray that you can stand up to 579 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,520 Satan. Well, you can't stand up to 580 00:34:57,520 --> 00:34:59,720 Satan if you don't kneel before God. 581 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,560 But if you pray and kneel before God, you can stand up. 582 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,840 Satan will flee. Pray with perseverance and pray 583 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:11,240 with expectancy. Pray as if the task depended on 584 00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:13,960 God and work as if it depends on you. 585 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:18,680 The next time you feel weak in your knees, try using them to 586 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:21,360 pray. There's no such thing as an 587 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:24,600 unsuccessful or or successful pray. 588 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:29,680 People of God may not talk about their prayer habits, but their 589 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:32,640 lives speak volume. So I hope your prayer life will 590 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:34,640 be enhanced and changed this summer. 591 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,280 Secondly, can you say those four precious words? 592 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:44,720 I love the Lord, verse one. Love calls out for God for 593 00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:48,240 Christ's disciples to pray to the Lord in First Thessalonians 594 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:54,360 417 says pray without ceasing #2 love finds rest in the Lord. 595 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:59,080 Verse 7, he, he had peace with God after his healing. 596 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,440 God had dealt bountifully with him and he was at rest with the 597 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:08,040 Lord #3 Love always lives as if it's in the presence of the 598 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,680 Lord. Verse 9 I will walk before the 599 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:16,160 Lord #4 Love fulfills its vows to the Lord. 600 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:18,400 You have a you, You say you love the Lord. 601 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:19,560 We'll talk about that in a minute. 602 00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:24,400 You have a commitment to follow the Lord and then #5 love serves 603 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,880 the Lord. You use your gift. 604 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:30,320 You know, I mentioned it last week, but to seeing, I don't 605 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:34,160 know, maybe 7080 volunteers from Christ Community Church at VBS, 606 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,000 it was just beautiful to see the body of Christ exercising the 607 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:42,360 gifts. And we want you to help out with 608 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:46,720 the safety team, with the greeting team, with the nursery, 609 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:50,320 with the children's ministry. So some of you worked at VBS. 610 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,680 We could use you. OK, it's easy to say I love the 611 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:58,280 Lord, but verse 18 of our Psalm, the psalmist says you're going 612 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:01,640 to see my faith in action. You're going to see it in the 613 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,600 presence of people and I hope we'll see you serving, joining 614 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,960 at Christ Community Church. And then lastly, if you say I 615 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:12,880 love the Lord, then what is your I will statement? 616 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:18,720 So once psalmist said you say I love you, then I will. 617 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:23,120 That was G Campbell Morgan say I love you and then I will he says 618 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:29,960 I will in verse 2, verse 9, verse 13, verse 14, verse 17 and 619 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:32,960 verse 18. If you say I love the Lord, 620 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:35,080 there's going to be something to that. 621 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:40,280 I will what are what are your I wills and I think of Hebrews 11, 622 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,880 that Great Hall of faith and I won't read it all, but you know, 623 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,920 there's I think 20 different names named, but it says by 624 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,480 faith. Abel offered to God a more 625 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,240 acceptable sacrifice and gain by faith. 626 00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:57,160 Noah being warned by God, he constructed an ark by faith. 627 00:37:57,160 --> 00:37:59,200 Abraham obeyed when he was called to go. 628 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:01,960 There was by faith, by faith, by faith. 629 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:04,840 And then almost every one of those characters, they did 630 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:07,040 something. Noah built an ark. 631 00:38:07,240 --> 00:38:10,560 Abraham obeyed God and left Abel did the right sacrifice. 632 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:14,640 So with if you have faith in Jesus Christ, there will be 633 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:18,280 works, works that don't save you, but works because you love 634 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:20,520 the Lord. So where faith is, there's 635 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,960 action as we see in Hebrews and Psalms 116. 636 00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:28,080 If you, if you love the Lord like the psalmist, then what are 637 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,000 your eye wills? I will worship him regularly. 638 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,760 Maybe I will pray and talk with him regularly. 639 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:39,080 I will serve the body of Christ at Christ Community Church. 640 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:44,960 I will support the work of of God in his work financially. 641 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:47,520 I will love the brethren and visit them. 642 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:49,760 There's over 51 another's in the Bible. 643 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:55,080 So if you say I love the Lord the 1st 4 words of Psalms 116, 644 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,440 then what are your seven I will statements? 645 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,280 Let's pray Father in heaven. Thank you for Psalm 116. 646 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:04,600 Father, it is such a beautiful Psalm. 647 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,680 The psalmist was at death's door and you spared his life. 648 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:12,520 And I'm sure today we have hospitals and doctors and better 649 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:16,440 medicine and things. But we, Father, you have spared 650 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,840 many of us many times from sickness, from health, from 651 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:24,960 accidents, from difficult times. And Father, we can say I love 652 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,800 the Lord and I know we love you. So I do pray that we search our 653 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:33,720 hearts and then see what I are. I will statements, I will call 654 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:35,600 upon the name of the Lord. I will serve the Lord. 655 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:38,680 I will follow the Lord, and especially I will walk with the 656 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,320 Lord daily. So Father, thank you for this 657 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:45,520 song, may we leave here today knowing more of you and applied 658 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:49,080 it and obeyed it in our life in Jesus name, Amen.