The
letter L just naturally lends itself
to the thought of love, at least, it
does to me. And there are many
directions we could take in speaking of love. I could take some time in teaching on the
Bible definition of love, which our
Pastor does quite often. We could go to
the “love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13, and study
what Paul wrote about love – in
fact, I read an entire book about that in preparation for this lesson. But, this is not the direction which the Lord
led me for this lesson. Instead, tonight
I want us to concentrate on a passage that Rick and I read recently in our
daily devotions: Psalm 116! Let’s read this
together:
1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and
my supplications. 2 Be-cause he hath inclined his ear
unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell
gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. 4 Then called I upon the name of the
LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 5 Gracious is
the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. 6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he
helped me. 7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for
the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and
my feet from falling. 9
I will walk before the LORD in
the land of the living. 10
I believed, therefore have I
spoken: I was greatly afflicted: 11
I said in my haste, All men are
liars. 12 What shall I render unto the LORD for
all his benefits toward me? 13
I will take the cup of
salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I
will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. 15
Precious in the sight of the
LORD is the death of his saints. 16
O LORD, truly I am thy
servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou
hast loosed my bonds. 17
I will offer to thee the
sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of
all his people, 19 In the courts of the Lord's house,
in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
So,
tonight’s lesson is L is for Love the Lord!
I.
What the Lord Has Done vs. 1 – 8
A.
Answered Prayer (1-5)
Let’s begin with verse 1: “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my
voice and my supplications.” The
Bible speaks mightily about the love
of God, but one of my favorite passages is in 1 John 4:19: “We love him, because he first
loved us.” Imagine that! It
takes the wooing and drawing of Almighty God for us to respond in love to Him! God loves me! God loves you!
Jeremiah 31:3 says, “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying,
Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
And in His love, He has “heard my voice and supplications!” If you read your
Bible carefully, you will see again and again the many occasions in which God
hears and answers prayers, from hearing the pleas of the children of Israel in
bondage in Egypt in Exodus 3:7, “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the
affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by
reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;” to the searching
of the Gentile, Cornelius, in Acts 10:31:
“And said, Cornelius, thy
prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.”
I want us to grab hold of these thoughts for just a
moment. We begin with the fact that we
are loved by God Almighty – the Holy
of Holies! What a tremendous thought! In response to that, look back to what
our psalmist says, “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my
supplications. 2
Because he hath inclined his
ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell
gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.”
Think about your life, your week, today. Do you have trouble and sorrow? David wrote in Psalm 22:11, “Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none
to help.” It’s true that barely a day goes by that we don’t face trouble
or heartache of some kind – it’s how we handle the trouble that matters. How should we? Again, in this Psalm 116, verses 4 & 5:
“Then called
I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and
righteous; yea, our God is merciful.” Prayer should be our first response to
whatever trouble comes our way. Prayer.
Not whining. Not complaining. Not calling all our friends and neighbors. First,
we pray. Why? The Psalmist tells us why!
Because the Lord is gracious (did He not send Jesus to die for us?) and
righteous (He is Just and Holy) and merciful (in His mercy He forgives
us!). So, yes, He will answer those
prayers!
B.
Brought Deliverance (6-8)
6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I
was brought low, and he helped me. 7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt
bountifully with thee. 8 For thou hast delivered
my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling.
You know God is more
than willing to help us when we are “brought low,” as the psalmist says. Think for a moment when you were in your
greatest need. Now turn with me to Luke 10:30-37 and let’s read of a
man who was brought down about as low as one can go. Let’s read:
“30 And
Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him,
and departed, leaving him half dead. 31
And by chance there came down
a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and
looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he
journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And
went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set
him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed,
he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him,
Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will
repay thee. 36
Which now of these three,
thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on
him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
Just like the Good Samaritan came to the wounded man and
helped him – not because he liked him or knew anything about him but purely out
of grace and compassion towards him – remember, verse 5 of our Psalm told us “Gracious
is the Lord” and when we are “brought low,”
the
Lord will “deliver”
our
“soul from
death.” “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.”
(Psalm 118:17)
II.
What I Am Doing? vs. 1, 9 – 11
I want to go back to verse
one, and then on to verses 9 to 11: “1
I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications….9
I will walk before the LORD in
the land of the living. 10
I believed, therefore have I
spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
11 I said in my
haste, All men are liars.”
In this short section we have the actions of the Psalmist and the actions we ourselves can take in
response to our prayers being heard and in response to the Lord delivering us
from our afflictions. Remember in verse
one, the Psalmist says, “I love
the Lord!” Here is someone who faced
some of life’s most difficult circumstances.
What they were he doesn’t say, except that he was delivered from
death. So he begins his discourse with
the action of love! Verse 9 says, “I will walk
before the Lord in the land of the living.” This is
where our actions come in. We must walk
in faith (For we walk
by faith, not by sight) – 2
Corinthians 5:7 and Colossians 1:10
tells us, “That ye
might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every
good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” And, too, in 1 Thessalonians 2:12, “That ye would walk worthy of
God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” Remember those
words in Genesis 16:13 – “Thou God seest me.” It is important for others to KNOW that we
believe and trust in a prayer-answering God.
We don’t depend on the world for our needs but a holy God who answers
our prayers! Finally, verse 10 says,
“I
believed.” What a powerful
statement. I believed. Then the psalmist
goes on to say he is greatly afflicted.
Perhaps verse 11 gives the
reason for his affliction, “I said in my haste, All men are
liars.”
(Was he being hasty by lumping ALL men
together as liars?) I wonder if it’s the same Psalmist who is writing just two
chapters over in Psalm 118 where we
read in verses 8 & 9, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” So much better to BELIEVE, to put our faith
in the Lord, especially when we are frustrated with lying men! “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not
unto thine own understanding. In all
thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)
III.
What Should Be Done? vs. 12 – 19
In the first section of this wonderful psalm, we see the
greatest action is that of Almighty God reaching down in love to us, listening to our prayers and in grace, delivering us
from our afflictions.
In the second section, we find the Psalmist’s faith in action.
In his love towards God, he walks
and believes.
Now, there
remains a question to be asked and more to be done for the Lord in response to
His faithfulness to the Psalmist. Let’s
read the remainder of this Psalm:
“12What
shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? 13
I will take the cup of
salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I
will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of
his saints. 16
O LORD, truly I am thy
servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou
hast loosed my bonds. 17
I will offer to thee the
sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of
all his people, 19 In the courts of the Lord's house,
in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.”
The question is then, How can I thank the Lord for all He has
done for me?
1.
“I will take the cup of salvation” – Do you
think that means to be saved? Or perhaps it means to reflect on what it cost
Christ (the bitter cup) for you and I to have a home in heaven?
2.
“I will call upon the name of the Lord” – The
Psalmist has already learned how prayer has been his deliverance in his time of
trouble. Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer
thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
3.
“I will pay my vows” – people are always trying
to say that nowhere in the Bible does it say we have to go to church. Really?
Do you read your Bible?
4.
“Precious in the sight of the Lord” – when we
are mourning, God is welcoming! Do you
think about that? Revelation 14:13 says, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” The death of God’s children is precious to
him – it is not an accident. Remember
what we said about this Psalmist – he had been on death’s door, evidently, and
God had spared his life for the moment. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once
to die . . .” Death is an appointment, not an accident. If we can get ahold of that it should
encourage us – when death comes we are welcomed into God’s arms by His
appointment!
5.
“I will offer . . . the sacrifice of
thanksgiving” – we don’t thank the Lord enough for all His benefits. Psalm
150:6, “Let everything
that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.”
6.
“I will pay my vows” – this is repeated a SECOND
time!!! Not only is it a reminder to be in services, but when you make a
promise to God, about whatever, it is a holy vow between you and the Lord, a
sacred promise that must be kept. Ecclesiastes
5:5 says, “Better is it
that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”
1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and
my supplications.
Oh, may that be
our prayer today!!!
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