WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.060 The psalm that we read together, Psalm 116. 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:06.100 I'm going to look at the whole of this psalm together. 00:00:06.179 --> 00:00:06.980 We'll just read at the beginning. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:12.580 I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:19.839 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:26.719 As you go through this psalm, you find the recurring theme of calling on the Lord 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:31.479 and praying to the Lord, crying out to the Lord, recurring again and again. 00:00:32.379 --> 00:00:36.519 It's a reminder to us of the great blessing and privilege that there is 00:00:36.519 --> 00:00:42.420 in having the Lord to be called upon, being able to come in prayer to God. 00:00:43.299 --> 00:00:49.219 But we can all acknowledge, I'm sure, there are times when maybe prayer is a struggle for us all. 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:53.620 A time when we find it hard to come to God in prayer. 00:00:53.619 --> 00:00:57.159 Maybe we feel angry towards God. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.679 We feel undeserving of God. 00:01:00.140 --> 00:01:04.099 We feel just a distance from God at times. 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:09.599 For a number of different reasons, we can find prayer a struggle at different times. 00:01:10.039 --> 00:01:11.379 The words won't come. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:13.479 We're easily distracted. 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:15.739 We start thinking about other things. 00:01:16.179 --> 00:01:21.219 We fall out of the habit and the routine of coming regularly to God in prayer. 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:24.920 And it leads us to ask the question then, what can we do? 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:26.780 We know we're struggling. 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:28.900 We know maybe finding it hard. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:30.840 What can we do about it? 00:01:31.620 --> 00:01:35.799 How can we get back into that intimate bond with God? 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:39.379 How can we get back into that close relationship with him? 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:47.759 In coming to him regularly and lovingly and with great joy, coming to him in prayer. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:51.620 Well, we have God's word. 00:01:52.200 --> 00:01:54.420 And that is where we come to. 00:01:54.500 --> 00:01:59.080 If we are struggling and finding prayer hard, we come to God. 00:01:59.160 --> 00:02:02.420 We don't stay away feeling he won't want to hear us. 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:05.480 We don't stay away feeling we're not deserving of him. 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:07.540 We are to come to him. 00:02:07.540 --> 00:02:10.460 And we are to come through his word. 00:02:10.540 --> 00:02:14.520 Because his word, it brings us back to him in such an intimate way. 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:24.420 And especially in so often as you look at the Psalms, you find the Psalms help us once again to come and even just pray through the Psalms. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.800 Reading the Psalms, we're reading them in a prayerful sense. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:40.200 And this Psalm that we've been reading together here, Psalm 116, it reminds us of that great relationship that the Psalmist had here with God. 00:02:40.760 --> 00:02:42.340 Everything wasn't straightforward. 00:02:43.340 --> 00:02:44.719 Everything wasn't perfect. 00:02:44.920 --> 00:02:47.060 Things were hard for the Psalmist. 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:56.580 And yet the opening words of this Psalm reminds us of that great relationship and that great intimacy that every Christian has with the Lord. 00:02:57.219 --> 00:02:58.879 I love the Lord. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:04.980 I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:13.620 There's this wonderful reminder from the outset that God listens to his people as they pray. 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:23.259 And so as we come to God's word, if we're struggling ourselves to pray, as we read through this Psalm or other Psalms or other parts of Scripture, 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:34.219 we find that God's word begins to melt our hearts, reminds us maybe not so much of our love for him first, but of his love for us. 00:03:34.980 --> 00:03:37.540 Of what a wonderful God we have. 00:03:37.539 --> 00:03:47.579 And so if you find yourself in that situation, if you are in that situation, then come to a Psalm like this and read through it, meditate on it, 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:56.060 and not just be challenged by it, but be moved by it, by the love of God towards his people. 00:03:57.060 --> 00:04:00.039 The first few words there, I love the Lord. 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:04.799 That's what we're going to focus on this evening, our love for the Lord. 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:07.159 And that question, do you love him? 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:12.159 Because the Psalmist is able to say here, he does. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:17.759 And he goes on to expand on that by giving reasons why he does. 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.279 And that's why we want to look together at this evening. 00:04:21.779 --> 00:04:23.599 Do you love the Lord? 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:26.180 And if you do love him, how much? 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:29.139 How much do you love him? 00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:35.279 The gospel and the word of God, it often asks us these questions. 00:04:36.060 --> 00:04:42.979 You find Jesus so often challenging crowds of people with deep and meaningful questions. 00:04:43.339 --> 00:04:49.099 Not just those who are his followers, those who are close to him, but those who are his enemies. 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:52.699 He challenges them often with searching questions. 00:04:52.699 --> 00:04:56.860 For example, in Matthew 22, verse 41. 00:04:58.159 --> 00:05:03.579 There, Jesus is with a crowd of Pharisees, those who are antagonistic towards him. 00:05:04.099 --> 00:05:06.620 And he asks them a searching question. 00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:11.360 He says to them, what do you think about the Christ? 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:13.879 Whose son is he? 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:21.519 They're hearing so much about the Christ, the Messiah, but they don't realize he's there before them. 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:24.420 And so what does he say to them? 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:27.420 What do you think about the Christ? 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:28.500 It's not searching. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:31.939 We think of that question for ourselves tonight. 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:35.180 What do you think about the Christ? 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:38.840 How would you answer that yourself? 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:43.280 Well, there's so many searching questions. 00:05:44.019 --> 00:05:48.280 And this psalm highlights for us other searching questions too. 00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:54.240 And there's three questions arising from this psalm that I want us to think about this evening. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:57.680 The first question is, do you love him? 00:05:58.460 --> 00:06:02.079 The second question is, why would you love him? 00:06:02.740 --> 00:06:06.720 And the third question is, how can you love him? 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:11.860 So the first question we think about is, do you love him? 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:18.639 And when we think about coming to God in prayer and our struggle sometimes to come to God in prayer, 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:20.540 this is where we have to begin. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:22.960 Do you love him? 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:33.060 When we feel a distance sometimes from God or an unworthiness of coming to God, ask yourself this, do you love him? 00:06:34.479 --> 00:06:38.039 And when you think of that question, do you love him? 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:42.339 Is there a particular part of scripture it takes you to? 00:06:43.039 --> 00:06:46.679 Or a particular individual it makes you maybe think about? 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:53.060 Well, it brings us to the New Testament and to Peter. 00:06:54.280 --> 00:07:01.639 And when Jesus had risen from the grave and he appeared before Peter and he restored Peter, 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:05.519 but he restored him with this challenging question. 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:08.180 Do you love me? 00:07:08.180 --> 00:07:17.780 Put yourself in Peter's shoes after all that he had been through, after all that he had seen, after denying the Lord Jesus. 00:07:17.780 --> 00:07:22.019 And then Jesus, John 21, verse 15, it says, 00:07:22.019 --> 00:07:30.339 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? 00:07:31.299 --> 00:07:32.939 And what was Peter's response? 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:37.680 He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 00:07:38.539 --> 00:07:40.799 You know that I love you. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:47.139 Now, to us, as we read these verses in John, we see the word love. 00:07:48.520 --> 00:07:52.360 But when you read it in the Greek, there's two different words used. 00:07:53.220 --> 00:07:57.120 When Jesus asks the question, do you love me? 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:00.019 He uses a word called agape. 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:06.079 And that's a deep, a deep, deep love. 00:08:06.719 --> 00:08:10.779 A love that goes beyond any love that we can imagine. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:14.779 It's a love that's rooted in God, rooted in Christ. 00:08:15.740 --> 00:08:17.939 A love that's unconditioned. 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:20.659 A love that is no matter what. 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:22.899 That's what Jesus is asking him. 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:25.359 Simon, do you love me? 00:08:25.459 --> 00:08:26.799 This agape love. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:35.700 But what you notice with Peter is when he says, you know that I love you, he doesn't use the same word. 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:43.340 He uses the word phileo, which means like a love between friends. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:45.560 A friendship love. 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:53.039 A close bond of love, but not with the same depth of this agape love that Jesus is asking him. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:57.319 And Jesus asks him this question three times. 00:08:58.339 --> 00:09:00.879 The second time he asks it in the same way. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.319 Simon, do you love me? 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:05.319 With this agape love. 00:09:06.219 --> 00:09:08.759 And Peter's response, the second time is the same. 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:09.839 You know I love you. 00:09:10.379 --> 00:09:11.039 Phileo love. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:11.939 A friendship. 00:09:12.099 --> 00:09:13.059 A close love. 00:09:14.059 --> 00:09:19.719 And the third time Jesus asks him, Simon, do you love me? 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:22.820 The third time he uses phileo. 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:27.440 This friendship love Jesus is asking about now. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.019 And Peter replies that third time in the same way. 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:34.340 Lord, you know that I love you. 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:35.279 Phileo love. 00:09:37.019 --> 00:09:41.879 It's almost like he doesn't quite have the depth of love that he knows he should. 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:44.419 Because of all that he's gone through. 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:45.899 Because of all that he experiences. 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:48.580 He almost can't come to say, Lord, I love you. 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:51.700 With this agape love, I've let you down. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.259 I've failed you in so many ways. 00:09:56.419 --> 00:10:00.700 But Jesus comes to him, seeking to restore him to that way. 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:04.799 And praying that you would come to love him with this agape. 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:06.500 This deep love. 00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:08.620 Now, why do we go there? 00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:18.379 Well, because in this psalm, the word used in that verse, verse one, I love the Lord, is agape. 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:24.100 This deep, rich, unconditional love. 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:29.419 And it's this love that the Lord wants his people to have. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.179 To come more than phileo love. 00:10:32.299 --> 00:10:33.600 This friendship love. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.180 But to come to this depth of love. 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:38.980 To love God, no matter what. 00:10:40.180 --> 00:10:41.879 To see our sins as they are. 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:43.840 But to know that he loves us. 00:10:43.940 --> 00:10:48.960 And to say, I love, agape love, the Lord with all my heart. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:52.700 Because he has heard my voice and my prayer. 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:57.600 And so that's the challenge for us in these opening words. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:02.860 I love the Lord because he has heard my voice. 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:08.300 Now, there's no doubt Peter would have gone on to love the Lord in that way. 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:12.680 To love the Lord and serve him with all his heart. 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:16.399 And that's what Jesus was doing in restoring him. 00:11:16.939 --> 00:11:23.139 Moving him on from just that close bond of relationship, of friendship, to this agape love. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:28.099 And that's the love that as Christians we are to have towards him. 00:11:28.099 --> 00:11:31.679 Because that's the love he has towards us. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:40.379 And in the opening four verses, the reasons for the psalmist delight is clear for us. 00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:44.199 He loves the Lord because he has heard his voice. 00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:45.559 Am I pleased for mercy? 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:47.559 He inclined his ear to me. 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:51.079 Therefore, I will call on him as long as I live. 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:53.279 This relationship is there. 00:11:54.319 --> 00:11:57.159 This depth of relationship is there. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.539 And that's where we are to come to. 00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:02.919 That's the Lord that we are to come to. 00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:05.059 And we are struggling to pray. 00:12:05.199 --> 00:12:10.179 To remind ourselves of what God has done for us. 00:12:11.319 --> 00:12:13.159 The psalmist here is saying, 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:15.799 I love the Lord because he has heard me. 00:12:16.079 --> 00:12:19.439 And I will call on him no matter what. 00:12:20.179 --> 00:12:23.159 No matter what comes my way. 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:25.919 I will call on the Lord. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.639 I will pray to him no matter what. 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:30.679 Because I love the Lord. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.500 That is this depth of relationship. 00:12:34.299 --> 00:12:41.379 So whatever our circumstances, this is the relationship we have with our Lord, with our Father. 00:12:41.699 --> 00:12:45.819 That we can love him with his love because he has loved us with it. 00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:55.460 So whether we are going through hardships or highs, whatever it is, we can enjoy this relationship with God. 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:58.180 And you just look through the Psalms. 00:12:58.260 --> 00:13:03.080 You see it so often in the Psalms, the varying experience of the psalmist. 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:16.180 And so often as you're reading through the Psalms, whether it's challenging times or joyous times, the real heart of the matter, the question is the relationship with God. 00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:28.439 And so whether the psalmist is angry with God and questioning God, or whether he's rejoicing in God, there is always this certainty, this surety that God is there. 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:33.840 And that's why we remind ourselves again and again, that God is with us. 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:42.540 David in the Psalms, for example, he so often shows how varying our emotions can be and our experiences can be. 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:44.720 And yet the constant nature of God. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:51.379 Psalm 142, it speaks of David being surrounded by enemies. 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:58.600 And yet in verse 4, he says, look to the right and see, there is none who takes notice of me. 00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:00.940 No refuge remains to me. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:02.860 No one cares for my soul. 00:14:03.940 --> 00:14:06.139 There's no one there for him. 00:14:06.700 --> 00:14:09.660 But then verse 5 says, I cry to you, O Lord. 00:14:09.659 --> 00:14:15.740 I say, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. 00:14:15.839 --> 00:14:17.480 The Lord is with him. 00:14:18.459 --> 00:14:22.339 Despite being surrounded by enemies, the Lord is with him. 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:30.439 In Psalm 18, which we sang together, that psalm is in the experience of David having been delivered from his enemies. 00:14:30.659 --> 00:14:34.459 And he says there, I love you, O Lord, my strength. 00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:46.259 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 00:14:46.680 --> 00:14:48.980 The Lord is there with him. 00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:52.060 You see two differing experiences. 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.580 Enemy surrounding and everyone's deserted him, yet the Lord is with him. 00:14:57.100 --> 00:15:02.560 In one instance, delivered from the enemy and rejoicing in God. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:07.099 In the other, I love you, Lord, O Lord, my strength. 00:15:08.339 --> 00:15:14.939 So whatever our circumstances, do we not have reason to rejoice in God? 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:20.279 Isaac Watts, he was a famous minister and a hymn writer. 00:15:21.299 --> 00:15:25.059 And he had to leave the ministry in his late 30s due to ill health. 00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:30.859 And he spent pretty much the rest of his days confined to house. 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:34.800 He couldn't serve the Lord in the same way as he had done. 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:40.360 And yet he was inspired to write various hymns over the years. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:47.399 Five years after he left the ministry, he wrote the hymn, I Love the Lord. 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:51.320 And it's a paraphrase of Psalm 116. 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:54.120 And as him says this, 00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:58.560 I love the Lord, he heard my cry and pitied every groan. 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:03.360 Long as I live and troubles rise, I've hasten to his throne. 00:16:04.060 --> 00:16:08.220 I love the Lord who heard my cry and chased my grief away. 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:13.740 O let my heart no more despair while I have breath to pray. 00:16:13.740 --> 00:16:21.980 Despite the situation and the circumstances of where he was and how his lot had changed so quickly, 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:29.960 he was still able to hasten to the throne, to pray while he had breath and to rejoice and say, 00:16:30.500 --> 00:16:31.480 I love the Lord. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:35.399 He heard my cry and pitied every groan. 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:39.959 So the question is, do you love the Lord? 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:45.039 Do you love that he hears your prayer? 00:16:46.019 --> 00:16:48.620 And do you hasten to his throne? 00:16:49.539 --> 00:16:53.240 That is where we are to come, to come to him. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:59.860 Even if we are struggling to pray, to know that we love him because he first loved us. 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:06.380 The psalmist goes on here and he says to us, why would you love him? 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:15.900 And in verse 5 down to verse 11, he outlines for us various ways where we can delight in God and why we should love him. 00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:18.259 And the first way is this. 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.460 Do we know who God is? 00:17:22.660 --> 00:17:25.279 Do we know God as he is? 00:17:26.420 --> 00:17:29.039 Gracious is the Lord and righteous. 00:17:29.859 --> 00:17:32.199 Our God is merciful. 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:34.619 Look at the way he starts. 00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:36.279 It's all about the Lord. 00:17:36.459 --> 00:17:39.539 Gracious is the Lord. 00:17:40.659 --> 00:17:42.919 Righteous and merciful. 00:17:43.639 --> 00:17:50.179 As a reminder to us here, as we come to God, we remind ourselves who we are praying to. 00:17:51.099 --> 00:17:53.899 The Lord is the one who is gracious. 00:17:54.719 --> 00:17:56.759 The Lord is the one who is righteous. 00:17:57.479 --> 00:17:59.500 Our God is merciful. 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:02.119 The Lord preserves the simple. 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:04.440 He is there for all. 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:08.980 So we begin by looking to God. 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:12.559 Reminding ourselves of who he is. 00:18:13.059 --> 00:18:19.900 And again, it's a great reminder to ourselves as we pray to always begin with our focus on God. 00:18:19.900 --> 00:18:22.160 Just like the Lord's prayer. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.700 An outline for how we are to pray. 00:18:24.700 --> 00:18:28.560 As the disciples were asking us in their own struggles to pray. 00:18:28.840 --> 00:18:30.640 Lord, teach us to pray. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:37.259 For the Lord Jesus said, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:40.879 It begins with the Lord. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:41.880 Our Father who art in heaven. 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:43.640 Our Father who art in heaven. 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.180 And so he goes on. 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:49.120 The focus is first and foremost on the Lord. 00:18:49.120 --> 00:18:53.120 Because in prayer we can so easily make it just a list of requests. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:59.179 And we go through our requests and feel that we have prayed to God. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:06.199 That we are in this close relationship with him just because we've brought all our requests before him. 00:19:06.919 --> 00:19:09.139 And that is part of our prayer. 00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:13.140 But the first part of prayer is always adoration. 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:18.240 Always looking and reminding ourselves who God is. 00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:25.640 If we just begin with a request, we can so easily forget the one who is able to answer our prayers. 00:19:26.800 --> 00:19:32.000 And so the psalmist here is reminding himself almost who the Lord is. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:34.560 Gracious, righteous, merciful. 00:19:35.080 --> 00:19:36.220 The one who preserves. 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:37.560 The one who has rescued. 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:40.559 He has delivered all of these things. 00:19:40.679 --> 00:19:42.319 He's kept them from stumbling. 00:19:43.099 --> 00:19:44.379 He goes on with this list. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:48.179 It is the Lord who has done all of these things. 00:19:48.899 --> 00:19:51.740 Who can compare to this God? 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:53.039 There is no one. 00:19:53.899 --> 00:19:58.839 We pray to the only one who is able to do any of these things. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:05.859 Gracious, righteous, merciful, preserving, bountifully just. 00:20:05.859 --> 00:20:07.079 And all of these things. 00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:10.859 He is the only one who is able to do it. 00:20:11.179 --> 00:20:14.460 And so he's humbled before God. 00:20:15.099 --> 00:20:16.419 And so should we. 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:20.240 So should we be as we come to him in prayer. 00:20:20.379 --> 00:20:23.500 Be humbled before him for who he is. 00:20:25.099 --> 00:20:28.279 Who can compare to this God? 00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:31.500 Just like Job in the Old Testament. 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:34.119 In chapter 38, verse 4. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:35.519 The Lord is saying to him. 00:20:35.899 --> 00:20:38.879 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:46.480 You know, can anyone thus say that we have made anything of the created world that we see around us? 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.480 Where were we when he made it? 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:49.859 We were nothing. 00:20:49.980 --> 00:20:50.779 We were no one. 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:54.579 This is the God who has made the heaven and the earth. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:57.980 He has made all of these things. 00:20:57.980 --> 00:21:02.200 And we are reminded here in verse 8 too. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:04.799 He has delivered my soul from death. 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:06.539 My eyes from tears. 00:21:07.099 --> 00:21:09.000 My feet from stumbling. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:13.059 Where would we be without this God? 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:14.039 Lost. 00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:16.039 Completely lost. 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:16.599 Completely lost. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.559 And yet here is the Lord. 00:21:18.899 --> 00:21:20.200 The one we are looking to. 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:23.639 And who longs to be in relationship with us. 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:28.359 There is no one else who compares. 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:33.799 In the love of God towards us as we see in Christ Jesus. 00:21:34.879 --> 00:21:38.519 How he has rescued us from death. 00:21:39.659 --> 00:21:43.019 How he has come to save us from our sin. 00:21:43.019 --> 00:21:44.740 With that agape love. 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:48.559 That unconditional, undeserved love. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.579 That he has brought to us. 00:21:52.099 --> 00:21:53.900 In 1 John 4 verse 9. 00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:57.980 In this, the love of God was made manifest among us. 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:02.059 That God sent his only son into the world. 00:22:02.180 --> 00:22:04.599 So we might live through him. 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:10.240 Away from death to life found in him. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:14.960 So there is this nature of who God is. 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:18.680 And who we are in comparison. 00:22:19.299 --> 00:22:20.120 We are nothing. 00:22:21.059 --> 00:22:24.599 And yet God longs for us to be in that relationship. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.460 To come to him. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:29.940 Why should we love him? 00:22:30.620 --> 00:22:32.960 Well, because of who he is. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.279 And what he has done for us. 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:39.139 Do you love him? 00:22:42.740 --> 00:22:45.000 The third thing we see in this psalm. 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:46.039 The final thing is. 00:22:46.599 --> 00:22:48.460 How can we love him? 00:22:50.019 --> 00:22:53.700 The psalmist brings things to a close in this psalm. 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:55.559 With a question for himself. 00:22:56.740 --> 00:22:57.859 What shall I render? 00:22:57.940 --> 00:22:58.680 In verse 12. 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:00.799 What shall I render to the Lord? 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:04.259 For all his benefits to me? 00:23:05.259 --> 00:23:08.759 What can I possibly give to God? 00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:10.680 For all his benefits. 00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:14.099 For all his love towards me. 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:17.779 We feel maybe we can offer nothing. 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:21.879 What can we possibly give to God? 00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:24.659 Who has loved us in such a way. 00:23:25.259 --> 00:23:26.980 Well, the psalmist as he began says. 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:28.900 I love the Lord. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:31.599 Because he heard my voice. 00:23:31.940 --> 00:23:34.519 And my pleas for mercy. 00:23:35.700 --> 00:23:38.279 So what can we give to the Lord? 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:39.920 For all his benefits. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:42.740 We can come to him. 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:45.400 We can worship him. 00:23:45.860 --> 00:23:50.140 And that's the first thing that the psalmist answers his own question with. 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:52.700 I will lift up the cup of salvation. 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:55.099 And call on the name of the Lord. 00:23:55.099 --> 00:24:00.559 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. 00:24:01.199 --> 00:24:05.379 You have this sense of the psalmist reminding himself. 00:24:05.699 --> 00:24:06.599 Going on. 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:10.219 I will call on the name of the Lord all my days. 00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:11.579 No matter what. 00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:14.980 I will keep coming back to the Lord. 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:17.740 I will lift up the cup of the salvation. 00:24:17.899 --> 00:24:21.240 I will call on the name of the Lord. 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:24.719 I will keep coming back. 00:24:25.099 --> 00:24:29.319 I will worship him with all my heart. 00:24:29.379 --> 00:24:31.919 There's a sense of public worship. 00:24:32.699 --> 00:24:35.699 And there's also this sense of private worship. 00:24:36.699 --> 00:24:39.879 And that's how we are to live ourselves as well. 00:24:40.639 --> 00:24:44.240 What shall we give to the Lord for all his benefits? 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:47.920 I will give public worship to him. 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:53.620 I will make clear to all that I love the Lord because he has heard my voice. 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:58.440 And I will make it clear to all that I will love the Lord no matter what. 00:24:59.259 --> 00:25:00.980 No matter my situation. 00:25:00.980 --> 00:25:06.339 So people would say, well, it's easy for you to worship God when things are going well. 00:25:06.339 --> 00:25:13.959 But what a witness it is to still say, I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my prayers. 00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:24.980 But even when things are going wrong with us, even when things are hard for us, we will still say, I will still call on the name of the Lord. 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:28.079 I will still lift up the cup of salvation. 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:33.539 I will still pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:37.019 I will love the Lord no matter what. 00:25:37.779 --> 00:25:40.779 Because that's the love he showed to me. 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:44.699 That's the love that Christ showed to me. 00:25:45.259 --> 00:25:47.679 He loved no matter what. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:55.799 Even in the garden of Gethsemane, as he was praying with the Father, not my will, but yours be done. 00:25:56.740 --> 00:26:06.180 Even as he went to the cross and suffered there in our place, they said to him, he could call down anyone to come and help him at that point. 00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:09.560 But no, thy will be done. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:12.299 No matter what. 00:26:12.360 --> 00:26:14.820 That is the love of Christ to us. 00:26:15.320 --> 00:26:16.560 That agape love. 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:21.259 And so that is the love that we are to show to him. 00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:23.179 To give our worship. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.819 To give our all for him. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:33.099 And so is that the love that we have for him. 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:38.579 Is that the love that we are seeing in ourselves towards him? 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:41.559 Do we love him in that way? 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:46.139 This is a living sacrifice. 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:51.319 This is what Romans 12 verse 1 and 2 speaks of. 00:26:51.859 --> 00:26:54.519 Being living sacrifices to God. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:58.579 Loving God no matter what. 00:26:59.679 --> 00:27:04.279 And that is the way that we witness to those around us. 00:27:04.279 --> 00:27:08.799 That is the way we show that we love the Lord. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:10.599 No matter what. 00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:16.299 Dwight Moody once said, show me a church where there is love. 00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:20.659 And I will show you a church that is a power in the community. 00:27:20.660 --> 00:27:25.240 The love that he was speaking there was a love for the Lord. 00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:27.259 A love for the brethren. 00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:29.500 And a love for the lost. 00:27:30.460 --> 00:27:32.500 Show me a church where there is love. 00:27:32.740 --> 00:27:37.460 And I will show you a church that is a power in the community. 00:27:37.460 --> 00:27:40.180 And we think of where we started. 00:27:40.180 --> 00:27:45.200 When we think of the idea of maybe we're struggling to pray. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:52.559 Well, the more you go through this psalm, the more you realize how much reason we have to love God. 00:27:52.940 --> 00:27:55.059 And where that love leads us. 00:27:55.059 --> 00:27:57.740 How can we show our love for God? 00:27:58.019 --> 00:28:03.119 It's about public worship, but it's also about service of thanksgiving. 00:28:03.940 --> 00:28:09.799 In verse 17, I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. 00:28:09.859 --> 00:28:16.259 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:19.720 He is saying this in light of what? 00:28:20.419 --> 00:28:22.339 Of being a servant. 00:28:22.899 --> 00:28:24.379 In verse 16. 00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:28.539 Oh Lord, I am your servant. 00:28:29.500 --> 00:28:33.339 I love the Lord because he has heard my voice. 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:38.799 And now he is saying, Oh Lord, I am your servant. 00:28:39.940 --> 00:28:41.440 I am your servant. 00:28:42.779 --> 00:28:49.839 I will love you and I will show your love in worship and in service for you. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:56.679 This is the great depth of the love that God had for us. 00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:00.539 Being returned by his people. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.859 By loving the Lord with all our hearts. 00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:06.019 By being his servant. 00:29:06.019 --> 00:29:10.799 By worshiping him with all our hearts. 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:14.980 Going back to another hymn that Isaac Watts wrote. 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:19.119 Love, so amazing, so divine. 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:24.039 Demands my soul, my life, my all. 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:28.759 That's exactly what this psalm is saying. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:33.359 I love the Lord with all my heart. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:34.679 Do you? 00:29:34.679 --> 00:29:34.779 Do you? 00:29:34.779 --> 00:29:38.899 Do you love the Lord with all your heart? 00:29:39.419 --> 00:29:42.919 Do you worship him with all that you are? 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:47.279 Do you serve him as you ought? 00:29:48.320 --> 00:29:49.960 When we come back to the heart. 00:29:50.860 --> 00:29:52.600 The love of God for us. 00:29:53.600 --> 00:29:55.220 Drives us in prayer. 00:29:55.820 --> 00:29:57.320 The call on the name of the Lord. 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:00.240 And to love him in the same way. 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:02.160 With all our hearts. 00:30:02.580 --> 00:30:04.000 With all our souls. 00:30:04.660 --> 00:30:06.980 And with all that we are. 00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:10.140 So may the Lord help us to pray. 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:14.180 And help us to see the wonder of his grace. 00:30:14.299 --> 00:30:16.339 And the wonder of his love. 00:30:16.819 --> 00:30:19.579 And to serve him with all our hearts. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:20.259 Let us pray. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:26.480 Our Father in heaven, we rejoice in your love for us. 00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:29.079 We thank you for the depth of it. 00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:31.019 For it being unconditional. 00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:33.539 For Lord, that you showed mercy. 00:30:33.539 --> 00:30:36.660 Even when we were your enemies, you loved us. 00:30:37.420 --> 00:30:39.299 And you brought us by your grace. 00:30:39.900 --> 00:30:46.000 And by your mercy to see your love shown to us in Christ Jesus, your son. 00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:48.799 And we pray, Lord, that you will help us. 00:30:49.160 --> 00:30:51.440 To see him always before us. 00:30:51.860 --> 00:30:53.880 To set him before us always. 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:57.140 So we will be able to call upon the name of the Lord. 00:30:57.640 --> 00:31:00.039 That we will be able to pray more earnestly. 00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:03.000 Recognizing our unworthiness of it. 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:06.920 But yet, oh Lord, knowing that it is a love. 00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:08.019 For your people. 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:10.779 So Lord, help us that we will love you. 00:31:11.420 --> 00:31:13.120 Love you with all our hearts. 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:14.539 For you have heard our prayers. 00:31:15.120 --> 00:31:17.180 You have heard our cries for mercy. 00:31:17.860 --> 00:31:20.559 And so Lord, teach us always to pray. 00:31:21.140 --> 00:31:22.200 And to look to you. 00:31:22.660 --> 00:31:24.400 We ask it in Jesus' name. 00:31:24.900 --> 00:31:25.220 Amen. 00:31:25.220 --> 00:31:25.360 Amen. 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:30.019 We can conclude. 00:31:30.019 --> 00:31:30.039 We can conclude. 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:30.059 We can conclude.