Psalm 36, to the choir master of David, the servant of the Lord.
Psalm 36, to the choir master of David, the servant of David, the servant of David, the
Lord sets himself in a way that is not good.
He does not reject evil.
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens.
Your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your judgments are like the great deep.
Man and beast you save, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God.
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house.
And you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life.
In your light do we see light.
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you.
And your righteousness to the upright of heart.
Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the evildoers lie fallen.
They are thrust down and unable to rise.
Amen.
There's been a great many attempts through the centuries to beautifully capture the depths of God's love in a song.
We've sung a few songs this morning that I've attempted to do that.
My favorite song, perhaps, that really does that well was written by a man named Frederick Lehman.
It was published first in its completed form in 1919, a little more than 100 years ago.
Lehman was a German immigrant.
He was living in Pasadena, California at the time, working in a citrus packing plant.
And having written the first two verses and a chorus to the song, he couldn't find a way to complete it.
A couple of years go by and he comes across a nearly thousand-year-old Hebrew poem that he felt perfectly fit for a third verse in this hymn that he had been working on for so long.
So he adapted it to the song and he added it in.
Now, if you can imagine living just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, you can imagine Lehman's unique vision of God's love as he writes,
Could we with ink the ocean feel, and were the skies of parchment made,
were every man on earth or every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade?
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
Now, that is a beautifully, beautiful description of God's love for us.
In Psalm 36, David is writing his own beautiful ballad of God's incomprehensible love.
It's a psalm intended for corporate worship from its very inception.
We see that in the superscription of the psalm.
It's sent to Israel's choir master.
It's meant to be sung by all of God's people as they gather together for worship.
But it's sent by the servant of the Lord, a title that is teeming with messianic significance.
It's really only applied in the psalms and in the scriptures to a few unique individuals,
Moses and then David, and of course, them pointing forward to God's servant, the Lord Jesus Christ.
David writes it and sends it to the choir master so that God's people would always sing of God's saving love
displayed ultimately in the work of his promised king.
Lots of people talk of God's love.
Many people speak of God's love actually without seeming to truly grasp its significance, reality.
You don't really understand the depths of it.
Cultural ideas of divine love is really more of a view of unconditional approval,
unconditional kindness, universal kindness to all people.
And of course, God is kind to all his grace shows up to the righteous and the unrighteous.
We know that that's true.
But the cultural idea of God's love, those who would acknowledge it,
is they picture more of a doting grandfather.
We spent the last couple of days with Julie's dad and stepmom.
They brought all of the grandkids to the Great Wolf Lodge.
And you can watch, some of you have met Charles, Julie's dad.
You can watch him with his grandchildren.
He dotes on them.
In his eyes, they've never done anything wrong.
And nor would they ever do anything wrong.
They've never disobeyed.
There's nothing worth judging in them.
He just wants to love them.
He wants to give to them.
He wants to provide for them in every way.
Lots of people, when they're thinking of God's love,
that's the picture that they have in mind.
Kind of this doting grandfather who sees no real wrong in you,
but just wants to shower you with all the things that your heart might desire.
But that's not at all what so excited and moved the affections of King David in Psalm 36
or Frederick Lehman as he reflected on the love of God in his great hymn.
The love of God is actually far more profound than that.
And this psalm, it gives us just a taste of the true significance of God's love.
David takes us on a bit of a journey here.
The first thing that he does for us is he paints for us a portrait of the human condition.
A portrait of the human condition.
Look with me again at the first four verses.
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart.
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
He flatters himself in his own eyes so that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit, and he ceased to act wisely and do good.
He plots trouble while on his bed.
He sets himself in a way that's not good.
He does not reject evil.
What is this?
It's a portrait of the human condition here.
David begins the song of God's glorious love in a surprisingly sour place.
This opening stanza doesn't actually look to the Lord's beauty.
It looks to the ugliness of human sin.
And herein actually lies a key to recognizing the true wonder of God's love.
You cannot truly value it until you've come to terms with the reality of your own depravity and corruption.
The portrait David paints here is not a picture of the worst of sinners.
This is a picture of every sinner.
This is the every man.
We can fiddle around with the language even.
You'll notice probably there's a footnote even in the bottom of the page in your Bible on that first verse.
Or actually what this literally reads as is,
transgression speaks into my heart, deep into my heart, David writes.
This is every one of us.
It's a poetic display of the human condition.
This is a picture of you here.
It's a picture of me.
So as we were carefully examining a portrait in an art gallery,
let's just take a moment and soak in what it is that David says about this.
Because this is actually the key to really understanding God's love.
Five things stick out to me here.
First, sin comes from within us.
Sin comes from within us.
Look again at verse 1.
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart.
Transgression here is a crossing of a moral boundary.
Speaks is interesting because this is typically the term that's used for the oracles of God.
It's as if David is taking transgression, sin.
He's personifying sin and letting sin take the place of God as it speaks.
And where is it that this transgression and this sinfulness speaks?
Deep within us.
Deep within our hearts.
The popular idea is that with maybe just a few exceptions,
people are basically good.
That if we just reach down deep inside of us,
there's something good there and we can all be better and do better and make things better.
The scriptures actually teach the opposite of that.
It says in Jeremiah that our hearts are deceitful,
that they're wicked beyond what we can even really understand.
They're desperately sick,
incapable,
apart from grace,
of being healed.
And that's what David's on about here.
Sin personified enters deep in our hearts,
meaning it comes from within us rather than being foisted upon us from an external source.
You see,
we could go back to that 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8 that we read a few moments ago.
And we could say,
okay,
that's where sin really comes from.
Sin is not something I do.
Sin is something that the adversary forces me to do.
It's that great devil made me do it that you use when you're finally getting in trouble as a kid, right?
Wasn't me,
mom.
Satan made me do it.
No,
the scripture actually says the opposite here.
No,
it's actually coming from within you.
James clarifies this for us in James chapter 1 when he says that each of us is tempted
when we are,
Lord and enticed,
not by an external source.
We are Lord and enticed of our own desire,
of the own lust that's in us.
When we want what we want,
we are then enticed to sin against the Lord.
That's our nature.
In other words,
we sin because it's in our nature to do it.
We're not sinners because we sin.
We sin because we're sinners.
That's what David's on about here.
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart.
Sin comes from within us.
The second thing that sticks out to me here is this.
Our nature has no fear of God.
This is our human condition before Christ apart from grace.
We have no fear of God.
Get the second part of verse 1.
There's no fear of God before his eyes.
Paul quotes this.
Some of you will remember in Romans chapter 3.
Paul strings along a number of different Old Testament passages.
He's asserting that all people are sinful before God,
that we're all sinners.
This is the one he concludes with.
He quotes this very phrase.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
That's why we come back to this passage,
and we say this isn't really about highlighting
the extreme wickedness of a select few.
No, this is every man.
This is the human condition.
Paul affirms that for us in Romans chapter 3.
What is he talking about?
But this is not the typical Hebrew word for fear,
that reverential fear.
It's a different kind of word that's being used here.
This is abject terror that is meant here.
David says,
Christopher Ashe says,
It's not simply that they have not learned reverence,
but they have not learned to be properly frightened of God
in his majesty and holiness.
To be frightened of God is the necessary precursor to grace.
Not to tremble before God
is both the root and the result of transgression, he writes.
And that's helpful.
If we take the popular idea
that God's love really is just like this doting grandfather
who doesn't really see much wrong,
all he wants to do is shower us
with the deepest desires of our hearts,
then we're completely missing a huge piece of this.
In order to really understand his love,
we have to understand his holiness.
That's one of the biggest problems with that popular view.
It minimizes, sometimes outright denies God's holiness
and his just wrath against sinners.
That's a fatal error.
Until you tremble before his holiness,
you cannot understand the fullness of his love.
Third thing that sticks out here.
In our human condition,
our fallen nature apart from grace,
we are self-deceived.
Self-deceived.
Verse two.
He flatters himself in his own eyes
so that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
I'd encourage you to go and look
at what Jonathan Edwards has said about this.
He's written so many ways that we flatter ourselves
in our sin.
We're self-deceived,
but the sense of the verse is simple.
The sense of it is that we are so self-deceived
that we're blind to our own lostness,
never able to learn to hate our own sin.
That's a common picture of us in the Bible, isn't it?
That we're blind.
We're in darkness.
Self-deceived.
The New Testament says that
until the Lord returns,
people will go on being deceived
and deceiving themselves
and deceiving others.
It will just continue
again and again and again.
That's the human condition.
Fourth thing.
We're totally corrupted.
Totally corrupted.
Verse three.
The words of his mouth
are trouble and deceit.
He has ceased to act wisely and do good.
It's that common dual paradigm of word and deed.
What's David saying?
He's saying everything about us
is touched by sin and depravity and corruption.
There's no part of our lives
where our corruption is not evidence.
It's in the way that we talk.
It's in the things that we do.
It's everywhere.
It shows itself in everything.
And then the fifth thing we find in verse four
that our sin is all-consuming.
He plots trouble while on his bed.
He sets himself in a way that's not good.
That is, he digs his heels in.
He digs his heels in
in these things that isn't right.
He doesn't reject evil in his life.
He pursues his own sinfulness.
Think about this picture here.
He plots trouble while on his bed.
There's a reason that stress and anxiety
affect our sleep.
We lay in bed at night.
Life is quieted.
Distractions are removed
unless you have a three-month-old.
You're alone in the privacy of your own thoughts.
It's often in those moments
that those thoughts begin to rage
with various anxieties in our life.
We're laid in your bed at night
and you thought about those who crossed you
or those who you're unhappy with
and you began plotting,
boy, if they just said this to me,
this is what I would say back.
Or if they just did this,
this is how I would get my vengeance
or this is how I'm gonna deal with this thing.
It's in our nature, isn't it?
It's in our nature to do it.
It's in that stillness that we ought to pray,
that we ought to repent.
Instead, our nature plots
and our hearts are further hardened
in that self-deception.
What's David doing here at the beginning
before he ever mentions
the first thing about God's love?
He has to set the proper stage for that love.
By saying, here's who we actually are.
This is what's true of our nature,
true of our human condition.
And this is an essential backdrop
to the dramatic description of God's love
that we find in the next stanza.
So that we not only see a portrait
of the human condition,
then we come to see the preciousness
of God's steadfast love.
The preciousness of it.
Look at verse five.
Your steadfast love, O Lord,
it extends to the heavens.
Your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your judgments are like the great deep.
Man and beast you save, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God.
The children of mankind take refuge
in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life.
In your light do we see light.
Standing in stark contrast to man's nature
is the nature of God.
David lists four divine attributes here.
The capstone of those,
the most preeminent of those in this psalm
is steadfast love.
God's steadfast love,
it refers particularly to his covenantal love.
Throughout the Bible,
we see a series of covenants
that God makes with his people.
All of them are pushing forward to something.
They're pushing forward
to a promised salvation
through a savior king.
And that covenant,
again and again,
it is steadfast
in that it's unchanging.
He will never renege.
Even more than that,
it's rooted entirely in love.
How is God's covenant rooted entirely in love?
In this sense,
nothing else compels God
to make a saving covenant with man
except love.
It's the only possible explanation
for God's desire
to provide any salvation
from this sinful state at all.
There's no other explanation.
We can offer him nothing.
We bring nothing to the table.
One old preacher said,
we bring nothing to our salvation
except the sin that makes it necessary.
He can get nothing from us
that he cannot create in a moment.
Why would he do it?
Why would he make this covenant?
Because he loves us.
It's the only explanation.
Flowing out of that steadfast love
is seeing all of these other attributes
that David mentions here.
Because he loves us,
because that love is steadfast,
he will always be faithful
to do what he's promised.
Because he loves us
and because that love is steadfast,
he will be righteous
in executing this promise.
Because he loves us,
because that love is steadfast,
he's perfect in his judgments
to establish that promise.
And we see it unfolding progressively
through the scriptures.
Step by step by step,
more and more and more of God's love
do we see.
Because he never changes his promise.
He is faithful to it
even when we are unfaithful.
And all of those attributes,
we're told in verse six,
are working toward the salvation
of those hopelessly described
in the first four verses.
Notice what he says.
The end of verse six is amazing.
All of these attributes
are working to this salvation.
Man and beast you save,
oh Lord.
What does he mean by that?
He only means to say
that God's salvation,
what all of this is moving towards,
is total in its scope.
That God in salvation
is doing a greater work
than just providing you forgiveness.
He is pushing forward
to a great recreation of all things
in the new heavens,
in the new earth.
This salvation that he provides
out of his divine love
is total.
It's complete in all things.
Paul reminds us in Romans eight,
the world itself,
nature itself,
it groans under the curse of sin
and it's awaiting
the great revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ
in his return
when he sets all things right.
Not only are you forgiven,
but God is making all things new.
This salvation he provides
out of his divine love,
it is a total and complete
and precious salvation.
And who is it for?
It's for the people
that David described
in verses one to four
because that's the only people
that there is.
That's why God's love
is so great.
Do you see how the psalm
is now beginning to take shape?
Do you see why David
began where he did?
Though we are wretched
and totally corrupt
in our nature,
God is faithful
and his love compels him
to rescue us
from sin and death.
great emphasis
is given in verses
five and six
to the extent
of this covenantal love.
Look at how
David describes it.
This steadfast love,
it extends to the heavens.
His faithfulness
goes to the clouds.
His righteousness
is like the great mountains
of God.
His judgments
are like the great deep.
He's using nature
as a picture
of the extent
of God's love.
He's saying it,
it's limitless.
We can't plumb
the depths
of God's love
any more than we can
plumb the depths
of the great deeps.
His steadfast love,
in other words,
it has no end.
I want you to think
about that
in relationship
to the first four verses.
The first four verses,
we have a picture
of total corruption.
our sin
that is in our nature,
it affects
every part of our lives,
our thoughts,
our words,
our deeds,
everything.
It's there,
it's present.
But even still,
God's love
is greater.
His steadfast love
is more profound.
Calvin says this,
this is so good.
However great
the depth
of wickedness
which there is
among men
and though it
seem like a flood
which breaks forth
and overflows
the whole earth,
yet still greater
is the depth
of God's providence
by which he rightly
disposes
and governs
all things.
And what is that
providence
working toward?
Romans 8 tells us
it's all working
for the good
of those who love him,
who are called
according to his purpose.
it's all working
for the salvation
of his people
promised
in his covenant.
As great
as your sin is,
God's love
is greater still.
Isn't that amazing?
A few of us
this week
had an opportunity
to visit
with the community
pregnancy center
in Lake Norman.
We pray for them
on a regular basis.
I know you pray
for them regularly.
If you ever get
an opportunity
to go and visit
at one of their
open houses,
I'd really encourage
you to do that.
Sarah Lynn kind of
works as a liaison
between our church
and that ministry
and I'm sure she has
some of those dates
in her mind
she could share
them with you
and I would encourage
you to do that
to hear about
what they're doing.
In their building,
the lady that gave us
a tour the other day,
there's a room
in there
where there's
a giant tree
painted on the wall
and coming out
from that tree
are just a bunch
of branches
and the branches
are extending
around the other
walls in the room.
It's almost
to the point
where it begins
to surround
whoever comes
in the room.
On those branches
are individual leaves
and on the leaves
are names,
all kinds of names.
Each of those names
represents a child
who was murdered
in his or her
mother's womb.
they're on the wall
because at some point
after the abortion
she said
sometimes it's days,
sometimes it's months,
sometimes it's decades.
Mother has come
to them for counsel,
has repented,
trusted Christ,
given her baby
a name,
given her baby
a burial
and they put that name
up on the wall.
and what has that
meant to communicate
to us?
It's the wonderful
extent of God's love.
There is no sin
so great
that God's love
is not greater still.
There is no sinner
so corrupt
that his faithfulness
is any less sure.
you think of the greatest
sin that you've ever
committed,
the greatest sinner
that you know.
God's love
is greater still.
His mercy
is faithful
and it's true
and it's there
for those women
and those men
who do such things.
It's there for those
who do even greater
things than that.
that's the extent
of God's love.
And then we get
to verses 7 and 9
and we see
David begins
to drill down
even a little further
to describe
the benefits
of God's love.
So glorious
is his love
that the faithful
finds shelter
beneath the shadow
of his wings.
How precious
is your steadfast love,
O God!
The children
of mankind
take refuge
in the shadow
of your wings.
They feast
on the abundance
of your house.
You give them
drink from the river
of your delights
for with you
is the fountain
of life
and in your light
do we see light.
How can this be?
Sinners were condemned
in verse 1
for not trembling
in abject fear
before the Holy God.
Is it not then
a contradiction
to just a few verses later
say that we may then
run to him
like little chicks
run beneath the wings
of a mother hen?
That's the picture.
Is that not a contradiction?
No, it's no contradiction
at all.
It's the benefit
of God's steadfast love.
Because of his limitless love
those who tremble
before him
may also rest
beneath the shadow
of his wings.
those who seek refuge
in him
feast at his table.
They drink deeply
of his delights.
God makes his enemies
to be his children
and their inheritance
is life
and light.
Those who were once
self-deceived
in darkness
and blind
now have seen light.
those who were once
dead
in their trespasses
and sins
have now
in his shelter
been given life
and life eternal.
By nature
we're in darkness
we're deceived
we're destined for death
but those who seek
the Lord by faith
are brought to life
they're delivered
from darkness
into his marvelous light
of truth
and righteousness.
And thus
with David
we sing
that the steadfast love
of the Lord
is not just wonderful
it's precious
to us.
It's precious
and the preciousness
of that love
is then to drive
everything in our lives
which brings us
to the final section
of the song.
David shows us
a portrait
of the human condition
he speaks
of the preciousness
of God's steadfast love
and then he provides
for us
a prayer
for the faithful
a prayer
that the faithful
can pray
together.
At the end of the song
he brings those
other two truths
together
the truth
that we are
dreadful sinners
and God's steadfast love
is precious
he merges them now
as he calls
us to action
this is a prayer
we're to pray
but it's not a prayer
that just anyone
can pray
or that anyone
would pray
it's a prayer
that only those
who quote
know you
and the quote
upright in heart
would ever pray
they're not upright
in heart
because they're
without sin
they're upright
in heart
in this context
because they fear
the Lord
and they trust
in his steadfast
love
for salvation
the prayer
sounds three notes
that should be
routine
in our own prayers
first
the prayer
seeks God's
steadfast love
anew
it seeks it anew
look at verse 10
oh continue
your steadfast love
to those who know you
and your righteousness
to the upright of heart
why ask God
for something
that is by definition
enduring
and everlasting
and limitless
this isn't a prayer
of anxiety
this isn't
coming from the heart
of someone
who is worried
that maybe
God will change
his mind
and therefore
must plead with him
and beg him
not to change his mind
and to continue
in that steadfast love
that's not what this is
this is a prayer
of faith
it's a prayer
of faith
that God
will indeed
do
what he said
he would do
Spurgeon said
although
a continuance
of mercy
is guaranteed
in the covenant
we are yet
to make it
a matter
of prayer
the real
prayer
of faith
asks God
to do
what he's promised
to do
do your prayers
look that way
what is your heart
of prayer
in moments
like this
are you praying
because you're
just worried
that God
won't be faithful
or are you crying
out for God
simply to fulfill
his promise
because your heart
is sure
that he will
be faithful
that's the difference
that's what David
calls us to hear
he seeks
God's steadfast
love anew
but then
he does something
different
he acknowledges
the weakness
of his own flesh
verse 11
let not the foot
of arrogance
come upon me
nor the hand
of the wicked
drive me away
from what
the steadfast
love of the Lord
from trust
in his grace
what is this
part of the prayer
it's a prayer
for sanctification
it's a prayer
that God
will sanctify
us through
that steadfast
love
so that we
will not be
driven
to abandon
the faith
again says
Christopher
Ash
at one level
this is a prayer
against being
conquered
by an ungodly
power
at a deeper
level
it's a prayer
against all
the forces
of sin
the world
and the devil
that wage war
against our souls
for the greatest
danger to the church
and to the individual
believer
is not so much
that we will be
persecuted
by an enemy
but that we will be
seduced
or pressured
by the power
of sin
into denying
faithfulness
to Christ
that's what
this prayer
is
don't let
the sin
that is in me
drive me away
from you
that's a humble
prayer
we read it
earlier
humble yourselves
therefore under
the mighty hand
of God
what is that
about
it's about
recognizing
your own
tendency
prone to wonder
Lord I feel it
prone to leave
the God I love
we sing
no one
ever left
the faith
who didn't
first cease
to acknowledge
their continued
susceptibility
to sin's
persuasive power
spiritual pride
is what leads
to this abandonment
and it's only
humility
and humility
and prayer
that tethers
us tightly
to faithfulness
to Christ
behooves
us then
to remain
steadfast
in this
acknowledgement
seeking always
that God
hold us
fast
in his
covenantal
love
why
because the
third note
sounded in the
prayer
verse 12
it recognizes
the end
for the
impenitent
wicked
it recognizes
their end
you have
verse 12
there
the evildoers
lie fallen
where is
there
it's
wherever the
place is
that has
driven the
singer away
from God's
steadfast
love
it is
the place
outside of
the covenant
there
evildoers
lie fallen
they are
thrust
down
and here's
this amazing
phrase
they're unable
to rise
the prayer
envisions
a final
judgment
in which
God's
wrath
will be
poured
out
on them
in
eternal
death
notice
the
contrast
between
the wicked
and the
faithful
as we've
studied
several
psalms
in a row
now
those
who
trust
in
God's
steadfast
love
will be
raised
to life
those
who
continue
in sin
are rendered
unable
to rise
their
judgment
is decisive
it's
eternal
and remembering
their end
is a
safeguard
against
joining
them
and it's
a great
motivation
for sharing
the gospel
with them
would you
just flip
a few
pages
to the
right
to
psalm
73
this
was
Asaph
who
wrote
psalm
73
this
was
something
of his
plight
there
in the
beginning
of the
psalm
he tells
us
that
his
feet
had
almost
stumbled
his
steps
had
nearly
slipped
and the
reason
in
verse
3
is
because
he
was
envious
of
the
arrogant
when
he
saw
the
prosperity
of
the
wicked
in
other
words
he
looked
at
those
who
did
not
love
the
Lord
who
lived
!
the way
they
wanted
to
live
and
he
realized
that
life
seems
to be
better
for
them
you
ever
felt
that
way
of
course
you
probably
have
and
he
becomes
nigh
he's
very
nigh
to
just
leaving
the
faith
altogether
his
feet
are
about
to
slip
but
then
look
what
he
says
verse
16
but
when
I
thought
how
to
understand
this
it
seemed
to
me
a
wearisome
task
until
I
went
into
the
sanctuary
of
God
and
then
I
discerned
their
end
and
what
is
it
that
he
discerned
verse
18
truly
you
set
them
in
slippery
places
you
make
them
fall
to
ruin
how
they
are
destroyed
in
a
moment
swept
away
utterly
by
terrors
like
a
dream
when
one
awakes
!
oh
Lord
self
you
despise
them
as
phantoms
and
when
my
soul
was
embittered
when
I
was
pricked
in
heart
I
was
brutish
and
ignorant
I
was
like
a
beast
toward
you
but
because
he
seen
their
end
he
says
nevertheless
I
am
continually
with
you
because
you
hold
my
right
hand
you
guide
me
with
your
counsel
and
afterward
you
will
receive
me
into
glory
it's
the
same
thing
we're
seeing
in
Psalm
36
recognizing
and
acknowledging
the
end
of
the
wicked
is
a
great
motivator
to
live
and
remain
in
holiness
and
faithfulness
to
the
Lord
God
as
he
holds
us
fast
!
God
has
actually
proven
this
steadfast
love
and
he
has
proven
it
he
proved
it
by
himself
taking
on
human
flesh
in
the
person
of
Jesus
Christ
so
that
he
might
die
in
our
place
that's
how
it's
proven
Romans
5
God
shows
his
love
for
us
in
that
while
we
were
still
sinners
Christ
died
for
us
1
John
4
in
this
the
love
of
God
was
made
manifest
it
was
displayed
among
us
that
God
sent
his
only
son
into
the
world
that
we
might
live
through
him
in
this
is
love
not
that
we
have
loved
God
but
that
he
loved
us
and
how
was
that
love
proven
John
he
says
he
proved
it
because
he
sent
his
son
to
be
the
propitiation
for
our
sins
that's
such
an
important
word
his
son
completely
satisfies
his
wrath
against
sinners
described
in the
first
four
verses
of
our
psalm
that's
how
God
proves
the
love
he
doesn't
just
state
the
love
but
he
himself
becomes
a
man
in order
that
he
might
die
our
death
Tim
Keller
said it
this
way
we
are
more
sinful
and
flawed
in
ourselves
than
we
ever
dared
believe
and
yet
at
the
very
same
time
we
are
more
loved
and
accepted
in
Christ
than
we
ever
dared
hope
!
who just doesn't want to do anything
but tell us how great we are
and give us all the things that we ask him for.
That's not love.
No, the beauty of God's love
is that all of us are undeserving of it.
And yet he goes to tremendous lengths
in order that he might redeem us and forgive us.
And that's why it's so precious.
That's why it's so precious.
And so we should never stop writing songs about it.
And we should never stop preaching sermons about it.
Because if David's right, and I think he is,
we'll never be able to exhaust
the glorious love of the Lord
and his steadfast love for his people.
Let's pray together.