Many of us worship God, but do we love the God we worship? Let that sink in for a bit. You say, of course I love God. I wouldn't be in this church if I didn't love God. Well, I don't know. Some of y'all maybe we're drug babies. You're drugged at church. But, you know, we might be here for different reasons. And sometimes, really, if you get down to it, sometimes we view God as this demanding, severe person that wants us to be miserable, and that's why he outlaws all the fun. But the reality is, he is a loving God who loves us so much, he wants the best for us.
[00:33:33]
When he tells us no about something, it's because it's not what's best for us. When he tells us to do something that seems challenging or outside of our wheelhouse, it's because he knows that's an area we need to grow so that we can become who he already knows we're going to be. So, I love this psalm because it really challenges me. Because it really has a very simple structure. Here's the structure. I love the Lord because, and we're going to have a whole bunch of reasons there, that I love the Lord. I will show my love for the Lord by, and we're going to see some there.
[00:34:27]
See, when you come into a living, breathing relationship with Jesus Christ, you want to be around other followers of Jesus, and you want to see people that you know become followers of Jesus, because one day, that's the only people that are going to be in heaven. Sorry, I'm going to start preaching before it's time to start preaching. You know, in many ways, this psalm is a fulfillment of what the Israelites were commanded in Deuteronomy 6. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength.
[00:35:18]
If I say I love you, and I never do anything that indicates that to you, it's kind of like the old couple that went before the pastor, they were well into their 90s, and they said, Pastor, we need to meet with you. And he said, okay. He was a little guy, he's probably about 27. He said, what can I do for you? He says, we're going to get a divorce. They've been married since they were like teenagers. What do you mean you're going to get a divorce? Wife says, he doesn't love me. Her husband looked kind of surprised. He said, you look surprised, sir. She says you don't love her. Do you love her? Well, of course I do. I told her when we got married, if things change, I'll let her know.
[00:36:10]
I love the Lord because he can hear my prayers. You see that? I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my supplications. Psalm 115, just a couple before this, verse 6 says, Idols have ears, but they cannot hear. We put our faith sometimes in things, and things can't hear us when we call. I'm going to be a little transparent with you today. We have a wonderful technology that we have available to us now in streaming our services. And many people will watch the streams of a church before they ever come because they want to know, what kind of music do they do?
[00:37:10]
But God can. He hears my prayers. He has heard my prayers. Jonah, chapter 2, verse 2. Jonah, in the belly of the great fish, says, I cried out, and God heard my prayers. And you know how that turned out for Jonah? Blah! The fish spit him up. That's what I was trying to describe. But he knew that God heard his prayers. Because he was in a dire place. If you read the book of Jonah, chapter 2, we won't do that this morning. Somebody say amen. All right. So he says, seaweed was wrapped around my head. And I was in the depths. And I thought, surely I'm done. And God sent a great fish.
[00:38:43]
You know, sometimes God answers our prayers that we can't even utter. Like we're in a car accident, and it's not as bad as it could have been. The stock market drops, and yet we've diversified enough that it didn't take us down with it. So God answers our prayers, but he goes on to say, I love the Lord because he is gracious. Gracious is the Lord, verse 5. Gracious. What does it mean to be gracious? It means to be full of grace. What is grace? Grace is when you get what you don't deserve.
[00:42:46]
How many of us deserve heaven? No hands went up, right? How many of us deserve to have a relationship with the God of the universe through his son, Jesus Christ? We don't deserve it. That's grace. That's grace. How many of you were running after God with all your heart when he said, oh, this person would be great for my team. I guess I better save them. Because then we would have earned it, right? Grace. God is gracious. He's full of grace. The problem is sometimes we don't get that from God. And the reason we don't get that from God at times is because we don't show it to others.
[00:43:45]
Isn't it funny how we pray? How many of you have ever prayed like this? God, I really didn't mean to do that. I really want to do better. I don't want to keep doing this. And we pray, and we hope that God knows our heart, and he gives us credit for our intentions. Right? And then we turn around, and we look at somebody that cuts us off in traffic, or somebody at church that doesn't shake our hand or shakes our hand a little too long. You know who that person is. It's kind of creepy. Some of you are saying, if they didn't shake my hand at all, I'd be fine.
[00:44:38]
We get the idea sometimes that God is just this great grandfather in the sky. And he is just saying, boys will be boys. You ever notice that, grandparents? Your grandkids get away with stuff that you would have tanned the hide of your kids for. Right? And then when your kids get on them, some of your grandparents are like, oh, now you are being too hard on them. That is the person looking at you going, you beat me 12 times for this. Oh, now, you know. So we get this idea that God is just, well, you know, sin is no big deal.
[00:48:10]
If sin was no big deal, we wouldn't have the cross. God is righteous. But make no mistake, he's gracious too, right? So we, there's an old saying, I don't remember who said it, but they said, in the beginning, God created man in his own image, and ever since then, we've been returning the favor. So we get this idea where we're either going to make God all gracious, so, you know, sin's not a big deal, or we make him all righteous, which we get this idea of a mean, angry God who's just hoping, just looking for, just salivating, just flexed and ready to just, bam, as soon as you mess up.
[00:48:54]
The reality is, God does punish sin. Hell is full of people that sin. But you know what? So is heaven. What's the difference? So we have this teeter-totter that God keeps in perfect balance of grace and righteousness. And we need to remember that, because that's a reason to love God. Even in Exodus 9, verse 27, even Pharaoh had to admit that God is right. And I love this next part in verse 6a. So we read that, Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yet our God is compassionate. The Lord preserves the simple. The Lord preserves the simple.
[00:49:39]
Now, what does it mean to be simple? It means people who don't know, right? It's not making fun of anybody. It's the same people who don't know. Look at Psalm 119, verse 130 says this, The unfolding of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. Or if you turn over a few more pages to Psalm 19, verse 7. I have a new Bible. It's hard to turn pages. Psalm 19, verse 7 says, How did I get those pages unstuck? The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
[00:50:45]
Just how many of you would say, You know everything there is to know about anything. Not even gingerbread houses, right? Yeah, not even sound boards and stuff. So in many ways, compared to God, who has perfect knowledge, right? How much does God know? When does He know it? Compared to that, what are we? Simple. We're pretty simple. And you know what, God? Revealed Himself in His Word so that we would learn more about Him. Why? Because He preserves the simple. How many of you have ever tried something in your life that probably could have killed you? Right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're glad that God said, not today.
[00:51:42]
So I love the Lord. He goes on to say, because He saves. He saves. Sometimes He keeps us from it, because He knows we don't know better. And sometimes He gets us out of it. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Obed-Nego standing before Nebuchadnezzar? He says, worship this golden statue. They said, look, we ain't doing it. I'm pretty sure they said it with a swagger. They said, we are not going to bow down to your idol. We serve a God who's able to save us, and even if He doesn't save us, we still ain't doing it.
[00:52:47]
What's your story of God saving you? Can you remember? Can you remember the time when you became aware of your sin and the weight of that sin and how it separated you from God? Do you remember what it was like when somebody came along and told you there was an answer to that hunger in your soul? Do you remember when somebody said, God created you for his glory, and you're never going to be satisfied until you have a relationship with him? And oh, by the way, that relationship is only possible through his son, Jesus Christ.
[00:54:57]
He lived a perfect life that could be credited to you, and he died a substitutionary death in your place. That thing that you deserved, he took on him so that you could take eternal life that he deserves. And if you will confess with your mouth that he is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. Do you remember that day? Do you remember that day? If you can't remember that day, maybe today's that day. Maybe today's that day. Boy, wouldn't that be something to have for Thanksgiving.
[00:55:41]
Hear me say this, church, and we'll be done. And hear me say this, living, trying to be good enough for God will never work. And in some ways, it's even a mockery of God. Because let's just think about this. How low would God have to be for me to be able to do enough to get up to him? How short and easy would the checklist have to be for me to possibly ever check all the blocks? No, instead, as far as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love and kindness towards those who fear him.
[00:57:39]
So, how has he given me rest? I love it. He unpacks this. We'll do this really fast. Number one, by providing what I could not earn. See, that idea of rest comes from the idea that I can stop trying to make it to God through my own effort. You say, well, does that mean you just become a Christian and you start doing nothing? No, but instead of working for God's good pleasure, I work from God's good pleasure. Right? Being confident of this very thing that he who began a work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus.
[00:58:37]
By providing what I could not earn, I could not earn the ability to rest in the goodness of God. And neither can you. Look what he says. Return to your rest, O my soul. I was brought low and he saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul. He provided what we couldn't earn. I know it's...I probably need to move on because I'm just going to start offending people. But you're not good enough for God. You're not. And neither am I. That's why we need Jesus. But in Jesus, you are.
[00:59:13]
By comforting me in my sorrow. We don't know what's going on there, but he says, you've rescued my soul from death. My ears, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. You're comforting me in my sorrow. How many have ever lost a loved one? You know that comfort that only God can bring. You know, sometimes God sends people your way. And they can be a great help, right? But sometimes, to be honest, people come your way and say dumb stuff, right? How about this one? You ready for this? Oh, I know how you feel. No, you don't.
[01:00:05]
But God knows how to comfort us in our sorrow because God knows us better than we do. And God knows our relationship with our loved ones better than we do. But he doesn't just comfort us in sorrow. He gives us strength and direction. That's where he talks about he saved my feet from stumbling. How many of you have ever been stumbling around not sure of what to do or what direction to go? And he said, God, I need you. And he opens up a door and sum all that up. How has he given me rest? Because he is my hope.
[01:01:39]
What is the definition of hope? Looking forward to a better tomorrow. And here's the thing. These three things remain. Faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. Because one day, hope is going to be gone because we're going to be in an eternal best day. If you're a follower of Jesus. All right. So. All right. So I will show my love. He's going to say four ways he's going to show his love. Number one, I will worship. Now, you've got to follow me here. Look at verse 13. The first part. I shall lift up the cup of salvation.
[01:02:14]
Worship is any time we think, say, or do anything that's been affected by our relationship with God that we're offering back to him as a sacrifice of obedience. How many grandparents are raising grandkids because they felt like God wanted them to do it? That's a sacrifice of obedience. How many people have moved from one town to another or taken this job or that job because they felt like God wanted them to do it, and yet it didn't make sense to anybody else? It was a cut in pay. It was more hours, less responsibilities, or more responsibilities, whatever. That's how we show love to God.
[01:04:46]
This is 1 John 5, verse 3. It says, this is how we love God. We obey him, and it's not a burden to us. I will pray, and then I will give. Look at verse 14. I shall pay my vows to the Lord. And look at verse 18. I shall pay my vows to the Lord. Part of thanksgiving is giving thanks. And part of thanksgiving is giving to God financially. Oh, great. I picked one Sunday to come to church, and all they want to talk about is money. That's not the case. But it's here. I can't dodge it. So how do I show my love for God? I give.
[01:05:30]
The bottom line is, when you fall in love with Jesus, when he stirs your heart to do anything, the answer is yes. And notice this. I love this part. Look at verse 14b. Oh, may it be in the presence of all his people. Look at verse 18. Oh, may it be in the presence of all his people. How do I show love? I worship. I pray. I give with others. You ever looked at all the one another's in the New Testament? One another's are kind of like cahoots. You can't be in cahoots by yourself. You can't have a one another if there's not another to your one.
[01:08:08]
He says, and I love this part because this is kind of, he's going to wrap it up before he says, join me. He says, whether I live or whether I die makes no difference. That sounds like the Apostle Paul, doesn't it? For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Look at verse 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones. The word godly ones there is not the word for godly ones we'd normally expect. It's actually a noun form of the word for God's loving kindness. So precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his dearly loved precious ones.
[01:09:08]
But, look at verse 16, oh Lord, surely I am your servant. I am the servant, the son of your handmaid. You have loosed my bonds. So whether I live and I'm free or whether I die and I go to be with him, I can't lose. Why? Because I love God. Why do you love God? Because God first loved me. And he finishes by saying, join me. This is a weird Thanksgiving message, right? This is a weird Thanksgiving. Except that this is what he was thankful for. He says, I love the Lord. And what I didn't tell you about that is that actually the word Lord is not directly after the word love. He just says, I love. And starts describing it. And then he says, oh yeah, and you need to know it's the Lord.
[01:09:47]
Let me ask you a question. Do you love God? Not do you believe in God. If I were to ask us, do you believe in God? Those of you who are still awake and not playing a game on your phone would say, of course I believe in God. That's why I wouldn't be here. But do you love God? You know, have you ever come to a point in your life when you cried out to him and said, God, you are so awesome. And I am not. No, I'm never going to get there. I believe that you sent Jesus to do everything necessary for me to be acceptable to you and to make that way. I don't know how to climb that hill. Would you send Jesus to take me by the hand and he leads and I'll follow. Have you ever made that decision? If not, are you ready?
[01:10:42]
You say, maybe you're here and you'd say, I know I'm a follower of Jesus, but I just, this, this psalm has really kind of stirred something in me to say, I'm sorry that I haven't loved you like I should. But there's a part of my heart that I've withheld from you. There's a part of my life that I've hung on to. There's a, there's a grudge or a hurt that I just won't turn loose of. There's an offense I won't let go. I just realized, you, God, you've forgiven me when I didn't deserve it. Forgive, now you're thinking of that person. Maybe what God wants you to do is either come to the altar and pray or come visit one of our elders and just sit down next to him and say, would you pray for me? I want to love God with all that I am.
[01:12:40]
Maybe you're here and you'd say, okay, I get it. I'm a follower of Jesus. Yes, I know that. I pray. I worship. I give. But I just don't have a home. Join me. The psalm says, join me. You don't have a place to join. Maybe you need to come and ask one of our elders or their wives, what's it like? How do I become a part of this church? How do I become a part of this family? What God is working on your heart about, but I'm going to pray for us. And then we're going to stand. Macy's going to lead us in a song. And you're invited to come and say, what does that next step look like for me?
[01:13:49]
