25-1130p Transcript

(0:40) And greetings to you all. The lesson that I’m going to share this evening is from Psalms.

(0:48) I’m going to read chapter Psalms 103 and 104 for our lesson. (0:55) And if you want to turn to Psalms 103, I’ll be reading from the New International Version. (1:03) I believe that’s what I’m going to be reading from anyway.

(1:07) The nature of the lesson this evening is that I’m always concerned about whether or not we’re giving God all the credit and all the praise that we as Christians need to be giving to Him. (1:21) Yes, we know that He is the Creator. Yes, we know that He is God.

(1:28) And we need to fear Him and want to do His will. (1:35) But sometimes I don’t think we give a whole lot, enough concern about His divine intervention and providence and preservation in our lives. (1:45) Just exactly what does He do? (1:48) As I mentioned this morning, when you look at the Galatians or the Genesis account, and especially in the first chapter, (1:56) we see Him creating the world as it needs to be in sequence of days.

(2:05) And when you look at the sequences there, you can see that the first thing needs to precede the second thing. (2:14) And the second thing needs to precede the third thing. (2:18) And all the way down through the creation of man.

(2:22) And so He has everything sustaining one another. (2:28) And then when He gets to man, the world is already created in such a manner that it can sustain life. (2:36) And He doesn’t stop there.

(2:38) He continues to make sure that the world sustains the life, or is capable of sustaining our lives. (2:48) And we do not have to worry, like Jesus tells us in Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew the 6th chapter, (2:56) that we are not going to have to worry about what we’re going to wear and what we’re going to eat. (3:03) And are we not more important than the ravens and the birds of the air? (3:10) And so He’s talking about how that you and I do not really have to really be concerned about whether or not we’re going to have enough oxygen to breathe, (3:24) whether or not we’re going to have enough food to eat.

(3:27) You do not have to worry about those things, because He is looking after it, and He has created everything in such a manner that it sustains itself. (3:42) And so these two songs that one could take a look at, more or less, ingest those particular things and give us something to think about. (3:55) And maybe haven’t really given a whole lot of thought about how the world goes about its ways of doing God’s will, (4:05) and then it’s sustaining us.

All we have to do is assimilate it. (4:12) We just have to bring it in and harvest it, if you will. (4:17) Let’s take a look at Psalms 103, and be reading a little bit of it, and hopefully, perhaps from time to time, I’ll make a Stephen Cain comment.

(4:36) But he starts out by the psalmist saying, Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord thy soul! Praise His holy name! (4:51) Praise the Lord thy soul, and forget not His benefits. (4:55) In other words, let’s consider the things that He’s doing for us, His divine intervention, His providence and preservation. (5:03) And do not forget all His benefits, the things that He’s looking after and He’s meeting our needs.

(5:10) Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. (5:16) Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. (5:22) Who satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

(5:31) So He’s pointing out to us already what the benefits of God’s divine intervention and providence in our lives. (5:37) He didn’t just create the world, put us in it, and say, have at it. (5:44) He continues to involve Himself in our lives.

(5:49) I thought that our sister Carol gave us a nice story this morning concerning the fact that God’s divine intervention and providence (5:57) and how that He works and brings people into our lives. (6:02) We experience things. (6:05) So, verse 6. (6:10) The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

(6:17) He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel. (6:23) The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. (6:30) He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever.

(6:38) He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. (6:45) For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. (6:53) As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

(7:01) The author here wants us to realize that God is very compassionate and He’s very interested in our well-being. (7:10) Verse 13. (7:12) As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

(7:20) For He knows how we are formed. (7:24) He remembers that we are dust. (7:27) The life of mortals is like grass.

(7:30) They flourish like a flower of the field. (7:33) The wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. (7:38) But from everlasting to everlasting, the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him (7:45) and His righteousness with their children’s children, (7:49) with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.

(7:55) So when He’s talking about the flowers, He’s wanting us to realize that our life is just but a span here on this earth. (8:03) For some reason or other, somewhere along the way, and I remember those days, like from the 20s to the 60s, (8:13) life would never end. (8:16) Whatever I was troubled with or whatever, that I focused on.

(8:23) And I never stopped to think about death. (8:27) I never stopped to think about the day that I was going to die. (8:30) God wants us to realize we’re going to die.

(8:37) We’re going to cease to exist. (8:41) And so someone else will take your place. (8:43) He wants us to realize that when we die, just think about it.

(8:50) My mom and dad have passed now. (8:52) My grandfather and great-grandmother have passed. (8:57) And where are they? (8:59) Who remembers them? (9:00) We don’t even bring them up anymore, except for when you reminisce.

(9:05) You don’t really stop to think about them, do you? (9:09) They’re gone. (9:11) No longer existing. (9:13) Just like the flowers.

(9:15) That’s really why He’s using the flowers as an example, because you can have a flower come up. (9:24) It has a span. (9:27) And then it dies.

(9:28) And you go to look for it, and you don’t see any roots. (9:32) You don’t see anything that evidence that there used to be a flower there. (9:38) That’s what He’s telling us.

(9:40) There’s no evidence that we existed, except for a reminiscence and maybe pictures. (9:49) Yeah. (9:50) So He wants us to know that.

(9:53) So, as the Father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. (10:00) For He knows how we are formed. (10:03) He remembers that we are dust.

(10:06) The life of mortals is like grass. (10:08) They flourish like a flower in the field. (10:10) The wind blows over it, and it’s gone.

(10:13) And its place remembers it no more. (10:16) But from everlasting to everlasting, the Lord’s love is for those who fear Him. (10:21) And His righteousness with their children’s children, for those who keep His covenants and remember to obey His precepts.

(10:30) The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. (10:39) Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word. (10:46) Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will.

(10:53) Praise the Lord with all His works, everywhere in His dominion. (10:59) Praise the Lord, my soul. (11:02) What do we have? (11:04) What are we asking to do? (11:07) In our confidences.

(11:09) But we’re cognizant of God. (11:13) Praise Him. (11:14) And one of the reasons why I selected these two psalms is because we just got through celebrating Thanksgiving.

(11:22) And it gives the nation the opportunity to take a moment out of their busy lives to acknowledge the fact that they need to be thankful too. (11:35) And we need to often think about God as often as we can. (11:41) One of the problems, and this is what Paul points out to us, that we need to, in our lives, live our lives in such a manner that we make people God conscious.

(11:55) As we contact them, they’re not thinking about God. (12:00) They’re not thinking about anything except making a living, existing, and what’s often times the evidence of God. (12:12) The thought of God doesn’t even permeate the minds.

(12:16) You and I as Christians need to make it a cognizant way of trying to remind people that there is a God and we need to be answerable to Him. (12:28) Let’s go to Psalms 104. (12:31) Here, I think this is really intriguing because it points out the intricacies of the world.

(12:41) Even just right here in this block, in the small sphere that we occupy, the intricacies God has making sure that it survives. (12:59) Take a look at it. (13:02) Praise the Lord my soul.

(13:05) Lord my God, you are very great. (13:10) You are clothed with splendor and majesty. (13:15) The Lord wraps himself in life as with a garment.

(13:19) He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. (13:28) He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. (13:35) He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.

(13:41) He set the earth on its foundations. (13:45) It can never be moved. (13:48) Notice that.

(13:49) He said that. (13:51) One of the things as I was growing up, we were concerned. (13:55) I can remember this in the 50s.

(13:58) We were concerned about getting involved in a nuclear war because we thought that it was possible that we could set a chain reaction off by setting a bomb off that would destroy the world. (14:15) And they were concerned about that. (14:16) They really believed that.

(14:19) God says he’s reserved a shockable world for fire, doesn’t he? (14:26) God is the one who’s going to destroy this world. (14:30) Not man, and not what man is going to do on this earth. (14:34) He’s going to destroy this world.

(14:37) God has complete control over what is happening. (14:41) Are we going to run out of gospel fuel? (14:43) And may. (14:47) But God has other things that are in store for us standing.

(14:52) We’ve always found something else, like Benjamin Franklin with electricity and so on. (15:00) Whoever thought that we would be using electricity like we do today? (15:06) We don’t have to fear man destroying the world. (15:12) God has reserved that to himself.

(15:18) He’s going to destroy the world. (15:19) And his good time starts. (15:23) He set the earth on its foundation.

(15:27) It can never be moved. (15:32) You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment. (15:37) The water stood above the mountains.

(15:40) And at your rebuke, the waters fled. (15:42) At the sound of your thunder, they took to flight. (15:47) They flowed over the mountains.

(15:50) They went down into the valleys to the place you assigned for them. (15:57) You set a boundary they cannot cross. (16:01) Never again will they cover the earth.

(16:05) Remember? (16:05) That’s what he’s talking about in Noah’s days, isn’t it? (16:09) When we see the rainbow, what does that rainbow represent to us? (16:14) It’s supposed to remind us of the promise that he made to Noah when Noah came out of the ark. (16:20) That he was not going to destroy the world by water anymore. (16:24) That we would have our seasons.

(16:27) Winter, spring, summer, fall, winter. (16:34) And we will have our harvests. (16:35) He’s promised those things to us.

(16:39) It will be there. (16:41) He set the earth on its foundations. (16:42) It can never be moved.

(16:43) He covered it with watery depths as with a garment. (16:46) The waters stood above the mountains. (16:48) And at your rebuke, the waters fled.

(16:50) At the sound of your thunder, they took to flight. (16:53) They flowed over the mountains. (16:54) They went down into the valleys to the place you assigned for them.

(16:59) You set a boundary they cannot cross. (17:02) Never again will they cover the earth. (17:08) He makes the springs.

(17:10) Notice now. (17:12) This is the involvement that he has in our lives. (17:15) Paul talks about the fact in Acts the 17th chapter.

(17:20) I love that part of Paul’s sermon to the Athenians in the 17th chapter. (17:27) Where he talks about how God moves populations around. (17:32) And he makes forests, or not forests, deserts, (17:40) tropical and green and that which was green into deserts.

(17:45) He moves them around and he makes it so that people will go where he wants the people to go. (17:52) And the people will exist where he wants them to exist. (17:56) And so this is what he’s pointing out to us.

(17:59) He makes the springs pour water into the ravines. (18:04) It flows between the mountains. (18:07) They give water to all the beasts of the field.

(18:12) Why do deer run across and get killed across the highway at certain times of the year? (18:21) Because they’re looking for water. (18:25) He’s supplying them with water. (18:28) They don’t have to really worry about where they’re going to get their water, (18:33) what they’re going to eat.

(18:35) We see them coming into the cities because of the way the farmers are farming them. (18:40) But they’re being taken care of, aren’t they? (18:43) They continue to exist. (18:45) I go for a walk where I live and I will see three, four deer almost every day in the city.

(18:56) They’re being taken care of. (18:58) They don’t look like they’re going to starve. (19:01) Tell me.

(19:01) They are not going to starve. (19:05) So notice how he’s telling us that the springs pour water into the ravines. (19:10) It flows between the mountains.

(19:13) They give water to all the beasts of the field. (19:16) The wild donkeys quench their thirst. (19:19) The birds of the sky nest by the waters.

(19:24) They sing among the branches. (19:27) He waters the mountains from his upper chambers. (19:32) The land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

(19:37) He makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for people to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth. (19:50) These are all things that God is providing and intervening, making sure that it continues to sustain man’s life. (20:01) And not only is he making a sustained man’s life, but he’s making it possible for that which sustains man’s life to exist.

(20:14) So the deer, cows, pigs, they all have God’s divine intervention to make sure that they exist so that they can be food for us, so that we can be sustained. (20:29) So he’s looking after them, and he’s making sure that they’re fed. (20:33) He’s making sure that they’re well-being.

(20:36) He’s making sure that they’re doing the same. (20:39) I heard a sermon one time where it was that man is the only creature, the creator of God, that does not do his will. (20:53) Everything else does God’s will, regardless of what you look at.

(20:58) They do God’s will. (21:01) We’re the only ones that violate his will. (21:06) Verse 14, he makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for people to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth.

(21:16) Wine that gladdens human hearts. (21:19) Oil to make their faces shine. (21:22) Bread that sustains their hearts.

(21:26) The trees of the Lord are well-watered. (21:30) The cedars of the Lebanon that he planted, where the birds make their nests. (21:37) The stork has its home in the junipers.

(21:41) The high mountains belong to the wild goats. (21:45) The cranes are a refuge for the hydrax. (21:49) Notice there again that these are all things that help these creatures live and exist so that we can use them for food and whatever else we have to have.

(22:06) To help sustain our lives. (22:10) The cranes are a refuge for the hydrax. (22:14) The high mountains belong to the wild goats.

(22:18) The stork has its home in the junipers. (22:21) Verse 19, notice now he’s talking about above, the skies. (22:30) He’s talking about the planets, the things that surround the earth and how much they’re involved in our sustainability and how they benefit us.

(22:46) He made the moon to mark the seasons and the sun knows when to go down. (22:54) You bring darkness, it becomes night. (22:59) And all the beasts of the forest prowl.

(23:03) Notice here again his divine intervention and providence of these animals. (23:09) Verse 21, the lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. (23:16) The sun rises and they steal away.

(23:19) They return and lie down in their dens. (23:24) The people go out to their work, to their labor until evening. (23:32) How many are your works, Lord? (23:35) In wisdom, you make them all.

(23:37) The earth is full of your creatures. (23:40) There is the sea, the vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both large and small. (23:49) For the ships go to and fro, the Leviathan which you formed is prowling there.

(23:57) I like the idea where he’s talking about that the sun rises and they steal away. (24:03) They return and lie down in their dens. (24:07) Then the people go out to their work, to their labor until evening.

(24:11) You notice that? (24:13) Most of the animals roam during the night or where no human being may exist because they’re just as afraid of us as we are afraid of them. (24:25) And we don’t want to be eaten by them, but God doesn’t want them to eat us either. (24:33) So when the farmer goes out to farm, generally he doesn’t have to worry about wild animals attacking him.

(24:42) The animals keep their distance and they don’t come out until after man is through working and has gone home to be with his family to spend the night in their home. (24:54) Then the animals come out to roam. (24:57) You don’t see too many raccoons during the day, do you? (25:01) You don’t see very many of those creatures during the day.

(25:07) They’re all working around during the night. (25:13) Oh, that’s my phone. (25:18) It was just what I thought.

(25:20) It’s over there. (25:22) All creatures look to you. (25:24) Verse 27.

(25:26) All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. (25:32) When you give it to them, they gather it up. (25:35) When you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.

(25:40) When you hide your face, they are terrified. (25:44) When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. (25:50) When you send your spirit, they are created.

(25:54) And you renew the face of the ground. (25:57) Notice that the author of Psalms is giving God credit for feeding these animals. (26:03) And the animals are looking to God to help maintain their lives and meet their needs.

(26:14) So the divine intervention of providence of God is more than just making sure that you and I are happy (26:22) and wanting a better this or that. (26:26) You know what I mean? (26:28) So he’s looking after everything. (26:34) More than what we may give him credit for.

(26:40) So, you renew. (26:43) Let’s pick up with verse 30. (26:47) When you send your spirit, they are created.

(26:50) And you renew the face of the ground. (26:54) So we’re talking about the farmer. (26:57) And the farmer being able to reuse the crop, the land to grow more crops.

(27:02) And to use it in various ways. (27:07) May the glory of the Lord endure forever. (27:10) May the Lord rejoice in his works.

(27:13) He who looks at the earth and it trembles. (27:16) Who touches the mountains and they smoke. (27:20) I will sing to the Lord all my life.

(27:23) I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (27:28) May my meditation be pleasing to him. (27:30) As I rejoice in the Lord, may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.

(27:42) Praise the Lord, my soul. (27:44) Praise the Lord. (27:48) Those are two psalms that I came across that I thought would be very beneficial and very pleasant to study.

(27:57) And to present in a moment like this. (28:01) I hope now that you enjoyed and were blessed with those two psalms themselves. (28:09) God has a son, the son of his wife.

(28:14) And it’s so good. (28:16) He loves his creation. (28:18) I’m sure of it.

(28:20) The main thing is we must really believe that he sold out the world. (28:27) And gave his only begotten son. (28:31) Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

(28:36) For the God who even created the world. (28:39) We read this in the Ephesian letter. (28:41) Chapter 1. (28:43) How that God pre-planned the fact that he was going to send Jesus to die on the cross.

(28:50) That’s grace. (28:52) That is true grace. (28:54) And for Jesus to go along with it.

(28:58) And to allow himself to come to this earth to die for us. (29:03) And to make it possible for us to be reconciled to God. (29:07) That is grace also.

(29:10) Because Jesus knew before the creation of the world. (29:14) That God had that plan. (29:18) He was going to go along with it.

(29:20) He did go along with it. (29:23) So we don’t see him walking at the cross, do we? (29:29) Nevertheless, I will be done. (29:33) You can take this away from me in a few days.

(29:36) But, I’m here. (29:39) The Hebrew letter points out to us that Jesus willingly. (29:45) Willingly.

(29:46) Knowing full well the benefit that was going to be derived from him coming to the cross. (29:53) And going to the cross and being crucified. (29:55) Christ was going to be beneficial for all mankind.

(30:01) And he did it for that very purpose. (30:04) That’s grace. (30:06) True grace.

(30:08) So as we look at the plan that God had. (30:14) We know that we are sinners. (30:17) We have fallen short.

(30:20) That’s what the word sin means. (30:22) To fall short. (30:24) Missed the mark.

(30:26) And we have missed the mark. (30:29) Turned out perfectly. (30:30) And so in order to be able to reconcile with God.

(30:34) We had to be forgiven of our sins. (30:40) And that had to be done in order to be able to justify us. (30:43) And to bring us into righteousness that is necessary.

(30:48) To be able to go into heaven. (30:52) This is his offering. (30:54) His sacrifice.

(30:58) For us. (30:59) To cleanse us of our sins. (31:02) And to give us his.

(31:03) And to credit to us. (31:05) His righteousness. (31:11) His miracle.

(31:14) All we have to do now. (31:16) Is to be a disciple of his. (31:19) To become a member of his church.

(31:22) And in order to do so. (31:25) He set out the stipulations. (31:28) We know what the stipulations are.

(31:31) He wants us to become his disciples. (31:33) And in order to become his disciples. (31:35) We need to confess that he is the Christ.

(31:37) Son of the living God. (31:39) And we must be willing to be baptized for the remission of our sins. (31:43) And rise to walk.

(31:44) In the midst of fire. (31:47) Dedicating our lives to God. (31:50) Dedicating our lives to live the life.

(31:53) That is a righteous life. (31:56) If there is anyone here that needs to respond. (32:00) We would like to extend to you the opportunity to do so.

(32:03) If you have a need for prayers for the congregation. (32:07) We would like to make that also possible. (32:10) Why don’t we stand and sing a song of encouragement

(32:11) for you. (32:12)