Praise God For His Compassion

Praise God For His Compassion

Psalm 145


In the Bible we can see compassion in words such as "pity", "mercy", "love", and some others.

Compassion is a loving feeling for others and is best exhibited by the things that God has done for all people.

Lam 3:22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

It is this attribute of God that we fail to learn the most.

The compassion of our God can be seen in every book of the Bible and compassion is also required of each of us!

Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

In this verse it lists three things that are required of each of us that know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

1) We are to do justly. We are to walk according to the truth of God.

We are to be honest, be fair in our dealings with others, and have integrity.

2) We are to love mercy. As the Lord has been merciful to each of us we are to also be merciful to others.

We are to have compassion not only on all our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we are to have compassion on all other human beings.

3) We are to walk humbly with our God.

We are to live in obedience to the Word of God and have a personal relationship with Him.

We will never walk with God without a firm belief in the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We are to live, act, and behave according to the entire written Word of God, rightly divided!

Why? Because this is the thing that God has done!

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Let's Begin:

*****Psa 145:1 David's Psalm of praise. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Psa 145:2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

We see that it was King David that wrote this Psalm or maybe this was King David's favorite Psalm of praise or both.

David was king of Israel at this time and Israel was therefore ruled by David's government.

What we see is that David was not praising his own government but he was praising the fact that we are all to be under the government of the true King. That would be King Jesus!

This is where the governments of this world fail!

To "extol" is to exalt and to magnify.

David wrote these words in another Psalm:

Psa 68:4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.

David was king of Israel but his personal King was Jehovah!

We may live under the rule of man-made governments but if we do not acknowledge the absolute government of Jehovah God and be devoted to His rule, then we will fail in this life.

All governments that do not acknowledge the true God of this universe are failing governments.

The government of God refers to the "Providence of God"!

It is Jehovah God who provides the needs of this entire world at His own will(discretion) and is continuously preparing this world according to His own use.

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

To bless God is to praise God with a personal relationship with Him.

That word "forever" means our relationship with God can never end and when we add "and ever" it means we have made a covenant with our own selves just as God made a covenant with Himself.

So whatever happens on any day or whatever our circumstances, it should be our goal to be a blessing to the Lord!

In other words it should be our goal to bless the Lord eveyday and every hour of each day, because these are the days the Lord has given to us.

And for those that reject the idea of praise we should keep in mind, praising the Lord is the one thing we can do now after we are saved, that we will continue to do when we get to Heaven.

There will be no need of prayer in Heaven, we will be in the presence of God.

There will be no need of hope in Heaven, our hopes will be fulfilled.

There will be no need of "faith" in Heaven, because we will have made it home.

But there will be a continuous want to praise in Heaven!

*****Psa 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Psa 145:4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

We already know we have a great big God who is great in all His power and in all His ways!

The ways of God are past finding out by any man!

We should also know then that we should have great praise for our great God!

Praise is not praise unless it comes from the heart and great praise can only come from a fervent heart!

No matter what this secular world says, it is only the wonderful message of God's work, God's creation, and God's deliverance, that has been declared from the time of Adam and Eve.

Isa 38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Isa 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

The truth of God has been passed down since the beginning of time and it is now our job to continue to do so.

It is only the living that can praise God!

It is only the living who can pass the Word of God from one generation to another!

I only began living when I was "Born Again" into the family of God!

*****Psa 145:5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
Psa 145:6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
Psa 145:7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

Remember David was King of Israel but David was speaking of the honor and majesty of our God and our King.

We must feel the same. Even though all generations are to praise the Lord and speak of His ways, in our day we should be at the head of the line and jumping at the chance to declare the wondrous works of God.

Like David we will also find it hard to find the right words to describe the majesty of the Lord.

How can we describe the "One" that died for our sins, He had none of His own?

How can we describe the "One" that rose from the grave on the third day because He is not bound by death?

How can we describe our "Mediator" between us and a Holy God?

How can we describe the "One" who sent His own Spirit to abide in each believer?

How can we describe the "One" who has placed His own Church in the midst of this world to tell about His wondrous works until He returns to take us all home?

What we should be asking is, "how can we be so silent" in not speaking of the majesty of our Lord?

We can be sure if anything bad happens in this world or in the lives of certain people they will immediately blame the Lord for their misfortune.

The world will call all bad things an "act of God".

Even insurance companies write this phrase into their policies.

Horrible news will always spread faster than the Word of God.

As the Church we must tell of the wonderful works of God, because God does not do bad things.

The world may talk about the bad things because they are to blind to see the wonder of the God of salvation!

2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Those that do not know the Savior can only speak of what this world has done for them but at some point they will always look back and say, "the world has not done very much".

Those that come to know the Lord as Savior and Redeemer will speak of the great goodness of the Lord all the days they have come to know true life.

Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote:

Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

How can we not sing of the righteousness of God?

How can we not understand the "Grace of God"?

*****Psa 145:8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Psa 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
Psa 145:10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.

What is the nature of our Savior?

If we refer back to the time of Moses we find that Moses made a certain request of the Lord.

Exo 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

God told Moses no human could see the glory of God and live.

Exo 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

But God said to Moses, I can show you my "Goodness" by my "Grace".

Exo 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

What was shown to Moses?

Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

King David had finally realized these same things that Moses had seen.

If you surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, you will come to know these very same things!

God has much more "Grace" than He has "wrath"!

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Lord is good to all His creation and even Satan could not deny this!

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

God is good to all mankind!

Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Kindness is the law of God's providence.

God created our world so that we might live in happiness.

God may have cursed this world after the sin of Adam but God also provided a cure for that curse.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Our Creator is always delicate with His creations.

Our Provider is always willing to display His kindness.

Our Savior is always ready to forgive!

God does not create disease.

God does not ever promote misery.

God hates pain as much as we do.

God is life and the giver of eternal life because God hates death.

Those that end up in Hell will be there because they chose to be there!

The saints of God already know these things and that is why we can bless the Lord.

Remember we bless the Lord when we have a close and personal relationship with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

How can we not speak of the glory of our God?

*****Psa 145:11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
Psa 145:12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

This is the job we have to do after we have accepted the truth of God!

To the Church, we know that this would be the Second Coming of Christ, the Messiah.

To the Jew, this will be the most important time in their existence, the coming of the Messiah!

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The theme of the Old Testament is this fact that this kingdom will be established on this Earth by the Messiah, a Son of David, as written in the Davidic Covenant!

2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

2Sa 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

That Child to be born was the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity, 100% Human.

That Son to be given was the Lord Jesus Christ in His deity, 100% God!

Immanuel means God with us:

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The suffering Messiah and the reigning Messiah are One and the Same, the Almighty Living God!

The suffering Messiah:

Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The reigning Messiah:

Isa 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

We are to speak of the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ and included in that message we are to teach of the Second Coming of Christ.

This will be an everlasting kingdom!

*****Psa 145:13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

When David realized all these things it brought him closer to God.

When we realize the truth of the "Gospel" it will draw us closer to the truth of God and it will also bring us peace in this life.

God has governed His creation since it's beginning and many of this world will get a full view it's Creator on this Earth for 1000 years.

But only those that have accepted the truth of God will be a part of God's everlasting kingdom which will not be on this Earth, at least as we know it now.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Everyone will get the opportunity to live in the city of God!

This Messiah, who will reign with all authority, will also come down off that throne to personally hold up all those that fall.

*****Psa 145:14 The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

All those who look to the Lord for help "with faith" will be raised up to be with the Lord.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God is always willing to lift those up that call upon His name, while they yet live!

*****Psa 145:15 The eyes of "all" wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Psa 145:16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
Psa 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

All those that fall.

All those that are bowed down because of their burdens.

All those that wait upon the Lord.

As children who look to our earthly fathers in a time of need, so should we "all" look to the Lord who is not only our Creator but who is also our Provider!

God will open up His hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing!

Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who is the source of true satisfaction!

The creature can only find satisfaction in the Creator!

Whether we understand it or not, whatever God does is always the right thing to do!

Psa 33:4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.

God said it was the right thing for Him to do to bring tribulation to all those that rejected His Church!

2Th 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

BUT, God's justice will always be in harmony with God's "Mercy"!

Psa 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Psa 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

In God's government, promises made are always promises that are kept!

God is always closest to those that love Him!

*****Psa 145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, "to all that call upon him in truth".

What is the facts of God's Word?

God will never leave praying men and women, who truly confess the Lord Jesus Christ, to battle this world alone!

Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

God is always "very present" in our times of trouble.

Formal prayers and false professions of sin will never bring anyone into communion with the Lord!

We must remember there are some things that God hates.

Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Jesus said that He was the truth and God expects us to come to Him in truth.

It is only these that know the truth and confess the truth that God will answer!

*****Psa 145:19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

What is the will of God?

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

How does the will of God fit into our prayer life?

1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

God will fulfill the desire of all those that respect and esteem His name and His Word!

We must remember, It is God who listens and it is God who will send salvation.

God has never trusted these things to any part of His creation.

It is God who came Himself to save us and it is that same personal God who will hear us and who will deliver us from all our troubles!

Why? Because we serve a compassionate and loving God!

*****Psa 145:20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

To preserve means God will save all of His children from death and destruction but notice it is only those that love Him.

Heaven and Hell are both eternal realities!

There are two ways to travel in this world!

1) There is the humanistic approach that says that all religious beliefs must pass the test of human reasoning and the findings of science. Therefore if Christianity that does not adapt to the modern world then it must not exist.

They insist that the Bible is not infallible and it is only a record of the experiences of others.

The Bible disputes this line of thinking:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

2) Then there is the right way.

Jer 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

Salvation came to the Church by the "Apostles Doctrine".

Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

We must continue steadfast in the Apostles Doctrine in order for the Church to continue to grow!

There is only one pathway to Heaven!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way", the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

ALL other paths lead to Hell!

This is why the world hates the Lord Jesus Christ and reject His truth!

*****Psa 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and "let all flesh bless his holy name for ever" and ever.

King David said it does not matter what all others are going to do but with my mouth I will speak praise to the Lord.

David said, I'm doing it now and I will do it forever.

It does not matter from what background we come from!

Every race, every sinner, and from every generation, young and old, we need to unite behind the Word of God and glorify the only Savior of our world.

We should be doing this same thing that King David said.

We need to praise the Lord!

We need to praise Him now and we need to praise Him forever and ever!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Praising God For His Attributes

Praise God For His Attributes

Psalm 139


An attribute can be said as something that belongs to someone.

The attributes of God are things that belong to Him and Him only!

Let's look at a few things we can attribute to God that only He has.

**1) God is spirit.

This does not mean that God is "a spirit"!

God does not have a physical form but "as spirit" God is everywhere. God cannot be limited.

God has substance but not in the material forms that we understand.

Joh 4:24 God a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is Spirit, just as God is Light and just as God is Love!

God does not have a physical form and it is sinful to make any likeness of Him.

Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

This attribute is best described as the Omnipresence of God!

None of God's created creatures possess this attribute and that includes Satan.

**2) God is self-existent.

Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

God is independent of any part of His creation.

Joh 5:26 "For as the Father hath life in himself"; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Everything that lives is dependant on something or someone to exist and have life, but God is independent of such things.

**3) God is immutable which means God is perfect.

God is devoid of any and all change.

Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning".

This is why the love of God and the promises of God are all certain!

**4) God is "One" God!

The essence of God cannot be divided!

The Lord alone is God, He is not a composite and cannot be divided into parts.

Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

God is "One" in essence but God is "Three" in respect to persons!

God has 3 substances with each substance having the same essence of God, and each having the same fullness of God!

God merely makes Himself known in 3 different ways.

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

In this passage we have the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the Holy Spirit, and the Father.

All three in total unity!

All 3 having the same authority!

Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Look at the prophecy of the Messiah in the Book of Isaiah:

Isa 48:16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, "there am I": and now "the Lord GOD", and "his Spirit", hath sent "me".

We are all to be baptized in the name of the "One" God but also in all His essence!

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

**5) God is TRUTH!

We can only see things as they really are by looking at our world through the Holy Ghost Inspired Word of God!

Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

**6) God is Love!

God's love is not some emotional impulse. God's love is rational and is the voluntary affection from our Creator!

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

**7) God is Holy.

Holy means set apart. God is totally set apart from all His creation.

God is the moral and ethical standard for all His creation.

Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

God expects us to exert every effort to be as holy as He is!

There are so many others.

God is eternal.
God is immense.
God is great in all ways.

**8) God is omniscient. God knows all things.

God knows all things that exist.
God knows all the variables of things that exist and all things that have not yet occurred.
God knows all future events.
God knows all these things at the same time.

God's knowledge is immediate, simultaneous, actual, complete and is according to reality.

**9) God is omnipotent. God is all powerful!

God's power cannot be overcome by any part of His creation!

God is full of mercy.
God is full of grace.
God is just and the justifier of all His creation.

Psalms 139 will tell us much about our God so let's begin.

*****Psa 139:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

We see we have another Psalm of David that is given to the chief Musician.

It can be said that the true Chief Musician is our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are things that we know about our own selves that we would never tell to anyone, even the ones we love and trust the most but there is absolutely nothing that can be kept hidden from God.

If we accept this one thing then our conversations with God can be open and real!

No pretended god can know anything about us but the God of truth can understand all our ways because He knows everything that can be known about each of us and He understands our thoughts because He has searched us.

God has given us His Word so we are then able to also know about Him.

It should be very clear from this passage that God has known us even before we were ever born and one of the attributes of God is that God can never forget anything that He knows.

Remember God does not forget our sin, God chooses to not remember our sin against us.

We are pardoned as if that sin never existed!

God said this to Jeremiah:

Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

God had plans for Jeremiah before he was born and God has a plan for each of us even before we ever exist.

*****Psa 139:2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

You see God has personal knowledge of each of us. God sees every move we make. God sees us when we are sitting quietly and God notices us when we stand back up while knowing every thought that makes us do the things we do.

God even knows the thoughts we think even before we ever think them!

God may seem to be far off but He is never very far from those He loves!

It is important for us to realize just how much God knows about each of us.

God has personal knowledge because God wants us all to have a very personal relationship with Him!

*****Psa 139:3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

When I was in Vietnam we would occasionally surround a village for several days and we would keep a close eye on everyone and everything that went on in that village.

The Vietcong had such a fear-hold on many villages that by observing we could sometimes tell if that village was helping the enemy.

The presence of God always has us surrounded and God is observing our every move and God is very acquainted with all our ways.

God may be just observing our reaction to the things that our enemy, the Devil is causing to happen.

We must remember these words:

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, "who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able"; but will with the temptation "also make a way to escape", that ye may be able to bear it.

If God were not acquainted with all our ways, He could not be ready to provide that means of escape from our enemy!

*****Psa 139:4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

God knows every word I will speak before I even speak them.

That's the reason God cautions us to think about what we are about to say, before we speak them.

Sometimes when we speak, what we say can be misinterpreted, but God always knows the true meaning of what we say.

God even knows the reason behind the words we are about to say. God is never surprise at what comes out of our mouths!

For this reason we need to include in our prayers that God will guide the things we say.

Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Our words begin in our heart, so when our hearts are right with God, it will also show up in the words that come out of our mouths.

*****Psa 139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

God knows the past, the present, and the future and He knows all these things at the same time because God is not bound by the restraints of time.

Behind us God has recorded our sins.

Upon the acceptance of Jesus Christ, "by Grace", God has blotted out His remembrance of those sins.

And before us, when God has us within His loving hands, God is recording our deeds so He can give us the proper reward.

What did David say about all these things?

*****Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

It is a foolish thing for us to think we will ever grasp the enormous power of our God!

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

How very precious was the day that our Lord Jesus was crucified and the veil of the Temple was rent into, just so we can have access "at any time" into the throne room of our Father in Heaven!

Until we get to Heaven we will never understand why our Creator would even want to be so close to sinners such as we are!

The theme of these first 6 passages has been the Omniscience of God.

Now we will spend some time seeing the Omnipresence of God.

*****Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

What is the truth of the omnipresence of the Lord? There is no one on this earth that can escape the observation of the Almighty God and this includes Satan, the Devil!

God is present everywhere!

Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

God is very near to us at all times!

We do not have to wait until the White Throne of judgement because we can be judged now, while we are living.

We do not have to wait until we get to Heaven for safety, God has surrounded us by His Heavenly host and they will guard us against the evils of Satan!

We do not have to wait for God's inspiration, God is close enough that we can ask for His wisdom on a personal level!

We do not have to wait till we get to Heaven to go before God, God is available to us at any moment of the day!

God dwells in the hearts of those that love Him and God is as close as a silent thought!

If God could be limited by any distance or by any means then God could not be perfect in His divine being!

When we ascend to Heaven either by death or by Rapture, we will find God sitting on His throne.

If we have chosen the wrong path and end up in Hell, we will find that, part of the torment, is that though the Lord is near, we will never find His comfort.

Those that strap on bombs to kill God's people see this truth immediately at their death as they join all those others that have rejected the truth!

Though we travel in a mighty space ship, we can never go beyond the reach of God's presence!

Though we seek the depth's of the uncharted seas to escape, we will find the Lord is already there and even in that place we can know the salvation of the Lord.

Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

There is no darkness that can escape the Shekinah Glory of God!

*****Psa 139:11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

By definition darkness is the absence of light.

Spiritual darkness is chaos, a world without the presence of God.

Darkness is also the curse of Hell the outer darkness of the Bible!

Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Darkness in truth is far away from the "Grace" of God but is also being in the midst of the "Ultimate Wrath" of God!

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

In this life, darkness may be our oppressor and our enemy, but darkness can never shut me out from the presence of my God.

Evil is said to dwell in darkness but it is impossible for anything to be hidden from the sight of God!

To the Lord, darkness is just another part of the day that He created back in the Book of Genesis.

Job 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

There is no evil that can hide from God and there is no darkness where we cannot reach out to Our Savior, while we are still living!

These things relate to the Omnipresence of God.

*****Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

God does not just dwell in His children:

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

God does not just just keep a watchful eye on us.

Job 34:21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.

God is the possessor of our most secret parts!

That word "reins" actually means the kidneys in the lower part of the back. The Hebrews believed this to be the seat of all our desires and all our longings.

In this verse it probably means the most hidden and vital portion of our true being, the seat of our affections and our passions!

Every new mother today wants to get an ultra sound, to get some picture of their unborn child but the pure truth is that only God knows what we will be be like before we are even born!

Even before we are born we are under the control of God!

Jer 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee"; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

*****Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

The word "wonderfully" means "differently"!

Each baby that is born is designed to be like other humans.

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature "after his kind", cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

But, every human being is uniquely different from all others in details!

That word "fearfully" means that every human being from the time of birth will live all his days seeking his Creator because he is born with the knowledge of a Creator.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Solomon wrote these words:

Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; "but they have sought out many inventions".

Our soul knows the truth, it is our flesh that is blinded by Satan!

2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

We exists as flesh and bones in the eyes of other humans, but God's greatest creation is the entire human being!

Not one scientist since the beginning of time has been able to completely explain the miracle of child birth along with the DNA structure and the other things that make humans unique in this world.

In fact most scientist have given up trying to explain the Creation of God and just say the human race just evolved by some accident.

How were we made?

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

God first made the elements of the earth, and then God formed man from those elements and only after God breathed into man the breath of His life was man a complete human being.

It is from Adam and Eve that our world has been populated by all other humans!

That phrase "substance, yet being unperfect" means the "embryo".

God is watching over each and every embryonic human from the the very moment of conception!

There is no act of evolution going on at any time in the life of the human being from the point of conception till the death of that individual.

There are those that say that embryo may not reach perfection for 9 months but the truth is that from the moment of conception until delivery that embryo it is a human being and has a God given eternal soul!

That word "continuance" means that God over seeing the development of that soul and all the substance of that human all the days of his or her life!

That word "fashioned" has the meaning that each and every embryo is fashioned in the same way as Adam!

When we realize that our entire creation came about by the design of God, it's Creator, we will then begin to understand the thoughts of our God!

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

*****Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Anthropology is the science of studying man and is almost in its entirety based on the theory of evolution.

Man can never be understood when we use evolution as the guideline!

Some old scientist such as Isaac Newton, and Kepler and Maxwell understood and bragged on the fact that God knew their thoughts but there not many around today who will actually say this.

It is only God who knows everything about us as mankind and as individuals!

God knows each of us individually!

God thinks on us as individuals!

A thought is an operation of the mind. It should bring us great pleasure in knowing that the thoughts of God are on each one of us all the time.

It should also bring comfort to us knowing that God is not thinking of evil things about us or to do to us!

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

God simply tells us what will happen if we follow certain paths in our lifetime and God then points out the proper way to avoid all those evil things.

God teaches us His thoughts so we can think more the same way that He does!

Psa 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

If God's thoughts of us are innumerable, then we must be on the mind of God continuously!

We know that the main thought of God concerns His love for us and that love will never end!

God may limit His acts of creation and His acts of wrath, but God will never limit the power and thoughts of His love for each of us individually.

We absolutely cannot make God stop loving us!

BUT, we will miss out on God's rewards by not thinking the same way that He does!

If our own thoughts are on the Lord when we go to sleep, then when we awake we will know that God has sustained us through the night or we will wake up in His presence!

No matter where we are we will always be with Him in His thoughts and one day face to face.

These things relate to the Omnipotence of God.

*****Psa 139:19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
Psa 139:20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Psa 139:21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Psa 139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

God will always do the right thing!

We can be sure that the crimes we commit before our righteous Judge will not go unpunished!

If God's wrath is stirred because of some evil, we can be sure that God will remove that evil thing from His sight!

What does God expect of us?

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Just as God will one day remove Himself from all evil, God expects us to do the same thing during our lifetime!

God has proclaimed the sentence of death to all unbelievers and the sentence of life to all that accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We can be sure that God will slay all wicked things!

Even though the liberals do not agree the Word of God says what it says!

This evil world will always speak against the Lord Jesus Christ and they would remove His name entirely if they could.

This world is all about going their own way and rejecting the purposes of Christ Jesus.

This world ignores the providence of God.

This world strives to remove the commandments of God.

This world is striving to remove God's people, but if this world will be patient God will do this thing Himself and this world can then come face to face with the God they hate so much!

God teaches us to hate the works of this world but God teaches us not to hate the people themselves.

The Apostle Paul had these same feelings as did David and most of us will also.

Rom 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

The Lord Jesus gave us this command:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

It is the Lord who will deal with all those that are wicked and evil:

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is alright to be angry with those that hate God, but it is only God who knows His creation best!

*****Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psa 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Here again is some other things we need to include in our prayers.

We need to be saying:

"Search Me Lord"

"Know My Heart"

"Know My Thoughts"

We cannot lose our salvation. If God is powerful enough to save us then God is certainly powerful enough to keep us saved!

We should not have a problem then asking the Lord to search out any sin, minor or major, that we can repent of "while we are still living".

We should not want any one thing to come between us and our God!

When we are going through something in our lives that we do not understand, we can be sure that God is trying to remove that thing from us, so He can reward us even greater!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Praising God For His Greatness

Praise God For His Greatness

Psalm 135


The English word "greatness" can mean many things.

The word "greatness" is used 32 times in the KJV Bible.

The Hebrew word "rob" which is translated into our English word "greatness" on some occasions is actually used 150 times in the Old Testament.

Greatness is describes as:

1) A Large amount, we have a great big God.

2) A high degree, we have a God that sets the highest standards of morality.

3) A high rank, we have a God who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

4) A high intellect, our God knows everything that can be known.

5) A high power, nothing in this world can compare to the power of our God.

In the Book of Psalms God's greatness is described this way:

Psa 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and "his greatness is unsearchable".

We should have great praise for our Great God because His greatness is unsearchable!

No one but Jesus knows just how great is our God!

There is no part of the Lord's greatness that is not worthy of our praise!

6) Our God is most excellent in His greatness!

Psa 150:2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to "his excellent greatness".

There is nothing in this Universe that has a more excellent greatness than our God!

7) Our God is complete because our God is perfect!

It takes a perfect God to bring a perfect salvation!

Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Let's Begin:

*****Psa 135:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.
Psa 135:2 Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,
Psa 135:3 Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

What is the reality of our God? The reality of God is that "He is much more greater then our own finite minds can even comprehend"!

God keeps teaching us that when we are in the house of God we need to have a hallelujah time!

Church is not to be some boring, quiet, solemn place!

There is no doubt that that there nations such a China, and North Korea and Iran along with many others where Christians live in fear of their lives and may worship trying to avoid punishment from oppressive governments or even more oppressive false religions but even when these gather together, they need to gather in joy and not in fear.

When the servants of the Lord gather they are to sing hallelujah to Jehovah.

God has revealed to the world His holy nature.

God has revealed to the world His perfect love beginning with Creation and by His Providence.

God has revealed to the world the only means of salvation by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Surely we can praise the name of Jehovah!

Surely we can praise Jehovah-Jireh, the God that provides.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord our banner, the banner of the Christian is the Tri-Une God, Jehovah.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Shalom, the God that brings peace into our hearts.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Shamma, the God who is always present in our lives.

Or Jehovah-Tsidkenu, The Lord Our Righteousness, because our own righteousness is as filthy rags.

Or Jehovah-Sabbaoth, The Lord of all the Angelic hosts of Heaven.

Or Jehovah-Macaddeshcem, The Lord our Sanctifier.

And there is still Jehovah-Rapha, the God that heals and Jehovah-Rohi, the God who is our Shepherd.

When we stand in the House of God, or even in the courts of the House of God surely we can praise Him!

We can sing hallelujah to Jehovah because of all these things, because Jehovah is the God who saves!

The Bible says:

Psa 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

There is great pleasure that comes from praising our God in every House that wears the Banner of the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Psa 135:4 For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

What is choice? Choice is the voluntary act of selecting between two or more things that which is most preferred.

Why did God choose Jacob?

Deu 7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deu 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Deu 7:10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

God chose Jacob whose children are called Israel, because He loved them.

What are the facts?

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God chose Jacob because He had sworn to keep His oath.

God made an oath to His Son, The Messiah, The Lord Lord Jesus Christ, that He would save all that had "Faith" in Him as God and believed on His Son.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

This is the same as Abraham and is included in the same oath made to Abraham:

Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

God will keep this oath, this covenant, with all that love Him and who keep His commandments because God made this covenant with His Son!

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Just as the true Israel, is God's peculiar treasure then the Church is also God's peculiar treasure!

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

God chose this method of fulfilling His salvation plan and this plan has not changed nor will it ever change until it is no longer necessary.

God treasures all those that place their trust in Him and God gives His love and His mercy to all those that believe upon Him!

Jesus said it is a very sad thing that so many will get the opportunity to choose, but will simply not choose or choose the wrong path trying to obtain salvation.

Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

This is why Jehovah is such a great God!

*****Psa 135:5 For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

We need to praise God for the God given ability to choose.

We need to praise God because of His "greatness"!

We must have the right view of God in order to serve Him!

If we cannot accept that Jehovah God is far greater in power and in all other things, above any other so-called god then we will not have the right view of Christianity!

If we are wrong in this then we are wrong in all things!

God is great in His being.

God is great in His perfections.

God is great in His creation.

God is great in His providence.

God is great in all His Words.

And God is great in the "Gospel", His plan of salvation!

God does what He pleases and God is pleased with everything that He does!

*****Psa 135:6 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
Psa 135:7 He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

God does not just do what He pleases on this Earth, God does as He pleases throughout all His creation which is our entire Cosmos or some would say throughout our Universe.

That word cosmos describes our Universe as an orderly system," as it is" and "is not in chaos" as is taught by the theory of evolution.

God is pleased with His cosmos!

Those vapors, describe what is now known in science as the hydrological cycle.

The evaporation of water from the oceans, transported inland by our great atmospheric circulation, with electricity that activates condensation and precipitation and this is also part of God's clean air filtration system.

Jer 10:13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Lightning is not just some lawless force of nature but is actually part of the wonderful machinery God uses to provide much of our needs!

It took a great big God to bring such order throughout all His creation!

Our universe is not in chaos but is in the orderly control of it's Creator!

God is also great in His providence.

*****Psa 135:8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.
Psa 135:9 Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

God is great in what He can do for mankind.

God gives us many great examples by what He has formerly done with the nation of Israel.

The last plague that came on Pharaoh and Egypt is now celebrated as the Passover.

It was this plague that convinced Pharaoh that he needed to let the children of Israel leave Egypt.

It was the death of the firstborn child that brought deliverance to the people of God.

This is remind us all that it was the death of God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ that has brought deliverance to all of God's people.

We can just imagine how Egypt was horrified by the greatness of God's power!

We should also be humbled by the fact that this instant was a reminder to Israel of the providence of God.

Those "tokens" were the plagues and there were 10 plagues recorded that went against Egypt but these are our evidence of the providence of God.

Those "wonders" were judgments and reminders to Egypt that they were serving false gods.

And God did all these things in full view of the Egyptians by the hand of Moses, a servant of the God of Israel, Jehovah the Tri-Une God.

It was not just Pharaoh nor just the people of Egypt that witnessed these things, it was also the false priests and false prophets of the multiple gods of Egypt.

It is Jehovah God who can humble any nation He so chooses!

*****Psa 135:10 Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;
Psa 135:11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:
Psa 135:12 And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.

There is no nation, no matter their military power that can turn the hand of God away.

Israel was a ragtag band of escaped slaves with only Moses who had some military training, yet those nations of Canaan Land never had a chance of defeating them.

Sihon was a man of great courage and a mighty military leader but He fell by the hand of God.

Og was not only a mighty military man but was also gigantic in his size and his stature and ruled 60 city states but he and his army fell by the hand of God.

Even when the other nations pooled all their armies and all their resources together, they could not stand against the hand of God.

It is no different today and even the mighty war machine of America can not stand against a nation that God chooses to defeat them because it is Jehovah God who will fight for His cause against all enemies.

It is by the hand of God that any nation can hold to their lands.

It is Jehovah God that gave the land called Palestine to the children of Israel. This is their heritage and their land and not for anyone else to question!

To the Church we also have a goodly heritage!

Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

These things can only happen because our God is "Great"!

*****Psa 135:13 Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.

When Moses was at the "burning bush" he asked God what was His name.

God said:

Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exo 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

**1) God first said Moses, I Am That I AM.

This name speaks of the providence of God.

This is God's absolute control of the Universe. God is independent of His creation. God is independent of all life because God is life itself.

God is complete in Himself!

God is absolute!

The Lord Jesus said:

Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

The Lord Jesus is the absolute image of the invisible God!

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,

**God next said, I Am The LORD. (Jehovah) The Supreme God.

The self-existing, eternal God!

His name is Wonderful!

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

God's name is eternal and God's name will never change!

Once we come to know the LORD, then we can never forget Him!

It is Jehovah, Elohim who created our universe and abides over it!

Gen 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

It is this same Jehovah, Elohim who will judge this Earth and all who dwell on it!

*****Psa 135:14 For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

Who are "Jehovah's people"?

They are the "elect", they are the "chosen", they are "the called" of God.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

We all know that the wages of sin are death:

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Once we become the chosen people of God, His people, we have already been judged and the LORD has repented from this sentence of death.

Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Only Jehovah has the power to save His people!

*****Psa 135:15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
Psa 135:16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
Psa 135:17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
Psa 135:18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.

Silver and Gold are valuable commodities in today's world but to shape them into an image to worship is like taking a dead metal and trying to make it have life.

Whatever is fashioned from dead metals come from the imagination of the man who is forming it.

It takes a fool to worship man-made objects as a god!

Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

What can an idol do for you?

You can ask your idol any question you may have but you will get no answer, they cannot communicate with you.

You may ask your idol to watch over you today but they cannot see.

You can speak to your idol with great worshipping words or in times of troubles but they cannot hear you.

An idol is already dumb as death. All idols are made from something that God has made but they can never have life in themselves.

There is no sign of life in an idol and neither can there ever be!

All those that worship idols will become just like the idols they choose to worship.

What is an Atheist? Those who worship themselves.

Those who worship themselves are just as blind and insensitive as an idol!

They refuse to hear or see what God has to say because they have placed themselves above all others especially above God!

When we place ourselves above the Word of God, we then become idols ourselves!

Everyone that trust in their own selves are blind fools according to the Word of God!

Atheists and Idol worshipers are one and the same they pride themselves in their great wisdom, they boast of their higher learning and they think that they are evolving into a god themselves.

It's easy to see why God says they are fools, but God also says this:

1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Not one of us are born saved! Salvation comes only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

When you are justified you will not have a problem praising the Lord.

*****Psa 135:19 Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron:
Psa 135:20 Bless the LORD, O house of Levi: ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD.
Psa 135:21 Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

That word "house" as used in this passage means a family of ancestors.

The descendants of Israel would be all 12 of the tribes of Israel.

Israel is still the chosen nation of God and will continue to fulfill the purpose God has for them!

**The house of Israel has no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Amo 5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

**The house of Aaron are all the descendants of Aaron who were elected to perform the duties of the high priesthood.

The High Priests were to be the leaders, the teachers, and the example of the worship of Jehovah and therefore above all others.

Psa 115:10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

**The house of Levi was the specially elected servants of the Lord.

Deu 10:8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
Deu 10:9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.

**The house of Levi had no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Those that fear the Lord are the wisest people on this Earth!

Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Isa 11:3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

**Those that fear the Lord have no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Zion is the place where Jerusalem had it's beginning, as a strong hold and became the city of David.

2Sa 5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.

Zion is the place where the Temple was first built and the place where King Jesus will rule.

Psa 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Zion then was the symbol for the entire nation of Israel.

Amo 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

Zion is the city of God.

Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Zion also refers to heavenly Jerusalem.

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

Zion is the the place where at the Second Coming of Christ, He will redeem Israel.

Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

It is Zion where this world will see the perfection and the beauty of God!

Psa 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

All those that know of Zion have no excuse for not blessing the Lord!

Zion dwells at Jerusalem!

Just as Jerusalem will soon be the dwelling place of God among His chosen nation, then Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of the Church and we will all gather in the city of King Jesus one day soon!

Until that day we need to have a Hallelujah time and just praise the Lord!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Praising God For His Benefits

Praise God For His Benefits

Psalm 116


God sincerely wants to have a close personal relationship with each of us individually.

Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me".

Jesus Christ is not some aloof Savior waiting on us to run Him down or hiding for us to try to find Him.

Notice it is the desire of our Lord to be a close nit family!

Jesus Christ will not only make a personal visit to your heart and will knock with His own nailed scared hands but He will call out to us using His own Words.

God did not send anyone else to save us, He came Himself!

Before Jesus Christ will come into your heart, He will first introduce Himself and He brings with Him the record of His accomplishments, the Bible, so we can see for ourselves who He truly is.

It's called choice!

If Jesus did not knock first, we would never come to knock at His door.

God has a loving desire for our salvation!

God will knock on the door of our heart but He will not break down that door.

Jesus Christ is the "I Am" of the Bible and if we have that close personal relationship with our Savior, we will also use that word "I" along with the word "My" in our relationship with Him!

1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Let's Begin.

*****Psa 116:1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

We have been seeing many things we need to include in our prayer life.

Just to mention a few, we need to praise our Lord, we need to repent of our sin at least daily, we need to walk the Christian path as Christ walked to get our prayers answered.

Because we are not perfect and cannot be in this life, we need to ask for mercy but just maybe at the very top of our list in our prayer life we need to say "Lord, I Love You".

Remember it was God who made the first move and we can love Him because He first loved us.

1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

This is a pure fact in Christianity, we can love our God because He first loved us!

All human love is preceded and generated by the love of God!

If we are willing to be channels through which God's love can flow, we will be able to reach others with the love of God!

If we have that close personal and loving relationship with the Lord, we should be able to say "I Love You Lord" without hesitation.

If Jesus Christ is real to you, then His love is real, and His salvation will then become very real.

We must not just know we love the Lord but we need to also know why we love the Lord!

We have a very good reason! He hears our prayers.

God hears our voice! Jesus said when we pray we need to get into our closet with our private prayer but even in that closet when we are able, we need to pray out loud if for no other reason, so that God can hear our voice.

God is always listening in to what is said by His people and the Lord will keep a good record of what is said!

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him "for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name".

God loves to hear our voices!

God already knows what we need.

God has seen what troubles we are going through.

God just loves to hear from us and He loves to hear our voice calling out to Him!

And when we have not reported in for a while, the Lord can look back to see what was said the last time we made contact with home base!

Sometimes we just want to know that God hears us and what we need is not as important as just to know that God is listening and every time our prayer is answered our love will increase.

We show our love by calling out to God and He shows His love by answering our prayers because He is always listening for the sound of your voice if you are saved and the Lord already knows your name!

*****Psa 116:2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

Calling upon the Lord is an act of worship when it is done with our whole heart but when we are discouraged we must remember that God is always near.

God is always listening carefully to every prayer and God answers every prayer that reaches into Heaven!

Psa 4:3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.

Knowing that the Lord is always listening gives us confidence to always seek Him.

1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

We are only foolish if we do not call upon the Lord everyday that we live!

It is always wise to go to the place we are always welcomed and that place is near the heart of our Lord and our God!

*****Psa 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

We must remember who our real enemy is!

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

The only way to escape this enemy is by the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Hebrew word used for our English word "sorrows" in the verse gives us the sense of a noose tightening around our necks or the uneasiness of the pain in our minds for our circumstances.

The Hebrew word used for our English word "pain" in this verse gives us the meaning of tightness, as that noose just gets tighter and tighter and we are choking to death in our own distresses.

We have waited much to long if we have reached this point before calling upon the Lord but it is only too late if we reach that point of death.

We are wrong to think we can hide from sorrow and distress!

We are wrong to think we can hide from our problems!

We cannot ignore the fact that Satan will do all he can to hinder the spread of the "Gospel".

These things will seek us out, but there is no need to suffer through these things alone.

We simply cannot allow the sorrows and troubles of this world to choke us into submission!

*****Psa 116:4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

There is absolutely no depth of sorrow that can take us out of the ear range of our God.

Here again we see there is only One who we can call on to get some actual help.

Jehovah is the God of revelation and redemption!

It is Jehovah who revealed Himself to Moses.

It is Jehovah who revealed Himself to Abraham.

It is Jehovah who will reveal Himself in our hour of need!

It is Jehovah who will deliver us from our sorrows!

The name Elohim declares God displayed in his power as the Creator and Governor of this physical universe,

The name Jehovah designates God's nature as He stands in relation to man!

Jehovah is the almighty, true, personal, holy Being, a spirit and "the father of spirits," the "I Am" of the Old Testament!

When we get personal with Jehovah, He will get personal with us!

Jehovah got real personal with us when He appeared as our Savior!

Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Joh 8:57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

And how do we approach our Lord?

It does not take many words.

"O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul".

We must pray to the Lord as often as we can and we may use many words trying to describe to the Lord how we feel but in that hour of a specific need, our prayer does not need many words.

Real trouble produces real prayer!

This prayer needs no words added and it explains the complete need!

This prayer brings the greatest benefit!

It is this prayer that will show us the "Grace of God"!

*****Psa 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.

Most of the time, just to know someone is listening to us, itself brings great relief!

God teaches us to come to Him in prayer when we need His help, and there is not a day that goes by that we do not need God's help.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

God says we can draw near to Him in confidence, knowing He has the power to help us in that hour of need.

The throne of God is a "throne of grace" because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Joh 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
Joh 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
Joh 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
Joh 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.

The throne of God is called "gracious" because we have an Intercessor who sits in the throne room of God!

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Those that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ cannot open the ears of God and cannot know the mercy of God!

*****Psa 116:6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
Psa 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

Those that are wise in the wisdom of this world will try to take care of themselves but those that trust in the Lord can depend on God to take care of them.

Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

It is our faith that determines if we get relief from our troubles, from the only God that lives.

If you have known the Lord for any time at all, then you can also say "when I was brought low, He helped me"!

Rest simply means we can be restored to a peaceful confidence in the Lord.

Psa 56:13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

We are reminded that we can never loose our salvation.

We are reminded that we are not left in this world alone but our Savior is never far from us.

We are reminded that when we walk in the ways of Christ Jesus we are walking in the glory of the Lord.

We are reminded that our God is Good all the time!

God has given us His Son Jesus and in Him will He give us all things!

God has given us eternal life!

*****Psa 116:8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

What a marvelous thing is our salvation.

God has graciously canceled the debt of sin that we could not pay without our own death in Hell.

1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God will continuously deliver us from a physical death until a time that He has selected.

Job 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

God will not hold back anything to wipe away our tears and restore us to the joy of salvation.

Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

God will keep us! Satan will never be able to lay his grubby hands on us again!

Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.

Death is put away, our tears are dried up, and fear is banished, when the Lord is our Savior and we can walk before Him!

*****Psa 116:9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

This verse means we will walk one day in Heaven where there will be no death!

This verse means we will always live in the sight of God.

Those that continue to walk in this life can only be seen by men and only during this lifetime.

Those that continue to walk in this life, will all their days be subject to human judgment, human opinion, and human results.

Those that know the Lord know that the ever watching eyes of God are on His children.

Psa 57:3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

These things require our faith!

*****Psa 116:10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:

Faith is the only way we can approach God!

Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

That faith must be in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

That faith will show in our walk with the Lord in this life.

Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

By faith we live! By faith we have deliverance! By faith we can brag on our God!

Without our faith in God our prayers will go unanswered.

Without faith we will remain greatly afflicted.

When we trust in the things of this world we will find out that all men are liars because they that reject the truth have no respect for the truth!

*****Psa 116:11 I said in my haste, All men are liars.

Some times when we are suffering affliction in this world we will become as a pessimist.

A pessimist is any person who has a gloomy, hopeless, and complaining disposition.

A pessimist takes a dark view of everything and sometimes everyone, as did the writer of this Psalm.

But we will see a child of God can only be a pessimist for a short time!

It is a fact that all those that speak against the Word of God are all liars!

Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

But we have no right to distrust all men!

There are many people still in this world who are honest, moral, and conscientious.

To blame everything on this world we live in takes our focus off of the real enemy, who is the Devil!

Faith, says we trust the Lord in all circumstances.

Faith does not mean we can wrongly accuse mankind!

We will never lead anyone to the Lord Jesus Christ by being a pessimist.

What is the opposite of being a pessimist?

*****Psa 116:12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?

The opposite of being a pessimist is when we can say, we can give back to the Lord for all the benefits He has given to us?

This world is not so gloomy that we cannot have joy in serving the Living God!

We need to be searching for ways to serve the Lord and get busy doing so, and this will take our minds off this sinful world.

Each one of us receive a special benefits in serving the Lord, so each of us should have his own special way of of showing his gratitude!

2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

What was the special way, this writer had of showing his gratitude?

*****Psa 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

The greatest gift we can give back to the Lord is to accept His free gift of salvation!

We must become that new creation of the Lord!

This writer had been drinking from the cup of afflictions and had forgotten all about God's cup of salvation.

There are no works of our own that can ever repay the Lord for what He has done!

Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

When we forget we are a saved people we will put off our worship of the Lord.

Satan will do anything to hinder the Word of God.

He will sometimes bring one affliction after another to try to break us.

BUT, if we can keep in mind the Salvation that is given to us from the Lord and the benefits that come from our Savior, we will continuously call on the name of the Lord.

Most of us think of worship as something that is only done on Sunday and Wednesdays or what ever days are set aside to worship but this actually is not good for us.

We simply must not reserve our worship for certain times or certain days.

In fact we are worshiping someone or something at all times with our thoughts, or with our words, or with our actions.

Worship is saying that this thing is worthy of our worship when in fact there is only One who is worthy of our worship and it is our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the Lord who gives life.

It is the Lord who gives us the air we breath.

It is the Lord who freely gives us all things.

Act 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

How can we not be continuously worshiping the Lord?

The cup of Salvation of the Lord provides living water!

Joh 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

We must devote ourselves to the worship of the Lord and Him only, all the days of our lives!

What else can we give to the Lord?

*****Psa 116:14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

In our days of being in the family of God most of us have made certain vows. Some of those we have kept but in most cases there are some we have not kept.

Vows that have not been fulfilled are the same as debts that have not been paid!

Deu 23:21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.

If we say things in worship and in prayer then, we need to hold ourselves accountable.

Deu 23:23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.

This Psalm writer then went on to say that he would pay his vow before witnesses, in fact in the presence of all God's people.

God does not allow for secret disciples!

Because every saint of God is precious in the eyes of God.

*****Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

The Hebrew word "chasid" is translated as "saints" in this verse.

The "chasid" are godly people because they reflect the character of God Himself!

It is only because of God's covenant with Himself and fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ, that every "Born Again" child of God can be called a "Saint".

A Saint of God is anyone who believes by faith that Jesus Christ is Lord and can then be called Christian if they conform to the image of Christ.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate "to be conformed to the image of his Son", that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

So many people abuse the title Christian these days, as the Christian name can only be applied to those who are striving to be like Christ Jesus.

A Christian is only those whose behavior, whose actions, and whose speech are like those of Jesus Christ.

All others are impostors and it is these impostors who give Christianity a bad name!

But all those that are the true Saints of God are very precious in the eyes of God and who die according the way they lived a Christian life.

Precious means valuable.

We think of death as being the enemy of all men, but the Saints of God have no need to fear death.

1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The Saints of God do not have to drown on death's sorrows.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

To the Saints of God, death is only a device or a vehicle that is used to enter into the presence of the Lord.

Mal 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

What a precious benefit for the Saint of God!

*****Psa 116:16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

There will come a time to almost everyone of us that we will need to rededicate ourselves to the Lord.

This is better stated as surrendering to the Lord!

After all the giving of ourselves to His service is one of the few things that we can actually give back to the Lord for what He has done!

We belong to the Lord by the fact that we are God's creation!

BUT, we also belong to the Lord by His "Grace"!

We are to be servants of our Lord if we want to meet our Father in Heaven!

Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

It's a precious feeling to know you are saved!

It's a precious feeling to know that you no longer serve Satan.

Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The most precious thing we can have is to know that we are now servants of God by Jesus Christ.

We have been loosed from the bonds of sin, of death, and of Hell, so how can we not wear the yoke of Jesus Christ?

Jesus teaches us with these words:

Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Once we have given ourselves to be servants of the Lord we then can begin to offer up our thanksgivings which are another one of the things that we can give to the Lord of our own possession.

*****Psa 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

The New Testament Church has never been told to offer up animal sacrifices.

The sacrifices that the "Body of Christ" are instructed to make are:

1) The sacrifice of ourselves as servants of God.

2) The sacrifice of righteousness, remembering that our righteousness is by the Lord Jesus Christ.

3) The sacrifice of praise which is due from us all.

4) The sacrifice of thanksgiving for the great benefits of our salvation.

Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

5) Then we are to offer the sacrifice of doing good and the sacrifice of telling everyone we meet just how good it is to serve the Lord.

It is only when we drink of the cup of salvation that we can call upon the Lord!

It is probable that David also wrote this Psalm and we know that David's desire before His death was to build a house worthy of the Lord.

It should also be our desire to build houses worthy of the Lord.

Salvation is still the main objective of the Church but it seems the modern day Church has forgotten the main thing!

*****Psa 116:18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,
Psa 116:19 In the courts of the LORD'S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

We must be determined to keep our word to the Lord.

We must invite all those that know the Lord to observe our walk in this life and point out anything that looks to be a deviation from the Word of God.

We are to exhort and help each other through the trials and afflictions in this life.

We are to comfort each other and we are to do it daily.

Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

This is the duty of each Pastor.

This is the duty of each "Born Again" child of God.

God says we need to have a Hallelujah time whenever we are in the House that is called by His name!

When our own hearts are filled with gratitude, we will want all our brothers and sisters in Christ to join in with that same feeling!

There are truly great benefits in serving the Living God!

Questions?

Let's Pray!