“Behold the Greatness of God”
(Part 1 - Our Heavenly Father)
Psalm 103:1-18
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Jan. 20, 2008
*Is there any praise in your heart this morning? Take a good look inside and ask yourself: “Is there any praise in my heart today for the Lord?”
*David must have asked a similar question before he wrote this Psalm. And he must have seen a lack, because he started the Psalm by talking to himself -- Challenging himself to praise the Lord with these words, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits”
*The word picture for “bless” there is bowing down before God in loving adoration. It’s the same word Job used after losing most of his possessions and all of his children. He fell on the ground, worshipped God and said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
*In Psalm 34:1-3 David said: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.”
*Over the next 3 weeks, we are going to magnify our focus on God, lifting Him up as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Today our focus is on the Father.
1. So give Him glory, first of all, because He gives us the ultimate forgiveness.
*As David said in vs. 3: He “forgives all your iniquities” How many of our sins is God willing to forgive in vs. 3? All of them! God’s forgiveness is the ultimate forgiveness.
*David gave us a wonderful expression of this truth down in vs. 8-12, where he tells us that: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
*God takes our sins away as far as the east is from the west! But how far is that? Well, the closest galaxy to our own Milky Way is the Andromeda Galaxy. This “next door” galaxy is 2 ½ million light years away from our own, and that is an incredible distance! But when God took our sins away, He was just getting started when He got to the Andromeda Galaxy! As far as the east is from the west -- That’s how far He has removed our transgressions from us!
*But where did they go? There was only one place that they ever could have gone, and that was on Jesus Christ, when He died on the Cross for us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. . .” Dad, would you be willing to do that? But “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The ultimate forgiveness came at the ultimate cost. The Father gave His only Son to die on the cross for us.
*But wonder of wonders, He rose again from the dead! And God promises total forgiveness to all who trust in Him. Think of it: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
*Wendell Sellers once heard a pastor preaching about God’s forgiveness. And he told a story about a coloring book his mom bought him when he was in the first grade. This little boy didn’t want to be called a sissy, so he started scribbling on the first page until it looked horrible. He had reached page ten when his teacher caught him. And from then on she helped him color until the book was finished.
*A few weeks later it was parent night at the school. When he walked in his classroom with Mom, his heart sank, because their coloring books were on top of each desk. And the preacher said, “My mother picked up my book to look through it and I shouted, ‘Oh no, Mother! Look at the book Jane colored.’ -- But she wanted to see my book.
*As she turned the first 5 or 6 pages I saw a tear roll down her cheek. I knew this was the end for me. But then she smiled and picked me up and kissed me and said, ‘Son this book is beautiful. I am so proud of you.’
*I didn’t understand this at all. When she put the book back on my desk and started looking at the other coloring books, I had to pick up my book and look at it again, cause I remembered what the first 10 pages looked like. I was really surprised to see that all the bad pages were gone. My teacher had torn the bad pages out and you couldn’t tell they were ever there. Only my teacher and myself knew the truth. It doesn’t matter how many sins, or how dark our lives may be, Jesus wants to forgive us, wash our sins white as snow, and make the rest of our lives beautiful.” (1)
*Are there some pages in your life’s story you would like torn out and thrown away forever? Put your trust in Jesus Christ and receive God’s ultimate forgiveness. “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
2. Give glory to God the Father because He gives us the ultimate forgiveness. -- And the ultimate fullness. In vs. 5, He “satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” God has promised to meet every need you will ever have.
*John Haggai gave a wonderful testimony about God’s provision. It happened on a winter day in 1931, and John said: I came down to breakfast - and found the table empty.
It was cold outside. The worst blizzard on record had paralyzed the city. No cars were out. The snow had drifted up two stories high against our house, blackening the windows.
"Daddy, what’s happening?" I asked.
I was six years old. Gently Dad told me our fuel and food supplies were exhausted. He’s just put the last piece of coal on the fire. Mother had eight ounces of milk left for my baby brother Tom. After that - nothing.
"So what are we going to eat?" I asked.
"We’ll have our devotions first, John Edmund," he said, in a voice that told me I should not ask questions.
My father was a pastor. As a Christian he’d been chased out of his Syrian homeland. He arrived as a teenager in the United States with no money and barely a word of English - nothing but his vocation to preach. He knew hardship of a kind few see today. Yet my parents consistently gave away at least 10 percent of their income, and no one but God ever knew when we were in financial need.
That morning, Dad read the scriptures as usual, and afterwards we knelt for prayer. He prayed earnestly for the family, for our relatives and friends, for those he called the "missionaries of the cross" and those in the city who’d endured the blizzard without adequate shelter.
Then he prayed something like this: "Lord, Thou knowest we have no more coal to burn. If it can please Thee, send us some fuel. If not, Thy will be done - we thank Thee for warm clothes and bed covers, which will keep us comfortable, even without the fire. Also, Thou knowest we have no food except milk for Baby Thomas. If it can please Thee..."
For someone facing bitter cold and hunger, he was remarkably calm. Nothing deflected him from completing the family devotions - not even the clamor we now heard beyond the muffling wall of snow.
Finally someone pounded on the door. The visitor had cleared the snow off the windowpane, and we saw his face peering in.
"Your door’s iced up," he yelled. "I can’t open it."
The devotions over, Dad jumped up. He pulled; the man pushed. When the door suddenly gave, an avalanche of snow fell into the entrance hall. I didn’t recognize the man, and I don’t think Dad did either because he said politely, "Can I help you?"
The man explained he was a farmer who’d heard Dad preach in Allegan three years earlier.
"I awakened at four o’clock this morning," he said, "and I couldn’t get you out of my mind. The truck was stuck in the garage, so I harnessed the horses to the sleigh and came over."
"Well, please come in," my father said. On any other occasion, he’d have added, "And have some breakfast with us." But, of course, today there was no breakfast.
The man thanked him. And then - to our astonishment - he plucked a large box off the sleigh. More than sixty years later, I can see that box as clear as yesterday. It contained milk, eggs, butter, pork chops, grain, homemade bread and a host of other things. When the farmer had delivered the box, he went back out and got a cord of wood. Finally, after a very hearty breakfast, he insisted Dad take a ten-dollar bill.
Almost every day Dad reminded us that "God is the Provider." And my experience throughout adult life has confirmed it. "I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor their children begging bread." (Psalm 37:25) The Bible said it. But Dad and Mom showed me it was true. (2)
*God provided for the Haggai family in a tremendous way, but hasn’t He done the same thing for us? Of course He has! In fact, God has provided so well for us that we often take it for granted. I doubt if anyone in this room has ever been down to their last piece of coal. God “satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” He has promised to meet every need you will ever have. He fills us with food -- But the ultimate fullness is Him.
*The more we get to know Him, the more we will be satisfied in Him. We will be satisfied not just with the things He can do -- But who He is. So in vs. 7, the children of Israel knew God’s acts, but Moses was closer to God. Moses knew the Lord’s ways. He was satisfied in the Lord. This is the ultimate fullness that led the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk to say:
17. Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,
18. yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.
19. The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains. (Hab 3:17-19)
3. Give glory to God the Father, because He gives us the ultimate fullness. -- And the ultimate family. Vs. 13&14 tell us that, “As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear (or reverence) Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”
*When we recognize that God is God, and we are accountable to Him, when we realize that we are lost without Him, when we realize that He loves us and sent His Son to die for us, when we receive His Risen Son as our Lord and Savior -- Then we are born-again into the family of God, and these great words from 1 John 3:1-2 apply to us:
1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
*Believers, now we are children of God! Think about the caring relationship every good father has with his children. James Moore reminds us with this testimony. James said:
-I want to tell you about two of my most prized possessions. The first one is a simple ordinary rock. It’s a rock with some green and yellow paint splattered on it. I use it as a paper weight on my desk. I have had it for over 30 years. It’s not worth a lot, but I cherish it. If I tried to sell it, I couldn’t get much money for it, but you see, I would never even consider selling it, because I treasure it so much.
-Why is it so special to me? Not because of what it is. Not because of how it looks. Not even because of what it does -- but because of the one who gave it to me. That’s what makes it special – the one who loved me and gave it to me. Our son, Jeff, gave that green and yellow paper weight rock to me when he was 5 years old. He made it for me in Sunday School. It’s the symbol of his love. The giver, not the gift, makes it special.
-The second prized possession of mine that I want to tell you about today is a homemade greeting card. I have also had it for over 30 years – and I just love that card. I treasure that card so much because our daughter, Jodi, made it for me when she was 6 years old.
-On the front of the card, it reads, “To the Most Sweetest Father on Earth.” And it has her own sketch of planet Earth. Inside it reads, “Happy Birthday,” then that is scratched through -- followed by “Happy Father’s Day,” followed by the notation, “Oops! Everybody makes mistakes.” And it is signed, “Love, Jodi (6 years old).” These gifts are special to me because of the special persons who gave them to me. (3)
*All good dads have things like that -- little things that are big to us, because they came from our children. And our Heavenly Father has that same kind of care for His children, only infinitely more. He cares about the big things and the little things in your life. He cares about everything in your life. “As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear (or reverence) Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”
4. Give glory to God the Father, because He gives us the ultimate family. -- And the ultimate future.
*If you lived to be 100, and got everything you ever wanted in this world, you would not have much of a future, because in vs. 15&16: “As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.”
*The only future worth having is the one that comes from the Heavenly Father. He has promised an everlasting home in Heaven to all who trust in Jesus. -- A future so wonderful, we can only begin to take it in.
*Dr. R.G. Lee was one of the most famous preachers of the 20th century. He preceded Adrian Rogers at Bellevue Baptist in Memphis. Just before Dr. Lee stepped over into heaven, he had a vision of heaven. He had lapsed into a deep sleep, almost like a coma.
*Waking up, he reported that he saw into Heaven. He said that in the vision he saw the Lord Jesus, he saw his mother, and he saw that golden city. But when asked to describe what he had seen, this man, who more nearly than any of the rest of us had mastered the English language, said, “I can’t describe it. My vocabulary is inadequate, and I never did it justice in my preaching.” (4)
*James Packer once wrote: “We know very little about heaven, but I once heard a theologian describe it as ‘an unknown region with a well-know inhabitant,’ and there is not a better way to think of it than that.
*Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines:
-“My knowledge of that life is small; The eye of faith is dim,
-But it’s enough that Christ knows all, -- And I shall be with him.”
*And Packer added: “To those who have learned to love and trust Jesus, the prospect of meeting him face to face and being with him forever is the hope that keeps us going, no matter what life may throw at us.” (5)
*Rodney Buchanan writes: I was tremendously impacted by a funeral I once had. The service was for the mother of a member of the church who was a great Christian woman. During the service, one of her former pastors stood to share his gratitude for the life of this woman. He was retired from ministry at the time, and he talked about losing his father and mother, his wife and several friends. Then he sort of looked up as though seeing something no one else could see and said, “I now have more family and friends in heaven than I do here on earth. Heaven is looking more like home all the time.” (6)
*That’s the way the Heavenly Father wants you to look at Heaven. -- But you can only do that if you know His Son Jesus as your Lord and Savior. This is the covenant God is talking about in Psalm 103, where He said, “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.”
*Most of you know that my brother, Jon, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. When I got to visit with him in Tampa, we spent a lot of time talking about his spiritual life. And I mentioned something about our dad. In 1976, our dad died of lung cancer at the age of 55. He had been a member of the Presbyterian Church for many years, and had served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher. Dad had also been very Christlike in the way he treated other people.
*But in those last days of his sickness, I wanted to be absolutely sure that my dad had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, so I asked him about it. And I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I remember him standing in the door of his hospital room, telling me: “Son, you don’t have to worry about me. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ a long time ago.” That’s why my earthly father is with my Heavenly Father today. Praise God!
*Give glory to God the Father -- Because He gives us:
-The ultimate forgiveness.
-The ultimate fullness.
-The ultimate family.
-And the ultimate future.
*And if you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ.
-Give your heart to Jesus right now, as we go to God in prayer.
1. Adapted from SermonCentral illustration contributed by Wendell Sellers
2. By John Edmund Haggai (c) 1999, from Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery and Nancy Mitchell Autio. (Found in KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 8663 - SOURCE: Internet: Chicken Soup Of The Day (don’t Distribute) - TITLE: Winter Morning Guest - AUTHOR: John Edmund Haggai - DATE: 5/31/01)
3. Adapted from christianglobe.com sermon “Jesus and Zacchaeus” by James Moore - Luke 19:1-10
4. KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 20160 - SOURCE: Http://www.baptistfire.com/gospel/lee.shtml - TITLE: His Vocabulary Was Inadequate - AUTHOR: Dr. Adrian Rogers
5. James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986. (found at sermonillustrations.com - topic: Heaven)
6. “Thoughts on Heaven” sermon by Rodney Buchanan - Rev 21:1-7
