What God IS to Us
Psalm 86
Chuck Sligh
May 6, 2012
READ RESPONSIVELY: Psalm 86 – “Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. 4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. 9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. 10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. 12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. 13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. 14 O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them. 15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. 16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. 17 Show me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.”
INTRODUCTION
Start with video clip, “Kid’s Views on God.”
Illus. – A friend sent me an email this week of a fifth grade teacher in a Christian school in El Segundo, CA who asked her class to look at TV commercials and see ways to communicate ideas about God. – Here are some of the results:
• God is like COKE…He’s the real thing.
• God is like HALLMARK CARDS…He cares enough to send His best.
• God is like TIDE…He gets the stains out others leave behind.
• God is like GENERAL ELECTRIC…He brings good things to life.
• God is like ALLSTATE…You’re in good hands with Him.
• God is like DIAL SOAP…Aren’t you glad you have Him? Don’t you wish everybody did?
• My favorite is: God is like MAXWELL HOUSE…Good to the last drop.
Well…what IS God like? Last week we looked at Psalm 86 and saw six things David says God DOES for those who know Him as their Savior: He listens to us; He preserves us; He gives us joy; He teaches us; He delivers us from hell and God helps and comforts us.
These are just some of the many things God does for us, but in this same passage, David lists a number of things that God IS that are of great benefit to us. These are some of what the theologians call God’s attributes. God’s attributes are the things revealed to us in His Word about what He is like.
The attributes of God can be grouped into two categories:
• The first are God’s NATURAL attributes.
These are the qualities of God that set Him apart and make Him superior to all other beings and things in the universe. For instance, God is eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present, and unchanging, to list just a few of the natural attributes of God.
• The second group is God’s MORAL attributes.
These are the qualities of character that determine how God behaves, that determine what kind of personality He possesses. There are many that we could investigate, but we want to limit ourselves to the few that David mentions in this Psalm.
I. FIRST, HE SAYS GOD IS GOOD. – Verse 5 says, “For thou, Lord, art good…”
Though that’s not the first attribute David mentions, I start there because as I studied this psalm, I realized that all the other attributes mentioned flow from God’s goodness. That’s why I said I liked the last commercial about God the kids devised: “God is like MAXWELL HOUSE…Good to the very last drop.”
We’re taught that God is good many places in the Scriptures, but here are just three:
• 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”
• David says to God in Psalms 31:19, “How great is Thy goodness…”
• God’s goodness is one reason we should praise Him, for Psalms 135:3 says: “Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good …”
God is good in that He is holy and righteous and set apart from sin; but in His dealings with us, His goodness means that He always does what is good FOR us. No matter what you face in life; no matter what seemingly bad thing you’re going through, in it all, GOD IS GOOD!
Are you facing some trial in your life? Understanding God’s goodness will sustain you through those hard times. When you go through those difficult times, how blessed to know that a GOOD God who loves and cares for you, who’s watching over you, who sustains and guides and provides for you who’ll never leave you, who’s quick to forgive, who shows you kindness—THAT is your GOOD God in the hard times.
He is so good that even when bad things happen to us, He promises that He will somehow turn that bad into good as Paul tell us in Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
You see, God is like Allstate: You’re in good hands with Him.
Illus. – One of God’s faithful missionaries, Allen Gardiner, experienced many physical difficulties and hardships throughout his service to the Savior, yet through it all he said, “While God gives me strength, failure will not daunt me.” In 1851, at the age of 57, he died of disease and starvation while serving on Picton Island at the southern tip of South America. When his body was found, his diary lay nearby, bearing record of hunger, thirst, wounds, and loneliness. The last entry in his diary showed the struggle of his shaking hand as he tried to write legibly. It read, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.”
Recognition of God’s goodness will sustain you and help you see beyond your trials to God’s goodness.
II. SECOND, I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT IN HIS GOODNESS, DAVID TELLS US OF TWIN ATTRIBUTES OF GOD—HE IS MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS.
In verse 3 David cries, “Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.” – In this psalm, David also mentions God’s mercy in verses 5, 15 and 16. But David tells that not only is God merciful, but in verse 15, he says But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious…” God is both merciful and gracious.
Mercy and grace are two very important words in the Christian’s vocabulary. The words have similar meanings, but in opposite ways, and that has great significance to us as believers:
• God’s MERCY is when God does not give us what we deserve.
What do we deserve?—We deserve judgment, hell and alienation from God because of our sin and rebellion against God. But if we’ll trust in Him for our salvation, in His mercy He promises NOT to give us judgment, hell and alienation. He does not give us what we deserve; He’s merciful
• God’s GRACE, on the other hand, is Him giving us what we do NOT deserve. The simplest definition of grace is “God’s unmerited favor”—that is, His favor and good things He does for us that we do not deserve or merit. We don’t deserve forgiveness of our sins, an eternal life in heaven or a personal relationship with God, but because God is full of GRACE, if we believe on Jesus Christ as our Savior, we’re given those things as free gifts.
Illus. – The difference between mercy and grace can be illustrated this way: Suppose your son disobeyed you. You’re angry, so you go to him, intending to punish him. Immediately you sense that his tender heart is broken over his disobedience and with tears he admits his guilt and asks you to forgive him.
So you say, “Tommy, I was going to punish you, but because you’re sorry for what you did, I’m not going to punish you…even though you deserve it.” Now that’s mercy—NOT giving him the punishment he deserves.
Now suppose you said, “Tommy, go get your shoes on. I’m going to take you down to Baskin Robbins and get you the biggest ice cream you ever had.” THAT’S grace, because the LAST thing Tommy deserves is an ice cream, but because you love him, you do something for him he doesn’t deserve.
That’s what God does with those who place their trust in Him as their Savior: God showed His love for us by sending His son to die for our sins, and if we turn to Christ and trust in Him as our Savior, God shows us mercy and grace. In His MERCY, He withholds from us the judgment we deserve and in His GRACE, he gives us many wonderful gifts and privileges.
God is like DIAL SOAP…Aren’t you glad you have Him? Don’t you wish everybody did? God is GOOD, and because He is good, God is MERCIFUL and GRACIOUS.
III. DAVID ALSO SHARES THREE TRAITS THAT FLOW FROM GOD’S GRACE.
• First, he says that God is FULL OF COMPASSION in verse 15 – “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion…”
Have you ever thought about the difference between pity and compassion? The two words are very similar, but there’s one very important difference. Pity is only the emotional response to something that makes you sad; compassion compels you to act on that emotion.
Illus. – Suppose you see a homeless woman on the street. As you pass by, your heart goes out to her. You wonder how she got into that state and how sad it must be. But as you pass by, you don’t DO anything for her. You’ve experienced the mere emotion of pity.
But compassion is pity plus action. – You’d be showing compassion by not simply FEELING pity for that homeless woman, but DOING something to help her—giving her some money, or buying her a meal, or giving her your coat, or taking her to a homeless shelter for help.
Aren’t you glad God didn’t just have pity on us and look over the portals of heaven and say, “Well, look at those poor, wretched humans. They’re living without me, and are not fulfilled. They’re filled with pain and hurt and emptiness. Too bad,”…and then just go on about His business…doing nothing? No, God looked at our sinful condition and all the pain and suffering that sin wrought and He didn’t just have pity on us; He had COMPASSION—He DID something about what He saw.
What did He do?—John 3:16 tells us what He did: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but everlasting life.”
God is like Hallmark Cards: He cares enough to send His very best. He doesn’t just show pity, but love put into action—true compassion.
• Not only does David tell us in verse 15 that God is full of compassion; he also tells us that He is LONGSUFFERING.
The Greek word translated “longsuffering” means “patient with people.” It’s hard to be patient with people sometimes, isn’t it?
Illus. – A man’s car stalled in the heavy traffic as the light turned green. All his efforts to start the engine failed, and a chorus of honking behind him made matters worse. He finally got out of his car, walked back to the first driver and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to get my car started. If you’ll go up there and give it a try, I’ll stay here and blow your horn for you.”
Illus. – I heard about a teacher helping one of her students put his boots on. He asked for help and she could see why: with her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn’t want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat, only to hear the little boy say, “Mrs. Smiff, they’re on the wrong feet.”
She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool while getting the boots back on—this time on the right feet—when he said, “These aren’t my boots.”
She bit her tongue rather than blow her cool as she was tempted. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He said, “They’re my brother’s boots. Mom made me wear them.”
She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. “Now, where are your mittens?” she asked. He said, “I stuffed ’em in the toes of my boots so I wouldn’t lose ’em.”
Sometimes it’s HARD to be patient with people!
Aren’t you glad that God is longsuffering with us? Some people look at the state of the world and shake their fist at God and say, “How can you let the world go on like this?” They forget that God will not overrule the free will of man. He let’s us choose Him or our sin, but there are unintended consequences of choosing sin over God—like selfishness, anger, hatred, immorality, death, war, greed, and on and on the catalog of sin goes.
Why does God let the world go on like this?—Because He’s longsuffering to us, extending to us more opportunities to be saved. He could zap us the moment we first sin, but in His longsuffering, He patiently waits on us because it is not His desire for ANYONE to go to hell. 2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is…longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Friend, if you die and go to hell, it will be despite what God has done for you. He has extended many opportunities for you to come to Him, and He wants nothing more than for you to trust Him as your Savior and He waits patiently for you to respond. Will you come to Him before it’s everlastingly too late?
The writer of Hebrews asks this very important question in Hebrews 2:3 – “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” God is patient with us, but someday His patience will run out. Eventually, the Bible says that every person who has neglected God’s free gift of salvation will face judgment and hell. Come to Him today before it is everlastingly too late.
• Finally, David tells us in verse 5 that God is “ready to forgive.”
The word forgiveness in the Bible literally means to dismiss, pardon or release. Because of our sin, the Bible teaches that we have a debt of sin, but Jesus paid the debt in our place, and if we’ll believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, God will cancel the debt and forgive us our debt of sin. And when Jesus forgives us of our sins, He wipes the slate clean forever so that no matter what may happen, we stand before God forever cleansed of all sin.
There’s an old Southern Gospel song that captures this well. In each verse, the songwriter talks about the sins he’s done, but in the chorus, he sing that he can almost hear the voice of the blessed Savior say:
“What sins are you talking about?
I don’t remember them anymore;
From the Book of Life they’ve all been torn out,
I don’t remember them anymore.”
Illus. – Stephen Brown tells of a new owner of a Rolls Royce whose car broke down in a remote area of France. Now Rolls Royce claims their cars do NOT break down—PERIOD! Well, this man knew differently because there it was on the side of the road, so he called the dealership and asked for assistance. They flew a repairman in to fix his car and soon it was running again. Once home, he waited and waited for the bill, but it never came. So he finally wrote and asked them when he could expect the bill. Rolls Royce wrote back, “We have no record of any Rolls Royce EVER having mechanical problems.”
If you’ve trusted in Christ as your Savior, my friend, I have good news for you: God has no record of ANY sin you have EVER done. You want some scriptures for that?—How about these:
• Psalms 103:12 – “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
• Micah 7:19 – “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue [lit. “disregard”] our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
• 1 John 1:7b – “…the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
How can you have forgiveness of sins? Look again at verse 5, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.”
Would you call upon the Lord to save you today? Call to God in prayer, admit you’re a sinner deserving His judgment and confess your faith that Jesus died for your sins. Paul said in the New Testament: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Do that today!
CONCLUSION
God is many things, but what is such a blessing is what He is FOR US.
• First, He is good, both morally good and good in how He treats His children. – Yes, even in the hard times; even in the times we don’t understand.
• He is merciful and gracious. Sinner, will you turn to Him in repentance and faith? Backslidden believer, will you return to your Lord and Master and recommit your life to God?
• You needn’t worry that He won’t take you in or take you back, for He is full of compassion, longsuffering, and ready to forgive.
