SERMON OUTLINE:
• (1). The worship goes up (vs 1-4);
• (2). The witness reaches out (vs 5-8);
• (3). The wealth comes down (vs 9-13).
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE (born 7th January 1985);
• I am sure you are aware that he is a British Formula One racing driver,
• And is currently racing for the Mercedes AMG team.
• He is the 2008 and 2014 Formula One World Champion.
• Lewis Hamilton has been getting some flack this week;
• After he took part in a radio interview;
• You may or may not know that he is in an 'off & on' relationship with his girlfriend;
• She is Nicole Scherzinger and she is part of the pop group Pussycat Dolls.
• Question: Why is Lewis Hamilton getting criticised?
• Answer: Nicole Scherzinger had written and recorded a love song for Lewis,
• And during a radio interview with the newly crowned world champion;
• The DJ played the song and asked Lewis if he recognised it.
• And being a typical bloke he failed to identify it.
• The media have of course jumped on to this untimely gaffe.
• And made a big story out of it.
• The point his critics have been making is simple;
• When somebody does something for you:
• In this case pen the words and tune to a love song, record it and release it.
• You expect the subject of the song to be aware of it,
• And to be thankful and appreciative of it!
• TRANSITION:
• The theme of this psalm is take note people of what God has done for you;
• God has done far more than just penning a love poem;
• He is a God has demonstrated his love by meeting our physical & deepest spiritual needs.
• So in response to God’s love;
• This psalm says be thankful and appreciative of it!
This Psalm divides into three sections:
(1). The Worship Goes Up! (vs 1-4)
1 Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion;
to you our vows will be fulfilled.
2 O you who hear prayer,
to you all men will come.
3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions.
4 Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
Notice:
• The expression: “Praise awaits you”.
• Bible scholars say it is a difficult phrase to translate from Hebrew into English.
(1).
• It literally means “To you, silence [is] praise”;
• It may imply “silence is praise” - and it may mean to fall silent before God.
Ill:
• Meet your hero or someone very, very famous like meeting the Queen;
• You might find that your mind goes blank and that you are speechless.
• You just can’t think of any think to say.
• TRANSITION: So this phrase can mean to fall silent before God.
• As you reflect on the wonder & majesty of his presence.
• You are left in silent appreciation!
(2).
• The C.E.V. translates the phrase with a different slant
• “Our God, you deserve praise in Zion”
• ‘Zion’ is a term that most often refers to Jerusalem,
• It can also refer by extension, to the Biblical land of Israel.
• So the emphasis in the C.E.V. translation is;
• This Psalm is the reminder that God deserves our praise:
Ill:
• David, in this psalm, talks about how God blesses us and why God is worthy of praise,
• Scan the Psalm and see the many reasons given.
• Verse 2: Praise him because He hears prayers.
• “You who answer prayer”
• Verse 3: Praise him because He forgives sins.
• “You forgave our transgressions.”
• Verse 4: Praise him because He chooses people to dwell in His presence.
• “You choose and bring near to live in your courts!”
• Verse 5: Praise him because He answers our prayers in a remarkable way.
• “You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds”
• Verse 5: Praise him because He gives optimism and courage to all peoples.
• “The hope of all the ends of the earth”
• Verse 5: Praise him because He saves.
• “God our Saviour”,
• Verse 6: Praise him because He creates the mountains.
• “Who formed the mountains by your power”
• Verse 6: Praise him because He demonstrates strength.
• “Having armed yourself with strength”
• Verse 7: Praise him because He calms the seas.
• “Who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves,”
• Verse 7: Praise him because He calms the nations.
• “And the turmoil of the nations.”
• Verse 8: Praise him because He strikes the nations with awe.
• “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders”
• Verse 8: Praise him because He inspires praise of the nations.
• “The whole earth… you call forth songs of joy”
• Verses 9-10: Praise him because He sends rain on the earth.
• “You care for the land and water it”
• Verse 9: Praise him because Makes the earth fertile.
• “You enrich it abundantly”
• Verse 9: Praise him because He makes grain grow.
• “…to provide the people with grain,”
• Verses 10b: Praise him because He ripens crops.
• “…bless its crops”
• Verse 11a: Praise him because He blesses the annual cycle.
• “You crown the year with your bounty.”
• Verse 11b: Praise him because He gives abundance.
• “Your carts overflow with abundance.”
• Verses 12-13: Praise him because He provides rich pasture.
• “The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.
• The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain…”
• There are at least 19 reasons mentioned for praising the Lord;
• If you read it again you will probably find a few more!
Now out of those 19 things mentioned I want to dwell on verse 3:
“When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions”.
• Question: What is the difference between ‘sins’ and ‘transgressions’?
• Answer:
(A). "SIN".
The word ‘sin’ in the Bible means “to miss the mark.”
ill;
• In football (soccer) if a player aims for the goal and misses,
• Question: is the match score affected?
• The answer of course is no!
• Because he has missed the goal, he missed the mark at which he was aiming.
• Therefore he has sinned!
• And of course it does not matter if you miss by 5cm or by 5metres – you missed!
• So the word ‘sin’ in the Bible means “to miss the mark.”
• We as human beings have failed to live up to God’s standards;
• If we are honest we do not even live up our own.
(B). “TRANSGRESSION”:
• "Transgression" is:
• When we "go beyond or overstep some boundary or limit";
• In everyday situations we transgress the rules of the lands when we break the law.
• e.g. Motorway the limit is 70 to go beyond that is to transgress the law of the land.
• In Bible terms we transgress;
• When we break the law of God i.e. breaking one of the 10 commandments.
• Yet this evening despite the fact we are sinners and transgressors f God’s law;
• We are able to know God and enjoy God and worship God and come close to God!
Question: How come?
Answer: Because of God’s amazing grace:
• The God of the Bible who ought to punish us.
• Has instead provided forgiveness for our deepest needs.
• The God of the Bible who ought to punish us.
• Instead wishes to deal with us in ‘grace’.
• Look at verse 3:
• “When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions”.
• Note that word ‘overwhelmed’;
• It is not that we fail a little, we fail a lot!
• And yet we are able to know God, enjoy God, worship God and come close to God!
• What amazing grace!
• Quote: Someone has said,
• “Grace is everything for nothing to those who don’t deserve anything.”
Ill:
• Fragile flower – full of beauty;
• But it only takes a little bit of frost to kill it off.
• Grace is like a fragile flower – full of beauty;
• But it only takes a little bit of good works/self-effort to kill it off.
• As soon as you add anything to grace it no longer remains grace!
• It is complete in its self!
• Now if that does not cause us to send our worship up to God in heaven;
• Then nothing will!
Quote the hymn ‘How great Thou art.’
“And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.”
(2). The Witness Reaches Out (vs 5-8)
You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Saviour,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
6 who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
8 Those living far away fear your wonders;
where morning dawns and evening fades
you call forth songs of joy.
• Now in this section of the Psalm, we are reminded that;
• The ends of the earth need to hear about this God of grace and glory;
• So almighty God has revealed himself to all people in creation.
• Look at creation and see God’s fingerprints all over them!
The Psalmist talks about God creating the mountains (vs 6):
• Mountains, which are both breath taking and awesome to look at,
• But they are also secure and unmovable.
• He talks about the sea (vs 7) that roars with all its power;
• Again he is talking about something we humans cannot conquer!
• ill: The ocean is littered with ships who fought the stormy sea and lost!
Now here is the point:
• That which is unmovable and unconquerable are both subject to their Creator.
• Nature, regardless how impressive and daunting,
• Is ultimately under the control of the God of might.
Ill:
• Just think of that incident in the gospels;
• When experienced sailors (the disciples) were terrified of a storm;
• Yet Jesus was a sleep and when they woke him up;
• He simply gave a command; “Be muzzled!” and the sea and the wind became calm!
• TRANSITION:
• Nature, regardless how impressive and daunting,
• Is ultimately under the control of the God of might.
• The Psalms (especially the O.T.) say look and learn;
• God’s fingerprints are all over creation!
• When refereeing to the power of God;
• The Old Testament always points to creation to illustrate the power of God;
• The New Testament always points to the resurrection!
Ill:
• YouTube DVD clip Indescribable video with lyrics - Chris Tomlin song.
• http://youtu.be/8FlIchSJoOA
This section of the Psalm emphases to us that the creator God is a God of might;
• He is the Lord of nature;
• He is the hope of mankind.
(3). The Worship Comes Down (vs 9-13)
You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it. [c]
10 You drench its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
12 The grasslands of the desert overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.
The Psalmist uses great imagery in these verses:
• He begins in verses 9-11 with a very logical, matter-of-fact description of nature.
• These are the facts that happen every season.
• i.e. He sends the rain, he fills the rivers, he waters the fields;
• The fields provide food for the flocks, who provide for people.
• So He begins in verses 9-11 with a very logical, matter-of-fact description of nature.
• And then in verses 12-13 his description changes from analytical to poetic refrain,
• And he says; the fields put on their finest clothes and celebrate together.
• So there is a mixture of poetry and fact.
These verses really are a reminder that God is ‘The God of Plenty’:
• He provides all that the earth needs to bring forth crops;
• He has provided all the world needs to feed its inhabitants.
Quote:
• World Hunger.org.
• The world produces enough food to feed everyone.
• World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today;
• Than it did 30 years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase.
• Today the world has enough food to feed everyone,
• Yet an estimated 854 million people worldwide are still undernourished.
• Poverty—not food availability—is the major driver of food insecurity.
• In other words the haves – have and the don’t haves – don’t!
• So don’t blame God for the fact 854 million people are undernourished;
• He has provided – but human beings just don’t share it!
This Psalm is a reminder that God has blessed us and blessed us abundantly:
• That is seen especially true in our western world.
• We all hear enjoy clean water, good food and so many other blessings.
Quote: The old hymn:
“Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done”.
Note:
• Now don’t forget that the Bible teaches;
• God blesses us that we might bless others!
Ill:
• Sadie Sieker served for many years;
• As a house-parent for missionaries' children in the Philippines.
• Sadie loved books and often loaned them out for others to read;
• But she kept her most treasured books in a small suitcase under her bed.
• Once, in the quiet of the night, Sadie heard a faint gnawing sound.
• After searching all around her room,
• She discovered that the noise was coming from her suitcase.
• When she opened it, she found nothing but an enormous pile of dust.
• All the books she had kept to herself had been lost to termites.
• TRANSITION: What we give away, we keep. What we hoard, we lose.
• God blesses us that we might bless others!
• What we give away, we keep. What we hoard, we lose
• And according to Luke chapter 12 verse 48:
• “To whom much is given much will be required”
• We are accountable for the knowledge, resources, abilities, etc.
• That God has blessed us with.
• God blesses us that we might be a blessing to others.
Sermon audio:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=hytLpyPZfJQH1fZo1UpdqFwuZvfBfGTI&forceSave=Psalm_65_-_sermon_by_Gordon_Curley.mp3
