We continue in our series on hope found here and this month our focus is on the compassion of God.
This morning I want us to consider together The Promises of God’s Compassion by looking at a Psalm where King David speaks of God’s goodness, greatness, compassion and grace, Psalm 145.
In the original Hebrew, Psalm 145 is written as an alphabetical acrostic. King David begins each verse with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first verse begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second verse with the second letter, and so on to the end of the Psalm.
Jewish tradition teaches that the ancient Israelites recited the 21 verses of Psalm 145 twice in the morning and once in the evening. Perhaps as the words come up on the screen you would like to read it aloud with me.
Psalm 145 New Living Translation (NLT)
1 I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever.
3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.
4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.
5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendour and your wonderful miracles.
6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness.
7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all His creation.
10 All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power.
12 They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign.
13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations.
The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.
14 The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads.
15 The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it.
16 When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.
18 The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked.
21 I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever.
May God bless the reading of His word to us.
Some sermons have 3 points, some sermons have 4 points and some sermons have no point at all.
Think about that for a moment.
The purpose of this sermon is to remind you of the promises of God’s compassion and there are seven points that I want to briefly cover with you this morning.
1st point - The Compassion of God’s Position
King David said I will exalt you, my God and King, (in Hebrew ’e-lo-w-hay ham-me-lek) and praise your name forever and ever. To “exalt” is to lift up, to raise above, David is affirming there is a king who is a greater king than him a God who is worthy to be praised for ever and ever.
Our God is above all powers, all thrones, above all He has created, so great is the Lord, no one can measure His greatness. Yet, in His compassion, the eternal God, the Lord of lords and the King of kings, cares about you. You are created in His image, you are His beloved creation and He wants to be in a real relationship with you.
Sin separated us from God, so God sent Jesus on a rescue mission to save us. Jesus gave up His position and humbled Himself for you. Jesus was incarnated into this world, born as a fully human baby in a stable not a palace, grew into a man, lived a spotless life, then went to the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and mine. He died, He conquered death, He conquered sin, His sacrifice was sufficient for all who would repent and accept Him as Lord and Saviour. Then on the third day He rose from the grave. Appeared to His disciples. Then Jesus ascended to return to His position at the right-hand of God in Heaven and He has promised one day He will return.
Then The Holy Spirit came, and His position is with us, right now. If you know Jesus as Lord and Saviour the Holy Spirit dwells within you. He is changing you, transforming you, empowering you, helping you to be the person God saved you to be.
One day we will see God face to face.We will see Him in Heaven, we will see Him in all His glory, we will see Him in His position of Alpha & Omega, the beginning and the end, the eternal one. We will see Him in His true position as:
Jehovah-Elohim, the Lord God,
El Elyon - the most high God,
El Olam - everlasting God,
Adonai - our master,
’e-lo-w-hay ham-me-lek - our God King.
2nd point - The Compassion of God’s Power
In Ephesians 3:20-21, the Apostle Paul speaking of God’s power wrote, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever!”
God is always active, God is always at work, from before time as we know it began God was active, then in His creative power He spoke everything into existence, His power sustains everything we can see and everything we can not see. We can not fully comprehend the power of God or measure His greatness, yet in His Compassion, God’s power works in us and through us everyday to accomplish His purposes.
When was the last time you experienced God working in power in your life? Did you tell anyone what God did?
There is nothing more powerful than God, that is why King David said that each generation should tell the next generation about God’s power, God’s Majesty, God’s splendour, His miracles, His deeds and actions.
We are meant to tell people how great and powerful God is... Take a look around the room for a moment...
If we have been faithful in communicating to the next generation about God, His power, His purpose, the message of the Gospel, then where are they?
Who are the next generation that will continue to tell the next and the next and the next?
The message of the Gospel must be shared, to our community, to our colleagues, to our friends, to our family.
Friends, the unsaved must hear what God has done, is doing and will do.
The lost must be told how they can be found.
The sinner must be given the opportunity to repent.
The sacrifice of Jesus 2000 years on a cross still has the power to wash away sin, God is still able to save. The Power of the Gospel is able to save, and we must tell others how they can turn to Christ and be set free from their sin and be assured of a place in Heaven.
Do you believe in the Power of God?
Do you believe in the Power of the Gospel to save?
Then tell someone!
Tell your generation, tell the next generation, tell them how the compassion of the power of God has saved you.
Tell them about God’s works and mighty acts. Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, tell the children and younger people how you have seen God at work in your life.
3rd point - The Compassion of God’s Personality
There are so many facets to God’s personality, here are a few that King David proclaims in Psalm 145:
God is good, abundantly good.
God is righteous.
God is gracious.
God is merciful.
God is compassionate.
God is slow to anger.
God is a loving God.
Those are all facets that we should have in our own lives. How can we develop them in our own lives?
Not in our own efforts or strength, we must allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to change us and transform us.
Galatians 5:22-23, “the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
If we, as disciples of Jesus, want to be more like Jesus, we should have a personality that reflects God’s personality, and a compassion that reflects His compassion.
4th point - The Compassion of God’s Pre-eminence
God is eternal, His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion, His rule, will endure through all generations. He’s over all because He made everything. God comes first in everything.
God is meant to be the most important person in your life... is He?
God is not an optional extra. God is more than important He is pre-eminent, He surpasses everything because He created everything.
God has no rival.
God has no equal.
Now and forever our God reigns supreme.
His is the Kingdom.
His is the glory.
He is the Name above all names.
He is the great I AM.
And yet in the Compassion of God’s Pre-eminence, as the lyrics from the song ‘What a beautiful name’ remind us:
You didn’t want heaven without us
So Jesus, You brought heaven down
My sin was great, Your love was greater
What could separate us now.
Romans 8:38, “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”
5th point - The Compassion of God’s Provision
Do you remember the lyrics of the Don Moen song, Jehovah Jireh?
Jehovah Jireh
My provider
His grace is sufficient
For me, for me, for me
My God shall supply all my needs
According to His riches in glory
He will give His angels
Charge over me
Jehovah Jireh cares for me, for me, for me
Jehovah Jireh cares for me
God cares about you and God cares for you.
He cares about your problems.
God cares about the difficulties in your life.
God is able to provide exactly what you need.
God will give you strength when you are weak.
He will lift you up when you fall and carry you when you are overwhelmed.
Listen to the words of Jesus from Matthew 6:25-27, “I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”
God is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. King David said “When God opens His hand, He will satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.” God gives blessings with an open hand! God in His compassion cares about you and will provide for you.
6th point - The Compassion of God’s Presence
God is the Creator of everything but He is not a distant impersonal God, as King David said, “The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth.”
The truth is we are never alone.
God in His Compassion is always with us.
He is always near to those who have called on Him in truth.
Let me break that down a little, to call on God in truth we must first accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. If you have repented from your sin and turned to Jesus then you have been born again and you have been adopted into God’s family and have free access to God the Father through Jesus, His Son.
To call on God in truth requires us to be honest with Him - the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God sees into our heart and mind - we can not hide our true feelings and emotions from God.
In another Psalm of David, Psalm 139, he states, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me... You know my thoughts even when I’m far away... You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord... I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!”
In His Compassion God’s Presence is always with us.
Last point - The Compassion of God’s Preservation
Psalm 145:20-21, The Lord protects all those who love Him, but He destroys the wicked.
In His compassion, God preserves those who love Him. If you are in Christ, if you have been saved from your sin, then you have the assurance that God is with you. God is with you now and when you step into eternity God will welcome you home.You will be welcomed not because of who you are or what you have done, or how good a life you have lived, you will be welcomed because of what Jesus did has done for you.
Your eternity is secure in Christ because “The Lord protects all those who love Him, but He destroys the wicked.”
God watches over those who believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the life. He will save those who have placed their trust in Him.
But He will destroy those who rejected Christ, those who rejected the free gift of eternal life, those who died without repenting and turning to Jesus. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If you are here this morning, and you have never asked Jesus into your life, if you have never asked God to forgive you and save you, then turn to Him now and He will save you. God is able and willing to save you.
The final thought is this, Psalm 145 ends with these words: "I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless His holy name forever and ever."
May I encourage you to praise the Lord for all He has done, is doing and will continue to do in your life.
There is Hope Found Here, God loves you, God cares for you. God’s Compassion for you is shown in His Position, His Power, His Personality, His Pre-eminence, His Provision, His Presence and His Preservation.
May each of us praise the Lord and bless His holy name forever and ever.
Amen
