Real Psalms for Real People
RUMC 6/12/16
How many of you get the feeling that
the Bible doesn’t understand you? It’s OK to put up your hand. Sometimes it is
hard for citizens of the high-speed, high-pressure, high tech, high expectation
21st century to feel like the Bible connects to them.
I’ll admit, it is sometimes hard for me
to feel a connection to some of the stories. However, that’s not too
surprising. Parts of the Bible are 36 centuries old! That’s older than most of
us here, and face it, times have changed.
I would argue, however, people have not
changed all that much.
• We
still ask the same questions that they did 36 centuries ago:
o Why
am I here?
o Why
do bad things happen?
o Why
is there sickness and suffering?
o How
am I supposed to respond when folks treat me like dirt?
• We
still have the same hurts they did 36 centuries ago:
o
guilt,
o shame,
o grief,
and
o failure.
• We
still have the same struggles they did 36 centuries ago:
o
making a family,
o finding
hope,
o experiencing
peace.
You might say, the more things change,
the more they stay the same.
That is exactly why I love to read the
Psalms. Those of you who follow my “read with me” in the newsletter and enews
know that I read one psalm every day. The reason I do that is, if not every
day, almost every day I find myself wondering,
• “How
did you know I was asking myself that question?” or
• “How
did you know my heart was broken like that?” or
• “How
did you know I was struggling in that way?” or
• “How
did you know I was feeling that way?”
My experience is that the Psalms are
the deepest gut-prayers of people just like me, revealing the depths of not
only their hearts, but also mine.
That’s why I am preaching from the
Psalms this summer and calling this series, “Real Help For Real People.”
• Let
me ask you, what is the one thing babies need most? You might think diapers and
milk, but even babies, who receive those things in orphanages, if they don’t
receive love and loving contact from caregivers, will turn their faces to the
wall and die.
• What
is the one thing Children need to hear more often than anything else? I would
argue that it is not the word “NO,” but the words “I love you”… or sometimes,
“I love you anyway.”
• What
is it that teenagers and young adults are seeking in their lives as they begin
to separate from their parents? Someone to love them.
• What
do we need most as our physical abilities begin to decline? To know that there
is someone who loves us enough to care for us.
• What
is the most important thing a person needs to know as they die, that after
everything else…they are loved.
One of the most fundamental needs we have is
to be loved. But face it, oftentimes human beings fail us. Oftentimes we fail
each other. And when everyone around us seems to be against us… When we feel
most alone and most vulnerable…When we feel most worthless… what is left?
Let me tell you. “HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES
FOREVER.” In other words, whether anyone else loves you or not…whether anyone
else cares or not… God loves you. And, as Bishop Trimble was fond of saying
this last weekend, “there isn’t anything you can do about that.” God loves you
and there isn’t anything you can do about that.
If you miss that point in Psalm 136, it
can only be because you weren’t listening at all. “His steadfast love endures
forever” is repeated 26 times! Over and over, it drives home the point, “His
steadfast love endures forever.”
----------------------------------------------
How do we know that God loves us? The
Psalm is divided into three parts.
-----------------------------
The first part, verses 1-3, teaches us that
ever-enduring steadfast love is a fundamental characteristic of God. It names
God as GOOD, he is the LORD OF LORDS, and he is the GOD OF GODS: THEREFORE, “His steadfast love endures
forever.” God loves because that is what God is. 1 John 4:8 tells us “God is
love.” If the essence of God is love… then God can do nothing else. So we know
God loves us because that who God is.
-----------------------------
The second part is verses 4-25. They
are saying, “If you aren’t convinced God loves you because of who God is, look
around and you to see what God has done. In order to understand what it is
saying it helps to take out the refrain, and just read the stuff between “His
steadfast love endures forever.”
Verses 4-9 say Look at creation and you will see. “God does great wonders. God
made the heavens.
God spread out the earth on the waters.
God made the great lights: the sun to rule over the day, the moon and stars to
rule over the night.” How can you look at creation and not believe that is was
created by an infinitely loving God? Any God who makes the sunrise, the bald
eagle, and white sand beaches must certainly love us very much. THEREFORE: what more evidence do we need? We
can say for sure, “God’s steadfast love endures forever."
If that isn’t enough, look at the way God treats his people in verses 10-24 and
you can’t help but see God’s love. Take out the repeated verse and read it.
God struck Egypt through their
firstborn, and brought Israel out from among them,
with a strong hand and an outstretched
arm.
God divided the Red Sea in two, and
made Israel pass through the midst of it, but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in
the Red Sea.
God led his people through the
wilderness.
God struck down great kings, and killed
famous kings, Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and gave
their land as a heritage, a heritage to his servant Israel.
It is he who remembered us in our low
estate, and rescued us from our foes.
THEREFORE: What more evidence do we need? Any
God who would do all of that and more for his people proves once and for all
that, “God’s steadfast love endures forever."
Then, the Psalm tells us, look at the way God provides for all of God’s
creatures. There is no other explanation than,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
-----------------------------
Finally the last verse of the Psalm calls us
back to the beginning of the Psalm and calls us to give thanks because the God
of heaven, Because God is a God whose steadfast love endures forever.
I have to admit, it is hard for me to believe.
God’s love… God steadfast love… God’s enduring, steadfast love is beyond my
comprehension.
God’s love for me is unchangeable.
God’s love for you is unchangeable.
God’s love for me cannot be stopped.
God’s love for you cannot be stopped.
God’s love for me is forever. God’s
love for you is forever.
Pause for a moment. Let that blow your
mind.
We can’t out run God’s steadfast love.
We can’t out sin God’s steadfast love
and mercy.
We can’t escape God’s faithfulness.
A great contemporary song says it this way.
God’s
love never fails,
it
never gives up
It
never runs out on me
Say it after me
God’s
love never fails, God’s love never fails,
it
never gives up, it never gives up
It
never runs out on me, It never runs out on me
And say it one more time all together
God’s
love never fails,
it
never gives up
It
never runs out on me
God’s
love never fails … NEVER
God’s
love never gives up… NEVER
God’s
love never runs out on me… NEVER
• Start
song fade volume up as I finish speaking
That is the message of Psalm 136. It
reminds real people with real problems and real doubts that “God loves them no
matter what!”
God’s
love never fails,
it
never gives up
It
never runs out on me
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