I Love the Lord
Robyn Black • September 26, 2021
Psalm 116: 1-9
We looked at a Psalm last week, Psalm 124. And the Psalms are kind of grouped together in themes. I wonder if anyone can remember what group last weeks Psalm was part of? If you can’t don’t worry, I could barely remember and I wrote the sermon – but it was a Psalm of Ascent…Psalms 120- 134 were written especially for singing as they travelled the long journey to the temple. Well Psalm 113 to Psalm 118, are called the Hallel psalms and these were psalms that were always sung at Passover.
In each meal, as the family or families or the friends would gather together, there would be a host. He would preside over the feast and he would be the one to begin the prayers and the singing of these hymns. When Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, we know that these are the psalms that he sung in the last time he gathered together with his friends. Imagine, Jesus knowing that he was about the be betrayed by the Jewish hierarchy and killed by the Romans on the cross, and most of his friends would leave him. As they sat around after the meal, they sang this song:
Psalm 116:1-9
1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
‘Lord, save me!’
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
Well, I got out of the house this week. I conducted a funeral and burial of a lady who was 93 and had planned this day 30 years earlier. When the lady was 61 a relative said they were going have her cremated. The lady said ‘you’re not going to throw me into the fire like a bag of rubbish’, marched down to the cemetery and arranged her plot! Even in death, she was able to control her circumstances! But in life we’re not always able to control our circumstances and we see this in the psalm today.
But first, how about that first line. “I love the LORD”. I always think it’s funny when people think the Bible is conservative or Christians are reserved or non-demonstrative. Here’s the first line – I love the LORD. This doesn’t speak of duty, or just something I’ve grown up with or I can’t think of anything better to do with my Sundays. It’s out there.
And not only does the Psalmist say “I love the LORD” but he says why. I don’t’ know if you’ve ever told someone you love them and they ask you why? Have you ever gone blank at that point? Mumbled “you’re a good cook” or “I like green eyes”.
Well the Psalmist had no such problem. He’s thought it through. He said “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice, he heard my cry for mercy.” (Psalm 116:1). I wonder, have you thought this through? What would you say if you were asked, about your faith? Would you be able to say, “I love God because…”. And have an authentic, genuine answer?
It struck me that this psalm is all about the psalmist telling their story, telling someone else about their faith journey. This psalm is their testimony. So I’m going to give you some thinking music and I want you to think about and write down if you’ve got a pen and paper…
I love God because… or to use the Psalmists words I love the Lord because…. Here’s some ideas. I love the Lord because… He gave me strength through a difficult time, or because He took my burdens and now I’m a new person, or because He’s my constant companion. What is it for you…I love the LORD because…you might have a list of 20 reasons.
What you’ve written is your testimony, your story, not complicated.
The psalmist continued telling his story
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
‘Lord, save me!’
What does the Psalmists story tell us about his experience of God?
That God listens. If the Psalmist was alive today they would say to you ‘look, I know there’s 7.9 billion people in the world, and there’s a LOT of problems in the world….but God hears YOU.
I remember watching Bruce Almighty and he became God for a time. At first he was overwhelmed with the prayers of people constantly in his head, so then he thought ‘I’ll give the prayers a filing system’ and his lounge room was completely filled with 4 draw filing cabinets. Then he decided, post it notes, every one’s prayer from round the world should be on an individual post it note, and everything in his house was immediately covered in post it notes.
I don’t believe you are one voice competing with all those in the world, for God’s attention. Because YOU have the Holy Spirit within you. And the Holy Spirit within you is just listening to one voice – YOURS.
What does the Psalmist’s story tell us about people?
That really in life we are pretty powerless. The words “The cords of death entangled me,” that’s a vivid picture of someone bound and being dragged down, no choice, feeling like this is it”.
The Psalmist says they felt absolute anguish in their situation and were overcome by distress and sorrow. Regardless of how much we may try to control our environment, keep everything chugging along just so, we do know deep down this truth, we are powerless over people, places and things. The only one we can truly control is ourself, and the only other resource we will ALWAYS have is God.
In this deadly danger the Psalmist calls on the name of the Lord. To be honest, I hear lots of people call out the name of the Lord. It’s increasing common and no one every says ‘oh Muhammad!’ and it’s not uttering magical words like ‘abracadabra’. Calling on the NAME of the Lord, I think implies we know something about his name, because the name of God tells us of his character.
ELOHIM: God “Creator, Mighty and Strong” (Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 31:33)
EL SHADDAI: “God Almighty,” “The Mighty One of Jacob” (Genesis 49:24; Psalm 132:2,5) – speaks to God’s ultimate power over all.
YAHWEH-JIREH: "The Lord Will Provide" (Genesis 22:14)
YAHWEH-RAPHA: "The Lord Who Heals" (Exodus 15:26)
YAHWEH-M'KADDESH: "The Lord Who Sanctifies, Makes Holy" (Leviticus 20:8; Ezekiel 37:28)
YAHWEH-SHALOM: "The Lord Our Peace" (Judges 6:24)
YAHWEH-TSIDKENU: "The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16)
YAHWEH-ROHI: "The Lord Our Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1)
There are many more names for God and you can look them up on the internet! The Psalmist was counting on the character of God when he called out to God. ‘Lord, save me!’ The NKJV says “O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
Charles Spurgeon liked this prayer and said that this prayer is “short, comprehensive, to the point, humble and earnest. It is well if all our prayers were molded upon this model. Perhaps they would be if we were in similar circumstances as the Psalmist for real trouble produces real prayer.” It’s true isn’t it?
The psalmist continued telling their story
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
For a season the Psalmist was in this death/life crisis. But having gone through that crisis, the Psalmist says ‘yep, that was terrible, but I can testify that God is real and he brought me through’. I know that to be true for almost all of us here today. We could all say ‘yep, that was terrible, but I can testify that God is real and he brought me through’.
And we finish our reading today with
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
The Psalmist finishes with thanks and gratitude to God, such a great place to be. I read a devotional thought by Richard Rohr yesterday and he said “Most people I’ve known in my lifetime react, they do not act. They spend their whole life reacting to circumstances and always consider themselves the victim of circumstances.”
Gosh, to be honest, I’ve been there, feeling like I’m a victim of circumstances. Presenting OK on the outside but really being angry and resentful to God and other humans. Yet the Psalmist shows us that acknowledging the past terrible circumstances, yet remaining thankful to God for His faithfulness and goodness, brings us to a place of rest and peace. I pray that that’s true for you this morning. That though there have been times, or maybe you’re in the midst of times, when everything feels like it’s being shaken, I pray you’re still able thank God for His faithfulness and goodness through it all. Because it will bring you rest and peace.
As we listen to “I’m in his hands” by Phil Laeger, I’d like you to think about “I love the Lord because…..” . This is your story, your testimony, This is what you tell others when they wonder about your faith. Remember God hears you…the Holy Spirit dwells within you and hears only your voice. God bless you.
Sermons For The Moment
Do not be afraid - Matthew 1:18-21
Luke 2: 4- 15
Luke 1: 26-33
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Ruth Chapter 4
Ruth 3
Ruth 2
Commitment from Love, Ruth 1: 1-18
This is an interesting Psalm – another psalm of ascent. We spoke about these Psalms of Ascent a few weeks ago. They were songs the Jewish people sang as they made their way to Jerusalem to go to the temple, through the forest, along the tracks, camping by the roads. And I believe songs like this kept them focussed and kept their spirits up. I can imagine days of walking together, tiring, boring, hot and dusty. And singing some of these Psalms keep them focussed on the faithfulness of God. Much better then eye spy for the kids. Journeys are not all their cracked up to be even if the destination is worth it. As you know, when I was growing up we always holidayed at Bawley Point past Ulladulla, and in those days it was about a 4 hour drive from Sydney. We always left later than we meant to…and the last 20 mins was on a dirt road. One year when I was probably about 4 years old it was dark by the time we got to the dirt road, and half way along the dirt road, was a dodgy wooden bridge over a river. I think part of the bridge had been damaged and we had to wait a bit in the pitch black darkness before we could proceed. Dad was out with a torch ensuring the bridge was safe to drive on and mum and us 4 kids were sitting in the darkness – no street lights, no moonlight. Of course, you might be able to guess what I said to mum in that car, with fearful crying…you’ve probably heard it from kids before. I said ‘I want to go home’. Mum said to me, ‘we can’t go home Robyn, we’re almost there’. In truth, after the bridge we had the last 10 minutes of a 4 hours journey left. We safely crossed the bridge and we were OK. But I remember it. I remember the feeling of being scarred in the darkness. I remember not liking this journey at all. Even though I always loved the destination. Well this psalm celebrates the end of the journey and the arrival at the destination. Psalm 126:1-3, “When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.” Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” Before we can understand the laughter and joy of the Israelites, we have to understand their journey. This Psalm looks back to when they arrived back in Jerusalem after 70 long years in Babylon. The captives had experienced great sorrow and mourning in exile. We read these heartbreaking words in Psalm 137: “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?” (Psalm 137:1-4). Their tormentors demanded they sing joyfully, but they were like – that’s impossible, it doesn’t come from our heart. So they just sat by the waters of Babylon and wept. But now by an amazing work of God they were suddenly back in Jerusalem. And so their joy came from their heart. The wait was over, the journey was complete. “We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.” The journey is the hard bit though isn’t it? I was reminded of this, this week. An Officer couple I was speaking to, said that their teenager said some very hurtful things to them. Stuff like, ‘you make my life worse’. As they spoke to me, I did very little but listen and pray with them. They do have other supports in their life as well, already seeing a psychologist. But what I was thinking in my head as they were speaking was ‘oh the teenage years, I’d forgotten them’. Though we have 2 wonderful young adults in P and K, they were times when it was more than tense. K wears her heart on her sleeve, and to this day apologises for some of the things she said to me. And P, you wouldn’t know what he was thinking, and then all of a sudden all his thoughts and feelings for the last 3 years would come out like molten lava everywhere. A few days later I checked in to see how the couple and their teenager were going. I mentioned in passing about teenage years and very briefly about our experiences. I didn’t want to make it all about me. But I said teenage years can be painful and those years can really hurt everyone in the family. Teenager included. They know that we have a good relationship with P and K and they said to me, you know, this is helpful. It gives us hope. I was like, yep, this too shall pass. Because when you’re in the midst of the journey of pain and sorrow, you sometimes wonder if there’s light at the end of the tunnel. If you’ll laugh again or experience joy again. You begin to wonder, “Is this all that God has for me? Will I ever be happy again?” And here’s the promise in Psalm 126:4-6, “Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” When you are going through a time of deep sorrow, Psalm 126 is strong medicine for your soul. It carries a powerful message of hope. It tells you that times of trouble and sorrow do not last. It tells you that God will turn your sorrow to joy and your tears to laughter. If you are going through a challenging time right now, I pray that this psalm will speak to your heart this morning. Let me tell you right up front, whatever you’re going through, it will get better. God will change your tears to joy. This week I found something I wrote about 10 years ago. I had written it on a piece of paper and there was a whole reflection about my life. At the time we had my mum living with us, she had dementia, and mostly I remember the good times and the fun times with her. I was also the Corps Officer at Glebe and Bob was the manager at William Booth House. After a page of writing I had written something like this “I’m often anxious, I’m usually stressed, I have eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth. I always feel pressed.” I went out to Bob in the lounge room and I’m like, ‘oh my goodness, eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth’, often anxious, usually stressed. The thing is, my life feels a long way from that now, and I’d forgotten what that part of my journey felt like. I’m sure when I was there I couldn’t look ahead and see a time of joy…but the truth is that “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” This too shall pass. ‘Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!’ says verse 3. God is faithful – he does the healing, the restoring, he brings the streams in the desert that renews and brings fruitfulness. I don’t need to tell you – it takes time. Today, I’m praying for a work of healing in your life, a gradual restoration of joy, of laughter. Like me as a kid, sometimes we don’t like parts of this journey at all. Even though we know our destination is good. And ultimately, we have a destination like no other and that’s the promise of God. A home in heaven made possible through Jesus. May God bless you this week as you look to Him, listen to Him, find your hope in Him and find courage and healing in your journey.
Jesus speaking to the disciples says, ‘Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me. The Thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John is a high velocity chapter, in my opinion. Headline after headline, The Last Supper is the feature article we know best, but then, there is Jesus washing the feet of the disciples to very mixed emotions. Then comes Jesus teaching regarding sacramental service and how he anticipates the disciples proper treatment of others. Iscariot’s predicted betrayal was mentioned, then Jesus speaks of The New Commandment followed closely on the same evening by Jesus warning and prediction of Peter’s denial of Jesus. A big night around the dinner table for everyone there, and a momentous series of events to unfold within the following few days. A lifetime of indelible memories for the disciples as the plans and purposes of God are revealed in the next few days. For the crowds who were present to witness this occasion many people must have found it mind blowing simply too hard to grasp…..all the events were miraculous, certainly, other worldly, certainly, and still today a full comprehension still eludes us without the exercise of a simple faith. I may not completely understand the ways of God…but I do trust God to be God. I’m okay with that and so is God! Earlier this week the media was full of conversation and speculation about how people were going to celebrate ‘freedom day’ (Monday 11th) the stroke of midnight was overwhelmed by pictures of mobs going to licensed premises to make pigs of themselves at the bar, the pokies and other gaming tables and screens. I’m afraid for me seeing the behaviors of people within the first twenty-four hours of so called freedom day was just a concentration of many days in the past 5 to 18 months. We saw many distorted ways for people to tell others how bad off they are and how tough their life has been at the hands of an uncaring and indifferent Government be it State or Commonwealth. The elusive quality many should be turning their attention to is their lack of ‘insight’. I find it sad even tragic when so many fail to recognise within themselves widespread disregard, disrespect and even indifference for human life, who are being driven by fear and selfishness. The restrictions introduced Internationally we call ‘lock down’ or stay at home directions, work from home, home schooling, click and collect, shopping on line for anything and everything on a shelf or in a shop. GP’s consultations on line, pharmacy requirement, prescriptions on line and chemists delivering. Most of what we needed and wanted was accessible one way or another with one important exception in my case….haircuts! Robyn offered…several times….and so did my daughter Keren. Freedom week got me a seat at the hairdresser on Thursday following several visits and several hours in a queue. The last haircut was just before the hairdresser went on maternity leave, she was back at work this week, her child is learning to drive now….its been a while. All four of my grandparents had died by the time I was in my twenties with only one of them really known by us and she was amazingly patient, durable, gracious, kind, and very warm and loving. A grandfather had served in both world wars and with some of his family migrated from a poor place to Australia during the Great Depression for a better life, and got it. There’s nothing unique about my family and nothing peculiar to Australia, this story of overcoming hardship, grinding poverty, widespread sickness and misery was known to millions upon millions over the world. You and I do not hail from the hordes of angels, we hail from the ordinary everyday variety of people who have populated the earth, not from those who live a charmed life. We however have a nature and a soul bestowed upon us by God the Creator of All, capable of kindness, compassionate and loving service. If you haven’t seen the real unspoiled nature of humanity at work, seek out the stories of your family, if you have grandparents, great grandparents, uncles and aunties who were born before the 1950’s talk and research and discover the strength and fiber of your inherited humanity. This does come with a warning however, be prepared for a surprise. The old expression, ‘I am today, what all my yesterdays have made me’, carries a great truth, but at best it can only convey part of your story. We are human with all the accompanying peculiarities……BUT we are more, much more. We are reading from the Gospel of John today, and I must admit, this is the Gospel I always turn to first. John 8:12 ‘when Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ Please take some time to ponder these words and how they are directed to you, this is personal. If you don’t think Jesus words are directed to you today…..then who is He speaking to? We have a guide to lead us so we can find our way. Our wisdom is to look to Him, and absorb His Spirit and apply that to all our circumstance of life. **We do have a guide for life and life for us each would be not only more **harmonious but we would be more fulfilled, we would truly know from **personal experience what Jesus means by applying the bowl of water and **towel in the Sacrament of Service. With such a sure guide in the world in does seem odd to me why many, many more people don’t follow the light of God. Humanity might have made greater progress faster than we have. Let’s get back to John 13: 21 before someone pulls the Zoom plug out of the wall. Before going in to hospital, I decided to help myself a bit by sorting and packing our books (700). However, there is one shelf still crammed full. No prize for guessing, they are cook books also I watch cooking shows on TV, UTube etc. Cooks often ask the guests on the show about their favorite meal, even what would they ask for if they knew this was to be the last meal. Two surprises, Ice Cream is a biggy, a multitude of flavors and trimmings. The second surprise has been simple meals like mum or grandma used to cook. This is when you discover food is a lot more than for just eating. I’ve never heard of anyone asking for Brussel sprouts or Kale. During these conversations about favorite foods we often hear about the significant people in their life, who were their great influences, those that bough much joy and kindness, those who were able to console, challenge and encourage even those who inspired love and gently directed people on to life in its fullness. Rarely do we hear about those who instilled fear or humiliation, distrust or dislike. Generally, we don’t gather people to the table who broke our hearts or spirit, crushed our dreams or betrayed our trust. Just before Jesus went to a garden to plead with His Father for another way out of His looming death, He invited 12 of His closest friends to join Him for Dinner, one last time. As the wine was being passed around the table Jesus dropped a bomb by announcing to them all, He knew one sitting at the table would betray Him and another would deny Him. What a stir, what a turmoil within each one as they declared their innocence, they all said it wasn’t them. Jesus knew in a few short hours He would be handed over to be crucified. A final meal together and Jesus could have chosen others but He chose the group closest to Him, including the ones He knew would soon betray and hurt Him. My last meal. Your last meal. Who would be on the invitation list? Why Jesus? What does this mean? This is what love does.