WEBVTT 00:00:06.050 --> 00:00:10.070 Psalm 103. We're going to look at the first 12 00:00:10.070 --> 00:00:12.710 verses, but we're really only going to focus 00:00:12.710 --> 00:00:15.609 on 8 through 13. We're going to spend most of 00:00:15.609 --> 00:00:23.929 our time talking about that. Psalm 103. This 00:00:23.929 --> 00:00:27.010 is a Psalm of David. We don't really know a lot 00:00:27.010 --> 00:00:29.570 of details. There's no superscription. We don't 00:00:29.570 --> 00:00:33.640 really know. Some have suggested that perhaps 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:36.759 this is later in David's life, but we really 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:38.500 don't know. Don't know when he wrote it. Don't 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:41.640 know what the situation was. But regardless of 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:45.259 when and where he wrote it, the words are still 00:00:45.259 --> 00:00:47.520 good for us. And so we're going to read through 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.579 these first 12 verses, then we'll pray, and then 00:00:50.579 --> 00:00:56.979 we'll talk about them. Psalm 103, verse 1. My 00:00:56.979 --> 00:01:01.140 soul prays Yahweh. and all that is within me 00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:05.140 praise his holy name. My soul, praise the Lord. 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:09.739 Do not forget all his benefits. He forgives all 00:01:09.739 --> 00:01:15.140 your sin. He heals all your diseases. He redeems 00:01:15.140 --> 00:01:19.019 your life from the pit. He crowns you with faithful 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:23.079 love and compassion. He satisfies you with goodness. 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:28.659 For youth is renewed like the eagle. The Lord 00:01:28.659 --> 00:01:32.019 executes acts of righteousness and justice for 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:36.079 all the oppressed. He revealed His ways to Moses, 00:01:36.340 --> 00:01:41.099 His deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:44.980 compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:49.260 rich in faithful love. He will not always accuse 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:53.930 us or be angry forever. He has not dealt with 00:01:53.930 --> 00:01:57.269 us as our sins deserved or repaid us according 00:01:57.269 --> 00:02:01.329 to our offenses. For as high as the heavens are 00:02:01.329 --> 00:02:04.950 above the earth, so great is his faithful love 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:09.930 toward those who fear him. As far as the east 00:02:09.930 --> 00:02:14.610 is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression 00:02:14.610 --> 00:02:19.289 from us. Let's pray. God, we come to you. We 00:02:19.289 --> 00:02:21.620 thank you for your good work. And I pray, dear 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:24.919 Lord, that we would just understand the importance 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:27.080 of this word and what this means, dear Lord, 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:29.879 that we may rejoice in these truths tonight, 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:33.400 dear Lord. David is a man who knows what it's 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:36.319 like to sin greatly, but he's a man that knows 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:39.659 the joy of forgiveness. He's a man that knows 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:42.560 what it means to just praise you, dear Lord, 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:44.439 for your goodness and your blessing. And so, 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:47.560 God, I pray that we would be men and women like 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.039 that today. that perhaps there is some sin in 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:53.180 our life. Perhaps, God, we're in the midst of 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:55.620 just blessing that we see and we recognize and 00:02:55.620 --> 00:02:59.000 we know and we're walking just in the light and 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:01.620 in your grace, dear Lord. I pray that we would 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:04.740 praise you like David tonight. And I ask these 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:10.139 things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, we see in the 00:03:10.139 --> 00:03:14.680 first part of this psalm just beautiful praise. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:18.590 This is just a man. who is praising the Lord 00:03:18.590 --> 00:03:22.289 because God is good to him, because God has provided 00:03:22.289 --> 00:03:25.650 for him, because God has forgiven him, and he's 00:03:25.650 --> 00:03:28.750 just acknowledging. The greatness of the Lord. 00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:32.409 What about us? Do we ever just praise the Lord? 00:03:32.569 --> 00:03:35.750 Now, we probably all pray at some point. We probably 00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:38.349 pray that God would help us with stuff or that 00:03:38.349 --> 00:03:41.650 God would take care of us or provide for us or 00:03:41.650 --> 00:03:43.629 heal somebody that's sick. And those are good 00:03:43.629 --> 00:03:46.530 things that God wants us to pray for, pray to 00:03:46.530 --> 00:03:50.210 him for. But do we ever just take a moment to 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:53.569 just praise God? To just say, God, I thank you 00:03:53.569 --> 00:03:56.870 that you're good to me. God, maybe things have 00:03:56.870 --> 00:03:58.830 been tough or maybe things have been stressful 00:03:58.830 --> 00:04:01.930 and maybe I've just forgotten to praise you, 00:04:01.949 --> 00:04:05.069 God. Maybe sometimes in the midst of life we 00:04:05.069 --> 00:04:08.870 just forget how good God is. But maybe sometimes 00:04:08.870 --> 00:04:13.449 instead of going to God with our request, perhaps 00:04:13.449 --> 00:04:16.810 sometimes we just need to pause and we just need 00:04:16.810 --> 00:04:19.490 to say, God, I just praise you for who you are 00:04:19.490 --> 00:04:22.649 because you're good, God, and you're with me. 00:04:23.069 --> 00:04:25.990 And you bless me and you forgive me. And so, 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:28.810 dear Lord, let me just praise you. And that's 00:04:28.810 --> 00:04:32.610 exactly what David is doing in this psalm. But 00:04:32.610 --> 00:04:37.389 let's skip on down to verse 8. He says, the Lord 00:04:37.389 --> 00:04:42.189 is compassionate and gracious. Now, those are 00:04:42.189 --> 00:04:45.310 two good qualities that the Lord possesses. And 00:04:45.310 --> 00:04:48.930 praise the Lord that he is compassionate and 00:04:48.930 --> 00:04:52.319 gracious. We see the best example of this in 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:54.540 Scripture, I believe, in Jesus. I mean, I don't 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:57.360 think there's any better example of what it means 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.939 to be compassionate and to be gracious. Perhaps 00:05:00.939 --> 00:05:05.120 a real famous story that maybe you've heard is 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.100 the story where Jesus is going to feed the 5 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:10.879 ,000. And John the Baptist had just been beheaded, 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:14.160 and it appears from the Scripture that Jesus 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.149 and the disciples are... They're kind of down, 00:05:17.269 --> 00:05:19.470 you know, and obviously so. A friend has been 00:05:19.470 --> 00:05:22.949 killed, and Jesus says, look, let's go away for 00:05:22.949 --> 00:05:25.509 a little while and rest. And no sooner than they 00:05:25.509 --> 00:05:27.589 get to where they're going, the crowds are already 00:05:27.589 --> 00:05:30.750 there. And, you know, some days you just don't 00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:34.029 feel it. Some days you just don't feel like it. 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:36.610 You don't want to see people. Some days you don't 00:05:36.610 --> 00:05:39.350 feel like coming to church. You just, man, you 00:05:39.350 --> 00:05:40.910 just don't want to do it. There's just some days 00:05:40.910 --> 00:05:44.509 you just don't feel like it. And it kind of seems, 00:05:44.550 --> 00:05:47.550 at least to me in that passage, that they just 00:05:47.550 --> 00:05:49.990 were kind of down. Maybe they were in that mindset 00:05:49.990 --> 00:05:52.970 that maybe they weren't just super excited to 00:05:52.970 --> 00:05:55.230 go out and do the things they've been doing. 00:05:55.250 --> 00:05:57.810 They just wanted to take a break. But no sooner 00:05:57.810 --> 00:05:59.870 than they get where they're going, the crowds 00:05:59.870 --> 00:06:04.050 are there. And Jesus doesn't say, look, I'm tired. 00:06:04.230 --> 00:06:07.029 I don't want to fool with you. I've had a bad 00:06:07.029 --> 00:06:10.029 day. Come back later. I'll talk to you later. 00:06:10.149 --> 00:06:12.899 Just come back later. The scripture says that 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:14.839 Jesus saw the crowds, that they were like sheep 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:17.759 without a shepherd, and that he had compassion 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.740 on them. And he was compassionate, and he was 00:06:21.740 --> 00:06:24.240 gracious to those who came to him. What about 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:27.819 us in our life? Are we compassionate to people 00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:31.620 in our life? Even on the days where we're stressed, 00:06:31.819 --> 00:06:35.500 where we're tired, are we compassionate to people? 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:39.089 Do we show grace to people? Maybe we do. But 00:06:39.089 --> 00:06:42.870 we need to strive to be people who are gracious 00:06:42.870 --> 00:06:46.870 to those that we encounter, who are compassionate 00:06:46.870 --> 00:06:50.069 to those we encounter. And that may take some 00:06:50.069 --> 00:06:53.089 praying on our part because that's not normal 00:06:53.089 --> 00:06:55.529 to us. Like our human nature, I think our human 00:06:55.529 --> 00:06:58.430 side is, look, life is tough and sometimes we're 00:06:58.430 --> 00:07:00.550 tired and sometimes we're stressed. And sometimes 00:07:00.550 --> 00:07:02.750 we just don't, like the human side of us, like 00:07:02.750 --> 00:07:04.370 we're not just saying, oh, yeah, I'm going to 00:07:04.370 --> 00:07:06.449 just be happy, go lucky. Like some days you're 00:07:06.449 --> 00:07:11.079 just not. God will help us, I think, to be compassionate 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:14.399 and to be gracious if we would pray and ask him 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:16.600 to help us in that area. That's not saying that 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:19.319 we just have to always pretend like we're happy 00:07:19.319 --> 00:07:22.160 and go lucky and always try to fake it, but we 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:24.220 just have to say, okay, God, the reality is his 00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:26.720 life is hard and sometimes I'm not feeling it, 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:28.860 so even in those days that I'm not feeling it, 00:07:28.939 --> 00:07:32.579 help me still to show some compassion and graciousness. 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:35.720 But probably what happens for some of us in those 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:42.360 days is We are not compassionate. We perhaps 00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:45.100 get a little snappy. We get a little snappy at 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:47.839 people. We don't show any grace to people. We 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.500 are quick to jump on people if they say something 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:53.519 or do something wrong because we're just kind 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:55.600 of frazzled with what's going on in our life 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.740 maybe, and we don't show compassion and graciousness. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:00.399 But what does it say in the next part of that 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:05.120 verse? That God is slow to anger. And rich and 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.360 faithful love, what about us? Are we slow to 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:10.480 anger? Well, maybe we are or maybe we're not. 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:14.439 Maybe we live in just kind of this whirlwind 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:19.060 of stress and just hardship of life and we get 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:21.759 angry easy because we don't have that compassion 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:24.519 and we don't have that graciousness. Perhaps 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:27.879 we are not slow to anger. And that's not a good 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:30.639 thing. You can examine your own life and you 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:34.049 kind of tell. How quick are you to snap? How 00:08:34.049 --> 00:08:36.090 quick are you to go off about something? How 00:08:36.090 --> 00:08:39.889 quick do you go from zero to angry? Maybe for 00:08:39.889 --> 00:08:41.889 some of us it's pretty quick. Maybe not always. 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:45.210 Maybe sometimes we do, or maybe we do a lot. 00:08:46.169 --> 00:08:47.830 And that's something that we need to look at 00:08:47.830 --> 00:08:51.149 our life and say, okay, how quickly am I angering? 00:08:51.570 --> 00:08:53.549 Because we see here that the Lord is slow to 00:08:53.549 --> 00:08:56.110 anger, so that's a pretty good example. If we're 00:08:56.110 --> 00:08:58.370 pretty quick to get angry at everybody and everything 00:08:58.370 --> 00:09:01.389 all the time, then we're not in a good spot. 00:09:02.040 --> 00:09:04.500 We're not in the spot that God wants us to be. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:08.379 And again, that's not easy because what is easy 00:09:08.379 --> 00:09:10.759 from our human side is just to be, it's easy 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:12.980 to be angry. It is so easy to be angry at people 00:09:12.980 --> 00:09:15.320 and get angry about every little thing. I mean, 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:20.440 it is so easy. But what's hard is to not get 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:22.860 angry. And that's where we have to have the power 00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:26.080 of God and have to say, okay, God, I know I shouldn't 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:28.759 be angry. Most of the time, most things are not 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:30.639 worth getting angry about and acting a fool about, 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:33.779 but I do. So God, I need you to help me to not 00:09:33.779 --> 00:09:36.240 do that. And it may take a lot of praying, but 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:39.080 over time, I believe the Lord helps us with that. 00:09:39.820 --> 00:09:43.279 It says the Lord is slow to anger and rich in 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:45.899 faithful love. Okay, that's something to strive 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:50.039 for. Don't be angry. People love people. Be rich 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:53.139 in that love and the way that we treat them and 00:09:53.139 --> 00:09:55.710 the way that we act toward them. Maybe in some 00:09:55.710 --> 00:09:58.190 way that we can support them and help them. Love 00:09:58.190 --> 00:10:02.210 shows itself just in a kind word and a gentle 00:10:02.210 --> 00:10:05.129 word. Maybe it shows itself by helping somebody 00:10:05.129 --> 00:10:08.370 in need. God is rich in faithful love. And so 00:10:08.370 --> 00:10:11.230 what about us? Do we walk around all the time 00:10:11.230 --> 00:10:13.730 angry? Well, it's hard to be loving when you're 00:10:13.730 --> 00:10:16.610 angry all the time. It's really difficult. I 00:10:16.610 --> 00:10:18.669 don't know that you could do both of those things 00:10:18.669 --> 00:10:22.570 together. So if we walk around angry, it's hard 00:10:22.570 --> 00:10:25.500 to love. But if we ask God to give us patience, 00:10:25.539 --> 00:10:29.799 to give us compassion, to help us to be gracious 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.580 to people, then loving people will be a lot easier. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:38.480 But if we don't have compassion and grace and 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:40.879 we're angry all the time, it's going to be hard 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:43.059 to love people. But that's what God calls us 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:46.620 to do, to love God and to love people. So we 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:48.179 need to pray that God will help us in those other 00:10:48.179 --> 00:10:51.460 areas. So we can succeed in the area he wants 00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:55.720 us to most. Verse 9. He will not always accuse 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:59.139 us or be angry forever. Well, praise the Lord. 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:02.659 Now, we may accuse ourselves because there are 00:11:02.659 --> 00:11:04.860 things that we do that, man, we've done in the 00:11:04.860 --> 00:11:06.879 past. And we just say, golly, I just struggle. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:08.940 This thought keeps coming back. I keep being 00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:11.779 reminded of this thing I did. And it just tears 00:11:11.779 --> 00:11:15.080 us up. And it just eats away at us. And we just 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:17.740 keep living in that. But God doesn't do that. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:20.820 God doesn't. accuse us forever and revelation 00:11:20.820 --> 00:11:23.659 it talks of the enemy it talks about the enemy's 00:11:23.659 --> 00:11:26.340 accusations before god day and night but what 00:11:26.340 --> 00:11:28.440 does it say about the enemy that the enemies 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:30.559 took care of when we read the rest of the book 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:33.399 of revelation the one who accused god's people 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:36.100 day and night he's already been dealt with on 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:39.440 the cross through jesus christ and so if we trust 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:43.779 in jesus christ what can what can be held over 00:11:43.779 --> 00:11:47.440 our head if it says that god doesn't accuse us 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:51.110 or anger forever Perhaps God is angry sometimes 00:11:51.110 --> 00:11:54.490 with us. Perhaps God is not always pleased with 00:11:54.490 --> 00:11:58.570 what we do. There's reality there. You read the 00:11:58.570 --> 00:12:01.110 Old Testament, you look at the Israelites, man, 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:02.870 there were some times that God was angry with 00:12:02.870 --> 00:12:05.730 them. And perhaps there are some times that God 00:12:05.730 --> 00:12:10.429 is angry with us. But we also know that God is 00:12:10.429 --> 00:12:12.269 slow to anger and he's full of compassion and 00:12:12.269 --> 00:12:15.509 graciousness. So God doesn't want to stay angry 00:12:15.509 --> 00:12:18.779 at us forever. He wants to forgive us. He wants 00:12:18.779 --> 00:12:20.940 us to repent and to come back to him. And so 00:12:20.940 --> 00:12:23.799 we have to decide if we're going to do that or 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:25.559 not. If we're going to trust and say, okay, God, 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:28.039 you sent Jesus Christ. I know that my sins are 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.399 forgiven. And God, I don't want to be in your 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:33.200 wrath. I don't want to be in your anger. God, 00:12:33.340 --> 00:12:35.360 I want to repent and come to you and praise the 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:38.139 Lord. The scripture says God will not be angry 00:12:38.139 --> 00:12:43.909 at us forever. Verse 10. He has not dealt with 00:12:43.909 --> 00:12:46.629 us as our sins deserve or repaid us according 00:12:46.629 --> 00:12:50.029 to our offenses. That's a good verse for us to 00:12:50.029 --> 00:12:53.169 remember. That God has not dealt with us as we 00:12:53.169 --> 00:12:56.850 deserve. Wages of sin is death. If God dealt 00:12:56.850 --> 00:12:59.009 with us how we deserve, he'd strike us all right 00:12:59.009 --> 00:13:00.590 now. We wouldn't even be here. We'd have been 00:13:00.590 --> 00:13:04.809 struck years ago. Man, God is so gracious that 00:13:04.809 --> 00:13:08.350 he does not give us what we deserve. And we need 00:13:08.350 --> 00:13:10.480 to remember that and let that... Let that be 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:13.679 kind of a driving force in our life. Because 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:16.860 what we like to do is we like to be forgiven 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:19.679 and not be held accountable for what we deserve. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.120 But what we don't like to do is pass that on 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:26.799 to other people. We like to be forgiven, but 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:28.779 what we really like is for other people to get 00:13:28.779 --> 00:13:31.360 just what they deserve. And maybe we've said 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.799 that before. Well, he got just what he deserved. 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:37.740 Okay, well, hold up. Let's not relish in that 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:41.679 fact. Too much here. Because what is God's word 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.320 saying? He has not dealt with us as we deserve. 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:46.379 Now there are people that do stuff to you and 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:49.720 say stuff to you and act in a certain way. And 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.919 it may very well be true that they deserve something, 00:13:53.059 --> 00:13:57.039 some type of justice to occur. It very well may 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:02.860 be true. But the same is true for us. There may 00:14:02.860 --> 00:14:04.840 be somebody who comes up to you and they tell 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:07.240 you all kind of stuff and they curse you out 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:09.379 and they tell you what they think about you and 00:14:09.379 --> 00:14:11.580 maybe they deserve to be punched in the nose. 00:14:12.139 --> 00:14:16.340 Maybe that's what they deserve. God doesn't give 00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:19.779 you what you deserve. So maybe that's what needs 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:24.220 to drive us to say, okay, God, here's where I 00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:27.299 could be quick to anger. But I pray that you 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:30.820 give me some compassion, God. That I don't give 00:14:30.820 --> 00:14:34.639 them what they deserve. But instead, let me pray 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.100 for that person. Now that's what Jesus calls 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:38.820 us to do. You've heard it said, an eye for an 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:41.360 eye or a tooth for a tooth. That's what Jesus 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:44.639 says. But he says that's not the way it's supposed 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.080 to be. You've heard it said that. That was in 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:49.539 the Old Testament. He said, but you've got to 00:14:49.539 --> 00:14:51.240 love your enemy. You've got to pray for those 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:55.360 who persecute you. So this is a good reminder 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.840 to us. The Lord has not dealt with us according 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:01.000 to how we deserve. So next time you encounter 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:04.019 somebody that slips up a little bit, somebody 00:15:04.019 --> 00:15:06.220 that messes up, somebody that does you wrong, 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:08.759 that's not justifying or saying that they're 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:13.399 right, but that's up to the Lord to deal with 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:16.659 them. Should somebody deserve something, the 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:18.879 Lord will see to it. The Lord will take care 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:23.580 of that. But maybe we need to have a little graciousness. 00:15:24.620 --> 00:15:28.490 Verse 11. For as high as the heavens are above 00:15:28.490 --> 00:15:31.269 the earth, so great is his faithful love toward 00:15:31.269 --> 00:15:35.289 those who fear him. Now, this is kind of symbolic 00:15:35.289 --> 00:15:37.350 language. When we talk about heaven, where the 00:15:37.350 --> 00:15:39.730 Lord resides, we're talking about a spiritual 00:15:39.730 --> 00:15:41.830 place. Where is it? I don't know. I don't know. 00:15:42.870 --> 00:15:45.549 Some would say it's just, it's super far away. 00:15:45.730 --> 00:15:48.350 Or some would say it's a spiritual realm that's 00:15:48.350 --> 00:15:51.029 right beside this realm that we can't see. The 00:15:51.029 --> 00:15:53.730 language is symbolic. When we think, I think 00:15:53.730 --> 00:15:55.570 oftentimes when we think about the Lord in heaven, 00:15:55.629 --> 00:15:58.710 we think about God is high above. How far above? 00:15:58.830 --> 00:16:01.509 How far away are the heavens from us? Well, so 00:16:01.509 --> 00:16:04.409 far as we're concerned, they're an infinity away. 00:16:04.750 --> 00:16:08.929 There's no way we can reach the heavens apart 00:16:08.929 --> 00:16:11.929 from Jesus Christ. So wherever God is right now, 00:16:12.029 --> 00:16:16.070 it might as well be an infinity away from where 00:16:16.070 --> 00:16:19.330 we are. To infinity and beyond is how far away 00:16:19.330 --> 00:16:22.320 God is. But the point that's being made here 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.299 is, as far away as that is, from the heavens 00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:27.679 and the earth, as far away as those two things 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:32.399 are apart, so great is God's faithful love. It's 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.919 that big. It's that large of a margin. How big 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:39.299 is God's love? It's big. That is to say, you 00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:41.899 cannot comprehend it. God's love is infinite. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.679 That's a lot of love, praise the Lord. It takes 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.279 a lot of love. Man, think about all the stuff 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:50.850 that we've done in our life. Is that stuff that's 00:16:50.850 --> 00:16:54.370 love worthy? Nope. Look at all the stuff that 00:16:54.370 --> 00:16:56.789 goes on in the world. Think about the worst of 00:16:56.789 --> 00:16:58.950 the worst stories you've seen in history or you 00:16:58.950 --> 00:17:01.450 hear on the news or you see on Facebook today. 00:17:01.690 --> 00:17:05.630 There is some evil and horrible and just unbelievable 00:17:05.630 --> 00:17:11.089 things that go on. But yet God is slow to anger. 00:17:11.910 --> 00:17:15.390 He wants all to come to repentance, to come to 00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:18.559 Jesus Christ so that they may be saved. That 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.880 takes a lot of love. Love can put up with a lot. 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:25.140 God puts up with a lot, not because we deserve 00:17:25.140 --> 00:17:27.420 it. What we deserve is to be struck, but God 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:30.700 doesn't give us what we deserve because he's 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:32.859 a God of love. How much love? It's infinite love. 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.640 It cannot even be measured. You cannot even comprehend. 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:38.900 You think about the greatest love you've got. 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:42.059 Probably it is, for those of you who have children, 00:17:42.180 --> 00:17:44.279 probably having a child, it's probably the greatest 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:47.240 love that you could ever experience in this world. 00:17:47.950 --> 00:17:51.250 And God's love is infinitely greater than that. 00:17:52.049 --> 00:17:55.089 That's powerful love. What would you do for your 00:17:55.089 --> 00:17:59.529 children? Well, how much more would God do for 00:17:59.529 --> 00:18:02.089 those that he wants to be his children? For all 00:18:02.089 --> 00:18:05.269 of creation that are God's people. He desires 00:18:05.269 --> 00:18:07.170 for them to really be his people and to seek 00:18:07.170 --> 00:18:11.930 Jesus Christ and to come to him through Jesus 00:18:11.930 --> 00:18:17.170 Christ. That's a great love. Verse 12. As far 00:18:17.170 --> 00:18:21.089 as the east is from the west, so far has he removed 00:18:21.089 --> 00:18:25.009 our transgressions from us. Boy, that's a good 00:18:25.009 --> 00:18:26.769 reminder. That kind of goes along with the verse 00:18:26.769 --> 00:18:30.529 we looked at a couple of verses ago that God 00:18:30.529 --> 00:18:34.009 will not be angry forever. As far as the east 00:18:34.009 --> 00:18:37.789 is from the west, God has cast our sins away 00:18:37.789 --> 00:18:40.650 from us. It's a song. You've probably heard the 00:18:40.650 --> 00:18:43.269 song, The East to the West by Casting Crowns, 00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:47.460 a real popular song. Based on this verse. So 00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:50.220 how far away are our sins from us? They're gone. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.319 Again, it's symbolic language. How far is the 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:55.859 east from the west? Well, you can't measure it. 00:18:55.900 --> 00:18:57.720 It's infinite. Where do you start? Where do you 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:00.240 end? If you start on a globe and you say, okay, 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:03.200 this is the east and I'm going to the west, where 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:05.819 does the east stop and the west begin? It's symbolic 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:09.440 language. It's infinite. It's gone. It doesn't 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:16.740 exist. God is... forgiven our sins we're not 00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:20.519 judged by our sins jesus christ on the cross 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:23.299 has shed his blood so that we could be forgiven 00:19:23.299 --> 00:19:29.539 of our sins what we deserve is death what jesus 00:19:29.539 --> 00:19:32.440 deserved was to be seated at the right hand of 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:38.720 god and he is but to get there jesus had to take 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:42.809 what we deserve So Jesus took what we deserve 00:19:42.809 --> 00:19:45.009 so that we can share in what only he deserves. 00:19:46.049 --> 00:19:49.589 And that's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That our 00:19:49.589 --> 00:19:53.650 sins are forgiven. That God is compassionate 00:19:53.650 --> 00:19:58.509 and gracious and he is slow to anger. And he 00:19:58.509 --> 00:20:01.349 desires for us to repent of our sins and to seek 00:20:01.349 --> 00:20:05.450 him and to trust in him. And when we do that, 00:20:05.450 --> 00:20:08.890 you can have peace tonight. if you trust in Jesus 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:11.349 Christ, if you ask him to forgive you, if you 00:20:11.349 --> 00:20:14.569 call on him to be your Lord and Savior, if you 00:20:14.569 --> 00:20:17.930 repent of your sins and you seek to follow him, 00:20:18.130 --> 00:20:21.970 your sins will be cast as far as the east is 00:20:21.970 --> 00:20:25.970 to the west. And that's why David has a reason 00:20:25.970 --> 00:20:29.470 to praise. That's why he says, I praise you, 00:20:29.490 --> 00:20:32.430 Lord. I praise you, Lord, for who you are, for 00:20:32.430 --> 00:20:35.329 your goodness and for your grace. I praise you, 00:20:35.369 --> 00:20:38.849 Lord. So maybe tomorrow you wake up and you say, 00:20:38.930 --> 00:20:41.710 man, work's going to be so hard. I've got this 00:20:41.710 --> 00:20:43.730 other stressful thing or I've got this illness 00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:46.630 I'm going through. And you've got all these things 00:20:46.630 --> 00:20:51.009 that are just not good. And maybe you just don't 00:20:51.009 --> 00:20:53.869 really feel like praising the Lord. Well, you've 00:20:53.869 --> 00:20:56.109 still got a reason to praise if you've trusted 00:20:56.109 --> 00:21:00.269 in Jesus Christ. David knew what it meant to 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:03.230 be forgiven of his sins. That's why he rejoiced. 00:21:04.009 --> 00:21:06.190 May we be those who have a reason to rejoice 00:21:06.190 --> 00:21:09.069 today. Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank 00:21:09.069 --> 00:21:10.849 you for these good words. I pray that you would 00:21:10.849 --> 00:21:13.250 help us to live by them. Help us, dear Lord, 00:21:13.369 --> 00:21:16.170 to have compassion and graciousness. Maybe we 00:21:16.170 --> 00:21:18.349 don't always have that. I pray that you would 00:21:18.349 --> 00:21:22.069 help us to have that, dear Lord. We may be quick 00:21:22.069 --> 00:21:25.329 to anger. And help us to fight against that, 00:21:25.390 --> 00:21:27.509 dear Lord, to keep our calm. And we can only 00:21:27.509 --> 00:21:30.009 do that by your power. I pray that you would 00:21:30.009 --> 00:21:33.079 help us to be slow to anger. and rich and faithful 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:36.500 love so that we can share that with those that 00:21:36.500 --> 00:21:39.000 we encounter. Dear Lord, we thank you that our 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:42.619 sins are forgiven. Don't let us just wallow in 00:21:42.619 --> 00:21:44.859 our old sins that we've already repented of and 00:21:44.859 --> 00:21:46.980 gave to you. It's hard for us to forget them. 00:21:47.339 --> 00:21:50.400 But dear Lord, I pray that tonight we can know 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:53.180 that they have been forgiven and cast as far 00:21:53.180 --> 00:21:55.640 as the east is to the west that you love us with 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:58.640 a greater love than we could ever imagine. And 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:00.599 so I pray, dear Lord, that we can find peace. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.400 not worry about those old sins, but know that 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:07.299 there is forgiveness through Jesus Christ. I 00:22:07.299 --> 00:22:09.099 pray that if there is one here that does not 00:22:09.099 --> 00:22:11.680 know Jesus Christ or one listening online, God, 00:22:11.940 --> 00:22:15.140 that tonight they would pray, that they would 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:16.980 repent, that they would ask Jesus to be their 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:19.740 Lord and Savior and forgive them of their sins, 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:23.339 that they too would be able to rejoice like David. 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:26.579 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.