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This Week’s Reading
This week’s reading included several Psalms. I have chosen Psalms 67, 130 & 137 this morning. Today’s lesson is
taken from several articles found in the “Word In LifeTM Study Bible.”
All the Earth Will Praise God
God promised Abraham that through him "all the families of the earth shall be
blessed." Genesis 12:3 NET I will bless those who bless
you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your
name."
All the Earth Will Praise God
Genesis 22:18 NET Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on
one another using the name of your descendants.' "
All the Earth Will Praise God
Psalm 67 celebrates that blessing. Like ripples in a pond, salvation starts from Israel and spreads to all the peoples of the earth. The
result is international worship and worldwide blessing.
All the Earth Will Praise God
Psalms 67:1 NET May God show us his favor and bless us! May he smile
on us! (Selah) 2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;
all nations will know how you deliver your people.
All the Earth Will Praise God
3 Let the nations thank you, O God! Let all the nations thank you! 4 Let foreigners rejoice and celebrate!
For you execute justice among the nations, and govern the people
living on earth. (Selah)
All the Earth Will Praise God
5 Let the nations thank you, O God! Let all the nations thank you! 6 The earth yields its crops. May God, our God,
bless us! 7 May God bless us! Then all the ends of the earth will give him the
honor he deserves.
Passing On The Blessing
God's goodness to us is not solely for our own benefit and pleasure.
He wants us to pass along the good gifts He brings our way.
Passing On The Blessing
Psalm 67 supports this principle by bringing together the twin themes
of thanksgiving and worldwide evangelism.
Passing On The Blessing
The psalm begins with a prayer for blessing; Psalms 67:1 May God show us his favor and bless us! May he
smile on us! in fact, the prayer itself is a form of a blessing.
Passing On The Blessing
But the prayer is more than a petition. It explains the purpose of asking for God's blessing: that the
Lord's ways might become internationally known.
Passing On The Blessing
2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like; all nations will know
how you deliver your people. The psalmist recognized that the destiny of the nations was wrapped up in God's
blessing of Israel.
Passing On The Blessing
Ultimately they would praise and fear the Lord because of what He was
doing for His people.This psalm offers strong evidence that God wants salvation for all peoples, for
the whole earth.
Passing On The Blessing
3 Let the nations thank you, O God! Let all the nations thank you! 4 Let foreigners rejoice and celebrate!
For you execute justice among the nations, and govern the people
living on earth. (Selah)
Passing On The Blessing
5 Let the nations thank you, O God! Let all the nations thank you! 6 The earth yields its crops. May God, our God,
bless us! 7 May God bless us! Then all the ends of the earth will give him the
honor he deserves.
Passing On The Blessing
His purposes have been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The
Messiah came as a branch out of Israel and offered Himself as a
blessing to all the peoples of the world.
Passing On The Blessing
What blessings has God brought your way? Whatever they are, He wants you to share His good gifts
with the people around you.
Passing On The Blessing
He especially wants you to share the gift of the gospel, the message of
salvation in Christ. Think of someone right now who might be open to
receiving the blessing of eternal life, and then pass it along! (Word In Life Study Bible)
Pardon for Sin
Psalms 130:1 NET From the deep water I cry out to you, O LORD. 2 O
Lord, listen to me! Pay attention to my plea for mercy!
Pardon for Sin
3 If you, O LORD, were to keep track of sins, O Lord, who could stand before you? 4 But you are willing to forgive, so that you
might be honored.
Pardon for Sin
5 I rely on the LORD, I rely on him with my whole being; I wait for his
assuring word. 6 I yearn for the Lord, more than watchmen do for
the morning, yes, more than watchmen do for the morning.
Pardon for Sin
7 O Israel, hope in the LORD, for the LORD exhibits loyal love, and is more than willing to deliver. 8 He will deliver Israel from all the
consequences of their sins.
Pardon for Sin
This psalm is a cry for help from the depths of sin into which the psalmist
has fallen. His only hope is the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy, which can break through the darkness like the
dawn of a new day.
Out Of The Depths
How should we tell God we are sorry for something we have done (or not done), or that we need His
help? Is there a right way or a wrong way to come before Him?
Out Of The Depths
Does God even want to hear about our weaknesses, failures, and
sin?The Psalms record a number of prayers offered "out of the depths" of human pain and moral misery.
Out Of The Depths
Psalms 130:1 From the deep water I cry out to you, O LORD. They not only
demonstrate that God lends an ear to honest prayers of brokenness and
failure, but they also provide a model for how we might express ourselves to
Him.
Psalms Of Confession & Cries For Help
Psalm 6A plea for help in the midst of illness.
Psalm 10An expression of perplexity over the success of the wicked and a prayer for
blessing.
Psalms Of Confession & Cries For Help
Psalm 35A prayer for help when under attack
or in conflict.Psalm 51
A heartfelt confession of sin and plea for cleansing.
Psalms Of Confession & Cries For Help
Psalm 102A prayer in the midst of depression.
Psalm 130A cry to God out of deep guilt.
Psalm 143A prayer about inadequacy and failure.
Sincere Confession Of Sin
God delights to hear His people call upon Him. He is not embarrassed by our troubles or failures. In fact, He invites us to make a sincere
confession of sin.
Sincere Confession Of Sin
1 John 1:5 NET Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at
all.
Sincere Confession Of Sin
6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in
the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.
Sincere Confession Of Sin
7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Sincere Confession Of Sin
8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves
and the truth is not in us.
Sincere Confession Of Sin
9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all
unrighteousness.
Sincere Confession Of Sin
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is
not in us.
Sincere Confession Of Sin
We have nothing to gain by denying or hiding our spiritual needs or by delaying to come before God. So what prayer do you need to pray
to Him right now? (Word In Life Study Bible)
How God Treats Sinners
There is only one thing to do when we fail to love, serve, and obey
God as we should: acknowledge our sin by crying out to the Lord in
confession and repentance.
How God Treats Sinners
2 O Lord, listen to me! Pay attention to my plea for mercy! Trying to hide our sin or hoping that it will
just go away does no good.
How God Treats Sinners
Instead, we should throw ourselves on God's mercy, knowing that there is forgiveness with Him.
4 But you are willing to forgive, so that you might be honored.
How God Treats Sinners
How does God treat sinners? According to three bedrock
qualities:Justice If unconfessed, sin will not
go unpunished.
How God Treats Sinners
Psalms 37:28 NET For the LORD promotes justice, and never
abandons his faithful followers. They are permanently secure, but the children of evil men are wiped
out.
How God Treats Sinners
Mercy Sinners can receive forgiveness and restoration from a
merciful God. Psalms 103:8-10 NET The LORD is compassionate and
merciful; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.
How God Treats Sinners
9 He does not always accuse, and does not stay angry. 10 He does
not deal with us as our sins deserve; he does not repay us as
our misdeeds deserve.
How God Treats Sinners
Grace Through Christ, believers are reconciled with God and the penalty for their sin is satisfied. Romans 3:21 NET But now apart from the law the
righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets)
has been disclosed —
How God Treats Sinners
22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.
For there is no distinction,
How God Treats Sinners
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus.
How God Treats Sinners
25 God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible
through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins
previously committed.
How God Treats Sinners
26 This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the
justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus' faithfulness.
How God Treats Sinners
Ephesians 2:8 NET For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that
no one can boast.
How God Treats Sinners
In the midst of our sin, we can appeal to a loving Lord, knowing
that He will administer justice, mercy, and grace without variation
or bias.
How God Treats Sinners
Psalms 137:1 NET By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep
when we remember Zion. 2 On the poplars in her midst we hang our
harps,
How God Treats Sinners
3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; those who mock
us demand that we be happy, saying: "Sing for us a song about Zion!" 4 How can we sing a song to the LORD in a foreign land?
How God Treats Sinners
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand be crippled! 6 May my
tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, and do not
give Jerusalem priority over whatever gives me the most joy.
How God Treats Sinners
7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day
Jerusalem fell. They said, "Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very
foundation!"
How God Treats Sinners
8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! How blessed will be the
one who repays you for what you dished out to us! 9 How blessed will be
the one who grabs your babies and smashes them on a rock!
Bitter Prayers
For a book of worship, the Psalms contain some rather harsh expressions
of hatred and vengeance. For example. Psalm 137 seems to delight
in the image of Babylonian babies being dashed against rocks.
Bitter Prayers
Likewise, David prays down curses on his enemy, asking that no one would extend kindness to him, nor to his orphaned children after him.
Bitter Prayers
Psalms 109:12 NET May no one show him kindness! May no one have
compassion on his fatherless children! Similar expressions can
be found in Psalms 35, 55, 58, 59, 69, 83, and 140.
Bitter Prayers
What are we to make of these prayers? What are they doing in a collection of songs for worship?
Bitter Prayers
Opinions differ on the answer to that question. But one point of
view is that worship means expressing to God our honest feelings, no matter how "ugly"
they may seem.
Bitter Prayers
God is not intimidated by our pain nor unaware of the poison that
lurks in our innermost being. He invites us to bare all before Him.
Bitter Prayers
In fact, the Bible presents a number of accounts of people who brought
their anger, disappointment, or pain to God.
Bitter Prayers
Their raw emotion is clearly expressed, providing
encouragement to us to approach God when we are in personal agony. Some of these figures
include:
Bitter Prayers
• Job, whose cries of pain and loss were welcomed, heard, and responded to by God.
• Solomon, whose "diary" of reflections on life, at times bordering on depression and despair, can be found in the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Bitter Prayers
• Habakkuk, whose despair over Israel's plight and complaint to God were heard.
• Jeremiah, whose lament over the destruction of Jerusalem, including vivid and ugly descriptions of agony and pain, is included in Scripture in the Book of Lamentations.
Bitter Prayers
• Paul, whose internal conflicts over sinful patterns speak eloquently for many of us.
True worship involves speaking the truth.
Bare All Before God
That includes the truth about how we feel, no matter how dark our emotions may be. God will hear
us. However, He also expects us to hear Him, as each of those
mentioned above did.
Bare All Before God
Do you bring your innermost hatreds, hostilities, fears, and
frustrations to God? Where better to take them?
Bare All Before God
If buried, they will only fester, sooner or later to emerge and
cause great harm to us and those in our path.
(Word In Life Study Bible)
A Review
Psalm 67 reminds us of two very important aspects of serving God.
Thanksgiving
&Evangelism
How are we doing in theseVery Important Areas?
A Review
Psalm 130 reminds us of God’s Greatness. He knows our every
thought, motive & action. So when we are in our darkest hour He will
hear us when we cry out, even from the depths of the darkness
we find ourselves in.
A Review
Psalm 137 is closely related to Psalm 130 in as much as God wants to hear from us even our
“ugliest” thoughts. He invites us to bare all before Him. He will
administer justice, mercy, and grace without variation or bias.