4-23-23 Sermon Psalm 116:12-19 "How Can We Repay the Lord?" 14 Minutes

Psalm 116:12-19

This morning I'll be reading Psalm 116 verses 12 through 19. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Psalm 116:12-19 The author of the Psalm is unknown,,, but my Study Bible gives the theme of this psalm as a praise for being saved from certain death,,, and I can relate to this psalm in so many ways! Psalm 116:12–19 (HCSB) 12 How can I repay the Lord for all the good He has done for me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of Yahweh. 14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people. 15 The death of His faithful ones is valuable in the Lord’s sight. 16 Lord, I am indeed Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your female servant. You have loosened my bonds. 17 I will offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of Yahweh. 18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people, 19 in the courts of the Lord’s house— within you, Jerusalem. Hallelujah! The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at 1 Peter 1:3-9 and we heard Peter’s “Words of Comfort” to the people.

Peter wrote these words to persecuted Christians to give them hope during their trials.

We can use these words today the same way whenever we have struggles of our own!

Whether it's something physical,,, emotional,,, financial,,, it doesn't matter,,, we have these "Words of Comfort" from Peter to comfort us today,,, just as it did them so many years ago!

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So I urged you to remember these "Words of Comfort" from Peter when you are going through tough times,,, remember that Jesus died for you and me,,, and because of that,,, there is nothing that can hinder us or stop us from receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

And that should help us,,, no matter what we are going through,,, to know,,, that we will receive our inheritance,,, an inheritance that can never perish,,, spoil,,, or fade,,, and we have these “Words of Comfort” from Peter to remind us,,, each and every day.

This morning we will look at these verses in Psalm 116 and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verse 12 said: 12 How can I repay the Lord for all the good He has done for me?

There is not any way that we can repay the Lord for all that He has done for us,,, except through our obedience to His word,,, and,,, through our worship and praise!

Any other type of repayment we might make,,, would be an insult to His grace.

But there is an inborn desire to respond to His grace in some appropriate way.

That appropriate way,,, is seen in the next 2 verses.

___________________________________ Verses 13 and 14 said: 13 I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of Yahweh. 14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.

That way is to take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the LORD.

To lift up the cup of salvation means to express thanksgiving to the Lord for saving us.

For Christians today,,, the cup can refer to the salvation found in Jesus Christ,,, who reinterpreted this element by identifying the cup with his sacrificial death and the new covenant that came from it,,, what we call Holy Communion,,, the Lord’s supper,,, or Eucharist.

Calling upon the name of the LORD means to make a special act of devotion in recognition of the greatness of His salvation.

We can give God the praise and glory that He deserves,,, and,,, desires,,, from us!

True worship,,, heartfelt worship,,, is what we need every Sunday as we gather together!

___________________________________ Verse 15 said: 15 The death of His faithful ones is valuable in the Lord’s sight.

We should remember that we,,, as members of Jesus’ family,,, are precious in God’s sight!

We are loved,,, even while we were sinners,,, that Jesus died for our sins,,, but now we know that we will spend eternity in heaven with Him,,, all freely given,,, and nothing can take that away from us!

And because of that,,, it should help us in our praise and worship every Sunday,,, and every day,,, as well!

For those that have gone on before us,,, that were Christians,,, we can take comfort in this verse that they were valuable in God’s sight,,, and He is taking care of them today,,, and we will see them again,,, when we reach heaven as well.

___________________________________ Verses 16 and 17 said: 16 Lord, I am indeed Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your female servant. You have loosened my bonds. 17 I will offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of Yahweh.

The writer of this psalm,,, knowing that God cares intensely about the death of His saints,,, acknowledged that he was a servant of the LORD,,, and would praise Him publicly.

The death of a saint is not something the LORD considers as cheap; He does not let His people die for no reason.

Here the deliverance of a saint from the brink of death,,, as you will see from verses 3 and 8 in the previous part of the chapter,,, echoed with the sound to God’s praise,,, and the building up of future saints faith,,, for years to come.

It’s these words of comfort that help us in our time of need,,, if we just remember them when we are struggling with our own doubts and fears!

___________________________________ Verses 18 and 19 said: 18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people, 19 in the courts of the Lord’s house— within you, Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

When we faithfully attend worship service each Sunday,,, we are fulfilling our vows to God by worshipping in the presence of one another.

The author of this psalm was intent on fulfilling his vows to the Lord because he was filled with love and admiration for all that God had done for him,,, and praising God,,, in the presence of all His people,,, were very important to him.

___________________________________ What do these words in this psalm mean for us today?

1. - They should make us aware of our worship,,, our thankfulness for everything that God has done for us in the past,,, what He does for us today,,, and what He will do for us in the future!

2. - Because of everything that Jesus Christ did for us,,, through His life,,, death,,, and resurrection,,, we have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with the Lord that we are always in need of using to the best of our ability.

3. - Prayer is so important to that relationship,,, as well as our healthy attitude each and every day!

___________________________________ It’s all of these things together that are so important to our satisfaction in our day to day activities!

If we are obedient in the ways that Jesus commanded us,,, our days will be filled with many more happy days than sad days.

Not necessarily because everything goes smoothly,,, but because we trust the One that is in charge,,, even when we don’t fully understand everything that is happening at the time.

We must be focused on our worship.

We must be honest,,, and sincere!

God knows how we actually feel inside so we need honesty from ourselves to ourselves!

What I mean by that,,, is not to fake our feelings to God.

In our day to day life,,, and,,, especially during our worship service.

God knows,,, so just be honest with Him and let Him help you through any problems that you might have.

___________________________________ That’s what the author of this psalm was doing.

He was focused on his obedience,,, worship,,, prayer,,, all of the things that are vital to a relationship with God,,, so that he could at least use these things to make himself feel better about the many blessings that he had received from God.

We need to focus on these things as well!

It is so hard to be sad when you are praising God and thanking Him for all that He has done in your life,,, even if it is right in the middle of a tough time.

The blessings that we have received before,,, we have seen others receive,,, or,,, are receiving at this very minute,,, all serve to give us the faith that we need to press on,,, no matter what we feel at the time!

___________________________________ This psalm focuses on being thankful for saving him from death,,, but we as Christians today should be thankful for death!

And when I say that,,, I mean that we should always be thankful for the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of our Lord and savior,,, Jesus Christ.

Because His sacrifice saves us all,,, from sure death,,, an eternity spent away from Him,,, unless we accept His amazing grace,,, available to all,,, even if we believe we are beyond saving,,, and for that we should be obedient to God,,, in our worship,,, in our day to day living,,, in our prayer life,,, and honest to ourselves and God,,, as we continue our celebrations of Easter,,, each and every day,,, going forward!

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