A Love That Never Wavier copy (2)

A Love That Never Wavier

Text: Psalms 136

Introduction: Just a few days from now we celebrated the national holiday we call Thanksgiving. It is a day we gather with family and friends for fellowship and celebration. A day filled with good food and football. A day we take a break from the daily grind that consume most of our time and effort. A day for us to take a moment to exhale. How many of us really took the time to examine, what is it that I am thankful for? Everyday should be a day of thanksgiving for the believers. The one constant we have in all our lives is the unwavering love of the Father. It is a love that is available and at work for us all day everyday. Life for us is a series of changes. There’s birth, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We spend our lives trying to find and make our way. Through it all our Father whose the same today, yesterday and tomorrow, love for us never changes. God does not wavier or wonder like we do. He’s not on one path today and another tomorrow. It’s not a love me today and hate me tomorrow type of relationship. It’s not dependent upon whether we are experiencing a good day or a bad day. It’s not dependent upon whether we stay the course today or we slip and fall. God’s love is love all the time. His forgiveness is forgiveness all the time. His mercy and grace is mercy and grace all the time. We often say if we had all day and night every day of the year it would not be enough to thank Him for being our Father. The text before us begins with the encouragement to give thanks unto to the LORD because He is GOOD and HIS MERCY endures forever. In it we have a call to praise vs 1-3, a cause for praise vs 4-25 and a conclusion of praise vs 26. We see in verses 1-3 the character of God and the duration of His character. His character is one of being merciful and there is no expiration date on it. We thank God for the daily experience of His mercy. His mercies are renewed daily. We are not worthy of His blessings, but in spite of who we are, we are beneficiary of His mercy, goodness and faithfulness on a daily basis .Some folks live their lives concern with the judgement of God but let us not lose sight of the fact that even in judgement He displays His Divine Love. “ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives(Heb 12:5-6).” How many of us are glad this morning that God loves us. The word for Mercy in the text when translated from the original Hebrew takes on the meaning of loving-kindness so we thank God that His loving-kindness has no end but that it remains with us always. The Psalmist open up by praising God for who He is in verses one through nine. He is GOD. He is the “ God of gods and the Lord of lords!”(vs 2,3). He is the God of creation. The Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made (John 1:3).”The God who said let there be and it was. Every day that we see and every night that we experience is evidence of His created power. You do know that He created the light and separated the light from the darkness and called the light day and the darkness night and this was on the first day of creation ( Gen 3-5). His creative power is not the extent of His relationship with us but the sovereignty of His power is part of our daily existence. In spite of what you might think God is in control. The final seventeen verses of this Psalm focus on what He does for us in His Loving-kindness.

In His Loving-kindness He delivered us from bondage (vs 10-12) Even so we, when we were children, were in the bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons ( Gal 4:3-5). In other words, I was sinking deep in sin, Far from the peaceful shore, Very deeply stained within, Sinking to rise no more, But the master of the sea, Heard my despairing cry, From the waters lifted me, Now safe am I. Love lifted me! Love lifted me. When nothing else could help, Love lifted me. The mighty arm of God was revealed at the Exodus, but it was revealed more so on the cross.The Exodus marked the beginning of the nation of Israel and the cross marked the beginning of God’s grace. OH GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD! FOR HIS LOVING-KINDNESS ENDURES FOREVER.

In His Loving-kindness He makes a way out of no way( vs 13-14) How many of us have had our Red Sea experience? You couldn’t move forward because of the obstacles that laid ahead. You couldn’t go back because of the danger left behind. There’s no way to the left or to the right and the promise lies ahead. It during these times that God open the doors. He open doors that man cannot close and close doors that man cannot open. He lets us in to places where we should be and keep us out of places we should not be. OH GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD,FOR HE IS GOOD! FOR HIS LOVING-KINDNESS ENDURES FOREVER.

In His Loving-kindness the LORD fights our battles (vs 15). As the children of God we are constantly under attack, however with the constant attack comes the Father constant protection. These attacks do not occur because of who you are but are a direct result of whose you are. The battles is the Lord’s. An attack on you is an attack on the King of glory. “ Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle ( Psa 24:8).” OH GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD! FOR HIS LOVING-KINDNESS ENDURES FOREVER.

In His Loving-kindness He led us step by step (vs 16) “ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not own your understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path. During the wilderness journey God lead His people by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. This would suggest to us that He lead us by the light and His presence is a illuminating factor in our dark times. Jesus said “ I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life ( John 8:12).” Are you following the light? OH GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD! FOR HIS LOVING-KINDNESS ENDURES FOREVER

In His Loving-kindness He gives us victory over opposition (vs 17-22) What God has for you it is for you. The land although occupied by the Canaanite belonged to God and He can do with it what He pleases. He gave it to His chosen people so they may live on and enjoy it. As believers today we have delivered from sin through faith in Christ and are now living in the land of promise. Canaan is a picture of our present inheritance in Jesus Christ, an inheritance that we claim as we walk by faith and defeat Satan and his forces that want to keep us in bondage and spiritual poverty robbing us of our joy in the Lord. In Romans 8:37 Paul make the statement “ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that love us.” Most of us stand on this word when we are facing difficult times in this life so that we may overcome. The reality of this verse however is that we have already overcome. We don’t have to conquer anything everything has already been conquered for us through our connection to Jesus the Christ. OH GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD! FOR HIS LOVING- KINDNESS ENDURES FOREVER.

In His Loving-kindness the Lord Provides ( vs23-25) “ 1)The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2) He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3) He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5) You prepare a table me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever. There is only one way for us to live in the promises of God. We look to God for what we need and we thank Him by obeying His will and bringing Him Glory. There is only one way to conclude this Psalm and my sermon. O GIVE THANKS TO THE GOD OF HEAVEN ! FOR HIS LOVING-KINDNESS ENDURES FOREVER.”