Unchanging God, Unceasing Praise不變的上帝,不斷的讚美
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Come, let’s shout joyfully to the Lord, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation! Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving; let’s shout triumphantly to him in song. For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. The depths of the earth are in his hand, and the mountain peaks are his. The sea is his; he made it. His hands formed the dry land. Come, let’s worship and bow down; let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care. Today, if you hear his voice:
來吧，我們來向耶和華歌唱， 向拯救我們的磐石歡呼。 我們要來到他面前稱謝他， 用詩歌向他歡呼。 因為耶和華是偉大的 神， 是超越眾神的大君王。 地的深處在他手中， 山的高峰也都屬他。 海洋屬他，因為是他創造的， 陸地也是他的手造成的。 來吧，我們來俯伏敬拜， 在造我們的耶和華面前跪下。 因為他是我們的 神， 我們是他草場上的子民， 是他手下的羊群。 如果你們今天聽從他的聲音，
INTRO(Introduce tension)
INTRO(Introduce tension)
Growing up my grandpas on my dads side was named Chow. Most of what I remember about Chow was that he was a very unhappy man. In fact all the way until his death, he had this scowl around his face. He could be kind, but bitterness had seemed to take over his life and defined who he was. I remember going to see him before his death, and Allison and I took the opportunity to share the Gospel with him, and he didn’t say much in the moment, but minutes later after we were driving home, my dad called me and asked what we did. Because Chow had called my dad in anger, thinking that he had sent us over there to convert him. Chow died a bitter man. You know looking back if I could I would want to sit down with Chow and ask him what happened in your life that hardened your heart like this. No one starts out this way. Knowing what I know about his life, I believe he would respond that moments and years like we’ve had in 2020 are what hardened his heart and made him bitter. I’m not sure what 2020 has been like for you, but the reality is, is that it is moments like these, failure, disappointments, suffering, uncertainty that the Bible says have a real power in making us be people who over time end up like Chow did. So here is our goal together this afternoon, we need some perspective. I need some perspective. How can we end this year, but also begin next being a people of praise, of gratitude. We are going to look at 95 together and the question I want us to consider together is: How does God’s unchanging person enable you, in whatever situation, in whatever circumstance, right now at the end of 2020, to be a person of praise a person of gratitude?
Sub:Introduction
I love the book of Psalms. Recently I was talking to an individual about Daoism and they were explaining that you would never express your anger or frustration towards the gods, because you can be sure they will get you back! I immediately thought of the book of Psalms! Where our God divinely inspired an entire book that gives humans space to share their grief, anger, hurt, doubts to God. God is sympathetic towards our condition as humans. And the Psalm that we are looking at today is a Psalm that Israel used for their temple worship. It’s a group of Psalms that are all describing how God is the GREAT KING OF THE EARTH. There are three reasons, this Psalm will give you, that you right now can rise up and give thanks and praise for who God is. His Greatness, His Grace, and His Guidance.
We Praise Him For His Greatness他是偉大
We Praise Him For His Greatness他是偉大
Come: The Psalmist is inviting you and inviting me to join with him as he gives worship and praise to God. I know this is not how anyone feels right now.The Psalmist just sounds like an over excited optimist. So many things that we did not expect to happen happened this year in 2020. The spirit of our culture right now is to complain, to be defeated, to sit in despair, but Psalm 95 lifts us out of our despair, lifts us above the clouds of the storm and gives us a clear view of who God is and who we are.
“Thanksgiving” literally thank-offering
“rock” describes the steadfast character of God. Unchanging character.
God Is Above All Gods
Covert and Overt Idols: We are all guilty of this!
Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put their sinful stumbling blocks in front of themselves. Should I actually let them inquire of me?
As look back at this past year, what are some idols that you’ve put your trust in, that you’ve given your worship that we need to repent of? Here are a couple of ways to help you identify what those could be:
What Do Fear你敬畏誰? Is there something or someone that causes you to lose sleep at night? If you could imagine a picture of scales: is there something or someone that tips the scales, whose opinion matters more to you than God’s?
What Do You Love你愛誰? We give our hearts and love to created things way too often. So is there something or someone that “your happiness depends on them to the extent that you become worried when you can’t have them, or might lose that thing?”
What Do You Put Confidence In你的自信放在哪裡? What or who do you turn to when trouble comes? Do we turn and put our confidence in our bank account, maybe our talents, our “hire-ability”? Could be oh we live in Taiwan, so we have nothing to worry about. This is like our promised land!” What have you placed your confidence in?
What Do You Serve你是誰的僕人? We can identify this by what takes up our most energy and time? What do you spend most of your time, money, and energy doing? That could be a sign that you are seeking to serve something or someone other than God.
God is the god above all gods. Why does He remind us of this? What does this mean for you? When we put anything else in the place of God, not only is it idolatry, we will destroy that thing or that person, whatever it is. Because there is nothing or anyone who can bear the weight of our ultimate love, fear, faith, and worship other than God. When you put your hope your trust in your spouse, you will break that person, because it is a weight that he/she can not bear. When you place your identity or your confidence in how good of a parent you are, you will crumble under that weight, because you aren’t strong enough to bear that! When you place your ultimate confidence in your job, you will lose your joy of working because your job was never meant to be the thing that you place your confidence in.
God alone is great, the great King above all gods and deserving of our worship!
God Is Above All Creation
When we drive around Taiwan and see the beauty of this island, the mountains the oceans, ect, this was all made by the hand of God. The greatness we see in creation should cause us to worship God FOR HIS GREATNESS.
Not only did He form creation, but He sustains creation. Hebrews 1 says that the universe is held up by Jesus’ word.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
sea: chaos, deep places of the earth(underworld:Death). The Psalmist is describing things that are out of our sight and out of our control. We have no power or control over the depths of the earth, the sea, or the mountain tops, but our Great God does! God sees what we can’t see, He goes where we can’t go, and He is in control of it all!
Some of us in here I know struggle with wanting to be in control. You want to be in the know, know how everything goes, even right now, you are thinking about things, but the Psalmist is reminding you that you aren’t GOD! You can’t be everywhere at all times, for everyone.
I find it comforting that the Psalmist begins by reminding me of God’s greatness. Because everywhere else culture and our world tells you and me that actually, we are meant to be the greatest. There is this constant pressure to prove ourselves, succeed, be the greatest, do the greatest. I can’t live up to that. When I try, I end up hurting myself and others around me. So here the bible says that it’s God’s greatness, not OURS, should move us towards praise. It is the unchanging greatness of God that enables us to be a people of unceasing praise.
We Praise Him For His Grace 他有恩典
We Praise Him For His Grace 他有恩典
Our Maker(Redeemer)
So not only is God the Great God, but the great God above all gods, is OUR GOD. The Psalm is reminding God’s people of God’s grace. He is Our Maker. The Psalmist says that not only are the majestic mountains a reason for God’s praise, but so are we. His church. The beauty of Him forming and calling a people for Himself is meant to be a source of praise. The revelation of the grace of God and the love of God in saving a people is cause for worship.
When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.
他們唱著新歌，說： 「你配取書卷，配拆開封印， 因為你曾被殺，曾用你的血， 從各支派、各方言、各民族、各邦國， 把人買了來歸給 神， 使他們成為我們 神的國度和祭司， 他們要在地上執掌王權。」
We need times where we say Lord “restore to me the joy of YOUR salvation”. Do we remember who we were before we met Christ? I do. You know as I sit and get to know you all more and more, and I hear testimony after testimony, of, this is who I was, BUT JESUS, you know what that does to our hearts? Causes us to worship! He is OUR GOD, our maker.
Sustainer:Under His Care
We are the sheep under His care. Under His care. Think about those words. If you have trusted in Christ you are under the care of God. In the midst of chaos, in the midst of uncertainty, you are under His care.
We have the massive power the greatness of God, yet HE deals tenderly with His people. That's what you've wanted since you were a small child. We wanted our dad to be big and strong and able to do anything you could think of—except that, when he dealt with you, it had to be with gentleness and tenderness. We want policemen on the corner tough enough to handle any neighborhood thief, but who would also hoist you to his shoulders and help you find your parents when you got lost in the crowd. Strong, yet tender. And this Psalm gives us both of those. God is the great God above all gods, but He is also the God of Grace, the God who cares for you.
This phrase “sheep under His care” literally means the “sheep of His hand”. It is a very intimate picture. God has made Himself one with His people. The hands that formed the seas, that made the mountains, that put the stars in the sky, that shaped the planets, are the same hands that care for you right now.
God’s saving of you promises His continued sustaining of you.(repeat)
What Father would adopt a child then once they are in the family, say okay “I got you in, now you take care of yourself. The rest is up to you?” No, isn’t the adoption a sign of not only the Father’s acceptance, but also His continued care? If you are believer in Christ, you can be assured, you can be confident, that you are under the care, under the mighty yet tender hand of the Great Shepherd. And this care, this grace, no matter what circumstance, no matter what situation is unchanging.
God’s unchanging grace enables us to be a people of unceasing praise.
We Praise Him For His Guidance他帶領我們
We Praise Him For His Guidance他帶領我們
Why would it be important for the sheep to listen to the voice of the shepherd? The shepherd steers away from danger, leads them towards safety, food, nourishment. It’s the same with the word of God.
Continue to Listen to His Voice:Being His People isn’t just about what we say to God but how do we respond when He speaks to us? God continues to guide and speak to His people. Jesus says this:
My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.
我的羊聽我的聲音，我也認識他們，他們也跟隨我。
When we think about temples in Taiwan, how do people get guidance? They need to go and offer money, or offer incense, and also they need to go remind the gods of their name, their address, just to make sure the gods know who is speaking. But would you look at how amazing our God is. He doesn’t just say my people KNOW ME and SPEAK TO ME, but I KNOW my sheep, I SPEAK to my sheep. We praise God because HE continues to lead us and guide us by His word. In most cases God will speak primarily through His word, as we read our bibles. So I encourage you if you want to hear God’s voice, know God’s voice, read His word, and ask the Spirit to speak to you, and Jesus’ promise is that He will! But when He does, the Psalm warns us: DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS
Do not harden “Harden” means to make heavy or to make difficult.
What makes the human heart heavy or what makes hearing God’s voice difficult? Years like 2020. Difficulty. Suffering. Transition, uncertainty, sin, sickness, the reality of a fallen world
Here’s the scary thing about our hearts, we have the ability to harden our hearts against the voice of God. What did God say hardened the hearts of the people? Complaining. Constant complaining. Meribah Massah: These two places, God said that even though they had seen what I did.
Gratitude is a big deal to God. Look at what Paul says in
For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.
因為他們雖然知道 神，卻不尊他為 神，也不感謝他，反而心思變為虛妄，愚頑的心就迷糊了。
And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.
他們既然故意不認識 神， 神就任憑他們存著敗壞的心，去作那些不正當的事。
Did you notice that? You and me have the ability through ingratitude to harden our hearts towards the Lord?
“Where thankfulness and gratitude are the acknowledgement of God’s goodness towards you, complaining is the accusation of the lack of His goodness towards you.”
“感恩是對上帝良善的承認，而抱怨則是對缺乏上帝良善的指責。”
Ultimately complaining and ingratitude is the communication of this very real lie: God you got it wrong.
Now I believe God’s grace allows for moments of lament or grief or struggle, like we see in the Psalms, but over time if there isn’t resolution or a coming back to goodness of God, this text makes it very clear, you will harden your heart towards being able to hear the voice of God.
There was a man in Japan who was arrested because of complaining. This man had made over 24,000 complaint calls to his phone company, and they arrested him for “obstruction to business”. They said the man made on average 33 calls a day, and that in one week he made over 400 calls. Just to complain. Now that may seem like a lot. But on average the human has 23,000 breaths a day. I would guess that a lot of those are used not for thankfulness but possibly complaining.
I can easily fall into this as much as anyone else.
I can have a very short term memory when it comes to God’s goodness, and a very long term memory when it comes to what I think I’m missing out on.
It’s embarrassing to admit this, but even seeing at how God has been so faithful and good to us at CityLight over this past year since we planted the church, I can still get caught up in complaining that things aren’t going as fast as I’d like, or why isn’t God doing this the way that I thought He would. Those thoughts, that heart posture, is a dangerous road towards my heart becoming hard.
So how do we guard against this? How do we not be people who end up like Chow? It goes back to what we’ve been talking about all afternoon: gratitude and praise for who God is! Look with me at
But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.
趁著還有叫作「今天」的時候，總要天天互相勸勉，免得你們中間有人受了罪惡的誘惑，心裡就剛硬了。
What do we do? Encourage, exhort. Encourage each other to give thanks to God for His greatness, to give thanks and be reminded of His grace. “each other” We can’t fight this fight alone, we need each other. You need each other,
How often do we do it? Daily. This is some commitment that the bible calls for. The bible is pretty honest about our ability to forget and fall back into sin. Here’s the thing you and I need our daily dose of Gospel truth more than our daily dose of espresso every day. We need our daily does of Gospel more than we need our daily does of CNN or Taiwan News. I know some of us are really committed at making sure we get our morning coffee, checking our news, but what if we were as committed at encouraging each other to remember, to give thanks, our spouses our kids, our roommates. Because the truth is, sin and Satan never take a break on attacking our hearts and our minds, and so as people we need to be active in encouragement in each others lives in the same way. We can do this, the only way we can do this, is not because our circumstances are amazing but because God’s unchanging person enables you to be a person of unceasing praise.
Conclusion(Application)
Conclusion(Application)
Where have you seen God’s greatness in your life this past year? Or where have we put something else in His place that we need to repent of?
Where have we seen God’s grace in our lives? Where have we been reminded of His grace? When was the last time you and I took a long time to reflect upon who we were before Christ, and that it is only because of His mercy that He has redeemed us?
Where have we seen His care? Can you look back and see your Shepherd leading you by the hand, feeding you, taking care of you? Give thanks.
Finally, where has your heart grown heavy or hard? Is there a certain situation or circumstance that has been a source of complaining and ingratitude towards God? I would simply call you to Come, and place that burden before the Lord, maybe you need someone to pray with you, so that you could hear and be reminded of the goodness of God even in the midst of your situation.
We do these things because there is the danger of allowing years like 2020 to shape our perspective rather than the greatness, the grace, and and the goodness of our God.
Come, Let us Worship together