Sermon Tone Analysis

The God Fearing Christian can say - “The Lord is On My Side - the Lord is For Me!” 4-6

10,000 Sermon Illustrations (First Thanksgiving)

The first American Thanksgiving didn’t occur in 1621 when a group of Pilgrims shared a feast with a group of friendly Indians.

The first recorded thanksgiving took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it wasn’t a feast.

The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60.

The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come.

When help arrived, in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.

Psalm 118 is known as one of the procession songs, sung while walking to the Temple.

It was sung by people going to the Temple to worship God AFTER participating in the Passover Meal.

Psalm 113-114 were sung before and Psalm 115-118 were sung after the meal on the way to worship at Temple.

We are headed to the Temple of God - Heaven!

Do you ever feel discouraged?

Ever have feelings of discouragement?

Have you ever thought, “I’m not good enough, why would God love me?”

Have you ever sensed that LIFE and sometimes PEOPLE were against you?

Nothing is going well?

What problems do you have going on today?

What are you afraid of?

Much of life is out of our control, but we still get overwhelmed, discouraged, and down.

The Psalm/Song before us today is a song of victory.

Your value, worth, and importance is affirmed by the Lord in the verses of this song.

This Psalm starts and finished the first and last verse with the same 16 English words.

1, 29

Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Psalm 113.

Nothing Too Great for Him, No-One Too Small)

A short run of psalms used at the yearly Passover begins here (Psalm 113), and is therefore commonly known as the Egyptian Hallel (Hallel means Praise).

Only the second of them (114) speaks directly of the exodus, but the theme of raising the downtrodden (113) and the note of corporate praise (115), personal thanksgiving (116), world vision (117) and festal procession (118) make it an appropriate series to mark the salvation which began in Egypt and will spread to the nations.

By custom, the first two psalms are sung before the Passover meal, and the remaining four after it.

So these were probably the last psalms our Lord sang before his passion (Mark 14:26), and Psalm 118 had already made itself heard more than once in the confrontation of the previous few days.

Psalm 118 was the last song sung after Passover.

READ 1-6.

A collective voice of “them” and “us”, Israel, and “house of Aaron” gives way to personal pronouns, “I, me, and my” in verses 4-29.

This is a song.

When we sing, we sing collectively, but the something and worship should also bringing you directly into the presence of God and into a personal moment of reflection and praise of God.

When a person is leading a public prayer, start your prayer off with him and pray along, but make the prayer your prayer.

Make it personal.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (God-Fearer)

God-Fearer.

One who fears God.

This can be a term of reverence, an emotional reaction of terror, or a dread of God’s vengeance.

New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Updated Edition (3372a יָרֵא (yare))

יָרֵא yare (431a); a prim.

root; to fear:—afraid(100), awesome(21), awesome acts(1), awesome things(4), became afraid(1), became … frightened(2), fear(165), feared(36), revere(10), revered(3), reverence(3), showed reverence(1),

New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Updated Edition (3034 יָדָה (yadah))

O GIVE THANKS = יָדָה yadah (392a); a prim.

root; to throw, cast:—confess(10), confessed(3), confesses(1), confessing(2), gave(1), gave praise(1), give you thanks(5), give thanks(59)

The God Fearing Christian can say - “The Lord is On My Side - the Lord is For Me!” 4-6

Godly FEAR is a healthy respect and reverence for the LORD.

Unhealthy fear is afraid of men, circumstances, and problems.

Fearing God is greater is than fearing problems and being scared.

The God Fearing Christian can say - “The Lord is On My Side - the Lord is For Me!” 4-6

GOD IS FOR YOU!!!

Hebrews 13:6 (AV)

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

THREE WAYS GOD IS FOR YOU…

I’m Rescued.

1-6.

Mercy = not getting what we deserve; but “mercy” has an emotional sense on the part of God towards us.

It is not cold and dry.

“Lovingkindness, faithful love, goodness, and loyalty” are part of this “mercy.”

חֶסֶד (ḥesed).

n. masc.

steadfast love, kindness, faithfulness, loyalty.

The core idea of this term relates to loyalty within a relationship.

In relation to the concept of love, it denotes God’s faithfulness to his people.

“In my distress” = Straights, a tight place.

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (1973 צָרַר)

מֵצַר (mēṣar) straits, distress

When in a tight place, unable to move, seemingly unable to turn around, God can rescue you.

“It seems like I have no other option!”

“I’m Stuck.

I’m in trouble.

In between a Rock and a Hard place.”

The Christian can call out to God and He will deliver him to a large, spacious place!

Freedom, room to grow and live, and do right.

WHAT DOES HE RESCUE US FROM?

He rescues us from our SIN.

He rescues us from OURSELVES

He rescues us from our STRUGGLES.

The Mercy of God Rescues Us!

Supernatural Mercy for each Morning.

Steadfast Love For Each Day.

Steady Kindness Every Moment.

When others are against you - God is for you and will rescue you!

Romans 8:31 (AV)

What shall we then say to these things?

If God be for us, who can be against us?

I’m Rescued.

1-6.

I’m A Refugee. 6-13

82.4 MILLION

Forcibly displaced people worldwide at the end of 2020 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.

-UN.REFUGEE

35 million

are children

An estimated 35 million (42%) of the 82.4 million forcibly displaced people are children below 18 years of age (end-2020).

He uses a comparison, contrast musical method in the words of the Psalm.

“One thing is better than another thing.”

Trusting God is Better than _____________.

8-9

חָסוּת (ḥā·sûṯ): n.fem.; ≡ refuge, protection, i.e., a shelter that makes one in a state of safety

Swanson, J. (1997).

Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.).

Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.