Who Can Compare With The Lord? Series

SEREMON OUTLINE:

3 Key words:

•Faithfulness.

•Forever.

•Covenant.

(1). The mercies of the Lord (vs 1-4).

(2). The faithfulness of the Lord (vs 5-52).

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

Peanut’s cartoon:

• Lucy and Linus were sitting in front of the television set when Lucy said to Linus,

• "Go get me a glass of water."

• Linus looked surprised,

• "Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me."

• Lucy promised,

• "On your 75th birthday, I’ll bake you a cake."

• Linus got up, headed to the kitchen and said,

• "Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to."

Ill:

The great missionary Hudson Taylor the founder of China Inland Mission;

• Used to hang in his home a plaque with two Hebrew Words on it:

• EBENEZER & JEHOVAH JIREH.

• The first word means ‘Hitherto hath the Lord helped us’

• And the second, ‘The Lord will see to it or provide.’

• One looked back while the other looked forward.

• One reminded him of God’s faithfulness and the other of God’s assurances.

This psalm is based on two of God’s great attributes:

• His faithfulness and his loving-kindness.

• His faithfulness looks primarily to the past;

• And his loving-kindness primarily looks to the future.

Note:

• I want you to note three key words;

• Which dominate the psalm and help us understand its theme.

Key word #1: Faithfulness.

• Scan the psalm and you will see that word mentioned again and again.

• In fact you will read it 7 times - verse 1, verse 2, verse 5, verse 8, verse 14, verse 24, verse 33

• Let’s read them:

Quote: Verse 1:

“I will sing of the LORD’s great love for ever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations”.

Quote: Verse 2:

“I will declare that your love stands firm for ever,

that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself”.

Quote: Verse 5:

“The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too,

in the assembly of the holy ones”.

Quote: Verse 8:

“O LORD God Almighty, who is like you?

You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you”.

Quote: Verse 14:

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

love and faithfulness go before you”.

Quote: Verse 24:

“My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted”.

Quote: Verse 33:

“But I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness”.

Key word #2: Forever.

Ill:

There are three huge gates that lead into the Cathedral of Milan.

• Over one gate there is an inscription in marble under a beautiful flower bouquet that says,

• "The things that please are temporary."

• Over the second gate, there is a cross with this inscription:

• "The things that disturb us are temporary."

• However, over the central gate, there is a big inscription saying,

• "Eternal are the important ones."

• God love is eternal, unending, perpetual, timeless,

• That truth is reflected throughout this psalm.

• And his word, his promise, his covenant is forever.

• Forever – is the second key word is repeated 8 times:

• Verse 1, verse 2, verse 4, verse 28, verse 29, verse 36, verse 37, verse 46.

• Let’s read them:

Quote: Verse 1:

“I will sing of the LORD’s great love for ever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations”.

Quote: Verse 2:

“I will declare that your love stands firm for ever,

that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself”.

Quote: Verse 4:

“I will establish your line for ever and make your throne firm through all generations”

Quote: Verse 28:

“I will maintain my love to him for ever, and my covenant with him will never fail”.

Quote: Verse 29:

“I will establish his line for ever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.”

Quote: Verse 36:

“that his line will continue for ever and his throne endure before me like the sun;”

Quote: Verse 37:

“it will be established for ever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky”.

Quote: Verse 46:

“How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself for ever?

How long will your wrath burn like fire?”

Key word #3: Covenant.

The Hebrew people were in a covenant relationship with God.

• Psalm 147 verse 20:

• “He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD”

Ill:

• In modern times we define a host of relations by contracts.

• These are usually for goods or services and for hard cash.

• The contract, formal or informal,

• Helps to specify failure in these relationships.