God’s Mercy Series

INTRODUCTION

OPENING SLIDE

• Have you ever experienced a moment when life was broken?

• When your heart was heavy, your spirit wounded, and restoration seemed far away?

• Psalm 147 invites us into a powerful reminder: God is a God of mercy who heals the brokenhearted and restores what is lost.

• This Psalm unfolds like a beautiful song of praise, celebrating not just God’s power over the vast universe but also His intimate care for each of us.

• As we journey through this passage together, we will discover how God’s mercy reaches from the broken places within us to the farthest stars above, how He provides faithfully for all creation, and how His Word brings peace and order amid life’s chaos.

• Whether you come to this message with a heavy heart, questions about provision, or a desire for peace, be encouraged.

• God’s mercy is wide, deep, and always present.

• Have you ever tried to put something back together that seemed beyond repair?

• Maybe it was an old photograph torn down the middle, or a relationship that once brought you joy but now feels strained and fragile.

• When something breaks, whether it’s a heart, a home, or a hope, it’s easy to wonder if it can ever be whole again.

• I watched a video of a craftsman who restored a shattered piece of pottery using an old Japanese technique called kintsugi.

• Instead of hiding the cracks, he filled them with gold.

• What had been broken didn’t just get fixed—it became more beautiful because of where it had been broken.

• That’s a picture of God’s mercy.

• He doesn’t throw away what’s cracked or wounded.

• He takes the broken pieces of our lives and fills them with His healing grace until they shine with His glory.

• Psalm 147 was written after Israel had been broken—broken by sin, by exile, by loss.

• Jerusalem’s walls had been torn down.

• The people were scattered.

• The nation felt beyond repair.

• Yet, here is God, offering His mercy to a broken nation.

• This same God will offer mercy into the broken pieces of your life.

• Today, let’s dig into and appreciate the blessing that Psalm 147 offers to us.

Psalm 147:1–6 NET 2nd ed.

1 Praise the LORD, for it is good to sing praises to our God. Yes, praise is pleasant and appropriate.

2 The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem, and gathers the exiles of Israel.

3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

4 He counts the number of the stars; he names all of them.

5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power; there is no limit to his wisdom.

6 The LORD lifts up the oppressed, but knocks the wicked to the ground.

MAIN POINT 1 SLIDE

SERMON

We can praise God because…

I. God Heals and Restores the Brokenhearted

• As we examine verses 1-6, we need to consider several aspects related to the issues and how they connect with God’s mercy and our praise.

• In verse one we see a call to praise.

• The psalm opens with a call to praise the Lord, emphasizing that praise is both good and fitting.

• This sets the tone for the rest of the passage: God's mercy and healing are not only reasons for gratitude but also for joyful worship.

• This call to praise is built on the fact that God rebuilds what sin and sorrow have torn down.

• Jerusalem lay in ruins after years of rebellion and exile, but God stepped in to rebuild and restore.

• When many folks think of the concept of praise and worship, we tend to focus on the emotional aspect of worship and praise.

• We gravitate toward how worship makes me feel.

• True praise and worship is not just an emotional response but a spiritual discipline that aligns us with God's character and work.

• Before I lift my hands up to the Lord in praise, I need to ensure that I am lifting up my life and heart to Him!

• In verse 3, we see God’s focus on the brokenhearted.

• Verse 3 reveals God's tender heart for those who are emotionally and spiritually crushed.

• The Hebrew word for 'brokenhearted' implies deep inner pain, while 'binds up their wounds' suggests a careful, intentional healing process.

• The Hebrew word for 'bandages’ is a term used for wrapping or bandaging wounds, often in a medical or compassionate context.

• It suggests not just a distant act of healing but a close, hands-on, nurturing involvement.

• This is the image of a physician gently tending to an injured person, carefully cleaning and wrapping their wounds to promote healing.

• This tells us something profound about God's character.