“Soul Talk: I Love You Lord”
Ps. 116
When we truly love someone or something we readily talk about the object of our love. Think about what you truly love – your heroes, your sports teams, your job, your favorite activities, your favorite food, your spouse, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your family. How often do you talk about what you love? Probably frequently – because we do readily talk about the object of our love.
So it was natural for the Psalmist to talk about his Lord and his love for His Lord. Psalm 116 is very personal, so much so that it is what we can all a first person testimony. The Psalmist shares, first, REASONS FOR HIS LOVE. Reason number one is in verses 1 & 2: “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” I love the Lord because HE PAYS ATTENTION TO ME. We all like people who pay attention to and listen to us. We like people who put down the newspaper, lay aside the remote, set aside the IPad, tablet, or computer and look at us when we talk to them. So, says the Psalmist, God listens to and hears us – He pays attention to us. When we call out to God there is no busy signal, and no recorded message. He listens, he hears, He remembers.
The Psalmist, in fact, uses two different words for ‘heard.’ “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice…;” here ‘heard means simply ‘listened.’ But in “…he heard my cry for mercy…” the word means God ‘inclined to me.’ That’s what’s emphasized in the next sentence: “Because he turned his ear to me…” The same word is used in Prov. 7:21 to describe the response of a man who is seduced by a harlot and turns aside to her; and it appears in 1 Kings 11:4 where it describes how Solomon’s wives turned away his heart after other gods.(1) So, says the Psalmist, God turns aside from what He’s doing to bend towards us. It brings to my minds the olden days before hearing aids – people with trouble hearing would place a funnel type device in their ear and turn it towards whoever was speaking so they could hear better. Or it’s like leaning over to hear the faint voice of someone lying in bed in a weakened condition. It’s what God does to us whenever we call upon Him.
Why does God pay such attention to us? BECAUSE HE LOVES US. It goes back to Dt. 7:7-8 (MSG) where the Israelites were told: “GOD wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were big and important—the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors. GOD stepped in and mightily bought you back out of that world of slavery, freed you from the iron grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” God pays attention to us NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT WE ARE BUT BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS. That’s why He hears our cries and prayers, why He bends down to us.
The Psalmist knew the Lord paid attention to him because he knew the LORD DELIVERS ME. (3-4) “The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: “LORD, save me!” Trapped in a difficult, perhaps life-threatening situation the Psalmist called on the Lord. And he experienced deliverance THROUGH THE PROTECTION OF AND SAVING BY THE LORD. (5-6) “The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the unwary… when I was brought low, he saved me.” God saves us and give us life as well. In 2 Cor. 1:8-10 (NLT) Paul wrote, “We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.” Through Jesus’ death God has saved us from the penalty of sin, and will – as we see in Revelation – save us from the presence of sin. In the meantime, as Paul indicated, He is saving us from the power of sin – He will continue to rescue us and give us life.
The Psalmist also loves the Lord because, he says, HE CARES BOUNTIFULLY FOR ME. Here he speaks to his soul (Verse 7): “… for the LORD has been good to you.” The word ‘good’ has the meaning of ‘bountiful.’ GOD PROVIDES IN EXCESS. (Phil. 4:19) “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” With God it’s not just mercy, it’s tender mercy; not just kindness but loving kindness; not just life but abundant and eternal life. It’s not just provisions, but abundant provisions (2 Cor. 9:8-11 MSG) “God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done... This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way…”
God’s bounty extends to the COMFORT GOD GIVES US. (8) “You have delivered…my eyes from tears.” Twelve times the Gospels use the phrase I ‘to be moved with compassion’ in referring to Jesus or God. The powerful Greek word refers to the entrails of the body – the guts – the place where our inmost and intense emotions are located. It’s related to the Hebrew word for compassion which refers to the womb of God. When Jesus sees our condition or situation HIS COMPASSION COMES FROM THE VERY WOMB OF GOD. Jesus was moved with this compassion when he saw the crowds harassed and helpless – when He saw the blind, paralyzed, and deaf – when he saw the thousands following him hungering – when he met the widow of Nain who was burying her only son. “He became lost with the lost, hungry with the hungry, and sick with the sick.”(2) So He is one with us in our sorrow; He wipes away our tears.
According to the Psalmist God’s bountiful care is seen as well in the STRENGTH HE GIVES US. “You have delivered…me feet from stumbling.” Who can tell how many times God has kept us from stumbling and falling along our road of life? As Jude 24 states “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy…”
God doesn’t pay attention to us, deliver us, and care for us to make us feel good. Rather He does all this so we can walk before the Him (9). He does it so we can walk in the way of further blessing. Indeed, we love Him because he first loved us!
The Psalmist continues by sharing RESPONSES OF HIS LOVE. Verse 2: PRAY UP. “Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” When someone pays attention to us, we pay attention to them. When people do something nice for us, we find ways to thank them. Because God pays attention to us, we pray to Him. A few churches still have bell towers with active bells in them. When it’s time for worship or some significant event, someone pulls the rope and the bell rings reminding everyone that it’s time to come. Charles Spurgeon used such a bell as an example for praying when he said, "Prayer pulls the rope down below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God ... he who communicates with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously with all his might." Because he loved the Lord the Psalmist constantly rang the heavenly bell through prayer. Do you love the Lord? Pray up.
His second response was to LIFT UP. (13 & 17): “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD… I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD.” The ‘cup’ could refer to the cup of the Passover meal, or the cup of wine at the festal meal – the cup of salvation - that climaxed the thank offering and celebrated deliverance which came from the Lord. But whatever the precise meaning it is a cup full of blessing – full of blessing for us because our Lord Jesus Christ drank the cup of sorrow and death. To lift up the cup is to worship – in a formal setting with God’s people and in daily living. As Paul wrote (Rom. 12:1 GNT) “So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.” As Eugene Peterson put it in The Message, “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.” Do you love the Lord? Lift up.
Pray up, life up, and PAY UP. (14 & 18) “I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.” In response to God’s great love the Psalmist remembered all the vows he had made to God – and decided it was time to make sure he carried through with them. All his vows had been voluntary but once they were made they became compulsory.(3) The wise preacher in Ecclesiastes put it bluntly (5:2-5), “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God… When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.” C. S. Lewis took that truth seriously. He was determined to pay what he had vowed. His biography tells of the suffering he endured because he kept a promise he had made to a buddy during World War I. This friend was worried about the care of his wife and small daughter if he should be killed in battle, so Lewis assured him that if that were to happen he would look after them. As the war dragged on, the man was killed. True to his word, Lewis took care of his friend¡¦s family. Yet no matter how helpful he tried to be, the woman was ungrateful, rude, arrogant, and domineering. Through it all, Lewis kept forgiving her. He refused to let her actions become an excuse to renege on his promise.(4) Do you love the Lord? What vows do you need to pay up?
Next the Psalmist said he would SERVE UP. (16) “Truly I am your servant, LORD; I serve you just as my mother did…” He knew he was saved to be a servant, dedicated to loving and serving the Lord with all his strength. A little boy declared that he loved his mother “with all his strength.” He was asked to explain what he meant by “with all his strength.” He said: “Well, I’ll tell you. You see, we live on the fourth floor of this tenement; and there’s no elevator, and the coal is kept down in the basement. Mother is busy all the time, and she isn’t very strong; so I see to it that the coal hold is never empty. I lug the coal up four flights of stairs all by myself. And it’s a pretty big hold. It takes all my strength to get it up here. Now, isn’t that loving my mother with all my strength?”(5) It’s what we declare at baptism – that this child (or adult) is now “engaged to confess Christ crucified and to be His faithful servant unto their life’s end.” Do you love the Lord? Serve up with all your strength.
The final response for the Psalmist was to PRAISE UP. (19) “Praise the Lord.” More than just gathering together to praise God through worship, the Psalmist’s statement is a commitment to live a life of daily praise. In the fall of 2000, former megachurch pastor Ed Dobson was diagnosed with ALS (or Lou Gehrig's disease), a degenerative disease with no known cause or cure. In 2012 Dobson shared his ongoing struggle to give thanks while living with an incurable condition. He writes: “There are many things for which I am not grateful. I can no longer button the buttons on my shirt. I can no longer put on a heavy jacket. I can no longer raise my right hand above my head. I can no longer write. I can no longer eat with my right hand. I eat with my left hand, and now even that is becoming a challenge. And over time all of these challenges will get worse and worse. So what in the world do I have to be grateful for? So much. Lord, thank you for waking me up this morning. Lord, thank you that I can turn over in my bed. Lord, thank you that I can still get out of bed. Lord, thank you that I can walk to the bathroom …. Lord, thank you that I can still brush my teeth … Lord, thank you that I can still eat breakfast. Lord, thank you that I can still dress myself. Lord, thank you that I can still drive my car. Lord, thank you that I can still walk. Lord, thank you that I can still talk. And the list goes on and on. I have learned in my journey with ALS to focus on what I can do, not on what I can't do. I have learned to be grateful for the small things in my life and for the many things I can still do.”(6) Do you love the Lord? Praise up.
Can you say this morning, with the Psalmist, “I love the Lord?” If so, how are you responding to him? It is said that the young son of Bishop Berkeley once asked him the question, “Papa, what do the words, “Cherubim and seraphim” mean?” The bishop took time to tell the little questioner that cherubim was a Hebrew word meaning knowledge, and
the word seraphim stood for flame, explaining that it is commonly supposed the cherubim are angels that excel in knowledge and the seraphim are those who excel in love for God. “Then I hope,” the boy said, “that when I die I will be a seraphim. I’d a lot rather love God than to know everything.” Let’s renew our love for our Lord as we gather around His table.
(1) From Chuck Swindoll, Living Beyond the Daily Grind - Book II, WORD Publishing, © 1988 by Charles R. Swindoll, p. 302
(2) Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Donald P. McNeill, Douglas A. Morrison, Image books-Doubleday, © 1982 by Nouwen, McNeill,Morison, p. 14-15
(3) Swindoll, p. 306
(4) From Herman Abrahams – Source unknown – Sermoncentral.com
(5) Evangelistic Illustratio, From LOGOS
(6) Ed Dobson, Seeing through the Fog (David C Cook, 2012), pp. 69-70, from PreachingToday.com
