The LORD's Day June 3, 2007

Good News For Tough Times

Psalm 108

4 For great is Your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

I love these lofty thoughts in God’s Word. They speak of things that are beyond us. Like Isaiah 55.8-9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

God’s love, His faithfulness, His thoughts and His ways are all beyond our finding out. One of the paradoxes of our faith is that we know Jesus intimately and yet we won’t know fully until we see Him face to face. How I long for that day

Let’s talk about His love and His faithfulness. We often associate these qualities of God with good times in our lives. We associate them with good times with others as well. We think of love and faithfulness in the context of peace. Yet this Psalm and two others where this phrase is repeated is in the context of some pretty tough times in the Psalmist’s life

It is in the tough times of life that we find out who loves us and the extent of that love. The fires of trials and difficulties have a way of proving not only our faith but the faithfulness of our friends. The difficulties we encounter show us these things.

Verse four is repeated two times in the Psalms. David is the writer of the other two as well- Psalm 32 and Psalm 57.

David found that in the very trying times in His life as He looked up and probably recalled the times of taking care of his father Jesse’s sheep out in the hills of Bethlehem, God’s love and faithfulness were with Him. Not only were they with him, they were limitless. Higher than the heavens and reaching to the sky. Looking up to heaven, God’s throne, David realized that is how great the love of God is. That is the measure of His faithfulness.

Put a person to the test and you’ll see how much they love and how faithful they are. Let us go through tests and we’ll see how much God loves us and how faithful He is to us

We sing “No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you...” Let’s look at the three times David cited the goodness of God in His faithfulness and love. Each was unique and can be applied to situations we find ourselves in today in 2007, 3,000 years after David first penned them as the Holy Spirit inspired him.



1. The first time this phrase is used is when David was considering the sinfulness of the wicked. Psalm 36.1-5

We hear bad news frequently. We hear daily news from Iraq and the loss of life there. Two young Long Islander died this week there among others. We have all sorts of things to protect ourselves from wicked deeds of people. House Alarms, Car Alarms, Theft Insurance all are available today because there are wicked people who want stuff we have without paying for it as we did. My daughter works for Nationwide Insurance and recently talked to me about identity theft. I am now insured in case someone rips off my identity. Then there is the terror plot they just uncovered over the weekend to blow up Kennedy Airport. The sinfulness of the wicked is around us.

We see some incredible things going on. We don’t live in a bubble or on a mountain. Jesus prayed that we would not be taken out of the world but that we would be kept from the world. Like a boat in the water but not water in the boat, we navigate our lives through some pretty uncertain times. We see wicked people doing wicked things.

David noticed as we do too:
* There is no fear of God with these people. They act as if God does not exist and there are no consequences for their actions.

*The wicked man flatters himself in his own eyes. Wicked people often have an exalted opinion of themselves. We see people like this and it troubles us.

* When he speaks he lies. There are many who are habitual liars. They seldom tell the truth. They deceive others by their words. Sometimes it seems they believe their own lies.

*Even when this type of individual is going to sleep he is plotting evil. He is on a course of evil. He doesn’t reject anything that is wrong.

When we encounter bad news and when we have to deal with wicked people, we should take note from what David did. He praised the LORD for His love and faithfulness to him.

We will never rid the world of wickedness and we can become weary in doing good if we make that our goal. That is God’s job and He will put an end to trouble and wickedness one day. Our call is to keep our eyes on Jesus and trust in Him with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding.

We are to be witnesses to people who do not know Jesus and pray for them to come to know Him. The way we keep going is that we fix our eyes on Him. When we deal with wicked people remember God’s love and faithfulness. The wicked will be cut off but the love of God and the faithfulness of God is eternal, higher than the heavens, reaching to the sky The good news for us is that in the face of bad news God loves us and will be faithful to us. He will take care of you and me.

2. The second time David uses this sentence was when he was being hunted down by Saul. Psalm 57

David describes this time as a disaster. It was when you look at it. The history of David and Saul was turbulent. Saul first encounters David as a shepherd boy, bringing food to his brothers serving in Saul’s army.

David killed Goliath and was brought into the palace with Saul. Saul’s spiritual life was going down and David played his harp to soothe Saul’s troubled mind and soul. David had been anointed to follow Saul as king one day and such jealousy breaks out that Saul tried to kill David by throwing spears at him on a number of occasions.

How do you handle a person’s jealousy of you? You do what David did, duck out of the way of those spears, never pick them up and throw them back and if needs be get as far away from that person as you can. David had to do that.

By the time we get to Psalm 57 David is hiding out in caves from Saul gone mad. He is sleeping in them like a wild animal because Saul is hunting David down as a wild animal. This shows us the horror of jealousy. It really tears a person down. It is sad- very sad. David even refers to Saul and his men as lions and ravenous beasts. He says he is in the midst of them.

He said that they were treating him as something to catch. He said that they had spread a net for him and that they dug a pit for him.

It is not easy to be the object of jealousy. Many times we do not realize it. In many ways we are better off that way When we do realize it what do we do?

Among other things we keep our eyes on the LORD’s love towards us and His faithfulness. Right in the middle of being hunted down like some animal God’s love and faithfulness were shown to David. He was caught. He was alive- God provided for him. He was protected, It takes a man or woman after God’s own heart to feel that and express that. It takes a mature person to see it.

In the most difficult circumstances there are things we can praise God for. In the most trying of times we can find God’s love with us and that He is being faithful to us. The very witness of nature that Psalm 19 speaks of points this out. The sunrise, the courses of the stars, the seasons all point to God whose faithfulness is higher than the heavens, reaching to the sky. Nature speaks of God’s faithfulness- He keeps the planets on course and He takes care of the birds and sees they are fed- how much more for us!

Not only with being the object of jealousy but anytime (anger, gossip, hatred) we face a person who opposes us our focus should not be on them but rather on the great love and faithfulness of God which comes to us each day and stays with us through each night.


3. The third instance that David uses this sentence is in the scripture we read this morning which was a time of great national spiritual need.
Psalm 108

God had been with the army of Israel. He had enabled them to conquer the land He gave them with overwhelming forces opposing them. The neighboring countries knew that the LORD was with them and they had come to a place of surrender to the forces. On occasion there would be a problem as with Goliath and the Philistines. God took care of the whole Philistines Army working through a young shepherd. He did amazing things through His people. Gideon was another example as was Elisha and Arameans. He filled the nation with heavenly protection.

In Psalm 109, something has gone wrong. This once undefeatable army was suffering defeat. God was no longer going out with them. David prays for the LORD to help them. He did not boast in Israel’s military might. He knew where the victory had come from. It came from the LORD (v.13)

David had discovered the help of man is worthless. This is a wonderful discovery and saves us so much pain and frustration. But the way there, the journey to that summit of truth in life’s experiences is a difficult one. To find yourself in need and expecting someone you trusted in to help is a horrible thing to go through. Yet when you go through it the LORD sort of burns it into your memory the truth David is sharing in this verse. It is a difficult to attain to but a delight once you get there. I remember hiking in the White Mountains in New Hampshire with my daughter years ago. In the National Forest there are two mountains called Twin Mountains. It is a bit of a hike to get to the top but once you are there it is wonderful. So ti si with this truth about the help of man.

Once again we are encouraged as we think about this repetitive statement of David’s, For great is Your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (v.4) Jesus never fails. So when the nation is struggling spiritually and the blessing of the LORD is lifted from it, individuals can still experience His love and faithfulness. Jeremiah did as did Habakkuk. They received the promises of God in a terrible time nationally. Those promises are for us today.

Whether we are considering the sinfulness of the wicked, or we are dealing with the jealousy of someone near us or the national situation is troubling us and even affecting us or any other trouble that comes to God’s people we can rest in this wonderful truth, God’s faithfulness and God’s love reaches to the heavens

His faithfulness comes to us each day and he has lavished His love on us. So we do not lose heart. We keep our eyes fixed upon Him.

We trust in the LORD, not in man. Our hope is in Jesus’ blood and righteousness He will bring us through every storm and every trouble we encounter.

That is good news for today!

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The LORD’s Day
June 3, 2007

We Worship In Singing
We Worship In Receiving the LORD’s Supper
We Worship In Hearing the Word of God
Good News for Tough Times Psalm 108

*Tithes and Offerings can be placed in the box at the rear of the sanctuary*
Please join us for coffee and bagels downstairs if you are visiting today.

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This Week
Bible Reading Psalm 110-112
Monday Men’s Prayer Meeting 6:30am in the church basement
Wednesday Bible Study 7:30pm 1312 Pine Acres Blvd.
Thursday Bible Study 10:30am at the church
Next Lord’s Day
Morning Prayer- 10am in the church basement
Morning Worship- 10:30am(Sunday School for Children)
Spanish Service- 4pm

In Your Prayers For All of God’s People
Remember the men serving in the armed forces: Bradley, Julia Bujold’s grandson with Special Forces in Afghanistan, home on leave right now, Ken Brown, Pastor’s friend’s son on his third tour of Iraq. Please pray for the whole family. Billy Knapp, Jr. in Iraq with the Marines (neighbor of the church and Pastor- Billy’s sister graduated from Good Shepherd) One of Billy’s friends (also from the Island) was killed three weeks ago in the fighting in Iraq. Please remember that family in prayer. Matthew Klaus, brother of Good Shepherd parent in Iraq as a firefighter for Haliburton... Pray for them and the others away from their families. Praise God for keeping David Louis, Jake Morgan and Tom Hindelang safe during their times in Iraq. Christine Frankland, Katharina’s daughter continuing to recover from surgery Pray for her as they deals with a complication that arose from the surgery. Kathy, Ziggy and Margot’s daughter-in-law, under the doctor’s care for fibromyalgia. Pray for their son Michael’s friend Andy whose wife died suddenly last week. Pray for Eloise Brooks in Sunrise Manor undergoing rehab. She is coming along well. She is in room 214. Remember Jean Louis as both he and Eloise are on dialysis. Grace Martin, Edie Raevis’ daughter, fibromyalgia. kidney stones and liver inflamation. Edie’s Sister, Grace, recovering from internal bleeding, now home. Reginald Mooney, friend of Terri and John Garry, with a tumor in his kidney. Please remember Good Shepherd Nursery School (students, families and our staff) as several events will be taking place this month.
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A number of nursery school families are going through difficult times. If you would like to sponsor a child presently at Good Shepherd, see Alice or call the school at 666-7503
If you would like to help with the Sunday Morning Bagel ministry see John or Terri Garry.
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Notes on Our Time in the Word of God This Morning:
Good News for Tough Times

Psalm 108

Pastor’s messages are now available online:
http://thesundaymorningmessage.blogspot.com/
Church e-mail: bayshorenaz@rock.com
Church Phone: 631-969-1730
1314 Pine Acres Boulevard, Bay Shore, Long Island, NY 11706-5436


Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all for the glory of God