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Cry out “What Amazing Things!” A Sermon on Psalm 126 from the Concordia Lutheran Church
Cry out “What Amazing Things”
Psalm 126
† I.H.S. †
May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ cause joy to flood your life!
- What is your “dream”?
A week or two back at a Dallas Cowboy game my childhood hero, Roger Staubach was honored. Despite playing for the Cowboys, he was a hero, I had three books about his life, and all of them mentioned his strong faith.
It was partially that, and partially his unconventional nature that made me want to emulate him – I wanted to be a pro-quarterback! It was a dream…
We all have dreams—and some of them change over the years! I mean, I really don’t think I want to start this afternoon at quarterback for a NFL team! Some days my dream is having a day where I don’t feel like I played qb in the nfl yesterday, and was sacked 8 or 9 times.
Well – think about your best dream – the perfect life you could imagine, and think what might be better than that…
(pause) – no—think about what would make life perfect….
Now hear these words again, “When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
And if that was what it was like for them in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, when they brought exiles back to Jerusalem…how much more when God brings those who chose exile today, or when the exiles are brought into God the Father’s presence when Jesus returns.
- We need restoration…!
In the psalmist’s day, the people of God had become exiles. They had set aside God once again, and done what they thought was good.
The Apostle Paul describes them clearly
“28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” Romans 1:28-32 (NLT2)
That doesn’t just describe the people of God then, it describes the society in which we live today. Perhaps, we are even talking about some in the church, or some in this church.
After all—we can sin in our thoughts, word and deed- and we do. And even if we aren’t sinning in our thoughts, words and actions, we passively sin, or we actively or passively sin by encouraging others to live in sin.
- Here is what is guaranteed to happen in our lives
That is why there is such joy when Christ Jesus brings anyone of us back home! Or when revival hits our community and people are breaking down the door to come in and hear about Jesus, because one of us invited them to come and see Jesus.
That is all that revival is, the bringing of a group of prodigals home! What an amazing thing it is, to help us understand the love of God.
This is what is so amazing, this love—this glorious love that God pours out on us.
It changes everything…
That’s the challenge for us who’ve trusted in God for a decade or eight. We know we’re going to heaven, we know God is with us, but do we realize how much He has delivered us from!
Think about Jesus words:
“A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Luke 7:41b-43 (NLT2)
He goes on
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Luke 7:47 (NLT2)
You should notice that Jesus never tells Simon the Pharisee that he’s been forgiven a little. For Simon should know – as well as anyone, that he has will be forgiven just as much as she has!
As have we!
That is what is so amazing – God has completely cleansed us up – He has brought us home to His throne, to His altar, to a place where His promises are pouted out through the gospel!
To realize is like what happens to a field full of dead, dry weeds when the rain hits it, and life become new in that desert field.
Or when the Psalmist says, “Restore our Fortunes”
The word picture there is more than a monetary figure. Think of Job, after God reveals himself and has more children, more animals, more feasts celebrating the love of God than he did before.
The word for fortune is “way of life”, or what just Jesus promised in giving us an abundant life, one where we are sure of God’s presence and love. This is the reason for great joy, this hope we have of life that is more than we can imagine, so much so that it Is like a dream.
For we are home, with our Lord, and we have an eternity with Him! – As the old hymn said, “How great our joy!” AMEN!
† I.H.S. †
May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ cause joy to flood your life!
- What is your “dream”?
A week or two back at a Dallas Cowboy game my childhood hero, Roger Staubach was honored. Despite playing for the Cowboys, he was a hero, I had three books about his life, and all of them mentioned his strong faith.
It was partially that, and partially his unconventional nature that made me want to emulate him – I wanted to be a pro-quarterback! It was a dream…
We all have dreams—and some of them change over the years! I mean, I really don’t think I want to start this afternoon at quarterback for a NFL team! Some days my dream is having a day where I don’t feel like I played qb in the nfl yesterday, and was sacked 8 or 9 times.
Well – think about your best dream – the perfect life you could imagine, and think what might be better than that…
(pause) – no—think about what would make life perfect….
Now hear these words again, “When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
And if that was what it was like for them in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, when they brought exiles back to Jerusalem…how much more when God brings those who chose exile today, or when the exiles are brought into God the Father’s presence when Jesus returns.
- We need restoration…!
In the psalmist’s day, the people of God had become exiles. They had set aside God once again, and done what they thought was good.
The Apostle Paul describes them clearly
“28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” Romans 1:28-32 (NLT2)
That doesn’t just describe the people of God then, it describes the society in which we live today. Perhaps, we are even talking about some in the church, or some in this church.
After all—we can sin in our thoughts, word and deed- and we do. And even if we aren’t sinning in our thoughts, words and actions, we passively sin, or we actively or passively sin by encouraging others to live in sin.
- Here is what is guaranteed to happen in our lives
That is why there is such joy when Christ Jesus brings anyone of us back home! Or when revival hits our community and people are breaking down the door to come in and hear about Jesus, because one of us invited them to come and see Jesus.
That is all that revival is, the bringing of a group of prodigals home! What an amazing thing it is, to help us understand the love of God.
This is what is so amazing, this love—this glorious love that God pours out on us.
It changes everything…
That’s the challenge for us who’ve trusted in God for a decade or eight. We know we’re going to heaven, we know God is with us, but do we realize how much He has delivered us from!
Think about Jesus words:
“A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Luke 7:41b-43 (NLT2)
He goes on
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Luke 7:47 (NLT2)
You should notice that Jesus never tells Simon the Pharisee that he’s been forgiven a little. For Simon should know – as well as anyone, that he has will be forgiven just as much as she has!
As have we!
That is what is so amazing – God has completely cleansed us up – He has brought us home to His throne, to His altar, to a place where His promises are pouted out through the gospel!
To realize is like what happens to a field full of dead, dry weeds when the rain hits it, and life become new in that desert field.
Or when the Psalmist says, “Restore our Fortunes”
The word picture there is more than a monetary figure. Think of Job, after God reveals himself and has more children, more animals, more feasts celebrating the love of God than he did before.
The word for fortune is “way of life”, or what just Jesus promised in giving us an abundant life, one where we are sure of God’s presence and love. This is the reason for great joy, this hope we have of life that is more than we can imagine, so much so that it Is like a dream.
For we are home, with our Lord, and we have an eternity with Him! – As the old hymn said, “How great our joy!” AMEN!
Bring Broken Back! A Sermon on Psalm 147:1-11
Bring Broken back
Psalm 147:1-11
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May the grace of our God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ empower you to embrace your brokenness in order to let God heal it and bandage your wounds…as you help bring back exiles, building the city of God!
- We are encouraged to praise God – How right it is!
I used to be a little cynical, and when some walked up to me and said, “praise the Lord, brother!” my usually response was… “for what?”
I used to say it cynically, thinking of the trauma and grief I’ve witnessed over life, and the struggles that I had tried to help people endure. And usually after such a time, some upbeat, overzealous Jesus freak would come up to me with a big grin, and utter those words, “Praise the Lord brother!”
And as I grew in my dependence on God, still asked the same question, but now I wanted to know – for what was it they wanted me to praise God for… what had God done, or promised to do, that would result in a reaction of praise.
Unfortunately, most of the time the question was met with a blank stare, as if they had never considered why they were praising God, they just knew it was good to encourage others to do so so they did!
Hey! Bud – how are you packers? Praise the Lord!
How you doing with your recovery from surgery? Well, go on and praise the Lord!
Oh you had an IRS audit and a colonoscopy this week? Praise the Lord! Isn’t He just wonderful?
That’s why we need to hear the entire verse and the entire passage from Psalms today! Let’s start with the first verse, “Praise the LORD! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting!”
That’s a key point—how fitting, how appropriate our praise needs to be… but that means we have a challenge…
- We need to understand the brokenness… so we know the healing
Listen closely to the next words from the Psalm,
“2 The LORD is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing the exiles back to Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.,… 5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!” Psalm 147:2-3
As the Psalmist praises God, he now shows two reasons why we should praise Him:
First there is rebuilding the kingdom and bringing back those who were exiled. We have to see this for what it is, as Israel and Judah get so enslaved to sin, and the consequences of that is that they were overrun by other nations, and their people taken away as captives. The city of Jerusalem as well, the place where the idolatry occurred, was reduced to rubble,
God had prophesied such a consequence more than once, even reinforced it when he sent 10 of the 12 tribes to captivity-he told the remain two that this could happen to them. Despite all this, the people still continued to sin, every sin known to man.
If we look at the world today, we see a world that rejects God the same way Israel did in the Old Testament. Everywhere you look is a form of idolatry, as people choose their own gods, and even believe that they are as knowledgeable and wise as God, and can dismiss what God teaches is right for what is right in their own eyes.
You see it everywhere, as people dismiss God’s word. And so, much like Israel, many people have chosen exile from God, and His peace and love. But He promises to bring people back… and rebuild a home for them.
But he also promises to heal the broken-hearted—those who still walk with Him but have been so devastated by the sin of others. He promises to cause the healing and bandage their wounds while they are here – committing Himself to all of that care… for you are the people He loves.
I gave this message an odd title—“bring broken back”
The reason for the title is not that I want more people exiled or more people broken. I just want people to know it is beneficial to realize that they are in exile, that they are broken-hearted. TO not hide either, or be ashamed of it, but to confidently trust that God will bring us back, and care for us, as we heal in His presence.
This is the time and place for both, within this group of fellow former exiles and people still healing from their brokenness, for many more to come back into the place that God has put here, for them to call home.
This altar, this place is one of the rebuilt places God would have His family call home, until we are all home with God our Father celebrating that day… as well as His celebrating every time an exile comes home, or someone’s heart it laid open so they can be healed.
- How do we trust Him that much?
Laying our lives this open isn’t easy, whether it is realizing like the prodigal that we are exiles, or that our hearts are shattered. It helps to know the nature of God – as the Psalmist describes,
8 He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures. 9 He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry. 10 He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might.
If God takes care of all of that. Then certainly He can keep his promises to bring the repentant home, and heal and bandage the brokenhearted…..
- And when we do… when we put our hope in His cHESED
Which brings us to the greatest reason for the praise of our God as the psalmist which wraps up our reading this morning.
11 No, the LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.
That phrase unfailing love is that word cHesed – meaning devoted, love so intense, that nothing can stop the love, or separate us from it. A love that requires the lover to die for the one He loves..
As Jesus did for you and me… which is why we praise Him! AMEN!
