Falling In Love With God
Introduction
This morning, I don’t believe we have any reason to doubt God’s love for us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). And there are dozens of other proof texts that we could use to support the truth that God loves us.
But do we reciprocate and return His love? Do we love God? Several times in the book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites were commanded through Moses to love God…(Deuteronomy 6:5) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Loving the Lord is mentioned here and in Deuteronomy 10:12; 11:1,22; 19:9; 30:6, 16, 20.
Joshua came echoing that command…(Joshua 22:5) But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Joshua 23:11) Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
Then Jesus came, and He quantified and measured the importance of this command…
(Matthew 22:37-40) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. {38} This is the first and great commandment. {39} And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. {40} On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Paul mentioned the importance of loving God…(1 Corinthians 8:1-3) Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. {2} And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. {3} But if any man love (agapao) God, the same is known of him.
The message here is – it’s not what you know, it’s Who you love.
The problem with this generation is that it is comprised of …(2 Timothy 3:4) Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Of course, the apostle John indicates that in order to love God, we must first be recipients of God’s love…(1 John 4:19) We love him, because he first loved us.
Jeanette Lockerbie tells the story of a little four-year-old girl named Martha who one day was hugging a doll in each of her pudgy little arms, and she looked wistfully up at her mother and said, “Mamma, I love them and love them and love them, but they never love me back.” (From Paul Lee Tan’s Encyclopedia of Illustrations # 7181)
But that wasn’t the case with the unnamed author of Psalm 116. For he begins his psalm by saying, “I love the LORD.” With that in mind, I want to unpack the contents of this psalm and talk about “Falling In Love With God.”
When Angie and I were dating and beginning to talk about marriage, she would often ask me, “Why do you love me?” Now you understand that women generally tend to think more with their hearts and their emotions, whereas men tend to be more logic oriented in their thinking. So when she would ask that question, she wanted to know about the feelings that made me feel the way I felt, but I would answer the question according to my logical evaluation of the situation.
Similarly, while there are some very deep emotions flowing through this Psalm, the psalmist explains his love for the Lord in a very logical, systematic way. Notice his approach…
I. His Reasons For Loving The Lord
(Psalm 116:1-8)
Here The Psalmist Says, “I Love The Lord Because Of These Reasons…”
A. I Love The Lord Because He Heard Me
Verses 1-4
1. Notice The Dimensions Of How He Heard Me
(Psalms 116:1-2) I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. {2} Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
He Was Listening
heard – Hebrew 8085. shama', shaw-mah'; a prim. root; to hear intelligently (often with impl. of attention, obedience, etc.; caus. to tell, etc.)
voice – Hebrew 6963. qowl, from an unused root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound. It is rendered in other places as “aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (+ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, + hold peace, [pro-] claim, proclamation, + sing, sound, + spark, thunder (-ing), + yell.”
supplication – Hebrew 8469. tachanuwn, means earnest prayer:--intreaty.
He Was Leaning
inclined – Hebrew 5186. natah, to stretch or spread out; by implication to bend away; used in a great variety of application such as bow(-ing) (down), carry aside, deliver, extend, offer, outstretched, shew, spread (out), stretch (forth, out), take (aside), turn (aside, away), wrest, cause to yield.
2. Notice The Details Of How He Heard Me
I Was Compassed By Trouble
(Psalms 116:3) The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
sorrows – means a twisted rope or a noose or snare. pains – means something tight.
trouble – means tightness (or a female rival). sorrow – means affliction or grief.
I Was Calling For Transition
(Psalms 116:4) Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. called – has the idea of accosting someone that you meet or calling out to them.
beseech – the word seems to be an exclamation meaning “Oh now!” deliver – to escape, release or rescue.
But He didn’t just hear me and ignore me…
B. I Love The Lord Because He Helped Me
Verses 5-8
1. Notice His Helpful Attributes
(Psalms 116:5) Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
His Condescension - He is gracious His Consecration - He is righteous His Compassion - He is merciful
He Is Capable – He is able
(Psalms 116:6) The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. “He’s able, He’s able, I know God’s able; I know my Lord is able to carry me through!”
2. Notice His Helpful Actions
His Actions Have Been Bountiful
(Psalms 116:7) Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
His Actions Have Been Beneficial
(Psalms 116:8) For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
death – means the state of death or ruin
falling – means a push, or by implication a fall. The circumstances have pushed me over the edge, but God pulled me back.
I know we’re talking about our love for Him, but when I think about how He’s helped me in days gone by, I just want to say with the songwriter, “Oh how He loves you and me!”
II. His Reactions In Loving The Lord
(Psalm 116:9-14)
Here The Psalmist Says, “Because I Love The Lord, Here’s How I React…”
A. Because I Love The Lord, I Give Him My Trust
Verses 9-11
1. I Trust Him Among The Living
(Psalms 116:9) I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. W. F. Ireland said, “To walk before the Lord is a style of speaking made use of to represent that manner of life peculiar to good men.
There is joy in it. There is honour in it. There is a preparation for heaven in it.” (From The Biblical Illustrator)
2. I Trust Him Above The Liars
(Psalms 116:10-11) I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: {11} I said in my haste, All men are liars. I believed, therefore have I spoken
Because we love, we believe. Because we believe and trust, we speak. The Keil & Delitzsch Commentary says…
He believes now, for he is thoroughly weaned from putting trust in men: I said in my despair (taken from Psalm 31:23), the result of my deeply bowed down condition: “All men are liars” – Forsaken by all the men from whom he expected succour and help, he experienced the truth and faithfulness of God.
I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars The Biblical Illustrator says…
It has been suggested that “if David had lived in our days the words which he once uttered in haste he might now have spoken with utmost deliberation.”
Barnes’ Notes says, “The meaning is that, in those circumstances of distress, no one came to his aid; no one sympathized with him.” Promises were made, but promises were not kept.
B. Because I Love The Lord, I Give Him My Thanks
Verses 12-14
(Psalms 116:12) What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?
1. I Will Render My Portion Of Thanks
(Psalms 116:13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.
The “cup of salvation” means the cup by which his sense of the greatness of the salvation might be expressed-the cup of thanksgiving. The reference seems to be to a custom in festivals of drinking a cup of wine as a special expression of thanks or of obligation. (From Barnes’ Notes) Drinking a toast to God…
2. I Will Render My Promise Of Thanks
(Psalms 116:14) I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.
(Leviticus 7:16) But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten:
A Vow Offering (Leviticus 7:16) – Offered to express gratitude for a blessing or deliverance granted when a vow had accompanied the petition
III. His Relationship Of Loving The Lord
(Psalm 116:15-19)
A. Notice The Ways That This Relationship Is Experienced
Verses 15-16
1. As A Living Saint
(Psalms 116:15) Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Though I have used this verse to apply to those who have died, this verse really has more to do with living than with dying.
Luther renders this, “The death of his saints is held to be of value.” The Barnes’ Notes commentary says…
The idea here seems to be that the death of a good man is in itself of so much importance, and so connected with the glory of God and the accomplishment of His purposes, that He will not cause it to take place except in circumstances, at times, and in a manner, which will best secure those ends.
He wants to be glorified in our living. If we love Him, then we should live for Him!
2. As A Loosed Servant
(Psalms 116:16) O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid (a maid-servant or female slave): thou hast loosed my bonds.
servant – means one in bondage, a bondman, a bondservant. loosed – to open wide.
We are as those held captive, yet free.
B. Notice The Ways That This Relationship Is Expressed
Verses 17-19
Sometimes you just can’t help it, you have to express your love.
1. I Express My Love To God By My Praise
(Psalms 116:17-18) I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. {18} I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people,
A Thank Offering (Leviticus 7:12) – Offered to express gratitude for an unexpected blessing or deliverance.
In verse 4, the “call” had been for the purpose of begging Him. Now in verse 17, the “call” is for the purpose of boasting in Him.
2. I Express My Love To God By My Presence
(Psalms 116:18-19) I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people, {19} In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.
If I Am In Loving Relationship With God, I Will Be With His People in the presence of all His people If I Am In Loving Relationship With God, I Will Be In His Place n the courts of the Lord's house
Conclusion
In John 21:15-17, three times Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Lovest thou me?” I want each of you to ask yourselves that question this morning. Do you love the Lord?
In the fall of 1974 Laurie Klein lived in a remote mobile home in the high deserts of central Oregon. One morning in that metal refuge, she was having her quiet time with the Lord. Her toddler was still asleep. Her husband was a full time college student, and the couple was surviving on $400 per month. They had no home church, no friends nearby, and she didn’t drive. Even the expense of a long distance phone call might have left them without enough money for milk or bread in weeks to come.
“It was a very hopeless time, a very depressed time,” she summarizes. “I felt the poverty of my own life keenly at that point, both emotionally and physically.”
“That morning I was so empty,” she says, recalling her time with the Lord. “I knew I didn’t have anything to offer Him. I asked if He would like to hear me sing … if He would just give me something He would be in the mood to hear.”
Klein describes the song that emerged as a spontaneous gift from God. “I sang the first half and put the chords with it with no effort,” she says.
I love You Lord and I lift my voice To worship You; O my soul, rejoice!
Intrigued and moved by these words, she remembers thinking, “maybe I should write that down.” She stopped long enough to get a pen. When she came back, the last two phrases came just as easily:
Take joy, my King in what you hear
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.
The song “I Love You Lord” has emerged in at least a half-dozen dialects, but the author especially enjoys a Pidgin English version that starts, “Me like-a You, Papa-God.”
Do you love Him today? Why don’t you come tell Him?