“Loving the Savior” – FBC Morning Light (9/23/2024)

Well, a good Monday morning to you. How was your weekend? How was the time in God's house yesterday? Did you learn something?

Did God speak to you through His Word and challenge you? I hope so. That's how we grow in grace and knowledge of Christ.

Well, today as we begin this new week and our Bible reading, we're going to be in the Psalms for a few days, and today reading

Psalms 116 through 118, and then later in the week we'll be going through Psalm 119 together.

Well, and by the way, have you wondered, you know, how long until we get into the

New Testament? I was kind of wondering that myself, and so I wanted to do a looking forward to see how far, how long it is, and we actually finished the book of Nehemiah on,

I think it's October 11th, and then October 12th we begin with Matthew.

And think about that now. That kind of helps put into perspective the ratio of Old Testament to New Testament.

We're reading roughly about the same amount every day, but it takes a good nine and a half months to read the

Old Testament at this pace, and, you know, less than three months to read the

New Testament. So there we are. Well, Psalm 116 through 118. I want to focus on Psalm 116 because the way it begins is a challenge, and I hope it's a testimony.

The psalmist says, I love the Lord. I love the Lord. Can you say that?

Can I say that? Well, I would suggest, how can we not say that when you consider what he has done for you?

So the psalmist goes on talking about that. He says, the Lord has heard, I love the

Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications. About what?

Did the psalmist, you know, was the psalmist crying out and just saying, I want you to give me this, I want you to give me that,

I want you to make my life easy, and all the rest of it? No. He cried out to the Lord to deliver him, to save him, to rescue him.

And he goes on to say, because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call upon him as long as I live.

He says, the pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol, the grave, laid hold of me.

I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord, O Lord, I implore you, deliver my soul.

And he did. Gracious is the Lord, he says, and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple.

I was brought low and he saved me. Now, for the psalmist, this was probably a very literal, physical saving from a severe, perhaps deadly malady, and thought sure that the outcome was going to be death, and he cried out to the

Lord, and the Lord saved him. Sort of like when Hezekiah was sick, and he was told he was going to die, and he turned his face to the wall, and he cried out to the

Lord. He prayed to the Lord, asking the Lord to spare his life, and the Lord did.

Gave him several more years to live. This is the kind of thing here. But in that very physical experience of salvation from physical death, there is undoubtedly a parallel to the sinner's cry to the

Lord when he realizes that he is facing the wages of his sin, which is death.

And he cries out to the Lord to spare him, to save him, and the Lord graciously does, because he is righteous and merciful.

So when you think about all that he has done for you, and graciously saving you, and sparing you from an eternal death, how can you and I not respond in love?

But there's more in this response to what God has done. There is a certain rest that can come to the one whose soul has been saved and at rest.

In verse 7, the psalmist says, So when you find yourself filled with anxiety and stress and concern and worry, where do you go?

What can you look to that can give you rest? You can look to the Lord who saved you, the one whom you called upon and he answered you.

But there's more. Experiencing this mercy and this grace from the

Lord in saving you and giving your soul rest should prompt us furthermore to respond to that mercy and grace with loyal devotion and with faithful obedience.

See this in verse 12 and following, he says, Here's what

I'll do. I'll take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the

Lord now in the presence of all his people. And he says that again in verse 18. Same thing. I will pay my vows to the

Lord now in the presence of all his people. There is a commitment to follow through with a life lived in submission to, obedience to, willing, willing yieldedness to the

Lord. And furthermore, he says, not only will I pay my vows to him, I will worship him.

He says this in verse 17. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the

Lord. All right. So let me ask you, has the Lord been gracious to you?

Merciful to you? You saw yourself as a doomed sinner, doomed for eternal death, but you called upon him and he saved you.

He rescued you from that eternal pit. Then my friend, how can you and I not love the one who has so graciously saved us?

How can we not give ourselves in submission and obedience to the one who has graciously saved us?

How can we not worship him and be loyal to him and give him all of our love as well as our life?

Our Father and our God, I thank you for this encouragement from your word today to respond to your great grace and kindness and mercy, your salvation, with love and loyalty.

We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Monday. Hope your week gets off to a great start today.