Sunday Morning Worship Service June 21, 2020

Good morning. See you on this Father's Day and Lord's Day. We thank the Lord for our opportunity to gather today

Trust you are looking forward to good service of worship and Fellowship around the things of the

Lord today There's a few announcements are on your handout there. I won't take the time to look through each of those but just to emphasize that Wednesday night the midweek service will resume on -site here in the auditorium and that will not be done online, so Please please make a note of that Today is

Father's Day, and we want to take a moment to Recognize the dads that are here today

So if you are a father of one or more children, would you please stand and let us take note of your?

Great responsibility and role in this world. Go ahead fathers All right

I'm trying to think who would be the most who had who has the youngest child here today and Let's see.

Is it Lewis? How old is Lewis? Seven months 11 months.

Are you sure about that? Is there one is there a baby younger here

Okay, I didn't think so well whether you're a young father or an old father like I God bless you for your roles in in this life, and you know as well as I do you wear many many hats and It seems sometimes like They're they're stacked one on top of another aren't they?

Well, let's pray and ask God to give thanks to God for our fathers and ask him to bless each one richly and So our father and our

God we do Thank you for the fact that you are to us a father and you are the perfection of fatherhood we thank you for each one who's in this room today who's standing and representing their families and carries upon their shoulders the responsibility and the privilege of Leading the family being an influence on their children and grandchildren and Thank you for that influence

Thank you for your grace in working in the hearts of each dad who is also a child of yours

And I pray that in our role as fathers You would use us to fulfill those responsibilities that you've given to us to rear our children and the nurture the admonition of the

Lord and to be a great blessing to each one of them and Father, I pray that each dad here today would know a measure of your grace in carrying out that responsibility it's a it's a tremendous thing and I pray that our our reliance would be upon you and We would trust you in the carrying out of that of that role

So bless the fathers today we ask and we ask this in the name of Jesus our

Savior. Amen Thank you dads you may be seated and so as we begin the service of worship today

We want to read Psalm 68 verses 4 & 5 Reading sing to God sing praises to his name

Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts. His name is the

Lord exalt before him father of the fatherless and Protector of the widows is

God in his holy habitation So let's take our hymnals as Jim comes to lead us in our opening hymn today, it's number 84

Eternal Father strong to save Jim. Thank you pastor.

And again your hymnals page 84 It's four verses, but we'll just be singing two of the four verses 1 & 4 verses 1 & 4 let's all stand together, please and Sing eternal father strong to save Our Father in our

God, we do. Thank you today that you as our Heavenly Father Watch over you protect you guard you care for your children in a matter of perfection

You never do your children wrong. You never er you never chide and you never deal with us out of uncontrolled unbridled anger

And we're thankful that all of your Discipline is a loving discipline all of your decisions in our behalf are

Made not selfishly but made for our good and for your glory

So eternal father strong to save We come to you today

Thanking you for the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus Thanking you for the deliverance that is ours on a daily basis.

We thank you for your faithfulness Now as we have gathered together to worship you today.

I Pray that we would worship you in spirit and in truth And you would be honored and glorified in all that is said and done in this day

We ask in Jesus name and for his sake. Amen Thank you. You may be seated

And let's look on your sheet there the psalm reading for today psalm 78 psalm 78 verses 1 through 8 psalm 78

Follow along as I read this psalm together today

Psalm 78 Give ear. Oh my people to my law Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

I Will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us

We will not hide them from their children Showing to the generation to come the praises of the

Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers

That they should make them known to their children That the generation to come might know them even the children which should be born who should arise and declare them to their children that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments and might not be as their fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation a

Generation that set not their heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast with God May the

Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word today. Jim take your hymnals once again and turn to number 96 96 your hymnals.

Oh God our help in ages past. We'll sing all four verses together As we pray together today just want to Be sure we pray for our missionary of the week, which is the

Bacarix serving in the Philippines But we also want to pray for the shutters. We have been praying for them for several months now since Larry and Emily announced that they needed the shutters to leave the field because of Larry's health.

And then the coronavirus hit, and so then they were not able to leave

Bolivia. And finally, was it a week or so ago, they were able to catch a flight to get

U .S. citizens out of Bolivia back to the States. And hadn't heard whether or not they arrived, but I got this email yesterday from Emily.

And she says, thank you for praying for our family over the past few weeks. We arrived safely in the

States on June 9th. It was probably one of the most stressful trips that we have made as a family, but it was also one of the smoothest.

Our baggage arrived without issues, and we were thankful to arrive in Antigo, Wisconsin. We have been at home in quarantine since then.

We've been attempting to acclimate and settle in. We are all healthy and thankful for God's protection and provision for our family.

This week, we will attempt to finalize employment for Larry and begin to hunt for a house. We want to thank each of you for your prayers as we traveled and as we embark upon this new season in our lives.

We are so thankful for all that God has done for us in the past and looking to him for guidance for our future.

So I want to pray for the Shedders as they get settled into their new place of ministry, a place of service.

Larry would find employment that he could be gainfully employed. And I also wanted to share this as both a reason for praise.

So we weep with those who weep. We rejoice with those who rejoice. This is a reason to rejoice and then also serves as a prayer request.

This is from Don and Alice Brill. Said Don and Alice want to let you know that their daughter,

Diane, who is here with them today, has been a widow for 13 years, was recently engaged to Bob, a

Christian dairy farmer from Wisconsin. So congratulations to Diane. Bob's wife died two years ago and he has, all right, get ready for this.

Diane is marrying into a family for sure. He has 12 children.

Six are grown. The youngest is seven. Diane has three children. The older two plan to stay in Ankeny where they live.

So Diane and Bob met through Pastor Cromie, who served as a youth pastor here at our church from 1986 to 1990.

After Pastor Cromie moved to Wisconsin, Bob attended the church he pastored there. When Bob was ready to marry again,

Pastor Cromie contacted Diane, but Diane didn't think the timing was right to meet Bob. Pastor Cromie asked her again last year.

He gave Bob an excellent character reference, but she still said no because she didn't want to disrupt

Wesley's senior year of high school. This year, Diane told Pastor Cromie that Bob could call her if he was still interested.

Two hours later, I don't know how long it was, he called on February 29th.

The Lord showed both of them very quickly, very soon, that it was his will for them to be married. And they both are praising him for answering their longtime prayers for his spouse.

The wedding is set for August 29th in Wisconsin. So congratulations to Diane, Bob, to your family, and we'll ask the

Lord to bless that marriage. I also want to continue to pray for Kathy McAllister.

Kathy had knee replacement surgery last Monday, and that all went well.

That's the prayer request I prayed for obliquely in Wednesday evening service.

That went well, she's recovering at home. I also want to pray for Bob Kline. He had radiation treatments this week, and will be starting chemotherapy next week,

I believe it is. So I pray for God to be gracious to Bob through this time.

Let's look to the Lord in prayer, shall we? And so our Father and our God, we do thank you for how you work providentially in the lives of your children.

We thank you for this testimony of providential grace in the life of Diane and Bob.

Thank you for leading them together and for the chemistry that already exists very quickly.

We pray your blessing upon them as they unite in marriage here in another couple of months, and pray that all the details between now and then would be worked out smoothly, and that as they embark on a new chapter of life together, that it would be a chapter filled with great blessing and evident working of your in their lives.

We also thank you today for bringing the Shedders home safely and without incident.

I just pray for them now as they settle in in Wisconsin. I pray that you would provide

Larry with work, and I pray that they would be comforted in the sorrow of having to leave the mission field.

And I pray that they would find rejoicing in your ongoing work as they settle into their new home.

We also pray today for Doug and Ruth and their ministry in the

Philippines, still in a lockdown situation. I pray that you'd help them to be effective as they minister there.

We pray, Father, for Kathy, pray that she'd continue to strengthen her body and give healing.

I pray that the pain would be minimized, and I pray that the therapy that begins soon would be effective, and that this surgery will have accomplished everything that was intended in the process.

We pray for Bob Klein, continue to give grace to him and to Jerry.

I pray that he undergoes the chemotherapy here very soon, that his body would be able to handle it and manage it without much side effect.

And I pray that you would just give them peace of mind and peace of heart as they trust in you through this process.

Father, again, we thank you for this Lord's Day that we can assemble and we can open your word and hear from you today.

I thank you for Gordon Taylor, who's come to speak today. I pray that you would use him in the preaching of the word, and may our hearts be open, ready to receive all that you have for us in this day.

And this we ask in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen. I'm gonna sing yet again, a hymn in the hymn supplement book.

You would turn to that number 12 in your hymn supplement. Jim. That is your blue books.

Number 12 is the next hymn in the blue books, supplements chosen as his children.

Let's all stand together. We're gonna sing verses one, three, and four. One, three, and four of chosen as his children.

Number 12. ♪ Sing praise the holy spirit of the

Lord ♪ ♪

Held on high ♪

I think you may be seated. As we've mentioned the last couple of weeks,

Gordon Taylor is gonna be bringing the message today. Chris and I had the opportunity to get away for a few days, went down to Missouri, and what was the most outstanding thing, the thing that stood out the most when we crossed the line from Illinois into Hannibal was

I needed to get gas. And on the Illinois, I figured it's probably gonna be a little cheaper in Missouri.

And I looked at the gas prices in Illinois before we crossed the border and it was $2 .29 a gallon.

Got to Hannibal, Missouri, it was $1 .79. And our taxes are gonna go up even more here in another week.

Well, anyway, we had a good time away and just thank the Lord for the rest and refreshment. Both felt like we needed that.

And so I asked Pastor Taylor to come and bring the message today. And so he's going to come and share what

God has given to him to give to us. My text is from Psalm 103, verses 11 through 14.

We'll be concentrating especially on verse 13 of the Psalm. Psalm 103, verses 11 through 14.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him.

As far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him.

For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust. So the reading of God's holy and inspired word.

Let's pray together. Our Father, thank you that you gave us this word by the hand of men as they were moved along by the

Holy Spirit. We believe it's your word. We pray that these words may come alive in our own hearts as we meditate on them this morning.

For if we only see the words on a page or hear them spoken by the voice of a man, they will be of little value.

But Holy Spirit, if you will come and help us and to understand and help the one who preaches, we believe we will be helped.

So we plead for your help. We have no strength in ourselves. We have no power in ourselves. We have no wisdom in ourselves, but you are all wisdom.

Here are prayers we ask in Jesus name, amen. The comparison in verse 13,

I think is just remarkable. Look at it again with me if you would. It says, as a father pities his children, so the

Lord pities those who fear him. Now, every single one of you here today has a father and I don't know your fathers.

Maybe some of you have fathers that you have admired who have been a godly example and you're very, very thankful for them.

On the other hand, some of you may have had fathers who were less than remarkable and kind.

Perhaps they were harsh and didn't give you a good example. I imagine there's both and on a sliding scale, there's some who are on that sliding scale one way or the other.

But what I find remarkable is, is that the Holy Spirit uses an earthly father as an illustration as to God's pity for us.

Knowing as certainly God knows and all of us know that not all fathers perhaps had pity on their children or were good examples and yet the

Holy Spirit uses that. So it would seem that as in a general way, in a general way that fathers have pity on their children and so the

Lord uses fathers as the analogy for his pity on those who fear him.

That's what I find so remarkable. I would not have expected that. I would not have written it that way.

I mean, I had a very godly father. In fact, he's the man that I most admired in my life but I know that not all do.

But nonetheless, that's what the Holy Spirit does. Now, just a week or so ago, my wife and I saw a movie on Amazon Prime and then

I looked this fella up on YouTube and Google, a man by the name of Patrick Henry Hughes.

Patrick Henry Hughes. His father was Patrick John Hughes. Now, Patrick Henry Hughes graduated from the

University of Louisville in Kentucky in 2010 magna cum laude.

He played in the marching band of the University of Louisville and since then he's recorded some music and he's very good on the piano as well as the trumpet.

But what you probably don't know unless you've researched this man is that when he was born in 1988,

Patrick Henry Hughes was born with some anomalies and the doctor came in and told his parents, your son has no eyes.

Furthermore, your son's arms are dwarfed and they'll never be able to extend.

They'll never grow to a normal length. Furthermore, your son has legs that will never develop and he'll never be able to walk.

Well, his father and mother of course were devastated. His father had hoped that he would be a great athlete. That hope was dashed immediately of course.

But when he was about, it was nine months old, his father was playing some music and he noticed that Patrick Henry was very, very taken with the music and so eventually he put him in a high chair up to a piano and used his fingers to show

Patrick different notes and Patrick took to it. And by the time he was two years of age, he was taking requests.

He could play simple songs. One of the songs he played was Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Well, as he developed, he went to school and they had to help.

He had a lot of tutoring and a lot of help of course. But when he was about, I believe a freshman in high school, his grandfather took him out on a swing with his two brothers who were born after him who were quite normal and the swing broke and he fell and he broke his leg.

And Patrick Henry Hughes was of course devastated because when they put him on the cast, understand he's in a wheelchair all the time, the leg stuck straight out and he couldn't get close enough to the piano to play because his arms were dwarf.

So as he was lying in bed, he said trumpet and his father said, you wanna play the trumpet?

Yes, so he got him a trumpet and he learned to play the trumpet. And then he played for the marching band in his high school.

He sat in the wheelchair on the sidelines and learned all the music and played the music. He wanted to go to the

University of Louisville and he wanted to make sure he could play in the marching band.

They said, no way, you can't march. Well, he says, I wanna play in the marching band.

And so his father finally said, what if I push him around? I'll push him around on the wheelchair and he can play the trumpet.

And that's exactly what his father did. He resigned a very good job in the corporate world and took a night job with UPS.

Got four or five hours sleep each early in the morning and then spent all day with his son in the classes to help him and also learned all the marching formations and marched around and for four years,

Patrick Henry Hughes played the trumpet in the marching band of the University of Louisville. That's the kind of pity that this father took upon Patrick Henry Hughes, his son.

And today now he and his father are traveling the world telling their story. As you might well imagine, he's now 32 years of age.

Well, that is a remarkable story. As a father pities his children, so the

Lord pities those who fear him. But as much pity as Patrick John Hughes had toward his son,

Patrick Henry Hughes, it cannot compare to the pity that the

Lord has for those who fear him, for his own children. And it's the Lord that I want us to consider this morning, the perfect father

I'm calling him, the perfect father. And I want to do that as we look under three headings.

We wanna look first of all at the perfect father's name. Then I want you to consider with me the perfect father's pity.

And then I want you to look with me at the perfect father's requirement for this pity, which is fear.

Or we could summarize the message in three words, Lord, all capital letters, L -O -R -D, pity and fear.

So let's look at them in that way. Now, most of you probably know, perhaps some of you don't, but most of you know that in the

Bible, there are, in the Old Testament, there are three major names that are given to God.

The first one, of course, is God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And that term, the

Hebrew is Elohim. Now, don't think I'm an expert in Hebrew, I'm not. I mean, I took it in seminary and I've lost a lot of it.

And one of my goals when I retire is to take a refresher course in Hebrew so I can read the Hebrew Bible again.

And so I'm looking forward to that in a few months, actually. But Elohim is the name for God.

He speaks of his power, he's the creator, he is the almighty one. And then in chapter two of Genesis, we're introduced to another name, and that is

Lord, all capital letters. But before we look at that name, I want to mention another name that's used of God, and that is

Lord. It's capital L, then small letters, O -R -D. You've noted that, haven't you?

It's not used as often as the other two. Elohim, or God, is used over 2 ,200 times in the

Old Testament. Lord, capital L, small

O -R -D, or Adonai, is used 44 times, and not all those times refer to God.

In fact, it was Sarah who called Abraham Lord, Adonai.

You remember when she was outside the tent listening and she heard she was supposed to gonna have a baby? She says, how come my

Lord do this? He's too old, and I'm too old. So she called him Adonai.

On the other hand, this term Adonai has a very important verse. There's other verses, but perhaps the most important usage is in Psalm 110, verse one, where we read these words that Jesus quoted as he was talking to the religious leaders of his day.

The Lord said to my Lord, the Lord, all capital letters, said to my Lord, that is capital

L, small O -R -D, sit at my right hand until you make my enemies, your enemies my footstool.

And of course, Jesus said to them, how come if the Messiah is the son of David, how can he call him

Adonai, master? They had no answer, of course, because they were ignorant. We know only because the

Spirit of God has revealed to us what that means. He is indeed the Son of God, the Lord of glory.

Now, the term, the name that's used consistently in Psalm 103 is used 11 times in this

Psalm, and that's the only name for God that's used in Psalm 103. In fact, this name is used over 5 ,000 times in the

Old Testament. It is the name of God, the name that is highlighted the most in all of the

Old Testament scriptures. Some translations, for instance, the American Standard Version of 1901 translated this rather consistently,

I believe, Jehovah. It was a name that the Jews found with such reverence that they didn't pronounce it for generations, so the pronunciation was lost.

Scholars in years ago decided that the, and you understand, well, maybe you don't understand, but Hebrew has no vowels, it's only consonants.

And they decided that the pointing that was given to it was wrong, and it should be pronounced Yahweh. Perhaps you've heard that term,

Yahweh. So the term Yahweh, all capital letters, and sometimes

Yahweh is translated with God, with God, all capital letters.

Like if it says Adonai Yahweh, it'll say Lord God, God, all capital letters.

So that's the term that's used here. Now, interestingly enough, this term, the name for the

Lord, or Yahweh, is used many, many times in the book of Genesis. I didn't count them up, but you'll be able to find.

It's in Genesis chapter two. It says, then the Lord God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

The Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, breathed into the nostrils of man. And that term is used many times throughout the book of Genesis.

But fascinatingly enough, and here's where I hope that you'll understand why

I'm going into all this. In Exodus chapter six and verse three, we read these interesting words.

It is to the effect that by the name, as God is revealing himself to Moses and to the people of Israel, the

Lord says to Moses, and by my name, Yahweh, I have not been known to you before, but now you will know my name,

Yahweh. And of course, we think that's curious because the name Yahweh is used in Genesis, and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob would have been familiar with the name.

What does it mean, then, that this name, when the Lord says it, my name like this has not been used before? Well, the answer is found in the context of Genesis, and six, or Exodus six,

I should say, because what the Lord is saying is now you're going to see the real meaning of my name,

Yahweh. And the real meaning of my name is that I am the

God, Yahweh, who keeps his promises, covenant promises, the covenant promises that I gave to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, the promise that I would give them a land, and the promise that they would have a seed that would, through whom, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

And these promises were then seen by all the children of Israel as he brought the plagues on Egypt, as he brought them through the

Red Sea, as he led them through the wilderness, as he brought them to the Jordan River.

The rivers were stopped, and they went in, and they conquered the land. And it's ultimately seen in the fulfillment in the coming of our

Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what that means. So, you see, the emphasis on the name

Yahweh in this psalm, and in this verse, we think of the God who is sovereign, who is powerful, yes.

That's what Elohim means, God Almighty, the creator, the power. But Yahweh means he's the

God who comes and meets with his people, the God who fulfills his promises, the

God who condescends to be with his people, and the

God who keeps his promises. Now, if we keep that in mind, I hope that I can at least convince you as to why

I spent time on this. In Psalm 103, verse 13, as a father pities his children, so Yahweh, the

Lord, pities those who fear him, the God who condescends to keep his promises.

And the promises of this psalm are many, forgiving, redeeming, and drawing near, and helping.

And so it is this one of whom we're speaking today, this one is the perfect father,

Yahweh, who loves people, who comes near to people, who keeps every promise that he gives to his people.

So with that in mind, let's move on then to our second thought here this morning. The term

Lord, we've looked at, and now we look at his pity, his pity. Well, this is certainly emphasized.

There's a synonym that's used here, and that's mercy. Mercy and pity mean pretty much the same thing,

God's mercy, his pity that he places on his people. I want us to look, and this is where I want to spend most of the message this morning.

I want to first of all define pity, and then look at the objects of pity, that is his children, then look at the illustrations that are given for pity, and then also on the basis for pity that God gives.

So let's look first of all at the definition of pity. I found an interesting definition in the

Hebrew lexicon Loanaita, and I'll just give that to you.

This is a definition of the Hebrew word. The root, that is the root word, refers to deep love, usually of a superior for an inferior, rooted in some natural bond.

Further, they say, the word is used of a mother's love to a nursing baby,

Isaiah 49, 15. Can a mother forget her nursing babe?

And then the scripture goes on to say, yes, a mother may forget her nursing babe, but God will never forget his children.

In fact, Isaiah 49 says that the Lord has inscribed us on the palm of his hands.

So intimate are his people in his mind.

So he takes pity on them, and he took pity on his people by purchasing them by the blood of Jesus Christ.

You know, Jesus was noted for pity, was he not? There's so many instances in the New Testament. I think of the instance in Luke chapter 13, where this woman was bound by Satan with an infirmity for 18 years.

And she was in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and Jesus healed her. And of course, the synagogue ruler got all riled up about it.

Says, you know, what are you doing? I mean, if you're a man of God, you wouldn't be healing someone on the Sabbath. And Jesus turned to him, and he said to him, he said, you know,

Satan has bound this woman. And then this little phrase that just leaps out at me.

Jesus said, think of it. Think of it.

Think of it. Think of a woman being bound by this infirmity for 18 years, 18 years.

Think of it. It's as though he's saying to that ruler, and you're quibbling about the day

I do it. Don't you have any pity? Don't you have any human compassion for a woman who's been bound by this infirmity?

Oh, you see, Jesus was full of pity because he is God manifest in the flesh. And so that's pity.

Now, who are the objects of his pity? Well, this psalm gives us some ideas who the objects of his pity are.

They are men, and women, and boys, and girls, who are very, very weak.

They are temporary on earth. In fact, we read in verse 15, as for man, his days are like grass.

As a flower of the fields, so he flourishes. It's a beautiful time of year for flowers, isn't it?

They're growing, they're beautiful. My wife loves flowers. She's planted flowers.

Some of them aren't doing as well as she'd hoped or I had hoped. But still, we have some very beautiful flowers.

And they flourish. What joy and delight they give.

But fall is coming. And so it is with man.

Here, I see young couples. I see some young men and some young women.

And they're going to be growing, and flourishing, and getting strong. And their whole life is ahead of them.

And then there's some who are maybe almost as old as I am. And the flourishing part has vanished.

And it's, I mean, the big, next huge, huge event in my life is to die.

I hope I can do a lot of things before that. But that's reality, isn't it? That's reality. So the ones on whom he takes pity are those who are weak, flourish for a while, and then they're gone.

And then they're simply gone. But it's even worse than that. It's not only that they are weak, it is that they are sinners.

You know the history of the Bible, do you not? You know that God created man perfect in the garden.

Adam and Eve, he made them male and female. And how it was, they had a perfect environment, perfect paradise, a beautiful garden that didn't have thistles and weeds and things like we do.

They could just tend it where the flowers were beautiful and everything was flourishing. And then the serpent came, tempted

Eve. Eve gave the fruit to Adam. They ate together and their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked.

And they realized something was desperately wrong. And they heard the Lord walking in the cool of the day.

And so they hid in the bushes. And God had to come and fetch them out of the bushes and give them a little better clothing than what they'd pick for themselves.

Aren't you thankful we don't have to wear fig leaves? He made them skins, animals.

And so they sinned and you have sinned.

You've broken God's law. What is sin? Sin is breaking God's law or not conforming to God's law.

That's what sin is. Men hate each other. Men murder each other. Men commit adultery.

Men curse God. Men break all the commandments of God. I suspect that some of you are concerned about our nation as I am.

I have my wife and we spend one noon every week pleading with God for our nation.

And when I plead with God for our nation, I often just go down through every single one of the 10 commandments and say,

Lord, we as a nation have broke every single one of them. We haven't just broken them. It's one thing to break them.

We have flaunted them as a nation, every single one.

And ask God to show mercy. Ah, my friend, but what is true of the nation is true of us.

If we are honest with ourselves, we've broken God's law. We've had other gods before us, wealth, fame, power.

We haven't honored authority. We haven't been pure in our thoughts.

We've stolen. We've lied. And you see, but it's this kind of people that the

Lord has pity on. And it's this kind of people that he talks about being forgiven in this psalm.

Do you know that you need to be forgiven? Do you know that your sins are so great that if God had brought you into judgment, you'd have no hope?

I hope you do. I hope you know that. And if you don't, may God deliver you from your blindness and ignorance, that you have broken his law.

Now, we have two illustrations in our text that show the greatness of his pity.

One illustration is found in verse 11. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him.

How high are the heavens above the earth? We don't know. The astronomers don't know.

They keep trying to find out how high it is. Just a week or two ago,

I read on a newsfeed that radio bursts have been detected that came at regular intervals, and this is what caught the attention of the astronomers.

By the way, I know nothing about astronomy, so don't ask me as I'm authority. I just know what

I read, okay? But they found these radio bursts at regular intervals, and they found it for 90 days.

It stopped then for 67 days. And then, to their amazement, these radio bursts repeated every 157 days.

And they found that these radio bursts came from a dwarf galaxy, whatever in the world that is,

I don't know, but from a dwarf galaxy, some three billion light years from the earth.

Now, I had to look up what a light year was because I'd forgotten from my elementary school, but a light year is the length light travels in one earth year, a distance of just under six trillion miles.

Now, to find out how far away those radio bursts have come, you've got to multiply three billion times six trillion.

I didn't try it. I did not try it. But you see what the text says?

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards those who fear him.

That is a great deal of mercy, a great, great deal of mercy.

You should take comfort in that. Now, there's another illustration. As far as the east is from the west, we read in verse 12, so he has removed our transgressions from us.

Now, that one I quiz in my mind. As far as the east is from the west, east from the west, as far as they are, you can travel east and reach the west eventually, or you can travel west and reach the east eventually.

First time I went to China, flew out of Chicago, and we flew west, up over the

Arctic Circle, and I got a fantastic picture, 35 ,000 feet of the Arctic. I was just thinking,

Lord, don't let us have to land here. It's too cold. And then we got to China.

The second time I flew to China, I flew from the east coast. I flew east to get to the far east, but I flew west to get to the far east.

I've flown east to get to the far east. How far is the east from the west? I have no idea. Do any of you have iPhones?

Do any of you know about Siri? I hope your phone's off, but Siri is, you can ask, on the iPhone, you can ask

Siri questions. You can ask Siri, how far is the east from the west?

And here was Siri's response. North Aurora is about 67 miles away by car.

She doesn't know what she's talking about. Doesn't have any idea what she's talking about.

How far is the east from the west? Well, obviously, obviously, this illustration is used to show us that God has removed our sins entirely, entirely from us.

Our sins, you see, are infinite. Did you realize that? Our sins are infinite. Why? Because they have been committed against an infinite

God. There is absolutely no limits that can be placed upon our sin.

We talk about little sins, and the Lord does make some distinctions about sins. I realize that, but ultimately, they are infinite.

Oh, you see, my friends, you see, this is the pity that God has on those who fear

Him. Great, great pity it is. Now, how is He able to pity us?

I just began reading a book that my oldest daughter gave to me for Father's Day.

I've only read a few pages into it, but it's the story of a man who has been converted out of Islam, and I read enough to hear him say this, that he, believing in Allah, as Muslims do, he knew that Allah could forgive, but the question came to his mind, knowing that Allah is represented as a just being, and knowing that Allah can just decree forgiveness, the question that ran around in his mind was, how can he do that and still be just, just forgiven?

Ah, that's a good question, isn't it? That is an excellent question, and only Christianity has the answer.

Only Jesus Christ is the answer to that question. The answer to the question is as to why

Yahweh can forgive our sins, is because there is the

God -man, Jesus Christ, who on the cross took our sins and satisfied entirely the justice of God, so that God can be just and the justifier of everyone who believes in Him, so that God's justice remains intact, and His pity can be exercised.

Oh, what a glorious truth that is. What a glorious truth that is.

It's all, His pity is based upon His justice being satisfied in His Son, our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who's redeemed us, and we find that really, if not hinted at, it's stated in verse four of this psalm, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with the loving kindness and tender mercy.

He redeemed us, He purchased us. He purchased us by the blood of His own

Son. We were redeemed through the obedience of His Son. You see, we were disobedient. If there's one word that summarizes the entire life, work, and ministry of Jesus Christ is obedience.

He became obedient unto death, Paul says in Philippians 2 .8, even the death of the cross, because He was obedient.

We are disobedient because of His obedience. We are redeemed, we are saved.

Blessed be God, blessed be God. Such mercy. Now, perhaps in your mind, some people think, could

God ever forgive me of my sins? And perhaps you think of that one sin that you committed and think, oh, could

God ever forgive me of that? Well, let me ask you this. How high are the heavens?

How far is the east is from the west? Is there any sin He couldn't forgive?

Well, of course not. At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, the burdens of my heart rolled away.

It was there by faith. I received my sight, and now

I am happy. And by happy, it means not giddy, but a joyful thankfulness all the day.

A joyful thankfulness all the day. Though my sins be many, they are rolled away at the cross of Jesus Christ.

There is a modern hymn that captures this as well.

What love could remember no wrongs we have done? Think about it. What love could remember no wrongs that we have done?

What love could forget all the wrongs we have done?

All knowing He counts not their sum, throw it into a sea without bottom or shore.

Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. Praise the

Lord, His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn. Our sins, they are many. His mercy is the pity, the pity of our

God. Infinite, infinite, infinite pity and mercy.

Well, one more word, one more thought, and that is the requirement. You notice that our text says, as a father pities his children, so the

Lord pities those who fear Him. Those who fear Him are the ones who are pitied.

If there's no fear, there's no pity. If there's no fear, there's no forgiveness.

Now, what do we mean by fear? Well, again, I'm going to read you a definition that I got from C .H.

Spurgeon's Treasury of David, which is his exposition of Psalms.

And he, in addition to the exposition he gives, he gives a whole bunch of quotations from other authors that he found or those who are researching for him found.

And there is, I think, a very helpful definition of fear that is quoted in the

Treasury of David. It's by George Bowen. I don't know who George Bowen is.

I'd never heard of him before, but I like the definition. And I'm going to paraphrase it a little bit because it's, the language is, well, it's a little difficult for us to comprehend at first reading.

So I'm paraphrasing it a little bit. But this is the definition. The fear of God is that respect for God, which leads you to submit your will to His, makes you determined to please

Him. A godly sorrow for your past willfulness, happy in His present smile, transported by His love, hopeful for His glory.

I love that. That's fear. The fear of God is having a respect for God.

Sorrow for your past willfulness, submitting to His will, rejoicing in His present smile, transported by His love when you think of the cross, and then hopeful for the future glory that awaits everyone in Christ.

You see, the fear of God is not being scared of God. It's not being afraid of God, but rather having a deep love and respect for God.

This helps us understand, as we think about 1 John 4 -8, where we read these words, "'For perfect love casts out fear.'"

And some may wonder, well, if perfect love casts out fear, how can we say that the fear of God is required for us to have

His pity? Well, that's because the fear there is used in two different ways.

Perfect love casts out fear. That is, perfect love casts out the dread of judgment that God is somehow gonna zap you because of your sin.

But rather, perfect love casts that kind of fear out, but leads you to a deep and profound respect and reverence for the true and living

God. Richard Baxter, in his works, put it something like this.

He said, in referring to 1 John 4 -8, he says, "'The devil tries to convince you "'that you should be afraid of God "'and live in dread and sorrow.

"'No, rather you come to love and enjoy God, "'yet with great reverence. "'Such is the fear required.

"'Look at the cross. "'At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light. "'Look at the cross,' he says."

You see, its first act is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. As a sinner knowing that we deserve hell, we cast our soul on Jesus.

As I was preparing this message, I thought of the Chronicles of Narnia. Are most of you familiar with the

Chronicles of Narnia? Okay, I'm seeing a lot of head shaking. Yes, that encourages me.

We read the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia to our children when they were younger and they were at home.

And after the seventh book, we were frankly glad to get out of Narnia. But it was a delightful read.

We read them aloud to them as part of our family worship and devotions. But in the first book in the

Chronicles of Narnia, I'll not go into all the details here, but Chronicles of Narnia are in the same genre or the same type of literature as Pilgrim's Progress.

It's an allegory. There are animals that talk and there are people that interact with the animals and so forth.

And some of you are saying, what in the world? Well, you just have to read it, that's all. But anyway, in the first book, we're introduced to Aslan.

And Aslan clearly represents Christ. It becomes very, very obvious, especially in the seventh book where he dies and rises again and dies on behalf of Narnia, you see.

But as he's introduced to Susan, who is one of the characters in the

Chronicles, by Mr. Beaver, we read this. As Mr.

Beaver is speaking, he says, Aslan, the great lion.

Oh, said Susan. I thought he was a man.

Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.

Safe, said Mr. Beaver. Who said anything about safe?

Of course he isn't safe, but he's good. He is the king,

I tell you. And so it is with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Is he safe? Of course not. He's going to have everyone at the end before him in judgment.

And multitudes will be cast into everlasting fire because they've not bowed the knee to him.

Oh, but my dear friends, he's good. He's the king, I tell you. He is good because he died for people.

He gave his life for people. He was obedient to his father, even unto the death of the cross.

He is good, I tell you. And if you bow to him, if you believe on him, you'll know nothing but his warm embrace that ushers you in to the eternal kingdom.

Oh, trust him, believe on him. Know that here is where God's pity is magnified in the person of Jesus Christ.

How do you know if you fear him? Well, you know if you fear him if you know that you deserve everlasting punishment and condemnation because of your sin.

You've lost all arguments about your own goodness. And you say,

I know you fear him if you believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.

As he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the father but by me. And you know that you fear him if you bow the knee to Jesus, knowing that his obedience is your only hope, since you are nothing but a disobedient rascal, a hopeless sinner.

But Jesus is good, he is so good. The king, I tell you, is safe, no, but he's good.

And if you will believe on him, you'll be safe, safe in the everlasting arms of God.

Here is the perfect father, as a father pities his children, so the

Lord pities those who fear him. Let's pray.

Oh, Lord God of heaven, father, son, and Holy Spirit, we worship and bless and praise your name this morning.

For your mercy, such mercy, which is from everlasting to everlasting.

Thank you for sending your son, father. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being obedient to your father.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for revealing Christ to us. Bless, we pray your word, even to our hearts today, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Thank you, Pastor Taylor, for that good message of our good father.

Let's take our hymnals and turn to number 512. Number 512, and we'll stand and sing just a stanza, the first stanza, redeemed, how

I love to proclaim it. 512. ♪

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it ♪ ♪ Redeemed by the blood of the

Lamb ♪ ♪ Redeemed through his infinite mercy ♪ ♪

His child and forever I am ♪ ♪ Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the

Lamb ♪ It is your testimony today that you are redeemed and a child forever of the heavenly father.

Let's close in prayer. And now, may the peace of God, our father, which surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen.