The Greatness of God--Psalm 135 (May 12, 2024)

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FBC Travelers Rest sermon from May 12, 2024 by Pastor Rhett Burns.

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And then when you turn in your Bibles to Psalm 135, Psalm 135.
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I'm not going to preach what you might think of as a typical or traditional Mother's Day sermon.
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For example, we're not going to Proverbs 31, we're not going to maybe preach Hannah, dedicated your son to the
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Lord. We're in the middle of a series, just kind of going through some topics that I as your pastor think are helpful for our congregation, so we're going to continue with that.
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But I am going to make specific application as we go through, I'll make some specific application to mothers, as I believe this is a topic that will be a great encouragement to mothers and to all of us.
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And that topic that we're going to address today is the greatness of God. So last week we looked at raising godly kids from Ephesians chapter 6, and it was a highly practical sermon.
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And this week we're going with something a little more doxological or devotional, and I want us to focus on the greatness of God.
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From Psalm 135. We're going to work our way through this Psalm, kind of verse by verse, but we're going to really focus in on verses 5 and 6, where God's word says this, for I know that the
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Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods, whatever the
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Lord pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and in all deep places.
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My hope this morning is that you get a glimpse of the glory, goodness, greatness, we might even say the godness of God.
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I pray that you will see the bigness of God, that He will be magnified, and that you will stand in awe of God.
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You know many times in a sermon we try to give you some practical things to do in response to God's word, practical ways that we can live in obedience, but I want you to know that the goal of this morning's sermon really isn't so much that you will do anything, rather I want you to be in awe of God.
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I want you to, as the old hymn says, stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the
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Nazarene. I want you to come face to face with the reality of God, of who
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God is, to feel the wonder of God, to think of the grandeur of God, and to bask in the bright light of the glory of God.
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Now though I'm not going to give you five practical steps towards anything this morning, I do believe that the awe of God that the scriptures produce in us, that the vision of God produces in us, it ought to produce at least one specific action in us, and that is the call to us at the beginning of Psalm 135, and so let me read the first four verses of Psalm 135.
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It says, Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord! Praise Him, O you servants of the
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Lord! You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our
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God, praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.
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For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure, for I know that the
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Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods. The one thing that we are called to do here at the beginning of Psalm 135 is to praise the
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Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. This is the call to the servants in the courts of the house of the
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Lord, and that's us. We have been made priests to our God, Revelation 116.
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By the blood of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, we have been made priests to God.
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In each Lord's day, we spiritually ascend into the Lord's presence. We enter His courts with praise.
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And the call of God to us is to praise His name.
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That's the fundamental duty of mankind. The fundamental duty of all human beings is to return thanks and praise to the
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Lord. And the psalmist here, in these verses, gives us four reasons for praising
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God. Four reasons. You'll see these reasons because each one, it'll say four something.
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So we see it there in verse three, praise the Lord, for the
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Lord is good. That's a reason. Because of, because the Lord is good, praise the Lord. Elsewhere, the
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Bible tells us that the Lord is good and He does good. And so we praise God for His goodness.
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There is no whiff of evil, there is no whiff of sin, no trace of sin in God. He is altogether holy,
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He is altogether righteous, and altogether good. So let us praise the
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Lord. Second reason, we see it in second part of verse three.
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Sing praises to His name for it is pleasant. Specifically here, the psalmist gives us instruction to praise
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His name by means of song, by means of singing. Song is prayer glorified.
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And it is pleasant to our souls to sing to and about God and for God.
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So let us praise the Lord. Third reason, verse four, for the
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Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure. We praise
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God because He has made us His own. He has made us His own special people. You see,
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Jesus Christ, talk about Israel here, Jesus Christ is true Israel. He came up out of Egypt, He passed through the waters,
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He was tested in the wilderness, He perfectly obeyed and fulfilled all that Israel was to be.
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Israel came up out of Egypt, passed through the waters, but Israel, after being tested in the wilderness, went into the land and disobeyed.
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They did not perfectly fulfill God's word and keep God's word and act as priests to the world, to the nations.
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But Christ, everywhere Israel failed, Christ succeeded. He is true
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Israel and by grace, through faith, we who believe in Christ, we are united to Christ.
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Paul says in Galatians 6 .16 that the church is the Israel of God. We Christians are, as Peter would say, a chosen generation, a royal priest to the holy nation.
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His own special people, the church.
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God has chosen us for Himself, His special treasure. So let us praise the
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Lord. It's the Psalmist's fourth reason here in verse 5 that I want to spend most of our time looking at today.
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It says in verse 5, for I know that the Lord is great and our Lord is above all gods.
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Do you know that the Lord is great? I mean, I know you know it in the way that you know all the
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Sunday school answers. Is the Lord great? Yes, the Lord is great. But do you know it? Do you think about the greatness of God when you make decisions?
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Do you think about the greatness of God when you face adversity, when you interact with other people, when you work, when you play, when you pray?
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When you consider God's commands for your life, do you think about that God is great?
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And do you know it? Do you give God the proper weight in your life?
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If He's great, if He's above everything, He's before everything, do you give
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Him the proper weight in your decisions? The proper place.
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You see, the Lord is great. He is eternal. There has never been a time when God was not.
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He is present everywhere. He sees everything. He is all powerful.
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Nothing is too hard for God. God exists outside of time. God exists outside of space.
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God knows everything that has happened, is currently happening, and will happen.
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This is your God. He knows what would have happened had something else happened. You see,
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He has perfect knowledge. The Lord is great. The Lord is great in carrying out
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His purposes upon the earth, seeing everything to its proper end, orienting every single minute detail of your lives toward the goal of maximizing
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His own glory. You see, God is great. So let us praise the
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Lord. And He is above all gods.
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We see the second part of verse 5. We need to understand the reality or the existence of rival spiritual beings in the world.
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Now these are not on par with God in any way, for God created everything, and that includes the angels and the demons.
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But these rebel spiritual beings, they are at war with God.
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And God is above them all. He is above them as creator. He made them.
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He has authority and power over the principalities and the powers as their creator.
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But He has also triumphed over them at the cross. Colossians 2 says that Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them.
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That is, He put them to open shame. And so yes, there are evil beings, demons, that wreak havoc upon the earth.
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But no, they do not possess ultimate authority upon the earth. No, they do not possess equal authority with God.
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Jesus has been exalted over them, and He is putting them under His feet. Our Lord is above all gods, so let us praise the
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Lord. In verse 6, it says, Whatever the
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Lord pleases, He does. In heaven and in earth and in seas and all the deep places, whatever the
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Lord pleases, He does. Don't you think about how great of a statement that is, that whatever the
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Lord pleases, He does. God is not bound. God is free.
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He does whatever He pleases. We see it in Psalm 115. But our God is in heaven. He does whatever
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He pleases. Ephesians 1 .11, He works all things according to the counsel of His will.
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Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10, God says, For I am God and there is no other.
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I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying,
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My counsel shall stand and I will do all My good pleasure.
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God does what He pleases. There's not another being in the universe for which that is true.
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There's not another being in all of creation for whom that is true. Every last one of us in this room, we are limited.
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We are bound in one way or another. There are things that we might please to do that we cannot do.
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So one kind of trivial example, I would love to be able to dunk a basketball. Not in the cards for me, right?
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I am limited by being 5 foot 8 and a half, slightly overweight, having a very underwhelming vertical leap.
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I can't do it. I'm bound. I'm limited. I can't fly. I'd love to fly. I can't fly.
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I can't play the piano. I can't speak Russian. You know, there's all sorts of things I might like to do that I'm limited and bound by.
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And I know these are kind of trivial things in the grand scheme of things. There's other more meaningful things
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I can't do either. I can't make you believe the gospel. I can present the gospel to you.
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I can try to speak persuasively to you. I can't do it. I can't open up a hard heart.
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That's the work of the Holy Spirit. I can't break the power of sin in your life. There's sin you're holding on to.
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I might really, really want you to let go of it. I might really, really want you to return from it. I don't have that power to make you do that.
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I can't, you know, broker peace in the Middle East, much as I'd love to. There are things
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I can't do, but I want you to know this. There is not one thing that God pleases to do that He cannot do.
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And there is not one thing that God pleases to do that He will not do.
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Our God is in the heavens and He does all that He pleases.
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In heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all the deep places.
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God is great and He does all that He pleases, so let us praise the Lord. Verse 7 then shows us that God is,
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He's above and sovereign over nature. That is,
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God does all that He pleases in and through the natural processes of the world. He made the world.
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He stands outside of it. He stands above it. And the creative order obeys its maker.
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He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
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He makes lightning for the rain. He brings the wind out of His treasuries.
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See, God makes the rain. God makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.
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God makes the lightning for the rain. God put the sun in the sky. He made the sun to stand still back in the book of Joshua.
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He made the waves of the sea to obey His voice. Jesus told the waves to calm down, and to hush, and to sit down, and they did.
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God says to the tides of the ocean, this far, no further, this far, now retreat.
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Bible says in Job that God has a storehouse of snow and a treasury of hail.
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He numbers the clouds and gives food for the ravens. You see, God is sovereign over nature.
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This past week we had a pretty bad thunderstorm. I believe it was Wednesday night. We'll probably have some more during the summer.
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Next, really terrifying thunderstorm of the summer should cause us to be still and know that He is God. It should remind us of the presence of the
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Lord descending in a cloud, rain, and thunder, and lightning on Mount Sinai, you read about in Exodus.
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And it should cause us to fear God, which is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs says. And when we face terrifying storms or natural disasters, we should also be comforted, knowing that God is in control of them, and that even the winds obey
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His voice. So let us praise the Lord. Verses 8 through 12 show us that not only is
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God over and above and sovereign over nature, but He is over and above and sovereign over nations.
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God's word says, He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.
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He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
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He defeated many nations and slew mighty kings, Sihon king of the
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Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to Israel, His people.
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You see, God defeated Egypt, God defeated the Amorites, God defeated the Bashanites, God defeated the
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Canaanites. He defeated many nations and slew mighty kings, judging the world with righteousness and the people with equity, and giving the land that He had promised to Abraham, He gave it to Abraham's children,
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Abraham's descendants, a heritage to His people, Israel. And not one king of the
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Canaanites could withstand God. Not one king of the Amorites, not one king of the
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Bashanites, not one king of any of them could withstand God, because God is sovereign over nations.
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I want you to hear the words of scripture on this point. Daniel 2 .21, God removes kings and God raises up kings.
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Job 12 .18, God loosens the bonds of kings and He binds their waist with a belt.
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Acts 12 .23, God sent His angel to strike down Herod because he did not give God glory.
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Herod was eaten by worms and died. The king's heart, Proverbs 21, tells us the king's heart is a stream of water in the
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Lord's hands. He turns it wherever he will. And Isaiah 14 .24
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-27 says this, The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand, that I will break the
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Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders.
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This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth. And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
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For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who, who will turn it back?
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God is over nations. I mentioned earlier that today is Ascension Sunday, where Christians remember the ascension of the
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Lord into heaven. To the right hand of the Father, the seat of power, the seat of authority, where He was given a dominion and a glory and a kingdom, that all nations and peoples and languages should serve
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Him. And it's an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and not be destroyed,
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Daniel 7 tells us. And as such, Jesus Christ is
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King of kings. All kings, all rulers, all presidents, all governors, all legislators, all congressmen, all mayors, all sheriffs, all prime ministers, all nations report to King Jesus.
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Biden, Putin, Zelensky, Netanyahu, McMaster, Timmons, Amidon, all are under the authority of Jesus Christ, our
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King. All are duty bound to obey
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His word. In their role, not just personally and privately, but in their role as a civil magistrate.
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Jesus is the King of kings and He is sovereign over nations. So let us praise the Lord. Verse 13.
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Your name, O Lord, endures forever. Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations. For the
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Lord will judge His people and He will have compassion on His servants. I want you to think about all the fads you've seen come and go in your life.
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Some of you are older and you've seen more. You've seen fads come, you've seen fads go. I want you to think about that.
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I want you to think about all the really important people, maybe locally, maybe nationally, maybe internationally, but the really important people that have died and you've never heard from them again.
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Their names not mentioned. I want you to think about all the breaking news stories, even glued to your television or to your phone about, that are now forgotten.
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And then I want you to get this in your minds. And I want you to plant this in your hearts.
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The name of the Lord endures forever.
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Long after humanity has forgotten the names of Constantine, and Alfred, and Napoleon, and Washington, and Lincoln, and Churchill, and Hitler, and Marx, and Stalin, and Martin Luther King Jr.,
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and Ronald Reagan, and Osama Bin Laden, and Donald Trump, and any other name you might find in a history book, whether good or bad, long after they are the answers to trivia questions that nobody gets right because they can't quite call to mind the name, the name and the fame of the
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Lord God Almighty will endure. It endures forever.
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Throughout all generations, the name of Jesus will endure. So let us praise the
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Lord. Verse 14, For the Lord will judge His people, and He will have compassion on His servants.
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He will judge and He will have compassion. I want you to behold the severity and kindness of our
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Lord. He judges sin. He stands in judgment over sin.
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He does not approve of it. He also stands with kindness and compassion towards sinners.
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God is transcendent. He is far above all earthly powers. He is perfect in His holiness and perfect in His righteousness.
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He is wholly other in that way. Yet He is also eminent, and He is near, showing compassion and steadfast love and mercy to His people.
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I want you to know God's judgment means this. Outside of Christ, outside of repentance from sin, and faith, loyalty, submission, trust, belief in Christ, outside of that,
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God will not overlook your sin. You are responsible for it and will bear its weight, the weight of your own transgressions and rebellions, if you are not united to Christ by that type of faith that is loyalty and submission to, believing and trusting in Christ.
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That's what God's judgment means. God's compassion means this, that in Christ, united to Him by faith, that kind of faith,
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God will not hold His sins against you, for the blood of Jesus has washed you clean.
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Those two things are true. Outside of Christ, in Christ.
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I want to pause here and make application for mothers from what we've seen so far in Psalm 135.
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We have seen that God is great, we have seen that God is free, that God is sovereign, He's over nature,
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He's over nations, He has compassion for His people. I want you to know that these are foundational truths that should encourage you in motherhood.
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Whether young or old, these things should encourage you in motherhood because in these truths you will find your highest calling as a mother, which is to introduce your children to this
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God, who is great and above all gods. You will find in these truths your greatest hope in times of trial, that God is both good and He is powerful.
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He desires what is good, He is good and He is powerful to secure that good. He is able to do good for your child and you'll find hope in times of trial.
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In these truths you will find your strongest strength, which is God Himself. In these truths you will find your source of peace over anxiety, the absolute freedom that God does what
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He pleases. You can have peace because He is in the heavens and He does everything He pleases in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places.
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And in these truths you will find your most comforting comfort. The God who is all powerful, the
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God who is over nature, the God who is over nations will have compassion on you. When you feel like you're not enough, when you feel like you have no more to give, when you feel like you've blown it one too many times,
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I want you to know there is a storehouse of compassion. There is a storehouse of mercy and steadfast love for you and for your children and it never runs dry and it never runs out.
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There is always, always more where that came from. So let us praise the
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Lord. Verses 15 -18 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
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They have mouths, but they do not speak. Eyes they have, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear.
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Nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them are like them, so is everyone who trusts in them.
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Idols, those things we put in the place of God, idols are not sovereign.
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Idols are not good. Idols are not powerful. Idols are not compassionate. Idols didn't make you and didn't make the world.
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Do not trust in lesser gods. Do not trust in vain idols.
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Do not place your trust in created things. Do not seek satisfaction in lesser beings or in lesser created things.
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No, you have a great God. You have a glorious God, a good
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God, a big God. Idols do not speak, do not see, do not hear.
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They are powerless to save you and they are impotent to sustain you.
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But God, God on the other hand, Jeremiah 32 says, Ah Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm.
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There is nothing too hard for you. See, God's different. God is powerful and God is good.
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Those who worship idols become like them, scripture says. Those who make them are like them, so is everyone who trusts in them.
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That's because you become like what you worship. What you behold in worship, you become.
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So if you, if you look to idols and they are mute, blind and deaf, you are going to become like that.
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Look to God, behold the Lord God and become like him. You might can reverse engineer this as well as a diagnostic tool.
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Are there things in your life that are disordered? Are there things in your life that are disobedient?
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Are there things in your life that don't add up and they are not who you want to be? I would encourage you to look, where are you worshiping?
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Whom or what are you beholding? You might be becoming like that. Are you beholding
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God? Are you worshiping God? Are you worshiping God regularly on the Lord's day? Or do you forsake the worship of the living
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God for lesser things? For brunch or golf?
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Other relationships with other people or to sleep in or whatever it is. Do you worship
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God? You become like what you worship. You become like whom you behold.
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So let us worship the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the
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Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and let us become like him. Restored into the image of God, conformed into the image of his son
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Jesus. Psalm ends with verses 19 through 21.
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Bless the Lord, O house of Israel. Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron. Bless the Lord, O house of Levi.
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You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord. Blessed be the Lord out of Zion who dwells in Jerusalem.
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Praise the Lord. And this psalm ends where it began with a call to praise the
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Lord. The Lord, he is God. The Lord is great. The Lord is above all gods.
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Whatever the Lord pleases, he does. So let us praise the
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Lord. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we praise and bless your name for you are great.
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You are free, you are not bound, you do all that you please. And all that you please is good. There is nothing unrighteous or unholy or unclean in you.
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You are altogether righteous, you are altogether holy, you are altogether good. You are perfect and we praise you.
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Lord, I pray that we would be encouraged by these truths of who you are. I pray that we would be in awe of who you are.
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I pray that it would have effect in our lives. That we would remember these things and draw comfort. I pray that we would remember these things and align ourselves with your word.
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And line up in submission to you. To then go forth into this world representing you.
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That others might see and behold the goodness of God. And the glory of God.
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And the greatness of God. And the godness of God. And that they too might praise the
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Lord. Let the tenor of our lives be praise. That you might receive all glory.