Love for the God Who Hears Us
Sermon Recording
Sermon Outline
Speaker: Rev. Scott Strickman
Sermon Series: Faith, Hope & Love
Psalm 116 (ESV)
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I believed, even when I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”
12 What shall I render to the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Sermon Outline
Our troubled souls rest in God when we have love for God, grounded in confidence that he watches over us.
1. Love for the one who is watching
v1 “I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my please for mercy”
2. Love for the one in whom we rest
v7 “Return, O my soul, to your rest”
v11 “I said in my alarm…”
v6 “when I was brought low, he saved me”
3. Love for the one who gives
v12 “what shall I render to the Lord?”
v15 “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”
v9 “I will walk before the Lord”; v17 “the sacrifice of thanksgiving”
Questions for Reflection
Has God ever answered a prayer you prayed when desperate? Have you seen God’s help at any point in your life?
Are you aware of stories where God did something remarkable for someone in great need? Do you know anyone personally who has gotten great help from God?
In the midst of difficult times, what assumptions can we make about what God can do? What assumptions do we need to be careful not to make?
Why pray if God won’t necessarily do exactly what you ask? Are there good reasons to keep praying even if you know God is not obligated to do everything you request?
How can you love God while in the midst of difficulties, where you are fearful, resentful, angry, or otherwise bothered by the thought God is not helping? How should you think? What do you need to do?
How do we find rest in God? What can anxious people do to get grounded? What resources does Christianity provide?
Reflect on the question “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?” What are some benefits you are mindful of? What can you do for God, and why would you do it?
Now that we don’t offer actual sacrifices in a temple, what can it mean to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving? What practices, habits or actions would reflect a life of thanksgiving? How can this be a means of joy in your life?
Prayer of Confession
Gracious Lord, righteous and merciful, we look to you in our affliction, we turn to you in our alarm, we appeal to you in our helplessness. We admit we often wander down roads of anxiety where our restlessness increases. Without confidence that you watch over us, we lodge complaints and accusations instead of appeals for mercy. We forget what you have already done for us. We don’t heed the testimony of those who have seen your mercy. We struggle under the weight of our own fear and cynicism. Forgive us. We remember that you are a God who shows mercy. We thank you for Jesus Christ, whose death turns us from sinners to saints, and whose life brings rest to our souls. We love you Lord, because you hear our voices and our pleas for mercy. Have mercy on us, Lord. Amen.