April 8, 2018
TODAY’S FUNNY:
“A River Funny”
A lady standing by the river sees another lady on the opposite bank.
Lady #1: “Yoo-hoo! Hello over there! How can I get to the other side of the river?”
Lady #2: “HELLO — you ARE on the other side of the river.”
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever felt depressed? No, I don’t mean the kind where you need to spend thousands of dollars for a therapist. But have you ever been so overwhelmed by life that you fail even to see the hand of God on your every day? The other day as I was reading my Bible, a phrase stuck out – and I was so surprised to find the times it appeared in Scriptures. And I had never noticed it before. I hope this is an encouragement to you as to how BIG our awesome God is! PRAYER
THE EARTH IS FULL …
#1 OF GOD’S UNFAILING LOVE (Psalm 33:5)
* This is our introduction to the phrase “the earth is full”.
* What other versions call “unfailing love”: lovingkindness; goodness; faithful love; grace; His loyalty/covenant love; constant love; mercy; affectionate satisfaction.
* Any one of these phrases is sufficient. But note “covenant love” – God is in an agreement with the world that He will love the world – and on the cross He displayed that love. A covenant means that God is obligating Himself to show His unfailing love! And “affectionate satisfaction” caught my attention – I am in a daily battle to be satisfied, to have my hunger and thirst quenched. And when I realize that my true hunger and thirst is for Him, He readily quenches them. He satisfies. But the one which REALLY caught my attention is “mercy” – for without the cross, there is no true mercy!
* The heart of this psalm: Note v. 7: “He gathers the waters of the sea into jars”; and v. 9: “He spoke, and it came to be”. Dr. Ken Ham of the Creation Museum fame said that Christians shoot their arrows at the by-products of unbelief (such as abortion, euthanasia, and other “issues”). The world shoots its arrows at the foundation: creation. If they can disprove that the Lord is Creator, then there is no need to trust Him.
* Note how the psalm ends: v. 21-22 a trust, a prayer for God’s unfailing love to be our daily hope! The earth is full of unfailing love – now if only we look!
#2 OF GOD’S CREATURES (Psalm 104:24)
* Psalm 104 is often called the psalm of creation. All the days of creation are on display in this psalm.
* V. 1 and vs. 33-34 are bookends in this psalm. The unnamed psalmist begins with praise (v. 1). He ends in hope (vs. 33-34). He looks forward to a world where God is honored, and sinners are no longer the controlling voice of the world.
* Let’s zero in on our text, v. 24. “The earth is full of your creatures.” In fact, at the start of the verse the psalmist says that God’s works are many!
ILLUSTRATION: Spring is coming. Well, sometime here in the northeast. Perhaps before July. And with spring comes many different creatures. I’ve already seen evidence that moles and other creatures have found warmth in our backyard. Squirrels are once again putting away for next winter – my cat and I watched two squirrels fighting for the same food! And pretty soon flowers and other intricate evidences of God’s hand – along with, yes, WEEDS, will be in the yard. And instead of plowing snow, grass will have to be mowed. NY State is quite the place to see daily evidence of God’s creatures.
ILLUSTRATION #2. I was talking to one of the older residences at Norwich Rehab. He was fascinated with all the different creatures that have been discovered many thousands of feet below the water’s surface – yet many seem to be making their way to beaches. Our creation scientists would remind us of the many creatures that disappeared as a result of both the flood and of the ice age. And many are making a comeback.
The psalmist would remind us, not to shy away in fear, but to be still in awe at the earth being full of His creatures!
#3 OF GOD’S LOVE (Psalm 119:64)
Psalm 119 is God’s ode to His own Word, the Bible. Each of the 176 verses in this psalm has something to say about a specific part of the Word of God.
Note v. 62, one of my favorite of this psalm. How many of you are up during the middle of the night and can’t sleep. So what do you do? Count sheep? Play games on the computer? Count to 100, then back again? The psalmist said he does what? Gives thanks to God! The time is well spent, perhaps in reviewing the many unappreciated evidences of God’s help on display during the previous day. And the time is well spent in thanking God for His help for the coming day. Wow. Worship at midnight!
And then the psalmist declares (v. 64) that the earth is filled with God’s love. WHAT? All I see is hate. Prejudice. Rebellions. Riots. Protests. Refusal to work. Sit-ins. Movements for a cause. Denials of history – and then the attempts to re-write or even destroy history – when it concerns slavery or any other subject which shows the dark sides of man.
But the psalmist says WHAT? That the earth is filled with God’s love! Is it possible that we are so inundated with the hatred by the world that we fail to see God’s love in the world?
But while you’re dwelling on that, look how the psalmist applies this truth! IF I am looking for God’s love on display throughout the earth, then I should seek to be taught to obey God’s word. Sometimes I’m so quick to yell I fail to listen to be taught. God wants to teach me. Am I a good student?
CONCLUSION
As we come to today’s communion service, I was both overwhelmingly yet pleasantly surprised where this phrase appears one more time. Isaiah 6:3: “the whole earth is full of His glory.”
Look at the context. Isaiah was in mourning. King Uzziah had died. And while no doubt Isaiah was contemplating the transitions of the kingdom, the Lord Himself shows Isaiah the true kingdom – God’s kingdom.
The whole earth is full – not only of God’s unfailing love, and of His creatures, and of His love. But it is also full of His glory!
This passage would simply be perhaps another random passage except for a New Testament connection. In John 12:41, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John tells us that this passage in Isaiah is talking about none other than the Lord Jesus Himself.
The whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord Jesus! He is on display! His grace, His mercy, His unfailing love, His constant love, His affectionate satisfaction; His creation. His love which begs to be heard.
Jesus is on display! As we come to the communion service, the heart of the service is that the Savior is on display – and directly at the cross!
He would ask of us today, “am I on display in your heart, in your walk, in your love, in your appreciation of and attention to the details of His display in a world which is blind to His display?” Is He?
Close in Prayer