Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Psalms 105

October 4, 2009

I know that next week is the big shindig.

And it should be a day of great fellowship and remembrance.

But I desire it to be so much more than that for us.

THIS MORNING I JUST WANT TO HELP US ALL FOCUS

ON WHAT AN EVENT LIKE THAT MEANS.

Sometimes events like this can miss their purpose.

(Returning friends, Catered meals, Former preachers)

And by the time it’s over we realize we might have missed the point.

And so, I want to give you something to meditate on throughout the week

In order to prepare your heart for worship.

You’ve probably already noticed that the 105th Psalm is a long one.

But if you do take the time to read it, you find that it had to be a long one.

In fact, it is amazing that the Psalmist was able to get it that short.

Because it is a Psalm that remembers God’s faithfulness.

And it is also a Psalm that tells us how to respond to that faithfulness.

If you were to break the Psalm up, the first 7 verses are how we are to respond.

Verses 8-45 recount God’s faithfulness.

And so we are going to momentarily skip the first seven verses

And see exactly what God has done.

#1 ISRAEL SHOULD’VE BEEN DESTROYED, BUT GOD PROTECTED

Psalms 105:8-15

When I read those verses it is abundantly clear to you

That we are dealing with the generations of the Patriarchs.

It was God who called a man named Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans

Into a land that was to be his inheritance.

And it was God who made a promise to that man.

Genesis 13:14-18 “The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. "I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. "Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you." Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.”

God had made a promise to Abram, and according to the Psalmist

God had remained faithful to that promise.

(8-11) “He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance.”

God not only made that promise to Abraham,

He reiterated it again to Isaac

He made it again to Jacob

And we are familiar with the promise.

BUT THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT.

Try moving to Canada, pitching a tent

And declaring the land where you sleep your land.

Could you pull it off?

Maybe with a huge army

That is what makes the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so fascinating.

(12-13) “When they were only a few in number, very few, and strangers in it. And they wandered about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.”

They had no army.

“they were only few in number, very few”

In fact, you may remember that when Jacob finally follows Joseph

And moves into Egypt, their total number is given.

Genesis 46:26-27 “All the persons belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob's sons, were sixty-six persons in all, and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.”

And that number is when they were at full strength.

You may also remember what Moses recounted about them:

Deuteronomy 7:7-9 "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;”

The point is they didn’t have the man power to take the land.

They had no ability to enforce that claim.

NOR WERE THEY WELL LIKED

SO THAT SOMEONE MIGHT GIVE IT TO THEM.

“few in number, very few, and strangers in it.”

In other words they were not invited.

They were not necessarily welcomed guests.

That is why they “wandered about from nation to nation”

These were not welcomed people.

In fact:

Genesis 14:13 “Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram.”

This verse records when Lot had been stolen by the wicked kings

And they came to tell Abraham, so that Abraham could rescue him.

But did you notice what they called Abraham? “the Hebrew”

It is the first time the word is uses, and it just appears.

IT MEANS: “one who crosses over”

They identified Abraham as the river jumper, the alien, the foreigner.

He is the trespasser.

They were not welcomed into this land.

And they were not powerful enough to force their way in.

SO HOW DID THEY STAY?

(14-15) “He permitted no one to oppress them, and He reproved kings for their sakes: “Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm.”

God placed a hedge around them so that they were untouchable.

THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN DESTROYED, BUT GOD PROTECTED

And you are familiar with His protection.

Abraham told Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister

Because he feared Pharaoh would kill him.

Genesis 12:17-20 “But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? "Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go." Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.”

Later Abraham did it again because he feared the same from Abimelech

Genesis 20:3-7 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married." Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless? "Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this." Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. "Now therefore, restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."

And later Isaac followed in his father’s footsteps fearing Abimelech as well.

Genesis 26:10-11 “Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us." So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."

God’s people were untouchable.

They should have been destroyed, but God wouldn’t allow it.

Israel should have been destroyed, but God protected

#2 ISRAEL SHOULD HAVE STARVED, BUT GOD PRESERVED

Psalms 105:16-24

Now we are dealing with Joseph.

(16) “And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.”

And this should have been especially drastic on Israel; they owned no land

They had no farms.

They had no grain bins by which to save food.

What would they do in such a serious famine?

And you know the answer.

It is one of the greatest accounts of providence in all of Scripture.

(17) “He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.”

God’s answer to the dilemma was Joseph.

And after much hardship – Joseph delivered.

Then listen to the hindsight of Joseph

Genesis 45:4-8 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come closer to me." And they came closer. And he said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. "Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. "For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. "Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

And so God preserved Israel through a famine

That should have wiped them out.

(23-24) “Israel also came into Egypt; thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And He caused His people to be very fruitful, and made them stronger then their adversaries.”

Israel should have been destroyed, and then they should have starved.

But God was faithful to His promise to Abraham

And He would not allow it to happen.

Israel should have been destroyed, but God protected

Israel should have starved, but God preserved

#3 ISRAEL SHOULD HAVE SUFFERED, BUT DELIVERED

Psalms 105:25-36

Once Israel settled in Egypt they got too powerful.

Exodus 1:9-12 “He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. "Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land." So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.”

And Israel should have met their end in Egypt.

It appeared they had a destiny of eternal servitude

Until they were ultimately extinguished.

BUT GOD HAD MADE A PROMISE

And so He delivered.

(26-27) “He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron, who He had chosen, they performed His wondrous acts among them, and miracles in the land of Ham.”

And then the plagues are remembered.

When Israel was too weak to deliver themselves,

God delivered them.

He was faithful to keep His promise to Abraham.

#4 ISRAEL SHOULD HAVE PERISHED, BUT GOD PROVIDED

Psalms 105:37-45

The first thing we see is a great initial provision.

(37-38) “Then He brought them out with silver and gold, and among His tribes there was not on who stumbled. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the dread of them had fallen upon them.”

It is one of the most amazing instances of plunder

The world has ever seen.

Exodus 12:35-36 “Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.”

Could you imagine asking permission to rob your neighbor blind?

Yet that is how badly Egypt wanted Israel to leave.

God initially provided.

And it didn’t stop there.

When the sun was too hot

“He spread out a cloud for covering”

When the night was too dark

“And fire to illumine by night”

When there was not enough meat

“He brought quail”

When bread could not be found

“He satisfied them with bread from heaven.”

When there was no water

“He opened the rock and water flowed out; it ran in the dry places like a river.”

WHY DID HE DO ALL THAT?

(42) “For He remembered His holy word with Abraham His servant;”

Because He is faithful.

And then God took them back to the land that He promised to Abraham

And God made good on His promise.

(43-44) “And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout. He gave them also the lands of the nations, that they might take possession of the fruit of the people’s labor”

It is an amazing testimony to God’s faithfulness.

That entire nation entered the wilderness with no food or water

And they should have all perished there.

BUT GOD PROVIDED

After we read those 4 accounts the conclusion is obvious.

THE ONLY REASON ISRAEL CONTINUED TO EXIST IS GOD.

It was not due to their intellect…

It was not due to their strength…

And it certainly was not due to their faithfulness.

TURN TO: PSALMS 106

Psalms 105 & 106 work together to make a point.

Just to make sure we don’t attribute the existence of Israel to anyone other than God, we also have to read about Israel’s involvement.

THE ONLY REASON ISRAEL EVER RECEIVED THAT LAND

AND DWELLS ON IT TODAY

IS BECAUSE OF THE MERCY AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.

They can take absolutely no credit in the fact.

They can receive absolutely no recognition.

GOD DID IT ALL, IT IS ALL BECAUSE OF HIM

CAN WE IDENTIFY WITH THAT?

Why has FBC Spur endured 100 years?

Is it because of the intellect of our members?

Is it because of the perseverance of our members?

Is it because of the faithfulness of our members?

We are just fortunate a Psalms 106 hasn’t been written about us.

Because if a historian wanted to tear apart

Every decision ever made in this building,

Or every incident of grumbling,

Or every time someone resisted to follow God,

Or every time we set up idols in our heart,

Or every time we followed the pattern of this world

Then our history might sound a lot like that of Israel.

BUT WE EXIST

BECAUSE GOD HAS BEEN MERCIFUL AND FAITHFUL TO US.

He has protected He has preserved He has delivered He has provided

We exist because of God.

1 Corinthians 8:6 “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

That is why the theme for the service next week is:

“Great is Thy Faithfulness”

There is not a single one of us who can receive recognition

Or a pat on the back for what has happened here.

All glory and honor and recognition and praise goes to God.

We are here because God has kept us here.

SO HOW DO WE RESPOND TO THAT?

That is what the Psalmist wrote in the first 7 verses.

This is also the Psalm that David sang in 1 Chronicles 16

As he was moving the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.

8 responses to God’s faithfulness

1) GRATITUDE

“Oh give thanks to the LORD,”

We thank Him for His protection in dangerous times

In days of church burnings and church shootings, God has seen fit to protect us from such adversity and we thank Him for it.

We thank Him for His preservation through lean times

This church survived the Great Depression and other difficult times, because God preserved us, and we should thank Him for it.

We thank Him for His deliverance in hard times.

It is God who has delivered from our own bad decisions, and times of disobedience. It is God who has not treated us as our sins deserve, and we should thank Him for it.

We thank Him for His provision at all times.

Who has enough to build a building, or remodel a sanctuary, or replace an air conditioner, or meet the budget week in and week out? Who can send so many on oversees mission trips? God has provided and we thank Him for it.

2) TRUST

“call upon His name”

If God is the only reason we have endured,

Why would not continue to run to Him?

Gratitude, Trust

3) EVANGELISM

“Make known His deeds among the peoples;”

Could there be anything bigger

Than the mighty deeds which God has done for us?

If we eat at a good restaurant…

If we watch a good movie…

If we find a good sale on tennis shoes…

We tell everybody.

Is God not infinitely more worthy to have what He has done

Shared with a skeptical world around us?

Gratitude, Trust, Evangelism

4) SINGING

“Sing to Him, sing praises to Him”

I know there are some who like hymns

And some who like contemporary praise choruses.

But here the admonition is not to sing a song about Him,

But to sing a praise to Him.

We sang a great one earlier.

“How great Thou art! How great Thou art!”

5) TESTIMONY

“Speak of all His wonders”

Next week we asked Bro. Goad to share an incident

Of when God was faithful during his service here as pastor.

I could share some this morning.

In regard to money it is easy to see:

(Budgets met, expenses absorbed – kitchen, doors, A/C, sanctuary)

We saw over 30,000 come in for our first year of foreign mission trips

The PBR paid our way to China

But even in spiritual areas, it is important to notice.

2005 – Lance Harris went on a men’s retreat and was saved.

2007 the same thing happened to Les Fincher (After the rest of his family)

His fiancé at the time was saved the night he was baptized.

(Rachelle Morrow, Karen Faubus, Cassie Adams, the Goodall girls)

And every single salvation that has occurred is only because of God.

Remember what Jesus said about salvation?

Matthew 19:25-26 “When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Only God can resurrect a dead soul into a living soul.

Only God can change a corrupt heart into a heart that beats for Him.

GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL

WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE GROWN SPIRITUALLY?

Anji answered God’s call to go to Africa (twice) – along with several others.

Pam, Alysia, & Gerri answered God’s call to be stay-at-home moms.

Others stepped up to fulfill roles in the church.

Many others devoted their lives to God and it changed their lives.

WHO CAUSED THAT?

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

AND IT IS FITTING TO TALK ABOUT THOSE GREAT THINGS!

GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL TO MOVE IN OUR MIDST

Gratitude, Trust, Evangelism, Singing, Testimony

6) REJOICING

(3) “Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.”

There is no cause for us to walk around with a frown on our face.

There is no cause to be a grump.

GOD HAS BEEN SO GRACIOUS AND FAITHFUL TO US

Our lives should epitomize rejoicing, not cursing and bitterness.

7) SEEKING

(4) “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually”

We remain committed to the relationship we have with Him.

We are not those like Jehoahaz who abandon the LORD

Now that things are easier.

We are those who seek Him in the good and the bad.

Because He is faithful all the time, we seek all the time.

8) REMEMBERING

(5) “Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth,”

In order to be faithful to the faithful God, we always remember.

I love the story in Joshua after the children crossed the Jordan.

Joshua 4:19-24 “Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' "For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever."

We ought to be a church of rock piles.

Churches shouldn’t hang plaques with people’s names on them for giving…

Churches shouldn’t be filled with certificates of achievements people have done…

Churches shouldn’t be filled the works of men…

Instead we build monuments

That testify to the faithfulness of our great God

So that in the next 100 years those who follow after us

Will not see how faithful we were, but how faithful God has been.

It is our desire for all to know that our God is faithful.

And then the closing.

(6-7) “O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth.”

This morning let me remind you that our God has been faithful.

We exist only because of what He has done.

We have lasted 100 years only by His mercy and faithfulness.

He did it not us.

And this next week is all about remembering that.

Let me encourage you this week to honor God’s faithfulness.

Gratitude

Trust

Evangelism

Singing

Testimony

Rejoicing

Seeking

Remembering

For Great is His Faithfulness

Lamentations 3:21-25 “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.”