If you would, open your Bibles
to Psalm 116. A passage that Paul just read
for us, Psalm 116. A few months ago, one of the
men here read this chapter in service, and I got a great blessing
from it. After I read it a few more times,
I noticed something in it. And it can all be summed up by
the first five words of the chapter. I love the Lord because... In the first nine verses of this
chapter, the writer gives multiple reasons why he loves the Lord. And this evening, I want to look
at these reasons And I hope that we can identify each one. But
I don't want to preach this portion of Scripture as if reciting a
list. And I don't want to be talking
about this man's feelings from thousands of years ago. Lord
willing, I want to use this passage to tell you why I, why this sinner,
loves the Lord. But I need to ask you a favor
as well. Don't listen to this message
and think of it simply as the writer's reasons to love the
Lord, or even worse, my reasons to love the Lord. But listen
to this passage and rejoice in these great things that the Lord
has done for His children. Look at verse 1. I love the Lord
because He hath heard my voice and my supplications. Now, I'm
going to use an illustration and I'm going to go back to it
numerous times during this message. So, you need to listen to it
if you want to keep up with it. And it would probably help if
you visualized it a little bit. So, you have just woken up and
you're in a pit. Now, what's the first thing that
you would do if you woke up and were in a pit? I think there's
two options that you could do. Now, the first one is the one
that I would do. I'm going to try to get out. I'm going to look around, I'm
going to find, see if I can climb my way out, if I can see what's
in the pit, make myself a ladder, figure a way to get out of the
pit. Now, I thought that was the only
reaction, but when I asked that question to someone else, they
said that's not what I would do. They decided they would do
the second option. They'd start yelling. I'm going to try to get out first."
But the only reason that you or I will start yelling is because
we honestly think, I can't get out on my own. Now, you've seen
it in a movie or a TV show where someone falls out of a boat into
water. and they start flailing around
and just, I can't swim. They start doing all this stuff
and then that awkward moment happens and they put their feet
down and stand up and the water's to their waist. I don't want
to take that risk. I'm going to see if I can get
myself out first. So after I figure that out or
I just start yelling, there's a lesson in this. You and I are
not ever going to ask for help. unless we think we can't help
ourselves. We need to be shown our helplessness. But going a step further in that
pit, it doesn't matter how loud you yell. It doesn't matter how
long you yell, and it doesn't matter what you yell. It's going
to do you no good unless someone hears your voice. Verse 1 there says, I love the
Lord because He has heard my voice and my supplication. The
Lord hears His children. Now my friends, don't be foolish
and don't be naive enough to think you can save yourself.
Don't just call upon the Lord in emergencies or when you think
you need Him. And then also don't think He
isn't hearing you because you don't get the answer you want.
Psalm 145.18 says, The Lord is nigh unto all them that call
upon Him, to all them that call upon Him in truth. The Lord hears
His sheep when they call His name. Now verse 2, because he hath
inclined his ear unto me." Inclining your ear denotes your
readiness to hear. It also shows that he will hear
immediately. When you're listening for someone,
you hear them. And again, just because they aren't answered,
doesn't mean he doesn't hear. And another thing about inclining
his ear, the Lord different than us when we're listening to someone.
He understands what we're saying. Now, I don't know if you're like
me, but when I am by myself and I'm praying or thinking, if I'm
asking the Lord something or if I'm asking for something,
inevitably, I end up in a place where I'm not quite sure where
I'm going or what I'm asking. Don't ever let that stop you
from praying and asking the Lord, because He understands what you're
saying. And then another thing that inclining
your ear shows us is that He comes to hear us. Turn over a
few chapters to Psalm 86. Inclining your ear shows that
He's coming to us to hear. Psalm 86.1, this is using the
same word here, "...Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me, for
I am poor and needy." The Lord listens and inclines as a father
to a child. If a child is talking to the
father, the child cannot lift themselves up to that level. The father must come down and
listen to the child. Now, the second part of this
verse, "...because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will
I call upon Him as long as I live." We need to pray in days of adversity,
and we have plenty of them. We need to pray in days of prosperity. Every day we live, multiple times
a day, we should pray to the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians it says,
pray without ceasing. Never stop praying. Prayer is
the first and last action of a spiritual life. And one last
point about this. You do not incline your ear to
someone unless they're speaking. The Lord will not incline His
ear to you if you aren't talking. If you want to be encouraged,
if you want to be heard, you have to pray. Now look at verse 3. The sorrows of death compassed
me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble
and sorrow. Now remember, we're still stuck
in this pit. Did you know that we've been
in the pit of sin our entire lives? And the pit is just so big, and
we're so used to it, and actually we kind of like it, that we didn't
even notice we were in a pit. It is such a blessing. that the
Lord shows us where we are and who we are. I heard, and many of you have
heard this, a story about Brother Jack Shanks as a principal of
school, and this woman came to him, wanted to talk to him about
her son, who had been getting in a lot of trouble. And she
went through a few things and then made the comment, you know,
I think he might just be running with the wrong crowd. And without
missing a beat, Brother Shank said, ma'am, your son is the
wrong crowd. That's true about all of us.
Now, when I say I love the Lord because I've found trouble and
sorrow, you might think, I'm not quite as excited about finding
trouble and sorrow as you are. And that you'd rather have peace
and prosperity with as little trouble as possible. And I agree
with you on that. I do not want trouble and sorrow,
but that's not the path of the child of God in this world. Turn to Romans chapter 5, a very
familiar passage of Scripture, Romans 5. Verse 1 of Romans 5, Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope on the glory
of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also. knowing that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope
maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." This
passage plainly tells us that tribulation is the way we get
patience, experience, and hope. And it may be difficult to accept But we think we can handle things
on our own without God. And most of us can go a really
long time without seeking the Lord when things are going pretty
well for us. We need trouble and sorrow to
make us seek the Lord. And I pray for you and me that
the Lord would make us to seek Him with as little trouble and
sorrow as possible and that it doesn't take extra trouble and
sorrow for us. But you know what scares me a
whole lot more than trouble and sorrow? To live this life in prosperity
and to slowly fall in love with the things of this world and
drift away from the gospel. And because I found this trouble
and sorrow, in verse 4, then called I upon the name of the
Lord, O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul. Trouble and
sorrow make the believer called upon the Lord. I love the Lord
because I found trouble and sorrow. Verse 5. Gracious is the Lord. When we call upon the Lord, we
will find Him to be gracious. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
author and the giver of all grace. 1 Peter 2 says, As newborn babes
desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. If so, ye have tasted that the
Lord is gracious. Psalm 111, He hath made His wonderful
works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. There's only one place that you
will find grace, and that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. I love
the Lord because He's gracious. Next in that verse, gracious
is the Lord and righteous. When we look to the Lord, we
will find Him to be righteous. Psalm 145, 17. The Lord is righteous
in all His ways and holy in all His works. Turn to Psalm 129
and we'll read the first four verses. The Lord is righteous. Psalm 129. Many a time have they afflicted
me from my youth, may Israel now say, Many a time have they
afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against
me. The flowers plowed upon my back, they made long their furrows. The Lord is righteous. He hath
cut asunder the cords of the wicked." Many enemies have attacked
the children of Israel, but the Lord has graciously delivered
them. The Lord is righteous and not suffering His people to be
ruined. He has promised to preserve the
people to Himself. I love the Lord because He's
righteous. In the last part of that verse
5, Yea, our God is merciful. In a couple passages, Psalm 103,
the Lord is merciful and gracious. He's slow to anger and plenteous
in mercy. Psalm 117 there on the next page
says, O praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise Him, all ye
people. For His merciful kindness is
great towards us. And the truth of the Lord endureth
forever. Praise ye the Lord. And then
in Deuteronomy 4, For the Lord thy God is a merciful God. He will not forsake thee, neither
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which
he swear unto them. I need his mercy and I love the
Lord for he's merciful. In verse six, the Lord preserveth
the simple. This word simple, could be changed
to foolish. It could also be said as someone
with a small degree of understanding. That describes me pretty well. Any complications in this life
are never good. And if you want a simple life,
the simplest life is one that simply seeks the Lord. The Lord
will preserve the simple. He will preserve them from sin,
from falling in it, from the snares of it, from the pollutions
of this world, and from the temptations of Satan. And all this will be
done through His Spirit, His power, His grace, delivering
us safely to His kingdom and His glory. In Psalm 19, the law
of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, The testimony of the
Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Kids, you want to be
smart? Pay attention to Todd when he
preaches to you. Listen to your Sunday school teacher and read
this book. We are only wise when we simply
follow Him. I love the Lord because He preserveth
the simple. The second part of verse 6, ìI
was brought low and He helped me.î Turn to Psalm 88. Psalm
88. Psalm 88.1, ìO Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before
thee. Let my prayer come before thee,
incline thine ear unto my cry, for my soul is full of trouble
and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with
them that go down into the pit. I am as a man that hath no strength. Free among the dead, like the
slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest, no more,
and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the
lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. I was brought low and
He helped me." Now, when we're in this pit, we're as low as we can be because
He has brought us low. And do realize that if you're
brought low, It's because you need to be there. But in this
pit, we know that the Lord hears us cry out. And we know that
He inclines His ear to us, but He also helps us. Now, there
are plenty of people that might pass by this pit with me yelling,
and they would hear me, and they'd act like they didn't hear me.
There's others who would hear me and they'd look and see who
it was and they'd decide, I don't want to help him. And then there
are more who would pass by and hear me and want to help me,
but they couldn't. The only help from pit of sin
is the Savior. I love the Lord because I was
brought low and He's helped me. In verse 7, return unto the rest,
O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with me. I like this one. The Lord hath dealt bountifully
with me. I deserve nothing. I have nothing of value to offer. I don't have anything I can trade
or any part I can play. I have no skills to impress with,
no way of improving myself. I have nothing but the sin that
inhabits and consumes me. But with all of that said, this still holds true. The Lord
hath dealt bountifully with me." Or you could say, He rewarded
me. What have I done to deserve a reward? I've done nothing. It's Christ that's done it. In times past, even eternity,
having loved me with an everlasting love, chosen me in Christ, made
a covenant with me in Him, and made unto me exceeding great
and precious promises. He provided a Redeemer and a
Savior for me, whom He made known unto me, having enlightened,
quickened, and converted me. He laid up good things for me
to come and has done many great things for me already, all which
might serve to encourage my faith and my hope in Him. I love the
Lord because He dealt bountifully with His children. Verse 8, For
thou hast delivered my soul from death. We have no guarantees in this
body for how long we will live. My wife is due to have our first
child in less than two months. And I want nothing more here
than to be there for her and my daughter. But I have no idea
what lies ahead. There's no guarantee with this
body. I may not live another day or another moment. But I
do know that all the children of God will be delivered from
eternal spiritual death. Through the Lord Jesus Christ,
our Savior, who died on the cross, bearing our sin, that we, His
children, may have eternal life. I love the Lord because He's
delivered my soul from death. Thou hast delivered mine eyes
from tears." In the world we live, there are many causes for
tears. There are many times of sadness,
days of heartache, and mornings of grief. But when it comes to
Judgment Day, those who are found in the Lord will have no cause
for tears. There will be no more heartache
and no more pain. I love the Lord because He has
delivered mine eyes from tears." And the last part of verse 8,
Thou hast delivered my feet from falling. As we walk our path on this earth,
we stumble at every turn and we trip over every obstacle,
unable in ourselves to keep from falling into pit after pit. Turn with me to Jude 1, Jude
right before Revelation. This is a passage of Scripture
that I remember Mike Bartram used to read to close our services
numerous times when I was younger. Verse 24 of Jude 1. now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever. Amen." Now, when we're in this
pit, We know He hears us. We know He inclines His ear to
us. We know He helps us. And as this verse tells us, He
delivers us. In delivering us, there's no
help from the person who's being delivered. It's not a team effort. He doesn't drop a rope down and
you pull yourself up. He does it all. He reaches down. and picks you up. I love the Lord because He has
delivered my soul from death, delivered mine eyes from tears,
and delivered my feet from falling." Now, our last verse, verse 9. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living. Now, in reading about this verse,
Some of the writers said how this means that we should act
and live in a just manner while on this earth. Though I completely
agree that we should do that. That we should be an example
for others. And that we should live as upright and justly as
possible. And the way we act in this world
and in public is a direct correlation to what
we believe. But I want to look at this verse
the same way we've looked at the previous eight. In all these
reasons, they're all things that the Lord has done to or for me,
and this is no different. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living. The elect of God shall behold
the glory of the Lord and walk in His presence. We will enter
into heavenly rest. Deliverance from sin and sorrow
will be complete. And there will be delight that
we cannot now in any way conceive. It will be greater than anything
our imaginations could come up with. And as the Lord said to
the thief, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with
me in paradise. Now, these are just a few of
the infinite reasons to love the Lord Jesus Christ. But let's finish looking at Psalm
40. Psalm 40, verse 1. I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He inclined unto me, and He heard my cry. He brought me
up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set
my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a
new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see
it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. Let's offer thanks.