Scripture Passage – Psalm 85
Description – Fourth Message of Summer 2010 Series
(Slide one) During Sibs Camp this past week, there were some fish near one of the docks who were attacking swimmers who swam in the area. We were encouraged not to swim in the area and none of us did. (This was not the dock area in question!)
But how many of us have had days and even weeks (maybe this past week) in which you felt like you had been swimming with these (sharks)… (Slide two) or one of these (piranhas)? (slide two a)
(Slide three) On Thursday afternoon of camp, due to the weather, the kids stayed inside and watched the original Toy Story movie. I have watched that film many, many times but it was the first time I had viewed it in several years. (Briefly: the story is about a boy’s toys who deal with jealousy and insecurity among other things and the battle which brews between his two most popular toys. One a cowboy named Woody and the other an astronaut named Buzz.)
As the movie entered the segment where Sid (the boy next door) is preparing Buzz for a ride into space from his backyard on a giant firecracker, (Buzz and Woody get separated from Andy, their owner) Woody persuades Sid’s group of misfit and even grotesque toys to help him rescue Buzz.
The result is a classic movie scene in which the toys turn on their owner with Woody leading them and uttering the classic line, “So play nice!” causing Sid to think he is being tortured and so runs for his life!
(Slide three a) As I thought about that segment in the context of today’s message I found myself asking, “What was it that caused those toys who had nothing to gain to help two toys who had everything to lose get back to their owner?”
Could it have been mercy?
Our main text for this morning is Psalm 85 and again I am asking you to get out pens/pencils and your bulletins and, as I read the text, note the phrases in which mercy, God’s mercy, is described. (Let us hear the word of God this morning):
Lord, you have poured out amazing blessings on your land!
You have restored the fortunes of Israel.
2 You have forgiven the guilt of your people—
yes, you have covered all their sins.
3 You have withdrawn your fury.
You have ended your blazing anger.
4 Now turn to us again, O God of our salvation.
Put aside your anger against us.
5 Will you be angry with us always?
Will you prolong your wrath to distant generations?
6 Won’t you revive us again,
so your people can rejoice in you?
7 Show us your unfailing love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
8 I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying,
for he speaks peace to his people, his faithful ones.
But let them not return to their foolish ways.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who honor him;
our land will be filled with his glory.
10 Unfailing love and truth have met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed!
11 Truth springs up from the earth,
and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings.
Our land will yield its bountiful crops.
13 Righteousness goes as a herald before him,
preparing the way for his steps.
What did you discover about God’s mercy in this passage? (Congregation responds)
Now last week I spoke out of Psalm 103 on the graciousness of God and the gracious life He has given to us. A key aspect of God’s graciousness and the gracious life He gives is His mercy.
Can you recall a time when you were shown mercy? It was wonderful wasn’t it? We walked away feeling like we had been given a second chance.
I remember a time when a police officer showed me mercy when he gave me a verbal warning about speeding and not a ticket. It was wonderful!
As I wrote these words I was reminded of words, and a far reaching act, of mercy, almost 36 years ago this summer, when our only President who was not elected to that office wrote in a speech that shaped his time in office: I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy. The President was Gerald Ford and the far reaching act was the pardon of Richard Nixon for his actions related to the Watergate scandal. (Source: http://www.watergate.info/ford/pardon.shtml )
Many thought, then as now, that Ford should not have done this. Others felt that to continue the legal proceedings would have done great damage to the nation.
Jesus speaks of mercy in a very key New Testament passage, Matthew 5:7 when he says “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Our text for this morning starts out with the Psalmist acknowledging the mercy of God in the past through His restoration of Israel’s fortunes through the forgiveness of their sins. God does show His great mercy in forgiving our sins as we remember from last week. He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does he deal with us as we deserve. (Psalm 103:10)
There is much said and written these about God’s justice, and He is a just God. There are many who believe that God has been judging America (and He is a righteous judge) through ecological disasters and a tanking economy.
Now I think that God wants us to turn to Him all the time, but we seem more open to Him when the going gets tough than when things are going well. So mercy is something that comes during the darkness of life and not necessarily the brighter times.
However, notice verse 4: “Now turn to us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside your anger against us.”
That word “now” indicates a desire on the part of Psalmist, speaking for the people, for the Lord to make a change of direction. A direction of “turning toward.”
Mercy is a turning toward. Think about the acts of mercy you have been shown. Think about the ones you have shown.
In showing mercy, you have turned toward or been turned toward by someone. Literally, emotionally, and relationally there has been a face to face ’ness’ in showing mercy.
Mercy is sought here not just in a deeper and more profound way but in a very personal and renewing way.
Will you be angry with us always? Will you prolong your wrath to distant generations? Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
I think that one of the tragedies of today is that mercy is often left out of the practice of the Christian faith. I have been guilty of not showing mercy when I should have shown it. And I have been the recipient of the lack of mercy.
How well are we, the church, doing these days in showing mercy?
We serve a merciful God.
A book that not too many sermons are written out of is a book that describes God’s mercy to the ancient Hebrews at the worst moment in their history – when they are kicked out of their homeland and driven into exile. It is the book appropriately called Lamentations.
It begins as follows:
“Jerusalem’s streets, once bustling with people, are now silent. Like a widow broken with grief, she sits alone in her mourning. Once the queen of nations, she is now a slave. Are in mourning, no longer filled with crowds on their way to celebrate the Temple festivals. The city gates are silent, her priests groan, her young women are crying—how bitterly Jerusalem weeps!” (Lamentations 1:1 NLT)
Not a pretty picture.
It goes on like this for the next two and a half chapters until we get to verse 21 in chapter 3:
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
The Psalmist writes in verses 6 and 7 “Won’t you revive us again,
so your people can rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.”
(Slide four) So what does this mean for us? How does the mercy of God affect our lives?
We need to remember the mercies of God. They are within who He is… loving, gracious, kind, compassionate, and yes, just.
They are also a part of what He has done. Think of the Hebrews departure from slavery in Egypt. Think of David not losing his throne because of his affair with Bathsheba. Think of woman at the well. Think of Paul’s encounter with Christ while en-route to arrest some of His followers.
Think of how Christ has forgiven us when we have failed… again and again.
(Slide four a) We need to remember revival as a key expression of God’s mercy. It is mentioned in verse 6. I suggest that we consider the placement of revival in this manner as indication that as part of God’s mercy, we need to be revived… in our relationship with the Lord, in our trust in Him, in our love and obedience to Him, and in our relationship with one another.
Do you need reviving this morning?
(Slide four b) Finally we need to remember to rejoice. There is rejoicing in these words. We get hints of it in verses 10 through 12, “Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed! Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven. Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings. Our land will yield its bountiful crops.”
Mercy is cause for rejoicing! When we are granted mercy we experience joy and hope.
Just like a couple of toys did.
Once Sid’s toys showed mercy to Woody and Buzz, we watch the concluding events of the film with great anticipation. And while there is a whole sequence of ups and downs, they are finally reunited with Andy and the story ends in hope because of mercy.
The Lord, I remind us today, wants our lives to end in hope! And in His great mercy He keeps that hope sustained, day in and day out. Let us continue to show mercy and allow the mercy of God to work in us so that God’s good purpose is accomplished. Amen.
