God’s Steadfast
Love
Introduction:
“Hallelujah” That’s
how Psalm 106 both begins and ends. Praise the Lord! This Psalm well
illustrates God’s steadfast love for His people in the face of their
repeated unfaithfulness.
Text:
Psalm 106
Body:
I.
Praising God for His Steadfast Love (Verses 1-5)
· Thank God for His
goodness. He is the source of everything that’s good. (James 1:17)
He is full of generosity. (Psalm 25:7-8)
· “Steadfast love”
His love and mercy are always available; they can never run out. He
can restore and revive us. He never gets tired of being good.
· Reflect on His
wonderful works. (Psalm 40:5)
· Stress the need
for faithfulness to God’s covenant. “Observe justice and do
righteousness.” (Proverbs 28:5, I John 3:7)
· “Blessed”
Blessings of a faithful life are inward peace, possession of God’s
loving kindness, assured hope.
· Good things that
await the child of God are gladness (Psalm 144:15) and glory of an
inheritance. (I Peter 1:4)
II.
Illustrating God’s Steadfast Love (Verses 6-43)
· In Egypt
(Verses 6-12) Israel forgot God’s past love for them and had
unbelieving hearts. But God’s love caused him to show mercy and save
them. (Exodus 14:30-31)
· In the desert
(wilderness) (Verses 13-33) (Verses 13-15) Israel made demands of
God and He gave them what they wanted. But they received more than
they bargained for. Fire of the Lord burned among them. (Numbers 11)
Note: If God blesses you with material prosperity, pray that He
will enable you to properly use such blessings. (Verses 16-18)
They were envious of God’s leaders and He disciplined them. (Numbers
16) The Earth swallowed them up. (Verses 19-23) They made a golden
calf and worshipped it. But God did not destroy them due to Moses
intercession. (Exodus 32) (Verses 24-27) They murmured and grumbled
about the Promised Land. (Numbers 13) The spies who did not believe
they could take the land did not get to enter Canaan. (Verses 28-31)
They compromised their religion and God sent a plague upon them; but
He relented upon Phinehas’ intercession. (Numbers 25) (Verses 32-33)
People, along with Moses, lost self-control at the waters of Meribah.
(Numbers 20)
· In Canaan
(Verses 34-43) Israel did not destroy the Canaanites but rather had
fellowship with them. [Book of Judges] But time after time, God
delivered them. (Exodus 34:6, Judges 2:16, Psalm 69:16-18)
III.
Praying for His Continued Steadfast Love (Verses
44-48)
· (Verse 47) See
Psalm 34:1-3 (Verse 48) “Amen” – Let it be so! Psalm 106 ends with
Hallelujah just the same as it started.
Conclusion:
We see from this
psalm that because of God’s goodness, He loves all people but hates
their sins. He does not change His laws to relieve the disobedient
from their suffering. We also learn God’s mercy is always available
if we come to Him in simple trusting faith.
Bobby Stafford
December 22, 2013
