(upbeat music)
- Hi, this is Pastor Tom welcoming you
to our look at Psalm 75 and drive time devotions today.
Psalm 75 talks about three truths
to give you daily confidence in walking with God.
Let's get right into them.
First, you have confidence,
you can have confidence in your daily walk with God
when you know that God's name is near.
That's the first truth, God's name is near.
Verse one, "We give thanks to you, O God,
to give thanks for your name is near."
Now, what does that mean?
What does it mean for God's name to be near?
Well, first it means that God is near.
In the Bible, a name represented your person,
your power, and your presence.
And in your daily walk with God, God is near to you.
He's near to you with every step.
Jesus told us that God is aware of every sparrow that falls,
so he's certainly aware of every moment of your life.
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.
We don't serve a God who's watching from a distance.
We walk with a Father who's as close as our next heartbeat.
Your name is near.
Now, names in the Bible
were also a representation of somebody's character.
So it's also saying here that God's character,
the very person of who God is, is near to you.
The names of God point to the character of God.
And if you look at some of the most common names of God
in the Bible, you see his character reflected.
Elohim reflects his character of power and greatness
and vastness and authority.
Yahweh is his character of eternal existence.
Adonai, his character of personal care.
Father, his character of a relationship of love to you.
So when you say that you see that God's name is near,
it's saying that you're seeing
that all of who God is in his character
is near to you right now.
God's power is near to you, Elohim.
His authority is near to you, Yahweh.
His personal care is near, Adonai.
His love is near, Father.
Remember when Moses asked for God's name.
Remember what God told him?
God told Moses his name is I am.
So God's name is near to you.
God is saying, I am.
I am here right now with you.
And as you look at some of the more common names of God
in the Bible that are based on this I am statement,
you see even more revealed about the character of God
being close to us, near to us through life.
God's name is Jehovah Jireh.
I am Jireh.
It means I am your provision.
God's provision is near to you right now.
It may not be coming through like you want it,
but it's not because it's far away.
God's name is near.
It's gonna come through at just the right time.
God's name in the Bible is Jehovah Nisi.
That means I am your victory.
Jehovah, I am, and Nisi, your victory.
I am your victory.
God's victory is near to you right now.
Even with all the defeat you may be facing
in your life right now, God is near,
so his victory is near.
God's name is Jehovah Shalom.
I am your peace.
That's the one you might recognize, shalom, peace.
God's peace, even in all the turmoil
that you're facing right now,
confusion you might be facing,
God's peace is near to you right now.
God's name is near, and that gives us great confidence
in our daily walk with God.
There's a second source of confidence in this psalm.
God's name is near.
Number two, God's deeds are wonderful.
God's deeds are wonderful.
Last half of verse one says,
men tell of your wonderful deeds.
People talk about what a wonderful world we live in.
There's songs about it.
What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful world.
The truth is, there's a lot in this world
that's not wonderful.
There's a lot in this world that's hurtful.
There's a lot in this world that's evil.
And so people talk about what a cruel world we live in.
But the truth is, even in this cruel world,
we are surrounded by the wonderful work of God.
We live in a cruel world,
but we are surrounded as followers of Christ
by the wonderful work of God, the wonder of his creation.
Even in a fallen creation,
we can see the wonder of God as our creator,
the wonder of his grace,
the wonder of his working through your life
to make a difference, the wonder of his miracles.
We struggle in our daily walk with God
when we lose our sense of wonder.
And for all of us, what was once wonderful
can too easily become familiar.
The Christian life can be like living in a house
with a view of the Grand Canyon.
You start to lose the sense of awe
when you live with something every day.
So I want to encourage you right now
to just take a moment to breathe in
the wonder of God's creation,
the wonder of God's grace.
That's one of the truths that helps us
to have confidence in our daily walk with God.
God's deeds are wonderful.
There's a third truth in Psalm 75
to strengthen you in your walk with God today.
Number three, God's judgment is upright.
We're strengthened when we realize
that a lot of judgment in this world is upside down,
but that judgment, this world's judgment,
it's not the end of the story.
In this world, the evil are honored
and the humble are mocked.
But God's judgment,
the judgment that's gonna be the end of the story,
the last word, God's judgment is upright.
It will all be set right in the end.
Now, there's two important truths about judgment here.
God is right in his judgment
and God is right in his timing.
When we say that God is upright,
it means God is right in his judgment
and God is right in his timing.
God is right in his judgment,
verses six and seven.
No one from east or west or from the desert
can exalt a man, but it is God who judges.
He brings one down.
He exalts another.
Only God can rightly judge our hearts
because only God truly knows our hearts.
We don't even know our own hearts
as well as we'd like to think.
So only God is right in his judgment.
God is upright.
Now, as we talk about judgment here,
it's good to notice there's a lot about horns in this psalm.
Look at verses four and five and verses eight and 10.
To the arrogant I say, "Boast no more."
And to the wicked, "Do not lift up your horns."
Do not lift up your horns against heaven.
Do not speak without stretched neck.
Verses eight and nine.
"In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming wine
"mixed with spices.
"He pours it out and all the wicked of the earth
"drink it down to their very dregs.
"As for me, I will declare this forever.
"I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
"I will cut off," God says, "the horns of all the wicked,
"but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up."
So what is all this about horns?
Well, he's not talking about a bugle
that you blow this big note.
That's not what this is about.
I will cut off the horns.
He's talking about the horns
that might be on somebody's head.
I know we don't have horns on our head.
It's a picture.
It's a picture of power.
The animal with the biggest horns
is the one who had the greatest power,
who ruled over his pack, his tribe, his whatever.
Horns are a sign of authority and strength.
You see them, by the way, again,
in the Book of Revelation.
There's a lot about horns in the Book of Revelation
because God, throughout the Book of Revelation,
is cutting off the horns of all the wicked
and the horns of the righteous are being lifted up.
That's saying that authority, the strength
of the righteous are gonna be lifted up in the end.
This picture of horns is a picture of the truth
that we all live under God's authority and strength.
Those who see this,
they look forward to the promise of life.
Those who fight against this, he says,
they're only looking forward to bitter judgment.
And only God in the end can make that judgment
because God is the only upright judge
and God is the only one in the end
who will make that judgment.
He promises to do this.
Now, you strengthen in your daily walk with God
when you realize this truth.
You're also strengthened when you realize the truth
that God is right in his timing.
God is right in his judgment.
He's also right in his timing of that judgment.
Verse two, you, God say, I choose the appointed time.
It is I who judge uprightly.
When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm.
God, only God knows the right time to judge.
We all want God to judge evil more quickly
until we see the evil in ourselves.
And then we want him to take more time.
Well, God's gonna take his right time every time.
And do not think that because God is waiting,
it means God is powerless.
God has the power to wait until his appointed time.
God is right in his judgment.
God is right in his timing.
And these two truths give you huge encouragement
in your daily walk with God.
They keep us from two of the greatest drains
on our energy when we serve God.
They help us to realize these two truths.
First, I'm not the judge, God is.
I wonder if there's anything that damages
our daily walk with God more than a judgmental spirit.
It's not my job to judge.
It's my job to love and to serve and to worship.
And the second truth is,
I'm not in charge of the timetable, God is.
We waste so much time and energy
trying to guess God's timetable
and then dealing with our disappointment
when our guess inevitably turns out to be wrong.
No, just recognize God, it's in your hands.
I can trust you with the timetable.
So, in your walk with God today,
to gain new energy, new confidence,
remember these three truths in this psalm.
God's name is near.
God's blessings are wonderful.
God's judgment is upright.
Let's pray together.
Father, we want to walk with strength before you today.
We want to walk with faith.
So we remind ourselves that all of who you are
in your character, it's near to us right now.
Your care, your love, your power, your strength,
it is not far from us.
However we happen to feel, your name is near.
And we remind ourselves of the wonder of your blessings.
Forgive us for getting familiar with your grace
and your love and your forgiveness.
And I pray that through your spirit,
you'd help us to recapture, even today,
some of the wonder of those things in our lives.
And God, thank you that your judgment is upright.
We don't have to be the judge because you are the judge.
We couldn't be the judge.
We don't have to figure out the timetable
because it is your timetable.
And so we sit in humility before your judgment,
recognizing that you will judge us in the end as well
and praising you that Jesus Christ took the punishment
for us so that we didn't have to face your eternal judgment
so that we can instead enjoy being with you forever.
Thank you God that your judgment is upright.
But your judgment is also loving.
We see that so clearly in the life of Jesus.
Thank you for who you are.
And thank you that we get to walk with you today.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
(upbeat music)