A Sermon Junky

One of my (probably) good habits is listening to sermons, online, often just before I go to bed. Whilst I think that one of the great blessings of the internet is the availability of a lot of good sermons by some really sound, godly teachers, often I find in my life, this habit can distract me from other disciplines, like prayer, and my own personal time in God's word. 


Listening to great teaching, day in, day out is a great blessing, but nothing can replace prayer & quiet times in our pursuit of holiness, and a deeper knowledge of God. Prayer will deepen our personal relationship with God when we speak to him, and reading the bible gives us deeper knowledge of him, two things which not even the best speakers can do for us. 


If you are in this habit, it's a good one to be in, but just watch yourself that you don't slip in another spiritual discipline!

Why Should We Trust God?

Talk about an obvious question! But reading psalm 104 gives us great help in answering it. Let's look at it in sections:

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. 

       O LORD my God, you are very great; 

       you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

 2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; 

       he stretches out the heavens like a tent

 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. 

       He makes the clouds his chariot 

       and rides on the wings of the wind.

 4 He makes winds his messengers, [a] 

       flames of fire his servants.

 5 He set the earth on its foundations; 

       it can never be moved.

 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; 

       the waters stood above the mountains.

 7 But at your rebuke the waters fled, 

       at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

 8 they flowed over the mountains, 

       they went down into the valleys, 

       to the place you assigned for them.

 9 You set a boundary they cannot cross; 

       never again will they cover the earth.

So, this opening section tells us that he is completely in control. He created the earth, he uses is for his purposes, it obeys his voice, or word, and obeys his command. When we have a god who is this in control of the universe, we can't help but to (sheepishly) give control over our lives to him. In a nutshell, God is Totally Sovereign.

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; 

       it flows between the mountains.

 11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; 

       the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

 12 The birds of the air nest by the waters; 

       they sing among the branches.

 13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; 

       the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, 

       and plants for man to cultivate— 

      bringing forth food from the earth:

 15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, 

       oil to make his face shine, 

       and bread that sustains his heart.

 16 The trees of the LORD are well watered, 

       the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

 17 There the birds make their nests; 

       the stork has its home in the pine trees.

 18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats; 

       the crags are a refuge for the coneys. [b]

 19 The moon marks off the seasons, 

       and the sun knows when to go down.

 20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, 

       and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

 21 The lions roar for their prey 

       and seek their food from God.

 22 The sun rises, and they steal away; 

       they return and lie down in their dens.

 23 Then man goes out to his work, 

       to his labor until evening.

 24 How many are your works, O LORD! 

       In wisdom you made them all; 

      the earth is full of your creatures.

25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, 

       teeming with creatures beyond number— 

       living things both large and small.

 26 There the ships go to and fro, 

       and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

 27 These all look to you 

       to give them their food at the proper time.

 28 When you give it to them, 

       they gather it up; 

      when you open your hand, 

     they are satisfied with good things.

 29 When you hide your face, 

       they are terrified; 

       when you take away their breath, 

       they die and return to the dust.

 30 When you send your Spirit, 

       they are created, 

       and you renew the face of the earth.

Next up, he is a provider! Notice how he provides water for the earth, food, shelter and life to all the animals. We must apply this to ourselves too, as Jesus did in Matthew 6:25-34. God provides for them, he will provide for us, what we need! Not always what we want, but what we need. So, we have a totally sovereign God, who provides for us. Feel like putting your trust in him yet? I thought so..

31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; 

       may the LORD rejoice in his works-

 32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, 

       who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; 

       I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, 

       as I rejoice in the LORD.

 35 But may sinners vanish from the earth 

       and the wicked be no more. 

       Praise the LORD, O my soul. 

       Praise the LORD.

And in summary, because God is totally sovereign, and provides for us, we praise him, and we fear him (in a good, biblical way, not in a terror way). So let's live this out (I'm preaching to myself here), to trust a God like this. As someone called D.A Carson says, "That's the only kind of God there is, so get used to it!". But thankfully he is like this!