This is the manuscript for the fourth sermon in a thirteen-sermon series "The Doctrine of God".
You can watch a video recording of the entire service on the Christ Church YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/jOmK_cRp9fI
Scripture Reading:
Psalm 18:31-45 ESV For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?— the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed. I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them. I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets. You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.
Introduction
Two weeks ago my sermon was about the justice of God. In it I said that:
The justice of God assures.
The justice of God assures us that it makes sense to pray
The justice of God assures us that our world rests solidly on a moral foundation.
The justice of God assures us that the end result will be right and good.
The justice of God implies.
The justice of God implies that He will judge the wicked, the sinful, and the rebellious.
The justice of God implies his acquittal of the innocent and the oppressed.
The justice of God implies his eternal correction of earthly injustice.
The justice of God warns.
The justice of God warns us that we are not to doubt God’s character.
The justice of God requires.
The justice of God requires that sin be punished and that it be punished by death.
The justice of God requires a cross.
The justice of God requires justification by faith as the gift of God.
Today I want to talk about the gentleness of God so our text is.
Text:
Psalm 18:35 ESV You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.
At no other place in the Bible is this exact word, "gentleness" used to describe God. It wasn't the bow or the shield that made the psalmist, David, victorious,it was the helpful strength of a gentle God.
I want us to consider today, four questions about the gentleness of God.
How should we see God’s gentleness?
Where can we find God’s gentleness?
What does God’s gentleness tell us about God?
What does God’s gentleness accomplish in our lives?
I. How should we see God’s gentleness?
Let’s look at three points of view.
A. We should see God’s gentleness against the background of his power. Some people may mistake gentleness or restraint weakness but only the strong can be truly gentle. The greater the power, the more striking the gentleness becomes.
Isaiah 40:10-11 ESV Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Here we get a picture of God that shows Him to be both gentle and powerful. In verse 11 we read: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms” But that verse follows 10 which says: “Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him”. He is full of power, but gentle when it comes to protecting the vulnerable.
And when you think of Jesus, you will remember that He made a whip and ran the money-changers out of the temple;
John 2:13-15 ESV The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
But his same Jesus who showed power also gently cared for children.
Luke 18:15-16 ESV Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Jesus used powerful words in denouncing the Pharisees in Matthew 23 when he called them hypocrites, blind guides, and whitewashed tombs, but this same Jesus forgave the adulterous woman who needed His gentle mercy
John 8:10-11 ESV Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]]
B. We should see God’s gentleness against the background of his righteousness and purity. Never take God's gentleness as tolerance. I said this two weeks ago and again last week that the justice of God assures us that our world rests solidly on a moral foundation.
The justice of God assures us that the end result will be right and good. In the end the right will prevail, because He is on the side of the right.
At the same time, when we measure things by Calvary, we are awed by God’s gentleness.
The justice of God requires that sin be punished and that it be punished by death.
Ezekiel 18:4 NIV For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.
Galatians 6:7 NIV Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
When we consider these two scriptures the question becomes, how is it possible that any of us, with our corrupt, sinful nature, ever hope to cross the chasm that separates us from a holy God? How is God’s gentleness shown?
It is shown through a substitute to die in our place.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 NIV All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
C. We see God’s gentleness in Jesus Christ.
Look at Isaiah’s prophecy again.
Isaiah 40:11 ESV He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
To the nation of Judah which was a nation familiar with sheep and shepherds this was an appropriate description of gentleness. All power was his, but he was also gentle. Paul also saw this. He said the Christ was meek and gentle.
2 Corinthians 10:1 ESV I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—
II. Where can we find God’s gentleness?
Think of God the Father; He is gentle.
Psalm 103:13-14 ESV As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Think of the Son. He is gentleness incarnate, gentleness in the flesh.
See Him gathering little children up into His arms to bless them, weeping outside Jerusalem over the hardened condition of His soon to be murderers,
Luke 19:41-44 NIV As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
We see Him weeping at His friend Lazarus' grave.
John 11:33-36 ESV When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Isaiah prophesied about His gentleness
Isaiah 53:7 NIV He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Think of the Holy Spirit
Think of how gently He brings us to faith, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, renewing our wills, and persuading and enabling us to embrace Jesus Christ's gift of eternal life,
John 16:7-11 NIV But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Romans 6:23 NIV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
GOD IS GENTLE IN HIS PROVIDENCE
God is always doing something in all our lives.
Romans 11:36 NIV says For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
All creatures, actions, and things from the greatest to the least are in His hands. His fingerprints are on every atom of the universe. His sovereignty even overrules the mistakes we make and the sins we commit. There’s a saying "He handles our sinfulness sinlessly" - and all this is to His glory! We don't often feel His hands or hear his footsteps, yet He is always there, everywhere, and active in everything.
GOD IS GENTLE IN HIS KINDNESS
That's what really captured David's attention in the Scripture for today in Psalms 18 and in our text;
Psalm 18:35 ESV You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.
God has a wonderful habit of lifting up those who really deserve to be cast out and down into hell.
Romans 3:22-24 NIV This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
He loves us at the cost of His Son. He washes us clean with His blood, fills us up with HIs Spirit, makes us new in His likeness, brightens our soul with His glory, adopts us into His family, and works our all to His good.
Romans 8:14-17 NIV For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:28-30 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
We find the gentleness of God in His dealings with each of us.
We know what the penalty of sin is, it is death
Romans 6:23 NIV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Yet because He is gentle and loves us He gives us time to accept this gift of eternal life.
2 Peter 3:9 NIV The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2. Not only does God save us from our sins, but he keeps us safe.
John 10:28-30 NIV I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
III. What does God’s gentleness tell us about God?
At least three things.
A. God’s gentleness reveals his perfect understanding of his children. Have you ever noticed how, when a child is seriously ill, everyone in the house grows strangely gentle?
Romans 3:22-24 NIV This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
B. God’s gentleness reveals our value in his sight.
John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
In Matthew 10 when Jesus was sending the disciples out in pairs this is one of the things that He said;
Matthew 10:29-31 NIV Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
We sometimes don’t take these words seriously but we should because we are valuable to God.
In our earthly relationships, how we are valued or loved is usually in direct proportion to how we act or, even worse, to what we can do for or give to others. Not so with God. We are infinitely loved and valued no matter what. We are chosen because of His great love, and that love will be sustained to the very end.
We are all important to him. That is why he is so gentle with us.
C. God’s gentleness reveals his infinite patience with even the worst of us.
Every parent knows how hard it is to be gentle with an annoying, irritating, child who is constantly disobedient. But no child was ever as provoking to the tender heart of his or her mother as you and I must be to God. When we sin, when we fail to trust him, when we grow bitter, when we become despondent, how provoking this must be to his infinitely loving heart but God is love and as it says in
1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
IV. What does God’s gentleness accomplish in our lives?
A. God’s gentleness encourages us to pray. Of course our omniscient Father already knows the things we need. But God does deprive us of our main comfort in life, our anchor in trouble, our closest, highest fellowship, which is our ability to talk to Him.
Jesus said,
Matthew 7:7-8 NIV “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
In other words, “Pray, and I will hear you.”
B. Little by little, God’s gentleness makes us into what he wants us to be.
Romans 8:29-30 ESV For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
David was great politically, intellectually, and artistically, but as it shows in our text, he humbly recognized that the gentleness of God enabled him to be great politically, intellectually, and artistically.
Psalm 18:35 ESV You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.
Conclusion
Sometimes we may feel that God is not very gentle when we are being disciplined, but remember it's because our gentle Father loves us He disciplines us.
Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Sometimes that discipline comes through tests and trials designed to remove the impurities.
I talked about this a few weeks ago but if you went to a silversmith and asked him about how to refine silver they would tell you that in refining silver, you need to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest to burn away all the impurities. The way that you know that the refining process is complete is when you can see your image reflected in it. The more we are refined the more we will reflect the image of God. Always remember, when silver is in the fire, the silversmith is not far away, he is right there.
Heavenly Father,
We come before you with gratitude for all that you are, for all that you have given us, for your mercy and grace towards us, for your presence and faithfulness. You created us to reflect your image, and in doing so, to bring you glory. We confess to you that we fail to do this. Every day, we fall short. In our words, our actions, and in our thoughts, we lift up ourselves and created things instead of you. Thank you for your unfailing patience with us. Thank you for your gentleness with our stubborn and rebellious hearts.
Once again, Jesus, we see in you what is most needed in our own lives and in the world. You tell us to learn from you for you are gentle and humble in heart. You modeled gentleness and humility while you lived here on earth. You have dealt gently with us in our sin and rebellion. Help us to learn from you and follow your example.
In Jesus name
Unsaved friend, God's gentleness will assure to you “great salvation”
Hebrews 2:3-4 NIV how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Jesus extends an invitation to all of us, at Matthew 11:28-29: “28 Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Here is what it says in the Bible
Romans 10:9-10, 13 NIV If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If not, do so now!
Suggested prayer: “Heavenly Father, I thank you for sending your only begotten Son to die for my sins. I thank you for redeeming me by His precious blood and forgiving me of my sins. I confess my sins and repent of my dead works, and I ask for a rebirth and a new beginning. I put faith in your Son, Jesus Christ, as my Lord and Savior. I know there is salvation in no other name, under heaven. I pray Lord Jesus that you will come into my life, and guide and direct me in all of your ways. I pray this prayer in Jesus Christ’s name, Amen.”
Sermon Audio
