Opening

• It is possible for someone can do so much for you that it is impossible for you to pay them back

• Gabrielle Aguzman struggled with severe heart failure. In 2004, she suffered two heart attacks back to back and was in a coma.

• She was at her lowest point, lost hope, and wanted to die. She was placed on a heart transplant list for a new heart. She waited for 18 months before receiving a new heart.

• She received a new heart in October 2007. She felt no pain and wanted to meet the family of her donor’s heart. She weeped when she saw the donor’s mothers.

• She stated she could never repay them for what her son’s has done for her

Sermon Key Points

• In Psalm 116, the Psalmist heart is filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. He is asking what can I give to God as a thank you for what you have done for me. 

• What can WE who owns nothing and owe God everything give to God who owns everything but owes us nothing?

• The collection of the 150 were not put together randomly but put together intentionally. 

• It tells a story about the character and nature of God’s power

• Psalms 113-118- express praise and thanksgiving to God for his delivering power. 

• Psalm 113 & 114- discusses how God delivered his people for Egypt 

• Psalm 116 talks about how God delivers his people collectively to delivering his people individually

• Psalm 116:1- The Psalmist opens up saying “I love the Lord”. We should love God with everything that we say and do

• Your inward devotion to God to be misaligned with how you outwardly express it

•  The Psalmist can be an outward expression because It is a response to the Lord’s loyal commitment to him. I love the Lord because he first loved me. 

• The Psalmist expresses he was in a dire position and all he found was stress and sorrow 

• He then turned his cries to the Lord 

• He learned about the character of God during his troubled times

• We experienced God in a deep more meaningful way when we trust HIM

• You learn about God in the most vulnerable time in your life

• Psalm 116:9- I will honor the Lord with my life and what I do because of what he has done for me. 

• Psalm 116:10- You can be honest about the trouble you’re in and your trust in God at the same time

• The answer is found in Psalm 116:13- “I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.

• A mature believer will be moved by genuine gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s proven faithfulness in their lives and they give sacrificially.