The Lord Is Near to All Who Call | Psalm 145:1-21

Show Notes

Episode 799: 
In this episode, hosts Chris and Jeff dive into the promises of God, focusing specifically on the theme of God being with us, or Emmanuel. We read from Psalm 145, which emphasizes God's greatness, mercy, and the importance of praising Him. We explore how the psalmist, likely King David, balances praise for God's deeds with admiration for His character. We reflect on how often we focus on what God does for us rather than who He is, and how deepening our understanding of God's nature can enhance our relationship with Him.

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You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys. We are Chris and we are Jeff. Yes, and I also am Jeff. We're not Jeff. I am Jeff, and you're Chris. Yeah, we are Chris and Jeff. We are Chris and Jeff. We're not Chris, Chris and Jeff. Right, hey, we are Chris or Jeff. Yeah. Sure, Well, anyway, we are the Bible guys, and we want to welcome you here, especially if you're a brand new listener. And we're in the middle of a series talking about the promises of God and what it means for us, and we're focusing this week on God being with us. Right, that's correct, that's right. Emman you well. And then today, before we get started, we have a segment, and the segment today has a jingle. It is mail Bags, Mail Bags. This is from Donna M and Donna M. Hi. Donna, there you go. M says, First off, I just want to say that my husband, Lie love listening to the Bibble guys. Oh that's very nice. So nice. Here's a silly question I recently thought. Well, then, hi, Donna's husband too of the correct because he's listening. Yes, yes, dude, that's We're so glad you're listening. That's cool. Here's a silly question that I recently thought of. Well listening and would love to hear your answers. If you had to swap lives with a cartoon character, who would you choose a cartoon character. You had to swap lives? Yeah, I just had to ask chat GPT, Oh wow, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, because you know it learns you. Yeah, right, so it learns you, so you ask This is an interesting take. Yes, so you asked chat GTP, chat GPT because it learns you and it starts to know your personality type. Right, So I'm really curious to see. So here's it here? Write write it in like this. I wrote, knowing me, what cartoon character would I choose to be? Knowing me? What cartoon character would I choose to be? Okay, now before you look at it, don't don't look at the answer. Okay, who would you choose to be? Who do you think you choose to be? So I know, no, you don't. When I was a kid, We had this show that I would watch with my kids called Fairly Odd Parents, and he had two fairies, Cosmo and Wanda, and he could wish anything he wanted to. Yes, I don't even remember the kid's name, Billy. Right, but but I remember Cosmo and Wanda. Yeah. But I just remember thinking to myself, I would love to be that kid. I would love to be that kid. Okay, so what you want to But that's not you growing up. No, No, that was me as a kid. That was me as an adult, you as an adult wishing you could be. I'm an adult now and the question is being asked to me now. Yeah, okay, but as a kid, who would you have wanted to be. As a kid, Yeah, I would say Spider Man. Spider Man. That's exactly what I was gonna say. Yeah. So okay, now look at it and see who it says for you. Okay, it says that's a fun question. Based on what I know about you so far, your love of creat a storytelling, deep spiritual insight, and ability to mixed humor and depth, especially in sermon writing. Holy cow, this is scary. I'd guess that you'd pick someone like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. Here's why. He's bold, confident, and mission driven to infinity and beyond. He has a strong sense of purpose, but he also learns humility and teamwork along the way, and like you, he blends inspiration with a bit of humor and heart. That's just my guess. Would I be right? Or do you think I'd like to pick someone else? Okay, so I asked it the same question. Yeah, so that's a fun question. I actually can make a pretty good guess based on your personality, humor, leadership, style, and all the creative work we've done together. Here's my read on your cartoon character alter ego, and he gave me several. So it gave me Batman, which is who I wanted to be as a kid. So Batman my favorite cartoon character as a kid. It also suggested Woody from Toy Story Wow, which it suggested Buzz, like, Hey, we could be Woody and Donna Tello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Tural. But the very first one it suggested was also Buzz light Year. Oh that's hilarious. Well, we have the same personality type. That's true. We have a lot of the same strengths and all of The tests in the feature were very similar in our stylion. That chose for both of us buzz light Years the first, but it chose for me specifically. It chose Batman, which is the as a kid, the cartoon character I would have wanted to be as Batman. That's a good choice. But give me five more options as well, based on who I am as a person. Right, yeah, okay, let's see who else again? All right, let's see love it? Okay, based on everything I know about you, blah blah blah blah. Are you kidding me? Here are the five favorite cato in the world. Here are the five cartoon characters that fit you. Number one, Move Fossa. You got that wide, steady presence, that kind of voice that people listen to when you speak, like Muve Foster. You leave with purpose. Number two, mister Incredible from the Incredible. That one. I like this option. I got that one too. You're about helping others. You want to cost you something. You love seeing people reach their potential. Say the Day. Number three, Dark Winged Duck. I've never even seen an episode of that. You get a playful confidence. Side Number four Blue from The Jungle Book, You get that easy, going down to earth vibe that people put you at ease. Like Blue, you make others feel safe, out and joyful. Number five Genie from Aladdin. Genie from Aladdin, You've got a creative waitty full of life that. You just said. Fairies who could answer all of your all of your dreams. Yeah, and so wishes and so there. Hey, Jeff, huh, you had never had a friend like me. That was a fun question. That was a fun question, was very fun. Okay, Donna, do you say Donna? Yeah, Donna m oh don, you're speaking to the writer in Okay, that's correct, she's the one who is Normally we say are forgotten. I forgot what segment we were wrong, because normally we say desiree. I was thinking Donna m and her husband for asking such a fun question. It is a fun question. That is a fun question. You know what else is fun? The Bible? The Bible. Wow, what's what's fun is finding a chapter in the Book of Songs, because there's one hundred and fifty of them. Yes, and so today we are. Towards the end. Yeah, and we are looking at the promises of God. And by the way, for those who don't know the book of Psalms, most of them, if was it, all of them were written as songs. Yeah, they're all they're all songs. They're all musical. The whole book is this that exception. The idea of a psalm is that it is a song. Okay, okay, But they're also prayers. So a worship song is always is a prayer song, right, you're speaking to God. So it's when you pray you sing like this. No, that's not how that's probably that's a psalter. Okay, okay. So anyway, when most of them are written by King David, I would say he wrote the vast majority of them, a bunch of them, and a lot of times it'll even give us context on when King David wrote it, and so we have context of like what is he in the cave of Adelum? Was it after his child passed away? Those kinds of things. But I don't think there's context. So can I read you a note before we start about psalms from the Life Application Study Bible, which we love. It says, most of the psalms are prayers, and most of these prayers include praise to God. Praise expresses admiration, appreciation, and thanks praise in the book of Psalms is often directed to God, and just as often the praise is shared with others. Considering all that God has done and does for us, what could be more natural than outbursts of heartfelt praise. As you read Psalms, note the praise given to God not only for what he does, like his creation, his blessings, and his forgiveness, but also for who He is, loving and just and faithful, forgiving and patient. Note also those times when the praise of God is shared with others, and they too are encouraged to praise Him In what ways have you recently praised God or told others all that He has done for you? Right? Isn't it great? The Life Application Bible asked you a question. It sure did. I don't really recall a lot of those types of. Notesess, A lot of them will ask that, yeah, it. Actually turned it back on you. I sure does. Great. So here's what it says in Psalm one. We'll just read the whole thing, and then we'll get to the promises of God in it. Right, So I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day. Yes, I will praise you forever. Great is the Lord, he is most worthy of praise. Remember, great is the. Lord, he is worthy. No one can measure his greatness. Let each generation tell its children. The Lord of Great is the Lord and worthy of Yep. That's funny. Let each generation if you don't know, that's like an early eighties worship song that was like really powerful, it's great, ye really big. Let each generation tell it's children of your mighty acts, and let them proclaim your power. I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. Your awe inspiring deeds will be on every tongue, and I will proclaim your greatness. Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness, and they will sing with joy about your righteousness. The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry, and filled with unfailing love. The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. All of your works well, thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, and they will give examples of your power. They will tell about your mighty deeds, and about the majesty and glory of your reign. For your kingdom as an everlast and kingdom, you rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises. He is gracious in all he does. The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. The eyes of the Lord look to you, and the eyes of all look to you, and hope you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. The Lord is righteous, and everything he does he is filled with kindness. The Lord is close to those who call on him, yes, to all who call on him. In truth, he grants the desires of those who fear him. He hears their cries for help and rescues them. The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked. I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever. Well, there you go. It's filled with a lot of great things. He's excited. Yeah, yeah, so you can see him flipping back and forth between I'm going to praise you for your miracles, but I'm also just going to talk about how you have unfailing love. Right. He goes back and forth between who God is and what God has done a lot of times, because we're so obsessed with ourselves, we don't even think about how good God is. We just think about how He gives us all our wildness, hopes and dreams. So a lot of times we thank him. We're thankful for thanks for the food, thanks for the house, thanks for the car, thanks for the family. And really what we're doing is I've got a really good life because of you. That's it's not wrong, right, But what we miss out on is the majesty and the wonder of just contemplating the greatness and the goodness of God. So he celebrates how powerful God is, how good God is, how compassionate God is, how merciful God is. And that's a whole other level of upping your game with regard to your relationship with God. Yeah, and it's and it's also how God taught us to pray. Right, So the first thing that he teaches us to pray is, you know, our Father art in heaven, how it would be your name? It's it's how great is your name? That's what that means it's it's great is your name, it's it's I'm going to spend time in my prayers acknowledging the giver of blessings, the giver of all good things, the giver of our salvation, the provider that I mean, all things that God is to us. We'll think about it for the men listening on the podcasts that are married. If alls you did was say, honey, I love how you kiss me, I love how you cook for me. I really appreciate the fact that you clean the house. I appreciate the fact that you get the kids ready. I appreciate the fact that you, you know, keep things in order. I appreciate the fact that assuming that she does all this. Yeah, I appreciate the fact that you buy me nice things when you think of me, and that you give me nice presents. And I really like that you put yourself together. And I like you. Right. If all you do is compliment her about the things you like that she does for you, she would start to feel like it was kind of a shallow relationship, even though you were like, what do you mean, I kept complimenting it? Well, she would also she wants to hear those things. She wants to hear that you're acknowledging and appreciative of what she does for you. Well, he really wants to hear what do you think about her? Right right, right now? You're making it all about you when all you do is thank her for what she does for you, right right, like like the whole universe surrounds is, you know, revolving around you, and that she just lives for you, right It's it's as opposed to having a mutual two way relationships. The narcissist who's who thinks he's complimenting. Right right, right, right right, always saying is I really like how you cook? I really like how you do all the work I. Like, I love you serving me, This is. Amazing me, as opposed to you know, you're a very compassionate person. I love I love how you treat people who are in need or or or I love the fact that you're so honest and I can always trust you. And when you start talking about the person rather than about their deeds, it drives the relationship deeper. So sure, you should talk about their deeds. David does here, but he's talking about the person of God even more, and that hints at a much deeper, much more intentional relationship. Yeah, that's that's really profound actually, because you know it is. I said this the other day in a sermon. And by the way, I stole this because all good pastors, when you hear something that gave you guys to please your eyes, he's got to be a way to say. But I remember, actually, is my good friend Tim. He was a youth. Pastor, Tim Chambers. Tim Chambers he used to be a youth pastor by the way here and Ryan Roade, but now he's in New York. But anyway, he actually said when I was literally like sixteen years old, he was good friends with my youth pastor. Uh. And he said, hey, Chris, he goes, I just teach my kids three things and they are in this order and they are dependent on one another. Are you ready? And I said, yeah, I'm ready, and he said write this down. He said, no, God, Love God, Serve God. And and then he just like gave me this fifteen minute devotional about it. And he says, he says, you have to get to know God. And people get it wrong. Some people they were raised in churches where it's like, hey, serve God, Serve God, Serve God, serve God. And what they do is they serve God without knowing him or loving him, and they feel obligated. They hear the rules, thou shot, thou shot, knots, you know, all these different kinds of things, and he goes, and the problem is it becomes daunting because they don't want to serve him. They have to serve him. He goes. But if you just take time to get to know God. Once you get to know him, to know him is to love him. And then once you love him, to love him, you absolutely want to serve him and everything you're going to do, but it's an overflow from your love, and that love is an overflow from just knowing who he is. So he said, it's always in that order, and they're completely dependent on one another to know God, love God, serve God. And so I just it's always stuck out to me obviously from that time until now, and it's been forty years almost since I've heard that, and then I begin to question it, like is that true? Is that really true? And I and I believe that is true. I believe it is the order. So that's why we tell people read your Bible, right, That's why we say to people, listen. There's many opportunities today to listen to podcasts, to you know, join a small group, you know, figure out how God fits into the equation of our lives, you know, discuss God in the equation of things. You know. Last night we had a small group and it was really fun to hear we talked about prayer and fasting and things. And I said, hey, so is prayer a part of your regular routine? And we went around the room and we just you know, asked the question, is prayer part of your regular routine? And it was so interesting to hear some people say absolutely, I pray every day, and some people to say, well, no, but wow, this sounds amazing, you know. And here they are, they're just they're they're they're observing others and they're in there and you could tell their brains are just sparking, you know, they're they're they're firing, and all cunaers thinking, gee whiz. I kind of want that for my own life, you know. And that's just part of getting to know God. Being around the things of God and the people of God who love God already will help you to get to know him, love him and serve him. That's a The prayer component can feel really weird because one, if you're if you come from a religious background, it can feel daunting because it feels like it's you know, big and mysterious and you don't deserve to talk to God. If you don't come from a religious background, it can feel a little bit like weird because you're talking to somebody can't see right right, both those things. But if you can begin to and this is where I think the benefit comes. Where David is meditating, he says, I will meditate on your majesty and your glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. So when you start to really meditate on God, when you really and meditate just means to focus your mind. Right, when you really be focusing your mind on God, you can begin to visualize the closeness to him, not that he has a body, but you know what I mean. You begin to kind of have this sense of closeness. And then it makes it far more reasonable to be talking to God. And then, as Paul says, you know, pray without ceasing. And he's not saying drive down the road with your eyes closed, you knowing he's saying that make this conversation with God, just being an ongoing conversation all the time. Talk to you getting ready to walk in a meeting, talk to God too, right, and Hey, God, I need you in this moment. So it's not about the big words. It's not about long seasons of prayer, praying for hours at a time. It's about this non stop conversation, keeping God connecting, being aware that God is always with you, even when there's nobody else with you, right, and and so that's a big part of it. Yeah, last night, there was a guy in our group, Yusef, who's listening by the way, and he was saying the same thing. He was saying. He goes, Eh, when you're talking about prayer, he goes, Oh, I usually pray in the morning. He goes, that's how I get started. And that's my longest prayer of the day. He goes, And then throughout the day he goes, there's just little snippets of me just talking to God in one sentences. I'd say that's mostly the way it works for me. Me too. But it was really so cute for me is to watch my wife's reaction because she goes, she looks over and she goes me too, exactly. That is exactly me. She was so excited, you know, because oftentimes people like we had one guy who said in the group and said, oh, I say all my prayers at night, and that works for me, you know, and there's nothing wrong with. Okay, So you've mentioned Jeff Miller being your best friend since you were in school. Ye yeah, yeah. How often do you just shoot a text to Jeff during the day or do you get a text from. I would say four or five times a. Day, right, so you don't need to call him and have a thirty minute conversation with him. It's just, hey, dude, I just saw this. This is great. You're just kind of continuing to do life with him from a distance, right, That's what you're doing. And it's the same. It's not like it's this big, long, all right, sit down, let's have this intense conversation. Those aren't necessary, and sometimes we need those. I think it's meaningful. But there's also just the everyday relationship side of it. So when you come to the big promise today, you know, it says in verse thirteen, the Lord always keeps his promises, and he's gracious in all that he does the Lord helps the fallen, he lifts those bent beneath their loads. But then verse eighteen is really the big promise. The Lord is close to all who call on him, Yes, to all who call on him in truth. And so this is why you need to know God's word, because God's word is truth. David tells us that your word is true. So when we are praying consistent with what God says, we can always know that he'll hear in answer and that he'll intervene for us. Right. The Lord always keeps his promises. He's gracious, and all he does he helps the fallen, he lifts those bent beneath the load. And the Lord is close to all those who call on him. Yeah right, Yeah. In calling on God is those one sentence prayers like my wife was just mentioning all throughout the day. Okay, God help me with this, God, what should I do? God give me wisdom, God give me strength. Right, it's calling on him right in truth, and he'll jump to the rescue. There's a note here in my study Bible that's the Transformation Study Bible, and it sort of summarizes verses seventeen through twenty one, and it says God is righteous, so we want to come with clean hands and a pure heart, and references chapter sixty six and says, but God is also loving, so we should love him and obey him. Prayer is not just a creature coming to its creator, or a servant coming to the master. It is a child coming to a heavenly father, knowing that he will meet the need. And he talks about Luke eleven, you know when stone and bread and all that, and he says he hears us, watches over us, and supplies our every need Philippin's four nineteen. When he answers prayer, we must praise him. And when he answers another prayer, we must praise him again. Love that, I love that, and certainly that is that is worthy of our notation right to say praise God. And then when he answers again, praise him again. Don't ever take it for granted, right, which is what David does over and over. Well, that reminds me of the story the husband and wife go they've been married for like forty years, and they go to the wedding of a young couple, and then throughout the night at the reception, the wife is just enraptured by how this young man is treating her his new bride, and he told her fifteen times how much he loved her. And so they're driving in the truck on the way back and she says, you know, I remember when you told me you loved me. No, man goes She said, why don't you tell me you love me all the time? He says, well, I'm in it when I told you, and if anything changes, I'll let you know. That's great. It's kind of our temptation to not bring it up again. But again, on a relational level, we have to keep reminding our spouses we love them and our children. I told my children how many times I told my child the first time I saw every one of them, I love you, right, But they needed to hear me tell them I love them a million times between then and the time they moved out right. And it's the same thing with your spouse with it. If you're going to maintain a relationship, you have to keep reaffirming the things you said before. This is why even David is acknowledging here. He's acknowledging that God keeps reaffirming it. Says he always keeps his promises, right, And it's the same. So God keeps reaffirming him himself to us, and then it's okay, and it's important for us to keep reaffirming our appreciation and our joy and our delight and our trust in him. And so it's this mutual relational back and forth with hey, I still love you, I still trust you. You know things are struggling now, and I'm still relying on you to provide for me and those kinds of things. And the Lord says he grants the desires of those who fear him, and he hears the cries for help rescue. Sim do you know what I like about this promise? All week we've been looking at different promises that are very similar, right, yeah, Deuteronomy. And then it was mentioned in Deuteronomy in the Gospels, you know, Matthew twenty eight, and so all of them say, oh God, God is with you, right, But this one is slightly different. It says God is close to you. Because there's a big difference I think with you know, thinking oh God's with me, and then if you think about the wording God is close to me, God is near me, God knows me, and they do mean the same thing. We just don't think of them sometimes as the same thing. Yes, but it says God knows your thoughts and emotions and your intentions, and he knows the depth of your heart better than you do. He knows the number of hairs that are on your head. He knows everything about you, even the hidden parts of your heart, and he still loves us the same. And so as the song says, right, so the idea of thinking that God is close to me for me is just a much better thought than knowing that he's just with me, right, you know, he's somewhere in the background with me and rooting me on, versus right next to me as a close personal friend. You know. So there's a I can't really get into this. I was gonna talk. There's a rhythm. There's twenty one verses here. It goes seven, seven and seven the middle seven. It ends with the idea that the Lord keeps his promises, and the Lord helps the fall and lifts them up. The front and the back explain why one he can do anything, he does mighty deeds, he's magnificent, and the back end is because he loves us and he's compassionate. Right, That's how again, that Middle We've talked about this before in the Bible, guys, Middle Eastern thinking, the center is reinforced by the outsides, and that's exactly what happens in this passage here. And so the whole song is written with the idea that God's going to take care of you and he's close to you. Yeah, it's pretty great. That's great. Well, hey, that is our time, so thanks for tuning in and hopefully we'll see tomorrow role on the Bible, gosh h