Psalm 36
August 22, 2021
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“There is no other matter in which the heart is more deceitful and unsearchable. Alas, how much pride the best have in their hearts! Pride is God’s most stubborn enemy! There is no sin so much like the devil as pride. It is a secret and subtle sin, and appears in a great many shapes which are undetected and unsuspected.”

~ Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), American theologian, philosopher and pastor

“Justification by faith alone frees me to love my neighbor disinterestedly, for his or her own sake, as my sister or brother, not as the calculated means to my own desired ends.”

~ Timothy George (1950-present), American theologian and journalist

“Self-justification and judging others go together, as justification by grace and serving others go together.”

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), German pastor and author who was killed as an anti-Nazi dissident

“Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons… Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce, defensive assertion of their own righteousness, and defensive criticism of others.”

~ Richard F. Lovelace (1931-present), author and professor

“Our insecurities, fears, and doubts can never be banished by the knowledge of who we are. They can only be banished by the knowledge of ‘I AM.’”

~ Jen Wilkin (1969-present), American author and Bible teacher

Sermon Passage

Psalm 36 (ESV)

¹ Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. ² For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. ³ The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. ⁴ He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.

⁵ Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. ⁶ Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.

⁷ How precious is your steadfast love, O God!  The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. ⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. ⁹ For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

¹⁰ Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! ¹¹ Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. ¹² There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Galatians 5:26; 6:14-16 (NIV)

Galatians 5

²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 6

¹⁴ May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  ¹⁵ Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. ¹⁶ Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.