A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! We use the English Standard Version for our weekly readings. One of the things that struck me when I first started using the ESV is how many times the phrase “steadfast love” is used to describe God and His actions. I had never noticed that phrase before. And there is a good reason. While the ESV uses the phrase “steadfast love” 208 times, it’s never used in the New International Version that I used for over 20 years. The NIV has the words kindness, love, or mercy instead. But steadfast love is a better translation. For the Hebrew word here is not the general word for “love.” It is a word that has the connotation of undeserved love and mercy, and it often refers to deeds of love and mercy that are a fulfillment of a covenant, a promise of God to His people, generally sealed...

"Christ on the Cross" by Eugene Delacroix Click here to listen to this sermon. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south” (Psalm 107:1-3). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The psalmist commends God’s goodness and His steadfast love as reason for giving thanks. However, there are three kinds of people who do not give thanks to the Lord because He is good. The first kind is those who do not believe in God, or if they do doubt His ability or inclination to do anything to redeem them from their trouble. Some look at events in the world, or circumstances of their life and doubt His goodness and love. The second kind is that of the despairing, those who certainly believe that God can and knows how to deliver them from thei...