Here’s a bit of trivia for you. Do you know where the exact middle of the Bible is to be found? Psalm 118. There are exactly 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters after Psalm 118, so, at least using as that measurement, the middle of the Bible is Psalm 118.

Psalm 118 is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. Psalm 118 is a testimony to the strength and power of faith in the midst of fear and anxiety. Martin Luther, who gave birth to the Reformation, who faced many fears and had more than a few anxious nights, said it was his favorite Psalm for that very reason.

We live in anxious times. We always have, but lately the economic news has added to our anxiety. More and more people are worried about their homes, their jobs, their retirement. When you couple this anxiety with the personal difficulties I know that many of you are facing right now, it’s not surprising that more than a few are having trouble sleeping at night.

I think Psalm 118 can help us get to sleep at night. This Psalm offers us comfort and encouragement, reassurance that in the midst of any difficulty, God is present and at work.

Beginning this Sunday and continuing through October we’re going to take a look at Psalm 118. This Sunday we will look at verses 5 – 9 and verse 18 and I’m going to use Romans 8: 31 – 39 as our New Testament passage. The title of the message is “If God Is For Us …Then We Are Loved.”

Isn’t that good news? That God is for us! That we are loved! That no matter what you are going through right now God will never abandon or forsake you. That God seeks to help you as you deal with the messes in life, either the ones you’ve created for yourselves or those that are forced upon you by others. God can be counted on.

The Psalmists declares, “Give thanks to the Lord; for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 118: 29)

Let me suggest that our first response to what’s happening right now, either in the world or in your part of it, is to rest in the quiet confidence that you and I are loved by God and that nothing, absolutely nothing, can ever take that away!

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Your Pastor,

David Jones