Life Without Limits

Have you ever heard yourself say, “I would do anything for my kids”?  That’s always been how Becky and I feel about our girls, and now their husbands.  And that sentiment was put to the test last Saturday.  Austin and Courtney came down for dinner last Friday and after dinner and playing a few games, we got to talking about life and had a great conversation, but it got quite late.  So we just told them to spend the night.  When morning came, Becky reminded me that about the only thing our pregnant daughter can eat for breakfast right now is plain bagels.  So I said I would run up to the truck stop and see if they had some. But they didn’t.  Then I thought, “Isn’t there a grocery store in Arizona City?” So I asked Siri and up popped the IGA. So I drove there, scoured the store for like ten minutes until finally found them.  And once I paid for them and drove back home, I had to laugh.  Even though Courtney is now married and Austin is doing a great job caring for all her needs, I realized I’d still do anything for her, and that just made me smile.

But it also reminded me of how much God will do the same for us: “God will do anything for His kids!”  In fact, when it comes to doing good for us, there are no limits to God’s love for us.  There are no limits to His acceptance of us; there are no limits on His blessings for us; there are no limits on His goodness to us; and there are no limits on His mercy for us!  And that’s just what David wants us to see as we come to the end of Psalm 23 this morning. So if you brought your Bible with you today, let want to encourage you to find Psalm 23:5-6where David shows us the unlimited nature of God’s love us. But first lets begin by just reading Psalm 23 together:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.

Even though I walkthrough the valley of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,they comfort me.

 You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;my cup overflows.

Surely your goodnessand mercy will follow meall the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

So how much does God love you? Well, the first thing we see from verse 5 is this:

1. There are No Limits on God’s Grace for You  In verse 5, David gives us 3 images of the abundance of God’s grace. The first is seen in the table God has prepared for you: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”

For ancient Israelites the table was much more than a place to eat.  It was a place of mutual trust and vulnerability. The word “table” could stand for family and friends – all those you trusted and on whom you depended. These were the people who are for you and loyal to you. So the “table” speaks of a nearly unbreakable relationship.  So if you were invited to the table meant you were family, that you belong, and that you are home, safe and secure from all harm.

But when it’s God preparing the table the meaning of belonging goes even deeper.  Because this is now Yahweh, the Covenant God, who is for you that is preparing a place for you at HIs table.  Now, joining a table God has prepared symbolizes God’s commitment to the one He loves.  So the picture here is one not only of shelter and care, but of God’s deep relational commitment to you.  God is the host, you are the guest.  But as His guest, you are coming home to where you belong.

Perhaps this is best illustrated in the New Testament by the parable of the prodigal son as told by Jesus.  The prodigal son did not deserve a place at the table. He had disowned his father, squandered his inheritance and lived a life that dishonored his father.  But when the father saw the son return, he didn’t simply welcome the son home, he threw him a lavish welcome home party and restored him to full rights and privileges as a son. What the Father did by reconciling the son was scandalous grace.  He gave him everything he did not deserve and even more!  That’s just what God does.  There are no limits to His grace.  He gave even more to David…

David says, You anoint my head with oil   The way you welcomed someone into your home as an honored guest was to anoint them with oil.  This anointing was usually a fine smelling perfume that covered one’s head, so that everyone at the table would know that you were special, that you were honored by the host.  This is how Mary honored Jesus the evening prior to his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem.  He was the honored guest, so Mary took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume and anointed Jesus, and the aroma filled the house.  Not only that, the next day he entered Jerusalem as the anointed One, and the aroma of his anointing went with Him.

The idea is that when God prepares His table for you, He doesn’t hold anything back from you. He doesn’t just protect and provide for you, but honors you.  He sets you apart as His own.  When you come home to God, He anoints you with the oil of the Holy Spirit.  He is not ashamed of you for your past sins. Instead, He pours out honor upon you by giving you the very Spirit of Christ and makes you His own child. And now wherever you go, you bear the aroma of Christ!  That’s extravagant grace.  But God’s not done, for next David says,

“my cup overflows”  The cup pictures the generous outpouring of God’s blessing upon the one He loves.  God is not stingy.  He holds nothing back from us. He gives us protection at His table.  He gives us a place in His family.  He honors as as His Sons and daughters. And He blesses us beyond our wildest dreams.  So this last image is an expression of David’s joy and thanksgiving for God abundant grace. David’s cup is full.  He is full of joy.  He knows that God has given what is best to His child.  So David says : “My cup overflows,” “I’m blown away, I’m gob-smacked. This is too good to be true!”

Can you say that today?  Can you say “my cup overflows?” Do you know the security, the acceptance and privilege that God has prepared for you in Christ?  You see Christianity is not simply about getting your sins forgiven so you won’t be condemned, but its about God preparing a place for you with Him so you can experience the joy of belonging to Him and being His beloved.  Can you say “my cup overflows?” Sometimes its good for us to simply thank Him and praise Him for His amazing grace to us!

But that’s just one application of God’s unlimited grace to us.  Another is this:  Christ-like Hospitality! Since God has prepared a table for us where there is security, honor and blessing, we can do the same for others. We can welcome sinnersto our table, just like Jesus did.

We can honor sinners just like Jesus did, by treating outsiders like family. Listen to their stories, treat them like family and see what happens.  To be honest most of us know how to do this with those who are like us.  But it’s a lot harder to do this with those who don’t think like you do, or believe like you do, or don’t live like you do. But this is what Jesus did. This is the heart of the gospel.  The gospel is a relational gospel and at the heart of this gospel is enjoying the love and acceptance of God, illustrated by eating a meal at His table.

There are no limits of God’s grace for you.  He proved this by giving Jesus to die for you.  That’s how he prepared a place at the table for you.  Jesus’ death on the cross opened the way to the Father. Jesus’s death secured a place in heaven for you, so now by faith you have security from enemies that want to destroy you.  And Jesus death made it possible for you to be adopted as God’s child and given an honored place in God’s family. Through Jesus, God proved He’d do anything for you.  For in Jesus we see there really are no limits on God’s grace to you.  He gives us so much more than we deserve.  But He doesn’t stop there.  For with God there are…

No Limits of God’s Pursuit of You: “Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life”  No limits to God’s goodness to you!  This is who God is.  At the core of His being is goodness, and His goodness is expressed in His extravagant generosity to those He loves.  He exists to give us what we do not deserve, and He does it every day. There will never be a time when God will not love and do good for you.  He is committed to you for your good.  That’s why God will never force you to do His will, why He will never shame you or guilt you.  That’s just not who God is.  No, God has your best interests at heart.  And so the goodness in Him flows out to continually and actively bless you.

One of our problems is that we often fail to see just how God is pursuing us with His goodness. Sometimes we need just a picture of how God pursues us.  That’s where Jesus comes into play.  When you look at Jesus, Jesus delighted in every person he met; so too with us.  He focused on what was of value in them, so too with us.  He related to them, he associated with them; he got right down where they were and served them.  So too with us! He meets us where we are, wherever we are.  That’s who God is and that’s what goodness does.  His goodness is always predisposed to seeking the best for us.

Another problem we have is we often associate God’s goodness with material blessings.  And God does bless us materially, but more often His goodness works its self out in the form of giving us inner blessings of satisfaction, contentment, life and purpose, like we see from the first part of this Psalm. God wants us to thrive spiritually, not just materially.  So God gives us security at His table, anoints us with honor in His presence so that our cup overflows with joy and gratitude.

So the point David is making is that when the Lord is your Shepherd, He will continually pursue you to bless you with satisfaction, contentment, and life, security, honor and joy.  These are blessings we can’t earn for ourselves, or purchase or manufacture in our lives, try as we might.  No, these are gifts of grace imparted to us from the One who is predisposed to seek what is best for us.  What David is expressing about God is an amazing reality.  And that reality is this, that when the Lord is your Shepherd, God will always be for you, always be with you, is always watching over you, and will always looking for ways to do good to you.  God will never cease looking out for you.  Isn’t that amazing?  And sometimes that means for us, is that we need to cease striving and start trusting that God loves you every moment of every day of your life. He’s the one who choses to include you, protect you, restore you, and renew you. This is our God. He is good in all He does, and His goodness is directed at you. That’s why David could say, “Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” There are no limits on God’s goodness to you. But that’s not the half of it. There are also…

No limits to God’s mercy for you:  This is who God is. The Hebrew Word for mercy here is hesed, which means “loving kindness.”  The idea imbedded in the term hesed is God’s loyalty or faithfulness to His covenant obligations.  So it’s a strong term that tells us that God will always be merciful to those He loves.  He will always forgive you when you sin.  He will always love you at your worst.  There is nothing you can do to make Him stop loving you. Even when you’ve done the worst thing imaginable, God will not give up on you. His mercy for you has no limits. He will never, never, never count your sins against you. That’s His loyal love commitment to you!  A commitment that originated in His heart, out of His love for you.  This is why He sent Jesus to die for you. So you might be reconciled to God and enjoy life with Him forever. That’s why there are no limits on God’s mercy for you, so that there can be

No limits to God’s future for you: That’s why David could conclude this Psalm saying, “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

It’s because David knew God loved Him.  And when you know and believe God loves you, you will trust that God is always for you.  You will trust that God will always be with you. You will trust that God will always watch over you.  You will trust that God will always be gracious to you; and you will trust that God will always pursue you with His goodness and love – for He is good and He will never change in His love for you. And because David trusted this God, he knew there were no limits to life with Him.  That was David’s hope.  He believed he would live in the house of the Lord forever.

So let me ask you: Where’s your hope this morning?  Is it in the goodness and life you can make for yourself? Or is it in this God who has no limits in the life He wants for you:

No limits on His acceptance of you…

No limits on His protection over you…

No limits of His honor for you…

No limits on His goodness to you…

and no limits to His faithful love for you.

David’s hope was in this God, the Lord. His hope was in the One who would do anything for him. For this is the same God who sent His Son Jesus to die for us.  For when God sent Jesus to die for us, He proved once and for all that His love for us has no limits.

So I ask, where’s your hope today?  Is the Lord who loved David and gave us Jesus worthy of your trust, your praise and your life?  If so, then lets put all out hope in Him.