Ps 103:1 Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with

steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the

eagle's. 6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are

oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of

Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and

abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us

according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of

the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it

no more. 17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to

children's children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his

commandments.

19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!

21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! 22 Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

The Divine Foot and Incredible ArroganceTo the evolutionist, anything is better than acknowledging even the possibility of God or a Supreme Being or an Intelligent Designer. Even constant theoretical failures. Why? Because one instance of deity in the cosmos requires a shift of authority from man to God.

And this simply won't do for the evolutionist.“Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against

common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of

health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for just-so stories, because we have an a priori (Involving

deductive reasoning from a general principle to a necessary effect; not supported by fact; derived by logic, without observed facts)

commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material

explanation of the phenomenal world, but,

on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a

Divine foot in the door.” 7 Professor Richard Lewontin, Harvard University geneticist, biologist, and social commentator. “Billions and Billions of

Demons” an article in The New York Review, 9 January 1997.

God’s Exhortation to Contentment

He 13:5 Keep your life free

from the love of money, and be content with

what you have…

Ph 4: 8 but having food and clothing let us

be content.

Def.- Satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are.

The desired understanding is that contented cows give sweeter milk.

Content Christians make sweeter people.

Biblical Contentment Def.It is a state of mind in which one focuses on what they do have,

rather than being overly concerned with what they do not have. It is opposed to envy, greed, and anxiety. It arises from an inward

disposition of humility, and gratitude to God and finds rest and peace in the hope of the Gospel of Christ.

Clark- It requires but little of this world’s goods to satisfy a man who feels himself to be a citizen of another country, and knows that

this is not his rest. “This world is not my home…”Bib. Illus.- Gen 13:8 Then Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between you and I, and between your herdsmen and my

herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go

to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left." Faith in God fuels contentment in life.

Contentment Today is Counterculture“All advertising & all “new models” are geared to make us discontent with what

we have.” In America there is a huge discrepancy

between our wants and our needs.

Contentment is natural wealth

Luxury is artificial poverty

Quotes

1) Recognize- 1Ti 6: 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain: 7 for we brought nothing into the world,

for neither can we carry anything out;

In the midst of this materialistic culture how do we achieve contentment?

Socrates, when he walked through the streets of Athens, and saw around him the evidences of wealth, art, and culture, exclaimed,

“How many things there are which I can do without.”

2) Pursue- Mt 6:31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?‘ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

?

3) Request - Pr 30: 7 Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me: 9 Unless I be full, and deny you, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and

steal, and use profanely the name of my God.

Closing ThoughtsNever sacrifice the eternal on the alter of the temporal.

Contentment also comes from generosity to the less fortunate. The pursuit of worldly gain, is usually at the cost of spiritual loss. The only area in which God desires us to be discontent is spiritually.

He wants us to be discontentedly content in Christ Illustration

Ph 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and

reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Are you content here this morning?