1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:05,680 One of my greatest teachers and mentors was the now late John 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:09,840 MacArthur, and I grew up listening to his sermons. 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,080 My dad would put them on, like probably a lot of your parents 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:14,920 did put them on. As he went to drop me off at 5 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,680 school, we would listen. And I kept up with this 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,960 preaching schedule for years through the Masters Seminary, 7 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,200 through his ministry website. And the one thing that I could 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,600 count on was that there are always new sermons on grace to 9 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,080 you until there weren't, until one day they weren't. 10 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,280 And the last message, the sermons stop on grace to you on 11 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:39,440 November 24th, 2024 with the message that's entitled The 12 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,240 Unfailing Promises of God. And I want to share the the 13 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,240 words that begin this sermon. He says God has purposes that we 14 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,120 would never have been able to fulfill if we weren't put into 15 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,840 some kind of stress. And he speaks candidly of his 16 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:55,400 own troubles. He says, like, I can tell you, 17 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,200 I've had three heart surgeries and a surgery on my lung in the 18 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:02,040 last few months and I'm still here and I'm thankful to the 19 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,360 Lord for that. And I have so much to be 20 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,040 thankful for. In fact, when people ask me how 21 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,320 I feel, I say I'm thankful. I'm just thankful. 22 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,360 I see the good and the gracious and kind and providential hand 23 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,640 of God and every vicissitude in my life. 24 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,040 So I want to make sure that I allow my own heart to rejoice 25 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,400 and the fact that God will perfect me and will bring glory 26 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,600 to himself through my trials, probably more than any other 27 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:27,920 way. And one thing I've found is that 28 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,080 my Thanksgiving has increased because it's in the trials. 29 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,400 When you're face to face with things that could easily 30 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,360 overpower you and you have no particular control over them at 31 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,880 all, you find that your faith is tested. 32 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,760 And out of that testing comes an immense amount of gratitude to 33 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,000 the Lord. As you're saying, God brings 34 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,600 trials, and with every trial is the opportunity to see the good, 35 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,400 the kind, the sovereign, the gracious, the providential hand 36 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,440 of God in your life. And ultimately those things 37 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:59,600 bring Thanksgiving. That's the point. 38 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,960 They bring Thanksgiving. And you begin over a lifetime to 39 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,880 collect these memories of deliverance and of these little 40 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,680 salvations that he brings through hardship and trial and 41 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:10,759 all the things he delivered you from and that your your 42 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:13,840 Thanksgiving grows over time so that you confess like this at 43 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,120 the end of your life. I'm abounding in Thanksgiving. 44 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,840 I'm just so thankful. I have an immense amount of 45 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,320 gratitude to the Lord. And one place that you could go 46 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,880 in Scripture, one testimony of this, it's not our Psalm today 47 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,080 is is Psalm 107. You can follow along if you'd 48 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,880 like. The psalmist rehearses just a a 49 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,760 couple of the ways that he delivers you and a couple of the 50 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,080 ways that he's delivered me that would bring this gratitude and 51 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,160 Thanksgiving in response. He says in in Psalm one, O 7 O 52 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,480 give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. 53 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,640 His steadfast love endures forever. 54 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:47,880 And then those famous words we've already rehearsed 55 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,120 together. Let the redeemed of the Lord say 56 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,840 so whom he's redeemed from trouble. 57 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:54,080 And we say, what kind of trouble? 58 00:02:55,080 --> 00:03:01,520 Verse 4 wandered in desert wastes, hungry and thirsty in 59 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,000 crisis, And they cried out to the Lord and their trouble, and 60 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:05,760 he delivered them from their distress. 61 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,920 The response, Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love. 62 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,720 Verse 10 Others sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, 63 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:16,760 prisoners and afflictions and an irons, But they cried out to the 64 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,120 Lord and their trouble, and he delivered them from their 65 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:20,360 distress. He brought them out of the 66 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,600 darkness in the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. 67 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,000 Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love for His wondrous 68 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,200 works to the children of man. Go to verse 17. 69 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,920 This is all of us. Some were fools through their 70 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:37,120 sinful ways, and because of their iniquities they suffered 71 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,200 affliction. Then they cried out to the Lord 72 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,040 and their trouble, and He delivered them from their 73 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,640 distress. He sent out His word and healed 74 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:45,640 them, and delivered them from their destruction. 75 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,880 Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous 76 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,000 works to the children of man, and let them offer sacrifices of 77 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,600 Thanksgiving, and tell of His deeds and songs of joy. 78 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:57,720 And even more. Verse 23 There's another. 79 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,320 Some went down to the sea in ships, and he commanded and 80 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:04,960 raised the stormy wind which lifted up the ways of the sea, 81 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,960 and their courage melted away. Then they cried to the Lord in 82 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,000 their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. 83 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,640 Then they were glad. Let them thank the Lord for His 84 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,600 steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man. 85 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,720 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and 86 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,079 praise Him in the assembly of the elders. 87 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:24,320 And he sums up all of this deliverance that we've all 88 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:26,160 experienced. He says, and this is the 89 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,120 command. Whoever is wise, let him attend 90 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,800 to these things and let him consider the steadfast love of 91 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,160 the Lord. And so we as a church body want 92 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,840 to be wise. And so this is what we'll 93 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:41,880 consider this morning. Go to Psalm 116. 94 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,280 It will be our guide as we consider deliverance, as we 95 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:48,000 consider the steadfast love of the Lord and our own 96 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,920 thankfulness. And the psalmist is going to 97 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:55,560 begin this song by saying, I love you, Lord, I love the Lord. 98 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,520 And then he recounts why in verse 8 as we rehearse the words 99 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,280 that we've just sang, the words of the song called Psalm 116, he 100 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:04,960 says, I love you, Lord, because you've delivered me, my soul 101 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,800 from death, my feet from stumbling, my eyes from tears, 102 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,280 and I will walk in the land of the living. 103 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,000 And God has delivered you repeatedly. 104 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,000 I pray that these specific events will be on your heart and 105 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,560 on your mind as as we go through the Psalm. 106 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,280 He has delivered you. And I know that because you tell 107 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:24,840 me and you come to church, you have to talk about it. 108 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:26,800 And you tell me. And I know because you told me, 109 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,040 God has delivered your marriage. And if this is any of you and 110 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,640 you feel like saying Amen, you can say it. 111 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,560 If he's delivered your marriage, you could say Amen. 112 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:37,240 Some of you, he spared your life. 113 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:40,680 Some of you were military men and women, and he spared your 114 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:46,040 life in active combat. Some of you, many of you were in 115 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,680 prison. And he has taken you out of 116 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,640 prison and you're here worshipping this morning some. 117 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,360 He's healed your sickness and he's restored your health. 118 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,720 And for all of us, He's taken away your addictions and he's 119 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,280 taken away that the horrible, sinful lifestyles that you were 120 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:07,200 living. And every believer, he has saved 121 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,760 your soul from sin and from death and from hell. 122 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,640 And to this we confess God is not just a deliverer. 123 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,440 He is your deliverer. He's our deliverer. 124 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:21,160 He's my deliverer. And so we we read these words in 125 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:25,080 Psalm 116. He's dealt bountifully with us. 126 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:26,680 He saved us. We're simple people. 127 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,360 And so he says for that reason we have to be saved again and 128 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,520 again and again. And he's faithful to do it. 129 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,440 You say in verse 7, the Lord has dealt bountifully with me. 130 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,960 This is what Paul had in mind in Colossians 3. 131 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,120 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and 132 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:42,600 admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns 133 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:44,160 and spiritual songs. This is what we're doing. 134 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,560 And he says we do it with thankfulness in your hearts to 135 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:50,880 God. And even as we leave this place, 136 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,240 whatever you do in Word and indeed do everything in the name 137 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,600 of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through 138 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,960 him. So we thank God through Jesus 139 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:03,320 Christ for all of this deliverance. 140 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,760 And come to 116 with me now. Let's read it together. 141 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:10,600 And you're going to see how he transforms death, the threat of 142 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,440 death and distress into deliverance and salvation. 143 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:17,000 It starts this way. I love the Lord because He has 144 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,200 heard my voice and my pleas for mercy, because He's inclined his 145 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,640 ear to me. Therefore I will call on Him as 146 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,720 long as I live. The snares of death encompass 147 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:28,760 me. The pangs of Sheol laid hold on 148 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,000 me. I suffered distress and anguish. 149 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,040 Then I called on the name of the Lord. 150 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:37,160 O Lord, I pray deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord, and 151 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,120 righteous. Our God is merciful. 152 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,840 The Lord preserves the simple When I was brought low, He saved 153 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,360 me. Return, O my soul, to your rest, 154 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:47,440 for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 155 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,360 For you've delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, 156 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,360 my feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in 157 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,640 the land of the living. I believed even as I spoke. 158 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,520 I am greatly afflicted, I said in my alarm. 159 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,760 All mankind are liars, or all mankind are delusive. 160 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,960 What shall I render to the Lord for all of His benefits to me? 161 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,920 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name 162 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,480 of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord 163 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,080 in the presence of all His people. 164 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,320 Precious in the side of the Lord, or costly in the side of 165 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:19,960 the Lord, is the death of His Saints. 166 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,600 Oh Lord, I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of 167 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,160 your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. 168 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,040 I will offer to you the sacrifice of Thanksgiving and 169 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,800 call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord 170 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,039 in the presence of all his people in the courts of the 171 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:38,039 House of the Lord in your midst, O Jerusalem, Hallelujah, praise 172 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:40,720 the Lord. And the the structure of the 173 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:42,919 Psalm could be divided into two words. 174 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:44,240 We'll we'll paint it with two words. 175 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,360 The first one is the word distress, because if you're 176 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,000 going to be delivered, you have to be delivered from something. 177 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:52,920 Verses 1 to 11 or the distress that the psalmist experienced 178 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,480 and then 12 to 19 is the deliverance. 179 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:01,160 It's Thanksgiving distress and the Thanksgiving from being 180 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,200 delivered from it. And that we know this is the 181 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,560 structure of it because the psalmist tells us even in the 182 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:09,240 1st 2 verses you can read it. Verse one says I prayed in 183 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:15,160 distress and God answered me, distress being anxiety or sorrow 184 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,080 or pain, and I called out to God in that pain He delivered me. 185 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:20,480 Verse 2, here's the Thanksgiving. 186 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,160 Therefore, in response, I will call on the Lord as long as I 187 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,400 live. And we have to remember that 188 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,080 the, the increase in faith that comes through trials and the, 189 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,280 the Thanksgiving and, and all of these things that we experience 190 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,600 in our heart. This thankfulness would be 191 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,080 nothing if it weren't for the distress, which is why he 192 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:39,680 doesn't just record the response in the Psalm. 193 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:43,440 He goes back and he records the first half, all of the things 194 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:45,800 that God delivered him from. It's, it's as MacArthur 195 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,280 described for us. He will bring glory to himself 196 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:53,200 through your trials more than any other way, because only out 197 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,560 of our testing comes an immense amount of gratitude to the Lord. 198 00:09:56,560 --> 00:10:00,600 So we look to verses 1 to 11 to the testing, to the distress. 199 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,600 And we'll begin here in verse one by by looking and 200 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,880 recognizing that there is a definitive movement or order to 201 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,360 these first 11 verses. And this movement is typical of 202 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,760 the Psalms, which means it's typical for your life. 203 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,440 You can see this, the series of responses. 204 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:22,880 It moves like this. You experience distress, anxiety 205 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,440 and pain and sorrow. And then there's there's real 206 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,880 reasons for this distress. The the world is sinful there. 207 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,040 There's generational cycles and your families that remain yet to 208 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:33,400 be broken. There's oppression, there's 209 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:34,800 injustice, there's sinful people. 210 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,480 Your distress is legitimate. And so you respond to this 211 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,280 distress through prayer. That's your outlet. 212 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:44,240 Distress comes. You respond to it through 213 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,040 prayer. God responds to your prayer with 214 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,480 deliverance, and then you respond to his deliverance with 215 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:52,240 Thanksgiving. Do you see how it works? 216 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,680 And we'll move through it. But it begins with what's common 217 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:59,240 to all of us, all of our natures, all of our experiences, 218 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,480 is that distress comes. And again, they're not 219 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:04,400 unfounded. They're they're, they're real. 220 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:06,160 It's not just a figment of our imagination. 221 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:08,720 Look at verse 3. This was the experience of the 222 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,880 psalmist. He says the snares of death 223 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,720 encompassed me, the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me. 224 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,280 That's saying the same thing. I suffered distress and anguish. 225 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:20,640 Verse 6, he says he was brought low. 226 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:26,440 Verse 7 his soul was restless. Verse 8 his life is at risk. 227 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:29,080 It's the sorrow surrounded him and he even says that the 228 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,160 temptation to remain faithful and righteous and to stay on the 229 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,200 way that God had LED before me. I I was tempted to step off of 230 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,000 that path. The the the temptation was real 231 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,160 and present. Verse 10 he was greatly 232 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:46,480 afflicted in verse 11 he says and his alarm all mankind are 233 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,600 liars and an alternative translation. 234 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,960 Another way you could read that is to say I said in my 235 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:57,880 trepidation all mankind are delusive, which is saying that 236 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,800 in my distress, you know, if I had listened to the world, they 237 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,000 would have told me that I could be delivered out of my own 238 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,400 strength. I, out of my own strength, could 239 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,320 bring myself out of my own circumstances, forgetting what 240 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,640 we learned last week in Psalm 42, that it's the Breakers of 241 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:13,800 the Lord that are crashing over us. 242 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:16,760 He's brought us into the trial and the temptation, and we say 243 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,360 we lift our eyes to the hills. Where does our help come from? 244 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:23,440 It comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. 245 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:25,320 If we could deliver ourselves, we would. 246 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:27,640 We can't, which is why we have this Psalm. 247 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,000 And so our help and our strength comes from the Lord. 248 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,120 It's divine. We can't pull ourselves out of 249 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,680 our distress. If you look back to verse 6, the 250 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:40,760 psalmist also ties his distress back to the confession that he 251 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,600 is a simple man and you have to make this confession yourself 252 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:49,840 saying I am a simple man or I am a simple woman. 253 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,520 Simple as a a complicated word in Scripture. 254 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,280 If you go back to the Proverbs, it means you're essentially a 255 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,640 fool. It means you're dependent and 256 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:00,600 you don't have any sense and you're immature and you're 257 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:03,400 irresponsible, which a lot of times is us. 258 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:04,800 We're still simple in that sense. 259 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,360 But Calvin says in this way, as it's used here, it takes on a 260 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:12,400 new meaning in the Psalms. Simple in the Psalms means that 261 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:16,880 Christians are those exposed to the abuse of the wicked who are 262 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,680 not sufficiently subtle to elude all of the traps that have been 263 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,480 set for us. He says that's what it means 264 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:25,480 here. One of the problems of the 265 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:30,280 psalmist is that the wicked and the devil are so cunning that he 266 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:34,400 can't escape all of the traps, and it leads him to distress. 267 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,160 And as an illustration of this, I think of my own recent 268 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:41,800 experience of dealing with my insurance company on something 269 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:43,640 as simple as making a claim on my roof. 270 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:48,040 I'm simple to the trappings and the tricks of insurance 271 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,800 companies. Is it just me or the lawyers of 272 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:55,040 my insurance companies? I am simple with respect to 273 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,320 their ways, the tactics of insurance lawyers. 274 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,040 And that's why we have the 6th Amendment to our Constitution, 275 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:02,960 which is we have a right to counsel. 276 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:05,560 We need advocates. We need people to help us 277 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:09,560 navigate that which we are not complicated enough to navigate 278 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:12,560 wise enough to navigate. And so that's why if you can't 279 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:15,480 afford an attorney, one has given you in the United States, 280 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,200 and we say in the same way the psalmist says you are too simple 281 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,080 to navigate all the myriad schemes that the world is 282 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,000 bringing against you, all the myriad schemes of the devil. 283 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,880 Psalm 4 or Ephesians 4. Stealing time from our next 284 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,280 sermon series. Paul says that there's human 285 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:35,080 craftiness, human cunning and deceitful schemes of men and we 286 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,840 need help navigating that. We are not wise enough to 287 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:40,360 navigate that on our own. And much more than the human 288 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,360 schemes, they're supernatural schemes and traps being laid for 289 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:45,680 us. Ephesians 6 says the schemes of 290 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,000 the devil, and it's in that context saying that the devil 291 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,920 has schemes. The devil has plans for you even 292 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,160 as the Lord has plans for you. And he says in that context, we, 293 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,680 we survived by the strength of the strength of his strength 294 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:01,520 three times. It confesses 3 different words. 295 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,080 The Lord is strong and nowhere in there do you have any 296 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,880 strength. He is the one who navigates. 297 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,360 He's your advocate first. John 22, Jesus is our advocate, 298 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,800 the righteous. 1 And so we need him to deliver us. 299 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,320 We have to say we are simple, praise God. 300 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,800 Verse 6, the Lord preserves the simple. 301 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,240 When we are brought low, he saves us. 302 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,840 And when you're brought low, you cry out to God and this is his 303 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:30,040 response He delivers you. So the second part of the 304 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,360 sequence of of responses is your response to your distress. 305 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,400 We all know the distress. Our response is prayer. 306 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,760 And so we saw last week that when distress comes, lament is 307 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,720 involuntary. Our sole longing for God is as 308 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,840 the deer pants for the water is involuntary. 309 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,040 Prayer is voluntary. Prayer takes initiative and 310 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:50,960 action. It requires something of you. 311 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,120 It's it's natural to us, but it it takes effort, conscious 312 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,080 effort. And he says in verse 4, I called 313 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:02,280 on the name of the Lord verse 4I prayed and you hear his simple 314 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:05,800 yet effective prayer reminding us that we don't need ornate 315 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:07,280 words. We don't need rhetoric, we don't 316 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,400 need sophisticated language to come to God. 317 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:10,920 This was the prayer that he prayed. 318 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,200 Oh Lord, I pray, deliver my soul. 319 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:20,120 Lord help me was the prayer. And it was enough for God to 320 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,600 intervene and and to do exactly as he asked for. 321 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,000 And you can see that he, even as he cries out to God, he 322 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,560 confesses as you move through God's nature and his perfections 323 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:33,080 and his distress, he says, Lord, you are gracious, Lord, you are 324 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,280 righteous, Lord, you are merciful. 325 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:37,680 And he appeals to him. Lord, you are the preserver of 326 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:39,360 the simple, and I'm a simple man. 327 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,240 And God responds. Now you see, in prayer, the next 328 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,040 response is God's response to your prayer. 329 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,720 He listens to you. He inclines his ear to you. 330 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,040 Remember, He leans forward when you're speaking and he, he takes 331 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,320 action. It says even here in verse 7, He 332 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,320 inclines his ear to you. He returns you to rest even as 333 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,040 Jesus promised. Come to me, all you who are 334 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,600 weary and heavy laden, and I will give you what rest. 335 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,599 He restores rest. Verse 7, He deals bountifully 336 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,079 with you. Verse 8, He protects and 337 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:09,400 delivers you. This is beautiful. 338 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,599 It says. He delivers you physically from 339 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,480 death. He delivers you emotionally, it 340 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,480 says from tears and he says and he delivers you spiritually by 341 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,800 keeping you on the path so that even when times are hard, you 342 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:26,480 will not stumble, which leads to the the main point of the Psalm, 343 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,800 which brings us to the the second portion, your response to 344 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,560 God's deliverance. And this is where we move into 345 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,920 the section on Thanksgiving. This passage is about 346 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,480 Thanksgiving and and the response of God and to God in 347 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,080 our hearts. You move down into verses 12 to 348 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:42,320 19. Again, we said it could be 349 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:44,600 summed up in one word, Thanksgiving. 350 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:47,600 And you hear him overflowing with it, even stealing back to 351 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,400 verse 9. He says I will walk by the Lord 352 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,440 in the land of the living. I will offer the sacrifice of 353 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,280 Thanksgiving coming into 12 and following. 354 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,600 I will call on His name. I will pay my vows. 355 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,800 I will lift up my cup and the climax of all of it in verse 19, 356 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,960 your translation probably says praise the Lord. 357 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:05,560 That's reflecting the original Hebrew word Hallelujah. 358 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,720 It ends with this praise, gratitude, Thanksgiving, praise. 359 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,800 And he begins this whole section in verse 12 by asking a very, 360 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:17,000 very important question. And the question is this asking 361 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,640 rhetorically, what shall I render to the Lord for all of 362 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,840 His benefits to me? That's a question you have to 363 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,240 ask and you have to be able to answer correctly. 364 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,320 What can I do is literally asking, what can I do for God, 365 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,760 for all that He's done for me? And the answer is nothing, 366 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:39,480 absolutely nothing can you do to give a gift back to God for what 367 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,120 he has done to you or back to Christ for what He's done for 368 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:46,040 you. And yet you can't believe that. 369 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,680 And I can't believe that. We can't believe what is the 370 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,920 gospel. We think that in our own 371 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,520 subconscious, maybe not. It's not at the forefront of our 372 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:57,720 mind, but in the back of our mind we have to do something 373 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:00,280 more to be accepted by God the Father. 374 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,120 I need to do something more. I need to be something more. 375 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:06,440 I need to prove my worth. I need to offer my works and my 376 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,440 obedience to be truly accepted. And we have to go back and ask 377 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,120 another question of Psalm 9. What does it mean that we will 378 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:16,800 walk in the land of the living? Does that mean that I need to 379 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:21,080 spend the rest of my life trying to work for God to make it worth 380 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:22,720 it, to make His sacrifice worth it? 381 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:25,200 Does it mean I spend my life trying to repay Him? 382 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:27,880 Does it mean that because He's done this for me that I need to 383 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:32,160 deny myself every good thing as a way to say thank you or 384 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,600 becoming like Origin said in the early church, we need to become 385 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,480 an ascetic and say to show my thankfulness, Lord, I give up 386 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,000 all my money to show all my thankfulness. 387 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,920 I won't take a spouse and I'll never have sex again. 388 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:45,760 And every monk that followed after him followed that path. 389 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,480 Or do we follow the the 20th century fundamentalists and 390 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:50,960 follow the preaching of Billy Sunday where he said good 391 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:55,200 Christians, whatever that is, they don't drink and they don't 392 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,880 dance or some of you used to call it, they don't function 393 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,360 together. They don't listen to secular 394 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:03,520 music, they don't go to pool halls, they don't play cards, 395 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:05,440 they don't smoke, they don't support theaters, they don't 396 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,720 attend movies. You have to understand this, 397 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,720 hear this. There is nothing that you can do 398 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,640 for God to repay him for what He's done for you if you try to 399 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,640 pay him back. Grace is no longer grace. 400 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,720 The Holy Spirit's name is gift. And if you were to give 401 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,240 something back to God, you've taken away the the gift that is 402 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,320 the Holy Spirit. He would never take a spirit 403 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:31,880 from you. But it's a gift. 404 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:34,120 Gifts by definition, you cannot repay it. 405 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:36,440 Paul says it this way. If you give something back to 406 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:40,360 God or you try to, grace is no longer grace because grace is 407 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:44,440 his unmerited favor. He asked in Romans 1135, who has 408 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,880 given a gift to God that he might be repaid. 409 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:49,520 He doesn't bother answering. It's rhetorical. 410 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,520 No one has given him a gift. It's a free gift. 411 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:57,760 Salvation is free and I have a dear friend who was trapped his 412 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,600 entire life into a legalistic version of Christianity. 413 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:06,520 His whole life he was trapped in it until last year, Psalm 116 414 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:11,000 and this very verse, verse 12 delivered him from that trap, 415 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,560 the trap of legalism. Legalism is the the conviction 416 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,320 that you have to add something to your salvation. 417 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,280 You have to keep up certain rules to be truly accepted by 418 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,320 God the Father. You have to be a good Christian, 419 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:29,040 whatever that means to you. And so Nick Batzig defines it as 420 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,800 an attempt to add anything to the finished work of Christ. 421 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,480 And he says, and when you do that, you trample the 422 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,040 justification, the doctrine of the justification by faith 423 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:39,800 alone. You say I'm justified by faith, 424 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,120 but there's something required of me to truly be accepted by 425 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:47,040 God the Father, Paul. Paul speaks to this in Romans 10 426 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,480 for being ignorant of the righteousness of God, for 427 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,480 misunderstanding the righteousness of God. 428 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:53,520 They established their own righteousness. 429 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:55,600 They did not submit to God's righteousness. 430 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,920 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone 431 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:00,360 who believes. You have to hear this again. 432 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,000 Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. 433 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,160 You don't want to try and do it your way, your roles, your 434 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,800 righteousness. It's his grace that's salvation. 435 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,280 And we have to be subtle and wise as Christians. 436 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,560 We have to understand the difference between being 437 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,160 legalistic and the godly obedience that that flows out of 438 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,600 a thankful heart. And I think that this, this 439 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,360 passage speaks to that. He says in verse 16 twice, he 440 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:29,360 doesn't shy away from the fact that he's a servant of God. 441 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:31,800 I, I am your slave, Lord. My life is yours. 442 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,600 He says I am a servant, O Lord. And he says again, I'm, I'm your 443 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,720 servant. He's dedicating his life to God 444 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:38,800 the Father. And so we we make this nuance 445 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:40,120 here. We say the difference between 446 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:44,720 legalism and godly dedication to the Lord of glory comes out in 447 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,040 their motivations. Legalism is motivated by this 448 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:53,000 desire to earn approval by God, consciously or subconsciously, 449 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:55,320 or this fear that we're not doing enough. 450 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,240 And godly obedience is driven by love. 451 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,040 Verse one I love you Lord, for you've delivered me. 452 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,160 Godly obedience is driven by trust and gratitude and 453 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,160 thankfulness. Even going down, legalism has 454 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,080 the wrong focus. Legalism would shine a spotlight 455 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,480 on what you do, whereas godly obedience is going to shine the 456 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,640 spotlight on grace and what God has done in your heart, what he 457 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,440 will continue to do through you. One is obedience focused. 1 is 458 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,200 grace focused. We emphasize grace in this 459 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,000 church. Legalism gets the nature of God 460 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,840 wrong, where he's this, he's got his citation book out and he's 461 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:32,880 he's ready to write you a ticket for everything you've done 462 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,400 wrong. Where godly obedience flows from 463 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,120 God as our Father, where we are his children and he wants what's 464 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:43,200 best for his children. Legalism brings the wrong 465 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,960 results. When you're legalistic, it leads 466 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,960 to anxiety and the feeling that you have to do more or the 467 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,080 feeling that other people aren't doing enough. 468 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,240 But godly obedience produces humility in your own heart and 469 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,760 compassion for others. And so the key take away here, 470 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,320 if you're a Christian, you are already highly favored. 471 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:05,440 That's the definition of being a Christian. 472 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:06,640 It comes to Mary. Greetings. 473 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:08,920 Oh, favored one. Before she ever did the work of 474 00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:12,160 bringing Christ into the world, she was the favored 1 You as a 475 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:13,920 Christian are favored. You're a son. 476 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,800 You're delivered continually. He's dealt bountifully for you 477 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,920 and you don't have to work because of what Jesus has done 478 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,280 on the cross for you. It's godly obedience, not 479 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,280 legalism. Listen to the psalmist again. 480 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,960 Verse 12, What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to 481 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,760 me? Answer nothing, there's nothing. 482 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:39,840 Verse 7, He's returned your soul to rest, not to activities that 483 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:41,800 you have to do to keep up your right standing with him. 484 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,800 Jesus says come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden by the 485 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,600 laws of the Pharisees, and my yoke is easy, I will give you 486 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:50,840 rest. He says in verse 16 of this 487 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,600 passage, He's loosed your bonds. He didn't come to put you in new 488 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,320 bonds, a new form of bondage. He came to set you free from 489 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,840 this bondage and you're given one appropriate response to 490 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,280 God's deliverance and it's recorded in verse 17. 491 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:08,680 This is the only response I will offer to you the sacrifice of 492 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,440 Thanksgiving. He says be grateful, be 493 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:16,320 thankful, rejoice in your salvation, rejoice in your 494 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:17,840 deliverance. Think back to Psalm 107. 495 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:20,680 We've already talked about it. It rehearses your response for 496 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,400 you over and over. Thank the Lord, it says, for his 497 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:25,880 steadfast love. Thank Him and then let 498 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,040 Christians tell of his deeds and songs of joy. 499 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:30,440 That's the response. Have we done that this morning? 500 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,200 Absolutely. Thank Him and let them offer 501 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,040 formal Thanksgiving in the temple. 502 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,200 Thank him and then extol him. Extol means praise him 503 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,480 enthusiastically. Even as Baptists, it's what we 504 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:44,720 do praise him, it says in the congregation of the people, 505 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:46,360 which means don't keep it to yourself. 506 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:47,840 This is something we do together. 507 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:49,320 We want to do it with the people we love. 508 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,320 We want to do it in the company of the redeemed. 509 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,680 Let them say, so we come here and we thank God together. 510 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,040 It says thank him and let them praise them, him in the assembly 511 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,600 of the elders. And you see, thankfulness and 512 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:04,640 gratefulness are the response, which makes sense when you come 513 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,760 to the New Testament. There's the the story of Jesus 514 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,200 when he heals the 10 lepers. Now understanding this, with 515 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,080 this thought, now all of a sudden it makes sense why Jesus 516 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,840 cared so much about the one that came back and said thank you. 517 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,680 I want to read the story to you. Luke 1711 and 19. 518 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:25,000 It says on the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between 519 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,280 Samaria and Galilee. And as Jesus entered a village, 520 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,680 he was met by 1010 lepers who stood at a distance and lifted 521 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,600 up their voices saying, Jesus Master, have mercy on us, 522 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:39,200 deliver us. When he saw them he said to 523 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,760 them, go and show yourselves to the priests. 524 00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:43,960 And as they went, they were cleansed. 525 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,680 Then one of them when he saw that he was healed turned back 526 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,680 praising God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus's 527 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,960 feet giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 528 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,920 And Jesus said, we're not ten cleansed. 529 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,800 Where are the 9? Was no one found to return and 530 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,000 give praise to God the Father except this foreigner and he 531 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:06,680 said to him, rise and go your way. 532 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,920 Your faith has made you well. He says I healed 10/9 went their 533 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,960 way, went to do their own thing. One came back and was grateful. 534 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,240 One expressed praise and Thanksgiving. 535 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,880 And so we need to remember that like this the same word in in 536 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,440 the in the New Testament Greek for salvation and deliverance. 537 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,360 He was he was saved. He was delivered from his 538 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:31,000 leprosy and you have been saved from death and hell. 539 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,000 And so it reminds us the posture of our heart that we're supposed 540 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,160 to bring before God through Christ. 541 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,560 We're supposed to be thankful or even as we're giving thanks to 542 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,160 remember that this is the response that Jesus is looking 543 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:43,120 for. He doesn't want you to give up 544 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:45,320 every good thing, to make yourself poor, to make yourself 545 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,400 ascetic, to give up, to give up wives and families. 546 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,000 He just wants gratefulness and praise and Thanksgiving. 547 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,800 That is the demand. That is the response. 548 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,320 And you see here there's a really a three fold response 549 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,360 that comes from the psalmist. He says in verse 13 to 14, and 550 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:03,640 he's going to repeat it in 17 to 19. 551 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,440 And so we say he gives a response and we admit it's a 552 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,520 formal response. It was the most formal response 553 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,480 available to the psalmist. He says in verse 13, I will lift 554 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,240 up the cup of salvation. I will call on the name of the 555 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,360 Lord. Verse 14, I will pay my vows to 556 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:19,320 the Lord. Verse 17, I will offer a 557 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,240 sacrifice at Thanksgiving. Again, I will call on his name. 558 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:24,840 I will pay my vows in his courts. 559 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:27,600 And This is why we read Leviticus 7 this morning, 560 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:30,600 because if you were to go back to the Old Testament, you were 561 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,360 to read the the laws of peace, the peace offering. 562 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,400 And we have you'll see that there are there are several 563 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,160 subcategories of the peace offering. 564 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:41,720 There are several ways that were given to give Thanksgiving to 565 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:43,360 God. And the psalmist kind of throws 566 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,520 the kitchen sink at it and he says, God, every Ave. that 567 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:47,200 you've given me to give thanks to you. 568 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,440 I'm taking them all. I'm so grateful. 569 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,320 I love you so much. It's all yours, Lord, take it. 570 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,880 And the one that he brings to focus in Psalm 116 is really the 571 00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:58,840 one that's focused in Leviticus 7. 572 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,280 It's the Toda offering, Toda being the literal word here for 573 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,560 Thanksgiving. You can bring Thanksgiving to 574 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,800 the Lord formally. And it was one of the the 575 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,600 subcategories of the peace offering. 576 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,320 And it was what God gave them as a formal way to say thank you 577 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,320 when they've been delivered from something very traumatic. 578 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,360 And if you want examples of what that was, go back to Psalm one O 579 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,120 7. When you have horrible travel 580 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,240 experiences, when you're sick, when you're he saves your soul 581 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,720 For these reasons, you would follow this, you would you would 582 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:31,520 immediately invite your community to a worship service 583 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,400 that that you're sponsoring. This is what the Thanksgiving 584 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:36,000 offering is. You invite everybody you love. 585 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,880 You invite your community. You would offer a lamb or a goat 586 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,520 or a bowl without blemish and it would be consumed that day 587 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:46,480 within your community. And So what they would call Toda 588 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,120 or a Thanksgiving offering in Oklahoma, we would call it a 589 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,520 community BBQ because that's what it is. 590 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:53,200 You eat it. You're not offering it to the 591 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:54,440 Lord. It's not being burned up. 592 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,080 It's for eating and enjoying and the presence of the people you 593 00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:59,120 love. And so the psalmist is saying 594 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,320 simply, I've been delivered and now I cannot wait to say thank 595 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:03,760 you. And it's not enough. 596 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,120 I want to celebrate life and grace, and I want to do it with 597 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:07,720 all the people that I love the most. 598 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:10,720 That's what he's offering. And the offering is a shared 599 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,960 celebration of answered prayer. It's a shared celebration that 600 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,840 God is alive, that God is powerful, that God is not just a 601 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:23,120 deliverer, He is our deliverer. He's not just a deliverer, He's 602 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,400 your deliverer. And he delivers you over and 603 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:27,360 over again. He multiplies it. 604 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:29,880 He says he gives a, a Thanksgiving offing, but he, he 605 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:34,360 also gives a vow offering, which was a, a voluntary offering that 606 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,440 you could give, but you didn't have to give one. 607 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,000 But if you gave it under the Old Testament law, you had to keep 608 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,600 it. And so whatever it is that you 609 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,160 said in your distress, whatever promises that you made to God 610 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,240 while you were in distress, he says, now I'm going to fulfill 611 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,280 all of those in the midst of the temple and in the midst of my 612 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:53,960 community. Everything I swore to you, I'm 613 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:58,000 going to see it through. And so in Scripture, one, one 614 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,000 other thing I want to highlight is these vow offerings and 615 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,760 Thanksgiving offerings and free will offerings. 616 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:04,080 They all go together. So when you're giving thanks to 617 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,480 God the Father, you, you, you kind of mix and match. 618 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:07,720 You throw the kitchen sink at it. 619 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,640 You see in Psalm 5014, he says offer to God a sacrifice of 620 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,880 Thanksgiving and perform your vows to the Most High. 621 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,160 Psalm 56 I must perform my vows to you, O God, I will, I will 622 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,560 render thank offerings to you and you come here into our 623 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,480 Psalm. He says twice you can look at 624 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,040 verse 17. I will offer to you the 625 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,280 sacrifice of Thanksgiving. Verse 18, I will pay my vows to 626 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,480 the Lord in the presence of all his people. 627 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,320 And you go to Hebrews in the New Testament. 628 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,600 He says under this new dispensation, this new covenant, 629 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:37,840 we don't offer vow offerings anymore. 630 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,960 So what do we do? He says, this is what you do 631 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,600 through Christ. Then let us continually OfferUp 632 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:48,280 a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that 633 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,120 acknowledge his name. What do you do? 634 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:53,680 You offer praise the fruit of your lips. 635 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,040 It acknowledges the Lord. This is what the psalmist said. 636 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:58,000 He said, I, I will call on the name of the Lord. 637 00:31:58,200 --> 00:31:59,640 I will call on the name of the Lord. 638 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:06,000 And all this Calvin wrote, God's bounty toward us merits the more 639 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,760 praise that he expects no recompense from us, nor can 640 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:11,920 receive any. For God stands in need of 641 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,120 nothing. We are poor and destitute of all 642 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,720 things. And so we confess together, I am 643 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,880 a man or I am a woman who is simple. 644 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:23,360 I'm a simple man. And we need deliverance 645 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,720 continually. And, and we praise God because 646 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,320 though we continually need him, he continually offers himself to 647 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:33,440 us and continually delivers us. And we pray even in the Lord's 648 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,360 Prayer, think through, think through Scripture with me. 649 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:41,160 What do we pray deliver us from evil Lord, knowing that he can 650 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:43,640 and he will do it? George Mueller There's I don't 651 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:45,160 know why we're all reading George Mueller right now. 652 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,400 I'm on Goodreads and Becky's reading it and the Hammonds are 653 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:48,800 reading it and I'm reading it. We're reading about George 654 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,320 Mueller. He used to pray with such 655 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,600 anticipation that he would pray as if the deliverance already 656 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,680 happened in the middle of his crisis and his trials. 657 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,040 He would say, thank you, Lord, for delivering me out of this 658 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:01,560 because he's done it so many times. 659 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:03,680 He knows it's coming. We need to pray like that, with 660 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,760 that kind of expectation, that kind of anticipation. 661 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:10,680 Romans 724 to 25 Who will deliver me from this body of 662 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,440 death? Answer Thanks be to God through 663 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,600 Christ Jesus our Lord. Highlight this lest we overlook 664 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,160 it. Thank you Lord, thanks be to God 665 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:24,400 through Christ our Lord. Colossians 113 He has delivered 666 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,280 us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the 667 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,960 Kingdom of His beloved Son, unlocking the words of 668 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,280 confidence from Second Timothy 418. 669 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,400 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed. 670 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:36,760 He will bring me safely into His heavenly Kingdom. 671 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:39,000 To Him be the glory forever and ever. 672 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,160 Amen. If you want to sum up all of 673 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,600 Psalm 116 in one verse, write down 2nd Corinthians 110. 674 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,400 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will 675 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,280 deliver us on Him. We have said our hope that He 676 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:57,040 will deliver us again. You must also help us by prayer 677 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,640 so that many people will give thanks. 678 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,760 That's what Psalm 116 is about. And So what are we doing in 679 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,080 response to his deliverance and His rescue? 680 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:08,920 The Psalm gives you your response. 681 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:12,159 This is your response. See striving and know that He's 682 00:34:12,159 --> 00:34:15,280 God. Don't work to prove your worth, 683 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:17,600 but instead confess the words of verse one. 684 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:22,520 I love you, Lord, call on His name, express your gratefulness, 685 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,280 exude thankfulness, express it to the church, express it to 686 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,080 your families, sing about it in your communities and speak the 687 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,639 final words of verse 19 translated by your English 688 00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:36,480 phrase, Praise the Lord or the original word again, Hallelujah, 689 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:39,360 Hallelujah. Praise God, let's confess to 690 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:41,440 him. Let's pray, and then we'll sing 691 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:43,600 our Thanksgiving, our thank yous back to him. 692 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:48,120 Lord, we are so grateful and we confess at the same time. 693 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:52,320 We're so sorry that we're like the 9 lepers who, who go away 694 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,560 and we forget to say thank you. We pray and you deliver us. 695 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:58,480 And then we, we repudiate it, Lord, we, we forsake it. 696 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:02,920 We forget we're so forgetful or, or we, we give our Thanksgiving 697 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:06,040 with it, with our salvation, but we bring with it other things we 698 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,640 say, Lord, and now I'm so thankful that I'm going to, I'm 699 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:11,560 going to pay you back some for what you've done. 700 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,160 And Lord, we sit here and we remember in this moment, teach 701 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:18,840 our souls to rest in your love and in your grace, knowing that 702 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:22,960 we can't do our own sinfulness and, and stupidity and and 703 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,760 foolishness at times. Lord, we, we can't separate 704 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:28,520 ourselves from your mercy and grace or in your love. 705 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:32,040 And you want what's best for us. And so we submit ourselves. 706 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,480 We say I am your servant, Lord, I am your servant, not because 707 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:38,000 we have to do things, but because we love you and your 708 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,760 commandments are not burdensome for those who love you. 709 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,560 So we offer in this moment our our sacrifice of our lives. 710 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,240 We bow the knee to you, speaking metaphorically and spiritually, 711 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:50,520 ordered and physically. Lord, we thank you in this 712 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,720 moment for all of the deliverance you've given us. 713 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,760 We sing that back to you now. And praise in the name of your 714 00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:00,320 Son Jesus Christ, Amen. Thanks for listening. 715 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:03,040 To learn more about Heritage Church or if you'd like to 716 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,480 respond to this sermon, visit our website at 717 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:09,080 www.heritageshawnee.org.