Turn with me to Psalm 116. I just told you a moment ago in
our Bible study that this message would have the tone and the feel
of a Sunday night message. To me, Sunday night is a time
of reflection, looking back in enjoyment. Sunday
night is a very enjoyable message for me. And that's what David
is doing right here in verse 12, which is our text. Let's
begin reading in verse one. We're going to read down to verse
12. I love the Lord because he hath
heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his
ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The
sorrows of death compassed me and the pains of hell got hold
upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then
called I upon the name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee,
deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous,
yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple. I was brought low and he helped
me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul,
for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered
my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I
spoken. I was greatly afflicted. I said
in my haste, all men are liars. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? What could a man or a woman
possibly render to the Lord for everything that the Lord has
given to him or her? What could a man possibly give
to the Lord for everything that the Lord has given to us? What could a lowly, insignificant,
insufficient, sinful man possibly give to the high and lofty owner
and sovereign of the universe? What can we give to him? Turn
over to Psalm 50. Psalm 50, verse 7. Hear, O my people, and I will
speak, O Israel, and I will testify against thee. I am God, even
thy God. I will not reprove thee. And that means I will not prove
you to be right. I will not prove you to be correct
in what you've been doing. Verse 8, I will not reprove thee
for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings to have been continually
before me. I will take no bullock out of
thy house, nor he goats out of thy fold. I won't accept your
bullocks or your goats as sacrifices to me. Verse 10, for every beast
of the forest is mine. and the cattle upon a thousand
hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains
and the wild beasts of the field are mine. They're all mine. If
I were hungry, I would not tell thee for the world is mine and
the fullness thereof. He said, everything is mine.
What could you give to me? It's here. I'm going to give
this to you, Lord. What could you give to me? It's already
mine. That's like you coming over to my house, walking into
my garage, grabbing my hammer and saying, Merry Christmas.
Thank you. Thank you. Very kind of you. Very generous. It's already mine. David said, All I know to give
is thanksgiving. That's all I know to give is
thanksgiving. The only thing I can pay are
the vows of thanksgiving. Look right here at verse 14.
Offer unto God thanksgiving. And pay thy vows of thanksgiving. Unto the most high. That's all. Other than that, there is nothing
that a man can give to God. There is nothing. Romans 11.35
says, who hath first given to him? And it shall be recompensed
unto him again. Nobody. Nobody. There is not a soul on this earth
who has ever given anything to God. You say, well, I give him my
money. No? That's already his. Turn over to First Chronicles,
chapter 29. First Chronicles, it's after
Kings. First Chronicles. 29. Page 597, if your Bible's like
mine. Here, God's people were so thankful
to Him for His goodness to them and for the temple that He was
going to raise up, they were giving their offerings of money.
1 Chronicles 29 verse 6, Then the chief of the fathers
and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands
and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly
and gave for the service of the house of God of gold 5,000 talents
and 10,000 rams. That's how much gold they gave.
And of silver 10,000 talents and of brass 18,000 talents and
100,000 talents of iron. And they with whom precious stones
were found gave them to the treasure of
the house of the Lord by the hand of Jeiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced for
that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they
offered willingly to the Lord. And David the king also rejoiced
with great joy. Wherefore David blessed the Lord
before all the congregation, and David said, blessed be thou,
Lord God of Israel, our father forever and ever. Thine, O Lord,
is the greatness. That belongs to you. And the
power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that
is in the heaven and in the earth is thine. Everything belongs
to you. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted
as head above all. Both riches and honor come of
Thee. It all comes from You. And Thou
reignest over all, and in Thine hand is power and might, and
in Thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all.
Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious
name. But who am I and what is my people
that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee and
of thine own, and my center margin right there says hand, of thine
own hand have we given thee. Came out of your hand to us first.
For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our
fathers. Our days on the earth are as
a shadow, and there is none abiding. O Lord our God, all this store
that we have prepared to build thee in house for thine holy
name cometh of thy hand. and is all thine own. What he's saying is, we're not
giving you anything. That's what he's saying. We're
not giving anything to you. It came to us straight out of
your hand. In the book of Haggai chapter
two, verse eight, God said, the silver is mine and the gold is
mine, saith the Lord. It's all mine. What could we
possibly render to him for all of his benefits toward us, all
of his gifts toward us? You say, well, I can give him
my heart. People are always saying, won't
you give your heart to Jesus? Once you do that, once you give
your heart to Jesus, I can give him my heart. No. This old cold
dead stony thing. He said he was going to have
to take it out and throw it away. And he said he was going to have
to put in a new alive heart. We don't give our heart to him.
Did you know He gives a heart to us? A new heart will I give
you. People have it so backwards,
don't they? They have it so backwards. We can't even give Him our hearts.
There is nothing that we can give to Him in exchange for all
of His gifts to us. His gifts, His grace, His graces. And that's what I want us to
focus on for just a minute, okay? All of his gifts to us, starting
with and because of his unspeakable gift, the gift of himself, the
gift of his life, the gift of his blood, the gift of his death,
the gift of the sacrifice of his cross. For God so loved,
he gave a great unspeakable gift. Turn with me to John chapter
3. John 3. Verse 16, it says, for God so loved the
world, aren't you so thankful that his love was not confined
to the Jews only? Us Gentiles too, out of every
tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue all over this world, for God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. What does that mean? He gave
his only begotten son. Well, verse 14 says, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
son of man be lifted up on a cross as a blood sacrifice to God for
all of the totally depraved ruin of his chosen people. Verse 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son to the judgment, to the condemnation,
to the punishment, to the forsaken outcasting of hell. And he did that that whosoever
believeth in him, that whoever the Spirit of God has given life
to and given faith to and caused them to look to Christ and not
the law. Do you know that when salvation
comes, that's what happens? All of our lives in death and
sin and ignorance, we're looking to the law, the law, the law,
the law, the law, the law. It's the law, law, law. And then God's spirit comes and
says, Christ turn. Wait a minute. It's a new mind. It's called
repentance. It's a changed mind. It's not the law. It's not deeds. It's not morality. It's not decisions. It's not baptisms. It's Christ. Whoever has been
given faith to look to Christ alone, his gift alone, his work
alone, his accomplishment alone. Verse 16 says, should not perish,
but have everlasting life. Verse 17, for God sent not his
son into the world to condemn the world. The law had already
done that. The law already accomplished that. God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. The end of verse 36, the last
verse here in the chapter, the end of verse 36 says, He that
believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abides on him. Thank God the beginning of verse
36 says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. What a gift, what a benefit,
faith to believe on the Son of God. What a benefit. Look with me at Galatians 1. Galatians 1 verse 3. Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself
for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father. Christ himself
was given to us because it pleased the Father to do so. He gave
Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present
evil world. What a gift. What a benefit. Verse 5 says, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. Look with me at Ephesians
5. A few more pages over to Ephesians
5. Verse 25, it says, Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave
himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. What a benefit. What a gift, what a benefit of
His grace. Go with me to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 29, it says, For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. Boy,
that's a benefit we're not going to enter into until the day we
are conformed. That He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified
before God Almighty, before the throne of God Almighty. And whom
he justified, them he also glorified. What a benefit. What a benefit
of grace. Verse 31, what shall we then
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? All his benefits, all his benefits,
all things. Psalm 57 verse 2 says, I will
cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things
for me. Do you want somebody to perform
everything that needs to be performed for you? 2 Corinthians 4 verse 15 says,
all things are for your sakes that the abundant grace, the
abundant gift, might through the thanksgiving of many redound
to the glory of God. First Timothy 6, 17 says, trust
in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. He gives it all things. Romans 8, 28 right here says,
and we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
All things, all things, every good and perfect thing that has
been given to us is a benefit directly from the hand of our
God. And we can't be on this subject
and not turn to Psalm 103. We have to go to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 1, it says, bless
the Lord. Oh, my soul and all that is within
me. Bless his holy name. This is
the only thing that we can render glory, praise, blessing, thanksgiving. That's all we can render. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Every sin you have ever committed
in Christ, it's forgiven. Every sin you have ever committed. You know, I may not be forgiven by men and
women for the sins that I've committed against them. But according to the promise
of God's word, by the covenant of his blood, God Almighty, for
Christ's sake, has forgiven me. And that's all my hope. That's
all my comfort. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry to
the people I've sinned against. I'm so sorry. But thank God for the blood of
Jesus Christ. Every sin we've ever committed
in Christ is forgiven. You talk about a benefit of God's
grace. Verse three goes on to say who
healeth all that diseases every disease you have or will ever
carry physical disease or spiritual disease in Christ removed. Gone. Remission. There's remission. Verse 4 says,
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction? Who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies? How did all these benefits come
to us? It was by the blood. It was by the blood. For God so
loved, He gave His Son. It was all in the blood of the
unspeakable gift of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness in the blood. Healing
was in the blood. Redemption was in the blood.
Loving grace and tender mercy, that was in the blood. By one
great gift, all of these benefits came to God's people. By the
one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all of these benefits, it opened
the floodgates of all the benefits of God to His people. Election,
sanctification, predestination, adoption, all of that came by
the blood of Jesus Christ. We were chosen in Him. Who is
Him? The Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. All that came by the blood of
Jesus Christ. That's what Ephesians 1 says. Acceptance. Inheritance. All of that came by the blood
of Jesus Christ. That's what Ephesians 1 says.
What first Peter 1 says. Verse 5 says who satisfied thy
mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the
eagles. The Lord executed righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed. He executes righteousness
for his people. He made known his ways unto Moses,
his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. Where is
he that way? In Christ. Only in the blood
and righteousness of Jesus Christ. If a sinner is going to receive
a blessing benefit from God, it's only going to be in Christ. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. That's what Ephesians
1 says. Verse 9, he will not always chide, neither will he
keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. It's because
he dealt with Christ after our sins and rewarded Christ according
to our iniquities. Verse 11, for as the heaven is
high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that
fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him. What a benefit. What a benefit. Pity from the father. Would you
like to have pity from the father? How did we sinners against God,
the God who is holy and just and must punish men and women
for their sin? How did we receive pity from
our Heavenly Father? It was all in the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We received the benefit of His
pity for the blood of Christ's sake. Verse 13, like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.
He knows, he remembers. Lamentations 3 says he remembers
his own affliction and his misery, the wormwood and the gall of
the cross of his suffering. And because of that, it says,
His mercies and compassions toward His people fail not. They are
new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. What
a benefit! Verse 15, As for man, his days
are as grass as a flower of the field. So he flourisheth, for
the wind passeth over it, and it is gone. And the place thereof
shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him. and
His righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep His
covenant, to those that are holding to His covenant, and to those
that remember His commandments to do them. What does He command?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Kiss the Son. Bow the knee to
the Son. What a blessing. His mercy is
from everlasting to everlasting. What an amazing gift and benefit
that we've received in the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, how could we possibly render anything to him for that other
than this? This is the only thing we can
render to Him. Verse 19. The Lord hath prepared
His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all.
So, bless the Lord, ye His angels that excel in strength, that
do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word. Bless
ye the Lord, all ye His hosts, ye ministers of His that do His
pleasure, Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His
dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Blessing, honor, praise, thanksgiving. To Him be all the glory.