Well, as we come to the last Sunday of 2025, I thought we'll just have a break for this one week from Galatians, and we'll come back to that next week, January the 4th, God willing. But for this Sunday, I just want to reflect, and Psalm 65 came to my mind. I remembered that verse, verse 11, the year with thy goodness. It's a good thing to do from time to time, to reflect on all the way that the Lord has led us.

A year ago, for example, we had no idea that we would be here. And I don't just mean in this room, but all of us in individual situations, in many, many different ways. A year ago, we had no idea we would be here. Those of us who believe God, who believe his gospel, we look for his kingdom as we journey. We look for his kingdom because we know that here we have no continuing city, but we look for one to come. We look for one which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. That's what Abraham looked for.

But as the years go by and as the days go by, even we progress along the path towards that kingdom of God. Have we, looking back in this last year, done what Peter, in his epistle, his last verse of his second epistle, encourages the people of God to do, which is to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we journey on this journey of life towards the celestial city, towards that gold, towards that prize, towards that inheritance, have we grown this year in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Are we conscious as believers of walking and living in Christ? all of his blessings that he showers upon us, we read right at the start. in Romans chapter 13, in verses 11 and 12. Do we know that as the years pass, we know the time, we know the fact of the passing of time, and that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. Now is the day of salvation, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Think, if you're a believer, think back to when you first believed. Now is another year gone by. It's nearer than when we first believed. The night, as verse 12 says, the night is far spent. The day is at hand, you know, as you come towards the dawning. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light and walk honestly in the day, seeking God, seeking to know God, seeking to know more of him.

And are we thankful for his goodness? Are we thankful? For our God is good. Our God is good. Psalm 100. and verse five, for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations. The Lord is good. We know that the Lord causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

The unbelieving world around us denies God. They deny God. As it says in Romans chapter one, verses 21 and 22, It says about the world in general in unbelief. They knew God because all people, all people without any shadow of a doubt, if they really think, if they really stop and think, they know there is a God. There cannot be life without there being a God. There must be a God. They knew God, but they didn't glorify him as God. Neither were thankful. That's the indictment of the word of God against this world around. Neither were thankful. God gives life, gives us all things richly to enjoy. But they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. And professing, is this not the world around us? Professing themselves to be wise. Oh, they're oh so wise in their worldly godlessness. yet professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Let us strive not to be fools in relation to God. Let us strive not to be fools in relation to life, true life, the life of God, eternal life. Not to be fools in respect of eternity, eternity.

Our text is that verse 11, Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. It's a year crowned with the goodness of God. And he is worthy of thanks. Worship, the word worship means worthiness, acknowledging the worth of God. He is worthy of thanks. He is worthy of praise. As we reflect on all the way that he has led us down this last year, he is worthy of our thanks and our praise. And this psalm calls for thankful praise to God. For material providence, he's given us everything we need for this life, and for spiritual providence. Let's think about those things. Think about the material blessings that he's given us, for which we need to thank him.

That verse 11, thou crownest the year with thy goodness and thy paths drop fatness. There's an illusion there to harvest thanksgiving, and I know now at this end of the year time, the turn of the year isn't harvest, but the same idea applies. It's a marking of a season, of an annual event. The turning of the year, you crown the year with your goodness.

You know something? The technical wizardry in the world around us today, I believe, is exactly what Revelation 13 talks about when it talks about the beast from the earth. That beast from the earth is technical wizardry all around us and it's come so much to the fore. in the last couple of hundred years, but even more in the last 50 or 60 years. So much to the fore. And that technical wizardry has distracted most people in modern cultures from our day-to-day dependence on the living God.

You know, Simple cultures, basic cultures, agricultural cultures are very aware of the fact that it is God who causes things, the rain to fall, the sun to shine, the crops to grow, the harvest to come, all of these things. In our modern society, more and more people think that food grows in supermarkets and that's it, you just go there, or you don't even go to the supermarket, you just order it online and it gets delivered. We lose touch with the fact that it's God who causes all these things to happen. If God holds back the rain, think about the dry summer that we had this year, and how people were beginning to scream out, ah, it's never going to rain again, the crops are not going to grow, and all of these things. It's an acknowledgement of the fact. that it's God who gives us these things. It's God who gives the rain to produce the crops, to produce the harvest, to produce the food that we take for granted every single day.

If God holds back the seasons, the cycle of the year, all those things stop. Plant and animal life, all of it, will starve to death, including people. We ought never to take it for granted. It says in Psalm 136 and verse 25 that God gives food to all flesh. This is such a trivial thing. We're more mature and sophisticated than that. No, it's still true. It's God who gives food to all flesh.

It says in Acts 17, this is Paul the Apostle speaking to the Athenians on the Acropolis in Athens. And he said to them, the philosophers there, he said, you know, I've come to declare to you the unknown God. You say there is an unknown God. You know there must be a God. You don't know him, but I've come to declare him to you. And he is the one who gives to all life and breath and all things. And without God, none of them has any of that. It's good to be conscious, isn't it? It's good to be conscious. As modern and as technologically sophisticated as we are, it's good to remember that every breath we take, that every beat of our heart, that every bite of food that we consume is God's gift. It's a gift from God, and we need to be thankful for it.

In Psalm 65, look at verses 9 and 10. how God interacts with his creation. This world and the universe that we see is the creation of God. Thou visitest, God visits the earth and waters it. You greatly enrich it with the river of God, which is full of water. This is speaking of life from God. The river of life in the paradise of God is the life of God. You prepare them corn. very physical, very much needed, when you have provided for it, you water the ridges thereof, speaking like of a ploughed field with its furrows and its ridges, and God waters it, and you settle the furrows, and you make it soft with showers, and you bless the springing thereof, you crown the year with your goodness.

He rules over all the natural forces of this world, of this universe. It's He, our Lord Jesus Christ. God upholds all things, it says in Hebrews chapter one. He upholds all things by the word of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse seven. He stills the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.

Just look at Mark chapter four. Just look at Mark chapter four. and verse 39. Jesus and the disciples were out on a boat in the lake, Lake Galilee, and big storm brew up, a storm enough to sink the boat. And he was asleep, Jesus was asleep, and the disciples were terrified that they were going to drown. And they said to him, Master, don't you care that we're going to perish? And he arose, Jesus arose, and he rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? and they feared exceedingly and said one to another, what manner of man is this? that even the wind and the sea obey him.

There they were, a man asleep in the back of their boat, looked like an ordinary man. He had no comeliness that we should desire him. And the storm blows up, and this man stands up and rebukes the wind and the sea and tells them to be calm, and they're calm. He stills the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people. This is our God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Look back, children of God, over this last year. Look back at what He's given us. Has He not given us our food? He says in one of the Psalms that He doesn't allow His children to go begging bread. He's given us our food. He's given us clothing. He's given us, to whatever degree, He's given us income so that we can survive. He's given us housing to shelter. He's given us well-being To varying degrees, I know it varies from person to person, but we're all here and we're all indebted to God for his providence, for everything, for everything.

Ephesians 5.20 says, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We should be thankful for all things. Remember the the world rejecting God, the indictment of God against them was that they were not thankful. We need to thank God for everything he gives us, even in material things. It says in Psalm 105 and verse 5, remember his marvellous works that he hath done. But much more, much more than this. As his believing people, seeking to worship him, seeking to declare his gospel good news of life from the dead in his Son, we have much for which to be thankful.

What have we got? Well, look, Peter already mentioned it in his prayer. We've now got a public meeting place, which seemed no possibility 12 months ago. And we've actually got friendly, welcoming owners of this place that rent it to us, the committee that runs this. They're so friendly and welcoming.

there wasn't internet provision here and we asked for it and they went out of their way to give it and now I'm broadcasting live to you out there on the internet because the people from whom we rent this hall because we asked for it they put a good internet connection in that's happened in this last year we've got relative comfort it didn't the central heating system was broken when we first started using it we had to use temporary electric heaters we've now got We're almost inclined to open the window because it's so warm in here. We've got comfort in these days. We've got a hub for fellowship. We've had people coming from the outside gathering together here. It's good.

But it's all in the context of the biblical gospel. All in the context of... Because it's not just a place to meet. Loads of clubs have places to meet. But God has been pleased to give his word free course among us.

You know, the Old Testament records many famines and shortages of water and of food and of a lack of peace for the people and safety. But there was one shortage in the Old Testament that was worse than them all, and it's the one that is listed in Amos chapter 8. Let me read that to you. Amos chapter 8. And verse 11, God says this via the prophet Amos. He says this. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Now listen, but not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water. Oh, you'll have plenty of bread. You'll have plenty of water. You'll have plenty of the physical things that you need for life. But this is the famine that God will send. A famine of the hearing of the words of the Lord. He will dry up the word of the Lord. That's the biggest famine that God... can impose upon a people that reject him. He can withdraw his word. There will be a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, and they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Oh, that God would speak to us, and he shall not find it. That's the worst famine. That's the worst famine.

This generation in which we live has so little concept of the value of the word of God, of the words of eternal life. You know when Jesus asked, when many so-called disciples were leaving, and they were all going away, and the 12 were left with him, and he said to them, will you also go away? And Peter replies, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, we can't find it anywhere else. That's the greatest treasure. That's the greatest treasure. The greatest treasure that you can have in this world is this word of the living God in your hand.

So then, a famine of the word of God. But I think we can say that God has blessed us with heavenly manna from his word. Though the vessels be of the most base clay, the most rough and ready shatterable clay, he's given us great spiritual treasure in those earthen vessels. And not only here in this room, but via the internet. We share the manna he sends down with people now, even now, I'm sure, thousands of miles away. And it's going. With scattered believers, you know, like Peter writes to the scattered pilgrims, individual believers separated from one another. I know we have several out there and we just thank God so much for this means by which the Word of God can be shared.

It says that when God puts his people in a wilderness separation from the generality of this world, he feeds his people there. And I think we've been blessed. We've been blessed here with the Word of God amongst us. Physically, humanly, it's not easy. More than that, physically, humanly, just by human effort, it's absolutely impossible. But God be praised that he hasn't left us to our own strength. If he's done this, how much more might he do?

Here we are with this public place to worship and there are people all around us. Now there's seed for prayer to the God who hears prayer. Let's be thankful for material blessings, for our natural life, for our church, for what we've got now. Let's be thankful. Let's be thankful. Let's praise God.

Look in verse 1. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. Praise waiteth. Or the marginal reference there is silent. Praise is silent. It means, the meaning is that it falls so far below the level warranted by the bounty and the goodness of God in creation to his beloved people. Praise is silent. You know, they talk about a signal and there's the general background noise in the world and the signal gets quieter and quieter and quieter until it drops below the level of the noise and it's lost in the noise. And that's the idea, that the praise of God is lost in the noise of this world, isn't it? We need to praise God, to praise him. for his goodness, for his bounty to his beloved people.

And so we're reminded then, thanks for spiritual blessings. Thanks for spiritual blessings. I've already mentioned the blessings of God's Word in our midst, but he is God who, verse 2, thou that hearest prayer. The God that we worship, the God whose gospel we seek to proclaim, is the God who hears prayer. We have His Word flowing from Him by His Spirit to us. But we also have access to Him by prayer. He speaks to us, we speak to Him. We speak to the One who upholds all things by the Word of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is this not the one to come before? He's the one who rules over all things. You know, if you want to get something done, you go to the person that's got the power to get that done. And it might be in the world of medicine, or it might be in the world of mechanics and engineering and a problem in your house. You go to somebody that's got the power and the ability to get it done. Our God rules over all things. He has the power, and we come before Him. He is the one who upholds all things by the word of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if He upholds all things, He can do as He will. Nobody can stop him. He can do as he will. He hears his people's cries. He hears his people's requests, their petitions, their heart yearnings.

And it's not just in Zion. Praise waits for thee in Zion, which then in the days of the Psalms was alluding to Israel, to the chosen people of God. But in verse 2, to thee all flesh shall come. It's all flesh. It's a people, God has chosen a people from every tribe and tongue and kindred. All of his people can come to him in prayer.

How difficult to get earthly powers, governments, to hear anything at all. You know, they talk about the wonders of democracy and what a wonderful system it is. In my view, increasingly in the days in which we live, it's a means by which a certain set of people get into the position of having all the power and then completely closing their ears to everything that the people ask them to do.

But we come before God who rules over all things. He has the power to do everything. And not only that, he says in Isaiah 65 verse 24, speaking of his people praying to him, he says this, before they call, I will answer. He knows. what we're going to ask for, but we still must ask for it. He says, I will be inquired of of the house of Israel to do it for them. God is going to do things for his people, but he will be inquired of, he will be prayed to by the house of Israel to do it for them. Before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. This is the God to whom we pray.

Spiritual blessings. And he hears us empathetically. Do you know what I mean by that? He's touched. It says in Hebrews 4 verse 15 that our God is touched with the feeling of our infirmities because our God has been man, is man. There is a man in heaven. Our God has experienced life in human flesh. Our God has experienced weariness and tiredness. and hunger. He's experienced all of these things. He's experienced emotion. He's experienced grief. Jesus, the man, wept at the tomb of Lazarus, even though Jesus, our God-man, knew that he was going to raise him from the dead. But nevertheless, he, the man, at the tomb of Lazarus. Our God has experienced life in human flesh. He's touched with the feeling of our infirmities. And this is the God-man who is the one who hears prayer. O thou that hearest prayer is that man who wept at the tomb of Lazarus.

How can sinners like us have the ear of a holy God. Surely we are barred from access to a holy God. Look at verse 3. Iniquities prevail against me. Yes, sin separates us from God. As for our transgressions, look, here is the gospel. Thou shalt purge them away. by virtue of the redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, the iniquities that separate us from God are purged away. When sin cries for holy vengeance, the sin of people cries out for the vengeance of a holy God, the blood of the Lamb, the Lamb of God, cries out for mercy. It is Christ who, it says in Hebrews 1 verse 3, by himself has purged our sins. Thou shalt purge them away. It is Christ that has purged away the sins of his people by taking that sin and paying for it with his life, with his lifeblood, pouring out his lifeblood unto death.

And he, he, look verse 4, he Is that blessed man? Oh, yes, it's good to say blessed is the God's chosen me that I so pleased blessed I am so blessed by but listen listen This is about Christ Blessed is the man that God has chosen. Who is the man that God has chosen? Look at Isaiah chapter 42. Well, you don't need to look I'll read it out to you Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 1 where God is speaking via Isaiah the prophet and he says, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Clearly, that's a prophecy concerning Christ. Christ, the servant of God. He was the servant of God. He took the form of a servant, it says in Philippians chapter two, though he was equal with God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He took the form of a servant.

Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect. Christ is the elect of God, primarily, and all his people are only, only blessed of God in being chosen and called in that they're chosen and called in him and in him alone. He is that blessed man. He is God's servant. sent to accomplish the will of God in salvation.

How can I so boldly say that? Because the Lord Jesus Christ taught that. What did he say these scriptures are about? He said, these are they which speak of me. So when it says, blessed is that man whom thou choose, it's speaking of Christ. Christ is that man who is the one chosen of the Father to accomplish the work of salvation, to accomplish the will of the Father.

What is the will of the Father? Jesus said it, John 6, 39. This is the will of my Father, that of all that he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. It says he finished the work the Father gave him to do in his prayer. his high priestly prayer in John 17. He says in prayer to his father, I have finished the work that you gave me to do.

What was the work that God gave him to do? The work he gave him to do was to accomplish salvation, to save his people. Why did he save his people? His name was to be called Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people from their sins. He finished the work the father gave him to do. He is that blessed man right at the very start of the Psalms.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. I've been in church situations where people have read that with their with their growing level of pride in their own sanctification and they've gone, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. No, that's me, I don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly. I don't stand in the way of sinners. I don't sit in the seat of the, oh, I love the Lord. They self-righteously look and apply that to themselves.

But it's Christ who is that blessed man. It's Christ. Not any self-righteous sinner. It's Christ who is that blessed man. But his people are so blessed in him, and only in him, and never outside of him. This is the goodness of God to his people. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness. The more we know of this, the more we feed on this. This is the fatness, this is the riches of grace to sinners that he sends down for his people.

He united his people with him. before the beginning of time, chosen in Christ before the world began. He betrothed his people to Christ. He betrothed them as a bride for her husband. He betrothed his people to Christ. He made them one flesh together. You know, in marriage, the symbolism there, A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. They are regarded as one, and in the same way, as Paul says in Ephesians 5, talking about marriage and wives and husbands, he says, but this is a great mystery. I'm speaking of Christ and his church.

His church is betrothed to him. We're united with him in the purposes of God from eternity, and therefore, When it says, blessed is the man whom you choose, yes, it's our Lord Jesus Christ, but it's all his people in him. And you, if you are counted amongst those people that are blessed in him. In him, it says in Psalm 72 and verse 17, men shall be blessed in him. All nations shall call him blessed. He is our God man. He is the mighty one, exalted. chosen out of the people, out of the people to help, in Psalm 89. Psalm 89 and, where's it gone? Verse 19. The Lord is our defense and the Holy One of Israel is our King. Then thou spakest in vision to thy Holy One and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant and with my holy oil have I anointed him.

It's speaking of Christ. It's speaking of our God in Christ. He is the one who was chosen out of the people. He is the one to be the saviour of his people, to be the king of his people, to be David to his people. And with my holy oil have I anointed him. This is our God, the one who shall choose our inheritance for us, is what it says in Psalm 47. He shall choose our inheritance for us.

He is the one, Zechariah, we saw it earlier in this year. Zechariah chapter 13 and verse 7, it says this. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will turn my hand upon the little ones. What's this about? Awake, O sword, that's the sword of divine justice, against my shepherd, the one who is the good shepherd, the shepherd of his sheep, against that shepherd who is a man, for God became man, against the man that is my fellow, the fellow of God. He is one with God. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He is the one who was smitten of God with the sword of divine justice. Why? For sins he had committed? No, he never committed any sins, but with the sword of justice.

And we, the people of God, shall be satisfied. Look in verse four. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and cause us to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even with thy holy temple. What is that? That's his heavenly kingdom. That's the place that will be the delight and the satisfaction of his people. For he has promised to prepare a place for his people. He said, I go to prepare a place for you and I'll come again for you. to take you to be with me. He's preparing many mansions. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. He's gone to prepare a place for his people, and he's coming back to take his people to be with him eternally, to say to them, come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

What immense goodness God has made known to us. What immense goodness God has made known to his people in this world, if we will only see it and read it. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, thy paths drop fatness. Worldly things pale into fleeting worthless toys by comparison. We sang that in one of the hymns earlier. The things of this world, yes, we enjoy them, we use the the air and the water and the good things of life, the wine and the oil, but it all pales into insignificance. Worthless toys by comparison to the riches that are in Christ.

You say, all right, I hear what you're saying. Yeah, okay. In truth, I don't see much of it now. Can I say that Elijah He called down a drought on Israel for three and a half years, and it didn't rain, and the people were dying of starvation. It was punishment, for God had said that he would withhold the rain if they went after idols, and they did, under King Ahab. And when the three and a half years came to an end, he gathered them all at Mount Carmel, and you know the story of Elijah. But at the end of that story, when Elijah had been triumphant and the fire of God had fallen and consumed the sacrifice on the altar, Elijah got down and prayed. And what was he praying for? That now, God would send the rain that he had promised at the end of the three and a half years.

And he prayed, and he said to his servant, the young boy, he said, go up on the mountain, the top, and go and have a look towards the sea, out over the Mediterranean Sea, and tell me, can you see any sign of any rain? And the little boy comes back and says, no, no, there's nothing, the earth is hard as iron, it's not a solitary thing. Well, go and do it again. And he went again, and back again. Nothing, no, there is nothing. Seven times, seven times. And at the seventh time, Elijah's praying, he's praying, he's praying, go and see, is anything up? Go and pray. He prays, go and see, is anything up? No, the earth's hard as iron. And then he comes back the seventh time. There's a little cloud. It's only the size of a man's hand. It's just a little cloud on the horizon. Blue, blue sky, little cloud. And Elijah says, get running, go and tell Ahab that he's got to get out of here because he's going to be overtaken by a deluge. There's a flood coming.

You see, things may seem like small things. We seem to be in days of small things, but do not limit God. God can turn that tiny distant cloud into a deluge of a flood. Think about Nebuchadnezzar who dreamed a dream in his chapter two. And his dream was of the history of the world and the empires of the world and that great statue with its head of gold and silver and brass and iron and feet of clay. And there was a little stone that was cut out without hands. A little stone cut out of the great rock without hands. That's the kingdom of God. And in that dream, that little stone came and crushed that gigantic statue and all the kingdoms of the world and crushed it to powder. Don't despise the day of small things. Don't despise the day when you don't see much of it now. But that doesn't mean that God cannot do it and that he will do it. He will do it. In that picture, all earthly powers are ground to dust, and he's going to do that.

Hear the words of Christ to his people. Hear what he has to say.

Luke chapter 12, verse 32. Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Has the sight of your eternal inheritance grown clearer in the past year? If it has, praise God for it. and look for and pray for yet more clarity as we move into the next year. Amen.