Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God. We have the reading on the second
page of the hymn sheet. There's two readings this morning. The first is from Psalm 107,
and we're reading verses 21 through to 31. Psalm 107, verse 21. O that men would praise the Lord
for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men. and let them sacrifice the sacrifices
of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea
in ships that do business in great waters, these see the works
of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth and
raiseth His stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven,
they go down again to the depths, their soul is melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger
like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry
unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their
distresses. He maketh his stormer calm, so
that the ways thereof are still. Then are they glad because they
be quiet, so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. know that men would praise the
Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men. Now second reading is from James
chapter 4. It's not actually, I've left
the chapter off on the top of the page there, but it's James
chapter 4 and verses 13 to 17. Go to now ye that say, Today
or to-morrow we will go into such a city and continue there
a year, and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas ye know not
what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is
even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth
away. For that ye ought to say, If
the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that. But now
ye rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. The Lord bless to us that reading
of his holy word. The word I desire to speak to
you this morning is actually two words, two texts. The ones are highlighted actually
on the front of the sheet and on the readings. As we enter
into a new year and with the pandemic and the restrictions
that are still with us, I desire to bring you three thoughts that
shall not only begin the year, but to go through the year with. And those thoughts are based
upon these two texts. The first is in Psalm 107. We have a theme that runs right
through this psalm and we have begun and finished our reading
with the same verse, verse 21 and 31 the same. O that men would praise
the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the
children of men. So the first thing I bring before
you is praising the Lord. Praising the Lord. It's very
evident from the words here in Psalm 107 that people, men, are
very backward in praising the Lord and I think if we are honest
with ourselves then we must say ourselves that we also We do
not praise the Lord as much as what we should. The Lord says
in Isaiah 43 verse 21 this people have i formed for
myself and they shall show forth my praise and the chief end of
man is to glorify god and to enjoy him forever and so with
psalm 107 we have through it many changing scenes and they
truly represent life's journey in the world you have the tribulation
and the sorrows, the many trials, but as many as the trials that
are there are the deliverances. There's the cries for help, there's
the falling down, crying unto the Lord, and the Lord's deliverances. And all the time through the
psalm, O that men would praise the Lord. Why is it? Why are we so backward to give
thanks and to praise the Lord? Is it because we have such a
cloud with the tribulations and we can hardly rise above it? Is it because instead we're given
to murmuring, complaining and doing just what the children
of Israel did through the wilderness? They always found something to
complain and murmur over. May that not be how we go through
this year. May the Lord deliver us from
that. May the Lord help us to think
even this morning, I know it will vary from each of us, but
we have a roof over our head, we have a home, we have loved
ones, we have dear brethren, those that we may meet with of
the same mind In the Lord we have the Word of God, we have
our natural food, we have spiritual food, we have a measure of health,
whatever that measure is. And the Lord has given us grace,
He has called us, the greatest blessing, the gift of eternal
life that could ever be bestowed upon a poor sinner, and given
us a prospect of heaven, and we are under the promises of
the Lord's presence with us. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. We have those blessings. A God
that is in control, not man. God is on the throne as we begin
this year and as we go through the year. May we go through,
instead of it being the Lord and His people saying, oh, that
men would praise the Lord, that we be of those that we do. And we count our blessings one
by one, and we look for those things that we are able to praise
the Lord for. He is worthy, worthy of it. The second thing is also based
on these verses in Psalm 107, and that is observing his works. The psalmist not only says, O
that men would praise the Lord, but it is for his goodness and
for his wonderful works to the children of men. So it's not
just his wonderful works, but it is specifically to the children
of men. We read at the end of that psalm,
Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall
understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. The lovingkindness
of the Lord does at times need understanding. If a child was
given sweet and lovely things from a parent, they don't need
much understanding. The parent loves them. They take
it. That is the case. But if they've done something
wrong, and the parent chastises them, and that chastising is
painful, then that takes some understanding that there's actually
as much or more love in that discipline than there is in those
good things. And dear friends, we, personally,
as a nation, as churches, are under the discipline and the
hand of the Lord at this time. Is it a mark that He doesn't
love us? Or is it that we may discern
and understand the loving-kindness of the Lord, to not let us just
go on, godless, careless, prayerless, and unmindful of Him, or ascribing
things to man. What is so important as we begin
and continue this year, we're able to look above man. above
His decisions and the decisions of those in authority over us
and see the Lord's hand and the Lord in control and Him working
out His most perfect will. All the while that we are seeing
man and seeing almost going along with the world and saying it's
just chance, it's just happened or This person can do as they
like. Now, the Lord says, Nebuchadnezzar
and the children of Israel's day, he was his servant. And
men are used to fulfill the Lord's will. He put it into their hearts
to fulfill his will. But we are to observe his works,
not just his works, his wonderful works. Those things that he does
in tribulations journey, those things that he does in Providence,
those things that he does in calling, in the blessing of the
people of God, the working of all things together for their
good, the work that the Lord has done at Calvary that is made
known to us in the Gospel, as it is preached and it is set
forth. We get gospel hardened, dear
friends, and may this be a year as we go through it that the
scriptures are made fresh, they are made new to us, that we see
in new eyes, especially as we may walk in new paths, paths
that we haven't walked before, that we realize what some of
the dear brethren who have gone before us, that they've walked
in dark and strange paths themselves, and they had been brought out
a bit and brought to praise and bless the Lord as dear Joseph
was in his time and his day. So may we be of those that look
for the Lord's hand. One of the dear brethren said
to me once, he said, they that will watch Providence will never
lack a Providence to watch. And yes, for Mrs Hawkins there,
you recognise probably that is Ray Chaplin and many things that
he says, very encouraging. But it is very true, we watch
the Lord's hand and when we watch, then we will see, because the
earth is full of the Lord's work and full of His goodness and
full of His handiwork. But many don't see it, but may
we be those that do see it. My lice, my neuter circumstance
is subject to his eye. Well, the last point I bring
before you is from the epistle of James. And here we have in
verse 15, if the Lord will. If there's anything that we have
had to learn in this last year, it is that the Lord has a sovereign
right to overturn our plans and our arrangements. Many of our
calendars in the ministry or in our homes I've had many marks,
many alterations put on them, and though we may have had services,
yet those have changed to online. Those dates that I had in the
beginning of the year, every month to come in to the Pilgrim
Home and to see you dear friends and to minister that all has
not happened. Thankfully I've been able to
come in virtually and more often, twice a month and sometimes more
than that. And I thank the Lord for that.
But many of the things that we have planned have all had to
be revised and redone. And so we're reminded that The
Lord is sovereign, and when we make these plans, as James says,
we ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this
or that. I fear sometimes we have added
that, we've added that to notices for chapel special services,
when we've spoken to brethren we do, and it just rolls off
the tongue, we don't really realise what we are saying. And sometimes
as well, We can't put things in compartments. When we're dealing
with the Lord's people, we say, if the Lord will. When we're
in a workplace or dealing with those that don't know the Lord,
we leave that off. Why should we do that? We're
still subject to the Lord's will, as we have found through this
last year. So, some have said, well, I'm
not making any plans for the year. Or some have thought, well,
what shall we do this year? Because everything has changed.
We still make the plans. We still make the arrangements.
But they are subject to the Lord's will. And we watch to see how
the Lord changes it, moves it around. Some of the dear brethren
haven't been able to preach at the chapel that it was agreed
that they should preach at a year ago, but then another, one of
the pastors, has been unwell and they preached at that chapel
instead. Now, when the Lord blesses the
word in that chapel, You trace the Lord's providence, the Lord's
reordering of things, and there's many times in my life that I've
been blessed in such a way, not only was there the blessing,
but when you trace how that blessing came, through things being changed,
men being sick, others put in their place, ministers brought
who did not expect to go but a week before and those things
have been used and so may we be helped as we make our plans
necessary make arrangements from day to day or perhaps a long
way ahead that we always add this in a very feeling and meaningful
way, if the Lord will. And really it's a wonderful thing
to think that the Lord does sometimes in great love change our plans. What if He said to us, you make
your plans and whether they're good or bad, whether they're
right for you or for others or not, they stand. Everything is
set in stone. Wouldn't we tremble to make such
arrangements? But if he says, my child, you
make your arrangements. But where I see that something
is better, I will change it. And I'll change it for good.
How do you know that? We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are the
called according to His purpose. We may have had many disappointments
this year, many things that made us very sad, but may we see that
we do have a Sovereign God. He rules, not us. not our planning,
the Lord's planning. And may we watch and join together
that praise where we see He has changed about things and that
it has been for our good. I'll leave with you one verse. It's often been a help to me
over the years. It's a verse of quite a longer
hymn. For the verse goes like this,
The ill he blesses is our good, Our good unblessed is ill, And
all is right that seems most wrong, If it be his sweet will.