Well, it's a wonderful summary
of the gracious dealings with God to Israel, and how he did
from the time that he spoke to Abraham, soon after he'd come
out of Ur of the Chaldees, and promised that he would inherit
this land of Canaan. And so, it came to pass. But it was many years, of course.
We read in just a few verses, but it covers many hundreds of
years. And yet it all came to pass. And it begins, these first few
verses, are really very precious because the psalmist starts off
and he says, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Well surely that
is so necessary and so important for all of us in our little lives
as we see what God has done for us, how God has appeared for
us, as God hasn't dealt with us as our sins deserve, how God
has heard and answered prayer and therefore we should recognise
the privilege it is to come and give thanks unto the Lord. As I sometimes say, how we fail
in this, how we seem to pass over the great blessings and
favours of Almighty God and seem almost to forget about it. Well,
we're reminded here, oh give thanks unto the Lord and how
we need to. And then we're encouraged, call
upon His name. Call upon His name. We're encouraged
to call on the name of our God, to pray unto Him. In everything
that we come into, all the trials, all the temptations, all the
needs the Lord brings upon us, we are to call upon His name. And the truth is that should
be the first thing we do. but we're sinful mortals, and
often we forget. Troubles occur, difficulties
occur, and we try and solve them ourselves. And then we remember
to call upon His name. And how gracious is our God,
doesn't deal with us in a harsh way, but in love to our soul. And then we have a gracious exhortation. Make known his deeds among the
people. That again is something that
we often fail to do. It doesn't say just amongst the
church of God, it's to make known his deeds among the people. We
are to testify of what God has done and to let people realize
that we believe in a God who hears and answers prayer. A God who has done great things
and so says the word of God, make it known, make it known,
make known his deeds among the people. and then sing unto Him,
sing Psalms unto Him. It's good, isn't it, to sing
unto our God. It's a pleasant occupation, isn't
it? And what a blessing, therefore we're encouraged to do that,
sing unto Him, sing Psalms unto him. And then he goes on and
again reminds us, if you like, of his deeds. He tells us, talk
ye of all his wondrous works. Again, what does this do? My
friends, it brings honour and glory to God, doesn't it? So
how we are to talk ye of all his wondrous works. And this
chapter is full of his wondrous works. The Word of God is full
of His wondrous works. So many things we have to be
able to speak of, and of course His wondrous work of salvation,
that glorious work, the wonder of it, that He sent His only
Beloved Son into this world, that whosoever believeth on Him
should not perish but have eternal life. Surely that is a great
and glorious, wondrous works. Well, do we talk about the work
of the Saviour? Do we talk about the work of
the Holy Spirit? Do we talk about the work of
our Father? Well, here we are, we might say
commanded, talk ye of all his wondrous works. How easy it is
to forget to do that and yet you know it is encouraging when
we do speak of his wondrous works one to another our soul is strengthened
we're encouraged to realize that we have a great God who is gracious
and kind and deals with us in love too our souls. So he then
says, glory ye in his holy name, the name of God, oh it's a glorious
name, who is the almighty God, who is the God who created all
things, This is the God that we should adore and we should
glory in what he has done and therefore glory in his name. Well, it's wonderful, isn't it,
if we do that. And as I often say, our little
lives on this earth, we're here not to please ourselves. We're
here to glorify our God. Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. And so as we come to God even
tonight, as we come to seek our God, to rejoice in the wonderful
favour and wonderful privilege which is ours as unworthy sinners,
we can come to the majesty on high. What a wonderful, wonderful
favour. What a wonderful, wonderful blessing
that is. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Well, if we do seek the Lord,
what a blessing then to be found amongst those who do rejoice
in his name. And then finally, seek the Lord
and his strength. Seek his face evermore. We are to always seek unto the
Lord that he will be mindful of us, that he will remember
us, that he will go before us, that he will make the crooked
things straight and the rough places plain, that he will be
gracious to us and do us good. What a wonderful God we have
and what a mercy it is to be able to come to him. Seek the
Lord and his strength. Seek his face evermore. Remember his marvellous works.
and he hath done.' Well, they're here in this chapter and throughout
the Word of God. And may we indeed remember his
marvellous works and he hath done his wonders and the judgements
of his mouth. Well, they're glorious verses,
these first few verses, and they're there for our instruction and
direction. So may we each be able to understand
and take heed of these great things. O give thanks unto the
Lord, Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the
people. Sing under him. Sing psalms under him. Talk ye
of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name. Let
the heart of them rejoice. that seek the Lord, seek the
Lord and His strength. Seek His face evermore. Remember
His marvellous works that He has done, His wonders and His
judgements of His mouth. Well, may God bless these few
words and help us to understand what the Lord directs us to do.