May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
first book of the Chronicles, chapter 16, and we'll read verse
34. The first book of the Chronicles,
chapter 16, and reading verse 34. Oh, give thanks unto the
Lord, for he is good. for his mercy endureth for ever. Surely this should be the continued
desire of every truly born again child of God. Because there is
much reason to give thanks unto the Lord. And David here gives us two wonderful
reasons. For he is good and for his mercy
endureth forever. So that is indeed much reason
for the Church of God to give thanks unto the Lord. And it would be a good testimony
and a good evidence in our hearts this evening if we can echo these
words. But they're not words which just
occur in the word of God and we read and they pass us by,
but if our hearts go with them. And we desire, like David, to
give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth
forever. This was an occasion, a very
wonderful occasion in the life of David and the history of Israel
because the ark of God had been brought back into their midst. It had been away for a good number
of years and all the years of Saul, the people hadn't come
to the ark And now it had been in David's heart to bring it
once again. And of course, as we know, that
he didn't go about it in the right way. Yes, his heart was
to bring the Ark back, but he didn't go about it in the right
way. The right way was for the Levites
to carry the Ark. Instead of that, he ordered a
new cart put it on the cart for oxen to bring back and well the
oxen stumbled and Isaiah put forth his hand instead of the
ark and so against the law of God and the commands of God that
he was struck down dead and David was upset about that situation
and the ark went aside into the household of Obed-Edom for quite
some time but David was able to rectify the situation. He realized what he'd done wrong
and in the 15th chapter we read, then David said, none ought to
carry the ark of God but the Levites. For them hath the Lord
chosen to carry the ark of God and to minister unto him forever.
We might be surprised that here was King David, a man after God's
own heart, who must have been well versed in the Old Testament
ceremonies and yet left to himself he produced this way of bringing
the art back which was contrary to the Word of God. And we today
don't have such a position but nonetheless we should be concerned
in our lives not to walk contrary to the Word of God. not as it
were to produce a new cart in our experience. Thinking that
we have some different way to perhaps follow the Lord or to
acknowledge what he's done. Let us not depart from the gracious
ordained way the Lord has set before us in his word. These
accounts are for our instruction and to enable us not to do not
to fall into errors like David did. But thankfully the Lord
was merciful. One of the great reasons why
he was able to say, for his mercy endures forever. He was merciful
to David and to Israel and they brought then the ark back in
the right way. The Levites carried it and they
brought it back and placed it in the midst of the tent that
David had pitched for it. And then they offered burnt sacrifices
and peace offerings, thanksgiving sacrifices. Sure they were thankful
indeed that God enabled them to have the Ark in their midst
once again. And you remember the tremendous
significance of course of the Ark. It wasn't just a rectangular
box. It signified where the Lord came
down and met with the high priest and there within it was the holy
righteous law of God. It was so wonderful for Israel
of old who did not have the blessings that we have today with the revealed
Savior. They walked by faith in those
days and this was that which God had ordained that Israel
might realize the Lord God was with them. We have such many
wonderful accounts of when the ark was made and the tabernacle
erected. God came down and acknowledged
that he was with them in this, and surely David desired and
found and knew the Lord was with them now. And so his response
was to write this psalm, this song, which we've been able to
read together from the 8th verse down to the 36th verse. And what a blessing to have this. And of course, I expect many
realize that many parts of this are recorded in the Psalms in
any event. But here we have this account
that David wrote. And what a wonderful statement
it is. And he commences, what does he
say? give thanks unto the Lord, call
upon his name, make known his deeds among the people, sing
under him, sing psalms under him, talk of all his wondrous
works. Now that of course was surely
the desire of David. My friends it was the desire
of Moses a good few years before that and it's good if We remind
ourselves of the desire of Moses when he was an old man, not long
before he was going to die, and he spoke to Israel and he said
to them, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul. and with
all thy might. And these words which I command
thee this day shall be in thine heart." In thine heart. What
a blessing for us today if we have the words of the Lord in
our heart. And he desired that these things
would be taught. And thou shalt teach them diligently
unto thy children. and shall talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, when thou walkest by the way, when
thou liest down, when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them
for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between
thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy houses,
and on thy door, on thy gates." What a blessing. Moses wanted
these truths to be constantly before the children of Israel
and their children and their children. He didn't want it to
be forgotten. And really in light ways here,
many years later, David has the same desire that these blessings
might be made known, his deeds among the people. Well, my friends,
is this our desire today? It's our desire, it's your desire,
and my desire that the great things that God has done, declared
of in the Word of God, might be spoken of, might be rejoiced
in, might be considered, and also things that He has done
since the Word of God was complete, and those things which he has
done in your life and my life. These things which bring honor
and glory to God. These things which under the
Spirit of God stir up the spirit of people, give them a concern
about the reality of the things of God. There was no denying
what had occurred. Moses was able to record it.
It had occurred, and he recorded it. And he recorded it so that
it might not be forgotten. And you can go through the Word
of God. There were a number of occasions that the things of
God would not be forgotten. Remember when those tribes went
back across the river, Jordan, after they'd conquered Canaan,
and they built an altar. And initially, the Israelites
thought that the nine and a half tribes thought that that was
against God they were rebelling but it wasn't what they did it
for was that they wouldn't forget the children wouldn't forget
the great truths of God and there were other instances in the Word
of God when stones were built and writing was put on them so
that there would not be that forgetfulness of the mercies
of God and my friends we need that today Lest we forget. Lest we forget. It's good, isn't it, if we write
down the blessings that God has done and that we speak of the
blessings that God has done. You see, these children of Israel
were encouraged to speak about what God had done when they walked
about, when they got up, They were to speak about the things
of God. It wasn't, they weren't speaking about, they weren't
told to well discuss the weather and discuss what you're going
to do today. They were told to talk about the things of God,
the things that he had done. Do we not fail today? Is it one of the reasons perhaps
why the church is in a low state? because we've disobeyed the Word
of God? We haven't kept up in terms of
what the Word of God encourages us to do? How important it is
then that as we may bless God today for His mercy and for His
favour and come in, and I hope we can today, come in with these
words, O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good and for his
mercy endureth forever." And if we want to say that and can
say it, there needs to be a reason, doesn't there? It's not just
something vague. There needs to be a reason why
we desire to give thanks unto the Lord and why we desire to
bless him because he's good and for his mercy endureth forever.
Now surely the greatest blessing is the work of God in our souls. Yes, the gracious work. And that gracious work demonstrates
His mercy. It demonstrates His love. And how you and I need to be
able to observe that work in our hearts and our souls and
not to be devoid of it. and not to push it to one side
as though it's of little importance. Or push it to one side in case
it intrudes into our lives and perhaps stops us doing certain
things. What a good thing that would
be if it is so. But oh, that there might be then a true desire
to acknowledge these words and that they might be worked out
in our own lives. Just again turning to the book
of Psalms, we read there in the 105th Psalm a wonderful statement
right through the Psalm of what the Lord had done for Israel. Many things he had done and the
Psalm starts with very similar words. Oh give thanks unto the
Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people,
sing under him, sing psalms under him, talk of all his wondrous
works. Now, my friends, if God has touched
our heart, if God has caused us to realise how we stand before
a holy God, a lost and ruined sinner, and has caused us to
seek unto the Lord And the Lord has blessed us with light and
life in our souls. Is it not reason to talk of such
a wondrous work? Because it is a work which we
could not do ourselves. That's really one of the great
evidences of the work of God. That which you and I could not
do for ourselves. is that which God has done. And
the psalmist then reiterates the things that God has done.
And he tells us, seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face
evermore. Oh, how important it is that
we come seeking the Lord. They that seek shall find. May not find it, in the way that
you and I expect to. We may be able to give testimony
that we didn't find it in the way that we expected. Because
God is sovereign and God will have all the glory and he won't
allow you and me to pat ourselves on the back and say, well, we
did this and I did this and that's why it happened. No, it will
be all of his mercy, all of his grace. we shall desire to talk of his
wondrous works. And one thing is quite sure,
we will be amazed at that work. We should be amazed that God
should have had mercy upon such unworthy sinner. It is amazing, and you'll understand
from your heart exactly what John Newton said. Amazing grace,
and it is. Amazing grace, the free unmerited
favor of God. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. His grace has set me free." Oh,
what wondrous works they are. And so here we have this statement,
O give thanks unto the Lord. It's a good thing then, if you
and I can give thanks unto the Lord. And how will that be? With our lips, through the words. We won't just keep it in to ourselves.
Now, as we spoke recently in the 10th chapter of Romans, it's
very clear how there is that speaking forth with the lips,
so that the name of our God is honored and glorified. Seek the
Lord in his strength. Seek his face evermore. Remember
his marvelous works that he has done. His marvelous works. Well, when the Spirit of God
comes and opens our eyes, to realise our lost and ruined condition,
and then to direct us to the glorious work of the Saviour. And it is a marvellous work,
and it will be marvellous in our eyes to think that the great
God, the ruler of the universe, the one that we sang about in
our opening hymn, was willing to come down into this sinful
earth, and to suffer, and to bleed, and to die, that we might
live. That you and I might receive
the great and glorious gift of eternal life. And it is a marvellous
work. And our hearts will come and
rejoice and say, what a saviour. What a wonderful Saviour, what
a merciful Saviour, who has condescended to call me, call me by His grace. A lovely expression, isn't it?
The Apostle Paul uses that. Called by grace. A call which
sinful man will not be able to resist. We may perhaps try and
put off the things of God. But my friends, when God calls,
calls a sinner dead in trespasses and in sins, that sinner hears,
the ears are opened, the call of God enters in, life is given,
a life that will never be taken away. And that life is given
because of what the Saviour did upon the cross at Calvary. Oh,
wonderful blessing, wonderful favour to be amongst those who
truly desire to come and give thanks unto the Lord for His
unspeakable gift. The gift of eternal life, the
gift of the Saviour. What an unspeakable gift it is.
Well, tonight, let us ask the question, ask ourselves, before
God, that's the one you and I have to answer before, have we reason
to give thanks unto the Lord? Have you reason to give thanks
unto the Lord for what He's done for your soul in calling you
out of nature's darkness into the marvelous light of the everlasting
gospel? My friends, you will have to
answer before God. What a blessing it is if you
have a good hope, an evidence of the Lord's work in your heart.
And my friends, if you don't, tremble, tremble before God. Earnestly seek His face. He will have mercy upon you. We're always still on praying
ground. We don't know what the night or tomorrow will bring
forth. We may not be here. Then where will our soul be? Glorious scene if it's in glory.
Terrible thing if it's in hell. Oh, you and I need to have the
wonderful evidence of the life of God in our souls. And to be able to trace out,
therefore, that which David was so thankful for, his mercy. His mercy. Mercy is welcome news
indeed to those who guilty stand. If you and I have stood, as it were, the judgment seat
of God, condemned, guilty, not able to open our mouth. How thankful we will be to know
that we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
Righteous. One to plead our cause. We have no ability to plead it
ourselves. All we can plead is guilty. What a mercy to know. We have a saviour who pleads
for his people in heaven's high court above. The 107th Psalm
also encourages us. Again, it commences with the
same words that we read here tonight, and it goes on in a
very beautiful way. It starts off, O give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever,
And then he says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath
redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Well, have we said so? It says here, let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. There's cause, isn't there? There's
reason to come and give thanks unto the Lord. if He has come
and redeemed our soul. My friends, without that redemption,
there is no hope. But with that redemption, eternal
life is ours. And with that redemption, one
day, by His grace, we shall be found in glory around that throne
of God in heaven. The Apostle John, he had a little
view of it. on the Isle of Patmos, and he
was able to speak about it. And what a wonderful blessing
it is. And he tells us in the fifth
chapter of the Revelation, and he tells us, and they sung a
new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and to open
the seals thereof. for thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and
priests and we shall reign on the earth. Redeemed. Is it a wonderful word, isn't
it? Does it rejoice our hearts to
know that Christ has redeemed us? What does that mean? What does
redemption mean? It means that He has paid the
price to deliver us from that condemnation which was due to
us. The condemnation which was due
to us because of our sin was to be forever condemned, condemned
to eternal punishment. However, could a poor unworthy
sinner pay the price to save us from such a condition? We
could not. We could not. Therefore, unless we have someone
to come and pay that price, that ransom price, we are forever
lost. Well, here we have the wonderful
solution, the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten
Son of God, the One who so willingly came into this world to take
on Himself human flesh and to live that perfect life and to
die that sin atoning death in order to save our soul, in order
to redeem our soul. He paid the price. He bore the punishment instead. And my friends, never underestimate
the cost of your salvation. Never underestimate it. Ponder. the life of the Saviour,
ponder what He endured on our behalf, on your behalf, so that
you might one day be found singing that new song, Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain. Just go to Gethsemane and what
do we see there? The suffering Son of God. the suffering son of God, crying
out, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but thine be done. Total submission to the righteous
will of his father. It was not possible that he should
be delivered. He had to bear our punishment
instead. And then there he was taken to
the judgment hall as a criminal. No sin. There, taken and mocked,
humiliated, beaten. and taken before Pilate, condemned
to death, not because of anything that he had done, but as he took
our place as that great and glorious substitute. Try and think, why
should the Son of God won't be willing to stand in your place
and my place. Such an unworthy person. I'll tell you why. Because he
loved us with an everlasting love and therefore with loving
kindness he's drawn us. A love so great A love so free,
the blessed Lord himself, so willing to come and endure the
death of the cross. My God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? Oh, never underestimate, I say,
the cost of our salvation. And as we think of what the Saviour
passed through, what the Saviour endured, that we might be blessed
with eternal life. May we hear these words. Let
the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from
the hand of the enemy. 107th Psalm, as you well know,
I expect. It's a very beautiful psalm speaking
about God's wonderful manifold providences to Israel of old
and how they were led about. But you know, in reality, we
today are also greatly blessed as the Lord leads us about in
providence in various ways. He brings us down And he brings
us up and the word tells us they wandered in the wilderness in
a solitary way. The church of God do wander in
a solitary way. They're strangers, they're pilgrims
on this earth. They found no city to dwell in.
We've no abiding city here. Sad truth were this to be our
home. hungry and thirsty their soul, fainted in them again. Let's be clear, the psalmist
homes in on the soul. That's the thing, it's not the
body, it's the soul which is so vital. Then, what do they do? They give up, Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of
their distresses." Now, God does come. God does deliver. God does
hear prayer, but my friends, God has his way. He has his time. And be sure of this, it's a right
time and a right way, and it will bring honor and glory to
his name. It won't occur usually in the way that you might anticipate.
God's deliverance is for his honor and glory. And so here
we have this statement. They cried unto him, unto the
Lord, and he delivered them. And he led them forth by the
right way that they might go to a city of habitation. There is a right way ordained
for each one of us, an individual way ordained, a right way. and as it is ordained
and as we know the lord will bring it to pass so the words
are here oh give thanks unto the lord for he is good he is
good for his mercy endures forever and the psalmist tells us here
oh that men would praise the lord for his goodness and for
his wonderful works to the children of men Well, can we trace out
in our spiritual life the work of God? The work of God. Not your work. The work of God. The sovereign work of God. The
work which you didn't seek. The work which God brought upon
you. You may say, well, I did seek.
Well, it's because God gave you the spirit to seek. You and I
wouldn't seek it and love ourselves. And you might say, well, why
wouldn't we? I'll tell you why. Because we're spiritually dead. Spiritually dead, no life. Dead
person can't do anything. Neither can you and I until the
great and blessed day when the Spirit of God brings life. When the Lord passes by and says,
live, oh, life. eternal life. It's good, isn't
it? Wonderful, isn't it? To realise
the mercy of the Lord. Realise His blessing. And so,
as the psalmist goes on, He hath broken the gates of brass. It
may have seemed very hard, very dark, very difficult. Prayers
didn't seem to get through, didn't seem to bounce back. So they
will, until Christ comes. till we see the Lord Jesus Christ.
By faith, as our great and glorious High Priest, taking our prayers,
presenting them to his Father, it has seen that our prayers
has bounced back from the wall. He has broken the gates of brass,
cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools, and so are we by nature,
fools, aren't we? Fools, because of their transgression
and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth
all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth
them out of their distresses. He sent his word. This is wonderful,
isn't it? He sent his word, the word of
God. Thy word is truth, says the Savior. Thy word. He sent his word and
healed them. Healed them. And when the Lord
heals, my friend, it's done. And healed them and delivered
them from all their destructions. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men. Well, you go home and read the
107th Psalm. It's well worth reading. You
see how merciful and gracious God was and still is today. You see, The Lord is the same
yesterday and today and forever. And so may you and I have much
reason to come and join with David and say, Oh, give thanks
unto the Lord. And we must do that. We must come to that position
while we're on this earth. Otherwise we're lost. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. He hasn't dealt with us as our
sins deserve. He is good. He's made all his
goodness to pass before us in the way, and for his mercy, which
endureth forever. Well, David had much personal
experience of God's favor towards him. And you know, we today also,
have much cause, surely, to praise God. But He hasn't left us. He hasn't forsaken us. He hasn't
cut us off as a cumber of the ground. Through His mercy, He
has looked upon us. And may we have, therefore, the
evidence of that look, of His grace, and know that we have
passed from that condition of death and deadness into life,
eternal life. a life that will never be taken
away because God gives the gift of eternal life. And oh, may
we all possess it. May we all have it. May we all
rejoice in it. May we all praise God from whom
all blessings flow and enter into these words with a truly
full heart. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. For he is good, for his mercy
endureth forever. Amen.