I hope that you will pray for
me as I study during the week, preparing the messages. And as I grow in the grace and
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray to sometimes get past
verse one or two. But right now, the Lord has humbled
me to just be able to get the one and because they just grow. They become so large that it's
just overwhelming. The things that are contained
in Scripture are so massive in scope because our God is infinite
in scope. His work is infinite. So I ask
the Lord to be gracious, but I'm thankful for the ability
to digest one. And I hope that the Lord blesses
us to unite. Look at this in Psalm 105, verse
1. The Scripture says, O give thanks
unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among
the people. Give thanks. Give thanks. And that's the first point I
want to make this evening, is the giving of thanks unto God. There is no sweeter duty for
every believer in Christ than to render thanks to God. This is one of our sweetest obligations
as believers, our sweetest responsibility, to give thanks unto our God for
His sovereign and free grace. None of us are here because We
deserve to be here. None of us know the grace of
God because we merited it. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. Every one of us who know the
Lord Jesus Christ and believe on Him and desire to hear the
things of God, it is because of the free mercy of God. And I continue by the free mercy
of God. I testify that I'm not here by
my strength. I'm not here because I'm a strong
believer, because my faith is so strong. I'm here tonight because
God is gracious. Otherwise, I wouldn't be. God
keeps us. God sustains us. And He's worthy
of our praise, of our thanksgiving for His mercy and love towards
us. This psalm of thanksgiving. that's
written here in this text is also written in 1 Chronicles
16, I believe it is. But this psalm is written out
when David had brought the Ark of the Covenant and returned
it to Mount Zion. He had brought the Ark of the
Covenant back and restored the worship of God in Israel. And he wrote this psalm. He wrote
this psalm for Asaph. I like Asaph. He's one of my
favorites because I have so much in common with him in the psalms,
especially Psalm 73. We have a lot in common. But
he gave this psalm to Asaph to sing with all the instruments
before the Ark, before the Lord. Now, remember, the Ark of the
Covenant The Ark of the Covenant, that box that's made of wood,
incorruptible wood, overlaid with gold and the mercy seat
on top. You remember that that Ark was
lost, that that Ark was lost when those two evil priests,
Hophni and Phinehas, when they took that ark of the covenant
out of Shiloh and brought it out to the battlefield, supposing
that the ark would somehow give them the advantage, that that
ark was magical in itself. They took that ark and they brought
it out there to the battle and they made a lot of noise, so
much so that the Philistines were scared. But yet they were
slaughtered and the ark was taken. Isn't that the way of a superstitious
man? To take some article of religion
and hold it out as to be some benefit to his soul, some benefit
in earthly things or to give him some special favor or privilege. You see the men, they have crosses
and all sorts of religious garb and things to make them feel
spiritual. And they bow down expecting God
to be moved by their obedience and idolatry, their idolatry. They said in 1 Samuel 4, 3, said,
Let's fetch the ark of the covenant out of Shiloh, that it, when
it cometh. See, they were just expecting
it to deliver them. They didn't expect the Lord to
deliver them. They offered no sacrifices on
that ark, as was required. Israel had no desire for the
Lord or His ark at that time. They desired the ark that was the Lord's, but they
had no desire for the Lord. They desired to remove the ark
from Shiloh, from peace, a place of peace, and they brought it
to a place of war. When men desire to use the things
of God as the ark, the law, the cross, you name it, whatever
is contained in Scripture, they would use this as some superstition. I was watching this television
show the other evening, and this man who had escaped from prison
had stolen a car. and was driving down the road
and had a little picture of Mary on the dash, a little bobble
head. And he was shaking his head no. And he was saying, I
know, I know. He was talking to it as though
it was some kind of real thing. But this is the way men are.
They have some religious superstition. But they have no desire for God. They would rather take the objects
of religion and remove them from peace Remove them from their
context in Scripture, their place. When men desire to stand before
God according to their merit, they have removed all peace with
God. There's no peace. And as those
Israelites found out when they removed that ark from Shiloh
and there was no blood on the ark, they found out by a great
slaughter that that ark would not save them. Without the blood offering upon
the mercy seat of the ark, there was nothing but judgment for
those men. And there's nothing but judgment
for anyone who is supposed to be superstitious in religious
things. And when the priests and the
people of Israel were slaughtered and the ark of the Lord was taken,
you remember that Phinehas' wife was pregnant and she was about
to have a child. And when she found this out,
she was delivered to that child And what did she name it? She named that child Ichabod.
Ichabod, which means the glory of the Lord is taken. The glory of the Lord has departed
from Israel because the ark was taken. The ark was where God manifest
His presence. It was the only place where God
said He would meet with sinners. And now it was gone. The glory
of the Lord had departed from Israel. And Israel was in ruin. Israel was in ruin. This is the
state of every man. This is a picture of our state.
Before David had got this ark, this was a picture of Israel.
This was a picture of all of us by nature, is that we were
in a state absent from the glory of God. The glory of the Lord
was with Adam when God made man. He made man in his own image,
in his own likeness. And when Adam had sinned against
God, the glory of the Lord departed. You see how Adam was a glorious
man. He was a man of great knowledge
and wisdom. He named all of the animals.
God gave him charge over all the creation of the world. He
was the only man. He was the only one that was
in charge of everything. And look at how far he had fallen. When he ate, he died spiritually
and ran to a fig leaf as to suppose that God would not see his sin. Our Father fell. The day that
Adam tried to rob God of His glory, the glory of the Lord
departed from Adam. And I'll tell you, the glory
of the Lord departed from us. We were no longer in the image
of God, but we were made in the image of Adam. Every one of us
were made in the image of our Father. The peace of God was removed.
And the former state, God's former state of glory for man was taken
and now we are in a ruined state. Man by nature, wherefore as by
one man, one man, sin entered into the world and death by sin
so that death passed upon all men. And how do we know this? For all have sinned. That's how you know it. This
is how we know this, that all men are dead by nature is because
all have sinned, and there is no glory in that. There's no
boasting in that. We are not only sinners by nature,
but sinners by choice. This is evidence of our dead
nature. We are born dead in trespasses and sin, and unless the Lord
comes, and restores to us His glory. Unless God comes and saves
us from our sin, saves us from that old nature, gives us a new
nature, unless God does that, unless He restores the glory of His salvation as
pictured in the ark, man is without hope. Man is without hope. The Ark of God must have been
restored and the sacrifices must have been established according
to the law for Israel to have peace. Go over to 2 Samuel. Go
to 2 Samuel and look at chapter 6. 2 Samuel chapter 6, you'll see
that this is where it takes place. 2 Samuel 6 and verse 17, the Scripture says, And they
brought in the ark of the Lord, and notice this, they set it
in his place. Notice the language of the Holy
Spirit here as compared to 1 Samuel when the priest brought it. They
said, It. It will save us. The box will
save us. Notice now they set it in his
place, in the place where God had ordained it to be. He set
it in his place in the midst of the tabernacle that David
had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings
and peace offerings before the Lord. And as soon as David had
made an end of burnt offerings and peace offerings, He blessed
the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and he dealt among
all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as
well as to the women, as men, to everyone a cake of bread,
and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine, so all the
people depart everyone to his house." Now notice this, verse
1 of chapter 7, And it came to pass, when the king sat in his
house, And the Lord had given him rest round about from all
his enemies." You see, when the ark was established, then peace
was restored. Peace was restored to Israel. The tabernacle, we know that's
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Where then is the glory of God? It is in the tabernacle. It's
in Christ, the tabernacle. And what is inside the tabernacle? It's the Holy of Holies. It's
the place where the Ark of the Covenant was set. Where the blood
sacrifice was made for atonement of sins. Sinners, if God is to meet with
us, If God is to meet with us, it will be in the tabernacle
of his Son, Jesus Christ. No place else. There was no other
place for that ark but in his place, in the tabernacle. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. That is a very important statement
that we should understand. There is no revelation of God
apart from the Son. The Son of God. He is the tabernacle. He is the mercy seat. He is the
Ark of the Covenant. And the only place where God
will meet with us in peace is in Christ. He is in Christ. He is the mercy seat that covers
the broken law. He is the mercy seat where the
blood separates us from the wrath of God. And God is pleased, God
is satisfied with His blood that was shed for the sins of His
people. And He restores peace. Just as
David here is singing, give thanks unto the Lord. He is giving thanks
unto the Lord for the ark is restored. The glory of the Lord
has come back to Israel. Jesus Christ has come. antitype
of the Ark of the Covenant. In Colossians 1 20, it says,
And having made peace, made peace by the blood of his
cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself. There's one time the word atonement
is used in the New Testament, I believe it's in Romans chapter
5. He has given unto us the atonement or the reconciliation. This is why we are to give thanks
unto God. Because we who were ruined, we
who were Ichabod, had the name of Ichabod stamped on our very
souls, God has come and now restored peace between us and Himself
by the blood of His dear and holy son. God restored peace. I'm so thankful that I don't
have to make peace with God. I can't make peace with myself.
How could I make peace with God? I can't satisfy my own conscience. How could I satisfy an infinitely
holy God? I couldn't. I can't. Christ did. And He did it for me. The most
unworthy of people. He came to redeem me of my sins. Is that not a cause to give thanks
unto God? The righteousness I could never
provide, Christ Himself provided for me. In my place He stood
And he honored the law of God with such integrity that every
thought, every caption of his imagination was always continually
in thanksgiving and praise to God. No matter his place or his
plight, he always continually gave thanks. Have you been redeemed by the
blood of Christ? Do you see Christ as the glory
of God? Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
has come. And as David restored this ark,
now David is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, isn't he?
He's a picture of Him that restored peace to our hearts. restored peace with God for all
the saints. By his one offering, Jesus has
restored the glory of God. Now, I have the image of God.
I have the image of God in the new man, in the new creation. I have his righteousness. You
who believe have his righteousness. And if Israel rejoiced, How much
more should we rejoice? I was thinking about this, that
every morning, the Scripture tells us there in Samuel, that
every morning and evening the sacrifices were restored. Every
day, if they wanted to see the picture, all they had to do was
look up and see the smoke coming from the sacrifice every morning
and every evening. We've got more than a puff of
smoke to see. We have already been blessed
with the entire Word of God. We have been blessed with the
full canon of Scripture. And yet, we are still unthankful
people. We are still unthankful people. We by nature are murmurers and
complainers and are most ungrateful. A man that complains is not content
and is not content cannot be thankful. You know, you can't
be thankful and complain at the same time. You just can't do
it. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord.
If we give thanks, then we can't complain. It's inconsistent. Can't do the same. at one time. A thankful heart is one that
is content with the lot that God has given by His sovereign
decree in Providence. Are you content? Is there anything that seems
out of place in our life that is something that seems as though
it shouldn't be there? Believer in Christ, let us walk
as becometh saints. Being thankful becometh saints. When you see a judge approaching
a bench, you wouldn't expect him to be like one of those teenagers
with his pants hanging down halfway, gold chains on his neck and rapping
or something. You wouldn't expect to see a
judge that way. It's just not appropriate. It's
not appropriate. I'll tell you what, it's not
appropriate for us to be anything but thankful. It's just not appropriate. It doesn't become believers.
We are to walk as dear children of God. Go to Ephesians chapter
5. We should be thankful people. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse
1, it says, I'm sorry, be therefore followers of God as dear children. The word followers is imitators,
as though you would see a father walking in the sand and his child
reaching out to try to step in his footprint. Be ye imitators
of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to
God, a sweet smelling savor. But fornication and all uncleanness
or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh
saints. Neither filthiness nor foolish
talking or jesting, which are not convenient, but rather what? Giving thanks. Giving thanks. Oh, give thanks unto God. Give
thanks unto the Lord. I've read this before to you.
As I read it often, I should read it more. Someone said, I need to be constantly
reminded that all things are of God. Let me not preach sovereignty
and complain of my lot in life. Let me not talk of divine purpose
and spend my days murmuring about my trials and troubles. It is totally inconsistent with
faith in the sovereign Christ for me to question his good providence. Paul called covetousness idolatry
and said, I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I pray for submission, for with
it comes peace and rest." Do you need to learn to be thankful? Because I do. Do we need to be reminded that
all things are of God? You bet we do. Whatever it is. Nothing happens by chance or
accident. We say that. Do we really believe that? If
God would give us grace to believe that, we would be thankful for
everything. We would be thankful for everything. And so, the psalmist instructs
us where to go then for a thankful heart. Where do we need to go
for a thankful heart? Oh, give thanks unto the Lord.
Those words, very simple. Everybody understands them. But
yet, how difficult it is for us to be thankful people. It's
sad. It is just sad that we are not
more thankful. But where do we go? We need to
call upon His name. Believers are to call upon the
name of the Lord in order to be thankful. If we're ever going
to have our hearts stirred To be thankful, it must be by prayer. It must be by communion with
God. Are we ever cold in love? Are
we ever troubled on every side? Are we discontent with God's
providence and guilt of our sin? Yes. Yes. Then call. I know when we become cold and
indifferent, the last thing we want to do is pray. But we should put aside our feelings
and pray anyway. How about just being still and
silent before God? He knows our needs. And if we are desired to be thankful,
It's not going to come by some earthly thing. We're thankful
for all the benefits that God gives us in the flesh. We have
many to be thankful for. But truly, we're not going to
be spiritually thankful unless we're kneeling before God in
prayer. We must call. We must ask. Plead for thanksgiving. Plead for thankful hearts. And
we call upon Him the same way we first called upon Him. In the name of Jesus Christ,
His Son. If God's going to hear us, it's
not going to be because of us. It'll be because of His Son. Don't go to God expecting to
be heard because of who we are. Expect to be heard because His
Son is held in the highest love and regard of God. Jesus, who was equal with the
Father, He humbled Himself. Why would we as His servants
not humble ourselves before God in prayer? In verse 3 of this, it says,
Glory in His holy name. We should be quick to our Father's
throne. How we drag our feet. But we should be quick to our
Father's throne because it said, Come boldly. Come boldly. Not arrogance. But boldly. Instantly. Never boasting, but always thankful. Always with a heart to make our
requests known unto God. The Scripture says, I will enter
into His gates with thanksgiving in my heart into his courts with
praise. Let us call upon the name of
the Lord for a thankful heart. And third, let us declare his
gospel. You want a thankful heart? Then
declare Christ. Declare Christ and what we know
of him and what he's done for us. Look at that in your text.
He said, make known his deeds among the people. If you remember
the Shulamite bride, she had complained and asked her bridegroom
to come. But when he came, it was at an
inconvenient time. He came in the middle of the
night. He knocked on the door and she said, I've already put
off my robe. How shall I get my feet dirty?
I've already washed my feet. How can I come to the door and
answer it? And when he put his hand to the
hole of the door, it struck her heart. And she got up and she
dipped her hands in the myrrh and came to the door and opened
it, but he was gone. How often do we put Him off,
and when our heart is stirred, we come with a myrrh of our excuses, expecting Him to be there. When He is not, our heart fails. And as she ran out the door looking
for Him, and she found the watchman, and the watchman smote her. What is that? That's the words
of the Gospel that smite our hearts. Smite our hearts with sorrow
because of our unfaithfulness. When this sorrow comes, the world
doesn't understand. They won't understand. Don't expect the world to understand.
What is thy beloved above another? Why do you take such pains at
this? What did she begin to do? She
began to talk of him. What do you mean, why? Have you
seen my beloved? My beloved is white and ruddy.
He is a man and he is God. My Christ is deity and humanity. Behold, his legs are as marble. His breast is as brass. He is beautiful in our eyes.
She began to talk about him and her heart was filled. And she
what? Remembered where he was. She said, Oh, my beloved is in
his garden. And that's where she found him.
Right where he always was. If we desire to give thanks,
we should talk of him. We should not be ashamed of him.
We should speak gloriously of the person. Christ. Not the doctrine. alone. It would be a shame for me to tell
you of the beauty of my wife's dress without telling you the
beauty of her person. That would be horrible, wouldn't
it? That's like telling the doctrine of Christ without telling of
His glorious person. We should speak often of Christ
if we want to be thankful. We should speak often of Him.
Call upon Him. And in all things give thanks.
This is the will of God concerning you. We always want to know what
His will is. What is His will? Give thanks.
Give thanks for His Son. Give thanks for sacrifice. Give thanks that He has restored
the glory in our hearts. by his son, and we won't have
any time for complaining. I pray that God would please
bless this to me and to my heart as well as yours. This prayer
will be dismissed in prayer.