Turn to Psalm 118. Psalm 118. Reasons for thanksgiving. We have reasons given to us in
this psalm to give thanks to God for. You know, we could sit around, I guess, till he comes and just
talk about the things that he's given to us and thank him for,
just what he's done for us. I've been thinking of that song
Bridget Harding sang all the time at 13th Street, Not Till
Then Shall I Know How Much I Owe. I don't remember the title of
it. That might be the title, but she sang it at 13th Street
all the time, Not Till Then Shall I Know How Much I Owe. What God
has done for us, God Almighty has. I think of that scripture, it
says, it's your father's pleasure to give you the kingdom. It's
God's pleasure to give you the kingdom, a kingdom of righteousness,
a kingdom prepared for us by his son, by the Trinity, by the
whole Trinity, so to speak. But tonight I want us to look
at reasons for thanksgiving. Now this psalm is a messianic
psalm. As we see in verses 22 and 23,
the stone which the builders refused has become the headstone
of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It
is marvelous. It is amazing in our eyes. Our Lord quoted this in Matthew
21, 42. Now the first verse, and I probably
won't cover all this tonight, I'll just go until I get tired,
and then I'll stop. But he says here in verse 1,
oh give thanks. That just seems to be a pet phrase
of David's. I believe David wrote this. Oh,
how many times have we read that? Oh. Oh, praise Him, it says in
Psalm 117. Oh, praise Him. Here, oh, give
thanks. Over in Psalm 115, not unto us,
oh, Lord. That was his favorite phrase. But we have a call here to give
thanks, and we have much to be thankful for. More than we know,
I know that. But he says, oh, give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good. By His standard, He's good. Not
by our standard. You know, our standard of good
is if it works. God's standard of good is perfection. He's perfectly
good. He's good because His mercy endureth
forever. For His mercy endureth forever.
We are to thank the Lord for all things. Oh, give thanks unto
the Lord. And here are a few reasons why. All things are of God. That's
what it tells us in 2 Corinthians. All things are of God. Everything. All things are of God. And that's
comforting to know, to a child of God, that's comforting to
know that all things are of God. Things are not just happening.
I said one time many years ago in a message, I may die in an
accident, but it will be no accident that I died. All things are of
God. All things in the life of a believer
are of God. If we could understand how minutely
God is involved in our lives. Ray read it a little while ago.
He knows the hairs of your head. He knows how many hairs on your
head. You don't know that, do you? You don't know how many
hairs are on your children's head. You don't know how many are on
yours. But He does. He does. He knows. And then all
things work together for our good, and that's why we give
thanks for all things. All things are of God, and all
things work together for our good. Romans 8, 28. and that all things that are
of God, and all things that work together for our good, are according
to His will." Listen to 1 Thessalonians 5.18,
"...in everything give thanks." Everything? In everything, give thanks."
Now, this is a comforting statement. It's something to take home with
us. In everything, give thanks for this, and I wrote under this,
whatever this is, for you and me, for me, it may be different
than what you have right now. Whatever this is, in everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you." This is God's will concerning you. And you and I are to give
thanks for it. Give thanks for it. Whatever
this is, give thanks for it. Now in verse 1 are mentioned
two attributes that we are to give thanks for. especially in
this psalm and especially tonight as we look at this psalm, because
these are the root of all that we enjoy. The Lord's Goodness and His Mercy. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for He is good. He's good. God is great. I used to say a prayer, God is
great, God is good. God's good. And we give thanks for His good,
that He's good and for His goodness and His mercy is everlasting.
It says here, His mercy endureth forever. He's talking about His
everlasting mercy. You and I cannot use it up. We
can't use it up. So all give thanks unto the Lord
for He's good because His mercy endureth forever. The Lord is
good, it is the essence of His nature. Good is the essence of
His nature. Essence means this, the inward
nature of God. It means the true substance of
God. It means this, or a constitution
of anything as opposed to what is accidental or phenomenal.
He's good. The Lord is good. He's nothing
but good. He's good. Whatever God is, He
is perfectly. He's perfectly. And He can be
no more or no less. He can be no more good. I can. You can. You can be better, can't
you? In your life, in your conduct,
in your attitude, in your thoughts. You can be better. God can. God
can't be any better. And God cannot be less. He cannot
be less good. He's perfectly good. It's who
He is. It's who He is. His goodness
is seen in three areas, three or four areas. Let me just mention
a few of them. God's goodness is seen in His creation. You
know, when He created everything, and at the end of it, He said
He saw that everything He created, that it was very good. No sin
in it. There's no sin in it. He takes
care. He takes care of what no man
is because he's good to his creation. He takes care of it. He takes
care. You know, he put Adam in the
garden. He said, dress it and keep it. Well, that's what the
Lord does day by day. He does that day by day. He dresses
and keeps his creation. He said to Job, do you know when
the hinds do calve? No, you don't, Job. But I do. I do. And I'm there when they
calve. And I take care of them. I take
care of them. He's good to His creation. Listen
to Psalm 33, 5. He loved with righteousness and
judgment. The earth is full of the goodness
of the Lord. The earth is full of His goodness. The earth continues by His goodness. It does. And then we see God's
goodness to humanity. Man by nature hates God. Humanity
hates God. We know that by the Scriptures.
And yet the sun shines on the just and the unjust every day.
The rain that fell here the last few days, it not only fell on
the garden of those who believe God, it fell on the garden of
those who don't believe God. God's goodness is over His creation,
God's goodness is over humanity, and we see God's goodness in
providence. He makes everything work together for our good, day
by day. Listen to Psalm 119.68. Thou
art good and doest good. Teach me thy statutes. Thou art
good and you do good. You do good. Providentially,
he's blessed us, hasn't he? I had a good day today. Do you
have a good day? Even if you were stressed out
today, it was still a good day because it was for your good,
right? It's for your good. But we see God's goodness most
in salvation. And we see it in the ones He
saves. He saves sinners. He saves a
wretch like me. Paul said, O wretched man that
I am. It wasn't until God saved him
that he said that. O wretched man that I am. We
see God's goodness in the ones He saves, we see God's goodness
in the way He saves them. He came into this world, He became
incarnate, He took their sins, He went to the cross, He died
under the penalty of His own law, He put away their sins,
He rose again from the dead, He ascended on high, and there
He represents them. That's the goodness of God. And
you know why He did it? Not because of anything in me
and you, but because that's who He is. Because He's good. He's good. You know, when Moses
wanted to see God's glory, what did God show him? Moses said, Lord, show me your
glory. What did God show? Did God take
him up on a hill and show him creation? Did He take him up
on a mountain and show him creation? Exodus 33, 19, and he said, I
will make all my goodness pass before thee. Lord, let me see
your glory. Well, here it is. It's my goodness. And in my goodness, in my goodness,
listen, And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee,
and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and
here in my goodness, listen, and will be gracious. To whom
I will be gracious. And it has to be that way because
nobody deserves it. If no one deserves the grace
of God, if no one deserves salvation, then it has to be distributed
in a sovereign manner. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious, and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy." Do
you know anybody better than God to do that? I don't. Then the Lord's mercies flow
from His goodness. This is why His mercy endures
forever, because He's good. He's good, and He does good.
It says in Psalm 145.9, The Lord is good to all, and
His tender mercies are over all His works. It's over creation,
it's over humanity, it's over the salvation of His people,
it's over all of them. Do you know why you and I are not consumed? He gives us the answer in His
Word in Lamentations 3.22, it's of the Lord's mercies. that we are not consumed, because
His compassions fail not." That's why we are not consumed,
because His mercies fail not. And look here, He gives us here
the ones that are to give thanks. He says, "... O give thanks unto
the Lord, for He is good, because His mercy endureth for ever.
And then he mentions the ones who are to especially give thanks. I mean, everybody ought to. All
of creation ought to. Every human being that's ever
been on this earth ought to. God gave them life and breath,
and everybody ought to give thanks. But he mentions three here. He
says, first of all, in verse 2, let Israel, the elect of God, God's covenant
people. Let Israel now say, and the Israel
of God is sitting in this church right here. Paul said, We are
the true circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit and
have no confidence in the flesh. But let them now say that His
mercy endureth forever. You know, there's a nation right
now in the Middle East that owes its existence to the mercy of
God. There's a nation over there right
now named Israel that owes its existence to the enduring mercy
of God. How many times did God deliver
backsliding Israel? He delivered them out of Egypt,
through the wilderness, into Canaan, even to this 2023. They're
still over there. No other nation can make that
claim. No other nation. But in reality, now listen, in
reality there is one holy nation on this earth and in heaven that
owes its existence to God's saving mercy. And that's the church. That's the church, Zion. The
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says in verse 3,
Let the house of Aaron And this really speaks to me. Let the
house of Aaron, the ministers of the Lord, these are the ones
who stood daily and offered the sacrifice, who daily saw the
mercy of God morning and evening, they offered that lamb morning
and evening, they offered the lamb, they saw the mercy of God
in that sacrifice. I sit in the study. You all have
to go out to work out there in this world. I sit in a study,
and page after page, and I read the Scriptures, and I get to
see the mercy of God on every page, day after day. And it's
my privilege and responsibility to come out here into this pulpit
and speak to you of the mercy of God. God's enduring mercy. It endureth forever. It endures
forever. Now, just in case somebody says,
and I thought about it this way, I thought, some baby in Christ,
they don't really understand that they are the true Israel
of God by faith in Christ. They can't grasp that. And they sure don't feel like
they're a minister or a preacher or a pastor or anything in that
capacity. Well, this one's got you covered. Let them now that fear the Lord,
Jew or Gentile, whoever, wherever they be, Let them now that fear
the Lord say that His mercy endureth forever." Tonight we are talking
about God's enduring mercy. It endures forever. Everyone
who has experienced saving mercy know that it's forever. It's
forever. Whatever the Lord doeth, as Scripture
says, He doeth forever. And His saving mercy is forever.
Now here in verse 5 is mercy experienced. You see, the Lord's
goodness is seen in hearing and answering our prayers. I called upon the Lord in distress. You ever done that? Usually that's
when we really call upon the Lord is in distress. We usually
have to be in distress to do so. But I called upon the Lord
in distress, the Lord answered me. He answered me and gave me
more than I asked for, gave me more than I expected. He set
me in a large place, it says. But I called upon Him in distress."
This is mercy that God even moved you to call upon Him. God gave
you the understanding to call upon Him. That's mercy. And because of God's goodness
and God's favor or God's mercy, We can say this, the Lord is
on my side. The Lord's on my side. What a
powerful statement. David, who I believe wrote this,
surrounded by his enemies, the nation, because he says here,
they've all encompassed me about. He's surrounded by them, but
he can sit down and go to sleep for this one reason. The Lord's
on my side. It doesn't matter if all of hell
and all the world, all the armies of the world, it doesn't matter
if they're against me, if the Lord's on my side. It doesn't
matter. The Lord is on my side. I will
not fear. I will not live in fear. I'm
not going to live in fear on this earth. I said to my doctor
today, he came in, he had a mask on. and they had me to put a
mask on. And I took it off. I said, how
long do we have to live in the ICU? He said, I don't know, but
I wish we didn't have to. And he said, I don't do it. You
know, at home, he said, I have to do it here. Why do we, I'm
not gonna live in fear. I'm not gonna live in fear of
man. I'm not gonna live in fear of a disease. I'm not gonna live
in fear because the Lord's on my side. If God be for us, who
can be against us? If God be for us. Who can be
against us? The Lord is on my side. Listen,
I will not fear. What can man do to me? You know,
Pilate said, Don't you know? He said to Christ, Don't you
know? I have the power to crucify you and I have the power to let
you go. And the Lord said, You have no
power at all except to be given to you from above. That's all
the power you got. He's on my side, I will not fear,
what can man do to me? You know, our Lord is the example
here. Our Lord showed no fear of men,
didn't He? When they come out to get Him
in the darkness, the Garden of Gethsemane, did He run? Did He
run? Did He hide behind His disciples? He just said, I'm He, I'm the
one you're looking for. Not even when they took Him to
be crucified did he fear. Ray read it in Luke, and it's
also written in Matthew 10, 28. He says, Don't fear men. I'll
tell you who to fear. Fear God who's able to cast both
body and soul into hell. Don't you fear men who can kill
the body Not only, but fear God. Fear God who can cast both body
and soul into hell. Put your fear in the right person. Or it said, The Lord's on my
side, I'll not fear. What can man do to me? Look at
verse 7. The Lord taketh my part with
them that help me. The Lord is with them that help
me. Now, He's against those that
are against me. I looked at it this way. The
Lord is with them who are helpers of the cause of Christ. Just
like right now, I'm standing here preaching the gospel of
the glory of God, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking
of His salvation, speaking of God's sovereignty. In a sense, we are with Him,
and the Lord is with us because we are with Him. You see, he's saying here, the
Lord is with... He takes my part with them. He's with them that
help me. Therefore I'll see my desire
on them that hate me. Those who love the Lord Jesus
Christ have God's favor. That's the best way to put it.
You have God's favor. And then we find out this. We
find out by experience, by the Word of God and by experience,
it's better to trust the Lord than anything else or anyone
else. It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in man. Man will lie. Man will disappoint. Man will
lie and man will die. Never put confidence in something
so fickle, something so transitory, which
is man. We all have a time to be born
and a time to die. And don't put confidence in anything
or anyone so fickle. It says in John 2.25, and the
Lord is speaking, And it's speaking here of the Lord. It said, "...and
he needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what
was in man." He knows what's in man. It's better to trust the Lord
than your closest friend. It's better to trust the Lord.
Job would tell you that. His three friends came and they
were miserable comforters. They were miserable comforters.
It's better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Listen, they are men with titles. That's all they are. They're
just men with titles. They're no different. We take
away the title, take away the garb that they're dressed in,
and what do you have? A sinful man. That's what you
got. You know, they talk about nobility
and royalty. Their blood is just like ours. He is made of one blood, all
nations. And all nations have fallen. All nations have sinned.
All men have sinned. When you strip it down, we're
all just nothing but sinful men and women. That's what we are.
That's what the Word of God says. Then we see in verse 10 through
14, we see the hatred, the hatred and the true nature of the world
toward the Lord Jesus Christ and His people. The world, listen,
the world is not your friend. That's the truth. It's not your
friend. Listen, all nations, in verse
10, all nations compass me about They've all surrounded me. David
is saying, all these nations have surrounded me. They're all
against me. And they represent the world,
surrounded the Lord's church. You know, when the Lord came
into the world, the world didn't know Him. When He came to His
own, His own received Him not. They hated Him. Christ said,
if they hated Me, they'll hate you too. They'll hate you also. All nations compassed Me about,
but in the name of the Lord, I'll destroy them. Our Lord has
destroyed our enemies. If we look at this in a real
spiritual sense, He has destroyed all our sins. He's put them away.
He's broken the power of sin, that nature of sin. He's broken
the power of Satan. He's destroyed them. And how
did He do it? By His death. By His death on
the cross. His death is the death of death.
He says in verse 11, They compass me about, yea, they compass me
about, but in the name of the Lord I'll destroy them. They
compass me about like bees. There's only one thing that I
know that compasses me about like bees. They swarm about me
like bees. It's my sins. It's my sins. They're like bees, just swarming. There's so many of them. So many. But listen here, they are quenched
as the fire of thorns. They're like thorns being burned
up in a fire. For in the name of the Lord,
now listen, not in my name, not in my strength, not in my power.
I cannot overcome sin. You cannot overcome that sinful
nature you're born with. It's too powerful. But He can. He can. He says there in verse 13, Thou
hast thrust sore at me that I might fall. This is that spiritual warfare
that's constantly coming at you. Satan, sin, that autodomic nature
constantly coming at you that you might fall, that you might
fall. But the Lord helped me. How many
times has the Lord helped you? under temptation. How many times? How many times has He lifted
you out? How many times? Time and time again. Thou hast thrust sore at me that
I might fall, but the Lord helped me. In verse 14, I'm going to close
with this verse, because there's just too many verses to try to
cover. There are three things here that
the Lord is to me. There are three things that he
is to me. The Lord is my strength. He's
my strength. And song, we sang about it just
a little bit ago, sang about him. And he's become my salvation. Jesus Christ is my strength.
He said, without me, you can do nothing. He's the strength
of my faith. He's the strength of my faith.
You take your eyes off of Him, like Peter did, and you'll start
to drown. Christ is the strength of our faith. He's my song. I will sing of
the mercies of the Lord forever. He's the subject of my song. You know, you know this too,
when you were younger and growing up, and you sang along with the
radio, all kinds of songs. You sang about anything that
was on the radio. But now, listen, the Lord's my
song. He's my song. He's put a song in my heart.
He's put a song of rejoicing in my heart. I have something
to sing about. Really. And He's my salvation. In Jesus
Christ, I am complete. That's what the Word of God says
in Colossians. I'm complete in Him. He is my wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He's everything I need to stand
before God Almighty. Jesus Christ is all that I need. He's my all and end all. The Lord Jesus Christ is. He's
my all and end all. He is my salvation. He's become,
He said, my salvation. I have hope in nothing else and
no one else. I don't have any hope anywhere
else, in anyone else, anything else. One day I and you are going to
come up to die. And the only hope we have is
that man seated at God's right hand. That man. It's not me and that man. It's
not me and It's Him who lived for me, died for me, rose for
me, intercedes for me, and is coming for me. He said, I go
and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where
I am, there you may be also. I can't give you any better news.
I can't do it. The Lord, Jehovah, The self-existing
One, the Creator of heaven and earth. He's my strength. He's my song. And He is my salvation. And I think that's a good one
to end on. All right.