Good evening. It's a pleasure
to be with you. If you would, open your Bibles back
to Psalm 72. Psalm 72. A little over 400 days ago, the year 2020. And it didn't
take very long before it started getting a bad reputation. A few
months in, we started saying this is not going to be a good
year. And about halfway through, we started hearing things about
2020 being the worst and the curse of 2020. Towards the end of the year,
as anyone famous, anything happened bad or a natural disaster or
anything, we started hearing more and more bad things. Until
the end of the year came along and all anybody could talk about.
I couldn't get through a day of work or looking on my phone
without somebody saying, we just got to get through this year.
As if the turning to January 1st, 2021 was just going to,
everything was going to be good again at that point. But towards
the end of the year, I was listening to a message by my pastor, and
he read the verse in Psalm 72, verse 18. And look at that verse
with me. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only
doeth wondrous things. And after hearing that verse,
it kind of started bothering me every time I started hearing
people say things about the year 2020. But I held my tongue and
thought to myself, I need to read about this. I need to look
into this. And in doing so, I felt the need to preach a message
about this. And as many of you know me better
than most other people do, I have a plethora of bad characteristics. But one of them is me being stubborn
and to say things a little extreme sometimes. So when someone might
say, that's the best restaurant I've ever been to, and I don't
think it's very good, but instead of being nice and saying, well,
I'm glad you like it, or many other comments that would be
good, I have a tendency to go the other way and say something
like, oh, I think it's the worst restaurant ever. Now, that's
my character and the things I do. So I'm going to title this message,
2020 was wondrous. I realize that in saying that,
that's a statement that is very contrary to popular belief. And I'm not saying it to get
a reaction or anything, though it's okay if I do. But hopefully
by the end of the message, you'll understand why I say that and
that you'll agree with me that the year 2020 was wondrous. When
we go through the book of Psalm, one of my favorite things and
most beneficial is to look what Spurgeon has written about it.
He has a wonderful collection of articles and statements that
come through that explain every verse in the Psalms. And usually
there's three, four, five different passages from other writers that
explain verses. Well, there's not any about this
verse. And this is what Spurgeon says about verse 18. He says,
this verse explains itself. It calls for a profound or a
great gratitude and emotion rather than trying to understand it
or expound upon it. Use it for adoration, for love,
instead of adding to it. It is and ever will be the peak
of our desires and object of our prayers to behold Jesus,
exalted King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And He has done great
wonders, wonders so great that no one else can match, leaving
others so far behind that the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, remains
the sole and the only wonder worker. Let me repeat the last
part. Our Lord has done such great
wonders that no one else can match them and they're so far
behind that He remains the sole and only wonder worker. If we
can say something is wonderful, it's because of Him and He did
it. Now when you look at this chapter, under the heading Psalm
72, it says, A Psalm of Solomon. And when I read a verse such
as 18 and 19, it says, Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious name
forever. And let the whole earth be filled
with His glory. Amen and amen. It makes me think
that whoever wrote this, I want to be in the position they were
in. I want to have that mindset and I want my life to be just
like it. Well, if you look at verse 20, it says, the prayers
of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. This chapter was written
or spoken by David, and Solomon recorded it. And David was about
to die. He was on his deathbed. And if
we look back through Samuel and other books, we realize that
when David was about to die, he said things such as, though
my house not be so with God. He said, my earthly house, my
family, and inside me, they're all asunder. They're all in horrible
shape. Yet he can say, the God of Israel
doeth only wondrous things. David also wrote in the Psalms,
for thou art great and doeth wondrous things, thou art God
alone. sing unto him, sing psalms unto
him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. Make me to understand
the way of thy precepts, so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty and of thy
wondrous works." And I wrestled with the idea of saying something
so contrary and so opposite of what everyone thinks. But let
me explain two things about it. The reason that we all said,
and I lump us in because I'm guilty of this. I don't know
if you were, but I said plenty of things about last year, how
awful things were and things happened that I didn't enjoy.
I'm guilty of that. But do you know why it caught
so much momentum with how bad the year was? It wasn't any different
than other years. None of us have probably ever
gone through a year we didn't have trials and tribulations, great
and small. But when a tribulation comes upon us, we deal with it,
maybe our families, and maybe a few friends. And unfortunately,
my response when you go through a trial is that I truly am sorry
for you, and maybe I even pray about it, but I forget. If I'm
not dealing with it, I'm sorry, but it just usually leaves my
mind. But last year, when you said, I'm going through this,
I could say me too. And boy, misery loves company.
How easy it was that when you complained, someone agreed with
you. And then you had someone to do it with you. And as that
happened, it just kept going. And let me give you the other
reason why I can say that 2020 was wondrous. There are three
different translations of that word in the Old Testament. The
first is to make marvelous. Makes sense, right? The second
is wonderful or wondrous. But do you know what the third
is? It's translated hard or difficult. Just because something happens
and the Lord sends something to us, it is wonderful and it
is marvelous, but it doesn't mean it's not hard or it's not
difficult. It's written in Job, hearken
unto this, O Job, stand still and consider the wondrous works
of God. When I think of the scripture
of someone going through trials, Job goes way to the top of the
list. And can you imagine someone saying to Job, stand still and
consider the wondrous works of God? Only a person who's been
shown who the Lord is and the control he has would ever understand
that. And now what do we mean by that
word things at the end? We said wondrous. What does the
word things encompass? What falls under that? Well,
let's give a couple examples from the New Testament. All things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. They wondered, everyone, at all things which Jesus did.
The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His
hand. When Christ has come, He will
tell us all things. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. He hath done all things well. For with God all things are possible. Behold, I have foretold you of
all things. All things are delivered to me
of my Father. All things that are written by
the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished.
that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Come see a
man which told me all things that I ever did. Is this not
the Christ? And Jesus knowing that the Father
had given all things into His hands and that He was come from
God and went to God." All things. Everything that happens to a
child of God, everything, all things are wonderful. They're
wondrous. And if you haven't figured it
out yet, this message isn't just about a year, about 365 days. Now it's close to where we are
right now and we all understand what I'm saying by it. But this
message is about all of us going through trials and difficulties.
But it's that as it says in the Old Testament, your ways are
not my ways and your thoughts are not my thoughts. The problem
isn't that anything that happens to us isn't wonderful. The problem
is that we can't see it. We don't understand. Jacob is
a great example of this. At one point, Jacob had lost
his son, Joseph. He was dead. He thought he was
dead. They had no food, had nothing. They were all going to starve.
So he sent his sons to go get food. They went to get it, and
they came back, and another son didn't come. And they said, if
you want more food, you've got to send another son. So he thought
to himself, and he had a bunch of sons with Leah and two with
Rachel. And those two were beloved. And
they said, the only way that you'll get more food is if you
send that last son of Rachel's. And he thought to himself, I
don't know what to do. Why is this happening to me?
What he didn't know was the son he thought he'd lost had been
taken by the Lord and put by the king at the right hand of
the king to provide for them. What he also didn't know was
that he was sending his other son to see his brother to get
what he needed, all his provision and his sustenance, but Jacob
just didn't see it and he didn't know. So let me give you five
things that make us understand and know why all things that
happen that come from the Lord are wonderful. The first is that
the Lord is in control and we aren't. Now I live my life as
if I'm in control. Everything I do and all my actions
are as if I'm the one in control. Every decision I make, I think
I'm the one who's determining this. Yet, it's so obvious when
things don't go well that I realize I'm not in control. Let me give
you an example. If I start to do something and
it falls apart, what's the first thing you do? Well, if this hadn't
happened, if the wind hadn't blown, if that person didn't
do whatever, we admit that we're not in control. We realize that.
Thankfully, our God is in control. Whose will is going to win out?
Well, yours or His? Let me give you an example. Peter,
on the day Peter woke up, that he denied the Lord three times.
Do you think there's any part of him that would have ever thought
he'd deny the Lord once, let alone three times? Peter himself,
when the Lord told him, Peter said, no, no, no, no, you got
that wrong, not me. I wouldn't do that. What about Nebuchadnezzar? Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful
man. He was probably the most powerful
man in the world at the time. And I love, I heard Aaron Greenleaf
say this in a message, that the person, control is power. And
power comes from the Lord. The Lord is power. And anyone
on this earth who has power, the Lord has lent them power
for a short period of time. And when that person uses that
power to accomplish his will, the Lord takes it back. Nebuchadnezzar,
the most powerful man in the world. He was king and ruler,
could do anything he wanted. He could do so much that he built
a statue hundreds of feet tall of himself. He was so powerful
that when three men decided they wouldn't bow to him, he said,
we're going to throw him in a fiery furnace. And yet he was so powerful,
he couldn't make fire burn them. And shortly after, Nebuchadnezzar
said, look at all the things that my hands have done. And
in that moment, he went to the fields, started eating grass,
his fingernails grew like talons, and he didn't even know who he
was. In a moment! That's such an example of the
power that we don't have. But then, like all these other
stories that we talk about, like Peter and so many more, the Lord
came to Nebuchadnezzar and revealed to Himself who He was and who
the Lord was. And that same day, everyone in
the kingdom again knew who He was and that He was in the power
again. The second thing, the first is our Lord is in control,
the second is He has a purpose. Our Lord has a purpose and we
do not. How many of you have thought
to yourself, about what your children are going to do, or
what you're going to do, or your plan for even the day. Has anyone
in here ever said, for New Year's I'm going to do blank? One of
the most popular ones I've ever heard is I've heard so many people
say I'm going to give up chocolate for New Year's. I don't know
of a single person who's ever been able to do it. Well, it
might last a few days, a few weeks, or a few months. But in
all things, we think we're going to be in control, but we don't.
We have a sovereign God who has a purpose, and His purpose will
be fulfilled. Think about the prodigal son.
He had everything he needed. He lived in a wealthy family
with lands and seemed like happy. Everything was great. He thought
to himself, this is not how I want things to go. He said, I'm leaving. So he demanded from his father
to give him his birthright and he left. And it was a short time
later, he was watching pigs eat and he thought to himself, I
wish I could be like these pigs. And then he said, a servant in
my father's house is so much better off than I am. And so
what did he do? He thought to himself, I'm going
to go home and I'm going to beg my father to make me a servant.
But what did his father do? The same thing our Lord does.
He makes us to see who we are and makes us to approach Him.
And the moment we're there, He throws the robe on our backs.
He puts the ring on our finger and He says, kill the fatted
calf. This is my son. Just because of the way we act
and the things we do, our plans and our purposes that are contrary
to the Lord, He still takes care of us, brings us in, and watches
over us. Thirdly, our Lord knows the outcome. We think we do. We think what's
going to happen. On the smallest things, we act
like we know, and yet we constantly, on a daily basis, are like, I
can't believe that happened. We don't ever seem to know. Our
Lord's providence, His purpose will come about, which is a reason
why it's so wonderful. His power and His control with
His purpose and knowing the outcome. What about Joseph? The brothers
threw him in a pit and he was left for dead, sold him. Yet
they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. What about
the woman at the well? Her entire life was all a disaster. Every single thing that happened
through her entire life was awful. And yet all of that, all of her
life led her to one thing. She couldn't go get water when
anyone else was there. She was so desperate to avoid
people making fun of her, saying things to her, and making her
realize who she was, that she went in the heat of the day,
and it just so happened that that's when the Lord met her
there. And she ran away saying, you've got to come see about
this man. He knows all things about my life. He must be the
Christ. So He's in control, He has a
purpose, He knows the outcome, and He knows best. It would be
wonderful if we had the power to do things we wanted to do.
It'd be great if we had a purpose that was right. And it'd be great
if we knew the outcome. But we still wouldn't know what's
best, would we? How many times have we thought we knew what
was best, and aren't we so glad the Lord turned us and made us
realize that's not the path we want to go down? We spend all
our lives veering as far off the path as we can and so thankful
that the Lord keeps us right here and we can't stray from
Him. Ecclesiastes, it says, for who
knoweth what is good for man in this life? We don't even know
what's good. Abraham and Sarah are a great
example of this. The Lord told them they'd have a son and it
would have many generations and a blessed nation and it didn't
take long for them to do Totally what I would have done. We got
to do something about this. And they tried and it caused
them so much travail. And then fifthly, he finishes
it. Our Lord finishes the work. We
do not. Am I the only one who is as bad
at finishing things as I am? I can't get a small project around
the house done. I can't start a conversation
with someone without not quitting it. And let me give you a really
embarrassing one. Am I the only one who closes
their eyes to pray sometimes and I realize 30 seconds later
that I didn't even finish my prayer? I can't even do the one
thing that benefits me the most. But our Lord finishes it. When
the Lord died on the cross, the disciples quit preaching and
went back to fishing. Think about this. In the moment
that the Lord finished the work of salvation, the disciples thought
that it was a failure and it was over. They thought, we might
as well stop preaching, it didn't work. He died. In the greatest
moment of victory this world has ever seen, the disciples
who were with Him, they went away and said, let's just go
fishing, we don't know what else to do. But again, like these
others, what happened? The Lord came to them and called
them, and they went back to preaching. So to finish, let me give you
one more illustration. And with that illustration, I'll
use all five of these points. He's in control. He has a purpose. He knows the outcome. He knows
best. And He finished the work. All of that when He died on the
cross of salvation. He said, my time has not yet
come. He said, when the time was come that he should be received
up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. Turn with
me to John chapter 18. How is it possible that all things
are wondrous for the child of God? Because of the Lord's work
on the cross. John 18 verse 5, it says, He
said in verse 4, "...they answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus
said unto them, I am He. And Judas also, which betrayed
Him, stood with them. As soon then as He said unto
them, I am He, they went backward and fell to the ground. Our Lord
has so much power and is in so much control. When the men took
Him to take Him to the cross, to Jerusalem, to stand trial,
He said who He was. He said, I am He. And they fell
back. I've written writers that it
was almost like their feet were in cement and they just lost
all control and just totally fell on their backs. And these
were soldiers. These were men ready. They had
a stance. They were ready. But it doesn't matter how we
are, who we are, anything. We have no power or control with
the Lord. Turn over to John 19. Look at verse 10. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest
thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Jesus
answered, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except
it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me
unto thee hath a greater sin. Pilate, who was in control of
this situation, or so he thought, he said, don't you know that
I'm the one in control here? And our Lord just said, no, no,
if it's not given from above, you have no power over me. Secondly,
he has a purpose. Our Lord had a purpose going
to the cross. As just a boy, he said, I must be about my father's
business. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which is lost." That's His only purpose.
Turn back to John 18, verse 10. Then Simon Peter, having a sword,
drew it, and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right
ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put
up thy sword into thy sheath. The cup which my Father hath
given me, shall I not drink it? The Lord first said to Peter,
this isn't your fight. Put your sword up. I've got this. And then secondly,
he said to Peter, should I not drink the cup my father's given
me? I must go. The purpose of our Lord, I have
to go save my people. I must die on this cross. I set
my face like a flint, and we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Our Lord knows the outcome. He
knew what was going to happen on the cross. Now think about
that for a second. Think about from the day He was
born, our Lord knew what was going to happen in 33 years. The death on the cross was the
worst death anyone's ever faced for many reasons. One of which
was He didn't do anything wrong. He was bearing our sins. He was
crucified for us. But think about knowing about
that for your entire life. He knows the outcome. He had
a purpose, He knew it, and He was going there. He set His face
like a flint. That was His purpose. Look at
verse 4 in John 18. Jesus, therefore, knowing all
things that should come upon Him, went forth and said unto
them, Whom seek ye? He knew what was going to happen.
Look at verse 9. that the saying might be fulfilled
which He spake of them which Thou gavest Me, have I lost none?"
And turn to John 19, verse 16. Then delivered He Him therefore
unto them to be crucified, and they took Jesus and led Him away.
And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the
place of the skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha,
where they crucified Him and the two other with Him on either
side and Jesus in the midst. Our Lord knew what was going
to happen and He did it. He fulfilled it. He must be about
His Father's business. And the thief next to Him, verily
I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
You think He knew the outcome? He was about to die and He knew
where He was going to be. And then fourthly, our Lord knows
best. He knew that was the only way
for salvation. Turn back to John 17 and verse
1. These words faked Jesus and lifted
up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
Thy Son that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. As Thou hast given
Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to
as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent." This is what's best for the child of God, verse
3. This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." And turn over
to John 20. This is what's best. John 20,
verse 11. But Mary stood without at the
sepulcher weeping. And as she wept, she stooped
down and looked into the sepulcher, and see two angels in white sitting,
the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of
Jesus had lain. And they said unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? She said unto them, Because they
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid
him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw
Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Now this is a woman
who had been with Him days before. He'd stayed in her home and she
had no idea who He was. This is us. We can't see it.
Until the Lord removes that filter, we can't see it. Keep going here,
verse 14. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back
and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She,
supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if thou have
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I'll
take him away. Jesus said unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith
unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. What's best for
us is for Him to call our name. And when He does, our eyes are
opened, we see clearly, and we call Him Master. And then look
at verse 19 in that same chapter. Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, His disciples,
after He died, they were hiding. They were scared. Came Jesus
and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you.
And when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then
said Jesus to them, Peace be unto you, as my Father has sent
me, even so I send you. And when He had said this, He
breathed on them and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. This is what He did for us. He
told us, Peace be unto you, and we received the Holy Ghost from
Him. Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but Thine be done." Our Lord knew what was best.
And then finally, He finished the work. John 17, verse 4. Our Lord finished the work of
salvation. I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have finished
the work which Thou gavest Me to do. He finished it. And look
at verse 22 in this chapter. And the glory which Thou gavest
Me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one.
I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that the world may know that
Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou hast lovedst Me."
How can the Lord say those two verses before He'd even gone
to the cross? Because He has the power, He
has a purpose, He knows the outcome, and He knows what's best. So
when our Lord says something in the Old Testament or before
time began, it is as if it's already done. He said He finished
the work before He even was on the cross. And then one more
verse, John 19, verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. He was on the cross and had fulfilled
all things, except one thing had to be done. Verse 29, Now
there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge
with vinegar, and put it upon Hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
And when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,
It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost."
There isn't one jot, one tittle. There isn't one event, one person,
one thing. It will not be fulfilled 100%
to the Lord's plan, His purpose, and it is the best that could
ever happen for the child of God. The Lord Jesus Christ saving
His people is wondrous. And when I first wrote that,
I wrote, the Lord Jesus Christ saving His people is more wondrous,
but I stopped because I realized there are not degrees of wondrous. Something is either wondrous
or it isn't. The Lord Jesus Christ is wondrous. Everything He does is wondrous. Everything He touches is wondrous. And everyone that is found in
Him is wondrous. The year 2021 may bring changes
and it may not. But it could not be any more
wondrous than the year before. For the child of God, being in
Christ is everything. And as long as we are in Him,
every moment, every day, every event, and every year are as
wondrous as anything could ever be. Alright, let's bow our heads
to dismiss. Our Heavenly Father, Lord, we give
You thanks and praise Your name for the wondrous works that You
bestowed upon us. Lord, make us to have faith in
this. Make us to have confidence in
this. It's so easy for us to say that we want to believe it,
we want to feel it, we want to find our comfort and our hope
in it. We want to, in every moment of every event, we want to look
to You. To thank You, we want to praise
Your name and give You all the glory. Lord, we pray that You
would watch over us and keep us. Lord, we understand that
trials and tribulations will come our way. Lord, we do ask
You and we pray that You might keep us from them and hedge us
about. But Lord, we understand When
we need a trial or we need something to come our way, Lord, we need
to accept it and we want You to give us comfort and faith
and look to Thee in it. Lord, we don't look forward to
them, but it is such a better thing, such a wondrous thing
to be sent to trial instead of be left to ourselves. Lord, we
pray that You'd be with those at the service tomorrow for our
sister Sue. Lord, we're thankful for and
we're so happy for her. Lord, be with her family, comfort
them, watch over them, and as You always do, use this for Your
glory, for our benefit. Lord, give us journeying mercies.
Be with us as we travel. Lord, we're so thankful that
we complain and we worry about so many things, yet one of those
is not that we can worship You that we can speak in public about
You, we can gather together and You've given us people to preach
the Word. Lord, as long as You tarry, please always allow us
to worship You, to read Your Word, to have it, to understand
and to love Thee. Lord, we thank You for all these
things and ask these in Christ's name, Amen.