As you probably are aware, the
word Psalm means praise. Turn back to Psalm 116, by the
way. The word Psalm means praise. Therefore, it shouldn't surprise
us to find that the book of Psalms is the largest book in the Bible. Because they are psalms of praise,
primarily, to our God. They praise God, not man, not
man. If you look back just to the
previous Psalm of 116, we read this, not unto us, O Lord. This is the theme of the Psalms,
not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory. You deserve it, we don't. We
don't have anything we haven't received. But unto thy name give
glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Psalm 113, verse
1. Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O
ye servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun until
the going down of the same, The Lord's name is to be praised. Yet, though God, as we just read,
those few examples, and we could find that in just about every
psalm, the praise that God is deserving of, yet how little
does he receive? When I was a boy at home, my
father used to say to me concerning many things. Son, I shouldn't
have to tell you that. I shouldn't have to tell you
that. But he did. And God in grace reminds us as
we read these Psalms how deserving of our praise he is. Turn if you will to Luke's gospel
chapter 17 and then we'll come back to Psalm 116. Here's an
example of what I'm saying here in Luke 17 verse 11 familiar
passage verse 11 of Luke 17 it came to
pass as he that is the Lord went to Jerusalem that he passed through
the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And he entered into a certain
village and there met him ten men that were lepers which stood
afar off. Which stood afar off. They had
to. They had to stand far off. They
were unclean. God's own law had pronounced
them unclean. And being unclean, they were
then outcasts from that day on. From the time that they went
to the priest, as they were required by law to do if they believed
themselves to be leper, and he would look upon them and pronounce
them lepers and at the same time pronounce them unclean. If someone
unfamiliar with the law were a stranger in the land and
approached unto them, they were required, that is the leper,
to cry out, unclean, unclean, don't come near me, don't come
near me, I'm unclean. They stood afar off. Is that not a good picture of
what we are by nature, spiritually speaking? These lepers were Really
a living death. They were covered with sores.
Their flesh was literally rotting away from their bodies. They
would lose fingers, toes, ears, just a slow death. And that's a picture of what
you and I are by nature. Let me read this to you. Wherefore
remember, remember that you in times past being Gentiles in
the flesh you are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands that at that time at that time God
draw back the curtain help us to remember at that time you
were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and
without God in the world. Ye were far off. All have sinned, that includes
you and me, no exceptions. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not
one, and the soul that sinneth, it shall die. These leopards
stood afar off, and they lifted up their voices, verse 13, and
said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. Oh, how earnest, how sincere,
how urgent was their cry. Nothing else was as important
as this. We've got to get His attention. So united in voice, they cry,
Lord, have mercy upon us. Verse 14. And when he saw them,
he said unto them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. God's law pronounced
you unclean, it must pronounce you clean. And it came to pass
that as they went, they were cleansed. Imagine that. Can you imagine that? These ten
lepers, who when they before this looked one upon another,
it just reminded them of their own misery. They would cast an
eye toward their fellow and they would just be reminded, oh I'm
just like him, I'm outcast, I'm unclean. And now they look as they go
in obedience to our Lord's command, they glance We're not unclean. We're not
an outcast anymore. We've been cleansed. We can go
home now to our families. Could never do that before. We
can mingle again with our fellow men. Oh, we're clean. Verse 15. One, one of them, when
he saw that he was healed, not only cleansed but healed, turned
back with a loud voice, glorified God. Only one? He turned back with a loud voice,
glorifying God, and fell on his face at his feet, giving him
thanks. thanking him from whom he had
received this marvelous work of grace and mercy. And he was
a Samaritan. One turned back with a loud voice. Singular. One voice giving praise. Were there not ten voices calling
for mercy? Yes. Nine were cleansed. Oh, but this one was healed. healed from the leprosy of his
soul, his sin. Look at verse 17. Our Lord asked,
were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? There are not found that returned
to give glory to God, save this stranger. Verse 19, and he says,
Arise, arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. You're cleansed outwardly and
healed inwardly. The disease of leprosy on your
body and the disease of leprosy sin in your soul. Thy faith has saved thee. Go. Made whole by grace through faith
in Christ Jesus. Now back to Psalm 116. in the
act of praising God for all of his benefits, David seems to
pause at verse 12. In the midst of recollecting
some of the many benefits that God had bestowed upon him, David
pauses and asks himself the question of verse 12, and I've prayed,
I've prayed. that God would enable you and
I to do the same thing. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? If we would measure our obligation
of thankfulness by all that God has done for us, it would be
an impossible task, wouldn't it? A hill too high to climb,
a river too wide to swim. Look, if you will, at Psalm 139. Verse 6, concerning God's benefits,
mercy, kindness, grace, we can say what David said here. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. It is high. I cannot attain unto it. But David, here in Psalm 116,
includes in his answer to his own question the words of verse
17. That's what I want to focus on.
Just this part. I will offer unto thee the sacrifice
of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. This Thursday,
when you gather with your families to enjoy a good meal, we'll all
eat too much. Probably more than once. But
all enjoy it. Enjoy it. with your son. I'm so looking forward to my
son and daughter-in-law and those granddaughters and my great-grandson. I'm just looking forward to it.
I'm anxious to have them with me. But when you gather with
them to enjoy a good meal and the fellowship of your family,
remember this, remember this. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Does anyone, I asked the question
in my article in your bulletin this morning, does anyone have
more to be thankful for than a sinner, a sinner who's been
made? Oh yes, made. Otherwise it would
never be so. Does anyone have more to be thankful
for than a sinner who's been made to experience the riches
of God's grace in Jesus Christ? That knowledge is too wonderful
for me. I cannot attain unto it. I can't
reach that high. Oh, I can only stand at the base
of the mountain of God's grace and mercy and look up, look up,
and the further I look, the more obscure by the clouds does it
become. My soul, what mercy and grace
he has bestowed upon this worthless sinner. Turn back, if you will,
to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel chapter 7. David, after he's settled, he's
king, the wars at this time have ceased, he's at peace and he
thinks, here I am dwelling in a house of plenty and the ark
of God dwells in a tent. I want to build a temple for
God, for God's glory. God sends Nathan to him with
the message that he wouldn't allow David to do it, but David's
son that should come, Solomon, he should. Look at verse 8 here
in chapter 7 of 2 Samuel. This is Nathan speaking to David.
Now therefore, so shalt thou say unto my servant David, or
this is God telling Nathan. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
I took thee from the sheep coat, from following the sheep, to
be ruler over my people, over Israel. And I was with thee whithersoever
thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy
sight, and have made thee a great name, likened to the name of
the great men that are in the earth. Verse 17. Nathan delivers
this message. According to all these words
and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. And then we read David's response. Then went David in and sat before
the Lord and he said, as you read these Are these not the words of someone
who seems to be, and rightfully so, overwhelmed with God's mercy
and grace to him? Can't get over it. Can't get
over it. David was not in that group of
nine, but that one that returned to give thanks to his God. Then
David went in and set before the Lord and he said, Who am
I, O Lord God? Who am I, O Lord God? Now, I'm reading the words of
David, but I'm thinking of Larry Criss. Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house that thou
hast brought me hither to? And this was yet a small thing
in thy sight, O Lord God, but thou hast spoken also of thy
servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner
of man, O Lord God? Oh, no. And what can David say
more unto thee? For thou, Lord God, knowest thy
servant for thy word's sake. And according to thine own heart
hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know
them. Wherefore, thou art great, O
Lord God, for there is none like thee, neither is there any god
beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears."
David says, oh, how great thou art. Looking back over his life,
David remembers. David remembers with the benefit
of hindsight, of course. It's always 2020, but more than
that, much more than that, knowing that what God had promised he
was able also to perform. And surely in the process of
this, David would remember that time that God reminded him of
in 2 Samuel 7, and that he reminds himself of. That time when he
was still at home, tending his father's sheep. He was the youngest
of Jesse's eight sons. David was the youngest. Therefore
his job was to tend his father's flock. But David didn't mind. David didn't mind. Because it
afforded him that quiet time. That quiet time. I mean, after
all, how quite could it be in a house with seven brothers?
I have four sisters and four brothers. If I wanted any quite
time, I couldn't find it in the house. I had to go elsewhere. Can you picture David sitting
under a tree, perhaps, and watching over his flock, the sheep? Being
the shepherd, it was his duty to care for the sheep, to protect
the sheep, and he did. At such a time as this was it
when David lifted up his spirit to heavenly places and sang,
the Lord is my shepherd. He looked out on that flock,
thought about his responsibility, his care, his love, He probably
had names for each of them. He knew his sheep. They knew
his voice. And then David said, the Lord is my shepherd. After
all this, this one benefit contains all the other benefits of God,
my shepherd. They're all in him. They're all
in him. Without him, nothing. Without
Christ, no mercy, no grace, no hope, no salvation, no heaven. Not without the Lord Jesus Christ. God never, never, he never has,
he never will. He never one time, not with Noah,
not with Abraham, not with David, not with you, not with me. Never
has he bypassed Jesus Christ in bestowing any blessing upon
any sinner. They all flow from Him. His completeness,
His fullness is why we're complete. fullness. We're completed in
Him. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. Where are they at? In Christ. In Christ. David said, Christ
is my shepherd. He's the good shepherd we read
in scripture. He said, I'm the good shepherd
that giveth his life for the sheep. He's the great shepherd
The great shepherd, he's the chief shepherd. The great shepherd
that was brought again from the dead by God through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. He's the chief shepherd, Peter
said, when he shall appear so we shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away. If the Lord is my shepherd, if
the Lord is my shepherd, SELAH, PAUSE. Think about that. It's not surprising as to what
follows. If the Lord is my shepherd, David
says, I shall not want. Not with such a shepherd. I shall
not want. I want nothing. It could have
been translated as. I want for nothing. Also, it
means this, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. I shall not
lack. I shall not lack any good thing.
I shall never, if the Lord is my shepherd, am I, I am one of
the sheep of his fold. I shall never lack God's mercy,
God's power, God's provision, God's care. Child of God, the
Father says, put upon him the very best robe. I will never
lack. I will never be undressed from
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never. I'll never be plucked out of
my great faithful shepherd's hand. It will never happen. I'll
never perish. My shepherd is promised to be
with me always. Through the valley of the shadow
of death, David wrote, all the way to the Father's house. All the way, my Savior leads
me. What have I to ask besides? Can
I doubt his tender mercy, who through life has been my guide? and there in the father's house
I should live forever." There was a believer who in his old
age was reduced to poverty, but he never complained. He never
complained. A neighbor said to him, knowing
something of his circumstances, he said, you must be in bad shape,
said the neighbor. And the believer replied, no,
no, I have a rich father. What, his neighbor said, surprisingly,
your father? He's not dead, he must be very
old. And the man replied, no, my father
never dies. My father never dies and he takes
care of me always. What did our Lord say? Oh, child of God, what a comfort.
Your heavenly Father knoweth. That's what our Lord said. Your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
It's your Father's good pleasure, God's good pleasure, your Father's,
to give you the kingdom. Oh, blessed thought, my Father
knows. From Christ comes every benefit
from God our Father. Surely David would remember that
time that Samuel came to his house
and, obedient to God's command, chose Him of all people. Turn,
if you will, to 1 Samuel chapter 16. 1 Samuel chapter 16. God directs
His prophet Samuel to go to the house of Jesse. Because he tells
Samuel from, I'm setting Saul aside. I'm choosing a new king. And he's the son of Jesse. In verses 6 through 10 we read
that each son passed before Samuel. And each time Samuel looked and
said, oh, this must be him. And he's ready to stand and anoint
with the oil God's, or rather, Israel's future king. And God
whispers in his ear and says, that's not him. That's not him. He sets back down. In comes the
other son. This must be him. That's not
him. I have not chosen him. Verse 10, again, Jesse made seven
of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The
Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? God's told me that one of your
sons will be Israel's future king. Something's wrong here. Are all your sons here? Well,
there's one left, the youngest. Didn't think it was even necessary
for him to be present. He's the youngest. He's out taking
care of the sheep. There remaineth yet the youngest,
and behold, he keepeth the sheep. Oh, I don't doubt, David, When
he asked himself that question, what shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits, he thought of this benefit. God's
amazing choice of him of all people. And Samuel said to Jesse,
send and fetch him. Fetch him. I like that word. It has the sweet sound of grace
in it, doesn't it? Go fetch him. For we will not
sit down till he come hither. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And he sent and brought him in.
Now he was ruddy and with all of a beautiful countenance, and
goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, arise. Anoint him, for this is he. Yes, God chooses the weak things. the things that are despised,
the things that are not. Oh, God's strange choice. And brothers and sisters in Christ,
my soul, imagine God hath chosen you to salvation from the foundation
of the world. Oh, what shall I render unto
God? How thankful for such a benefit
of His everlasting mercy. A hymn writer expressed it like
this. It is not that I did choose thee,
for Lord, that could not be. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. This heart would still refuse
thee, but thou hast chosen me. My heart owns none before thee,
for thy rich grace I thirst. This knowing, if I love thee,
thou must have loved me first." And so it is. Thou must have
loved me first. Sons we are. Sons we are through
God's election. who in Jesus Christ believe,
by eternal destination, sovereign grace we now receive, paws my
soul. That's what David did. Paws my
soul, so adoring wonder, and ask, oh, why such love to me? Grace has put me in the number
of the Savior's family. Amazing. Amazing. And not only
that. Not only chosen by grace, called
out of darkness by his grace. This is what Samuel said to Jesse
concerning that youngest son. Go fetch him. Go fetch him. That's what God does by his grace. He fetches those sinners that
were chosen in Christ. He fetches those sinners in time
to their great shepherd who loved them and gave himself for them. Those that were chosen and redeemed
are called in time. Oh, what a wonder that is. God
says, in that time of love, fetch them. Fetch them. Oh, I like
that. Don't try to fetch them. Fetch
them. God doesn't attempt to fetch
them, He fetches them. God called us out of darkness
and translated us out of that darkness into the kingdom of
His dear Son, Sons of Light. Paul in writing his first epistle
to the Thessalonians said, I know your election of God. He said,
I know you're elected. How did Paul know that? He said,
because when our gospel came to you, when I was there a priest
to you, you heard the Word, not as it was the Word of a man,
but the Word of God. And God called you by His grace,
and you became followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, such knowledge is too wonderful
to me. Paul said, we are bound. We are
bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, because he
has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. He called you. He called you. My soul, what
a marvel. He called you. Not you, Andre. Not you. Oh, my soul. He called you by his grace. God says, arrest that man. Arrest that rebel. Stop that
rebel. He's gone far enough. I'm gonna stop him in his tracks. I'm gonna arrest him by my mercy
and grace. I'm gonna fetch him to myself.
Arrest that man. God called us by his grace. Have you been called? Is this
your testimony? I was reading again Just the
other evening, that familiar word of old John Newton, the
writer of Amazing Grace and other great hymns. But he was in his old age and
blind. And he heard somebody read that
text of scripture, I am, but by the grace of God I am what
I am. And they said the old man just sat quiet for a while. And
he said, I'm not what I want to be. And I'm not what I ought to be.
Oh, I'm so deficient. He said, I'm not what I'm going
to be. But he said, thank God. By the grace of God,
I'm not what I used to be. I'm not what I used to be. Not
by my will, or mama's will, or daddy's will, or the church's
will, or the priest or preacher's will, but by the will and grace
of God. And oh my, David surely thought
of this. He made mention of it. Verse
4 of the psalm. The Lord preserveth the simple.
Oh, how God's grace has kept us. How God's grace has kept
us. What a benefit that is. Our Lord
told troubled Martha. Martha, Mary hath chosen that
good part which shall not be taken away from her. shall not
be taken away from her." You know why? Because Christ will
not let us go. Peter said, you're kept by the
power of God, kept from falling away. We can never fall so far that
his arm can't reach us. Isn't that a blessed thought? This is what David says in the
psalm. He was brought low, verse 6,
Brought low, but the Lord helped me. He reached down his hand
for me. Thou has delivered my soul from
death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. He asked
for deliverance of his soul. God did that and more. He always
does more than we ask or think. He delivered my soul from death,
spiritual death, eternal death. Christ says they shall never
die. My tears from crying, he shall
wipe away all tears. My feet from falling, oh no,
I shall follow my great shepherd all the way to glory. God in
mercy and grace has preserved us from ourselves. Now, surely that merits praise
and thanks, does it not? He has saved us from ourselves. David remembered that too. You know the story so well. He
has sinned, committed adultery, murdered the woman's husband
to cover it up. And God in his faithfulness sends
the prophet to him saying, David, you're the man. You're the man. And like Peter hearing the cock
crow, it all comes crashing down on him. And David says, I've
sinned against God. I've sinned against God. No sooner, no sooner does David
say those words, Then Nathan says, God has put away your sin. God has put away your sin. Like the prodigal son. He had
rehearsed what he would say to his father. Had it all figured
out. Had memorized it. And he comes
back to the father's house. The father's been looking for
him. Been watching for him. He begins to speak, to recite
what he was going to say. And the father says, ah, ah,
kisses him. puts a ring on his finger, bring
forth the best robe. This my son was dead and is alive
again. He was lost and is found. Let
us be glad and rejoice. Oh, so is the great mercy of
our God. Little children, I would that
you sin not. I write these things unto you
that you sin not. But if you sin, if you sin, if you sin, After God's goodness and love
and mercy and grace, if you sin, what happens? What happens? Know this, your sin's been put
away. You have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. David asks, what will you render
for such mercy and grace? I will offer thanks. the sacrifice
of Thanksgiving unto my God. The other evening, my youngest
son called me, as he often does, and asked me a question concerning
something he's read in God's Word. He asked me something about
heaven. Dad, what will it be in heaven,
this or that? And I said, Roger, it's impossible
to know. It's just impossible to comprehend. Standing here, where we are,
being what we are, and trying to get a hold of that which shall
be in glory, just not possible. Then we'll be so unlike now. Because then, then, I will have
no sin. Then I will have no sin. My soul,
what a change that will be. No sin. Isaac Watts, this is
in your bulletin as well, he wrote, how astonishing will be
the glory and the joy of that day when all the saints, oh,
talk about a Thanksgiving, talk about a feast, talk about a family
reunion. When multitudes of redeemed sinners
are gathered around their Redeemer, how astonishing will be the glory
and the joy of that day when all the saints shall join together
in one common song of gratitude and love without sin. And of everlasting thankfulness
to this Redeemer, What, that unknown delight and inexpressible
satisfaction, should all that are saved from the ruins of sin
and hell address the Lamb that was slain and rejoice in His
presence? A few more rolling suns at most
shall land me safe on heaven's coast. There I shall sing the
song of grace to Jesus Christ, my hiding place. I close with
this. As I said at the beginning, when
you gather this Thursday to enjoy time with your families, remember
to give thanks unto God for his unspeakable gift. God bless you. Amen.