Would you turn to Psalm 107?
While you're turning there, Paul Daniel passed away Friday night,
and he was such a special man to this church, and let's remember
the Daniel family. I love that man dearly. Psalm 107. Now when I read this psalm, I
want you to notice that there's two verses repeated four times
in this psalm. See if you can find them. Two
verses that are repeated four times. God the Holy Spirit is
not at a lack for words, and therefore we see the importance
of these two statements. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
Psalm 107. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and
gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west
and from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble. And he delivered them out of
their distresses and led them forth by the right way that they
might go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men, for he satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the
hungry soul with goodness. Such is said in darkness and
in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron
because they rebelled against the words of God and contemned
the counsel of the Most High. Therefore he brought down their
heart with labor. They fell down and there was
none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. And he saved them out of their
distresses. He brought them out of the darkness
and the shadow of death and break their bands in sunder. Oh, that
men would praise the Lord for his goodness. for his wonderful
works to the children of men. For he hath broken the gates
of brass and cut the bars of iron and sunder. Fools, because
of their transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner
of meat. They draw near unto the gates
of death. Then, They cry unto the Lord in their trouble. And
he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them
and delivered them from their destruction. Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to
the children of men. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices
of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. They that
go down to the sea in ships. They do business in great waters. These see the works of the Lord
and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth
the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount
up to the heaven. They go down again to the depth.
Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and
fro and stagger like a drunken man and they're at their wits
end. Then they cry. unto the Lord in their trouble. And he bringeth them out of their
distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they
be quiet. So he bringeth them unto their
desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. Let them exalt him also in the
congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of
the elders. He turneth the rivers into a wilderness and the water
springs into dry ground, a fruitful land into barrenness for the
wickedness of them that dwell therein. He turneth the wilderness
into a standing water. and dry ground into the water
springs. And there he maketh the hungry
to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation, and sow
the fields and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.
He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly,
and suffereth not their cattle to decrease again. They are minished. and brought
low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. He pourth contempt
upon princes and causes them to wander in the wilderness where
there is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction
and maketh him families like a flock. The righteous shall
see and rejoice and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Who so
is wise? And we'll observe these things,
these things I've just said. Even they shall understand. What an understanding. Even they
shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And we ask in his blessed name
that we will be enabled. To understand your loving kindness. We pray that we might be given
grace to cry to you in our trouble. And that you would hear. And
that we might be enabled to proclaim thy goodness. Lord, forgive us
of our sins for Christ's sake, meet with us, speak to our hearts
for the glory of your name. Lord, we would remember the Daniels
family this time. Lord, we're so thankful for Paul.
We're so thankful that you took him. We're so thankful that he's
in your presence, rejoicing in your son. Lord, Give us the grace
to have hearing ears that we might hear what your word says. Bless us for the Lord's sake.
Be with all your people wherever they meet together. Lord, meet
our needs according to your will. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Now did you pick up verse six? Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Verse eight. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men repeated four times. Four times. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. Now, I love thinking about this. The Lord is good all the time. And there is never a time when
he is not good. God is good. The Lord Jesus Christ is good. And he is good all the time. And when we question what he's
doing, We're denying his goodness while we're questioning it. He's
good all the time. And he always brings good out
of evil. And what our job is, if you want to call it that,
is to trust his character. He is good all the time. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord.
Well, what about this? What about that? I can't answer
any of that, but I know the Lord's always good. all the time. And no matter what's going on,
he is going to bring good out of evil all the time. That's who he is. We trust his
character. That's why we can have confidence we know he's
good. And this is what when Moses said, show me your glory. What's
the first thing the Lord said to Moses? I'll make all my goodness
pass before thee. And because God is good, all
things work together for what? Good, to them that love God,
to them who are thee called according to his purpose. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord
for his good, for his mercy endureth forever. I love this verse, let
the redeemed of the Lord say so. Two things I want to point
out, this is what the redeemed of the Lord ought to be saying
all the time. The Lord is good. His mercy is
eternal mercy. His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. And something else this reminds me of, they're redeemed. We're not talking
about some kind of potential redemption that will take place
if we allow it. No, we've been redeemed. I've
been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. His blood redeems. And when His blood redeems, it
makes me perfect in His sight. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. And
gather them out of the lands, from the East and from the West,
from the North and from the South. Now he's going to give four different
scenarios in this psalm. I don't know if you've noticed
that, but he, he talks about not having a city. He talks about
being in prison. He talks about being sick and
he talks about being in the perfect storm on the sea. Those four
scenarios and those four scenarios gives us some idea of what sin
does to us. Now let's go on reading verse
four. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. They didn't have a dwelling place.
You know, one of the things sin does is it makes me feel isolated. It makes me feel like I don't
have a place to live. Isolation. You feel isolated
from God because of your sin. You feel isolated from his people.
You feel alone. No city to dwell in. There's nobody like me. That's what you're thinking.
You're wrong. I'm wrong, but that's still the way we think.
No dwelling place. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them, failed in them. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble. And he delivered them out of
their distresses. This is one of four times the
psalmist makes this statement. Then they cried to the Lord.
Would to God that me and you would do that right now. Cry to the Lord in their trouble. And he delivered them out of
their distresses and he led them forth by the right way. You know,
there's a way that seemeth right. The end thereof are the ways
of death. The right way is Christ. He said, I am the way. The way
of righteousness, his righteousness. The way of peace, the peace he
established. The way of grace, he led them
in the right way. You know, we're gonna go the
wrong way every time. You can just count on it. But he leads. Oh, don't you love that hymn,
he leadeth me. Oh, blessed thought. He leads
in the right way. that they might go to a city
of habitation. Christ, he's our city of habitation. He's our dwelling place. He said,
abide in me. He is the dwelling place. That's the only home we feel
comfortable in. That's the only home that we
find peace in, being in Christ. That's why we cry out, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in him. He is the habitation. He is the dwelling place. And when we're conscious of being
in him, it's a blessed time, isn't it? It's a blessed peace.
And then he repeats himself again, oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. For he satisfieth the longing
soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Now, what is this
satisfaction? When Christ was raised from the
dead, God said I'm satisfied with what he did. And I'm satisfied
with everybody he did it for. And I'm satisfied with that,
are you? I'm satisfied, I'm not looking for anything else. He
satisfies the longing soul. My soul longs to be found in
Christ. My soul longs to be seen in him, to have his righteousness.
He satisfies the longing and the hungry soul. Blessed are
they that hunger and thirst after righteousness they shall be filled.
Now he gives his next scenario, prison. Prison. Sin is prison. Such as sit in darkness and in
the shadow of death being bound in affliction and iron. Now this Binding, this sitting
in this cell of affliction is my fault because they rebelled
against the words of God and contemned the counsel of the
Most High. That's why they're there. Well, I can't help it. Yeah, you can help it. It's your
problem. It's your fault that you're there. It's my fault that
I'm there. I can't blame God. Well, I was born totally depraved.
Sure you were, but that's no excuse. All my sin is all my
fault and all my sin puts me in this place. And that's what
he's saying. I'm in prison. I'm bound with affliction with
iron. I can't get out. And it's all my fault. Verse
12, therefore, he brought down their heart with labor. They
fell down. And there was none to help. Now that labor is the labor that
you feel under sin. That's what that labor is. You
feel you're in the prison and you can't get out and you're
brought down and you hit the ground and you're at the bottom. That's what this is referring
to. The prison of sin. They fell down and there was
none to help. Verse 13. Here we have it again. Then,
not before then, not before then. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness
and the shadow of death and break their bands in sunder. The only way I'm getting out
of prison is if he breaks the bands and breaks the bars and
pulls me out. And that's what he does. That's
what he does. This is our God. This is his
salvation. He breaks the bars. Verse 15,
O that men would praise the Lord. Here's the second time this is
said, O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and
for his wonderful works to the children of men. That's all about
the gospel. We praise the Lord for his goodness. God is good.
Oh, I wish that would just permeate my heart at all times. The Lord
is good. He's never not good. He's good
all the time. He gave his son. What goodness. He gave his son to die for the
likes of me and you. What goodness. Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness and his wonderful works. His
work on the cross. His work of grace, salvation
is of the Lord. Oh, the men would praise Him
for that. Not just get your doctrine state, but from your heart, praise
Him for who He is. Oh, the men would praise the
Lord for His goodness and His wonderful works unto the children
of men, for He hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars
asunder. And here's the third scenario.
Fools. Fools. This is who he's speaking
to. Any fools here? Fools. Because of their transgression,
and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. And through this affliction,
their soul abhorreth all manner of meat. They can't enjoy anything. They can't enjoy anything. They're
afflicted. Their sin has brought this on
them. And they abhor all manner of
meat. They draw near unto the gates
of death. Their sin has brought them into
this condition. And it's a sickness, as we'll
see. They cry. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
There's a third time that's said. Fools, because of their transgressions,
they get themselves in this place. Everything is dark. They abhor
everything. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
He sent his word and healed them. His word is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He sent his word. He sent his gospel by whose stripes. And that's the healing. By whose
stripes? That's the only healing. By whose
stripes? His bloody death on the cross
as the sinner's substitute, making the way for God to be just and
justify the ungodly. By his stripes, where he He sent his word and healed them
and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness. Here we are again. Oh, that men
would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful
works to the children of men. Oh, let them sacrifice the sacrifices
of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. That's
the preaching of the gospel. We do so rejoicing in this message. We're declaring His works, not
our works, His works. That's all we're to talk about
is His works. Now he gives this fourth scenario,
verse 23. They that go down to the sea
in ships, that do business in great waters out on the ocean,
these see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth
up the waves thereof." Who gave the command? He did. Why is this
storm taking place? He purposed it. He caused it.
He raised up the wind. He raised up the waves. He does
all things. He's the first cause of everything.
You know, I've heard people say, well, he doesn't care about this
or that. You know, he's the first cause of important things. No,
he's the first cause of everything. And if you, where do you draw
the line? Well, he's the cause of this,
but not that. No, he's the first cause of everything. He said,
I form the light. I create the darkness. I make peace. I create
evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. That's who he is. And this storm,
I've never been on a storm on the sea. Maybe somebody that's
been in the Navy has, but to think of, I've just seen it on
TV, it'd be terrifying to see those waves roll up and down
and you're so helpless. Well, that's what he's speaking
of. These see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.
Verse 25, for he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which
lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven.
They go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger
like a drunken man and are at their wit's end. You ever been
at your wit's end? They're at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble. You know when you're gonna cry
to the Lord in your trouble? When it's in and you really don't
have any other options. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
He makes the storm a calm so that the waves thereof are still.
I love to think of the Lord Saying to that storm, peace, be still. And the scripture says there
was a great calm. Then are they glad because they
be quiet. So he bringeth them into their desired haven. Christ
is the desired haven. That's the place of safety. Christ
is the desired haven. One thing of I desired. And that
will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
Christ all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire into his temple. Christ is the desired haven. Oh that men, here he is again,
oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for
his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt him also
in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly
of the elders. I hope that's what we're doing right now. Now
he speaks of what the Lord does. He turns rivers into a wilderness,
a mighty rolling river, all of a sudden it's a desert. And the
water springs, water bubbling up from the ground into dry ground,
a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that
dwell therein. And he does the opposite. He
turneth the wilderness, no life, dry, dead, into standing water
and dry ground into water springs. And there he maketh the hungry
to dwell. that they may prepare a city
for habitation. That's the city, the church of
the living God in Christ. That's the only city I want to
be in. That's my citizenship. It's in heaven. That's the habitation
where God's people rejoice to be. And here's what happens. They sow the fields and plant
vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. He blesses them
also so that they are multiplied greatly and suffereth not their
cattle to decrease. Everything's great. Again, they're
diminished and brought low. Again, they're diminished and
brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. Now, why is this? Again, they're diminished
and brought low. Why? Let me tell you what happens. As soon as you're feeling good
about things, you know what you do? Things are good. Things are good. And somehow, we quit looking
to Christ. As long as we are in this flesh,
we have something that's called the flesh, that's always going
to bring us down. And there's always an again.
Always. Again, they were brought low. As long as I'm in this sinful
flesh, think of Paul Daniel right now. He is not dealing with sin
anymore. There's no reason for him to
be brought low. He is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
worshiping him, no flesh to bring him down. But as long as we're
in this flesh, As soon as we perceive that things are going
well, we're going to start becoming proud, self-righteous. Somehow
we're going to give ourselves the credit. We won't say that,
but we think it. It's in our hearts. God sees
the heart. We know all the right things
to say, but God looks at the heart. He looks at the desire.
He looks at the thoughts. Again, they're minished and brought
low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. Verse 40, he pours
contempt upon princes, the great of this earth, who think they're
great. And he causes them to wander in the wilderness where
there is no way, yet saideth he the poor. Don't miss this. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Oh, may the Lord cause me to
stay poor. When you're poor, you do not
have anything to recommend you to God. When you're poor, all
you have is Christ. That's it. And you're rich. You're rich then. Yet saith he the poor on high
from affliction and maketh him families like a flock. In the
flock of the great shepherd, the righteous shall see and rejoice. Now, the righteous, they're going
to see this. Unbelievers are not going to
see it. They don't get it. The righteous do. Those who have
been made righteous by Christ, they see, they understand. The
righteous shall see his ways and rejoice. And all iniquity
shall stop her mouth. Who's going to lay anything in
charge of God's elect? God justified him. Who is he to condemn? Christ died. Yea, rather the
treason. Again, who's even at the right hand of God? Iniquity's
going to have to shut her mouth. Who so is wise and will observe
these things? These things written in this
psalm. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness. Then they cried in their trouble
and he delivered them in their distresses. Who so is wise and
will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving
kindness of the Lord. Now, somebody once said loving
kindness is the Old Testament word for grace. the loving kindness
of the Lord. God's loving kindness, it is
always sovereign, it's always free, and it's always saving. Oh, that God would enable us
to praise him for his goodness. Amen.