Sermons & Studies

Click here for PDF version Text: Psalms 106:39-48

Psalms 106: 39-48 (NIV) 39They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves. 40Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance. 41He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them. 42Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power. 43Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. 44But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; 45for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented. 46He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive. 47Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. 48Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, Amen! Praise the LORD.

Introduction

A. Throughout this series, I have attempted to encourage us to develop a spirit and attitude of thanksgiving towards Almighty God for all that God has done and is doing in our lives.

B.We all learn different truths in our lives in different ways. For some, positive examples and encouragement are enough to get a truth embedded in our person. For others, the misfortune of someone else or the hard lessons another group had to learn holds more value.

C.My closing point last week had to do with developing a spiritual memory of what God had done for you. This week's installment in this series is a good object lesson on what can happen when you forget the Lord’s goodness.

D.In this Psalm that is before us today, the writer captures almost all of the history of the Old Testament and most of it is not very positive. Anyone who has spent some time reading the O.T. narratives know that the Hebrews gave God a hard time all the way from Egypt to the promised land and beyond.

E.The old saying goes, A word to the wise is sufficient.” Let us see if we can take a look at some of the lessons learned from the Old Testament and get some Thanksliving principles that we can apply to our own lives.

I. Do Not Take The Lord's Goodness For Granted

A. v. 7-8 recall the time when the Hebrews were in Egypt and God sent Moses to deliver them from Pharoah. Moses didn't come before Pharoah with just words, but he had been granted power from Almighty God to perform great deeds before Pharoah.

B. Recall some of the great miracles the Lord wrought on behalf of the Hebrews while they were in Egypt:

1. Turned the Nile into blood;

2. Sent the plagues of locusts and gnats;

3. Darkness covered the face of the earth for three days;

4. Death of all the first born children throughout the land.

C. God did all of these things to bring about their deliverance. You would think that when they got to the Red Sea, they would have had a little more faith in God but the Bible says that they began to grumble about Moses bringing them to a place of death.

D. We all need to understand that God doesnÂ’t have to do another thing for us. God has already done so much in our lives that we canÂ’t help but thank God daily for what God has done.

E. No matter what God does for us and how often God might do it, we are to respond with a grateful heart. Any blessing from the Lord is a special blessing and worthy of our gratitude.

F. Taking the LordÂ’s blessings and benefits for granted can ultimately lead to a spirit of rebellion. YouÂ’ll find yourself with your back up against the wall (like the Hebrews at the Red Sea) and rebelling against God instead of praise God.

G. Learn to say “thank you” to God for every little thing. If you thank God for the little things then when the big things come along, you’ll already be in the habit of praising God. If you thank God for the little things, then you wonÂ’t get caught up in a rebellious spirit because there are always little things to give thanks for.

II. Do Not Run Ahead Of God

A. In v. 13, the Hebrews forgot what God had done for them. They no longer sung the praise of God and GodÂ’s deliverance from Egypt.

B. When you fail to give thanks for prior blessings, if you are not careful, you decided to move without consulting God and that is always shaky ground.

1. John 15:5 (NIV), 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

C.One of the hardest things for us to do, especially in this “gotta have it now society, is wait. We don't like to wait for anything or anybody.

1. We don't want to wait for the traffic light so we create "Right on Red" laws.

2. We don't have the patience to cook our own food so we go to places such as McDonalds and L&L Drive-In and if that wasn't bad enough, we want to use the drive in lanes because we don't have the time to get out of our cars and wait in a human line.

D. But time is a creation of our earthly existence. God is never pressed for time and moves when the timing is just right.

E. By cultivating a spirit of the thanksgiving to the Lord, you acknowledge that God may know a little more about our lives than we might think. A spirit of thanksliving admits that we are not in control of our own destiny and so we see the face of God for God's take on our life.

F. That counsel comes through prayer and those quiet moments. In the 46th Psalm, the writer pens,

1. v. 10, "Be still, and know that I am God; . . ."

2. Psalms 37:7 (NIV), 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

G. So the best course of action in our lives is always the action that God ordains and that only comes when you seek the face of God. When you get that direction and achieve God's desired ends, then you will have cause to give thanks once again.

III. Do Not Be Envious Of What Others Have

A. In v. 16, the Israelites grew envious of the position that Moses and Aaron had among them. As is sometime the case with leadership, you find people who want all of the spotlight and seemingly glory of the position without counting the costs of serving in such a place.

B. If you do not cultivate a spirit of thanksliving in your life, then you will look at the blessings of others and desire to have them for yourself.

C. Envy is one of the chief driving forces in advertising today. So much is based on getting you to feel that unless you are wearing the right kind of jeans or drive the right kind of car or carry a certain color credit card, you are not a part of the "in" group.

D. And even in the church, if we are not careful, this spirit can raise its ugly head. We hear of the success and the large numbers that other churches are drawing and we desire to have those kinds of crowds and ministry rather than to be thankful for what the Lord has blessed us to have already.

E. Take counsel from the Scriptures,

1. Proverbs 14:30 (NIV), A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

2. Proverbs 23:17 (NIV), Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.

3. Ecclesiastes 4:4 (NIV), And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

F. It's a chasing after the wind because once you have the object of your envy, there will be something else to catch your fancy and get you right back on that treadmill.

G. Rather than be envious, be thankful for all the blessings of the Lord. In v. 24, the people wanted the promised land but didn't want to trust God to give it to them. God wants to bless us so we can be a blessing to others but the cost for those blessings is obedience. We have to be willing to do what the Lord directs us to be and do.

IV. Remember That God Is Faithful

A. In v. 45, despite all that Israel had done in going astray from the Lord, God remembered the promise that God made to Abraham and was faithful to that covenant.

B. We must always be a thankful people because God continues to provide for all of our needs.

1. Philippians 4:19 (NIV), And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

C. God deals with us out of his great love for us. A love that has great cost associated with it:

1. John 3:16 (NIV), For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2. 1 John 4:9 (NIV), This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

D. So a word to the wise this morning is this: be a person of thanksliving rather than . . .

1. One that takes the Lord's goodness for granted.

2. One that runs ahead of God.

3. One that is envious of other's blessings.

E. A person with such a spirit will end up on the junk heap of life. For v. 43 says that the Israelites . . . were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. God doesn't want to see you waste away but because God honor our freedom of choice, God will allow us to go down a path of destruction.

F. But rather than go in that direction, understand that God has given a fantastic gift in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are without Christ in your life then I can understand why you might be ungrateful in your approach to life.

G. Let Christ come into your dark heart and radiate it with the light of God’s love.

H. Learn to be a person of praise and thanksgiving rather than a complainer and grumbler like the Hebrews were in the Old Testament. A closing illustration,

Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, "Certainly the preacher won't think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this." Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, "We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.

Benediction

Jude 24-25 (NIV), To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Date Preached Place

November 18, 2001 First Chinese Church Of Christ (8 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.)