WEBVTT 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:06.320 The word of God I'm reading this morning comes from Psalm 116. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.800 This is a psalm about Thanksgiving. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:19.839 It's a very personal psalm, as you'll see, and a very instructive psalm. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:22.239 So let's hear the word of God. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:29.199 I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:35.359 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:41.600 The snares of death encompassed me, the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.719 I suffered distress and anguish. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:47.280 Then I called on the name of the Lord. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.399 O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:53.280 Gracious is the Lord and righteous. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:55.359 Our God is merciful. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.920 The Lord preserves the simple. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:01.359 When I was brought low, he saved me. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:08.000 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:14.239 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:18.319 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.560 I believed even when I spoke, I am greatly afflicted. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.879 I said in my alarm, all mankind are liars. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:32.079 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:36.400 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call in the name of the Lord. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:41.359 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all of his people. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.680 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:48.159 O Lord, I am your servant. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.280 I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:53.439 You have loosed my bonds. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:59.760 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:08.719 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, o Jerusalem. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:10.719 Praise the Lord. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:16.240 This is the reading of God's holy, infallible, and errant word. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:21.039 May we ask his blessing upon our hearing and doing. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:35.039 Father, we thank you that you have given to your people all that we need for life and godliness with thanksgiving. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:46.319 Lord, without thanksgiving, without thanksgiving, oh Lord, it does not in any way reveal what we've received. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.319 So teach us how to be thankful this morning through the life of this psalmist. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:52.319 Open our eyes. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:53.840 Open our hearts. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:55.439 We pray, Jesus. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:56.639 Amen. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:01.520 A life of thanksgiving. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:03.840 Here's my question. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:08.560 How do we learn how to live a life of thanksgiving? 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:11.120 Here's my second question. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:15.280 Would the people who know you best describe you as a thankful person? 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:21.120 How do we get beyond? 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.000 How do we move past our grumbling hearts? 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:32.560 How do we move past our complaining spirits? 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:48.560 If an invisible tape recorder was hung around your neck, catching your words throughout the course of a day, the course of a week, the course of a year, and it was just played back. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:52.800 How would that feel like? 00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:00.000 Would that reveal a life of thanksgiving? 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.199 Oh, we have a lot to learn from this psalmist. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:04.719 Who was he? 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:06.080 We don't know. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:12.800 Some scholars think it might have been King Hezekiah, possibly. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:17.199 Some people think it was post-exilic, possibly. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:24.480 It doesn't matter so much that we know exactly who it was, but that we learn what he learned. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:25.759 That's what's important. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:32.879 This is in the midst of the Psalms, Psalm 113 through 118. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:46.319 These halal psalms, these psalms of thanks, these psalms of praise that were used in Jewish liturgy during the times of Passover, during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, and other times as well. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:55.120 These are the very songs that Jesus Himself sang the night before his death in the upper room with his disciples. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.959 Think about that as we go through this song. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:06.319 The very hours before his suffering, he sang these words. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:14.079 This morning we're going to look at three things: the rescued, the rested, and the repayment. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:16.639 Let's start with the rescued. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.439 We find a man on the brink of death. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.399 It seems as though it was a severe illness. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:25.839 It seems as though it was sickness. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:28.079 He thought he was going to die. 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:30.720 He didn't want to die. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.040 He cried out to the Lord. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:39.680 Verse 8, he says, For you delivered my soul from death. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:48.720 This man must have wept a lot in his circumstance. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:52.000 He was in the grip of fear. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:59.439 Didn't know what to do until he remembered that there was a God who would listen. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.680 There was a God he could cry out to. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:04.560 He said, You kept my feet from stumbling. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:05.759 Verse 4. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.720 Then I called on the name of the Lord. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.560 Oh Lord, I pray, deliver my soul. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:15.920 Have you ever prayed such a prayer? 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:18.879 I suspect many of us have. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:41.759 Because there are times in life through circumstances where it feels that it is soul crushing, that heavy things are voiced upon our hearts that almost feel suffocating. 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:45.040 Lord, would you deliver my soul? 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.600 I said it's a very personal psalm. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:48.639 Indeed it is. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:56.160 The personal pronoun I, me, or mine, occurs 35 times. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.079 It doesn't get more personal than this psalm. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:02.879 What does the hymn say? 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:04.319 Abide with me. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:12.560 When other helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:15.759 Isn't that hymn precious to many of us? 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.600 It captures the sentiments of what's going on in this situation. 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:24.560 Real trouble produces real prayer, at least it's supposed to. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:28.480 You've seen that in your life, haven't you? 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.279 When you just at your wit's end, you don't know any other recourse. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.480 You don't see any other possible solutions. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:38.879 We cry out to the Lord. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:48.319 And there's something about hardship and difficulties that are intended to bring us to cry out. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.319 Not to mumble a little prayer. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:56.399 Have you ever had a heart cry prayer? 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:02.800 I think the Bible's pretty clear that that ought to be part of our experience. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:05.920 We don't do it often, maybe. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:10.160 We don't necessarily do it in prayer meetings, although it's okay. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:15.519 I mean, have you just prayed to God from the top of your lungs? 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:21.920 Because you just felt it viscerally, whatever you were feeling so deeply. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:24.720 You know, God is good with that. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:28.319 You're not going to hurt his ears. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:34.879 Sometimes, that just seems very appropriate. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:46.799 Verse 2, because he God inclined his ear to me, that Hebrew word inclined, it means to stoop down, to lean in. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:53.840 Maybe like a doctor leaning over a sick man whose voice is so weak it's hard to hear. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:04.879 Or maybe a child who's very soft-spoken, and you just lean over because you really want to capture what the child is saying. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:05.840 It's important. 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:13.600 The verb suggests to us that God moves toward us. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:20.159 He leans in when he sees the cry of our heart. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:28.240 I don't think it's the same when we're mindlessly, thoughtlessly saying our prayers. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:30.480 I don't think it's the same. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:36.320 I don't think it's the same when we're just kind of conflicted in what we're saying to God. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:37.360 Like, well, you know. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:44.559 No, I think when when our heart's really in it, I think he leans. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:46.399 That's what the verb says. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:49.279 He wants to hear. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:51.919 And you could say, well, does he have to lean? 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:53.200 He's got well, no. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:57.919 It's it's symbolic of the fact that he's all in. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:09.360 Just this morning, Phyllis Sargent emailed me. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:11.759 Thank you, Phyllis. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:24.240 A year ago at the Linconia Christmas service, Monica, the director, asked us to pray for her daughter that she didn't know where she was. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:29.200 She was gone for a long time, praying, praying for her return. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:44.080 From Phyllis this morning to me, Dear Pastor Tom, you'll remember at last year's Linconia Christmas event, the activities director, Monica, asked all of us to pray for the return of her adult daughter, who had been missing for years. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:52.320 I am thrilled to report that Monica's daughter has been found and returned safe and sound to her family this past week. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.399 Many wishes from Monica. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.240 Thanks to the APC, to all who have prayed for her safe return. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:01.759 That's the power of prayer. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:12.320 A mother has her adult child returned to her safe and sound after being worried so much for so long. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:24.240 Charles Spurgeon said, we would not thank a beggar who informed us that he will continue to beg even more because we granted his request the first time. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:32.799 We would not thank a beggar who informed us that because we granted his request, he would not stop begging us. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:38.159 And yet, doubtless, our God tells his children to never stop begging. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:44.159 Charles Spurgeon said many times, I have a license to beg with God. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:48.480 What would that life look like if we believed that? 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:56.000 That far from God shunning us, far from God telling us to leave, God said, No, come. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:58.559 Beg more. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:02.879 You see, beggars are beggars because they don't have anything. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.240 Beggars are beggars because they know that they have need. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:10.159 They bring their need to someone they think can maybe help. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:14.159 Oh, brothers and sisters, are we not beggars? 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:19.440 Art we not to come to God and say, God, our cupboards are bare. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:21.919 Would you give what we need? 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.799 Verse 6, when I was brought low, he saved me. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.799 Oh, friends, our God has saved many. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:35.759 He saves many. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:38.960 I've been thinking about that this week. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:47.200 I wonder how many of us are thinking right now of times and places where he saved us. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.360 And we know he saved us. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:51.519 He saved us from death. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:53.279 Some of us know that. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:02.240 Some of us know that he saved us from grave difficult circumstances where we were just lost. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:08.480 We can think vivid times and places where he reached out and he saved us and we know it. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.639 But what about the times that we don't know? 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:15.200 I often think about that. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:24.000 What about the times and the situations that we don't know all that he rescued us from, all that he protected us from? 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:26.159 And we don't even know. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:28.960 Because of his kind providence. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:36.879 Oh, may we give him thanks for the things that we know as well as the things that we don't know. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:48.639 Spurgeon said, I saw that this was this was copied by all, this is taken by all the commentators today. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:51.200 They must have all gotten it from Spurgeon. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.000 His children, God's children, never die prematurely. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:01.120 They shall be immortal until their work is done on this earth. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:06.080 And when their time shall come, then their death shall be precious to God. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:08.799 Let me read that again. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:13.039 God's children never die prematurely. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.039 Not one minute before he's done. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:24.399 Not one minute before we're done doing his work that he assigned to us on this earth. 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:26.879 We shall be immortal. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:30.399 The enemy cannot take us prematurely. 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:34.799 Nothing can take us prematurely. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:36.799 Isn't that good news? 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:40.159 Until our work is done. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:46.399 And when our time shall come, even then our death shall be precious to God. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:47.440 That's what the verse said. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:51.279 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:54.159 Oh, these are words of comfort. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:56.720 To be rescued by God. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:02.159 Secondly, to be rested, verse 7. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:07.679 Return, O my soul, to your rest. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:11.200 For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.159 The Hebrew says once more. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:17.519 Return once more to your rest. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.279 And that's that's kind of striking language, isn't it? 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:25.360 How many times have you walked away from your rest in Jesus? 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:29.600 Nobody here can count that high. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:34.000 How many times have we walked away from our rest? 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:37.759 He says, return, O my soul. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.720 What he's doing here is he's preaching to himself. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:46.240 At APC, we call that preaching the gospel to ourselves because we forget the gospel. 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:48.399 He's saying, take hold of your soul. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:50.639 Do you see he's talking to himself here? 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:52.480 O my soul. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:00.879 Return, O my soul, come back to your rest because you lost your way. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.799 For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.480 This man absolutely lost his rest. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:12.480 We don't know for how long. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:20.240 Some people lose their soul rest for a very long time, and they're miserable. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:30.480 You know, you can lose your soul rest and still come to church on Sunday and still sing and still listen. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:34.000 That's not for you. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:44.720 The psalmist says, You re Lord, return to me, restore to me my soul rest, so that when I sing, I sing with all my heart. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:46.799 I sing with thanksgiving. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:51.200 That when I pray, I pray with a thankful heart. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.759 This is meditation. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:57.279 You see what he's doing here? 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:03.759 He's asking the Lord to convince him to believe deep down in his soul what he knows to be true in his head. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:06.559 I like the way Dr. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:08.079 Martin Lloyd-Jones put it. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:09.279 I read it years ago. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:11.039 I just can't stop forgetting about this. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:15.759 It's we need to learn how to talk to ourselves and stop listening to ourselves. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:18.240 We listen to ourselves way too much. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:22.160 We listen to that orphan spirit, that orphan voice. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:29.119 We sometimes we listen to the voices of people that told us things, narratives, people that tried to write narratives for our life years ago. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:32.880 People who tried to tell us what we were, who we were. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.000 And sometimes we still believe. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:40.559 We need to learn how to talk to ourselves. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:45.359 We need to learn how to invite the Holy Spirit in, to point us to the truth, to show us the truth. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:48.160 What do we know to be true from the Word of God? 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:54.720 Not what we manufacture, not what we conjure up from our worst narratives. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:58.319 He's asking the Lord to convince him. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:04.880 Deep down in his soul, what he knows to be true in his head. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.079 What is the voice of the orphan? 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:12.799 God doesn't really care about you. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.200 Don't you know by that by now? 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:21.920 Isn't there enough evidence that you've accumulated in your investigation? 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:27.839 Haven't you accumulated enough reasons to believe that God doesn't care about you? 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:32.079 Because if he did, look what he would have given you. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:34.559 Look what he would have done for you. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.279 The voice of the orphan. 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:39.200 The voice of the orphan. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:40.880 You've blown it. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:43.920 How many chances do you think you get? 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:47.200 How many times have you spurned God? 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:49.359 How many times have you walked away from God? 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:53.839 Why in the world would you think that he's listening to you now? 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:56.480 That's the voice of the orphan. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:03.839 Are you learning to distinguish the difference between the voice of the orphan and the voice of the Spirit? 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:05.119 The gospel. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:10.880 How does your soul find rest? 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:13.359 What's the way back? 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:15.519 Is there a way back? 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:17.920 Yes, there is. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:20.720 One of my favorite prayer mentors, O. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:29.279 Hallisby, in his book on prayer, said it like this: Helplessness is the real secret and the impelling power of prayer. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.519 True prayer is a fruit of helplessness and faith. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:34.480 Listen to this. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:37.279 Seldom are these two ideas held together. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:38.720 I think that's true. 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:44.160 True prayer is a fruit of helplessness. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.480 I mean real helplessness. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:50.000 Not, God, I've got this. 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:53.920 But if I don't, I know where to call. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:58.640 When was the last time? 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:04.880 You can honestly say you just felt a complete sense of helplessness. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:11.599 And you could say to your soul, and you could say to God, I don't have anything here. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:19.039 The real purpose, real prayer is a fruit of helplessness and faith. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:21.759 Seldom are these two ideas held together. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:37.039 The real purpose of our wrestling in prayer is therefore to render us so impotent and helpless, not only in connection with our physical and spiritual needs, but above all, our inability to pray. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:45.599 That our prayers really become a prayer for the spirit of prayer. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:48.799 That is so true. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:53.680 You see, most of all, what we need to learn is how to come to the Holy Spirit. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:55.839 He's the spirit of prayer. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:00.240 We need a new spiritual prayer antenna, don't we? 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:02.319 We don't work this up. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:04.720 This comes down. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.240 The Holy Spirit is the advocate. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:12.720 The Holy Spirit is the one who convinces us that Jesus loves us. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.720 The Holy Spirit is the one who convinces us that God is faithful. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:19.200 He's not left you, He's not abandoned you. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:22.079 We can't work that up. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:23.680 Not very well. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:37.519 Halisby says we should through prayer give Jesus the opportunity of gaining access to our souls, our bodies, our homes, our countries. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:39.279 Amen. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:50.160 We should through prayer give Jesus the opportunity of gaining access to our souls. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:52.319 That's what the psalmist was doing. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:55.440 And that's where he found his rest. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:58.559 And that's where you're going to find your rest. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.839 That's how you're going to find your rest. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:00.960 Your rest. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.359 You're not going to find it any other way. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:05.119 I promise you. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.920 This brings us to the last point, the repayment. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:12.160 Verses 12 to 14. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:15.680 What shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits to me? 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:18.240 I mean, he healed me, he rescued me. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.000 Now what do I do? 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:24.559 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call in the name of the Lord. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:28.640 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all of his people. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:30.960 Why? 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:35.279 Because the Lord has dealt bountifully with me. 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.079 Who here this morning can say that? 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:47.200 Who here this morning can say the Lord has dealt bountifully with me? 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:48.640 Yeah. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:50.160 I see that hand. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:52.160 That's true. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:57.440 We forget that, don't we? 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:02.960 It's like, no, I know it. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:04.559 I know it. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.440 Does your life reveal that? 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:09.839 Does your life reflect that? 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:15.359 Do people see you as a woman, as a man of thanksgiving? 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.240 Are you living a life of thanksgiving? 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:24.000 Nothing short, nothing less is good enough. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:27.680 May I remember that? 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:29.839 May you remember that? 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:33.200 Why would we believe this? 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:38.480 Remember what Paul said in Romans chapter 11, verse 35? 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:42.079 Who has given a gift to God that he might be repaid? 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:47.599 And yet, here the psalmists and throughout the scriptures, they talk about repaying the Lord. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:50.720 Who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:53.599 Well, intrinsically, there's nothing that we can give him. 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:56.160 He has everything already. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:09.119 Yet what he's saying to us is there are very valid ways to express, tangible ways to express what we believe about him and his goodness, to express our thanksgiving. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:11.759 Romans chapter 8. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:22.960 For he who spared not his own son, how will he not also with him graciously give us what? 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:25.599 All things. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:29.359 This is a powerful argument. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:33.200 He has already given us his very best. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:36.559 He has already given us his very best. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:40.240 Do you think he is now going to withhold lesser things? 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:44.960 What I'm saying this morning, what the psalmist says, what the scripture says, look back. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:49.759 Look back to what he has already given you at the cross of his son Jesus Christ. 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:54.319 Look forward eternally to all the promises that you believe, that you believe. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:25:06.319 That one day in heaven, through eternity, the blessings that you are going to live with for eternity, look back, look forward, now look present. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:10.559 He's making an argument here. 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:19.440 Give him thanks for all that he has already done for you, for all he has promised that he will do for you eternally. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.240 Now look to your present circumstances. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:31.519 Will he be less faithful now than he was at the cross, or he will be throughout eternity? 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:37.440 Does anybody here really think he's gonna be less faithful now with these lesser things? 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:45.039 But sometimes these lesser things seem like so prominent things to us that we're willing to judge his character by it. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:47.279 And that's just nonsense, isn't it? 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:49.039 Look at what he did at the cross. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:51.759 Look at what he will do throughout eternity. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:57.519 It's just nonsense to think, no, but I'm gonna judge his character by what he's doing right now in this exact situation. 00:25:57.680 --> 00:25:58.960 That's foolishness. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:01.920 That's what the psalmist tells us. 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:07.279 That's what the scriptures tell us over and over and over again, and yet we're not immune to that, are we? 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:12.799 Oh God, return my soul to rest. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:19.440 Return my soul to rest. 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:29.279 They say love is blind, but when we love God, our affection has its eyes open and stands up to the most rigid logic we can think of. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:35.119 It's been said we have reasons, we have super abundant reasons for loving God, for trusting God. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.400 Yes, we do. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:47.759 Spurgeon said the best return for one like me, so wretched and so pure, is from gifts to draw a plea and ask him still for more. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:54.559 Oh, as we close, just two points, two thoughts. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:58.079 First of all, let's go back to the one who sang this psalm. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:07.680 Jesus on the night before his death in the upper room with his disciples, literally sang this psalm. 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:14.960 But what's different between his singing of the psalm and ours, and our reading it today? 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:17.440 What's different? 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:28.559 Jesus said, Mark chapter 14, verse 34, the night before his death, my soul is sorrowful even to death. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:39.039 That night Jesus was sorrowful to the point of death, like drops of blood flowing down his cheeks. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:46.880 Jesus asked for the removal of that cup, didn't he? 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:50.640 Three times he prayed, Father, take this cup from me. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:52.720 I don't want to drink this cup. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:57.119 Did the father answer that prayer? 00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:58.400 Nah. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:03.359 The father said, You will drink this cup. 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:12.240 You will drink the cup of my wrath, so that one day my people will lift up their cup. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:14.720 Look at what he says about this in the text. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:20.319 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:23.119 Is this a pointer ultimately to the Lord's table? 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:24.160 I think it is. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:31.759 Every time we lift the cup, it's a reminder with thanksgiving that Jesus himself bore the wrath of God. 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:35.440 He took the cup, he drank the dregs of the cup. 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:39.599 This is where it's different between Jesus and us. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.319 But we can thank him and we can trust him. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:48.480 That he sang this song, he understood these truths, and he understood them and lived them for us. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:54.559 That Jesus himself lifted the cup that night with his disciples, didn't he? 00:28:55.519 --> 00:29:02.799 The disciples had no idea at that moment what Jesus meant by saying, This cup. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:05.039 They would come to find out. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:08.400 They would come to understand, and it would change their lives. 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:11.200 Has this changed your life? 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:15.440 That Jesus drank the cup of wrath. 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:18.799 And he even gave thanks for it, didn't he? 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:21.519 He lifted up the cup and he gave thanks. 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:24.400 And I say to myself, how could he have done that? 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:26.240 How could he have done that? 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:30.720 Knowing what was in the cup for him, not what's in the cup for you. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:38.640 Friends, if we don't see this, we're not going to have a life of thanksgiving. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:52.960 If we don't see this, we're going to sin greatly against our God with unthankful hearts, with grumbling, grumbling lives. 00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:57.359 This is a repayment. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:01.519 What did Jesus also say that night? 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:04.000 Not my will, but your will be done. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:06.319 Can you say that? 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:07.920 Can you pray that prayer? 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:11.680 Not my will, but your will be done, because I know that you are for me. 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:12.960 I know that you are good. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:14.480 I know that you were wise. 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:17.039 Not my will, but your will be done. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:20.960 Yeah, I think we can say that by faith. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:25.519 And we're not gonna we're gonna stop judging God by the circumstances. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:31.759 He's already proven his goodness to us, he's already proven his love for us. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:37.759 The psalmist said, What do you want, Lord? 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:41.759 Psalm 51, David, after he was rescued. 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:51.759 Lord, if I brought, if I brought the best oxen in Israel to you, if I brought the best bulls to you, is that what you want? 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:53.839 He said, No. 00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:56.480 I know what you want, Lord. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:00.720