Thanksgiving Psalms

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Psalm 18

Today is the fourth sermon in our six week sermon series in the book of Psalms

And the series name is On Repeat

You see, we want to repeat and know the Psalms in our minds and in our hearts

The Psalms are not a collection of outdated, meaningless, poems

Rather, they are a blueprint, a model for how we are to live, how our attitudes should be, and how our actions should reflect them

And depending on who you talk to and who you read - The Psalms are usually divided between 5-8 different kinds of Psalms

So for us, we will be looking at 6 different categories

We have already gone over Wisdom Psalms and reviewed Psalm 1

Two weeks ago we went over Royal Psalms and reviewed Psalm 110

Last week we talked about Psalm sof Lament and reviewed Psalm 51

Today we are going to look at Psalms of Thanksgiving and will look at Psalm 18 gdgdg

Past and Present

Today we sang one of my favorite hymns “Oh for a thousand tongues to Sing”

And song hymns are much like Psalm hymns

Charles Wesley is one of the most well known Hymn writers, he wrote “Oh For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”

He wrote - “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “Rejoice the Lord is King”

And if you are familiar with these hymns, you can hear and read that Charles Wesley is seeking to magnify Jesus and who he is

He often uses scripture and Psalms directly in his hymns

He is giving praises to God for who he is and what he has done

The overwhelming majority of his hymns are focused on praising God

And so the song hymns are very much like the psalm hymns

We will not be going in depth into hymn Psalms but I do want to note on what they are

And so if you are taking notes here is a few of Psalm Hymns you can read - Pss. 8; 19; 29; 33; 65; 67; 68; 93; 96; 98; 100; 111; 113; 114; 117; 135; 145; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150

King David and the other Psalmists write these Psalm hymns generally during times of reflection and peace

And Psalm hymns - just like our song hymns the Psalm hymns are usually written to magnify God, giving great praise to him, and highligting the things that God has done

However, Psalms of Thanksgiving are different because when the Psalmist writes these, they are thankful and detailing things that God has done for them recently

They personalize the psalm to their current situation

Usually, a Psalm of thanksgiving was written when God had answered a psalm of lament

If you were with us last week when we talked about Psalms of lament we talked about turning God when we are broken, hurting, and need restoration

That laments are passionate expessions of sorrow or grief

And so when a person laments, they lament out to God - but they are able to lament in hope

As believers we know that God hears us, that God loves us, that God will take care of us

And so God hears our laments and God restores and brings us out of whatever situation we were in

And when we are out, we thank God for his goodness, for his mercy, his grace, his love, his faithfulness

And so this is exaclty what Psalms of Thanksgiving are

They thank God for his most recent love, goodness, mercy, grace, and faithfulness

Here is a list of additional Thanksgiving Psalms - 8, 30; 34; 40; 41; 66; 92; 116, 118; 124; 138.

And so generally, Psalms of thanksgiving start out by giving an intention of thankfulness

They then give a brief snippet of the trial or time of lamenting

And then they end with extended thanksgiving

This is what we will see in todays Psalm

Longer Psalm than usual

And if you are visiting with us for the first time - I want you to know that we do not apologize for reading scripture

At the same time, we do not always read and tackle 50 verses of scripture at a time

And we are doing just that today

But dont let this overwhelm you - we are going to break this 50 verse psalm into the three sections of thanksgivng

And I know some of our members are sighing in relief as well

But we do love God’s word and we believe that every part of it is important

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along, if at any point you need to sit, please do so -

Psalm 18

18 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: 1 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. 13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. 14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 16 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. 17 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me. 20 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. 23 I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. 24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; 26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. 27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. 28 For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. 29 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 30 This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?— 32 the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. 33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. 36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed. 38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. 39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. 40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. 41 They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them. 42 I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets. 43 You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. 44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. 45 Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses. 46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation— 47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, 48 who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence. 49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name. 50 Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

This is the Word of the Lord, you may now be seated

Intention to Give Thanks

Our setting for todays passage tells us that this Psalm is written by King David after the Lord had delivered him from all of lhis enemies and from Saul

And so just as most thankgiving Psalms do, King David starts this Psalm with the intention of love and thankfulness

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.

This love insinuates a deep devotion and intimacy with God

King David - being overwhelmed with what he just went through - can undoubtedly say that God loves him

That God has been faithful to him

That God is the one who has uplifted him and strengthened him in this hard time

And the only response to God’s love and strength towards him

Is to love him back

And not just to love him with a superficial kind of love

Not just to love Him because God has rescued him

But to love Him because God desires relationship with Him

So much so that He strengthens Him

And because you God are my strength, But because you uplift me, I am able to love you

I want to love you so deeply that I never lose my lose my love for you and I know that with your strength I can continue to love you in deep devotion

He then goes on to write

2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

In this intention of thankfulness - notice the common theme - God stengthens and is Davids rock, a fortress, and a deliverer - a shield, horn of salvation - a stronghold

King David is magnifying the God who never changes - he magnifies the God who never fails

God is the greatest defender, protector, there is no other shield you should want

With God you are always secure, you are always safe,

And in times of trouble and distress you can call upon his name -

He is the only name that should be called upon the only name worthy enough to be called upon

And for King David, God is the only one who could have saved him form his enemies

So the intent of this Psalm is to magnify God and give thanks to Him for how he has just saved David

Now what did he save King David from?

Salvation from enemies and Saul

If you remember in 1 Samuel that David was anointed as the next King

King Saul finds out that David is to replace him as King and so Saul goes on this hunt to Kill David

And so David is on the run from Saul and his army - hiding in different caves

You would think that God would make it easy for David to take the throne but he doesnt

David in his humaness had to of been thinking why? Why Lord? And in his humaness he woudl cry out to God

And so in verses 4-19 there is imagry that depicts the extreme dangeer David was in, the cry out to God for help, and Gods deliverance of him

And the danger he was in and the cry out to God closely resembles that of Jonah

4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Jonah 2:2-3 “saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.”

The distress and the crying out to God is of the same and if you continue reading Psalms 18:7-17 you will find that the message King David gives is the same of that of Jonah in Jonah 2:9 “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!””

David acknowledges that God is the God of salvation and that is why in verses 16-19 that David attributes God to hearing his cries and saved him

Listen to verse 19 - 19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

And so at the same time that David was enduring hardship, he knew that God had chosen him and that God delights in him and so Davids only response is to love and trust him

To trust that God will save him so that David can carry out the work that God has prepared for him

God is refuge and uses David

And so in Verses 20-30 King David lists How God has been his refuge

That it was God who made David blameless

That is God who made David righteouss

That God has looked into Davids heart and has prepared a place for him

30 This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

In verses 31-45 David then focuses on the work that God has done through him

That all David has done has been because of God and His strength

And he uses this section to set up the ending thanksgiving

Remember - David started with 1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.

And as God has strengthened him to do His work, it is only God who should recieve glory

God’s salvation extends beyond King David

King David ends with this - 49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name. 50 Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

In King Davids thankfulness, he recognizes that all he is and all he has is because of the Lord

Further, God’s love will not stop with him, but can and will extend to his offspring

At the very beginning of this it said To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord,

There is an offspring of David who came to be a servant

He came to be the promised Davidic King - and his name is Jesus

And Jesus came to fulfill what God has promised to his people - He promised salvation

And becasue God first loved us - he sent his only son Jesus - into the world

Jesus was fully God and fully man and he lived the perfect that we cant possibly live

And he was unjustly sentenced to death but Jesus willingly went

That through his death and resurrection - he would conquer sin and death

And becasue of his love and salvation for us - through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can love him back

Application

My first question is this: Do you love the Lord?

Matthew 22:37-38 “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

There is no greater act of service towards God than to love him

God has loved you first and has made a way for you to be in relationship with Him

Do you love him with a deep devotion to know more of who He is and to be more like Him?

Do you know that it is even possible to be conformed in his likeness and in his image?

Know that before you can be thankful to him, you must love him and know him first

Do you recognize God’s salvation to you?

I do ask this question in two ways

1st - To love God and know who he is is to love and have faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation

Jesus is the salvation we need from our sins, Jesus is the way the truth and the life

Jesus has paid the price for the sins you have committed - you justly deserve hell and eternal separation from God - But because salvation belongs to the Lord Jesus has made a way to save you from it

Put your faith and trust in him

And 2nd - If you have put your faith and trust in him - know that you have final victory and salvation

The weight of this world apart from God can crush you

Without God you are too weak to attain salvation on your own

Without God your hard circumstances and trials become hopeless

But with God, there is meaning and purpose for you

While it may not be clear how, when, where, or why things happen, we must trust in God’s plan

Do you give thanks to God?

Thankfulness is not only to be observed on Thanksgiving Day

But when you reflect on how God has saved you

When you reflect on how he has strengthened you through some hard times

Your output should be nothing but thankfulness, love, and praise towards him

And maybe you are going through something right now

Maybe you are in a state where you are lamenting and crying out to God

Remember that God is your fortress, your rock, your shield, your salvation

I submit to you that as you trust him and cling to his greter plan, that you can see evidences of his love grace and mercy as you look at your situation.

That meeting your daily need is grace

You may want more grace than what is given and thats totally understandable but you can be thankful even in your hard sircumstance

And maybe you are in a great place - maybe you have been out of a trial for awhile and life is going well

Are you taking this time for granted or are you continuously reflecting and giving thanks to God for what he has done for you

We are thankful for his work of redemption but he does bless us immeasurably - Be thankful for God’s faithfulness and love towards you in the present. Psalm 8

8 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

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