Give Thanks to the Lord

Give Thanks to the Lord

Psalm 107:1–9 (KJV 1900)

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good:

For his mercy endureth for ever.

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, 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 he 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.

6/26/19 Pleasantville

5/8/2024 Sunbury GMC

I. Give thanks to the Lord for His mercy endureth forever

Verse 1 holds the key verse in this passage. Give thanks to the lord for his mercy endureth forever. How many of us have proved that mercy true? Perhaps you have wondered far from God, yet his mercy remained! Perhaps you proved Him other areas, where His mercy has given you strength. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for his mercy endureth forever.

Countless stories of god’s mercy fill the old Testament. Stories of Adam and Eve receiving mercy, of Hagar, of Israel, Ruth, ands many more. One such story is the story of David. David was handpicked by God to lead the nation of Israel. Yet even the “man after God’s own heart” was led astray and sinned against God. He committed adultery, forced another to also commit adultery, then committed murder to cover his sins. This heinous act should perhaps of have brought God’s immediate judgement, and while it did not go unpunished, David received mercy. Nathan the prophet came, and he showed David his sin, David was immediately repentant as recorded in Psalm 51. It is a beautiful Psalm where David pours his heart out to God in repentance. Verse 10 is perhaps the climax, “create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me” David cried. This is an example to us of how to return to god if we have sinned against him.

God’s mercy was at work in David’s life, it is at work in yours as well. If God’s mercy is stronger than adultery and murder do you not find it stronger than whatever you are facing?

II. Give thanks to the Lord for He delivers us from distress

Psalm 107:6 says “They cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and

he delivered them out of their distress.

Are you facing trouble? Are you in deep distress? Cry to the lord and He will deliver you! He comes through every time. I’m certainly not saying that we will not face struggles. I’m not even saying he will take the trouble away, for sometimes he does not. As one song says, “sometimes he calms the storm, other times he calms His child.”

Once again, we can turn to scripture to find examples of God’s deliverance from distress. The sea of Galilee is a beautiful sea, however the way the mountains are shaped around it can cause sudden and ferocious storms. Once as the disciples were traveling across the sea an incredible storm came up. Many of these disciples had their living as fishermen. These storms were commonplace for them, yet they were terrified. They did their best and found that their efforts would fail. Finally, they turned to Jesus who was sleeping in the boat. He calmed the storm with his voice. He delivered these terrified disciples from the storm. This was time God calmed the storm.

There is another story told of a great hero of the faith, John Wesley. As a young minister, Wesley had not yet been converted. He was sailing on a ship from what was at that time the American colonies back to England. As they sailed a storm came and once again terrified the crew. Wesley feared for his life. He was terrified of death, and in that moment realized if he died he had no surety of heaven. Yet amid his fear he saw a group of Moravian Christians, praying and singing during the storm. There was no fear, only calm and confidence. This was God calming his child in the midst of this storm. This was one of the major events that led to John Wesley’s conversion.

The story of the three Hebrew children again illustrates this concept. God allowed them to be thrown into the fiery furnace, yet gave them calm and confidence as they were cast in. Not only that however, He walked with them, as He does with us. Even more, He calmed the storm for them.

Can we really be afraid? Yes, I know that we are often terrified of our circumstances, and yet we really should not be. If we look to God he is stronger than the storm, and he loves us beyond compare. Sometimes He calms the storm, sometimes he calms his child, and other times he calms them both.

III. Give thanks to the Lord for he satisfieth the longing soul

Verse number 9 in Psalm 107 says for he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

We can all understand what this verse is saying can’t we? We are all born with a longing soul, a hungry soul. We all desire something. People try to fill their souls with many things, and yet are never filled it seems. Why? The great intellectual defender of the faith Blaise Pascal put it this was “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.” We all have this God shaped vacuum, this God shaped hole. We try so hard to fill it with things of this world, corruptible things, and it is never filled.

Rob Chaffart compares this hole to a black hole. A black hole is essentially a hole in the universe. We know little about black holes. They have immense gravitational pulls, drawing everything toward them, sucking everything in, including light. The gravity is so strong not even light resists its pull. The crazy thing is that black holes do not get filled. We are like black holes in that no matter how hard we try to fill this hole in our souls, it never gets full, it just keeps drawing more and more in, only to be left wanting more. The only thing that satisfies is having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus satisfies in a way that not earthly substance can. Nothing on this earth can compare to a relationship with God. One song says I’m abundantly satisfied, nothing else can give us that satisfaction. Another song says I want more of Jesus, more and more and more. How can these both be true? I can only say that Jesus does completely satisfy, he does not leave you empty or feeling unfulfilled, and yet, we want more. More of his love, more of his friendship, more of his guidance, more of his divine presence. There is nothing that can compare to our amazing savior.

In conclusion, we are to give thanks to the lord, for his mercy endures forever. When we don’t deserve it, when we could never be worthy he shows us mercy. When we fail, when we sin against him, there is a place of repentance! Not only that, there is a life of victory, for in our troubles and distress he delvers us when we cry to him. We are not to live a life of failure, we are to live a life of victory, believing, trusting, walking with our savior. The result of this is of course eternity with Him, but also a life of satisfaction. There is nothing in this world that can satisfy. The worlds most successful people die miserable and angry. Yet Christians die in peace, and happiness. We not only die satisfied, but we can live satisfied, because Jesus satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul. This life of a Christian begins with God’s never-ending mercy, and as we learn to rely on Him we find him faithful in our troubles and distress, so that in the end we have satisfaction with our savior. And I end where I began. O give thanks unto the Lord.