OH GIVE THANKS TO OUR SAVIOR
SUMMER Psalms (2025) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 15 viewsChrist’s great love is enough to meet our most desperate needs…and He is worthy of our praise!
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Jesus in the Psalms: Psalm 118
INTRODUCTION
We have all come here today from very different weeks.
Some with lots of ups and downs.
Some with the same old same old.
Some of us with a lot to celebrate in our walk with Jesus and spiritual growth this week.
Some of us, even with opportunities in the service already, still haven’t really been honest with God and come clean - agreed with how His Word would characterize…what He thinks about our sin this week.
THE TRUTH IS
WE ALL NEED TO BE REMINDED OF GOD’S FAITHFUL, NEVER FAILING LOVE!
WE ALL NEED A FRESH TOUCH OF HIS POWER IN OUR WEAKNESS!
WE ALL NEED TO HAVE OUR AFFECTIONS STIRRED - OUR EYES REFOCUSED ON THIS INCREDIBLE SAVIOR!
…SAVIOR!
GOD, THE SON BECAME A MAN.
LIVED A PERFECT LIFE SO HE COULD BE THE PERFECT SACRIFICE FOR YOU AND ME.
DIED ON A CROSS.
ROSE FROM THE GRAVE.
ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, WHERE HE INTERCEDES / HE PRAYS FOR YOU
when you don’t remember to pray for yourself.
AND ONE DAY HE WILL RETURN TO GATHER THE SAINTS TO RULE AND REIGN WITH HIM FOREVER.
It’s A LOT EASIER TO BE THANKFUL…TO ACTUALLY PRAISE THE LORD, when we take the time to focus on who He is and what He’s done!
This month, we’re looking at songs written about the Messiah, hundreds of years before he ever came to this earth as a virgin-born baby in Bethlehem.
Last week, Psalm 110 / we saw Jesus, Our Conquering King and Eternal Priest
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Today, Psalm 118 as we long to GIVE THANKS TO THE SAVIOR
Psalm 118 has some incredible verses in it that you know well.
In fact vv 22, 23, and 24 are the most well known from this incredible song of praise. We’ll spend some time in those verses for sure.
Here a couple thoughts about this Psalm as we get into it.
WRITERS / VOICES
There is a priest who calls the people to worship
There is a choir responding “we, our, us”
There is an earthly king that this Psalm immediately applies to…a king in David’s line (mostly likely the “I” and “me”)
There is a lot that happens to an earthly King here, that points to our PERFECT KING Christ long after this Psalm is written.
TRANSITION
So let’s see how the priest would call the people to worship with this song…
Let’s look at verse one together…Look at the call to worship
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
He then calls those around him to join him in worship…
…acknowledging the Lord’s GREAT LOVE for his people…for ll who call upon Him!
Israel knows He loves them…even though they often forget and need to be reminded
the House of Aaron knows, as the priests of God’s people, they know HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!
in fact, the priest broadens the call to those inside and outside the tribes…TO ALL WHO FEAR HIM - His steadfast love endures forever
TAKE NOTE: REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU ARE FEELING AND WHAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW…WE CAN GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD BECAUSE…
1. His Love Endures (1-4)
1. His Love Endures (1-4)
Praise God for His GREAT LOVE
- good, steadfast, enduring, eternald
no ordinary kind of love…
It’s an “out-of-this-world-kind-of-love!”
The word is: hesed.
It is a never-ending, never-stopping, always chasing after His people kind-of-love.
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
19 We love because he first loved us.
Not too long ago, in our family worship time, as we were reading through the PARABLES & MIRACLES of Jesus in the gospels, we came across the account of the PRODIGAL SON.
You know the account…Luke 15.
(((SUMMARIZE)))
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”
The love of this FATHER is staggering, especially in an HONOR CULTURE.
The son has dishonored the Father…he had every right AND EVERY BLESSING OF SOCIETY AND LEGAL REASON to totally banish this rebellious son.
But Jesus used this account to point to a different kind of love. One that rattled his listeners.
Earthly love - at its purest and best is flawed & fragmented.
God’s love for you is MORE than you can possibly wrap your head around.
PRAISE THE LORD - FOR HIS GREAT LOVE.
GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, HIS LOVE ENDURES!
If you have been redeemed from your sin by the death of Jesus Christ, you should thank God for your deliverance and tell others that God is indeed “good” and that “his love endures forever,”
James Montgomery Boice
Joy is love exalted; peace is love in repose; long-suffering is love enduring; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action; faith is love on the battlefield; meekness is love in school; and temperance is love in training.
Dwight Lyman Moody (Evangelist)
Listen, you may not FEEL IT. There are days when the last thing you want to do is IS REJOICE…
BUT YOU WILL DO YOUR SOUL A WORLD OF GOOD…
YOU WILL DO YOUR PHYSICAL & MENTAL HEALTH A WORLD OF GOOD…
YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS WILL NOTICE WHEN YOU HAVE TAKEN SOME TIME OUT OF YOUR TODAY TO RECOGNIZE THE LOVE OF GOD NEVER FAILS!
PRAISE THE LORD, HIS LOVE ENDURES!
PRAISE THE LORD, GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD…HE IS GOOD, HIS LOVE ENDURES…AND
2. His Power Delivers (5-18)
2. His Power Delivers (5-18)
Praise God for His STRENGTH in our WEAKNESS!
You might be at your lowest and worst, your weakest and ill-equipped
BUT THE LORD IS ALL-POWERFUL
He is unique in His power and might
6 There is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
He is the Almighty God
17 saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
If God withdrew His power from the world it would collapse immediately; it is the Spirit of God that gives life and being and sustenance, to all things.
God’s Ultimate Purpose, 421
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
AND GOD’S POWER IS NOT SIMPLY THE CREATIVE FORCE THAT BROUGHT THIS WORLD AND ALL ITS SPLENDOR INTO BEING.
HIS POWER was displayed countless times in Israel’s history:
He took great care of them.
HIS POWER was on displays as Christ came to this earth as the virgin-born, holy one from Heaven.
HIS POWER was on display as Christ performed miracles.
HIS POWER WAS ON DISPLAY AS JESUS CHRIST HUNG, BLED, DIED, WAS BURIED, AND RAISED TO LIFE ON THE THIRD DAY to completely satisfy God’s plan for redemption.
HIS POWER WAS ON DISPLAY as He formed the church in Acts.
HIS POWER WAS ON DISPLAY as He saved you and me!
THAT’S ALL BIBLICALLY SOUND AND EASY TO AMEN IN A SERMON!
BUT…what about when I need Him and don’t feel Him.
…don’t see Him.
…can’t seem to “find Him.”
Job probably felt that way.
Daniel probably did through the night in the lion’s den.
Jeremiah had to wonder.
Paul, beaten to within inches of his life…
John, exiled on Patmos…
I’ve felt that way.
HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW IS TRUE ABOUT HIS POWER, regardless of what we see, hear, or feel:
HE rescues from distress (5)
HE answers when we call
HE GIVES FREEDOM IN A WORLD OF BONDAGE
HIS POWER CAN OVERCOME FEAR (6)
HIS POWER BRINGS COURAGE TO HIS PEOPLE
HIS POWER can bring victory…to the inner man…even while the battle rages! (7)
NOTE: PROVERB IN V 8-9
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
WHEN THE BIBLE CALLS US TO BELIEVE ON THE LORD, IT’S AN ISSUE OF TRUST - NOT JUST MENTAL ASCENT.
(One Study Bible’s note said it plainly…)
Pilots put confidence in their planes.
Commuters place confidence in trains, cars, or buses.
Each day we must put our confidence in something or someone.
If you are willing to trust a plane or car to get you to your destination, are you willing to trust God to guide you here on earth and to your eternal destination?
Do you trust him more than any human being? How futile it is to trust anything or anyone more than God.
HE HAS DELIVERED YOU FROM THE DOMAIN OF DARKNESS…HE CAN HANDLE YOUR PROBLEMS!
- The earthly king in Psalm 118 knows that Strength and Victory are His (14-16)
He fell down (13)…he was knocked down
BUT GOD’s Power raised him up…so he “recount the deeds of the Lord!”
GOD’S POWER IS DISPLAYED so that He gets the all the credit and all the attention!
Most of us in this room would “amen” wanting to “See” the power of God displayed or “experience” His power in a very real way.
His power will TRUMP your plans, your brand, your will, your sinful desires.
He may be more glorified as you STAY IN THAT SITUATION with eyes of faith:
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
When we seek God’s glory above all else.
When we long for CHRIST to be our legacy most of all...
WE ARE SETTING THE TABLE FOR GOD TO DISPLAY HIS POWER FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL!
11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
With all that is stacked up against some of us right now, the power of God may be the last thing on your mind right now..
…sure He made the world.
…sure He DID miracles.
…sure Jesus raised from the grave.
BUT THE FACT THAT YOU AND I CAN DRAW A BREATH AND EVEN HAVE A STRAY THOUGHT IS A GIFT FROM GOD…AND A DISPLAY OF HIS SOVEREIGN POWER AND MIGHT!
O GIVE THANKS TO THE SAVIOR His love endures
HIS POWER DELIVERS (FROM DEATH TO LIFE, SIN TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, LOST TO SAVED, HELL TO HEAVEN)
HIS POWER IS ENOUGH TO HELP YOU HERE AND NOW
RIGHT IN THE COURSE OF YOUR WEEK
Will you cry out to the God of all power…He is waiting!
Unfortunately, when we are faced with dangers we tend to look to our leaders for protection.
We put our confidence in the Department of Homeland Security to protect us from terrorists; we put our trust in our physicians to heal diseases; we count on the police to protect our neighborhood.
But placing our ultimate confidence in human beings is misplaced.
No matter how low or how high, no matter how powerful, to put our trust, our confidence, in human beings is wrong.
Only the Lord is worthy of our confidence.
No matter how great the danger, in his goodness the Lord will provide safety and security.
2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
PRAISE THE LORD…
GIVE THANKS TO THE SAVIOR
HE LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU HAVE EVER IMAGINED
HIS POWER IS GREATER THAN ANYTHING YOU WILL EVER FACE OR ENCOUNTER
AND…
3. His Salvation is Sure (19-29)
3. His Salvation is Sure (19-29)
Praise God for SAVING US as only He Could
NOTICE THE GATES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS NEED TO BE OPENED. (19)
WHO CAN OPEN THEM?
Not a sinful person…Not a regular human under sin.
10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
- the gates of righteousness only the LORD can open (20)
We long to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise, but WE NEED HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IN ORDER TO DO THAT!
Then, here are 3 verses you probably know and love
- Christ is the Cornerstone
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
CHRIST IS THAT CORNERSTONE -
11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- The Lord’s Doing
23 This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
THIS IS THE LORD’S DOING -
MATTHEW 21:42-46
Jesus quoted this verse to the chief priests and Pharisees - to show them that He was the Messiah
and that their rejection of Him as the Messiah meant that the Kingdom of God was being taken away from the Jewish nation and would be seated in those who would know, love, and obey Him - even Gentiles.
- The Lord made the day
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
THIS IS THE LORD’S DAY - AND HE WILL SAVE YOU TODAY!
2 For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
He was himself the Stone, the true Israel.
He was the Righteous one, entering the gate (v. 20).
Once he had suffered for their sins, he and all his people would not die but live (v. 17).
Once he had risen, he would claim authority over all the nations (vv. 10–12).
His love endures forever (vv. 1, 29). (Message: Songs, 192)
GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD,
NOBODY LOVES LIKE HIM
NOBODY HAS POWER LIKE HIM
NOBODY SAVES LIKE HIM
Christ Alone is your Hope, your Peace, your Joy, your Savior
This is not a, “well, at least I’m saved…” or “well, at least I’m not going to Hell” kind of truth.
THIS IS THAT KIND OF TRUTH THAT STIRS SOMETHING DOWN INSIDE YOUR SOUL..
…it will cause you to smile when you think of Jesus Christ, the treasure of Heaven, dying in your place, paying the price for your sins…
HALLELUJAH, WHAT A SAVIOR
“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Our friends at Sovereign Grace added a chorus to it:
Savior, You showed Your love
Defeated our sin, poured out Your blood
So we praise You, Lamb that was slain
We offer our lives to proclaim
What a Savior
CONCLUSION / INVITATION
There are days when the last thing we want to do is rejoice.
You’re in a foul mood.
Your circumstances are out of control.
You may have overwhelming sadness, shame or guilt.
Almost every figure in the Bible experienced this. ESPECIALLY THE PSALMISTS.
But no matter how bad it got or how low the writers felt, they were always brutally honest with God. So much so that most of the Psalms are “lament”.
But as they talked to God,
remembering how good He is,
how rich is His love,
how awesome His power,
and how there was a promise of a rescuer to come…
their prayers ended in praise.
This week, when you don’t feel like rejoicing, or being GLAD, OR GIVING THANKS…
BEFORE THE ENEMY OF YOUR SOUL ROBS YOU WITH INITIMACY WITH THE LOVER OF YOUR SOUL.
tell God how you truly feel.
You will find that God will give you a reason to rejoice.
God has given you this day to GIVE THANKS!
PRAISE THE LORD!
HIS LOVE ENDURES!
PRAISE THE LORD!
HIS POWER DELIVERS!
PRAISE THE LORD!
HIS SALVATION IS SURE!
PRAISE THE LORD!
(TAYLOR)
almost certainly the last hymn Jesus and his disciples sang at the Last Supper (Matt 26:30) on the night he was betrayed. Allen Ross notes,
Tradition tells us that for a Passover meal Psalms 113–116 were sung before the meal, and Psalms 117 and 118 closed the evening.
This psalm, then, was the hymn that Jesus and the disciples sang in the upper room after the last supper (Matt 26:30). After the evening concluded with the line “Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar,” Jesus and his disciples went out into the Garden of Gethsemane to watch and pray—and await the fulfillment of their hymn. (Psalms 90–150, 457)
LET’S FINISH WITH PSALM 118:28-29 TOGETHER
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
