Gospel Liturgy: Gratitude
Notes
Transcript
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 2 Oh let Israel say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 3 Oh let the house of Aaron say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 4 Oh let those who fear the Lord say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 5 From my distress I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. 6 The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me. 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. 10 All nations surrounded me; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. 11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. 12 They surrounded me like bees; They were extinguished as a fire of thorns; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. 13 You pushed me violently so that I was falling, But the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. 15 The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. 16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. 17 I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the Lord. 18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; The righteous will enter through it. 21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
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Intro
This morning we’re in part 4 of our gospel liturgy series: Gratitude. If you haven’t been with us for the past couple weeks, we’ve been looking through the eyes of the Psalms at how the gospel shapes our worship on Sunday morning. Along the way you we’ve been making a few changes to our worship service that well help us rehearse the gospel every week in our worship service.
We started with God himself.
Just as the gospel begins with eyes on God and who is we begin our worship with eyes on God in adoration of all he is.
Before the glory of God we recognize our own sinfulness and we come before God in confession with our guilt. You may have heard Mac lead us in a prayer of confession this morning.
In confession we look with eyes of faith to the assurance of grace we find in Christ Jesus. You may find that our third song every Sunday is that song that proclaims Christ and grants us that sweet assurance.
After we enjoy that gift of God’s assurance in Christ where do we go next?
What is our natural response to receiving a truly wonderful gift? Maybe you can think of one you’ve received right now. Maybe you received it wrapped or in a gift bag and there’s a moment of wondering, “What is it?” You take off the wrapping and in a moment of amazement you turn it over in your hands just enjoying what you’ve received. As a kid you might recall the excitement to immediately try it out whatever it may be. Maybe you show it off to friends or family, it gets passed around as everyone takes a look at it. From the perspective of the giver, it really is a delight to see someone receive a gift with that kind of excitement. We want them to turn it over and see all that they’ve been given. We want them to show it off to others and to put it to good use, but there’s something missing if amidst all that delight you never hear, “Thank you.” It’s that simple gesture that acknowledges the relationship behind the gift.
Last week we looked at the grace of God and the assurance we have in the steadfast love of Christ for us. You might say it’s the moment in our worship where we revel in the magnificent gift we’ve been given in Christ. We take time together to turn the gift over in our hands and see all that it is we’ve been given. We take comfort in the objective nature of our forgiveness. We rest in the unchanging disposition of God for us in Christ. We worship together singing to one another, showing each other the beauty of the gift that we’ve been given in the grace of Christ. We do well to revel in the gift we’ve been given as we worship, God delights in our enjoyment of His grace, but we can’t forget to bring our thanks to God acknowledging the relationship we have with Him because of all these benefits we have in Christ. You might say we’ve moved on from singing about God’s response to our confession in His abundance of grace, and now we’re singing of our response to His grace in gratitude and giving thanks. It’s a heart of gratitude that overflows into a song of giving thanks.
As we forget not the benefits which God has given us in Christ, let’s not forget to bring our thanks to Him in worship.
As we forget not the benefits which God has given us in Christ, let’s not forget to bring our thanks to Him in worship.
Give thanks to the LORD our refuge.
Give thanks to the LORD our salvation.
Give thanks to the LORD who disciplines us.
Give thanks to the LORD for Christ the cornerstone.
Let’s look to verse 1...
Give thanks to the LORD our refuge. (vs. 1-9)
Give thanks to the LORD our refuge. (vs. 1-9)
If you were here last week, this first stanza might feel familiar to you. Psalm 103 concluded with the assurance of the everlasting lovingkindness of the LORD and four times the Psalmist, very likely David, calls the people to bless His name. In many ways we’re picking up right where we left off last week. The conclusion to the assurances of God’s grace and everlasting lovingkindness is to bless his name. That same conclusion of Psalm 103 functions as the prelude to the Psalmist’s call to, “Give thanks!” The character of God and the works of God for us is the foundation of our gratefulness. Much of our time this morning will be spent on the works of God for us in which we can give thanks, but the Psalmist begins with his character from which all His works flow.
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
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I want to pause here and give time to recognize the depths of this foundation on which our gratitude is laid. If someone were to encourage you on any ordinary day, “Be thankful”, how might you respond? We understand thankfulness doesn’t come out of nowhere so we might ask, “Be thankful for what?” I hope we might recognize the good instruction of a friend or the Psalmist here to give thanks so we may naturally look for the things we have trying to answer that question. We have a place to live, a place to sleep, maybe a car, if not a car maybe a bike, and there’s always food on the table. We do have a lot to be thankful for, but common graces are not unique to us as Christians. Even the worldly man enjoys these common graces. Let’s dig a little deeper. What is the depth of all that we have to be thankful for? We can look to all that we talked about last week, the particular graces which we uniquely experience in Christ as Christians. We forget not His benefits and enjoy the assurance of forgiveness, the assurance of His loving disposition, His everlasting love for us. That is certainly a treasure trove to be thankful for! The Psalmist addresses these here, but I believe he goes one step further. He begins at the depths of the foundation of our gratitude. Before we ever experience the abundance of common graces. Before we even experienced the fullness of the special graces we have in Christ... God is good. At the root of it all is the perfect unchanging character of God. Before we even existed to receive God’s gracious gifts, before the world was even created to bear witness to His glory and Bless His name... God is good! That is the root of our gratitude! That’s the spring from which all these glorious gifts come from, and so that’s where we need to begin.
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 2 Oh let Israel say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 3 Oh let the house of Aaron say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 4 Oh let those who fear the Lord say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
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We begin with thanks for who God is and as God’s covenant people we thank Him for who He is toward us. The Psalmist implores God’s covenant people to sing of the goodness of God for them in His lovingkindness that is everlasting. Those who are chosen by God, those who are chosen as priests, those whose hearts fear the LORD, these are the ones who have much to be thankful for and have every reason to sing of His lovingkindness.
That’s us here this morning! We are God’s chosen people. We are the holy priesthood. We are the ones whose hearts have been made new by the work of the Spirit in us. We have reason for thanks as we behold His character this morning: His goodness and His lovingkindness, yet we have His works to behold as well.
The Psalmist turns our eyes to the works of God for us as our refuge.
5 From my distress I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. 6 The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me. 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.
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Perhaps you can say the same, but I find that the people who have known the greatest distress are often the people who are most grateful. I believe David is one of them! Why is that? Very often those who have seen what the evil of the world can do - Those who have seen what natural disaster, sickness, and war can do... have also seen what God can do through those circumstances. David likely looks back on that season of life where Saul pursued him ruthlessly out of jealousy. When all he wanted to do was serve the rightful king of Israel, Saul tries to kill him. As David sought the LORD he did not answer immediately, but David would one day be granted the throne, a large place as the Psalm puts it. No longer in the pit. No longer in the valley of the shadow of death, the lovingkindness of the LORD has brought him to a large place from where he looks back in gratitude. All that David knew to be true of God, his goodness and his love has been evidenced before him through great distress such that he concludes:
“The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?
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It was not David himself who brought him through such distress. It was not even those who helped him. It was the LORD’s doing. He is so confident in the refuge of the LORD he comes to almost boast with his enemies before him.
“Therefore I will look with satisfaction (your translation may say ‘look with triumph’) on those who hate me.”
Do you see the contrast between David’s gratefulness before his enemies who hate him and Saul’s insecurity before David who served him? When David defeated Saul’s enemies he was not grateful. He actively sought the death of a faithful servant because he felt threatened by him. Saul sought refuge in Himself. He sought to establish his own security by offering sacrifices himself. He gave David his own armor to fight Goliath. He sought to establish his own throne by removing David from the picture altogether. Saul’s refuge was never in God and even in the face of the LORD’s provision for him he looked to himself.
From the very beginning David sought refuge in God. Appearing before Goliath, one of Israel’s greatest enemies, he declared with confidence in God as His refuge,
1 Samuel 17:26 (NASB95)
26 “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”
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He looked with triumph on those who hate the people of God and asked what the reward was. Is this the pride of a young man ignorant of how the world works and the reality of evil? No, if anything it’s a humble confidence in the LORD. Confidence is not prideful if that confidence is rightly placed in God .
As David stated to Saul whose confidence was in the abilities of man:
37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
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That same humble confidence in the refuge of the LORD is stated here in our Psalm:
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.
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David is looking back on the refuge of the LORD all the while inviting the congregation to join Him in singing, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.”
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We should rightly ask ourselves, what distress has the Lord delivered us from that we can sing about? What enemies do we look upon with confidence knowing the LORD is our refuge?
There is no greater pit or valley or distress than that of sin and death.
Paul reminds the church in Ephesians of the same love the Psalmist sings of which has worked to deliver us from our distress.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
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We were dead! That’s distress! Whatever the world may tell us is the problem with this world, that’s the heart of our distress. We’re dead in our sins apart from Christ. And yet by His grace we have been made alive with Christ, seated with Him in the heavenly places. Talk about a broad place. That gracious gift of life with Christ is surely worthy of gratitude and song! A gratitude that looks back to God Himself and recognizes, God is good! It’s a confident gratitude that looks our enemy death in the eye knowing the risen Christ is our refuge.
We can say confidently with Paul,
25 For He [Christ] must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
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and with satisfaction look upon our enemy and declare
1 Corinthians 15:55 (NASB95)
55“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
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Having seen the formidable refuge that we have in Christ such that we can look death in the eye with such confidence, we have all we need to Give thanks to the LORD as we sing.
We just sang these words this morning in our fourth song:
Grace paid for my sins
And brought me to life
Grace clothes me with power
To do what is right
Grace will lead me to heaven
Where I'll see Your face
And never cease
To thank You for Your grace
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Every week we gather together as a people alive in Christ. Death has been defeated. Let’s not forget to thank him for such a gift.
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David’s song of gratitude goes on, as he sings of the strength he has now found in God.
Give thanks to the LORD our strength. (vs. 10-14)
Give thanks to the LORD our strength. (vs. 10-14)
10 All nations surrounded me; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. 11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. 12 They surrounded me like bees; They were extinguished as a fire of thorns; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. 13 You pushed me violently so that I was falling, But the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.
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David began his song from a position of helplessness. It’s the position we all find ourselves in before God intervenes and makes us alive in Christ. We were dead. There’s no getting more helpless than dead. In gratitude we sing of the refuge we have found in God who delivered us from our helplessness, but now we find David singing as a warrior cutting down nations and the enemies which surround him. It may come as a bit of a shock the first time you read it. Where did the song of gratitude go and how did we go from helpless David taking refuge to conquering king?
Firstly, as much as David is speaking with some ambition and confidence, he is going to come back to his ambition to come before the LORD with thanks, and as much as his gratitude is not stated here explicitly, he is looking to the LORD in every verse of this stanza. In all of his warring and fighting with his enemies he is going in the name of the LORD. When he comes to falling, the LORD is his helper. In conclusion, he has not fought with his enemies by his own strength. It is not David who will be praised in song. It’s the LORD who gave him strength and the LORD will be his song, why? Because he is the one who saves.
In spite of the numbers of his enemies which were so great as to surround David entirely, numbers too great to count so that they were like bees, they were no more than a flash in the pan.
Have you ever thrown a dried branch or bundle of dried twigs on the fire. It burns really hot for just a minute and then it’s extinguished. It’s nothing much more than a light show. That’s how secure David is in the LORD. His strength is so great for David that even an enemy numerous enough to surround him is no more than a flash in the pan before God. Even when David does fall, he is not forsaken because the LORD is their to help him. As much David now speaks with this ambition to do battle with his enemies, his underlying posture is still a confidence in the LORD. At the end of the day it is the LORD who will receive thanks because it is the LORD who will be praised in song, not David.
David very much looks back on real tangible enemies and a strength of body and arms necessary to win those battles, all of which the LORD provided, but how does this warring and fighting apply to us today? What enemies are we to do battle with?
Paul gives us this reminder as he closes his letter to the Ephesians.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
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As Christians we are relieved of that great distress that is death. From a state of absolute helplessness we have been resurrected from the dead unto faith in Christ, and yet we are not without an enemy. That enemy is not some military on the other side of the wall or the other side of a border somewhere. The devil and all his forces are the real enemies we face. Whatever is dark, whatever is evil, whatever is unholy that is our enemy.
From a place of refuge that is our salvation in Christ we engage in the battle, and we do well to engage in that battle with the ambition that David does. The wonderful thing is that we do not go into battle alone or unequipped. Even amidst the evil and darkness of this world we have reason for thanks, why? Just as David said, when our enemy the devil pushes us violently and does battle with us, the LORD will always be there to help us. When we are weak before the devil’s temptations we can be thankful knowing He is strong even in our weakness and he will provide the way of escape so that we will be able to endure it. We can be thankful knowing that even in battle, even when the enemy surrounds us, even in our stumbling, He has become our salvation, and will bring it to an end. Let’s be faithful to engage in the battle, and yet not forget to give thanks for the strength and equipping we have in God to engage in that battle.
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From great distress David has found refuge in the LORD
When his enemies surrounded him he found strength in the LORD
In just a moment is ambition to give thanks is going to become very clear, but first he has one more matter to recall of the LORD’s faithfulness to him.
Give thanks to the LORD who disciplines us. (vs. 15-21)
Give thanks to the LORD who disciplines us. (vs. 15-21)
15 The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. 16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. 17 I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the Lord.
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As the congregation would have sang this Psalm together, they begin to echo the words of Israel as they witnessed the defeat of Egypt at the Red Sea. They too sang in confidence and gratitude before the enemy that once surrounded them.
2 “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. 3 “The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name. 4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 “The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone. 6 “Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
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God’s faithfulness to David is nothing new, and he knows it as they sing the words of the people of Israel which were sung hundreds of years before. In truth there will never cease to be a righteous people with reason to gather together and shout joyfully for the salvation which the LORD has accomplished for them. We are counted among them here this morning. We look back on the victory which Christ has accomplished over death such that we can rejoice together in song for the salvation we have received, for the righteousness that is now ours in Christ. In the life that we’ve been given might we have that same ambition which David has to tell of the works of the LORD knowing all that he has accomplished for us.
It would seem that at this climax of celebration, joy, and proclamation of the valiant work of the LORD that David would approach the LORD with words of thanks, but he’s not quite there yet. In fact it’s a rather sobering twist before he comes before the LORD.
18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death.
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If we look back on the story of Israel and David both, there were seasons when they both were in desperate circumstances. They were helpless apart from the LORD’s intervention and grace. They both would face great enemies and come to experience extraordinary victories by the LORD’s hand, yet when all these external battles had been won they would come to stumble over the sin of their own hearts. It was that sin which brought them closer to death than any Egypt or any Goliath or Saul. Before the justice of the LORD they stood as His covenant people.… and they came to receive his mercy. A mercy marked by discipline that sought their restoration to godliness and faith.
Before David comes before God with words of thanks he looks back on what was his darkest hour and acknowledges the LORD’s discipline that sought his restoration. Let’s take a moment and recognize, there’s a big difference between punishment and discipline. Punishment seeks to deliver the just payment for wrong independent of what you may or may not do in the future. Discipline delivers a consequence with the intention to teach and restore to fellowship with God. David knows he deserved to die for his sin, and yet he was not punished for his sin. He was disciplined so that he would be restored - that he might come before the LORD with praise and thanks to the glory of His name.
This faithfulness of the LORD to restore Him through discipline is what ushers in these wonderful words of thanks:
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; The righteous will enter through it. 21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation.
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Amidst the numerous aspects of our salvation for which we come before the LORD with thanks, we ought not forget how he keeps us. By God’s grace we may not have stumbled in the ways David did requiring the discipline he received, but in making us aware of our sin and leading us to repentance by faith day after day and week after week he keeps us. That is no small thing no matter how grievous our sins may look. The fact that God is faithful by the work of the Holy Spirit to seek our restoration time and again when we sin is reason for gratitude and praise. Sometimes he simply shows us the mercy of Christ and that in and of itself leads us to repentance. Sometimes he puts us through a difficult season to show us our hearts and bring us to repentance. Sometimes he uses the church when we’re blind and unable to see our own sin. Thank God for the Nathans who are bold enough to come into our lives and lead us to repentance in showing us our sin.
Hebrews reminds us of the humbling comfort.
5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
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At the root of this discipline by which the LORD keeps us is our sonship.
I can only speak for myself, but I had the privilege of having truly godly parents. It was a gift that I am truly thankful for, but a part of that gift was the discipline and instruction my parents raised me with. In the moment, as a child, there is little gratitude for the discipline received. Maybe understanding but often not gratitude. When I look back on it now, there’s a genuine gratitude for those moments. One can only wonder, where would I have been if my parents had never taught me. Where would I be if my parents had never disciplined me, showed me my sin, and pointed me to Christ at an early age. In one way, I believe David looks back on the discipline of the LORD with that same gratitude knowing if not for God’s gracious use of Nathan in his life, he would have only come to utter ruin.
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When we come before the LORD with songs of gratitude, we come as sons and daughters, and because we are loved as sons and daughters he disciplines us as his own. God is so devoted to our good that he will faithfully discipline us to the end that we abide with Christ more, to the end that we enjoy the comforts of the Spirit more, to the end that we can enjoy the fellowship of the body more. God’s discipline ultimately furthers our joy and fruitfulness, and it’s worthy of bringing before God in songs and prayers of gratitude.
Maybe next time you sit down for your time in the word give a moment to pray in gratitude. Thank God for all that he has provided in Christ for our salvation. Thank him for the strength He gives us to engage in the battle, but maybe go one step further. Thank Him for the patience and faithfulness he shows us as his children. Thank Him for the way he opens our eyes to sin so that we can repent of those sins and ultimately walk in a greater intimacy with Christ.
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At this point in our Psalm it feels like we’ve come to a natural end. We’ve had a prelude of sorts in verses 1 through 4. We’ve sung three verse and an outro that echoes the prelude, but David tags one final verse. A verse that ultimately anticipates the person of Christ. We’ve begun with those words, “Give thanks to the LORD” and though David only anticipates Jesus’ coming, this song really ends with that same theme, “Give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Give thanks to the LORD for Christ the cornerstone. (vs. 22-29)
Give thanks to the LORD for Christ the cornerstone. (vs. 22-29)
22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
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We’ve come full circle as we look back again to the goodness of God Himself, yet this time we look to the incarnate God, Jesus Christ. The goodness and grace of God on full display before the eyes of the people of Israel.
If we look to Matthew 21 you’ll actually find three of these verses in that one chapter. The first you’ll see is verse 26. The words of the people during Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. “Hosanna to the son of David, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD. Hosanna in the highest” Matthew 21:9
By all accounts at that time, this is a historic moment in the history of Israel. The Messiah has come to deliver them. Everyone is excited to see what Jesus is going to do for them, but if they remembered what David had said in that very Psalm they quoted, they may have welcomed him differently.
He came not to be an earthly king or to free them from the oppression of Rome, he came to be rejected by the builders that he may be laid as the cornerstone of a new temple. But this isn’t something to despair about; David from nearly a thousand years distant looks ahead in faith and says, This is the LORD’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. The rejection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is all within the sovereign plan of God for the salvation of His people. In order to shame the wisdom and the power of the man made religions and man-made kingdoms, the Savior would come to be rejected and die, and in that death become the cornerstone of a truly glorious temple.
Jesus Himself explained it all to the people in that very same chapter.
He immediately went into the temple and cleared it of it’s worldliness in righteous anger and pointed to Himself as the children sang his praises. He goes to the Pharisees and explains to them how they are the ones who have rejected the stone and the kingdom will be taken from them.
42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.
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In coming as a man. In being rejected by all the authorities. In ultimately going to the cross as the perfect sacrifice, Jesus would answer the prayer of David,
25 O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity!
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In going to the cross to endure the wrath of the Father he would save us. In becoming the lamb who was slain, we know the prosperity of the kingdom of heaven.
David goes on to paint this very picture.
27 The Lord is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
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The light of the world, Jesus Christ, did not come robed in the glory of heaven, but in the humility of a servant to die as the perfect sacrifice once and for all.
If there is anything we must come to God in thanks for it’s this!
There is no deliverance from our desperation of death if Christ did not come to die for us.
There is no strength to engage in the battle with forces of darkness if Christ did not come to die.
There is no faithful, loving discipline of sons and daughters apart from the adoption which Christ accomplished through his death and resurrection.
In all the glorious benefits which we have from God for which we give thanks, the root of it all is the person and work of Christ - the goodness of God revealed in the person of God as He came to die that we would be saved.
David saw this salvation from afar and yet as distant as it was he sings with the congregation in thanks.
28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
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Let’s be counted among those who answer that call to give thanks.
Having seen the depths of our sin before the glory of God and finding the wonderful assurance which we have in Christ, Let’s extol the name of Christ in giving thanks to Him knowing He is good and His lovingkindness for us is everlasting.
Let’s Pray
