For He Is Good

Intro

Have you ever seen at the end of the original Star Wars movie when they are giving medals to Han and Luke, but not to Chewbacca? For some reason that always bothered me. Anyway, they have just had this huge victory. They blew up the Death Star. And how do they celebrate? Everybody comes together to have a big military celebration. There’s cheering and award giving. Lots of smiles. I love that scene.

It’s possible that is a little like that. This whole psalm likely served as the liturgy for a thanks processional. So, this was the script for a religious ceremony that the Israelites took part in to say thanks to God. Potentially, it was connected to praising God for a military victory. So, a king likely led the nation in these words of thanksgiving for the victory God had provided. Hopefully, today, we will be able to give thanks together for some of the things God has done in your life.

Read (responsive)

This was a way to start all the people of God in celebration together.

A triple repetition like this was a common feature in liturgical songs.

Those three groups mentioned: Israel, house of Aaron, and those who fear the Lord, well, there a lot of overlap there. This was a way to emphasize the idea that all the people of God need to give thanks.

So, in our context it might say “Let the Church say”, “let Munford Baptist say”, and “let those who fear the lord say”.

Let’s see some of the things that the author of the Psalm is thankful for:

1. God’s Presence

Psalmist used first person pronouns.

So, it’s likely the king would say this part which lays out all the reasons that Israel is thankful.

So, this is the king’s song of thanksgiving for the victory that God gave them.

Read vs.5-9

One of the first things the king thanked God for was God’s presence.

He said, “the Lord is with me.” The king found comfort, help, refuge, confidence in the presence of God.

God is not just some far away Creator; He is an intimate God that is involved in our lives and cares about us.

But are you in His presence? Are you spending time with Him? He wants to be near you to provide comfort, help, courage. But are you letting Him into your life? He wants to be intimately involved and I am so thankful He does.

But are you in His presence? Are you spending time with Him?

He wants to be near you to provide comfort, help, courage. But are you letting Him into your life?

He wants to be intimately involved and I am so thankful He does.

2. God’s Victory

What else was the king thankful to God for in this ceremony?

Read vs.10-16

Next, we see that the king was thankful for God’s victory.

We said it’s possible this psalm was written after a great military victory. We don’t know which specific battle this psalm referred to, but the king was definitely grateful for a victory.

Where has God given you victory? Where have you seen victory in your life?

Maybe you’ve experienced victory…

· over a sin that you have battled with,

· over a sickness or a mental health issue that you or a family member have struggled through,

· over an addiction,

· through a lost family member or friend you’ve been praying for that chose to follow Jesus,

· over a class that you thought there was no way you were going to pass,

· over bitterness or anger in your life that ruined your relationship with someone, but God allowed you to let go of that and offer that person forgiveness.

What is the victory in your life that you are thankful for?

3. God’s Discipline

Read vs.17-18

In the middle of a psalm thanking God, the king spoke about being thankful for God’s discipline.

If you are a follower of God, there will be times in your life that God disciplines you. And these are something to be thankful for.

There are times that we give into sin: we ignore God, live in selfishness.

And in those moments sometimes to get us out of that place back to holiness, back to what God knows is best for us, there needs to be discipline.

As a parent, I get this.

The Bible describes followers of God as His children, whom He loves. But just like every parent, He also knows there are times that discipline is necessary. And in those instances, we can be thankful for it. It makes us better.

So, the king was thankful for the discipline he had received from God.

4. AS WE GIVE THANKS WE DRAW CLOSER TO GOD

Read vs.19-21

This is why I think this was a processional. As the ceremony happened, they were moving towards the inner temple court. It probably started outside the temple and went through the gates to enter the temple court.

They were moving closer to the inner room of the temple where the presence of God was.

Literally as they continued giving thanks they were moving closer to the presence of God.

That’s a great picture of what giving thanks should do.

As we give thanks, we draw closer to God.

As we allow our hearts to pour out in thanks to God, it draws us closer to Him.

It allows our heart to recognize more and more of what all God has done for us. It allows our hearts to be humble and submissive to Him.

There are lots of times that people think they want to be closer to God but don’t know how to make it happen.

One thing you can do is learn to live with more thankfulness.

Do things that allow you to keep thankfulness on the forefront of your heart and mind.

For example, keep a thanks journal

5. GIVING THANKS REQUIRES SACRIFICE

So now the people have heard all these things that the king has said that He was thankful for and they had physically moved closer to the presence of God. Now it’s their turn to respond.

The language switches to plural pronouns here (our, us, and we) so this is the people’s part in worship.

Read vs.22-27

In the last verse we get another physical picture of what’s happening, they were drawing closer to the altar.

They were coming forward and were about to offer a sacrifice to give thanks back to God.

They had been verbally thanking God and now they would physically show Him thanks through sacrifice.

Giving thanks requires sacrifice.

How are you giving of your time, money, and energy to reflect with your life your thankfulness to God? Giving thanks requires sacrifice.

6. WE CAN BE MOST THANKFUL FOR JESUS

But I want to highlight a specific verse which it’s possible you’ve heard before.

vs.22 “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”

22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;

The cornerstone was a perfect stone used to measure the rest of a building from. [Leader Note: Set out a large square stone as an example.] It was a squared stone that they would place before any of the other stones as a measuring tool for the rest of the building. So, a builder that was going to start a building would first look for the squarest stone. A stone that had goofy angles wouldn’t have been chosen. It would have been rejected.

Originally, this is talking about Israel. Other nations rejected Israel. They looked at them and said not strong enough, not good enough.

But God looked at them and said, “I’m choosing you to establish my kingdom”. God says, “You are my people” and they are thankful for it.

But this verse is famous because hundreds of years later it’s used to describe Jesus.

In , Peter is speaking to a crowd of Jewish religious leaders and he says…READ: .

Peter called Jesus the cornerstone. He was rejected by the Jewish authorities and sentenced to death.

But He is the Son of God that is the perfect model for all of us of what the kingdom of God should look like.

The kingdom of God is built on Him now. As Christians, the thing that we should be most thankful for is Jesus.

In , where we see Jesus and His disciples taking the Lord’s Supper, we find that they sang a hymn.

Specifically, it was traditional to sing a section of Psalms ending with 118. So, it is likely that these are the words that Jesus and His disciples sang right before He went to the cross.

As Jesus was preparing for the greatest victory the world would ever see, victory over sin and death, He sang this hymn celebrating victory and which also pointed to Himself as the cornerstone.

He knew that what He is about to do would change the world forever and be the greatest victory in human history.

What an incredible picture of why we should be thankful.

Then to wrap up the king has final words…READ: .

28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks. You are my God; I will exalt you.

The pronouns change back to singular. So, here the king gave his final praise saying, “I will give you thanks God.”

How are you going to say thanks to God today? What are you thanking Him for?

We’ve seen Israel and the king were thankful for God’s presence, victory, and discipline.

And the thing we should be most thankful for is Jesus.

So, what are you thanking God for today?

Notecards

There’s one last verse that wraps up the ceremony for the Israelites.

There’s one last verse that wraps up the ceremony for the Israelites. At the end of the celebration the people respond all together by repeating the phrase from verse one as a way to frame the whole ceremony in thanks.

At the end of the celebration the people respond all together by repeating the phrase from verse one as a way to frame the whole ceremony in thanks.

So, let’s end today in the same way as the Israelites centuries ago: by saying this phrase together. READ:

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

PRAY