What Can I Give the Lord? (A Sacrifice of Public Praise!)

Announcements:

Welcome to those worshiping with us at home

Bev White’s memorial service tentatively planned for June 6. We’ll communicate more details as we learn them this week.

SERIES SLIDE

Introduction

The Psalms are the Christian’s assistant to God-centered prayer. But we recognize a gap b/t the Language of the Psalms as they’re written between two thousand — thirty-five hundred years ago (between around 1400 BC and 586 BC). Not only do we have a massive time-span b/t when they were written and our lives, the cultural gap makes understanding the Psalms challenging at times.

So we’re diving into the Psalms in order to help us recapture the wonder and practicality of the Psalms for drastic seasons of life and for everyday prayer.

In the Psalms we’ve seen that:

A blessed man or woman (Ps 1) is one who is happy as h/she delights in the Lord, which is seen by the kind of fruit plainly visible in his/her life;

When we look at the heavens—all of creation—and are awed/amazed by the Lord’s indescribably creative power, Ps 8 helps us learn to say, “How majestic is Your name!” as we revel in God’s love, humbled by the fact that God would pay any attention to us, let alone love us the way he has/does;

As we walk through seasons of life when our hearts are breaking and we cannot seem to find hope anywhere, Pss 13, 42-43 teach us to go to God in Christian lament and cry out, “Why God?” or “How Long will the Last, Lord?”

Ps 11 — when we are in dire circumstances God’s children find refuge in the Lord—where fear meets faith— and say, “I trust You, Lord;”

Or sometimes we don’t trust in the Lord. We survey a situation and conclude that our reasoning is better than God’s. Ultimately in these situations, and they are many, we trust ourselves, we esteem ourselves most highly and go after temporary loves. Our pride deceitfully leads us to the place we’d go every time—were it not for God’s grace—and we try to satisfy our souls with many false functional gods. Pss 38, 51 and many humble us, which is a gift of God’s grace. We realize we’re drinking dirty water when pure, refreshing, life-giving water is offered to us by the Lord. We realize that though our sin affects others we’ve ultimately sinned only against the Lord and we confess our sin to the Lord, saying, “I’m sorry for my sin, Lord. Please stay near to help me.”

Of course when we respond to the Lord’s loving conviction of our sin by agreeing with him and turning away from sin and toward him in faith, we’re led over and over and in so many ways to say “Thank you” (Ps 34), “My heart overflows with a love song” (Ps 45) and because I remember your merciful love, protection and deliverance (Ps 105), I know I can and should ask you for help in every season of life (Ps 71).

And “You will help me eternally, Lord!” Which often leads us to ask a question like what we’ll see in Ps 116 today, when the Psalmist asks the rhetorical question, “What can I give to the Lord...” or “How can I serve the Lord... for all His amazing benefits to me?”

SERMON TITLE

Title: What Can I Give the Lord? (A Sacrifice of Public Praise!)

PRAY

Psalm 116 is an individual thanksgiving Psalm, but because the Psalmist raises his rhetorical question, we can see the theme of how we are to serve the Lord as we experience his loving deliverance and provision coming off the page.

No author is mentioned, as with many Psalms, nor are we certain of the exact scenario. This is often (but not always) the case for Psalms that are used in the public gathering…for the church, if you will.

Love the Lord for His Answered Prayer (1-4)

There are so many reasons to love the Lord! First for his person…who he is. But ultimately we don’t ever really recognize how wonderful God is until our prayers are answered. When the Lord answers prayer, we begin to see how he operates as he loves people.

SCRIPTURE SLIDES

Psalm 116:1–4 ESV

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. 2 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. 4 Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

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God hears the prayers of His children

He has heard my voice (1b)

But the Lord only hears your voice when you pray. What burdens your heart today? Take it to the Lord.

He has heard my pleas for mercy (1b)

When God’s love has been poured into our hearts, we know we don’t deserve anything from God. Our point of desperation doesn’t lead us to make demands from the Lord. We make pleas to the Lord. We cry out (remember lament: Go to God. State your complaint/concern. Ask boldly. Be intentional to trust God’s wisdom.)

When the Lord answers favorably, and even when he doesn’t, this is his mercy toward us, acting toward us in ways that are merciful.

Because God inclines his ear to me, I’ll continually call on him (2)

In a near-death situation he cried out to the Lord (3) and the Lord leaned in to listen (if you will).

“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!” (4)

When you need deliverance, what is your posture toward the Lord?

Demanding?

Asking humbly?

[gentle tone w/ smile] Is your joy determined by whether the Lord answers the way that makes sense to you? Or are you joyous because even in grave difficulty you know the Lord is good.

SCRIPTURE SLIDES

When we’re poor in spirit, we,

Psalm 34:8 ESV

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

When life is perplexing and the pain penetrates,

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

When we’re distant from the Lord, separated by choice or circumstance we long for to be with God and his people:

Psalm 84:11 ESV

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

And we know his love is faithful and steadfast.

Psalm 106:1 ESV

1 Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

This Psalmist continues this in vv. 5-11

Love the Lord for His Bountiful Mercy (5-11)

SCRIPTURE SLIDES

Psalm 116:5–11 ESV

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. 6 The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. 7 Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; 9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 10 I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”; 11 I said in my alarm, “All mankind are liars.”

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Love the Lord for His Bountiful Mercy (5-11)

We see God’s bountiful mercy (7) when we see his righteousness.

When we see God’s righteousness, which only then allows us to see everything else in its proper perspective.

Then, we are humbled by seeing creation and worshiping. Sometimes we’re humbled by our circumstances:

pain

sin

effects of another’s sin

sickness

relational strife

confusion

not having energy to do what we’d like

Each of these and more lead us to acknowledge with the Psalmist in v 6 that

the Lord preserves the simple

Ps 19 7, which we’ll see more of next Sunday:

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Psalm 19:7 ESV

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

God’s word,

The simple are those who are humble. Not perfectly humble, mind you, but humble:

knowing they don’t have the answers

knowing they don’t have the strength

knowing they can’t live to control others and be godly

ultimately knowing they can’t save themselves

The effect of humility is resting in God (7)

We can be at rest with complete confidence that the LORD who has been good to us, cares for us, and will help us. You will be free from anguish and fear because the dangers and difficulties of life may be turned over to the LORD in prayer.

Psalm 116:7 ESV

7 Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Finally, the question and answer:

Serve the Lord with the Sacrifice of Public Praise (12-19)

SCRIPTURE SLIDES

Psalm 116:12–19 ESV

12 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, 14 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 16 O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. 18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

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Serve the Lord with the Sacrifice of Public Praise (12-19)

What can we give the Lord in return for his mercy and lovingkindness? Well, nothing and something:

Nothing if it means to pay him back. The Lord needs nothing from us. He is completely sufficient and complete.

but we can offer him something, if it is in the form of praise so that others see how great God is.

Lift up the cup of salvation.

“The cup” in scripture usually refers to the circumstance of life the Lord has seen fit to bring your way.

Jesus prayed this in the garden of Gethsemane: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup, this circumstance of becoming sin and taking on the full wrath of the holy father, let that cup pass from my; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

So the Psalmist says, “I will lift up this circumstance in the presence of the assembly so they can see my plight and my deliverance and praise God with me.

Brother/sister: you are in the circumstance you are in for the glory of God which is most often manifest through the body of Christ.

What does your handling of your situation say about how you esteem the body of Christ?

How does your testimony edify (encourage/build up) the body?

Church we need the testimony of praise so we can learn so that when we face trials we can see God’s faithfulness even in the middle of the trial. That bolsters the faith of those about to enter a trial.

Precious/prized is the death of his saints (15)

There is a war being waged in this world, and God is in everything that happens in this life. And he is especially aware of those who have trusted in him and whose earthly bodies are giving way to death.

He is receiving them into eternal life and as he does he comforts as he ushers them to their eternal heavenly home! What grace.

And as he recalls this comfort the Psalmist says, I am the son of your maidservant (16), have loosed my bonds.

One commentator (Weiss) points out that the second clause is meant to emphasize the first—“I am your servant, but also the servant of your handmaid.”

The expression, “son of your handmaid” describes someone who does not go free with his father (Exod 21:4), and so it describes someone who remains loyal—it emphasizes the absolute servitude of the psalmist.

This is a bond-servant as we see it in the NT.

it is also connected to the next phrase in 17

I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord (17)

The psalmist will praise the LORD (vv. 17–19).

He will offer the sacrifice of praise and make proclamation of the name of the LORD (Ps. 50:14; 66:13–20; and also Lev. 7:12–15 and Heb. 13:15–16). In so doing he will pay his vow to praise the LORD in the assembly and in offering the sacrifice of praise provide for the communal feast of the worshipers.

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Hebrews 13:15–16 ESV

15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

In the OT, offering a sacrifice of praise required a great deal of ritualistic effort. And friends, Jesus offered up his life doing all of the effort for us so that we are able to offer this sacrifice of praise publicly.

But there’s a danger here: we can focus on offering this praise publicly with the wrong motive. So we need to guard our hearts and ask the Lord to test our motives.

But this in no way means we are not to be public in our praise. This verse and Hebrews, and much of the rest of the Bible put that idea to bed.

Communion Transition

Even now we remember and praise the Lord for what he has done through Christ, where his body was broken and blood was spilled as our ransom payment for sin. This is why we, Christians, celebrate communion.

If you don’t know where you stand with the Lord today, allow this time to remind you of what the Lord offers you if you will come to him humbly for salvation.

Reflection Questions

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What cup/circumstance has the Lord delivered you from? Are you praising God in a vacuum?

If you’re not connected in the public gathering of the church, why? The church needs to hear your testimony of praise.

If you’re connected in body/presence only, why?

How can you pivot in your life to let your thankfulness to the Lord be known in the presence of His people!