I Will Sing of The Goodness of God

1 Chronicles 16:8–34 (ESV)

David’s Song of Thanks

8 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples!

9 Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!

10 Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

11 Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

12 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,

his miracles and the judgments he uttered,

13 O offspring of Israel his servant,

children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

14 He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

15 Remember his covenant forever,

the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

16 the covenant that he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,

17 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,

as your portion for an inheritance.”

19 When you were few in number,

of little account, and sojourners in it,

20 wandering from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another people,

21 he allowed no one to oppress them;

he rebuked kings on their account,

22 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,

do my prophets no harm!”

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Tell of his salvation from day to day.

24 Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples!

25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and he is to be feared above all gods.

26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

27 Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and joy are in his place.

28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering and come before him!

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

30 tremble before him, all the earth;

yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,

and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”

32 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let the field exult, and everything in it!

33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy

before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.

34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!

What has God done? Do you often think back in your life and remember what God had done in your life?

So many times in the Scripture, the Psalmists, and other writers, look back at what God has done and who He has shown himself to be

And ask for a response from their readers

Look at the active verbs in this passage that we just read together

Verse 8: Give thanks, call, make known

Verse 9: Sing, Tell

Verse 10: Glory in His holy name, rejoice!

Verse 12: Remember

Verse 24: Declare His Glory

Verse 29: Ascribe to the Lord

We just celebrated Thanksgiving

This morning I have gathered together my own thankfulness list

I’m thankful for a God who is who He says He is, and who will do what He says He will do.

Isaiah 45:5–6 (ESV)5 I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Numbers 23:19 Numbers 23:19 (ESV)19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

I’m thankful that God is unchanging

In Mozambique, people worshipped “gods”.

These gods were always fickle and changing and constantly needed to be appeased.

Not so with our God. He has revealed Himself to us in His word , and in the person of Jesus Christ.

He can be trusted, and should be trusted to, be who He says He is, and do what He says He will do

I’m thankful for Jesus who has shown me, and continues to show me, what love is.

He is the expression of God’s Chesed, His covenant love.

It’s that love that never fails because it is who God is

It’s that love that was shown to us before we had done a thing to “earn” it.

It’s the love that will always be because God will always be.

He came to me when I was in darkness and He pulled me up, raised me up, and seated me with Him in the heavenly realms.

present reality and living hope for the future

He called me and reconciled me with my Father

“No one comes to the Father, but through me

If you have seen me, you have seen the Father

I’m thankful for the Holy Spirit who leads me, and has lead me in every step that I’ve taken

I look back over my life, the journey that I have taken, from a little boy living on Beaver street in Greenwood, Delaware, to the Canadian bush land, back to Delaware and PA, to the metropolis of Chicago, to the Appalachians of east TN, to the ancient streets of Europe, to remote places in Africa, to the fields of Iowa

I look back over those journeys, and I see the hand of God.

I have specific stories of the hand of God leading us

I’m thankful that in my moments of doubt, I can look back and say, “Yes, but look at how God lead us there. Look what He did there.”

I see the Holy Spirit doing what Jesus said that He would do:

Being comforter, helper, walking with me, as Jesus walked with His disciples on this earth

I love the words to the song: The Goodness of God

I love You, Lord For Your mercy never fails me All my days, I've been held in Your hands From the moment that I wake up Until I lay my head Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

And all my life You have been faithful And all my life You have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

I love Your voice You have led me through the fire In the darkest night You are close like no other I've known You as a Father I've known You as a Friend And I have lived in the goodness of God (yeah)

I’m thankful for you, my church family

Despite the struggles that we have had, I am still thankful for you.

I choose to echo in my heart what Paul said to the church at Philippi

Philippians 1:3–11 (ESV)Thanksgiving and Prayer 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Thankful for your partnership in the Gospel (vs. 5)

You are partners in the Gospel, not just with me, but with the other believers in this community, and around the world

Thankful that He will complete the good work that He started in all of us (vs. 6)

I’m thankful that it is God who started the work in me, and in us

It wasn’t by my effort

It wasn’t an invention of mine. If He had left it up to me, I would be living for me. I would be chasing my dreams

But the good work that God started in me is one which is taking a heart that used to be full of anger and hurt,

And transforming it into a heart which is truly ready to respond to the Gospel, and allowing that transformation to change the course of my life and my relationships.

And I’m thankful that it is God who will continue that work and bring it to completion. Because, even though I am not where I was just a short time ago, I still have a long way to go.

Thankful that you are partakers in the same grace that I have partook of.

This word “partakers”, again is talking about a partnership

It is something that draws us together, a common bond

I grew up on the mission field in Canada.

When I have the chance to get together with one of the other missionary kids that I grew up with, It seems like we can pick right up where we left off 30 years ago.

Last Sunday we talked about unity and being one as Jesus is one with the Father

For the Believers, it is his grace that Paul is talking about is what truly brings us together and is the foundation for the unity that we experience, or should experience as a Body of Christ

It is this grace which brings about what Paul prays for the Philippian church

That their (and our) love may abound more and more

That it would manifest itself in knowledge and discernement

That they (and we) may approve what is excellent

That they (and we) will be found pure and blameless

That they (and we) will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ

And all of this to the glory and praise of God

I am thankful that you have partook of this kind of grace.

And if you haven’t; if your heart isn’t resonating with this description of grace, if you can’t say, “Yes, I have tasted this grace, and I want more”,

Then I pray that you reach out to Jesus and ask Him to reveal it to you

This is my thankfulness list. And there is so much more.

For my wife…her love and faithfulness and wise council

My kids who give me more love and respect than I deserve many times.

The list could go on.

But today I sing of the Goodness of God

Video:

O Give Thanks (Official Lyric Video) Matt Boswell & Matt Pappa