PSALM 107 GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Psalm 107 Give Thanks To The Lord

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. You've heard of Christmas in July.

Well, this morning I bring you Thanksgiving in April. The title of the message this morning is Give Thanks to the Lord. It's a dominant theme here in Psalm 107. We'll see it over and over again. Starting with verse 1, he says, Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.

The psalmist is going to go through a few different scenarios, situations, or illustrations, and call us to attention that God has worked mightily in our lives. And then he says at the end of each one, oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness.

It's kind of like a lament that, you know, God has done so much. If only we would show gratitude to God. If only we would give thanks to God for what he has done. And what is it that he has done? Why should we be grateful to God? Well, again, in verse 1, he says, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. We are to give thanks to God. And the reason for our thanks to God is his goodness. And

And he says his mercy endures forever. We talked about this last Sunday in Psalm 103, as he described the mercy of the Lord extending to the ends of the universe, as high as the heavens are above the earth. And that's not talking about the atmosphere, but that's talking about the stars and then beyond the stars to the end of the universe. That's the distance. That's the height of

of God's mercy for us. His mercy endures forever. The Lord told Peter that he would have to forgive his brother when his brother sinned against him, not seven times, but 70 times seven, right?

That's the way that God forgives us. In other words, don't keep track. Don't keep, you know, run a limit. Okay, that's the last time and I'll stop forgiving you. The mercy of God in his relenting of the judgment that we deserve, it's not just seven times. So you apologize to God one time and then you do it again and then you apologize a second time and then on and on into the seventh time and then God says that's it.

And then not 70 times seven. So you get to 490 times. And by this time, you're tired of asking for forgiveness. But God's still not tired of forgiving you. He's still not tired of showing you mercy. His mercy endures forever. And the psalmist is going to illustrate these things throughout the whole psalm. And really call us again to give thanks to God, to recognize his mercy and his goodness forever.

towards us. And it's a call that is needed. It's a call that is important for us to hear. You might remember in Luke chapter 17, there's the account of Jesus healing 10 lepers. These are 10 people that are struck with leprosy, and Jesus doesn't lay hands on them and heal them. He instead gives them instruction. He says, go to the temple. And as you go to the temple, well,

you'll be healed. And so they go on their way. And as they're on the way, as they're making the journey, they're healed in the process of going. And so Jesus wasn't right there in front of them. They, you know, they were away from Jesus at this point. They were on their way. And as they went, they were healed. And so it tells us in Luke chapter 17, verse 15, it says, one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice glorified God.

Here in that passage is Jesus heals these 10 lepers and

One of them realizes, well, they all realize that they're healed, but one of them recognizes it and says, I need to go thank Jesus for this work that has happened. And so he goes back and it says, with a loud voice, he glorifies God. He glorifies God. He thanks Jesus with his voice. It's audible. It's vocal. And that is something that's important for us. We even see this in verse 2 here in Psalm 107. It says,

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Speak up, in other words. Use your words and declare your gratitude for God. Declare what God has done. And this one leper who comes back to Jesus, he does that with a loud voice. He glorifies God. He gives him thanks. But Jesus calls to attention. He said, were there not 10 who were cleansed? One has returned to give thanks. Where are the other nine?

Pastor Chuck, in commenting on this, said that's probably a realistic proportion for when God works in our lives, that it's pretty normal for us to give thanks to Him, for us to really appreciate it one out of ten times. Ten percent of the time, we give thanks to God. And so it's good for us to look at Psalm 107 and be reminded and stirred up

of the reasons that we have to give God thanks and the ways that God is merciful towards us and his goodness is demonstrated towards us. And so give thanks to the Lord is the theme that we see. Now there's another theme that goes right along with it that we'll see as we work our way through this psalm and that is the crying out to the Lord.

He describes different scenarios and situations that people are in trouble. And then as they cry out to the Lord, the Lord delivers them.

And so perhaps this morning, you know, you're at a position where you need to be stirred up and reminded to give thanks to the Lord because of the work that he's done. Or perhaps this morning you're in the other situation where you need to be stirred up and reminded to cry out to the Lord. Don't try to handle life on your own and fix things on your own, but look to God for help and he will deliver you. And then the end result is you can give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, for his mercy endures forever.

And so we're going to work our way through Psalm 107 this morning with five points or five really illustrations that the psalmist uses to stir up this thankfulness in our hearts. The first one we see is in verses two through nine. And here we see that God satisfies the longing soul.

Why should we give thanks to the Lord? Well, because God satisfies the soul that is lacking, that is wanting, that is longing. Verse 2 again says, "'Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.'"

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. The word redeemed, it means to buy back.

to purchase again. Now, it's often used of setting a slave free, someone who got themselves in trouble, and so they would sell themselves into slavery to pay for the debt that they owed to buy their freedom. It was redemption to redeem them, to purchase their freedom. And in a very real sense, that's what God has done for us in that, well, we are his and that he created us,

But we have sold ourselves into slavery, into sin, and Jesus paid the price to purchase us back with his own precious blood. And so there's a redemption that we experience as believers in Jesus Christ, redemption from sin and death.

And so he says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. When God has delivered you in such a way, when God has done that kind of work, he says, speak up and say and let it be known, declare what God has done for you. Now he describes their situation a bit in verse four and five. He says, they wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way. They found no city to dwell in, hungry and thirsty. Their soul fainted in them.

Here he gives an illustration of wandering in the wilderness. Now, we can look at all of these things that the psalmist will go through today in a very physical, practical way. And so, you know, when there are people, perhaps you, you're wandering in the wilderness, perhaps you're hungry and thirsty. There's that famine, there's that need for nourishment and practical necessities being met.

And that is an appropriate situation to cry out to God and God will work on your behalf. But there's also spiritual parallels that go along with this.

He talks about their soul fainting within them. And later on, he'll talk about the soul being satisfied. That we can recognize there's also a spiritual wandering that we experience where we are lost. In fact, sometimes as we refer to people who are unbelievers, we refer to them as lost. Because there is that sense of being lost without the Lord. That you don't have the nourishment that you need. You don't have direction for your life. And

And spiritually, you're hungry and you're thirsty and you cannot be satisfied. And so there's that fainting within, there's that wandering, there's that aimlessness because there's no direction. But then in verse six, it says, "'Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble "'and he delivered them out of their distresses. "'And he led them forth by the right way "'that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.' Says then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble."

The idea that the psalmist is conveying here, he'll repeat this over and over again. The idea is, we've seen this often in our own lives, right? It's after we've exhausted all of our resources, right?

that we cry out to the Lord. The idea here is these guys are wandering in the wilderness and they've tried their best. They've used their compass. They've looked at all their maps. You know, they've tried to figure out how to get out of the wilderness. They've tried to find food. They've tried to find water. They've tried everything that they can in their own power, with their own wisdom, with their own intelligence. They can't find anything. And now they're hungry and thirsty, their souls fainting within them. And then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble.

And it's in the midst of that trouble that they're crying out to God. That is often what happens in our lives. We cry out to the Lord when we're in trouble after we've tried everything else. Now, let me tell you, when you're in trouble, it's the right thing to do to cry out to the Lord. We might feel guilty about it because, well, we know we should pray always and not just when we're in trouble.

But don't let that keep you from calling out to God. Remember, his mercies endure forever. He's not tired of you calling out to him. He's not tired of you calling out to him for help. And he's not going to beat you down just because you called out for him, you know, when you're in trouble. When last week, when everything was just fine, you weren't calling out to him.

It's the right thing to do. Now, yes, you should develop a relationship with God that extends beyond just that moment of trouble, but don't let that keep you from crying out to God when you need him. And that's the pattern that we see in this psalm and we see in our own lives so many times. We try everything that we can and then it's like the last resort. I have nothing else to do but to just ask for God to work.

Yes, it would be good to learn to ask God for help sooner, but don't let that stop you from asking God. They cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and notice in verse six, it goes on to say, he delivered them out of their distresses. They cried out to him, and he responded. He didn't say, well, why didn't you cry out to me sooner? He didn't say, well, you know, if you had been listening to me ahead of time, you wouldn't find yourself in this spot, right? He delivered them out of their distresses as they cried out to him.

God is able to meet all of our needs, to deliver us out of all kinds of distresses. And again, we can look at this in a physical sense, in a practical sense. You have practical needs. Your body needs food. You get thirsty and you need, you know, to quench that thirst. You need food and clothing. You need those kinds of things. You have the necessities of life.

And those are promised to you by God. God promises to provide you the things that you need. It's a verse we quote often and we like to tease Harvey about it because he quotes it even more than we do. Matthew 6, 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.

In that passage, Jesus is talking about not worrying about what you're going to eat and what you're going to wear, where you're going to sleep. And, you know, don't worry about the necessities of life. He says, God knows you need those things. You don't have to worry and stress about those things. Instead, he says, seek first the kingdom of God and God will add these things to you. He'll provide your necessities. You can cry out to the Lord in your trouble. If you're in a wilderness and you're wandering, you're hungry and thirsty, you're

Whether that be a literal, you know, physical desolate place or just a difficult situation. And it's difficult to find the nourishment that you need. You can cry out to the Lord and seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you. He delivered them out of their distresses.

In verse 8, he says, Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Verse 9, for he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord. And this is what we'll see repeated throughout the psalm. Oh, that men would give thanks. Thanks.

God heard them as they cried out and he delivered them. If only we would give thanks to the Lord. You see that need for us to show our gratitude, to express, to declare our thanks to God for his wonderful works towards us. And I like verse nine. He says he satisfies the longing soul. And so I mentioned, you know, we can look at this in a practical sense of really needing physical food and thirsting for physical drink and

But as he said, he satisfies the longing soul. He also alludes here to the spiritual hunger and thirst that we have as human beings. Do you remember that time when Jesus was ministering to the woman at the well in John chapter 4? He began a conversation with her, and as they're talking a little bit, he says, why don't you get your husband and bring him back? And she said, you know, I don't have a husband.

And Jesus said, you're right. You've had five husbands and the guy you're with right now, you're not married to him. And in that, Jesus was highlighting and identifying a thirst within her. She went from relationship to relationship to relationship, trying to be fulfilled, trying to be satisfied and not finding that one that would satisfy her soul. But Jesus presented an alternative for her.

In John chapter 4 verse 13, Jesus said to her, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. Using the well as an illustration. He says, look, if you draw from this well and you take a drink of the water, you're going to thirst again. You're going to have to draw from the well again. But verse 14, he says, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

Jesus here is referring to himself. He's saying, look, I can provide you what you need to be satisfied within. The thing that you're wandering about looking for, you're going from thing to thing to thing to thing to thing, trying to find fulfillment, trying to find satisfaction, and you're not able to find it. You're thirsting again. He says, if you come to me and drink of what I have for you, if you drink of me and pursue me,

Well, not only will you be satisfied, but the water will become a river of life springing up in you to everlasting life. You're going to be overflowing. You're going to have abundance in your hearts and within. He said something similar again in John chapter 6 verse 35. Jesus says, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

Now again, he's not talking about, you know, physical food and drink there. He's talking about what's happening within. We have hungers within. We have thirst within. Spiritually speaking, our soul is unsatisfied. But the wonderful thing is when we cry out to the Lord, he delivers us. He satisfies our soul. So many times we kind of misdiagnose ourselves.

We think, if only I had that, then I would be satisfied. If only I was in that, you know, if only I was there, if only I had that vehicle, that job, that relationship, if only, and we're pursuing like the woman at the well, you know, relationship after relationship, thing after thing, seeking to be fulfilled, but we're misdiagnosing ourselves. We're thinking that's the problem and that's the solution. But Jesus says, no, I'm the solution and I'm the only one that you can run to. And if you cry out to me, I will satisfy your soul.

That longing, that craving that you have, it's satisfied in me and in me only. This morning, I would ask you to consider, have you been satisfied? Has God met your practical needs, your physical needs? Has he provided your necessities? And if he has, then give thanks to the Lord for his goodness. If he's met your spiritual needs and satisfied that longing within, oh, that you would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men.

But maybe you're in that position of you haven't been satisfied. You have that longing soul. Maybe you have the practical needs or that yearning within that spiritual thing that's happening when there's that void, that emptiness that cannot be filled. And the promise here is that you can cry out to the Lord and Jesus has what you're looking for. He has what you need and he will satisfy you. Cry out to the Lord and then you'll be able to give thanks for what he has done in your life.

Well, moving on to the next example that he uses in verses 10 through 16, here we see that God frees the chained. Give thanks to the Lord because God has set you free. Check out verse 10 through 12. It says, those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons, because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.

Therefore, he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down and there was none to help. Here, the psalmist goes on to describe some imprisoned people. And again, you could look at this as physical, you know, real prisons that people are bound in, but also there's a spiritual aspect to it as well. And ways that people are bound in sin and in bondage to the sin that they've been engaged in.

Now what's interesting about this, as you look at this whole picture of the prison, in verse 10 he says they were bound in affliction and irons, but then verse 11 he says, because they rebelled against the words of God. They're bound in affliction and irons for a particular reason. It's not that they were falsely accused, but it's because they rebelled that they're bound in affliction and irons.

They've disobeyed God. They've disregarded the word of God. They've despised the counsel of the most high. And they've ended up in this place of darkness and chains. Sin always leads to this position. Sin always leads to this kind of bondage.

And for many that, you know, ends up in a literal prison because much of what God calls sin is also illegal. And so you can find yourself literally in chains as a result of your rebellion against God. But spiritually speaking, sin also puts us in chains.

Paul the Apostle in Romans chapter 6 talks about this. In Romans chapter 6 verse 16, he says, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. There Paul says you have a choice to make. Either way, you're going to be a slave. You're going to be a servant either way, but you get to choose who your master will be.

Now, if you present yourself to sin, then you will become a slave to sin and that leads to death. Or if you present yourself to obedience, you will be a slave to righteousness. But you got to choose. Which one will you present yourself to? Which one will you obey? I think probably all of us could testify. We've experienced both presenting ourselves to sin.

And you learn very quickly that sin is a cruel master, harsh master. It's not pleasant to be bound in sin. Now, that's not the way that sin presents itself, right? Sin doesn't present itself as, you know, hey, why don't you come participate in this? And you too can find yourself in prison. You know, that's not how it's presented. Instead, it's,

hey, this is going to be really awesome for you. You're going to have such a great time. You're going to really enjoy this. It's going to meet your needs and everything's going to be wonderful. That's the way that sin presents itself. And you may even experience that initially as you begin to get involved in sin, because even the scriptures say that sin is pleasurable for a season. There is that season where, okay, this is pretty nice. There's no immediate judgment. I mean, I feel like I'm okay and everything seems like it's going good.

But the end result of sin is always this kind of bondage, this kind of imprisonment. Again, verse 10, those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons. This is what sin brings us to. It binds us. And we find the thing that we once loved and desired and thought was so great. We see it, the destruction that it's bringing. We see the destruction

the terrible things that are happening as a result of our sin, but now it's not a choice anymore. Now we're bound to it. And even though we see the destruction that it brings, we can't bring ourselves to break away from it. We're trapped in it. We're bound in it. And so we're forced to continue to engage in the sin that's destroying us, that we hate, that we don't want to do anymore. It's a cruel master. That's what sin will do. And so many find themselves imprisoned in this way, bound in sin.

How great the mercy of God is. Verse 13, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their chains in pieces. How great is God's mercy. It endures forever. It extends to the end of the universe. Think about this. God tells us what not to do and then we do it anyway.

And we continue to do it and continue to do it so that we end up in bondage because of it. But then when we cry out to the Lord, he saves us out of the chains. He delivers us out of the distresses. He sets us free from the things that we rebelled against him in and find ourselves in bondage to. I think if any of us were in God's place, we might look at the person who comes and says, can you help me?

and say, I told you not to do that. You got yourself in there. You get yourself out. It would be easy for us to have that attitude, but you know, God doesn't have that attitude. He doesn't expect you to get yourself out of the mess that you put yourself in. He doesn't want you to go there. He knows the pain, and that's why he says, don't do that. Don't engage in sin, but then when you're in the midst of it, it says, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble.

And in the midst of your trouble, when you cry out to the Lord, God begins to work that salvation in setting free. It doesn't always happen overnight and immediately, but God is at work and he will deliver. That's his promise. He sets the captives free. Even the worst of the worst. This passage caused me to think about the demoniac in Luke chapter eight. Remember this guy? I mean, he was so bad that he was possessed by a thousand demons, right?

They called themselves Legion. And nobody could help him. They couldn't even control him. They many times had bound him with chains. But because of the demonic influence, he would break through the chains. And so nobody could help him. Nobody could bind him. Nobody could offer any kind of solution until Jesus set foot there in the gatherings. And Jesus is able to deliver.

the worst of the worst, the situations that we think are way beyond hope, the situations where sin has just rocked and destroyed and just made a huge mess and huge chains and strong bondage, the Lord is able to deliver. God is able to set you free. He's able to set friends and family free. He's able to set people free as we call out to him. Verse 15 says,

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron in two. Has God broken gates of bronze in your life? Has he broken those iron bars? Has he set you free? Then give thanks to the Lord. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

Use your words. Proclaim it. Be open. Declare what God has done and the freedom that he has given to you. But if you're chained, you have the opportunity to cry out to the Lord. Oh, I don't know if I can cry out to the Lord because, I mean, you don't know how bad I've been. No, no, you can cry out to the Lord. I knew what to do. I knew what was right and I purposely did what was wrong. I rebelled. Yes, you can cry out to the Lord. God is so gracious. His mercy endures forever. It's as high as

Well, he goes on in verses 17 through 22 to tackle another scenario. Here we see that God heals the afflicted. God heals the afflicted. We can give thanks to the Lord for his healing in our life. Verse 17. And they drew near to the gates of death.

Now here the psalmist describes a physical ailment, illness. Now again, these things can be applied in a variety of ways. And you can consider physical illness in this. You can consider mental and emotional illness and also spiritual illness. And all of those have a part to play in our lives. But again, the point here that the psalmist is highlighting is that this is people who brought this affliction on themselves and

Notice in verse 17, he starts out with the word fools. Now in the Bible, a fool is one who refuses to listen to God. In Psalm chapter 14, verse 1, it says, He says they're corrupt. They've done abominable works. There is none who does good. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. It's a refusal to acknowledge God, a refusal to listen to God and to obey God.

It's a knowing the truth, but refusing to live accordingly. And this type of foolishness always leads to sinful behavior. In verse 17, he says, fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. So as he talks about this type of illness, again, whether you want to consider physical or mental, spiritual, whatever, he

Understand that he's talking about an illness that's brought on by rebellion, by turning from God, by sinning against God. It's because of their iniquities that they're afflicted. It's because of their transgression. And as they've continued in this sin, as they continued in this, this illness, this sickness has come upon them to the point that verse 18 says, their soul abhorred all manner of food and they drew near to the gates of death.

They're on their deathbed, the psalmist is describing. They're right there near the gates of death, about to die from this sickness that they brought upon themselves in their rebellion against God. He says, their soul abhorred all manner of food. It kind of alludes to perhaps some depression that's going on, some really mental anguish that's happening.

Spurgeon puts it this way. He says, There's this rebellion in the heart and there's this guilt that comes along with it. And so they abhor all manner of food because the sense of guilt is overwhelming.

And they're near the gates of death. They're overwhelmed by their sin, the guilt of their sin, and they're experiencing the effects of it in their own mind and body. But then verse 19, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. And so similar situation from there on their deathbed, overwhelmed with guilt,

overwhelmed with depression and all kinds of mental stuff, sick, they call out to the Lord. They cry out to the Lord in their trouble and God saves them out of their distresses. He sends forth his word and heals them. That's interesting. The word of God has a powerful cleansing, healing effect. He sends forth his word and heals them and delivers them from their destructions. How great is God's mercy?

Even though he tells us what not to do and we do it anyway. Even though we refuse to listen to God and we end up sick because of it. He heals us when we cry out to him. Now, I do want to make sure there's a little bit, you know, understanding here. There's a careful balance that we have to strike because not all sickness is the result of sin. And I would maybe amend that to say most sickness is not the result of sin.

And so we need to be careful not to go down the path of Job's friends and blame, you know, all illnesses and sicknesses on some hidden sin or some rebellion against God. That's just not the case. And Job is a great example of that. So we can't look at all sickness and treat it as the result of sin. However, what's being talked about here, it's clear some sickness is the direct result of sin, right?

And so there is that potential. There is that possibility. And we see that even in the New Testament. In the ministry of Jesus, you might remember in John chapter 5, there was a lame man who was healed. And Jesus told him, take up your bed and walk. And he takes up his bed. He begins to walk. And then the religious leaders come and say, hey, it's the Sabbath day. You can't be carrying your bed. And he says, well, some guy told me to take up my bed and walk. And he healed me. And I was lame. And now I'm able to walk.

And they say, well, who is this guy? And he didn't know. And later on, Jesus connects with this guy in the temple. In John 5, verse 14, it says, afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, see, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. We saw a few weeks ago on Wednesday evenings, a man who is healed. He was lame. He was healed and made to walk. But he was a man who had been lame from birth. He was born lame.

Here in John chapter 5, this is a different situation. This guy wasn't born lame. He was able to walk. Something has occurred in his life where now he's lame, and then Jesus heals him from that. And when he connects with them later, Jesus says to him, hey, you've been made well. Good job. Congratulations. You know, what a great blessing. But then Jesus gives him a little bit of a warning. He says, sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. Here's the, it's a real strong implication that Jesus is making.

That sin that you were engaged in that brought about this lameness, don't go back to that, lest a worse thing come upon you. And there are instances, there was things that they could be involved in, especially in those days, that were not really treatable. And it would result in lameness and paralysis as they engaged in sexual immorality and other things like that. It would bring about these effects in their body. And Jesus healed him from that and said, now don't go back to it.

Stay away from those things that I've delivered you from. Indicating this lameness was a direct result of his sin. We have another example of this in James chapter 5. In James 5.14, we have that famous verse, if any, or is any...

Let me start over. Verse 14. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. So are you sick? You're not feeling well? Call for the elders. And that's something we do invite you to do. That's why we have people up front here to pray at the end of each service so that you can call for the elders and you can have people pray for you. But notice verse 15. He says, and the prayer of faith will save the sick.

and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. James here is saying, if you're sick, you know, come get prayer. And if that sickness is a connection to a sin that has been taking place in your life, well, God's going to deal with both. He will forgive you as well as heal you.

There can be a connection. Now again, I want to be careful because not every sickness, in fact, most sickness is not the direct result of sin in the sense that you've been practicing sin and so now you're sick. But there is that potential. There is that possibility where we rebel against God in such a way that it brings about a physical ailment, perhaps a mental ailment. There's an emotional component that it brings about these things in our body, in our mind.

But then verse 19, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. So again, we see the pattern. So even though you've put yourself in this position on your deathbed, you know, wracked by this disease, wracked by what's taking place in your mind and emotions as a result of your rebellion against God, but even from there,

Verse 21. Again, this call out, oh, that men would give thanks.

Have you experienced this kind of healing? Has God delivered you from sickness, from ailments, from issues mentally, physically, whatever? He says, well, then give thanks for his wonderful works. Sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving. Hebrews tells us that's the fruit of your lips. Give praise to God. And here in verse 22, he says, declare his works with rejoicing.

It's a call for us to lift up our voices, to tell people what God has done and how he has healed us. Oh, that men would give thanks. If you've been healed, make sure that you give thanks. Let it be known. Declare it. But maybe you're in the other place. You're the afflicted this morning. Cry out to the Lord. Even if the sickness that you're experiencing is of your own doing.

You know, sometimes we think it's my fault I put myself here, so I can't ask God for help, you know. No, ask God for help. Whether your sickness is sin-related or not, cry out to the Lord. Invite the elders to pray for you. Ask for God to heal you. Now, of course, we submit all these things to the will of God, and we don't know His will, but the scriptures tell us to ask. So ask God. Cry out to the Lord and see what God might do in delivering you out of your affliction.

Going on into verses 23 through 32, here we have the fourth illustration. God delivers the distressed. Give thanks to the Lord because he delivers you out of many distresses. Verse 23 through 25 say this, those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.

For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. So now the psalmist moves on to a new illustration. He looks at those who are on the sea, sailors who are overwhelmed by the storm. It's a good picture for us of, well, when we're in that place of being overwhelmed by circumstances and situations and threats that are happening in our life.

And we can relate that to storms very easily and understand this picture that is being painted here. In verse 25, he says, he commands and raises the stormy winds, which lifts up the waves of the sea. It says in verse 26, they mount up to the heavens. They go down again to the depths. Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end.

He's describing here these sailors. Now, this is their business, right? This is their occupation. So they are experienced, but in the midst of these storms, their souls melt within them. Now, you and I, well, I don't know how much experience you have on the sea, but I might go out on the ocean, and it probably wouldn't be that difficult for my soul to melt, right? I probably wouldn't have to experience a huge storm. Now, I do like storms.

Some choppiness, like if I'm flying on a plane, I like the turbulence. I think it adds an interesting element. It makes it a little bit more enjoyable and fun, exciting. When I am on a boat and there is some rocking and some bouncing, I do enjoy that.

A while back, Kim and I went to Catalina for a day trip. So you take the catamaran over there. And we had a nice day there. But coming back, it was really choppy and really rocky. And I was just having a blast. But Kim doesn't like the movement as much as I do. So she wasn't having as much fun. But I'm having fun. I'm looking for excuses to get up and move around the boat because I like the feeling of being pushed from one side to the other. And people are falling all over the place and running into each other. It's just great. It's a great time. But--

You know, it's like little tiny waves, right? But can you imagine being on the boat where you go up the wave and all you see is the sky and then you get to the top and then boom and then all you see is the water as you go down. You know, these huge waves that can happen in the ocean as the storm is lifted up and a storm can be really destructive on land, right?

But then on the sea where what you're standing on is affected by the storm. You know, it's one thing to be, you know, on the land and the winds, you know, around you and stuff and you have walls to protect you. But there, you know, everything is subjected to this storm and you're going up and you're going down and it's just crazy. You can imagine, you can understand. Well, it says, they reel to and fro and stagger like drunken men and are at their wits end. Notice that they're at their wits end.

They don't know what to do. They're lost. They've tried everything. They can't get out of the storm. They can't outrun the storm. They can't escape the storm. They're trapped in it. But then verse 28, then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble and he brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet. So he guides them to their desired haven.

So again, we see the same pattern. When they're at their wit's end, they've tried everything. They have no hope. They have no help. Then they cry out to the Lord. And it says that he brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm. This reminded me of the disciples in Mark chapter 4 when they're on the Sea of Galilee and there's a storm and they're fearing for their life. And Jesus is asleep in the boat and they wake him up and they say, don't you care that we're perishing? They're at their wit's end. Now these are fishermen, experienced. It can happen.

Their souls are melting within them. And Jesus stood up and said, peace, be still. And he calmed the storm in the wind. The Lord still has that kind of effect on the storms of life. And he's able to calm the storms. Again, it's an illustration. It's a visual. So call those waves whatever you want. Perhaps you're in financial distress. And each bill that comes is another wave that just crashes against you. I've been there. Perhaps it's family situations. Perhaps it's job related problems.

who knows what it might be, but you can cry out to the Lord in your distress. Notice this one's different than the other ones. This isn't, you know, you rebelled against God and you put yourself here. This is, this is the storms of life. This is stuff we all face. We all go through these storms and we can call out to God in our distress and Jesus will calm the storm. Verse 31, oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness.

And notice in verse 32, he says,

The kind of gratitude he says that we ought to show, the kind of thanks that we ought to give is not just personally, oh, thank you, Jesus. But in the assembly, as we gather together, we declare, hey, God has been good to me. God has delivered me. God has done this work in my life. It says, praise him in the company of the elders. Let the elders know. Tell people what God has done. Thank God for his goodness towards you if you've been delivered.

But maybe you're in the place today of being distressed. You're still in the storm and the waves are casting you up and down and left and right. You can cry out to the Lord. Remember what Peter said in 1 Peter 5. He said, God cares for you. And you can cry out to him. You can cast your cares upon him.

Now tied to that, Peter says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. There's also a humbling and a submitting to God that goes along with the crying out to God. So if your intention is, I'm going to cry out to God so that I can, you know, be set free to continue to sin. Well, you know, that's a whole different thing and God will deal with you accordingly. But humble yourself, turn and surrender to God and cry out to God and cast your cares upon him because he cares for you. He will help you through the storm.

Well, the final point comes from verses 33 through 43. And here we see that God loves people. Give thanks to the Lord because God loves you. His loving kindness is at work in your life.

These closing verses are different than the previous ones. It's not one example that he kind of, you know, explores for a bit and then comes back to the give thanks. He gives a variety of examples to show that God works with individuals according to where they are at with him and showing that God's love is the motivation for all that he does. I'm going to jump down to the very end for a moment. Verse 43 says, whoever is wise will observe these things.

and they will understand the loving kindness of the Lord. He says, if you're wise, you'll look at all these scenarios, you'll look at all these things and understand that God is demonstrating loving kindness. Loving kindness, it's a goodness and it's a kindness. It's a kind of kindness that's usually reserved for close friends and family members.

So that, you know, extra steps, those extra things that you would do for friends and family that you wouldn't do for strangers. But that's what God does for each of us. He treats us as his own family, his own children. He shows us great love and kindness. God's love is the motivation for all that he does. Whether we would look at something that's going on and call it good or bad, and that's possible either way. You'll see that in the example.

we can understand if we're wise that God's loving kindness is at work in both situations. Well, let's jump into verse 33. It says, Here he gives the illustration of a drought. The rivers are turned into a wilderness.

There used to be water. There used to be an abundance of water. There was rivers, but now it's desolate. Now it's dry.

The water springs are now a dry ground. The springs are not flowing any longer. The rivers are not flowing any longer. Now the land is dry and barren. He says in verse 34, a fruitful land into barrenness. It used to be vineyards and orchards and there was all this fruitfulness in the land, but now it's just tumbleweeds. It's just dead. There's no fruit. There's no life in it. And why has God...

brought this drought and turned the waters into barrenness? Well, he says at the end of verse 34, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He has brought this upon the land as he's dealing with the wickedness of the people of the land. Now, again, we might look at this situation and think, well, that's a bad situation. But the psalmist says, if you're wise, you'll observe these things and understand the loving kindness of the Lord.

This is God's loving kindness. How could that be his loving kindness? Well, because he's dealing with the people of the land so that they call out to him, so that they learn to come back to him. I like the way that Charles Spurgeon puts it. He says, if hunger brings us to our knees, it is more useful to us than feasting. If thirst drives us to the fountain, it is better than the deepest droughts of worldly joy.

And if fainting leads to crying, it is better than the strength of the mighty. If hunger brings us to our knees, it is more useful to us than feasting. Now, if you're anything like me, you would look at hunger and say, that's bad. And you would look at feasting and say, that's good. But both can demonstrate the loving kindness of the Lord. As he's dealing with the sin, as he's dealing with the wickedness of the land, he brings the drought so that

The people turn to the Lord because God is our greatest need. He's the one we need the most. He has our eternal in mind. He has our eternal good in mind. And so he deals with us in this life according to where we are so that we have the best eternity that we could possibly have. He gives us the best opportunity for eternity in the way that he deals with us in this life.

Now, he doesn't only bring droughts. In verse 35, it says he turns a wilderness into pools of water and dry land into water springs. So he does both. In some cases, he brings drought. In some cases, he turns the deserts into gardens. And again, we would look at the gardens and we think that's good and look at the desert and think that's bad. But both are the loving kindness of God. God deals with each according to what's best for that situation. Verse 36 says,

Here it describes this abundance, this blessing that God provides.

The hungry are satisfied and they're established there in the city and they don't have, you know, a decrease in cattle, but they're just continuing to grow and continuing to grow. There's abundance and blessing and it's a manifestation of the loving kindness of God. But there's a tendency for us to look at one and say, that's better. You know, that's more loving kindness, but both are the loving kindness of God. He deals with each of us accordingly.

to where we are and what we need because he has our eternal good in mind. Again, whoever is wise will observe these things and they will understand the loving kindness of the Lord. Now, he goes on to contrast princes versus the poor in these next few verses. Verse 39 says,

When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, he pours contempt on princes and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way. Yet he sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Princes, you would expect to be well-off, to be established, established.

to have stability and security. But in some cases, he pours contempt on princes and they wander in the wilderness where there is no way. They're lost. The poor you would expect to be in desperate need. But in some cases, he sets the poor on high, far from affliction and makes their families like a flock. He establishes them and blesses them. God works both ways and both are his loving kindness.

Both is God's expression of love and kindness to people to give them the best opportunity for eternity. The righteous will see it and rejoice and all iniquity stops its mouth. The righteous will see it and rejoice. We see the work of God and we rejoice in the work of God, recognizing the loving kindness of God. And when we see it and recognize it, it puts an end to iniquity. It shuts iniquity up.

When you see the work of God, when you recognize the loving kindness of God, it puts an end to iniquity. Whoever is wise will observe these things and will understand the loving kindness of the Lord. God loves you. And whether you experience drought or abundance, God is working in your life according to what you need because of his loving kindness towards you. That's the way that God works because God loves you.

He wants you to experience the best possible eternity that you could ever experience. That's great reason to give thanks to the Lord. He satisfies the longing soul. He frees the chained. He heals the afflicted. He delivers the distressed. And he loves you greatly. This morning, as we finish up, I'll close in prayer in just a moment. But I would encourage you, after the service, in just a couple moments, like before you leave, give thanks to the Lord.

Tell someone about what God has done in your life. As you think about these different examples, whether it be a healing or a deliverance or some type of resolution that God has brought, some type of manifestation of the loving kindness of God in your life, give thanks to the Lord. Oh, that men would give thanks for the goodness of God, for his wonderful works to the children of men. But if you're in the other spot today, well, then I would encourage you to cry out to God. God loves you.

He wants to bring deliverance. He wants to satisfy your soul. He wants to forgive you of your sin. He wants to set you free from guilt. He wants to deliver you from that bondage to sin and death. Cry out to the Lord. And as we close the service, as usual, there'll be people up here available for you to help you cry out to God. Experience the loving kindness of God. Don't keep yourself from it by refusing to call out to him. Humble yourself.

under the mighty hand of God and cast your cares upon him because he cares for you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do want to take this moment and say thank you for your goodness towards us, for your unending mercy towards us, for your incredible grace in our lives. Lord, how you deliver us, how you set us free, how you heal us, how you work on our behalf.

Lord, we're so grateful. Thank you for who you are and for all that you do for us. Lord, we recognize that we are unworthy completely of all of this. And so Lord, all we can do is receive it with great appreciation. Thank you, Jesus. We want to be like that one leper who returned and just express with loud voice glorifying you how good you are, our thanks towards you. And Lord, I pray for any who might be in a position where they need to cry out to you.

Lord, really, that's all of us. But those who are experiencing it, Lord, right now, the waves are crashing in upon them, Lord. The pressure is mounting. They're experiencing those chains and that darkness and just all of these effects are taking place. Lord, I pray that you would help them to humble themselves and look to you. Lord, we don't have to wait till the very end when we've tried everything in our strength and our resources. Lord, help us to call to you quickly. And Lord, I pray that you would deliver.

that you would work mighty and miraculously as your people call out to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.