Giving Thanks to the Lord Part 2 — Chuck Smith

Oh, let the sun...

Welcome to The Word For Today, the broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse venture through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of The Word For Today, we'll be continuing with Giving Thanks to the Lord, as we pick up in the 107th Psalm, beginning with verse 17. And now, with today's message, here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

The Affliction of Fools and the Mercy of God

The next group that we come across are fools. Because of their transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Now, when you transgress the law of God, when you give yourself over to living a sinful, riotous life, it has its natural consequences upon you.

And they were afflicted. It was their fault. Now, they are so sick, this affliction is a physical affliction, they are so sick that their soul abhors all manner of meat. They just don't want to eat. They're so sick, the thought of food is loathsome to them.

So their soul loathes or abhors food. And they are drawing near to the gates of death. They're dying. Now, their sickness is the result of their own iniquity. Maybe a sexually transmitted disease. And they're just about ready to die.

Now, it's their fault. You can't really blame God for the condition. It's because of their transgression. And in this state, they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saves them out of their distresses.

Again here, they are ready to die, their own fault. But the mercy of God endures forever. And another demonstration of God's mercy. Though it is your fault, though you are to blame, yet when you call unto the Lord because His mercy endures forever, God will be merciful unto you, God will forgive you, God will deliver you, God will heal you.

Healing Through God's Word and Thanksgiving

Oh, how good is God. And so He sent His Word and healed them. And He delivered them from the destruction. Glorious. Even those who are there, no one to blame but themselves and their own rebellion against God.

And yet God is so merciful, when you call upon Him, He'll heal. Sent His Word and healed them. You know, how many times has God brought healing to my life through the Word? As I prayed, there was just a Scripture that would come that would minister to my heart.

God would send His Word, and I would lay claim to that Word, and I would find healing. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and His wonderful works to the children of men. Let them offer to Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.

In Hebrews, we are told to offer to Him the sacrifice of praise, even the fruit of our lips. And I think that that's what the psalmist says. Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving. That is, just our giving of thanks.

Let that be a pleasing and acceptable offering unto God. Now he's talking about sailors. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do their business by crossing the great waters of the Mediterranean.

These people see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and He raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves. And I've seen that Mediterranean really churn in the storms.

They mount up to heaven, that is, on the top of the wave, as the little ship is carried up on the top of the wave. It looks like they're going to go right up to heaven, just huge waves. But then they go down into the trough between the waves.

And looking at them from the beach, you see them way up on a wave, and then you can't see them. They're lost in the trough between the waves. And so they go down again into the depths, and their soul is melted because of their trouble.

They reel to and fro. They stagger like a drunken man, and they are at their wits' end. We read how that when Paul was on the ship there in the Mediterranean and the storm came up, how that they did everything they knew to ride out the storm.

They threw out all the cargo. They then threw out all the tackling, got the ship as light as possible so it would ride high on the water. And they were doing their best to ride out the storm. And finally they were at their wits' end.

They finally despaired. They said, well, you know, we've had it. This is it. Fourteen days being tossed there in the Mediterranean. And on that evening, the Lord stood by Paul and said, Paul, you're going to make it.

Tomorrow the ship is going to be wrecked, but there will be no loss of life because you've got to get to Rome. I want you to witness to Nero. So in the morning, here they are. They've all despaired of life.

And Paul says, cheer up, fellows. We're going to make it. The Lord stood by me last night, the one that I serve, and he assured me that we're going to make it. There won't be a loss of life. We'll lose our ship and all, but there won't be a loss of life.

And shortly after that, they thought they heard the waves crashing on a beach, and they sounded, and they found that the water was getting shallower. And there were some sailors who decided to get into a little boat, one of the lifeboats, and make it towards shore.

And Paul said to the centurion, if those guys leave, you know, we won't make it. So the centurion ordered them, cut the ropes of the little ship, let it go in the sea. And then the ship ran aground. The waves began to break it up, but every guy grabbed onto a plank or whatever, and they all floated into shore, and not a loss of life, though the ship was wrecked there on the island of Malta.

Calling on God at the End of Our Strength

But at their wits' end, it was then that they cried unto the Lord, why is it we wait until we get to our wits' end? No place else to turn, no one else to go to. It's hopeless. Try God. You know, it's amazing how we'll try everything, stuff that we don't even have much confidence in, but, you know, tried it all, might as well try that.

Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He makes the storm a calm so that the waves are still. Then are they glad because of the quietness, and so he brings them into their desired haven.

Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and his wonderful works to the children of men. I sometimes wonder if God doesn't let us just expend ourselves and get to our wits' end just so we'll call on him.

You know, some of us just never call upon the Lord unless we're in trouble. The Lord says, well, I haven't heard from them for a while. You know, let them alone. Let them go to their own devices for a bit.

And, man, things begin to fall apart and disasters build. We say, Lord, Lord, it's oh, hi, haven't seen you for a while. Nice to hear from you, you know. Sit down, let's talk. Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people. Let them praise him in the assembly of the elders. And so the congregation of the people, when we gather together, our purpose is to exalt the Lord.

Our purpose is to praise him in the assembly. Now, the rest of the chapter is devoted to just the works of God, his marvelous works, and his powerful works. He turns the rivers into a wilderness and water springs into dry ground.

God's Judgment and Restoration of the Land

There are areas of the earth that were once very lush, beautiful areas that are now wilderness. The area of Sodom and Gomorrah, glorious, beautiful, lush Jordan Valley. And yet because of the sin, God turned it into a wilderness, dried up the rivers, the springs, and the place became a barren wilderness.

The fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness or because of the wickedness of those that were dwelling there. And surely Sodom and Gomorrah is a classic example of this. He turns the wilderness into standing water and dry ground into water springs.

God can work one way or the other. He can take a wilderness and turn it into a lake and dry ground into water springs where he can make the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation and sow the fields and plant the vineyards.

They always felt that the two essentials for life were bread and wine, the vineyards for the wine, the sowing of the fields for the wheat for the bread, that it may yield the fruit of increase. He blesses them also that they are multiplied greatly and he suffers not their cattle to decrease.

God's watchful hand over his children. Again they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. And he pours contempt upon the princes and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way.

Yet he sets the poor on high from affliction and he makes his families like a flock. The righteous shall see it and rejoice and it shall stop the mouths of those filled with iniquity. Now the psalmist closes by saying, whoever is wise will observe these things.

How that God is in control. How he can bring down the wicked and sustain the righteous. Whoever is wise will observe these things. Even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. Psalm 108 is a compilation of two psalms.

Psalm 57 and Psalm 60. Psalm 57 beginning with verse 7 is very similar to verse 1 of this psalm. Verse 8, 9, 10, 11 of Psalm 57 are the same as the first five verses here. Psalm 60 beginning with verse 5 going through verse 12 are similar or exactly alike to verse 7 or rather verse 6 through 13 here in this psalm.

So having covered Psalm 57 and Psalm 60 we've already looked at these however it is interesting the similarity as the psalmist is picking out songs for the hymnal. He puts a couple of the psalms together and makes this psalm out of two of the previous songs.

A Fixed Heart Determined to Praise God

Oh God my heart is fixed and that is something that we need. A stable commitment to the Lord. We sing I have decided to follow Jesus. To make that kind of a commitment. Lord my heart is fixed. I've set my heart on thee.

I'm going to serve you Lord no matter what. My heart is fixed. And therefore I will sing and give praise even with my glory. Awake psaltry and harp and I myself will awake early. For I will praise thee oh Lord among the people and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

So I've determined to praise the Lord. My heart is fixed. I'm going to just declare His glory. Sing His praises. For your mercy is great above the heavens and your truth reaches under the clouds. Be exalted oh God above the heavens and thy glory above all the earth.

And so a repeat of Psalm 57 but it's worthwhile repeating. It's the declaration, the determination I'm going to praise God. I'm going to exalt Him for His mercy and His truth. Now beginning with verse 6 we have Psalm 60 beginning with verse 5.

God's Deliverance and the Prayer for Help

That thy beloved may be delivered save with thy right hand and answer me. God has spoken in His holiness and I will rejoice for I will divide Shechem and I will measure out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine.

Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the strength of mine head. Judah is my lawgiver. So the declaration of God's delivering the land unto His people. The area of Shechem that became part of Ephraim. Succoth to the east.

Gilead on the other side of Jordan where Gad and Manasseh and Reuben half the tribe of Manasseh settled. Ephraim the power of the northern kingdom. Judah the lawgiver. The tribe from which the king David came.

Moab is my washpot. They were the enemy. The washpot is a term of scorn or derision. Moab, they're enemies. They're my washbasin. Over Edom I'll cast my shoe. The idea is just the disdain for the enemies.

Over Philistia, the Philistines, I will triumph. Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? Will not thou, O God, who has cast us off, and will not thou, O God, go forth with our host?

And so who is going to lead us? And then the prayer, God, will you lead us? Will you go with us as we go out against the enemies? Give us help, the prayer. Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man.

Oh, that we would learn that. That we would learn to turn to God for help. How often we turn to man. But vain is the help of man. You see, all of us are in the same boat. We need God's help. In another psalm, the psalmist said, Lord, it's time for you to work.

The help of man is vain. And the psalmist ends, through God, we shall do valiantly. God will lead us. Through Him we'll do valiantly, for it is He that shall tread down our enemies. Oh, the Lord is my strength.

The Lord is my helper. The Lord is with me. If God is for me, who can be against me? And so through God we'll do valiantly. We shall tread down the enemies. When you take God as your fortress, as your refuge, as your strength, you can stand against all powers of darkness.

Jesus said, the gates of hell shall not prevail against His church. And you are His. You belong to Him. And through our God we'll do valiantly, for it is He who will tread down our enemies. Oh, how thankful I am that He's on my side.

The Lord is with me. I shall not fear what man can do to me.

We'll return with more of our verse-by-verse study through the book of the Psalms in our next lesson as we find David speaking out against his enemies. And we do hope you'll make plans to join us. But right now, I'd like to remind you that if you missed any part of today's message or perhaps you'd like to order a copy for that special friend or loved one, you can do so by simply contacting one of our customer service representatives and they'd be more than happy to assist you with the ordering details.

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That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. Now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith with today's closing prayer.

A Prayer for Obedience, Praise, and Mercy

Help us, Lord, that we will be doers of the Word and not hearers only. And, Lord, help us that we might praise Thee. Fill our hearts and our lips with praises, Lord, for Your goodness and Your wonderful works unto us, for us.

Thank You, Lord, for being there when we need You. Thank You, Lord, for answering when we call. Thank You, Lord, for delivering us out of our trouble and out of our distresses, because, Lord, we do admit that so often our trouble and our distresses come from our own disobedience, our own self-willed ways.

And yet, Lord, You're so merciful. Your mercy endures forever. We thank You for it. In Jesus' name, amen.

Children love stories. So it is with great honor to tell you about a children's book written by Pastor Chuck called The Story of the Ten Commandments. Just listen to what people are saying.

I love the Word of God. And I love my Pastor Chuck. So whenever there's a book for kids to assist them in knowing what to do, what to think, what to say, I recommend it.

I love these stories. And it's a pleasure for me to know that you get to hear my dad tell you the very same stories that he told me as a child.

I am so blessed to be part of this book by Pastor Chuck. I love it when kids read in their own level. I hope parents take advantage of this, and may the Lord bless you.

And as a gift, each book contains a CD of Pastor Chuck reading The Story of the Ten Commandments. To order your copy, call the Word for Today at 800 -272-WORD. Or to see a sneak preview of the book, visit us online at thewordfortoday .org.

This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today in Costa Mesa, California.