Did You Say "Thank You?"

It's all right. Joe always says I'm the substitute

teacher, so no one really cares. Listen, yeah,

I heard an amen for that. I don't know. Hey,

good morning to you. It's just good to see Greg

Katz, Grandpa Greg back there. Let's go. I see

you with that, baby. That's what I'm talking

about. It's Thanksgiving already in here. This

is awesome. Hey, well, good morning to you. If

you don't know me, I'm Shay. I'm obviously one

of the pastors here and so glad to be able to

open the word this morning. Even as I say that,

would you grab your Bibles and turn to Psalm

107. Psalm 107 is our text this morning. Maybe

as you turn, you can just think with me. I mean,

I'm sure if... As a child you experienced this

and maybe as a parent you experienced this I

like most parents, you know with our kids We're

we're trying to help them with just normal kindness

normal manners, right? I'm sure your parents

have done this with you I mean we dropped them

off at school. We're hey, make sure you say good

morning to adults speak to adults, right? We're

you know, say hello to people look them in the

eye We're doing this but you know the one that

we I feel like we say a lot is did you say Thank

you. Did you say thank you? Your youth leader

picked you up took you out and dropped you off.

Did you say thank you? Your teammate or your

coach gave you a compliment Did you say thank

you to them that person at Chick -fil -a held

the door for you? Did you say thank you? I mean

your mom made you dinner and she went back for

the 15th time to the kitchen to get you something

You know, did you say? Thank you. I mean it seems

like it shouldn't be something that we have to

remind Children about you know being being thankful

for someone doing something for you Should be

normal It should be regular and it should be

common. And it would be obviously really easy

for me to come down on my kids, right, and just

say, man, why is it so hard for them to learn

this lesson? But as I was reflecting on even

this Psalm the past few weeks, I realized this

isn't just a lesson for my children, is it? It's

a lesson really for every child of God. To ask

that question, did we say thank you? And we too

need reminders. We need reminders to even build

habits of thankfulness. Because I think if we're

honest, right, I think you're probably like me,

you know, we too struggle at times to say thank

you for the incredible things that God has done

in our lives and that he is doing. I mean, we

often just struggle and need to be asked pointedly,

hey, did you say thank you? So that's the title

of my sermon to try to catch the flavor and theme

this morning. And that's the question I'm really

asking. I mean, have you spent time or will you

spend time, maybe even this week, simply giving

thanks to God? Is this the habit of your life

that it's not just even one week, but it's normal,

it's regular, it's common in response to God's

sovereign care over you? I mean, that's really

my desire to try to to see this. I have no doubt.

that some of you are already doing this. You

are full of gratitude. You have a thankful heart

and spirit about you of the ongoing work of God.

And I just wanna say, hey, praise the Lord, stay

at it, stay at it. But I also know some of you

are like me, right? At times and seasons we struggle.

We often struggle with ingratitude, right? It

just seems that it's more natural at times for

our sinful hearts to just... Forget and to not

say thanks to the Lord fact you don't have to

turn there But I know this to be true because

the scripture tells us as much in Romans 1 The

text should come up on the screen the Apostle

Paul speaks about this in in terms of of humanity

of sinful humanity it says this for although

they knew God Catch this they did not honor him

as God or give thanks to him But they became

futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts

were darkened Claiming to be wise they became

fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal

God for images resembling mortal man and birds

and animals and creeping things So if you struggle

It's just part of what it means to be a sinful

human even Paul here describing its They're not

giving thanks to God. It tends to be our natural

sinful state. And so, listen, I don't want to

leave you on a negative note. There's hope for

you this morning. There's hope even from the

Word of God. And even when we come to Christ

and we still battle the old flesh, listen, we

can grow by the power of the Lord in His Spirit

and through His Word. And I think, of course,

it helps that every year we put on the calendar

a season of Thanksgiving. Isn't that helpful?

Wait, as you look down at Psalm 107, I had been

reading this psalm just in my own Bible reading,

and it just kind of just jumped out at me, and

I began to underline a repeated phrase that we're

going to look at throughout this psalm. And that

repeated phrase is simply this, Oh, give thanks

to the Lord. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. This

is what the psalmist wants for the people of

God to do. And of course, it's our desire to

do that this morning. And while this is a longer

psalm, in fact, someone this week even asked

how's Shay gonna get through 43 verses, I don't

know. We'll see how it goes this morning. But

it's a relatively simple song. It's a call for

the people of God whom he has rescued, whom he

has delivered, whom he has redeemed to give thanks

and praise to him. And what the psalmist does

here is he gives us different insights, different

pictures, really kind of different parables or

examples of situations that he has taken the

people of God through. And then the response.

to that. And so these little stories throughout

this psalm are going to guide us, but I do want

to give you just a little bit of background to

kind of catch you up so you know what's kind

of going on. You notice at the top of the psalm

that there's really no header. Your Bible may

have supplied some kind of header, but you know

sometimes the psalms will say a psalm or a song,

a psalm of David. There's no header to this psalm

and we don't exactly know who wrote it. It very

well could be David himself, I mean, some of

the language definitely fits him, but there's

no specific author attributed. But you might

also notice that right above the title of your

psalm there, 107, it says Book 5. Book 5. This

is really just calling out the last major division

in the Psalms. There's five divisions in the

Psalms. This, of course, will take us from 107

all the way to the end in 150. And interestingly

though, I think that that division is kind of

funny because actually Psalm 107, many commentators

point out, it's probably the last psalm in a

four -part series. I'm sure many of you watch

a four -part, a six -part series on television.

This would be a fourth part of God's work in

history up to this point. You don't have to look

at them. I just want to give them to you. Psalm

104 would really be the history of creation and

the flood story. Psalm 105 is a history of the

patriarchs and they're coming in to Cain in the

promised land Psalm 106 the history of Israel

in the in the in the land until the Babylonian

captivity and really here this seems the background

of Psalm 107 may be the history of the return

to the land as the people are coming out of exile

and So we have in this background people were

turning from exile recalling remembering the

Lord's work. In fact, I want you to see the connection

in Psalm 106. You shouldn't have to turn. I have

two columns in my Bible. It's on the same page.

But look back at Psalm 106 verse 47. There's

Psalms 106:47

a prayer here. It says this, save us, O Lord

our God. Gather us from among the nations that

we may give thanks to your holy name and glory

in your praise. The prayer is gather us. It's

bring us back so we can give thanks to the God

who brings us out of exile, who rescues us, who

redeems us. And this, of course, brings us to

Psalm 107. I want to look with you. I have a

few different sections. I'll give them to you

as we go. But the first here is simply the call

to thank the Lord, the call to thank the Lord.

Look down in your Bible. Oh, give thanks to the

Lord, for he is good. For his steadfast love

endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord

say so Whom he has redeemed from trouble and

gathered in from the lands from the east and

from the west From the north and from the south.

Let's stop there the psalm of course starts with

this call give thanks to the Lord say thank you

says the psalmist this is the repeated refrain

throughout the psalm and Specifically, he says

there say thank you or be thankful because of

what? because of who the Lord is, because of

who the Lord is. He is good. His steadfast love

endures forever. I mean, the Lord's steadfast

love is a common idea. You'll see that language

throughout the Old Testament, especially in the

Psalms. And in this psalm, it's repeated at least

six times. It's it's one word steadfast love.

It's two in English one in the original Hebrew

It's a word you may may have heard before hesed

hesed and it's a weighty word It's full of of

just meaning it carries the idea of of God's

goodness of his graciousness Or more specifically

it speaks of God's God's loyal love The loyal

love of God. It just means that God's love is

unfailing. It means that he is Himself completely

and utterly faithful in His love to His children.

It even carries the idea that God is always faithful

to His covenant with His people. So God is good.

He is faithful in His love. He won't fail. He'll

always be this way, loving, kind, and gracious.

This is who He is. And of course, His steadfast

love endures forever. This is a never -ending

attribute of our never -ending God. And so the

focus of the psalm and the call here in these

first few verses is to praise the lord for who

he is as loving and gracious and he always keeps

his promises always keeps his word which apparently

is an answer to the prayer that we just read

back in psalm 106 Verse 47, to save us, to bring

Psalms 106:47

us out. He's answering this in Psalm 107. He's

bringing them back from exile. And verse two

adds that this should be on the people's lips.

It says, I love this, let the redeem of the Lord

say so. That is, those who've been rescued, they

should praise Him openly. Let them speak of God's

steadfast love and goodness, not to unlike what

you just did a moment ago as you sang out. I

sat up here and was just blessed to hear you

sing out praise to God. So the question is for

us, has God been good to you? Has He redeemed

you from trouble? Has He done that? The call

is of course to give thanks and we're gonna dive

in now to some specific reasons. to give thanks

the psalmist calls them out and and he really

does this in these kind of four different pictures

let's look at the first one i'll put it in a

phrase for you it's just this thank the lord

for reorienting the wanderers thank the lord

for reorienting the wanderers look down in your

bible at verse four it says this some wandered

in desert wastes finding no way to a city to

dwell in Hungry and thirsty, their souls fainted

within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their

trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.

He led them by a straight way till they reached

a city to dwell in. Let them thank the Lord for

His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to

the children of man, for He satisfies the longing

soul and the hungry soul He fills with good things.

You'll notice that the verse four begins with

the word some. Some this is an indicator the

psalmist uses throughout the psalm you'll see

it down in verse 10 down in verse 17 and again

down in verse 23 kind of marking out kind of

these four different stories or parables or situations

And these will guide us as we look and they're

really not four different people so much as four

different looks Maybe not the people of Israel,

four different aspects. But the first picture

here we're given is a picture of people wandering

in the desert, apparently hungry and thirsty.

The situation seems dire. Immediately of course

we think of who? The people of Israel. Them wandering

through the desert, 40 years. And while this

could be specific to that, it also could be speaking

of any kind of exile, like in Babylon, that God's

people had experienced. I mean, you know it.

It'll come up on screen in Hebrews 11. It says

that specifically they were stoned, they were

sawn in two, they were killed with the sword,

they went about in skins of sheep and goats,

destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the

world was not worthy. Says wandering about in

deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of

the earth So as the nation of Israel wandering

around why did they wander? Why were they sent

out this way? Well, of course it was tied to

their their disobedience their unbelief They

didn't trust in the promises of God that He had

prepared a place for them, this place called

the promised land. And so the psalmist says in

verse four, they had no city. They had no place

to call home. They had no place to rest and to

be restored. They were wandering about homeless.

I mean, I'm from the deserts of California, in

Southern California. And I've wandered about

in the desert. Never for days. As a child, only

hours at times. But even then I always had my

house in view I could always see where my my

home was We had these we call them the holes

me and my friends on my street these holes we

take our bikes They're a big just giant holes

know the desert we take our bikes and and ride

through them But I could always see my house

from where that was of course not these people

They're gone off away from home wandering wandering

about And because of this, the text says they're

hungry and thirsty. Did you catch it in verse

5? Their soul fainted within them. Of course,

we are body and soul. That's part of this, but

this isn't just a physical reality for Israel

wandering in the desert. It is too about their

souls. There is a spiritual dynamic. They are

wandering souls, disoriented souls, looking to

have their spiritual hunger and thirst quenched,

but apparently looking in all the wrong places.

Mean have you had any time this year where your

soul has wandered about? just wandering off running

after the wrong things going into the to the

wrong places a friend of mine a former elder

a church that I was a part of in Southern California

just happens to be a a Hebrew scholar and He

had some comments on this text specifically his

name is Bill Barrick. He said this he said the

people in Psalm 107 had hungered and thirsted

for righteousness, but they had not come to the

righteous one. They were still depending upon

their own worthless righteousness." End quote.

They're in trouble, aren't they? They're in trouble,

or as one commentator put it, they're discouraged

and unable to continue. It was as though their

souls had collapsed. This is what happens to

the wandering heart, the wandering soul. But

it was at that low point The verse 6 says then

they cried to the Lord in their trouble They

cried to the Lord in their trouble good decision

To cry out to the Lord in prayer the faithful

one who is good and full of steadfast love And

of course he answers their prayer in verse 6

and it says and he delivered them from their

distress Even though they had no city no home

the Lord reorients is reorients them and reestablishes

them in their wandering and Sends them straight

in to a city to dwell He does this of course

because of his steadfast love his loyal love

that we looked at already in verse 1 See God's

always faithful He's not gonna leave his people

out wandering around hungry and thirsty. He satisfies

them. He always leads them home And so of course

the best response To that kind of deliverance

to that kind of rescue to that kind of reorienting

of the wandering soul is to thank The Lord verse

8 let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love

Thank God for his kindness. Thank him for his

deliverance. I just want to ask us that question

Have you done that? Has your heart been wandering

this year and you've allowed it to go places

and you've sought a righteousness That is only

in yourself and not in the the righteous one

What you really really want is the righteousness

that only Christ can bring right? The righteousness

that he accomplished on the cross the one that

we just sang about that is at the heart of the

gospel message We don't earn salvation in our

own righteousness. It is gifted to us And so

your wandering heart needs to be reoriented,

and the Lord can do that. I'm just asking you

that question. Have you cried out to Him? Have

you cried out to Him? He is faithful. God steadfastly

loves to reorient wandering hearts. And you say,

Pastor, I have done that. I've done that this

year, and I've actually done it multiple times.

And you say, I'm back. And I say, praise God.

Let me just ask you one more thing. Did you say

thank you? Did you thank Him for For satisfying

you look down at verse 9 for he satisfies the

longing soul and the hungry soul he fills with

good things Have you done that this year? Let

me just give you another one. Let's look at the

next one. So we thank the Lord for Reorienting

wandering hearts, but how about this one? Thank

the Lord for releasing the prisoners look down

at verse 10 Some sat in darkness in the shadow

of death prisoners in affliction and in irons

For they had rebelled against the words of God

and spurned the council of the most high So he

bowed their hearts down with hard labor. They

fell down with none to help Then they cried to

the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them

from their distress He brought them out of darkness

and the shadow of death and burst their bonds

apart Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast

love for his wondrous works to the children of

man for he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts

into the bars of iron Again, you saw the word

some there in verse 10, calling out another group,

no longer wanderers, but now prisoners. These

people, they're stuck in one place. It's a prison

cell. And this prison apparently is full of darkness,

full of affliction, and full of death. It's possible

the psalmist is describing the nation of Israel,

enslaved, captive, in Egypt. Especially, I think

that might be true in verse 12, where they have

hard labor as we read about in the scripture.

But the biggest issue here, in this picture,

That the reason that they're in prison is that

they have rebelled against the words of God It

says they have spurned his counsel I mean it

says if they have turned their back on the law

of God his word Literally this week. I told this

to Joe and Jonah. I was in this section I was

looking and studying this part. I turned around

in my office and looked out my window There on

the street was a guy being handcuffed just outside

over here Four cop cars are here. He is being

handcuffed. He's up against you know, the the

cop car and then later I told the guys an unmarked

van showed up they transferred him into that

so I don't know what he did I did see the one

of the ladies from the Lutheran Church walk over

and check on the situation seemed like it was

okay and He's I'm assuming at this moment behind

bars No light not unlikely that he spurned the

law of the land He ignored the law of our state

and listen listen likely sitting now Behind bars

at least I hope that's true But these prisoners

these prisoners they're they're imprisoned because

they spurned the counsel of God and because of

the consequences of their own sin. They have

apparently thought that their own counsel was

better than God's. They're not like the wise

men we read about in Psalm 1, who are meditating

on the Word of God day and night. No, these people

have trusted in their own Word. God's Word has

not been a delight to them, and now they sit

in darkness in the shadow of death, the text

says. But thankfully, Just like the wandering

souls we read about these prisoners cry out to

the only one who can free them, right? They cry

out to the Lord in verse 13 During their trouble

and it says he delivers them even from the darkness

and the shadow of Death doesn't Paul use that

kind of language and he speaks of the New Testament

believers there in Colossians Should come up

here. He has delivered us from the domain of

darkness. It says And He's transferred us to

the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have

redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This is

the reality for all the children of God. Psalm

107 -14, back in 107 -14. He burst their bonds

apart, it says. I love that. Reminds me of an

old radio show I used to listen to when I was

a kid. Maybe some of you know this show I used

to listen to it with my parents usually late

late in the car. It was called unshackled Anybody

know this old old it was an old evangelistic

radio drama each episode was was riveting as

a young kid They have sound effects and there'd

always be a story of someone becoming unshackled

from their sin They're broken free. I think that's

what I'm seeing here in Psalm 107. These people

are set free. They're unshackled. God's heard

their cry. It's not their own strength that saved

them, not their own power that has released them.

It's God who breaks their bonds apart. Of course,

this is a call to praise. A call to thank the

Lord. Verse 15, let them thank the Lord for His

steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the

children of man. Thank Him for His loyal love,

for His wondrous works. Listen, this could be

about Israel. What about us? You're going to

hear me keep coming back to that. What about

us? Maybe you've rebelled against the Word of

God this last year. Maybe you've done this last

week in recent memory. Maybe you sought even

your own counsel and not the Lord's even just

for a Moment and you found yourself in this sense

in this picture shackled by sin I would just

remind you the hope of the gospel is yours The

hope of the truth of Christ is yours. Remember

what Jesus said and in Luke 4 Speaking about

this very thing. It says the Spirit of Lord is

upon me Because he has anointed me to proclaim

good news to the poor He has sent me to proclaim

liberty to the captives and recovering of sight

to the blind to set at liberty those who are

oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's

favor Listen if you're in Christ this promise

is yours today The bonds of sin have been broken

Listen, have you thanked him? Have you said thank

you to the Lord for setting you free for delivering

you? Let's look at another reason to thank him

There's another little story here. This one is

thank the Lord for restoring the sufferers. Thank

the Lord for restoring the sufferers. Look down

at verse 17. We're just walking through this.

Again that word some. Some were fools through

their sinful ways and because of their iniquities

suffered affliction. They loathe any kind of

food, and they drew near to the gates of death.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and He delivered them from their distress. He

sent out His word and healed them and delivered

them from their destruction. Let them thank the

Lord, underline it, for His steadfast love, for

His wondrous works to the children of man. And

let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and

tell of His deeds and songs of joy. No longer

prisoners here now. We have just simply what

I'm calling a group of of sufferers they suffer

simply because of their sin I Think we all know

that there is some suffering that exists in this

world simply because we live in a broken and

sinful and fallen world But that's not the description

here in this song These people aren't suffering

just because of the plight of sinful humanity.

They suffer because it's all self -inflicted.

These people suffer because of their own sinful

actions and their own sinful ways. In fact, it's

so much so that in verse 18, it says they drew

near to the gates of death, nearing death, loathing

food itself because of their sin. That's why

the best word is used in verse 17 to describe

these people. What are they called? They're called

fools. Fools. Those people that Proverbs spend

so much time telling us not to be like, right?

Not to be like the fool. The people who lack

sound judgment. They run after evil things. They

don't listen. Often the Proverbs even talk about

the fact that they're lazy. I mean, they disregard

the Word of God, yes, and then they seek to satisfy

their hearts in wrong and evil things. They even,

as Proverbs 1 says, they even get others to engage

with them in their foolish ways. I mean, fools

are often described just simply as being wicked.

Or one banner phrase is they don't fear the Lord.

So what is it that they do? They suffer. They

may even suffer the natural consequences of their

sin even in their their bodies Literally bringing

them near to death. It's as if they're looking

over the edge into their own Grave peering down

six feet into the ground is the picture The psalmist

is trying to get to give us and it's all because

their sinful life has led them here You know,

I can't help but think About the prodigal son

when I think about this Remember he he runs away

takes all of his money expends it in and a life

of sinfulness and wickedness and Squanders everything

and he sits there in a pig pen At one point even

even longing to be fed with the food of the pigs

were eating possibly starving at this point Mean

it's interesting the prodigal son actually longs

for food, but here in Psalm 107. They don't even

want food They loathe it. That's how much they're

suffering has come And of course, I don't know

if you've been at a place like that physically

I Mean you may have what about in your own soul

a place where you found yourself suffering, the

effects, the natural consequences of your sin,

even feeling the intensity of death at some point.

Dr. Barrack, the one I quoted earlier, he said

this, not until some people come face to face

with death do they realize, they finally realize,

their terrible condition. He says there are many

whom God has had to bring to the edge of their

own grave before they had finally turned to Him

for His help. Don't know that that's been you

maybe you've been near someone that this has

been true of But have You cried out to the Lord

in that moment? That's the question. I keep coming

back to the psalmist keeps coming back you have

you turned to him? Have you run to him? He loves

to deliver his people from trouble He loves to

deliver them from these things I mean, this is

what these sufferers do, and we would take note

of how they did it. They cried out to the Lord

in their trouble. They said, Lord, we need help.

We're in a situation that we've brought upon

ourselves, and now we need You to pull us out.

And of course, the promise in 19, and He delivered

them from their distress. He delivers them. Psalm

116 has the exact same language. You'll see this

throughout the Psalms. It's a call to run to

the Lord. And I wanted you to check this out.

Look down at verse 20. Did you catch this? Look

at it says how he does this. It says of God he

sent out his word and healed them and delivered

them from their destruction It's specifically

speaking here of God's word that does this kind

of work And you say how does God's word do this?

I'm thankful for the comments of Jim Hamilton

in his commentary. I love this. Look at this

with me He said the Bible produces wisdom and

foolish people It reorients our perspective The

Bible gives people a new way of life that does

not lead through affliction to the gates of death

But rather on a straight and narrow way to the

presence of God where people prosper in all they

do end quote I mean, the Word of God is incredibly

powerful here. And God uses it to heal and restore

the sick and the suffering here. I mean, you

know, the longest Psalm, Psalm 119, it'll say

it like this in verse 25, my soul clings to the

dust. Give me life according to your word, it

says. Or verse 28, my soul melts away for sorrow.

strengthen me according to your word." You see

how the psalmist calling out to the Lord that

God's word would do this? Or verse 50 of Psalm

119, this is my comfort in my affliction, that

your promise gives me life. The Word of God bringing

life, the Word of God healing the sick and suffering

soul. Let me just ask you this question, do you

run to it when you're in distress and when you're

suffering? Mean sometimes I fear I think I might

have said something similar to the ambassadors

group a couple weeks ago Sometimes the Word of

God's the last place we go. I Mean we're quick

to turn on a podcast I need to you know listen

to seven different voices for an hour and a half

while I drive and Then talk about what it means

to suffer You know, I mean we're quick to run

to a friend Not always wrong, of course or run

to a spouse or click on YouTube or even distract

ourselves with social media or whatever it may

be. I'll watch a seven second video on suffering.

That'll be enough. I mean, so many voices, so

many other words that we can listen to that don't

have the promise and the power of the Word of

God. You've got to run to God in His Word. And

by the power of the Word, I can say this, it

will heal. It will restore. It will bring you

back in that sense to life. And when it does,

listen, what's the call in verse 21? Let them

thank the Lord. Let them offer sacrifices of

thanksgiving. Let them tell of His deeds and

songs of joy. I just have three S's. There's

the saying of thanks, the sacrifice of thanks,

and the singing of thanks. Just bring it all.

So I asked you that question. Did you say thank

you have you thanked the Lord? Well, there's

a another kind of last little parable here in

the text I want you to see It's another reason

to thank the Lord. He reorients the wandering

soul. He releases the The prisoner from captivity

he he restores the suffering heart and here the

last one we can thank the Lord for rescuing the

troubled Rescuing the trouble look at it with

me It says some Went down to the sea and ships,

doing business on the great waters. They saw

the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in

the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy

wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They

mounted up to heaven. They went down to the depths.

Their courage melted away in their evil plight.

They reeled and staggered like drunken men, and

were at their wit's end. Then they cried to the

Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from

their distress He made the storm be still and

the waves of the sea were hushed Then they were

glad that the waters were quiet and he brought

them to their desired Haven let them thank the

Lord for his steadfast love for his wondrous

works to the children of man Let they let them

extol him in the congregation the people and

praise him in the assembly of the elders You

know, there's all this water And sailor language,

I almost wanted to make the title of this section,

thank the Lord for rescuing the mariners. I mean,

he's powerful, but no, I'm just joking. But the

picture we have is one of sailors. And there

really isn't a ton to compare it to in the nation

of Israel, which lends a lot of commentators,

and I tend to agree that this isn't just about

Israel. this is about individuals and Here we

have people working at sea and God in his sovereignty.

He brings a storm He and it pounds them and and

they're in trouble. I Mean it says in verse 26

that they lose all courage Mean these are people

that do business out on the sea They're probably

used to being out there and and and and they're

experienced sailors, but now there's verse 27

They're staggering around because their boat

is just being pounded to the point That they're

at their wits end. It says You know my Bible

has a little note. It brings me down to the bottom

of my page little footnote It says here, all

their wisdom was swallowed up, it says. That's

the idea there. They're at their wit's end. Their

wisdom's gone. I mean, even the most experienced

of fishermen are at the mercy of the sea, and

they can lose all hope and all courage. I don't

know if you've been in a situation like this.

I mean, but it's amazing how small you can feel

out on a boat. Even a big boat out on the ocean.

I don't have a lot of personal experience of

being caught in the storm the only experience

I have of manning a ship was a small sailboat

in Balboa Harbor in California that me and my

friend Zach crashed into a parked boat and One

of us had to jump out and physically move the

boat ourselves with our feet because we just

couldn't get control of this thing But but I

called a couple in our church this week Called

the first fisherman. I know Tim Schwitters. He's

in our church. He said you need to call Josh

and Eleanor Nelson Because they had an experience

Like this just a year ago Caught in a storm up

near the San Juan Islands coming down from Victoria

to Seattle and I called them I said hey guys,

I need an illustration for my sermon. No, I said

I said I said I'm studying this text I Just heard

that you guys were caught in a storm. Tell me

about it Well, they started telling me it was

Shay. It was it was unbelievable We were going

down from Victoria just a year ago. We got caught

in the storm They had some friends and some family

on the boat and suddenly the sea turned on them

They told me that it was an incredibly frightening

experience. They were hitting what were 14 foot

waves Some of which were just hammering their

boats at high their boat at high speeds And they

told me we literally thought we were going to

die. I Mean Shay we we just they literally said

it was a storm of biblical proportions. Those

were their words and you can imagine What that's

like feeling completely helpless, especially

if you're the captain of the ship Seriously fearful

of their lives. Some of you are like man. I'm

never going on a boat again. I'm like, I know

I'm with you You know, it's amazing I told him

I said listen, it's so interesting because my

text talks about this and they were telling me

Yeah, every time we read anything about boats

and sailing now. It's all we think about is this

experience We had a year ago and I said man Well

in the psalm it says it says that they they prayed

to the Lord and they said oh Shay That's exactly

what we did We we cried out to the Lord I said

what happened They said, we're not kidding, Shay.

And I don't know how much time it took. They

said the storm calmed, and I'm quoting now, the

waves went from 14 feet to two inches. And their

boat had gotten in between two different islands,

and suddenly things were calm. And the Lord had

spared them and brought them safely to their

destination. Or as the psalmist says in verse

28, he made the storm be still and the waves

were hushed. And of course, what in verse three,

they were glad. Glad that the waves were quiet

and bringing them to where they wanted to go.

I told that couple and I say it to you, praise

the Lord. In the midst of trouble, In the midst

of even something that God may bring, a humbling

experience for you. There's no indication that,

I mean, the psalmist indicates that this was

a storm that God brought. It just happened. God

may do that to show you His power, His might,

remind you how tiny that you really are. Even

then we need to cry out to Him. Of course, it's

not just being in trouble on the sea. This stands

for anything that could humble us anything that

causes us to fear to reel and lose our courage

we to cry out to him Maybe you're in a situation

like that right now. I Don't know what you brought

in but you can call out to the steadfast God

the God that's loving and gracious and kind and

good And when you do he will rescue and then

of course the response is just simply this let

them thank the Lord for his steadfast love You

notice in verse 32 he adds a few more things

that says let them extol him in the congregation

of the people and Praise him in the assembly.

This isn't just a personal dynamic It's a corporate

one if you experience God's love in this way

when he's brought you back from your wandering

brought you back from your imprisonment of your

own sin and your suffering and in your trouble

You need to tell people about it. Go and tell

them. Tell the church. Tell the elders. Tell

everyone what he has done. Maybe make it part

of your Thanksgiving meal this week. Hey listen,

I had this thing happen and God was so faithful.

Thank the Lord. Thank the Lord. Well, my time

is going quick. I'll give you my next point for

those who get upset. They don't have all the

points. It's in verses 33 to 42. It's thank the

Lord for his reversals It's a very different

section of the text. I can't make a lot of comments

here, but it generally speaks about the sovereignty

of God. He allows things to happen and He can

reverse them. This is all part of His work and

it's all part of why we need to thank Him. He

can reverse the things that seem irreversible

at times. Just look at verse 35. I'll make this

comment here. He turns a desert into pools of

water and a parched land into springs of water.

This is the work that God can do and of course

verse 41 reminds us that God is the one who helps

in our Affliction because and because of that

the people of God are called to rejoice and be

glad Well, finally, let me just look at this

last thing. I have to get to verse 43 with the

time that we have left It's simply a call to

reflect on the Lord's work a call to reflect

on the Lord's work Look at verse 43 whoever is

wise Let them attend to these things Let them

consider the steadfast love of the Lord The call

here is just simply to reflect deeply on all

the Lord has done It's to give careful attention

is the idea or careful consideration To the Lord

steadfast loyal love. Maybe you need to do that

this week Just give careful attention write down

The ways in which you can be thankful to the

Lord. I mean we saw those those pictures. This

is also what the psalmist is talking about. Consider

what he's just written. Look at Psalm 107. All

those who are lost in trouble near death, consider

these things in light of the love of God. That

is what it means to be wise. I appreciate just

a really small comment by Dane Ortland. He said

this, a miserable Christian is a contradiction

in terms. A miserable Christian is a contradiction

in terms. I mean, how could a Christian be miserable?

When the Lord has saved them and rescued them

and delivered them. And Christians who are wise

are going to be spending their time and their

days considering these things. And of course,

what that's going to do is make them more thankful.

Make them more joyful, not miserable. I mean,

we have so much to be thankful for, don't we?

I mean, we need to ponder, reflect, meditate,

and listen, I'll tell you this, here's what's

cool. When we do that, our feet are going to

follow. We're going to begin to do what God called

us to do, just simply out of a thankful heart.

That's why one unknown author said it this way,

the art of thanksgiving is thanks living. Thanks

living. Christians aren't miserable, they're

thankfully living their lives that align with

godliness. So much to be thankful for. Listen

when you cry out to the Lord, he's always faithful.

That's the cry even of of this psalm And so I

asked you that question one more time. Did you

say thank you? Maybe as way of application. I'm

asked the band if they're in the room I'm gonna

ask them to just start coming up and getting

ready. I was thinking about this I was like I

could probably share like a really sweet story

of thanks Thanksgiving or I could read from George

Washington's, you know original proclamation,

which does I believe give glory to God But if

you go back to verse 2, this could be our application.

It says here, let the redeemed of the Lord say

so. That is, let them say out loud their thanks.

In verses 21 and 22, let them thank the Lord

for his steadfast love for his wondrous works

to the children of man. Here it is. Let them

offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of

his deeds in songs of joy. And so even though

last week we had the joy of singing this song,

I asked Jonah if we could sing once again, we

give thanks or Psalm 107. And as we do, let's

sing it loud and proclaim to each other. to our

God listen our gratitude for all he has done

you should be thinking of things even right now

yeah man I know this thing happened I could thank

the Lord for that and you can begin to pray even

in your own heart and thank the Lord would you

stand would you stand and we're gonna sing this

one together maybe just as our a prayer in song