Psalm 118: Thanksgiving

Hi, everyone. My name is Dan. I served as an elder here at Watermark for a while. I have the privilege of sharing God's word with us today.

To remind us where we are in today's preaching series, we are praying through the Psalms. Each week, we're choosing a different Psalm, a different theme to pull out of that Psalm, spending some time to understand it, and mostly trying to see how it might help us to pray and therefore improve our prayer life and our relationship with God.

Our day-to-day relationship with God is generally through speaking. God speaks to us through His word in the Bible, and we speak to God in prayer.

In the Psalms, allow us to see this back and forth in both directions. Today, we'll be looking at Psalm 118. So I'm going to ask Iris to come up and read it for us first, and then we'll dive deeper into it. Thanks, Iris.

Good morning, Watermark. Today's scripture reading is taken from Psalm 118. Please follow along your Bible. If you don't have a Bible, please do still grab them from the front of the stage or at the back near the door. Our passage is on page 479 in the church Bible. Page 479.

Hear then God's word to us today.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.

Let Israel say, His steadfast love endures forever.

Let the house of Aaron say, His steadfast love endures forever.

Let those who fear the Lord say, His steadfast love endures forever.

Out of my distress, I called on the Lord.

The Lord answered me and set me free.

The Lord is on my side.

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

The Lord is on my side as my helper.

I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

All nations surrounded me.

In the name of the Lord, I cut them off.

They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side.

In the name of the Lord, I cut them off.

They surrounded me like bees.

They went out like a fire among thorns.

In the name of the Lord, I cut them off.

I was pushed hard so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.

The Lord is my strength and my song.

He has become my salvation.

Glossons of salvation are in the tents of the righteous.

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

The right hand of the Lord exalts.

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord.

The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord.

The righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord's doing.

It is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Save us, we pray, O Lord.

O Lord, we pray.

Give us success.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

We bless you from the house of the Lord.

The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.

Bind the festival sacrifice with cords up to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.

You are my God.

I will extol you.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

For his steadfast love endures forever.

Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word.

Amen.

Thank you, Iris.

Thanks for sticking with us through those 29 verses, guys.

It was a bit of a longer passage today, but today's psalm, Psalm 118,

is one of the more popular psalms in the Bible, whether you know it or not.

It has verses that are extremely well known.

They've been quoted many times over in songs, other parts of the Bible.

You may recognize some, as Iris was reading out.

For the Jewish people at the time of Jesus, it was a regular tradition to sing this psalm

at big national Jewish celebrations, such as the Passover and other festivals like it.

For Martin Luther, our great hero of the Protestant Reformation,

this was apparently his favorite psalm.

As he quotes,

Although the entire Psalter and all of Holy Scripture are dear to me

as my only comfort and source of life,

I fell in love with this psalm especially.

Therefore, I call it my own.

When emperors and kings, the wise and the learned,

and even saints could not aid me,

this psalm proved a friend and helped me out of great many troubles.

As a result, it is dearer to me than all the wealth,

honor, and power of the Pope, the Turk, and the emperor,

essentially the world.

I would be most unwilling to trade this psalm for all of it.

Verse 17 was also said to be one of his life mottos.

He had inscribed it on his wall at one point in his life.

I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord.

Even with such a glowing review from someone like Martin Luther,

this psalm was written a long time before him.

And while his testimony is encouraging,

we shouldn't just take his word for it.

We should go back to the time it was written,

well before Jesus even, a few centuries in fact,

to understand it for ourselves.

It is a rich and complex passage.

Our focus on prayer means we won't have time

to look into every aspect of that complexity,

but with God's word we can always challenge ourselves

to go deeper and wider.

What was it saying to the audience back then?

Whether you are a Christian or not today,

why is it relevant to us?

What does it have to say to us?

How does it point us to the gospel,

to the good news of Jesus?

And in particular, how can it help us in our prayer life?

We'll see a psalm that encourages us to follow Jesus

in giving thanks and praise to God.

For though hardship comes,

God has and will deliver us.

First things first,

I think it's pretty obvious.

This psalm is a psalm about thanksgiving.

These are the first and last verses in the psalm after all.

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

for his steadfast love endures forever.

And right in the middle of the psalm as well,

verses 14 and 15.

The Lord is my strength and my song.

He has become my salvation.

Glad songs of salvation

are in the tents of the righteous.

If we can picture it in our minds,

the psalm actually depicts this thanksgiving liturgy,

or like a ritual worship procession to God.

The psalmist is leading a procession of Jewish believers,

making his way from outside the temple,

to the temple gates,

into the temple sanctuary,

and finally ending at the temple altar,

as you see in verse 27,

to provide an offering of thanksgiving to God.

We might assume,

given that it's a psalm about thankfulness,

that it was all smooth sailing,

peaches and cream, as they say.

But what is interesting

is the fact that in and around these verses,

it is obvious that that is not the case.

There is much talk of hardship and suffering,

as we see in some of these verses,

crying out to God in the midst of great distress.

So the thankfulness here doesn't seem to be related to good times.

Rather, it seems to be related more to difficult times.

And these difficult times are really difficult times.

Niels preached a few weeks ago on Psalm 23,

and pointed this out to us,

that sometimes the psalms can feel not quite for us,

in some literal sense,

because the events are likely bigger

than anything we would ever have to deal with.

Look at the first half of each of verses 10 to 12, for example.

Verse 10, the first half says,

All the nations surrounded me.

Verse 11,

They surrounded me,

surrounded me on every side.

Verse 12,

They surrounded me like bees.

This is a royal psalm.

The psalmist is a king.

We're not sure who exactly.

It could be King David.

But either way,

the events recounted here,

are by a king who has been in a great battle,

against other nations,

other armies.

He is in a position of authority and power,

and dealing with a scale of things,

that almost none of us will ever have to deal with.

In verse 12,

when it talks about bees,

I don't know if you've ever been stung by a bee before.

I have.

It's not fun.

If you've ever seen a swarm of bees,

or a footage of beekeepers making honey,

they have to wear these huge suits,

to protect themselves,

from the sheer volume,

and the ferociousness of the bees,

that can sometimes attack them,

defending their hive.

Back in the times that this psalm was written,

while they may have had some thicker clothing,

they wouldn't have had those protective suits.

They certainly wouldn't have had antihistamine tablets,

if they had a bad reaction to the bee stings.

A swarm of bees could literally be deadly.

So it is with this king in battle.

He is overwhelmed by a swarm of nations,

attacking him from every side.

He is literally facing death.

The situation is hopeless,

and he is failing in his role.

As we see in verse 13,

he says,

I was pushed hard,

so that I was falling.

He is right on the edge.

How can this be a psalm of thanksgiving to God?

Why is the king thankful?

Well, we see that in spite of his great difficulties,

and overwhelming opposition,

the king was eventually victorious.

Not because of what he did,

but because of what God did.

That is why he is thankful.

Because God gave him a great victory.

God delivered him from his overwhelming enemies,

as we see in the second half of those verses.

Look at how they play out on the screen.

He is giving thanks and praise

to the one who not just helped him in his distress,

but did the full saving work in victory.

The deliverance is such wonderful news

that the king cannot help but give thanks to God.

And as Niels also highlighted a few weeks ago,

as the people's representative,

the king's victory is the people's victory too.

That is essentially what this psalm is about.

You can kind of split it into two main ideas.

The first idea is a picture of the king's testimony,

giving thanks and praise

at what God has done for him and for his people.

And the second part can be seen as this same king

leading his people to respond in the same way to God.

We see a kind of back and forth

between the king and his people in this psalm.

In verses 2 to 4, it's essentially,

if you look at verses 2 to 4 in your Bible,

it's essentially a universal call from the king

to all people to acknowledge God's steadfast and eternal love.

Israel, mentioned in verse 2,

are the native Jewish people.

The house of Aaron, in verse 3,

are kind of the priestly class in their community.

And those who fear the Lord, in verse 4,

are all other true believers.

Then in verses 5 to 18,

the king's thanksgiving testimony

recounts God's saving work from his distress.

And then the end of the psalm,

verses 19 to 27,

the king's people themselves

then respond and join the king,

giving praise and thanks to God

for what he has done.

And how much more wonderful for us in Jesus.

In this psalm, it's obvious the theme of deliverance

links to Jesus as well.

Take a look at verse 26 with me.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

If we know the gospel accounts of Jesus' life,

we know that this is what the crowds shouted

at Palm Sunday.

In all four gospels,

as Jesus was entering Jerusalem

for the national Passover festival,

the Jewish people at the time

were clearly proclaiming the expectation of Jesus

as the coming Messiah and king.

And they were referring back to this psalm

when they were doing it.

See on the screen,

Jesus even directly claims the verse for himself

later in Matthew 23.

Or take verse 22, for example.

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

Another well-known verse.

Initially referring to this king

in the psalm

who was ultimately lifted up by God,

Jesus later implies

that he is that very stone being spoken about.

And Peter repeats that message

in Acts.

The builders are the religious leaders

at the time.

The rejected stone is Jesus.

The builders,

the leaders rejected Jesus.

He suffered on the cross and died.

And God raised him from the dead

three days later,

establishing him as the foundation

or the cornerstone of God's kingdom.

I think it adds weight too

if we think about the fact

that the king in this psalm

was powerless to save himself.

Only God could save him.

And Jesus,

being in very nature human,

was made powerless

to save himself.

There are so many parallels.

In the same way the psalmist king

relied on God through victory

and was delivered victorious,

victorious,

so did Jesus,

who submitted to God

even to death

and was delivered victorious

over death and resurrection.

In the same way

the people in the psalm

were able to enjoy

the king's victory

over his enemies,

so we are able

to enjoy Jesus' victory

over sin and death,

a victory we are powerless

to achieve ourselves.

In Christ,

this is every bit

a psalm

of victory for us

as it was

the king's people

back then.

And we are also led

by Jesus

in response

of thanksgiving too.

We'll get back to that

a bit later.

But isn't it amazing?

It's all tied together.

The Old Testament,

the New Testament,

and fulfilled

in Jesus' death

and resurrection.

Now that we hopefully

understand the psalm

a little better,

what does this all

have anything to do

with our prayer life?

Well, I think it highlights

a few things.

Firstly,

as we've touched on already,

what do we need more

than anything in the world?

I wonder if you've noticed

the fact that

in the psalms in general,

the focus of the prayers

in the psalms

are not necessarily

on the material things

that people might need

at the time,

but it's often deliverance

from hardship,

from suffering,

from enemies.

Asking a simple

chat GPT query

shows that there are

over 400 references

to deliverance

or deliverance-related themes

in the psalms.

And there are,

and there's 150 psalms

in the Bible.

Material blessings

are referenced

about 40 times.

I don't know how accurate

those numbers actually are,

but I think they'd generally

be pretty accurate,

and the idea is still there.

In our prayers,

I think,

me included,

we so often pray

for the practical things

we need,

like health,

work,

school,

family.

These are good things,

don't get me wrong.

But in the psalm itself,

so in the psalm itself,

we see the king

and his people

praying for what they need

materially,

but what we have,

but what we need

more than anything

in the world

is what we already have

in Christ,

deliverance from sin and death.

We don't have to work for it.

We don't have to study for it.

We don't have to try harder.

We don't have to prove

ourselves worthy

one little bit.

If we are in Christ

and we have accepted

his gift of salvation,

we already have

deliverance from sin

and a restored relationship

with God.

That is what we need most.

Just think about

how miraculous it is,

really,

if you are a Christian

in the room today,

that you have the beliefs

you do.

Given what your background

might have been,

the world we live in today,

it is pretty miraculous.

If we were to look

at our prayer life,

how often are we

giving thanks to God

for what he has done

for us in Jesus?

Does your prayer life

look like Psalm 118

with this much giving thanks

and this much asking

for what we need?

Or if we are honest,

is it more like

this much giving thanks

and this much asking

for what we need?

Now these questions

are not meant to condemn us

by no means

or make light

of some of the really,

really hard things

that some of us

have to deal with

in life.

The tone of this passage

is of encouragement,

is of celebration.

God wants us

to be thankful here

and respond to him

like that.

But I do also think

there may be levels

of truth here

in that for all of us

in our prayer life.

Secondly,

what about

when times are really hard?

like Simon shared

a little bit

before in his testimony

and feeling thankful

does not come easy.

While we saw

in verse 13,

for example,

if we read it carefully,

it is actually alluding

to the fact

that this extreme suffering

the king is facing

to the point of breaking,

of falling over,

it's actually God's doing.

God is not part

of our good times only.

He is in control

and he is in our hard times

as well.

Our worst times even.

If we are going through

really hard times

right now,

I'm really sorry

about that.

And as Christians,

we cannot escape

the fact

that God is in that

as well.

Honestly,

this topic could take

a whole sermon series

in itself.

Kevin preached about it

a couple of weeks ago

from Psalms 42 and 43.

So I can't do it justice

in just this short section

of the sermon.

But I do think,

partly,

the psalm would encourage us

to try and give thanks,

sorry,

to give thanks

that Jesus rose from the dead

and has ultimately delivered us

even in those really hard times.

The big deliverance

that changes everything

has already happened

even if we don't experience

it fully now.

I'm sure there were actually

people in Israel at the time

who were suffering greatly.

Bereavement,

sickness,

yet the king

encourages them

to join with him

in celebrating

their deliverance

which towers

over all of that.

We do also know

from scripture

that God has given us

the Holy Spirit

to help us.

We do know

he is gentle

to not break us.

We don't have to try harder

or just grin and bear it.

He has initiated with us.

Come to us.

He is present

right here with us

in this moment.

He is for us,

guiding us,

helping us,

leading us.

He is declaring

the truths

of his gospel to us

by the power

of his Holy Spirit,

allowing us

to give thanks

in the midst of hardship.

Thirdly,

with respect

to our prayer lives,

I think there is

actually an exuberance

and a joy

in the thanksgiving

that we see

in the psalm

that is quite unique.

It's wonderfully unique

to the psalms,

in fact.

We can learn from it.

I mean,

just look at some

of the verses

from the psalm.

The king and his people

are overjoyed.

And here's an interesting

point, I think.

In the same way

the king is thankful

to God

for his deliverance

over enemies,

I believe Christ

was thankful to God

for his own deliverance

over death as well.

To be clear,

we have no record

of Jesus' words

as he came out

of the tomb.

That's true.

But if we're right

to read the psalm,

the king and the psalm,

as a type of Jesus figure,

and the kind of suffering

he went through

as foreshadowing

Jesus on the cross,

then I think

we can assume

that the king's great joy

and thankfulness

at being delivered

will also affect

how Jesus must have felt

when he came out

of the tomb.

Why would the first half

of the psalm

point to the cross,

but the second half

have nothing to do

with the resurrection?

Jesus fully submitted

himself to humanness.

He was fully human.

He trusted his father

as he physically died.

That his father

would raise him

three days later.

And for three days

he was fully separated

from God.

Fully separated

from God.

In the depths of hell,

powerless to save himself.

Can you imagine

how Jesus felt

when God actually

raised him

three days later?

Yes, he trusted God.

But when the stone

was rolled away

and he stepped out

into the day,

can you imagine

how he felt?

He must have felt

unbelievable.

God, you did it.

That is amazing.

Praise be to you alone.

Can we have this same reaction

about our salvation?

In a small way.

I think recently

of the football

world cup winners.

Just unbridled joy

and ecstasy

for the team themselves,

for their fans,

their people.

And for us,

it is not a one-off

every four years.

It can be every single day.

How joyful

and exuberant

are we

about our own salvation

and deliverance

when we pray?

Fourthly and lastly,

with respect

to our prayer,

are we praying

and worshipping

together?

Not just on Sundays,

but during the week

as well,

as a regular pattern

of life.

Here we see

the Jewish people

praying and giving

thanks together.

We do have

corporate prayer

once a month

and we should do that

where we can do that.

That's an obvious one.

But it doesn't have

to be just that.

It can be CG,

it can be smaller groups,

husbands,

fathers.

Are you leading

and encouraging

your families

in doing the same

out of thanksgiving

to God

for what he has done

for you?

This is something

I myself

was really challenged

about when preparing

for this sermon.

I don't think

I do this very well

at all.

But if it is

something we see

of Jesus,

then it is likely

something we should

try and replicate

in our own life.

Just think about

when someone shares

a powerful testimony

of what God

has done in their life,

like Simon did

earlier today,

delivering them

from some sin

or some difficult

situation.

It builds our own

faith.

It builds our own

love for God.

It gives us

courage to bring

our own distress

before God,

to pray with confidence,

not to pray

and not fear,

as the king

and the psalm

himself did.

There is communal

thanksgiving

for what God

has done

for the individual.

Baptisms also

probably provide

the best picture

of this idea.

When we go up

these days

to the rooftop,

we are communally

overjoyed

at what God

has done

for the person

being baptized.

I actually think

it's probably like

when we are all

the happiest,

right,

together as a group.

And so we should be.

That is the kind

of picture we see here.

A huge celebration

together

at how God

has delivered us.

We should give

thanks together

more often.

So let's try

and get really

practical now.

Let's try and look

at an example

prayer

and try and put

this all together.

Let's see how

this goes.

Imagine someone

who is going

through a really

difficult time

at work.

I know,

I know,

predictable example

in Hong Kong,

but it's something

I assume many of us

are dealing with

right now.

Our usual prayer

may sound

something like this.

Dear God,

work has been

really difficult

lately.

My workload

is increasing.

My manager

doesn't seem

to appreciate

the extra effort

I'm putting in.

I'm worried

about my future

at the company.

Please provide

some relief

from the workload.

Please provide

some wisdom

to navigate things.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Honestly,

it's not a wrong

prayer.

I'm not saying

it's a bad prayer.

It expresses

a dependency

on God.

It brings

our request

to Him

as we should.

It's not bad.

But what if

we try

and apply

some of the

truths

from Psalm 18

in this example

as well?

Thankfulness.

How might

our prayer

change a little bit?

Well,

let's see.

Dear God,

thank you

for you

are good.

Your steadfast

love for me

endures forever.

Thank you

that through

Jesus Christ

you have already

given me

the greatest

gift I could

ever receive.

whatever happens

in my life

cannot take

that away.

But work

has been

really difficult

for me lately.

I need help.

Please provide

opportunities

for relief

and to work

well.

Give me wisdom

and patience

and integrity.

Love for those

I work with.

Help me to be

thankful here

in spite of

the difficulties

and the painfulness

of the situation

even if it remains.

And may my joy

be not found

in success at work

but in belonging

to Jesus.

Thank you

for you are good

and your steadfast

love endures forever.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

I know

it's kind of cheating

I've just added

like a lot more words

to the prayer

and you know

quoted from the psalm

etc.

I get it,

I get it,

I get it.

Alright?

But do we see

the difference?

Our greatest

deliverance

has already

been accomplished

which doesn't

remove our

daily needs

but it does

change the heart

the focus

the practical

words

of our prayers

to be more

focused on

deliverance

versus our

practical needs.

I think it's

something we'll

be able to try

later on

as we get

together in

groups and pray.

So let's

come into

close.

If you are

a Christian

today

may the words

of this psalm

encourage all

of us to

follow Jesus

in his example

of giving

thanks and

praise to God

for though

hardship will

come

God has

and will

deliver us.

If you are

not a Christian

today

please take

this as an

opportunity

to consider

the person

of Jesus

for yourself

what the

Bible has

had to say

today

about who

he is

and what

he did.

What he

has done

for you

through his

death

and resurrection

is what

you need

most

deliverance

from the

eternal

consequences

of your

sin

which is

death

and an

eternal

relationship

with God

in its

place.

This is

a gift

freely

given to

you

if you

accept

Jesus

as your

Lord

and

Savior.

Please

consider

doing that

today.

Don't let

another day

go

without

doing

that.

I'd love

to chat

with you

about it

after the

service

as well.

Let me

finish in a

quick prayer

and then we

will pray

together.

Father,

thank you

for these

words.

I pray

that by the

power of

your Holy

Spirit

you may

have

removed

me

and

anything

that was

from me

or of the

world

from this

sermon

and brought

Jesus to

the forefront.

Brought the

beauty

of the

gospel

and the

deliverance

from sin

and death

that we

have

experienced

in Jesus.

May your

name be

glorified.

Thank you

God

for you

are so

good to

us.

your

steadfast

love

endures

forever

before

now

and in

the

future

as well.

In

Jesus'

wonderful

name

I

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.