How to Praise the Lord (part 2)

We're coming to Psalm 107, if you would open with me to that psalm. The great Old Testament picture of redemption was when the Israelites were redeemed out of Egypt.

! But many years later, a redemption occurred that even overshadowed the redemption out of bondage in Egypt. God said, I'm going to do a new thing, and He did a new thing.

He redeemed Israel out of Babylon, this time captive to the Babylonian Empire. God had given them over to the Babylonians because of their unfaithfulness to Him.

And yet in His goodness and His steadfast love, He redeemed them out of captivity, and He regathered them from all the directions, north, south, east, and west, that they had been scattered throughout the whole Babylonian world empire.

And this psalm then was written to help the Israelites to thank the Lord for His great redemption from Babylon. But there's been another redemption that has made the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt and from Babylon to pale in significance compared to this great salvation.

Of course, I refer to the great salvation, the redemption of every one of us who are in Christ from our sins through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, if the Israelites were given this psalm to help them to thank the Lord for His great salvation, how much more should we, who have been delivered not out of a physical bondage for a few years, but have been delivered from hell, from sin, for the rest of our lives and forever and ever.

So, see yourself in this psalm. If you're God's child, you're included in this psalm. And it's meant to help us in giving thanks to God for our great salvation.

Now, there's three sections to the psalm. First, there's the initial call to give thanks to the Lord. And then there's four pictures. The second part of the psalm is comprised of four pictures of this great salvation of God's people.

And then, lastly, there's a concluding lesson about God's sovereignty over all the affairs of men. He starts with this initial call to give thanks to the Lord. Psalm 107, verses 1 to 3.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, or say this.

Those He redeemed from the hand of the foe. Those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. So, how should we respond to God's wonderful saving grace?

The answer? Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Give thanks. Give thanks to the Lord. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, this is the fundamental note of Christianity.

And therefore, it is the chief characteristic of the Christian. He is one who gives thanks to God. So, we can check our spiritual health by whether thanksgiving is coming out of our mouths or whether complaining or something else flows from it.

And as we think about our thanksgiving, we're to give thanks in every situation, Paul tells us. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

But the very primary thing that we ought to never tire of giving thanks for is for our salvation. Always first. Always high on the list.

Right on top. Every day. There's reason to give thanks for this great salvation that we have received. Do you know the chorus?

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation so rich and free. Let's sing it together to the Lord.

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole.

Thank you, Lord, for giving to me. Thy great salvation so rich and free.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Now, who's to say this? Who is to be saying this? What does the text say?

The redeemed of the Lord. Those that the Lord has redeemed from the hand of the foe. Those that he's gathered from the lands from east, west, north and south. Folks, that's language for us Gentiles who've been gathered in from the nations unto Zion, unto our Lord Jesus.

So this is to be the expression. Thanksgiving is the expression. Of our hearts for his salvation.

Well, we come to the main part of the psalm then. It's a collection of four pictures, vivid pictures of God's great salvation. Different portrayals in which man finds himself desperately helpless.

Absolutely hopeless. And how God marvelously rescued them. And each contains its own call to give thanks to the Lord.

Philip says at this point. The psalmist is assembling a great choir to sing God's praise. The choir is made up of people who have been saved from all kinds of perils.

And who now blend their voices together to offer this one song of thanksgiving. This is what the church should be. Not merely various kinds of people coming together. But people who each have their own story of salvation to tell.

And who mingle their voices harmoniously together in their praise and thanksgiving to God. God is assembling this great choir. And here are the different strands of testimonies of people.

And how they've been saved from different perils. But they join together to give thanks to the Lord. Now the first picture then is of those who have lost their way in the desert.

Verses 4 and 5. Some wandered in desert wastelands. Finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty.

And their lives ebbed away. Maybe the exiles making their way back to the land of Israel went through these desert wastelands.

It could have been a picture of them. It surely portrays their problems back in the wilderness in Moses' days. But here they are. They're lost in the desert.

It's one thing to be lost in Indiana. It's another thing to be lost in the desert. Dizzy with heat. Famished with hunger. Parched with thirst.

You're not very far away from death when you're in the desert. And you're lost. Recently I was talking with Phil Gates' son. Phil and Mary. Or Barb Gates' son. Zach.

Who just returned from Israel. The land of Palestine. And he talked about the desert. And how struck he was with how easy it is to die in the desert.

You're never very long from death. Very far away from death in the desert. If you're hungry here, you can find some food. But if you're in the desert and you're hungry. And you're thirsty.

You're a goner. You can't save yourself. You're hopelessly lost unless somebody else comes in and rescues you. Someone lost in the desert.

That's the first picture we have then of salvation. Sometimes when people are lost in the deserts. And delirious with the heat.

They look off and they see a mirage. The heat playing off the sand. And it looks like water. And they go after it, don't they? And what do they find?

Just more sand. More heat. They're just that much closer to death. No, there's nothing they can do to save themselves. They must have someone come in and save them.

Now, that's the picture then. But it's a picture of spiritual realities. How does the picture of being lost in the desert picture a man lost in sin?

Give me some of the parallels. There should be many. A man lost in the desert. A sinner lost in sin. Raj?

I'm sorry? Okay. There is no refreshing in this world. It's like a desert to them. A man can work as hard as he wants. Like a man can walk the fire in his hand.

All right. Self-salvation of the lost sinner is just as impossible for whatever he would do. Mike? Death is inevitable apart from the water he's provided.

All right. Death is inevitable apart from intervention and someone bringing in what's needed. Food and water. All right.

Those are good. You're thinking down the right track. That's what the psalmist is wanting us to think of. That that poor, wandering, lost soul out there in the desert is me.

In my sin. And I'm dying. And I'm not finding anything satisfying in this world. Isn't that the case?

Maybe you didn't get far in sin before you found all the misery of sin. But don't you live around enough people to see the hollow look in their eyes, the hopelessness as they go from one mirage thinking it's going to be satisfying only to find it does not satisfy.

Because they were made for God and only God can satisfy their souls. And Jesus says, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. The poor woman at the well. Immoral Samaritan woman.

She thought that that satisfaction came from her relationships with men. And she's still thirsty. Jesus says, as long as you drink from these things, this water, you're going to thirst.

But oh, if you come and drink from me, you'll find satisfaction. But we rub shoulders with people. They're lost. They're miserable. Their life is one of going from one heartbreak to another.

And don't let the outward appearances fool you. Behind the glitter of those movie stars and sports figures and great ones of the world.

is often a broken personality. Read the biography. You see it on the news. These great ones.

Their lives are shattered by sin. Relationships shattered. Addictions. Bondages. And they're left to reap the miserable consequences. Again, Lloyd-Jones says, life without Christ is utterly hopeless.

There's no way, no path, no life, no truth. It's a wilderness. A solitary way. And it leaves us helpless, hopeless, lost. Hungry, thirsty.

And with our souls fainting within us. Well, if he didn't let you get far in the wilderness of sin, this is what he saved you from, Christian.

You'd be there. If you didn't get out too far. Maybe you were saved as a young child. And so the Lord spared you. He didn't save you out of that, but he saved you from that.

And so we ought to give thanks to the Lord. So here's this helpless condition. Verse 7. And then, then, right at the midst of their helplessness, they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. They were saved from perishing in the wilderness. All in answer to a cry. A cry for mercy.

That's all. As Roger said, they weren't doing anything. They weren't walking. They just cried out for mercy. And they were saved from perishing. It's more than a first aid treatment.

It's more than just being given first aid, a meal, and some water, and then being released back out into the howling desert. No, they're brought into a city where there's a continual supply.

And this is what the Lord Jesus has done for us. For our lostness, he says, I am the way. For our hunger, he says, I am the bread of life. For our thirst, he says, I am the water of life.

For our exhaustion, he says, I will give you rest. But best of all, he leads us to a city without foundations. The new Jerusalem to be with him forever and ever.

And there they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Isn't that a welcome figure in a desert climate?

Never again will they hunger. And never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7. And so, if this is your experience, dear child of God, be up in thanking him.

Give thanks to the Lord. Verse 8. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

A love, a goodness that pursued them into the barren wasteland, into the far country, into the pig pen of their sin, and brought them out to the gospel feast.

Told them, eat and live. Is this not true of the Christian life? Is this not your experience, Christian? Then give thanks to the Lord for his wonderful deeds on our behalf.

All right? That's the first picture. The man lost in the desert. What's the second picture? I'm going to ask you for it. Look at verses 10 through 16. Take your time and read verses 10 through 16.

And tell me what the second picture of salvation is. Anyone? Prisoner suffering in iron chains. A prisoner suffering in iron chains.

All right? You've got the picture of those locked up in prison in bitter slavery. That was often Israel's experience, too.

They were enslaved to other nations. Some sat in darkness in the deepest gloom. Prisoners suffering in iron chains. For they had rebelled against the word of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.

So he subjected them to bitter labor. They stumbled and there was no one to help. There they are, rotting away in some dark, gloomy dungeon.

Imprisoned in iron chains. The only time they're brought out of their dungeon is to work. Under the crack of the whip, some of them stumble and fall and there's no one to pity them or to help them.

Just the cruel taskmaster. Now, why are they in this miserable condition? What does it say? The whole world needs prisoners. Mm.

Okay. The whole world. We're going to see. This is, again, a picture of our sinfulness and of our condition. But from the text, why are they in this condition of hopeless prisoners and slavery?

They rebelled against the words of the Lord. They hated His counsel. They despised His counsel. So their slavery is a result of sin.

It's the result of breaking God's law. To turn your back on God's commandments is to say goodbye to freedom. And it is to welcome bondage.

Prison. Now, what is the great lie that holds sway in the world today concerning God's word and freedom?

Jim. Jim. Jim. The great lie would be that they would say that being under God's rule is more oppressive than...

Okay. You heard that line? Have you seen it? Have you felt it? The signposts of the world are like this.

God's commands, that way. Freedom, that way. If you want liberty and freedom in your life, you don't want God's commands.

They do nothing but restrict you and bind you, hold you back. Tell me, how is that a part of the first lie that Satan gave to Eve in Genesis 3? How did that spin out?

What did he tell her? How did he tempt her? Mark? Okay.

Your eyes will be open. Right now, you're blind. You're held in bondage by God and His restriction, you see. But if you come my way and you go this way and leave God's command behind not to eat of that tree, well, then you'll become like God.

You'll become self-fulfilled. You'll become what you could be. But God's not wanting you to become like Him. He's holding you back. And all of God's commands are holding us back from what we could be.

We could be free. As Psalm 2 paints the whole world. And they're rebelling against God's anointed King, Jesus Christ.

And they're saying, let us cast away their cords from us. They view the laws of King Jesus as chains and cords to be thrown away. I want to be free.

And there's a part of every one of us that views things just that way. That thinks that the way to freedom is to turn my back on God's commands.

Christian, it's called your flesh. Indwelling sin. That part of you that still says, this is the way to freedom, to turn my back on God's commands. It's the sin nature that reigns in the heart of the unconverted man.

But it still remains, even in the believer. But God says just the opposite. What does He call His law in James 1.25? The law of liberty.

The law that brings freedom. David in Psalm 119.32 says, I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.

David doesn't find the path of God's commands of something restricting and binding him and enslaving him. No, this is where a free heart, a heart set free, wants to run in these commands.

Verse 45. I walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. And so here's man in his blindness, following the signpost that Satan has planted.

God's word, freedom. Freedom. And he follows the way that he thinks is freedom. And finds it ends in miserable bondage. Many young people growing up in Christian homes are not allowed to do the other things that their non-Christian friends at school are allowed to do.

Why? Because mom and dad are seeking to bring them up in the ways of God and instruct them in His righteous laws. And so they go away to school. Now they're free. They can do whatever they want.

And so they throw off God's law, along with the rules of their household. A little sex, a little alcohol, a little drugs, a little pornography.

And suddenly they find themselves. They wake up and they see the bars, the chains. They're in bondage. Sin always takes us further than we want to go.

It's a cruel master. Phillips, our author says, we find we cannot stop sinning once we've started. It weakens our willpower. It warps our character. It ruins our relationships.

It's the prodigal son, isn't it? Thinking that freedom is to be found turning your back on your father's home rules and running in the way of self-indulgence.

And he found it led to miserable bondage. Well, Jesus in John 8 says to the Jews who had some level of belief in the Savior, He said, if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And they answered, we are Abraham's descendants. We've never been slaves to anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?

And Jesus replied, I tell you the truth. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. And if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

And so as Dennis was saying, that the whole world is under the bondage to Satan. The whole world is under the slavery of sin. And this picture of Psalm 107 is meant to make us see ourselves and the bars in front of us and the shackles on our hearts.

Not just our wrists, but our hearts, our minds, our wills, our desires. We're enslaved to sin. And so it's in the midst of this dreadful, hopeless picture.

There's no way out. We can't free ourselves. We can't break our own shackles and set ourselves free. Verse 13. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble. That's the same refrain we saw before.

And he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness in the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. So tell me, how is it that Jesus Christ sets people free from the chains of sin?

What has Jesus done to set us free from the chains of sin? He died on the cross. He died on the cross. That's where the backbone of sin was broken in our lives.

What else? He paid the great debt we owed. He paid the debt we owed. He freed us from that horrible debt. The bondage to debt. You talk about being enslaved to debt.

Here was a great bondage. We were enslaved. We had this great debt of eternal misery to pay for our sins. There was hell to pay. And he paid it all and set us free from that bondage.

What else has he done to set us free? Dave and Jason? He gave us a new heart to put his spirit on us. I wish you'd say that louder.

Okay. He gave us a new nature, a new heart, a new desire. And he put his spirit in our hearts to make us careful to keep his commands, to follow his decrees.

So that we'll have a heart that doesn't want to stray from God's commands, but rather will hate our sin and will want to follow his commands.

That will find it perfect freedom to run around in his commands. He gives us a new heart, a new nature. Dave said it well. He did, didn't he?

Ezekiel helped him too, didn't he? Chapter 36, 26, and 27. This is the great salvation that Jesus brings. By dying for our sins and rising again, he's set us free from our fear of death.

Hebrews 2. All our life we were held in captivity, enslaved by the fear of death. And he sets us free from that slavery and bondage.

So Jesus is in the synagogue and in Nazareth. And he stood and unrolled the scroll to the prophet Isaiah, the place where it's written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

It's our Jesus, the great deliverer, the great emancipator. And he comes and he sets people free. There he meets Nicodemus. What is Nicodemus enslaved to?

Pardon? Nicodemus, perhaps. What else? The fear of man. He comes at night. Doesn't want to be seen.

Talking to Jesus. What else was Nicodemus enslaved to? Dead religion. The law. Thinking he could make himself right with God. He was the Pharisee.

He was enslaved to his own high opinion of himself. His own self-righteousness. And Jesus comes and sets him free. Here's the Samaritan woman.

We already talked. She's enslaved to her sexually immoral lifestyle. Jesus sets her free. There's Zacchaeus. He's enslaved to greed, to money. All these people set free.

People slave to the devil, to pleasure, to power, to self-righteousness. All set free. Verse 14. He brought them out of darkness.

And the deepest gloom. He broke their chains. That's why Watts puts that word in our mouth. He breaks the power of reigning sin. He sets the prisoner free. He's helping us.

How do you give thanks to God for your salvation? Well, sing of the glorious liberty from the bondage of sin. Verses 15 and 16. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

For he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. Could have left me to my choice. Could have left me to my bondage. To my slavery.

That which I chose for myself. The fact that I am not wasting away in some foul addiction this morning. And some bondage to sin today. Is due only to the unfailing love and powerful grace of Jesus.

He rescued me from enemies that were too powerful for me. Well, the third picture. And we must move quickly through these.

As I see our times flying. The third picture is those with deadly diseases. Brought to the very gates of death. This is verses 17 and 18.

Some became fools through their rebellious ways. And suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near to the gates of death. Ever been so sick that you were at death's door?

And then restored to health? If so, you'll appreciate this picture of your salvation. Perhaps more than others. Here's the picture of people who are just reduced to nothing.

They're just a breath away. One heartbeat away from death. They can no more save themselves than create a son. What's the cause of their sickness?

17 and 18. Why are they sick unto death? Rebellion. They became fools through their rebellious ways.

And suffered affliction because of their iniquities. Now the cause of their sickness then is clearly rebellion against God. That's not the cause of all sickness.

John chapter 9 and others. But ultimately it is. Ultimately the reason we have disease and sickness is sin. But you can't pinpoint people he's sick because he's sinned. But this sickness unto death.

This was because of their rebellion. We have examples of it in our society. People who give themselves over to certain sins and reap the consequences of it upon their bodies.

So we have sexually transmitted diseases. Where they reap the consequences of their sins in physical sickness. But again the picture is a spiritual picture.

It's meant to depict our spiritual condition. All of us. And it's saying to us sin corrupts our entire being. It leaves our mind and our will and our affections diseased.

Perverted. Bent on evil. Leading to death. And so there we are. Deathly sick. About to die. Verse 19.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble. And he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them. He rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. And so here comes the great physician. The Lord Jesus. And he's healing all sorts of diseases. Yes because he's kind.

And yes to show his power. But more so to demonstrate what he does to the heart of every single sinner. That he saves by grace. He cleanses us from the leprosy of our sin.

The disease of sin. He heals our blinded eyes that would not see. He unstops our deafened ears that would not hear. He heals our lame feet that would not walk in God's commandments.

Our mute lips that would not thank him and would not glorify him for creation. And providence. And gifts given. And so restored us to health.

Why? That we might sing his praise. That we might give him thanks. The last picture is of those in a storm at sea. Verses 23 through 27.

Others went out on the sea and ships. They were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the Lord. His wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.

They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths. In their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunken men. They were at their wits end.

Remember we studied the life of John Newton. That converted slave shipper. Remember how many dangers. Through many dangers. Toils and snares. He met up with it.

See? Brought to the point of death. There he is down in the bowels of that ship. All night long. Working the pumps. Till his hands were bloody. Just trying to get more water out than in.

To keep themselves alive. Well it can come to the point. Where it's beyond hope. There's more water coming in. Than 127 men can get out.

And you give up hope. That's how they were in Acts 27. Paul's going to Rome. And there the sailors are. And they hit this great storm. So they put the ropes around the ship to hold it together.

They lowered anchor and let it be driven along. Took such a battering that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. You know it's bad when men throw money away. Third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard.

With their own hands. Paul says. They're really desperate. And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days. And the storm continued raging. We finally gave up all hope of being saved.

Acts 27.20. That's the picture. We have given up all hope. I'm so desperately. Dangerously lost. I am a breath away from hell.

There's no way to save myself. And then. They cried. They cried.

They cried out to the Lord. Just as the others had done. In their trouble. And he brought them out of their distress.

He stilled the storm to a whisper. The waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm. And he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord.

For his unfailing love. And his wonderful deeds for men. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people. And praise him in the council of the elders. That's our Jesus.

Don't you care that we're perishing? They thought they were goners. Water pouring into their boat. He sent out his word. And stilled the storm.

Peace. Be still. Just a word. And even we. We were lost. We were so lost. We had no hope. And we just. We cried out for help.

And he sent a word. Forgiven. Go in peace. Such deliverances deserve thanksgiving. And not just private thanksgivings.

But in the assemblies of the people. Telling his works. With songs of joy. So God's gathering the choir. Isn't he? To sing his praise. Not everybody. Has exactly the same testimony.

Some were like those lost in the desert. Some were like those diseased unto death. Some were like those enslaved. There's ways in which that pictures all of us.

But there's ways that those pictures picture us individually. Perhaps even better than the other pictures. But there's certain commonalities to all four.

What are they? What's common about all four pictures of salvation? Anything? What did you notice? Hopelessness.

Can't save themselves. Okay. What else? Doomed to death. Doomed to death. Doomed to death. All right. Why? Because of their sin.

They wandered from God's word. They wandered from God's ways. Okay. What did they do when they were hopeless and helpless? They cried out to the Lord for mercy. And what did he do every time they cried out for mercy?

He saved them. And so what are they supposed to do? Since he saved them. Give thanks to the Lord. So those things are the same.

And so we can look at a church full of people. And I don't have to know all your past. But I can know that every one of you who are in Christ this morning.

We're desperately lost in sin. We're a breath away from hell. Because of your sin. And I can know that you cried out to the Lord. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And I can know that he heard your cry. And that you with me now must join this choir. Praise and thanks to God. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven.

Who like me his praise should sing. Let them give thanks to the Lord. That should be the repeated refrain. It's the repeated refrain in our psalm. It should be repeated refrain in our lives.

And there's one last conclusion. The whole lesson just points out how God is the sovereign governor of the affairs of man. The reason that things go south for men is because there's a king on the throne who makes them go south for men.

He can turn our blessings into cursings. And then he can turn our cursings into blessings. But we must not grow presumptuous and turn our back on him.

Or he can cause us to go back into the wilderness and discipline us for our backslidings. But oh, what a gracious Savior who comes to us and delivers us.

Let me just read the conclusion. Verses 33 to the end. He turned rivers into a desert. Flowing springs into thirsty ground.

And fruitful land into a salt waste. Because of the wickedness of those who live there. Now he reverses it. He turned the desert into pools of water. And the parched ground into flowing springs.

There he brought the hungry to live. And they founded a city where they could settle. There sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest. He blessed them. And their numbers greatly increased. And he did not let their herds diminish.

But then their numbers decreased. And they were humbled by oppression, calamity, and sorrows. He who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.

But he lifted the needy out of their affliction. And increased their families like flocks. The uprights see and rejoice. But all the wicked shut their mouths. Two responses to God's treatment of mercy upon the lost sinner.

The righteous rejoice. But all the wicked shut their mouths. When they see the very people they have oppressed now rejoicing in the favor of God. They shut their mouths.

Final word of warning. Whoever is wise, let him heed these things. And consider the great love of the Lord. Amen. You're to see yourself in the psalm.

Whoever is wise. Won't you see this as something written a couple thousand years ago? But we'll see yourself here. Where are you? Here's this wonderful Savior.

Cry to him. Be saved. And then spend the rest of your life giving him thanks. That's what we intend to do this day as we worship him together. May he help us.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.