Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. 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. That's Psalm 107, verses one through two, and the starting point for today's message. As we look at who God is and what He has done, we may find ourselves completely gripped by the beauty and the goodness of our great God, the same way the psalmist was.
May God give us eyes to see His great might that works on our behalf, so that our hearts can be filled to the brim with gratefulness. Let's listen to this message titled, Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So. Before I read this morning's scripture, just some thoughts from the Word. You know that all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for correction and teaching and training and righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good word. For the Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, able to buy the soul from the spirit that joins from the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Thy word, in Psalm says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And we know Jesus said in Matthew chapter four, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. So in Psalm 107, verses one through nine, that's what we're gonna read this morning, and then I'll pray for us. O 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, some wandered in desert waste, finding no way to a city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distresses.
He led them by a straight way till they reached the 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. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word, which you have given us. Thank you for the opportunity to hear your mind on how we are to walk with you and engage the world in which you have placed us. As we listen to your word this morning, may it sink deep within our souls and truly change us.
May it change us more and more into the image of your son. We are a needy people, hungry and thirsty, but we are at your feet in the presence of the only one who can give us fullness of joy. We give this time to you, soften our hearts and create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew in us steadfast spirits. We are redeemed and give us the zeal and courage to say so. Now, O Lord, help our pastor, our overseer, to rightly divide the word today so that we can moment by moment walk in newness of life. We pray all of this in the name of the one from whom all blessings flow. Jesus, our friend, our savior and Lord. Amen.
Thank you, Max. I know your muscle memory may have already turned in the scriptures to Deuteronomy, but we're not there right now. We're going to look at Psalm 107 this week and next Sunday also, a two-part series. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so is the title of this series. Psalm 107 is in four parts, actually. I'm going to cover two parts each Sunday.
Four parts. The first part is verses one to three, and that is a call to thanksgiving. And then the second part is verses four through 32. And that is looking back at history, what has God done? How has God rescued us? Why should we give thanks to God? Because God is like what God has done.
And then as that part, part two, looking at history is all written mostly in past tense. Then we come to the next section, which is verses 33 to 42, and that is looking at what God does. This is who God is today.
This is what he's like. We have reason, we have cause to thank him. And then the final part is just the last verse at the very end, which is a call to wisdom. And wisdom, listen, watch this, wisdom is directly tied to gratitude.
That's powerful, isn't it? Ungrateful people often make very unwise choices. A call to give thanks in verses one to three, a call to give thanks.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord. This is an action on our part. We are called to act. What is this action? It is to give. It is a response. It is to produce thanks, to impart thanks, to devote thanks.
In other words, it is the opposite of taking or withholding. Give thanks to the Lord is the call. And we're to do it passionately. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Notice it's not just a dry wooden, give thanks to the Lord. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. We have reason to.
Why? Well, first of all, let's consider the object of our thanks. You're not just speaking into the air, are you? You're not just thanking your lucky stars, whatever that means. You're not, listen, you're not thanking the universe. You're thanking the person who created the universe and created you and is good.
And we've heard so much testimony of his goodness already this morning. But the object of our thanks is the Lord. This is Yahweh, Jehovah, the God of Israel, a very specific person, the living God.
Who calls, who rescues, who redeems, who restores, who gives life, who sustains life. That God. He is the object of our thanksgiving and our praise. He is a person specifically, the God of Israel.
And so he goes into, and all of that just from the first phrase. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Why should we give thanks? Here's two reasons, three reasons that we should give thanks that are outlined here.
Number one reason, what is it? Give thanks to the Lord, why? He is good. Period. Chris brought it out well this morning. He's not good because things have gone well in my life. God is good.
You with me? There's never a time that God is not good. He is good in everything he does. He is perfect in all of his ways. He in his very being defines what is good. And therefore everything he does is good because he is good.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. The word good means pleasing. It means wellness. It means beauty. Beauty is everything fits together nicely as it should.
That's the essence of beauty. Good is a word that also sometimes translated favor or that which is desirable. God is our chief desire. We were made that way. All things were created by him and for him. And so we give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
And here's the second reason. His steadfast love endures forever. He's good. And because he is good, his steadfast love endures forever. His covenant love. This is the word the steadfast love. It's the word chesed. Used so many times in scripture. Books have been written about this word. It is the chief word that God uses to describe himself.
Chesed. And there are so many comments and angles that can go into understanding this word. But I like how Michael Card does it best in his book that he wrote about this one word. And the definition he gives to this word which translated steadfast love, the word chesed, it is this. When the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything. When the person from whom I have the right to expect nothing gives me everything. God lavishes his love on us. And it endures forever. How many people today talk about falling out of love?
It's a crazy sad concept, isn't it? The Lord does not. His love is steadfast and it endures forever.
Here's the third reason. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he has redeemed from trouble. Whom he has redeemed from trouble.
He is the God of redemption and restoration. And this word redeemed or the word for which you get redeemer, it's one that we looked at as we were studying Deuteronomy. And it's translated avenger. When we were studying about the cities of refuge.
And a family member has died and the person that killed them has to go to the city of refuge to keep himself safe from the justice of the avenger. The whole point of this, this word being used and translated redeemer, avenger, redeemer, think about God as your avenger. Because I am his, God is for me. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him. The one who is infinitely good. I hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
