Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ.
Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Go ahead and turn if you would to Psalm. Psalm 107. Our subject this morning is simply a phrase taken from the Word of God, whatever possible.
I like if if you title things, sometimes it helps, especially with record keeping and finding messages on archives to have a title and but our title is Whoso is Wise. Psalm 107 is an interesting chapter. What is interesting about it is that we believe probably Ezra wrote this Psalm and Ezra was working with Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple and as they laid the foundations of the temple, we believe that this Psalm was written and it was used by the people of God. It was kind of pretty much a hymn book, a praise book that would be sung. Many of this of the Psalms were sung to the lord and this was something that they would sing while they were building the temple.
A couple things. I just want to give you a little bit of a background because we're going to dig into this chapter this morning because I found it extremely encouraging. I'm going to read those three verses.
I want to read that and then I'm just going to give you a little bit of background. It says, oh, give thanks unto the lord for he is good for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the lord say so whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands from the east from the west from the north. So, give thanks unto the lord and he's good but notice this, his mercy endureth forever. So, we are after this point beginning in verse four, we're going to talk about the mercy of God because this chapter gives what we call a case of four thanksgivings.
Four thanksgivings, it's called. You say, what does that mean, preacher? Well, it gives us four different stories basically. Four different cases of why we should be grateful to God for his mercy. Why we should be grateful for what God has done. It's an interesting chapter and so it lays out in four different passages in this chapter. So, I want us to look at it today because I don't know about you.
At the end, it says if somebody's wise, if somebody's going to be smart about this thing, you're going to observe these things. You need to notice and see what God has done for you. In other words, if I can this morning, I'm just going to brag on Jesus a little bit.
Is that okay? I want to encourage you today. I want to remind you what God has done. I want to remind us what God has given to us, what he's done through us, what he's done for us. We sit here in a building and we're kind of dressed up a little bit nicer for church and all those things, but let's not forget who each of us are really deep down. We're sinners that have been saved by the grace of God.
There is not one person in this building better than any other person in this building. God loves us all. Thank God for that and God is no respecter of persons and so as we praise God, we need to be reminded that you and I are only here today because God has shown mercy on us. If it wasn't for the mercy of God, we would either be burning in hell or we wouldn't be here at all. It's God's mercy. I want you to notice as we pray, these cases are given and here's how it lines up.
I'm going to show you in the passages, but what happens every one of these four passages in this chapter. We're given the problem. There's a problem in Israel. There was the problem and then it shows how they prayed to God and then how God provided every one of them. There's a problem. then there's a prayer and then there's the provision and then after that provision at the end of every one of these God gives us a principle. So there is a problem. There's a prayer. There's provision and from that we learn a principle and by the way, that's how your life works too. Anybody here have a problem?
Some of you are like, yeah, you are whatever. But all of us here have problems and here's what the walking with Christ is. We have a problem. We go to him in prayer. He provides and through that provision, we learn some principles.
Everybody got that so far. So let's pray and we're going to dig into this today. I think that you'll learn some things here today. I hope that you certainly will Lord. We love you.
Thank you for all that you've done. Pray that you bless your word as you always do. We're very excited about it in Jesus name. We pray.
Amen. Notice first God's mercy. It begins in verse four.
Here is case number one. They were searching. He brings up this instance in God's people's lives where they were searching. They wondered in the wilderness in a solitary way.
All these verses will be on the screen for you. They wondered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in.
So God here finds his people and they were searching. They were homeless. They didn't have a home. They didn't have a dwelling.
They didn't have anywhere that they could go. And by the way, before you got saved, you were searching too. And before Christ gave you a home, you were homeless too. You're like, no, I got a, I got a home right down over here in Cartersville.
Oh, you might have a home, but that's a temporary home. Yeah. Amen. Notice secondly, not only were they homeless, they were hungry. Look at verse five. Hungry and thirsty. So they were homeless and they were hungry.
They didn't have a home and they didn't have provision and that's where God found them. By the way, I don't know about you. I know you're looking at me like, I'm not hungry a lot. Okay. I get, I understand.
I understand, but I'm talking spiritually here. I don't know about you, but before I got saved, there was a hunger for something that people will try everything to fill, but it doesn't fill that hunger. They were homeless. They were hungry. Notice third, more I could say about all this. Third, they were hopeless.
Look at verse five. It says hungry and thirsty. All fainted in them.
What does it mean? There was no life left. They were living. They were breathing, but there was no hope. They had no home. They were hungry. They were thirsty and the worst part of it.
They saw no hope of this changing. So let's look at the prayer. I love this verse six. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses. Verse seven and he led them forth by the right way. They were on the wrong way, but God put them on the right way. They were homeless, but God gave them a home. They were hungry, but God filled them. They were thirsty, but God satisfied that thirst. They had no hope, but God gave them hope.
Everybody with me so far? Now notice the principle here at the end. God replaced their searching with salvation. That's exactly what God did for you. God replaced your searching with satisfaction.
What did it say? He gave them a habitation. He filled their need. He took them out of their life with goodness.
What was the problem? They were homeless. They were hungry.
They were hopeless. What was the prayer? They cried out to God.
What was the provision? He gave them a home. He filled the hungry. He gave them something to drink, gave them something to eat, filled their life with hope.
So what is the principle? God replaced their searching with satisfaction. And I'm here to tell you today, God did that for you. And if you don't know God, and you don't know Christ as your Savior, I'm here to tell you today, you don't realize it, but you're searching for something. And you're trying other things that will never fill that need. Only Christ can fill that need. And here's the principle you need to learn.
God can take your searching and give you satisfaction. They were slaves. notice first, they were blind. Look at verse ten. such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. being bound in affliction and iron such as sit in darkness.
Couldn't see. Notice not only were they blind, but notice secondly they were bound. What does the verse say? Being bound in affliction and iron.
Any little light bulb going off for you today? Anybody ever face this before you found Christ? The Bible says before you and I get saved that our minds are, are, are literally blinded to the truth. We didn't know the right way from the wrong way. Not only that, we were bound. We were bound to sin. We were bound to destruction.
We were bound to this flesh. Notice here thirdly, they were bitter. Look at verse 11. Because they rebelled against the words of God and contend the counsel of the most high. They were blind, they didn't know the right way to go. They were bound, they couldn't go anywhere anyway because they were bound to their sin and shackled by their sin and so they have to be mad at somebody so what, they rebelled against God. They were bitter against God. They don't want to listen to what God had to say.
Were you ever there? By the way, since you've been saved, we still rebel sometimes. Notice fourthly, they were brought low. I love this, therefore, verse 12, He brought down their heart with labor. They fell down and there was none to help. They were blind, they were bound, they were bitter, and God had to bring them down.
How many of you by uplifted hand, we don't mind saying it. God had to humble us in our life. God had to bring us down.
But aren't you glad when He brought us down He didn't kick us and leave us? Look at the prayer. Look at verse 13. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of the darkness and the shadow of death and break their bands in sunder.
Oh that man would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. We see here that God brought them out of the darkness. He took them out of the shadow. He took away their shackles and He freed them from that.
So what's our principle here? Verse 16, God replaced their slavery by setting them free. And that's what He did for you. If you know Jesus as your Savior. You were a slave to sin. But through Jesus Christ, you know what, now we have a choice. We don't have to do wrong.
It's a choice. We've been given freedom through Christ. Look at verse 16. For He hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder. You and I were bound in chains that we couldn't loose.
We were in a prison cell that we couldn't open. And Jesus cut those chains and broke open those prison doors. He took your slavery and set you free. All that men would praise the Lord for His goodness.
Where did this chapter start? Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. That means if God's done just these two things so far. If God's done those for us, we ought to be telling people, have been redeemed. I was searching, but He gave me satisfaction.
I was a slave, but He set me free. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Case number three, I want you to notice verse 17. Case number three, they were sick. First they were searching, then they were slaves. What we find here is they were sick.
Look at what you would at verse 17. Number one, they were sick because of sin. They were fools because of their transgression. So what they were experiencing was a result of what they had done. Anybody here in the building want to be honest today and say we've been there where we've suffered the consequences of something we caused? Anybody here so self-righteous that that's never happened to you? I'm like my dad. My dad said that he got so old, got so big, he fell over on the ground and he rocked himself to sleep trying to get up.
I was tying my tennis shoes the other day, and I saw stars and bluebirds circling my head for a while, dizzy as can be. I am suffering the consequences of something I've done. Notice because of sin, but notice secondly because of self. He said fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities are afflicted. They're afflicted because of their sin and their self. You see the kind of sickness he's talking about here is interesting. He's gonna explain it even further, but he is saying here that literally sin in a person's life can bring a spiritual sickness. A life that's lived to please self and self-controlled literally causes a sickness in a person.
Notice thirdly because of stress. Look at verse 19, then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he saveth them out of their distresses. Interesting. So let's look at their prayer.
They were searching, he gave them satisfaction. They were slaves, but he set them free. Now they have a sickness here, and it's not a sickness because of a disease that they had when they were born. This is a different kind of a sickness.
This is a spiritual sickness. They had a sickness because of their sin, because of their self. The Bible says they were afflicted, literally the things their life and their choices and their actions had literally afflicted them and it caused sickness to them.
Notice this, I want you to see this because you need to understand. Verse 18, it says their soul abhorreth all manner of meat and they draw near into the gates of death. They couldn't eat. Everything made them sick. That's the kind of sickness he's talking about.
Spiritual disobedience had literally caused physical sickness. You've heard me say this before, sin will age you. Sid will age you. I've got some extended family members that I'm the same age as them.
And they look 20 years older than me. Now I'm not going to get into naming all kinds of sins and naming all kinds of things. Let's be honest, us sitting here with our suits and our ties have just as bad sin in our life sometimes. But what I am saying is this, that you can begin to see physically on a person the results of sin. They were sick and so were you before you found Christ.
So were you. Look at their prayer first. In verse 19, God replaced their stress with salvation. Notice this, then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and He saveth them out of their distress.
God replaced stress with salvation. Notice secondly, in verse 20, God replaced their sickness with healing. Look at verse 20, He sent His Word and healed them. He didn't send a medicine to heal them. He sent His Word to heal them. This is a spiritual sickness. So He didn't send medicine because they were physically sick, they needed the Word of God.
You know we often do that, we try to fix things and we don't ever deal with the root. This was a sin issue. He sent His Word and healed them. Notice thirdly, God replaced their destruction with deliverance. Look at verse 20, He delivered them from their destructions. Delivered them from their destructions. So here they were, they're sick, God replaced their stress with salvation, He replaced their sickness with healing, He replaced their destruction with deliverance. Look what He says, verse 21, oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing. Four cases of thanksgiving. They were searching, He gave them satisfaction. They were slaves, He set them free. They were sick, He gave salvation for their stress, healing for their sickness, and gave deliverance from their destruction. Case number four.
Has anything I've said so far could we say that's been in your life too? Look at number four, this is a big one. They were facing storms. At first they were searching, they were homeless. Second they were slaves, they were bound. Third, they were sick from their sin. But now, they're in a storm.
Verse 23, they that go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof. Can I give you a couple things about storms? Number one here, storms fight against your path. Storms try to keep you from getting where you want to be. Everybody with me?
Say amen. If you're on a boat and a storm comes, it's going to do nothing but prevent or try to prevent or make difficult from you getting to where you want to go. And that's the way it is with storms in life.
They fight against you. Sometimes the storms that you and I are in, they're hard, but it's not like they're unbearable. But what becomes unbearable is that those storms keep us from getting where we need to be.
They're constantly fighting against us and it wears us down. Notice storms take you up and down. Look at verse 26. They mount up to the heaven. They go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted because of trouble. Notice this, the picture here is of a storm that is fighting against the progress that a person is trying to make.
Notice here, secondly, that storms are taking you up and down and is constantly changing like waves would pull a boat up and bring a boat back down and pull a boat up and bring a boat back down. Some of you remember I told you I took our staff fishing. Brother Andy Hundley was nice enough to take us and I'm going to take my staff fishing.
It's going to be a great experience. We didn't even get to where we were going to fish and Frank started throwing up like crazy. I can talk about him.
He's not here today, so. Frank is a very nice vomiter. It was a huh, huh, huh, very nice, very calm. Then Brother David had a fish on the line and Brother Ben Perkins lost it. Ben immediately tried to get to the side of the boat and David and Ben had to let her loose and some of it got on David. It's a great trip. It was wonderful. Frank's laying down heaving over here and Ben's hanging off the side back there and I'm laughing at these guys.
I'm eating pineapple and all of a sudden I was like I don't feel the best. The greatest news that anyone can receive is the news of the free gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ. It is our desire for you to know him personally. Would you take a moment to hear this today? Every man is born with a sin nature. Romans 3 23 says for all of sin and come short of the glory of God. No matter how hard we try, we're not good enough to obtain God's glory or to get to heaven because of that sin carries the penalty of death. Romans 6 23 says for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The wages of our sin or the payment of our sin only equals death in separation from God, but it's only through God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ that we can accept him as our Savior.
Jesus Christ paid for your sin debt. The Bible says in Romans 5 8, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All you have to do is receive Christ by faith as your Savior. Romans 10 9 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Verse 13 continues for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's as simple as admitting that you're a sinner believing that Jesus is the only way and calling upon his name. Bible says whosoever, that's anyone, can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Have you accepted Christ as your personal Savior? There is no greater day than today to take care of this. Would you accept Christ as your Savior? If you have any questions, please give us a call at 336-993-5192 or visit our website at corwinbaptistchurch.com or visit us at person at one of our three service times. We hope you have a great rest of your day. God bless you.
