In the sermon 'O Give Thanks to the Lord for His Goodness' by Gary Duff, the speaker explores Psalm 107, focusing on the theme of thankfulness for God's goodness and His enduring mercy. The sermon highlights the repeated patterns of distress and deliverance in the lives of God's people, emphasizing that afflictions and troubles often serve to remind believers of their need to seek and rely on God for deliverance. The speaker underscores the importance of being continually thankful, not just during initial moments of salvation but throughout one's Christian journey. Four major types of distress are discussed: wandering in the wilderness, captivity, sickness, and storms, each illustrating different ways God's people turn back to Him and receive His deliverance. The sermon encourages the congregation to cultivate a habit of thankfulness, both individually and collectively, as a sign of maturity and understanding of God's loving-kindness. The speaker concludes by urging believers to express gratitude openly and to recognize the many blessings God provides, even amidst difficult circumstances.

Well, dear saints, we are looking at all of Psalm 107 today. And I'm going to read a little of the scriptures. I'm going to read verses 1 through 3, and then I'm going to read verse 8, which we all will be repeating. There'll be four times. So that will be an active, another active way for you to be involved and then I will read the final verse But we will be looking through all of the scriptures this whole part of this whole song together so hear the word of God okay thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endures forever let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west from the north and from the south and then verse 8 oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

In the final verse verse 43, whoever is wise will observe these things and they will understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. Let's pray. Father, thank you that we can look into your precious word. I do pray that we would be humble and teachable, that we long to know what this means and how to apply it. Lord, we love you.

We thank you for your great grace to us, for your revelation, and we thank you for this time that we can look into it together we offer ourselves to you now as living sacrifices and we rejoice in your goodness in Jesus name amen please be seated You might have been a little surprised at sermon notes that look like this. This is the first time I believe I've ever put the sermon notes out in color. But I know many people, some of you, I believe, who actually highlight your Bible in many colors. And it really helps you to organize your thoughts, especially in a longer passage like this. So That is my desire here.

If you notice the Roman numerals there, those are mine, of course, those are again, desire to help understand the patterns that are in this Psalm. There are a number of patterns. Many Psalms are very much organized according to patterns. And I thought this would be helpful. So we're gonna go through this.

And the theme is, Thankfulness for God's Goodness and His Loving Kindness to us. And so in this Psalm, these patterns really are, if you look into the history of the people of God, this is a very common pattern. It's a common pattern in Scripture. It's a common pattern in our own lives, or it can be sometimes in our lives, can be even in a church. So this is a helpful pattern for us to understand.

And it occurs a lot of times we're not even conscious of that. So the people of God were, and dear family, we are commanded to praise the Lord and to look to Him for deliverance. And certainly to praise him and give thanks for our deliverance and Keep giving thanks for our deliverance. It isn't these do that in your early Christian life It's something that should be continual and in fact growing as individuals and as a congregation So but many times if you notice At the top the pattern just to explain that very briefly, the pattern is, so these distresses come. So afflictions do come, troubles do come, and they came upon the people of God.

And beginning in verse 4, but also you'll notice in verses 4 10 17 and 23 there are distresses there are troubles and it alerted the people and in fact it woke them up whether by their own rebellion And so then the loving discipline of God or by other sins, so they refused maybe they delayed obedience And certainly delayed thankfulness to him for his goodness even in that Even in their distresses they had to be pushed in a sense to be reminded to come to the Lord to their deliverer. He is the one who delivers. And they were sometimes trying to deliver by their own strength. And so then after they realized this sin, they were convicted, praise God, they were convicted by their sin and by the work of the Lord in disciplining them. And then in the green, you'll notice they cried out to the Lord in their trouble.

They cried out. They sought help by prayer. They fell on their faces. They did what they should have done. They humbled themselves and cried out for deliverance.

And praise God that in His mercy He heard their cries and He delivered them or saved them and brought them out of these distresses and that would be in the red just as He does. Praise God just as He does for us when we cry out because his mercy never ends. In Psalm 34 verse 4, David, that psalm is also another helpful pattern, but in verse 4 he said, I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. I sought the Lord, and He delivered me. And in a sense, that's what we're all doing right now.

We are seeking the Lord. We're here looking at His word together. And praise God, we can do that. And so, He saved them, and then in the light blue, so the people of God rightly were called to praise God again for his goodness to them, even in the midst of hard times, to thank him for his goodness and for his faithfulness to his promises and for his deliverance. And then in the purple, it seemed like to me that there are even many more blessings.

Yes, deliverance is an awesome blessing, but God keeps blessing and blessing because of the God he is, a God of grace and God of mercy and so the people were blessed even more by being after being delivered and Again grace upon grace from our loving Savior so regarding the four sections that speak of the distresses First verse verse four speaks of wandering in the wilderness, So there are four major sections on what that distress was and how it caused them to turn to the Lord. The first one, the first one was they're wandering in the wilderness. They're in a desert. Second, verse 10, speaks of captivity, of being prisoners, of being bound, literally. And then the third, verse 17, speaks of sickness.

And then the fourth, verse 23, of huge storms, or we could say turmoil, and a very fearful situation. F.B. Meyer, the commentator, wrote something that I thought was kind of a helpful summary of this psalm and of those four Sections And he said this about the loving kindness of God, the goodness of God for his people. And he said love, that is the love of God. And I'll explain that just a little bit later.

Love, love broods over the weary caravan that faints in the desert. That's verses four through nine. Love, love of God, visits the prison house with its captive, verses 10 through 16. Love watches over by our beds of pain and sickness. That's verses 17 through 22.

Love notices each lurch of the tempest driven vessel, whatever that may be for you. And then finally, verses 20, the ending, love brings the weary hosts from the wilderness into the fruitful soil, verses 32 through 42, Praise God. And as we go through each section now, we will be reciting together, if you notice, the parts in light blue that are bolded that also say, all by it. I believe this probably was what occurred as they worshiped. These verses in the congregation were said joyfully, loudly, so do so as loudly as you feel like doing so in verses 8, 15, 21, and 31.

I will alert you to when we will do that and they will mostly do it together. So so they proclaimed it turns out in each dire situation here the four dire situations that they were delivered by the Lord because of his loving kindness, because of his goodness. So he was so loving in pointing them back to him. He does that all the time, because we so easily forget, don't we? We need to be reminded continuously.

So this is a habit we should develop in our own lives. We should develop, you should all develop in your family cultures, in this church culture. I believe you are, I'm praying that you are. And this habit of thankfulness. So that you will have here a culture of thankfulness.

You will so stand out in this community because you're a thankful people. I mean, sarcasm is just endemic. There's so much negativity now. You can't get, if you go online at all, that's about all you get. But you already stand out in this way.

You are already, I know, a thankful people. May you continue to grow on that. And one of the thoughts from a little book I bought, which I would suggest, highly suggest, by Sam Crabtree, this is put out by Crossway. It's called practicing thankfulness. I like that we should put into Practice what the scriptures tell us to do so practicing thankfulness the subtitle is cultivating a grateful heart in all Circumstances essentially that's what this Psalm is exhorting us to do.

These are dire circumstances that they went through. We have gone through our own, maybe. But he said, this is like right in the first page, I believe. He said this, thankfulness is neither trivial nor inconsequential. On this one quality pivots the difference between maturity and immaturity.

I believe this is true. We are called to be thankful Christians. It's almost should be understood that a mature Christian, a growing Christian, is also growing in thankfulness. Yes, it could be through hard times. In fact, many times it is through hard times.

Praise God, He is faithful and he is training us He wants us to exalt his name in our character. So verses one through three. Don't panic. I'm not gonna exegete every single word Here I'm looking at the patterns. So Verses one through three.

This is kind of an introduction to the worship in this psalm. This psalm was used in worship, which is to teach us to be thankful to the Lord for his goodness and for his loving kindness. In other words, his covenant love. I'm talking about God's covenant love here in delivering us, in saving us from our distresses. And this is an introduction and it begins with the leader, maybe all the saints in worship possibly, but anyway the leader leading all to remember that we are commanded to give thanks to the Lord because he is good.

He is always good. And to praise him for his mercy which endures forever. This is what we do as we go through this Psalm. I pray that that is. So to the degree we, again, habitually do this, we are blessed.

And we can deal with any circumstance, I believe, that we will ever face. To the degree that we don't, we must grow, keep growing in maturity to be a thankful person. And so the worship leader begins with this call to the people of God, oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. And then he exhorts all the redeemed of the Lord to say this. So you have thanks to the Lord.

Certainly We do so in our corporate worship. We have done so already in a number of ways. We do so with our mouths, of course, in word and in song. And the psalmist, by inspiration, and the leader, clarify that the Lord is our Redeemer. Again, he reminds us again, he is our Redeemer, he is our Deliverer, and he conquers all our enemies.

Not the ways we may devise to deliver ourselves. It's tempting to do that. We are often tempted to do that. I can deal with this. So he exhorts the redeemed of the Lord.

And he says in verse two, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and Gathered out of the lands is possibly from captivity They were dispersed in other words. They're captive But we also were by the way But he has liberated us, but this is from the east from the west from the north and from the south so gather my people to me and Dear brothers and sisters we have this call upon us to declare with thankfulness that we have been redeemed from all our enemies by the blood of the lamb, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let us say so. Of course, we have been joyfully doing that today. But as we go out, we're also called to say so, as loudly, boldly, lovingly, faithfully as we can.

It must be done by his grace So let us declare it joyfully together and worship as we are and say it every chance we get to others outside the body of Christ So the Lord has brought Us out of captivity out of captivity to sin Captivity to fear whatever it may be out of bondage praise God and may we grow in gladness in this It isn't something we should let Go for a number of days and remember. I have I thank the Lord for his redemption the blood he shed for me So we're to give thanks for our redemption So the Lord has brought his people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation And he is called the elect out of the world from the four winds to himself Matthew Henry said God knows those that are his and where to find them And praise God we are here I guess a relatively small part an example of that here in this congregation. He called us, he called each of you here, you are sitting here right now by the sovereign grace of God. And he does that primarily through families. And you are assembled here in a comfortable place in freedom.

So praise God, we can be assembled here to worship him as his redeemed. And to say with thankful hearts that he is our redeemer. Verses four through nine. So this is the first of our four patterns. And this is about deliverance of those lost in the desert.

So they are lost in the desert and they are wandering. Possibly for a long time. And they are on their way back, let's say. It's a long trip back from captivity and it says first of all that they found no city to dwell in. In other words, they didn't have a home.

They had no home. They were wandering in a very desolate place. They had no place to call home even. Hebrews 11, 37, I think, is an excellent cross-reference. They, that is the saints of faith in Hebrews 11, says, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world is not worthy.

They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. Not much would appear to the world. They weren't to the world, but they are in the hall of faith and pleasing to God. They pleased God by their faith. So verse 5 says, they're hungry and thirsty and their soul fainted in them.

This is a very dire situation. If you can imagine this, I don't know how many people here have ever been in a desert or for very long without water for example or a home. It's a dire situation. They had no home to dwell in. They were wandering into that slit place.

This is a dry and arid land. And so it says their soul was fainting. In other words, they were wondering, are they going to die? Their very existence is at stake here. In Psalm 63, David said, Oh God, you are my God.

Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. I was not figurative for them, but it was still true spiritually too So I'm 138 3 says in the day when I cried out you answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul So it's all 63 verse 1 Should be the soul's desire should be our desire when we are in trial or distress not just literally in a desert But we are in that time spiritually and we should give thanks that the Lord blesses those who do hunger and thirst for righteousness At those times indeed what else should we do? And so I'm with her 138 3 the worst I mentioned to you.

I've shared with Pastor Peter a number of times, because we pray weekly, and I rejoice in that. So in the day when I cried out, you answered me, and made me bold to strengthen my soul. I don't feel very bold many times. I don't think I'm a bold person. But I thank you that I can cry out and know that he will answer and he will make me bold to strengthen my soul.

So Psalm 143 verse 8, the psalmist says cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for in you do I trust. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I will lift up my soul to you. Lord, in other words, Lord do what you will to help me to see you. I want to see you. Psalm 94, 19, in the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul.

Your consolation brings me joy. And so in this time of distress, in this particular one, They cried out to the only one who could deliver them. And again, our sinful temptation is to cry out to him. Yeah, maybe to delay it, maybe to cry out to each other. I'm not saying that's wrong.

But certainly we should always cry out to the Lord to deliver us so that we will not seek to do that on our own and then in the green verse 5 it says then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble they were alerted all right you know In other words, are you doing this... Okay, let me think of this. I'm sorry. I just lost my train of thought. But I do think right here, we could ask ourselves, am I doing this in my current situation?

I don't know everyone's current situation. But are you doing this in your current situation? Are you crying out to the Lord? And dear saints, are you helping each other in this, in their trial? Oh, I've already heard testimony this morning that indeed you are doing that You're practicing the one another's and when we do so we can again see the power of our true deliverer verse 6 Be he says and he delivered them out of their disasters that was the result They cried out and then it said, verse 7, and he led them forth by the right way that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.

That was what they're longing for. They wanted a city, a place to call home. They wanted to be home And he led them forth by the right way the Lord leads us out of these matters that caused us to faint Like he led them out of the wilderness, and he does it praise God by the right way by the best way by his way So they could find their true home their safe dwelling place and it turns out He is our dwelling place. He is our life. Psalm 73, verse 26, my flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

He is our portion. He is our home. And our shepherd leads us. He restores my soul. The psalmist said he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake.

Hebrews 11 again, it says of the strangers and the pilgrims on the earth, that's what they were called, that they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. And we too are pilgrims and strangers, looking for the city with eternal foundations, our eternal homeland, which is really in and with our Lord Jesus. So what a mercy God gives to us to keep pointing us to our eternal home. Day by day, do we get focused on life right here and the things going on here?

Yes, yes we do. It's natural. And what a mercy he gives to remind us. It's his goodness really to do that. To develop in us, again, thankful hearts for his goodness in our deliverance and from wandering and then pointing us home and his goodness in disciplining us to give thanks for all things.

Ephesians 520 says that we are to give thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the people of God cried out in thanksgiving for their deliverance, and this is the first of the verses I'd like us to say with joy and boldness together. And so let's say this verse eight together. Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Amen.

Verse 9. For he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness. So again the purple verses are about ongoing blessings to the people of God. As covenant promises of the God who can do all things and who is faithful to his promises to satisfy the soul that longs for him. He promises to fill the soul that is hungry for God for with himself.

And may that be so for each of you okay verses 10 through 16 This section is talking about deliverance of captives who are bound in prison It's the second of the Patterns or the distresses Those who sat in darkness is verse 10 and in the shadow of death bound in affliction and irons Because they rebelled against the words of God and despise the council of The most high therefore he brought down their heart with labor They fell down and there was none to help. That is another very dire situation. This situation is talking about people in prison who were facing death, were prisoners, they were bound, possibly in chains, and under great affliction. Not because maybe they had preached the truth, like many of the persecuted, our brothers and sisters, But because they were being disciplined by the Lord for rebellion and they were they had rejected and scorned the word of God The the council of the Most High and you reap what you sow this discipline was to captivity to enslavement they were brought down by labor it says They were humbled physically. They were humbled emotionally, with no seeming outside help coming in, because they had rejected the help of the living God, from His Word.

And they had to reach a hopeless state to cry out, a hopeless condition. They were brought to realize again that they couldn't find freedom without the Lord, their God. Verse 25, verse 15. I think of this verse often, when I am tempted to do whatever I think to deliver myself, King David said, my eyes are ever on the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. I'm stuck in this net.

I'm looking down. Doesn't mean I don't have some way that I am supposed to apply in this, but I should be looking to him. So we though are called to learn to pray without ceasing. Because we can, we can cry out to our Abba Father at any time in the Spirit. Long before we feel we are in a hopeless state we're to pray without ceasing praise God for a body where you can tell each other I believe very you keep each other appraised of what you are going through may it be so even more and then verse 13, then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble.

And in verse, after that, in red, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their chains in pieces. God is in the business of breaking those chains. The Lord delivered them from bondage and brought them to freedom. Certainly, dear family, we can see that.

We also have been brought out from bondage to sin, bondage to misery, and we are now able to walk by grace with the Lord with freedom from the fear of death, fear of punishment, and now walk in the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Our freedom is the precious and glorious life of being yoked with the Lord Jesus. And in that yoke is the place where we find rest for our souls. So he is our shepherd and he leads us when we walk through these dark valleys, even the valley of the shadow of death. And he comforts us so that we can say I will fear no evil for you are with me So let's not pull against the loving yoke.

We are in with the Lord Jesus Because it is for freedom Christ has set us free not to be yoked to sin again not to be yoked to trying to save or deliver ourselves not only are we free and justified but he continues to free us and Sanctify us praise God from foolish sin by his work of grace in sanctification And for this freedom which the Lord purchased for us on the cross, and for his goodness, let's say together, again this is verse 15, let's say together, Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron in two." Couldn't do that by themselves. So strong gates and bars of iron and worldly limitations cannot keep the Lord our God from his people. And they can't keep his people from him. Joseph was imprisoned for the Lord's set time and purpose.

Prisons did not hinder Peter, they did not hinder Paul. And what we just said is what should be prayed. That we would grow in thanking the Lord for his goodness and in delivering us from bondage through the law of liberty His precious word and the finished work of our Lord Jesus moving on verses 17 through 22 This is related to deliverance from sickness This is the third of the four patterns. Verse 21 is the verse we'll recite together. So verse 17, Fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

Straightforward cause, result. Fools harm themselves. Sin is committed in foolishness and results in affliction. And the rod of correction from the Lord drives it from us and drives us to Him. Proverbs 22 says, the foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, the rod of correction will drive it far from him.

Parents are called, of course, to exercise discipline in this process as stewards of the Lord, and the rod is part of driving foolishness out as part of training them up in the fear of the Lord. Verse 18 says, their soul abhorred all manner of food and they drew near to the gates of death. Certainly if you can't eat, their affliction Had so impacted them that they lost their desire and ability maybe to eat which brings them to the brink of death Of course and again, they were brought to that point They were brought to that point and so at the end of themselves basically they cried out to the Lord and they said it said verse 19 and they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And he saved them out of their distresses. And this is verse 20, it says, he sent his word and healed them.

He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. Now in the healing power of thanksgiving, this is a sermon that Phil preached on in November. Phil was sharing about Jonah and Jonah. He had cried out for help also. He was in a dire situation, one that is a little hard for us to imagine but he did cry out basically Lord help me and he was delivered he was you know he was depressed he was bitter he's in a bad frame of mind really but he started thanking God by faith which shifted his perspective from his difficulty, which is certainly a difficulty, to the greatness of his sovereign God.

And so this is a... It is a sacrifice, maybe for us, because we don't feel thankful at first We don't feel thankful at first So we do so by faith we started by faith And so we see the Lord sent his word it says and healed them his promises strengthen us praise God And may those be in our mind. May we hide them in our heart. I know you're all doing that. Which begins in the mind, of course.

We hide it in our mind first. Because you need them readily to be brought to mind by the Holy Spirit. In these situations, where we will, for a very short time, maybe be tempted to Think that we can deliver ourselves The incarnate word our Lord Jesus Christ of course healed When he was on earth, he did this by touching or by saying be healed by the word of his power he healed and his word is powerful in healing still. Proverbs 16 verse 24 says precious pleasant or gracious words are like a honeycomb sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Praise God for His gracious words.

Proverbs 421 says, These are words given to Solomon from the Holy Spirit. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to their flesh. Indeed, may his word dwell in us richly. Psalm 119, King David said, This is my comfort in my affliction, for your word has given me life. So it's relating healing with the Word of God.

Proverbs 15 verse 15, he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast. So thankfulness enables us to delight in the Lord and all he gives. Thankfulness heals our soul. In James 5, there is healing through prayer and the prayer of others, according to the word. And it says in verse 13, Is anyone among you?

I will just say it to you. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing Psalms.

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, in other words, heal them, and the Lord will raise him up. 3 John 1, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers. In this little book again, Practicing Thankfulness, He said, we won't thank God for his mighty acts if we don't know them and remember them.

Makes sense. Therefore, the healthy practice of thankfulness hinges upon being a people of the book, He called it. By the way, we're called that by Muslims. The Bible shows God's mighty acts in its history, and shows us how to recognize his mighty acts in our own lives. So, of course, we must be people of the book to see those patterns all through scripture.

And so the third time let's repeat verse 21 this is on the back I believe of the page there verse 21 oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Amen. So the godly response of thankfulness is, verse 22, let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. That is the response of gratefulness to the Lord our God who has delivered us. Hebrews 13, 15 says, by him, that is Lord Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.

And we have done that with joyful singing this morning. So when we recover though, this is a question I guess for application. I was asking myself this. Many times, how many times in my life, I'm 70 years old, have I been sick or injured? And did I thank the Lord for my healing?

Maybe. I think it's easy for us, maybe, to, okay, we get better and then we move on. But do I thank the Lord, specifically thank Him? Whatever means He decided to use? Again, in this Practicing Thankfulness book, He said, pivot, He liked that word, pivot toward sweet gladness in God's kindness Or else your heart will pivot towards sourness and hardness toward him may not be so Okay, let's finish up verses 23 through 31 now.

These are deliverance from storms You know a lot about storms here. I think there's one coming, I've been told. I've been here in some of those times actually. So this is the last time that we'll recite together, verse 31 by the way. So verse 23, those who go down to the sea and ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep for he commands and raises the stormy wind which lifts up the waves of the sea they mount up to the heavens they go down again to the depths their soul melts because of trouble They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and they are at their wits end.

I would be too in that situation. I know I can't even picture that. The only way I can picture that is I've watched Master and Commander and you know that I can't imagine being on that ship. So it's a unique situation, I believe, for all of us, maybe. Well, I didn't ask Peter.

I forgot to ask what it was like for him. But then I remembered, well, he's mostly under the water. So maybe It's different. I don't know. You can ask Peter later.

But really, I cannot imagine. But really, in a spiritual sense, when you think about it, it would be awesome. I mean, you would probably be at your wit's end. I don't think I'm going to survive this. So verse 24, they see the works of the Lord.

Yeah, they're fearful, but they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. And indeed, like waves that it's describing here of the ocean coming in storms must be awesome. And the multitude of creatures in the ocean that they saw a great wonders that they saw saw unbelievable power and force of the Lord verse 25 says for he commands and raises the stormy wind which lifts up the waves of the sea They mount up to the heavens they go down again to the depths and it says their soul melts because of trouble This is a very fearful place again. There's a fourth very fearful place to be in in this pattern and it said And then they cried out Verse 60, I'm sorry Psalm 61 says from the end of the earth. I will cry to you when my heart is Overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I if I was in that on that ship I'd want to see a huge mountain rock.

I'm going there, above this storm. And we have a rock, praise God. And that's where we should go. And cry out, Lord, lead me to you. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, in this storm that I don't I don't know how to deal with I'm at my wits end so I'm 94 verse 19 this is in the ESV when the cares of my heart are many Mike your consolations cheer my soul when I am overwhelmed so verse 27 it says they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end.

Hopefully we haven't had this situation, staggering to and fro, but some of us have been in situations where we would say, certainly, we are at our wits end. We're at our wits end. What did we do in that situation is the question. Second Chronicles chapter 20, you know this, Jehoshaphat, massive army coming against him, and he at the end of his prayer he said, for we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do. But our eyes are upon you.

I can tell you though, in my life, there are a number of times I could recount when I was at my wit's end I said Lord I don't know what to do but my eyes are upon you rightly so I have no other hope but you and then it says verse after that Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And he brings them out of their distresses, it says. Verse 29, he calms the storm so that its waves are still. And our Lord did this, of course, on earth. He said, peace be still.

In Mark four, He rebuked the wind and it ceased and there was a great calm it says there was a great calm And he calmed the storm if you feel you are in a storm cry out to the one who can quiet your turmoil And bring the calm of his presence and his peace into your life verse 30 then they are glad because they are quiet. They're not the noise of the storm. So he guides them to their desired haven. And that's what these people in that storm would want. They'd want to get to a haven as soon as they could.

So dear saints, tell your soul, like King David in Psalm 62, my soul wait silently for God alone, for my expectation or my hope is from him. Give thanks to the Lord who can calm the turmoil of your soul and bring you to your desired haven which is to him Matthew 11 says come to me. He said come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. I am the one who gives rest to you." So let's praise the Lord together one more time that he has delivered our soul, he has calmed our soul during the storm and we are glad. Oh that men would give Thanks to Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

Amen. Maybe that's not memorized good Very quickly some verses 32 through 42. These are praises for his wonderful works to the children of men and that the wicked will be distressed, but the people of God will be blessed." So this conclusion is a general exhortation to all of his redeemed, to exalt the Lord for his wonderful works, his sovereign works to all men. Verse 32 says, let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people. Praise God.

We could do that this morning together. And praise him in the company of the elders. Yes, we are meant to do this. We are to learn together to exalt the Lord. I believe we are instructed every Lord's Day in how to worship the Lord rightly by each other, by the gifts he's given each of us, by the ability to sing together.

So let him, let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people and praise him in the company of the elders. And this last part, verse 33, beginning verse 33, shows how his wonderful works, his sovereign works, in the lives of all people. Verse 33, he turns rivers into a wilderness. He can do that. And the water springs into dry ground.

A fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a wilderness into pools of water and dry land into water springs. There he makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city. See that again. Establish a city for a dwelling place.

And they sow fields and plant vineyards that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also blesses them and they multiply greatly and he does not let their cattle decrease. This is the blessing to the people of God who are crying out and exalting him for their deliverance and his goodness to them the blessings it reminds me of the blessings of Psalm 128 and Psalm 144 the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 and the in the for obedience and the curses for disobedience. And then verse 39, when they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. So when they are brought low for those causes.

Verse 40, he pours contempt on the princes and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way so don't envy the princes land the leaders he humbles the proud he gives grace to the humble verse 41 yet he sets the poor and say the poor in spirit those are humbled he sets the poor on high far from affliction and makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Psalm 33 verse 1 says, rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, for praise from the upright is beautiful. Thanksgiving from the upright is beautiful. Our thanksgiving this morning by faith, by grace has been beautiful to him as weak as it may have been or but we have done it in faith as a body in order to praise him we are called to express our thanksgiving to the Lord for his redemption and his grace to see and to observe in other words the blessings of the Lord all around us and then rejoice in them together verse 43 whoever is wise will observe these things They will it won't just go in it one ear and what the other they they will observe these things They will see them and acknowledge them and they will understand to the loving kindness of Lord They will understand it Matthew Henry said a prudent observance of the providence of God will contribute much to the accomplishing of a good thankful Christian May the Lord make us observant.

So we see his goodness continually to us these patterns in our life should cause us as we grow in wisdom to observe God's mercy, to observe His grace more and more, and to understand again even more the awesome loving-kindness of the Lord. And then certainly to acknowledge, to give thanks to him for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men and to us. I'd like to conclude with what you notice there, just three suggestions. First of all, Tell someone why you are thankful today, even in difficult circumstances you may be going through. You may not have thought, have I said something in this situation that is even incomprehensible to me?

It's hard. It's a difficult situation. But even in the midst of those things, there are ways to give thanks. Secondly, tell a particular person here. Maybe you've never done that.

Maybe you haven't even talked to them very much, but tell a particular person why you appreciate them or how. Be specific about it. It is such a blessing to be in fellowship with you. I think we're made to do that. I believe you are doing that.

And then finally, give thanks together in prayer. I know you are praying church. And I will say this to conclude, oh that we would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness to us. Let's pray. Well Lord, we do rejoice in your goodness to us, in your loving kindness to us.

It's continual. And we do pray that we would taste and see that you are good. That we would cry out to you for deliverance from our troubles and from the fear of them and that we would seek you and know that you have heard us and that you will deliver us from our fears I know that we would more readily give thanks to you for your goodness to us and for your wonderful works to us, Lord we ask that you would make us a more thankful people, more aware of your goodness and grateful for your deliverance, the deliverance of our souls from death. And We do thank you now for eternal life with you. In the name of Jesus Christ, our deliverer, we pray.

Amen.