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WEEKLY
Volume 2 Number 32
6 January 2008
O Give Thanks unto the
LORD
(Message delivered by Rev Hien
Nguyen at the Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, Dec 30, 07)
Text:
Ps 136:1-26
On this last Sunday of the year 2007, it is
proper and wise for us to recall the goodness and mercy of God and His
blessings and then to give thanks and praise to Him. We thank God for
having given us His perfectly inspired and perfectly preserved Word,
including the book of Psalms to teach us to trust in Him and His Word,
to cry unto Him for help, to give thanks to Him, and to sing praise to
Him: “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall
bring it to pass” (Ps 37:5), “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and
pay thy vows unto the most High…Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me”
(Ps 50:14, 23), and “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that
performeth all things for me” (Ps 57:2), “Whoso is wise, and will
observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of
the LORD” (Ps 107:43), and “This is my comfort in my affliction:
for thy word hath quickened me” (Ps 119:50), and so forth. Today, by
God’s grace we shall meditate on Psalm 136, which teaches us to give
thanks to the LORD for His goodness and mercy, “O give thanks unto
the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (v 1).
Give Thanks unto the LORD
It is a command to give thanks to the Lord.
In the Scripture, the command “Give thanks unto the LORD” has 8
occurrences (1 Chron 16:8, 34; Ps 105:1; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29;
136:1), and other commands to thank God: “Offer unto God
thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High” (Ps 50:14), and
“Give thanks unto the God of gods… Give thanks unto the God of
Heaven” (Ps 136:2, 26), “be ye thankful” (Col 3:15), and
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you” (1 Thess 5:18). Do you and I give thanks to the Lord
in every thing? Sometimes we forget to thank the Lord for a safe
journey, for the food, for His provision and protection or for the
accomplishment of the work. Sometimes we fail to thank the Lord in every
thing. It is not easy to give thanks to the Lord when we encounter
misjudgment, contempt, criticism, false accusations, troubles, trials or
difficulties in life or in ministry, even the oppositions, persecutions
and attacks from the enemies. May the Lord help us grow in His grace and
in the knowledge of Him, His goodness, His mercy, and His sovereignty
more and more so that we may look unto Him and give thanks to Him in all
situations. Through Psalm 136, we are taught and commanded to give
thanks to the Lord for who He is and for what He has done for us.
Thank the LORD for Who He Is
He Is Good and His Mercy Endureth For
Ever: We are commanded to “give
thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”
(1 Chron 16:34; Ps 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1). When Solomon
dedicated the house of the LORD, the trumpeters and singers thanked and
praised the LORD, saying “For he is good; for his mercy endureth for
ever,” then “the house was filled with a cloud…for the glory of
the LORD had filled the house of God” (2 Chron 5:13-14). And after
Solomon ended his prayers, “all the children of Israel saw how the
fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed
themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and
worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy
endureth for ever” (2 Chron 7:3). How about you and me? When the
rich young man came and said to Jesus, “Good Master” and Jesus said to
him, “Why calledst thou me good? There is none good but one, that is,
God” (Matt 19:16-17). As only God is good, the Lord Jesus, the very
God in flesh, the Good Shepherd, wanted to ask the young man if he
really knew and honoured Him as God or only used it as a flattering
title which the Jewish leaders loved. Sadly, the young man failed the
test when he did not obey Jesus’ Word nor follow Him. Dear friends, do
we really honour the Lord with our trust, thanks, commitment, and
obedience when we confess, “The LORD is good, really good and so good”
even when Satan casts doubt on the Lord’s goodness with all his lies,
temptations and persecutions? If we really believe that the Lord is
good, we also believe His Word is good (Jer 29:10; Heb 6:5), His will is
good (Rom 12:2), His way is good (Jer 6:16), His timing is good (Isa
49:8; 60:22), even the time of His judgment and vengeance (Exo 9:5; Jer
51:6; Rev 14:15), His work is very good (Gen 1:31; John 10:32; Acts
10:38), and He is able to make all things good to His obedient children
(Rom 8:28). Let us trust in the Lord’s goodness, wait upon Him and seek
Him for “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul
that seeketh him” (Lam 3:25), and “O taste and see that the LORD
is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Ps 34:8).
“His Mercy Endures Forever”
is repeated in every verse of this Psalm with 26 occurrences to
emphasize and praise God’s everlasting mercy (the whole Scripture has 41
occurrences of this praise). Truly, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They
are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness”
(Lam 3:22-23). We are commanded to give thanks and praise to the Lord
for who He is and for what He has done, and all is based on His mercy,
which “endureth for ever” as “the LORD shall endure for ever”
(Ps 9:7; 102:12), and His Word “endureth for ever” (1 Peter 1:25)
and His truth “endureth for ever” (Ps 117:2). Shall you and I
trust in His mercy for ever as David did “trust in the mercy of God
for ever and ever” (Ps 52:8)?
He Is the Covenant God, Jehovah, the
LORD: We are commanded to
“give thanks to the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for
ever” (v 1). This reminded us of our covenant God, His name is
Jehovah, “I AM THAT I AM” (Exod 3:14-15), the self-existing, eternal,
immortal, immutable, mighty and faithful God, who has faithfully and
mightily kept and fulfilled His Word, His promises and His covenant for
ever (Deut 7:9; Ps 12: 6-7; Heb 6:13-18). Praise the LORD! We must
thank the LORD for it is by His mercy alone that we may know the
covenant God and become His covenant people!
He Is the Living and True God:
We are commanded to “give thanks
unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever” (v 2). We
must thank God that there is only “one God” (1 Cor 8:6) and He
alone is “the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9) while “all
the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens” (1
Chron 16:26), and the things sacrificed to idols are sacrificed “to
devils and not to God” (Deut 32:17; 1 Cor 10:20). We must thank God
for it is by His mercy alone that we may know and worship the living and
true God, our Creator and Maker!
He Is the Supreme Lord:
We are commanded to “give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy
endureth for ever” (v 3; cf. Rev 19:16). Our Lord is sovereign and
supreme over all, “Far above all principality, and power, and might,
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come” (Eph 1:21). We must thank the Lord
for it is by His mercy alone that we are under His sovereign control,
guidance and protection! Shall we not thank God for being under His
control rather than under that of Satan, sins or worldliness?
Thank the LORD for What He Has Done
We must give thanks to the Lord, “To him
who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever” (v
4):
His Creation:
We must give thanks to the Lord, “To him that by wisdom made the
heavens” (v 5), “stretched out the earth above the waters” (v
6), “made great lights” (v 7-9). Truly, “For
every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be
received with thanksgiving”
(1Tim 4:4).
God’s wrath is against those who “knew God, they glorified him not as
God, neither were thankful” when they look at God’s creation (Rom
1:18, 21). Do we remember to give thanks to the Lord for creating us and
everything in this world?
His Deliverance, Salvation and
Redemption: “To him that
smote Egypt…brought out Israel from among them” (vv 10-11),
“divided the Red Sea into parts…made Israel to pass through the midst of
it…overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea” (vv 13-15),
“smote great kings…and slew famous kings (v v17-20), and “hath
redeemed us from our enemies” (v 24). All these verses remind us of
God’s deliverance, salvation and redemption when He has saved us from
the slavery and bondage of sins, Satan and worldliness, and all this is
by His grace and mercy alone (Eph 2:8; Titus 3:5). Shall we not thank
the Lord and praise Him always?
His Guidance:
“To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy
endureth for ever” (v 16). And truly, “For this God is our God
for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death” (Ps 48:14).
By His grace and mercy, our Lord is leading us and will lead us through
the wilderness of this world of sins and darkness until we enter His
eternal home in heaven. He will lead us “beside the still waters…in
the paths of righteousness” (Ps 23:2-3) in His truth (Ps 25:5; 43:3;
John 16:13), “in the way everlasting” (Ps 139:10). Shall we not
wisely follow our Shepherd’s voice and guidance alone with a thankful
heart?
His Grace, His Blessings and Loving
Care: “And gave
their land for an heritage…remembered us in our low estate…give food to
all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever”
(vv 21, 23, 25). All these verses remind us of our Lord’s blessings,
grace and loving care while we do not deserve them. Moreover, because of
love, God has even given us His only begotten Son (John 3:16), the Holy
Spirit (John 14:16-17), His Word, His truth (John 17:8, 14, 17), eternal
life (John 17:2; Rom 6:23), His spiritual blessings (Eph 1:3-13), etc.
Shall we not thank Him and trust in Him more and more?
When we recall what the Lord has blessed us
and done for us this year (2007), we are moved to praise the Lord and
thank Him: He made us to move out through the harassments of a wicked
neighbour and guided us to find a better place to stay in February with
the kind support of True Life, our brethren here and our loved ones. He
also brought Bro Michael to our midst to encourage us. In March, He
opened our Vietnamese Bible study at Jade’s home and then blessed
Brisbane BPC Inauguration with Rev Stephen Khoo and brethren from True
Life BPC, Bethel BPC, Faith P-Perth, Sydney BPC, and Hope BPC. In April,
He helped me finish my RPG’s writing and helped me pass my written and
oral examinations for my ordination in May. He guided us to find a good
used church van by the end of May and then opened a door for us to write
the Vietnamese articles for a local newspaper. In June, He brought
Joanna and Benjamin to our midst to encourage us. He blessed our first
ACM in July. He blessed our ministry at Berean BPC Camp in end November
and at True Life in early December. He has encouraged us by the faithful
ministry of Eric’s family and Tim’s family and by the visit of Dr SH
Tow, Edwin, Benjamin’s parents, Edward and Eunice, Paul Wong, Jonathan,
Patricia and their children, etc. All is by God’s grace and mercy alone.
We truly give all thanks, praise and glory to the Lord for He is so good
and His mercy endures for ever.
Conclusion
Dear friends, it is a command to“give
thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
In every thing, may the Lord help us always thank Him for who He is and
for what He has done for us. May the Lord help us trust in His goodness,
mercy, grace, sovereignty, guidance, deliverance, and His loving care
all the time. Amen.
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