Sermon Tone Analysis

Psalm 66

 

! Introduction

            Recently, on America’s Funniest Home Video’s, there were clips of people who were really excited about something that had happened.

One was of a boy who got just what he wanted for Christmas.

His face was bright, he was jumping around and flailing his arms.

He was so excited and thankful for what he had gotten.

Have you ever met someone who received some good news, or got a gift and their response was so flat and non-committal that it was hard to tell if they even cared?

If you were the one who brought them the good news or gave them the gift, I am sure that you were disappointed at their reaction.

Today is Thanksgiving.

What is our response to all that God has done for us?

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to respond as the boy on the video did, yet too often we respond in a way that it is hard to tell that we are thankful.

When we get what we want, it is easy to be thankful and sometimes even to express that thanks.

When things are tough, it is not as easy to give thanks.

How do you come to the Thanksgiving service this morning?

Are you thrilled to give thanks or are you here to give thanks out of duty and obligation?

This morning, I invite you to look at Psalm 66.

As we think about God and our response to Him, I trust that our hearts will be warmed as we consider His goodness to us and that there will be a deep sense of gratitude that will arise from our hearts.

!

II.

Come And See What God Has Done Psalm 66:5    

Although the Psalmist begins with praise, I would like to begin with reasons to praise, which he mentions in the Psalm.

Verse 5 invites us: “Come and see what God has done.”

!! A.  In The Past

Whenever people in the Old Testament thought about the deeds of God, the first thing that came to mind was the experience they had when they came out of Egypt.

In this Psalm, the whole experience is summarized in verse 6 when it says, “He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river on foot.”

There is no question that that experience was amazing.

There were many people in Egypt who were descendents of Israel, but they were all slaves.

They belonged to someone and had no power.

Through a series of miracles and through God’s mighty work, they were released from slavery and began to make their way across the desert towards the promised land.

No sooner had they left, than Pharaoh changed his mind and began to pursue them.

Suddenly they found themselves between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army.

They were doomed, but God did another miracle before their eyes.

He made a path through the middle of the sea and they all crossed on dry land.

As the Egyptian army ventured into the path, the sea came back over them and they were all drowned in the sea.

How awesome God was that he had given them this great deliverance.

It was the greatest demonstration of the power and love of God they had ever experienced.

Of course, the people who were alive when this Psalm was written had not been there at the Red Sea when God did this miracle.

The NIV has a very poor translation in the third line of verse 6.

New King James and most other translations have the more accurate wording, “there we will rejoice in him.”

The word “there” seems puzzling.

Why does he say “there we will praise Him” when they were not there?

That story was very important in the life of Israel.

It was the story that rooted who they were as God’s people.

It was the greatest story of God’s deliverance they had ever experienced.

Even though they were not there, they still had such a close identification with that event that the Psalmist could say, “there we will rejoice in him.”

As New Testament people, we have another event that is our event that demonstrates the power and love of God.

Even though we were not there when Jesus hung on the cross and died for our sins, yet we also identify with that event.

It is the event that defines who we are today – a redeemed people who follow a living Lord.

So for us, we can also say about the Jesus event, “there we will rejoice in him.”

As we contemplate God and our reasons to praise and thank Him, we must go back to the major events that have defined God’s people.

No matter what is happening or has happened in our life, looking back at the two major events in which God has demonstrated His power and love – the crossing of the Red Sea and the death of Christ on the cross are reason enough to give thanks to God for His awesome deeds.

!! B.  In The World

Another mighty deed which God has done and continues to do is that He is over all the nations.

As we look at the evil of some nations, the ungodly power of others, even our own, we sometimes wonder if God even knows what is happening in the nations.

In this Psalm, there are two verses which remind us that He not only knows, but is over the nations.

Verse 3 says, “so great is your power that your enemies cringe before you” and Verse 7 says, “his eyes watch the nations.”

Where do we see that to be true?

I attended a meeting this week and as we opened the meeting, we were given opportunity to share something that would be a spiritual encouragement to the others.

One of the people shared that he had been amazed at two things which had happened on the world stage which could only be explained as an act of God.

Many of us will remember the terrible fighting and hatred which happened in Northern Ireland.

The IRA has been at the centre of fighting between Catholics and Protestants for many years.

We have heard of the terrible bombings, murders and other atrocities and have often wondered if it would ever stop.

Last week, it was announced that the IRA 'has destroyed all its arms.'

I read a BBC news report which declared, “The IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use.”

General John de Chastelain made the announcement at a news conference accompanied by the two churchmen who witnessed the process.

What is even more interesting is who the two churchmen were.

As you may know the conflict in Ireland was between Catholics and Protestants.

The churchmen who witnessed the process were Catholic priest Father Alec Reid and ex-Methodist president Rev Harold Good.

They announced, "We are satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal."

Those of you who have the CD “Revival in Belfast” should have an even greater appreciation for this announcement.

On that CD, there are words of prayer for revival in Ireland.

In the song “Days of Elijah” Robin Mark prays, “….if 145 nations declare that instead of saying “can no good thing come out of Nazareth,” Lord  but declare that there is revival and there is restoration in this part of the world, Lord, where your name has been sullied, where your name has been brought low, that your name is lifted up in this place… we bless you for that, we bless your name.”

This prayer is an indication that the people of Ireland have been praying for peace in their land.

The announcement about the arms being removed is an indication that God has answered those prayers.

It is a demonstration that God is over all the nations.

I followed up on the other item he mentioned and read in a news article, “The world's richest nations struck an "historic" deal to write off immediately all multilateral debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries, most of them in Africa, amounting to 40 billion dollars.

Group of Eight (G8) finance ministers meeting in London also agreed nine further countries would become eligible for 100 percent debt relief for an additional 11 billion dollars over the next 12 to 18 months bringing the total amount of debt relief to 55 billion dollars.

Those who work with world poverty have long fought for debt reduction.

South African former president Nelson Mandela had earlier said the need for a deal was "urgent" in a letter sent to the G8 members.

Christian agencies have prayed for this to happen, but few believed that it would ever happen.

It is another indication that God is over the nations and brings us a very current example of His power.

This is something only God could have done.

Because He is over all the nations, let us give thanks and praise to God for His awesome deeds.

!! C.  Through Trial

Today some of you may be sitting here agreeing with the awesome things God has done in history and among the nations, but so deeply troubled by your own difficulties that it is hard for you to praise Him.

In verses 8-12, we are once again invited to “Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard.”

Why? Because, it goes on to say, “he has preserved our lives.”

But as we read on, we see that this preservation of life was not from difficulty and trial, but rather through difficulty and trial.

Look at the hard things mentioned in verses 10-12.

In verse 11, NIV translates “you laid burden’s on our backs.”

More accurately, some other translations, like NASB, have “Thou didst lay an oppressive burden upon our loins.”

This speaks of difficulties so great that your insides are in pain and it almost makes you sick.

This describes difficulties that touch us deep within.

When verse 12 says, “we went through fire and water” it is expressing extremes.

Fire and water are opposites, but they have been through the worst of both.

How can such experience allow us to “Praise our God?”

The passage has two answers to that question.

One is that difficulty can be a testing, refining process, as we read in vs. 10.

When God allows us to go through difficult times, we can thank Him because it is not a sign that He has abandonee us, but rather that He is teaching us and drawing us to Himself.

This means that although it is difficult, it can also be so valuable that it is worth the price.

The other answer is found in the end of verse 12 when it says, “you brought us to a place of abundance.”