Give Thanks to the Giver of Every Good Gift
Notes
Transcript
Psalm 136:23-26 ESV
23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
As we finish our series of messages this morning from the 136th psalm, and we look at the text that we will be studying from, I am reminded of the old hymn, “Count Your Many Blessings”.
In fact, back during the Summer, I remember Carolyn putting on our sign out in the parking lot “Do the math… Count your blessings!” Now, I suppose that the reason why Carolyn put those specific words on the sign was because she was trying to make the same point that the writer of that hymn was trying to make.
And that point was that in spite of the fact that we all go through hard times and have a real tendency to worry and complain about our hard times, if we would only look at everything that God has done for us and is continuing to do for us, we would see things a lot differently.
And what we would see is that those things that we recognize as blessings far outweigh those things that burden us and make us worry so much. In fact, we will see that there are a lot of times when those things which burden and worry us so much later turn out to be blessings themselves.
So, do the math, count your blessings and you will see that they far outweigh those things which burden you. And most of all, when we count our blessings, we give thanks to God for His gracious provision as we recognize our blessings for what they are.
And as we’ve gone through this psalm, the psalmist has given us ample reasons for thanking God and recognizing what He has done and is continuing to do in our lives as blessings.
We began our exposition of this psalm by offering thanksgiving to God for being Who He is, the Sovereign over heaven and earth.
Then in our second message from this psalm we spoke of the awesome deliverance that God brought to Israel as He caused them to walk across the Red Sea on dry land and then caused their Egyptian adversaries to drown in the same sea that Israel had just safely crossed.
Then in our third message, we spoke of how God was faithful to continue to cause His people, Israel to overcome their enemies as He was faithful to make plain to all that Israel was His people as He defeated Israel’s enemies and gave her the land that her enemies had previously possessed.
Now, by the time that we arrive at our reading for today and we look at the words of our text, we see that the psalmist has indeed counted his blessings and thus thanks God for everything that He does.
We see this, first of all, in verses 23 and 24 as the psalmist looks back at what God has been faithful to do for His people in the past, where it says:
Psalm 136:23-24 ESV
23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
Now, as has been said, this psalm began with a call to thank God, then as the psalm has proceeded, it has provided the reader with a litany of reasons as to why we should thank God.
The author of this psalm says here in the 23rdverse that “It is He” that is, it is God, “Who remembered us in our low estate”. Now, as it has been said, the author of this psalm was most certainly an Israelite, in fact, the psalm doesn’t make direct mention of who wrote it, but heavy research reveals to us that the author of this psalm can almost definitively be identified as King David.
Therefore, the “us” in this verse and the next is in reference to the Israeli people. Thus, David speaks of God remembering Israel in their low estate.
Now, first of all, we know that this low estate of Israel that David speaks of is in reference to when Israel lived in bondage in Egypt. All throughout this psalm we have read of how God delivered Israel from Egypt and led them to Canaan.
Thus, the low estate being referred to here is in reference to the fact that when God delivered Israel, they were a people who were of no account, merely existing as slaves and actually on the path to extinction.
But it was then, when Israel was of no account, that God remembered them. What this means is that because God had previously made a covenant with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fathers of Israel, because of this, God kept the people of Israel precious to Him, even though by this point they were of no account.
And because of this, because of the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and because of God’s peculiar love that He possessed for Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He did what verse 24 says, He rescued them from their foes.
What an enduring, gracious love that is on display here! God remembers, and God saves, not because Israel is an impressive, obedient, godly people; but because He wants to save them, because it is His desire to save them, because it is according to His purpose to save them, therefore, that is exactly what happens!
What great cause to thank God!
But what God had graciously done for Israel is fulfilled and maximized through what He continues to graciously do for us, His elect people, both Jew and Gentile as we recognize that God remembered us as well.
Before the foundation of the world, God had purposed to save a certain number of people, a number, which the Westminster Confession of Faith tells us is so certain and definite that it can be neither increased nor diminished.
This people, a people who the Bible calls “the elect” were chosen by God not because of anything good within them, not because God would see that they one day they would do a certain good thing and then choose them based on that knowledge, no, the elect were chosen to salvation because it was God’s good pleasure to choose the elect to salvation in spite of the fact that there has never been anything naturally good about them.
But because God had chosen and purposed to save the elect, then, in the fullness of time, that time appointed by God from all eternity, He chose to in that time remember His elect people.
David speaks of God remembering Israel in her low estate when referencing choosing to deliver her while she was in bondage in Egypt, but when we speak of God remembering His elect people, we speak of God choosing to love and save the elect while they are in a state of total depravity.
Now, when we speak of total depravity, we literally mean total depravity. In other words, this depraved condition doesn’t just affect bits and pieces here and there, it affects us entirely, totally.
What this means is that God remembers His elect people while they are in that state of total depravity, with nothing good dwelling within them. Socially speaking, Israel may have been at a low estate, but spiritually speaking, all of humanity naturally finds itself at the lowest estate.
Thus, in our lowest estate, while the elect are at odds with God, in fact, while we are incapable of loving God, or choosing to love God, He remembers us, He comes to us.
When exactly He comes is different for everyone He has chosen to save. For some, He comes while they are but little children who have been reared in the church. For others, He comes well into their adulthood. And for still others, He comes as He came to the thief on the cross, when time had almost escaped.
And like Israel, while we were in our low estate, the lowest estate, He rescued us, He saved us. And what did He save us from?
Now, it’s most natural to say that God saves His elect from their sins, and He does, and He did, but Who is it Who is angry about our sins? Whose wrath will ultimately be expended upon sin? It is God’s wrath that will be expended upon sin. It is God Who is angry and offended by sin.
Thus, it is most orthodox to say that we who are saved were saved from God, by God, and for God. We were saved from the wrath of God, by the grace of God, and for the glory of God.
Beloved, it was the will and purpose of God to be glorified through choosing to save people like us, people who don’t deserve salvation, in fact, people who deserve the opposite of salvation! It is indeed most right and fitting that we as His elect people, thank Him for such an amazing, undeserved, gracious salvation!
But we thank Him for more than just our salvation, we thank Him for being compassionate, for providing for the welfare of His entire creation. We see in verse 25 where this aspect of God’s provision is accentuated, where it says:
Psalm 136:25 ESV
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
God is our Father. Now, contrary to popular opinion, not everyone is a child of God; the only ones who can legitimately be called children of God are those whom God chooses to adopt into His family through graciously saving them.
But even though this is the case, God still lovingly chooses to provide for and sustain all of creation, all flesh, giving them that which He has ordained to give them for their benefit.
Thus, there is nothing in all of creation, both in this world and in realms that cannot be seen by the human eye that is not sustained by God. Without His sustaining power, everything ceases to exist. Everything is dependent on Him and everything that He gives is good, is beneficial to His own glory.
He is described in verse 26 as the God of heaven, where we are commanded to:
Psalm 136:26a ESV
26a Give thanks to the God of heaven,
This God is the one, true God, Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth. There is no other like Him, He is above all and reigns over all, He alone is good, and every good and perfect gift comes from Him.
All that we have, those things which we deem as good and acceptable and those things which may not seem good to us but are necessary for us, come from Him, for our benefit, but most of all, for His own glory. He is thegood, gracious, loving God, even to that part of creation that has not been redeemed and therefore hates Him.
He is good, and He deserves, and in fact, commands us to thank Him.
We thank Him, because He gives to us, He sustains us, and He does this not because we are good, or deserve what He gives us, or have asked extra nice for what He gives us, but rather, He gives to us because of His steadfast love, a love that is beyond comprehension, it never wavers, it never ceases to be, indeed, it endures forever!
Oh beloved, may we most solemnly, most humbly thank our God for possessing and extending His love to a creation that is most undeserving of it!
And even more, may we most solemnly and most humbly thank our God for loving His elect people with a peculiar love, giving to us who are undeserving the fullness of His riches.
May we daily, with the sincerest reverence and humility, thank our most gracious, most loving God.
Amen?